Isha Suhbah at Simply Islam Event
As-salaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah ta'ala wa barakatuh.
A`oodhu billah min ash-Shaytaan 'r-rajeem. Bismillah 'r-Rahmaan 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillah ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Awliyaaullah say that if you recite that before any `amal (act), it will be as if you are in seclusion. And you may add nawaytu 's-siyaam, because your intention is for Allah (swt) and Rasoolullah (s), to be in their presence.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ool 'l-amr minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
Mawlana said many times not to raise up your ego or to praise yourself, and this is a lesson not only to me but to everyone. When Grandshaykh passed from dunya, as was said in lecture this morning, and those listening go back to that lecture, you can see it. This is an explanation of many things that are being hidden from our eyes. And that's why we can't claim too many things, because we can't understand many things that are going on in the real life. When they came to Prophet (s), the uncle of the Prophet (s) asked to speak to his nephew, to encourage him to stop spreading his message, saying, "We will give him whatever he wants."
What did the Prophet (s) answer? "If they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand, I will not stop!"
He will not stop delivering the message of Allah (swt). And Grandshaykh may Allah bless his soul, suffered a lot. Mawlana Shaykh, may Allah give him long life, suffered a lot, and many others following in those footsteps suffered a lot. But many people of his rank can take it, some people cannot. So for that reason we have to continue the message that Mawlana Shaykh (q) has entrusted us with. And we know we are weak and sinful servants, but we try as much as we can.
In 1990, I left for America by Mawlana's order. While I was reluctant to go, he said, "Go." So I went, on the 21st August, 1990. In December 1990, I went back to Mawlana in Cyprus and said, "If you ask me, I will say I don't want to go back, it is very difficult there."
Mawlana said, "No, you go back. Allah (swt) and Prophet (s) want you there for a purpose."
It is is a huge continent, from the east coast to the west coast, five to six hours flying. So I went back, because it was by Mawlana's order. Then I had a debate with an Egyptian, Shaykh Muhammad Adly from New York City. He came to debate with me because we were very active on the Internet at that time. I am saying this only for people to know, not for any credit to me; it is for Mawlana Shaykh (q). We were very active for Sufism, and very active from 1991 to expose Islamists who were on the extreme side, denouncing the Mawlid of Prophet (s). The first week we arrived, we went to the masjid for Jumu`ah and saw a young man standing on the minbar, attacking the celebration of the birthday of Rasoolullah (s)! And he was blind. We know they don't accept the birthday of Prophet (s), but I was raised in a conservative Muslim family in Lebanon, and my cousin is the grand mufti of Lebanon, so I never expected that in a masjid that people will attack the Mawlid. I knew it was debated in books, but I never expected it to be debated there with people from all walks of life! Anyway, we prayed and left.
The next week we went to the masjid in Jersey City. We decided at that time to debate. So in 1991, when no one has the Internet, who had the Internet? We spoke about Rasoolullah (s) and the importance of tasawwuf in Islam and someone came to shut me down. He posed to me six questions, and some of you remember that and I will not go into that; it is on the Internet. One question was, "Is Prophet a Sufi, and if he is, is Sufism mentioned in the Holy Qur'an and hadith?" I was in a rush, I was going to Malaysia, and I sent a message through Mateen Siddiqui (Taher), and there were many of them against me, supporting that Shaykh Muhammad (Adly). I said, "I will discuss this when I come back." Then hundreds and thousands of emails came saying, "You are running away. We consider that you lost (this debate)." I said to Taher, we will sit and work on it. We began with the basics of hadith. In ten pages we explained to them which hadith can be considered, what kind we have, and the different kinds in Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, there are eight (major) collections of hadith. We counted for them 32 different kinds, from strong (sahih) all the way down (to weak) that are accepted by Muslim scholars. In ten pages we said, "This is the introduction, and we will do more when we come back."
When we came back, we debated from their sources, because they won't accept ours. (So we debated) from Ibn Taymiyah and Ibn Qayyam, two main teachers, and discussed annihilation of awliya to each other, and gave examples from his 37 volumes: volumes 10 and 11. And they were Muslim. At that time, did any Muslim defend our position? No! We got death threats, not one but thousands! We've been made outcasts, ostracized, and what was our sin? We spoke about the love of Prophet (s) and the love of his birthday!! [Right click here for The Great Internet debate.]
After we paved the road, in 1991 we invited Mawlana Shaykh to America. No one was able to bring him (before that), he wouldn't step into America. We asked him and he came. We continued our work, we sent 500,000 fliers in one day. And what did they say? On `Eid day we sent mureeds to masaajid in all cities, everyone with a box of fliers we compiled about the permissibility of Mawlid, all on the same day, in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and from east coast to west coast across America in major cities. We distributed these fliers and it shook the whole Muslim community. That is not easy to do, but we did it (it was revolutionary).
