Ottoman Sufi Center Berlin: Germans in the presence of Naqshbandis
Friday 21/September/2018 - 02:40 PM
Nahla Abdel Moneim
On a street in the district of Schönberg in the center of the old German
capital, the Ottoman Sufi Center Berlin stands as a living embodiment of the
European cultural embracement of the eastern heritage of Sufism.
Inside the center, periodic Sufi lectures, cultural evenings and theatrical
performances are being held. Selected verses from the poems of Jalaluddin Rumi
and Shams al-Din Tabrizi and others are being also heard.
The center is the official center for the Sufi Naqshbandi method not only at
the level of German society, but at the level of all of its lovers in Europe.
Nekshbandi is a Sufi approach that is widespread across the world with the
centers of Sufism in Germany mostly adopting it. The method belongs to Muhammad
Bahaauddin Naqshband, an Ugandan who is born in 1317.
Although the exact history of the center is not clear, its walls bear the
custom and reference to Sheikh Nazem Ezzedine Haqqani, who is considered the
spiritual father of the center. He was a leading figure of al-Naqshbandi method.
He was born in 1922 in Larnaca, Cyprus and died in 2014 at the age of 92 years
old.
The Sufi center in Berlin is renowned for its spiritual program, which
periodically prepares daily activities and prepares the nightlife for its
visitors. In one of its restaurants, the followers can drink tea and attend an
educational seminar on the Naqshbandi method. The subscription is available in
a learning circle of Sufi meditation or on songs that give the audience inner
peace. One of those who frequently go to the center describes it as a halal
nightclub.
The activities of the Ottoman Sufi Center are not limited to spiritual
programmes organized in-house, but rather to official visits organized by the
Center's staff to various countries, as well as hospitality to kings and ruling
families in a number of regions.
The center is known for its Ottoman mysticism and its traditions. The sultans
of the Ottoman Empire were clearly intertwined with Sufi spirituality, as well
as their strong belief in the dignities of the sheikhs and dervishes.
The center's activities are based on support and funding through donations
collected in a private account of the German-based Ottoman Society. The
association is concerned only with mystical works and activities.
Gerd Rebler is the head of the Berlin
Center, and the deputy director is Ayberk Gökcimen, one of the mystical leaders
of Western society.
