Adib

Summary of Shaykh Usamah al-Rifa'i's lecture on Iran and the war with Israel: -Shia are generally Muslims, except those among them who believe in specific Kufr doctrines -Khomeini's Iran was created with American approval and they worked together -Iran massacred and took control of Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon with the approval of America and Israel -Iran and its associated militias were waging a doctrinally-motivated sectarian war, not against "terrorism" as they claimed - else why did they kill innocent men, women, and children -The war between Iran and Israel is a war between an oppressor [Iran] and an even bigger oppressor [Israel] “There is no hand except that the hand of Allah is above it And no oppressor except that he will be afflicted by one more oppressive than him” -Emotionally, we are with the innocent people of Iran, and we wish for them mercy, safety, and good health -Finally, may Allah make the consequence of this war relief, goodness, and blessing for the Muslims

Ottoman Reverence for al-Shaykh al-Akbar Muhyī al-Dīn Ibn al-‘Arabī: “Ottoman care of Ibn al-‘Arabī was evident from the first day that Sultān Salīm entered Damascus He visited Ibn al-‘Arabī's grave, and showered gifts onto the inhabitants of al-Sālihiyyah as a virtue for the grave being in their neighborhood. Then he commanded a mosque be built on Ibn al-‘Arabī's grave and a Takiyyah be built opposite it, for which he paid money generously, and he dedicated to them many Awqāf. Due to the Sultān's interest in the matter, the mosque was constructed in only four months, and Sultān Salīm prayed the first Jumu‘a prayer in it accompanied by his statesmen. The Ottoman State even exempted the inhabitants of al-Sālihiyyah from some taxes, in virtue of them being his grave's neighbors, and it created many jobs to take care of the mosque and grave This was the first Ottoman monument built in Damascus, which has remained standing until today, evident to the Ottomans' care for Ibn al-‘Arabī What also manifests this reverence is that when the Mamluk leader Jānburdī al-Ghazālī revolted against Sultān Sulaymān al-Qānūnī, the first thing he did in defiance of the Ottoman State was halting the construction of the Takiyyah, and confiscating the its store of wheat, honey, oil, and firewood, and he commanded the mosque be closed, its jobs terminated, and he confiscated its Awqāf The Wulāt and Salātīn consistently took care of the grave and Masjid, until it became one of the greatest and most beautiful mosques of Damascus. Ibn al-‘Arabī's Masjid had a special place after the Umayyad Mosque. In it, there were religious celebrations that were akin to those held in the Umayyad Mosque; on the night of the half of Sha‘bān, the night of al-Qadr, and the general Dhikr gatherings. There used to be the morning Wird read in it after Fajr, a gathering for Salawāt on the Prophet ﷺ, and other activities like readings of Sahīh al-Bukhārī and Dhikr gatherings, like the Umayyad Mosque. And there also used to be starling bird water that would be placed on its minaret to repel locusts, as it was used in the Umayyad Mosque This reverence continued at all levels of the state throughout the Ottoman era. One example of it is that the Wālī and Hanafī Qādī would visit Ibn al-‘Arabī's grave when they first arrived in Damascus, which Ibn Tūlūn describes as being “the Anatolians' habit”. The military judge (Qādī al-‘Askar) Ibn Zīrak, the companion of Sultān Salīm, visited Ibn al-‘Arabī's grave and took dirt from around it for Tabarruk, and he was gracious to its caretaker. While his grave used to be visited before, the Ottomans made it greater and began the tradition of visiting Ibn al-‘Arabī's grave for the one who enters Damascus, as some of the Ottoman Wulāt used to do. Some Qudāt used to even visit the grave under candlelight if he arrived at night, showing how keen they were to uphold this tradition. al-Amīr ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jazā’irī later also upheld this tradition by visiting the grave, as did the Ottoman statesmen who passed by the city In fact, visiting Ibn al-‘Arabī's grave was the dream of many Ottoman Sūfīs, which was evident in their poetry in which they longed to visit al-Shām which housed the grave of Ibn al-‘Arabī, for his grave is the place of visitation by both humans and Jinn...!” Dr. Iyād Usāmah ‘Ammār, Ufūl al-Tasawwuf, 1/406-412