The Language of the Future
Sufi Terminology
by Murshid F.A. Ali ElSenossi

Sayyidi Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman Abduh al Burhani
Sayyidi Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman Abduh al Burhani (1902-1983)

Sayyidi Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman Abduh al Burhani was born in Halfa, Sudan, in 1902. At the age of ten he was initiated into the Path of Allah by his uncle. He established the Burhaniyya Tariqa in 1938, which was marked by the following dream and vision of Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman: "During sleep and during my visions I saw a locomotive with only one wagon coming towards me and stopping right in front of my feet. I discovered that the train came from Dasuq, the home of my Shaykh. This dream repeated itself for forty days. After that the vision became more tangible and I could enter it. I opened the wagon and found a coffin inside. I opened the coffin and found a corpse wrapped in white cloth. I lifted the white cloth and found a green cloth underneath. I lifted the green cloth and found a yellow cloth beneath it." After Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman had lifted all three cloths, he saw the feet of the corpse and was astonished that they resembled his own. He then found himself in the presence of many saints and asked "who is the deceased?" The reply was "it is Ibrahim Dasuqi," which brought Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman to tears. Sayyidi Ibrahim al Qurayshi ad-Dasuqi then appeared to Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman and said "the dead man stands for my tariqa and you have been chosen to bring it back to life." In the 1950's the Burhaniyya Tariqa expanded outside Sudan into Egypt and then into surrounding countries. Shaykh Muhammad 'Uthman is recognised as the reviver of the Burhaniyya Dasuqqiyya Shadhuliyya Tariqa. He passed away in 1983 and is buried at Khartoum.

Silsilat


See also: Spiritual Chain Sayyidi Ibrahim al Qurayshi ad-Dasuqi (633AH/1255CE or 676AH/1296CE)
(Silsilat). The Spiritual Chain of each tariqa descends from the Holy Prophet Muhammad himself (May the Salutations of Allah be upon him and Peace) down to the present-day Shaykh. It is through his attachment to the silsilat that the newly initiated murid has the means to travel to Allah under Divine Protection.
Sayyidi Ibrahim was born in Dasuq, Northern Egypt, in the year 633AH/1255CE, during the last night of the month Sha'ban. Sayyidi Ibrahim refused to suckle in the morning after his birth and during the daylight hours of Ramadan, the first of many of the miraculous events of his life. He read the Qur'an from age three and regularly entered retreat (khalwa) from age five. A distraught mother came to Sayyidi Ibrahim, telling him that a Nile crocodile had taken her son. Sayyidi Ibrahim found the crocodile and told it to return the child, which it did. He then told the crocodile to die, which it did. One back vertebra (kharaza) from this crocodile still hangs in Sayyidi Ibrahim's tomb. He is author of many well known litanies (ahzab), perhaps most famous of which is Salat al-Muhammadiyyah, a prayer on the Muhammadan Essence, also known as Al-Dhatiyyah. Sayyidi Ibrahim understood Syriani, the language of the Angels, which can be found interspersed within his litanies. There are many stories recounting his engagement with the angels, even taking his parents, Sayyidi Abdul Aziz al Mukni bi abi-l Majd and Sayyidatuna Fatima ash-Shadhuliyya, to converse with them. His maternal uncle was Sayyidi Abul Hassan ash-Shadhuli. Sayyidi Ibrahim is the founder of the Dasuqiyya Tariqa and he is recognised as one of the four major Poles (aqtab) within Sufism. He had many followers all over Egypt, with many Christians converting to Islam at his hands. Sayyidi Ibrahim passed away in 676AH/1296CE. He is buried in his well-known mosque in Dasuq.

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