Anyone likes to speak? [no.] You spoke already, you said, “no.”
Audhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajeem
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
We continue of the previous session. And this is from msn notes and Grandshaykh’s notes.
Dastoor ya sayyidee madad.
Nawaytu’l-arba`een, nawaytu’l-`itikaf, nawaytu’l-khalwah, nawaytu’l-riyada, nawaytu’s-saluk, nawaytu’l-`uzlah lillahi ta`ala fi hadha’l-masjid.
Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, he was like a fountain of knowledge and what he tells you now, is completely different from what comes next in another session. All the time, you cannot see him resting, but all the time he is speaking and when someone speaks from no books, from no notes, from not books, from noting it is like when you have a dam, what is a dam? [sadd] when you have a dam and too much water comes what do they do? They open the dam in order that the excess water will go or the dam will become too much and will overflow or the rivers will overflow. So they make a dam and then it will fill up and they direct the water to wherever it needs to be directed for irrigation and drinking.
Awliyaullah make a dam for the knowledge that is coming and they have to empty their hearts in order that more knowledge will come. That is their behavior, that is their characteristic. They have to be talking in association even in their association there is only 2 people.
I remember this is something like 40 years ago, or 45 years ago, there used to be no one there, except me and my brother, in Grandshaykh's presence, only two people. Only me and my brother. There is not translator and he speaks Arabic a little bit, mixed with Turkish and we can understand his way of language. Even there is only one person he opens an advice, a subhat.
And he said, many times, he said, “don't look at who is present in front of me; look at those who are not there that you are not able to see.” He said, “I have an authority from the Prophet (s) that as soon as I speak every wali in this earth every wali must listen to what I am saying from far distances. They open their receivers. Because they are in need of what I am saying. He is Sultan al-Awliya of his time… and this time. He said, “Even there is one person in front of me it will be a cause, sabab, the reason that I have to speak. He will be like the tap that I have to open because his presence is there, I have to open that tap and speak, and whatever I speak is whatever is needed for every wali on earth. 124,000 wali has to open their receivers to hear what I am saying.”
So it is not when he speaks and when we keep notes it is not only meant for those who are sitting, no. awliyaullah - these high level awliya their speeches are for awliya. But we are a reason or cause for speaking and we get something. But he said, “taifat al-jinn must be present when I am speaking with their king and must listen and he said the king of taifat al-jinn must be sitting by me when I am speaking and he gave his name at that time, al-Hazzaaz, Sultan al-Jinn, who is under command of the Prophet (s). He has to listen and those who are under him, the most important personnel under him, if we can call them, they must be present there.”
So his speeches were not for common people but only were for high-level people.
And from these notes, it is not what I am speaking from here. I am speaking from the notes at normal level. High level I don't think there are hearts that can contain that. People might not be able to understand. So this is what we used to see from Grandshaykh may Allah bless his soul and this is what we used to see from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life.
So what we are discussing here is more of a substance of the lower level of preschool. The first grade as we said in the previous session, they did not opened yet. They opened in such meetings as I just said now now. That is what is mentioned in when he goes inside those oceans of oneness, and the Maqaam al-ahadiyya and Maqaam al-wahdaniyya, the station of oneness and the station of uniqueness. When he goes in that ocean of explaining, yaghus, diving in the ocean of explaining the importance of oneness and the importance of uniqueness in every Beautiful Name and Attribute that has been manifested to them at that moment.
Every name of Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes, every Name has its ocean of oneness and its ocean of uniqueness – every Name. They go diving in that ocean and bringing out.
So this is something of their teachings that today we don't see it because there is no such people to be able to listen. And Mawlana Shaykh Nazim doesn't open from that ocean now these days, rarely, because you cannot give children except candies. You cannot give them diamonds. So why? Because he is seeing here, why they don't open that? Because he said, “We are so much towards a second ignorance, we are in it, al-jahiliyya ath-thaniyya, that was in time of the Prophet (s) and before the time of the Prophet (s) and now this is the second or tenth jahiliyya or fiftieth even, where we are so near the last days that too much ignorance is wrapping humanity. Not ignorance from technology or ignorance from science which awliya are not so concerned with it, but ignorance from the spiritual life that human beings must live, that and how that spiritual life can be advanced in its aspects in order that we can benefit.
What they say is the key to change our lives but the problem they give us the key, and they say “open”, but we say, “no the key is broken.” The key is not broken, your hand is broken. No your fingers are broken. Your hand is broken. It means the key is not broken. Train yourself. Follow what they are training. Say, “I want to get rid of what they are asking me to get rid of.” Because it is tab`a an-nafs, character, that is what the ego has been raised upon. In childhood how you have raised your ego. It becomes acquainted, the habits that you have built yourself up, or your parents or family have built you up. That is where it is a problem. They built you up on a sickness they put that sickness on you from childhood like major sicknesses. Doctor what are the major sicknesses today? Cancer and heart disease. How can someone whose heart is dead understand spirituality? It is already dead, the heart is dead. There is no container, there is no more life in it. Or cancer it went all, like an octopus, through your whole body. Its tentacles are everywhere.
