Suhbah after Zhuhr
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, nawayna ‘s-siyaam fee qalaam, lillahi ta`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid, masjid sayyidee sultan, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi ta`ala wa barakaatuh.
If oceans were ink and trees were pens, pens will finish and ink oceans will finish but Allah’s Words will never finish! Allah (swt) laa yahudu fee makaan wa laa zamaan, nothing limits Him, not a time, and not a place, and any issue that is related to Allah’s Greatness there is no limitation. Allah knows everything before He created, and He knows everything after He created. He knows every haraka, every movement that we do, it is known by Allah (swt); nothing overlaps another thing. He can in the same time, we cannot say He can, sorry, but His Unlimited Power knows everything, even the details of it up to the beginning of its creation until its end, and in the Hereafter in the other world. That is why unfortunately we don’t understand enough because no one can reach Allah’s Greatness!
Prophet (s) reached by Allah’s invitation to him; he reached where Allah (swt) wanted him to reach, where he was so near to Two Bows-Length or less. Two bows-length is this (Mawlana extends their arm); it might be one yard or one meter, or a little bit bigger. Allah wanted him to see what no one was able to see until he reached that, and there he opened for him from His Greatness, not opening for him about knowledge of people, or about Creation, already he knew about it.
رواه عبد الرزاق بسنده عن جابر بن عبد الله بلفظ قال قلت: يا رسول الله، بأبي أنت وأمي، أخبرني عن أول شيء خلقه الله قبل الأشياء. قال: يا جابر، إن الله تعالى خلق قبل الأشياء نور نبيك من نوره،...
`An Jaabir ibn `AbdAllah qaala: qultu yaa Rasoolullah, bi-abee anta wa ummee, akhbirnee `an awwala shayin khalaqahu ’Llaaha qabla’l-ashyaa? Qaala: yaa Jaabir, inn Allaha ta`ala khalaqa qabla al-ashyaa noora nabiyyika min noorih...
When Jaabir (r) asked, “Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you, oh Prophet of Allah! What is the first thing that Allah (swt) created?” the Prophet (s) said, “The first thing that Allah (swt) created is the Light of your Prophet from His Light, O Jaabir.” (Musannaf `Abdu ’r-Razzaq)
According to a hadith of Ibn as-Sakin, that hadith about the Light of the Prophet (s) that was mentioned in Mussanaf `Abdu’r-Razzaq, that when Prophet (s) was asked what Allah created first, he said, “What Allah created first was noori nabbiyyika, the Light of your Prophet (s), yaa Jaabir.”
He (s) was telling Sayyidina Jaabir (r) that what Allah (swt) created first was his light, so from that light which was created first and downwards is known by Prophet (s), no one can say, “It is not known,” but from that light and behind was it known? Allah is Generous, why Allah (swt) wants to keep it to Himself? He is al-Qaadir, al-Muqtadir, The One Who has power in His Hand, power to say, “Be” and it will be, kun fayakoon. But He wanted His Prophet to know behind that, behind Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa. That is why from the moment he left his mattress in his house and went to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa and came back, his mattress was still warm!
It means all this knowledge from Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa and down are known to Prophet (s) in moments! This trip that takes billions and billions and trillions of light-years for any, if there is a vehicle that can take people through this universe, because we have billions and billions of stars that are far away, billions of light-years away, and Prophet (s) moved there and passed them and came back and the mattress was still warm. And the time he spent, for our eyes, for dunya people is one hour or two hours, but for him it was only moments as Allah (swt) can stretch that time, that moment, to become years that you cannot count. You see the Greatness of Allah (swt)!
So what is the hikmah? There are many wisdoms and we don’t know these hikmahs, even awliyaullah only know according to their levels. There are 124,000 walis, not only one wali or two, or three or four walis, there are 124,000 walis and all of them are in a pyramid structure until they reach the top. We believe and we are proud to say that Mawlana, may Allah give him long life, is Sultan al-Awliya and we have a right to say that, it is my belief. Your belief might be your shaykh is whatever he is; it is your belief, but my belief, all of us believe he is Sultan al-Awliya. Still there is 124,000 less one, in different levels and we cannot reject them or then we are doing something wrong. We cannot reject them, we have to respect them because Islam is respect, religion is respect.
