ALEPPO

Visiting Aleppo, the Zawiya of Shaykh Husayn (middle). On his left is Shaykh Adnan Kabbani, on his right is Shaykh Abdus Salaam. In front is Dr. Munir Sperling.

The maqam of
Sayiddina Ya`qub, (Jacob), peace be upon him.

Shaykh Husayn and Shaykh Nazim share a humorous moment together.

Aleppo

We then traveled in entourage by bus and car to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo (Halep). Again as in Sham, in Aleppo Mawlana Shaykh Nazim was welcomed in huge receptions everywhere, as for 20 years he had not been able to visit this great city. On any given day, he would be invited for three to four to five to six functions, all in different locations, accompanied by hundreds of people. In some functions there were over 1000 persons, in the large gardens in some of the wealthier persons' homes. On Friday, Shaykh Nazim was invited to participate in the mosque’s commonly-held Friday dhikr sessions of the Rifa'i and the Qadiriyya. Usually these start with long chanting of madih by a group. In particular, the Mufti of Aleppo was reading the qasidas, in this highly religious city. There women are nearly all covered and most men pray, have beards and wear Islamic clothing.

In Aleppo, Shaykh Nazim one night began to speak on the virtues of Sham ash-Sharif. He mentioned that Grandshaykh used to narrate 40 hadith on the fadail ash-Sham. One of them means that the people of Sham will be recognized in Paradise by the green silk robes that they wear. Another has the meaning that, "when Allah likes a person He grants them to live in Sham and when He dislikes a person there is no opening for him to live there."

A story that Grandshaykh relates [for murids] is that when Grandshaykh moved to Sham at first, he located to a place that was outside the city, in a rural area far from the people. Then Prophet (s) appeared in a dream to Grandshaykh and ordered him to build a mosque in the area next to his dwelling [where it is now] and the Prophet (s) told him in the vision, precisely where the corners should be, which it turns out, are precisely the dimensions of Kabah. That is why there no one has attempted to expand Grandshaykh's mosque, despite it being small.

Shaykh Nazim stayed in Aleppo one week and was fully occupied at every waking moment. Days were occupied with visits to the mosques and tombs of great prophets and awliya, particularly the maqam of Sayiddina Zakariyya (as). Mawlana Shaykh also visited the maqam of Sayiddina Yunus (as) and of Sayiddina Dawud (as). Evenings were occupied by in invitations and dinners, and nights were filled with dhikr, madih, lectures and prayers (tahajjud).

On the way back to Damascus, Shaykh Nazim stopped in Homs to visit the maqam of Sayiddina Khalid bin Waleed (r), where he recited Fatiha on this great Sahabi and then prayed salat al-`Asr. This the city in which Shaykh Nazim stayed one year, before reaching Damascus, where he studied Quranic Science from Shaykh Muhammad Ali `Uyun as-Suud and Shaykh Abdul Aziz Uyun as-Suud, Grand Mufti of Homs and teacher of Masjid Khalid ibn al-Walid, from whom he received ijaza. He also studied the Science of hadith in Homs and received Ijaza in that science from Shaykh Abdul Jalil Murad and Shaykh Sayyid as-Subbagh.

I should note that wherever we went the crowds of lovers of the shaykh followed. At any public occasion, people would come forward to take initiation in the most distinguished Naqshbandi Order. Whenever one person would attempt to take baya, everyone present would rush to join in and take the pledge. Every talk was attended by people with the high level of conduct (adab) expected of students, such that when the shaykh was speaking, not a sound could be heard except the voice of the Shaykh.