The Karkariya attends Eric Geoffroy's lecture

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
و الصلاة و السلام على أشرف المرسلين
و على اله و اصحابه أجمعين

The Karkariya attends
Eric Geoffroy’s conference

The fuqara of the Karkariya Sufi Order, more precisely those of the Zawiya of Lille, travelled nearly 650 kilometres this Saturday 4 July to carry out the following programme: attend Eric Geoffroy’s conference in Paris, then go up to Brussels to attend Shaykh Anass Tigra’s conference, and finally return to Lille. That makes Lille > Paris, Paris > Brussels and finally Brussels > Lille. The fuqara of Brussels and Paris did not fail to thank them and to marvel at the efforts made on the Path of Allah, all of it, once again, by the baraka of our Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi Al Karkari, who gives us his madad (support).

Once the fuqara of Lille and Paris were united, they entered a beautiful and pleasant hall and received a very warm welcome from the public and the organisers. A very mixed and diverse audience: we met, for example, Iranians and Peruvians (from Peru).

But what would a conference be without a speaker? It was Eric Geoffroy, Muslim Sufi, Islamologist and professor at the University of Strasbourg, author of several books. He often hosts programmes on Sufism, notably the programme organised by the Belqadiyya Tariqa on Canal Algérie.

Emir Abdelkader (may God have mercy on him) was honoured that day, since he was the subject of this gathering. The conference was in two parts, one focused on the Emir’s military life, from which Eric Geoffroy drew out the great moments: the Emir’s good treatment of prisoners, his fairness in time of war (against France), his remarkable humanism to which so many French soldiers (freed by him himself) testified. The Christians of Syria will always remember the rescue of their ancestors by the Akbarian Emir. In short, Emir Abdelkader, through his practice of a sound Islam, was a forerunner of human rights.

The other part dealt with his spiritual life. Already very young, he took part in the spiritual gatherings of his father, Master of the Qadiri Path. But one must above all stress the Akbarian character of the Emir. Very attached to Shaykh Ibn Arabi, he declared himself his spiritual disciple, and one of the first things he did on settling in Syria was to visit the tomb of Shaykh Ibn Arabi. Eric Geoffroy tells us that at a certain point in his life the Emir no longer signed with the name usually attributed to him but rather as Shaykh Mohamed Al Hassani, perhaps indicating a spiritual evolution?

We will not fail to recall that the fuqara of the Karkariya who, by the permission of our Shaykh, took the first secret of the first reading of the Name “Allah” recognise themselves in the Emir’s writings and thus attest to his degree as a knower.

This is therefore a description, admittedly incomplete, of the conference, which cannot be completed except by being physically present at the event. Professor Eric Geoffroy’s presentation was very instructive, complete, welcoming, and original in some of the facts reported that are not found in books within easy reach. He is a man who attaches great importance to humanism, thus reviving the universal values of Islam.

The last part of this afternoon was also very enriching, since many participants gathered around the Karkari fuqara to put questions to them, mainly about the Muraqqa‘a. A moment of exchange in complete fraternity during this blessed month of Ramadan.

Before the fuqara left, Eric Geoffroy was given the first translated book of our Shaykh, “The Foundations of the Karkariya Sufi Order”.

Discover a few photos to illustrate the event:

We ask God, Exalted be He, to fill them with His Love, to cover them with His Mercy and to give them what is priceless, the Muhammadan Light.