Khatm and Suhbah at Nurul Islam Mosque
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.
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)
Dastoor, madad yaa Sayyidee.
O brothers and sisters, those who are here and those on the Internet from everywhere around the world, as-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. This is a masjid with a lot of light and energy in it. Allah bless those working in it and keeping it open as masaajid are for Allah (swt):
وَأَنَّ الْمَسَاجِدَ لِلَّهِ فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا
Wa anna ‘l-masaajida lillahi falaa tad`oo ma`Llahi aahada.
The mosques are for Allah, so do not pray to anyone other than Allah. (Surat al-Jinn, 72:18)
The Masaajid are for Allah: anyone coming to a masjid is like someone coming to repent, because that shows you are someone requesting from Allah to give you. When you enter masjid and say, “Astaghfirullah,” you are entering a masjid that takes you to Paradise, because that word, “astaghfirullah”, shows that you are someone requesting from Allah (swt) to forgive you and give you the key for the door to enter, or else why do we have to say “astaghfirullah”? Astaghfirullah is for something you have done wrong, or in the Arabic world it is also used for someone who, dor example, invites you and says the dinner they prepared is not good enough, which means, “No, don't say that, that ni`amat you are providing is more than enough, it is good.”
Let us say all together, “Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah.” Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, taught us to say “Istaghfirullahu ’l-`azheem wa atoobu ilayh” 100 times every day and angels will not be able to cope writing the rewards Allah is sending for that, and the angel of the left is busy erasing, so both sides are busy: one is busy recording rewards and the other is busy erasing! One time Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said for every suhbah the title, “Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.” (4:59) Wherever you are, if Muslim and a mu’min and you say that, you are under the tajalli of that ayah. What is the benefit? Atee`oollaha, “Obey Allah,” means obey Him in what he ordered. Atee`oo 'r-Rasoola, “Obey Prophet (s) in whatever he gave you.”
وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا
Wa maataakumu ’r-rasoolu fakhudhoohu wa maa nahaakum `anhu fantahoo.
Leave what Prophet (s) forbade and take what he ordered. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)
Whatever Prophet (s) gives you to do, take it, and whatever he prohibits you to do, leave it. That is not the only meaning. That is an ayah of Holy Qur’an. Awliyaullah have a taste like these sweets, there is taste with their explanation, it is not dry.
Secrets of “Obey Allah, obey His Prophet and Obey Those in Authority among You”
Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum, “Obey Allah, obey Prophet (s) and obey those in authority.” Don't make a sin, don't make anything wrong, obey and say sami`ana wa ata`ana, “We listen and we obey” or “we heard and we obeyed.”
Who heard when Jibreel (a) was bringing the Prophet (s) wahiyy on that ayah? Who heard Jibreel’s (a) voice other than Prophet (s)? No one. What was that angelic sound that came with that ayah Jibreel (a) brought to the Prophet (s)? What was the sweetness behind that ayah? What was that, something sacred behind that ayah? Who heard it other than Prophet (s)? What is that sound that Jibreel (a) came with? Is it like we talk or when we memorize Holy Qur’an, or when we keep the ahkaam of Holy Qur’an, or is it something special for Prophet (s) that is beyond our minds? What kind of sweetness came with that ayah and every ayah of Holy Qur’an? Who heard from Prophet (s)? The imams of masaajid? Other people? No, they heard from the Sahaabah, and from whom did the Sahaabah (r) hear from? The Prophet (s).
وأخرجه أبو يعلى من طريق سعيد بن أبي بردة عن أبيه بزيادة فيه أن النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - وعائشة مرا بأبي موسى وهو يقرأ في بيته ، فقاما يستمعان لقراءته ، ثم إنهما مضيا . فلما أصبح لقي أبو موسى رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - فقال : يا أبا موسى ، مررت بك فذكر الحديث فقال : " أما إني لو علمت بمكانك لحبرته لك تحبيرا "
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated that Abu Musa (r) said that the Prophet (s) was once walking along with the mother of the believers, `Ayesha (r). And as they passed by his house, they heard him reciting the Qur’an. The Prophet (s) and Sayyida `Ayesha (r) stopped by the wall of his house and they listened for a while before they continued on their way home. The next morning, Abu Musa came to see the Prophet (s) who said to him: “O Abu Musa, I was walking last night with `Ayesha (r) and when we reached your house, we heard you reciting the Qur’an so we stopped and listened for a while to your recital.” Abu Musa (r) replied: “O blessed Prophet of Allah, I wish I knew you were there, for I would have enriched my voice and improved my rendition.”
One of as-haab an-Nabi (s), Abu Musa al-Ash`ari (r), was reciting Qur’an and Prophet (s) was so happy from his tajweed and was standing behind him listening to it. Abu Musa (r) did not see him and when he finished reciting he looked and saw the Prophet (s) and said, “Yaa Rasoolullah, if I had known that you were there, I would have polished it so well that the sweetness of it would be like honey coming on the tongues of people.”
It means there is something that we know and something that we don't know. We didn’t know that the sweetness of the ayaat that the Prophet (s) carried, we don’t know it, we didn't taste what Prophet (s) gave to them, only Prophet (s) tasted it and the Sahaabah (r) tasted what Prophet (s) gave to them, like Abu Musa (r) used to make melodies through the holy verses of the Qur’an, not like the readers who read today through their noses, but there are some reciters very well qualified. And the Tabi`een heard from the Sahaabah (r), thumma tab`i at-tabieen, those who came after the first century, they heard from each other, until today; we heard from shaykh to shaykh and the tajalli became less and less due to the ignorance that has filled the Earth and the darkness.
Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) said, “When you recite ‘Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum’ Allah manifests His Maghfirah, He forgives you and will send His Beautiful Name Al-Ghaffaar on you, so that if you had sins heavier than all human beings, with the secret of that ayah Allah (swt) will erase everything from you and give you as if you Atee`oollaha, obeyed Allah, wa atee`oo ‘r-Rasool, and obeyed Prophet (s) completely!”
There are 500 obediences and 800 forbiddens, and Grandshaykh (q) said, “The meaning is as if all 800 forbiddens were erased and all 500 obediences are dressed on you, so Ummat an-Nabi will appear on the Day of Judgement like stars on a dark night and everyone will say, ‘These are the Muslims, yaa laytanaa kunna muslimeen, we all wish we were Muslims!’”
But it is finished (written): a Muslim is a Muslim and a non-Muslim is a non-Muslim. We must be lucky that Allah is sending that kind of mercy on us! This majlis might be, as Shaykh Shafiq will say, “O this is too much, we are going high!” This majlis will be raised to the level of the shaykh that is running this Tariqah. Allah gave every shaykh of every Tariqah something. Allah (swt) even gave twins different personalities, although they might have the same appearance, still they are different. Allah gave awliya whatever they have asked!
Secrets of Grandshaykh’s Madinah Khalwah
Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, was always a fountain of knowledge. He said in his seclusion he was making du`a, but he didn't say publicly what the du`a was and at that time...these are from the secrets that Grandshaykh (q) ordered Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) to open in 1969 when we went on Hajj with Mawlana Shaykh (q). Grandshaykh (q) asked him to keep me and my brother in his private room with him, where he had observed seclusion for one year in Madinah. He gave us all these secrets and how you can use them, but no permission to use them without their permission. So we sat there every day with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and went out to pray and came back, and he dictated all these different secrets to us.
He said one of them, to which perhaps some people will object because they cannot understand it, but Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, “Grandshaykh was giving me his food to eat; I ate my food and he gave me his, which was one bowl of lentil soup, and he passed it under the door because he did not eat, and I made a six-month seclusion with him and Grandshaykh continued the seclusion for another six months.”
