Sayyid Muhammad Fahim bin 'AbdulHamid Effendi was born in 1241 and passed away in 1393 [1895]. His mother was Amine Hanim. He was from the Arwas village of Muks, a district of Van. He was tall and thin. His beard was neither short nor long. His nose was a little high in the middle. His forehead was broad. He had a white-complexion. His teeth were not incomplete. His turban was large. He wore a white dress made of three pieces of cloth, a green or blue robe, wool socks and leather slippers. He used eyeglasses during his last years. He had black eyes. His hair was white for the most part. His eyebrows were connected in the middle. When he traveled, he did so only on horseback until his death. He became so weak during his last days that he carried his turban with great difficulty. He wrapped an abani[32] on his turban when he performed salat. He passed away on the fourteenth of Shawwal. Because he was tall, a tall gravestone was erected by his grave, which was later destroyed by Armenians. He had an awe-inspiring look. People would fear his shadow. Those who saw his shadow could see that he was a beloved servant of Allahu ta'ala. He was matchless in Van and during his time. He was profound in every branch of knowledge, even in agriculture, arts and political sciences. His knowledge was an endowment from Allahu ta'ala. The Governor of Van used to solve his problems by asking him. He missed no congregational salat and no thajjud (supererogatory midnight salat) throughout his life.

While studying religious and scientific knowledge at a madrasa, he also attained the honor of receiving the tawajjuh of al-murshid al-kamil[33] Hadrat Sayyid Taha al-Hakkari, who was the qutb[34] of Eastern Anatolia.

While he was leaving Shamdinan, where his murshid lived, for the village of Abiri, Bulanik, Mus, to study Mutawwal, his murshid said to him, "When you have difficulty in understanding a point in the book, remember (rabita) me! Visualize me!" Later while he was learning Mutawwal from his master Molla Rasul as-Sibki, he could not understand a sentence. His master re- explained it. He asked his master to explain it further in detail. Molla Rasul read the sentence several times and said, "I am tired today, I'll explain it tomorrow." The following day he again could not explain it. While his master was reading it repeatedly, Hadrat Sayyid Fahim closed his eyes and tried to bring into his mind the figure of his murshid. Sayyid Taha appeared to him with a book in his hands. He opened the book in front of Sayyid Fahim. It was the same page of Mutawwal on which the vague sentence appeared. Sayyid Taha read the sentence openly and Sayyid Fahim listened to him carefully and saw that he read an additional waw-i atifa (wa). When Sayyid Taha disappeared, he opened his eyes and saw that Molla Rasul was continuously reading and thinking about that sentence. He then asked for permission and read it to himself adding a 'wa' as he had heard from his murshid. His master said, "Now the meaning is clear." They both understood it thoroughly. Molla Rasul said, "I've been reading and explaining these lines for twenty years, yet without understanding. Now I understand it clearly. Tell me now... Reading it correctly cannot be out of your own ability. I could not understand it for years. How is it that you did? You added a 'wa' and the meaning became clear?" Hadrat Sayyid Fahim told his master, who now rests adjacent to the door of Ala' ad-din Pasha Mosque in Mus, how he learned it through rabita.

Hadrat Sayyid Fahim used to leave Muks once a year and stay in Van for a month or two. Those who loved him would gather around him and receive faid. He usually was the guest of Ahmad Bey, who loved him very much and was the first secretary of the court. The year Ahmad Bey went on hajj,[35] he stayed again at his house. One day late at midnight, he called one of his intimates and said, "Wake your friends! We'll leave here at once and go to the house of..." He was answered, "Sir, wouldn't it be unsuitable to leave at midnight? Can't we go tomorrow?" He said, "No, we'll go now. Tell Ahmad Bey's sons." Ahmad Bey's sons came and begged, "Sir, forgive us if we have committed a fault. Do not leave us. Father will be shocked if he hears it. How could we answer him? Please forgive us." They lamented much. Hadrat Sayyid Fahim said, "No. I am very pleased with you. You' ve fulfilled your responsibilities beyond what was needed. I pray for you. But we have to go now." Ahmad Bey's sons said, "Be it as you command, sir." At midnight they went to the house of another one of those who loved him. The following day, his son Muhammad Amin Effendi told him that Ahmad Bey's sons were deeply grieved. "Father," he asked, "what if we stayed at that house until morning?" Hadrat Sayyid Fahim said, "My son! Don't tell it to anybody now. Ahmad Bey passed away in al-Makkat al-mukarrama last night. The house became a house of orphans. The property became theirs'. We used to use everything, eat and drink everything, because I knew that Ahmad Bey would willingly make all of them halal[36] for us. But afterwards, it was not permissible to use anything that belonged to the heirs with whom we were not acquainted. I left abruptly because it was necessary to abstain from depriving others of their rights." The pilgrims returned a month later. Everybody returned, but Ahmad Bey did not. "He died in Mecca at midnight," they said. It was calculated and coincided with the same midnight.

