Volume Eight
Sufi ‘Abdullah Khan by Michael Sugich
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Sufi ‘Abdullah Khan (1923-2015) arrived in the city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom in 1962 with a mission. He had been charged by his spiritual master to immigrate from his native Pakistan to bring a spiritual path to the thousands of Pakistani immigrants who had come to England for material gain but who were losing their faith and religion in the process. The thirty-nine-year-old retired soldier from humble origins left his family and everything he’d known up to that point and started a new life in a foreign land purely for the sake of God and His Messenger. Whereas his compatriots had immigrated to Britain to make money, Sufi ‘Abdullah had come to rescue them from a life without meaning. By the time he returned to his homeland in the Punjab for a visit seven years later, wearing the same blue suit he’d worn the first time he arrived in England, he had single-handedly, by the force of his personality and against all odds, established a vibrant spiritual path, and laid the foundations for a strong, orthodox, and spiritually oriented Muslim community in the industrial heartland of Britain.
His remarkable tale begins in an impoverished peasant village, moves to the battlefields of North Africa, a Nazi prison camp in Europe, a farm in France where he hid out after a daring cross-country escape, and a life-changing encounter in an army barracks with a living spiritual master. With the partition of India and creation of Pakistan, the young veteran joined the Pakistani army, and served with distinction for the next fourteen years. It was only then, in middle age, that the real adventure began.
Sufi ‘Abdullah’s biography is authored by Michael Sugich who spent a memorable night of invocation with the Naqshbandi sage in the 1970s and visited him again at his home during the last part of his life.
“In 1961, after his retirement from the army Sufi ‘Abdullah was at a turning point in his life. His army pension wasn’t enough to support his immediate family and his mother, much less his siblings and their families, for whom he felt responsible. He made the difficult decision to leave Pakistan and join his compatriots in England. He applied for a passport and asked his pir for permission to migrate. ‘At first my Hazrat Sahib wasn’t happy for me to come to England and that’s why there were complications with my passport application, caused by a clerk in Chakwal. However, after some days, Hazrat Sahib called me and instructed me to go to Britain.’ Zinda Pir purified his disciple’s intention and redefined his objective.
‘Abdullah was now to emigrate to England as his khalifa and devote himself to calling his countrymen back to God and the way of His Messenger. ‘Hazrat Sahib gave me the authority to establish and spread the remembrance of God. He also told me that before starting anything, consider the circumstances first. The circumstances will tell you when to begin. When he received his khilafa, ‘Abdullah was filled with self-doubt. ‘I am only an ordinary person. How can I perform such an important task?’ he asked his master. Zinda Pir replied, ‘You are doing God’s work. God will help you.’ Zinda Pir sent his khalifa off with these instructions:
Believe in God. Do not do anything for the sake of your own honour, or refrain from doing anything out of shame. Before taking any action, always consider the pleasure of God and His Messenger. Use your knowledge and intellect for God’s pleasure. This is the only way the intercession of the Prophet (S) can be achieved.
“In early spring of 1962 Sufi ‘Abdullah Khan climbed on a bus in Chakwal headed for the airport, wearing a brand-new blue suit. On April 15th he arrived in England.”
From Sufi ‘Abdullah Khan: Man of Action
Michael Sugich
