Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani al-Qubrisi in the early 1990s

Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi (Arabic: الشيخ ناظم القبرصي) (born Mehmet Nazim Adil, April 23, 1922 - ), master and spiritual guide of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, was born in the town of Larnaca on the island of Cyprus, hence the title “Qubrusi” or “Cypriot.” His father's family traces its roots to the famous 11th century Sufi Abdul Qadir Jilani while his mothers lineage goes back to 13th century Anatolian mystic Jalaluddin Rumi. In both his maternal and paternal grandfathers were shaykhs in the Qadiri and Mevlevi orders respectively, and one ancestor was Mahmud Baba, the murshid of a Bektashi tekke on Cyprus. Ultimately he can trace his forefathers back to the Prophet and thus can be called a Sayyid. As a child, the young Nazim showed a propensity towards spirituality. His father sent him to school to study secular knowledge during the day, and in the evening he studied Islam at the local maktab, where he learned the basics of Shari'ah, Jurisprudence (Fiqh) , Hadith, and Tafsir. Arabic (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Naqshbandi (Naqshbandiyya) is one of four major Sufi orders (tariqa) of Islam. ... Sufism (Arabic تصوف taṣawwuf) is a system of esoteric philosophy commonly associated with Islam. ... Larnaca, or Larnaka(also colloquially Skala), is a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus. ... Sheikh Muhyiddeen Abdul Qadir Gilani , Abdul Qadir al-Gilani , Abdul Qadir el-Gilani or Moulay Abdelkader Jilali (in Maghreb countries (Arabic: عبد القادر الجيلانى ); (1077 – 1166 CE) was a mystic scholar and saint of Islam. ... ... Qadiriyyah, one of the oldest Sufi tariqa, derives its name from Abd al-Qadir al-Djilani (1077-1166), a native of the Iranian province of Gilan. ... The Mevlevi Order or the Mevleviye are a Sufi order founded by the followers of the Persian Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi in 1273 in Konya present day Turkey; also known as the Whirling Dervishes due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of Allah). ... A Murshid is the teacher and guide to his disciples (Mureedh). ... The Bektashi order is a Sufi religious order (Tarika). ... Tekke is a Turkish word which corresponds to the Arabic word Zawya or the Persian Dergah. ... Sayyid (Arabic: سيد also rendered as syed, seyyed, sayyed, saiyed, or sayed) is an honorific title often given to descendants of Muhammad through his grandsons, Hussein and Hasan, the sons of his daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib (who was Muhammads younger cousin and... Sharia (Arabic شريعة also Sharia, Shariah or Syariah) is traditional Islamic law. ... Islamic jurisprudence, (Arabic: Fiqh) (in Arabic and Persian: فقه) is made up of the rulings (Fatwa) of Muslim Islamic jurists (Ulema) to direct the lives of the Muslims. ... Hadith (Arabic: , Arabic pl. ... A tafsir ( (Arabic: تفسير )tafsÄ«r, also transliterated tafseer, Arabic explanation) is Quranic exegesis or commentary. ...

After completing high school in Cyprus at the age of 18, Nazim relocated to Istanbul in 1940, where two brothers and a sister were living. He studied chemical engineering at Istanbul University. While advancing in his secular studies, Nazim continued his education in Islamic theology and the Arabic language under the tutelage of Shaykh Cemalettin Elassonli (d. 1955 CE). Nazim received a degree in chemical engineering and he excelled among his colleagues, yet he stated, "I feel no attraction to modern science. My heart is always drawn to the spiritual sciences." Shaykh Nazim later came to master his native tongue Turkish, but Arabic, English, German and Greek as well. Satellite image of Istanbul and the Bosphorus Istanbul (Turkish: Ä°stanbul) is the largest city in Turkey, and arguably the most important. ... Chemical engineering is the application of science, in particular chemistry, physics and mathematics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms. ... Istanbul University is one of the oldest universities in Europe (founded in 1453), and the oldest in Turkey. ... Arabic (; , less formally, ) is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ...

