Dhuhr at CSCA, Feltham
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Kalimataan khafeefataan `ala al-lisan thaqeelataan fi ’l-meezan subhaanAllah wa bihamdihi.
Alhamdulillah, Allah made us take the hand of our shaykh, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. It is a great ni`amat to have a guide who guides people to their destinies. If we know on the Day of Promises what our promise to Allah was, then we don't need a guide.
One `alim came to Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q) and he was head of `ulama of Damascus who had a guide that died. So Grandshaykh said to him, "You need a guide."
He said, "O my shaykh, I have a guide."
Grandshaykh said, "But that guide left dunya, so you need a guide."
He said, “But that guide is my guide and I cannot take another."
Grandshaykh said, "No, of course you don't have to take another guide if you meet two conditions: if you are able to speak with your guide now in his grave and he responds to you then you don’t need a guide. And Allah (swt) said, L`anatullahi `ala ’l-kaadhibeen, ‘The curse of Allah is upon the liars!’ Therefore, I will know for sure if you can speak with him, so speak with him.”
He said, "O my shaykh, I cannot."
Grandshaykh (q) said, “Then you need a guide.”
Grandshaykh (q) continued, “The second condition is if, on the Day of Promises, you know what you promised Allah you will do, then you don't need a guide. Do you know?”
He said, "No."
Grandshaykh (q) said, "Then I will put you in seclusion for forty days and you will become one of the shuyookh that is rare in knowledge."
Grandshaykh (q) said, as that shaykh used to come to him all the time, the Prophet (s) appeared to him and said, “That one is not yours; let him go,” meaning “don't bother with him." So Grandshaykh said, “I told him these two difficult conditions and since he cannot humble himself he cannot....”
So there are some people that become an `alim, they have a paper (certificate), and they think they are above everyone. Therefore, Grandshaykh (q) wanted to teach him to humble himself, as the Prophet (s) humbled himself. Allah told to the Prophet (s) in Holy Qur'an:
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاء رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا
Qul innamaa anaa basharun mithlukum yoohaa ilayya annamaa ilaahukum ilaahun wahidun faman kaana yarjoo liqaa rabbihi falya`mal `amalan saalihan wa laa yushrik bi`ibadati rabbihi ahada.
Say, "I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me that your Allah is one Allah. Whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness and in the worship of his Lord admit no one as partner. (al-Kahf, 18:110)
If Allah instructs Prophet (s) to say, “I am only a human being like you,” and yet he receives divine revelation, certainly he is showing humbleness! Anyone who doesn't show humbleness has no luck in this tariqah, as humbleness is to show yourself lower than everyone. For awliyaullah, humbleness has a different meaning; to them it means, “who eats the sins of those in attendance (in his majlis) or of those who follow them.” He is dressed from the Prophet (s) with a dress that enables him to carry from the sins of anyone sitting in his presence. He carries those sins himself and whatever he has of goodness, he gives to them. To be humble is not simply to tell people you are humble or to sit on the floor or even on a heap of garbage. Allah (swt) told Tayfur Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q), “You must be a dump for Allah's servants, and then come to Me,” haalan fi`lan mush qawlan, “in state and in actions, not just by words.” Because the Prophet (s) is carrying the whole ummah, awliyaullah and people; he presents them clean in akhirah in the Divine Presence.
Grandshaykh (q) wanted to teach humbleness to that `alim, so he said to him, “I am going to put you in seclusion.” As he was a big `alim and his father was a wali, his nafs became unhappy with that and he cut himself from Grandshaykh and never came back.
What was the mistake? He should have said "Yes Sayyidee, I will do seclusion, worshipping Allah, nothing else!” The problem is, as soon as people are given respect, they think they have reached the highest level.
Allah is saying to the Prophet (s):
Say, "I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me that your Allah is one Allah. Whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness and in the worship of his Lord admit no one as partner. (al-Kahf, 18:110)
“I am a human being like you and I receive wahiy, revelation; yooha ilayya.” Do we know what is revealed to the Prophet (s)? He said “Yooha ilayy.” That is general; Allah (swt) did not limit or restrict what is revealed to him. And he said “yoohaa,” not “oohiya,” which is future tense, while “oohiya” is past tense. So it means he is always in the state of wahiy and mi`raj. With all that glory, still Prophet (s) he is saying, “I am bashar, human, like you.” How is he bashar? Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is bashar but not like other human beings; he is a gem, a diamond, and people are like pebbles!
As pebbles, how can we raise our heads and say, “We are something.” That is the sickness of this era; people want to think they are something and they become tyrants. It is very difficult to remove them from their seat of power, both politicians and normal people. You see what is happening in the Middle East? They are not giving up their chair. Give it up, you don't need it!
إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ
Innaka laa tahdee man ahbabta wa laakin Allaha yahdee man yashaa wa Huwa `alamu bi’l-muhtadeen.
It is true you (O Muhammad) will not be able to guide every one whom you love, but Allah guides those whom He will and He knows best those who receive guidance. (al-Qasas, 28:56)
Allah is telling the Prophet (s), “Even with all your greatness, you don't guide them, I (Allah) guide them.” So because of all the people you are bringing, don't become a proud peacock! That is the sickness today. People want to be peacocks, sitting on their chair for thirty or forty years and not leave it to others. Similarly, there are people who want to sit on the spiritual chair. They lose dunya and akhirah. I am afraid in this age. I could not raise my head in Grandshaykh’s time. No one was able to look at Grandshaykh during his suhbah; they looked down and sat on their knees when he spoke. If he saw you scratching your face, he would stop and say, "You lowered the level of the suhbat," although only one person in a hundred may have scratched his face. Now, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, with his mercy, gets everyone inside, [without looking at their behavior]. [He says:] “Then I take them like sheep, get them in the hazeera, the pen or the garden. Later I prune them! They come, and all of them are with weeds and roses, but at least they are coming. That is the first step, and then my responsibility is to do the second and third step.”
So the Prophet(s) said, “I am like you; a human being.” That is khitab li ‘l-`umoom, a general address. Yoohaa ilaya, Qur`an is for all times, “continuous revelation to me,” anamaa ilaahukum ilaahun waahid. What is the meaning of anamaa ilaahukum ilaahun waahid? The literal meaning it, "Your Lord, God, is The Unique One."
ٌ فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاء رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا
faman kana yarjoo liqaa rabbihi falya`mal `amalan salihan wala yushrik bi`ibadati rabbihi ahad.
Whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness and in the worship of his Lord admit no one as partner. (al-Kahf, 18:110)
That means He is the only one to be worshipped. (...) People think, “I am doing good work." No, it is Allah's favor upon you to do this work, so don't worship yourself. Who wants to liqaa rabbihi, meet physically, to meet here; this is normally understood to mean that one day you will leave dunya and there will be a meeting your His Lord for you to reach akhirah. Actually, it means literally “to see Your Lord,” as the Prophet (s) mentioned, “You will see Your Lord in Paradise.” And so you want to see!
Wa laa yushrik fee `ibadatihi ahaada, “Don't worship your ego.” If you worship your ego, that will not take you to `amal salih because that makes your ego big. As you go around the world, you see people are molded with arrogance. That is why Allah cursed Iblees, because he said, “You created me from fire and You created him from mud. I am better than him!" He was so arrogant that he refused to make sajda.
Why did Allah say to Iblees, “Do sajda!” Iblees saw that sajda was to the one who reached Maqaam al-Mahmoud, a special station in Paradise that Iblees thought was an honor reserved for himself, so he could not accept that.
That is why if two shaykhs come in one place they clash and say, “I am better than him.” No, it is Allah's Will. Allah created Iblees from fire and Sayyidina Adam (a) from mud, but still respect him. How can you come to Allah with arrogance and pride, when He cursed Iblees for that? It is better to be in the back with no responsibility!
May Allah give Mawlana Sahykh Nazim long life. Alhamdulillah, that we took baya` with you, yaa Mawlana Shaykh! Mawlana is responsible for us, we are not responsible, just as Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is responsible for his ummah.
Awliyaullah have been assigned by Allah, groups of people from the ummah to take care of. Will He put them down? No! That is why He gives them authority and there is not only one wali. We are seeing on the Internet some people curse other shuyookh! Everyone is at his capacity. There are 124,000 awliyaullah on Earth at any given time, so respect everyone, but look at your shaykh as the top just as they look at their shaykh as the top. So you cannot say to them, “My shaykh is better than yours,” or you will both fight.
In the times of the Sahaabah (r) some said, “Sayyidina `Ali is better,” and others said, “Sayyidina Mu`awiya is better.” However, there was one clever person sitting at the top of the hill between the two groups; at prayer time he went to Sayyidina `Ali, and at dinner time he went to Sayyidina Mu`awiya. We cannot say it, but others said to him, “You are munafiq!” He said, "No! When Sayyidina `Ali prays he is in Heaven so I pray with him, and Sayyidina Mu`awiya eats the best food, so I am with both, in peace!”
There is a lady in another country who has been following us on Sufilive for many years, hearing all the lectures, taking notes, and making booklets of the suhbahs, and passing them on to her friends. Finally she took baya` online with Mawlana Shaykh. And she began to tell her friends, “come and take baya`” and ten of her friends took baya` . They didn't meet Mawlana Shaykh but were connected through the Internet.
Then the shaykh in her area (of a different tariqah), called her and said, "What are you doing here?" (I have hosted that shaykh in America and he visits Indonesia also.) She had been studying there four years and had almost completed her degree, and she is finishing, but she replied, "Nothing."
