Sidi Muhammad Sa‘id al-Jamal ar-Rifa'i as-Shadhuli

Sidi's Silsilah: Lineage Line

Prophet Muhammad, may Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him.

‘Ali b. Abu Talib

Al-Hassan

Abu Muhammad Jabir

Sa‘id al-Ghaznawi

Fath as-Su’ud

Sa‘d

Abu Muhammad Sa‘id

Ahmad al-Marwani

Ibrahim al-Basri

Zayn al-din al-Qazwini

Muhammad Sham ad-din

Muhammad Tajaddin

Nur a-din abu’l Hassan ‘Ali

Fakhr ad-din

Tuqay ad-din al-fuqayyir

‘Abd ar-Rahman al-‘Attar Az-Zayyat

‘Abd as-Salam b. Mashish

Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhuli

Abul-‘Abbas al-Mursi

Ahmad ibn Ata‘ Allah

Dawud al-Bahhili

Muhammad Wafa

Yahya l-Qadiri

Ahmad b. Uqba al-Hadrami

Ahmad Zarruq

Ibrahim Afaham

‘Ali as-Sanhaja al-Dawwar

Muhyid-din ibn al-‘Arabi

‘Abd ar-Rahman al-Majdhub

Yusuf al-Fasi

‘Abd ar-Rahman al-Fasi

Muhammad b. ‘Abdullah

Qasim al-Khassasi

Ahmad b. ‘Abdullah

Al-‘Arabi b. Ahmad ‘Abdullah

‘Ali al-Jamal

Abu Hamza

‘Ali Nuriddin

Sidi Ibrahim b. ‘Ali Nuriddin

Sidi ‘Abd ar-Rahman

Sidi Muhammad Sa‘id al-Jamal

From Sidi's book Conversations in the Zawiyah.

(Information courtesy of Sidi Muhammad Press)

islamic boat

BIOGRAPHY

Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Sa‘id al-Jamal ar-Rifa‘i ash-Shadhuli,
the Guide of the peace, the mercy, and the love to the way of Allah
through the Sufi path a guide of the Shadhdhuliyyah Tariqah,
founded by as-Shaykh Ali Abu-l-Hasan as-Shadhili in Egypt in the thirteenth century.

The Shaykh is a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, through his ancestor, Shaykh Ahmad ar-Rifa‘i. He was born in Tulkum in the Holy Land in 1935. He is the spiritual inheritor through the Shadhili line from his Guide and Master, Shaykh ‘Abdu-r-Rahman Abu-r-Risah of Halab in the land of Syria,and is one who has kept Sufism alive and at work as an institution and a school of thought and spiritual knowledge. In 1997 he restored the 1000 year old Sufi Council that served in the Holy Land. He is the Head of this Council in Jerusalem and the Holy Land and has been a teacher and central figure at the Masjid al-Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock for many years.

The Shaykh has been living on the Mount of Olives in the Holy City of Jerusalem since the year 1959. The teaching from his spirit is very deep and for all those who have a heart and who listen with this heart. His teaching sheds an entirely new light on the reality of Sufism and the significance of carrying this message to everyone in this time.

For many years the Shaykh has been a teacher at the sacred sanctuary
of al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, which is linked for all Muslims to the Holy House in Mecca in the tradition of the Night Journey (al-Mi‘raj) of the Prophet Muhammad from the Ka‘ba in Mecca to the al-Aqsa Mosque and from there to the heavens. He is well known to many people both in Palestine and in other countries in the world. Not only is he a teacher and counselor for all those who come to be at al-Aqsa, but he is also its custodian, for through his hand and leadership in these times this Sacred Precinct has been preserved, in the face of many efforts to destroy it, as a place of prayer for the Muslim people who come from all over the world to visit the Holy City of Jerusalem and to take the blessing of the praying in this Mosque. The Shaykh has students and followers in the Holy Land as well as in America and Europe, but it has only been since 1993 that the order came to his heart to travel to visit other countries. At the same time the order came from Allah for him to give teachings to all those in every part of the world who are sincerely seeking for the truth of their existence, the meaning of their life, and to heal their wounds. Up until then, the teaching had been reserved only for studyin his Zawiyah in Jerusalem.

