Shaykh Nazim in South Africa, November 4

November 5, 2000

Visit to Robben Island and Al-Zawiya Mosque

The morning began as usual to the somber voice of Mawlana Shaykh leading Salat al-Najat, Salat al-Shukr and Salat al-Tasbih. Following Salat al-Fajr and the morning wazaif, the worshippers prayed Salat al-ishraq and then returned home for a couple of hours sleep.

Returning around nine am, they found an amazing scene presenting itself before the Shaykh. Seven children, aged five to eleven, were singing the most incredible songs of praise of the Prophet in perfect Arabic, to Western tunes accompanied by the guitar, played by “Uncle” Shafiq, Professor Da Costa’s neighbor. The amazing melody and tone generated by these sweet young voices moved us to tears, as they praised our beloved Prophet in famous verses of the Burda and al-Mudariyya.

Following the morning meal, where over one-hundred and fifty mureeds ate to their hearts’ content, the Naqshbandis of South Africa then transported the Shaykh and his entourage to the Cape Town wharf. There they boarded a fast catamaran-hulled ferry to take them to the infamous Robben Island, used to house prisoners of state and criminals for the past several centuries.

The island is located about ten miles off the Cape Town coast. The ferry covered the distance in less than fifteen minutes, an incredible wake blasting out its stern as it forged across the Atlantic at about forty knots. Those who tried to move to the forward part of the ship quickly withdrew in the face of the steady forty-knot wind and the gouts of spray kicked up from the double-prow.



On Robben Island Mawlana first visited the maqam of Sayed Abdur Rehman, an Indonesian wali from the seventeenth century. This visit was particularly pleasant, and all present the intense spiritual manifestation of the soul of the saint.

This spiritual presence was made particularly manifest when Shaykh Nazim pulled several of the cloths, shrouding the tomb out, and with the permission of the mushrif, gave them to Shaykh Hisham to use at the Michigan zawiya.
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What amazed the visitors from America was the incredible scent of musk emanating from the folds of these brightly-colored sheets – a scent neither placed on them, but apparently originating from the body of the saint himself and permeating all that came in contact with his maqam. What a reminder of the next life and what a blessed and substantial proof for the life of the barzakh.

The Shaykh was then taken on a quick tour of the prison compounds. However he demurred to tour the old facilities, saying, “I have been inside a prison and I know what it is like. I spent six weeks in jail in Turkey for calling the Adhan in Arabic. I am not in need to go inside.” The tour ended back near the wharf, where the gathered mureeds requested to take photos with the Shaykh.


The entourage then boarded the return ferry, which again jetted over the ten-mile blue Atlantic to return them to the jetty.

The evening meal was served in the home of Mr. Mahmoud. The elegant and traditional Capetonian repast was as with all of our meals in this hospitable city, delicious and blessed.

The Shaykhs then traveled to al-Zawiya Mosque near downtown to lead Salat al-Maghrib. Shaykh Seraj Hendricks and his brother Shaykh Ahmad hosted the Shaykh. A humorous exchange between Shaykh Nazim and Shaykh Hisham ensued when Shaykh Seraj requested Mawlana to take a seat on the elegantly carved al-Zawiya Chair, reserved for great mashaykh and awliya.


After a succinct introduction by Shaykh Seraj, Head Mufti of Cape Town, Shaykh Nazim gave a talk, led Dhikr and listened while the members of the Mosque, many mureeds of as-Sayyid Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki of Hijaz, recited praise of the Prophet and then stood for salaams.

The Shaykh then traveled to al-Zawiya Mosque near downtown to lead Salat al-Maghrib. Shaykh Seraj Hendricks and his brother Shaykh Ahmad hosted the Shaykh. A humorous exchange between Shaykh Nazim and Shaykh Hisham ensued when Shaykh Seraj requested Mawlana to take a seat on the elegantly carved al-Zawiya Chair, reserved for great mashaykh and awliya.

The evening at al-Zawiya ended with Shaykh Nazim visiting the offices of Shaykh Seraj and Shaykh Ahmad. There they were hosted warmly and posed for photos with the mashaykh, pillars of Ahl as-Sunna wal-Jama`at in the Western Cape. Shaykh Seraj was particularly pleased to have a photo similar to that of his grandfather, the great wali Shaykh Mohammed Saleh Hendricks, posing with his two sons, Shaykh Mahdi and Shaykh Ibrahim Hendricks, taken in the same location, the minbar of the mosque in the forties.