Zhuhr Suhbah
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
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, masjid Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani.
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)
I would like to thank His Eminence, Shaykh Bahauddin, on his suhbat yesterday that was very nice and made everyone happy. Everyone took something that fit him and everyone was happy, and to make people happy is a sunnah of the Prophet (s). It is a recommended sunnah to make people smiling and feel happy, and also to show their appreciation to the one giving the suhbat that is making people feel okay, because everyone of us carries too much bad energy due to too many sins. We cannot say we don't have many sins: haddith wa laa harrajn, "Say, 'I have too many sins,'" and don't worry. Everyone has sins. May Allah forgive us!
I would like to say something, that when Grandshaykh (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), may Allah grant him long life and all of us to see Mahdi (a), said, “Every suhbat has a head, without the head there is no suhbat," what is important is the head of the suhbat. I was in an interfaith program in England and there was rabbi and a priest and other speakers, a big audience, and they wanted to speak about relations between religions to make sure that there is an interfaith. Mawlana threw some words in my heart at that time, to say that now everyone is running (to conduct) interfaith, interfaith, interfaith, is it not? The whole world is (doing that), and interfaith means international religion, “inter faith,” different religions. You have lot of interfaith in Canada.
So I said, when Sayyidina Musa (a) came with what was the religion, when Allah sent Sayyidina Musa (a) with noor, light, which was the Tawraat (Old Testament) and when Sayyidina `Isa (a) came, Allah (swt) sent with him noor, which was the Injeel, the Bible (New Testament), then when Sayyidina Muhammad (s) came, Allah sent the Holy Qur’an. So the religion is moving from a religion that was discipline and Shari`ah, which was Sayyidina Musa (a), Allah gave him the Ten Commandments, which means orders, and it came to Sayyidina `Isa (a), who followed the Shari`ah of Sayyidina Musa (a) but also added the spirituality of Sayyidina `Isa (a). And how do you know the spirituality in Sayyidina `Isa (a)? Because when he was born he was able to talk! When you are getting born, you can talk from hidden knowledge? The proof that Sayyidina `Isa (a) brought spirituality is that at birth, he said:
فَأَشَارَتْ إِلَيْهِ قَالُوا كَيْفَ نُكَلِّمُ مَن كَانَ فِي الْمَهْدِ صَبِيًّا قَالَ إِنِّي عَبْدُ اللَّهِ آتَانِيَ الْكِتَابَ وَجَعَلَنِي نَبِيًّا وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ
مَا كُنتُ وَأَوْصَانِي بِالصَّلَاةِ وَالزَّكَاةِ مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا
Fa ashaarat ilayhi qaaloo kayfa nukallimu man kaana fi’l-mahdi sabiyya. Qaala innee `abdullaahi
aataaniya ‘l-kitaaba wa ja`alanee nabiyya wa ja`alanee mubarakan ayna maa kuntu wa awsaanee bi ’s-salaati wa ’z-zakaati maa dumtu hayya.
So she pointed to him. They said, "How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?" [Jesus] said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah . He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakaah as long as I remain alive. (Surat Maryam, 19:29-31)
“Allah gave me the book,” he spoke! Awliyaullah can speak, and when the wali can be able to speak from heart of the Prophet (s), that is his birthday and there is no other birthday: the birthday is when the wali begins to connect his heart with the Prophet (s) and begins to get knowledge that no one has mentioned before! Look at these beautiful flowers here (i.e., mureeds), a garden from every country in the world. What are we looking at? If we take away their heads they are all the same, is there any difference? No difference, so then what makes us different is the head. If there are no heads, everyone is the same: heart same, kidney same, liver same, chest same, stomach same, legs same, hands same. So what changes us? It’s this, the head. The head is what makes us fall into miseries as the head is stubborn. To be stubborn is coming from where? The head. Desires are coming from where? The head. If there was a doctor here, you know the brain sends messages to the whole nervous system in order to comply with the orders of the head. Allah has put on everyone a head, and that head differs from one to another. If the head becomes like a twin to another there is no difference, so what changes us and makes us good or bad is the head, so don't blame the soul as the soul is pure and clean. Allah has sent the soul to human beings, it’s clean.
الأَرْوَاحُ جُنُودٌ مُجَنَّدَةٌ
Al-arwaahu junoodan mujannada.
