27 July 2014 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan (2)
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`'een, nawaytu 'l-`'itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta`ala al-`Azheem fee hadha 'l-masjid.
Alhamdulillah, that Allah (swt) gave us the ability to fast in Ramadan. Today is the last day and inshaa-Allah tomorrow is `Eid al-Fitr, as most of the Arab and the Muslim world are observing `Eid al-Fitr tomorrow, inshaa-Allah, so `Eid Mubarak to all of you!
This Ramadan we have been able to speak about the importance of Tasawwuf not only in the life of Muslims, but in the message of Islam. Tasawwuf is one of Islam’s main principles because it leads you to understand why you have not yet reached what many of the awliyaullah reached before us. What is the difference? We pray and they pray, we fast and they fast, we give Zakaat and they give Zakaat, we do Hajj and they do Hajj, we say Shahadah and they say the Shahadah, so why are they better human beings than us, what causes them to get this benefit? What is the sweetness that made them sweet? What made them different? There must be something that makes us different.
Look, the child is crying there; he is different and we are different sitting here, someone playing with the fan is different, we are sitting differently, which means what distracts you does not distract them. What makes you to not care who is here and who is not there, and the mother doesn’t look after the child who is crying is what makes us different. We are paying attention but the child is not, because he has not yet reached manhood. The one playing with the fan is trying to fix something and he is distracted and distracts us. That is life. If the fan is running or not running, we don't pay attention. Our attention is on the teaching of the suhbah, as the level of the suhbah will go down if those present here are distracted. I will repeat what Grandshaykh (q) said, “I don't want any movement during suhbah, I want you frozen, because any movement distracts me,” and even someone coming from the door will cause people to look. It’s not your business!
So the character of awliyaullah, their behaviors are raashideen, they reached the level of adulthood. The story of Khawaja `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) is very well known, even during his lifetime. As we mentioned, he used to do dhikr in a well in order to not be distracted. He submerged himself because Shaytan cannot go under water. He took a breath, went down and made dhikrullah, and then came up to take another breath.
We visited him when we went with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim to Central Asia, where he is buried in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. He was never distracted from dhikrullah. He guided his followers to a place where they could not be distracted when they do dhikr in water, by telling them, “This is where you have to focus, no where else,” focusing on a limited area and making his dhikr, so as not to be distracted by what is going on around him.
Khawaja `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) never disagreed with anyone. He gave advice to anyone seeking advice. So what differentiates awliyaullah from us is that they are not distracted. If anyone comes, their focus is on what they are saying and what they are speaking, and this cannot happen except through mujaahada.
The State of Mujaahada is to Struggle Against One’s Enemies
Mujaahada, as we have described, is the struggle against the seven limbs and organs, what you use in the level of an-nafs al-ammaaratan bi 's-soow, the self that is always calling you to badness. Don't deny this; you have to admit this as Allah (swt) said it in the Holy Qur'an:
إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ
The (human) soul is certainly prone to evil. (Surat Yusuf, 12:53)
For sure the ego, the self, is what distracts you and take you to do sins. Previously we summarized the sins of the seven limbs and organs. These seven limbs and organs can also reach an-Nafs al-Mardiyya, The Happy Self, the self that is satisfied with its obedience to Allah (swt). So we are in between these three struggles: the self telling us to sin, the self telling us to obey Allah (swt) and reach the Level of Satisfaction and the struggle in between, one day like that and one day like that. To not be distracted like awliyaullah, we have to make mujaahada, which cannot be done by sitting and saying, “I am making jihad against myself.” No, there are things that you have to drop from your life and struggle with in order that you will get the training. As we mentioned before, the knowledge of health is not the same as the reality of being healthy. The knowledge of health is theory which you study, as in medicine. You study the theory of medicine, but you don’t do your training, your residency until later. To become a doctor you study health and then you need training in order to treat patients. And residency is an obligation upon every doctor.
So we need training to stop ourselves from being wild animals, to not listen to what our ego tells us to do. Whatever it says to you, say, “No, you are wrong.”
فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنفُسَكُمْ
Don’t praise yourself. (Surat an-Najm, 53:32)
Don’t praise or give an excuse to yourself, as always the nafs is going to cheat you. Always awliyaullah did their mujaahada in order to avoid themselves from falling into traps of Shaytan.
In time of Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi (q), there was a non-Muslim in India whose teachings reached a student of Sayyidina Khalid (q), and he became concerned that he had been with his shaykh many years and was still unable to perform any karamah. For awliayullah, we don’t say “miracle,” as miracles are for prophets, but karaamah is a juz, a part of the miracle.
That mureed said, “I heard there is a man who is not Muslim doing many different kind of miracles and we have been with you long time and we cannot do any miracles. What is the reason? He is a non-Muslim doing miracles and we are Muslim, mu’min and we are not able.”
Shaykh Khalid (q) said, “O my son, I will study this and give you an answer.”
Later Shaykh Khalid (Q) met the mureed and said, “I visited that Indian man you are speaking about and when I got there he was waiting for me at his door, and he said, ‘I knew you were coming. Come please, I prepared for you a Muslim meal,’ so I entered. We sat facing each other and one Muslim lady brought the food. Before touching the food, I said to him, ‘Recite the Shahadah (come to Islam).’ I sat on my knees and immediately the man put his head down for half-an-hour, not speaking, then he said, ‘Ash-hadu laa ilaaha illa-Llaah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah.’ In that moment, Allah opened for him, wa sakhkhara lakum maa fi ‘s-samaawaati wa maa fi ‘l-ardi jamee`an, ‘We made Heavens (the universe) and Earth under your control.’” Allah (swt) said it:
وَسَخَّرَ لَكُم مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا
We subject to you whatever is in Heavens and in the Earth. (Surat al-Jaathiya, 45:13)
Immediately, as soon as he took Shahadah and became Muslim, Allah (swt) gave Heavens and Earth under his control, more than before, because he was ready to get these miraculous powers.
I asked him, ‘Why were you late in saying the Shahadah?’ He said, ‘O my shaykh! For 25 years since I began my journey in this way of stopping the distractions of dunya, I made a promise and I kept it.’”
As the Prophet (s) said, “If a mu’min promises, he keeps his promise.”
المؤمن إذا وعد وفى
A Believer keeps his promise. (Abu Dawud, Darqutni, al-Hakim)
“‘For 25 years I did my best to not break my promise. I made promise to myself that whatever my self tells me to do, I do the opposite. I never let my self dictate to me what to do. Everything it asks me, I do the opposite, and now when you asked me to become Muslim by saying Shahadah, I consulted with my ego and asked, ‘What should I do, take Shahadah or not?’ and my ego said, ‘Have you lost your mind? Take Shahadah for what? To begin at the beginning of the ladder again after reaching this high level? No way you take Shahadah!’ I struggled with myself for half-an-hour, saying, ‘No, I have to take Shahadah,’ and my self was saying, ‘No, don’t take Shahadah!’ Finally I did not break my promise to myself that whatever my ego tells me I will do the opposite. So I took the Shahadah against my ego.”
So he kept that promise and opposed his self, then Allah opened to him to be a Believer with full powers. Allah (swt) opened for him more than the powers of this Earth; He opened for him the Universe! Awliyaullah do not care for dunya miracles, which is why you don’t see miracles. They have the power of miracles, but do you want them to do miracles for you in dunya?
In the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, when they send you into seclusion they will tell you to divorce miraculous powers six times, just as if a husband and wife divorce three times, that marriage is dissolved without a chance to come back together. Awliyaullah of the Naqshbandi Order divorce miraculous powers six times to emphasize, to confirm that there is no coming back to miraculous powers, because miracles make your ego happy.
