Suhbah after 'Isha
Home of Datuk Hajjah Nora Abdul Rahman, Member of Parliament
May Allah bless Abdul Jaleel and his family, those around him, and all of you. Every year I come here and every year they show more respect and love. Look at this gathering that is fit for a king. When heavenly visitors come, it is better than worldly visitors.
As-salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.
Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, `Azeez Allah
Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, SubhaanAllah
Allah Allah, Allah Allah, Allah Allah, SultaanAllah
Allah (swt) is Maaliku 'l-Mulk. He is the Owner and we are His slaves, and Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is His servant. (Shaykh Hisham stands and sits.) What can the servant say to his master except, labbayk allahuma labbayk, labbayka laa shareeka laka labbayk. Inna 'l-hamda wa 'l-ni'mata laka wa 'l-mulk la shareeka lak. Sami`na wa 'ata` naa. "Here I am, O my Lord! Here I am, answering Your call. You have no partner! Surely all praise is Yours and all favors are Yours! The Kingdom is Yours! You have no partner! We listen and we obey."
We cannot listen and disobey. Everything belongs to Allah (swt). kullu shay'in `indahu bil-miqdaar, "Allah owns everything." We think "everything" consists only of this dunya or heavens. No, it's more than that! Ma siwa Allah, huwa mulku. "All other than He, the Exalted, Glorified Allah, He owns it." This means that you do not even own yourself. If you own yourself, then (make yourself) live forever! You cannot! You don't even know when you must leave dunya. So then what do you own? Nothing. Someone who doesn't own anything, must ask, "Yaa Rabbee, how can I learn to behave well?" What was a slave's manner with his master in the old times, what did they do? They listened to their master's instructions.Why are we not listening to our Creator whenever He tells us (to do something)? How do we raise our heads and think that we are something? When you see all these miseries around the world, you learn lessons from what you are seeing. When Mawlana says, "Go travel," this means learn wisdom. Learn! You cannot be a boss and try to be bossy when you are making small mistakes that should be avoided. When someone else makes a small mistake out of ignorance, it is okay because he doesn't know. But when you hold responsibility, you cannot make mistakes.
Allah (swt) sent the Prophet (s) with Shari`ah and you have to go along with that way. Can anyone go against Shari`ah? No, it is not necessary for us to go against Shari`ah if we claim we are shaykhs. If you are an ordinary person, and you make the mistake, you repent and Allah (swt) forgives you. But if you claim you are a shaykh, the mistake is doubled! Don't be a shepherd, be a sheep. To be a shaykh you have to be responsible. Don't say, "I'm a shaykh!" Say, "Yaa Rabbee, we are sheep! Let the shepherd be responsible as we are sheep. We don't know, we follow!"
We follow the guidance Allah (swt) sent to His beloved one, (Mawlana stands.) Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, yaa Rahmaata lil-`alameen, unzurnaa bi nazarika yaa Sayyidee. (Mawlana sits.) Wa maa qadaroollah haqqa qadrihi wa sama'oo mutwiyatun bi yameenihi, "No one gave Allah His due credit." And He said, "Heavens and Earth, mutwiyatun bi yameenihi, are in His fist, folded up in His hand." This is not a normal hand of course, but this gives us an understanding. This means you are there, in it.
If you throw a ring in the desert, can you find it? No way. If you throw America or Australia or the Middle East in this universe, can you find them? If you search on the map of different constellations, the Earth is not even shown; you cannot see it. Compared to other stars, the Earth disappears completely. If you were to take all the stars and throw them into this universe, which scientists and quantum physicists say is moving at the speed of light (300,000 km per second), moving in an endless space, there is no distance for that vacuum. Since its beginning, they don't know where it is going. How big is this universe? And Allah (swt) described heavens that are bigger than this universe. And He said these universes, samaawati wa'l-`ard mutweeyatun bi yameenihi, are folded up in His hand and that means if you open the Hand you can find the ring!This whole Creation is in His Hand. So how can you take upon yourself the responsibility of breaking Shari`atullah?
