Suhbat

Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

 

Levels of Murshid – 2

 

04-08-2008, 1 Rabi 2, 1428

Oakland Zawiya

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we were talking about murshid at-tabarruk, the murshid or pir or guide of blessings and benediction. And we said there are four kinds of levels or stations and for every level it has its own guide.

So you begin at station of mureed, when you have been elevated you can reach the level of guide, the first level of guide, the level of word or mouth. That is the one from his mouth blessings come out.

Before we continue the description of that we need to know that above this level murshid at-tabarruk is murshid at-tazkiyya, that the is murshid or spiritual guide who can do purification, as mentioned in the Qur’an, which is tasawwuf., purify you of the sicknesses of the ego.

Above that is murshid of tasfiyya, the spiritual guide of elimination and filtration. That level there will be a elimination and filtration they see who can go forward, and the filter and sift all kinds of bad manners out and throw it out.

Then the highest level is the murshid at-tarbiyya, which is the spiritual guide of education or enlightenment, and giving the guidance, the real guidance, which he can give you the reality of things in order that you can achieve slowly, slowly the Sufi education or the real education that enables you to reach the presence of the Prophet.

So murshid at-tarbiyya is the highest and all the others are below him. He is the one who gives every station what it needs. He is the one that supports the level of the murshid at-tabarruk to the second level murshid at-tazkiyya, to the third level the murshid at-tasfiyya, all of them are under his control.

So it is important to understand that the murshid at-tabarruk has not yet reached the highest level of guidance; he is still struggling in his level. The murshid at-tabarruk . There are two kinds of murshid at-tabarruk. Murshid at-tabarruk one is the kind that reached all the realization and good manners that we described yesterday between him and the murshid at-tarbiyya, and on the other side there are illusionary or imaginary pirs who consider themselves murshid at-tabarruk but in reality they are plastic fruit in front of real fruit.

So that is why you seem many people consider themselves pir and there are many who are high level Shaykhs’ mureeds who lead dhikr here or doing teachings here or do associations there, or represent the Shaykh here… But really they have not reached the level of tabarruk according to what is described by our Grandshaykh’s GrandShaykh. So we have to be very careful not to throw titles on people and fall into the sickness of arrogance and sickness but to say I am not that one, that murshid. I have nothing and I only am conducting the dhikr and I am conducting the lecture of the Shaykh but I didn’t reach the level of tabarruk even. We are not speaking the 2^nd and 3^rd and 4th levels even. Where is the 2^nd level, where is the 3^rd level? Where is murshid at-tazkiyya, murshid at-tasfiyya and murshid at-tarbiyya. And murshid at-tarbiyya is highest level before reaching Sultan al-Awliya.

So there are four levels in front of the mureed, to progress from one to the other to reach to be in presence of Sultan al-Awliya, in the presence of Sultan al-Anbiya.

So we have to be very careful how we address in our hearts those who are conducting on behalf of shuyukh and on behalf of pious people they must n ot say we are deputy, we are calipha, as we are seeing on many business cards “deputy of Shaykh Nazim” and given an address and here is my zawiya and come to visit me at this address.

We see that too much around the world. If you want to put business card don’t put “I am deputy or calipha.” So we have to be very careful in knowing the different levels that these guides are in and we cannot lie to people and say “we really reached that level.” Then strikes will come on you and on those followers because you are damaging the teachings.

There was one student of Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi who was carrying, going to carry the secret of the Naqshbandi Order, who was from Dagestan. His name was Isma`il ash-Shirwani. There are two of Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi deputies named Isma`il - one from Sham, Damascus, and one from Dagestan. So the one from Dagestan went from Dagestan and it is like now as many people go to see Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and they used to come 50 years ago to visit Grandshaykh.. And in that time many of them come to see Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. And never I heard him say, “I am calipha of GrandShaykh” or “I am deputy of GrandShaykh.” I never heard it.

