9 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.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
Dastoor, madad yaa Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani. Dastoor, madad yaa Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani.
We are asking for their madad to reach the Prophet (s). Although many people claim to have reached the Prophet (s) and to get inspirations from him, it is not that easy. Nowadays the word “inspiration” has become so easy on the tongue; everyone is saying, “I have an inspiration.” However, did they ever stop to think whether their inspirations are true or false? How can you recognize if an inspiration is real and true? It is not so easy for anyone to say unless they have been granted this by Allah (swt), such as awliyaullah, as mentioned in the Holy Qur'an:
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
Fa alhamahaa fujoorahaa wa taqwaahaa.
He inspired the self of its good and its bad. (Surat ash-Shams, 91:8)
You cannot say you have an “inspiration” when in reality you didn’t, so don’t lie! That is why awliyaullah know how difficult it is to say, “I have an inspiration.” It has been mentioned in numerous places in the Holy Qur’an that Allah (swt) sends dreams, like the one He sent to Sayyidina Ibraheem (a), ordering him to sacrifice his son. Despite this, Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) did not say, “It was an inspiration,”which is something that comes directly from Allah (swt) through the Prophet (s)! In fact, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) usually says, “I went to rest and had a dream.” He never says, “I am getting an inspiration,” as he is so humble.
Although awliyaullah receive inspirations from the Prophet (s) at every moment, due to their adab and respect of the Prophet (s), they never claim it until they show the highest level of helplessness in front of him (s), saying, “Yaa Sayyidee! Not until we lie down and receive an inspiration from you will we speak on it!” This is proper adab, which you must display in every move you make. It is said, at-tariqatu kullahaa adaab, “All of tariqah is discipline.” An example of good adab is that one must not use the tasbeeh when the Shaykh is speaking. You may use hundreds of beads during your own time, but when Mawlana Shaykh Nazim is speaking you must not use it as the Prophet (s) prohibited us to touch beads or anything when the imaam is on the pulpit giving khutbah:
من مسح الحجر فقد لغي
Man massa ’l-hajar faqad laghaa.
Whoever touches a pebble (during khutbah) has commited a foolish act.
(Abu Dawud, Fadl al-Jumu`ah)
So any movement during that is considered laghaw, absolutely disliked, and they are making a mistake in their religion. When the imaam is on the minbar, there are many who use their beads or put their hands in their pockets to turn off their cell phones even while they are praying, which is laghaw. It is much better to turn off your cell phone before the suhbah or khutbah starts; also, if it rings during prayer don’t move, let it ring, because three movements during prayer invalidate it.
عن أنس رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: انصر أخاك ظالماً أو مظلوماً، فقال: رجل يا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أنصره إذ كان مظلوماً، أفرأيت إذا كان ظالماً كيف أنصره؟! قال: تحجزه أو تمنعه من الظلم، فإن ذلك نصره
Qaala Rasoolullah (s) ansur akhaaka zhaaliman aw mazhlooman, faqaal rajulun: Ya rasoolullah (s) ansurhu idh kaana mazhlooman, afaraa’ita idhaa kaana zhaaliman kayfa ansuruh? Qaala: tahjizahu aw tamna`ahu min azh-zhulm, fa inna dhalika nasruh.
The Prophet (s) said, “Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or is oppressed,” after which a man asked, “O Messenger of Allah! I know how to help my brother when he is oppressed, but how can I help him when he is an oppressor?” He said, “You can restrain him from committing oppression. That will be your help to him.” (Bukhari)
The Sahaabah (r) asked, “How can we support our brother when he is oppressing?” We understand that people come to the Shaykh when they are oppressed in their lives; you might be oppressed by your wife, your father, your sister or your brother, and so the Shaykh will try to make you feel good. The Sahaabah (r) said, “Yaa Rasoolullah (s)! We understand about the oppressed, but what to do for the oppressor?” So the Prophet (s) said, “Support him by telling him his mistakes, and that, ‘What you are saying is incorrect.’” For example, if someone whispered in your ear by phone before or after the lecture, they are using you like a horse to deliver something. They use you! You made a mistake, so try to avoid repeating it and next time, try to prevent your brother from falling into the same mistake! That is how you support him, by preventing him from becoming an oppressor, when you tell him, “Be careful, as what is being said is not true and they are using you to spread fitna, gheebah or nameema, which the Prophet (s) prohibited.”