Shaykh Muhammad Sa‘id al-Jamal is a distinguished person of international stature.
For forty years he has lived in the Holy City of Jerusalem and has worked consistently
with great patience to keep the peace between the people there.

He began his career at a very young age as an uncompromising man of God, who had no fear of anyone but God, and because of this took a stand facing governments any time they tried to overlook God in their actions or disrespected people's right to worship God. Being a judge of the courts, he was a government employee, at the same time that he gave weekly sermons in al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. He has been the spiritual counselor to the people of the Holy Land and to all those who have visited over the past forty years and has given his life as a sacrifice to this work.

He makes monthly journeys all over the Holy Land to help the poor and to make sure that everyone has food and clothing. There are always lines of people at his home and at his office because they know that they can find real help from him.

The Shaykh opened a Sufi Center in an old building on the road to Jericho
which holds the Prophet Moses' tomb, may the peace and blessings of God be with him. This center became the head of the Sufi operations of aid. It has also been used to rehabilitate drug users and dealers.

In 1994 he made his first visit to America and has continued to be invited here each year to give seminars and teachings at schools and centers across the United States. The Shaykh is not a teacher for a few following a spiritual path but opens his heart to help everyone from any country or nationality and he has helped people from all over the world. The real beloved of God works for all those who are suffering and who need food and clothes in all this world. He is a leader |who helps to keep peace no matter what the cost and who serves humanity without prejudice.

(Information courtesy of Sidi Muhammad Press)

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WHO IS THE GUIDE?
Biography	*Lineage Line*	Poetry	Home Page
Bismi‘llah Ir-Rahman Ir-Rahim In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
I am like the sea; many ships sail across the sea, but who knows the depth of the sea? When I move through the streets,			I watch the sons of truth pass me by; I do not say anything, but I open my heart, and they enter.
AL WARITH AL MUHAMMADI WHO IS THE GUIDE THAT CARRIES THE TRUTH? Beloved, know in whose presence you sit; know who whispers these words into the ear of your heart. If you hear me, know me; if you would know me, you must enter. All of these words are in the way of metaphors. With what voice shall I call you but the voice of your own quest? You will see me with the eye of your deepest yearning, if you see me at all. And if you are searching for me, it is because I am searching for you. If you understand what I mean, then let us meet face to face, hand to hand, and soul to soul. If you want to go to Damascus, you must find someone who has traveled that way and who knows all the subtleties, the difficulties, and the detours in the road; who has reached the destination and knows every inn along the way. I am the way to Damascus. I am the way. Where do you want to go? When I say that I am the way, understand well who it is who is speaking to you. The way is ancient and everlasting. All who are of the way are possessed by the way and carried by the way, even while they carry the way. When I offer you my hand, look within this hand to see who touches you, who holds you and who moves you. Know that I and my Father are one, and all who have come before me and spoken in this way, in spirit and in truth, speak to you now and offer you the hand of holy union. This is a vow of the deepest marriage and before you can commit yourself, you must know whom you face. How would you know the guide for whom you have been searching if he stood before you and spoke with you? Look within and without for the source of this voice. From where does it come? Watch the way in which he moves and by what is he moved? By what light is he guided? Whose work does he accomplish? If he comes in the name of the holy tree, taste the fruit to know what the tree is. Listen to the heart of the message in every action of the life of the guide. If it is al-Warith al-Muhammadi, al-Insan al-Kamil, the perfected one, whom you see, he spends all his time working in the way because he has no time; the time is God’s. In his religion, there is no separation between people, male or female, white or black, of any nation or of any race. In all this, in every form there is no reality but the reality of God. In the face of everyone, he sees the face of his beloved Allah. He loves the poor and he is a prince of the poor (al-fuqara). He himself is the poorest of the poor, and at the same time he sits on the throne of infinite richness. There is no existence in him to veil the existence of God. His cup is always empty, but filled with the light of God and overflowing with His mercy. He is moved by the order of God to go wherever His mercy is needed, to the sick, the prisoners, orphans, widows, and to all who quest after the water of truth. All this movement of the slave of God is merely a sign from God of the depth of His caring for His creation. Every surah, every picture or chapter in the Qur’an begins with bismi‘llah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim, in the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. The guide is the Qur’an embodied. Read the holy text in the unfoldment of his life and you can see that his every picture, every action, and gesture begins in the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. There is no other meaning to the action of his life but that the Creator wishes to manifest His mercy directly on the earth, and to this end He moves His slave. Know that the perfect slave is one with his Lord, and he is like one immersed in a great sea who doesn’t swim through the sea by his own effort or intention, but is borne with the sea and is one with the sea. Many fathomless currents and hidden pearls are contained within the depth of the sea; so vast and limitless is the heart of the guide, because at once he is in the sea and the sea is in him. When you look into the face of the guide, what do you see? You see yourself. If you come to the ocean with a cup, you drink by the cupful. If you come with a teaspoon your spoon will be filled. If you enter and dissolve in the presence (al-fana`-fi-shaykh), then you see truly, without limit, beyond form, who you are facing and who you are whom he faces. By means of a metaphor, a dream which is an awakening, see with the eyes of the student (al-murid) who sees through the veil. I am traveling through a remote village, on a long journey, when I hear that it just so happens that my shaykh is in town and receiving visitors. I go to a special area of the town where he is supposed to be sitting and see there, the mat he is accustomed to sitting on. I sit in my place on one side of the mat facing him and, although no body is visible, I am sure I feel his spiritual presence facing me. Then I see clearly that he is looking at me. His eyes are dark and beautiful, filled with mercy and light, like the eyes of his body; but these are the eyes of his soul, and there is no face but the vastness of space. Two times the eyes open and close. The first time, they cast an immense shadow over the mat and myself and the ground behind me. Then I can see behind me, through the back of my head, the ancient stone domes of Jerusalem. The second time the eyes of the soul of the guide open and close, through them pours a vast sea, which enters into my heart and soul, flooding all my being with love. Then he holds me with the arms of his soul and gives me the teaching with the tongue of his soul. Beloved, know that the guide is the holy bride who wants to wed you, but only her Beloved within you can truly embrace her. The bride is your own original truth, which remains virgin and undefiled beneath the veil of every presence. You cannot know the guide who sits before you, if you do not know the guide who is within you and is your own true being. Know yourself; call this holy being into existence if you wish to know who sits before you and instructs you in the form of the pretext of the guide. How do you become or realize the holy being that you are, for whom the guide has manifest to reflect? Search about yourself, my beloved, and know yourself well. What you truly long for, ask for, so that you may receive it. Call to me from your inner depth, so that I may meet you in that depth from which you call. Again I say, drink and surrender; you take from this sea what you give to this sea. Beloved, I await you. I put my heart, the truth, under every foot. Know by what you are supported, by what you are carried, on what ground you stand, and on what path you travel. Beloved in the hajj, remember, you are walking on my heart. Then be full of care with every step. (Information courtesy of Sidi Muhammad Press) top of page

