A Sufi Mazar in Pennsylvania
By Zaid Islam
We were having a good old Bangali adda at my uncles place in Queens, New York, where I had gone for a short visit last month. They started to tell me about the mausoleum of a Sufi man in Pennsylvania, which my uncles visit often.
Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen came to the USA from Sri Lanka on the invitation of a researcher and settled in Philadelphia. A man of the Quaderia order of Sufism, he built a mosque there. Lot of people became his disciples and followers. A fellowship was started in his name. I was intrigued to hear all this. My uncles offered to take me there, and I agreed at once. Then we planned our trip.
After about a three-hour drive, we entered a farm in Chester County. The nature scenery was beautiful, just at the beginning of autumn, when the colours are amazing. My uncles got empty containers to collect water from the well to take inside. It is customary for people who visit the mazar to do this. They collect the water and take it inside and place it next to them while in prayer. The water is considered blessed after that.
The mazar is a small white structure, very neat and quaint. Signs request visitors to be quite and only partake in silent prayer while inside. After offering my ziarat, I went out alone to check the surrounding area. As I stepped outside, I discovered a graveyard. Its a Muslim graveyard, but many who are resting there had Christian names engraved on the epitaphs. Walking around in a contemplative mood, I suddenly found my uncles looking for me. There was a bit of excitement in them as someone important had arrived at the mazar, and they wanted me to meet him.
I found an elderly person in prayer, and I went and sat next to him. After he finished prayering, I was introduced to him. He was Abdul Cader, one of the primary disciples of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen. I had been with him since when I was 8 years old, Cader said. He helps run the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship now, which is about 70km from the mazar.
We spent more than an hour in discussion, learning about Bawa Muhaiyaddeens spiritual life and teachings. Cader told me about a house Bawa Muhaiyaddeen built in Mankumban, Sri Lanka, in the name of Mother Mary. It is a secular house of worship, more like an ashram. Bawa preached Sufi spirituality in the most secular manner. All are accepted, people of all faiths and beliefs are welcomed at his mazar, at the fellowship in Philadelphia, as well as in his ashram in Mankumban.
I asked Cader about the Christian names on the Muslim graves. He took me there and showed me his wifes grave. He explained that when Americans convert to Islam, sometimes they keep their old names as it is a challenge in the USA to go through official records and make changes.
We went to the dining area to eat; my uncles had brought some fruits and other dry foods to leave at the dining space for visitors who come after us. This is also customary. I saw a cabinet with jars of jam, made from organic fruits produced at the fellowship farm. A sign on the cabinet encourages visitors to take a jar in exchange for some donation. I took some home.
Photos: Zaid Islam
