I was always fascinated by mysticism, always looking for a deeper meaning and that is how I ended up in a cult. I guess that is the story of many... trying to give a meaning to existence, finding a ‘special group’ of people you can identify yourself with. I will not go into the details of my spiritual quest, I will only mention incidents that were of a crucial meaning in the last year.
I had a good job, career, good looks and good life prospects, but I suffered from anxiety, and desperately wanted to find a cure to it. That is how I ended up in Cyprus, in Naqshibandi tariqat previously led by Shaykh Nazim. I did not know much about the group, I wanted to explore. My exploration was followed by more mental confusion. I ended up having no job, because women were discouraged from having a career. I ended up mentally, financially and spiritually in a mess. I ended up in a way dependant on this group. I was under some spell, hypnosis... who knows what. My anxiety became so bad that the only place I could run to was sufi dargah in Cyprus. I met many people there that ruined their lives, they all lived on a verge of poverty. They all spoke of Mehdi, who is about to come to create a justice in the world. I was highly skeptical of everything, I couldn’t find a sense in speaking with a dead shaykh and asking him for blessings, while praying at his grave. Looking at the pictures of dead shaykhs was not actually giving me comfort, but my anxiety was so badly triggered, that I was unable to tell myself to leave a place.
Shaykh said I should get married, I decided to look for a marriage partner. That is how I ended up in Europe, in one of the Naqshibandi dargahs. I was married in one day literally to a complete stranger. We immediately clicked, we were same age, both mentally confused and lost. Two lost souls found each other, something like that. All my troubles started there, it was a time when I faced I ended up in a cult. Shaykh who was in charge of that dargah was someone who according to the followers knew everything. Shaykh started imposing his will on me and my husband, we were supposed to do whatever he would tell us. I was mess, but still I had some common sense left. He said we have to move to his community, otherwise me and my husband will both get sick. He was using his followers to put pressure on us. I said I would not want to live in the mid of nowhere, in a forest... they all said you cannot say no to a shaykh. That was the moment during which I completely opened my eyes.
My anxiety was healed by facing reality. My skepticism turned into a realisation, all of this was wrong and fishy. I told my husband that I will not be doing what this man tells me to do. My husband was in this group for several years and for him was very difficult to say NO to a cult leader. They all called us non believers, group started judging us for not obeying their shaykh. It was hard to convince my husband that we both should focus on our lives, progress in life and career and leave all this behind. He was strongly brainwashed by apocalyptical ideas. Both of us joined something we knew nothing about. We only wanted to find peace. Sounds familiar?
We moved further away from that place, but his family is still into it deeply, and they are being taken advantage of. We hope that things will not reach a point where this manipulator will tell them to break contact with us, because we would have to then take some measures against him. My advice to anyone who wants to join these groups to find peace and life meaning, he or she may come across only mind control, exploatation, financial losses, confusion and all but God. I could go on and on about incidents related to that shaykh, but the point is very clear.
Man was a hypnotist, mind controller, exploiter. People who lived with him needed to serve him 24/7, they were not allowed to leave place without his approval. They were not allowed to work without his blessings. They needed to wear clothes that are approved by him. Their money was not their money, he needed to know exactly how much they earn. Part of the money was going to him, or for accompanying him on his luxary trips. No one was daring to say no to him. One woman was married to three different men from one group, all marriages ended up in divorce. Shaykh had a great car, buying houses, while followers had no money even to buy their own food, but instead were completely dependant on dargah food. Kids were encoruaged to have private schooling, avoiding mixing with other kids. Mixing was supposed to be avoided. Group of people that decided to serve him at the top of the mountain was told to be a chosen one. They were all elected for arrival of Mehdi. It was the time according to shaykh, when democracy will collapse and when kings and queens will rule again. My husband was discouraged from reading Quran, because you can clearly find in Quran verses how associating partners with creator is taking you out od Islam. His teachings had little with pure Islam, but more with personal benefits. Whoever would leave him was told he would get cancer, die from something... etc. Typical control tactics.
I can only share my story as an eye opener to some. If you struggle with anxiety, look for medical help, or remove negative people from your life that are actual triggers. I learned a biggest secret to overcoming my anxiety and it was removing bad people from ones life, removes automatically anxiety itself. I was a born Muslim and I knew everything about Islam, but I still got caught in this nightmare of mind control and manipulation.
