An Obituary for Hajj Mimoun
To God we belong, and to Him we return. On September 15, 2020, the Shadhili Karkariya Order lost one of its most beloved and senior disciples. Hajj Mimoun was one-hundred and six years old (b. 1914).
A constant invoker, a treasury of wisdom, an embodiment of the old Maghribi Sufi way, and a living proof of the sanctity of Sidi Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari (qs). Hajj Mimoun was a direct descendent of the renowned saint Mohamed ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli (d. 1465) author of the “Dalaʾil al-Khayrat.” He memorized the Qur’an and reams of classical Arabic Sufi poetry by heart. He met many of the great Moroccan saints of the twentieth century, and was a close friend of the late Moroccan Shaykh Sidi Mohamed Ibn al-Habib (d. 1972).
A true and genuine seeker with high saintly aspiration, Hajj Mimoun spent eighty years (yes, 80) in the Isawiyya Order prior to joining the Karkariyya Order. He was a Shaykh of the Isawiyya, founded Mohamed al-Hadi ben Issa (d. 1526), and presided over his disciples in the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco as a representative of the late Shaykh Mohamed al-ʿĪsawi.
His own late Shaykh Mohamed al-ʿĪsāwī would often tell his disciples of the Rif mountains: “You are so fortunate! For among you the Perfect Shaykh (Shaykh al-Kamil) will appear. If I live long enough, I shall take hand with him.” (Saʿdatkum a-Riyafa, sa-yaẓhar fikum al-Shaykh al-Kamil, idha adraktuhu la-ttakhadhtuhu Shaykhan li).
Destiny eventually led Hajj Mimoun and several of Mohamed al-ʿĪsāwī's disciples to the Karkari Order, where they had the honor of taking hand with the Seal of Saints and Reviver of the Blessed Tree.
How did Hajj Mimoun, an elderly and accomplished Sufi Shaykh, end up taking hand with Sidi Shaykh? One day he noticed that his close friend on the Path, ʿAbd al-Qadir al-ʿĪsāwī, stopped attending the ʿĪsāwī gatherings. He inquired about the reason for his absence, and ʿAbd al-Qadir responded: “I found a greater Shaykh; the Shaykh Kamil that our Shaykh foretold us about!”
Upon hearing this, Hajj Mimoun said: “On Friday I’ll come with you to meet this ‘greater’ master that you’re talking about.” On Friday, Haj Mimoun took to the road and, recalling his Shaykh’s heralding the good news of a Perfect Master who would appear, he broke out into a fever. When he entered the zawiya, which at the time was located in a small garage with a car parked in the middle of it, he was dumbstruck by the knowledge and presence of Sidi Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari (qs). He realized that he had the honor of starting the Path again, from "square one." He said to the Shaykh: “Take me by the hand to God” (khudh bi-yadī ilā Allāh). Sidi Shaykh told him to come back the following week. He took the divine Light and permission to recite litany the next week. Less than a month later, Sidi Shaykh allowed him to enter the retreat (khulwa) where he had his spiritual opening (fatḥ).
When Sidi Shaykh received permission to revive the Sufi practice of the patched cloak (muraqqaʿa) around 2014, Hajj Mimoun was initially unable to build up the courage to wear it. He then had a dream in which he saw the holy Prophet (ṣ) in a patch cloak surrounded by the fuqara. The Prophet (ṣ) then approached Hajj Mimoun and dressed him in the patched cloak as well. Soon thereafter, the Shaykh gifted Hajj Mimoun his own patched cloak (seen in the picture below). From that day onward, Hajj Mimoun never took it off. He told us that his sons offered to pay him USD$2000 if he would stop wearing it. Hajj Mimoun refused and said: “How could I take it off when the Master of Creation, the Beloved Prophet (ṣ) dressed me in it!”
Hajj Mimoun would walk by foot to the Zawiya every Friday. One day, he entered the zawiya trembling. When the fuqara asked him why he was trembling, he said that he was seized by a strong spiritual state in the market where he heard signers chant poems in praise of God and the Prophet (ṣ). He had nowhere to turn, and so he sought refuge under the shade of his Shaykh, the Blessed Tree.
At the end of last year’s Mawlid gathering in celebration of the Prophet’s (ṣ) birth, Sidi Shaykh made a personal supplication for each attendee who was present at the gathering. From personal experience, these heartfelt prayers are answered. When Hajj Mimoun’s turn came, the Shaykh smiled and asked him: “Shall I pray for you to live longer?” Hajj Mimoun responded: “No! I’ve lived long enough! I want to meet my Lord” (la, baraka ʿaliya, bghit nalqa Rabbi).
He was buried on the morning of September 15, 2020 after Sidi Shaykh made a long and tearful supplication and performed the funeral prayers over him. Hajj Mimoun took three secrets of the divine Name.
In the following video, Hajj Mimoun (then a sprite 98 year-old) speaks of his experience on the Path, explaining the countless Shaykhs he accompanied and the Zawiyas that he frequented until he finally was led by God to the axial saint of his age:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=783888229029831&extid=Nlqx7i0Ohe5wFYZA
In the following video, he describes his visionary encounter with the holy Prophet (s) as well as his witnessing of the divine Light in the form of the moon and the sun:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3383073475064869&extid=G5VMxWvubaLS0g1R
O soul at peace, return to your Lord, well pleased and well-pleasing. Enter with My servants, enter into My Garden.
Al-Fātiḥa for his blessed soul.
