Zhuhr Suhbah at Private Residence
Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad wa `alaa aalihi Sayyidina Muhammadin wa sahbihi wa sallim.
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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Did we ask ourselves why we are here, what is the benefit to be here? Is there something special that we are coming here? Yes, there is something special. Wherever awliyaullah go, that place becomes a maqaam. It means that wali has to come every 24 hours in the spiritual realm at least one time to visit and go. And the spiritual realm, to come by spirituality is quicker than anything we can imagine; they move in spirituality quicker than they move with their physical body.
And we said before that there are stars that you can see that are so far, two-billion years away, but their light is still coming. It might be the star is not there anymore, but the light is still coming. How fast does the light come? It comes at 300,000 kilometers per second until it reaches here, and that star might not be there, it might be gone, but that light is still coming, because it has to come through that distance, it passes by us and maybe continuing also, continues (further) to Allah knows where.
Did we ask ourselves about every day there are 250,000 births. I said before, and I have to correct myself, that I read in an article that there are 10 million births a day and some people checked that and said it is not correct, it is 250,000 every day. Did we think about after four months and ten days or quicker how the soul comes to the womb of the mother? That soul is coming from the Ocean of Souls, from Bahr al-Qudra, the Ocean of Power, from Siffat al-Khaaliq, the Attributes of The Creator! As soon as Allah orders, that soul reaches the womb of the mother. If there are 250,000 births a day, that means every second hundreds and hundreds of souls are coming to the wombs of their mothers. Do they make a mistake? Might be one soul goes to his mother and his soul goes to the other mother, but if that was the case then the other soul must go to the other mother, or do they make a mistake? No, there is no mistake; they come and they know which womb they have to go to.
And how do they go inside? I am bringing that example to show the speed and how fast the soul is coming; that soul is coming from beyond this universe and the star’s light is coming from within the universe. Anything beyond the universe has no measurement, while anything within the universe has measurement. So the light of the star has measurement,but the soul that goes to the womb of the mother has no measurement of how quick or how far it came because that soul is using spiritual speed that has no limits, it is immediate.
That is why the Prophet (s) went with the Buraaq, using that speed to go and come with the body and still his mattress was warm, but he did not go only with the soul, he went with the body. That is more miraculous; he went with the body and that shows how subtle he was, that he went and came back with a speed that only Allah knows. We cannot measure it for that is impossible, but what we know is that he not only went, but he was observing everything that he passed in the different levels of this universe and then in heavens. Do you think he went and saw nothing. When he reached each heavens, the angels of each Paradise were there to greet him in a procession. Allah sent angels in a procession to meet him in every Paradise. The whole Paradise was decorated in an instant and angels were in a procession, just as when a VIP comes to the airport, all the important people of that country go and make a procession to greet him or her.
Who made the procession for Prophet (s)? Who ordered it? Allah ordered the angels to make a procession. Look how much t`azheem, magnification and takreem, honor, Allah made for His Prophet (s)! We read the story but we don’t think about it as it doesn't give the real meaning, but awliyaullah give the real meaning and make you think and ask yourself, “Why am I running like a donkey?” You and me, all of us are running like donkeys for anything we like to get and hold onto. That means it is for hubb ad-dunya (love of this world).
I don't say, “Leave dunya.” I must correct what I said in the khutbah yesterday in front of many people. There are many representatives in this tariqah that say, “Leave dunya,” and they are holding dunya! They give lectures and put it on their websites and say, “Leave dunya.” Where to leave? Why don’t you leave it first, then we will follow you? Be the role-model, leave dunya and we are on your footsteps! They tell you, “Leave dunya and go for Akhirah,” and Allah said, “Yes of course, leave dunya,” but Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, “Do for your dunya as if you are living forever, and do for your Akhirah as if you are dying tomorrow.” That is, balance both dunya and Akhirah; don’t leave dunya and do only for Akhirah. If we have to ‘leave dunya,’ then Allah (swt) would not have said:
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
Rabbana atinaa fi ’d-dunya hasanatan wa fi ‘l-akhirati hasanatan wa qina `adhaba ‘ n-naar.