So we have explained the importance of Tasawwuf in Islam and that you need mujaahada, to struggle, as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
And those who struggle in Our (Way), We will certainly guide them to our Paths for, verily, Allah is with those who do right. (Surat al-`Ankabut, 29:69)
It is said that inna ‘l-mujaahada aslin min usool at-turuq as-soofiyya, “Mujaahada is one of the main source, the main principles of every Sufi Order.” Without mujaahada you cannot be like these awliyaullah that we see, like `Ali al-Hujwiri in Pakistan or Ajmer Shareef in India or the shuyookh of the Naqshbandi Order, Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi and Muhammad Baha’uddin Shah Naqshband (q) in Central Asia, all the way to Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r). Because they showed mujaahada against themselves, Allah (swt) guided them to His Ways. So you need to give a promise to yourself, no need to do it in public. To open these levels, we have to do mujaahada. Even if you win one time and fail one time, it’s okay, but what is important is we go through that principle.
Coming here is mujaahada. What are we coming here for? Coming here is for training, and what is written in this book you can read back home. What is written here is from Hadith and Sunnah. There is nothing new for anyone. You can take a book and go read it, but the training is what is needed. If we don't train our egos, we are like a child who is breastfed: if you never stop him he won't stop. Mothers come to me and say, “My child is three years old and still breastfeeding.” They take a paid leave of absence for nine months for having a child and the husband also has a leave of absence.
And it is said, man haqqaqa ‘l-usool naala ‘l-wusool, “Who fulfills the principles will reach his destination.” He will reach the level of finding his way, but you have to first fulfill the principles. Usool means “the roots; origin.” So if you fulfill the origin, what it asks you to do, then you are reaching your destination.
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا
And those who struggle in Our (Way), We will certainly guide them to our Paths
(Surat al-Ankabut, 29:69)
“Those who struggle in Our Way (to reach the principles), We will guide them.” (29:69) Allah (swt) is saying, “I don’t need you to guide yourself; I will guide you, but begin to follow the principles.
وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا
And keep yourself patient (by being) with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance, and let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever (in) neglect. (Surat al-Kahf, 18:28)
“O Muhammad! Those behind your house are waiting patiently for one glance from you. They are there all night patient, waiting for you to glance at them, making salawaat on you, so give them a glance!” These are the People of the Bench, the People of Tasawwuf and Dhikrullah.
ما وسعني أرضي ولا سمائي ولكن وسعني قلب عبدي المؤمن
Neither My Heavens nor My Earth contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant contains Me.
(Hadith Qudsi, Al-Ihya of Imam al-Ghazali)
Allah (swt) said:
وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ
His Chair extends over the Heavens and the Earth. (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:255)
Wasi`a kursiyyuhu, His Chair, not His Throne, was able to take over the whole Universe, the whole Creation! Wasi`a kursiyyuhu ‘s-samaawaati wa ‘l-`ard, “His Chair contained everything created.” It means, He is observing every detail. Allah, The One Who created Creation, knows everything about His Creation, and we say, “SubhaanAllah, what greatness that is found in this Earth.” What about the other Earths, saba` araadeen? They say that the Earth consists of seven levels, seven plates and when they move, they say, “A tsunami is coming.” The whole universe with all it has is contained by His Chair.
Allah (swt) said, wa sakhkhara lakum maa fi ’s-samaawaati wa maa fi 'l-ardi jamee`an, “We subject to you whatever is in Heavens and in the Earth.” (45:13) He is saying, “I will give you everything, I will guide you, but know that your nafs is against you.” Count your bad manners in a day. How many times do you get angry? Every moment. An angry boss cannot work, but this is the way it works, so we have to come against it and to train ourselves to become peaceful and calm.
The one who does not have a burning to begin with training and mujaahada, struggle, who doesn't have that in the beginning by struggling against dunya and against his or her self, will not have a bright and honorable end.
Wa ‘l-bidaayatu tadull `ala ‘n-nihaayah. This is a principle, the beginning points to the ending. How you begin your journey through your childhood is how you will end up unless you are:
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا
Those who strive in Our way, We will most certainly guide them to Our paths. (Surat al-Ankabut, 29:69)
“Except for those who struggle in Us,” like, “You do the first part, I will do the second part.”