Sidi's Silsilah: Lineage Line Prophet Muhammad, may Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him. ‘Ali b. Abu Talib Al-Hassan Abu Muhammad Jabir Sa‘id al-Ghaznawi Fath as-Su’ud Sa‘d Abu Muhammad Sa‘id Ahmad al-Marwani Ibrahim al-Basri Zayn al-din al-Qazwini Muhammad Sham ad-din Muhammad Tajaddin Nur a-din abu’l Hassan ‘Ali Fakhr ad-din Tuqay ad-din al-fuqayyir ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-‘Attar Az-Zayyat ‘Abd as-Salam b. Mashish Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhuli Abul-‘Abbas al-Mursi Ahmad ibn Ata‘ Allah Dawud al-Bahhili Muhammad Wafa Yahya l-Qadiri Ahmad b. Uqba al-Hadrami Ahmad Zarruq Ibrahim Afaham ‘Ali as-Sanhaja al-Dawwar Muhyid-din ibn al-‘Arabi ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-Majdhub Yusuf al-Fasi ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-Fasi Muhammad b. ‘Abdullah Qasim al-Khassasi Ahmad b. ‘Abdullah Al-‘Arabi b. Ahmad ‘Abdullah ‘Ali al-Jamal Abu Hamza ‘Ali Nuriddin Sidi Ibrahim b. ‘Ali Nuriddin Sidi ‘Abd ar-Rahman Sidi Muhammad Sa‘id al-Jamal From Sidi's book Conversations in the Zawiyah. (Information courtesy of Sidi Muhammad Press) top of page

BIOGRAPHY Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Sa‘id al-Jamal ar-Rifa‘i ash-Shadhuli, the Guide of the peace, the mercy, and the love to the way of Allah through the Sufi path a guide of the Shadhdhuliyyah Tariqah, founded by as-Shaykh Ali Abu-l-Hasan as-Shadhili in Egypt in the thirteenth century. The Shaykh is a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, through his ancestor, Shaykh Ahmad ar-Rifa‘i. He was born in Tulkum in the Holy Land in 1935. He is the spiritual inheritor through the Shadhili line from his Guide and Master, Shaykh ‘Abdu-r-Rahman Abu-r-Risah of Halab in the land of Syria,and is one who has kept Sufism alive and at work as an institution and a school of thought and spiritual knowledge. In 1997 he restored the 1000 year old Sufi Council that served in the Holy Land. He is the Head of this Council in Jerusalem and the Holy Land and has been a teacher and central figure at the Masjid al-Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock for many years. The Shaykh has been living on the Mount of Olives in the Holy City of Jerusalem since the year 1959. The teaching from his spirit is very deep and for all those who have a heart and who listen with this heart. His teaching sheds an entirely new light on the reality of Sufism and the significance of carrying this message to everyone in this time. For many years the Shaykh has been a teacher at the sacred sanctuary of al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, which is linked for all Muslims to the Holy House in Mecca in the tradition of the Night Journey (al-Mi‘raj) of the Prophet Muhammad from the Ka‘ba in Mecca to the al-Aqsa Mosque and from there to the heavens. He is well known to many people both in Palestine and in other countries in the world. Not only is he a teacher and counselor for all those who come to be at al-Aqsa, but he is also its custodian, for through his hand and leadership in these times this Sacred Precinct has been preserved, in the face of many efforts to destroy it, as a place of prayer for the Muslim people who come from all over the world to visit the Holy City of Jerusalem and to take the blessing of the praying in this Mosque. The Shaykh has students and followers in the Holy Land as well as in America and Europe, but it has only been since 1993 that the order came to his heart to travel to visit other countries. At the same time the order came from Allah for him to give teachings to all those in every part of the world who are sincerely seeking for the truth of their existence, the meaning of their life, and to heal their wounds. Up until then, the teaching had been reserved only for studyin his Zawiyah in Jerusalem. Shaykh Muhammad Sa‘id al-Jamal is a distinguished person of international stature. For forty years he has lived in the Holy City of Jerusalem and has worked consistently with great patience to keep the peace between the people there. He began his career at a very young age as an uncompromising man of God, who had no fear of anyone but God, and because of this took a stand facing governments any time they tried to overlook God in their actions or disrespected people's right to worship God. Being a judge of the courts, he was a government employee, at the same time that he gave weekly sermons in al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. He has been the spiritual counselor to the people of the Holy Land and to all those who have visited over the past forty years and has given his life as a sacrifice to this work. He makes monthly journeys all over the Holy Land to help the poor and to make sure that everyone has food and clothing. There are always lines of people at his home and at his office because they know that they can find real help from him. The Shaykh opened a Sufi Center in an old building on the road to Jericho which holds the Prophet Moses' tomb, may the peace and blessings of God be with him. This center became the head of the Sufi operations of aid. It has also been used to rehabilitate drug users and dealers. In 1994 he made his first visit to America and has continued to be invited here each year to give seminars and teachings at schools and centers across the United States. The Shaykh is not a teacher for a few following a spiritual path but opens his heart to help everyone from any country or nationality and he has helped people from all over the world. The real beloved of God works for all those who are suffering and who need food and clothes in all this world. He is a leader \|who helps to keep peace no matter what the cost and who serves humanity without prejudice. (Information courtesy of Sidi Muhammad Press) top of page