And not until 1973 when he put in his will, not even when he put it in his will. GrandShaykh passed away and even he put in his will and even after he was visiting Grandshaykh in the hospital and Mawlana Shaykh left to Cyprus. And GrandShaykh never said, “I have a calipha.” He never said, “I have a representative.” He used to say, “I have two students, Nazim Effendi and Husayn Effendi.” Meaning Mawlana Shaykh Husayn and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim.  This is how he used to call them. He never said, “I have caliphas, I have two deputies.” Never. He only said, “I have two students” as we were explaining about murshid at-tarbiyya. And never I heard Mawlana Shaykh Nazim say, “I am calipha or representative” although he used to travel all over and bring people to GrandShaykh. And never he said, “I am calipha.” Only in 1973 when Grandshaykh wrote in his will 1 week before he died, until his final illness when Grandshaykh wrote his will, when he wrote that “whatever the Prophet is dressing me I dressed him. I dressed him murshid at-tabarruk; I dressed him murshid at-tazkiyya; I dressed him murshid at-tasfiyya; I dressed him murshid at- tarbiyya. I raised him to level of Sultan in the Naqshbandi Sufi order.” At that time he mentioned that - one week before he left dunya. And he mentioned two to be be helping Mawlana Shaykh Nazim at that time.

So we don’t want to fall into the trap of arrogance or trap of Shaytan, who said to Adam, “Eat from the tree and you will be ever-living.”

Allah swt told Adam:

 

 la taqrabaa haadhihi shajarat fa takoona min adh-dhalimeen… fa azalahum ash-shaytan and Shaytan came and whispered to them you are going to have Jannat al-khuld, ever-living so eat. And so they ate.

So the problem is don’t get that arrogance, that kind of sickness in your heart that people will point on you, “O I am deputy; I am representative. I am calipha.” Deputy of what? There is real deputy and a fake deputy. There is real murshid at-tabarruk and a fake one. There is Sultan al-Awliya - a real one and sultan al-awliya, fake one. As many other students say about their shuyukh they are Sultan al-Awliya. They are fake ones, you don’t know that one that they say, that one they might say, there are many branches in those tariqats. I am attending now a Mawlid in Los Angeles next week. If you read the names, get that paper from the wall there, if you read the names you will be surprised. I will show you: that is fake. You have to know this is a fake. Who gave them these titles?

Look I will read you these titles: Eid Milad an-Nabi (s) Sunday 20, 2008…Anaheim plaza hotel, Anaheim in southern Calif. Mashaykh and Ulama al-kiraam. They put my name: Shaykh Hisham Kabbani Naqshbandi. Ok. The others they put `Allaama Mufti Pir X and I am not going to mention his name is four words. And the next `Allaama Mawlana Muhammad x; the other `Allaama Mawlana pir XX and the next Mawlana `Allaama Mohammad x al-Hasani al-Husayni al-Qadiri.

Eveyone became `allama. You know what `Allaama means in Arabic, it means an encyclopedia. `Allaama means the highest level of scholar that they are rare and you can count them in the Muslim world. That is `Allaama. Now all these became `Allaama. `Allama is someone who holds all the Islamic knowledge. The `Allaama is above mufti. The four imams are `Allaama.

So is this correct or not correct. Let us take on good faith that it is correct. Then we become students, listening there.

But that is where it becomes dangerous. Are we pointing on our, those who are, we don’t know which is fake and which is correct. So when someone is fake how we know? From these teachings of Mawlana Shaykh and GrandShaykh.

Let us take this one:

The murshid at-tabarruk has to be protected by the murshid, who is the murshid at-tarbiyya, the real guide, murshid of education, who has to monitor that guide and he has to be connected with a spiritual umbilical cord with his teacher connected to the Prophet that he will never fall into a deviation or any kind of sin.

This is one.

Second, wa an yakoonu feehee min murabih li-rasulillah sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam silsila manawiyyan li jazb il-murideen.

He has to have from his murshid a real connection, a spiritual chain of connection that works as a spotlight to have jazbah, attraction that will attract the murideen without talking, people come and they sit with him and say “I need baya`, I need this, I need that. Read on me, I have this problem.” And he has to be raised, that we are speaking of the first level, at-tabarruk. So he is already a murshid.

What do you think about those whoare still the mureeds who are representatives to conduct dhikr and they never went into this kind of progress. And he has to be able to raise him toand maqaam at-tazkiyya and maqaam at-tasfiyya.

