Rawda Cemetery

09/25/2026

PASSING OF HAJJAH TALIBAH JILANI (1952 – 2026)
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
Hajjah Talibah Jilani (ne Cynthia L. Rubin) was a devoted student of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani and Hajjah Naziha Adil Kabbani. She contributed immensely to their guiding work in America as well as around the globe.
In the late 1990s, she served as executive director of Kamilat, a U.S.-based Muslim women’s organization focused on the social, economic, educational, and spiritual empowerment of Muslim women. The organization publicly focused on Islam’s` teachings concerning women’s roles in education, marriage, property, employment, civic participation, and personal financial affairs and was a forceful advocate for women’s rights.
Hajjah Talibah co-chaired the First Muslim Women’s International Conference, held in Washington DC in August, 1998. The first of its kind, the conference, which took place concurrently with the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference, featured over 30 distinguished speakers from around the world, including Hajjah Amina Adil, wife of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani,
Prior to this, Hajjah Talibah was a director of the 1st International Islamic Unity Conference, held in Los Angeles, California in August 1996, which hosted over 150 internationally renowned scholars from across the globe. Touted as unique in its approach, and magnificent in its grandeur, the conference highlight was the onstage Shahada of the two rival warring gangs in south LA, the Crips and the Bloods at the hand of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani.
Hajjah Talibah was working editor of The Muslim Magazine, a publication of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, headed by Shaykh Hisham Kabbani. In addition to directing its publication and design she contributed many articles and interviews to this unique, slick, modern-style quarterly magazine. One example is Oppression Is Worse than Slaughter, a chronicle of the life Hajjah Amina Adil, wife of Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim, who was born in Tatarstan, Russia and migrated to Turkey and then Syria with Grandshay `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani. The story was narrated by Hajjah Naziha Adil and written and edited by Talibah Jilani.
Hajjah Talibah was director of the Hajjah Naziha Charitable Society, founded by Shaykh Nazim in 2010. HNCS built over 10 mosques in eastern Africa, fed over 5 millon meals to the extremely poor in India, Uganda, Kenya, and other poverty-stricken regions of the world, built hundreds of water wells in drought-stricken areas, uplifted the lives of orphans in Indonesia and eastern Africa and were often first on the scene to assist when disasters struck in numerous locations worldwide. HNCS’s ongoing work continues to feed thousands of severely indigent folks every month.
Hajjah Talibah was also the founder and maintainer of a massive social media presence on the Internet, including the Facebook and Instagram pages of Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, Sufilive (Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order). She kept these pages constantly up-to-date with current events, commemorations of past events and historical events, as well as fund-raising for the many charitable causes of HNCS and Sufilive.
Hajja Talibah was so dedicated to her work, that even when recently hospitalized she would not put down her laptop as she continued to make posts on these important social media pages.
Hajjah Talibah devoted many years of her life to serving the Naqshbandi community in America and around the world, helping others, and spreading goodness. May every act of kindness she gave, every person she helped, and every good deed she performed be accepted by Allah and become a source of endless reward for her.
May Allah forgive her every shortcoming, shower her soul with His endless mercy, fill her resting place with نور (light) and peace, and grant her eternal life and happiness in Paradise.
May Allah also give patience and strength to her family, loved ones, and everyone whose heart is grieving her loss.
Hajjah Talibah is succeeded by her two sons, Toro Rubin aka Abdul Halim Gilani and Russell Rubin aka Mansur Abdullah Newkirk as well as a number of grandchildren.
May Allah accept her, forgive her, elevate her, and reunite us with her in Firdaus al-`Alaa, the everlasting highest Paradise. Ameen Ya Rabbal ‘Alameen.