Souls are like battalions of the army. (Sahih Bukhari)
Allah (swt) asked us in the Divine Presence when we were souls on the Day of Promises, alastu bi rabbikum, “Am I not your Lord?” and we all said yes. For someone who said yes, Allah (swt) granted him an Eternal Life! You said in His Presence, “Yes.” What is higher than that? That is real tawheed there. When we came here, what makes us different in coming here is our head. So Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, “Every advice has to have a head,” and he said to the Sahaabah (r), “Holy Qur’an and Holy Hadith are all on one point.”
And Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) said it in a way that I cannot say it here, because some people might see it as heavy, so I will try to make it nice. He said, “Whenever you are progressing in memorizing Holy Qur'an and memorizing hadith, if you don't act on this point you are wasting your time.”
You can read Holy Qur'an and read Holy Hadith, but you need that head, that point, not the head of Holy Qur'an and hadith, but the head of the meanings of Holy Qur'an and hadith as they are based on one thing and nothing else.
And the Sahaabah (r) said, “Yaa `Ali! Tell us, what is that?” and he said, “It is too simple. The head of wisdom is to fear Allah (swt).”
راس الحكمة مخاة الله
Raas al-hikmata makhaafatullah.
The head of wisdom is fear of Allah (swt).
The head of every wisdom is fear of Allah (swt), because when you fear Allah, how can you smoke marijuana? When you fear Allah (swt), how can you dare to make sins? When you fear Allah (swt), you don't do this or do that (sin)! So “makhaafatullah” has two meanings here: one is that you are afraid from Allah and one is you are afraid to be away from or distanced from His love.
Awliyaullah’s makhaafatullah is their love to Allah (swt); the pain that they are feeling is for how far they are from Divine Presence, for them that is makhaafatullah. Makhaafa for them is not to lose Allah's love. The wali doesn't want to lose Allah's love in any moment of his life, while for us it is to fear Him from punishing us, but awliyaullah already passed through that category and they are in a higher level where they only want Allah's love. That can be understood from Rabi`a al-`Adawiyya (r). There are too many complaints from women and I don’t know why they complain! They say, “Men have been honored....” No, that is not true! Was not Rabi`a al-`Adawiyya (r) a lady saint? Be a lady saint, the door is open; just as there are men saints, there are lady saints. Was not Sayyida `Ayesha (r) a lady saint? Was not Sayyida Fatima az-Zahra (r) a lady saint? In the time of the Prophet (s), 700 women were teaching Shari`ah, after the time of the Prophet (s), after he left dunya; they were teaching Shari`ah that they learned from Prophet (s) or from their husbands who were very close to the Prophet (s) and they were lady saints.
And what did Rabi`a al-`Adawiyya say? When her husband died, `ulama, scholars came to her and said, “Yaa Rabi`a! You have to marry. You cannot be a lady without marriage, because it is sunnah and Allah’s order, also.”
She said, “I am busy.”
They said, “Yaa Rabi`a, busy with what?”
She said, “I am busy with istighfaar as I don't know where Allah will put me. I am not praying for Allah to put me in Paradise, I don’t mind, but I worship Him because I love him. If He puts me in Paradise or not, I am not worshipping to get something from Him, but I am worshipping Him because I love Him. If He wants to put me in Paradise, it is His Will, and if he wants to put me in Hellfire, that is His Will. Wherever He wants to put me, I am accepting. I am not worshipping Him to be put in Paradise and I am not worshipping Him to take me out of Hellfire! Wherever He wants to put me, I am happy.”
That is the birthday of Rabi`a al-`Adawiyya, when Allah dressed her from His Beautiful Names and Attributes. Sayyida Maryam (a) was also dressed from Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes.
وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَرْيَمَ إِذِ انتَبَذَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا
W ’adhkur fi ‘l-kitaabi maryama idh intabadhat min ahlihaa makaanaan sharqiyya.
And mention (O Muhammad) in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east. (Surat Maryam, 19:16)
It is mentioned in the Book, in Holy Qur'an, how Jibril (a) came to her and honored her with a child by Allah's Order, “Kun fayakoon,” because these are awliyaullah, ladies. What do you think about men? Allah (swt) gave everyone a head, to know what is right and what is wrong. Your coming here is an indication of your love to Mawlana Shaykh, Sultan al-Awliya, and from him the love to the Prophet (s) and from him the love of Allah (swt).
