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Khatam Sharif in honour of Shaykh Muhammad Uthman Abduh al-Burhani ®

Shaykh Muhammad Uthman Abduh al- Burhani was

born in Halfa in Sudan at the turn of the century

(1902). As a child he had a dream in which the great

saint Sayyidi Ahmad al-Badawi took him by the hand

and led him to the mountain of the saints, jabal-e-

awliya, a place near Khartoum. Sayyidi Ahmad struck

the mountain enforcing it to form a cave. "Pray in this

cave" he ordered Muhammad Uthman. The boy awoke

and was puzzled by these instructions. He inquired

from the mayor of that place, a man named Wasim,

about the mountain. Wasim told him that the mountain

was called jabal-e-Awliya, as particular saints had once

prayed in one of its caves. Muhammad Uthman finally

found the place revealed in the dream, a cave the floor

of which was covered with white sand and in which the direction of prayer, qibla, was

indicated. There he prayed for the Shaykhs of his order, their chain being completely

known to him. He returned to the cave in later years and spent six months there in

spiritual retreat.

At the age of 10 his uncle initiated him into the order of Burhaniya. He could find no

teacher in the outside world which meant he could not perform any spiritual exercises nor

receive any instructions. He held long nightly vigils in prayer during which he had visions

and was visited by some of the great saints. During these visions and in his dreams he

learned some parts of the awrad, the special prayers of the Burhaniya. After many years

had passed, he finally found a teacher, a blind stranger who had been sent to him by

Sayyidi Ibrahim Disuqi, the original founder of the order. He later discovered books which

had been buried in pots by his grandparents during the period of Mahdi in which many

books were burnt. They enclosed the entire awrad of his Tariqat which Muhammad

Uthman immediately put to use for his followers. In a long vision taking over forty days

he learned that his task was to revitalize the order of Sayyidi Ibrahim Disuqi. For two

months, Muhammad Uthman refused to take on this task until Imam al- Husain (RAD)

personally ordered him to do so. Under the leadership of Shaykh Muhammad Uthman,

Tariqa Burhaniya gained many followers in Sudan and in Egypt. During the seventies the

order already counted over 3 million members alone in Egypt. Since 1981 the order has

also spread to Europe and North America.

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Burhaniya

The Burhaniya Disuqiya Shadhuliya is the sufi order, tariqat, of Sayyidi Ibrahim Qurashi

Disuqi (13th Century A.D.), the fourth of the great sufi Shaykhs and founders of sufi

orders, aqtab. In the spiritual line, silsila, of the Burhaniya Shaykhs traces back to the

Prophet Muhammad (SAW). The most important chain links are:

Sayyidi al Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim Muhammad Uthman ®

Sayyidi al Shaykh Ibrahim Muhammad Uthman ®

Sayyidi al Shaykh Muhammad Uthman Abduh al Burhani ® *

Sayyidi Ahmad Arabi al Sharnubi ®

Sayyidi Musa Abu al Umran ®

Sayyidi Ibrahim al Qurashi al Disuqi ®

Sayyidi Abul Hasan al Shaduli ®

Sayyidi Abduh al Salam ibn Mashish ®

Sayyiduna wa Maulana al Imam al Husain (RAD)

Sayyiduna wa Maulana al Imam al Ali (RAD)

Ziyadatan fi Sharaf al Mustafa, salla'llahu alaihi wa sallam (SAW)

The name of the tariqa relates to:

Burhan - the name of Sayyidi Ibrahim al Qurashi al Disuqi in the Hadra

meditation.

Disuq - the town of Sayyidi Ibrahim in the north of Egypt.

Shadhuli - Sayyidi Ibrahim's uncle Sayyidi Abul Hasan al Shadhuli.

The Tariqa Burhaniya has spread out in the time of Sayyidi Fakhruddin Shaykh Muhammad

Uthman Abduh al Burhani (died 1983) and his son Sayyidi Shaykh Ibrahim Muhammad

Uthman (died 2003). Today, under the leadership of Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim

Muhammad Uthman, there are many thousands of followers and hundreds of Burhani

communities all over the world.

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Receiving the Tariqa

The Shaykh relates,” 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

Disuq, 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."

These are the three colours of the Tariqa: the white colour is the

one which the Messenger of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW),

had given to Sayyidi Ibrahim. It symbolizes the Islamic law - the Sharia. The colour green

stands for Sayyiduna Husain (RAD) and the colour yellow for Sayyidi Abul Hasan al

Shadhuli. Yellow symbolizes the conquest of the seven egos progressing upon the path.

After he had lifted all three cloths, Maulana Shaykh Muhammad Uthman saw the feet of

the corpse and he was highly astonished to discover that they resembled his own. Then

he discovered the presence of the Shaykh Sayyidi Abul Hasan al Shadhuli and many other

saints. "Who is this deceased?" he asked. "It is Ibrahim Disuqi", was the answer. Maulana

broke into tears believing that all his efforts and many prayers had been in vain since his

Shaykh had really died. But then Sayyidi Ibrahim Disuqi appeared to him in person. "The

dead man stands for my Tariqat", he said, "and you have been chosen to bring it back to

life". Maulana refused to take on this task for two months. Then the saints appeared to

him once more, this time in the company of Sayyiduna Husain (RAD). It is said that one

cannot refuse a request from him. He said, "My son, do not hesitate. Those who receive a

burden, also receive support. Shoulder this responsibility and ask for whatever you need.

It will be granted you”. Muhammad Uthman posed many conditions, including the

condition that his followers are not allowed to go mad (majzûb) and that they need not

perform the spiritual retreat (khalwa). Sayyidi Ibrahim and Sayyiduna Husain (RAD)

signed a contract including 60 conditions. This contract is still in the possession of the

Shaykh of the Tariqa, Maulana Shaykh Muhammad Ibrahim Muhammad Uthman.

The Blind Teacher

Even though Maulana Shaykh Muhammad Uthman had taken the

covenant of the Tariqa Burhaniya many years before, he could still

not find a teacher who could instruct him in the exercises needed to

progress on the path of Allah. So he spent most of his time in the

mosque where he studied Islamic Law and Shar’ia. One day a blind

Egyptian entered the room and asked him, "Don't you want to offer

me a seat?" "This is a mosque", Maulana answered, "Everyone is

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welcome here." The stranger turned and prayed as is custom when entering a mosque.

Then he said, "Sayyidi Ibrahim Disuqi has sent me to teach you awrad." He stayed with

Muhammad Uthman for seven months and taught him all the details of awrad and other

special exercises of the Burhaniya Tariqat. In this time Muhammad Uthman often secretly

prayed for his teacher to be cured of his blindness. But then one day his teacher moved

about the room, naming the colour of every object - for although he was blind, he could

see without using his eyes. After the seven months were over he left Muhammad Uthman

to return, to Disuq near the grave of Sayyidi Ibrahim Disuqi, which was his home. The

next time Muhammad Uthman was in Disuq he asked the people there about the stranger

but nobody had ever heard of him.

Shaykh Muhammad Uthman, who

received the name Sayyidi Fakhruddin,

died on April 5th, 1983, and is buried in

Khartoum (Sudan). His grave, maqam,

has become a place of pilgrimage, and

each anniversary thousands of Burhanis

from all over the world as well as

members of other sufi orders gather to

celebrate a great festival, hawliya, in his

honour.

Al-Fatiha