من أتاني يمشي أتيته هرولة
Whoever comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed (running). (Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari)
“If anyone comes to Me by one hand-span, I come to him one arm-span. Anyone comes to Me walking, I come to him running.” We are lazy, coming by walking, but Allah will come running. “I will guide you, don't worry.” Now many people enter Tariqah, any Tariqah, they do the training, they struggle, they are good people and they are following the method, the principles in Naqshbandi, Qadiri, Chisti, or whatever Tariqah it is. That is why we are here, we are here under a pious person's name. He left dunya, may Allah bless his soul, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil (q). It is not enough to love him, but to be trained. If you are not trained, you wasted your life. The chance does not come twice. The chance is one time, our life here is one time, it is not two times; Allah is offering us one time. If you succeed, you succeed.
Allah gave you an example, “If you wanted to come to this line, I guided you to this master, this Sultan. You don't need another Sultan, you don't need any other guidance.” Whoever took baya` from Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim `Adil (q) doesn't need another guide. Those who took baya` with the highest level of the pyramid, their baya` is not revoked and you are not doing anything against your baya` to renew your baya` that is why it is there.
I will tell you something, that baya` is never taken away, so our duty is to not do (anything) against the principle of our baya`. The principle of baya` is that you are not allowed to go to another shaykh. The one who reached you through his life can reach you through his death through his representatives, the ones that he appointed. When new ones want to enter tariqah, they must take baya`.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَمَن نَّكَثَ فَإِنَّمَا يَنكُثُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِمَا عَاهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللَّهَ فَسَيُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
Verily, those who swear allegiance to you (Muhammad) swear allegiance only to Allah. The Hand of Allah is above their hands, so whoever breaks his oath does so only to his soul's injury, while whoever keeps his covenant with Allah, on him will He bestow immense reward. (Surat al-Fath, 48:10)
Those who are on the lowest, lowest, lowest, lowest level, with no comparison, and they are doing baya` to a representative, they are in fact doing baya` to Mawlana Shaykh (q); as long as that representative is not sick in his mind and has no power of leadership and not confident in himself and doing that to get titles. There are many representatives and they should be doing baya` on behalf of the Shaykh, and this is in all Tariqats, that baya` to the representative is not to them but to the Shaykh. And you cannot jump between shaykhs, that is considered adultery between shaykhs by their mureeds, not actual adultery in that meaning, but betraying the trust that he put in you by jumping from one shaykh to another. So to reach the way of mujaahada is to remember Allah (swt). One of the mujaahada, the main one, is what? “Those who are remembering Us in different ways”:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
And We have only created Jinns and Mankind in order for them to worship us. (Surat adh-Dhaariyat, 51:56)
This is the first: “I did not create jinn and mankind except in order to worship Me. I am not concerned with how you get food, I am sending you rizq.” If you really are in the Way of Allah (swt) He might test you for one day, two days, three days but in the end He will send the food, and that is Sayyida Maryam (a), although she is not a prophet, but Allah sent her food as she was a waliya who was making dhikr and prayer in her mihrab and her provision was coming to her. Allah was not sending food to Sayyidina Zakariyya (a) as He was sending to Sayyida Maryam (A) and it made Sayyidina Zakariyya (a) to go back to her niche and ask for a du`a in her niche that Allah gives him a child. Allah accepted in that holy place that Sayyida Maryam (a) turned her place into a holy place because of her remembrance, because of her dhikrullah!
Allah says, “I did not create ins and jinn except to worship Me, and I don't want you to feed them or feed others, I am the One sending them.” But what do we do? We run after dunya and we explained this morning: don't run after dunya, as it makes you a slave. Dunya will run after you, it will be slave to you when you run towards Allah and His Prophet (s). So what differentiates someone in Tariqah and someone out of Tariqah? The one out of Tariqah does not do as much remembrance of Allah as the one in Tariqah, who is someone who remembers Allah every moment of his life. That awraad they do is remembrance all the time. They give you awraad to fill your day, so you are ‘remembering’ throughout the day as you do your awraad. So that is the key for you, not to drop your awraad, try to do them and you will keep remembering Allah (swt).
