As-salaam alaykum wa rahmutaallahi wa barakaatuh.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta'ala al-`Azheem fee hadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Atee`oollaha wa atee`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)
وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا
The (true) servants of The Most Merciful are those who walk humbly on the Earth and who, when the ignorant people behave insolently towards them, say, "Peace be upon you." (Surat al-Furqan, 25:63)
وَإِن جَنَحُواْ لِلسَّلْمِ فَاجْنَحْ لَهَا
But if they incline to peace, incline you to it as well. (Surat al-Anfal, 8:61)
We Are the People of Peace
Allah (swt) said in Holy Qu'ran, “If they seek for peace, go for it.” We are people of peace, and “silm” is a type of peace, “salaam” is salutations and respect and honor, and “Islam” is all of that. So if we are accepting what Allah said, then we are all “`Ibaad al-Rahmaan” and that title is given to those who are under Allah's mercy, they are servants under the mercy of the Creator. “`Abd al-Rahmaan” is a very high level. Sayyidina Musa (a) was able to reach one:
فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَا آتَيْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا
So they found one of Our Servants on whom We had bestowed Mercy from Ourselves and whom We had taught knowledge from Our Own Presence. (Surat al-Kahf, 18:65)
He was able to reach one, `abdu min al-`abeed, from many of Allah’s servants he reached one. And alhamdulillah, we say Shukran yaa Allah that we have reached two of them, Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q) and Sultan al-Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Adil an-Naqshbandi (q) , from that greatness of, not the normal `abd but that higher level of station of servanthood, al-`Abdiyya, Unique Servanthood, and it is enough for us that they fill our hearts with peace and salaam and silm and Islam! They guided us to the right way, here and all over the world. Wherever there are followers of Tariqat an-Naqshbadiyyati ‘l-`Aliyya, that blessing comes to them; there are other Tariqahs that speak of their shuyookh, and we are speaking of our Tariqah that we take from Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) . They guided us and carry a big responsibility because we are not worth that, but with their love to their followers they have nurtured them with endless blessings and gave from them their spiritual levels they reached, and they gave to all their followers the same in the spiritual realm, all equally, as Prophet (s) said:
االناس سواسيه كااسنان المشط
People are equal like the teeth of a comb.
لافرق بين عربي ولا اعجمي الا بالتقوى
There is no difference between Arabs and non-Arabs (one race and another) except in piety.
There is no difference between an Arab and non-Arab in their eyes because they gave everyone the same from what Allah (swt) gave them and what Prophet (s) inherited them, and every shaykh from the Golden Chain gives to his followers. So we are lucky we are from two shaykhs, first Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) and after that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), who dressed us without us knowing! But suddenly they might dress someone with something, although they gave same gazes to everyone, guiding them through their hearts physically or spiritually. Some out of them, especially in the Tariqat an-Naqshbandiyya al-`Aliyya, from these three spiritual levels they give to their followers: Muhabbat ash-Shaykh (Love of the Shaykh), Hudooru‘sh-Shaykh (Presence of the Shaykh) and Fana fi ’sh-Shaykh (Annihilation in the Shaykh). You will first achieve these three levels with meditation and tafakkur, continuous thoughtfulness, reflection, contemplation, and to question yourself , “Am I doing right or wrong?” That is thoughtfulness, reflection, contemplation. Allah (swt) is saying:
وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ
[they] contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:191)
They reflect on the Creator through His Creation. You look and see the Greatness of Allah (swt); if you observe Creation you will understand the Creator. So that will explain the Greatness of the Creator through this universe. That is why the first level is Hudoor, to establish more thinking, feeling and love. You are feeling more and more presence, that more of yourself is in the Divine Presence. When you begin to develop that, you begin to love what you are feeling. So the first level, Hudoor ash-Shaykh, is to establish in yourself the Greatness of Allah (swt), to increase love to Allah (swt), to Prophet (s) and our shuyookh. Then you feel the presence of your teacher when you turn right or left and when you close your eyes you can see your shaykh easily, but still you cannot see Prophet (s) easily. So in the beginning, you feel the presence of your shaykh established first. That is why you see many people guided from far away without being near the shaykh, because they reached that level and the shaykh is reaching them through his presence and they reflect on the shaykh so much, and he will slowly appear to them not physically, but through a scent, and you may see a light pass quickly. That increases for you the spiritual levels of love: Muhabbat Allah, Muhabbat ar-Rasool and Muhabbat ash-Shaykh.
Miraculous Examples of the Shaykh Guiding from Afar Without a Physical Meeting
The Mureed Who Went to China
I’ll give you one example. One mureed went to pray Jumu`ah in the biggest masjid in China, in Beijing or Hong Kong, and he wore his turban and jubbah.
After prayer the imam called him and said, “What is your way, tariqah, who is your shaykh?”The mureed was worried to answer because you can't do any religious activities or the government might question you. The imam said, “Don't worry, who is your shaykh?”
The mureed's tongue froze to say the name of his shaykh. He told me, “I was about to say ‘Shaykh Nazim’,” but before he could speak the words, the imam said, “Isn't your shaykh Shaykh Nazim (q)?” and he took from his pocket a picture of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q)!
The mureed said, “Yes!”
Then the imam said, “I am his mureed from the Internet and he comes to me to teach me what I have to know to be an imam.”
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Gave Only a Photo and Said, “Find This Man”
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) gave me a picture, and I am saying this in order for us to understand the guidance of shuyookh and how his love reaches you.
He said to me, “Find this person for me.”
I said, “Where I am going to find him?” It is like searching for a ring in a desert! I looked at the photo and thought he is from Africa because he is not white, but black. Then I thought, who do we know that goes to Africa and can do this work? I said to myself, “The Captain!” After two or three weeks Captain Fouad came and I said, “This is your job, I am passing it to you. Find me this shaykh, Mawlana wants him.”
