Sufi Hassan

Every night after Isya' solaah at our masjid, one of us would read hadith and commentaries from the kitaabs Fadhail Aamal and Muntakhab Ahadith to all musoleen. It is one of the daily masjid amal that originates back since 1997. There were a smaller number of musoleen in our old small wooden surau/masjid back then.

One night as any other nights, after the ta'leem of Fadhail Aamal had been read, we all headed own ways. Some of the more blessful among us continued the amal scheduled to fulfill the two and half hours, some headed straight back home, whilst some went for a night session of  chai with friends. None of us, however, were aware of the presence of a lone figure behind the wall in the surau separating the men sections.

Haji Hassan had been listening attentively to the hadith on virtues of zikrullah (remembrance of Allah) that had been read that night. He had begun the first day of i'tikaaf at our surau, unnoticed by everyone. Although he lived not far away, he had never been to our surau and he did not know why he had chosen to make i'tikaaf there. Haji Hassan had been in the sufi order (tarekat)of Naqsyabandi for 18 years, and having cited tens of thousand of wirid, durood sharif and istighfar. But never had his heart and soul been rocked and taken away by the words of Allah Most High and His most beloved Prophet sallalaahu alayhi wassalam as he felt that night. This prompted him to sneak onto the pages of Fadha'il Aamal while everyone was not around. The more hadith that he read, the more ecstasy they made him felt. He jotted a few hadith down in his note book.

In the morning, still managed to avoid our attention, he quietly observed us. After our daily mesyuarah (consultation) after subuh solaah, we would sit quietly in the surau until the time of isyrak for our daily wirid of tasbeehat, durood and istighfar. Unknown to us, the environment or mahul in the surau had really excited him. Even our sitting postures amazed him. It is customary for him to sit with both knees up and wrapped both his arms around the knees when he is making zikir. He thought it was offensive to sit like that. When he saw some amongst us sat in the same posture, he was overcame with awe. Little did he know that it is one of the sunnah ways of sitting.

On the third day of his i'tikaaf at our surau, he started to make himself visible to us. Quickly and easily, he get himself acquainted with all of us karkuns especially when he quoted familiar hadith and sayings of pious predecessors in the conversation. At that time, we were not aware that he had extensively been reading from Fadha'il Amal for 3 days in the surau. 

Sufi Hassan has a high-pitched tone when conversing. His conversation is always full of enthusiasm. At times he could be blunt and direct. But at the same time, he is witty and fun to be with. So far that I knew him, his bluntness or priceless humor quotes always related to deen. What I like most about Sufi Hassan is his spontaneous actions or reactions that reflect his sincerity. For instance, he would utter, "Terima kasih, Allah!" (Thank You, Allah!) when he suddenly remembered things or names, or "Ampunkan aku, Allah!" (Pardon me, Allah!) if he was unsure of things or names, in the midst of conversations. To some people it was funny, when actually, he was dead serious. Another instance is that he see all things, no matter how negligible it is, happened by the Will and Wisdom of Allah - something that most people failed or ignored to reflect.

Prior to his first 3-days tour of dakwah, as I said earlier, Sufi Hassan had been engaged in tarekat or sufism of Naqshabandi order, practising excessive wirid, zikr and durood. He even had a dream of being repeatedly stamped by a man with the word 'Muhammad' all over his body, the level according to him, is termed as "qulluman jasad". He was then taken to meet Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wassalam who was sitting together with Hazrat Abu Bakar, Umar, Usman and Ali radiyalaahu anhum. In his dream, he was told that they liked his excessive recitation of durood shariff. Having said that, Sufi Hassan concluded that the ecstasy that he experienced during the past 18 years of his sufism practices is incomparable with his first 3-days tour of dakwah & tabligh effort. I guess one will never know how the feeling was until one experienced it oneself.