In memory of Shaykh Mohammad Masoum

By Rauf Naqishbendi - Kurdish Media - UK
Thursday, February 22, 2007

Naqshbandiyah which has been the most influential and wide-spread order in Sufism’s (Tasawwof) long history is named after Khawjah Baha al-Din Muhammad Naqshband. Naqshbandiyah’s spirtual leadership rendered a significant transition from Shah “Abd Allah” Dehlawi to one of his splendid foreign disciples, Shaykh Mawlana Khalid Kurdi, and subsequently to the great Shaykh Otman Serajaddin and later to his son Shaykh Omar Zia’addin, in Kurdistan of Iraq.

It was Shaykh Omar Zia’addin who founded the famous Madrassa (school) of Biara. This in turn transformed Biara into a gigantic fountain of spiritual wisdom flowing to the neighboring region. Since then, three generations of descendants with their utmost discipline have granted miraculous growth within Kurdistan and beyond, leaving no corner of the Moslem World untouched.

Millions of faithful followers have found spiritual comfort in this order not for the inducement to perform Karamat( extraordinary feat similar to miracle), but for the elation of the soul through the adherence to the true essence of teachings of Quran and close following of true Islamic principles (Sharia and Sunnah). The success and world-wide endorsement of the Naqshbandi order were engendered by their revival of the essence of Islam with an emphasis on the rules of Sharia.

Naqshbandi leaders have been spiritual guides to many, providing much needed hope to the hopeless, comfort to the troubled and kindness to the desolate. They fed the hungry, sheltered the homeless and gave medicine to the sick; they were emphatic about inclusion, implying that no one should be forsaken. They possessed nothing of their own. When these elders were redeemed, there was very little wealth to be bequeathed to their descendants, yet they left great respectability and the admiration of their followers to perpetuate and enshrine their names thereafter.

Shaykh Mohammad Masoum, the grandson of Shaykh Omar Zia’addin and the last of this spiritual lineage, was born in Biara. He studied the Islamic sciences under the supervision of the most distinguished scholars of his time. Upon the completion of his studies, he was granted a “Certificate of Muddarres of Islamic Sciences” in 1942.

Shaykh Masoum Naqshbandi left this world a short time ago at the age of ninety two, leaving his loved ones and his followers with a vacant seat that cannot be filled. He was living in Iran, in the small town of Mahabad in the western part of the country. He was not a politician but a spiritual figure, as his forefathers were, and he trod in their path faithfully.

In 1991, Shaykh Masoum migrated to the United States where as an esteemed spiritual guide he continued to inspire, educate, and inform people about the universal message of Islam. Advanced in age, he continued in the path of his sainted life, very frustrated by what his country, Kurdistan, and his people had become.

Although illness had limited his public appearances during his final years in the United States, it did not prevent him from continuing his mission. Serving as a genuine source of guidance to many renowned Islamic scholars, he continued to comment with great insight on projected scholarly issues, reflecting his depth of spiritual wisdom.

When I last saw him, he expressed his profound desire to be buried amongst his forefathers upon his redemption. Thanks are due to his children, as they accommodated for his final resting place in the serenity of the crowd of his beloved ones.