Embattled Saints: My Year with the Sufis of Afghanistan
Kenneth P Lizzio
Language: English
Pages: 288
ISBN: 0835609235
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Winner of the 2015 Benjamin Franklin Silver Award!
In the West, Islam has replaced Communism as the new bugbear, while Sufism, Islam's mystical dimension, is often dismissed as the delusions of an irrational and backward people. Ken Lizzio corrects such misperceptions in this firsthand account of the year he spent in 1991 living with the head of the Naqshbandis, Afghanistan's largest Sufi order. He presents the order in all its dimensions--social, economic, political, and spiritual--at a pivotal moment in history. He also gives a rare glimpse of everyday life in an Afghan Sufi school and of how the school has coped with the upheavals in its country.
Poignantly, the Naqshbandi way of life faces threats to its very existence. One threat lies in the creeping secularization of Islamic society, another in the dismissal of Sufism by various fundamentalist Islamic sects claiming the franchise on truth. But historically, Lizzio points out, Sufism has always been Islam's wellspring for spiritual revival. And because Sufis deal in matters that transcend time and cultures, they help outsiders understand not only the true nature of Islam, but the deeper meaning of all religions. The sound of that meaning echoes throughout this eloquent and fascinating memoir.
the Mohmand tribe of the Pashtun. The Musa Khel have long been successful wood traders, harvesting the trees on the northern slopes of the Sulaiman range. The Mohmand around Kot were neither of the hill Mohmand who inhabit the Mitai and Suran valleys north of the Kabul River, nor of the settled Mohmand of the southwest plain of Peshawar District. Rather, they formed a tiny enclave within the Shinwari tribe. Mohmand oral history has it that they originally settled in Kot during the reign of Sultan
positions in his government. Communists began taking to the streets to muster support for issues ranging from a free Pashtunistan to denunciation of Daoud’s regime. On February 22, 1974, Communists turned out in the Dasht-i Archi bazaar to demonstrate. Alarmed by this, Saif and several clerics led a group of armed disciples the next day to break up the demonstration. Precisely what enraged Saif is unclear, though given his strong sense of history he probably had not forgotten how Naqshbandis in
bedroom and workplace. In one such room, a disciple ran a store of audiocassette tapes of the pir’s sermons and recitations. These rooms were small and, like mine, were shared by several disciples. The top floor had an open-air common area and a small apartment and library containing several hundred books. The library was managed by a Canadian, a permanent resident of the khanaqah. He was in the process of building an extensive library for the khanaqah. Fluent in Arabic and Urdu, he traveled to
tawajjuh comes from wajh, or “face” in Arabic, and means “facing” or “confrontation.” It was originally used to denote the act of facing Mecca during prayer. The Qur’anic basis of the term is the statement by Abraham, “I have turned my face towards Him who created the heavens and the earth” (6:79). In the Naqshbandi system, tawajjuh signifies the khalifa’s projection of baraka in order to awaken the disciple’s lata’if. Tawajjuh is the principal exercise for awaking dhikr in the disciple’s heart.
misunderstood by academics and maligned even by Muslims but ultimately loved by those who understood him—came quietly to an end. Among his thirteen sons, he had designated the eldest, Maulana Said Haidri, as his successor. More excellent than any wise person who achieves the essence of Perfect imitation of his loved one [The Prophet] Muhammad. —Ahmad Sirhindi That monarch supreme [Shams-i Tabriz] had shut the door fast; Today he has come to the door, clothed in the garment of mortality.