Habib Abu Bakr al-Adani bin Ali al-Mashhur passed away July 27,2022

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon.

Its with great sadness we have been informed of the passing away of another scholar and saint namely Al-Sayyid Habib Abu Bakr al Adani rehmatullah alayh a disciple of the great Ghawth Al Habib Abd al Qadir al Saqqaf radiAllahu anhu. He was a master in the sciences of the end of times and a man of Allah without doubt.

Allah Ta’ala raise the noble sayyid and unite him with his Noble grandfather The Beloved Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Allah Ta’ala grant all the family, loved ones and students of the Shaykh Sabr e Jameel and ajr al azeem bi Jahi Taha Rasool ﷺ ameen al Fatiha

Truly a great loss for the Ummah when the people of Allah leave, for seldom does there rise one, who is able to take their place.

Source: Dar al Zahra Facebook

Biography :Al-Habib Abu Bakr Al-Adni b. Ali Al-Mashhur is a Yemeni scholar; spiritual mentor; jurist; historian; thinker; poet and prolific writer hailing from a renowned scholarly family whose roots go back to the Prophet (saws). He was born in the city of Awar and studied Islamic traditional knowledge at the hands of leading scholars including his father. He moved to Jeddah where he studied under his spiritual mentor Al-Habib Abdul-Qadir Al-Saqqaf. He has established more than 80 centres of learning in Yemen and written more than 79 books on various subjects with focus on the fiqh of transitions and social changes.

Source:https://www.islamicbookstore.com/13104.html

Book : The Concise Article by Al-Habib Abu Bakr Al-Adni b. Ali Al-Mashhur

About The Book

"Do they then only wait for the Hour [waiting] that it comes upon them suddenly? But it has already been foretold! And what will their remembrance avail them, once it has come upon them?" - (Quran 47:18)

The Concise Article is a ground-breaking work that sheds light on a neglected aspect of the famous hadith of the Angel Jibril wherein Jibril asked the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) about Islam, faith, spiritual excellence, and the signs of the Last Day. The hadith of Jibril is commonly presented as an outline of the three pillars of the religion; however, as the author Habib Abu Bakr al-'Adani notes, it actually speaks of four pillars.

From his detailed study of the stages and portents of the Final Hour, the author distils what he calls the science of fiqh al-tahawullat, or "the science of transitions and changes." In this work he describes the principles by which Muslims should understand the tribulations and momentous changes taking place in the world around them, and provides practical applications for preserving faith and holding fast to the Prophetic way in these difficult times.

About The Author

Habib Abu Bakr al-'Adani b. 'Ali al-Mashhur is a scion of the Prophet's Family from the line of Imam Husayn. Originally from Aden, Yemen and currently living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Habib Abu Bakr is an erudite scholar of the Islamic sciences and a prolific author with over 140 books to his name.

He has established sixteen seminaries (Ribats) for full time study of the Islamic sciences and rigorous spiritual work and eighty-three educational centers throughout Yemen, as well as a center for cultural studies that organizes conferences, seminars, and workshops. He continues to live in Jeddah where he teaches the Islamic sciences and writes works addressing contemporary challenges in light of timeless Prophetic guidance. 

Source:https://www.meccabooks.com/1190-the-concise-article-9780991682713.html

BOOK:

Al-Nubdhah al-Sughra (English)

by 

Habib Abu Bakr Al-Adni b. Ali Al-Mashhur

Source:https://www.islamicbookstore.com/13104.html

PDF : Lifting Hardship from Ummah

http://www.alhabibabobakr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lifting_Hardship.pdf

The Guide to the Path of Righteousness: 1 & 2: Path of the Bani Alawi - Book by Rizwana Sayed

This book is beneficial for seekers on the spiritual path. It begins with an introduction to the Bani Alawi Tariqa, outlining the history, the development, principles and key figures. It gives the reader an insight into the ethics and the doctrine of the path, with pearls of wisdom from the classical masters from the Sada Ba Alawi, such as Imam Al-Haddad who says: The Bani Alawi Tariqa is the most upright and balanced Tariqa. Their conduct is the best and most exemplary, they are upon the most admirable way, broad and vast, with clear legislation. There is nothing better for a person in this era, who desires the path, to correct his understanding of the principles of tawhid, perform the obligations, refrain from the forbidden, perform the sunna in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah without disregarding them. And if these things flourish within him he has received a lot of good. If a seeker masters the path of the People of the Right, he ascends at the hands of his masha ikh to the path of the foremost.

