Sheikh Hassan and the Osmanische Herberge like to give thanks to all our guests and helpers of the annual Wintercamp for a gathering full of bliss and light. Once again we were honoured to welcome our brothers and sisters from London to Sicily, from Paris to Vienna, for the traditional Wintercamp in the days between Christmas and the beginning of the new year.
Of course this positive resonance is mainly due to the presence of our beloved Sheikh Hassan, who came night by night to lead the night prayer and dhikr, to give sohbat and to answer the personal requests of our guests with good advise and humour until late after midnight, despite his advanced years. Every night the hearts of the visitors got illuminated by the loving kindness of our host. Recordings of the Sohbats can be found at our video page.
Good mood was provided also by Ustadh Ali Keeler, who not only brought near to us in his famed Quran school the beauty of the noble Quran, but also of the Arabic und Andalusian music for the sake of Prophet
, accompanied by Abu Nour, Muslim und Abdul Razzaq. Recordings of the concerts will be published here within the coming days.
Music also played an important part at the well attended psychology seminary with Sheikh Abdul Hamid Staepke. Based on the teachings of Imam Ghazalis we learned not only in words but specially in practical exercises, that Allah didn't create us for grieve but for joy.
This might be confirmed by the participants of the Clown workshop of Dr. Omar Obst, who got encouraged to rediscover their inner Clown and present it in a playful way.
Hard work brings its own reward (or fi'l haraka baraka, as the Arab says). That's why the sport activities where in high demand, specially with the youths. The Sunna of the Prophet
got exercised at Brasilian Jiu-Jitsu with Yunis Aways and at traditional archery with Ibrahim.
A bit more quiet was the popular calligraphy course with Sajida - here the attendees were allowed to experience the healing, relaxing effects of drawing in focussed contemplation, while the visitors of the Hu meditation with sister Rabia could find access to this deep relaxation by singing and breathing exercises. Many thanks also to Maria, who managed to get the kids enthusiastic about learning the Arabic alphabet, despite of the concurrence of iPhone & co.
No Wintercamp is complete without snow and ice. After the blessings of the Juma brought us a strong snowfall within the first days of the camp, there was only left to us artificial ice towards its end. The excursion to the ice rink at the lake of Zülpich provided a lot of fun for kids as well as adults, with the backdrop of a serene, sunset light scenery.
We say Alhamdulillah for the present of the community, for the blessings of this gathering and of Sheikh Hassan and Mawlana.