Go to media page

Grand Opening of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Center

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

27 February 2011 London, UK

Allahuma salli ‘alaa Sayyidina Muhammad hatta yarda Sayyidina Muhammad. Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluh.

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`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.

Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.

First of all, we would like to say that may Allah give long life to Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim `Adil al-Haqqani (q). Whenever we speak about his level and his achievements in dunya and akhira and his spiritual achievements, it is like a drop in an ocean. We cannot say anything except may Allah (swt) give him long life and give us long life to be with him in the time of Sayyidina Mahdi (a).

Allah (swt) does not let anything (good) you do go without a reward. Of common people and awliyaullah, if we put together whatever we do as human beings, and if Allah (swt) wants to judge it according to His Greatness, no one will be safe. However, I didn’t mention prophets, I only mentioned awliyaullah and common people. The evidence of this is in Holy Qur’an and in hadith.

The speaker must always first speak to himself. He has to know that he is in need more than everyone else. After being with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) more than half a century, you listen and you hear. That is correct, you can see and you can hear, but don’t at anytime say, “I know something.” You can hear, but hearing is different from knowing and doing. You can hear every time Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) says, “Be this, be this.” You are hearing, but are you doing? Prophet (s) revealed messages all his life from Allah (swt), but did the ummah follow them or not? Some of them did: his Companions (r), imaams, a’immat al-arba`ah (the four imams), other Twelve Imams of Ahlu ’l-Bayt, and awliyaullah. Who is left? We are, and we are struggling.

From the beginning there has been a struggle between good and evil. If you go back in history to Sayyidina Adam (a), you see that this life is a struggle between good and evil: evil wants to destroy good and good wants to put evil down. And whatever we do is either evil or good, or something in between. If Allah (swt) wants, He can throw it away in your face.

It is said in the Holy Qur’an:

وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَى مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاء مَّنثُورًا

Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. wa qadimna ila maa `amiloo min `amalin faja`alnahyou habaa’am manthoora.

And We shall turn to whatever deeds they did (in this life), and We shall make such deeds as floating dust scattered about. (al-Furqan, 25:23)

So don’t say to yourself, “I am here!” If you say to yourself, to your ego, “I am here, I am so and so,” yes, you are in one place, and that is the restroom, that’s all! Don’t say, “I am here.” No one can claim they are something. Why? It is mentioned in a hadith:

allahuma laa takilnee ila nafsee tarfata `aynin wa laa aqalla min dhalika.

O Allah! Do not leave me to my self for a blink of an eye.

If Prophet (s) is saying that, then what are we compared to him? Nothing! It would be an honor for us to be dust under his holy shoes, not even under his feet! So how can we claim we are something? Our way is to keep struggling.

Prophet (s) said:

laa rahaata fid-deen.

There is no rest in religion.

You will always struggle against Shaytan and your ego; there is no other way. There has been a struggle since the time of the first human beings. Sayyidina Adam’s (a) son Cain killed his brother Abel. Sayyidina Nuh (a) was plotted against and cheated by his people. Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) was thrown in the fire by Nimrod. Sayyidina Musa (a) was tortured and thrown out of Egypt by Pharaoh. Sayyidina `Isa (a) was abused and tortured, then Allah raised him. Sayyidina Muhammad (s)... (Mawlana stands) Alfoo, alfoo salaatu was-salaam `alayka yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, yaa Habeebullah! (Mawlana sits)

Prophet (s) said, “From all the prophets, I am the most abused and tortured.” He was tortured more than any other prophet. Who tortured him and came against him? Who were the Quraysh? His family, not someone far or unrelated. It was his own relatives, his direct family: Abu Jahal, Abu Lahab, and other uncles and cousins all came against him. But he was patient, waiting for wahiyy (revelation) to come. Whenever wahiyy ucame to Prophet (s), he sat with Sahaabah (r) in Daru’l-Arqam, a very small room that might not accommodate more than ten people. The Holy Qur’an at that time was revealed among just a handful of people, very few. But he continued, and Allah gave him a message that He didn’t give anyone. If we say, “Allahu Akbar” one-hundred times to be able to give the right to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), we cannot.

