Brief Message before Jumu`ah Khutbah
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. This is an explanation of what we are going to speak about in Jumu`ah. Allah (swt) gave us from His endless blessings. Anyone who thinks that Allah is not giving to him, (it means) his Islam is not perfect, because Allah has said:
لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ
la'in shakartum la-azeedanakum.
If you are grateful, I will add more (favors) unto you. (Ibrahim, 14:7)
And He (swt) said:
wa bish-shukr tadoom an-ni`am.
By thanking Allah, He will provide you with n`imah, with rizq.
Allah (swt) is trying those who have rizq: will they use that wealth for dunya matters or are they going to use it for Akhirah matters, helping people in need? Today Muslims are very rich and don’t expect to be poor. Yes there are poor countries, but there are very rich ones as well. Our problem is that we come to take blessings from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and then leave. We do not try to implement and study what Mawlana has said and put this knowledge together in a book in order to understand what he explained.
Allah mentioned in the Holy Qur’an about the five prayers, but if Prophet (s) would not have explained how to perform them, all of us would not know what to do with these prayers. Similarly, if Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) did not explain to us what Grandshaykh (q) explained to him and what is being revealed to his heart, such as this morning when he was giving a suhbah, we would not understand anything!
I challenge anyone is this room and all the scholars in this world to explain the Attribute of Allah’s Name al-Qahhaar, “The Subduer,” the way Mawlana did today! I never saw it written in any book. Except for one, no other wali has said it like that before! SubhaanAllah, with his seal, today Mawlana sealed that matter I was putting together about the explanation of al-Jabbaar, “The Compeller,” and al-Qahhaar, “The Subduer,” without knowing that I was working on it. He gave me a very nice explanation that summarizes and completes that suhbah.
So coming here is not to just take the blessings of the shaykh and then leave; here we must learn not to backbite each other and turn this into a place of confusion, as this is a place of `ibadah, worshipness.
Prophet (s) said, “The best time for me is when Allah calls me `abd, servant.”
People do many things in their lives, but from the khutbah you can understand how much Allah is merciful and how much heavy weapons He has given us against Shaytan. And alhamdulillah, we are not connected to a shaykh that does not have weapons, and by “weapons,” I mean to recite Qur’an and hadith. We are not people who fight on the streets, but rather, to get these weapons you have to be a lover of Allah, His Prophet (s), and your shaykh; (you must have) muhabbatAllah, (love of Allah), muhabbata’l-habeeb (love of the Beloved of Allah ), muhabbata’l-mashaykh (love of the Shaykhs).
When Allah said to His angels, “I am going to create a khalifah on Earth,” what did the angels say?
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُواْ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاء وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
wa idh qaala rabbuka lil-malaa’ikati innee ja`ilun fi ’l-ardi khalifah, qaloo ataj`alu feehaa man yufsidi feehaa wa yusfikud-dimaa’u wa nahnu nusabbihuka wa nuqaddisoo laka, qaala innee `alamu maa laa t`alamoon.
Behold, their Lord said to the angels, “I will create a vicegerent on Earth.” They said, “Will You place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood while we celebrate Your praises and glorify Your (Holy) Name?” He said, “I know what you know not.” (al-Baqara: 2:30)
The angels saw that there is going to be bloodshed.
Everything (the outcome in our lives) is not (based on) money or how much of it you have. I was once going up a mountain with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) ten years ago in Indonesia, and I saw a person sitting by the rice field. He was probably more than 100 years old and he was very happy. It was time for the Zhuhr prayer. He prayed and put some rice on a banana leaf, boiled it, and ate it. He was very happy. We have everything and yet we are not happy and content with what Allah gave us. Those to whom Allah gave must also be happy, and their happiness is to give in Allah’s Way.
These lectures Mawlana gives from time to time show the greatness of his knowledge. It is not from his ego, but rather he speaks from a high level that guides us to be with him, the shaykh. If you are not with the shaykh, you might get his advice and go, but if you are with him you can feel him and understand him.
Was-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
(Mawlana Shaykh Nazim enters the mosque.)