Shaykh Zakaria ibn 'Umar Bagharib al-Naqshabandi ق of Singapore (D.2009)

Shaykh Zakaria Bin Omar Bagharib (1936-2009) was the wakil (authorized representative) in Singapore, for Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil Al-Haqqani Al-Qubrusi An-Naqshbandi ق. He was the son of Shaykh Umar bin Abdullah Bagharib who was the khalifah for Mawlana Abdul Aleem Siddique of the Qadiri Tariqah in Singapore.

Born as Zakaria Bin Omar Bagharib on 19th March 1936 to an Arab family of 12 siblings (6 boys and 6 girls), whose roots were from Tarim, Yemen (Hadramawt). He was the youngest. His late father, Allahyarham Shaykh Umar bin Abdullah Bagharib (may Allah bless his soul), had been serving the community as Imam of Masjid Khadijah, situated at Geylang Road, for 32 years. Being a contemporary of Syed Muhammad Bin Salim Al-Attas (may Allah bless his soul), Sheikh Umar played a major role in the development of the famous Masjid Ba’alawi located at Lewis Road off Bukit Timah Road.

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴

Shaykh Zakaria ibn ‘Umar Bagharib ق was born on 19th March 1936 to an Arab family of 12 siblings, whose roots were from Tarim, Yemen. He was the youngest. His late father, Shaykh ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdullah Bagharib ق, served the community as imam of Khadijah Mosque, then known as “Masjid Bagharib” after the great imam himself.

He had his early secular education in the Geylang, Telok Kurau and Kota Raja Schools in Singapore including 4 years of Islamic Education at the al-Khairiah Islamic School, Madrasah al-Khairiah al-Islamiah, which still exist today. Later, he undertook 3 years of full-time study at The Sultan Idris Training College (SITC) and thereafter, studied law at the University of Singapore from 1961 to 1965.

In 1966, he was offered a teaching job and served as lecturer at the Teachers’ Training College in Paterson Road. Two of his students today are prominent figures in Singapore. They are Hj Yatiman Yusof – a former Member of Parliament, and Hj Ma’arof Salleh – former President of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS). He furthered his education at The Concordia University in Montreal Canada from 1972 to 1976, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Commerce, majoring in Accountancy and Business Administration.

For nineteen years, Shaykh Zakaria ق also learnt intensively various Islamic sciences like Arabic language, Arabic grammar, taswawwuf, fiqh, hadits and tafsir under the tutelage of arguably the most eminent of Islamic scholars in Singapore, Shaykh ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdullah al-Khathib ق.

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵

He traveled in the year 1990 and had the good fortune to meet the 40th Master of the Esteemed Naqshbandi Sufi Order, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil Al-Haqqani al-Qubrusi in his hometown in Lefke, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). In 1994, he met Shaykh Nazim’s deputy, Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani in Kuala Lumpur, who informed Shaykh Zakaria that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had given permission for him to pledge allegiance to the Prophet ﷺ through Shaykh Nazim, and to be Shaykh Nazim’s representative in Singapore. Shaykh Zakaria was overwhelmed with tears of joy upon hearing it. Shaykh Zakaria then commenced the regular Naqshbandi dhikr with a small group of about 2-3 persons. And the group steadily grew larger and larger. Today there is a regular attendance of about 150 to 200 people who attends the Naqshbandi weekly dhikr at Masjid Kg Siglap and Masjid Hajah Fatimah (first Thursday of each month).

Shaykh Zakaria Bagharib was fortunate to have been in contact with many holy personalities and saints since he was very young. In 1942, a sufi master, Mawlana Abdul Aleem Siddique, was in Singapore on a missionary visit. Mawlana Abdul Aleem Siddique appointed Shaykh Zakaria’s father, Sheikh Omar Bagharib as his khalifah (representative) for the Qadiri tariqah (spiritual order). Once at the age of 6, Shaykh Zakaria was in the presence of Mawlana Abdul Aleem Siddique and was personally spoon-fed by Mawlana Abdul Aleem with a local delicacy called ‘suji’ and along with his barakah or spiritual blessings. Today, the Abdul Aleem Siddique Mosque stands at No. 90 Lorong K Telok Kurau, in memory of this sacred figure, who although had an Indian background, but was of Arab descent with a noble lineage directly to Sayyidina Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him).

