Suhbah After Zhuhr Salaat (1)
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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Alhamdulillah, tonight is Laylat al-Bara`ah the 15th of Sha`baan and today is Wednesday. Tonight they are observing Laylat al-Bara`ah with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), may Allah grant him long life, and we will also observe it tonight by reciting Surah Yaseen three times.
We are asking Allah (swt) to open our hearts and our minds. It is not easy to see what is going on in the world, as we are part of this world and we are within the changes that are happening, which will not leave laa hajar wa laa madar, a stone, mountain, or desert unaffected. This means very soon people are going to feel the heat of changes and problems that will occur even if they are in a desert, a tent, or on top of a mountain, and it is in Allah's Hands.
Awliyaullah have received many signals throughout last year and tonight according to the timezone of Sham, Mecca and Madinah, which is the time awliyaullah consider, Allah (swt) descended to the First Heaven, informing the Prophet (s) and awliyaullah about what is going to take place; this is how to relate with adab what happened. You cannot jump above adab, which is to say as Allah (swt) said in a Holy Hadith, that He descends to the First Heaven looking at what His Servants are doing and reveals to His Prophet (s), who reveals to awliyaullah what is going to happen in the coming year. That is the way the Sahaabah (r) express it and this is how we express it.
إن الله ينزل ليلة النصف من شعبان إلى السماء الدنيا، فيغفر لأكثر من عدد شعرغنم كلب
InnAllaha yanzilu laylata nisfu min sha`baan ila 's-samaa' ad-dunya fa-yaghfiru li-akthar min `adada sha`r ghanam kalb.
[From `Ayesha (r) that the Prophet (s) said] Verily, Allah descends on the night of mid-Sha`baan to the sky of the earth and He forgives more than the number of hairs of the sheep of the tribe of Kalb.
Adab is adab, which is being able to humble yourself as much as you can, not to say you are someone important. In this night we are asking Allah (swt) to keep us at the threshold of awliyaullah and of the Prophet (s). What awliyaullah received of information, they already received it on their time, which is the timezone of Mecca, Madinah and Sham. There were signals to them that this year is going to be a tough year wherein too many problems will erupt like a volcano! When a storm comes it doesn't leave anyone, good or bad; when it moves, it hits everyone. So you cannot say, “I am safe” as no one is safe, but with Allah’s Mercy, the Prophet’s Mercy, and awliyaullah’s blessings, we ask to be safe.
When Allah (swt) sent His Punishment to previous nations, it took both the good ones and bad ones. An earthquake comes and takes the good and the bad. So we ask Allah (swt) and the Prophet (s) to ensure that we are not from those who are taken away!
Recently across the U.S. a big storm affected millions of homes and killed electric power. The storm didn’t say, “This is a Muslim house and this is a non-Muslim house,” or, “This is a mu’min house and this is a faasiq house.” It takes everything equally! The approaching storm will not take only millions, it will take whole countries away and will change the whole system, not allowing any system to remain as it was before!
Awliyaullah are worried and secluding themselves as much as they can to be away from people. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) was never away from people, although now in the physical realm he is keeping away, but in the spiritual realm he is with everyone, as awliyaullah are everywhere and with everyone. As we mentioned in The Greatness of Salawaat on Prophet (s) Series (on Sufilive.com), those who are making even one salawaat from the eighteen, twenty, or many others that we have mentioned are going to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the Prophet (s); your reward is that your shoulder will be with the shoulder of the Prophet (s)! This means the Prophet (s) will not be in only one physical shamaa’il, but everyone will feel as if he is shoulder-to-shoulder with the Prophet (s)! That is the Prophet's (s) miracle that Allah gave him, to be with everyone who loves him and makes salawaat on him, which is mentioned in many ahadith, such as `inda tazaahum al-aqtaaf.
The Prophet (s) said:
أقيموا الصفوف ، وحاذوا بين المناكب ، وسدوا الخلل ، ولينوا بأيدي إخوانكم ، ولا تذروا فرجات الشيطان ، ومن وصل صفا وصله الله ، ومن قطعه قطعه الله " . رواه أبو داود وروى النسائي منه قوله : " ومن وصل صفا " إلى آخره .
Aqeemu’s-sufoof wa haadhoo’l-manaakib wa saddoo’l-khallal wa leenoo bi-aydiyy ikhwaanikum wa laa tadharoo’l farajaat ash-shaytaan wa man wasala safan wasalahullah wa man qata` safan qata`ahullah.
