Zhuhr Suhbah
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
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.
Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
I have been ordered to speak by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), to give some things he wants said. Although we are all at the threshold of Mawlana and we are all the same, but because he ordered me to speak, I speak, because the order is above respect. If he gives an order to say something, even if it is against discipline, because the order is coming from him you have to follow it!
Discipline is that this is his place and no one else is supposed to make a gathering and sit to speak here. Discipline is everyone sitting by himself, thinking about his life, about what he has done and achieved, and not to make himself a teacher above everyone else; that is the adab. But if the shaykh orders, then his order is above what you sit and speak. And you have to know also when he says “speak”, that with an understanding, seeing his gesture, are you going to... he is looking at your heart, are you going to create in your heart an arrogance or pride that you have been asked to speak? We have to be very careful! When Mawlana asks his student to speak, the student must avoid as much as possible, and the shaykh is looking at the student’s heart to see is he going to be proud of himself and make for himself a statue from an egoistic background, or will he make himself humble? So we have be very careful to see what is the shaykh's gesture. Try to avoid that, but if not, we have no alternative.
So I know all of us love our shaykh and we try our best, but struggle never ends. Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, “Struggle between good and evil never stops.” He spoke of four principles in Sufism, and I said it many times: when Sayyidina `Ali says something, he is not saying from his ego, it is from the heart of the Prophet (s)!
أصحابي كالنجوم بأيهم اقتديتم اهتديتم
as-haabee kan-nujoom bi ayyihim aqtadaytum ahtadaytum.
My Companions are like stars (on a dark night); whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.(`Abd ibn Humayd, ad-Daraqutnee, ibn `Adiyy, ibn `Abd al-Barr, with unsound chains but the meaning is sound)
So wherever you see oppression and darkness in communities, if you look closely you can see the wali that is the star of that time, and he can shine through that darkness. So ashab an-nabi (s) were shining stars and they were able to “navigate”, if we can use this word, or to ascend in the heart of the Prophet (s), who is always in ascension, and because he is in ascension, his ummah is also in ascension! But the ummah has veils and so they cannot see, but the Sahaba (r) could see according to their levels, and Sayyidina `Ali (r) was able to ascend into these knowledges that he was pulling from the heart of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and also Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Sayyidina `Umar, Sayyidina`Uthman, and all other Sahaba (r).
In order to illustrate the discipline, to see the difference, Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) was older than the Prophet (s) and yet always he was quiet. That is why there are only a few ahadith from him, a maximum of twenty-five or thirty ahadith, but from other Sahaba there is a lot. Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) didn't want to show (himself), he was always trying to step on his ego, although they didn't have ego; they gave their lives to the Prophet (s).
So when Sayyidina `Ali was pulling out (from the heart of Prophet), he was trying to give the meaning of:
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
fa alhamaha fujooraha wa taqwaha.
He inspired the self of its good and its bad. (Ash-Shams, 91:8)
SubhaanAllah! Bani Adam always looks at what is bad in others, they always go to what is haraam. That is why it first came in the ayah, “Allah inspired the self with what is bad,” then, “with what is good.” Allah (swt) knows we are always going first towards the bad, then we repent and go to the good. That means when we do something bad we must run to do something good, because from the bad action you will be a sinner, and immediately when you do something good Allah takes what is bad and changes it to hasanaat.
So Sayyidina `Ali (r) was looking into it and seeing that from the beginning of life there was a struggle between Habeel and Qabeel, and earlier a struggle between Sayyidina Adam (a) and Hawa (a). That all comes from hasad: and you get angry and you get jealous. I have this machine (broadcast camera), and someone comes and says, “Why he has this machine? I have to have better!” I have this cup (of water) and someone says, “Why he has that cup and I don’t?” So in this way anger builds up, and destroys our lives; that is why there is a struggle.
Why did Allah accept Habeel’s sacrifice? Because when you want to give a gift you give the best you have. So Habeel selected the best ram he had and gave it as a sacrifice. In the old days, when Allah accepted a gift He sent fire and burned it and took it up. And Qabeel looked for the most skinny, sick ram (to give as a sacrifice) that even a human beings will not accept, and Allah didn't accept it.
فَتُقُبِّلَ مِن أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمْ يُتَقَبَّلْ مِنَ الآخَرِ
fatuqubbila min ahadihimaa wa lam yutaqabbal mina al-aakhari.
It was accepted from one, but not from the other. (al-Maida, 5:27)
So he killed his brother (Cain killed Abel), and his brother didn’t say anything except, “If you want to kill me, I am surrendering, submitting to Allah’s will.”
He (a murid) came from far away; he was supposed to see Mawlana Shaykh and was not able, but he accepted that the shaykh is sleeping, okay, la hawla wa la quwatta illa billah il-`aliyy il-`azheem, because he is from Ahl al-Bayt, Husayni. So if you are like Sayyidina Habeel, you submit to Allah's will.
لَئِن بَسَطتَ إِلَيَّ يَدَكَ لِتَقْتُلَنِي مَا أَنَاْ بِبَاسِطٍ يَدِيَ إِلَيْكَ لَأَقْتُلَكَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللّهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ
Lain basatta ilayya yadaka litaqtulanee maa anaa bibaasitin yadiya ilayka liaqtulaka innee akhaafu Allaaha rabba ‘al-`alameen.
If you stretch your hand against me to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against you to slay you, for I fear Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds. (al-Maida, 5:28)
“If you are extending your hand to kill me, I am not extending my hand to kill you.”
For 950 years, Sayyidina Nuh (a) was under attack from his people. Today if you will be under attack from someone, after one year you are frustrated! He lived for 950 years and he was under attack most of his life. Nimrood threw Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) into the fire. We are not going to go into all these examples, but starting tomorrow insha-Allah, we will bring Mawlana's notes and speak from them. Sayyidina Nuh, Sayyidina Ibrahim, Sayyidina Musa (a), Sayyidina Muhammad (s), all of them had problems (from people).
So Sayyidina `Ali (r) said (the first principle), “The best is suqoot, keep silent.” Then, whatever happens you don’t have problems. Like this one, Muhammad Khayr, if you beat him up he doesn’t care, but it is very hard to get him to smile. So don’t talk, zip it! From whom you are going to have problems if you don't answer back?
The second step is as-sima`, “to listen to what people are saying.” If you like it or not, you listen. If they backbite or spread rumors, you listen and keep quite. The third step is to observe what is going around (among the people). Like chess players, it takes them hours and hours to move one stone, and I am surprised how long they stay, sometimes for hours to move one stone, and they are considering all possibilities.
And then the next step is al-harakah, “to move.” Then your movement is straightforward; it is not going to be left or right.
We are coming here for many, many years and all teachings of Grandshaykh and Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani go into one ocean, the ocean of humbleness and humility. That is adab, and the highest adab is that of the Prophet (s), as Allah mentioned in Holy Qur'an:
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ
wa innaka la `ala khuluqin `azheem
You are of the most exalted character. (al-Qalam, 68:4)
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 waahidun faman kaana yarjoo liqaa rabbihi falya`amal `amalan saalihaan walaa yushrik bi`aibadati rabbihi ahad.
Say (so they will understand), "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)
So the teaching is humbleness. Ff we learn this, from the first minute we will get our trust! We are on the way, but still struggling. We ask Allah (swt) to forgive us and to make us always on a`ataab an-Nabi, on the threshold of the Prophet (s)
(du`a)
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.