And he is obliged to make 24,000 dhikrullah a day and 5000 salawat on the Prophet.

And not only that you have to do 24,000 dhikr up to 72,000 dhikr. The lowest is 24,000. and you can go up to 72,000. You have to do 5000 salawat, not less. And then you have to do, before 100, you have to do one juz Qur’an, one juz Dala’il al-Khayraat, 1000 Surat al-Ikhlas 1000 la ilaha ill-Allah, and then you have to do 500 Ya Samad to kill that ego tj\hat you have, 500 istaghfirullah for all the sins you did from time allah  created you until today, 500 istaghfirullah… up to time you die. And 500 Alhamdulllah that Allah created you from Ummat Rasulullah, you have to do 500 alhamdulillah for being not created from other umam. Then Subhanallah wa bihamdihi subhanllahil-`adheem istaghfirullah, 100 times, then 100 times istaghfirullahul-`adheem wa atooboo ilayh, then 100 times suboohun qudoosun rabbuna wa rabbul-malaikati war-ruh; And then 100 times dhaalika taqdeer al-`azeez al-`aleem. Then 100 times Anta rabbuna al-qadir wa nahnu `ibaadika al-`ajizeen, Then 100 times tawakaltu `ala Allah, then 100 times shukran lillahi, Then 100 times Alhamdulillah, then 100 times Subhanallah, La hawla wa la quwatta illa billah, 100 times ni`ma l-mawla wa ni`mal-naseer 100 times. The list will go one more and more. That is murshid. That is a real one, not fake.

The fake by name is ok, so what happens. He is still spreading the word to people so he will still get blessings… even a fake one, a fake title that you give to someone and you look at him and like him and say “O that is my murshid,” still there is blessings as he is still trying to make better to himself and trying to guide people.

But you cannot have that enlightenment from your Shaykh and from the Prophet to your Shaykh. That is not going to open.

And I didn’t go into murshid at-tazkiyya. When we go to that level then you see all these tings open up, and you will see how the transition occurs between this level and the next. Then you can understand how big is it and how difficult it is.

Then he said: “he will carry 17 different levels of spirituality that is within that station. That he will be able to show in that first level 17 different kinds of miracles, what we call for awliya karamaat; for anbiya it is miracles [mu`jizaat.] For murshid at-tarbiyya he shows something extraordinary that others cannot show. Somepme come wth him sick and gets cured, someone comes with problems and gets solved. All things that relate to benefit of followers and benefit of students will be opened up.

And GrandShaykh said, “I didn’t want to mention these levels to general audience as then they might hear it and they might not believe it or accept it as it will be too much for them.”

So that is why today when we say people in certain ideology today don’t have belief and deny karamaat al-awliyaullah and there are many today as they never studied tasawwuf and never followed a saint and never followed a murshid. So… And he said, “By this way they cannot accept it and they deny it and by denying they will be punished. To fall into punishment. So we don’t want to open that and that is only for a very close circle that believe in that we can open it for them. Other than that we cannot open it, and that murshid at-tabarruk has to keep it and veil it and not show it on himself. That might appear on the wali. So he has to keep it and cover it and not show it, that there is nothing different from him to the others.

And he said, because even the murshid at-tabarruk, he didn’t reach the level of when the mother is nursing and the mother stops nursing, the child becomes, ? infatmin al-rida. To be weaned. So he said, “that there is no permission for that first station level murshid to show these extraordinary levels until he is weaned by his teacher who is murshid at-tarbiyya. Until that time of weaning he has no permission to show, to use it as he will not be able to control himself and then it is like throwing diamonds among the ignorant. You throw pebbles among ignorant, no value for them. So the murshid at-tabarruk is still not weaned by murshid at-tarbiyya, murshid of eduction. So the murshid of blessings is not weaned so he doesn’t show these miracles that happen on his face.”

“And he will not be wanted until he puts his first feet, you know the child tries to walk and falls. Why, he is too yoiung and stsill cannot balance himself. He is still crawling. The murshid at-tabarruk is still crawling until he is able to stand puts his first feet in station of tazkiyyat, station of purification and  chastening and at that level he will weaned and then these 17 levels will open to him as his audience he can differentiate whether they can accept or not. He has to look into their hearts. He cannot look into their hearths until he reaches the level of purification and chastening and then he can check the audience and see if these can accept I will give it to them. If he sees these people can accept then he can tell it, else he speaks at a common level.”