SubhaanAllah, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) threw a little bit of the taste of the Holy Qur’an in the hearts in order for us to speak. It is easy to speak, everyone can speak or sing. It is one thing to speak, but to throw new meanings in a speech that have not been previously thought is quite another. This person here just now said, “Allahu Akbar.”(Attendees recite, “takbeer, Allahu Akbar.”) But did our takbeer reach the Heavens? It has to be raised by awliyaullah. Is our mouth clean? If it is clean, then yes, our takbeer will go; angels will raise it.

One time during Ramadan in Meccatu 'l-Mukarrama, Sayyidina Jibreel (a) was not able to bring wahee to Prophet (s). He said, “Yaa Rasoolullah, some of your Sahaabah (r) ate onions and garlic at iftar. I cannot come because of the smell of that.”

Grandshaykh (q) said onions and garlic are important for the human body as they cure seventy diseases that no doctor can cure. Do you think that we have clean mouths? We imitate, and what else can we do? It is a struggle between good and evil; we are struggling. Every action you do is a struggle. If you step on our ego one time, then the next time it will come stronger against you. If you have power and you step on the ego, the ego will bring all its power to come against you. You step the third, fourth, and fifth time, Allah is al-Kareem, “The Most Generous,” and He will, at the end, make that ego come down and bring the good up. But if one day you step on your ego and then the next day go back to what you were doing, then it’s a struggle. We don’t say that it is not rewarded; it is rewarded, but it is a struggle.

So if someone says, “nara’ay takbeer,” we say, “Allahu Akbar!” If someone says, “nara’ay Risaalat,” we say, “yaa Rasoolullah!”

Look at all these nice lights and flags. The one who hung all these decorations here is showing love to Prophet (s). So of course they will be rewarded, and everyone attending will be rewarded as well, because they are coming for the love of Allah and Prophet (s). But this is still a drop in an ocean because it is still a struggle. Perhaps while this person was putting up these lights, a gossip against someone else might have entered their mind. Angels can pick that and then what will happen? Will you be rewarded? You were thinking bad about your brother or your sister, so this is a struggle.

That’s why Salaat `ala an-Nabi, durood on Prophet (s) and dhikrullah, is always very important: it keeps us on the safe side by suppressing our ego and putting it down. So in reality, there is just One Who can praise Sayyidina Muhammad (s). All awliya cannot give the right of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). There are awliya of the first level and there are awliya of the highest rank; they will make salawaat according to their level, not more, and they know they have a shortage of praises. There must be a difference between whatever we or awliyaullah will do, and Prophet (s), or else they will be at the level of Prophet (s). Does Prophet (s) praise himself? No! No one can praise themselves.

Allah (swt) said:

قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ

Qul innama ana basharun mithlukum yooha 'ilayya.

Say (O Prophet), "I am but a mortal man like all of you." (18:110)

Prophet (s) is humbling himself. Today, people in the Middle East are asking for their governments to step down, saying, “We don't want you anymore! We divorce you!” The leaders are praising themselves, thinking they are fit for their positions, when in reality no one is fit for anything.

Prophet (s) knows, in relation to the Greatness of his Lord, he cannot make any praises to himself, the ummah has to praise him! He said, “I am only a normal human being.” Who is that One that raised Prophet (s) and gave him the highest level? It is Allah (swt)! In Suratu’l-Fatihah, when we say, “Alhamdulillahi rabbi ‘l-`alameen,” we are saying “thank you” to Allah, to the Lord of jinn, ins (human beings), and other creations. When we say, “subhaanAllah,” we are indicating that Glory is to Allah (swt), we cannot say just “subhaan.”

And what do you think when Allah says to Himself by Himself, “Subhaanah.” This means that there is no glory higher than what He praises Himself with. When Allah (swt) says, “Subhanee ma`azhama shaanee, “Glory and Praises to Me, how Glorious I am,” can anyone define that? Allah (swt) said, Subhaanal-ladhee, “Glory be to Me.” Mo`azhzhim shaanahu li-nafsihi, He is Glorifying Himself, by Himself, to Himself! But the important point here is, what is the cause of His Glorifying? He is Glorifying Himself, by Himself, to Himself, to say:

subhaanalladhi asra bi `abdihi aylan mina ’l-masjidi ’l-harami ila ’l-masjidi ’l-aqsa.

