By Shaykh Mohammed Daniel al-Muhajir al-Dimishqi
Edited by IlmGate
July 22, 2015
إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون، إن لله ما أخذ وله ما أعطى وكل شيىء عنده بأجل مسمى
عن الحسن قال: “كانوا يقولون: موت العالم ثلمة في الإسلام لا يسدها شيء ما اختلف الليل والنهار.” رواه الدارمي ح34
It brings me extreme sadness to learn of and inform my Muslim brethren that the erudite scholar, expert reciter, master calligrapher, and Imam of humility and gnostics in the blessed Land of Shām; Shaykh Shukri Ibn Ahmed Ibn Ali al-Luhafi al-Shādhili al-Hanafi has passed into the mercy of Allah at the age of 98 Hijri years (1338 – 1436 AH, corresponding to 1920 – July 18th, 2015 CE).
I had been meaning to write something sooner, but ill health did not permit for such and as it persists, I have no choice, but to write a humble obituary that I am certain will fall short in describing this spiritual giant amongst men.
Having said that, I feel it an obligation upon myself in trying to fulfil the right of my honourable Shaykh, that I at least make brief mention of his qualities and request readers to supplicate for him.
In the name of Allah, I begin:
The first time, I ever set eyes on the Shaykh was at the majestic Umayyad Mosque in 2001 and upon seeing the immense illumination on his face, I knew then that this face belonged to one of Allah’s chosen few.
In those days, it was my habit to spend as much time as possible at the Umayyad Mosque as I had witnessed many blessed sights there and believed it to be a magnet for ascetics and hidden gems. For several years this continued, and during that time I would see this very elderly and frail man coming frequently to the mosque, sometimes picking up scraps of litter dropped around the mosque by tourists and even tidying away any shoes that fell on the mosque carpet.
I so much desired to learn more about this person, but felt it an encroachment and lack of adab towards him to enquire about his private life. Added to this, the sensitivity that permeates Syrian society in the secret-police state, meant I was deprived of getting to know the Shaykh personally for quite some time.
Years later, I was blessed to attend several gatherings that brought me in contact with this same hidden gem and it was then that I learnt that he was a senior scholar of Damascus. I also witnessed his immense respect for his teachers in Qur’an such as our mutual Shaykh, the renowned Qāri and Shaykh of Qurrā Kurayyim Rājih, who is some years younger than him. This just cemented for me the great humility that the Shaykh possessed.
I desired very much to draw closer to this great sage in order to glean benefit from his sublime character as well as his esoteric knowledge and wisdom and I will forever remember the first time I met the Shaykh at his humble abode in the Midan district of Damascus.
I had obtained Shaykh’s number and telephoned requesting to meet him at a place and time of his convenience. He informed me that he was unwell and that I could meet him at his residence during the mornings.
The Shaykh started dictating to me his address, but due to the Shaykh’s dialect and low voice, I was unable to grasp the exact details of his location. I passed the phone to my father-in-law (well known Syrian Qāri who knew the Shaykh) and asked if he could make out the address so that I would not be going in vain. He tried repeatedly, but it was also not very clear to him what the honourable Shaykh was saying. We managed to make out that the Shaykh lived on a well known, but lengthy street and he tried to explain that his house was in close proximity to a pharmacy.
Despite not having exact details, I decided that I had to set out to meet the Shaykh and made a prayer to Allah to facilitate the meeting if this person was indeed one of His chosen ones.
I set out from Roukn al-Deen on the “Midan Shaykh” bus that covered the route for the one-hour journey. When we arrived near the district where the Shaykh resided, the driver asked me where I wanted to get down. I informed him to let me down near the pharmacy and he smiled and said there were numerous pharmacies on the 2 mile-stretch of road. I watched as we went past a few and suddenly, I felt an urge to ask the driver to let me disembark at the next pharmacy he knew.
Upon descending from the bus, I prepared myself mentally for a long walk along the length of the road in search of the pharmacy that would help me locate the Shaykh’s home. I crossed over the road and entered the pharmacy to ascertain if they were aware of the Shaykh. It turned out to be the exact pharmacy the Shaykh was trying to explain to me over the phone, and the staff informed me that he lived around the corner.