At some point in his first year of life in Istanbul, Nazim met his first spiritual guide, Shaykh Suleyman Erzurumi (d. 1948), who was a murshid in the Naqshbandi Order. Nazim would attend the gatherings of this particular shaykh that were held in the Sultan Ahmet Mosque to learn the spiritual methods of the Naqshbandi Order, in addition to those of the Qadiri and the Mevlevi. His focus on spirituallity was further reinforced by the unexpected death of an elder brothers. Shortly after attaining his degree Nazim received inspiration to go to Damascus in order to find the famed Naqshbandi master, Shaykh Abdullah Fa'izi ad-Daghestani (1891-September 30th, 1973). He obtained permission from Shaykh Erzurumi to leave Istanbul and in 1944 he arrived in Syria, although the unrest caused by the Vichy French government prevented his entry into Damascus until 1945. Upon meeting with the master, whose tekke is located on the slopes of the Jabal Qasioun, Nazim took his hand in bayat, or initiation. The young Nazim’s mystical faculties were self evident and he advanced along the Sufi path with great speed. Qadiriyyah, one of the oldest Sufi tariqa, derives its name from Abd al-Qadir al-Djilani (1077-1166), a native of the Iranian province of Gilan. ... The Mevlevi Order or the Mevleviye are a Sufi order founded by the followers of the Persian Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi in 1273 in Konya present day Turkey; also known as the Whirling Dervishes due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of Allah). ... Damascus by night, pictured from Jabal Qasioun; the green spots are minarets Damascus (Arabic officially دمشق Dimashq, colloquially ash-Sham الشام) is the capital city of Syria. ... Abdullah Faizi ad-Daghestani (Dec. ... Vichy France (French: now called Régime de Vichy or Vichy; called itself at the time État Français, or French State) was the French state of 1940-1944 which was a puppet government under Nazi influence, as opposed to the Free French Forces, based first in London and later in Algiers. ... Bayat is a district of Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey. ...

Shortly thereafter Shaykh Abdullah Daghestani ordered Nazim to return to his native Cyprus to deliver spiritual guidance. Shaykh Abdullah also conferred the title of shaykh to Nazim thus giving him the legitimacy to speak on behalf of the Naqshbandi Order. Shaikh (شيخ, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh or Sheikh) is a word in the Arabic language meaning an elder or a revered old man. ...

While in Cyprus Shaykh Nazim came into conflict with pro-Atatürk governing body of the Turkish community of the island. His repeated act of making the adhan in Arabic rather than the prescribed Turkish brought several lawsuits against him and there were some 114 cases lodged against him for crimes against the secular order. Nevertheless all these were dropped shortly thereafter with the coming to power of Adnan Menderes in Turkey, whose government opted for a more tolerant approach to Islamic traditions. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–November 10, 1938), Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and anti-imperialist statesman, was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. ... Adhan ([]) is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin. ... Adnan Menderes Adnan Menderes (1899–1961) was one of the most famous Turkish politicians and Prime minister of Turkey between 1950–1960. ...

Shaykh Nazim moved back to Damascus in 1952, when he was wed to the daughter of one of the murids of Shaykh Abdullah Daghestani, Amina Adil (1929-2004), whose family came to settle in Syria after fleeing Soviet rule of their native Kazan. From that time Shaykh Nazim took up residence in Damascus, and every year he would visit Cyprus for at least three months. The couple has two daughters and two sons. Kazan (Tatar Qazan, Казан, Russian Казань) is the capital city of Tatarstan and one of Russias largest cities. ...

Shaykh Nazim with his wife, the Late Hajjah Amina in the 1990s. Shaykh Nazim is wearing a sikke, the headgear of the Mevlevi Order of Sufis

In the year following the death of his murshid in 1973, Shaykh Nazim began visiting Western Europe, traveling every year from the Middle East to London by plane and returning overland, by car through Yugoslavia, where he often spent time visiting the Muslim communities there. It became his practice to spend the month of Ramadan in the large center established in London. In 2000 this practice was discontinued due to his advanced age. A common understanding of Western Europe in modern times Western Europe was largely defined by the Cold War, with the Iron Curtain separating it from Eastern Europe (Warsaw Pact countries). ... The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London (see Wiktionary:London for the name in other languages) is the capital of the United Kingdom and England. ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in all south Slavic languages, in Macedonian and Serbian Cyrillic Југославија) is a term used for three separate but successive political entities that existed during most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe. ... Ramadan or Ramadhan (Arabic: رمضان) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the holiest month in Islam. ...

