Suhbah at Private Residence (1)
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani ‘r-rajim. 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.
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)
Yesterday I was going to open a suhbat from the book Nur al-Muhammadiyya, and something happened which took us to a different way. When you speak on the Light of the Prophet (s), there may be many converts listening who might not understand, and the awliyaullah know who is watching, we don't know, and they change the direction of the suhbat. Many times Grandshaykh (q) spoke about something and then completely changed the direction of the suhbat that he was taking from his heart (inspired). He said, “I am like radio; I take what they put in my heart and speak.” There was no TV that time.
And similarly, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani is like that, may Allah grant him long life. By the way, if we had our own group and didn’t love Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, as they claim, then why would we say, “May Allah grant him long life.” They are trying to do abnormal things and assert that we don’t love Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q)! Allah (swt) knows best. The mureed’s love towards the Shaykh is different than the love a son has for his father who is a Shaykh. From a spiritual point of view, the mureed’s love for the Shaykh may sometimes be stronger than that of the family. Everyone that is part of the Shaykh’s family love him as a father, but that doesn’t mean they are the only ones who love him. The mureed’s love towards the Shaykh is out of love to the Prophet (s) and of following a guide, and is sometimes stronger than the love of the children.
I haven’t spoken about this important discussion yet, but we must understand that mureeds are giving their lives to the Shaykh, which they are not obliged to do. However, if children give their life to their father, that is their obligation. And according to Shari`ah, even if the father is wealthy, the children still must contribute to their parents from whatever they earn, as they have to show, “We give from whatever we earn.” Even if the father gives to them, they must come back and bring a gift for the father on every occasion; not necessarily money, but anything they can. This is not to show that everyone is a slave to them; rather, it is out of love and respect to the Shaykh.
Shuyookh always give signs. I don't like them to cut and paste what we are saying, so I am bringing examples to say that signs from the Shaykh to the mureeds are stronger than signs from the father to the children. At certain times, the mureed’s belief is stronger than that of family members, because the mureed is coming only to be guided and sacrifices his finances and his life to the Shaykh to keep that teaching and institution running, as when you relieve the Shaykh he, in turn, relieves you. And if you love, you must show support! It is said in Arabic, hubbun bi laa infaaq kidhbun wa nifaaq, “Love without contribution is lies and hypocrisy.”
So when you go visit your Shaykh, it is not your obligation to give something; therefore, if anyone complains that you are not giving, they are the ones making a mistake. However the Shaykh will accept any offering without question. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim tells me, “Sometimes people bring soap from their country as a gift to me, I take it and make them happy.” Although he has a room full of soap, he accepted their gift to make them happy because the mureeds showed a sign of love to the Shaykh.
The signs of awliyaullah are important and that is what I want to mention. For example, I had previously explained in the recent Salawaat Series that by reciting a certain darood on the Prophet (s), you will be able to see him in a dream within four-to-six weeks. Yesterday I received a call from a lady, who said, “I recited that salawaat as you instructed. From the first week to the fourth, I did not see Prophet (s) and then in the fifth week, I still did not see Prophet (s), but rather, I saw a very beautiful frame that was like a glowing pearl. It was unlike anything I had ever seen in my entire life! And inside it was written the Holy Name of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in a very beautiful calligraphy. I saw that it was on the floor, which made me upset, so I placed it high on the couch to hang it, wondering, ‘Why was it down? I will feel bad if I don't carry it and put it up.’”
After telling me this dream, she said, “I feel like I didn’t see Prophet (s).”
I said, “No! You saw one of the greatest signs from the Holy Prophet (s), that you will be someone who will raise the name of the Prophet (s) when you grow up, as Allah (swt) said to Prophet (s):
وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ
Wa rafa`naa laka dhikrak.
And We raised up your remembrance. (Surat al-Inshirah, 94:2)
You will be raising high the name of the Prophet (s) and guiding many Muslims to Islam through that love, and that is what is meant by you picking up the frame from where you did not like and raising it up. Prophet (s) is showing you a sign that, ‘I am accepting you. As Allah (swt) raised my name, you are also raising it high by learning from Surat al-Inshirah.’”
So Prophet (s) and awliyaullah give signs from time to time that sometimes we do not understand.
