2 September 2010 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Fajr Ramadan Series 2010
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.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
Nawayna as-siyaam, inshaa-Allah. As we mentioned in the previous session, everyone must know his relationship, especially with his father. And you have to search well in order to reach a perfect teacher and perfect guide that is connected to Prophet (s), through a lineage of awliyaaullah that take you there. That is why what you receive depends upon the level of that silsilah, chain. If that silsilah of awliyaullah that goes to Prophet (s) is a Golden Chain, then you are lucky. If the chain is lower than that, then you are still lucky, and even if is at the first level, still you are lucky. But what you take depends on the strength of that chain.
That is why Muhammad al-Busayri (r) knew the secret of that through his heart, which was always connected to the heart of Prophet, and he dropped dunya completely from his heart. If we don't drop dunya there will still be obstacles and veils. And Muhammad al-Busayri, who is connected to the heart of Prophet (s), said in his famous verse of poetry, wa kullun min rasoolullahi multamisan, "Everyone is seeking and trying to get something, requesting, sending a petition, 'Please, yaa Rasoolullah, give us something!'"
And when he says, kullun min Rasoolullahi multamisan, "kullun" doesn't mean only you and me, or that one and that one, but it means everyone: every prophet, every Sahaabi, and every creature Allah created, and not only dunya creatures, but Akhirah, heavenly creatures, as well! And that means everyone and everything to whom Allah gave life is moving with that life, and they are in need of a connection with Prophet (s), which means anything that is moving, not one will be left out. Even the Earth is moving and it needs to turn from Prophet (s)! Allah (swt) created Creation and raised the Prophet to a very high station, qaaba qawsayni aw adnaa, "Two bows length or nearer." Everyone must to acknowledge respect of Prophet (s) because, as we know, Allah raised the name of Prophet and put it with His Name! A name without an appearance is not enough, so when that appearance appeared, it had a name, and that is why they appear, because of Prophet (s)! What are they saying about the hadeeth of Jabir (r) in the Musannaf of Abdur Razzaq, although they say it is not mentioned or not found or not true, that is the limit of their `ilm they did not reach. But in the understanding of awliyaa, they ask Prophet (s) directly for anything they need, or else what is the benefit of being awliyaa, if they are not able to reach and ask the Prophet (s)?
Everyone accepts that Allah (swt) raised Prophet's name with His Name, and that to raise the name without the appearance is nothing. The missing part (in their understanding) is, you must have the appearance that is living. So when Prophet (s) said, "The first thing Allah created was my light," then Allah created that appearance of Muhammad and raised him to His Presence. And that is the missing part that awliyaa are exposing. I cannot say, "Your name is `Ali," if you are not appearing; how can I give you a name? The name signifies the reality. So the name of Prophet that has been raised to la ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah means the name signifies that he is there. That is what is missing in that hadeeth of Prophet that all scholars accept.
كنت نبيا قال وآدم بين الروح والجسد
Kuntu nabiyyin wa Adam bayna 'r-ruh wa 'l-jasad.
I was a prophet when Adam was between soul and body. (Ahmad, at-Tabarani)
And two other riwayats are accepted, meaning that Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was a prophet before Adam (a), and Allah raised his name with His Name, which means He raised the significance of "Muhammad," where He created his light before all Creation, or else how will he be a symbol of all Creation? He is the one who Allah will speak to and that is the reality that Muhammad al-Busayri (r) knew. He said, wa kullun min rasoolullahi multamisan, "Everyone is in need of Prophet (s) to reach them." That means Prophet's Light was created before anything else, in order that, mustamidoon min noor an-nabi, "everything in movement receives support from the Light of Prophet." Everyone is taking from the heart of Prophet (s)!
And Muhammad al-Busayri (r) said, gharfan min al-bahr aw rashfan min ad-diyami, "Taking a huge amount of water from the ocean of Prophet, in huge containers (gharfan)," and rashfan, "sipping." So even at that lower level, you are taking from Prophet (s) through awliyaa, who take you and up, up, up, to reach to the reality of that Golden Chain. And we ask Allah to keep us with the Golden Chain that takes from both Sayyidina Abu Bakr (q) and Sayyidina `Ali (q)! So if you take from shaykh al-kaamil, a perfect master, a high-level guide that is known from that Order, that he dressed in the khirqah, cloak, and his shaykh dressed from his shaykh's cloak, all the way to Prophet (s), it means that pipe open to your heart is a pipe of guidance.
And you must understand that a guide of irshad is completely different from a guide doing dhikrullah. There are many muqaddims; Mawlana Shaykh, may Allah give him long life, said there might be hundreds, but not all are guides. The one who is a guide dresses in the khirqah that has a connection to Sayyidina Muhammad (s). That guide is given the permission and authority to guide and make talqeen, to put dhikr on your heart. An example of that authority is like on computers or TVs, when you press the "menu" button and there is a big list of options: installing, settings, tools, colors, and you check one-after-one. Talqeen is from the shaykh being given authority from his shaykh, and from his shaykh up to Prophet (s), to guide you, and his authority includes a menu. Some guides are given a menu for dhikr, they cannot go more, like some TVs have a limited menu, and others have a sophisticated, higher-level menu with many different functions. So the one who is authorized to put the secret of talqeen on tongues and hearts takes his menu from his shaykh, all the way to Prophet (s). And whenever the mureed is in need, the shaykh presses that menu button and chooses what he needs for that mureed. The secret of talqeen is that menu which connects you to the heart of Prophet!
