Shaykh Hisham's Home Fenton, Michigan
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.
(Mawlana stands.)
Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, la ilaaha illa-Llah wallahu akbar, Allahu akbar, wa lillahi 'l-hamd!
As-salaatu w' as-salaamu `alayka Yaa Rahmatan li 'l-`alameen ya Shafee`i 'l-mudhnibeen! Madad yaa Sayyidee Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani (q).
(Mawlana sits.)
To give a suhbah is not easy, but for awliyaaullah it is very easy. For Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah (swt) give him long life, it is so easy, so simple, because as soon as he opens, he is connected to what they want him to say; what they send to him. Although he is connected every moment, when he speaks it is different.
Awliyaaullah have respect and they know the meaning of respect and know meaning of discipline. Not like us; we are wild and we don't know the meaning of discipline or respect. They keep that discipline and respect. They know they cannot bother every moment, heavenly stations, to keep plugging and disconnect, plugging and disconnect, no! When they are in their daily life, they have a certain time with Prophet (s). Other than that, according to permission they interact, or else they keep their position quiet, not interfering with anything. Their spirituality is always in the association of awliyaaullah, which is in association with Sayyidina Muhammad (s). (Mawlana stands and sits). They have to keep their respect and whenever they see there is a need for suhbah, for guidance, before that they have to ask permission through spiritual means. As soon as the permission comes they begin the suhbah. That is why their suhbah is for them. They receive directly from heavenly inspirations to their hearts, and they deliver to the ummah. They are not just delivering to who are in front of them, or watching via human technology an Internet live broadcast.
There are those hearing through heavenly technology and as soon as he opens, they have to listen. Grandshaykh (q) said, "Prophet (s) gave me a specialty that whenever I speak, awliyaaullah around the world and mu'min jinn wherever they are, are ordered by their sultaan to listen. And he mentioned the name of sultan of jinn is "Hazaaz." Grandshaykh said, "They are ordered to open their heavenly headsets as I am not delivering through what I learned through books, but I am speaking what comes to my heart through Sayyidina Muhammad (s)." (Mawlana stands and sits).
The message of awliyaaullah is not like other people. Those other than 124,000 awliyaaullah are speaking from soup that is mixed with their ego and ananiyya, what they have learned and what they have heard. But the words of awliyaaullah carry a lot of meaning. And I will quote what Grandshaykh (q) said on 11th Shaban 1397 Hijri, which is 39 years ago. He said, "ati`oollaha wa ati`oo-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum is key to suhbah." After A'oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem, bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem, ati`ooullah (verse 4:59) is the key for every suhbah." Why are you coming or listening to Grandshaykh or Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q)? It is to obey Allah (swt), so coming to them is obedience, and leaving your selfishness, the time that your self will be happy with you, you are leaving it behind and coming to listen, dropping that under your feet, taking that time to obey Allah (swt). Or else why are you coming? It is not needed otherwise.
So if someone is coming to sit with awliyaaullah--not a self-proclaimed wali, as they are egoistic people, but to come to a wali that is not self-proclaimed--he has been authorized by his lineage of sainthood to Prophet (s) to speak, and therefore his guidance is, for sure, going to be obedience. And therefore it is important to pay attention to what they say. Sometimes we loose concentration of what they are saying. Sometimes Shaytan takes you away from attention to meaning of the shaykh, you see on highway or autobahn there is sometimes a diversion. They say divert, you cannot continue, take this detour. Shaytan comes quickly on that highway that takes you to obedience, and he diverts your attention, saying, "There is problem on that highway, get off." He exits you. At least he is successful to divert us when we are in association with awliyaaullah. That is why it is crucial when they speak that their followers are paying attention. Grandshaykh (q) used to say, "I don't like in my association to see anyone even scratch his head; to scratch your face will bring the inspiration down seven times." How many times are we scratching our faces? Can you scratch your face in prayer? Can you sleep in prayer? When you are fasting, can you eat? When praying, can you move your face freely looking here and there? No! What are you doing? You look wherever you are making sajdah. That means your concentration is on that and you cannot concentrate on something else.