The Prophet (s) asked, “Who is the bankrupted?” The Sahaabah said, “The one with no wealth,” and the Prophet (s) said, “No, Allah (swt) still provides sustenance for the one with no wealth,” even to the homeless. Once in San Francisco … I saw one homeless person … (who) was happy with his simple life while we are not, although Allah (swt) gave us everything! Still we are backbiting each other! This one says, “I will take your picture,” and the other says, “You are there so I will not bring my camera,” as if the camera is going to make you an important personality. The camera is an instrument used to propagate Mawlana Shaykh's name, so if we have a hundred cameras here, it is better than having ten cameras, because every camera has its own audience and each one channels to different people with different goals.
It is not right that they make it look like enemies are here in Mawlana's house! We are coming here to be together in our happiness, not to impose rules, such as “this one has permission to see the Shaykh and, but that one does not have permission.” No, it is by intention: from the moment you leave your house saying, “I am going for Hajj,” the Hajj is written for you whether you reach it or not! If you make the intention to go for ziyarah to the Prophet (s) and prepare all the necessary documents, and you take one step out of the house and get involved in an accident, the reward will still be written for you! Similarly, it is written for anyone who steps out to visit a masjid, or to go for ziyarah to the grave of a wali. So what do you think if you are stepping out to visit a living Shaykh? You will be rewarded as soon as you step out of your house and it is written that you visited him and returned and Allah (swt) will reward you! What about if you are visiting Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani? Is there any enmity anymore? This is an ocean and we are diving in it! When you go to the ocean, what do you see? What is the color of the ocean? Do you see anything else? To see more, you need to dive into the ocean, then you will see how everything completely changes into a colorful scenery and you will begin to witness nature’s beauty as you have never witnessed on Earth.
Allah’s Creation of the ocean is miraculous and as you dive further, you see more and more. So when you go to a masjid, will Allah (swt) not grant you to see more than what He gave ocean divers? It is not just limited to seeing the minbar, the cabinets, and the people here and there. In reality, Allah (swt) will make you dive in the ocean of that Sultan you visited: you are diving in his heart! He will take you in his heart to wherever he is in the presence of the Prophet (s)! Allah (swt) granted awliyaullah unlimited power, so do not underestimate the Greatness that He gave to His Prophet (s), to the Sahaabah (r), to al-a’immah and to awliyaullah. But sadly, we are blind.
You cannot dive into the ocean without the help of certain instruments, such as goggles and an oxygen tank, or you might drown. Goggles will help you see and oxygen is the gas of life. Everything in this universe is in the form of gas that originates from energy. When Allah (swt) said “Kun!” everything came in the form of gas and took its shape. Hydrogen and oxygen make you live, and both elements come together to form water. Here “oxygen” refers to the knowledge, the sophisticated rocket that awliyaullah put on your shoulders through the awraad and their love to you and your love to them. That is why people say to each other “You are my oxygen,” meaning “I cannot live without you.” Awliyaullah are the oxygen of this life and without them there is only darkness.
وَمَن كَانَ فِي هَـذِهِ أَعْمَى فَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ أَعْمَى وَأَضَلُّ سَبِيل
Wa man kaana fee hadhihi `amaa fa-huwa fi 'l-aakhirati `amaa wa adalloo sabeela.
But those who were blind in this world will be blind in the Hereafter and most stray from the path.
(Surat al-Israa', 17:72)
That is why awliyaullah give you the awraad first as they don’t want you to be blind, and they say, “These are your goggles,” then they give you the oxygen, saying, “Use these awraad and we can show you what you cannot see with your eyes!”
Prophet (s) said:
ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه، فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به، ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها،
Wa laa yazaala `abdee yataqarabu ilayya bi’ n-nawaafil hatta uhibbah. Fa idhaa ahbaabtahu kuntu sama`uhulladhee yasma`u bihi wa basarahulladhee yubsiru bihi, wa yadahulladhee yabtishu bihaa wa rijlahullatee yamshee bihaa.