Set the rows in order, stand shoulder-to-shoulder, close the gaps, be pliant in the hands of your brethren and do not leave openings for the devil. If anyone joins a row, Allah will join him, but if anyone breaks a row, Allah will cut him off.
(Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitaab al-Salaat)
That is why in Shari`ah they don’t tell you to widen your feet during prayers, as people are doing today, but rather to stand al-katif `ala ‘l-katهf, “shoulder-to shoulder,” to have no gap, but not feet-to-feet. The hadith of the Prophet (s) says to stand “shoulder-to-shoulder,” which is why you make sure your shoulder is next to the shoulder of the person beside to you, not to display bad adab by putting your toes with his toes; what if you have eczema? It will go to his toes! (laughter)
So on this night, awliyaullah received signals that anyone who makes salawaat on the Prophet (s) 1,000 times per day, his shoulder will be with the shoulder of the Prophet (s) and with awliyaullah, and by “awliyaullah” I mean the Sahaabah (r), Salaf as-Saalih and those inheritors up to today. You will feel something on your right or left shoulder, which is the rubbing of the shoulder of the Prophet (s) or that wali, who, without the permission of the Prophet (s), will not be able to do that. This news came tonight on Mecca/Madinah/Sham time, during which awliyaullah have been ordered for those who are the best of the ummah to feel peacefulness in their hearts when the storm is coming, as those who rubbed shoulders with awliyaullah or with Sahaabah (r) will be kept safe.
This is from the prediction of Grandshaykh (q), “Out of seven, one will remain and six will go.” Until now, awliyaullah have been seeking mercy, saying, “O Allah! Reduce it from six!” and now by their du`a it is reduced to “out of five, one will remain,” which means less will go and more will live.
Allah (swt) is giving an order to awliyaullah through the Prophet (s) to be ready this year for many changes around the world, which we are already seeing. We saw a year full of events and this year more events are coming.
They say in the time of Mahdi (a), people will use swords; however, when Mahdi (a) comes, he won't need weapons or even swords, but just by saying, “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” as the Prophet (s) mentioned, every mu’min is going to hear his takbeer, even from far away or nearby. As awliyaullah have explained, the first takbeer will stop all kinds of technology; everything will stop! With the second takbeer, everyone will be ready to move to Mecca, Madinah, or Sham; whoever has an atom of imaan and who says, “Laa ilaaha illa ’Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah!” will be ordered to move to Sham to be with Mahdi (a) and however far away he is, still he will reach. In the third takbeer, everyone will have a spiritual sword, not a physical sword. They don’t like to use swords or technology, rockets or bombs because Allah (swt) will place heavenly technology in their hands that will be like thunder, and whatever its lightning hits it destroys. A big lightning bolt will take the whole city!
A storm came last week and destroyed millions of peoples’ homes. This is a sign from Allah (swt), “You are near Our Revenge,” and a sign to everyone that with one heavenly storm even the most powerful country in the world was not able to do anything; in five minutes everything was gone! Where? In the Tri-State Area (of Washington DC), which is around that power. That is a sign to be careful, because Allah (swt) gives examples with the most powerful; He doesn't need to give with lesser powerful countries like Russia or China. He gives lessons to the most powerful, as in the Holy Qur’an when they said Sayyidina `Isa (a) is the Son of God, Allah (swt) revealed two words that were sufficient:
كَانَا يَأْكُلاَنِ الطَّعَامَ
Wa kaana yaakulaani ’t-ta`am.
They had both to eat their (daily) food. (Surat al-Ma'idah, 5:75)
You know you need food and to use the toilet; that is balagha of Holy Qur'an! So how is the ‘Son of God’ going to sit on the toilet? Today’s toilets are new technology; before it was an outhouse, a hole in the ground to squat over, and previously your parents or ancestors squatted. Someone who squats must not raise his nose too much. “Kaanaa yaakulaani ’t-ta`am” means they ate food so they squatted. So Allah (swt) made an example of three major U.S. states around the capital of the major nation in the world, saying, “I send My Wind and My Lightning, and five minutes is enough; were I to give it more than five minutes, it would destroy you!”
Look at what happened in Japan (2011 massive earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown) and in Indonesia (2005 tsunami). Allah (swt) didn't say, “You are a Muslim country (so I will spare you).” With these events, Allah (swt) is giving ibrah, lessons to Muslims, “Don't raise your neck and don’t raise your nose! I give to Muslims and non-Muslims equally, to bring Muslims back to and guide non-Muslims to Siraat al-Mustaqeem!”
