Suhbah before Dhikr
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 barakatuh. Allah (swt) said:
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem,
كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ
kullu yawmin wa huwa fee shaan.
Every day in (new) Splendour does He (shine)! (ar-Rahman, 55:29)
Every day there is a different message, there are different orders, different issues that come, and Allah (swt) looks at them from every direction. First we say, Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa uli 'l-amri minkum. As Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life and good health, and as Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q) used to say, “Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those who are in authority.” (an-Nisaa, 4:59)
First of all, I would like to say that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is sending salaams to all of you, those who are here and those who are viewing us from all around the globe. He is sending salaams and saying, “As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.” As you know, we are all students of our shaykh, we are disciples, and all of us are on the same level in his eyes. He wants us to always be united and to work together as much as we can, in order to keep his name up so he can be happy when presenting every one of us every night to the presence of the Prophet (s). Awliyaullah have a time with Prophet (s) in the spiritual realm. They present their mureeds to the presence of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and they have a connection. We can say that some of them have an audio connection, and we can say that some of them have a video connection, and some of them are always in his presence. And tonight, the message is clear and carries many meanings that he made yesterday. I am thanking everyone who heard it.
He said, and I am not repeating it, this is what he said just now, “This is one chapter that passed and we are moving to the next chapter. For that first chapter that passed, people must learn what I have said.” And this is what I am quoting, “For one year and a half on the Internet, with about 500 suhbahs, associations on the Internet, people must understand our way and know what we say. And they have to think about every word that I have mentioned. And every word I have mentioned, people have to meditate on it.”
This does not mean listening to his suhbah, with the words going in one ear and coming out the other; that is not a real, perfect hearing. Hearing must be with two ears and be kept inside, to digest and to study what he has said.
There was one `alim in Beirut, who was the head of all scholars in Lebanon and some Middle Eastern countries. In the Middle Eastern countries, whenever they needed a fatwah for a very heavy issue but were unable to put one out, they went to that `alim so he could give them a fatwah. We were at a young age and we were begging that `alim to come and visit Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Faiz ad-Daghestani (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). But he was an `alim, although not an ordinary `alim; his knowledge was above everyone.
Allah (swt) said:
وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ
wa fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `aleem.
Above every knower is a (higher) knower. (12:76)
Above every `alim there is a (higher) `alim. In his mind, he knew everything. Finally he came with us, entering into the presence of Grandshaykh (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). He came in and shook hands with both of them, but nothing more because he was an `alim. And Grandshaykh (q) opened the suhbah in the presence of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), that `alim, me, and Shaykh Adnan for three hours, non-stop. As the time passed, that `alim began to melt from sweat. He realized there was a big difference between his knowledge and the knowledge that Grandshaykh (q) was giving and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) was translating. So, I’m not going to enter into what they discussed, but at the end, and you know in Islam it is not acceptable in Shari`ah to go on the feet and kiss the feet, but people do that out of their love, which is forgiven. It is not the niyyah of a sajdah (of worship) since sajdah is exclusively for Allah (swt), but it is the niyyah of expressing the love and the humbleness towards your shaykh. That is it, and it is acceptable.
So that `alim, with his study and his memorization of Qur’an, when he was seven years of age he was a walking encyclopedia! When the suhbah finished, he kissed the feet of Grandshaykh (q). He said to us in the car when we were going back to Beirut, “If I am going to put out books from every word that Grandshaykh (q) mentioned, each word would give a book of not one-hundred, but in one-thousand pages I can give an explanation of every word he spoke! And about these issues, I had seven issues I had put in my heart before I came to see him, and he answered my seven questions without me having to ask him!" One of them I will mention, that `ismAllahi 'l-`Azham, one of the greatest Names of Allah (swt), about which Sayyidina Musa (a) asked, “Yaa Rabbee! Show me that Name!” So, in any case, what we want to say is when awliyaullah say something, they know that our physicality cannot take it, but the heart can. Therefore, they filled our souls and our spirituality with all these different knowledges that they were pouring.
Recently Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, referring to the 500 suhbas he gave (on Sufilive) within one year and a half, “I want them to understand that what I have said, they have to learn it by themselves.” Go back and check his suhbahs. Write notes, put questions and answers to yourself, and learn what he gave or else we are considered lazy! If we only want to sit and hear what he is saying, without thinking and learning what he is saying, how can we deliver his message; what are you going to say to people? We have to learn!
Allah (swt) said to Prophet (s):
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. Iqra bismi rabbik alladhee khalaq.
Read in the Name of your Lord, Who created. (Surat al-`Alaq, 96:1)
If Mawlana Shaykh Nazim would ask us a question, what are we going to answer? “We don’t know.” He would say, “What kind of mureed do I have?” But, in any case, we are not going to be too long. For me, I can understand two meanings here from his suhbah of yesterday, because now he said, “Tell them that the first chapter is finished, now there is a second chapter.” Allahu Akbar. What is that next chapter? And then he said, “There will be a third chapter.” Allah knows best. It means there will be, according to what I can understand, after this first chapter there will be two other chapters and these two other chapters are going to be full of suspense, if you want to say, action.
“Time is approaching,” Mawlana said. He said yesterday, “There is no more Sufism,” this means he wants to address those who criticize tasawwuf. That is the literal meaning, the meaning that everyone can see. It is like saying to your opponent, “Alright, cancel Sufism, but cancel Salafism and Wahhabism as well.” Because Salafism does not exist; it exists only in Salaaf as-Saalih, the three centuries after Prophet (s). That is what is considered in Islamic history the "Salaaf as-Saalih", real Salaaf. It means they followed in the footsteps of Prophet (s), where all the imaams came in that time. So it means, "Alright, we will not say there is tasawwuf, and you don’t say there is Salafism.”
Although these are not Mawlana’s words but an explanation, if we go to the highest level of the Salafi school of thought, the top leader of that school is Ibn Taymiyyah, a scholar that came in 8th century Hijri. And what we see of his teachings is going through the Salaf today, or those who call themselves “Wahhabis” or “Salafis.” Even Ibn Taymiyyah was accepting tasawwuf in his time. He was following Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q), he was following Sirri Saqafi (q), Sulayman ad-Dirani (q), Rabia al-Adawiyya (q), Junayd al-Baghdadi (q), and according to history, he took baya’ from Shaykh `Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (q). He was accepting the real Sufis, but not the "business" or the "professional" Sufis. These are those who used tasawwuf for their own benefit. But he respected the real sufis who dedicated their lives to Ummat an-Nabee (s), and their teachings did not go beyond and could not oppose Shari`ah. Because you see many Sufis today who may do something against Shari`ah, which we do not accept.
Yesterday Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, “Although Sufism is accepted, let’s say that we have no more Sufism or Salafism. Then what do we have? We want to be Rabbaaniyoon, we want to be servants of Allah (swt)!"
Allah (swt) said:
يا عبدي اطعني اجعلك ربانيا تقول لشي كن فيكون
Yaa `abdee ati`anee aj`aluka rabbaaniyyan taqoolu li shayyin kun fayakoon.
I will make you Rabbaani, you say to a thing "Be!" and it will be.
So he said, “We want to be Rabbaaniyoon.” That is why he said a new chapter is coming, according to my understanding. He didn’t explain what is the new chapter, but he said, “There will be too much changes in the world and we are near akhirah now.” According to his inspirations, the first chapter has been closed. If I go back 40 years ago in my life and recall what Grandshaykh (q) said after making du`a, "Yaa Rabbee! Open the tajalli of rahmah on Ummat an-Nabi (s)," that had been accepted and Ummat an-Nabi (s) is under that rahmah. And he said, "The Naqshbandi Order is going all the way until the time of Mahdi (a)." And before he left this dunya he said, “Whatever Allah gave me of secrets and authority, I am dressing them to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), I am giving him that authority that he will deliver at that time.”
Therefore, to my understanding, it means that the time is so near that he was asked to open our eyes. When a patient is sick, you give him an injection to shake him. So they want to shake us, to wake us up. Not everything depends on the shaykh, and nothing comes from the mureed, no. They want something reciprocal between the shaykh and the mureed; something must come from the mureed, then the shaykh can help more. But if the mureed is lazy (sleeping), the shaykh gets frustrated because he is going to present that mureed every night; all his mureeds have to be presented to the presence of the Prophet (s) spiritually. How is he going to present us if we are going to be lazy? He will feel shy from Prophet (s). So that is an injection of awareness to awaken us, especially his followers, and the rest of the ummah. Wake up!
And he is waking us up to reach the third level of Islam. What is the third level of Islam? It is Maqaam al-Ihsaan, about which Prophet (s) said:
An ta`bud-Allah ka-annaka taraah fa in lam takun taraah fa-innahu yaraak.
To worship Allah as if you are seeing Him and if you cannot see Him, know that He is seeing you.
When Jibreel (a) asked Prophet (s), “Yaa Rasoolullah! What is the status of Maqam al-Ihsaan, the level of moral excellence?" Prophet (s) answered, "To worship Allah as if you are seeing Him.” It means Rabbaaniyoon, that is the era of now opening that maqaam on every mureed that was previously closed. You have to achieve it, you have to run for it! Now, there is tajalli for them, they know what they say, that has been opened for their petitions and their du’as, that they come to Prophet (s) every day. They are asking, begging, and requesting that Allah (swt) will open something from that tajalli! So that is coming for everyone who is connected to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q).