Ma Allah give us from these levels of guides and put us there and we must say we are always running to be dressed with these levels of teaching and enlightenment and we say we are not up to that level and we requesting that Mawlana Shaykh will look to us with eye of mercy and dress us with that, insha-Allah. Wa min allah at-tawfiq, bi-hurmatil Fatiha.

 

For Shaykh Isma`il ash-Shirwani, when he was calling, Shaykh Isma`il an-Naraani. They used to be two big students of Shaykh Khalid although he gave permission to 299 in his time in Sham and other areas, he has lot of caliphas. But the main secret went to two. Isma`il an-Naraani was responsible for the area of the Middle East and Isma`il ash-Shirwani responsible for Dagestan and central asia and all that area.

So one time he sent Isma`il ash-Shirwani back and he was upset with him and said “you made something wrong.” He said “no I did not do anything wrong.” He said, “yes you did. When you were calling people to muraqabah [as muraqabah is very important in tariqah] and you were not calling them to do muraqabah to me. You were allowing them to do it to you. Idu`hum li-aba’ihim -  Call them to their fathers, that is more sincere. Allah will be accepting. The child always carries his father’s name. even the wife carries the name of the husband. I am the father, Khalid al-Baghdadi. It is not you. You cannot call them to you, you must enlighten them that muraqabah is for the sultan, not for the doorman.  You are doorman at my door, you and Isma`il an-Naraani. So if you don’t. Go back and I don’t want to see you if you don’t correct. So he went back and after one year he accepted him back.

So that is a big danger. There are people doing muraqabah to the people who they call them their Shaykhs. He took baya` with you. They are not doing muraqabah to the Shaykh, Shaykh Nazim. So what happened? They call you the shaykh. I see many of them. They begin to call that they took baya` with Xor with Y. no. you didn’t accept baya` with X or with y. they gave you baya on behalf of Shaykh Nazim. You accepted baya` with Shaykh Nazim through this one. That is your position. You respect as senior mureed, not as representative even. Senior mureed.

Might be one person comes first day and becomes higher than the senior mureed. You don’t know how Allah’s Favor will work. Allah’s mercy how it works. So that is why he sent Isma`il ash-Shirwani back to say to the students “don’t connect to me but connect to shaykh.” Through you it is cut. If it comes to me through you I don’t accept it for muraqabah.

So that is why I keep telling people “you do muraqabah to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim.” Anyone whatever he is high level, in presence of Shaykh Nazim, you use him to take baya` to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, still muraqabah is to Mawlana Shaykh. Even he is very high level still muraqabah is to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. That is mistake that Isma`il ash-Shirwani was doing. And that mistake Isma`il an-Naraani didn’t do. That is why there is two. It went to two sides. So that is why it is going stronger through him. Khas Muhammad took the chain with Isma`il an-Naraani and he sat with Sayyidina Isma`il ash-Shirwani.

Khas Muhammad took from both of them, from Isma`il ash-Shirwani and Isma`il an-Naraani, so coming stronger, like Ja`far as-Saadiq who was taking from both sides, from Sayyidina Abu Bakr and from Sayyidina `Ali, met then and Naqshbandi came there from Sayyidina Ja`far as-Saadiq, therefore becoming stronger. And then reaching to Shaykh Abdullah ad-Daghestani and then to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim.

May Allah bless us and keep us under the blessing of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim.

Eat! The food is baraka. You should see how much GrandShaykh and Mawlana Shaykh used to feed us. They fill your plate you finish then they fill it again.. then again. Then again. Then until you cannot eat any more at all.

Why? It is because the food is dawa`, cure for illnesses and ?? and GrandShaykh used to say the best cure for illness is go to the house of a generous person, push the door open and go in. then go to the cabinet and take whatever food you can.

 

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What is secret of blue turban?

It is turban of angels. So if he is an angel let him wear blue turban.

 

Every Nabi has miracles, mu`jizaat.

Q: did any Nabi have music as a miracle.