Today I wanted to speak about Noor al-Muhammadiyya, but this recent event in Indonesia occurred. Before I explain what happened there, I would first like to relate a story from 1975, two years after after Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q) passed away. Not too many people have knowledge of what we know from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), not even that Yemeni who was sitting there yesterday in London saying, “I have been with the Shaykh for thirty years.” No, he has known the Shaykh but he has not been with him for thirty years. We are family and we know things about Mawlana Shaykh (q) that others do not, and I challenge anyone to tell me this story that I am about to tell you. I have spoken about it a few times, but because of what recently happened in Indonesia we will mention it again today.
In 1975, 37 years ago, the war in Lebanon broke out. My father lived in a huge mansion that he bought from the former governor of Sultan `Abdul-Hameed, who was governing Sham and Lebanon. The hallway was perhaps as big as the hall of the Hilton Hotel where we spoke today, about 10,000 square feet in size. Then there were at least ten rooms all around and every room was twice the size of this house. It was a three-storey house, constructed with old, high-quality big stones.
The fighting was between the Christians and Palestinians, but not the Sunnis, as they did not get involved in the war. Our home was in the middle. I don't like to say this, but the Palestinians who were fighting at that time were those who fled from Jordan to Syria during Black September. The Syrian army denied them entry and directed them towards Lebanon. So then there were many Palestinian refugees in the country and some of them began to live on what they could steal from people.
So our house was in between the fight. My father called the Christian side to take care of the house, as there were no tensions between Christians and Muslims, they would always help each other in need. He had requested the Palestinians, but they refused. Before that in 1973, we brought Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q) to Lebanon for his eye operation, which was affected by cataracts. I still have that cataract with me. Dr.Tasneem, who is an eye specialist, says that usually cataracts disintegrate but this one is still there, as the bodies of awliyaullah do not disintegrate.
After that, Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) came to Beirut for another operation to treat his hernia, but soon after that his health began to deteriorate. When Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) came to visit Grandshaykh (q) at the hospital, and as soon as he saw Grandshaykh (q) in bed, he suddenly became ill and was diagnosed with the exact same illness as Grandshaykh (q)! My brother, who is a doctor, had to operate on Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) right away. After that, they both stayed in my room, which had a marble floor and was twice the size of this house. Grandshaykh and Mawlana Shaykh's beds faced each other and without going into further detail, Grandshaykh stayed there from Rajab upto Nisf Sha`baan, after which we took him back to Damascus. He then composed his will and passed away on the fourth day of Ramadan.
So without going into the complete will, we would like to mention one thing. Grandshaykh (q) said, “I have made many seclusions for my son, Nazim Effendi, and by the order of Prophet (s), I am appointing him as my khalifah.” A statement such as this has to be said by tongue, recorded in writing, and then signed by Grandshaykh (q), not by video that can be edited. We have to always go back to our Islamic traditions, which is clearly not video. When a king writes ijaazah, it is in a very nice handwriting and sealed with his signature. So Mawlana had to sign, just as all the Masters of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain signed. You need to see this chain of mashaykh. Even if we know them today, they had to write it as it is a principal obligation in tariqah, to compose a written ijaazah.
Grandshaykh (q) also wrote in his will, “I am appointing Shaykh Adnan and Shaykh Hisham. They will represent Shaykh Nazim in his absence. I am giving them khilafah and they are to be the deputies of Shaykh Nazim.” That is why Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) always says, “Mawlana (Shaykh `AbdAllah) gave me khilafah and appointed for me two deputies: Shaykh Hisham and Shaykh Adnan.”
Now there is a campaign to discontinue that. When Grandshaykh (q) was appointed khalifah of Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), he took the will and tore it up so as not to let anyone know that he is the khalifah. And up to today in the Turkish village of Rashidiyya where Grandshaykh (q) used to reside, people there do not know that he is the khalifah of Shaykh Sharafuddin (q); they thought it was someone else and thus the tariqah went a completely different way.
As we now go back to the story, both Grandshaykh and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) stayed in my room. And I am challenging his entire family that this is not in their knowledge, as they were very young back in 1973. We then fled from the war and stayed in Mawlana Shaykh’s humble house and Shaykh `Adnan and his family stayed in Grandshaykh’s (q) house, even though he had passed away. We received a call that the Palestinians stole all the possessions from the house, Persian and Iranian rugs, valuable antiques from Brazil and everything else, and then set the house on fire. So we had to go and assess the damage.
