Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, `ala kulli man tagha wa tajabbar. Allahu akbar on every tyrant and on everyone that creates problems, Allahu akbar on those who follow Iblees! Allahu akbar kabeera wa alhamdulillahi katheera wa subhanallahi wa bi hamdihi bukratan wa aseela.
O Muslim brothers and sisters, it is not so easy to live in this life without committing a sin. Anyone who says he doesn’t sin is lying to himself. I don’t want to say he is lying to Allah (swt) because Allah and His prophet (s) know, so we don’t need to say that. But he is lying to himself and the one who lies to himself brings the curse of Allah (swt) upon himself. Why? Because it is the first lie that people commit and all of us unfortunately, may Allah forgive us, lie. I don’t think there is anyone who does not lie, except Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and the prophets, because they are masoomoon (innocent). I would like to say also, all the Sahaba of the Prophet (s). Allah does not like anyone who lies because a lie deserves a curse. There is no other way. You lie, you get a curse and there is evidence. In this dunya you can say whatever you like, but you cannot say whatever you like in akhirah. You are stuck!
There are different kinds of suhbah. Some suhbahs are Maqam al-Irshad, from the level of guidance that is not easily achievable even if you are the representative of a wali. As I explained before from Grandshaykh’s and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s (q) notes, I described the four different levels of irshaad (guidance) and Warda Books is carrying that new book, Who are the Guides. I recommend people read it, not because we want to sell it, that doesn’t mean anything, it is a service to raise funds so we can carry on, but it is very important to know who has the right to speak. How you are lying to yourself and you want to speak? First, look at your behavior before you speak. That is why Maqam al-Irshaad cannot be given so easily.
There are four different levels of guidance. First, Murshid at-Tabarruk, the Guide of Baraka. When he sits he brings baraka with him and when he speaks it is baraka, although he has to be given the authority to speak by his shaykh. When he has achieved in his progress, his level of sainthood allows him to hear at the least the praises of angels, or else he has not yet reached that caliber. And I don’t want to go into this, I am trying to avoid because it is a big subject, but I’ll give a hint: he can see the heart of everyone sitting in front of him and he understands whatever each individual has done, since the day of his birth until that moment, what he has done, and from that moment what he is going to do until the day he leaves dunya.
Murshid at-Tazkiyyah, the second level of irshad, has the ability to purify your heart from every disease. Like a doctor who rules out all other diseases to diagnose your problem, the Murshid at-Tazkiyyah raises you to purify your heart and purify you from lying. “Tazkiyat an-nafs,” purification of the lower desires/ego, is mentioned in the Holy Quran:
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ صَلاَتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَّهُمْ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
khudh min `amwaalihim sadaqatan tutahhiruhum wa tuzakkeehim biha wa salli `alayhim inna salaataka sakanun lahum w'Allaha Samee`un `Aleem.
Take sadaqa from their wealth to purify them, and sanctify them with it, and invoke Allah for them. Verily, your invocations are a source of security for them, and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (at-Tawba, 9:103)
Allah is saying to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), “Take from the wealth of the Sahaba,” meaning, take from the wealth of everyone, a sadaqa, something, a donation, tu tahhiruhum, to purify them and raise them up. innaka salaataka sakanun lahum, “And pray for them,” because your prayer is tranquility for them and will bring peace to their hearts.
Awliyaullah have been granted from that secret, which is why it is always advisable for someone to give whatever he can or she can in the way of Allah (swt), because it’s as though you are giving to Prophet (s). When you give in Allah’s way for the homeless, someone poor or ill, or for a masjid, Allah (swt) and Prophet (s) like that because you are helping. Then Prophet (s) will raise you to purify you. That secret has been given to the inheritors of Prophet (s), Murshid at-Tazkiyyah.
Murshid at-Tasfiyyah, the third level, purifies everyone in his company, even 200 people in a gathering. He sifts the cream of the community to get only the best, which is very important in the life of a human being. For example, from the gathering of 200 people, he sifts and retains the cream and allows the rest to return to Murshid at-Tazkiyyah.