He is saying that, “the problem is that our selves, an-nufus, the selves have already become sick and not only sick but holding very strongly to its habits and its behaviors – cannot change it, and it doesn't let anyone to change it or break it. No way to break it.”
Walad an-nufus mareedanw amutamasikan bi awsaafiha wa tabaiha
The selves are sick and holding fast to their character and nature.
So the key is to loosen up. If you know a character is bad leave it. That is the key. It is not the key that he says, “I am holding your trusts, I am giving it to you” and let you go. That is not the way. That is the lazy way. They want to see if you are progressing or not. So he is saying to us that “these selves are so holding tight to what they have already acquired and they don’t to lose it and they don’t want to leave it.”
Leave it you find spirituality and happiness. Don't leave it he is not going to explain or give you to you from these spiritual manifestation that come to his heart from prophet's heart to you. He will block it. Why he has to give it when our egoes are sick?
Let us look at ourselves. Think a little bit. Say to oneself, “do I have a sickness such as this sickness?” [yes]. Can you give an example? Yes he gives an example. He said, “If you go back 4000 year or 5000 years or 7000 years, to time of Adam you can see from day one that good and evil are existing. Caabil, who is the bad example, he was holding tight to the characters that he acquired, from whom? Not from Adam . But from shaytan, shaytan was whispering, using him as a vehicle. He was not able to come to Haabil who as the good one, and he was taking spiritual direction from Adam directly. Caabil was listening to shaytan. So Caabil was not listening and he was not willing to loose it up. So what did he do? He went and gave the worst of his sheep for sacrifice. He didn’t go with love and say “Ya Rabbee I am giving the best of what I have.”
They didn’t have children at the time. So Haabil gave the best of what he has. And Caabil gave the worst of what he had.
So if we go 5000 years, we see the characteristics that we are molded within us through year and years from parents and from grandparents back up and back up to them and from great grandparents to them… and all the way back go back to Nimrod and Pharaoh. Those are the habits of Nimrod. He was against Sayyidina Ibrahim. He never accepted except what he wants. Firaun was against Sayyidina Musa , never following except what he wants.
So he said, “at-taba` al-nimrudiyya wa at-taba` al-firauniyya - these Firaunic habits and Nimrodic habits don't change and they are what we inherit in us and they became like a cancer and the ego doesn’t want to let it down. The only time they let it down is by force. Cancer they try to kill by chemotherapy or by surgery to take it out. When it reaches level 4 they say, “hopeless case. Leave it until it dies.”
Awliyaullah are giving us chemotherapy –take injection. Or maybe giving us level that doesn't need chemotherapy. To make you to feel better. Their presence within you and with you is to prevent cancer to take over.
That is why you come to them and one leg you want to be in dunya and the other leg you go and you want to go sit there. Ok that is good. That is pre-nursery and that is ok, as it builds you up to go to first grade. So it is a precancerous situation. To avoid cancer of the ego, they guide you through these association from time to time. Like chemotherapy they do how many? 18 months? Different periods. So awliyaullah they do different types of injections or radiations in order to stop that sickness of the ego.
So he said, that but you never going to improve too much so either you are severe case of spiritual cancer or you are a pre-cancerous case. But both of them you cannot kill the cancer except only one time and that is only one time: when you die.
That is why he said that mawt for awliyaullah is of two kinds: idtirari or ikhtiyari. Either by force, you die or by choice. If you want to choose to die, you die or by force you die. When someone dies really physically it means you die it is by force. When someone wants to die by choice that means he wants to enter first grade. He chooses - that is entering the door. That is an open door at any time when you want to go back to your origin before your death. You can go with a spiritual death, just say, "Ya Rabbee, I know that your door is open I am submitting." Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji`oon - We can return at any time you like, the door is open. But come.
Walladhee yantadhir al-mawt at-tabi`ee lan yastafeed min hayaatih.
And the one who is waiting the normal death is not benefiting from his life. Wa ama alladhee yasta`amal il-mujahida ma nafsihi wa yaqtuluha wa yaqbaluha wa yumawituha fa amma yukhla`an tiba`ihi al-khabeethah - but the one who uses the mujahida against his nafs, is the one who will [that is why Allah said alladheena jahadoo feena la-nahdiyyanahum subulana – those who struggle in Our ways we will guide them to Our Ways] so those who struggle against their ego and try to kill it and put it down yukhli` an tiba`ihi - He will undress, take off his bad characteristics like someone who is undressing and you stop from these devil characteristics and evil characteristics because the ego is not accepted in Allah's Presence and the example of that is in Holy Quran. And the story of Sayyidina Bayazid said, “Ya Rabbee how is the way to You?” He said, “itruk nafsika wa ta`al. Don’t come with your ego. Leave your ego behind and come without it.” Because nafs makes you to say, "ana rabbukumu al-`ala - I am your highest lord."
That means that are too many lower lords and he is the highest one. So the ego always thinks it is the highest and this is from the many different sicknesses that the ego is carrying. So Mawlana said, may Allah give him long life, "the ego always claims that it is, or she is…" (is it male or female). No gender, it. “It claims that it is the god, ilah.” He said, "The ego, it is the god and does not accept any partner." Ask anyone, "do you like a partner?" He says "no, if I have everyone for me from this world without sharing to anyone, I will be happy."