Glory to (Allah), Who took His servant for a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque. (al-Isra, 17:1)

Allah (swt) is saying, “I am The One Who is praising Myself, glorifying Myself by Myself, as I brought Muhammad (s) to this night! (Mawlana stands and sits) I am that One!”

It is not easy or logical that someone can go to qaaba qawsayni aw adnaa and come back while his mattress is still warm. Our Prophet (s) is being praised by our Lord, so when we recite durood, Allah dresses us from tajalli (manifestation) of that ayah. That is being granted to ummat an-Nabee (s). That is why Allah said in Holy Qur’an:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

inna-Llaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabi, yaa ayyuhal-ladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was sallimoo tasleemaa.

Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him. (al-Ahzaab, 33:56)

So Allah is saying, “I will dress you from Unknown Glory, I will praise you from My Unknown Presence, and I will manifest on you what I did not manifest on anyone when you praise the one whom I raised and love!” That is where the mind stops; you cannot understand it. That is only one spiritual tasfeer, interpretation; there are infinite interpretations on that ayah and these are fresh ones, not written in a book, or then it is qaala wa qeel, “said and was said,” no footnotes.

Awliyaullah have their own footnotes; they know. That is why their presence is very important, even if they don’t talk to you. When you sit with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), even for five minutes, he will reflect these secrets on you and upload them to your heart. When a computers uploads something, it receives and stores it but doesn’t it show you. So when you go to awliyaullah, it is enough to just see them and leave. That is good, so don’t complain. I cannot say more or else they will say, “Why are you saying that?” We must not complain. But we are still struggling as we have nafs, ego.Your heart uploads what they give you, and when you download everything is there. Don’t think that sitting with awliya is nonsense, no! They upload to you, but you are not feeling it because you are under a heavy dose, not of marijuana (laughter), but of anesthesia; they operate on you because they love you.

Now these days, in order to avoid giving you too much anesthesia, they block the valve connected to your memory so that you don’t remember anything. Similarly, we are blocked. They upload to your heart and give it to you when you are ready. For example, this interpretation is due to love you are showing, and Mawlana opened a small understanding of the reality of praising Prophet (s). What is the meaning of that ayah? The meaning is that Allah is Glorifying Himself, by Himself, to Himself, saying, “I am the One Who is praising Prophet!”

Who can do better than that? When you make salawaat on Prophet (s), Allah (swt) is saying, “I will dress you with that manifestation and its reward as if I am saying it.” That is why in the Naqshbandi Tariqah, it is said for beginners to make 300 to 500 salawaat daily, for musta`id (prepared) 1,000 salawaats daily, for mureeds 2,000 salawaats daily, and for higher than mureed to make 24,000 salawaat daily on Prophet (s).

So what do we lack? We lack such important teachings that we need a key. We are asking our shuyookh because we know they have the key, like in the story of Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi (q). He wanted the key directly from Allah, but Allah said to him, “Go to that man, the key is there.” We are asking for the key; where is it? Does anyone have the key? If so, let us make a copy! But everyone has a different key, no two keys are the same. So when you go to someone’s room don’t try your key, it will not work; your key will work only for you, not for another. That is why people cannot have the same understanding, because Allah gave everyone their own separate key that opens their mind and heart.

I went to Morocco by invitation for an inter-religious conference, and everyday I was with fifteen scholars from morning to evening around a big table. The discussion was about how we can introduce tasawwuf, because we are an expert in that, and also how people can rehabilitate themselves through tasawwuf. The conference host was someone very famous. Four years ago, when I was in Morocco, he was following me to the maqaam of Imam Jazuli (q), who wrote Dalayl al-Khayrat. While making du`a, I heard someone behind me crying Without paying attention, I proceeded to the next maqaam. These maqaams are right next to each other. You can go to them by car one-by-one in ten minutes, and there are seven in total.

I heard this person crying at every maqaam I visited. The last maqaam was of Qadi Iyad (q), the author of Ash-Shifa`a, a very famous book about the love of Prophet (s) and his family. Until today, every Islamic school of thought takes from it, especially Ahlu ’l-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah. So I turned around and this person said, “I would like to invite you to my home for lunch.”

I said, “I cannot come because I have an invitation from the king’s brother to attend a conference.”

