Dhuhr Suhbah at CSCA (1)
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem, was-salaatu was-salaamu `ala ashrafa 'l-Mursaleen, Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:59)
Dastoor, madad yaa Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani.
Dastoor, madad yaa Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani.
Every time we meet we have to ask support from our shuyukh, and we are asking support from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life, and from Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul.
Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:
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. (Surat al-Qasas, 28:56)
Because Prophet (s) was anxious that his uncles and grandfather will accept Islam, and Allah (swt) said, “Yaa Muhammad ! Don’t be sad and anxious. I will guide whom I like. Guidance is in My Hand!” This is a teaching for all of us. Allah (swt) is saying, “You don’t guide whom you love,” inna ‘Llaha yahdee man yashaa, “Allah will guide whom He likes and whom He wants to accept. Yaa Muhammad! Don’t worry about your parents. I loved you and I made you the Seal of My Messengers, so don’t you think I am going to take care of your parents and your uncles?”
Allah (swt) guides whoever loves the Prophet (s)! Every time I come to London, I am astonished by some letters people give me as they write things no one can imagine! Although many are simple prayer requests, what is most astonishing is those people were never previously in the Naqshbandi Tariqah nor students of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q)! Most are from people who did not previously come to Mawlana Shaykh, either through me, my brother or any other representative. They never met him, but they sent letters to express their feelings about how much they have benefited from reading and following the advice or talks on the Internet. Many of them took shahadah and baya` on the Internet. We saw them and knew them. Some came yesterday for the first time and some met us before, because they knew I was here. They took baya` on the Internet through Sufilive and they follow us throughout our journeys by Mawlana's orders to the Far East and listen to our lectures. Many of them reside in this country and others live far away, but have already become Muslim and Naqshbandi.
I am not here to explain what we are doing on the Internet through various websites, but I would like to mention about another of our websites, eShaykh.com, which receives 200,000 to 300,00 visitors a month. Sufilive.com has 6,000 to 7,000 visitors daily and alhamdulillah many of them become Muslim and take baya`. Who guided them? Allah (swt) said, “O Muhammad! Don’t guide whom you love. Because of you, I am guiding them from east to west!”
With Mawlana’s permission, I would like to share this story with you. Once in Malaysia, a Hindu from India visited me. He said, “I want to take shahadah.”
I said, “Alright. Are you interested in Islam?”
He said, “I am interested in Islam and in the Naqshbandi Tariqah.” With Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s permission, we gave him shahadah and baya`. He then said, “Yaa Shaykh. I want to tell you how I came to you.” He showed me a picture of Mawlana and me, and said:
My sister is a very famous guru in India. One day I was walking with her in public, and many people came to greet her as she is very well known. Suddenly we came upon a very beautiful, enlightened wise man standing in the distance whom we saw from behind, but we were also able to see him from the front. It was as if he was transparent. I never saw anything like that in my life. I thought to myself, “Is he a man, a guru, an angel, or is he from the gods?” (Hindus use the word “god,” but in reality they mean “saint.”)
Another one walked beside him and people shook their hands. They moved through the crowds, not taking any space, walking through peoples’ bodies, and although my sister is a big guru, we realized this is something cannot understand. So we ran behind until we reached them, and looked in their faces and greeted them. They were the same from behind. We the older one’s front and back at same time, and we saw only the back of the younger one, but when we went in front of them we saw both their faces.
We greeted them and my sister said, “We never saw something like this and it is as if someone sent us to you. We want to be like you and follow your way.” The older shaykh kept quiet and the younger one gave us a picture of his shaykh and him. When we insisted we have to follow them, they said, “We are Muslim and we are Naqshbandi.” I said, “O my guru! I never saw a Hindu guru like this and I want to be like you!” The older one said, “You have to take shahadah.” My sister and I took shahadah and baya`. The younger one was quiet. We insisted they come for a late lunch and the older shaykh said, “We are busy and must go now, but we will reach you.”
They left the same way, moving through the people. I took the picture and searched the Internet, and I found the picture was of Shaykh Nazim and you were with him. I came to you in person, as I knew from the Sufilive calendar that you are here. I traveled from India on behalf of my sister, who is looking forward to visit you, who guided us.