And now we come back to what Grandshaykh said, “Every suhbat must have a head and the head of every subhat is ‘Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.’ As soon as you recite that ayah all your sins are waived!”
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)
In Islam there are 500 orders to do, worshipness, and 800 forbiddens not to do and he said, and this is a big saying from Grandshaykh, that as soon as you say “atee`oollaha,” Allah (swt) waives all 800 forbiddens, all these sins, and as if you fulfilled the 500 orders, by reciting the ayah, “atee`oollaha.” As soon as you say “atee`oo 'r-Rasoola,” Prophet (s) will dress you from his rahmah that Allah dressed on him, and from his rahmah on you he will intercede for you in front of Allah that all your sins will be waived and all your 500 maamooraat, worship, will be as if you have done them. He said that ayah has a secret. Wa ooli 'l-amri minkum, and those who are on authority, Allah will protect you from difficulties you might face from a court or judge or anyone; you don't know what Allah (swt) will save you from when you recite the complete ayah, “Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.” That is Safeenat un-Najaat, the Boat of Safety that we have to take in order to reach our goal, which is mahabbatullah, mahabbat an-Nabi (s), mahabbat awliyaullah!
قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ قَالَ لَن تَرَانِي وَلَـكِنِ انظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ موسَى صَعِقًا فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Qaala rabbee arinee anzhur ilayk, qaala lan taraanee wa laakin unzhur ila ’l-jabali, fa in istaqarrra makaanuhu fa-sawfa taraanee, fa lamaa tajalla rabbuhu li 'l-jabali ja`alahoo dakkan wa khara Moosa saa`iqan, falammaa afaaqa qaala subhaanaka tubtu ilayk, wa anaa awwal al-mumineen.
He said, "O my Lord! Show Yourself to me, that I may look upon You." Allah said, "By no means can you see Me (directly), but look upon the mountain; if it abides in its place, then you shall see Me." When his Lord manifested His glory on the mount, He made it as dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses, he said, "Glory be to You! To You I return in repentance, and I am the first to believe." (Surat al-`Araaf, 7:143)
Sayyidina Musa (a) was in love, mushtaaq, yearning for the love of Prophet (s). Allah sent him...there are many meanings in that ayah and we cannot explain them all as we need many other suhbats to explain them. When Sayyidina Musa (a) was questioning, saying, “Yaa Rabbee! Let me see You,” Allah said, “You cannot see Me,” but he was able to say that word, he dared to say that word and he is the only one who can say this as he is Kaleemullah.
Allah (swt) said, “You want to see Me? Okay, look at the mountain; if the mountain will stay in its place you can see Me; if not, you cannot see Me,” but when Allah manifested His Beautiful Names and Attributes on the mountain, it shattered and Sayyidina Musa (a) fainted. When he woke up, he said, “Yaa Rabbee! Tubtu ilayk, forgive me.” So Allah said, “Yaa Musa! You want to know about Me? Go to the majma` al-bahrayn, the meeting of the two oceans:
مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لَّا يَبْغِيَانِ
Maraj al-bahrayni yaltaqiyaani baynahumaa barzakhun laa yabghiyaan.
He let forth the two seas so that they meet together. Between them is a barrier that they do not transgress. (Surat al-Rahman, 55:19)
The two oceans, Allahu Akbar! When the ocean of Shari`ah and ocean of Haqiqah meet, there is a spring of noor, a green tree is planted in your heart from noor when these oceans meet together, but they meet inside, and you have to adapt yourself to the power of every ocean. The ocean of Shari`ah and the ocean of Haqiqah are meeting there and you have to struggle in order to adapt yourself to the Haqiqah, getting it without trying to expose it. They don't want you to expose what you learned, they want you to keep it in your heart, and when Allah opens the heart of a wali, He wants him to keep the secrets, not to give them or throw them to everyone. So they only give the candies, not more than that, and they keep the jewels.
Allah (swt) sent Sayyidina Musa (a) to Sayyidina Khidr (a), where fawajada `abdan min `ibaadina aataynaahu rahmatan min `indina wa `allamnaahu min ladunna `ilma, “He found one of Our servants, and there are many everywhere, but I am sending you to one.”
فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَا آتَيْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا
Fawajada `abdan min `ibaadina aataynaahu rahmatan min `indina wa `allamnaahu min ladunna `ilma.
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)
Aataynaahu rahmatan min `indina wa `allamnaahu min ladunna `ilma, Allah taught him from His heavenly knowledge, but before that, aataynaahu rahmatan min `indina, “We have given him mercy from Ourselves!” Without that mercy, without that door, you cannot go inside, and that rahmah is the Prophet (s), Rahmatan li ’l-`Alameen. “So we took him to the door of Sayyidina Muhammad (s),” which at that time was Sayyidina Khidr (a).
So Sayyidina Khidr (a) said to Sayyidina Musa (a), “Yaa Musa! My knowledge came from being at the door of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). You have to enter that door.”
How to enter that door?
Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “I will try.”
قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرًا
Qaala innaka lan tastati`a ma`iya sabraa.
The other said, “Surely you will not be able to have patience with me." (Surat al-Kahf, 18:67)
“You cannot, it is not easy.” He said, “No, no, no, no!”
إِذَا رَكِبَا فِي السَّفِينَةِ خَرَقَهَا
Rakibaa fi ’s-safeenati kharaqahaa.
When they were in the boat, he scuttled it. (Surat al-Kahf, 18:71)
He went on the boat. He said, “No, I can,” and Sayyidina Khidr (a) said, “Okay, come,. I am going on the boat, sailing from this shore to that shore to the other side of the horizon. We have to cross from dunya to there, but there, before you reach safety there is a king, a tyrant, who takes every boat by force.
أَمَّا السَّفِينَةُ فَكَانَتْ لِمَسَاكِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي الْبَحْرِ فَأَرَدتُّ أَنْ أَعِيبَهَا وَكَانَ وَرَاءهُم مَّلِكٌ يَأْخُذُ كُلَّ سَفِينَةٍ غَصْبًا
Amma ’s-safeenatu fakaanat li-masaakeena ya`maloona fi ’l-bahri fa-aradtu an a`eebahaa wa kaana waraahum malikun yakhudhu kulla safeenatin ghasba
As for that boat, it belonged to some needy people who toiled upon the sea, and I desired to damage it because [I knew that] behind them was a king who wants to seize every boat by brute force.
(Surat al-Kahf, 18:79)
So what did Sayyidina Khidr (a) do? He sank the boat, put a hole in it, and Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “What are you doing putting a hole and the boat is going to sail and then it is going to sink?”
Sayyidina Khidr (a) said, “Yes, I’m sinking it because there is a king there, yakhudhu kulla safeenatin ghasba, a tyrant who takes every boat by force.”
So the boat was sinking and as it sank they jumped out and reached the Shore of Safety, because then they were not in the hands of that tyrant. Who is that tyrant king? Iblees! So Sayyidina Khidr (a) wanted to take Sayyidina Musa (a) and the people on the boat to the Shore of Safety, outside the hands of Iblees. So what did he do? He put a hole. What is that hole? It means killing the self; that was the boat of killing the self before reaching reality! So Allah (swt) was saying, “Yaa Musa! If you want to go on that road and reach safety, you have to kill your ego and bad desires.”
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
Fa alhamahaa fujoorahaa wa taqwaahaa.
He inspired the self of its bad and its good. (Surat ash-Shams, 91:8)
So you have to kill the bad self; if you don't kill your badness, your bad desires, you are the same, you come and go and you don't get benefit, but awliyaullah in this time, when you come to them you get benefit because if the barakah of Prophet (s).
Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, passed that secret to Mawlana Shaykh, may Allah give him long life, when Shaykh Sharafuddin ordered him for khilafah. Before he died he called for Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) and this is what Grandshaykh told us many times, he (Shaykh Sharafuddin) wrote his will and said, ‘`AbdAllah Effendi,” this is how he said it, “You will take over after me. I am leaving dunya in three days.” After three days, he left dunya and Mawlana Shaykh `AbdAllah said, “I washed him with other people in the village and we buried him and then I took the will and tore it apart and threw it in the river and said, ‘I don't want anyone to know I am the khalifah of Shaykh Sharafuddin. What is the benefit?’”