Six months later, he said, “I searched everywhere, in every city and can't find him.”
People don’t know these stories. I have been travelling with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) for 35 years, first throughout the Middle East, and when you travel with the shaykh, you learn a lot.
Searching the African Continent for One Person
So I said, “Give me the picture.” By Mawlana's order I went to Kenya to dig wells [for fresh drinking water] and to establish charity. To go there I had to through Ghana and Ivory Coast, and then I reached Ghana, where the Captain lives. He arranged VIPs welcoming me and I saw the Chief Imam; they came to the airport and said they are en route to Senegal to do Mawlid an-Nabi (s). And I looked among them but didn’t see that man in the picture. Then I went to Ivory Coast and met the Shaykh al-Islam and asked, but they didn’t know the man was in the picture.
When I returned to the airport in Ghana, I was walking through the VIP arrival area and a person came running to me from the domestic arrival area. I looked at the picture and Allahu Akbar, he is the one in the picture! Mawlana sent me to find him and he found me!
I asked, “Shaykh Zakariyya?”
He said, “Yes, I am Shaykh Zakiryya, I am that one.”
He said he saw in a dream from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), “My son-in-law is coming, go meet him at the airport,” and he came. Allah is reaching him! I went to his place, which is in very impoverished area. From there I called Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and said, “I found him!” Mawlana said to give him bay`a and I thought, “He already knows, but what does he know?” But before I mentioned it, he said to me, “Renew my bay`a.”
I said, “What do you mean by ‘baya`’?
He said, “I took bay`a at age 14 when Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) came to me in a dream and gave me bay`a and he said one of his representatives would come and renew my bay`a.”
Awliyaullah are Able to See Us Every Moment
How do awliyaullah come to them, how do they come to us? They are able to see us in every moment! Every moment our body is producing the energy to give not a form, but from Light; everyone’s image of Light is reflected and awliyaullah can see that. Every one of us relfects our images with Light, like an MRI that gives 30-40 images of the body on film per minute. Awliyaullah can reach at any moment and they were working hard on this in every level during their seclusions, to think, to meditate on themselves, and they can see reflection of them.
Everyome can see what they love. Give everything up to the shaykh, don't like anything for your own. Awliyaullah give everything for their shaykh. If you don't see, your love is not enough. Give like you give to a crying child, so if you are crying to Allah (swt) for His door to open, He will open the door.
So you don't know how it works. It is not our business to know how to work, but to do what the shuyookh are doing, to give Knowledge of Certainty through hearing. Knowledge of Seeing leads to Certainty of Seeing. (...) If you have a small pipe, you get a little water. If you have a big pipe, a lot of water is coming to you. That is the structure of Tariqah. That will come through different types of training and experience.
Prophet (s) Came to Shaykh Hisham
I will finish with this. One time when I was young, age of 20, I did my awraad was was sitting with no light and covering myself with a white sheet, a long time ago, before marriage, and I was reciting dhikr of “Laa ilaaha illa-Llaah” and at that time I started to feel goosebumps on my shoulders. I was afraid to open my eyes and at the same time afraid to close them. I never told this to my wife, this is her first time hearing this. So I think I kept my eyes closed and felt goosebumps in my body, my heart, my head and feeling that Prophet (s) was taking over, possessing me. It happened like that for five minutes and I could not handle anymore what he was pouring into me. I cannot speak on what that was, but I could not handle more, and I opened my eyes and it stopped. So as you increase your love, for sure they will reach you; do not think they are not able to reach us. If we don’t think they can reach us, we are denying the ayah:
وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ
And We are nearer to you than your jugular vein. (Surat al-Qaaf, 50:16)
It means Allah can reach in moments, like the ruh; how the soul knows what body to enter? In every moment ladies are pregnant around the world and souls are coming, so they dp they know which womb they must go to? They go to the right one that Allah assigned for it. The mind cannot understand it. Also the souls of people that die, angels know to go to take the right soul. How does it work? What kind of mechanism is it? You cannot know it, but with Reality of Certainty and Knowledge of Certainty, to see and hear Reality. When you see and hear, you then reach the reality of understanding the real issues.Allah (swt) gave awliyaullah the knowledge that Prophet (s) is responsible for his Ummah.
We have to know that Tariqah is not that simple and those who reached sainthood, that spirituality, Allah called them ‘Servant of the Most Merciful One’. They walk on this Earth with humbleness, giving their respect to everyone. They are humble, they don't raise their eyes. They are walking, not flying a plane, not driving, because walking is humbleness. These saints carrying the `ilm of Vision of Certainty. Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah. That is why I recommend for you to cover yourselves, face Qiblah and raise your voice to repeat, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llaah, Laa ilaaha illa-Llaah, Laa ilaaha illa-Llaah” or “Allah, Allah, Allah” and count as you recite, and to do your awraad.
We ask Allah to dress us without us even doing it! It is enough to hear it without even doing it! I saw many times Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and Grandshaykh (q) doing it like that, so even hearing it, is like doing it.
قُلِ الله ثُمَّ ذَرْهُمْ فِي خَوْضِهِمْ يَلْعَبُونَ
Say "Allah," then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. (Surat al-An`am, 6:91)
We are doing our way, leave the unbelievers. Allah (swt) said:
لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ
To you is your religion and to ours, our religion. (Surat al-Kaafiroon,109:6)
Allah is The Judge. We are happy; every party is happy, as it says in Holy Qur’an:
كُلُّ حِزْبٍ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ فَرِحُونَ
Each party rejoices in that which is with itself. (Surat al-Mu’minoon, 23:53)
“We are happy with our way.” And Allah says to establish peace and happiness with every one. to build bridges.
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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