Even the smallest error, for example, to say to someone, "Oh, why are you upsetting your wife?" You have no right to interfere between a husband and a wife. People are interfering in other people's affairs. What do you want (to do) between the husband and wife, or between wife and husband? Sayyidina Dawud (a) was thinking about the wife of his neighbor and Allah (swt) sent two angels to judge him. She was nice and he liked her, so he wanted to add her to his other ninety-nine wives to make it one-hundred. Allah (swt) did not like that. We don't interfere in the business of other people and their families, unless asked. If you have been asked, no problem, them you may speak. If not, do not touch it, because if you do it will become a major issue.
Rasoolullah (s) said, kullukum raai wa kullukum mas'ooloon `an ri`aayatih, "Everyone is a shepherd and responsible for his flock."In Islam we are not afraid to say the husband is responsible for his wife and children, to provide them shelter and food, a nice house. He must work, his wife must not to work, she looks after the children. That is if you want Islam. If not, it is up to you. If you are a neighbor, a foreigner, a friend, do not interfere;it is not your responsibility, leave their matters to them.
O Muslims! Everything belongs to Allah (swt). Everything is with Him, bi 'l-miqdaar, "in a measure." Nothing is without a measure. It is a precise measure, (better than) a computerized balance they use for gold and jewelery. With the heavenly balance, the smallest problem is going to be measured. May Allah forgive us and protect us, and keep us as His servants! How can we understand our position as a servant? A servant must always be in sajdah. You cannot say you are a servant and not be in sajdah to Allah (swt) in every second!
The first letter of the alphabet is 'alif,' the first letter of Allah's Beautiful Name, "Allah." Correct? It means He is always standing, always Qaa'im bi-dhaatihi. Existing by Himself, in Self-existence, and He is always Absolute, the Glorified One. That is why ismu-Llah, the name of Allah, 'ism' begins with alif also, and Allah begins with alif. So when you say, bi ismi-Llah, you are saying, "I am beginning with an act that exalts the name of Allah (swt.)" That is why, "bi ismi-Llah" means by "By His Name, Allah, the Exalted."
What is the "ba" (as in bismillah)? It's pronunciation is the key for you to open the Name, "Allah," because it will open the alif. In the alphabet "ba" is the letter after "alif," but it comes in sajdah. How do you write the ba? Alif is vertically straight, but baa is written as alif making sajdah to the alif, always prostrated in front of the alif. Who is the one always in sajdah in Allah's Divine Presence (swt)? Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! (Mawlana stands and sits.) He is the one that comes after the alif always, representing the whole alphabet, all knowledge, in complete sajdah to Allah (swt). Through him you are able to enter the Divine Presence! Without him you cannot. The baa of bi ismi-Llah hooks itself to the alif. That is why, La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah. Allah, Muhammad. Allah (swt) is always in that Greatness and Muhammad (s) is always in that sajdah.
So we see through the Arabic alphabet, Allah (swt) gave us the knowledge that we cannot be without Muhammad (s), about whom Allah (swt) says, "He is the door to Me." And that is why another reclining alif came, the letter 'taa.' Alif, baa, taa. There were no dots before the taa, which is also in complete sajdah following the baa. The taa represents human beings. Then comes the 'thaa,' representing human beings and jinn; they are two, thaqalayn, the jinn and ins. Alif, baa, taa, thaa, then comes 'jeem.' It means, "My servant, if you are always in sajdah, I will let you enter jeem, My Jannah." After jeem comes 'haa;' "If you enter My Jannah I will give you hayyaat, life." So alif, baa, taa, thaa, jeem describe the entire religion and all Creation within the Arabic alphabet!
There is so much knowledge just within these letters. There are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet, and with "laam-alif" at the end, there are 29 letters. Then you have 29 abraaj, days in the Islamic lunar month; sometimes 30 days and sometimes 29 days. At the end of 29 days is the night of the 30th. That is why they the tajalli, spiritual manifestation, of every letter of the alphabet corresponds to a certain day in the month. For example, on the first day of the month, the tajalli of alif will be revealed on Earth, and if you're clever you can understand the secret from that alif. Next day is burj al-baa; that means every name and action, fa`al, noun, pronoun, or adjective that begins with baa will manifest it's reality on that day. On the third day of the month come the manifestations of taa, and every action, verb, pronoun, or noun that begins with taa, will manifest it's tajjali that day to those who follow that ma`arifatullah, giving them from that secret knowledge.