That is what happened in Japan. If Allah wants to move it, He moves it! Now too many changes are coming and Allah is ordering awliyaullah to prepare themselves. How to prepare? Don’t take it wrong. (The answer is) by praising Allah (swt), His Prophet (s) and His awliyaullah and by declaring His Oneness, “laa shareeka lahu!” And all are His Servants and the Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), is the Highest Servant!
So that lesson is coming very soon to everyone, so don’t think you are a peacock; no, you are nothing! These are teachings for people to take care about what is coming. They used to say, “What are you speaking about Sayyidina al-Mahdi?” I remember over fifty years ago, Grandshaykh (q) spoke about Mahdi and `ulama sat there stunned, thinking, “Why are you speaking about Mahdi (a)?” And he said many times that one day he was in seclusion, and his Shaykh, Grandshaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q)--mashaa-Allah his presence is coming quickly! May Allah bless Grandshaykh (q) and make us with him in dunya and akhirah. Yaa Sayyidee! We took your words from a long time ago and it is our guarantee of safety! Grandshaykh (q) said that Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) passed by him in seclusion and said to him, “Be ready, as tonight I am coming to take you.” Then after midnight, he came to him in seclusion and said, “Come with me!” and everything was ready in Istanbul.
They went to a mosque known in Turkish as Yeraltı Camii, “the Mosque underground,” which was built in the time of the Sahaabah (r) and has arches all around. Grandshaykh asked Shaykh Sharafuddin, may Allah bless them both, “Where are we going?”
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “Tonight we have been ordered to meet with Mahdi and I am taking you with me.”
We don’t care what people say; we only care to be concise with what our shuyookh taught us, and to keep Shari`ah, and tariqah is Shari`ah! In Shari`ah the Mahdi is coming, and he will give baya` between the Hajar al-Aswad and Rukn al-Yamani, and he is married and has three children, and his father's name is as the Prophet’s (s) father's name, and his mother's name is like the Prophet’s (s) mother's name! There are many ahadith on Sayyidina Mahdi (a) and we can quote them one time, but awliyaullah have unique experience with signs of Mahdi (a).
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “We are going to Yeraltı Camii.”
They went to that masjid and Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) said, “I saw circles and circles of awliyaullah are ready and present in a spiritual form, they were all filling the place.”
That masjid has three Sahaabah: Sufyan ibn `Uyayanah, and `Amr ibn Al-`Aas and one other whose name I forgot [Wahb bin Hushayr]. Two are buried together and one is buried separately. The Sahaabah (r) reached there and Grandshaykh (q) said awliyaullah filled the area. When awliyaullah are present, it means there is a meeting, and then Prophets appear spiritually; coming there is a vision, and then the Prophet (s) appears in a spiritual presence, not a physical presence. They can be in any presence they want, even a heavenly presence. You can even say, “I saw a dream of the Prophet (s).” Can anyone say “no” or deny that? No, the Prophet (s) said, “Who saw me in the dream saw me in reality.” Then Grandshaykh (q) said behind Jabal Qaf is the biggest group of mu’min jinn, as Allah (s) said:
ق وَالْقُرْآنِ الْمَجِيدِ
Qaf wa ‘l-qur’ani ‘l-majeed.
Qaf. By the Glorious Qur'an (you are Allah's Messenger). (Surah Qaf, 50:1)
That “qaf” symbolized Jabal Qaf that is behind the hadd ad-dunya, the limits of this world, creations that we cannot see because these physical eyes can only see physical issues, but behind that is full. There, the Sultan of Jinn, Sayyidina al-Hazzaaz (q), as soon as the mother of al-Mahdi (a) delivered him, you know on the seventh day you have to make iqaamah, so he brought him from a hidden horizon behind Qaf Mountain to the house of Mahdi in Mecca, and brought him to Yeraltı Camii in Istanbul, where the Prophet (s) made adhaan in his right ear and in his left ear he made iqaamah and called him “Muhammad al-Mahdi.”
Grandshaykh (q) said, “I attended that with my Shaykh and at that time I knew he was born. Then he left and we could not see anymore.” The only two that were physically present were Grandshaykh `AbdAllah ad-Daghestani (q) and Great-Grandshaykh Sharafuddin (q), and the rest were spiritual appearances. As soon as everyone gave baya` to Mahdi (a) and the Prophet (s) put his hand on top of theirs, that scene was gone! That is a spiritual vision.