In 1997 Shaykh Nazim visited Daghestan, the homeland of his murshid, Shaykh Abdullah Daghestani. He also made repeated visits to Uzbekistan were he made the pilgrimage to the tomb of the eponymous founder of the Naqshbandi Order, Shah Baha'uddin Naqshband (d.1388CE) The Republic of Dagestan (Russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н) is a federal subject of the Russian Federation (a republic). ...

In 1991 Shaykh Nazim visited the United States for the first time and made a nationwide tour, bringing several hundreds of individuals into the fold of Islam and in 1992 he sent one of his khalifahs, Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, to oversee the order’s activities in America. In 1993 the Haqqani Center was opened as a spiritual retreat located in Fenton, Michigan in which Shaykh Nazim was in attendance. In 1996 and 1998 an attempt was made to reach out to the wider American Muslim community through the hosting of International Islamic Unity Conferences, that were held in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Unfortunately these conferences failed to attract larger attention from the Muslim community due to efforts made by various pro-Wahhabi national Islamic organizations to undermine these efforts. Shaykh Nazim made his last trip to the United States in 2000, during which he was invited to speak at the United Nations. Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalifah, Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani is a scholar and Sufi shaykh born in Lebanon who has been active in North America lecturing, spreading Sufi teachings and founding Sufi centers. ... Fenton is a city located in Genesee County and Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ... Masjid Khadijah Bint Khuwaylid in Austin, Texas This article focuses on Islam in the United States, which has one of the most diverse Muslim communities in the world. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Wahhabism (sometimes spelled Wahabbism or Wahabism) is a movement of Islam named after Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (1703–1792). ...

Shaykh Nazim has had close relations with several notable politicians, notably the late president of Turkey, Turgut Ozal as well as the president of Turkish Cyprus, Rauf Denktash. During his travels in Southeast Asia (which began in 1986) he gave his spiritual blessings to His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, His Highness Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X of Yogyakarta and several members of Malaysia’s royal familes (including His Highness Prince Raja Dato Sri Ashman bin Azlan Shah) have taken initiation into the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Order at his hand. He also traveled on numerous occasions to India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka where he has been received with great fanfare. In the late 1990s he visited South Africa where he established contacts with the Sunni Muslim community. Shaykh Nazim has made the pilgrimage to Makkah (Hajj) some 27 times. Turgut Özal was a Turkish political leader, Prime minister and 8th president of Turkey. ... Rauf R. Denktash Rauf Raif Denktash (Rauf Raif DenktaÅŸ in Turkish; born January 27, 1924) is a Turkish-Cypriot political leader. ... Bolkiah during a 2002 visit to the Pentagon Ke Bawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Sir Hassanal Bolkiah Al-Muizzaddin Waddaulah ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Omar Ali Saifuddin, GCMG is the Sultan of Brunei, the eldest son of Sir Omar Ali Saifuddin Saadul Khairi... The present Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, has been inaugurated in October 3, 1998 as the Governor of Yogyakarta Special Region upon request by the people of Yogyakarta. ... Yogyakarta, Indonesia Yogyakarta (also Jogjakarta or Jogja) is a city and province on the island of Java, Indonesia. ... Mecca or Makkah (in full: Makkah al-Mukkaramah; Arabic مكة المكرمة) is revered as the holiest site of Islam, and a pilgrimage to it is required of all Muslims who can afford to go. ...

Due to his advanced age, Shaykh Nazim rarely travels abroad nowadays. He currently resides in his famly home in the town of Lefke, Northern Cyprus. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC) {NOTE: the name is not accepted by UN} , in Turkish Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, is a self-proclaimed state occupying the northern third of the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. ...

Teachings and Worldview

External links

• The Official Website of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Order
• A Biography of Shaykh Nazim