5 August 2011 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
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)
We have mentioned this ayah many times, and if someone says, “Oh, we wrote it already, we don’t need to write it again,” that is bad adab. Write it every time, as you will be dressed from one of the secrets of that ayah. That is a heavenly dress, not like the dress we change every day and after one week we repeat the same dress. Allah doesn't need to make a copy; each time He gives different manifestations and He creates angels for that verse that make tasbeeh on your behalf every time!
So every time we say, “Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum,” write it. If you don’t know how, memorize it and write it. That is a faa’idah, benefit. We give a suhbah by the shaykh's order, and so there are many benefits from the suhbah, and therefore it is necessary for us all to take the main bullet points from it, to study and reflect on them. But our problem is that we are lazy. I see people writing and writing, they might have twenty notebooks, but ask them, "Do you read what you wrote?" No. That is the problem: we don’t read what we wrote, we are only writing for barakah. Alhamdulillah, that is a blessing, but to get a faa’idah we need to study the bullet points, and this is an important matter because when we benefit, then we can understand the relationship between what awliyaullah are saying and what the hadith of the Prophet (s) is for.
Awliyaullah understand every hadith of the Prophet (s) and one of the most important hadith often mentioned is:
يحشر المرء مع من أحب
yuhshar al-maruw ma` man ahhab.
People will be resurrected with the one they love.
This does not mean you will only be resurrected in Akhirah, but also that people who love each other will always be together and cannot be separated. That shows unity; not unity with Allah (swt), as that is not accepted in Islam. No one can unite with Allah (swt), and unfortunately many who are teaching tasawwuf outside of Shari`ah make these horrible mistakes, saying, “We unite with Allah.” Allah didn't unite His Prophet with Him! He sent him to qaaba qawsayni aw adna, where he was very close but not united with Allah (swt)! Can human beings who use the toilet unite with Allah? But for human beings to unite with each other, that is Maqaam al-Fana, the Level of Annihilation, which is the state of feeling what your brother feels and sharing in their happiness and sadness: that is fana.
So the suhbah builds love. When you are always in the company of your teacher, the reality of that secret will improve and produce the fruit we call mahabbat, love. Those who are very near to the teacher give him suroor, delight and happiness. The shaykh will always be with them and they are always with the shaykh, even if far away. Even if they do not see it, the shaykh is always with them, as mentioned in the hadith:
لا يشقى بهم جليسهم
laa yashqaa jaleesahum.
Never will someone in their company see a bad end.
In addition, the shaykh has knowledge of every moment in their lives. It is said that one time people came to a shaykh and said, "O our teacher! One of your students died.” In those days information was not sent through Internet; travel took at least one week by horse as it was a long way. The shaykh entered his room and went into tafakkur, meditation, about which the Prophet (s) said:
تفكر ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة
tafakarru sa`atan khayrun min `ibaadati saba`een sannah.
To remember Allah (swt) for one hour (contemplate or meditate) is better than seventy years of worship.
That means its speed is quicker than any Internet service today; you will be with the one on whom you meditate within seconds, much like the Internet today, only it is a heavenly Internet. So to meditate for one hour, and here “hour” means a short time, is better than voluntary worship. Imagine with one year of complete worship how much nearer you will be in the Divine Presence! That tafakkur will take you there in seconds. Do you see the huge power of meditation as the Prophet (s) mentioned? It is also mentioned in the Holy Qur'an:
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآيَاتٍ لِّأُوْلِي الألْبَابِ الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
inna fee khalqi ’s-samawaati wa ’l-ard wa’khtiflaafi ’l-layli wa ’n-nahaar la-ayaatin li-ooli ’l-albaab. Alladheena yadhkuroonallaha qiyaaman wa qu`oodan wa `ala junoobihim wa yatafakkaroona fee khalqi ’s-samawaati wa ’l-ard rabbana maa khalaqta hadha baatilan subhaanaka faqina `adhaab an-naar.
