Re: Observations of Nazim Kabbani and his murid disciples -

Quote

Meanwhile, Nazim (1998: 35) tells us the Ottoman Caliph was gradually modernized and westernised, drugged, and left to die of shame. Nazim (1998: 51) criticizes the modern nation state, and berates the division of the Islamic ummah (community) into nationalities. The solution is to return to monarchic rule, and have one sultan for all Muslims (Nazim 1998: 52). Nazim (1998: 54) regards democracy as hypocrisy, and wonders when the British people will figure out that switching from the Labour Party to the Conservatives and back again achieves nothing.

Instead of democracy for Britain, Maulana advocates a return to a “traditional kingdom.” Echoing Wright Mills (1956), Nazim (1998: 85) criticizes the capitalist industrial complex, observing that people consume bad food that makes them sick, therefore, one multi-million dollar industry, fast food, feeds directly into another, the health industry. He is highly critical of modern technology (even refrigerators are satanic), and warns his followers to return to “nature.” Nazim (1998: 88) criticizes “officialdom” as producing a kind of bureaucratic personality disorder, and advocates “going back” to live on the earth instead of in skyscrapers.

Apparently life away from the earth exposes people to harmful bacteria, leading to illness and cancer. Collectively, Maulana’s thoughts form part of the rationale behind the Sufi community at Janda Baik, one of the sites where I conducted fieldwork. Furthermore, the silat camp that took place there in December 1999 occurred directly in response to Nazim’s apocalyptic visions. The Naqshbandis are preparing for an almighty war, “Armageddon, the biggest war which will be on earth before the last day” (Kabbani 2003a; Nazim 1998: 40).

Quote

After a gruelling prayer marathon one Friday morning, we sat around drinking coffee tongkat ali, when Pa’ Ariffin declared to Suleiman: Friday prayers “don’t count – you don’t have to go if it’s too hot, if the road is slippery, or if you are sleeping. You don’t need to learn Arabic either as the vocabulary is enormous with millions of meanings. For each verse in the Quran there are 24,000 meanings; people think they understand it when they know one. ‘Just follow’, says Shaykh Nazim, ‘there are people you can follow’ ” (Pa’ Ariffin, from fieldnotes).

Friday prayers in the mosque were only entertained when Shaykh Nazim or Shaykh Hisham were in town, or if Shaykh Raja Ashman called upon his followers to accompany him.41

During a Friday visit to Kuala Lumpur’s central mosque, the Shaykh Raja’s followers lined up and “prayed” behind him a short distance from the other “worshippers.” His followers performed dozens more rounds of prayer (raka’at) than the other men present. Finally, one-by-one, the entourage proceeded to bow and kiss (salaam) the hand of the prince.42 These demonstrations of power did not go unnoticed

Quote

Male murids sported a distinctive sunna fashion. Walking sticks were in vogue. Some men wore black eyeliner (celak). Normally applied to the corpse before burial, celak heavily applied by the living gives a bizarre hollow eyed stare. Along with the ubiquitous beards and moustaches some male murids dressed in doublebreasted striped shirts.

During the evening performances of prayers and dhikr the men donned cones surrounded by massive turbans of yellow, green, blue or white (Fig. 4.7). The turban’s colour supposedly depends upon nationality, but also relates to hierarchy and function within the order.

According to Pa’ Ariffin: “The yellow turban is a very big significance; you are supposed to be 100 percent disciplined in the art of war.” Men and women displayed rings with large colourful stones with the best ones considered to be those given by Maulana

Quote

. Haqqani homes invariably display photographs of Shaykh Nazim. Due to Islamic restrictions on displaying the human image, the pictures of the Shaykhs are often the only photographs displayed in the house. Placed in prominent positions on cabinets or bureaus, the photographs may stand together with fresh flowers in a vase, and they provide a religious focal point that differs from a shrine in that murids do not pray towards it.
All murids wore the distinctive tawis, a small black triangular leather pouch containing a circular photocopied version of a prayer or ayat written in the hand a Shaykh.

The pouch is usually tied about the neck with a leather cord. It contains a photocopy of Quranic verses drawn by Maulana, verses that have been breathed upon by the Shaykh with the breath of Isa (Jesus). In order to prevent its potency from leaking out the paper is specially folded into triangles and sealed in plastic wrap that formerly contained bread. The sealed tawis charm provides a public symbol of allegiance to the Haqqani. The tawis is also openly displayed on car windshields, private residences and business premises. The tawis serves to ward off jinn (Fig. 4.9).

Babies and toddlers are especially vulnerable to unseen malevolent forces and have the tawis perpetually attached to their clothes with a safety pin. Opened tawis are sometimes pasted on either side of doors, and function like door guardians. The tawis serves to infuse Seni Silat Haqq Melayu practitioners with the power of Naqshbandi Sufism.

For example, some robbers set upon Chief and Moone returning home late one night in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Both of them managed to adopt the flowing ready postures of silat and after a slight scuffle the robbers fled. During the fight Chief lost his tawis. Chief believed that the tawis had saved them from the robbers, and that when its task was complete, and its powers exhausted, the tawis departed. In an altercation the tawis serves to call the benevolent powers of the unseen, such as jinn Islam or guardian angels to provide aid against the forces of evil.43 43

....It can be inconvenient to attain a replacement tawis as one must ask the Shaykh or the guru silat, and they may inquire into the circumstances of the loss of the old one. Given that the tawis can depart of its own volition, its departure might indicate the wrongdoing of the holder, who may have lost the tawis whilst engaged in some illegitimate activity that the Shaykh disapproves of, such as drinking alcohol or committing adultery. Such misdeeds would then have to be confessed to the Shaykh, which is potentially embarrassing, and could encourage his intervention. For example, confessing adultery could result in a speedily arranged marriage.