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Ramadan Series 2017, Vol 1

Dr. Nour Kabbani

27 May 2017 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

Fajr Suhbah

May Allah accept our prayers and our presence here. May Allah give us more and more health and power to do more.

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een wa man tabi`ahum bi ihsaanin ila yawmi ‘d-deen. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, madad.

Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Azeez Allah

Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Kareem Allah

Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Subhaan-Allah

Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Sultan Allah.

Hosh geldiniz! May Allah accept us in the Divine Presence with the Intercession of Rasoolullah (s) and our mashayikh. This is our intention to be among the accepted ones, koonoo ma` as-sadiqeen, and this is what our master taught us. Give us from his power and from the power of Qutb al-Mutasarrif. Our example is like the faucet: if you open it nothing comes out, but if you hit it and hit it, some drops might fall. We are not claiming to be anything: if they shake us, we are just looking for the few drops to bring from the knowledge Mawlana brought.

Alhamdulillah, Shaykh Ghazi Ghanoum compiled the suhbahs of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) from the 1970s and 1980s and Mawlana Shaykh Hisham (q) said to read from it as this year’s Ramadan Series. We are starting with volume one, the second edition, first suhbah.

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa billahi ‘l-`Aliyyi ‘l-`Azheem. Alhamdulillah, Allah has gathered us on His Love. Like bees gather and swarm the hives where there is honey, this is what we are doing: we go out and do our thing, but then when we come back we are seeking love of Rasoolullah. Alhamdulillah Allah has gathered us again on that.

Mawlana (q) is saying that our gathering here is because of the prayers of our good, pious ancestors. We know when Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) left Sayyidina Isma`eel (a) in Mecca, he asked Allah to give imams, guides to the people. So his du`a and the du`as of other pious ancestors caused us to gather here, that barakah has touched us. Others are not here. We are lucky to be in this majlis, receiving this blessing from the du`a of our good ancestors. May Allah forgive them and admit them to the highest levels of Paradise with Rasoolullah (s).

Our example is like a country where the hypocrites will never overcome the Believers. The mu’min inside us, the spirit and heart, will never be overcome by the hypocrite, the baatil inside us represented by Shaytan, nafs and hawwa. The people sitting here will be guides to people just by the barakah of sitting in the majlis of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, Mawlana Shaykh Hisham and Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q). We are yatasaabiqoon, we are racing: when the Evidence of Truth appears, we race to take our share of it. Awliyaullah are evidence as the Beacons of Truth. So our example is, we are running to these holy ones to take our share of barakah and mercy. So we must keep this association here, and not only in Michigan but all over the world, because we are running to take our share of the truth that has come up.

Allah will bless us to be stars in the sky. Planets don't have light, they seek light, but stars give light. Inshaa-Allah we will become stars among the heavenly stars lit with the light of the Saadiqeen, the True Ones. Allahumma al-himna rushdana. Inshaa-Allah Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is giving us the glad tidings that the Believer inside of us will overcome the bad aspect in us. Mawlana Shaykh, and I am explaining from his words, said that a person must take a pious brother, a saadiq, to help us fight Shaytan, because how can you fight the enemy you cannot see by yourself?

We hear things and sometimes ask ourselves, “Is this from Shaytan or from angels?” We don't know, because we don't see. Mawlana (q) said to become a star, you must take a truthful brother as he will take you to the Perfect Master. If you cannot find a Perfect Master, in the beginning you must find a perfect brother. If you examine the life of our master before he met Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q), you see he had different guides, some in Istanbul and Syria, then in Damascus, who took him to the Perfect Guide, Murshid Kaamil of that time, Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q). If we cannot find the Perfect Guide, find a good, pious brother to seek help. Mawlana quotes the verse, “We will give you shidda, strength, to your biceps,.”

