The other day I was reminded of the 80ās sitcom Happy Days, with the legendary character: Fonzie.
I saw a short Youtube clip of some of his best moments, and realised something I never picked up on when I was youngā¦ No wonder The Fonze was so cool. He was a total Sufi!
Hereās how I know this to be trueā¦
Firstly, he had instant, powerful presence – the hall mark of any real Sufi. You would watch the whole show just waiting for him to appear, knowing that his mere presence would sort everything out. In fact, he started out as a small side-character on the show but because the idea of āThe Fonzeā became so popular, he quickly became the star of the show.
He was loved by everyone – a friend to the whole family. The teenagers, the parents, and of course, all the ladies. To be loved by everyone is a sign of a true believer – the more people know you, the more they love you.
And perhaps my favourite fact about Fonzie, is his āgiftāā¦ He would hit a duke box and the perfect song would play. He would tap a vending machine in just the right spot and a can would fall out. In one scene he hit the wall of a building to turn the lights in the entire building out.
And, of course, this worked with the ladies too. He would just click his fingers and every beautiful lady in the room would instantly come to his attention.
When one lady he was speaking with was impressed, she asked: āWow! You just click your fingers and every woman in the room comes to you? Thatās quite a trick!ā
He responded like a true Sufi sage:
āItās not a trick. Itās a gift.ā
And therein lies the key to understanding that Fonzie was indeed a Sufi Master. He wasnāt arrogant about what happened and he didnāt claim it was his own doing. He knew it was the divine will to give him such āgiftsā.
In Arabic, the only word to describe these gifts is: ākaramatā, or āhonouringsā. Legend has it that the true masters of the Islamic spiritual path were gifted these ākaramatā because they were so fully in alignment with the divine, that Allah would bless them with these miraculous āgiftsā. (Note, theologically this is different to āmuājazaā or full-on āgive-sight-to-the-blindā and āpart-the-Red-Seaā type miracles, which were reserved for select prophets & messengers. Karamat tended to be smaller signs given to truly devoted servantsā¦ Ya know, things like hitting a random spot on the wall and the lights going out).
Now Iām not promising you miracles or gifts. But, I can promise everyone who comes to my next event something much better: An easy way to connect with the divine and be in full alignment with Allahās will. So no matter what situation or circumstance you find yourself in, you can handle it with the coolness of the Fonze.
When youāre ready, don your leather jacket, put on your shades, and find the perfect spot to hit the linkā¦ riiiight abouuuut here:
