22 March 2012 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Suhbah After Khatm
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)
Kalimataan khafeefataan `ala al-lisaan thaqeelataan fi ’l-meezaan subhaanAllah wa bi-hamdihi SubhaanAllahi 'l-`Azheem, astaghfirullah.
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.
I will not be too long, but if time permits, a couple of words after the dhikr are necessary. We do not say that Allah (swt) “chose” Sayyidina Muhammad (s), because that is to imply there were many choices to choose from. But Allah (swt) created him and dressed him with the Eternal Beauty and Light of the Eternal Beautiful Names and Attributes of Allah! He dressed His Prophet (s) and by Allah's (swt) order the Prophet (s) dressed all the prophets (a) with these Lights, and prophets dressed all the awliyaullah (q) who are standing at their feet, at their threshold.
Now some will ask, how do you recognize awliyaullah? You know them from these Lights they are dressed with, and we know that, but if you don't give evidence and you only try to throw words in the air, talking about 70,000 blessings and 70,000 dresses without giving real evidence, they will ask, “From where are you bringing that?” I never heard Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, say “70,000” except in one occasion, when he said, “Majlis adh-dhikr (like this dhikr), for the love of Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) and for remembering Allah's Name will intercede for seventy majlis.’” It will take away the sins of seventy bad associations, not 70,000! But in any case, whatever it is--70,000, 70 or 7,000--we have to give the evidence, which Ibn `Abbas (r) wrote in his Tafseer Surat al-`Araaf:
When Sayyidina Musa (a) asked to see Allah (swt), Allah said to him, “Look at the mountain; when I manifest My Beautiful Names and Attributes you will see Me and if not, you will not see Me.” So when Allah (swt) manifested His Beautiful Names and Attributes on the mountain, the mountain shattered to powder and Sayyidina Musa (a) fainted, and when he woke up he saw (as mentioned by Ibn Abbas), 124,000 prophets.
So that number comes from Ibn `Abbas’s tafseer. The awliyaullah are on the threshold of 124,000 prophets, so there are 124,000 awliya. Now we are living in this world between people and when we see something wrong, according to Islamic Shari`ah you have to say “This is wrong,” because if you don't you will carry the wizra, burden of that as if you are partner in that wrong.
وَأَمَرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَنَهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ
W ’amaroo bi ’l-ma`roof wa nahaw `ani ’l-munkar.
And enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. (Surat al-Hajj, 22:41)
So if you see something wrong you say, “This is wrong,” you speak out, and then they can correct themselves, and if you see something good, you say, “This is good.” And the evidence is the hadith of the Prophet (s):
تعرض علي أعمال أمتي
Tu`radu `alayya `amaal ummatee.
The deeds of the ummah are presented to me.
SubhaanAllah, look at the power that Allah (swt) gave to Prophet (s). In twenty-four hours, the Prophet (s) sees the whole ummah; not just one person or a few people, but the entire ummah! So however many mistakes we do, the Prophet (s) is observing and taking the burden away. So our duty is to be realistic. When we speak or give a speech, don’t try to come to me and speak from above the ceiling, throwing words, shatahaat, something that people cannot understand! Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir Jilani (r) said, “If you see someone flying, then know that is Shaytan,” because a scholar will not fly in the air; rather, he will do things that are realistic. So don’t throw words and put things that are not realistic.
Tariqah is based on Shari`ah, not on something we hear about from here and there, so you don’t have to go too much into Shari`ah or too much into Haqiqat and spiritual realities. No, you have to build the airplane in order to fly; you cannot fly with half an airplane, you need two wings! Did you ever see a bird flying with one wing? How are you flying above Qaaba Qawsayni wa Adnaa and explaining so high about The Essence, Dhaat al-Buht, and that Prophet (s) is the Essence? How? No one knows the Essence of Allah (swt), not even the Prophet (s); he (s) only knows what Allah (swt) gave him to know! People know that, so don’t speak too high, about flying above Qaaba Qawsayni wa Adnaa or people will get confused. You must build the structure because a bird with one wing will not fly. Without Shari`ah--one wing--and Haqiqat--one wing--you cannot take off (in flight). But you dropped one and mentioned one, that doesn't work.