Once when Hadrat Sayyid Fahim was walking along the shore of Lake Van with his disciples, a priest came out of an Armenian Church on Ahtamar Island and began to walk on the surface of the water. Some of his disciples thought, "While a priest, whom we call an enemy of Allah, walks on water, how come Hadrat Sayyid, whom we know as a great wali and a beloved elect of Allahu ta'ala, cannot do the same but walks all the way around the shore?" Hadrat Sayyid comprehended this thought and took his slippers off his blessed feet and struck them against each other in his hands. Every time he struck them, the priest went into the water. When the priest's body was in water up to his neck, he struck them once more and the priest drowned. Then Hadrat Sayyid turned to those who had contrary thoughts, and said, "He walked on water by using magic. Thus, he wanted to destroy your iman[37] When I struck my slippers, his magic was destroyed and he drowned. Muslims do not use magic but consider it shameful to ask for karama from Allahu ta'ala." He destroyed the priest's magic with his karama.

Abdulwahhab Effendi, who died in 1963 and who was the father of Rifat Bey, a soap manufacturer, said, "When I finished the madrasa in Erzurum, I wanted to study further. It was said that the great scholar I was looking for was 'Abduljalil Effendi, who lived in Bitlis. I went to Bitlis where I was told that he was gone and that I should wait for his return from Van. I could not be patient and went to Van and learned there that I could find him in the Shabaniyya Mosque in the company of a Shaikh of Muks, Hadrat Sayyid Fahim, who had recently come to Van. I went to the mosque where the great scholar Abduljalil Effendi, as I thought on my way, would be speaking at the dais while everybody gained benefit from his lecture. I entered the mosque and saw everybody sitting respectfully, their heads bowed. There was a luminous and affable person sitting high, across from the entrance. Everybody sat facing him respectfully. 'This awe inspiring and effective person must be 'Abduljalil Effendi,' I thought. But there was nobody around to whom I could ask concerning him, for everybody was bowed and looked towards their front. Suddenly, a youth came up to me and asked who I was looking for. When I mentioned Hadrat' Abduljalil, he pointed to someone sitting respectfully bowed in the back row, he said, 'Here he is... You may sit if you like.' I asked who the speaker was. 'Hadrat Sayyid Fahim,' said the young man whom, many years later, I learned to be Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi. A little later the adhan was called. The sunnat[38] salat was performed. Hadrat Sayyid Fahim became the imam[39]. We straightened the rows; then while saying the beginning takbir[40] with the imam, we, the whole jamaat (congregation), trembled as if shocked by electricity. Sixty years have passed since then. When I remember the imam saying that takbir, I tremble and there occurs a sense of upliftment in my heart as it did on that day."

The karamat of Hadrat Sayyid Fahim and the high degree of his status in Allahu ta'ala's view cannot be measured or described appropriately. His greatest and most obvious karamat was his educating an 'arif[41] kamil and wali mukammil such as Hadrat 'Abdulhakim Effendi. "The regularity in the effect indicates the perfection in the cause."

Hadrat Sayyid Fahim, al-Arwasi was one of the great scholars of Islam and one of the Sufiyya al-'aliyya.[42] He was the thirty-third in a Silsilat al-'aliyya.[43] He attained perfection in the sohbat of Hadrat Sayyid Taha al-Hakkari, After Sayyid Taha's passing away in 1269 [1853], he continually visited his brother Hadrat Sayyid Muhammad Salih, who passed away in 1281 (1864). For further information, please read the biography of 'Abdulhakim Effendi and Taha-al Hakkari. His father was Molla 'AbdulHamid Effendi. His grandfather was Sayyid 'Abdurrahman who was the great grandfather of Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi. 'AbdulHamid Effendi, the grand son of Molla Safiyuddin who was the brother of Sayyid Fahim Effendi, passed away in 1967 (A.D.)