My servant does not cease to approach Me through voluntary worship until I will love him. When I love him, I will become the ears with which he hears, the eyes with which he sees, the hand with which he acts, and the legs with which he walks (and other versions include, “and the tongue with which he speaks.”). (Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari)
Allah (swt) is saying, fa idhaa ahbaabtahu, “If I love him;” (there is an “if” there), which means you have to keeping running and asking until Allah (swt) loves you. And when Allah (swt) is saying, “He approaches me through voluntary worship until I love him,” that means Allah loves you, because all of you here are coming from long distances to see the Shaykh, which is voluntary worship. Why else are you coming here, but for Allah! He (swt) loves us and, therefore, He brought us together. Those present here are lucky and those absent are lucky as well, because their spirits are present. Any follower of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) around the world is present here; we cannot say “no,” as that would be diminishing the power of the Shaykh, who can reach anyone. He doesn’t need you to reach him, he reaches you! Allah (swt) said, “If I love him, then I will be the ears that he can hear with.” That means you will hear what people cannot hear. Just now we were speaking about instruments such as various computer chips that can hear (spy); according to an article I recently read, now there are computer chips in everything, not only in phones, and they can release your voice and hear what is happening even if the phone is off!
That is why you have to be loyal to your country and abide by its laws. Grandshaykh (q) used to always recite that ayah:
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Ati`oollaaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you.
(Surat an-Nisa, 4:59)
I remember something that perhaps only Shaykh Adnan knows, that Grandshaykh (q) used to say, “I always pray for Hafiz al-Assad (former President of Syria).” Why? Because you have to obey the law. If Allah (swt) put him over us, we have to obey. If I live in the west, I have to obey and love the west; if I live in Europe, I have to love Europe; if I live in the east, I have to love the east, because the Prophet (s) said:
حب الوطن من الايمان
Hubb al-watan min al-imaan.
Love of the homeland is part of faith.
So don't come against your government or you will lose; just surrender, as we are normal and peaceful students of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). I remember during the Lebanese War, Mawlana Shaykh never allowed us to carry a weapon, although everyone had weapons there and not just guns, but also rockets, tanks, and RPGs. He did not let us carry even a knife, although it is a sunnah, but he did not want it to be written in the Lawh al-Mahfouzh that we carried a weapon!
Islam is obedience, so when you obey Allah (swt), His Messenger, and those in authority as mentioned in the above ayaah, Allah (swt) will give you “eyes to see what no one can see, ears to hear what no one can hear, a tongue to say things no one can say,” and He will give you hands that can move mountains! Let us go into this a bit further. If you have one ton of iron or metal and someone tells you to carry it from here to there, you cannot. You would need a machine, a crane to help you perform that task. But still, if you don't give it electricity or gasoline in it, what will the crane do? Nothing, as it will not be able to carry that load. But if you connect it to electricity or put gasoline, the crane will be able to lift one, two, or three tons.
Electricity and gasoline sources of energy. Grandshaykh (q) said Allah (swt) gave energy to awliyaullah that if they say to the mountain, “Move,” it will move! Which is better, energy of this universe or energy that Allah (swt) gave to people? Everything in this universe is made of energy. If you look at the Periodic Table, every atom consists of mass and energy: the electrons, protons, neutron and the mass. We are consisting of both ruh or energy, and body, the mass. If you reach that energy you can do something different, just as Sayyidina `Umar (r) once spoke on the minbar in Madinah, addressing his commander Sariya in Damascus, who was 3,000 km away. Sayyidina `Umar saw and heard, whereas Sayyidina Sariya (r) only heard his voice, telling him, “Go to the mountain! They are coming from behind the mountain!” Sayyidina Umar (r) was at a higher level, hearing and seeing the enemy coming from behind the mountain. Although Sayyidina `Umar (r) is not a prophet, he was able to see. When Allah wants, He will give to whomever He likes! Thus, He gave to awliyaullah, to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), and we have to learn from what they say.