All of us and everyone who are following mashaykh from any tariqah, we are not speaking on any one tariqah but we are speaking in general, so don’t come and say, “Naqshbandi is the best and the others are bad,” because people don’t like that. Be fair: there are 124,000 awliya, and everyone in his tariqah says, “My shaykh is Sultan al-Awliya,” so don’t create confusion and make people run away! We never heard from Grandshaykh (q) that he is Sultan al-Awliya and we never heard him say Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) is Sultan al-Awliya, and we never heard Mawlana Shaykh (q) say that he is Sultan al-Awliya! We believe he is, but don’t put words in his mouth that will backfire against the Naqshbandi Tariqah. Don’t let people say one (confrontational) word, because of many representatives speak high above the ceiling and above Qaaba Qawsayni wa Adnaa or people will ask, “How did you speak about Qaaba Qawsayni wa Adnaa? Do you know it/see it?” Then how can you speak about it? You cannot, because you have to be there, so keep your level!
I am not saying that Allah (swt) didn't say in Holy Qur'an:
وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ
Fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `aleem.
Above every knower is a (higher) knower. (Yusuf, 12:76)
We respect every knower and Gnostic, but the Gnostic has adab. In one lecture in Cyprus they said, “If there is a stone in the street, what do you have to do? You have to take it away.” And Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) taught us not to push it with your feet but take it with your hands and put it aside. It means imatat al-adha min at-tareeq, “to remove the harmful thing from the way is from faith” as it might harm you and break your neck, so you are responsible to remove it and that is Shari`ah.
And if a stone that is a human being is blocking the way of people, then what do you do? You remove him or else you are responsible! Why aren’t you removing these harmful stones, when Islam teaches to take away the stone that is harmful? But you are saying, “These are good people, we have to keep them there.” Remove them with discipline, not with your feet but with your hands, and then if you cannot move them with your hands, then what did the Prophet (s) say? “Move them with your tongue.”
Man ra’a munkaran fal-yughayyiruh bI-yadih fa in lam yastat`i fa-bi lisaanihi wa in lam yastat`i fa bi ’l-qalbi wa dhalika ad`afu ’l-imaan.
Whoever sees a wrong, try to change it with your hand; if you are unable, then try to change it with your tongue; if you cannot, then change it with your heart, and this is the lowest level of imaan. (Muslim)
Say, “This is is harmful, take him out!” and if you cannot, then (do it) by your heart: raise your hands and say, “Yaa Rabbee, take them away!” and this is the least of imaan. So if by hand and by tongue we cannot because they are glued like super-glue, so then make du`a. But to come and pet them, praise them and give them support when you know they are wrong, you are going to be in a problem that is not nice. In Arabic we say massah juh, “kiss their ass.” For what? What is the benefit? Say the truth! Many times you said the truth between you and me. Why are you hiding it?
Last Friday when Mawlana Shaykh Nazim appeared from his window, he was not able to go to the window but they forced him, to say “hello” to the people, and he fell down! He was so tired they had to carry him to the bed, and for what? Only for those people to show from the window that they are behind him. I don't understand.
So our tariqah is based on discipline and discipline is to say what is truth and forbid what is bad.
You cannot hide what is bad by praising it! If you want to hide it, hide it, it is okay, because you don’t want to backbite or spread rumors, but don’t say the opposite to thousands around the world and make these (devil) people angels coming from Heaven! What are you benefitting? Nothing. So we have to be realistic in whatever we say and we speak. If we don't bring evidence from Holy Qur'an and from Holy Hadith, our words will be rejected.