Sayyid Fahim Effendi had nine sons and four daughters:

1. Rashed Effendi had a son named Muhammad Bakir and a daughter named Aisha Hanim. Aisha Hanim was the second wife of 'Abdulhakim Effendi.

2. Muhammad Amin Effendi was the most superior of his brothers. He was a scholar, virtuous and a litteratuer. After having returned from Hedges, he passed away at Tur-i Sina. He has a daughter named Fatima.

3. Muhammad Mathum Effendi was a wise and religiously perfect man. He passed away in Arwas before 'Abdulhakim Effendi. 'Abdulhakim Effendi, being one of his eight sons became a member of parliment in 1957 (A.D.). He passed away in Istanbul before joining the parliment and is buried in Edirnekapi cemetery. Taha Effendi, his second son who lived in chatak, passed away during his pilgrimage in Mecca in 1400 Hijri. His sons are Arjumand, Ataullah, 'Ubaidullah and Andar Effendis. He had three daughters as well. His third son, Muhammad Amin Garbi Effendi, was the son-in-law of Ibrahim Arwas Beg. His sons, Murad and Hamid Effendis are in Istanbul. His fourth son Bakir Effendi, passed away in Konya in 1399 (A.H.) He had four children. His fifth son Salim Effendi, died in Arwas in 1392 (A.H.). His son Zaynalabidin Effendi is a teacher in Istanbul. Salahaddin Effendi, his sixth son, passed away in Mar'as in 1939 (A.D.) His son is Yahya and his daughters are Sahabat and Muzayyan. His seventh son is Ibrahim Effendi. Habib, Muhib and 'Irfan Effendis are the sons of his eighth son Badradden Effendi. 4. Muhammad Siddik Effendi was martyred by Armenians while he was Mufti of Van. He was buried in Asa Kaymaz, Gurpinar, Van. His sons Fahmi Effendi and Ma'suk Effendi are imams in the town of Gurpinar.

5. Sayyid Hasan Effendi passed away in Medina in 1388 (1968 A.D.). Of his three sons, Najmuddin Effendi passed away in 1959, Muhammad Rashid Effendi in 1945 and Siddik Effendi in 1982. The first had three sons, the second had a son called Said Effendi and the third had four sons. Muhammad Rashid Effendi was the husband of Hicret Hanim.

6. Molla Husain Effendi was the father of virtuous Kasim Effendi who was the former Mufti of Van, and was the father of Shamsaddin and Ihsan Effendis.

7. Mazhar Effendi. His son is Mazhar, whose son is Abdulahad, and his sons are Muhammad Nuri, Bahjat, Sarwat, Fatih and Najdat Effendis.

8. Muhammad Salih Effendi. His son is Mazhar Effendi.

9. Nezamaddin Effendi. He had two children from one of his wives, namely Sadraddin Effendi and Hicret Hanim.

Sadraddin Effendi passed away in 1393 Hijri in Diyarbakir. He was buried in Van. He had four children, all from his second wife. One of these, Wahbi Effendi, was an agricultural technician at Chemberlitas in Istanbul. Nasiba Hanim is the wife of Certified Public Accountant Hayati Chiftlik Beg. The husband of Asiye Hanim, Abdurrahman Ekinci, has been propagating Islam. Sariye Hanim is in Van. Said Effendi is the son of Hijrat Hanim and virtuous Kasim Effendi is one of four sons-in-law of Hijrat Hanim. The second one is Aydin Beg, who is the son of Rukiye Hanim and is the nephew of Hadrad 'Abdulhakim Effendi. The third son-in-law is pharmacist Fatih Yilmaz Beg, the owner of Kumurlu Pharmacy in Fatih.

The fourth son-in-law is Habib Effendi. Husain and Amin pashas are the two sons-in-law of Sayyid Fahim Effendi. His third daughter Esma Hanim has three sons, namely Shawki, Faruq and Nabi.