Grandshaykh (q) continued, “Although Sayyidina Imam Mahdi (a) was born in that time, still the time when he reaches will be forty years, even if he reaches seventy or eighty. Whatever his age is, they have a constant age; they don’t change and he will appear with that age, even if it goes to two-hundred years.” When Allah wants something to happen, He wills it through kun fayakoon. From that time, Grandshaykh saw Mahdi (a).
THE SACRED VISION OF AWLIYAULLAH
When Grandshaykh left dunya in 1973, we were in a very sad situation and after some months, which I mentioned before but we will share it here. I always did my dhikr in the attic, sitting there by myself, covering with a sheet and doing dhikrullah. I still feel as if it had happened just now, like a big vision just appeared and Grandshaykh (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) just came, and then all awliyaullah from the Naqshbandi Golden Chain appeared, and then all Naqshbandis appeared in their spiritual forms. All of them put their hands over each other’s hands and Grandshaykh ordered me to also put my hands under all of them, and I am seeing them, then awliyaullah appeared and then Sayyidina Shah Naqshband (q) and Sayyidina Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) and then Sayyidina al-Mahdi (a) put his hands over all of their hands, and then the Prophet (s) put his hand over all! Then Grandshaykh said, “Now you take real baya`!” confirming the previous baya` to him, although he didn't give baya` except to two: Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and Mawlana Shaykh Hussayn (q). Then I put my hand and Mahdi’s hand was on top and then the Prophet’s hand was on top, and Sayyidina Mahdi recited Ayat al-Baya` and then three times, “Allahu, Allahu, Allahu Haqq!” and then that scene disappeared.
I told this story to highlight that for awliyaullah, Sayyidina Mahdi (a) has appeared and is living. When he appears [generally] is in Allah's Hands; Allah will order that, but there are signals awliyaullah receive every year on Laylat al-Bara`ah, the night of the 15th of Sha`baan, and what they have been informed and are informing followers on this night is to be ready for that big storm that will change everything!
At that time don’t regret, simply do your things as much as you can professionally and with perfection. Perfection is only for Allah (swt) and His Prophet as Allah's Servant (s). Perfection is an attribute of Allah Alone, but struggle with yourself as much as you can to come to the Right Way. Everyone is going to be under the safety of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah grant him long life! We must always pray that Allah gives long life to our shuyookh, which is like we always pray for our mother and father to have long lives, as they are our parents. Awliyaullah are our spiritual parents and they guide us to the Right Way, and their presence is a rahmah, as first it comes on them and then is distributed, so they are rahmah for everyone.
So we say, “May Allah give him long life!” We don't want to see Mawlana Shaykh Nazim go from this dunya before Sayyidina Mahdi (a) comes, as Mawlana will present us to him. We don't want to be in the last rows, but if we are in any row that is good, at least we are in a row! But we want to be with awliyaullah in their row, as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:
وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاء وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـئِكَ رَفِيقًا
Wa man yuti`i Allaha wa ‘r-rasoola fa’oolaaika ma` ’Lladheena an`am Allahu `alayhim min an-nabiyyeena wa ‘s-siddiqeena wa ‘sh-shuhadaa’ wa ‘s-saaliheena wa hasuna oolaa’ika rafeeqa.
All who obey Allah and the Prophet are in the company of those on whom is the grace of Allah, of the prophets (who teach), the sincere (lovers of Truth), the witnesses (who testify), and the righteous (who do good). Ah, what a beautiful fellowship! (Surat an-Nisa, 4:69)
Prepare yourself and you know what that is. Don't say, “I have a problem.” Grandshaykh (q) used to say prepare for three months by storing store food that doesn't perish, and use it slowly and replace it, but don't leave it to spoil. And beware from Shaytan as he might trick us any moment. Those who believe in awliyaullah and in Mahdi’s coming will be safe, and unfortunately there are many people who laugh at us about this belief, but Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:
فَلْيَضْحَكُواْ قَلِيلاً وَلْيَبْكُواْ كَثِيرًا جَزَاء بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكْسِبُونَ
Fa ‘l-yad-hakoo qaleelan wa ‘l-yabkoo katheeran jazaa’an bimaa kaanoo yaksiboon.
Therefore they shall laugh very little and cry a lot as a recompense for what they earned.
(Surat at-Tawbah, 9:82)
But really we are going to laugh a lot, inshaa-Allah, that Allah (swt) gave us a happy life. You know yourself and your desires, so try to keep them in balance as much as possible and the rest we leave to Allah (swt), the Prophet (s) and to awliyaullah.
Inshaa-Allah with barakah of the night of Nisf Sha`baan and Laylat al-Bara`ah, Allah (swt) will save us in dunya and akhirah.
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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