Our Lord, give us in this world (that which is) good and in the Hereafter (that which is) good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire. (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:201)
Allah said to make that du`a, and when we balance dunya and Akhirah, then we will be deserving what He said after, the last part of the ayah, wa qinaa `adhaab an-naar, “Protect us from the Hellfire.” That means who balances himself in dunya and Akhirah will be kept away from the Hellfire. And what is the meaning of Hellfire, `adhaab an-naar? There are too many understandings, there are difficulties of dunya and there are difficulties in Akhirah, it means you will get Hell’s punishment in dunya and Akhirah .
So the Prophet (s) was going in a procession with the buraaq, Sayyidina Jibril, Sayyidina Israfeel, Sayyidina Mika`eel, Sayyidina Azra`eel, Malak al-Mawt (a), all of them taking Prophet (s) and going with angels visiting Heavens and visiting Masjid al-Aqsa. And some riwayat say he visited Madinat al-Munawarrah, first, that he put his holy feet where he was going to settle in the future, then he continued to Masjid al-Aqsa. And that is because Madina was crying for Prophet (s), he was hearing that. He is not like us, every stone and every tree, every date-palm and the very soil of Madina were all crying for the Prophet (s) to put his holy feet there first and then go to Masjid al-Aqsa. This is in the universe still, but with what speed? Today, if you want to fly from Madina to Masjid al-Aqsa, or Mecca to Masjid al-Aqsa you need 1.5 hours but the Prophet (s) went there and then ascended to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, the Station of Two Bow’s-length or Nearer, in less than two hours and his mattress was still warm. He went and all the processions in Heavens were welcoming Sayyidina Muhammad (s), from one Heaven to another, up to Seven Heavens, then he proceeded by himself to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa and then he came back.
So we were saying, why do we come here? You come here and get barakah, and you will be dressed with it and when you go home you distribute that barakah in that area where your home is because in this house Mawlana Shaykh has put his feet and he slept here, and met people here and he established the seed here, in this house. That is why I like to come here, because Mawlana’s roohaaniyya is here, the spirituality of Mawlana appears here in this house, this is the first time I am saying this because this one, (a mureed) from Mali, opened that subject. For the sake of his country to be saved Allah made it to be saved by taking two of his brothers in an accident, which forced him to go there to divide the inheritance of his brothers to their children, and he carried the barakah of Mawlana on his shoulder, to stop the devastation that was going to happen to Mali!
Naqshbandi followers, the followers of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) have specialties and this one has a specialty. Mawlana asked him many times to lead the dhikr for Africans in Montreal and from that time he is doing dhikr for Africans and he is carrying the tajalli and he took it to Mali. Also [these two] are doing dhikr. And so if his brothers did not die, he would never go to Mali, but they wanted him to go because he is one of the people to save the country of Mali by the tajalli they were dressing on him. Awliyaullah do things we cannot understand, and they have specialties.
What do we come here for? We didn't come here for business. They say, “Leave dunya.” Is coming here not in dunya? They come from Canada. Why do they have to come, what is the issue? Not just for a shaykh? You can see with technology hundreds of shaykhs and what they are saying. But what is the benefit? Rather there is something we don't see; we don't see what kind of dress that Allah ordered His angels to dress those who attend such associations. You come poor and go back rich, and you spend the wealth you made in this association and become poor another time, then you go back and another time get rich and you get bankrupt, then you come back. So it is a place, a machine; you go, you come here, you make ‘money’ for Akhirah.
What is the ‘money’ for Akhirah? It is that “Allah saves me, you and everyone from punishment!” Allah rewards you. It means Allah saves you when you accumulate these rewards, and you become like a star shining in your community, even though you don’t say anything, you don’t speak but your appearance has that dress. That good energy will be reflected to them and you become a spotlight, even though you don’t see yourself. However, they don’t want you to see yourself for then you would become a peacock, but they dress you for people to feel happy around you, then you lose that energy because you are not building it back up until you come a second time and fill yourself up again! Such associations are like a car in which you put petrol, and when you put petrol the car will move and if you don't it will not move. Such associations will make you waiting for the next association to fill you up and get that satisfaction, that spirituality!
