Guided tour of the new mother zawiya

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

Guided tour of the new mother zawiya

We recently announced the inauguration of the new zawiya located in al-Araoui, a small town in northern Morocco not far from Nador. In this article we will therefore try to give you a short tour of the place.

First, it is worth briefly explaining what a zawiya is. The zawiya, also spelled zaouiya, zaouia or zawiyah (Arabic: زاوية), means the “corner”. Traditionally, the zawiya is a place open to all, a place of meeting and of welcome. In this sense one can say that the first zawiya in the history of Islam was the mosque of “Ahl al-Suffa” (the People of the Bench), that is, the part of the Prophet’s first mosque (peace and blessings be upon him) that was open to all and that welcomed above all the neediest, Companions living in great poverty. Allah, Exalted is He, mentions these Companions in this verse: “And do not send away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face (Wajh). You are not accountable for them at all, and they are not accountable for you at all. If you were to send them away, you would be among the wrongdoers.” [S6, V52]. Still concerning these Companions, it is reported by Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), passing by the People of the Bench, saw their poverty and their asceticism and said: “Rejoice! For whoever in my Community perseveres in the state in which you find yourselves and is content with his condition will be one of my companions in Paradise.” To return to our main subject, the zawiya, in its traditional form, is a place of life in which one performs dhikr and praises Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Later in history, the function of the zawiya expanded and it became the central point of the community. Its function of welcome remained, but a function of teaching was added to it. It is a place where one is instructed, where the Qur’an is memorised, where one learns to read and write. It is a support for the surrounding community through the material and spiritual help it brings. It is in this perspective that the Karkariya zawiya was built in this remote corner of the small town of al-Araoui. After this brief introduction to the concept of the zawiya, we can begin the tour!

First, here is the zawiya seen from the outside. We can notice that it is located in a rural setting where modesty is the rule, along with a traditional Moroccan way of life. The sound of the wind slipping between the houses and lifting the beaten earth is the melody that accompanies us throughout the day. Life is punctuated by the calls to prayer from the neighbouring mosque, to which we go, by the mercy of Allah, every Friday.

It is through the porch that we enter the zawiya…

and here we are in the room where the majma‘ takes place.

The majma‘ is a moment when all the disciples gather to do dhikr; it takes place every Friday evening. First, we begin with the recitation of Surat al-Kahf, then we read the daily surahs, which are Ya-Sin, al-Fath, al-Waqi‘a and al-Mulk. We perform the Maghrib prayer and continue with the wird of the tariqa. After that, a few qasidas from the Diwan of our Shaykh are read until Love and burning longing for our Beloved (peace and blessings be upon him) lead us into the hadra. The Diwan is recited in the form of chanting called sama‘. Concerning this, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “Do you not know that among the groups, the best is theirs?” It was said: “But they practise sama‘ (spiritual chanting) and experience ecstasy (al-wajd, al-jadhb).” He said: “They call to rejoice in Allah…” [Quoted in the Tanwir al-Qulub]. Many scholars have praised sama‘ and its spiritual virtue. Dhul-Nun the Egyptian, may Allah have mercy on him, said of it: “It is a messenger of truth (rasul haqq), sent to drive hearts towards Allah. Whoever listens to it as is fitting realises its truth, but whoever listens to it with his carnal soul is in heresy.” After the hadra, a series of du‘as is made for the whole ummah. But what would the majma‘ be without Sidi Shaykh’s weekly lesson… It is on this occasion that Sidi Shaykh gives the lessons that you find translated on the blog. The disciples have often compared Sidi Shaykh, when he gives his teachings, to a river whose water one cannot hold back. This Friday evening dars alone is worth the journey to al-Araoui. We close the evening with a meal open to all, where we meet the neighbours of the zawiya as well as the disciples of the tariqa. It is late at night that we go to bed, our eyes and hearts filled with Light.

Let us now continue the tour by taking the main staircase up to the main room of the zawiya, the room in which we live and sleep during our stay.

It is therefore here that the disciple retreats for the length of his stay. We share meals here and live to the rhythm of the prayers. It is a surprise every time to know whom we will meet in this place. The comings and goings of disciples from all over the world are constant. Each one desires to contemplate the Muhammadan Light and to taste the Knowledge of their Lord. Not long ago, 4 Brazilian brothers came. But there have also been Indonesians, Canadians, Australians, and so on. I leave you to imagine the richness of the encounters that take place in this blessed place… Let whoever wishes to come and visit Sidi Shaykh prepare for a communal way of life! There is no question of staying in one’s corner; here fellowship is the rule. When Sidi Shaykh has planted this seed of Light in your heart, we become companions. What you have read in the sira of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about the Love that existed among the Noble Companions, you will be able to live here. A hadith speaks of this Love that reigns among the people of the Light: “Among the servants of Allah there are servants who are not Prophets, but whom the Prophets and the martyrs will envy.” It was asked: “Who are they, so that we may love them?” He said: “They are a people (qawm) who loved one another through the Light of Allah without ties of kinship or lineage. Their faces are Light. They stand upon pulpits of Light. They have no fear when people are afraid and are not sad when people grieve.” Then he recited: “Indeed, the awliya of Allah will have no fear, nor will they grieve.” [Reported by an-Nasa’i in al-Kubra, Abu Ya‘la in his Musnad and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih]. As one disciple put it very well in his video testimony: “here we do not read the Qur’an and the hadiths, we are inside them” and “here we do not learn Tawhid, we live Tawhid!” It is also in this room that Sidi Shaykh spends most of the day, seated beside his disciples… He answers all our questions, eats with us, prays with us.