`Ulama are watching what people are speaking on the Internet and scholars are watching; don’t say, “There are no more scholars that understand anything from spirituality.” No, there are many scholars around the world who are Sufi, are there not? They know theories and they can give you knowledge as much as you like, but the most important is the experience, so with theory is experience. Also, with Islamic Shari`ah you cannot take away spirituality and leave Shari`ah. We know that Grandshaykh (q) only gave baya’ to two, because awliya do not give authority unless the person is firmly based in Shari`ah and says words that fit in its place, so that they will not make any mistake.
Fa as-sufiyoon al-mukhlisoon ma` Allah fee kulla harakaat wa sakanaat.
The truthful Sufis with Allah are truthful in every movement and in every moment of their lives.
With Allah (swt), to be in the category of saadiqoon, the truthful, they must be truthful in every moment of their lives, in their outside physical appearances, zhawaahirihim, and in their baatin, the spiritual appearances. These are the perfect ones that you have to follow, these are the ones who reached and won the perfect ittiba`, obedience to the Prophet (s), and they kept the Shari`ah as it should be, strong.
So awliyaullah show patience, patience, patience, but at the end, if someone is not accepting and listening, what do they have to do? They have to tell that person, “This is not acceptable.” And that is why Mawlana Shaykh Nazim said, “I must have complete Shari`ah in my home,” and he said what he said because they cannot come against Shari`ah; they are patient (up to a point), but they will not allow.
Imam Ghazali (r) said, “The mureed who has a teacher must follow him and who has no Shaykh, Shaytan will take him to disaster.”
Abu Yazid al-Bistami (r) said, “Who has no Shaykh, his Shaykh is Shaytan!”
That is what we have to be very careful about in our daily life with our shuyookh, to be truthful in presenting to them. Like yesterday I was watching someone giving a speech and I didn't hear anything from him except speaking about Shari`ah and Haqa`iq, realities, and then he said, “We are Muslim and if they don’t accept us, we must take the sword!” You cannot say these things; this is against Islam! So we have to be very careful of what we are saying.
May Allah forgive us and bless us.
There is something about dhikrullah that I like to mention. Awliyaullah have visions and Allah (swt) opened their eyes, as mentioned in the Holy Hadith of the Prophet (s), Hadith Qudsee, that no one can reject as it is a type of revelation in hadith:
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)
They can see visions, or dreams. And it is said that Sidi al-Telmesany (r) read Dalaa'il al-Khayraat. Who among you reads Dalaa'il al-Khayraat? (Attendees raise their hands.) What happened to you people, some of you don’t read Dalaa'il al-Khayraat? In our tariqah, we are ordered to read one juz’u of Holy Qur'an and one hizb of Dalaa'il al-Khayraat daily. And he said that Shaykh Muhammad Telmaysani (q) read Dalaa'il ul-Khayraat 100,000 times and he saw the Prophet (s) in the dream. So don’t talk about Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adna or about love and respect, but give people teaching as that is what they need. And the Prophet (s) came to him in the dream and said to him, “If you read the recitation that Ahmad al-Badawi (r) reads everyday, it would be as if you read Dalaa'il al-Khayraat 800,000 times!”
To have read it 100,000 times, if Muhammad al-Talmaysaani had to read it a thousand times every day, is it not? Or is it eighty times? Calculate it later! But the Prophet (s) is saying to Muhammad al-Talmaysaani, “If you read the du`a of Shaykh Ahmad al-Badawi (r) (buried in Tanta Egypt, whose urs is attended by hundreds of thousands of people every year) you would get the reward of reading Dalaa'il al-Khayraat 800,000 times!”