As today, in technology they say, "We need a network to reach everyone," and they have these servers that process millions of emails, and from there they can reach everyone through email. So awliyaa have that server to reach everyone who has a connection. So you have to know, the secret of the menu that the shaykh put in heart of mureeds is networking. So just now our cameraman was late for the live broadcast, and what did they do? One person sent a direct "tweet" (on Twitter.com) from here and informed many people, "The live broadcast is delayed because our cameraman is sleeping." (In similitude) the cameraman is the one who can see the hearts of people. There is a cameraman for awliyaa. They are the ones who can reach the hearts of people and see what is there. So in one moment, if you become heedless, that connection is interrupted; it "buffers" and the connection is gone. So then people will say, "What happened? We can no longer see." Of course! You have to be careful from whom you are taking your knowledge, and that cameraman has to always be present.
Awliyaa are always present, not like the dunya cameraman; they are always ready to give you what you need from Prophet (s), that secret to connect the heart of the mureed with the shaykh, to Prophet (s) and to the Divine Presence. Grandshaykh said, innama huwa as-sirra fi 't-talqeeen huwa 'l- irtibaat quloobiha bi-ba`duha ila ba`d ila Rasoolullah wa ila hadarat Allah `azza wa jall. Wa aqal maa yahsal lil mureedi idhaa dakhal al-qawmi bi 't-talqeen an yakoona idhaa harrak as-silsilah tujaawibahu arwaah al-awliyaa li-shaykhih ila rasoolillah.
The one that is put on the tongue and heart, that menu and that secret, everyone of you when you take initiation that is put there. Some might have fewer functions, like volume and color, and some might have more and higher functions as in a plasma TV with many different programs and even connection to the Internet. So if that mureed reached the level of talqeen, if he opens his mouth to talk or his heart to send to the hearts of others, idhaa haraka as-silsilah, if he moved in his menu to advise, the whole silsilah will begin to move to reach that person! That is for one; who he reaches are all ordered to move immediately, tujaawib arwaah al-awliyaa, if he only shakes his menu it will open to all. The grandshaykh of that tariqah will be moving to reach him, and all the souls of awliyaa will be moving to reach that person, and Prophet (s) will move immediately to bring that one, with authority to give talqeen on his tongue, to reach the Divine Presence, al-hadarat al-ilaahi. So all that chain will move, from that shaykh to all the shaykhs, to Prophet, to the Divine Presence. That is why Mawlana Shaykh Nazim always says, "These knowledges are sent to me. I come empty and what they send, I speak." And I am surprised, it is now more than two years, everyday, everyday, and before also when we used to sit in the 60's and 70's, everyday he speaks. It is not easy, not like dunya knowledge, not like a professor who sits to prepare notes, . Here, in these associations, there is no subject. Here there is a menu! They have high technology with heavenly servers and heavenly email and when they connect, it comes immediately.
Grandshaykh said, Faman lam yadkhul fee tareeqihim bi-dhalika fa huwa ghayru ma`dood minhum wa laa yujeeb ahadun minhum idhaa harrak as-silsilah.
Today some researchers decide to research Naqshbandi Tariqah for their PhD thesis. They check the biography of every grandshaykh of the Golden Chain, but that silsilah will not move as they don't have the menu, not even if they mention their names, because they are "outsiders," and only "insiders" have the menu. Any one of Mawlana's mureeds, according to the menu he has been given, can activate and move the silsilah by that power given to him, using his password to that menu. That is why awliyaaullah have been given the "perfect khilafah", al-khilafah al-taammat al-mutlaqa. They reach the perfect level; al-mutlaqa means their menu has no restriction, it has full authority.
These are grandshaykhs; they are not normal like us. They give something to keep encouragement in the hearts of mureeds to continue on the Way. That is why they say every mureed is a diplomat, as they carry the flag of the shaykh. Mureed-to-mureed they attract each other, and the husn al-khuluq, best characteristics, will attract others to the shaykh, like a hunter has helpers to attract their prey. Mureeds are always helping the hunter to get his prey by talking to and attracting people. That is why there is majam`a at-taraa'iq, the compound where all shuyookh of different tariqahs meet, like a university campus with many buildings, where many different turuq coming to Prophet come together, and don't think they don't come together. Grandshaykh gave authority to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim on 41 tariqahs, not just one. That Golden Chain is one which can overlook all other chains. That is why the Naqshbandi Tariqah is taking from the two doors, Sayyidina Abu Bakr (q) and Sayyidina `Ali (q).