When I approached the house, to my utter amazement, I found the 90 year old Shaykh standing at the door waiting for me even though he had not given me an exact time to meet, nor did he have any window with a view on the road that would have given him an indication of my arrival. This and the immensely warm smile on his face, I will never forget.
After, spending some time with him in which I requested advice and that he permit me to narrate some Ahādith and Qur’an to him (I was honoured to receive Ijāzah from him), he informed me that it was nearing the time for him to leave the house in order to catch the Dhuhr salah with congregation. When I looked at my watch, I saw we had at least an hour before Dhuhr; but as he requested, I asked for his Du’a and sought his permission to leave. He told me that we could leave together and brought his walking stick.
Another sight I will never forget is the amount of effort and time it took for him to walk a few steps, yet he was in the habit of praying in the masjid. I offered to wave a taxi down for him to ease the journey, but he kindly rejected the offer. I felt helpless to do anything and bade him farewell. I then stood for 5 minutes or so watching this fragile Shaykh, with his crooked neck (his habit was to keep his head down always from humility), and eyes fixed to the ground, struggle in every stride that he took towards the masjid. This brought shame upon me for every time I was lax in attending the congregational prayer in the mosque.
Numerous scholars who knew Shaykh personally regard him as one of the Abdāl of Shām, about whom Sayyiduna Ali (R) had informed the Ummah (chains of narration for all reports ascribed to the Prophet ﷺ are weak as stated by al-Sakhawi and others). Having personally met hundreds of scholars worldwide and based on my experiences with the Shaykh, I too regard him as a close friend (wali) of Allah. And Allah alone knows best the inner and outer realities of a person.
:قال الشاعر
النفس تجزع أن تكون فقيرة * * * والفقر خير من غناً يطغيها
وغنى النفوس هو الكفاف فإن أبت* * * فجميع ما في الأرض لا يكفيها
Many people who have met and written about the beloved Shaykh have stated that he was very poor, giving the impression that this was due to some financial incapability. But the reality is that this was the way he chose to live his life through his immeasurable generosity towards those less fortunate to him and his sincere desire to join the elite ranks of the great ascetics such as Bishr al-Hāfi, Ali Jurjāni and Ibrahim Ibn Adham.
وقال أبو فراس:
إن الغني هو الغني بنفسه * * * ولو انه عاري المناكب حاف
ما كل ما فوق البسيطة كافيا * * * وإذا قنعت فبعض شيء كاف
A few years ago in Damascus, the Syrian Ministry of Awqāf & wealthy businessmen conducted a ceremony to award lifetime achievement awards to the famous Qurrā (Qur’an reciters) of Syria. Shaykh was gifted the huge sum of 500,000 Syrian Lira (equivalent to $11,000 today). Within hours of receiving it, he had arranged for it to be given away in sadaqah. Truly astonishing!
قال الشاعر :
هي القناعة فالزمها تكن ملكا * * * لو لم تكن لك إلا راحة البدن
وانظر لمن ملك الدنيا بأجمعها * * * هل راح منها بغير الطيب والكفن
May Allah forgive him, raise his ranks, expand his grave, wash away his sins, give him a better abode and family than he had in this world, permit him intercession and bless him with the loftiest grades of Paradise in al-Firdaws.
اللهم اغفر له وارحمه وعافه واعف عنه وأكرم نزله ووسع مدخله واغسله بالماء والثلج والبرد ونقه من الخطايا كما ينقى الثوب الأبيض من الدنس اللهم أبدله دارا خيرا من داره وأهلا خيرا من أهله اللهم أدخله الجنة وأعذه من عذاب القبر ومن عذاب النار
Our Belovedﷺ said in a Hadith that is agreed upon:
إن الله لا يقبض العلم انتزاعا ينتزعه من العباد، ولكن يقبض العلم بقبض العلماء، حتى إذا لم يبق عالما، اتخذ الناس رؤوسا جهالا، فسئلوا، فأفتوا بغير علم، فضلوا وأضلوا
“Indeed, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars, until there remains no scholar and the people take the ignorant as their leaders. Then they are asked and give religious judgments without knowledge, they go astray and cause other to go astray.”
May Allah unite us with our Shuyūkh in the Hereafter under His Shade, at the Cistern and in Jannat al-Firdaws.
Courtesy of Cordoba Academy
Note: This article was edited for spelling, grammar, and style.
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