The fourth level and highest murshid is Murshid at-Tarbiyyah, the real one, who raised you from the Day of Promises, when Allah (swt) asked, alastu bi-rabbikum, qaloo balaa. From that Day he is with you, until you see your place in Paradise. He knows everything of your life from when you were a soul in the presence of Allah (swt) and His prophet (s) came to dunya to the womb, and he will be with you on the Day of Judgment. He will take you with the intercession of Prophet (s) in Allah’s mercy to your seat in Paradise. Yesterday we were in a conference with seats written “reserved”. That wali will make certain you have a reserved seat there; not just any seat will be given to you. He wants you to be in a seat that is reserved for you with your name written on it, because of the work they did to bring you to the love of that One!
Yesterday we spoke on the topic “where is the love”? When you really love Sayyidina Muhammad (s) you will deserve that seat reserved in your name. The love of Allah (swt) is waiting for you on that seat, and you will find the love of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) waiting for you in Paradise. Prophet mentioned that you can only see Allah (swt) in Paradise, and not everyone, but only those who are in the seat Maq`ad i-Sidq, the Seat of Truth.
الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَنَهَرٍ فِي مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ مُّقْتَدِرٍإِنَّ
Inna al-muttaqeena fi Jannaatin wa naharin fi maq`adi Şidqin `Inda maleekin muqtadir.
Verily, the pious will be in Paradise in a reserved seat of Truth (in the presence of Allah)
with a Lord Who has power in His hands. (al-Qamar, 54: 54-55)
Everything is in Allah’s Hand, and He will grant you a reserved seat there. So to ask, “Where is the love?” it is there, and by Allah’s mercy you will see Him in Paradise by shafa`at an-Nabi, the intercession of Prophet Muhammad (s)!
These are the four levels of guides. This is important: make sure that you know with which one you are going to sit and listen. Not everyone who calls himself a murshid actually is one. The world is full of people who call themselves or who are being called by their students “murshid.” You are lucky; not everyone is lucky. Everyone with his pure heart is going to a shaykh, a murshid or someone who calls themselves murshid, but sometimes you find a plastic murshid, sometimes you find a real murshid! Sometimes you find someone who knows how to speak but has no heart and no benefit. Some are lucky to find a real murshid.
And I am saying alhamdulillah,wa 'sh-shukru lillah, that day and night Allah (swt) has connected us to a real murshid, to Sultan al-Awliya Sayyidee Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani, and he is connected to another Sultan al-Awliya, Sayyidee Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani!
That is not so simple! You can spend all your wealth and resources to find a real murshid, but it is very difficult because not everyone you think is a murshid really is. I have been with Mawlana for 50 years, half a century, and still I am not learning anything, I am stupid and dumb. I am trying to follow with love, because there is nothing else. Do you think we can do what they ask us? That is why Allah (swt) said to human beings, “If you want to love Allah (swt) follow Muhammad, then Allah loves you.” To follow Muhammad (s) in what? I will quote a hadith and that will be enough unless Munir Shaikh wants me to continue. (MS: It is up to you, Sir.) He is a very busy man, helping everyone. All his children masha’Allah are trying to be like him. They are very dedicated ones, both his daughters and sons. I know them all and his grandchildren. May Allah (swt) honor them always and give them more and more, including their mothers and relatives. And all of you, including me as well!
Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was asked by one of the Sahaba, "hal mu’min yasriq - Does a mu’min steal?” If someone asked you that question, what would you say? Do believers steal? You say, “No.” But Prophet (s) said, "rubbama - Maybe.” Do we steal? Are you stealing? Of course! Everyone is trying to steal the place of someone else, to be nearer to the lecturer! (laughter) That is a very small example.
Islam encourages us to leave the best seat for someone else and sit at the end, to be humble; don’t push. In jama`ah (congregational) prayer, where ever you find a place you sit and you cannot jump over the rows to go all the way to the best seating, because who are you? These people are sitting since morning, waiting for the imam to come, and you are arrive at the last moment, coming from Allah knows where, from a cafeteria, from a disco! You pass all the rows where people have been seated patiently and they want to pray. And this happens mostly in Mecca and Medina. Allah (swt) wants to check if you are angry or not. Many times it happened to me, I arrived four hours before Jumu`ah, sitting in Rawdat ash-Sharif to pray nicely, and just before the adhanadab is to keep quiet. Allah (swt) is sending him to test you, and you don’t know it could be a wali or an angel. Are you going to get angry in that place or not? That is a big problem and if we don’t explain it, we don’t think about it. Many people shout, “Get out of the way. Move over. Go there!” because they don’t want their view to be blocked. What is the problem? He is sitting in front of you, he is blocking you, because they sit between two rows, they make another row, there is no way, so no problem, you cannot make sajda on the floor, so make sajda on his back! (laughter) It becomes easy for you as you don’t have to prostrate all the way to the floor! someone sits right in front of me. What would you do? Some people shout at the newcomer, but the
So Prophet (s) was asked, “Does the mu’min steal?” Say yes! Because many believers steal the bite from your mouth by competing with you. For example, if you bid on a project, hundreds of bids may come before yours is thrown out. This is stealing. Hal mu’min yasrik? We understand yasrik means “might be” and Prophet (s) said that it might happen.