Then one day he heard Grandshaykh (q) speaking in Arabic, although he did not know except a few words of Arabic. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim said: “I looked and saw he was raising his hands and making du`a in Arabic. Not one sentence was repeated, every sentence of his du`a was different and all that he recited were sentences of supplication which were not recited in the second du`a or the third, and he was shaking. He opened a vision for me and I saw he was under the Throne of Allah with that du`a, which was for the benefit of the Ummah. One of those benefits is for Allah (swt) to accept from him what he is going to ask. He said, ‘Yaa Rabbee, anyone who comes and sits in my association, I want him to be with me in dunya and Akhirah raised up to my level.’ I was scared that he would see me there, because we were in the same room. Never a mureed and their shaykh are in the same room for khalwah, because the mureed cannot carry what his shaykh is reciting or doing! But he allowed me to be in the same room for six months during that khalwah and when my time was finished, I heard someone crying outside the door. I looked and there was no one there, but the voice was wailing, then Grandshaykh looked at me and said, ‘Nazim Effendi, why are you worried about the one crying? Let him go to Hell, that was Iblees! I cannot chain them, they are out of my hand, out of my authority.’”
Whatever We Do Goes Back to Allah (swt)
This is the type of shaykh you had and he is still with us in dunya and Akhirah; however, we cannot understand, our minds cannot put it together. For example, everyone knows that 1+1 = 2, but no, that is wrong: 1+1 = 1! When you put one and one near each other they become one: put two drops of water together they become one, and in philosophy they teach that. So 1+1 = 1 means whatever you do it goes back to Allah, The One. Whatever His `abd does, it has to go back to Allah (swt) as in His Hand is our destiny, in His Hand is everything that we see in front of our eyes that no one can change except by Allah's Order.
Awliyaullah have khusoosiyyah, a speciality that Allah has given them that if they raise their hands and say, “Yaa Allah!” they get the response, “Yaa `abdee! What do you want, ask Me, I am with you!”
الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ
Alladheena yadhkuroonallaaha qiyaaman wa qu`oodan wa `ala junoobihim wa yatafakkaroona fee khalqi ’s-samaawaati wa ’l-ard.
Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting and lying down on their sides, and contemplating the creation of the Heavens and the Earth. (Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:190-191)
“Those who make dhikr morning, noon and evening (standing, sitting and laying down) wa yatafakkaroon, and meditate and contemplate,” that is necessary, that is what is important. You have to meditate to audit yourself regarding what you did during the day: did you behave well or not? Anyone who meditates on his `amal will find a lot of mistakes. That is why Prophet (s) said:
تفكر ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة
Tafakkarru sa`atin khayrun min `ibaadati saba`een sannah.
To remember Allah (swt) (contemplate or meditate) for one hour is better than seventy years of worship.
To contemplate and meditate you will be rewarded more than seventy years of (nawaafil) worship. That's why we have to be careful and to keep together as much as possible, so we can to be united and then Allah will give us support and happiness!
I like Shaykh Bawa because he loves Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). Anyone in this majlis is ‘Bawa’, because the tajalli is coming down on everyone with that power, because unity is important. Differences in ideas and ways are something else, but you can still meet in the ocean. If you follow any river it takes you to the ocean, and that ocean is Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), so you are free to choose whichever river you like:
لاَ إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ
Laa ikraaha fi ’d-deen.
Let there be no compulsion in religion. (Surat al-Baqarah 2:256)
So choose whatever you like, whatever your heart tells you, “You go there,” you will find something according to what you asked. Some people might ask something higher, and they get higher, but at the end they will be together, united and it is not going to affect anyone else.
So may Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us and keep us united. And of course the family of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) are united, but there is a difference in understanding some things, just as among the Sahaabah (r) there were differences and among the Madhaahib there are differences, but they meet at a certain point. Can you say the Madhhab of Imam Shafi`i is wrong, or the Madhhab of Imam Abu Hanifa is wrong or Imam Malik is wrong? No, but you take any Madhhab and it takes you to truth. If you are clever, and this is the way of the Wahhabi, not of Ahlu ‘s-Sunnah, you take from every one the easiest way: every Madhhab has an easy way (elements) so take the easy way and do it and still you will be succeeding, still you will go to the Ocean of Prophet (s), and as long as you are saying salawaat on Prophet (s) you will be successful!
May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless this masjid in Bury. “Bury” is like bariyy, innocent, and Bury is like barr al-qalam, “sharpen the pens”. So sharpen your pens, Mahdi (a) is coming so be ready!
Wa ‘s-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
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