Now we go back. Before Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) died, before he wrote his will, he said to him, “`AbdAllah Effendi! I am giving you, by the order of Prophet (s) I’m dressing you with khilafah.”
Grandshaykh (q) said, “Yaa Sayyidee, I don't want it!”
And (the opposite), today if Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) says one word, everyone will run to be that khalifah! If Shaykh Bahauddin was here he would make everyone laugh (about this)! Everyone is running to be something. Don't be something or you will be responsible! Don’t be a shepherd; shepherds are responsible for the sheep. Don’t ask to be a shepherd, run away! Do you think it’s easy to be a shepherd? (If you are khalifah), you are responsible for every hair of the sheep even, not only for the sheep, but you are responsible even for the hair of your body not standing correctly! Sultan al-Awliya is responsible in front of Prophet (s). He has to bring his followers clean to the Prophet (s) every day! Wilaya is not that easy.
So he said, “Yaa Sayyidee! I don't want it,” and Great-Grandshaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “It is an order (from Prophet).”
Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) said, “Order or no order, I cannot take it.”
إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَن يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنسَانُ
إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا
Inna `aradnaa al-amaanata `ala ‘s-samaawati wa ‘l-ardi wa ‘l-jibaali fa-abayna an yahmilnaahaa wa ashfaqnaa minhaa wa hamalahaa ‘l-insaanu innahu kaana zhalooman jahoola.
We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the mountains, but they refused to undertake it, being afraid, but Man undertook it. Lo! He has proved a tyrant and a fool.
(Surat al-Ahzaab, 33:72)
Allah is saying in the Holy Qur’an to Heavens and Earth, “We offered Our trust,” and they said, “No, no, no! Yaa Rabbee, we cannot carry that trust! Don’t give it to us.” To have no responsibility is better. Be from the lovers, don’t be from the mureeds. Muhib is nice: you come and go and no one asks you to be this or that, no responsibility. No responsibility is better; don’t run after responsibility because it’s not going to help you. Be nothing, but the ego wants us to have responsibility, and then you have a headache. We made the eShaykh.com website and thousands of questions come every day, if not thousands then hundreds, and you have to answer those who have too many problems! Your head will be white, like my beard, your hair will be white from what you are seeing of problems between Muslims: husband, wife, family, and children. You want responsibility, for what? If you have no responsibility, you extend your leg and someone massages your legs and you make dhikr and go, no responsibility!
So he said, “No, I don’t want it.” So in the association of awliyaullah, Shaykh Sharafuddin met with the Prophet (s) spiritually, in a vision, and he said to Prophet, “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah! He doesn’t want it.”
The Prophet (s) said, “Ask him why he doesn’t want it?” That was for Shaykh Sharafuddin to know, as the Prophet (s) knew.
Do awliyaullah see Prophet (s) in dreams? Yes. Do they see Prophet (s) in visions? Yes. And it is a very well-known authentic hadith about this issue, that, “Who saw me in the dream saw me in reality; what he saw is correct.”
من رائني في المنام فقد راءني حقا
Man ra'anee fi 'l-manaami faqad raanee haqqan.
Who saw me in the dream saw me in reality. (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)
So he (s) said, “Ask him,” and the next day after Fajr, (Shaykh Sharafuddin) asked him, “Yaa Waladee! Why don’t you want that? The Prophet (s) is asking you.”
Grandshaykh said, “Yaa Sayyidee! Tell me, what is the benefit to guide the followers?”
He said, “You advise them and guide them.”
Grandshaykh said, “But this is not giving benefit, this is wasting your time.” He is saying this to his shaykh. “I don't want it. It’s better to be with dhikrullah by myself and I don't want it, it is too much,” although Mawlana Shaykh `AbdAllah ad-Daghestani (q) was like a fountain of water, giving (flowing) lectures, suhbahs, advice. Even if a young child sat in front of him, he gave a lecture for three hours, non-stop! SubhaanAllah! Really it is subhaanAllah, it’s amazing! He didn't know how to read and write (acquire knowledge from books); he knew how to read Holy Qur'an and write a little bit, but no Arabic, and yet he fountains of knowledge spring from his heart! I think Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) has thousands of notebooks of his teachings.