For that reason, in the time of Grandshaykh (q), may Allah bless his soul, and for some awliyaullah of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain, they were not saa’iheen or suwaah, they were not traveling from one country to another, but they sat in their places and people came to them and learned and sit around them but there are other awliyaullah that Allah gave different specialties, that they go to their followers as all of them cannot reach them, but they can reach the followers. And Grandshaykh (q), may Allah bless his soul, after his last seclusion which was one year, in 1967, should I say it? Then they will hear it from me and make it as if they know it and it becomes their quotation! Never mind, spread da`wah. In 1967 when he came back from Madinatu ‘l-Munawarrah, `ala saakinihaa afdaal as-salaat wa ’s-salaam, upon its holy inhabitant the most precious of prayers and greetings of peace, doing seclusion there for one year, on the last day he was ordered in a vision he was ordered not to look for people. That vision appeared and the Prophet (s) said, “Yaa waladee! You don’t need to go after anyone, that is not for you any more, that is for those lower in level than you. You stay where you are. Sa ursila laka mukhlisi ummatee, I am going to send to you the most sincere of my nation.”
What did he say? “I am sending to you the most sincere of my nation,” je vais enverez les plus sinceres de mois communite, je vous enverez les plus sinceres de mon communite, “I am going to send the most sincere of my community.” That is big, it is not simple! “Don’t go after them.” SubhaanAllah! As soon as Prophet (s) said that, Grandshaykh (q) came back from Madinatu ‘l-Munawarra. It was heavy on his heart, not eating for one year and his heart was failing. He came to his daughter's house in downtown Damascus, a very nice house as she was married to a very established family, Nazeer ash-Shama; his daughter Madiha was married to one of the biggest families in Damascus. And he was staying there and said, “The Prophet (s) said to me through a vision not to run after anyone and Allah will send to you the most sincere of this ummah.” He said this to us and and after a few days, he went to his house. From that moment everyday his house was full, people were coming and going and he was sitting and giving suhbah, even if a young boy would come and sit with him, he opened a suhbat for him, he did not say, “This one is you, this one is an adult.” Why? Think a little bit. He was giving a lecture for a young one or an adult. If a group of ladies came, he didn't accept a lady by herself unless her husband was there as he was so strong on Shari`ah, but he always opens a suhbat.
I asked many times although you have no right to question, sometimes Shaytan comes and whispers, “Ask, ask why.” I didn’t ask but he said it himself, “Because I need a cause to open a suhbat, and every child or even a baby in front of Allah is considered a soul, a normal human being. That is why when a child is born, as soon as he comes, if he cried and then died, you cannot bury him without praying Salaat al-Janaza on him, as his soul is what is considered a human being.”
So human beings for him, young or adult didn’t matter he would open a suhbat! He did not open suhbat without a cause, because if you open without a cause it is as if you are making yourself better than them, but as soon as someone is sitting there, he would open a suhbat. And he said, “I need a cause to open a suhbah because Allah gave me, of course with the barakah of Prophet (s) and awliyaullah, I have that specialty that as soon as I open for suhbat, all jinn around the world and all awliyaullah all 124,000 wali around the world have to open their headsets, means they have to open their ears to hear what I am saying and get advice from it. Jinn around the world have to listen, and awliyaullah around the world have to stop everything they are doing and listen.”
What is your name (asks a child)? What is that boy going to know of suhbat, but he would open not just for one hour or thirty minutes, but for three hours! And he only spoke a little bit of Arabic. And if Grandshaykh (q) would begin to speak the translator has to be sitting there to translate to the young one and it was something from above Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, not above, but it means something that is very deep from secrets that have been thrown on the heart of awliyaullah of the Golden Chain, from what is coming from the heart of Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and Sayyidina `Ali and they merge at Imam Ja`far as-Sadiq (r). He said, “For that reason I open,” he wants to dress that secret coming from his heart. That is like Niagara Falls, so can you stop it from flowing? I don’t think they can. Grandshaykh’s heart was not Niagara Falls, but it was Heavenly Falls as he wanted to give this material out, he wanted people to hear it, and to empty his heart in order to get more. Just like the cup: if you fill it with water and don't drink it or give it to anyone to drink, it remains full and you cannot pour more. You need to keep pouring more, so then you need to empty. So he emptied his heart and more would come.