So in suhbah that shows you are coming to learn from them, because it shows you how much you are obedient to your Lord. That is why after a'oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem, bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem, the next title that comes for every suhbah is "Obey Allah (swt)"; if you begin the suhbah with ati`oollaha wa ati`oo-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum, doors will open for the listeners. That is why it is a requirement for those who are delivering a speech by order of Mawlana Shaykh (q), people who have been given permission or authority, to begin with ati`ullaha wa ati-ar-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum, because that verse is carrying the whole message of Islam. Is there another message? Why did Prophet (s) come? (Mawlana stands.) He came for one thing, to obey Allah (swt)! (Mawlana sits.)
So awliyaaullah are always obedient to Allah (swt) day and night. Are we obedient to Allah (swt) day and night? No! We might be obedient during association, but we are biggest tyrants outside that time. Not big tyrants to others, but biggest tyrants to ourselves, enemy of our good self. As you are not paying attention at that time, Shaytan easily whispers in your ears, "Why do you want to work? Go and sleep, rest." Some people think, "Why I have to bother with work?" Or, "Why are so many people watching the live-broadcast on the Internet?" And they waste their time on internet and sleep also! Wemake all kinds of tyranny on ourselves.
Prophet (s) said, "We are people who don't eat until we are hungry." We are eating all the time. We are eating each other's flesh all the time. We are eating the raw flesh of our brothers and sisters by backbiting them. So ati`ur-Rasul means listen to what Prophet (s) said in his ahaadeeth. First ati`ullaha, means to follow what Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an. Ati`ur-Rasul is what Allah (swt) sent to His messenger, delivered to you, so listen to it. And if you are not able, then listen to what authority delivered to you and explained it.
So Grandshaykh (q) explained this verse, ati`oollaha wa ati`oo-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum, "When you read this verse, as it contains obedience to Allah (swt) obedience to Prophet (s), and obedience to those in authority, it will open to you the door of power that will enable you to control dunya and control akhira, to enable you to enter dunya with full power and enter akhirah with full power."
Entering dunya with full power means to make your life a heavenly life in dunya, coming with power against Shaytan. To control akhira means that you will be able to reach the highest level possible in the Hereafter. When you recite that verse, that secret will be thrown in your heart. Imagine how many times, if you recite ati`oollaha wa ati`oo-Rasoola wa ati`oollaha wa ati`oo-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum day and night, how much of these powers will be given and accumulating! Secrets upon secrets coming to you as a gift from Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s)! (Mawlana stands.) As-salaat w 'as-salaam `alayk yaa Rasulullah yaa rahmatan li 'l-`alameen!
It will give you sa`adah, happiness, in dunya and in akhira. When we say happiness, your life becomes full of happiness and not one moment in your life will be difficult. All the time you will be happy, swimming in the Ocean of Mercy of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! (Mawlana stands.) And it will make you not to be in need for anyone when you open these doors, by reciting these verses of Holy Qur'an. You are not in need of anyone in dunya. You are not in need of anyone; Allah (swt) will take it away. Your need is only for Him and your need is only for Prophet (s). (Mawlana stands.) You need Prophet (s) and you need Allah (swt). And then Prophet (s) will give you to awliyaaullah to take care of you and guide you through their ways. And through their ways you will be reaching the presence of Prophet (s) and through him you reach the presence of Allah (swt).
Not only that; the recitation of that aayah is key to open the "Springs of Wisdom" in the hearts of the people reciting that verse. That is why when awliyaaullah begin their association, they recite that verse and all these Springs of Wisdom will open to them and they open it to their followers. So when the shaykh begins, it means he is ready to pour in your heart all these secrets. That is why when he begins, Mawlana Shaykh, may Allah (swt) give him long life, begins with takbir, shahada and sending salam on Prophet (s), to open these doors of spiritual knowledge, wisdoms that benefit you and those seeing him or sitting with him, and hearing him from far away, among jinn and ins.