Behold! In the creation of Heaven and Earth, and in the alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding, who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and who contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the Heavens and the Earth, (with the thought), "Our Lord! Not for naught have You created (all) this! Glory to You! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire.” (al-`Imraan, 3:190-191)
When you reflect on the creation of Heavens and Earth, saying, “O Allah! You have not created this in vain,” immediately all the secrets of the creation of Heavens and Earth will fill your heart and you will be able to see haqq (truth) and the difference between haqq and baatil (falsehood). Then you will be able to truly say, “O Allah! You have not created this in vain.” Just as in science, you perform lab tests to prove a theory; until then the theory is based solely on assumption and it might be right or wrong. Similarly, when you begin to reflect on the creation of Heaven and Earth, then Allah will give you power to understand, “You did not create this in vain.”
So when that shaykh received news that the mureed died, he reflected. Everyone was looking at the shaykh, asking, “Why is he reflecting?” Within a few moments the shaykh answered, “No, he didn’t die.” Although the news had come that he had died and everyone considered him to dead, the shaykh said, “I have wandered in Heavens and Hell, and I searched completely in these moments and didn’t find him there. That means he is still alive, so go and check.” They searched and found him living! That is the meaning of laa yashqaa jaleesahum, “The one who is with them will not see a day of sadness,” as Allah (swt) gave them the ability to be with their followers: they are under observation 24 hours a day. Don’t think this is too much, it is not, in fact it is something a first-class wali can do and not something awliyaullah run after. Anyone who keeps company with them will receive from their barakah, whether they are near or far, as long as you keep them in your heart and remember them, because they guide you to remembrance of the Prophet (s).
Similarly, from remembrance of the Prophet (s) you will benefit and receive barakah from them and also many secrets in your heart. As soon as they get permission from the Prophet (s), they will give you the code with which you will be able to see these secrets in one moment. There is a lot of classified material and if you are selected, hired, and given clearance, they will give you a code and then you will enter that and see all those classified materials, and in turn you will understand it and why it is classified.
There are akaabir and asaaghir. Akaabir are the awliyaullah, highly rated five or ten star people, they are VIPs, and asaaghir are normal people like us. So when a normal person accompanies the VIP, they go where ever the VIP goes. The VIP also benefits as the normal one is carrying his bags and following. So the normal one is getting benefit and so is the VIP, as he is not having too much burden to carry his bag. Therefore, both sides benefit from each other and this is Allah's wisdom in His servants. That is why the house of a wali is never closed; it must always be open so that he benefits and those who come also benefit. If it is closed, why would he have to be a wali? Allah gave him wilayah (sainthood) to give benefit to people. You will never see a wali’s doors closed; his doors are always open.
Here are five benefits of the relationship with a true murshid:
1. With just one moment of tafakkur, the shaykh can see all his mureeds and reach them; that is the first bullet point in tariqah.
2. The second one is that normal ones, asaaghir, benefit from the akaabir, the VIP, and vice versa. Each benefits from the other, which is why the shaykh cannot close his door: the door of repentance is always there. If you do something wrong and ask for forgiveness, Allah (swt) will always forgive you.
3. You may have seen people performing their obligations, the five daily prayers, fasting, etc., but you may have also seen them doing much voluntary worship. That is because they are deeply in love with their shuyookh. The love of the shaykh will make mureeds worship more, and that is what Allah put in the secret of their love: the taste of love for the shaykh, which causes the mureed to worship more, which makes Allah (swt) and the Prophet (s) happy with them. That is why the author* said, maa ta`abad al-muta-`abidoon illa bi mahabbat mashaykhihim, “The worshippers never worshipped more except due to love of their shaykh.” Love for the saint is proof there is love for Allah (swt), and so they guide you to the way to worship Him. Love for your teacher proves that you love Allah and His Prophet! That is why we sit in Mawlana's association, and you have to love all awliyaullah, not just Naqshbandis. There are 124,000 awliya. You cannot say this is a khalifah of another wali. no. The love of your shaykh is more, that’s okay, but love the others too, don't attack other shuyookh, love everyone and then you benefit from everyone. If you have good thoughts about them and you reach a familiarity with their presence, for sure you will be able to reach the level of sainthood.