O Muslims, and especially people of tareeqah! Run after such knowledge; don't run after doing this and that. Don't run after the ones speaking always of jinn! Too many people consider themselves shaykhs and in their associations, they say, "You have a jinn; I will give you something against them." It's filling the world. Especially in the Indian sub-continent, in Southeast Asia, Africa is full of it, Europe also is full of them. We try to sit and be normal, informal. We don't need to sit and change our voice, saying, "Now I am feeling I am this one... I am that... listen to me! And if you don't listen to me I will hit you on the head!"When you say salaam to them they reply, "haah" roaring. There are lot like that, you don't see them? Travel around the world, you will see them. You don't need that issue. Why? I give you an example. The Prophet (s) has many mu`ajizah, many miracles, but the biggest one that amazes all Creation is the Holy Qur`an, the knowledge, not jinn. It is not to speak on jinn although there is a surah in the Holy Qur'an about the jinn, but it is to clarify for us. Don't try to use jinn or to frighten people with jinn, when you don't even have the power of jinn!
As Sayyidina Abdul Qadir Jilani (q) said, "If you see someone flying in the air, say, 'it is Shaytan.'" If a scholar,`alim, is flying in the air, if he prays and fasts, but leaves one sunnah, we consider him as Shaytan. We don't accept his miracles! That is why Grandshaykh Sayyidina Sultan al-Awliyaa `AbdAllah al-Fa`iz as-Daghestani, may Allah bless his soul, said, "Naqshbandi shaykhs never show miracles." And Mawlana Shaykh, may Allah give him long life, said, "We don't show miracles." If someone comes to us with problems, we don't say we are sending a jinn to protect or help them. No, we say we are making du`a. Then you go to someone else who says, "I will send jinn to fix your problem." And your problem is fixed, not because that shaykh has sent you a jinn but because in an indirect way, the awliyaaullah from the Naqshbandi Order fixed your problem without you knowing about it. This is their way. You say to them, "I have a problem" and they say they will make du`a for you and insha-Allah, you will be okay. Then you go to the doctor who gives you an injection after which you are cured, but it is not from the doctor. They do these things indirectly. What they like from you as mureeds, as khalifah, as shaykhs or representatives, is to do things with`ilm. They want you to learn ma`rifatullah, to know knowledge from the Holy Qur'an, how to speak from the Holy Qur'an and about the Holy Prophet (s) and about awliyaaullah. They don't want you to use, without permission, that which you can't use, jinn and this or that.
O Muslims! `Ilm, knowledge, is important. Holy people are those who give you knowledge that brings peace and tranquility to your heart, and show you the grandeur of Prophet (s), (Mawlana stands.) `alayhi afdalu as-salaatu was-salaam yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, yaa rahmatan lil-`alameen andhurna bi nazharatan min `indika, yaa Sayyidi, yaa Rasoolullah! (Mawlana sits.) So our duty is to sit with the mashaykh in a situation of learning. Sayyidina Shah Naqshband, may Allah bless his soul, used to have three sessions in a week, in the masjid where there was a shower. Toilets were put outside out of respect. Everyone would take the ritual shower, ghusl, and then dress in white with a white turban, dressed in white from top to bottom for the dhikr session. Mawlana Shaykh and Grandshaykh said that all negative energy that runs through your environment has a negative effect on your clothes. For example, you may go to a perfumery for five minutes and when you leave your clothes will smell good. If you go to a restaurant kitchen you will still come out smelling okay, but if you go to fix the sewers you become smelly. So for dhikrullah you have to be very pure. He would not allow anyone to attend without taking a quick shower and dressing in white. They entered the majlis in white clothes, keeping their normal clothes in a bag, and would then enter the presence of the shaykh, sit in dhikr for three hours, first do khafi (quiet) dhikr, then the loud dhikr.
Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q), also of the Golden Chain, used to do his own awraad, his dhikr, in a well in the city Merv, near Bukhara, because Shaytan would not go in the water or he would be burned. So he would take a breath, go underwater, do dhikr, come up, take a breath, and continue until he was finished. And to be honest, we sit in front of the TV with our beads, watching a movie and do our dhikr, then finish the awraad and the movie hasn't finished, so we continue watching the movie. If they came for dhikr they would stop the movie, but they leave the TV on so it means that they are there for the movie, not for the dhikr! (laughter)
Sayyidina Shah Naqshband (q) did not accept anyone in his majlis unless they had cleaned themselves completely and dressed in white clothes; they could not enter without that. Now, people say to me, "Mawlana Shaykh Nazim isn't doing that." Don't say what you don't know! You have not been children of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim for so long and you don't know what he did a long time ago. It is an accumulation of things that have been said over a long time. It is what he brought year after year, as the Prophet (s) brought the religion over 23 years. You cannot say what he brought earlier has no relevance to what came in the end. Whoever says that, "Shaykh told me this," so that everything said by him before is cancelled, that is wrong!!! That is immature; not real thinking. You don't know anything because Allah (swt) will judge you from when you became mature, an adult, to when you died, not from the day you left dunya and you prayed two rak`ats. You go back, everything. But Allah's rahmah is vast, and He will forgive; we are not debating that and there is no question of that. We know on the Day of Judgment that no one will be left behind.
Why is Mawlana Shaykh Nazim so soft and easy now? Because, if he were to tell everyone to come dressed in white, they would all run away. He is not running an army. Mawlana's teaching methods are not from the military, unlike those of some mureeds! They think they are shaykhs to have an army, and discipline their students with a stick, very hard, rude words. That doesn't work. Mawlana Shaykh has an easy way with everyone, "Welcome!" Grandshaykh (q) said that the doors to this way are wide, from east to west, and the exit is smaller than a hole, meaning there is no exit; when you enter you are in, finished! You are chained by the leg, because that rahmah will be sent on you whether you behave or not. Awliyaullah receive from Allah (swt) and they give to us all. Allah (swt) gives from His Generosity. Best of all is to do as Sayyidina Shah Naqshband (q) and come clean. Today in this materialistic world, people are working and it is not an easy life, so if they come with their clothes, it is okay. But clean yourself from the inside, come with a clean heart, clean your heart from being jealous. They are jealous of each other and want to jump the ladder in one step. You cannot do that. Jealousy will end in fighting. Drop the jealousy from your heart and come with good intentions.
(...) What is the benefit? Hope to take benefit with you to the grave. Make it a palace, not an enemy to you. You are leaving dunya and titles, and not taking anything with you. Make friendship with everyone, open your hearts, open your arms, hug everyone. Open your door, as Grandshaykh (q) said, "We open our doors for everyone from east to west, to get everyone in and then you are locked in." You are all inside, Mawlana gave initiation to you, he is responsible, go ahead and make friendship, say nice things, and take your anger away, be presentable. Take your anger away. Al-ghadabu kufrun yaa Aba Bakr, as Sayyidina Muhammad (s) said to Sayiddina Abu Bakr (r), "Anger is kufr." I heard it hundreds of times from Grandshaykh (q) and from Mawlana Shaykh. They repeat it to everyone who comes: "Anger is the root of all bad behavior." You might kill out of anger. La yadri 'l-qaatilu bima qatal wa 'l-maqtoolu bima qutil, hadeethu 'n-Nabi. "The one who killed doesn't know why he killed, and the one who was killed doesn't know why he was killed." This is what we are seeing from the signs of the Last Days, because of anger. One thinks, "I am better than you!" and the other thinks, "No, I am better than you!" One group fights the other and then there is bloodshed a problem, now try to solve it. What benefit is any religion when you end up fighting each other? You end in Hellfire. Instead of ending in a heavenly palace in your grave or in Paradise, you end in Hellfire. All the work you have done isn't going to help you, even if you have ten different colored turbans!