SALAAT NOORANIYYAH
اَللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَباَرِكْ عَلىَ سَيِّدِناَ وَمَوْلاَناَ مُحَمَّدٍ شَجَرَةِ اْلاَصْلِ النُّوْرَانِيَّةِ، وَلَمْعَةِ الْقَبْضَةِ الرَّحْمَانِيَّةِ، وَأََفْضَلِ الْخَلِيْقَةِ اْلاِنْسَانِيَّةِ، وَأَ شْرَفِ الصُّوْرَةِ الْجَسْمَانِيَّةِ، وَمَعْدِنِ اْلاَسْرَارِ الرَّبَّانِيَّةِ، وَخَزَائِنِ الْعُلُوْمِ اْلاِصْطِفَائِيَّةِ، صَاحِبِ الْقَبْضَةِ اْلاَصْلِيَّةِ، وَالْبَهْجَةِ السَّنِيَّةِ، وَالرُّتْبَةِ الْعَلِيَّةِ، مَنِ انْدَرَجَتِ النَّبِيُّوْنَ تَحْتَ لِوَائِهِ، فَهُمْ مِنْهُ وَاِلَيْهِ، وَصَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَباَرِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلىَ آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ عَدَدَ مَاخَلَقْتَ، وَرَزَقْتَ وَأَمَتَّ وَأَحْييْتَ اِلَى يَوْمِ تَبْعَثُ مَنْ أَفْنَيْتَ، وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيْمًاكَثِيْرًا وَالْحَمْدُ ِللهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِيْنَ.
Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baarik `alaa Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadin (s) shajarati ‘l-aslin nooraaniyyati wa lam`atil qabdati ‘r-rahmaaniyyati wa afdali ‘l-khaleeqati ‘l-insaaniyyati wa ashrafi ‘s-soorati ‘l-jismaaniyyati wa m`adini ‘l-asraari ‘r-rabbaniyyati wa khazaaini ‘l `uloomi ’l-istifaaiyyati, saahibi ‘l-qabdati ‘l-asliyya wa ‘l-bahjati ‘s-saniyya wa ‘r-rutbatil `aliyya, manin darajati ‘n-nabiyyoona tahtali waaihi, fahum minhu wa ilayhi, wa salli wa sallim wa baarik `alayhi wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi `adada maa khalaqta wa razaqta wa amatta wa ahyayta ilaa yawmi tab`athu man afnayta wa sallim tasleeman katheera wa ‘l-hamdulillahi rabbi 'l-`alameen.
O Allah! Bless, greet and sanctify our master and liegelord Muhammad (s), the Tree of Original Light, the Sparkle of the Handful of Divine Mercy, the Best of All Humankind, the Noblest of Physical Frames, the Vessel of the Lord’s Secrets and Storehouse of the Sciences of the Elect, the Possessor of the Original Divine Grasp, Resplendent Grace, and Uppermost Rank, under whose flag line up all the Prophets, so that they are from him and point to him. Bless, greet and sanctify him and his Family and Companions, to the number of all that You have ever created, sustained, caused to die and caused to live again, to the Day You resurrect those You reduced to dust, and greet him with an abundant and endless greeting. Glory and praise belong to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!
Now we have read Dalaa'il al-Khayraat 800,000 times! So this type of teaching is what makes you run after this tariqah, is it not? The good tidings, the things you have to do to make progress and they are so simple. And you see how much time Sayyid Muhammad al-Talmaysaani (r) spent to read that and the Prophet (s) said to him, “Read the recitation of Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi (r), that in one recitation covers Dalaa'il al-Khayraat 800,000 times. Allahu Akbar!
Next time we will mention some recitations that we can read in order to see the Prophet (s), inshaa-Allah.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
Ila hadrati 'n-nabi, salla-Allahu `alayhi wa sallam wa aalihi wa sahbihi 'l-kiraam wa ila arwaahi al-a’immati’l-arba` wa ila arwaahi aabaa’inaa wa umahaatinaa wa ustaadhi wa ustaadhi ustaadhinaa wa sa’iri saadaatinaa was-siddeeqeena, al-Fatihah.
And by the way, no one in the Naqshbandi Order is doing Buddhist training for different points! We don’t want to discuss these issues because we left it behind us. And don’t criticize and blame people for what they are not doing; this is haraam, to criticize about something that is not being done.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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