07/08/2026

PASSING OF SHAYKH AHMAD OMAR JAMA SOMALI (1955 - 2026)
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
{To Allah we belong and unto Him do we return} (2:156).
يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي
{O serene, tranquil soul, return to your Lord — well-pleased and well-pleasing — then enter among My servants and enter My Garden of Paradise} (89:27–30).
Our condolences to the family of our beloved elder brother Shaykh Ahmed Omar Jama of Somalia, one of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and Mawlana Shaykh Hisham's murids since the early 1990s, who returned to the presence of his Almighty Lord this morning. Shaykh Ahmed had come back from Hajj with his wife after he had become quite ill. He was treated on return but did not recover. He passed away surrounded by family and loved ones.
Born in Erigaavo, Somalia, Shaykh Ahmed came to the US to study agriculture. He completed his PhD at Michigan State University in 1999. He was a beloved murid and gave much of his time to teaching Sunni Aqida and Naqshbandi Tariqa in the Somali diaspora. He fought the bankrupt wahhabi ideology and spread love and honor of the Prophet ﷺ relentlessly. He was kind and gentle with everyone. He was a bedrock of our community and will be missed dearly.
One of his close friends relates:
"Whenever I saw him in the East Lansing masjid I felt a fervor of the religion of Islam as he always had his tasbih and sunnah dress. I found out by sitting with him on many occasions that he was well versed in hadith Shareef and Quranul Kareem and our bond grew stronger. Undoubtedly, He was a truthful man and was looking for the truth. With the turn of Destiny, we met a brother named Abdelkrim in the masjid who in turn told us about a place in Fenton where people do zikr and practice Tarikah."
Shaykh Ahmed is survived by wife Kalthum bint Mohamed Saleh, daughters Fatima, Asma and Safiyah and a grandson, Ilyas. May Allah grant his family and fellow lovers of Mawlana reward, consolation and solace.
Janaza was held after Salat al-Zhuhr on Tuesday, 7 July, 2026 at the Fenton Zawiya, Michigan, followed by Shaykh Ahmed's burial at the Rawda Cemetery.
May Allah ﷻreceive Shaykh Ahmed's soul in the oceans of His Mercy and grant him to be with the Holy Prophet among those whom Allah has favored of the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs and the Righteous servants of Allah ﷻ. May He ﷻ make his grave a garden of paradise and his abode Jannat al‑Firdaws. May his journey be filled with light and may Allah bless him for his devotion as a lover and servant of Awliya and their Sultan.
Please pray for Shaykh Ahmad's forgiveness and recite Surah Yasin or other parts of Quran for his soul. 🌹
Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, his Companions, his Awliya and all his Umma. 🕋

04/14/2026

BURIAL OF SHAYKH ABDUL HAQQ SAZONOFF
13 January 2026

Innā li’Llāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn
To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return (Qur’an 2:156).

One of the Awliyā’ Allah, Shaykh Abdul Haqq an-Naqshbandi (q), returned to his Lord on 21 Rajab 1447 AH (January 10, 2026).

Nee Peter Sazonoff in 1947 in Chicago, Illinois, as a young man, Peter embraced Islam at the hands of the fortieth Grandshaykh of the Naqshbandi ṭarīqah, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim ʿAdil al-Haqqani (q). He first met Mawlana Shaykh Nazim in 1978; a meeting he described as profoundly transformative and uplifting beyond measure. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim bestowed upon him the name “ʿAbdul Haqq,” meaning 'servant of the Divine Truth.'

In 1990, Shaykh Abdul-Haqq was directed by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) to undergo further spiritual training in the higher sciences of tasawwuf under Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani (q). Under Shaykh Hisham's guidance, he completed the traditional forty-day khalwah (spiritual seclusion). As a senior murīd of Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim (q), Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani (q), and Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad ʿAdil, he was granted authorization to teach tasawwuf and to guide and uplift seekers of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order from an early stage.

He dedicated his life to spreading the traditional and balanced teachings of Islam and Sufism, guiding people towards the inner tranquility (ṭuma’nīnah), which every human being seeks.

Shaykh Abdul Haqq was featured on platforms such as CNN and participated in programs including Oprah Winfrey’s Islam 101, along with numerous other radio and media outlets. He was regularly invited to lecture at universities across North America, including the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, institutions in Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Montreal (Dawson College), San Diego (UC San Diego), Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, Vancouver, and many others.

He actively engaged with people of all faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, speaking in churches, synagogues, and temples. He consistently advocated for the traditional understanding of Islam as taught by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and passed on through generations of spiritual masters and scholars up to the present day.

His reach extended to people of all ages, backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs. Many learned from him not only the elevated teachings of the ṭarīqah, but also how to be approachable, helpful, and balanced in daily life, along with maintaining a sense of humor. He often conveyed profound spiritual realities in simple, accessible ways, describing this as the method of the Awliyā’ Allah of the Naqshbandi Order.

Shaykh Abdul Haqq was, and remains, beloved by all who knew him, even briefly. He will be deeply missed. His intercession is hoped for, as he is now in the noble company of the Mashāyikh of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order.

His constant advice was to adhere firmly to the noble Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, to move forward with strong intention and faith, especially in difficult times, and to strive toward the ultimate goal of the seeker: the meeting with the Lord of the Heavens.

Adapted from a post by Medina Munawara Masjid, Houston, Texas

05/02/2025

Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
The entrance of Rawda Cemetery just got an upgrade. We will be working throughout the summer to beautify the grounds, insha-Allah.