Mention of Dhikrullah in the Holy Qur’an
So those on Shari`ah, and those on Tariqah and Shari`ah, which is double, because you have to know `ilm and Shari`ah, are also going straight to the core of Shari`ah, the remembrance of Allah (swt) that He mentioned in many verses:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا اللَّـهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance and glorify Him in the morning and evening. (Surat al-Ahzaab, 33:41-42)
وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ كَثِيرًا وَسَبِّحْ بِالْعَشِيِّ وَالْإِبْكَارِ
Remember your Lord often and glorify Him at night and in the early hours. (Surat Ali Imraan, 3:41)
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّـهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّـهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
Those who believe and whose hearts find tranquility in the remembrance of Allah. Is it not with the remembrance of Allah that hearts find tranquility? (Surat ar-Ra`ad, 13: 28)
وَاذْكُرِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا
Mention the Name of your Lord in the morning and evening (Surat al-Insan, 76:25)
وَاذْكُرِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ وَتَبَتَّلْ إِلَيْهِ تَبْتِيلًا
But keep in remembrance the Name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him whole-heartedly.
(Surat al-Muzzammil, 73:8)
وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّـهِ أَكْبَرُ
Truly the remembrance of Allah is greater. (Surat al-Ankaboot, 29:45)
And it goes on about dhikrullah. There are hundreds of verses of dhikrullah and all are from aayaat of the Holy Qur'an. The Holy Qur'an mentioned the prayers in limited numbers and the Prophet (s) explained how to pray, but here in dhikrullah Allah reminded us to do dhikrullah. Many people forget dhikrullah and they do their obligations only, which is for sure very important, you must do them, but you have to remember that dhikrullah is important in your life.
وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّـهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ أَعَدَّ اللَّـهُ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
Those who remember Allah often, men and women, Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward for them. (Surat al-Ahzaab, 33:35)
Men and women who do dhikrullah Allah has prepared for them a great parade of maghfirah. He said, ajran adheeman, “Great reward to those who remember Allah,” and He mentioned men and women here. So the remembrance of Allah (swt) is mentioned many times in the Holy Qur’an and in the Holy Hadith. Some people say that “dhikr” is Qur’an. No, it’s not only Qur’an. The Holy Qur'an is mentioned as adh-dhikraa, and it comes in this form four times.
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
Behold! It is We Ourselves Who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder and behold, it is We Who shall truly guard it (from all corruption). (Surat al-Hijr, 15:9)
Another qasd, aim or goal of dhikr is Salaat al-Jumu`ah where Allah (swt) said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِي لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
O you who believe! When the call to prayer is sounded on the day of congregation, hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave all worldly commerce: this is for your own good, if you but knew it.
(Surat al-Jumu`ah, 62:9)
“O Believers! If the call to prayer is sounded on the day of Jumu`ah, leave your work, leave everything completely and direct yourself for dhikrullah.” In the Holy Qur'an, Jumu`ah was called “dhikrullah. Fa ‘s-`aw ilaa dhikrullah, run to the remembrance of Allah. So Salaat al-Jumu`ah is a dhikr by itself and that is why it is necessary for Muslims to go for Salaat al-Jumu`ah, especially men. It is in many other aayaat and we mentioned seven of them.
فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُواْ لِي وَلاَ تَكْفُرُونِ
Remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful towards Me.
(Surat al-Baqarah, 2:152)
الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ
Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting and lying down on their sides, and contemplating the creation of the Heavens and the Earth. (Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:191)
And there are many others, but these two ayahs are the ones that state obviously, clearly that remembrance of Allah (swt) is tahmeed, tasbeeh, tamjeed, tahleel, and salaat `ala an-Nabi (s). So this is dhikrullah. So it is mentioned in three different ways: first, the Holy Qur’an; second, Salat al-Jumu`ah, fa ‘s-`aw ilaa dhikrullah, run to Allah’s dhikr; third, tahmeed, tasbeeh, tamjeed, tahleel, and salaat `ala an-Nabi (s). So if we do that, we will be successful. This is the struggle, the jetway. If we do that, we go up. That takes you to the rocket to make you move fast in the Way of Gnosticism in that road, in that journey of dhikrullah. Dhikrullah will take you and carry you to the other side. It is not for nothing that we do dhikrullah. No, that is the jetway, there is a vehicle waiting for you to take you there.
لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا
We will most certainly guide them to Our paths (Surat al-`Ankabut, 29:69)
We will take you to our ways now, but you have to run on the jetway. If you don’t go through the jetway, you don’t get the plane. If you want the plane, then you have to go through the jetway and they have to check your ID and boarding pass. Angels will have names. “Is this your name?”
“Oh, it is not written, it is written differently on paper. That is my dunya name.”
“No, that does not work here, you have to have your Akhirah name. There is one name in dunya and there are six for Akhirah. Did you not get your name, one of the seven names? Did you not get it through a dream or you did not get it through your shaykh? You have to get the name as I have to see which group you are in.”
The shaykh has to give you your name, sometimes you go to Mawlana and he changes your name or you get a dream. So you tell that name to the angel and he says, “That is the correct name, you can go inside.”
So we need to struggle and to struggle from childhood is better as when you become an adult you get tired. So what did the Prophet (s) say? Qaal al-Imaam an-Nawawi, “The unanimous consensus of scholars agreed that dhikrullah can be done by heart and by tongue.” By heart it is silent and in the Naqshbandi Order we do it by heart and by tongue. By tongue is when you adjust the volume up and down, depending on how strong your tongue is.
To whom is that consensus of scholars? To the one who has no wudu and needs a shower because he is junoob, even to that extent, and to the lady who has her period and the lady who delivered a baby and is recovering, they are allowed to do dhikrullah without a shower even though they are junoob or have their period in tasbeeh, tamjeed, takbeer, and salaat `ala an-Nabi (s), in du`a and many others. So Allah gave rukhsa on that so there is no limitation on dhikrullah. So you can understand from this rukhsa that there is no limitation on dhikrullah. There is a limitation on all other Shari`ah aspects, but for dhikrullah Allah made it so open and so wide!
وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّـهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ
Those who remember Allah often, men and women. (Surat al-Ahzab, 33:35)
And there are so many aayaat on dhikrullah and so many ahadeeth from Prophet (s). So He made it so open to do dhikrullah giving you an opportunity anytime in 24 hours, even if you don’t have wudu and even when driving and when watching TV, even with the lowest level of focus, still do dhikrullah. Fasting is limited to one month of the year, but dhikrullah has no limitation. You can make dhikr when fasting, and prayer has a limitation of time, but dhikrullah has none. So dhikrullah can cover everything that you need.
It is said that dhikr is the polish of the heart and miftah bab an-nafahat, the “key to opening the door of the heavenly breeze”, the breeze that comes in the early morning and makes dew and everyone wants to touch that dew, and that is from dunya, what do you think about that which comes from Akhirah, from Heavens? Dhikrullah opens those Doors. And it is the way that all those manifestations of Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes come to your heart, by dhikrullah! It attracts them like a magnet. Dhikrullah is what can polish your manners to make you wa innaka la`alaa khuluqin `azheem, “Verily you are of the best manners.” That is what Allah gave to him and that is why they took an understanding and wisdom from the ayat of dhikrullah and the aHadith of the Prophet (s) that the mureed will never experience any hamm or ghamm, sadness of depression or sadness, huzn, except when he is heedless and does not do his daily dhikrullah. May Allah protect us.
There are three times when it is okay to stop your dhikrullah because shaykhs allowed it: when you have a guest, when you are sick and when you are travelling. If the person would keep busy with dhikrullah, happiness will fill up his life and his eyes will be honored to see Heavens and he will be happy all his life by his dhikrullah.
Dhikr is the key to happiness, as heedlessness is the key to sadness. May Allah (swt) give us the key to dhikrullah of happiness, so we can run on the jetway.
When you are sitting on a plane sometimes you see people running as they are about to miss the plane, so run like that. Keep running to jump on the plane and the shaykh will take you to Prophet (s) and Prophet (s) will take you to Allah (swt). May Allah accept from us this Holy Ramadan.
عن ابي سعيد الخدريقال رسول الله يقول الرب سبحانه وتعالى من شغله قراءة القران وذكري عن مسئلتي اعطيته افضل ما اعطي السائلين
From Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree. who said that the Prophet (s) said:
Allah (swt) says, “Whoever is so busy with reading Qur’an and remembering Me that they do not ask for things from Me, I will give them the best of what I give to those who ask.”
