BOOKS 31-34
Released December 2008
LOCATION The ancient and exquisite Tekke of Hadzi Sinan, in the Vrbanjusa district in the heart of the old city of Sarajevo. Built in 1640 by Hadzi Sinan-aga, a wealthy local shopkeeper, this structure has remained the main centre for the Qadiri Tariqa in the Bosnian capital, and during the 1992-5 war its young dervishes were among the first to fight in defence of the city from the Serbian aggression. The complex includes a series of rooms which, according to the 17th century historian Mula Mustafa Baseskija, were used to treat sufferers from mental illness. Particularly famous are the calligraphic murals, painted in the eighteenth century. Today the tekke has meetings twice a week, and regular programmes for Mawlid, Ramadan, Ashura, and other events.
Qur’anic Recitation by Hafiz Mensur MELKIC, Imam of the Gazi-Husrev Beg Mosque, Sarajevo.
Ilahis sung by NESIDU-L-HUDA, a leading dervish choir from Sarajevo. NESIDU-L-HUDA have released a number of popular CDs, of which the most accessible in the West is available at
www.amazon.com/Bosnia-Sufi-Chanting-Sarajevo-Nesidu-I-Huda/dp/B000007TBR
Downloads here
SPEAKER Abdal Hakim Murad. Born in London in 1960, Abdal Hakim has studied in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and has translated several portions of Imam al-Ghazali’s Ihya into English. He is currently Chair of the Muslim Academic Trust.
Disc 31 includes an interview with Osman Lavic, curator at the Gazi Husrev-beg Library in Sarajevo, and translator of Busiri’s Burda into Bosnian (2008). Lavic shows the Sarajevo manuscript of Ghazali’s work, thought to be the oldest in the world, and talks about some of the other unique treasures in his collection.
LECTURE SUMMARY
REPENTANCE (al-Tawba). What is wrong action? How can we understand our damaged inner state, and repair it? The Imam explains that repentance consists of knowledge of the act, an emotion of sorrow, and a decisive inner and outward action that will erase the wrong action and help the spiritual wayfarer never to return to it.
PATIENCE AND GRATITUDE (al-Sabr wa’l-Shukr). We are made human by our ability to restrain our egos and cravings. We also experience states of overwhelming gratitude to our Creator. Here the Imam explains how to cultivate these two gifts, and to keep them in a positive relationship which promotes spiritual growth.
FEAR AND HOPE (al-Khawf wa’l-Raja’). Almighty God is to be feared; for His justice is absolute. But we also hope for His mercy, for He is ‘the most merciful of all’. We fear our weakness, and hope for God’s forgiveness; the Imam explains how the balanced soul is one in which both these gifts are alive and active.
POVERTY AND ABSTINENCE (al-Faqr wa’l-Zuhd). Here the Imam celebrates the poverty of the Holy Prophet, and shows how a detached attitude to the things of this world is a precondition for inner calm and a stress-free life.