Turkish Suhbah at Masjid as-Sabur (4)
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, yaa Sultan al-Anbiyaa. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, yaa Sultanu ‘l-Awliyaa. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, yaa Shah Naqshband. Dastoor yaa RijaalAllah, madad. A`eenoonaa bi awnillah wa koonoo awnan lanaa billah `asaa nahdaa bi fadlillah.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi ta`ala wa barakaatuh. It’s not for me to sit in the place of the shaykh [of Masjid as-Sabur], but I was told to sit here by the people, and I accept that honor when it’s given by someone else. The honor that is given by people without asking for it and given by Allah (swt) is the honor we look for, as we cannot give honor to ourselves by ourselves. However, nowadays some people honor themselves by themselves, although the true honor comes from Allah (swt). Prophet (s) became Prophet (s) when Allah (swt) told him, “Deliver the Message.” His honor came from Allah (swt). Awliyaullah, saints, get honor when Allah (swt) permits them to deliver da`wah, and that’s also honor that comes from Allah (swt). So I feel shy sitting here, but we will say a few words in Turkish first, and then we can speak in English afterwards, inshaa-Allah.
[Translated from Turkish] As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi ta`ala wa barakaatuh my Muslim brothers, my mu’min brothers! May Allah (swt) be pleased with you for opening your doors, the doors of this blessed place for us. You have shown us great love and we thank you for that.
Let’s look at Meccatu 'l-Mukarrama: When our Prophet (s) was born, Meccatu 'l-Mukarrama was full of statues, idols, false gods all over the city and our he lived among them. He did not deliver the Message until he reached forty years. Whatever people worshipped of idols, statues, trees, whatever it may have been, he lived, ate, drank and traveled with them. Later, Allah (swt) said, “Take out these idols,” and our Prophet (s) started to take them out. What did he say? The first thing he said was, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah! Each of these idols will be taken out and none but Allah will be worshipped.” ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,’ he gave that kalimah.
As we know in history, our Beloved Prophet (s) migrated to Madinah and then went back to Meccatu 'l-Mukarrama and conquered it. When he returned to Mecca, what did he do? He went to Ka`bah al-Mu`azzama and removed all the idols, the statues that were inside and around the Ka`bah: that means Ka`bah was full of idols! When our Prophet (s) entered, he saw that Allah’s Beautiful and Holy House was full of idols, both inside and around it! Our Prophet’s job was to clean Ka`bah al-Mu`azzama from these idols, and that’s what he did. Now, this building [mosque] was once a church. Americans or Christians say, “This is the House of God, the House of our Lord,” but when you bought this place and entered it, what did you do? You cleaned it from idols, just as our Prophet (s) did. Our Prophet (s) cleaned the Ka`bah from the inside by removing all the idols. Similarly, when you bought this building you entered, saw it was full of idols and said, “We have to clean it!” then you cleaned it.
The heart of Mankind is the House of Allah (swt). What we see on the outside we must also do on the inside. This is Tariqah. Shari`ah purifies Man’s outer being and Tariqah purifies Man’s inner being. Your heart is the House of Allah (swt). What is in your heart? Check it, look inside and see, what’s in it? Who are you desiring, who is in your heart? Is there someone other than Allah (swt) in your heart? Everyone knows himself, let him check.
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) is the same: he saw that his Nation was worshipping idols, so he said to his father, “What is this that you all worship?” and he smashed them all, leaving the biggest idol behind. This is a sign that in our hearts, in the House of Allah that is inside of us, there are idols, and it is waajib, an absolute must for us to clean our hearts from them. So you have entered the House of Allah (swt) and cleaned it, as our Prophet (s) entered the Ka`bah and cleaned it. We must also clean our hearts. What is inside our hearts? Dunya, the beauties of this world and all our wants and desires. We have nafs and Shaytan inside of us, we have every kind of desire in our hearts except the desire of Allah (swt)!