انما بعثت لاتمم مكارم الاخلاق
Innamaa bu`ithtu li utammimu makaarim al-akhlaaq.
I have been sent to perfect the best of conduct (your behavior and character). (Bazzaar)
Prophet (s) said, “I have been sent to respect, to complete the best of manners, to complete them within human beings.” Now if you read this hadith a hundred times, is it changing our behavior? Let us be frank, let us be true. If I say to myself or to you, or to anyone that Prophet said, “Innamaa bu`ithtu li utammimu makaarim al-akhlaaq,” and he said to Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r), “Yaa Aba Hurayrah, `alayka bi makaarim al-akhlaaq,’” he said to Abu Hurayrah, “You have to have makaarim al-akhlaaq,” you have to have it. If we read it and read it and read it, does anything happen, do you change? We don’t change because we are dressed already with dresses that are so thick in the summer time and so think in the winter time, and we put one dress over another dress from our bad manners, hiding the good manners inside. Can you change? No, in real life we cannot change, maybe we change in an epsilon. You know an epsilon? An epsilon is the smallest thing in mathematics, the smallest element. In reality, in the heavenly life, yes we change, because as we are mentioning that hadith of Prophet (s), Prophet dresses us from what he is getting from Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa. He is not depending on us! If he depends on us, we are losers. Although we are not changing in our real life, but in our heavenly life yes, we are changing, in our spiritual life yes, we are changing. We are changing because of who you are connected with. Who is your door to Prophet (s)? Who has the key for that door to open the lock for you, to change you without your feeling that you are changing, dressing you without you feeling that you are dressed? Yes, that one which we in this tariqah, we believe our shuyookh all the way up the Golden Chain, all the way up to Prophet (s), they are salaateen, sultans. The king is different and the sultan is different; the king is malik, “O this is my king,” “This is the king of this country,” but the sultan, he is the king and he has full power under him and no way anyone can come out of his hand. These are sultans in Akhirah, they become sultans in dunya also.
So do we really connect through them to the right lock of the door ? If you are following their footsteps you reach the lock. There is a lock. Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an, “You say you love Allah,” and if you ask anyone: “Do you love Allah?” What does he say? “Yes.” I am not going to question that. Alhamdulillah, you take it for granted, but Allah said: “If you really love Me, in kuntum tuhibboona, if you were really My lovers, follow Muhammad.”
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Qul in kuntum tuhibboona 'Llaaha fattabi`oonee yuhbibkumullaahu wa yaghfir lakum dhunoobakum w 'Allaahu Ghafooru 'r-Raheem.
Say (O Muhammad), "If you (really) love Allah, then follow me! Allah will love you and forgive your sins, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:31)
At the beginning of the ayah, qul, say to them, “If you really love Allah (swt),” okay we accept that you love Allah, but, follow Muhammad (s), at that time Allah loves you! Which is better? And this some people or scholars put a question mark on it, what is better - to read Qur’an or to make salawaat on Prophet (s)? I don’t want an answer which is not scholastic, it has to be a scholarly answer, which is better, to read Qur’an or to make salawat on Prophet? Evidence, your evidence? (A mureed: If you make salawaaat, Allah makes salawaat on you). MashaaAllah. (Ten times). What about Qur’an? When you read Qur’an you are getting on every letter one hasanaat up to 10, which can go up to 700. Alif Laam Meem is not one letter, it is three letters, you say, “Alif,” it is one letter, Laam is one letter, Meem is one letter. So now we said, “Alif. Laam. Meem,” we got three hasanaats, multiply it by 10 it is 300, or if multiplied by 700 it is 2,100 hasanaats that you get. If you make one time salawaat on Prophet (s), Allah makes on you ten salawaats. When Allah says I will make ten salawaat there is no more comparison between our recitation of Holy Qur’an and getting reward, and Allah (swt) sending you ten times, sending ten salawaat on you. It must be so powerful that there is no scale which can carry them!