When Sayyidina `Umar (r) was khalifah, believers stole to eat because there was a drought. He suspended the Qur’anic ruling of cutting the hand of convicted thieves, as that would have been unjust. People stole food because they were hungry. Look at the wisdom Allah gave to Khulafahu 'r-Raashidoon! Sayyidina `Umar realized his people were hungry, they could do anything to get food, and he could not prevent them from stealing to support their families. They were not stealing jewelry to put in their pockets or in safe boxes.
Today people, especially men, have so many diamond rings and gold Rolex watches with diamonds, very expensive; men buy watches, and maybe some put bracelets on their hands! (laughter) So where do they put them? They don’t want to put in their houses; they say put them in the bank. What’s the benefit? What you are doing with them? Nothing! All of us have this problem. Where do women put their jewelry, in their house? No! Even if they fill their hands all the way up to their shoulders, still they have to put the other jewels in the bank. And still they buy, some women and some men don’t stop buying! (laughter). We are putting in safes because we don’t want the thief to steal our valuables.
And now an explanation of the second part of hadith. The Sahaba (r) asked, "hal mu’min yasriq - Do believers steal?” Yes they steal, because you cannot stop jealousy in people. All the expensive jewels that Allah (swt) put in your heart, don’t let Shaytan steal them! People are stealing from others when they have hasad, jealousy or envy, or hatred even! Do believers have these characteristics? Don’t say they don’t have. Everyone here is a mu’min but do they hate someone or not? Do they fight or not? They curse or not? So then they asked Prophet (s), "hal al-mu’min yaznee - Does the believer commit adultery?” What do you think he said? He said, rubbama, “Might be.” A believer can make a mistake as Shaytan is running after everyone.
Then they asked Prophet (s), "hal al-mu’min yakdhib - Does a believer lie?” How many lies you tell in a day? How many? Especially politicians are lying non-stop! Prophet (s) answered, "qaala amma haadhihi fa laa - No!” Lying and deceiving is the characteristic of Iblees. In Paradise, he was the head of angels, but he envied Sayyidina Adam (a) and Sayyidina Muhammad (s), because he knew Prophet (s) would be granted Maqaam al-Mahmoud, which he always thought was created for him! When he knew Allah (swt) was going to give Maqam al-Mahmud to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), out of anger and hate he lied to Sayyidina Adam (a) and tricked him. They say Adam (a) disobeyed.
وَعَصَى آدَمُ رَبَّهُ فَغَوَى - fa `asa Adama rabbahu faghawaa.
Thus did Adam disobey his Lord and fell down. (at-TaHa, 20:121)
Why did Sayyidina Adam (s) disobey? There are many meanings but the one we want here is, because he was so pure, he never expected anyone to lie! When Iblees gave an oath to eat from shajarat al-khuld, the Tree of Eternal Life, when he mentioned the name of Allah (swt), Adam believed him; he didn’t expect anyone to lie on Allah (swt). So hal mu’min yakdhib, “Does the mu’min lie?” Prophet (s) said, “This? No way, or else you will be cursed like Iblees!”
How many lies do we tell in a day? Forget all these lies, because Allah is Ghafoorun-Raheem!
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
qul ya `ibaadalladheena asrafoo `ala anfusihim laa taqnatoo min rahmatillah inn'Allahu yaghfiru 'dh-dhunooba jami`a, innahu huwa'l-ghafooru 'r-raheem. Say, “O My servant, don’t lose hope from Allah’s mercy as Allah forgives all sins, for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (az-Zumar, 39:53)
But repent because you are lying. We are lying in dunya, but we lied a more expensive lie on the Day of Promises, when Allah (swt) asked us, “Who am I?” and we said, “Ya Rabbana, You are our Lord, our Creator!” Then we came to dunya and forgot our promise. We lied in the presence of Allah (swt) and that is a dangerous issue. You cannot decline what you promised Allah (swt). When you answered, “You are my Lord, ya Rabbee!” you signed a contract. When you said, ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa Rasuluh, you signed a contract! You cannot breach your contract. When you lie you are breaching your contract, and there is a penalty. When you buy a house, the lender gives you a long contract with how many pages to sign? In Singapore how many pages? Too many, lawyers, lawyers and small letters and they put one point here, one point there, one comma here, one semi-colon there and if you move the period from here to there, the whole meaning of the contract is changed. You need a lawyer; why do they hire a lawyer? So, don’t you need a lawyer to defend you in the Day of Judgment?