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is carrying the difficulty of his followers on his shoulders and he knows that we are weak, he knows we are lazy. So they try to wake us up, and they say, "Look, if you are not doing (your obligations) we will still do it for you, but you have to not to make us be ashamed in the presence of Prophet (s)." That’s why Prophet (s) said:
تفكر ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة
Tafakkaru sa`atin khayrum min `ibadati saba`eena sannah.
To think or to meditate for one hour, it will be rewarded as if you worshipped for 70 years.
It means, "O Muslims! O Mureeds, followers of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q)! We have to think, to audit ourselves daily on what we have done, if not for one hour at least for five minutes. Don’t say, “I did this good and that good," no. Sayyidina Adam (a) said, "What is good is from Allah, what is bad is from us." Check what is bad and say, “Yaa Rabbee! Forgive me for that.” Allah will be happy because you remembered your mistakes.
Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
Qul yaa `ibadeeya 'Lladheena asrafoo `alaa anfusihim laa taqnatoo min rahmatillahi innallaha yaghfuru 'dh-dhunooba jamee`an, innahu huwa al-ghafooru 'r-raheem.
Say (yaa Muhammad), "O you servants of mine who have harmed themselves! Don't despair of Allah's mercy. Ask forgiveness, and Allah will forgive you. (39:53)
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ لِيُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
Wa law annahum idh dhalamu anfusahum jaa’ooka f 'astaghfarullaha w 'astaghfara lahumu 'r-rasoolu la-wajadoollaha tawwaaban raheema.
If only, when they had been oppressors to themselves, they had come to you (O Prophet) and asked Allah's forgiveness, and if the Prophet had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah oft-Returning, Merciful. (4:64)
No one from Wahhabis or Salafis can say that you cannot go to Prophet (s), as Allah (swt) mentioned it in Holy Qur'an! You have to go to him! From your place, you ask. Wa law annahum idh dhalamu anfusahum jaa’uka yaa Muhammad, "They come to you, yaa Muhammad (s), directly from here." Fastaghfarullah, "They ask in your presence forgiveness for themselves and you ask for forgiveness on them. Allah (swt) will forgive them."
Allah said in Holy Qur'an:
قُلِ اللّهُ ثُمَّ ذَرْهُمْ فِي خَوْضِهِمْ يَلْعَبُونَ
qul Allah wa dharhum fee khawdihim yal`aboon.
Say "Allah," then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. ( Surat al-An`am, 6:91)
“Say, ‘Allah!’"This is not making dhikr to Allah (swt); Allah says in Holy Qur’an to Prophet (s), “Say ‘Allah!’ Then leave them to play whatever they like to play or deny whatever they like to deny, but say, ‘Allah!’” So dhikr of "Allah" is accepted, not what they are saying, “Not accepted.” That door of the second chapter is opening up now, to say, Allah, Allah, Allah, then leave them, don't bother them. That is what Mawlana said yesterday in the suhbah. “Don’t bother! Don’t say, 'I’m sufi,' but, 'Rabbaani.' Don’t say, 'I am Salafi,' say, 'Allah!'" Qul Allah! He didn’t say, "Qul Sufi or Salafi." He said, Qul Allah, thumma dharhum fi khawdhihi yal`aboon. Say first to them, “Yaa Allah!” and then, “Yaa Muhammad!” Let them say that.
May Allah (swt) give our shaykh long life, give him health, and give us to be with him always and to be with Mahdi (a).
Wa min Allahi tawfeeq wa salaamu `alaykum wa rahmtullahi wa barakatuh. bi hurmati 'l-barakaatuh, wa bi hurmati ‘l-habeeb, bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.
(Mawlana Shaykh Hisham recites khatm.)
After khatm:
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said yesterday that this is the last suhbah he is giving and from now on there will be no suhbah. So we begged him yesterday, “You are full of mercy and we hope that you will change what you said.”
He said, “They closed from up.”
We said, “Yaa Sayyidee! You are the one up and you can open it back again!”
He said, “Tell them,” and this is today, just now, this last part, “we will see.”
So all of you, it is our duty here and those who are hearing and watching us (on Sufilive), to request to Allah (swt) that he will give back what he used to give in suhbahs. And truly, his tajalli was very strong yesterday! Awliyaullah have sealed something and they are not saying what it is. That means a permission came from Prophet (s) to Sayyidina Mahdi (a), because he is waiting for a permission to say Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Something has been passed to the hearts of awliyaullah, because I know that Mawlana never stopped suhbah in all his life, he can speak all night and all day, but there have been some changes. So tonight in the sajdah of Salaat an-Najaat, ask for Mawlana Shaykh to resume what he said he would stop, and we ask for that from all of us!
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.