If someone will busy himself with reciting Holy Qur'an and remembering Me and that keeps him busy from making du`a, and they forget to ask anything from Me, without them asking Me I will give them more than what they want, but let them be busy with My Holy Qur'an and remembering Me. Even if they forget to make du`a, I don't need their du`a, I will give them from Our side. (Hadith Qudsi. Tirmidhi, ad-Daraani, Bayhaqi)
Also, Anas bin Malik (r) related from the Prophet (s):
عن انس ابن مالك قال رسول الله ما من قوم اجتمعون يذكرون الله لا يريدون بذلك الا وجهه الا ناداهم مناد من السماء ان قوموا مغفورا لكم قد بدلت سيئاتكم حسنات
There is no group of people who gather together remembering Allah, only desiring His Face, except that a caller from heaven calls them and says, “Stand up, you are forgiven, your bad deeds have been exchanged for good deeds” (Ahmad)
There is no group of people that come together remembering Allah and they are not asking for anything except His love, not asking dunya or anything else, not busy in eating and drinking, only busy with dhikrullah, and one angel will come from Heavens calling out to them, “I am releasing you! Go to your work now, you are forgiven from everything.” So coming here for such an association is a necessity from time to time. It will bring you back to the Garden, out from the zoo or the bushes. Even if we sit and make a small dhikr, Allah (swt) is happy. Allah will give us even if we don't ask, because when we are making du`a we don't know what we are going to ask. Allahu Akbar, Allahu `Azham, whatever you ask, Allah is Greater, no limitation. What are you going to ask? It’s nothing! You asking Allahu Akbar, Allahu `Azham, Allahu `Azham. Whatever you ask, Allah is Greater, no limitation. So what are you going to ask? Some awliyaullah don't ask anything, their only asking is dhikrullah. We are asking, because we are not confident with ourselves that Allah (swt) is going to give, so we ask. Nevermind, because Allah (swt) said: “Ask and I will give you.”
ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ
Call on Me, I will answer you. (Surat al-Ghaafir, 40:60)
But when you reach a high level in spirituality, you don't ask. What do you want to ask? Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) asked one time and went into a problem, a test. He asked, “Yaa Rabbee! How can I reach you? Kayf al-wusoolu ilayk.” Allah said, “If you want to come to Me, drop your self and come. Itruk nafsaka wa ta`al, leave your partner, your husband or wife, leave the dirty self. There cannot be two here, must be one. Choose one! Leave your self. How can you come to Me with some dirty things on you?”
Do you think our dhikr is clean? Our dhikr and prayers are mixed with many things, but Allah (swt) is saying, “Nevermind, only remember Me, I am happy with that.” Who are we to be looked at by Allah (swt)? But He is looking. So that angel will say, “Stand up and separate, go to your work, as you have been forgiven. Your sins have been changed to hasanaat, good deeds. There are no sins on you.” This is when you come and sit for even five minutes. Laa yashqaa jaleesuhum, you are sitting between angels five minutes. These people are here but there are angels here also. In every association around the world, there are angels coming as Prophet (s) mentioned. So you are sitting among angels, and Allah (swt) gives.
The angels said, “This man is not from this group.”
He said, “No problem! With my `Azhama and Generosity, I am giving all of them innocence from Hellfire.”
Now we have to ask someone to make du`a, is it not? May Allah forgive us. I will mention this Hadith also. I am keeping you longer, it is better. Abu Sa`eed (r) related that the Prophet (s) said, “On the Day of Judgment Allah says, ‘The people of collection, means the general people will be differentiated from Ahlu ’l-Karam, the People of Generosity.’
It was asked, ‘Who are these People of Generosity?’
He said, ‘The people of dhikrullah in masaajid.’”
So when the people turn their homes into masaajid...and you can! You can turn a room in your home as a masjid. You can turn your whole house into a masjid. Today I pray two raka`at in this room, tomorrow I pray two raka`at in the other room, and in that room the next day. That way you cover the whole house. So Ahlu ‘l-Karam in the Day of Judgement are going to know that Allah gave them that title; those who make dhikrullah to remember Allah. So remember Him, inshaa-Allah. That is mentioned by Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree, Ahmad, narrated in Ahmad’s Musnad and Abu Ya`la and Ibn Habban.