He insisted saying, “No, you have to come with me to my house.”

I thought, “SubhanAllah, perhaps Allah wants me to go to his house. Everyone is going to the king’s palace and this person who is crying behind me is asking me to go to his house.” I was interested to know who this person was. He was wearing Western clothes, speaking French and English.

Those who went with me to his house said, “We know him very well.”

I said, “Alright.”

So although it was very nice of the king to invite us, we decided not to go to the conference and went to that person’s house instead. We followed him with our car through many small alleys and poor neighborhoods. Finally, we stopped at the middle of the road and walked through a door that was big enough for a motorcycle or bicycle; a car could not pass through it. The door opened to a huge palace. Anything you can imagine that you might see in a museum was in that palace: priceless paintings, jewelry, works of art; hence, everything imaginable.

I asked, “Who is this person?”

They said, “This is one of the most famous fashion designers.” I was surprised. We sat and ate with him.

This year, the conference was held at his palace. They invited me and I accepted the invitation. We attended the conference and also had a few private discussions about spirituality and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), so the host was very happy. Suddenly he said, “I want to introduce you to a lady.” She came with her husband, who is a doctor. This designer introduced her but did not mention her name. She wore very fancy, elegant attire. Then we all sat a the table, the designer was next to her and she was next to her husband. We sat and spoke for a while. Then I said to the designer, “The conference is now over, we need to visit the maqaams.” So we requested permission from the Minister, Ahmad Tawfeeq of Morocco, to go visit the seven saints. On our way out we called the lady and said, “We would like to accompany you to your car.” On the way she told us that she is the daughter of a famous artist and a designer for an upscale design firm.. They have big foundations in London, Switzerland, and all around the world. Then I thought, “Let us approach them and speak to them.”

They were ready to work with us. We were very happy, but you cannot go to such people with nothing; you have to show them that you are up to the standard they understand. So then I changed my mind.

I am going to be here to work with the people and we are going to change the first floor to be presentable to other non-Muslim foundations, because they are spiritual. They like us, because we are on spirituality. I gave them my book The Science of Self-Realization and they were very happy. And so we will renovate this new center in a way that is up to their standards. We will turn this place into a nice and beautifully decorated masjid, not like the plain Wahhabi masjids … with beautiful ceramic tiles and nice decorations. Inshaa-Allah, a mureed promised we will make it like that.

So inshaa-Allah we are in this process and this is our intention, to open this place beside, not separate from, any other places that represent Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). We know (the mosque at) Shacklewell Lane is gone and we cannot touch that. Inshaa-Allah there will be dhikr in the priory on Thursdays, and this will be like an institution where we will do dhikr on Saturdays in order not to overlap with other events. If I am here, I will attend dhikr there on Thursday, and on Saturday I will be attending dhikr here. Those who are not able to attend dhikr on Thursday can come here on Saturday, but both of these are Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s (q) places. Inshaa-Allah this is going to work.

We are now in the process of renovating. Allah will send generous people. I am not going to collect one, two, or three pounds, no. If you are going to give this much, then give it somewhere else to other needy people. Anyone else who would like to donate £500 and above, contact me. I am assigning people in every city to carry that responsibility. People can donate and we will issue a tax-deductible receipt. This will be like a seed for you in this institution. It is going to be an institution, a teaching place. So as I said before, we are going to get some scholars and spiritual people and do programs with other non-Muslim organizations and hope that we can invite dignitaries to attend, because there are a lot of dignitaries in the House of Parliament who are interested in spirituality. but no one is introducing it to them, I don’t know why. Perhaps they have the ability, but most of our jama`ah is not trying to open that door for themselves and are not able to introduce that kind of literature to these dignitaries. They are only doing their awraad, alhamdulillah, but other than that, there is nothing.

So inshaa-Allah I hope this plan works. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, “I would like the institution to have one main topic or project, but I didn’t have it yet. I like to put it in Cyprus, not in Lefke, but in Nicosia, a school to teach only one subject, that The One Who praised Himself, by Himself, to Himself is The One Who is raising Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! I would like to have a school that would teach the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). That is my wish in life.”

I said, “Inshaa-Allah, Allah will make it possible.” And Allah opened that place in a way that can be possible for that.

May Allah forgive us.

Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

UA-984942-2