In 1993, we invited Mawlana Shaykh to come again, to open our center in Michigan. May Allah give Mawlana long life! In the 1980's he was in Sri Lanka, in London with Sri Lankan students, and he said to us that he was standing in the mid-west of America, seeing the qiblah of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah, a center there. In 1993 he opened that center in the mid-west. He came and stayed one month.
In 1996, we did the "1st International Islamic Unity Conference" (in Los Angeles) with 157 speakers from all around the world. No one else can claim that, and it was from Mawlana's barakah. In North America, all the teachings were in one direction (and we changed it).
In 1998, we brought the "2nd International Islamic Unity Conference" in Washington DC, with 10,000 attendees at least and 180 speakers, mostly grand muftis. And Mawlana spoke from the highest podium. People say Mawlana doesn't care, but he spoke from the highest political podium, to US Congress. We arranged that.
We also published (and distributed) so many books (and launched major websites and organizations).
In 1996, when we did the first Unity Conference, because it was in Los Angeles, we invited the Muslims in California to participate. They said no, "Because you are a Sufi sect." They didn't announce the event in their mosques, and still we got 10,000 people who, with their help, two years later in 1998, we brought the 2nd International Islamic Unity Conference, (which was even bigger). It was broadcast live by CNN, BBC, C-SPAN, and Voice of America, around the world (and covered by every major newspaper in the US).
In 1998, we published "The Muslim Magazine" (which reached all members on Capital Hill, think tanks, policymakers, and was distributed by the mainstream bookstore Barnes & Noble). All of this to put Mawlana's name everywhere. What had we gained? Nothing. No, there were death threats. They said they wanted to make me "sashimi;" I didn't know what that is; it is a Japanese word for food that is sliced and diced into ground meat! They wanted to do that to me, including some Naqshbandis!
In 2000, we brought Mawlana to highest the podium in the UN to make a (ground-breaking) speech (to global leaders).
In 2001, we took Mawlana in the highest-level travels, where he met presidents across Central Asia, to visit holy maqams, with presidential visits announced on radio and TV stations everywhere. Then we took him to Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. This paved the way for Mawlana Shaykh's name in South Africa. He went that year and before that, everywhere there was nothing, and now thousands come to visit!
What were (our attackers) doing when we struggled to bring Mawlana around the world? They were sleeping, only posing with their sticks, taking pictures and posting them on a website. Where are their actions?
In 2010, let them say what they did in Africa, Ghana, all across Kenya. (We went there this year) and ten of thousands of people came for Mawlana. We went to the famous island "Lamu," where they have an historic Mawlid every year. I was invited to come, and they were very happy because they had no one. We did four lectures in two days about Prophet's (s) intercession and observing his birthday. So many Tijanis and Qadiris wanted to take baya` for Naqshbandiyya, and because they are already Tijani and Qadiri, I called Mawlana's house very late one night.
One of the kids answered and Mawlana said, "Give me the phone! I am waiting for Shaykh Hisham to call!!"
I said, "Mawlana, these shaykhs they want baya` for the Naqshbandi Order, so do I have permission?"
Mawlana said, "Yes, give them, because we are carrying Tijani and Qadiri Tariqahs, we are carrying all the 41 tariqahs!"
Mashaa-Allah it went very well.
In Europe, they did the same thing; through Mawlana's barakah they did through me. And I was reading this, came across it just now and I will give a very short summary, because it is long. It would be very nice for all mureeds of Mawlana Shaykh to know how much our shuyukh of the Golden Chain suffered: Shaykh Abu Ahmad as-Sughuri ,(q) Shaykh Abu Muħammad al-Madani ,(q) Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani,(q) and Grandshaykh `AbdAllah ad-Daghestani .(q) I was reading it here, and to summarize, when Shaykh Sharafuddin ordered Grandshaykh into seclusion for five years, he told his mother and prepared the place to stay. He went to his shaykh and said, "Yaa Sayyidee, I am ready." During that seclusion he wrote in his notes, "When was in the village, I used to raise silkworms, and I didn't have anything left, except I collected 35 golden coins to keep for whatever is needed for my wife, children, and my mother. So the order came to leave everything and go for seclusion for five years." Not one month or 40 days. How many (cycles of) 40 days are in five years? Fifty months, with no one to talk to, eating only seven olives and little piece of bread. Grandshaykh continues, "If a human being goes one step in Allah's Way, one-hundred will come against you!"