So yes, of course scholars, and awliyaullah say to their followers to make salawaat on Prophet (s) wherever they are sitting. That doesn’t mean that you don’t read the Qur’an but to show the importance of doing salawaat on Prophet (s), Allah loves that. That is why He said, “If you really love Allah then follow Muhammad, that is My condition for you,” Allah will love you. How do we follow Prophet (s)? I am sitting here and the door is there, how many meters between me and the door? Six meters or yards whatever it is. If from my place I am saying the lock is there, how am I going to reach there? Either the door has to come here or the chair has to move there, one of them has to move, that is logic if you don’t want to walk or move. But Allah said, “If you really love Me, follow Muhammad,” in kuntum tuhibboona 'Llaaha fattabi`oonee, ittiba`, when you say “attabi`nee” it means “follow me.” So follow Muhammad (s)!
How do you follow without walking? You did not yet reach to be moved with the chair. There are people that with sitting they move the chair, they carry their chairs, you will get that later. (Laughter) So awliyaullah, like our Sultan knows that he cannot depend on us to follow and walk to reach the door, they move you with the chair! That is their compensation, their reward to you; either they move you with the chair or they bring the chair. And the evidence? You cannot throw words without evidence because people, our minds cannot understand everything, it is limited.
قَالَ الَّذِي عِندَهُ عِلْمٌ مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَن يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ
Wa qaal alladhee `indahu `ilmun mina ’l-kitaab anaa ateeka bihi qabla an yartada ilayka tarfuk
Said one who had knowledge of the Book: "I will bring it to thee within the twinkling of an eye!" (Surat an-Naml, 27:40)
When Sayyidina Sulayman (a) asked the jinn, “Can anyone bring the chair of Sheba before she arrives.?” “No, I can bring it before the meeting finishes, but it needs time,” said one of the big, maradatu ‘l-jinn, the strongest jinn, the most violent ones. He said, “I can get it,” as they used to work for Sayyidina Sulayman (a), but it would take time. But the one who had knowledge of the Book, what did he say? Which Book? Az-Zaboor, the Psalms. Wa qaal alladhee `indahu `ilmun mina ’l-kitaab, the one who has knowledge of the Book said, “I will get it to you in a blink of an eye.” He moved the chair, he moved the Throne of Bilqees from Yemen to Palestine where Sayyidina Sulayman was, in the blink of an eye the Throne was there. Now today the computer, in a blink of an eye, the satellites, cable stations move the picture, but they cannot bring you out of that station and you will be seen as three dimensions. They can bring you two dimensions but they cannot bring three dimensions. This is for awliyaullah for heavenly powers!
So alhamdulillah that our shuyookh... that is why people connect with Sufi teachers, spiritual teachers because they know they cannot depend on us to walk to the door which is so near, because we are not really convincing ourselves that this will happen. But this will happen because `Asif ibn Barkhiyya, that minister of Sayyidina Sulayman (a), said, “I will bring it to you in the blink of an eye.” What did this man have? What did Allah mention that he has? He had the knowledge of the Book. What about the knowledge of Holy Qur’an? Can it move the throne of Sheeba or can it move the universe? Prophet (s) was dressed with Holy Qur’an; where did he move? To Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa and not only that, also he knew when his Light was created, he moved farther down and he is still moving!
So awliyaullah like our Sultan, and I have to mention immediately Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani, may Allah give him long life, is able to take you with the chair, not to move from Yemen to Palestine, 3,000 km for example, or more, but he can move you through the universe to reach the presence of Prophet (s), and Prophet (s) can take you from his presence to Allah’s Divine Presence!
