The Hadhrah
I must say, I’m one of the most naive people I’ve met. :) When I heard about the “Hadhrah”, or “Dhikr” I seriously just thought it was a bunch of people sitting and saying “Subhaanallaah…Alhamdulillaah…Allaahuakbar” and I was really looking forward to it. LOL when I got there, I was surprised to see everyone stand up, hold hands in a circle, and start moving and breathing in rhythm. My first instinct was to speak to Allah - “Oh my goodness! What is this? O Allah, forgive me if we are angering you!” etc. I obviously did not want to disrupt the devotion I saw around me. I half-heartedly mimicked everyone else, all the while making my own “Dhikr” in my heart!
The women around me were bending forward, bowing to each other, gasping, some crying even. I could not make out what they were saying, and the men, who lead the Hadhrah from their side, were singing and chanting, but again, I could not understand the Arabic. It seemed very strange to me, even though in general, I believe in being soft-hearted and emotional about the religion. I felt like a robot, a stiff and stoic person compared to them. That was my first experience of the Hadhrah, and I did not find it beneficial. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I couldn’t see the Prophet doing this, and if any non-Muslims watched us and asked “why do you do that/where did that practice come from” I hardly knew how I would answer!
However, I was still learning about Sufism in general and I was convinced that there were ways to attain spiritual enlightenment, to do trainings in exercise and discipline, etc. and I still wanted to learn. But I needed to know what I was doing. So I tried reading up on it. After some searching, I found there was not much that was useful on the net. Most things were just vague benefits or experiences. Shaikh Nuh did write a good article about it, finally addressing some of the legal aspects of it. However, I wanted to know what the “acts” of the Hadhrah were, the significance of the actions, for without the meaning behind them, they were just movements to me.
I finally spoke to Umm Sahl (Shaikh Nuh’s wife), and although I am sure I could get a more complete picture by asking the Shaikh himself (sorry but I just find speaking to a women more convenient and have been so busy I have sort of put that off) I did learn some things. First of all, the Hadhrah varies from tariqah to tariqah. She mentioned the Naqshabandis are closer to what I had in mind - straight up focus on worship. The Shadhili tariqah is more focused on knowledge, and so many of the chants/songs you hear from the men are poems and traditions in that vein.
The rhythms are a way to retain focus (indeed, the Hadhrah can be a solid hour of physical/mental focus), the holding of hands and circle embrace a unity with the worshippers, the Raaki’een, etc. And the breathing is something called “Dhikr Sadri”, or remembrance in a special way in which you say “Allah” while breathing through your chest. (I was happy that at least they were saying “Allah” and not just having empty breathing or chanting something unfamiliar.)
I could live with that. Now I am looking forward to going there once a week and sort of having a spiritual workout. It is actually very nice and relaxing, and can certainly stir your emotions, and when that emotion is love towards Allah, that is a good thing. Although of course, “plain” dhikr is the light of the soul, its nourishment (I remember when I was a teenager I could actually make my mouth taste sweetness by reciting adhkaar thousands of times - and it was so pleasurable subhanallaah) - this is a nice variation. Again, I don’t feel anyone “has” to do it this way, for there are lots of ways, both formal and informal, personal and institutionalized, but it IS “a” way.
I just wanted to share this with you in case you were curious, and give you an “insider’s view” because honestly, what I have seen countless times in my life is that things look quite different from the outside.
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April 5th, 2008 at 12:57 am
thats cool
have u tried looking up the man who laid the foundation for this kind of dhikr
i have been trying to get info on that for the past few days. all i know now is that his name is sheik kadhir and it might have ben the 3rd or 4th cntury after the prophet but im not sure if u could hit me back with the 411 on that if u have time or if could refer me to some body who might know more on that
i know one thing i love watching clips of dhikr groups from all around the wourld every one has its way but its the same idea. they always seem so close to each other.
i dont get to talk about this type of dhikr to tomany people cause they always say the same thing, oh thos people is crazy
so think u for writing about it
salam
April 8th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
walaikum assalaam
i am still learning myself so i dont know if its traced to this person or that - i do remember umm sahl saying it was an ijtihaad of some of the shuyookh in the tariqah so maybe it was more formally “invented” than i thought
maybe they can answer your question on sunniforum
as for me, i dont mind learning slowly (i did have a chance to sit with shaikh nuh, but it was only a few minutes - one thing i did ask is “what” was passed down in the chain they have from the prophet to him, etc. and he told me it was NOT knowledge - in other words, obviously the prophet did not say “do this circle thing” (i thought perhaps it was bits of knowledge which were accumulated over time to be what it is now) - rather it is a “haal” or state of being - so again just as the prophet didn’t say “here are the letters of qalqalah”, but he recited a certain way (the knowledge, terms, and practices developing over the years) similarly you are trying to get to a spiritual state as close as you can to the prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, namely that you “worship allah as though you see him” - that is the goal and the methods vary
again, i am still learning and i feel posting “along the way” is good for those (like me) who are not there yet and want to know
wallaahu a’lam