He said, “What is the benefit when you give advice day and night and as soon as they go out of the door they begin to fight each other over who is the shepherd, who is the representative, who has this or that. For what? No, I don’t want that.”
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “Okay, what do you want.”
He said, “I want one thing; if you accept, if you get acceptance from Prophet (s), I will be okay.”
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “What is that?”
He said, “Yaa Sayyidee! One thing, that anyone who comes to sit in my association, one person or thousands of people, any time or any day, as long as I’m alive and I’m speaking and even if I don't speak and they are sitting and drinking tea with me, I want them in Judgment Day to be on same level as me. If you accept this, I accept. No work, nothing, they only come, they sit with me, they drink tea, I smile for them and they smile for me and they go happy, whether they listen to suhbat or not. Since they entered that room then finished, they will be with me on the Day of Judgment.”
Going back a little bit, in the association of scholars, `ulama, they once asked Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), “Yaa Shaykh! Why do you give too much attention to this young boy?”
Grandshaykh `AbdAllah was young then.
He said, “Do you want me to tell you his level in Paradise now or his level when he dies? I will tell you his level now. He is stepping where none of you stepped in Paradise!”
Later, Grandshaykh took the will and tore it and threw it in river, and no one in Rashadiyya knew he is Shaykh Sharafuddin’s khalifah and they still think there is someone who is khalifah there. Then he left and came to Aleppo and then to Damascus, where he met Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him shifaa’ and long life. They met and then before Grandshaykh (q) died, he passed everything, all the secrets to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q) through a nice story. Mawlana is carrying that secret, so even when you come here for five minutes when no one is here and you pray two raka`ats and go, you will get the benefit of “wherever he is, you will be with him,” because you are coming for his love, so whether he appears to you, if he comes or not, no problem, as the presence is what is needed!
May Allah (swt) always keep us in their presence, not to say that we want to have a presence, but to keep us in their presence, because their presence is explained by Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) as “whoever sits in his presence will be in the level that he is in.”
So why to be shepherds? Be sheep and it’s easy, as you don’t bother yourselves, not to fight in Germany, Spain, South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, etc. For what? You are doing for Allah (swt), you are not doing for yourself, to say, “I am going to be a shepherd.” They come to me and say, which is a condition as Grandshaykh said, that when you want to travel, especially to Hajj, to Mecca or Madinah, you have to ask, and when you need to travel somewhere far you have to ask. They come ask me and I say, “Do what you like, no problem.” Don’t show mureeds orders, don't make it an army, we are not an army. Many say to people, “Don't run after dunya,” while I’m not saying who says this, but these shepherds themselves are running after dunya! Why are you telling people “don't run after dunya,” when Allah (swt):
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً
Rabbana atina fi 'd-dunya hasanatan wa fi ’l-akhirati hasanah.
O our Lord! Give us goodness in this life and goodness in the Next Life. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:201)
That is balance, but if someone has all kinds of luxury and says to people, “Don't run after dunya,” how does that work? People will look at you as a hypocrite! Go see in their lectures how they say, “Don't run after dunya.” You (who gives that order) are running after dunya!
Sayyidina `Ali (r) said:
اعمل لدنياك كانك تغيش ابدا وعمل لاخرتك كانك تموت غدا
`Amal li-dunyaaka ka-annaka ta`aeeshoo abadan wa `amal li- akhiratika ka-annaka tamootu ghadan.
Work for dunya as if you are going to live forever, and work for akhirah as if you are dying tomorrow.
That is the balance. If you don't work, you will have a problem with your wife and children at end of the day and when you come home, they say, “What is this, you have nothing with you?” They say, “I didn't work.” If you didn't work, why have children and a wife? Go, you have to work and the next day if you don't have work, make yourself busy and Allah will give you (rizq), but don't be lazy as laziness is from Shaytan. The Prophet (s) ordered Sahaabah (r) to plant crops and trees, and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) was a merchant, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was a merchant, and we want to sit in the zawiya in a corner, not doing anything. Is that tariqah? No, I don’t think that is the correct tariqah.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/The_Head_of_Every_Wisdom_and_the_Head_of_Every_Suhbah-4972.html
© Copyright 2013 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected
by international copyright law. Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.