The late founder of Singapore’s Ba’alwie Mosque, Syed Muhammad bin Salim Al-Attas (may Allah bless his soul) was very fond of the young Shaykh Zakaria and used to call him affectionately .

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴

Shaykh Zakaria ق taught the Islamic sciences at private centres and the Darul Arqam and was among their most popular teachers and at many masajid. He was a trained lawyer. He spoke excellent English, although he seldom showed it, as well as Malay, Arabic and French. He was once the head of the Malay Teachers’ Union of Singapore. During the struggle for Singapore’s self-determination, he was branded by the British as an anti-colonialist because he fought for the rights of the Malay teachers including better benefits and higher pay and is still remembered by that generation fondly. He had a very colourful history before he was an ustadz and a shaykh and he brought that wealth of experience and knowledge with him. He was also a secret service agent once.

There was a time when a man came to join the circle. He was an American, dressed in shorts and sitting on a chair in the masjid. He said he was an American “Sufi”. But he was not a Muslim. Shaykh Zakaria ق politely but firmly asked him to leave: “There is no taswawwuf without shari’ah. There is no ‘Sufi’ without Islam.”

He loved the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and taught his students the high station of the Prophet ﷺ as Mentioned in the Qur’an and ahadits. It was a lesson reiterated over and over again in the years the students learned from him. He was a master of tafsir and was generous with his knowledge.

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

In the year 2004, during the month of Rajab, Shaykh Zakaria was especially selected by Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, amongst twenty other Naqshbandis to perform seclusion in Bogor, Cikreteg, located on a mountain. There were many seclusion chambers there, specially built for khalwat (seclusion).

Shaykh Zakaria (the only Singaporean) and nineteen other khalwatis were scheduled to do seclusion for 40 days. They were all under the care and guidance of Mawlana Shaykh Hisham, under the authority of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. The khalwatis had to adhere strictly to the rules of seclusion, like:
1. To bathe before performing each fard (obligatory) prayer – i.e. 5 times daily.
2. To perform daily dhikr (chants) of the names of Allah ﷻ, in the hundreds of thousands, as prescribed.
3. To recite daily the Dalailul Khairat and thousands of salawat.
4. Food served daily in very small portions at the morning and evening only.
5. No interaction with anyone.

During one of the days during seclusion, as recalled by Shaykh Zakaria, his ego was smashed, knocking him out for a few minutes. After regaining consciousness, he then felt a collar round his neck being pulled. As he looked up, he then saw Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He could not see the face of the Prophet ﷺ but he knew it was the Holy Prophet ﷺ.

On the 20th day of seclusion, Shaykh Hisham arrived and he saw many colourful lights. Due to the bond and affection to Shaykh Hisham, they both enjoyed each other’s presence.

During the last day of seclusion, a strange event occurred, in that, it was dry and there was no water supply. Therefore, the khalwatis were in a dilemma, contemplating the seclusion rule that a bath is compulsory before each obligatory prayer. However, with the Will of Allah ﷻ, a heavy downpour ensued and it rained heavily, providing sufficient water supply once again.

The khalwatis completed the whole 40-day seclusion process successfully, except for 3 individuals who could not complete the exercise.

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴

Shaykh Zakaria Bagharib ق returned to Allah ﷻ on Friday 25th September 2009 / 06th Shawwal, 1430 AH, at about 1000h. At least a thousand people prayed at his funeral prayer, conducted at Masjid Sultan. He was then buried at Singapore’s Muslim cemetery at Jalan Bahar. Shaykh Zakaria will be deeply missed by hundreds of people, especially the followers and students of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia and the many converts in Darul Arqam that he taught. He taught that Islam is Alive. And its beauty is only appreciated by Taste. By the hadiths in which Rasulullah ﷺ said that we will be raised with the ones we love, we are comforted.

Source: Sout Ilahi FB & Ibnyahyah.com