Sayyid Fahim Effendi, "quddisa sirruh", was insan-i kamil (perfect human). The highest disciple of his was 'Abdulhakim Effendi, a walliyyi kamil (perfect wali). Sayyid Fahim Effendi in his letter of 17 Jamazil ahir 1300 (April 1883) writes:

My beloved, esteemed Sayyid Ibrahim and Sayyid Taha! May Allahu ta'ala protect you both! I make many duas for you. As you know, your brother Sayyid Molla 'Abdulhakim had been here last Autumn and started to study. This faqir taught his lessons with great care and by checking what I said. He, too, was as much attentive and critical as I, either in his private studies and during lessons. I didn't leave time for him to busy himself with anything except knowledge. Now, he completed all the books he should according to the contemporary method. This faqir has graduated him to teach methodological science, fiqh and hadith knowledge in the same way as I was graduated by my masters. From now on, do not regard him as your brother. In order to be respectful for the honor of 'ilm, show much humility towards him. I am writing these for your good and promotion. Besides, to humiliate for 'ilm means to humiliate for Allahu ta'ala. Apprehend much from this short letter of mine! As-Sayyid Fahim "rahimahullahi ta'ala".

He declares in a second letter: My beloved son, apple of my eye Sayyid Molla 'Abdulhakim! After my countless duas, I submit that my heart aches much since I didn't receive news from you. Allahu ta'ala knows every secret. I can say that my heart is with you almost all the time, He certainly knows. In order for you to free me of my sorrows, you have to inform me frequently about your implicit and explicit conditions. Thus ties of love will be activated. If he, the apple of my eye, will ask about the faqirs here, may hamds and thanks be to Allahu ta'ala! The comfort and assurance of our body and our environs are increasing day after day. May Allahu ta'ala bless assurances to our hearts, the faqirs, and to the hearts of all our brothers! Amin. Please say this faqir's duas to 'AbdulHamid, Hasan and Sayyid Ibrahim! I pray for Taha Effendi and Mazhar Effendi. You are my agent to say this faqir's duas to whomever you deem it suitable. Besides these, write about the state of those in Nehri, be they good or bad. We heard about atrocities of Nasturis (Nestorians) and their killing four hundred Muslims. I want you to inform me about what they did and why they did it. Wassalam. 3 January 1301. Yours prayfully, sinful Sayyid Fahim.

A letter written by Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi to his brother Sayyid Taha Effendi follows:

The young seedling of the mubaraq garden, Taha Effendi! Your beautifully written letter has been received. We like it very much because it has informed us that my beloved son and his companions are safe and this has made us feel the desire and eagerness for the real Matlub (Beloved). A couplet:

It is not for me to leave this spring of life

May Allahu ta'ala increase this thirst of yours! You ask, "Is it necessary for the image of the guide to be exactly as the guide himself."

My beloved son, it is not necessary to be the same. The aim of rabita is to turn the attention toward the vision. It is to think of the vision, and to expect help from the one imagined. It is not necessary to know and to recognize the certain vision. It can be seen as it is imagined or thought. Most of the time, the soul is seen in the form of the body and in other forms because it is accustomed to the body to which it has been tied. Let it be seen in whatever form and state, if the vision is seen in a beautiful, sweet, and joyful manner and if it increases the love and peace (of mind) it is understood that it is rahmani (of Allahu ta'ala). Try as hard as possible to increase your desire and love towards that vision! Extinguish yourself in it! If the vision is ugly, terrible and horrible it is a satanic vision. Do not look at it! Let it go away. You ask what you should do in order to get rid of the other things which come to the mind while making dhikr. My dear, these thoughts will certainly go away and die, by Allahu ta'ala's permission, in two ways. One way is to turn completely towards the vision seen during rabita, the other is to make much dhikr, to do the rabita eagerly and by concentrating all one's power and senses on the heart. 18 October 1308.

FOOTNOTES

[32] Abani: white cotton material embroidered all over with small squares of yellow thread.

[33] Al-murshid al-kamil: the perfect guide.

[34] Qutb: the highest wali in one or several countries, with whom other walis consult about their problems.

[35] Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca.

[36] Halal: permitted, unquestioning.

[37] Iman: faith, belief.

[38] Sunnat: those things done and liked by the Prophet.

[39] Imam: A Muslim leading the congregational salat.

[40] Takbir: the phrase "Allahu akbar" (Allah is the Greatest).

[41] Arif: a great wali whose heart has gained knowledge about Allahu ta'ala's Person and Attributes. One higher among the 'arifs is called "kamil." An 'arif kamil who can pour this knowledge into his disciple's heart is called a "mukammil."

[42] Sufiyya al-'aliyya: the superiors of tasawwuf: Awliya'

[43] Silsilat al-'aliyya: a chain of walis each of whom was a mukammil and who acted as an intermediary for the marifa, nur and faid to come from the blessed heart of Rasulullah to that of a wali. (Every wali, murshid, has a silsila.)