O Muslims! Unite! O brothers and sisters! Drop anger from your heart. O brothers and sisters! Take away bossiness, take away 'donkeyness' (ignorance) from your heart. Don't behave like an ignorant person, behave like a knowledgeable person. If you don't know, ask,
فَاسْأَلُواْ أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
fas'alu ahli dh-dhikr in kuntum la ta`lamoon.
Ask the followers of the Remembrance if ye know not! (16:43)
Ask the people of dhikr of the Holy Qur'an. Ask those who came before, the people of the Bible and Torah, if you don't know. He is mentioning to the unbelievers also. Ask the priests and rabbis and monks, they know the truth. And for Muslims, ask if you don't know;don't pretend you know, ask. Anyone can say, "I know or I don't know," but say the truth.
وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ
Wa fawqa kulli dhee `ilmin `aleem,
Above every knower is a higher knower. (12:76)
O Muslims! When Mawlana sent me to Africa, I didn't realize why he sent me there. I was worried, I didn't know anyone there, no one. He said, "Hisham, my order is for you to go to Africa," and from his desk he pulled out a photo and said, "Find me this person!" Where can I find a ring in a desert, if the ring exists?! So I said, "As you like, Sayyidee." I sent the picture of a shaykh standing in front of a mosque, to a pilot in Africa. He spent six months asking around and he found nothing. Finally, I went to Africa and as I was returning from the Ivory Coast to Ghana, at the airport, just passing out of immigration I met that shaykh; he was there, facing me.
He said, "In a dream I saw my shaykh who informed me to come and greet you. Oh! You look like my shaykh!"
I said,"Yes, he is my shaykh and father-in-law."
He said, "I have seen Mawlana Shaykh coming to me since I was 14 years old. He gave me baya` in a dream and has been teaching me. His name is Shaykh Nazim." Allahu akbar, salloo `ala an-nabi!
He invited me to his mosque. I called Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, who asked me to renew his baya`, which I did. He has a lot of students. Then he took me to his school. We went through small alleys, behind houses, ending in an enclosed area, built of tin, metal,and bamboo divided the classes. They had classes from Grades 1-10. In the first class they learn alif, baa, taa. In the morning they have Islamic studies, then in the afternoon secular studies. They memorize and learn the Qur'an by the age of ten.They learn fiqh and Arabic even though they speak English. In one of the classes there was such beautiful Arabic handwriting on the blackboard. I saw the first heading in Arabic, maa hiya faraaidu 'l-wudu? "What are the conditions of ablution?" And second, maa hiya kaana yafsid al-wudu? What are the things that negate the ablution? I ask some who consider themselves khalifah the same question: they don't know this basic Islamic knowledge! Anyway, there were 250 orphans. You would not keep your goats in that school, you wouldn't wear the clothes they wear! They get a little bit of rice and sauce every day.
I called Mawlana Shaykh, who said, "How much money do you have?"
I didn't have much with me because I was travelling, although I had some because in the third-world countries you cannot use credit cards, they don't have the facilities. Some people had told me to take $10,000 with me but that is too much to take on a journey.
I said, "Someone gave me $15,000 to give to you and also I have $5,000."
He said, "Put it all together, keep $1000 for yourself and give the rest to him."
I gave it to him. I visited two other orphanages, one with 500 students, the other 600 students. And Mawlana Shaykh told me to send their account numbers so that he can wire them money. He said, "However much you can help, you must do it." So I said everything that people give me, I would give to them. That's where your work has to be. I was surprised, in every other street in Akrah, Ghana, there is a huge missionary church, with a soup kitchen giving food, clothes, money and making them Christians, and the rich Muslim countries are not giving anything! That's why he sent me there.