That is why "Tariqatunaa as-suhbat wa 'l-khayru fil-jam`iyyah" was said by Shah Naqshband (q) 24,000 times in his life. It means 24,000 hours. And each suhbah is one hour, as Mawlana (q) doesn't go over 45 minutes. So divide 24,000 by one hour, how much does it become? 24,000 times he said it in his life divided by one hour and divided by 24 hours means 1,000 days he spoke that, "ati`oollaha wa ati`oo-Rasoola wa ulil-amri minkun." Shah Naqshband (q) was spreading the wisdom everywhere through his speeches! That is why the suhbah is important in presence of the shaykh, and in old times we sit with the shaykh. Now Allah (swt) makes it easy, because tariqah is spreading so much. Before we used to sit with Grandshaykh (q), but that does not mean the others were not receiving it in their hearts, because followers are followers. Followers today are followers of Mawlana (q). Thousands, as they put in the book, top 50 Influential Muslims, he has millions of followers. Is that all he has? No, he is Sultan al-Awliyaa; his speeches have to be for the whole ummah. It means that he has to reach the others through spiritual means, either through dreams, as Nasser mentioned after many years suffering coming from Iran, and coming to Turkey and coming to Holland and coming to United States and going through a lot of suffering. Mawlana Shaykh (q) is reaching him through dreams, and he didn't know him or see him. So continuously Mawlana Shaykh is reaching people.
There are other people that can reach them in a different way: they talk through their hearts. So it is not millions of followers, but hundreds of millions that are being given this. And when we say Sultaan, what is Sultaan? It means every citizen is subject to his kingdom. For a king of a country, the citizens are his subjects. Not in a country where there is no king, you don't say subject to the president. What do you think of Sultan al-Awliyaa? The awliyaa are subject to him! And all awliyaa relate to him with all their millions of followers. And when Sultaan speaks it means that he is reaching everyone without a doubt. And when he is speaking he is not only speaking, because sultaans are respectful, they know the meaning of honor and respect of their shuyookh. They say, "This is coming from my shaykh," even though his shaykh left dunya already. And the shaykh before that says, "This is coming from my shaykh," and all the way to the presence of Prophet (s). And that means all these shaykhs will be under the observance and in the presence of the Prophet (s). And the duty of the shaykh is to take you from where you are to present you to Prophet (s).
That is the importance of being student of a wali, not a so-called wali but a real one, authorized by his shaykh with real authority that comes from the grandshaykhs. That authority comes from the Prophet (s), and those are the ones who can throw wisdoms in the heart of their followers. Those who are proclaiming themselves as masters of shaykhs, they cannot give anything. They are wasting their followers' time and their own time. But what should we say? We say that we are very thankful to Allah (swt) and with Prophet (s) (Mawlana stands) that You have sent mercy for humanity. (Mawlana sits.) And we are very thankful for Sultaan al-Awliyaa, that he accepted us as his disciples, although we are not worthy of it. And that is why Grandshaykh (q) never gave baya` to anyone and he used to say, "I have no mureeds except two: Nazim Effendi and Hussayn Effendi." That means they are awliyaaullah, they have a secret, the Springs of Wisdom have been opened in their heart and they are of that calibre. And Shaykh Hussayn came earlier to Grandshaykh (q) by many years. Mawlana Shaykh (q) is ten years younger. And Shaykh Hussayn carried a lot of hardship for our Grandshaykh (q). He helped him in a lot of ways and did his best for him. And when Shaykh Nazim (q) came ten years later, he also gave his best to Grandshaykh (q).
And before, Grandshaykh (q) didn't discriminate on age, older or youngest. He said, "Shaykh Nazim is my khalifah." What did Shaykh Hussayn do? He didn't say "No, I am better." He came, and I was there when Shaykh Hussayn came to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and renewed his baya`, as Mawlana became the Sultaan al-Awliyaa and he is then the student. For awliyaaullah, no ego, finished! Their ego went down, and they can step on it easily. Why? Because they have this Spring of Innocence in their hearts. They understand, they are not children. We are children, we don't know realitities. We only like to sit on a chair with all our weaknesses. We want to be famous and everyone comes to use. What is the benefit? You deviate the people. When Allah (swt) asks on the Day of Judgment, "Why did you deviate them?" What can you answer? There is no answer, except that you did something wrong.