Let us now see what the Shaykh al-Islam of the Shafi`ee school of thought, who was also the Grand Mufti of Mecca, wrote in his book Taqreeb wusool ila `ilm al-usool. As previously discussed, we have to accept what awliya say because they cannot lie on the Prophet (s); when they see the Prophet (s) in a dream and he tells them, “Do this or that,” the matter is finished and they cannot lie. He said: “I saw the Prophet (s),” [he didn't say ‘in a dream’ or ‘in a vision,’ which means it can be both, because in other places they say ra'aitu an-Nabi (s) fir-ruyaa, “I saw the Prophet (s) in a dream.”] So he said, “I saw the Prophet (s) and asked him, ‘Yaa Rasoolullah! You said that Allah prays ten times on the one who makes prayer on you once, correct?’” as we know the Prophet (s) said in an authentic hadeeth:
من صلى علي واحدة صلى الله عليه عشرا
Man salla `alayya marratan sal-Allahu bihaa `alayha `ashr.
If anyone invokes a blessing on me once, Allah will grant him ten blessings.
(Bukhari and Muslim)
So he continued, hal hadha in kaana haadir al-qalb, “But does that require the presence of the heart (such as while meditating)?” Many people ask about meditation in Islam, unaware that Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an:
الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّار
Alladheena yadhkuroonullaaha qiyamaan wa qu`oodan wa `alaa junoobihim wa yattafakkaroona fee khalqi 's-samawaati wa 'l-ardi rabbanaa maa khalaqta hadhaa baatilan subhaanaka fa qinaa `adhaaba 'n-naar.
Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply about the Creation of the Heavens and the Earth, (saying) "Our Lord! You have not created (all) this without purpose! Glory to You! Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire." (Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:191)
Allah (swt) is saying, “Those who make dhikr standing, sitting and lying down, wa yatafakkaroon, and they contemplate on the Creation of the Heavens and Earth.” Allah said yatafakkaroon, “contemplate” or “meditate” on the Holy Qur’an! Not only that, but the Prophet (s) also said:
تفكر ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة
Tafakkarru sa`atin khayrun min `ibaadati saba`een sannah.
To remember Allah (swt) for one hour (contemplate or meditate) is better than seventy years of worship.
If you sit on your knees thinking about the Creation of Heavens and Earth, or about the Holy Qur'an and holy hadeeth, and make dhikrullah, you will be rewarded the worship of seventy years, which is a third of your life completed in worship! Did I say something wrong? If I did, correct me, we are all at the same door. One time I was going to Malaysia with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and he said to me, “Look at my turban; it is (symbolically) covered with all different kinds of jewels, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies. If one of these jewels is out of place, my turban will look bad!” So we are all the same; I cannot claim to be higher because I am giving a lecture, no! If Mawlana wants to pull it, he may do so in one second. How many awliyaullah pulled that from their mureeds to teach them adab? So don't claim anything is from yourself, as they can pull it at any moment and then give it back to show you your weakness.
Also, don’t say, “It is inspiration.” I didn’t explain this point before, but it is very important. Sometimes when you see a fuzzy picture on the television, it is difficult to understand what you are actually seeing, which may be traces of something, but nothing much. However, if your connection is good, you will get a very clear picture and sound. So don't say, “I have an inspiration (as if that legitimizes what you are saying),” because you cannot cheat me on that, for while it may be an inspiration it is still fuzzy, so don't speak about it as you might be wrong.
Here I will mention the example Grandshaykh (q) gave us about the four madhhaahib, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, because in Islam every claim must be traced back to a source. A brief history of the Four Schools of Thought is: Imam Abu Hanifa (r) first brought the Hanafi madhhab, second was Imam Malik (r) with the Maliki madhhab, third was Imam Shafi`ee (r) with the Shafi`ee madhhab, and fourth was Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (r) with the Hanbali madhhab, with two-hundred years between them. Their followers used to fight with each other because each group supported their own school of thought.
So one time Grandshaykh (q) said, “How do I describe the four madhaahib, schools of thought? If they ask me if these four imaams explained Shari`ah completely, I will say, ‘Yes, they explained Shari`ah in detail.’ But according to Imam Shafi`ee, when he was in Baghdad, he recorded his madhhab in the book, Kitaab al-Umm, The Mother (Exemplar) of Books, which is perhaps thirty volumes, but when went to Egypt in the later years of his life, he had to modify his school of thought from the original because he saw more corruption in Egypt.” So that tells us there is a fuzzy picture. When Imam Shafi`i was in Baghdad he saw everything good, but upon his arrival in Egypt, he found more corruption and so he made his madhhab more strict. Similarly, if you go from Imam Abu Hanifa to Imam Malik to Imam Shafi`i and end with Imam Ahmad, as corruption increased the teachings gradually became more and more strict.