POETRY Book: The Meadow of Poetic Truths Diwan of: Shaykh Muhammad Said al-Jamal ar-Rifa'i as-Shadhuli The Love of the Ecstatic In the abode of intimacy, in the garden of contentment, the Beautiful One whilred in the dazzling cup Beauty kept its promise with continuos outpouring of purity, The true companions of hope are with Jesus of the time They make wine out of the generosity of guidance sweetened with Prophetic essences, Their forms have taken on the garbs of the night of ascension, allowing the stars to descend from their orbits to touch the Earth of the hearts of the friends of God. Revelation and inspiration cry out in song, calling the attention of a group inspired to love, delivered from the trerasure chest of the Unmanifest. Gabriel comes close, engrossed in his song, his hands outstretched, carrying the discriminating light. In the insie of the Cave, in its inner most chamber the spark of light sits in the personification of grandeur, Whence the Ka'bah cries out in longing with a force that pierces the veil of the Hidden World. I praise the Praise that is Manifest, and that is the Healing for every soul. Transcendence is contained within it, veiling unity in the face of Beauty. Glorifications are prostrated here in strength, O Companion, love here melts allowing a vision of the Beauty that is so generous with Herself. She is unveiled, the Face of Sanctity that is forever pouring light into every cup. She gives, and in Her giving She is manifest Generosity. Book: The Path to Allah, Most High The Servant Who Has Need of Allah, Most High: Shaykh Muhammad Said al-Jamal ar-Rifa'i as-Shadhuli He who loves Me, knows Me, and he who knows Me, finds Me. He who loves Me, becomes inflamed by My passion, I have killed him, so that I may bring him back to life. And he whom I have killed, I owe him a debt; And to the one that is owed, I become that which is owed. There is no difference between Me and him because I am he and he is I. Book: The Secret of the Love of God Shaykh Muhammad Said al-Jamal ar-Rifa'i as-Shadhuli Fire has been kindled within my heart and within my liver, Longing for the Light of the Divine Self, the One and Only; Then in a unique way He bestowed upon me the Light of the Self, Until I became absent from the unity of creation and became One; I began to witness Him in every descending order, And His attentive care in proximity and even when far apart! Book: He Who Knows Himself Knows His Lord Shaykh Muhammad Said al-Jamal ar-Rifa'i as-Shadhuli If you only look at His rising light, realize that the manifestation of His Unity is hidden; If you see this manifestation of Unity your secret will become firm, Even if the most experienced person with sound logic would be perplexed; For the one with true experience is the one who receives by his love, and is thus not affected by the multiplicity of creation; Diminishing of the glittering multiplicity of creation is the rising of the Law of Unity not its abrogation: For She (i.e. the Essnce of Unity) is Existence and there is nothing but Her; So become purified. To view all of Sidi's publications please visit: Sidi Muhammadan Press Online Store top of page