12/17/2024

PASSING AND BURIAL OF MAWLANA SHAYKH MUHAMMAD HISHAM KABBANI (ق)
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji`oon
'Verily, unto God do we belong and, verily, unto Him we shall return.'

Greetings!
Our hearts are broken, our eyes are filled with tears and our souls are in grief as we state that our Master, our Teacher, our Saint, our Guide Qutb al-Mutassarif Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani (ق), has passed from this worldly life this evening, and moved to al-Rafeeq al-`Alaa, the Highest Companionship of Allah `Azza wa Jall and His Beloved Prophet Sayyidina Muhammad(s), Ahl al-Bayt, the Blessed Companions of the Prophet (s), and their Followers in Goodness, the Highest Saints and Martyrs and the Righteous servants of Allah (swt).
The majestic and noble leader of millions of people around the world will feel an immense void in their temporal lives without his physical presence to comfort them.
Insha-Allah Mawlana Shaykh's janaza was held Thursday, December 5, 2024 after 'Asr at the Fenton Zawiya followed by three days of mourning on Mawlana's behalf.
We request all Mawlana's mureeds and lovers around the world to pray Janaza Ghayb for Mawlana, recite Surah Yaseen, Surat al-Mulk, Tahlil, salawat, Khatm Khawajagan and to serve meals on the name of Mawlana Shaykh gifting the reward for his soul.
As-salam alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
Hajjah Naziha Adil Kabbani, Shaykh Nour Kabbani, Hajj Omar Kabbani, Hajj Nazem Kabbani, and all the Kabbani Family.