And so all that is in the menu; what is in the hearts of awliyaa is to teach you to have husn al-khuluq and obedience and modesty, and to carry all these kinds of behaviors. And on top of that, they put on your tongue two levels of dhikr: Maqam at-Tawheed, which is to deny and confirm, nafiy wa ithbaat, that is the first step; and dhikr by Allah's Beautiful Name that encompasses all other Names, "Allah."
قُلِ اللّهُ ثُمَّ ذَرْهُمْ فِي خَوْضِهِمْ يَلْعَبُونَ
qul Allah wa dharhum fee khawdihim yal`aboon.
Say "Allah," then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. ( Surat al-An`am, 6:91)
It means, "O Prophet! Don't listen to those who are not with you, just as there came to Musa light before you! Say "Allah," and let them play and waste their time!" And that is what we are trying to explain in a symbolic way, that laa ilaaha illa-Llah shows us the path. When we reach the end by denying and confirming, deny and confirm more and more, until you deny completely everything from dunya and affirm everything from akhirah. Then you reach the Divine Presence and you recite Ism adh-Dhaat, "Allah". That is what awliyaaullah want their followers to do! Ism at-Tawheed, laa ilaaha illa-Llah, is a Name that describes all that is mumkin, possible and can be. Anything that is possible and can be has an appearance. So dunya appearances want you to make dhikr by laa ilaaha illa-Llah, to deny and cancel from your heart these appearances that through your heart you want them, through dunya desire.
So, laa ilaaha illa-Llah takes away these appearances and leaves you clean. So by denying and confirming you are wiping clean all dust of human nature of this life. You are completely wiping all the dust of the appearances of everything in this human life that we are in from the face of the unique Maqaam al-Ahadiya, the Level of Uniqueness that takes you to Allah's Ism adh-Dhaat in the Divine Presence, described by the Unique Name of the Essence that encompasses all Names and Attributes. So by denying human desires, you will confirm all these lights that the Divine Presence is carrying. That is why awliyaa say there are not only 99 Names, but the Absolute Unknown Reality of the Creator, Allah's Divine Essence. They say even the Prophet (s) cannot know anything about the Divine Essence except what appears from these Beautiful Name and Attributes, an infinite number of which that can be taken from the heart of Prophet (s)!
When you deny the human life, slowly the dust that covers your heart begins to clear up, until it becomes a transparent vision, until you reach the divine fountain. That is ma`rifatullah, not by dhaat, the Essence, but to know Allah by His Beautiful Names and Attributes that is given to Prophet and now given to awliyaa.
Before you had TV that doesn't show except a fuzzy picture, not clear, in black and white; then came color TV, then came high-definition TV, and then plasma TV. So by that path of denial and confirmation and then reaching the Level of Uniqueness, that means you see everything in dunya indicating a Creator. Maqam al-Ahadiyya is the "Level of Uniqueness" and at that level you can visualize things with a high-definition screen. Still you are looking on the screen, but when you go further you will be living what is on the screen as if it is part of your life. You will have three dimensions as they have today 3D-TV or 3D in a movie theater. You will see things moving up as if you are in that scene.
So awliyaa take their followers to Maqaam at-Talqeen, by denying and confirming, and then to Maqaam `Ism adh-Dhaat and Maqaam al-Ahadiyyah, where you see the beauty coming from the Divine Presence and you will be dressed in that. As you continue, you will have dawaamu 'l-hudoor, "continuity of presence," which doesn't come until you love that presence. That is why the first level is mahabatullah, mahabat al-habeeb, mahabat al-mashaykh. You have that love as shown by gathering in the presence of the shaykh; if there is no love, you don't come. When you have that love then always you will be present; you have hudoor. In that state, you never forget you are a servant to Allah; you always remember His Name through dhikrullah on the tongue and heart. So dawamu 'l-hudoor is a miracle of awliyaa.
It is not a miracle to walk on water or fly in air or walk on coal or put knives in your body, no. Karamaat al-awliyaa dawaam at-tawfeeq, the highest of miracles is continuity of being present with Allah and with His Prophet. That will lead to Maqaam al-Ahadiyya, and we will discuss that next time. We thank our cameramen that came at the end. If the cameraman is not here that subhat will not be taped, but even if he is not here and it is not taped physically, that subhat will be taped on our hearts. When we have transparency we will be able to download that from our connection to our mashaykh, and that is coming to Sultan al-Awliyaa through his connection, and whatever he gets he is downloading to us. And may Allah give us long life to see Sayyidina Mahdi (a)!
The importance is the missing link between noor an-Nabi, to be created first when Allah raised the name with His Name; there must be something there to get that appearance and name. And at the door of the Divine Presence no one can enter as written there is, laa ilaaha illa-Llah, which means Allah (swt) is saying, "I was a Hidden Treasure," and when Creation was created, you deny dunya and all that is other than Allah and confirm by looking only to that Hidden Treasure, which is still hidden.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.