قَالَ سَنَشُدُّ عَضُدَكَ بِأَخِيكَ وَنَجْعَلُ لَكُمَا سُلْطَانًا فَلَا يَصِلُونَ إِلَيْكُمَا بِآيَاتِنَا أَنتُمَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَكُمَا الْغَالِبُونَ

He said: "We will certainly strengthen your arm through your brother and invest you both with authority so that they will not be able to touch you. With Our Signs you will triumph, you two, as well as those who follow you." (Surat al-Qasas, 28:35)

“We will strengthen the arm, `addud (bicep, between the elbow and shoulder) by your brother whom you have taken as a companion.” Sayyidina Musa (a) has asked for his brother Haroon (a) as strength; he said, “Give me my brother, Haroon. Make him a prophet so I can gain strength through him.” So Mawlana (q) is saying if we cannot find a Perfect Master, find a good, pious brother and that one will give you sultan, strength, power to defeat our enemies,” which is Shaytan, dunya, hawwa, the passion of everything other than Allah, and the ego. With the pious brother we take, Allah promises to give us strength to move in that way. Then Mawlana Shaykh (q) said, “If you don't find a pious brother to support you, you will not find Eternity.” He starts the subhah by telling everyone to become a good guide, a light, a star among the Ummah. The first thing you must do is find a good brother who will give you power to find a Murshid Kaamil.

The reason the status of `ulama today is diminished to a very low level is because they are not seeking a Perfect Master or anyone. Mawlana says Iblees comes to them and says, “Don’t take a Perfect Master. You are the `alim, the master, waheedu `asrik, the unique and only one in your century!” This is Iblees telling that scholar who thinks he does not need any guide because he is “the sole one of your era.” Wa saa'ir `uloom al-`ulama doonaka tahtaka, “And all the knowledge of all other `ulama is under you.” Shaytan comes to the one studying to be a scholar and fills him up with anaaniya until he believes, ”You are the Sole One of your century.”

When you attend conferences, all VIPs sit and record each other so they can determine how to outdo one another, they make it a competition. You are elevated on a podium and think you are better than others. or they put you in a chair raised a couple of steps above others, or on a throne multiple steps above people and say you are ‘Mawlana’ and ‘`Allama’. Then in your mind you are above the clouds, and when you go to the microphone to address the crowd, all you can say is “ahh” and “ugh,” nothing of value. Shaytan fills people, and the first group he approaches is the people of knowledge. We don't claim anything, we read (from what others have written), but some people claim they can write books with volumes of knowledge and ideas, and Shaytan comes to those people first and fills them with selfishness.

Mawlana says to listen that type of scholar will fill you with their bad characteristics. The guide who is arrogant will make the follower arrogant; the guide who gossips will have followers who gossip; the guide who fights, the follower will fight others. The disease will pass from guide to the mureed. By taking a pious brother or a Murshid Kaamil who is loving and peaceful and humble, those characteristics will pass to us, but if we sit with a scholar who is angry, that will pass to us. That is why we are not allowed to sit with mushrikeen, as that illness will pass to us. Whatever illness is in the scholar will pass to the students.

Those scholars who are proud of their deeds, their prayers, their presence, and the amount of people who come with them, that sickness spreads to their followers. Pride is the inheritance of Iblees and whoever has an atom of pride will not enter Paradise. Mawlana says if a proud, angry, stubborn one can enter Paradise, then Iblees should enter Paradise. Anyone who has one of these four attributes--anger, jealousy, pride, stubbornness--is waarith Iblees, inheritor of Iblees, and there is no way for shafa`ah for him on Judgment Day, because Iblees does not enter the shafa`ah of Rasoolullah. wa amruhu il-Allah, his affair is in Allah's Hands on Judgment Day.

Mawlana says that if you confront those people, they make themselves innocent, yubari nafsihi, they excuse themselves, saying, “No, no, I am not proud.” Mawlana says it is haraam to give yourself excuses, because Sayyidina Yusuf (a) said, “I would not say my ego is good, that it has no pride. I would not defend my ego or follow it.”

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ

Truly the self commands to evil. (Surah Yusuf, 12:53)

All nafs are `ammarah, ordering; the nafs all of us have is ordering us in every moment to do bad stuff except illa ma raheem rabbee, the one who is protected by Allah’s Mercy, then it will do better. If you ask these people, “Why are you not following a shaykh?” they say, “We are not proud, we are following Rasoolullah.” But Sayyidina Yusuf (a) said, “I will not defend myself, the self is a bad one.” Nabi Yusuf said this, but they say, “I am not proud, but I don't follow anyone, I follow Rasoolullah (s).” They are ignorant, because even the Sunnah of Rasoolullah (s) in seeking knowledge was to wait for Sayyidina Jibreel (a) to come to him! His Sunnah is to follow the orders coming from someone else!

The orders to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim came from Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q) and the orders to Mawlana Shaykh Hisham come from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. So when we say we are following Rasoolullah (s), he was waiting for wahiyy to come through Jibreel (a). When people asked him a question, he said, “I am waiting to get the wahiyy.” He is able to know, but is a teaching the Ummah.