Then I met the chief imam and others of Tijani Tariqah. They said 95% of Muslims in Ghana and the Ivory Coast are Sufi. In the Ivory Coast I met a Tijani shaykh and a Qadiri shaykh who both took baya`. When they asked for Naqshbandi baya`, out of adab I had to ask Mawlana as they already have another tariqah. It was very late, I called a particular number which I knew would be answered, it was 12.30 pm. The phone rang and rang. Then one of his grandchildren picked up the phone and I immediately heard Mawlana saying, "Give it to me, give it to me, it is Shaykh Hisham Efendi." So I asked Mawlana about them taking baya` and he replied, "I am the shaykh of 41 tariqahs, so it is no problem to give them Naqshbandi tabarrukan." Because they have a tariqah already we have to add this word, tabarrukan. They took it and we gave the Tijani a green turban and the Qadiri a red turban. You can see it on Sufilive. They were so happy, jumping in front of 10,000 people! Then the chief imam said, "What about me?" I said, "You are Shaykh ul-Islam! We entitle you, we nominate you as Shaykh ul-Islam!" Then we received a call that the president wanted to see us, so we went to see him and that is a long story, we will leave it there. Afterwards, we went to Kenya and similar things happened. You can never know the wisdom in what shaykh asks of you until you fulfill it. So may Allah (swt) guide us to the right way, the way of Shari`ah. I said this morning, Shari`ah cannot be broken from tariqah, don't say tariqah is more important than Shari`ah! Without Shari`ah there is no tariqah! Shari`ah is the constitution and tariqah is the way to execute the constitution.
O Muslims! Help others and Allah will help you! Go to Africa. O rich people living in this country! I know you are rich! O rich people who are not present, you know yourselves to be rich. Go to Africa, make a khurooj and give there, help there, go to these orphanages and give in the way of Allah. I don't want to take it, go and give it yourself and see how much barakah will come to you! I took my daughter last year to Indonesia and we saw several orphanages and the miseries of the children, crying at not having a father and a mother. One child recited a poem. They have nothing and no one to look after them: no mother, no father, no relatives.
A girl orphan said, crying, "I lost my mother and a mother is everything in this life, so I lost my life! O People! You feel the warmth and love of your mother, but I don't feel the love or warmth of my mother. When I am sick no one looks to me. When you are sick everyone looks after you. You feel the warmth of your mother. Then I lived with my father and after six months my father died. I am only a lonely one; no one looks at me, like other children around me." My daughter, Sajeda, was so overwhelmed and she made everyone else cry. Back in America, she came up with a fundraising idea, so we began to raise money among the mureeds, we didn't want to make it too public, and it is very difficult to raise money. She quickly raised $2,000. As I admired her way of thinking, I thought I will help and had the idea of selling some things of value given to me by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and Grandshaykh, to raise funds for that orphanage. Then we ran an auction on the Internet and from all over the world people were buying these items, shirts, pants, jubbahs, and we raised some money. We hope that everyone and their families who helped will be blessed with health and long life,because these children are in need. Now we are going there to give them what was raised. Similar things we saw in Africa and I am sure there is a lot to be done here in this country, also. People are in need. Don't just sit driving your cars, living in luxury! Do something like our host's wife, may Allah (swt) give her strength and power, as Datuk Nora is running everywhere to help the poor in her constituency.
I would like to say something else that is important. May Allah grant and support the good people whose hands are always in khayraat, good deeds. Like our hosts, Doctor `Abdul Jaleel and his wife, and Abdur Rahmaan Ya`qoobi and his children and his daughters. May Allah (swt) make them all happy and take away all their difficulties, and reward them and all the others. There are so many that I cannot count them all! Some don't like their names mentioned, so may Allah grant them without their names being mentioned. We take nothing with us except good `amal. If you cannot give but are helping with the work, you will be rewarded. That is the message, the wisdom that came from the trip to Africa. Indonesia is a Muslim country, so here we don't have too many missionaries. In Africa so many Muslims are being converted to Christianity by missionaries, because the wealthy Muslims are not supporting them. If Muslims do not stand up and support these people, we are losing. It is not about fighting for your khalifah over one area or another. Go and help the Muslims in these countries; do some da`wah work!
May Allah Almighty give us success. Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.