Source - Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Path-Righteousness-Bani-Alawi/dp/0956614620

Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus - Book by Waleed Ziad PhD

Sufis created the most extensive Muslim revivalist network in Asia before the twentieth century, generating a vibrant Persianate literary, intellectual, and spiritual culture while tying together a politically fractured world. 

In a pathbreaking work combining social history, religious studies, and anthropology, Waleed Ziad examines the development across Asia of Muslim revivalist networks from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. At the center of the story are the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi Sufis, who inspired major reformist movements and articulated effective social responses to the fracturing of Muslim political power amid European colonialism. In a time of political upheaval, the Mujaddidis fused Persian, Arabic, Turkic, and Indic literary traditions, mystical virtuosity, popular religious practices, and urban scholasticism in a unified yet flexible expression of Islam. The Mujaddidi “Hidden Caliphate,” as it was known, brought cohesion to diverse Muslim communities from Delhi through Peshawar to the steppes of Central Asia. And the legacy of Mujaddidi Sufis continues to shape the Muslim world, as their institutional structures, pedagogies, and critiques have worked their way into leading social movements from Turkey to Indonesia, and among the Muslims of China.

By shifting attention away from court politics, colonial actors, and the standard narrative of the “Great Game,” Ziad offers a new vision of Islamic sovereignty. At the same time, he demonstrates the pivotal place of the Afghan Empire in sustaining this vast inter-Asian web of scholastic and economic exchange. Based on extensive fieldwork across Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan at madrasas, Sufi monasteries, private libraries, and archives, Hidden Caliphate reveals the long-term influence of Mujaddidi reform and revival in the eastern Muslim world, bringing together seemingly disparate social, political, and intellectual currents from the Indian Ocean to Siberia.

Waleed Ziad is Assistant Professor and Ali Jarrahi Fellow in Persian Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Formerly a Research Fellow at the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization at Yale Law School, Ziad has conducted fieldwork in over 120 towns across Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan.

Source: 

1.Amazon -

https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Caliphate-Saints-beyond-Indus/dp/0674248813

2.Waleed Ziad PhD Website :https://waleedziad.com/

THE SPREADING OF NAQSHBANDIYYA IN WESTERN ASIA IN THE 19TH CENTURY 

AFRO EURASIAN STUDIES -VOLUME: 10 / ISSUE: 1 pp.15-26 Abdulcebbar KAVAK Assoc. Prof. Dr., University of Karabuk; Faculty of Islamic Sciences

Abstract: 

The Sufi orders, which are the institutional structures of Sufism, started to spread among Muslims from the 12th century with the current era. While some of these Sufi orders operated in a certain region, others spread almost all over the Islamic world. One of these common Sufi orders is Naqshbandiyya. The Sufi order, named after Muhammed Bahaeddin Naksibend, became effective in Afghanistan and Iran after the Bukhara and Transoxiana regions in Central Asia where Turks lived intensely. It began to operate in Anatolia during the period of Sheikh Ubeydullah-i Ahrar. From the beginning of the 17th century, during the reign of Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi, it had a serious presence in the Indian subcontinent under the name of Mujaddidiyye. It became influential in East Asia in religious, political and social fields. In this period, although it started to be recognized in Western Asia with the activities of some Mujaddid Sheikhs, it did not have a strong influence as in the Indian subcontinent. Naqshbandi's attainment of a strong social ground in Western Asia took place in the first quarter of the 19th century, during the reign of Mawlana Khalid from Shahrazor. Mawlana Khalid was appointed to Western Asia as his plenipotentiary caliph after receiving religious mystic education under Shah Abdullah Dihlevi in India. Naqshbandiyyah started to be called as Khalidiyya in the period of Mawlana Khalid. Khalidism, which emerged in Iraq, succeeded in being effective in all regions of Western Asia. On the basis of the success of Naqshbandi in Western Asia, the charismatic personality of Mawlana Khalid al-Shahrazori, political and social situations of West Asian societies, the emergence of Khâlidism as a dynamic and refreshing movement and then there are many factors, from the Khalidi Sheikhs gaining prestige in the regions where they live as religious, political and social leaders. In this study, it is aimed to examine the success of this Sufi order in West Asia, whose effects continue until today, and to present some basic information for researchers to be done in this field.

