From Mawlana Shaykh Nazim's Personal Notes
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Laa hawla wa laa quwatta illa billahi 'l-`Aliyyu 'l-`Azheem.
Dastoor, yaa Sayyidi, Qutbu ‘l-Mutassarif. Madad, yaa Sultan al-Awliya. Nadarak himatak, yaa Sayyidi ‘l-Kareem. Dastoor, yaa Sayyidi wa Mawlay. Madad, yaa RijaalAllah.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi ta`ala wa barakaatuh.
Mashaa-Allah. May Allah (swt) always keep us in majlis ad-dhikr, these majalis that you are shoulder to shoulder with angels. There are not only human beings here. There are circles of angels all the way up to `Arsh, to Heavens. They have surrounded all of us and are giving from their Noor that Allah (swt) has given them which is Rahmah and taking the badness from us. When you come to majlis ad-dhikr, it’s as if you are taking a shower. You get cleaned.
Mashaa-Allah, the Americans are so into showering twice a day, three times a day, sometimes four times a day. It depends on the events. Alhamdulillah, they shower up. Mu`mins also shower up when they come to majlis ad-dhikr, when they are praying, they make wudu. All of this makes you lose that inner dirtiness. The outward dirtiness, yes, you have to clean yourself. We won’t say anything about that but the inner dirtiness too.
Mu`mins wash their outward dirtiness. They make sure that they are clean and at the same time, their inner dirtiness is also cleansed. May Allah (swt) allow us to be on that way. That’s exactly what Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is saying.. Everyone can talk. The airways are full of people talking. Podcasts. You see people talking in a closet with different kinds of hats: sometimes a Mexican hat, sometimes a cowboy hat, sometimes I don’t know what kind of hat, and they speak.
What did Awliyaullah say? Awliyaullah have said don’t follow the path of the sinners. What are some of these sins? Gossiping, backbiting, slandering. The speech of most speakers today is to slander others, to put down others, to gossip about others. When you are speaking, try not to do that. Don’t follow the path of the sinners. All of that is unacceptable. Allah (swt) does not like the one who gossips. That’s what Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is saying here.
Asta`eedubillah. He’s talking about gheebah. Allah (swt) says, “Do any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother?” That is the example given in the Holy Qur’an of the one who gossips about others. Don’t follow the path of sinners. If you’re going to speak, try not to speak about others and slander others.
Awliyaullah have said, don’t sit with the ones that commit mistakes upon mistakes upon mistakes. All they do is wrong. Don’t sit with the wrongdoers. Don’t sit with sinners by gossiping, insulting, belittling, demeaning, “dehumanizing”--nowadays people like that word. I never heard of it. “Dehumanizing.” We’re becoming eloquent. Don’t follow the path of these people, one. Second, don’t sit with wrongdoers. Third, don’t sit with the ones who make a mockery of others. They slander others, mock others, make fun of others. These are the ones that Awliyaullah have recommended you stay away from.
If you open YouTube and TikTok--Allah (swt) knows if they’re going to win the lawsuit. They might be banned. If you open Facebook, Instagram, the podcasts and you see somebody insulting, demeaning, belittling others, stop watching that. Don’t follow their path. If you see others committing wrong, leave them. Don’t sit with them. If you see others mocking and making fun of other people, don’t follow their path. Leave them alone.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is saying there is no characteristic lower than somebody eating the flesh of his dead brother. That is the example of the one who gossips his brother, his sister, his friend or his neighbor. That is from akhlaq ad-damima, the bad characteristics that are mentioned in the Qur’an. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) tries to teach humanity the good characteristics and how to avoid bad characteristics.
He said, the most evil characteristic in a human being is the one who talks about others in their absence, backbites others and slanders others and carries fitna between people. “Do you know what he said about you? He said this and this.” Then he goes to the other one, “Do you know what he said about you? He said this and this.”These are nameema, namam, they cause problems between people. Be careful of such people.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is pointing out, if you follow his path, you have to stop gossiping. Don’t dive into that filth. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said that one time some Sahaabah came to Rasoolullah (s) and he said, “You have eaten raw meat.” They were complaining of pain in their tummies. They said, “We haven't had any meat for weeks.” He said, “Vomit.” He made them vomit. Out of their vomit came out chunks of raw, green meat. It was rotten meat, dead flesh. Sahaabah (r) asked Rasoolullah (s) what happened. He said, “On your way you passed by the home of your brother and you started to gossip about him. Didn’t you do this?” They said, “Yes.” That was a miracle of Rasoolullah (s) that he was showing his Sahaabah.
Don’t fall into that trap of Shaytan. Don’t gossip about your brothers and sisters. In tariqah you have to learn that. If you’ve been in tariqah for ten years, fifteen years, twenty-five years and still make fun of others, still plot against others, still gossip others, what benefit is there? What did you do? Nothing. You were here for fun. You were getting some entertainment, you were having fun with it and that’s why you continued. But if you are following the path of Awliyaullah, you have to listen to one advice: don’t gossip about others.