So what then do you think would be the madhhab of today? Still we say, “It is inspiration,” and alhamdulillah, we accept that, but don't say it regarding something you know is wrong, especially if it is an inspiration that might jeopardize the system, the entire tariqah. You cannot do that! I have heard Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) say many times that this one (his grandson) is very sincere, very pious, has good imaan and is a very strong supporter, so if he tells me, “I have an inspiration,” I say okay (accept that), but if he tells me he has an inspiration that this book I am quoting from is wrong, I cannot accept it (as it is an authentic source of Islamic knowledge)!
On the first Monday of every month, all the scholars of Damascus would visit Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) and then perform ziyarah at the maqaam of Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi (q). Grandshaykh (q) said to them, “If they ask me to describe the Four Schools of Thought, I will describe it this way. I would ask, ‘Can you see that mountain (Jabal Qasyoun)? There is an animal standing on top of that mountain. Can you see it?’ If they ask me what kind of animal it is, I will say, ‘It is an animal.’ But is it a goat, a sheep, a cow, or an ox?” Just as we believe this is a book, but what is the book about? In order to review the book, I have to go through its pages. So he was telling those scholars, “I have to go up to the top of the mountain and then hold the animal’s legs and arms, then I can confirm that it is an animal with four legs, because I saw and touched them. Then I will look into his face and see the eyes, mouth and nose, and I will know what kind of animal it is, whether it is deformed, the color of its skin, the ears and so forth. I have to describe it very well in order to say what I’m seeing is correct.”
Who is doing that today? Tariqah is to go and examine something very well by checking it, point by point in detail, not just to believe something through hearsay, as we cited previously:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَأٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ
Yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo in ja’akum faasiqun bi naba'in fa-tabayyinoo an tuseeboo qawman bi-jahaalatin fatusbihoo `alaa maa fa`ltum naadimeen.
O you who believe! If a corrupt person comes to you with something wrong, ascertain the truth unless you harm people unwittingly and afterwards become full of repentance for what you have done. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:6)
Allah (swt) didn’t say, “O Human Beings!” He is addressing the believers: Yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo, “O Believers!” which indicates that we must always verify. “If a corrupt person comes to you with a news, don’t believe it, check it.” Usually people don't check it, and out of ignorance they might attack others, which is gheebat or nameemah. “Then you might end up in regret.” If you do that, you are not going to be perfect, especially if you are an `alim or Shaykh. Therefore, you must always verify the information, like politicians and media outlets and newspapers, as most of them do not tell the truth. You cannot lie, either in religion in general or in tasawwuf. So what did scholars of that time say?
According to the book, Talkhees al-Ma`arif, Summarizing the Knowledges by Muhammad `Arif:
Shaykh Zayni ad-Dahlan, who passed away 200 years ago, asked (in his dream), “Yaa Rasoolullah! You said Allah (swt) sends ten salawaat on the one who makes one salawaat on you. Does the heart need to be present?” Sometimes you might make salawaat while listening to a talk or watching TV, saying, “Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadin wa `alaa aali Sayyidina Muhammad.” Is the heart present then? No, it is not. So he asked, “Does your heart have to be present or not?” The Prophet (s) said, “No, it is not necessary. Even if the person making salawaat on me is ghaafil, heedless, and his heart is not connected, it will suffice; you can do salawaat on me even though your heart is not present. Not only that, but Allah (swt) will give him mountains of angels who will make istighfaar on his behalf and pray for him. And for the person whose heart is present, no one will know or can imagine what Allah (swt) will give him; that is only in Allah’s Knowledge!”
Look at the mercy of Allah (swt), and also, do you see how much mercy the Prophet (s) is giving? Look how much you must love Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! And our Shaykh, his (s) representative, gave his life for the Prophet (s), walking from one village in Syria to another to give da`wah! Go and read it in the Naqshbandi Sufi Way. That reward for saying salawaat one time, “Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad wa `alaa aali Sayyidina Muhammad wa sallim!”
Look at the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! May Allah (swt) bless us and forgive us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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