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Aura Photograph of Pak Muh, taken at Singapore on September 8, 1997. |
The
Revolutionary Sufi
Master
Muhammad Zuhri is a Sufi Master
who lives in a small village in Indonesia. He is known to people around
him as Pak Muh
(Pak is a short from Bapak, meaning father; while Muh is a short from Muhammad).
Pak Muh is not like other Sufis, he didn’t follow any Sufi order (Tariqa)
neither does he form a new one. One scholar called him a revolutionary
Sufi because of his revolutionary ideas in Sufism.
His basic concept of Sufism is the synthesis of Moses’ prophecy and Jesus’ prophecy in the form of Muhammad‘s prophecy (peace be upon them all). The actualization from this concept is a positive creativity in human existence, which lies the transcendence of every Moslem (followers of the prophet Muhammad - peace be upon him). Pak Muh has written many books, poems and articles which also include his Sufi concepts and teachings. While some of his predecessors practiced the idea of self purification with extreme asceticism, he likes to socialize himself with persons from every level of society.
Pak Muh was married in 1961, and
has two sons and three daughters (a fourth daughter was killed in a car
accident), plus eleven grandchildren. Now he lives happily with his family
in Sekarjalak village, near the city of Pati. He forms a small halaqah
(a group to learn Sufism) in his village, with the name of Pesantren
Budaya Barzakh (Barzakh Cultural Study Group), which has two-weekly
meetings. Once a month, he visits Jakarta and Bandung to meet his distant
pupils in those cities. Most of his disciples are young intellectuals,
who regard him as their father. 
His disciples in Jakarta formed an Islamic social organization called Yayasan
Barzakh (or Barzakh Foundation), while those in Bandung formed
an Islamic art and cultural organization (Keluarga Budaya Barzakh or
Barzakh Cultural Family).
Pak
Muh in an umroh visit to Mecca
Pak Muh is also known to have spiritual
power to cure people, called the Sufi Healing method. For the last 20 years,
people has came to him from everywhere looking for alternative ways to
be cured from their illness. Some are cured only by following his instructions
via correspondence. Cancer, leukemia, paralysis, impotency, and many other
kind of diseases has been cured by him. From 1996, Pak Muh has opened a
worldwide service to help people with HIV or AIDS, working together with
Barzakh Foundation in managing the patients.
Profile
in Mass Media
Some mass media had interviews
and profiles about Pak Muh, some of them are:
Small
Mosque
Project
Starting from December 2000, Pak
Muh has started a project to build a small mosque right in front of his
house. The small mosque. besides its regular use for daily prayers, is
also intended for Sufism studies and discussion, as well as to accomodate
Pak Muh's guests who wish to stay overnight in his village.
Those who wish to participate in
the Mosque Project are invited to send contribution directly
to Pak Muh (by cheque or money
order) or through his bank account:
BANK CENTRAL ASIA - Branch of PATI
Account Number: 098-10-56816-7
Account Name: MUHAMMAD ZUHRI
(For
those who resides in Indonesia and wish to use the ATM
to
transfer the contribution please disregard the number 0 in
the
middle of the Account Number into this: 0981568167
because
the ATM only provides space for 10 digits)
Contact
Address
Those who want to contact Pak Muh
can send letter or visit him at :
Desa Sekarjalak RT.02 RW.02 no.50
Margoyoso, Pati, Jawa Tengah
INDONESIA 59154
or through :
BARZAKH
FOUNDATION
Jalan Bangka Raya no.18-A
Jakarta INDONESIA 12720
Phone/Fax: (62-21) 71790355
E-mail: yayasan@barzakh.net