I heard from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) that the amal of a human being will go into the grave with him. Your deeds will go in the grave with you. If it’s a good deed, it will keep you company. It will give you the glad tidings of Jannah. It will expand your good amal. It will expand your grave. It will put a bright light into your grave. It will prevent the fire of the grave. It will prevent the punishment of the grave. If you go into the grave with amalu ‘s-salih, a good deed that you have done, you will see that good deed with you in the grave. It will bring light and mercy into your grave. It will expand your grave for you. It will please you. It will be in the best shape and with the best scent, the scent of the people of Jannah.
If it was a bad action, the opposite is true. You will look at this creature that is looking at you in the grave and you will say, “Who are you?” It will say, “Don’t you remember me?” “Where do I remember you from? You are the ugliest, most smelly thing I’ve ever seen.” It will say, “Weren’t we friends together when you were drinking? Weren’t we together when you were making adultery? Weren’t we together when you were gossiping about people and making fun of them and laughing your behind off? Now you forgot me. I am your bad actions.”
That bad action will be with you in the grave, O human being. It will darken your grave instead of lighting it up. It will make it even darker. Instead of expanding it, it will make it even narrower. It will not prevent the punishment of the grave. What are some of those bad deeds? Gheebah. Try to get away from it.
They asked Sayyidina `Ali (r), “What is the sign of a mu`min?” This is important. O mu`min, the one who is claiming to be on the path of Awliyaullah! “We are following the pir of our tariqah,” whatever tariqah they are following. “We are following the imams of our deen. We are following Rasoolullah (s). We are following Hadhrat `Ali (r).” The ones following Hadhrat `Ali (r), listen to what he says. This is all from the books of Awliyaullah, not my books, not my words.
Look what they said. “Who is the mu`min? What is the sign of a mu`min?” There are four signs. “To purify his heart from pride and enmity.” You don’t take others as your enemy. Clean your heart from taking others as adversaries. Clean your heart from taking others as competitors. “He’s going to take my fame away. He’s going to take my position away. He’s going to take my prestige away.” How many people are fighting with each other for that.
He didn’t even say Waliyullah yet. A mu`min, a believer has to clean his heart from enmity towards others. Don’t take others as your adversaries, especially your Muslim brothers. A Muslim does not take another Muslim as his enemy, not by tongue, action or intention. Where are the Muslims nowadays? Are they taking each other as enemies or not? Even in tariqah they are taking each other as enemies, adversaries. Where are you from iman?
Sayyidina `Ali said, “Purify your heart from kibr, pride.” “I am big. I am higher than you. I am bigger than you. I am better than you. I’m stronger than you.” That is all arrogance and pride. A mu`min does not see others as inferior to him. He has to see himself as the lowest, as Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) taught us. He said, “When you speak, you have to see yourself lower than all of those who are present.” Look at his humbleness.
Purify your heart from arrogance, pride and enmity towards others. You purify your tongue from lying and gossiping. That tongue has to be clean from that. If you are still doing that, your iman has a question mark on it, as Sayyidina `Ali (r) has said. First you purify your heart, second you purify your tongue, third you purify your action from what? Showoff. Riya and sum’ah. Riya and sum’ah is what you want people to say about you. First you show them something that you like to show them and then you want to hear what they have said. “What are the comments today?” “People have visited the whole world, no, let’s go to the space station. Let’s arrange that and then I will take some selfies. No, I will take some people with me to take some footage.”
What do they say? “I like to hear that.” That is sum’ah. That has no benefit to you. The amal that is only for showoff, that is only for what people say about me has no value in front of Allah (swt). Rather, it is the opposite. It is shirk. You have given your amal to somebody else. To whom? To your own ego. You are working for your ego. You are not working for Allah (swt) anymore.
Hadhrat `Ali (r), Shah Mardan, speaks the truth. Your heart has to be clean from pride and enmity. Don’t take others as your adversaries or enemies. Your tongue has to be clean from lying and gossiping. Your actions have to be clean from show-off and hearing comments, “What did the people say about me?” Your inside has to be cleaned from haram and suspicious food. That means you only have to eat halal. Nowadays so many people mix halal, haram, it doesn't matter. If you are like that then your iman has a question mark on it. Your amal is not salih, it’s not good.
You have to be careful, O insaan. That amal will follow you to the grave. Everybody is going to go to the grave sooner or later. You will end up there and you want your good amal to follow you into the grave. You don’t want your bad amal to follow you into the grave. What happens if your bad amal follows you to the grave like all of us? All of us will have bad amal that will follow us to the grave. All of us have done wrong. I’m not saying, mashaa-Allah, I am a pure one. No. I’m probably the most impure among all of you. I’m not saying that you are a pure one. No, you are also impure. I know you. What do we do? Your shaykh has taught you what to do and you don’t even know about it. May Allah (swt) raise our higher and higher and always send His blessings upon them.
It is said that one Waliyullah participated in the funeral of a man. After they buried the man and everybody left, he was slow to leave and he started to hear a ruckus in the grave, banging, hitting--some loud noises. Waliyullah can hear and see. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) has said in one of his Turkish suhbahs, when he passes by a grave he can hear the dead. Are they in `adhaab or are they in Jannah? He can hear them. I believe that. I believe Awliyaullah can hear because Allah (swt) has become their ears. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Allah (swt) has become the ears of the ones He loves or no? That is the Hadith.
He has become their ears so they can hear. Not only the one in the grave, they can hear the one that is by `Arsh, rotating around `Arsh, malaa’ikah. He can hear top-top and he can hear bottom-bottom. Awliyaullah can hear and see what’s going on there.
This Waliyullah was hearing some kind of noise, banging in this man’s grave. From that man’s grave jumped out a black dog as Awliyaullah have narrated the story. He says, “Hold on a moment. What kind of thing are you?” He said, “I am the deeds of the deceased. I came to be with him but I found with him Surah Yaseen and its sisters, the other surahs.”
That’s why you have to learn the Qur’an and memorize. Alhamdulillah, we have learned Surah Yaseen by always listening to Mawlana reciting it, otherwise we would never have learned. Surah Yaseen and its sisters, Surah Taha and Surah Tabarak is another one that protects you from the punishment of the grave. “They covered him and protected him from the difficulties and punishments of the grave that I was about to give to him. Not only that, they kicked me out. They were protecting him.”
That Noor of the Qur’an was protecting him and subhaanAllah, I came across a Hadith the other day that said whoever reads Surah Yaseen at night will reach the morning forgiven. The footnote was Tafsir ibn Katheer. If you don’t know, go look because when I read it, I said, “Let me look at the footnotes,” because we have so many Wahhabis and Salafis. They don’t believe unless they see it, like the kuffar of Quraysh. The unbelievers of Quraysh said, “We don’t accept what you say, O Muhammad. We want to read it somewhere.”
Isn’t that true? They wanted to see a book. “Where are you bringing this from? Which book? Bring the book from the sama’a.”
أَوْ يَكُونَ لَكَ بَيْتٌ مِّن زُخْرُفٍ أَوْ تَرْقَىٰ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَلَن نُّؤْمِنَ لِرُقِيِّكَ حَتَّىٰ تُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنَا كِتَـٰبًا نَّقْرَؤُهُۥ قُلْ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّى هَلْ كُنتُ إِلَّا بَشَرًا رَّسُولًا
"Or thou have a house adorned with gold, or thou mount a ladder right into the skies. No, we shall not even believe in thy mounting until thou send down to us a book that we could read." Say: "Glory to my Lord! Am I aught but a man,- an apostle?" (Surah al-Isra, 17:93)
Tunazilla `alayna kitaaba ‘n-naqra’oohu. “Bring down a book for us so we can see what you are saying written in that book and then we believe.” When Awliyaullah speak, we believe. Others want to see it written in a book. This Hadith says that whoever reads Surah Yaseen at night will reach the morning forgiven, with no sins.
What did our teachers teach us to do every Fajr? You are reaching the day after you read Surah Yaseen. Are you doing it? You have to. It is your 401K. It is your retirement in Jannah. If you want to retire in Jannah, read Surah Yaseen before the sunrise. Allah (swt) will forgive all your sins for that day. If you read it in the morning, you will reach the night, forgiven. If you read it at night, you will reach the morning, forgiven. Alhamdulillah, read it one time every 24 hours.
If you want to get rid of all the bad actions that we have done of gossip, pride, arrogance, enmity, lying, cheating showoff, saying, “What did the people say about me?” make sure that you read Surah Yaseen as our teachers have taught us before the sun rises. If you do that, that Hadith will reach you. That glad tiding will reach you and you will be forgiven, and try not to go back.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) teaches us good things. Rasoolulah (s) teaches us what benefits us here and Hereafter. When you stop gossiping about others, what happens? Love starts coming between you and them. When you stop speaking about their bad actions, rather you start talking about their good actions, that love in your heart starts to grow and that is what is needed. What’s needed nowadays is that the mu`min starts to love his mu'min brothers and sisters, not vice versa.
May Allah (swt) forgive us. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is saying, this disease has covered all people. If he does not clean himself of this characteristic, he will never reach the stations of closeness and proximity to Allah (swt). If you want to be close to Allah (swt) and this is the reason that you are in tariqah, O mu`min, O Muslims, to be close to Allah (swt). If you want to reach closeness to Allah (swt), clean yourself from gheebah first. First things first. May Allah (swt) forgive us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, wa bi sirri Surat al-Fatihah.
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