A heavy burden in that reality comes and you are not prepared for it, as it comes so suddenly, very heavy. When I went for seclusion, Mawlana Shaykh didn't tell me for three days, didn't prepare anything. It was so heavy for 40 days, because Shaytan comes to make you run away. I was in the room alone, and from four corners I was rattle snakes coming! I am not like Mawlana; he was in seclusion for five years, and that was just an introduction. We mentioned Mawlana Shaykh's name all over the world. ... Today people say they are mureed, mureed, mureed, but we are not, we are lovers. Maqaam al-Mureed is a very a high level in sainthood; if you achieve Maqaam al-Mureed you can see what people cannot see, hear what people cannot hear, as Prpphet (s) mentioned in a holy hadith.
So as a mureed of Shaykh Sharafuddin, Grandshaykh said, he put his feet where no one put their feet. This is how he was. He said, "Being famous in my country when I was young, they used to come and ask me if this one can be married to this girl, and if I said yes, they had a very happy marriage, and if I said no, they did not. People said, 'Go to Muhammad Ali; he is majdhoob, attracted to Allah's love, so he might say things that don't make sense to anyone, but you sit with him.'" Shaykh Sharafuddin said, "Don't look to me, look at him."
And then, there was a rumor in the village saying that Haji Abdullah (q) left his teacher and uncle. After seclusion, he is seeing himself. He is thinking of himself as so high and went on the wrong way. They said, "You are going into a crooked way. Why are you following that person?"
He said to them, "I don't need your teacher," because he is looking at his teacher's order. He said, "But your teacher and my teacher has put me in that situation to speak to Muhammad Ali, and he speaks to me." You must raise your teacher's level, you can't say, "He told me to do that." Meaning that he was hiding it. He said, "If you want my teacher, go to my teacher. Muhammad Ali is my teacher now." He is hiding, showing that it is from him. He said, "Take your teacher and go, keep him for you, I don't need him. Be happy with him, I am not happy with him." He is hiding.
To someone coming from five years of seclusion, his heart filled with knowledge, it is not permissible to say, "My teacher has put me in such a bad position," because it goes on him, he is covering his teacher. Although his teacher is testing him. "Take the moon and the sun, I am not leaving that person. If you want, the sun is for you, the moon is for you, take, but that teacher is for you. I'm accepting that person." Then he said, "Leave me on my own, I have disbelief in my teacher, finished." Then he said to them, they are bothering every day, "I am going to throw many of you on the east, many of you on the west!" They were afraid because he was in a state of haal (trance). They went to Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), "He cursing us today. Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said "If he wants to throw you from east or west, leave him alone as he has that power!" But they were already attacking him for 15 days.
Then Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) called Muhammad Ali and said, "It was a test for Shaykh Abdullah.You are in need of him, so go and listen to him now." And the mureed said, "I give my life, my soul, my power to Shaykh Abdullah."
Shaykh Sharfudding (q) said to Shaykh Abdullah, "O my son, because you listened to what I said, and covered me by saying to people that you did it, although it is not a mistake. From now on by order of Prophet (s), I am going to give you alone everyday two hours of suhba only from the secrets of secrets and secrets of realities. And from knowledges that Allah manifested on Prophet (s) after Maqam-e-Jibreel." All these knowledges are coming from these lectures Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) used to give me two hours a day. "He ordered me every Friday to give secrets to mureeds, and one-and-a-half hours every Thursday for the ladies."
To thank Allah (swt), to thank Prophet (s), and to thank my teacher, I am telling you these stories to build up love of tariqah in your heart. I cannot go into too many important things, but it is important to know that, don't say something (against this), because you don't know what wisdon the shaykh has behind his mureed speaking. I gave what I gave and said what I said, and they can say what they said, but everyone has to be very careful. If what they are saying was correct, then we apologize, but if they were wrong, they have to apologize. I am saying now, if what you did was wrong, apologize. What we love is unity in tariqah, not fighting through east and west. Mawlana Shaykh is sending thousands of people representing him everywhere. I told Mawlana, we can call all the senior mureed representatives to make a conference, to speak with each other, to learn from each other? But he didn't answer.
May Allah (swt) bless us here and in akhirah, and if anyone has a problem, may Allah take care of him. We are all servants, we are all slaves at the door of Prophet (s), asking with a petition, requesting his intercession! We come to you through our shaykh! Everyone of us has a problem, difficulty, sickness; everyone has something. Yaa Allah! You are Self-Sufficient! We need You, we need Your Prophet (s)!
I used to come here and 50-100 people maximum would attend, now it is full of people, mashaa-Allah! Awliyaullah are dragging you here, to come and listen. Whoever the person is, no problem. Did all the Sahaaba (r) know all the ahadeeth of Prophet (s)? No, whatevery anyone heard, they conveyed. But not all of them heard everything. When all the ahadeeth were collected, we begin to see thousands of ahadeeth coming out. But they kept them together in one book. Sahaaba (r) were united. If we will be united we will get more benefit. How awliyaullah suffered, in simple paragraphs, a summary of how much they suffered and were abused. That's why tears were coming in the beginning of this talk, because they are present, their spirits are here, they are looking where everyone's hearts are! Hold tight to the rope of Allah (swt)! A Muslim is a brother of a Muslim. We are one body; if one part of the body gets sick, the whole body gets sick!
O People of the ummah, Naqshbandis! Unite, don't separate, come together! Don't segregate, integrate! May Allah bless this gathering for the guidance of our shaykh, and keep us at his threshold! There are so many things today with Mawlana Shaykh that we cannot understand, but he knows it.
May Allah forgive us and bless us. As salaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah ta'ala wa barakatuh.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah
Two years ago, Mawlana said to me, "I want you to go to Africa, Ivory Coast." I said, "I don't know anyone there." Mawlana Shaykh gave me pictures and said, "Find this man. Go to Ivory Coast, support Abu Bakr there, then go to Ghana. I want you to find this man." He gave me a picture, and a mureed of Mawlana Shaykh in Ghana, Ahmad Fu'ad, said to give him the picture, and out of 30 million people, after one year of searching he didn't find that one and gave me back the picture.
Mawlana said, "Did you go to Ivory Coast?"
"No, it is desert."
"Go."
"I will go."
Then after the search he asked, "Did you find that man?"
So we arranged a trip this past March and went there, first to Ivory Coast. (http://sufilive.com/2010_Africa_Tour-125-s.html) Mashaa-Allah, the whole Muslim community was gushing like water, coming from everywhere! We did Mawlid and at least 15,000 people came, they blocked the whole road. We stayed six days and the whole Muslim community was speaking about our visit in newspapers, on radio and TV until we finally met with the president. SubhaanAllah, Allah sent one person, Abu Bakr, and they gave him a zawiya, a farm, and now we have at least 100 to 150 people come regularly for dhikr! See what awliyaullah send!
Then we went to Ghana.We showed so many people that picture, no one knew that person Mawlana wanted to find. Then suddenly in the airport, I saw that man in person! His name is Shaykh Hassan. He said, "I am waiting for you." I said, "I am looking for you."
He took us to his mosque, a big, very primitive building with no foundation, no paint, no plaster, and the floor is made of cement. I gave a speech there, then he took me to their school behind the mosque, through a dirt alley with open sewage running through it, with such a bad smell! We reached the school, which was like a stable for animals. But they are not animals, they are human beings, 200 orphans. He is feeding and clothing them. So many children from grades 1 to 10, teaching Islamic studies, Qur'an, ahaadeeth. (When they complete the study they are qualified `alims) boys and girls.
Then Shaykh Hassan said to me, "Since I was 14 years of age, I have been seeing a shaykh in my dream. And I am seeing that I am a Naqshbandi, although there is Tijani, Qadri, and Shazli here, not Naqshbandi. But I am dreaming of that shaykh, and I took bay`ah with him in my dream. I am looking for him and I can't find him. I looked on the Internet, some people showed me." I showed him Mawlana's picture. He said, "Yes, this is the one." He said, "Do you know Mawlana gave me your picture, I was looking for you." And how Mawlana got that picture, Mawlana doesn't know. That one is asking for Mawlana Shaykh and Mawlana Shaykh is asking for that one. So I called Mawlana and he said, "Give him bay`a."
Also when we came from the big Mawlid at Lamu in Kenya, a miracle happened. A boy traveling with his family was struck on his head by the propeller of the plane, and he was completely saved, by Allah's order.
Last year Mawlana said, "I want you to go to India." Now they are saying, "He only goes with presidents." We hosted a delegation of Pakistanis; they came, and now they are inviting me to Pakistan. Again some people will say, "O look! He only goes with presidents and high people." Mawlana Shaykh said to go. In November 2010, there is the first International Sufi Conference in Egypt sponsored by officials, they invited me there. Now in various countries for the first time they are hosting "Sufi conferences." From one side, Mawlana Shaykh tells me to attend, and from the other side, people attack me for attending! For love of Mawlana Shaykh, we go! May Allah (swt) make it easy for all of you to keep on that love. What did Prophet (s) say to the Bedouin who asked about preparing for the Last Day? "If you have love of Prophet (s) go, it is enough!"
May Allah forgive us, bless us, and support us.
Fatihah