Why do people play the lottery? Playing the lottery means there is love of money in the heart. Why do people work and save money? In order to buy a big house, which means they have love of dunya. When you have money, what do you do? You buy a nice sports car. Why? Because you have love of girls in your heart. There are many types of love in the heart, and every type is like associating partners with Allah (swt) because you are desiring something other than Allah (swt). That is why the mashaykh, the awliya came and taught us to leave this and that, to let go of this love, to not have love for anyone nor desire anything or go to anyone except Allah (swt)! How can we do that? We cannot, we are weak! We don’t have `ilm, we don’t have adab, we are not studying anything and we don’t know anything! So then how are we going to do this? We are in complete darkness. When you go out at night it is dark, but stars, light, is in the sky, as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:
وَبِالنَّجمِ هُم يَهتَدونَ
And by the stars, they are guided. (Surat an-Nahl, 16:16)
“They can find their ways through the stars.” You must look for a Possessor of Noor (Saahib an-Noor). Stars are noor, light within darkness: you must look for a Possessor of Noor to find your way. Allah (swt) is saying in Surah an-Nahl, wa bi ’n-najmi hum yahtadoon, “By the stars, by following the light they are able to find the Way.” Who then is the Possessor of Noor, Light? If we do not find them, how are we going to find the Way? What did our Prophet (s) say?
أصحابي كالنجوم بأيهم اقتديتم اهتديتم
My Companions are like stars (on a dark night); whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.
(`Abd ibn Humayd, ad-Daraqutnee, ibn `Adiyy, ibn `Abd al-Barr,
with unsound chains but the meaning is sound.)
Ashaabee ka ’n-nujoom, “My Companions are like stars.” Bi ayyihim iqtadaytum, ihtadaytum, “Whichever of them you use as a guide, you will be rightly guided.” Then, we have to look at the Companions (r) of the Prophet (s): they are not living in our time now, but it means there are some among us who are receiving noor, light, and fayd, spiritual outpouring from them. There are the Possessors of Fayd. Our Prophet (s) is indicating, “The one who is a star carries my Light, noor, are the Sahaabah al-Kiraam.” Those who are carrying the Light of Prophet (s) are the Sahaabah (r), as well as the Ahlu 'l-Bayt (r) and Awliyaullah, those who came after them. Allah (swt) said, “By the stars you will find the way,” so find the star! Our Prophet (s) is saying, “A star is that which takes Light from me.” For that reason, we follow the mashaykh and awliyaullah and we search for the Possessor of Light, because through them we find the way.
These are the People of Tariqah, whose job is to follow their shaykhs, to observe and imitate them, to see them, to love them and to follow their light as then they can find the Way! As narrated in Surat as-Saffaat, after Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) was rescued from the fire, he said:
وَقالَ إِنّي ذاهِبٌ إِلىٰ رَبّي سَيَهدينِ
He said, “Indeed I am going toward my Lord, Who will guide me.” (Surat as-Saffat, 37:99)
رَبِّ هَب لي مِنَ الصّالِحينَ
“O my Lord! Send me someone from among the righteous.” (Surat as-Saffat, 37:100)
Send me, grant me, give me someone from the righteous! Why is he asking for someone? “I am going toward my Lord.” Where is ‘my Lord,’ Allah Almighty? Is He in the North or the South, in the East or the West, below or above? Where is He? We do not know. Could there even be a ‘place’ for Him? He is The One Who created all places and, therefore, no place can contain Him! However, Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) is saying, “I am going to my Lord,” but he didn’t know which direction to take, so he said, sa-yahdeeni, Rabbee hab lee min as-saaliheen, “Send me someone who will guide me.O my Lord, grant me someone from among the righteous.”
فَبَشَّرناهُ بِغُلامٍ حَليمٍ فَلَمّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعيَ
So We gave him good tidings of a forbearing boy, and when (his son) was old enough to walk with him… (Surat as-Saffat, 37:101,102)
He is explaining the Way that leads to Allah (swt). He said, “O my Lord, in order for me to find Your Way, I need someone from among the pious.” Then Allah (swt) sent Isma`eel (a). Who was in the loins of Isma`eel (a) (as a descendant)? Muhammad (s) was in the loins of Isma`eel (a) as a guide for Ibrahim (a) so he could find the Way to Allah (swt): Allah (swt) gave Sayyidina Ibrahim Isma`eel (a), who was carrying the Light of Prophet (s) within him.
The way to Allah (swt) passes through the Prophet (s), and the way to Prophet (s) passes through the Possessors of Light. You must find the Possessor of Light and follow him so that you can find the way to Prophet (s) and to Allah (swt). Inshaa-Allah we will find it, and we have found it! We are connected to Tariqah, to the Imam of the Naqshbandis, shukr lillah! They are enough for us, they will take us, but we must connect, we must love them and be with them! Inshaa-Allah may we always be with them, may we go with them wherever they go, and inshaa-Allah we will reach that Light, to the presence of our Beloved Prophet (s). Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/media/index.cfm?id=6054
© Copyright 2015 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected
by international copyright law. Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.