So Allah wants to show His Prophet (s) what is after Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, and He brought him there. What is He giving of secrets? It is going to be known on the Day of Judgement, it is not for dunya. That is for awliyaullah’s hearts and they dress you with it, but they don’t open it.
كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ
Kullu yawmin huwa fi sh`aan.
every day in (new) Splendour doth He (shine)! (Surat ar-Rahmaan, 55:23)
Every day a new matter, a new issue, something new happens and we wish that inshaa-Allah what we are waiting for, which Prophet (s) said:
أفضل العبادة، انتظار الفرج
Afdal al-`ibaadah, intizhaar al-faraj.
The best of worship is to await an opening (relief) from difficulty. (Tirmidhi)
For example, he wants to go to Hajj and from the inner side of him he is saying, “Inshaa-Allah this year I want to go for Hajj.” So until the visa and Hajj time comes he is worried, thinking, “Am I going or not going?” You feel that within you. So intizhaar al-faraj, the people who are waiting for it to happen want it to happen. And that is why Prophet (s) said, “It will be considered worshipness.” It is worshipness.
Now you are planning for Hajj and how far is Hajj? Al-hajju `arafah, Hajj is `Arafat, it is one day. When I was living in Hijaaz for many years, for us Hajj was so easy, living there in Jeddah, every year you go for Hajj, and every Thursday or Friday you go for `umrah because it is easy as you are living there. On the 9th is `Arafat, on the 8th from Jeddah you go to Mecca in your ihraam, everyone is there. You go and make Tawaaf al-Quddoom, and as you finish the Sa`ee it is the morning of the 9th and you go to `Arafat, it is until Maghrib. You finish `Arafat and you go to Muzdalifah; it is finished, the Hajj is two days. Al-hajju `Arafat, “Hajj is `Arafat” and the most important day and everyone is waiting for is that day. For every moment you are waiting for that day to come, it is a day of Hajj!
Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, “Allah opened to the heart of awliyaullah through Prophet (s) that anyone who prays his prayer within the first hour of the praying time, within the first hour it will be written for him as a reward, not as a performance, but it will be written for him as a reward as if he went to Hajj and came back within that first hour! That tajalli is continuous. He said this is a good tiding for you to know that within the one hour you pray, you will be rewarded as if you went to Hajj and came back, and your prayer will be as if you are in Ka`bah, one of your spirits will be there present in front Ka`bah!
So intizhaar al-faraj, waiting for a big opening in this dunya is worshipness. And that is why waiting for something for relief and to bring peace on Earth, everyone is waiting for peace--no bloodshed anymore, no calamities anymore, no fighting anymore--everyone is waiting for that. A reward will be be written for everyone! How much reward will be at that time? You will be rewarded in this time because they are waiting for a noble cause, they are waiting for that one whom... and I mentioned on my fingers who: Jews are waiting, Christians are waiting and Muslims are waiting. Christians are waiting for Sayyidina `Isa, whom we are waiting for; Jews are waiting for the Messiah, whom we are waiting for, and Muslims are waiting. Christians are waiting for the Messiah and the Jews are waiting for the Messiah. We are waiting for the Messiah and waiting for Mahdi, we are combining them! We are waiting for that one who has been mentioned in the three different religions, and no one can deny it because there are a lot of ahadeeth on this from the Prophet (s)! So we say it openly to everyone watching and listening that we are waiting inshaa-Allah for peace to come on Earth, through what the Jews are waiting for, which is the Messiah, and al-Mahdi (a), and the Christians are waiting for Sayyidina `Isa (a).
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
And Mahdi (a) and Sayyidina `Isa know who is on the Right Path and those who are not on the Right Path. Those who are on the Right Path and waiting correctly are safe. Those who are not waiting on the Right Path and are confused, they will be guided to the Right Path, to Islam.
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُُ
Inna ad-deena `inda Allaahi ’l-islaam.
The religion in Allah’s view is Islam (submission to His Will). (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:19)
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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