Karamas of Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karim al-Kasnazan
Karāmas of Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Kasnazan
Like his predecessors whose nearness to Allah made them sources of blessings wherever they went, Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm performed numerous karāmas including the following:
- One day Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm was coming out of his room when he saw a wealthy feudal landlord carried by his family to the takya. The family of the sick man told the Shaikh that their patient was diagnosed with terminal cancer and the doctors had given up on him. The Shaikh immediately said that the patient had no cancer and that he had poison which has been in his body for forty years. Those who were with the patient confirmed that the man was bitten by a venomous snake at that time. The Shaikh then told them to give him some milk and let him sit in the takya and that he would recover by Allah’s will. A few days later the man was walking around having fully recovered as if he had never been ill.
- One dervish of Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm al‑Kasnazan had stomach cancer. No physician was able to cure him and declared him to be fatally ill. The dervish was then brought to Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm who was told about the doctors’ assessment of the hopelessness of the patient’s case. The ill dervish was sitting when the Shaikh threw a cigarette to him and told him to smoke it. The dervish realized that the cigarette was the Shaikh’s medicine for him. After smoking the cigarette, the dervish started improving until he was totally cured, and he lived many years following that.
- ِA group of dervishes were one day returning from visiting the Shaikh when the car ran out of fuel. The driver, who was not a dervish, became agitated and angry. The dervishes left the car and performed a circle of dhikr then asked the driver to try to start the car that there may be some fuel. But the driver ridiculed them and told them that he had been a driver all his life and that he was certain no fuel was left in the car. But the dervishes pressed him until he reluctantly agreed to their request. Sure enough, the car started. The amazed driver then raised both hands and said: “I bear witness that there is no god save Allah and I bear witness that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah. This is something that has never happened before.” The car then took the dervishes to their destination.
- One afternoon Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm al‑Kasnazan had some guests so he asked some dervishes to handle a poisonous snake to show the guests the spiritual powers of Ṭarīqa. But the dervishes said that they had no snake available. At that very moment, a snake came creeping towards the takya where the Shaikh and his guests were sitting. So the dervishes caught the snake and showed it to the guests. When they were done, the Shaikh ordered the release of the snake to its natural habitat.
- One day a number of clerics from Sulaymaniyah visited Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm in the village of ʿAmrūkhān in the town of Qaradāgh in the city of Sulaymaniyah. With the subject of talk being miracles and karāmas, someone mentioned the incident when the Caliph ʿUmar bin al‑Khattāb called from Medina the leader of the army who was almost 1,500 kilometre away in Nahavand : “Sāriyah, take to the mountain.” Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm smiled and said: “This is so easy for the saints. If you like, I can show you something similar.” The Shaikh shouted: “Come, O hājj ʿAzīz!”. Hājj ʿAzīz was at the time in the village of Karīza in Shahrizor which is one day travel from the abode of the Shaikh. The next day hājj ʿAzīz came, so the Shaikh welcomed him and asked him: “What made you come?” The dervish replied: “I heard you calling me so I came.” The present clerics were totally stunned by what they saw.
- Shaikh ʿAbd al-Karīm had a small box in which he would put the money allocated to the takya. The dervish who was in charge of purchasing came one day as usual to see the Shaikh for money to buy the needs of the takya. The Shaikh smiled, showed him the empty box, and said: “O Muhammad! The money has run out. Be a little patient until Allah opens an outlet and sends money from where we do not expect.” The dervish was reassured by the Shaikh’s words. Not long after, the Shaikh called the dervish and told him that he heard noise coming from inside the box. He asked him to bring the box quickly. The dervish brought the box to the Shaikh who opened it and found it full of money.