Thats why, O listeners, O Muslims, O students, we are all students of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q); he is the Shaykh, he is the Sultaan. There is no other Sultaan. He is the way and he is the door to Sayyidina Muhammad (s). (Mawlana stands and sits.) If we want to really say ati`oollaha wa ati`oo-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum, then that is where they take you. First to take you to the door where the beginning is, to take you to the ones on authority. Allah (swt) didn't say, "Obey Allah (swt) and obey Prophet," and stopped. No! allah (swt) continued, "and obey those who are on authority." And He (swt) said to awliyaaullah, "I put under your control this world and heavens." Do you want to be a wali? The door is open. You have to become an ascetic and leave dunya behind. You eat and drink, but you give in Allah's (swt) Way, open your doors to His pious servants, to listen and to be guided by them. Don't close your doors and don't be someone who misleads others!. May Allah (swt) protect us from misleading anyone, all of us.
So Allah (s) gave awliyaa the first way to teach us, as they give you teachers in Kindergarten, until they guide you from one level to another, until you are able to enter the door of Sultaan and to enter the door to Prophet (s). And that is why Sultaan al-Awliyaa has representatives to take you from one class to another. They have to teach grade one, two, three, class one, two and three. Deuxième, onzième, dixième, septième, sixième, cinquième, quatrième, huitième, troisième, douxième, première. They go from back in the French system. In the French system they are aware that you have to go from small, up to high. Here no, they go from one, two, three, and higher. High in the French system is lowest in numbers, because number one is highest; that's why they count in the opposite way. Douzième, twelve, means Kindergarten; here it means high school in the American system. If you are on the level of douzième, it means that you have no mind; you are still in Kindergarten. You have to drop your mind, your ego down, down, down until you submit to one. So awliyaaullah take you all this way down. Arrogant people take you from one and throw you in Kindergarten. So their representatives will begin taking care of you in Kindergarten, like nursery school, full of stinky smell in the big hall and full of something else. You have to change, and keep changing and throw some powder to make it clean; that is Kindergarten! (laughter)
So there are teachers for that kind of school and those teachers are awliyaaullah. They have to make sure you become clean from these wild and stinky characters that are within us. Until you become in douxième, the first class Kindergarten. They don't allow you in first class until you are clean, and then you begin your assencion when you keep yourself clean. So these associations are the ones taking us from lowest, stinky, wild characters up to another level. Than another representative of Sultaan can take you to the second class, which is a clean one, and there he begins to build you up with good manners. Then you go to high school, college, university. Then they take you to be with Sultaan al-Awliyaa, with the professors. You must be so thankful to be in Sultaan al-Awliyaa's garden. You must be very thankful and pray two raka`at shukr daily, to thank Allah (swt) for being a lover of Prophet (s) and lover of Sultaan al-Awliyaa (Mawlana stands) or else we would have been lost. (Mawlana sits.)
And so when they open from ati`uallah, they open the Spring of Wisdoms that fill the heart and makes the listeners to concentrate. I will not be too long, may Allah (swt) give us the power to concentrate and the power of listening. We are in need and it is necessary to listen when they are broadcasting. Because we don't have headsets, Allah (swt) gave us technology to listen to them. If we are not so busy on our job, if we are free, it is important to listen and spare that time and hear their advice.
wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Faatihah.
But this is an important message to everyone listening, to understand the meaning of different levels of sainthood and representatives, to appreciate what we have, because we are not appreciating. We have diamonds and we are looking at zircon. Zircon has a value of two carats, which is ten dollars. But diamonds of the same size has a value of 200 million dollars, same size and same cut. The diamond has a secret, and the zircon doesn't have a secret. If you put a zircon on the machine that counts the electromagnetic waves, you will see a very weak signal, but a diamond shows strong magnetic waves. That shows it is carrying a lot of secrets and a lot of energy, and that is why Prophet (s) advised that when wearing the sunnah ring, be sure the stone of the ring touches the skin, especially `aqeeq (carnelian) or ferouze (turquoise), because there is a secret energy that passes from `aqeeq and fixes your system and your skin. Now people tell the jeweler not to make the stone so low that it touches their skin, make it higher, to show they have a big stone!
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Faatihah.