11/23/2024

MERCY OCEAN
Paul Hardy
October 31, 2019
After searching for some time, the spiritual master I had been looking for found me. This had been predicted in Egypt where my search had taken me. A friend of mine took me to see his spiritual guide in the hope that he was also mine as well. He told me: “I am not your shaykh; you will meet your shaykh in America.” My response was incredulity. America has preachers, not spiritual guides, I thought. I of course affirmed the reality of time (zamān) and was innocent of the implications of Einstein’s theory or time’s illusory nature. As a result, I was blind to the fact that my spiritual guide had already found me, when a friend presented me with a book, “Mercy Ocean.” It contained the associations of Nāẓim ʿAdil al-Ḥaqqānī. I had tried to read this book but stopped, when I read that the author was reading from his spiritual guide Shaykh ʿAbdullāh ad-Daġestānī, who had left this world sometime before the book before me had been written. I carefully placed the book on a shelf, since its talk seemed obviously beyond me. I would read it later after growing in understanding. I put down Mercy’s Ocean, although Shaykh Nāẓim was reaching out to me in 1979. So I had found him then or rather he had found me before 1986, when I met him in the flesh. “Mercy’s Ocean” I came to understand is of course Shaykh Nāẓim himself, who is drowned in the shoreless ocean of the Prophet Muḥammad (ṣ). That means he was not one to consider himself a limited entity, the “I” of the nafs, not even the an-nafsu’l-muṭmaʾinna (the tranquil nafs), which enters janna-the state of riḍwān—“rādīyatan marḍīya” (accepting and accepted). Mercy’s Ocean is transcends all that.
Reflect then! Where does your “I” start? Where does it end? On the body you don't end. For a million miles away the sun, if it dies, so will you, since you are connected with it. That’s why in the Qurʾān Allāh asks the Prophet (ṣ): “Have I not expanded your breast?” The breast is in the body is the symbolic center of the vibratory system. That vibratory system enshrines the oceanic, which the head cannot contain. It can only manufacture thoughts and images. Vibrations are far subtler: Wavelets. To the head, the subtlest entity is captured by mind are atomic and sub-atomic particles. This is the not harmonic motion of wavelets. That’s why those particles must at a deeper level become waves, as we learn in quantum physics. After all, particles have limits. In ṣūfī science particles begin with taʿayyun—delimitation and definition, which is signaled by the Qurʾān with the command “Kun!” (Be!) That is al-mabdāʾ or the beginning but in the return (maʿād) they must take on the attribute of al-Laṭīf (the Subtle) and become wave-like and thus able to harmonize with cosmos. That is the process of spiritual transformation.
“Kun” comes from “kāna/yakūn”(was, will be) and always has a temporal connotation. In this respect it is unlike “waǧada,” whose in-finite form is “wuǧūd” which signifies an atemporal encounter, which knows no temporal limitation or extension. Kaʾināt (delimted entities) are like the atoms (jawāhir) of Imām Ašʿarī. You can believe in them or not, since belief in Arabic is iʿtiqād/ʿaqīda and means tying up the mind (ʿaql) and thus limiting it. Mercy’s Ocean can’t be tied up or limited. It is shoreless. That’s why Shaykh Nāẓim’s great ancestor, Mevlana Jalālu’d-Dīn Rūmī said: “My ocean is drowned in itself/O what a wondrous shoreless sea I am!” (baḥr-e man ġarqeh gošt ham dar ḫwīš / bū’l-ʿaǧab baḥr bī-kirān keh manam). Rūmī continues: “Not in this world, not in the next I am/ Where I am both worlds cease.” The two worlds are the stuff of salvation (naġāt) not riḍwān. “No!” he says: “I am free of profit and loss,” unlike those who seek salvation, profit in heaven and loss in hell. In other words, the delimited thought system situated in the head for Rūmī had become submerged into the vibratory system, where any hint of arhythmia of heart beat signals life’s cessation.
But life ceases also, without sunlight, although you are millions of miles away from the sun. So how can you or I be really distant from that light? We are continuous with it. The string of lights throughout the cosmos are tied to you. That’s why the Qurʾān says: “Allāh is Light of the Heavens and earth” but it also says: “I (sc. Allāh) am closer to you than your jugular vein” and “When my servants ask you about me [O Muḥammad] tell them I am near” (innī qarīb), where “qarīb” is an intensive form (faʿīl) signifying extreme closeness.
The moral is: We cannot consider ourselves narrow egos. Expand the soul, i.e., the nafs, which is the same as nafas (breath). That is, expand it by watching the rhythmic repetition of the Arabic letter “hāʾ” which is an išāra for the gap between one breath and another. That gap allows travel along the infinite line to the source of air, without which none of us sustains life. Those like Shaykh Nāẓim and Mevlana Rūmī know this. They say, “we are breathing in it, it is difficult to say; He is breathing in us, although ‘hāʾ’ is the only phonetically significant phoneme in Allāh. The “al” is the definite article, which delimits the sound so the mind can grasp it.
But the very breath,which was mine, after a moment, will become yours. I will not be able to say that you will not be over, if you cease the hāʾ of breathing. That hāʾ will be someone else’s. Nor can I say, if my hāʾ ceases it will not belong to another. After all, the Prophet (ṣ) said: “They do not die; rather they move from one abode (dār) to another.” For the “Kun!” with which each of us was created is itself outside of time. But the bodily motion measures out time. Except, the body gives out. Does the air sustaining breath then cease? I mean the “nafasu’r-raḥmān” (the Breath of the All-Merciful), Whom the Prophet mentioned, when he said: “Do not curse the wind, for it derives from the Breath of the All-Merciful” and “I find the Breath of the All-Merciful coming to me from the direction of Yemen.”
Except, most of us have agreed to consider ourselves a narrow soul (nafs). We have agreed to be small lakes and narrow fjords. These are just the bodies of water of created in our thoughts and imaginations—taʿayyunāt (limitations). The body is the instrument of tanfīs (breathing) whereby we are expanded. Recall: “Did I not expand your breast?” (alam našraḥ laka ṣadrak). To grasp Mercy’s Ocean is not a matter of thinking about it. It's a matter of tanfīs. Allāh says: "Make murāqaba on me and I shall make murāqaba on you and make you to say to a thing: ‘Be! and it is."

[installation of Dr. Paul Hardy's grave marker, 22 November, 2024]

الفاتحة. Al-Fatiha!

11/22/2024

07/01/2024

Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ
Verily to God do we belong and verily to Him do we return. (Holy Quran 2: 156)
Our sister in Islam and in the Naqshbandi Tariqah, Deborah E. Dewitt, returned to her Lord on the morning of June 27, 2024/Dhul-Hijjah 21, 1445, after a long struggle with cancer.
We ask Allah to grant her His Forgiveness, Mercy, Blessings, Lights and Peace as she enters the World of the Afterlife. May He (swt) turn her mistakes and sins into perfect worship on the pattern of Rasoolullah (s). May He enter her into the highest Paradise, al-Firdaws al-`Alaa, with the Prophets, the Veracious Saints, the Martyrs and the Righteous Servants of the Lord.
Deborah's funeral was held at the Fenton Michigan Zawiya on Friday June 28, 2024 at 6 pm, and she was buried in the Rawda Cemetery. Her husband Ralph and son Alex provided an `Aza meal afterwards.
Recite Surat al-Fatiha for her soul.