He said, “I heard you are telling people to take baya`.”
She said, “Yes, on Sufilive I attend his lectures and I listen to Shaykh Hisham's lectures and I love him, and I love Mawlana Shaykh, he is my sultan.”
That shaykh said to her, “There are no Naqshbandis in this country.” He fired her, and she called me to ask what she should do. Although that person is very famous and many of his people come to visit Mawlana Shaykh, they thought this matter will not come to us, but it did.
What did he want to do? That came from arrogance, as they think they have reached the highest levels. Even if you have reached the highest level, Allah (swt) raised the Prophet (s) to qaaba qawsayn for his humbleness! The Seal of Messengers often said, "O Allah! Don't leave me to my ego for the blink of an eye or less."
Everything is built on humbleness because when you show humbleness, you are admitting that Allah (swt) is The One Who created you and there is no shirk. But to your self to it is shirk. Not going to see a shaykh is shirk! To do something and brag, "I did something good,” is putting yourself high with Allah (swt), laa tumannin, which is kufr and shirk; you are doing something terribly wrong! Once some Sahaaba gave something to the Prophet (s) and said, "We gave." Allah revealed an ayah saying no, don't make shirk there!
ٌ فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاء رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا
faman kana yarjoo liqaa rabbihi falya`mal `amalan salihan wala yushrik bi`ibadati rabbihi ahad.
Whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness and in the worship of his Lord admit no one as partner. (al-Kahf, 18:110)
Don't make shirk, addressing everyone, "I did something good." You did nothing good; Allah (swt) made you do it for some wisdom! It is not you who are doing this or that; it is Allah (swt).
In 1989 we went to Brunei with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and we met the sultan, his two wives and his children. It was a very nice meeting and they were very happy with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. Later he sent his prime minister and minister of education to meet Mawlana in Peckham Mosque, London. They asked, "What would you like?" Mawlana Shaykh said he wanted a mosque there, where he will teach tasawwuf and the greatness of the Prophet (s). The Sultan of Brunei bought the Priory, renovated it and gave it to Mawlana Shaykh as a gift and he never even asked about it or checked on it after that. When something good comes it is from Allah (swt) and when something bad comes it is from our self. If we understand this, we are safe.
Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) used to recite a part of a verse, “laa bud mim murshidin hissee,” which means it is absolutely necessary to have a living shaykh. If he is not living, you cannot connect with him. You think you can connect because you look with your eyes and see him. But if someone you never knew, as some people claim and I always reject, they claim to go to maqaam of awliyaullah and say, "They are talking to us," it is their imagination! They have no right to jump over the living shaykh and say, "They (in the grave) are talking to me." That wali in the grave cannot talk to you without the permission and presence of your guide!
In previous times, if a wali wanted to give baya` to someone, he had no right to give it without the presence of the Prophet (s) and Sayyidina Shah Naqshband (q) to witness whether this person is clean or not. Only if they permitted could a wali give baya` and that was not like the baya` these days.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ
Inna alladheena yubaaee`oonka innamaa yubaiy`oon'Llah. Yadullaahi fawqa aydeehim.
Verily, those who give baya` to you (O Muhammad) are giving baya` to Allah. The Hand of Allah is over their hands. (Al-Fath, 48:10)
When the one taking baya` put their hand on the hands of the wali, immediately these six powers opened directly, [as mentioned in Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s discourse, “The Final Limit” in Mercy Oceans Lovestreams, pp. 101-110]:
* Haqīqat al-Jazbah: the Power of Attraction of either objects or people to the shaykh.
* Haqīqat at-Tasarruf: the Power of Emanation or outpouring of experience from Prophet (s) through the chain of transmission to the heart of the disciple.
* Haqīqat at-Tawajjuh: the Power of Alignment of the shaykh’s heart towards the disciple’s, and of the disciple’s towards his spiritual goal.
* Haqīqat at-Tawāssul: the Power of Connection to divine power and favors through the Golden Chain.
* Haqīqat al-Irshād: the Power of Guidance to the destination embarked upon through the spiritual connection.
* Haqīqat at-Tayy: the Power of Folding Time and Space.
You cannot do that without presence of the Prophet (s). Sainthood, wilayat, is not cheap or easy. May Allah (swt) keep us humble because we are altogether, united as one in solidarity.
This camera is better than us. It repeats everything from the beginning, as much as you say, not missing even one letter or image. Can the heart, which is Allah's Creation, not be better than this camera? Yes, it can record and repeat everything. But unfortunately, according to the level we are in the camera is still better than our memory, but what can we do? We are struggling to improve as much as we can. May Allah keep us always under the wings and arms of the Prophet (s) and our awliyaullah and our sultan!
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.