The History of the Fellowship
Before I arrived at 46th Street in Philadelphia for my first visit, Bob Demby, Carolyn Secretary, Zoharah Simmons, and some others sitting here arranged for me to come.
They formed a society for that purpose, to invite me here. I did not come to Philadelphia with the idea of establishing a fellowship. There is only one Fellowship and that is Allāh’s.
There is only one family and one Fellowship. We are all the children of Adam(A.S.), and Allāh is in charge of that Fellowship.
The Tree That Fell to the West, p. 17
Fatima Carolyn Andrews was 28 years old when she first heard about the holy man. She felt compelled to find him, to contact him, and to learn wisdom from him because of an experience of God that changed her life completely. She knew she had to have this experience explained by someone in an exalted state of wisdom, someone who had a direct knowledge of God. Having heard that a Sri Lankan graduate student from the University of Pennsylvania knew how to contact him, she found the student and obtained the name and address of the holy man in Sri Lanka.
She began to write letters to the holy man.
Her letters were filled with awe, respect, love, gratitude, and a clear recognition that the one to whom she was writing knew God. She wrote and he answered, she wrote again and he answered. This correspondence continued for some time. Finally, she and some friends gathered enough money to invite Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) to come to the United States of America. He arrived in Philadelphia on October 11, 1971.
Her steadfast determination in those early years to contact Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.), her commitment to invite and sponsor him when he came here, her recognition that she was in contact with the Qutb (Ral.) of the eighteen thousand universes, and her unfailing devotion to him was the platform established for us here in the United States to begin our relationship with our beloved Shaikh. Her intention to preserve the wisdom he shared and her fierce attention to every detail of the Fellowship’s growth and survival is a critical message for the membership to know. It is appropriate that we reflect on these events with prayers to Allāh for her peace and contentment. She was made a cornerstone of this Fellowship by our Shaikh, and her position of service deserves our everlasting thanks, love, and gratitude.
Word travelled fast and thousands came to visit the holy man. His wisdom and his explanations were unusual, piercing the veils of the mind and penetrating hearts, changing lives and opening the straight path to those lives—a straight path to God was being revealed by a guide who would never abandon anyone who needed him. The need in the United States was great.
A tiny community—the fellowship that would act as a repository of the wisdom he shared, that would serve humanity by providing this invaluable, direct knowledge to all seekers of wisdom—began to form. For this community, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) appointed an Executive Committee, created the position of Executive Secretary, and assigned that responsibility to Secretary Carolyn. He established departments in the Fellowship to carry on the work of creating this “pond” of wisdom.
Over the years, the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship became a reservoir for all who are seeking God’s truth, a place where individuals can gather to study the truth of God—outwardly through the teachings and example of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral.) and inwardly through listening to the truth within the self that exists as the conscience of man.
The Fellowship and its branches bring together as one family those people who need to study, know, and realize the meaning of their human birth. Who is man? What is the nature of human existence? What is the birthright of man? What is his present state? What is man’s destiny? Who is God? What is the relationship between God and man?
The path upon which we may come to realize the answers to these questions is one of constant affirmation that nothing exists other than God, lā ilāha, illAllāhu. It is a path on which we need to correct ourselves and eliminate our own evil qualities, a path on which we need to live with determination, certitude, and absolute faith in God, a path on which we need to make a never-ending effort to imbibe God’s qualities of patience, tolerance, peacefulness, justice, love, and compassion, a path on which we need to understand that all lives are just like our own. The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship grew out of a common need to lead our lives in this manner on the straight path. Mā shā’Allāh, the work continues.
With the love that God has awakened in our hearts and with the unity of brothers and sisters of one family, we humbly invite you to join with us and share the teachings of our beloved Shaikh who has had such a profound impact upon our lives.