Hajjah Naziha and my mother did not wish for me to go as the situation was unsafe, with extreme gunfire and bombs due to the war, but I said, “I must go.” As I arrived, I saw that there was nothing left, not even the stairway that connected the second floor to the third floor. They had constantly fired rockets at the house for three days and it was in flames. The entire house had completely disappeared except for four columns holding up my room, in which Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and Grandshaykh (q) had slept. If you stood by the door to that room, you could easily see that the fire stopped just at the door, where there were some burn marks. That was the only room saved from the immense fire! I began to empty the house from the window, as we could not go in through the stairs.
Next time I will tell you about what Abu `Ammar and Abul-Hawl did with us and where they put the stolen items, but that is another story and I will not discuss that right now. So I began to empty the room. No one can burn awliyaullah. Allah (swt) doesn't like anyone to burn someone and Prophet (s) prohibited such an act. The only exception was when Prophet (s) left dunya, there was a group of people, ahl ar-ridda, changed their ways. Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) told them that he will declare war on them if they do not revert and so they did, but their leader cheated and went back another time and made fitna. He was apprehended and then burned by order of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r), and that was the first burning. Sayyidina `Umar (r) asked why and Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) replied, “If I don't crush that fitna, it will spread everywhere. Thus, I take that responsibility even though it is forbidden (to burn someone).” So that stopped the rebellion and brought peace.
Earth cannot eat the awliyaullah and even the artefacts of awliyaullah cannot be burned. As happened in my room and the whole of the house, and my brother's room, all except my room as their presence is there. We have the pictures and will put them on the Internet. Today in Indonesia, one of the mureeds’ house, a huge house was burning along with two houses next to it. That is sign to the people of Indonesia, and we have millions of people and 92 centers in Indonesia. Allah wants to show the people of Indonesia that “You are right,” and to show the power of awliyaullah. You cannot burn their names and their pictures, nor can you burn them by claiming something that hurts them, as the Yemeni in England claimed many things, only to blow things out of proportion, to show divisions among us. Allah (swt) made them to know that (in the Indonesia fire) in that huge house, all on the floor and what is left you can see on the Internet. Nothing is left but the library where pictures of Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q), Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), Grandshaykh Sharafuddin (q), Shaykh as-Sayyid Jamaluddinl al-Ghumuqi al-Husayni (q) and Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Madani (q) hung! That fire only burned the edges of those pictures and stopped! My signature is there also and did not burn.
Any poison is like fire, and whoever spread poison must know they cannot touch awliyaullah!
أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
Alaa inna awliyaaullaahi laa khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.
Behold! Verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surat al-Yunus, 10:62)
الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَكَانُواْ يَتَّقُونَ
Alladheena aamanoo wakaanoo yattaqoon.
Those who believe and (constantly) guard against evil. (Surat al-Yunus, 10:63)
O Yamani! We don't need your certificate, as these pictures will show the signs of awliyaullah!
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُدَافِعُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا
Inna-Llaaha yudaafi`u `anil alladheena aamanoo.
Verily Allah will defend (from ill) those who believe. (Surat al-Hajj, 22:38)
In our center in Michigan, we burn the wood crates of vegetables and one time they had a huge fire. I asked, “How are you going to burn this? It is going to be very big,” and they said, “We got a permit to burn it.” After the fire cooled, Hajjah Naziha was looking through the ashes and found a picture of her father, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and it was only singed along one edge, but not burned! Everything in that fire was burned to ashes except his photo, which we framed and keep in our home.
[Hajjah Naziha: It flew out from the fire!]
It was flying. So awliyaullah “laa khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.” Allah (swt) made us go to that suhbat today, not to what we planned; what they plan is what is important, as they can change everything. I hope those on the Internet can see these pictures as it is a big sign to know the importance of awliyaullah in their life. That taweez that has been written; bring it here. That was written by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim forty years ago. Ishaq, zoom in on it with the camera.
That is Mawlana's handwritten taweez from forty years ago, which I thought was among my papers in Lebanon, but I found it in my papers in America. That taweez is protection from fire and for children who cry at night and for rizq. So we duplicated and framed it so people can have it and put it at the back of their door when they go out. Inshaa-Allah that will protect the house and everything and the family from being a in big disaster. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim wrote it in 1969. Inshaa-Allah you can have that and if not that, get a photocopy. Some people put it for animals and crops, and for safety from snakes.
[Du`a]
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