Such simplicity astonishes the first time and even the following times. Nothing reflects this reality better than words of sincerity, so here are the words of a sister (her pseudonym: Poussière Karkariya) who was meeting Sidi Shaykh Mohamed Fawzi al-Karkari (may Allah sanctify his secret) for the first time: “To all my brothers and sisters, what I am living right now is so beautiful that I would like all of you to live it… Truly, if you want Allah, to love Him with all your heart, to feel Him, to see His Light… we deserve none of this, truly we do not deserve it, but Allah offers it to us in spite of our rotten nafs… If you truly want Allah, glory be to Him… come to Nador… by Allah, my brothers and sisters, there is a Wali in Nador… if you want Allah, come and see His Wali… He behaves with his disciples as a mother takes care of her infant, broods over him and feeds him so that he grows… He takes us by the hand and little by little leads us to Allah… I have been a Karkari for more than a year but this is the first time I am visiting Sidi Shaykh… he has nothing to do with the photos… he is so generous and gentle… he reassures and consoles us when we cry… he gives us courage when we feel ourselves weakening… he shows us our vices one by one and removes them from us… I have only just truly understood the notion of the physician of the heart… he is a treasure… I repeat it to you because it is impossible for me to keep silent… to all those whose goal is Allah, glory be to Him… come to Nador, in sha’ Allah.”

As for the main living room, there is an identical one on the floor just above, reserved for the sisters. The first and second floors are therefore identical. After these words of Love, we continue the tour of this blessed zawiya. As we said, life at the zawiya is communal, both within it, in the way the disciples live, and in its surroundings. For the disciples, communal life does not go without communal tasks… A kitchen is therefore at the disposal of the disciples, as well as a washing place for cleaning clothes.

Tradition, help, welcome: the public well

As for its surroundings, the zawiya was built in keeping with the traditional spirit of help and welcome. Most of the people living in the neighbourhood of the zawiya unfortunately do not have running water. By settling in this village, Sidi Shaykh decided that we owed it to ourselves to make the lives of the inhabitants easier. We therefore built a well for the use of the villagers. Here are a few photos of some stages in the construction of this well.

And here is the final result!

The well is finally finished and placed at the disposal of the villagers. The children of the village are in charge of coming to fetch water for the family.

The tour is slowly coming to an end, but before that we still have to present to you an extremely important room, in the zawiya and also in the disciple’s journey. This room is the khalwa! We are used to calling this room by the name of what is done in it: the spiritual retreat. After a certain time (it varies for each person) spent making this Light, received at the pact, grow through good deeds, dhikr, readings of the Qur’an… and after having received all the mushahada (visions in the waking state) that complete the “spiritual sentence”, our Shaykh decides that the disciple is finally ready for the khalwa. This retreat takes place in a room, and the disciple is cut off from the world for 3 days. Sanitary facilities are available next to the room so that he meets no one during his retreat. The only person the disciple sees is Sidi Shaykh, who comes to tell him when to get up and when to sleep. Sidi Shaykh also brings him the meal to break the fast. During this retreat the disciple will see the expansion of the universe (fatq) return to its condensed state (ratq). Allah, Exalted is He, says : “Have those who disbelieved (verb kafara) not seen that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity (ratq), and We separated them (fatq) and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?” [Surat al-Anbiya, verse 30]. “That is: have those who concealed (for in the Arabic language, kafara means to cover, to conceal…) not seen the esoteric Reality, the specificity of the first Essence, which is that the spiritual heavens and the bodily earths were one condensed substance that We then extended by Oneness, bringing out illusory diversities. And We brought forth from the transcendent divine water every living being, preserving in them the balance by the scale of justice, granting each divine Name its effective share. The spiritual degree of Gathering (jam‘) is a foundation among the foundations of the educational methodology of the Sufis, and whoever has not reached the degree of Gathering has in reality no share in divine contemplation (shuhud)… and whoever has no share in divine contemplation has no share in the Knowledge of the divine (ma‘rifa). Consequently, the return of the seven heavens, the seven earths, the Footstool (Kursi) and the Throne (‘Arsh) from their extended state to their original condensation is a foundation among the foundations of our path, so that for the traveller the role of the One in the different numerical degrees becomes clear… he will thus see the actions of the Real through the different degrees of action of the servants, so that he no longer sees any action that does not come from Him, glory be to Him. At the end of it, our Shaykh will bestow the Secret of Tawhid, which is beyond all vision, all expression and all indication. This Secret is not a secret of words, but a secret that is given from heart to heart, just as the Light was received at the pact.” [al-Kawakib ad-Durriya fi bayan al-‘Usul an-Nuraniya (Mawlana Sidi Mohamed Faouzi Al Karkari)].

Our Shaykh also says about the one who has received it: “From that moment, he will contemplate illusory existence through Allah. At that moment the divine Name and His Laws will manifest, and the image and its illusions will dissipate. The present time will speak with the eternal tongue, oneness will be contemplated in the very heart of multiplicity, and the spirit will find itself seized and enraptured by the vision of pre-eternal Beauty. It will then be understood that this multiplicity has in reality no Existence in itself and that it is only a fleeting shadow. The thing will thus henceforth be perceived as existing through the true Essence and not by itself. The perceptions of anything other than Allah will be extinguished, and the traveller will vanish into the ocean of the Ha’.”

Here is the blessed room where the khalwa takes place. Note that there are two on the men’s floor and one on the women’s floor, for they too perform the khalwa.

This is how the visit to the humble zawiya of Sidi Shaykh Mohamed Fawzi al-Karkari comes to an end… We hope to have somewhat demystified the place and to have made you want to visit us. But above all, to meet Sidi Shaykh. Sidi Shaykh wants this zawiya to be a place of sharing, of meeting, of brotherhood for Allah. If you too wish to take part in this surge of Love of the Divine, do not hesitate; you now know where we are…