And awliyaullah they are trying their best in order to take these characteristics out, according to the hadith of the Prophet (s) the thing I fear most for my nation is hidden shirk which Prophet said, “akhwafa ma akhaafu `ala ummattee ask-shirk al-khafee – the thing I fear most for my community is the hidden idolatry,” riya is showing off.
Think opened the door by thinking. I am a mechanic. For example if someone comes and says, “will you do me a favor,” he thinks, “I am the best mechanic in the world.”
“I am singing, I am the best singer in the world.” “I am a doctor, I am the best doctor in the world.” “I am shaykh, the best shaykh in the world.” All this is sickness that we have to let it out. How? By humbling oneself. Don’t try to be proud of what you are. Allah said, “wa fawqa kulli dhi ilmin `aleem - above every knower there is a knower,” and it is said also not in Holy Quran that above every station there is one sitting there, someone higher in station.
This shows us that let us begin with that and see how much you open a huge horizon for you for yourself, by saying from today, "Ya Rabbee from today, I am trying to be humble, support me not to be arrogant. That my opinion or no opinion. Or my word or no word. Not to say my word or no word."
You see them sitting around round table and everyone giving his opinion and debating. What are you debating? His opinions is garbage and your opinion is garbage. Yesterday they were debating on a roundtable on PBS. I was hearing what they were saying. What is the benefit? And arguing. Everyone wants to say "I am right and the other one is wrong." Let everyone be right and then you have no problem. Say to everyone “yes.”
Come here and sit here. Turn. Everyone comes to you say "masha-Allah you are a lion; you are a great man, you are good, you are a good horse, very nice, very good." What happens? He will be happy, you win his heart or her heart. But if you are going to say, "O, you are a donkey." [alhamdulillah]
He says alhamdulillah because he is young. But let him becomes his father’s age.. But if someone comes to his father after in the clinic and says "you are a donkey" what will he say? But no, his father is like him, he will not say anything.
But it might be Abdul Karim will jump up and say "no, give him an injection.” Let him to sleep.
So this is a problem and insha-Allah we will continue later, next time. Make everyone happy. That is why you see Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani, he makes everyone happy. People come they have problems, it is true, they have problems, they complain, but ms makes everyone happy, what they say to him, he says, “Ok.” Then they go out, after 1, 2 days they begin to fight.
That is why the importance of the shaykh is important. As soon as he says something to you, you say “ok.” Then you are good for 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 5 days, 10 days. Then you begin to go to the left side a little bit then you have a problem. …they say in Arabic, If you have no elder go to market and buy an elder. Without an elder you are lost. Awliyaullah guide you to what you need. That is why shaykhs in the life of people are very important in order that they will get good advice. And those who have no shaykh they are hanging like a windmill, they turn whichever way the wind moves, they have no guidance - therefore they have no direction. But with a shaykh you have a direction. He catches when you are falling down. That his why the Shaykh knows the tricks of the ego and he will fix it immediately. Then Shaytan comes and plays with the ego. Then the shaykh comes and fixes it back.
Like a swimming pool. You know swimming pool. The acidity comes up and then they have to put some chemicals to bring down the acidity. That acidity if you swim will kill you. So they have to dilute it with chemicals to clear that acidity.
So every time they have to put in your heart spiritual chemicals. Not chemicals, organic. Organic heavenly herbal chemicals to put in your heart to clear it. Then you can receive inspirations. Then you say, “O now I am receiving inspirations.” Yes you know at that time the Shaykh is putting “chemicals.”
Without inspirations you are lost. And at least once a year you must see the Shaykh physically. And the others, those you can see, if you can see every day that is better. But not those who come to take advantage of the Shaykh for their own benefits. Those are known who are doing for themselves. But those who are coming and they are sincere, they will be recharged. He needs to recharge every year, a physical meeting for recharging. Spiritual recharging doesn’t stop.
May Allah bring us to presence of our shuyukh may Allah being us to the presence of the Prophet (s) and may Allah bring us to the presence of our shaykhs. For the sake of this month of Ramadan. And we are so weakless. Don’t regret you have a Shaykh and be happy you have a Shaykh. Don’t say I have wasted my life, don’t say what have I benefited.
We know that Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami would go to shoemaker and he said in 4 hrs I was raised and ascended which I would not have been able to do by means of my worship if I had been worshipping from time of Sayyidina Adam up to the Judgment Day. You don’t know what kind of ascension the Shaykh takes you up. And this will not be known except by death. Forced death or death by choice. If you die before you die in dunya you will be given that advantage and benefit.
And more people coming we cannot repeat what we did.
Even that, precise timing. Even that they will get the whole benefit of the suhbat. La yashqa jaleesahum. Angels will be encompassing them and Allah will ask, “what are they doing for Me?”. And the angels will explain, “they are doing this and doing that.”
Then Allah `azza wa jall says “they will be forgiven - La yashqa jaleesahum.
People will be coming late to payers but let them come, they will benefit.
Wa min Allah at-tawfiq bihurmatil Fatiha.