Source: Full Paper -https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/2330463

Place of the Waqf in Turkish Cultural System by Prof. Dr. Bahaeddin YEDİYILDIZ

Place of the Waqf in Turkish Cultural System

by
Prof. Dr. Bahaeddin YEDİYILDIZ
Hacettepe University, Ankara
(English translation by R. Acun and M. Oz)

This paper has been presented at Habitat II, 12 April 1996, Istanbul.

Excerpt

The Turkish waqf spirit which cares for all living beings, and not only for the people, has extended its reach to birds as well , when from the 15th century on, kiosks for birds started to be built. Some of these "bird houses", also called "bird palaces", resemble the sultanic mosques with their minarets, high-hooped towers and signs in the form of crescent, and display and extraordinary workmanship. Having observed such bird houses with great interest, the Austrian ambassador Busbecq wrote in 1550s that "in Turkey everything has become humanised and every rigid thing has been softened. Even the animals"(25).

Underlying softening, and of this love, there was a system of belief. Those philanthrophists founding charitable institutions during the Seljukid and Ottoman centuries believed that this world was e temporary guest house, but it was necessary to work hard and to spend one's earnings for the happiness of other people in this world in order to secure the felicity of the eternal life when returned to God. To believe in the temporary nature of the world would not imply seclusion, indolence or blind submission to resignation, which have been supposed to be among the reasons for the decline of the Islamic world. It meant however, earning one's icome through decent work "with love of ethics", and attaining eternity by spending one's earnings for the happiness of mankind. This was possible through freeing oneself from falling captive to material things. This is a work of love. Yunus Emre, the great poet of the 13th century, expressed the freedom of man against the matter in these verses:

                         Neither I rejoice for wealth

                         Nor poverty grieves me

                         Your love comfors me

                         I need you,  only you.

Owners of wealth experienced this freedom themselves, when they devoted their material possessions for the happiness of others.

Those people who acted with the kind of love, expressed by Yunus in the verses

                        I am not here for quarrels

                        My task concerns love

                        A friend lives in is heart 

I am here to work on hearts were acting to please others' hearts through the waqfs they established. This was the goal behind earning through hard work and spending it for the happiness of the mankind. The waqf was seen as the best way to realise this aim. Every waqf or hayrat that made the  country prosperous and its people happy was a fruit of love expressed by Yunus Emre(26).

During the Seljukid and Ottoman periods the Turkish society has believed in the concepts of " good work and making favours for others" and "competing with one another in charity". It was these concepts that led the was to the birth of the view of the world and its practical applications stated above, and have been instrumental in the creation of wakf works and thus created the Turkish waqf culture based on workand love for mankind.

Source: Full Paper -  

https://yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr/~yyildiz/placeofthewaqf.htm

SeekersGuidance Launches the Dar al-Fuqaha’ Islamic Seminary in Istanbul

January 31, 2020/in Article-General, Beneficial Knowledge, Knowledge Without Barriers, Scholars, Seeking

In Partnership with the Sultan Mehmet Fatih Waqf University — and Classes Begin

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate 

For a number of years, SeekersGuidance has been supporting displaced Syrian scholars based in Istanbul (Turkey) through the Islamic Scholars Fund. 