Awliyaullah when they empty, they like to speak to someone. When he was in seclusion for five years, he was young, only eighteen years of age when he entered seclusion for five years. He was given seven olives a day and a small piece of bread. Can you do that? He said, “I entered so big and came out so slim.” He said, “When I came out, I had a tendency to speak day and night and empty my heart of this knowledge.” So his shaykh Shaykh Sharafuddin was able to detect that reality in his heart and sent him a message, “If you don't find anyone to speak to, speak to your turban.” After khalwah there is sulook! Someone who dives very deep in the ocean, what do they do with him? They have to take him into quarantine because he went far down and his chest has been contracting, and they have to put him in quarantine. So after a heavy seclusion they take you into a quarantine called `Ilm as-sulook, they put him there so he can give some kind of talk and eat and speak, slowly, slowly like a person who has been in bed and then recovering slowly, slowly from the heavy material that comes into the heart and cannot be tolerated. So he was giving lectures for five hours or ten hours to his turban. Before he finished after five years of seclusion, he went to sulook for forty days, and at the end he has to go see his shaykh, he was so eager and then his shaykh sent him a message, “Don’t come to me, go and sit with that person for two months in his association and learn from him.” No questions and not a single doubt he said, “I took my way towards that person!” and that one he was ordered to sit with was a majnoon, crazy.
For two months he went in the company of that crazy person, to say who gave you this material, who gave you this spiritual uplifting materials, that no one can know, and can make you like this crazy one. Look awliyaullah how they work... they didn’t pet him like we pet (this mureed here) to be happy. No they are hard, and now look, is Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) hard with anyone? No, he is so soft, but there are representatives who are so hard, I am surprised; you see them on YouTube, just like someone in an army, how he has to walk... (lined up in ranks) tall, less tall, less tall. They have to be very disciplined. People don't come like that anymore, that was before. You must now be soft as the tajalli is changing. Grandshaykh (q), may Allah bless his soul, carried and he never differentiated between young and adult, for him everyone was equal.
الناس سواسيه كااسنان المشط
n-naasu sawaasiyatan ka-asnaani' l-masht.
People are equal like the teeth of a comb.
People are equal so there is no one lower or higher, he is giving everyone what they like. We cannot do that, no one can do that. Where is tariqah now? Where is tariqah that we knew before? Today Mawlana Shaykh Nazim is bringing not down but to accommodate people as they are different than before. Before, they were strong and were able to carry. You can see this in the same family; you see some are brothers are soft and some are more serious, they don’t like to joke, that is why in front of chief I don’t joke! So you have to be very careful. We have to be very careful in what we are doing. That is why Abu ‘l-`Abbas al-Mursi (q), one of the most famous awliyaullah in Morocco, said, “A wali has two different characteristics: sometimes he gets daaq, constraint, he is contracted, and sometimes his chest is so expanded. Wayhaq, be warned, O stupid one! Don’t come when the shaykh is contracted, don’t appear in front of him, run away when he is contracted, just say: “Salaam `alaykum.” Anyone who says one word at that time that makes him more contracted, halak ar-rajul, that person will destroy himself! Don’t be around the shaykh when he is contracted.
What other than his chest is going to be contracted? What is under that? His heart, his soul, when he is contracted you don’t know what else is contracted, you don’t know what kind of trance he is in; he might be in a state of love to Allah and love to the Prophet (s) and he doesn't want anyone to distract him at that time. If someone comes with bad news that contracts him, so don’t approach him, then it is like approaching fire, so run away or that will burn you!
And sometimes if his chest is expanded, as Abu ‘l-`Abbas al-Mursi is saying, he can take the whole world in his heart; at that time approach him. And I am saying that at this time because Mawlana is contracted because of certain people there. He carries and doesn't say it, but his heart is contracted. And many times, Allah is my witness, when one of them is passing by, he says, “That one is Shaytan,” and at that time he is contracted. So in that case, be away, approach him when his chest is expanded.
I used to see Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, sometimes he was contracted from too much heaviness coming on him by dunya people, not dunya people who come to pray and fast, this is not dunya but Akhirah, but those who are greedy for dunya. So he would get contracted and after he gave a suhbat after Friday dhikr, which was before Maghrib by one hour or two hours...and you could feel from that suhbah that too much heaviness was coming and he was carrying on his shoulders and he would become contracted. At that time, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), may Allah give him long life, would go there and we entered behind him and he would make jokes, all kinds of jokes. He used to have a book of jokes this thick and memorized one or two jokes everyday and then he came to the shaykh and said the joke, and “Ha ha ha,” all Grandshaykh’s contraction would disappear. At that time it was easy for people to come in and see him - else there was no way! No one was able to make him laugh except Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and now Mawlana needs someone to give him such an environment. But unfortunately there is no such environment, yes there are (some who do that), but there are too many problems.
May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us and give us the best of Grandshaykh’s and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s barakah, may Allah give him long life and cure us all.
(Du`a.)
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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