Who guided them? How did they see that? Hindus were able to see that and Muslims are not, but it is not because Hindus are better than the Muslims, as of course Muslims are in a higher level, but Muslims’ belief in God is not enough. So he took physically took shahadah and baya` and then we met his sister in an anonymous location.
Yesterday we received a letter from a lady that read:
I accepted Islam 13 years ago, but since then I have been struggling, as what I saw from Muslims didn’t suit me. I am Hindu, but recently came across a friend who gave me a book, Pearls and Corals, Volumes 1 and 2 (by Shaykh Hisham). I had never read something like that before and I immediately realized that this is my way and I will follow it! Everything that was written in that book through those enlightened words is exactly what I yearned for all my life. So then I went on the Internet, took baya` online and then shahadah another time with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q). After that, I took baya` again online with him.
Who gave her the book? Allah (swt) guides whom He likes. Once Imran Khan, the famous cricket player from Pakistan, asked me to raise funds for him after he retired from cricket in the 1990s. The event was held in the ballroom of a hotel. Imran Khan was there waiting for me until I came on stage to deliver my speech. We raised around $350,000 that was to be the seed money for the hospital he was building. Suddenly, we saw a lot of chaos and commotion just outside the ballroom and everyone, especially the ladies, ran to see who was at the entrance. We saw six actresses from Hollywood coming with their hairdresser, Giacomo, to visit me. He rushed towards me, gave me a hug, and said, “O Shaykh! I have been trying to locate you for one year!” He had brought all the actresses with him. Then Imran Khan and others emerged from the ballroom, curious to see what was going on. Giacomo continued:
I studied Judaism, Christianity, Zionism, Zoroastrianism, and left all of them as I no longer knew what I wanted to become. Then I went to Barnes and Noble and they had many books on Islam and Judaism. I spoke to God and said, ‘O God! Either You guide me or this is how I am going to be, always accompanied by celebrities. Guide me and I will follow.’ Then I went to the religion section of the bookstore, closed my eyes, and touched forty to fifty books, moving my hands back and forth. I finally picked up one book, Angels Unveiled (1996). I read it, instantly fell in love with it and said I have to find the author.”
So he came with his actress friends and took shahadah at Imran Khan's fundraiser. Alhamdulillah, he is still a Muslim today. He was a Hollywood hair stylist and also styled President Clinton. They escorted him to Washington by plane every week for this purpose. Who guided him? These examples show us not to criticize anyone, because they may be better than us.
We have a masjid in Northern California near San Francisco in Mountain View. It is not a like real masjid, but like a big warehouse where they do martial arts. Most of the people there are Caucasian Americans. The head instructor took baya` with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and when he came to attend our conference in Los Angeles in 1996, the martial arts teacher provided excellent security. He and his students all took shahadah and baya` and were with me for two years before Mawlana came. We prepared for two to three months prior to his visit to Los Angeles.
One time we were sitting in the masjid and an old man around 95 years old came and said, “I am interested in spirituality.” There was not much to expect from someone who is 95 years old, but he was still strong. He sat in a chair, we all did dhikr together and he left very happy. He came the second week and then the third. He said, “O Shaykh! I attended numerous sessions with different teachers and I like what you are teaching. I want to be blessed.” He didn’t say, “I want to take shahadah.” So we gave him blessing. Then he came back and said, “I want to be like them, I want to say shahadah,” so we gave him shahadah. He prayed `Isha with us and left.
The following week he came and said, “I want to learn to pray,” and he prayed Maghrib and `Isha with us. Then the following week and afterwards he didn't come. I asked the martial arts teacher, “Where is that person? Go and check on him.” He sent someone, and they found out that man had passed away. He was a non-Muslim for 95 years of his life, but according to Shari`ah, Islam erases any badness that came before, so he entered Islam as an 8-week-old newborn! Who guided him?
Inshaa-Allah we will continue later. May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/Beautiful_Examples_of_the_Miracles_of_Guidance-4109.html
© Copyright 2012 Sufilive. This transcript is protected by international copyright law.
Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.