O Muslims, be happy that Allah granted us a lawyer that will take care of everyone on the Day of Judgment, Sayyidina Muhammad, alfu’s salat was salam, to speak for you. And the one who is going to present your case to the Prophet (s) is your guide. Be happy that Allah (swt) connected you to a complete, perfect murshid who is able to present your case. But my talk is to those watching there (on the Internet) who can spread the message. Be worried from lying to Allah and the Prophet; making yourself a murshid and cheating the people. The people have no sin on them because with full hearts they came to your door. If you cheat them, you who claim to be their murshid and representative, you will be responsible and you will carry all their sins! You cannot send these sins away, you cannot waive them; you will be carrying them!
May Allah (swt) keep us away from lying and from claiming something that we don’t have. We are weak servants who have nothing: no irshad, no representation, no deputy appointment, nothing! If they let us to speak we, we speak; if they don’t give permission and we speak, we are worse than any child or anyone here.
I am surprised! Can I ask a question here to the audience? Why you are not watching Mawlana Shaykh Nazim speaking live on Sufilive.com? You claim you are following him. If President Obama is going to give a speech you turn on your TV or not? Correct? If a politician in Singapore or any country wants to give an important speech, everyone will turn on their TV to see what he is saying; correct nor not? (Yes!) Why you are not tuning in to Sufilive.com to watch your Shaykh everyday at 10:30 p.m., why you are not watching? Any excuse? Because we can see who is watching from their emails. I am not seeing more than four or five people from Singapore. Where are the thousands of people? If you cannot watch it live, at least watch it on-demand. Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia murids, why you are not watching? You claim you love the shaykh, but maybe you don’t. It is up to you (to watch his broadcasts), but I am encouraging you.
Alhamdulillah with Mawlana’s baraka, it is not easy to broadcast from different countries, and we have all the equipment there to back it up and we have special people sitting there, because there are a lot of electricity disruptions there. But I will tell you there are 1500 channels on Livestream.com, and when we started broadcasting Mawlana Shaykh, from the 1500 we ranked 4th in the world! The first one was a Mexican Christian station with 30 million viewers. We beat them, and now we are the first one, because they compile statistics by day, by week, by month, by full-time, they go from the first broadcast. That channel had 30 million viewers since they began. We had approximately one-million viewers since we began many years ago, now we reached 9-million or 10-million in two months! It means there are hundreds of thousands of viewers always watching. We have all our archives on that, you can trace those statistics. I am not going to speak more than that.
Alhamdulillah, I want to give a good tiding this year. You know we have established Sufi Muslim Council in London four years ago, and we struggled a lot because we had too many obstacles in England. And this year we were number one to be invited by the mayor of London to Trafalgar Square, to celebrate `Eid al-Fitr. We were the first Muslim organization to be asked, and all our team was on stage. We had two Jamaican ladies, singers from “Pearls of Islam” who took baya` with us three years ago, and they are the best Muslim women singers in the whole London Muslim community. And the Naqshbandi Ensemble of America and England performed for 50,000 people, and Ali was there conducting the Naqshbandi Ensemble. How was it, Ali? (Ali: Baraka Mawlana, it was amazing!) Every year at that function, performers do not mention their shaykh’s name, so this year I asked Ali intentionally to mention Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s name in front of everyone! So we tried our best to do something different, something more, and we hope that inshaAllah we will be able to achieve more, as long as we don’t lie, as long as we do not create problems in our countries.
Be peaceful people, humble people, and take care of your government; whether it is Muslim or non-Muslim doesn’t mean anything. You must obey the law, obey the country, obey those who are responsible! They are guarding you from any outsiders. Support them and help them because then you are helping yourself, you are helping your community, you help Islam, and you help the Muslims.
May Allah forgive us.
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb bi hurmati'l-Fatiha.