أَنَا عِنْدَ حُسْنِ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي
As narrated by Abu Hurayrah (r), the Prophet (s) said that Allah (swt) said:
I am according to My servant’s good thoughts of Me. (Hadith Qudsi, Bayhaqi)
“I am as My servant thinks about Me: if he thinks I am high, great, generous, then I am like that for him, and if he remembers Me in his self saying silently against himself, ‘I am not doing that,’ then I remember him in My Self.”
قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ : أَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي وَأَنَا مَعَهُ حِينَ يَذْكُرُنِي ، إِنْ ذَكَرَنِي فِي نَفْسِهِ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي نَفْسِي ، وَإِنْ ذَكَرَنِي فِي مَلَإٍ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي مَلَإٍ خَيْرٍ مِنْهمُ ، وَمَنْ تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ شِبْرًا تَقَرَّبْتُ إِلَيْهِ ذِرَاعًا ، وَمَنْ تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ ذِرَاعًا تَقَرَّبْتُ إِلَيْهِ بَاعًا ، وَمَنْ جَاءَنِي يَمْشِي جِئْتُهُ مُهَرْوِلًا " .
Allah the Praised and Glorified said: “I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he mentions Me. If he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself, and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly better than it, and if he draws near to Me a hand’s span, I draw near to him an arm’s length, and if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length, and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running!” (Narrated Abu Hurayrah. Hadith Qudsi, Muslim)
I end with this Hadith of Prophet (s):
أَلَا أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِخَيْرِ أَعْمَالِكُمْ وَأَزْكَاهَا عِنْدَ مَلِيكِكُمْ، وَأَرْفَعِهَا فِي دَرَجَاتِكُمْ، وَخَيْرٌ لَكُمْ مِنْ إِنْفَاقِ الذَّهَبِ وَالْوَرِقِ، وَخَيْرٌ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْ تَلْقَوْا عَدُوَّكُمْ فَتَضْرِبُوا أَعْنَاقَهُمْ وَيَضْرِبُوا أَعْنَاقَكُمْ؟ قَالُوا: بَلَى. قَالَ: ذِكْرُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى
“Shall I not inform you the best and the purest of your deeds in the sight of your Master (Allah), which is the highest in your degrees, superior to your spending gold and silver in charity, and better than confronting and fighting your enemy, cutting one another’s necks?” The Companions said, “Yes, indeed!” He (s) said, “It is dhikrullah, remembering Allah.” (Narrated Abi Darda, Tirmidhi)
The best that can save you from Hellfire is dhikrullah. Keep dhikrullah and this is the end of the series and we do not know if we can continue. May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us and we have to thank everyone who came here in Ramadan from Fajr and after, for this series to be completed, it is not me but it is you, it is a reflection of your yearning to such kind of teachings and to show the world and especially the Muslim Ummah that what has been said about Tasawwuf is wrong! Tasawwuf is the core, is Maqaam al-Ihsaan, which is the core of Islam and Imaan. And the finale is the rain [Mawlana points to the window]. It is thunder and rain that accumulates and Allah is sending His Mercy to the group of people who are under His Mercy. May Allah (swt) keep us always under His Mercy. Thank you for coming from wherever you came and we thank Ummah Channel for broadcasting this on their channel two times a day, and they are the ones who are spreading this knowledge all over the place.
So we have mentioned about the importance of what the scholars say about Tasawwuf. And those who are with or against, we gave them evidences from their teachers, from their masters and I will say from those who took from them that they said that their teachers did not accept Tasawwuf and we showed them that they did accept Tasawwuf and their teachers had Tasawwuf but their (students’) aqeedah was not the right aqeedah of Ahlu ‘s-Sunnah wa ‘l-Jama`ah. May Allah forgive us and all Muslims and give us Paradise with Prophet (s).
Bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah. We are ending it with du`a.
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