I had a good job, career, good looks and good life prospects, but I suffered from anxiety, and desperately wanted to find a cure to it. That is how I ended up in Cyprus, in Naqshibandi tariqat previously led by Shaykh Nazim. I did not know much about the group, I wanted to explore. My exploration was followed by more mental confusion. I ended up having no job, because women were discouraged from having a career. I ended up mentally, financially and spiritually in a mess. I ended up in a way dependant on this group. I was under some spell, hypnosis... who knows what. My anxiety became so bad that the only place I could run to was sufi dargah in Cyprus. I met many people there that ruined their lives, they all lived on a verge of poverty. They all spoke of Mehdi, who is about to come to create a justice in the world. I was highly skeptical of everything, I couldn’t find a sense in speaking with a dead shaykh and asking him for blessings, while praying at his grave. Looking at the pictures of dead shaykhs was not actually giving me comfort, but my anxiety was so badly triggered, that I was unable to tell myself to leave a place.
Shaykh said I should get married, I decided to look for a marriage partner. That is how I ended up in Europe, in one of the Naqshibandi dargahs. I was married in one day literally to a complete stranger. We immediately clicked, we were same age, both mentally confused and lost. Two lost souls found each other, something like that. All my troubles started there, it was a time when I faced I ended up in a cult. Shaykh who was in charge of that dargah was someone who according to the followers knew everything. Shaykh started imposing his will on me and my husband, we were supposed to do whatever he would tell us. I was mess, but still I had some common sense left. He said we have to move to his community, otherwise me and my husband will both get sick. He was using his followers to put pressure on us. I said I would not want to live in the mid of nowhere, in a forest... they all said you cannot say no to a shaykh. That was the moment during which I completely opened my eyes.
My anxiety was healed by facing reality. My skepticism turned into a realisation, all of this was wrong and fishy. I told my husband that I will not be doing what this man tells me to do. My husband was in this group for several years and for him was very difficult to say NO to a cult leader. They all called us non believers, group started judging us for not obeying their shaykh. It was hard to convince my husband that we both should focus on our lives, progress in life and career and leave all this behind. He was strongly brainwashed by apocalyptical ideas. Both of us joined something we knew nothing about. We only wanted to find peace. Sounds familiar?
We moved further away from that place, but his family is still into it deeply, and they are being taken advantage of. We hope that things will not reach a point where this manipulator will tell them to break contact with us, because we would have to then take some measures against him. My advice to anyone who wants to join these groups to find peace and life meaning, he or she may come across only mind control, exploatation, financial losses, confusion and all but God. I could go on and on about incidents related to that shaykh, but the point is very clear.
Man was a hypnotist, mind controller, exploiter. People who lived with him needed to serve him 24/7, they were not allowed to leave place without his approval. They were not allowed to work without his blessings. They needed to wear clothes that are approved by him. Their money was not their money, he needed to know exactly how much they earn. Part of the money was going to him, or for accompanying him on his luxary trips. No one was daring to say no to him. One woman was married to three different men from one group, all marriages ended up in divorce. Shaykh had a great car, buying houses, while followers had no money even to buy their own food, but instead were completely dependant on dargah food. Kids were encoruaged to have private schooling, avoiding mixing with other kids. Mixing was supposed to be avoided. Group of people that decided to serve him at the top of the mountain was told to be a chosen one. They were all elected for arrival of Mehdi. It was the time according to shaykh, when democracy will collapse and when kings and queens will rule again. My husband was discouraged from reading Quran, because you can clearly find in Quran verses how associating partners with creator is taking you out od Islam. His teachings had little with pure Islam, but more with personal benefits. Whoever would leave him was told he would get cancer, die from something... etc. Typical control tactics.
I can only share my story as an eye opener to some. If you struggle with anxiety, look for medical help, or remove negative people from your life that are actual triggers. I learned a biggest secret to overcoming my anxiety and it was removing bad people from ones life, removes automatically anxiety itself. I was a born Muslim and I knew everything about Islam, but I still got caught in this nightmare of mind control and manipulation.