4. Imam al-Junayd (q) (830-910, Persia), who came 200 years after the Prophet (s), said, at-tasdeeq bi `ilmina hadha wilaayyatun, “To believe in what we say is proof of sainthood in you. We don't want more from you, only that; that is proof you are a wali.”
أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
alaa inna awliyaullah laa khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.
Behold! Verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah Yunus 10:62)
Awliyaullah never fear anything and they are never sad. So al-Junayd (r) said, they dress you with wilayah when you accept what the wali says and do not put your opinion, as then you will lose. If your shaykh said something say, sami`na wa ata`na, “We hear and obey!” That is the fourth benefit.
1. The fifth benefit is keeping the company of the people of khayr, favors, as they are the people of knowledge. If you sit in their association and mingle with them it is accepted by Allah and His Prophet as Allah wants people to know each other. That is why He (swt) said:
إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى
innaa khalaqnaakum min dhakarin wa unthaa.
We have created you all out of a male and a female. (al-Hujurat, 49:13)
“We made you students of that teacher in order to know each other and not to fight each other.” That relationship is not to make you one that only accepts his own opinion and no one else’s. Tariqah does not accept that selfishness from the nafs al-ammaara (commanding lower self) that pushes you to do something bad. So when you accompany an `alim, he teaches you what to do, what is correct and what is wrong.
Once they asked Prophet (s), “Does a believer steal or rob?” He said, “That might be,” because maybe he is hungry and doesn’t have food, so he steals. And if he doesn't have spiritual food, he goes to the library or bookstore of his shaykh and takes it home, that is okay as the Prophet said, “Seek knowledge even unto China.” You cannot withhold knowledge. Then they asked him, “Does a mu’min commit adultery?” “That might be.” They might fall into the trap of Shaytan. And they asked, “Does a mu’min lie?” To that he said, “No!” A believer cannot lie, because Allah (swt) is seeing you, so that means don't lie on what you promised Allah on Day of Promises, that you will follow the Prophet. There we said, “Yes, we will follow!” but we lied, as in dunya we are not keeping our promise.
What is the big deal if I say, “He knows more than me?” If you humble yourself, Allah will dress you. Many times, Grandshaykh and Mawlana Shaykh might have said something or shouted at you with very harsh words. What is our duty? Don't say, “How can shaykh say this?” Allah (swt) said:
وَمِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَا زَوْجَيْنِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Wa min kulli shay’in khalaqnaa zawjayni la`allakum tadhakkaroon.
And of everything We have created pairs, that you may receive instruction. (Adh-Dhariyaat, 51:49)
“From everything We have created two: the reality and its’ image.” The reality is always pure but when the shaykh looks at the image that you made dirty, he has to use harsh words to take away that nafs al-haywaaniyya, the animal self. For example, when a donkey doesn't move, you whip it; that is allowed. We can understand whipping a donkey, but why whip a horse? To make them move faster or to tame a wild horse. You don't say that is domestic abuse; you whip him but also care for him. So awliyaullah see the animality in you and they whip you with harsh words so you will know what you are doing is worse than harsh words, but they praise Allah for your reality, as no one can touch that honor He gave to all human beings.
These quotations are important for us to understand tariqah, as they are its’ main points. You have to put them on a bulletin board, or make a pamphlet with bullet points for people to see and understand. There are 124,000 wali; if you collect one quote from every wali you will have 124,000 quotes. But we are lazy and we want the shaykh to give us our candy already prepared, we don't want to even stir the pot. “Y’Allah, make the rice pudding!” The shaykh gets tired stirring the pot, so help him! Many students think, “He is a wali; why does he want to be a wali if he doesn’t want to work?” Is it not like that? So when there is rice pudding, go and stir a little bit and then you can take bites here and there before it is closed to you! Repentance is like that: as soon as you say “astaghfirullah” you get some sweetness to your heart from that rice pudding and that entitles you to get more later.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
* as-Sayyid Hassan Hilmiyy al-Quhiyy ash-Shadhili an-Naqshbandi al-Qadiri, author of the book “Talkhees al-Ma`aarif, “Summarizing the Knowledges,” which is occasionally quoted in this series.