Dhikrullah - The Sufi Lodge

The Sufi Ceremony of Divine remembrance

"The Maturing process in a dervish order is communal. The mystical ascension into Paradise consciousness and beyond into the Garden of Essence occurs hand in hand, hearts intertwined eternally. Meeting on Thursday nights for dhikr, the dynamic circle of Divine Remembrance, we encounter each other primarily as aspiring souls and only secondarily as personalities with psychological and sociological profiles."

- Shaykh Nur al-Jerrahi, Atom from the Sun of Knowledge - Pir Publications

"Lasting between one and three hours, the ceremony of remembrance formulates a microscopic mirror of the reality of existence. The motion of the dhikrullah reflects the revolving of the spheres. In the spiritual dimension the process of centering in Allah and finding Union with Him is described. The ceremony reiterates the stages of Ascent towards being lost in Allah (Arabic: fanafillah) and the stages of Descent to the plane of manifestation, where one remains subsistent in Allah (Arabic: baqabillah). Thus the Path to perfection that the sufis have vowed to follow is shown in concentrated form in the ceremony of dhikrullah.

"Allah Most High promises spiritual seekers his closeness through remembrance. "Remember Me and I will remember you," Allah reveals in His Holy Qur?an.

"The mystical fruits can be tasted in the Dhikrullah, the least of its fruits being ecstasy (Arabic: wajd). The practice of Dhikrullah makes the dervish conscious of his or her inherent remembrance, and eventually of the remembrance of every created being in the universe...

"Remembrance provides a means for the dervishes to express their longing for Allah, the Beloved. True dervishes neither look for spiritual rewards, nor desire Paradise, but yearn to behold the Countenance of Allah (Arabic: wajhullah). "The Saints are the light of Allah?s Countenance" writes Sheikh Muzaffer. The dervishes that reach perfection and therefore are saints, (?Friends of Allah? in Muslim terminology) become the light of Allah?s Countenance, which they longed to behold."

-Sixteena Gul Ashki Friedrich from the forward to Garden of Dervishes by Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi