10 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah after Zhuhr Salaat
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.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, Mawlana `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q), madad. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani madad.
We will continue from where we stopped yesterday, but people here change every day so many might not have heard the beginning of this series. They can go to Sufilive and watch it there, one after the other, each suhbah is uploaded daily and you can see how we are progressing.
We previously related a hadith narrated by Imam Tirmidhi (r) where the Prophet (s) mentions that Allah (swt) stroked the back of Sayyidina Adam (a), and all his dhurriyah, atoms (of his descendants) came out. They had lights shining from their foreheads. Then Sayyidina Adam (a) liked one of this dhurriyah who had special light coming from his forehead and he asked, “Yaa Rabb! Who is that one?” and Allah (swt) answered, “That is one of your descendants that will come in a later ummah.” Sayyidina Adam (a) said he liked that one, and he said, “O my Lord! Give forty years of my life to him.” When the Angel of Death (a) came to take Sayyidina Adam’s life, and Adam said, “You came early.” Then Allah (swt) reminded him, “No, you forgot that you gave him (your dhurriyah) from your life.”
That hadith is hasan sahih, which means it is highly sound and unquestionable. It is not daa`if, questionable. There are 35 different categories of hadith, and only scholars can understand these things. I mentioned this in 1991, when I debated Shaykh Muhammad Adly, a member of Rabitat al-`Alam al-Islami (Muslim World League), in an open debate on the Internet about the existence of tasawwuf in Islam. We had that debate before anyone even knew about the Internet. He was in New York and I was in California.
So from this and other examples, we see there are cases where a mureed gave from his life to his shaykh. Also, there are cases where a shaykh gave his life to his mureed. Is it correct? Why are you keeping quiet? In Egypt, in a majlis of learning such as this one, if a scholar asks you something and you say nothing, the scholar will close the majlis! Don't be like a statue. What do you say, is it correct? Yes? (Yessir!) When you say, “Yessir!” it means it is confirmed.
So I asked Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life, to give us more proofs and he reminded me about the story of Shaykh Zia and Shaykh Sharafuddin (q). Have you heard it? It is Mawlana's story, included in the Naqshbandi Sufi Way.
Once Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) went to Istanbul and stayed at the Hotel Massarat, which means “Happy Hotel”. He was asked by a person named Shaykh Zia, whose last name we cannot say; he might be a wali or from the Abdaal, a Substitute. The Prophet (s) said, “ If you are lost in a desert or afraid in a forest, call upon the Abdaal of Sham and they will come and support you!”
Do you think the Abdaal of Sham are sitting and not doing anything? One time Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q) went out from his house in Damascus in a horse-drawn carriage with Shaykh `Abdul-Wahhab as-Salaahi, towards Shaykh Muhiyddin's maqaam and mosque. Shaykh `Abdul-Wahhab was very famous and he loved Mawlana Shaykh `AbdAllah (q) a lot. Suddenly a person appeared and held the horse, looked at Shaykh `Abdul-Wahhab and asked, “Is he your Shaykh or are you his Shaykh?” because they were very near in age. What did he reply? What will anyone answer, or what will you say?
Shaykh `Abdul-Wahhab said, “He is not my Shaykh and I am not his Shaykh.”
Immediately that person disappeared, and Shaykh `Abdul-Wahhab as-Salahi (r) said to Grandshaykh (q), "O my Shaykh! Just now he was here and then he disappeared! He asked, ‘Are you his Shaykh or is he your shaykh?’”
Grandshaykh said, “Yes, but awliyaullah cannot carry the bad smell that came from what you said.”
Shaykh `Abdul-Wahhab as-Salahi (r) showed some arrogance by answering, “He is not my Shaykh and I am not his Shaykh,” even though he had another Shaykh, and yet from that statement came a bad smell! So what then do you think if you backbite? A bad smell like a cigar or cigarette will come from your mouth, or worse, it might be the (bathroom) smell like when you go to make wudu!
Grandshaykh (q) related that once the Sahaabah (r) were praying Taraweeh with the Prophet (s) and then one time Jibreel (a) didn't descend. The Prophet (s) asked him, “Why are you not coming?” and Jibreel (a) said, “I cannot stand the bad smell from the mouths of the Sahaabah (r) and no angels can stand it, because they ate garlic and onions.” They are Sahaabat an-Nabi (s), about whom Prophet (s) said, “My Sahaabah are like the stars: whichever of them you follow, you will be rightly guided.”
So what do you think about those who spread false rumors and backbite people? Whoever spreads false rumors (nameemah) is the sinner. However, whoever repeats that false rumor--because they heard it from someone whom they think is a mu’min and so they believe it--they are not the sinner.
اية المنافق ثلاث اذا حدث كذب واذا وعد اخلف واذا اتمن خان
Ayatal-munaafiq thalaath idhaa hadatha kadhdhab, wa idhaa wa`da akhlafa,wa idhaa utumina khaan.
The Prophet (s) said, “The signs of the munaafiq, hypocrite, are three:
1. if he speaks he lies;
2. if he promises he breaks it; and,
3. if you entrust him with something he betrays you.”
Idhaa hadatha kadhdhab, “If he speaks he lies”! Mashaa-Allah, here the people are very good, but in the second ‘section’ they lie and that is why they don't put the camera, because they know they might hit on them and so they keep away; no problem, we don't care. What we care about is love to our Shaykh, that’s it. Correct?
Allah (swt) said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَأٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ
Yaa ayyuhaalladheena amanoo in ja’akum faasiqun bi-naba’in fatabayyanoo an tuseeboo qawman bi-jahaalatin fatusbihoo `ala ma fa`altum naadimeen.
O you who believe! If a wicked person comes to you with any news, ascertain the truth, unless you harm people unwittingly and afterwards become full of repentance for what you have done.
(Surat al-Hujurat, 49:6)
Wa idhaa utumina khaan, “If you trust him with something secret, he betrays you.” For example, he might go to the police and say, “They are a terrorist organization; they want to do this and that (wrong).” Do you have proof? Bring the proof. Is it true or not? Am I lying? (No, haasha!) Put the camera on him (Mawlana Shaykh’s grandson); he is good one and that is why they don't like him and they are also afraid from him because he is always here, I am not. One Pakistani who was doing nothing, the first time he came here, they beat him up and the next day someone supported them! Allahu Akbar!
Idhaa hadatha kadhdhab, “If he speaks, he lies” Wa idhaa utumina khaan, “If you trust him, he betrays you.” Wa idhaa w`adaa akhlaf, “If he promises, he breaks it.” He might say to your face, “I am good, I didn’t do it, I love you!” but he has two faces, lahu wajhaan, he she, them …
We cannot lie! That story is from Grandshaykh (q) and you cannot deny he said it: Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) told it to Shaykh `Abdal-Wahhab as-Salahi!
We are not Buddhists, as they have said. For fifty years we have been with Mawlana Shaykh; are we Buddhists now? And also regarding the 360 points in the human body (to which they objected), we mentioned the hadith of points and of how we hold the fingers on our hands.
So Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) told Shaykh `Abdul-Wahhab (q), “That bad smell came from your mouth.”
He replied, “What did I say wrong? I only said, ‘He is not my Shaykh and I am not his Shaykh!’”
Grandshaykh (q) said, “What would you have lost had you said, ‘He is my Shaykh.’ That would have a nice smell, but the way you said it has a bad smell.”
Awliyaullah smell the deeds of their followers! If someone believes he or she is near to the Shaykh and they lie, don’t believe the Shaykh does not smell those bad smells issuing from their mouths! The Shaykh doesn't show it because Allah's Name is “as-Sattar,” and He veils the mistakes of His servants. Awliyaullah inherit from that secret. Don’t you think Sultan al-Awliya inherits from that? So always he will say, “You are the best one on Earth, the biggest Shaykh! You are wazeer al-Mahdi,” or even, “You are Mahdi!” just to make you happy, because the Prophet (s) said:
إن من أحب الأعمال إلى الله إدخال السرور على قلب المؤمن
Inna min ahabba’l-`amaal ila-Allahi idkhaal as-suroor `alaa qalb al-mu’min.
Verily from one of the most beloved actions to Allah is to give happiness to the heart of the believer.
You have to know Shari`ah, which teaches that to make people happy is from imaan, so make people happy!
Grandshaykh (q) told Shaykh `Abdul-Wahhab (q), “I am seeing him, he is there, but you are not seeing him as he veiled himself. He is giving salaams and he came to teach you adab.” How much adab we need! That is why we are speaking of the Greatness of the Prophet (s), and I mentioned this to show that rahmatullah is so huge, that with salaat `alaa an-Nabi (s) the Prophet (s) will intercede for you!
Before I go back to the story of Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), let me mention this point from the book Jawaahir al-Ma`ani, Jewels of Meanings:
قال : و من فاته كثرة القيام و الصيام فليشغل نفسه بالصلاة على رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ،
Qaala b`ad al-`arifeen billah, man faatahu kathrat al-qiyaama wa ’s-siyaam, fal-yashgul nafsihi bi’s-salaat `alaa an-Nabi (s).
Some awliyaullah said, ‘What must a person do if he missed many prayers and many days of fasting in Ramadan? (For sure he has to make them up, but also he has to) always increase salawaat on the Prophet (s).”
Prayers are an act of obedience to Allah (swt). The Prophet (s) said:
من صلى علي واحدة صلى الله عليه عشرا
Man salla `alayya marratan sal-Allahu bihaa `alayha `ashara.
If anyone invokes a blessing on me once, Allah will grant him ten blessings. (Bukhari and Muslim)
So do it now: say, “Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad (s).” You just did one salawaat and Allah (swt) gave you ten, but is our salawaat like Allah's? This point is important:
فإنك لو فعلت في عمرك كل طاعة ثم صلى الله عليك صلاة واحدة رجحت تلك الصلاة الواحدة بكل ما عملت في عمرك كله من جميع الطاعات ،
Fa innaka law fa`lta fee `umrika kullu ta`at thumma salla Allahu `alayka salaatan wahidatan wa salla `ala an-Nabi marratan wahidatan rajihat tilka as-salawaat `ala kullu `amalihi,
If you, from the day you were born until the day you died, did all kinds of obligations as ordered by Allah, and Allah prayed on you one time, (because you prayed on Sayyidina Muhammad [s]), it will be heavier on the Scale than all your ta`at, obedience, (all your prayers and fasting, Hajj and all his acts of obedience)!
That one salawaat will be heavier on the Scale! Why? Sabab yakthuri ’l-`ajab, “When you mention the cause you will not be astonished (or question it) because when you make one prayer, Allah (swt) makes ten prayers for you. So which is heavier, Allah's prayers or your ta`at? If you were to pray and fast continuously from the Day of Creation to the Day of Resurrection, still Allah's ten salawaat for your one would be heavier than all that worship! That’s why awliyaullah, who understood these secrets, said, “If you missed fasting one Ramadan or any of your prayers, make them up, and even if you made them up, since it is not equal to fasting during the time of Ramadan or praying when the prayer is due to be prayed, that prayer on the Prophet (s) will be heavier on the Scale!
He explained:
لأنك تصلي على قدر وسعك، و هو سبحانه يصلي على حسب ربوبيته ،
Li annaka tusalli `alaa qadr wis`ak wa Huwa subhaanahu yusalli `ala hasab ruboobiyyatah.
When you pray (on the Prophet [s]) it is according to your capacity, but when Allah (swt) prays on you it is according to His Greatness as Lord!
When we say “Greatness” Allahu Akbar, we mean there are no limits! Whatever you say of greatness, Allah (swt) is above that, He is Akbar! So He rewards according to His Greatness. Say, “Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad wa `alaa aali Sayyidina Muhammad!” You just got ten salawaat from Allah (swt), and He will give you mercy according to His Greatness.
If Shaykh `Abdul-Wahab Salahi (r) had shown humbleness by saying, “He is my Shaykh,” then Allah (swt) would have raised him, but he didn't do that, he didn’t accept it. We must have a good smell, not a bad smell, so from today let’s say we forgive each other. We are on the Internet, all over the world. Let’s forget these (bad) things about each other and forgive each other; let’s pray that everyone forgives each other and be good in our respective countries, especially in western countries where, when we obey our countries’ laws, we obey Allah, we obey Prophet (s) and when we obey those in authority, we obey Allah (swt)!
Love everyone! Show love to non-Muslims and tell them Islam is love, Islam is perfect, imaan is perfect, ihsaan is perfect! You (who oppose us) are our brothers in humanity, so may Allah guide us and you! What is the problem with doing this? Show humbleness. And we say, “May Allah (swt) forgive everyone here and may they forgive us and we forgive them.” What is the issue? Don't be munaafiq! Idhaa hadatha kadhdhab! “If he speaks, he lies.” He might say to you, “Yes, I am your friend, you are my friend, I forgive you, you forgive me,” and then we see police coming! Allahu Akbar!
We say, “What happened, why are you coming?”
And they say, “Be careful. We are watching!”
Watch as much as you like! All the world knows us, from presidents to prime ministers, from ministers to normal people, and we don’t do anything wrong. Mawlana taught us to love everyone and to be humble with everyone!
Look at the story of Shaykh Zia and Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q), who was staying at Hotel Massarat in Turkey. I don’t know if it is still existing or not.
Shaykh Zia asked him, “How are you going to die?”
What kind of question is that? Maybe he wanted to get a secret from Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) by which Allah (swt) will forgive us and forgive everyone.
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “Is that an important question to you, how I am going to die?”
He said, “No, my Shaykh, but it came to my heart to ask that question.”
That is why you should not speak whatever comes to your heart; that is against the adab of tariqah and inappropriate! Don’t dump out everything that comes to your heart. Awliyaullah say to do that is craziness, especially if you whisper such things to others. What is the purpose? First check if it is bad, or will it create a problem or bad situation; will repeating it be gheebah or nameemah, or will it be a good question? For example, you may want to ask your Shaykh, “How am I going to make salawaat on the Prophet (s)?” Don’t even ask that; wait until he tells you. Also, your Shaykh taught you how to make salawaat in the awraad book, so don't ask; in tariqah there are no questions! The Prophet (s) never asked Allah (swt) one question in all of the Holy Qur'an. If you look in the entire Holy Qur'an, you will not find any question from the Holy Prophet (s); there are only questions from Sayyidina Musa (a).
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) answered, “I will die when there is an invasion from Armenia, and there will be too much oppression at that time.” He was seeing ahead, that Armenia would enter Safar Barlik. I heard from Grandshaykh (q) that many scholars were executed then and there was so much oppression.
With sincerity, Shaykh Zia said, “O Allah! Take that difficulty from the invasion of the Armenians away from us and spare the life of my Shaykh!” He did not say that in front of Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), but rather in private when he was at home.
The next day, Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said to him, “O Shaykh Zia! What have you been doing all night, were you praying? Your prayer has been accepted, and that difficulty has been taken from me and you will suffer instead of me and you will die shaheed, a martyr!”
Many people’s prayers are accepted ahead of time. Yesterday I heard from someone very close to His Highness, Raja Ashman, that one week before he died he asked, “May Allah spare my Shaykh's life! I give my life in his place!” His personal assistant overheard that. When love overtakes one’s heart all else is finished, no boundaries remain, and Allah (swt) accepts.
Eight years after that incident in Hotel Massarat, the Armenians and Greeks entered Rashadiyya, which today is known as Gunekoy, where Shaykh Sharafuddin’s maqaam and zawiya are located on top of the mountain, along with the maqaam of Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Madani of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain. As soon as they entered, Zia Effendi was shot and he died a martyr; he gave his life to Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q), whose prediction came to pass and what he had said came true. So can anyone give his life to someone else, to spare their life? (Yes, sir!) Can the Shaykh give his life to his mureed? (Yes, sir!) Can a mureed give his life to his Shaykh? (Yes, sir!) Yes. Can anyone give his life to spare the life of someone he loves? (Yes, sir!) That is why the Sahaabah (r) said, fidaak nafsee ummee wa abee yaa Rasoolullah, “Take my life and that of our mother and father (and give them to you) yaa Rasoolullah!”
I quote from Jawaahir al-Ma`ani, Jewels of Meanings, page 144, by Abdul Wahhab ash-Sha`rani (r):
What is the best dhikrullah and the best way to get rewards? It is salaat `alaa rasoolillah, to praise the Prophet (s). Everyone is going to die and you want to die peacefully, so make salaat on the Prophet (s) if you want to die with paradises and rewards and hur ul-`ayn. [We mentioned that Shaykh Qassim (r) saw hur ul-`ayn and Paradise, but he turned away from that and looked to his Shaykh. If you always want your last vision to be your Shaykh, make salawaat on the Prophet (s)!] That is what can mutakaffila, sponsor you from Allah (swt); making salawaat will sponsor you in whatever you ask from Allah! In dunya and akhirah, that salawaat will be supporting you in front of Allah (swt)! If you need something to come to you, make salawaat! And who will use it the most will be one of the awliyaullah whom Allah has chosen.
We will stop here and continue next time with the story of how Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) spared his life for others.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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