When you confront these scholars and ask, “Why don't you follow a shaykh when even on Israa’ and Mi`raaj, Sayyidina Jibreel (a) guided the Prophet (s)?” The Prophet (s) took Jibreel (a) as a Companion on Earth and in Heavens. It is a must to find someone who will bring orders to you from the Divine Presence or how else will we know the orders coming to us? If someone has no shaykh, Iblees is his shaykh and will blow selfishness in him, and tell him, “You are the sole representative of the deen.”

Some people tell others what to do and how to act, saying, “I am the one who understands Holy Qur'an and Sunnah, and if you don't follow me I will injure or even kill you!” They think they are the ones to tell the people what the religion is, but truly that one is the heavenly being. The religion comes from Heavens, not from Earth. Only philosophers invented different ways, Marxism, etc., and they take people away from heavenly guidance. Mawlana says if they have a trace of light in their heart or mind, they would understand the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) when he was awaiting Sayyidina Jibreel (a) to bring him heavenly orders:

وَاتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ مَنْ أَنَابَ إِلَيَّ

And follow the path of those who turn towards Me. (Surat Luqmaan 31:15)

Inshaa-Allah we hope to become Awliyaullah as they are the ones who turned to Allah. “Inaab” means to turn to Allah from the wrong way. Rasoolullah was always on the right way, so we cannot mention his level, but those who turned back to Allah’s obedience turned from the wrong way to the right way. Read the books of Awliyaullah: many of them were on a bad way, some were even bandits on the wrong way, but they turned back. You have to find someone who has turned back to Allah (swt) with obedience and sincerity, who has reached heavenly levels. Follow the way of Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, the way of Shah Bahauddin Naqshband, the way of Ahmad al-Badawi (q): they were scholars and qadis, judges, who turned back to the right way. Yunus Emre was a qadi and was so proud of his `ilm that he made fun of the shaykh of his village, whom he eventually followed. So this is Tariqah, the way of the one who has turned back and left everything but Allah (swt).

So where do you find one of these people? Spiritually, they are here, they are Kibritun Ahmare, the Red Sulphur. The moment you think their presence in your life is very important, you will leave everything and try to find one, and until that belief comes into one's heart or mind, you won't leave everything to find that shaykh. When that belief comes to one's heart, that it is essential to find a guide, they didn’t look for the Red Sulphur, the perfect guide. With that belief, you would leave everything and try to find such a person, and the example in Holy Qur’an is in life of Sayyidina Musa (a), who said, “I will not stop seeking until I find that one.”

وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَاهُ لَا أَبْرَحُ حَتَّىٰ أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا

When Moses said to his servant, “I will not turn back, until I reach the meeting of the two seas even if I spend many years.” (Surat al-Kahf, 18:60)

When that belief comes into the heart that, “I must find that one or I will lose my dunya and Akhirah!” it caused Sayyidina Musa (a) to leave everything, he took his helper and a fish and went in search of it. Where were his hundred thousand followers? He left them all behind! The true seeker will not care if a hundred thousand are behind him or if he is alone. Some boast about how many people follow them. Sayyidina Musa (a) just took his ghulam, young helper, and fish to eat and left his people, saying, “Don't come with me, I am losing.” He went to look and left them behind. Pakistani scholars with one or two million followers need to find a guide for them to guide their people; this is the teaching in Holy Qur'an: leave everything and find the one who will give you your success in this life and the Next!

There is a rule in Tariqah: talabanaa wajadanaa, “If you ask Allah will give, when you don't ask Allah will not give.” So talabana wajadana, we are asking to stay with our Grandshaykh and be guided by them to Your Divine Presence, yaa Rabb! Our example is coal: although it is dark and black, fire is in it, but if you know how to get the fire out, it will burn and give heat. The truth, yasree, moves in each of us as fire moves in coal; when the time comes, the shaykh will light it. Make us from these, yaa Rabb, who will be lit by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Hisham and all representatives of the Naqshbandi Tariqah, from the first one to the last one! Make us with them! Whoever is guiding us, give them help to guide us to Your Way, to take Shaytan away, as we are asking for Your shelter, yaa Rabb, from Shaytan’s tricks!

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Allahumma Ant al-Haqq ija`alna min Ahl al-Haqq! Make us avoid the baatil and protect us by the means of the truth to The Truth!

Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

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