Support the Islamic Scholars Fund

This support has enabled them to dedicate themselves to teaching and spreading balanced, mainstream Islamic knowledge and guidance in a dignified manner.

However, our senior scholars felt there was still a clear gap: these scholars were dispersed across Istanbul and neighbouring areas—and it was difficult for students of knowledge to access them, and to have a clear program of traditional Islamic studies.

The Next Step: The Dar al-Fuqaha’ Islamic Seminary Launches—and Begins with Hundreds of Students

To address this, Dr. Mahmud Masri, our Senior Academic Advisor, proposed the Dar al-Fuqaha’ Islamic Seminary, and the Sultan Mehmet Fatih Waqf University embraced the proposal and partnered with SeekersGuidance in January 2020 to launch this visionary program.

The Dar al-Fuqaha’ Islamic Seminary connects leading mainstream, traditionally-trained senior scholars with students of Islamic knowledge from around the world, completely free—at the beautiful Ottoman Madrasa, the Yenikapi Mevlevihanesi, founded over 420 years ago.

Launch of the Ijaza Program

Classes began on January 25, 2020, the Ijaza Program began with 15 weekly classes—each at the maximum 100-student capacity—with leading scholars including Shaykh Usama al-Rifa’i, Shaykh Khalid Kharsa, Shaykh Ismail Majdhub, Dr. Mahmud Masri, and many others. 

This program is meant to revive the classical system of scholarly authorization (ijaza) in a meaningful way: students who complete a text, or level of study, or program with understanding and mastery will receive specific scholarly authorization (ijaza) in what they have completed.

The Specialization in Islamic Law and Method

These classes—in a wide range of classical Islamic studies disciplines—will culminate in a Specialization in Islamic Law and Method (Takhassus fi’l Fiqh wa’l Usul). Details of the current weekly schedule and the Specialization can be found below.

The goal of this Specialization in Islamic Law is to produce scholars who can address the critical challenges facing Muslims and humanity in our times—through deep training in both classical texts and contemporary issues, under-trained, qualified specialist scholars.

These classes are open to students from across the world. Already, there are students from several dozen countries attending the Ijaza Program—despite it not being widely announced yet. Alhamdulillah.

The Launch Ceremony

At the launch ceremony in mid-January, Shaykh Faraz Rabbani (founder and Executive Director of SeekersGuidance) emphasized that this Dar al-Fuqaha’ Seminary, and the Ijaza Program seeks to connect seekers of knowledge with leading mainstream, trained scholars, through the system of direct study (talaqqi) that is the key to recognize traditional Islamic learning. 

He stated that the hope and aspiration is that the Specialization in Islamic Law and Method will facilitate the transfer of the Prophetic inheritance that these leading scholars have to a new generation of upcoming scholars—around the world—who will be able to uphold, live, and transmit this life-giving Prophetic legacy, and spread knowledge, guidance, and good.

Abdüs Samet Koçak, representing the Sultan Mehmet Fatih Waqf University, made clear the esteemed institution’s commitment to facilitate the success of this globally-impactful project, as part of fulfilling its own vision of being a leading institution of higher learning.

Dr. Mahmud Masri introduced the Dar al-Fuqaha’ Seminary project, as a collaboration of SeekersGuidance and the Sultan Mehmet Fatih Waqf University. 

He explained why the classes were beginning under the title of the Ijaza Program (Dawrat al-Ijaza). The point of Islamic knowledge isn’t scholarly authorization (ijaza). Neither the scholars teaching nor the students are in this program for mere authorization. Rather, the purpose of Islamic knowledge is drawing closer to Allah, through seeking and spreading the good, for oneself and others. 

However, the ijaza system requires revival as part of the revival of traditional Islamic studies—through rigorous curricula of Islamic studies, with high standards, and careful, conditional granting of qualified authorizations that can be trusted and relied upon.

Dr. Mahmud explained the full Specialization in Islamic Law and Method, with its stages and levels. You can read its details below. This is, insha’Allah, a truly Ummatically-impactful project.