***********************************************
OBITUARY - DEBORAH ELAINE DEWITT
Deborah Elaine DeWitt was born on August 12, 1957 in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. She passed on June 27, 2024, after a long battle with
cancer. Deborah is survived by her son, her mother, two brothers and her husband.
Deborah was the first child of Bess Iris DeWitt (maiden name Brown) and Benjamin DeWitt. Her mother was a surgical nurse, her father an engineer and patent attorney. They moved to Southern California in 1961, and eventually settled in Palos Verdes, a suburb of Los Angeles on the Pacific Coast.
Deborah was an excellent student and studied at the University of
California, Berkeley, with strong interests in mathematics, philosophy, architecture, and religion. She later received a Master’s degree in mathematics from State University of New York at Stony Brook. She then worked as an engineer in aerospace and automotive companies. Eventually, she taught mathematics at a high school in Ann Arbor. She loved teaching and found it most rewarding.
Deborah married Ralf Spatzier in 1988 in Los Angeles, and gave birth to her son Alexander in 1990. She devoted herself to her family and especially to her son after that. She also taught her husband humility and the importance of family and teaching.
Deborah was brought up in a Christian tradition, but took great interest in other religions. She found Islam in 2011, and saw its innate beauty. She soon thereafter converted and studied Islam and the Quran in depth.
Deborah loved animals, especially cats and deer.
A friend wrote on her passing: ”She was brilliant, kind, generous and one of the most honest people I have met.”
We all much love her and will miss her tremendously.

12/29/2023

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ
Verily to God do we belong and verily to Him do we return. (Holy Quran 2: 156)
Our brother Tariq Sheikh has passed to the Divine Presence.
He was buried with honor and dignity in the presence of many members of his family at the Rawda on December 9, 2023.
Biography:
Tariq Mahmud Sheikh (February 15, 1956 -- December 9, 2023)
An ardent lover of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, a man of sound heart and sonorous voice, Tariq Mahmud Sheikh, died in his home in Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 09, 2023, at 67 years of age, after a cancer diagnosis less than a month before.
Born to Ramzan Sheikh and Sharifa Begum in 1956 in Jalalpur Jattan, Gujrat, Pakistan, Tariq was the oldest brother of eight siblings in total. He would often recount, in amazement, the never ending patience of his mother, and the impeccable work ethic of his father. His maternal grandfather, a saint in his own right, instilled a lifelong love for Allah’s Friends and the spiritual Path in Tariq’s heart since he was a child. Wherever he roamed, he sought out the People of Living Hearts, Allah’s Friends, and they in turn always welcomed him, loved him, and graced him with many gifts.
He met Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and Mawlana Shaykh Hisham, may Allah sanctify their inner beings, in 1996 in New York, New York. He recognized them as Friends of Allah, and they accepted him into their circle. Shortly after, he dreamt of his previous Qadiri Shaykh from Pakistan, the late Sayyid Manzoor Shah from Naseeb Abad, approaching him on horseback, with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim also on horseback by his side. When the two saints reached him, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim extended his hand towards Tariq, as if he wanted to give him something. Recounting the dream, Tariq said that he folded his arms and looked away, as if to say, “If I am to receive anything, I want to receive it from him,” meaning his previous Shaykh. At this, the two saints looked at each other and laughed, as if they accepted his loyalty and were touched by his innocence.
In circles of Dhikr around the New York metropolitan area, Tariq is remembered for his beautiful renditions of poems in praise of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in Urdu and Punjabi, as well as his recitation of the Qur`an, and his moving recitation of Durood Taj.
Just as his father before him, throughout his life, Tariq worked hard to provide for and support his immediate and extended family. After coming to the United States in 1978, he worked many odd jobs, in a shoe factory, a department store, delivering pianos, running a small grocery store, and ultimately, working as a livery driver for over 30 years. He said that if a movie or novel was ever written about him and his experiences as a cab driver, he’d want it to be titled, “Me and My Yellow.”
On Monday, December 11, 2023, Tariq was buried in the Rawda Cemetery, per his longtime wish to be buried at the feet of his Murshid. He will always be remembered for his kind heartedness, generosity, b***y jokes, and loving nature. All who met him attest to the light in his heart, the warmth of his soul. He was an excellent son, brother, father, uncle, grandfather, husband, friend, and a believer of the highest caliber. He will be dearly missed.
We ask Allah Almighty to illuminate his grave, elevate his station, and resurrect him in the company of the Prophets, Truthful Ones, martyrs, and righteous servants of Allah Almighty. Ameen, bi hurmati l-Habib, bi hurmati l-Fatiha.

10/14/2023

Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
Photo of full outlay of plots of Rawda Cemetery.