Shaykh Usama al-Rifa’i and Shaykh Isma’il Majdhub Emphasize Mastery, Roundedness, Sincerity, and Truly Benefiting From One’s Teachers

Two of the seniormost scholars in the Dar al-Fuqaha’ Seminary, Shaykh Usama al-Rifa’i and Shaykh Ismail Majdhub spoke about their great joy at the launch of this project.

They both highlighted how “ijazas” (scholarly authorizations) have become in danger of losing their significance—with people giving and receiving “baraka ijazas” or ijazas without complete, rigorous study and training under qualified scholars. 

Thus, a revival of sound scholarly authorizations that are (1) through rigorous, complete study; (2) limited to the text or level of study completed; and (3) demonstrated uprightness of the one receiving the authorization is a significant step forward.

These senior scholars reminded students of the need to (1) take their studies seriously and to strive towards mastery; (2) to have well-rounded study of all components of a complete curriculum of Islamic studies; (3) to ensure that their knowledge is sought sincerely for the sake of Allah; and (4) to make the most of the opportunity of direct benefit from their teachers’ example and wisdom.

Classes Began on January 25, 2020, With 15 Classes—All At Capacity

By the grace of Allah Most High, the Ijaza Program of the Dar al-Fuqaha’ Islamic Seminary began on January 25, 2020, with 15 weekly classes. Every class is at the (100-student) capacity. Over 400 students—Turkish, Syrian, Western, and other—had applied. Already, it is clear that this program is addressing a critical need, both locally and globally.

All these classes are being recorded. These classes will be offered as complete online courses through the SeekersGuidance Arabiyya (Nur al-Huda) online portal, insha’Allah.

“I have spent over five years studying in Istanbul, but I haven’t found any opportunity that offers the level of scholarship that Dar al-Fuqaha offers.” said a student from Italy.

“This is an Ummatically-impactful project,” said Shaykh Mumin al-Annan (Syrian scholar, now in Sweden).

This program is open to both men and women, and over 40% of the students are women.

“Whoever pursues a path seeking knowledge therein, Allah facilitates for them a path to Paradise,” said the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). 

We ask Allah Most High that the Dar al-Fuqaha’ Islamic Seminary be a means of His facilitating a clear path of seeking and spreading such knowledge—for seekers everywhere—and a part of a global revival of the light of Prophetic guidance, in an authentic, relevant, merciful, balanced, transformative manner.

The Summer Program: the Ijaza Intensive

This Summer, SeekersGuidance has announced the Summer Ijaza Intensive—one of three Summer Intensive Programs in Istanbul. 

Already, several hundred students have applied, to study classical Islamic texts in Arabic, at various levels, directly with trained, authorized traditional Islamic scholars. This program, like all SeekersGuidance offerings, is provided completely free—as part of our Knowledge Without Barriers commitment and ethos. 

In total, almost 2000 students (yes, almost 2000) have applied for the three Summer Intensive Programs. You can still apply, till the end of February.

These programs are supported through the SeekersGuidance Islamic Scholars Fund—which you can support through your zakat and charity and help support the scholars and students who will preserve, revive, and spread the light of Prophetic guidance across the world, now and in upcoming generations. 

Information - Prospective PDF :

https://seekersguidance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Dar-al-Fuqaha-Information-Prospectus.pdf

Sheikh Mahmud Effendi The Great Orator of Islam - Dr.Khalid Hussain, Baba Ghulam Badshah University, Rajouri, Jammun & Kashmi

Abstract: 

In the contemporary Muslim world, when describing the advancement of Islam,historian cannot ignore Mehmut Ustaosmanoglu also known as Sheikh Mahmud Effendi, in fact the first figure,not only in Turkey but also in the whole Islamic World,who propagated the Sunnah and Taqwa inits real sense and through practical ways because he was " the man of Taqwa" in the 21st Century.

Full Paper PDF: 

https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/

361785591_Sheikh_Mahmud_

Effendi_The_Great_Orator_of_Islam