Salaam 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, madad.
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)
Madad yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, yaa Shafi` al-Mudhnibeen.
We are meeting another time, but tonight we are meeting in a time of sadness, that one among the awliyaullah that did his best for tariqah and for Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and for everyone, His Highness Raja Ashman Shah (q), did his best to make people happy, but we are sad that he is not physically present with us, although his spirit is present with us.
Whatever you speak about his high level of Moral Excellence and good behavior will be a drop of an ocean of his beauty and his nice way of dealing with people, making everyone happy and helping those in need. But for everything there is a wisdom, and the wisdom Allah (swt) knows best.
As Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life, said, Raja Ashman was one of the forty Abdals, Substitutes, that the Prophet (s) mentioned in many ahadeeth narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, including the mention, “When you are in a forest or a desert (in difficulty) call on the RijaalAllah, Men of Allah, to whom Allah (swt) gave the power to help, and when you call on them your difficulties will disappear.” Now Raja Ashman is not with us, but he in the association of awliyaullah. We know this because Allah (swt) said if anyone does a favor for His awliya and for His Prophet (s), Allah will do a favor for that person.
Raja Ashman did a big favor by allowing us to have an easy podium here, to address people about love of the Prophet (s), and he also directed people to love Allah (swt), love the Prophet (s) and love shuyookh. So he is rewarded to be with awliya in their association and he is under their protection and under the love, hugs and kisses of Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q). They wanted him, and no one can say ask why. It is enough to know that whomever Allah (swt) loves, He takes. That alone shows how much Allah loves him, as we know the Prophet (s) said:
حياتي خير لكم تحدثون ويحدث لكم ، فإذا أنا مت كانت وفاتي خيرا لكم ، تعرض علي أعمالكم فان رأيت خيرا حمدت الله تعالى وإن رأيت شرا استغفرت لكم
Hayaatee khayrun lakum tuhadithoona wa yuhdatha lakum fa idhaa anaa mitt kaana wafaatee khayran lakum. Tu`radu `alayya `amalakum fa in ra’aitu khayran hamadt 'allah ta`ala wa in ra’itu sharran astaghfarta lakum.
My life is good for you as you will relate from me and it will be related to you, and when I die my passing will be better for you. (Meaning, “My death is better for you than my life, because then I can pray for you.”) I observe your deeds. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see bad, I ask forgiveness for you. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
حياتي خير لكم تحدثون ويحدث لكم ، فإذا أنا مت كانت وفاتي خيرا لكم ، تعرض علي أعمالكم فان رأيت خيرا حمدت الله تعالى وإن رأيت شرا استغفرت لكم
Hayaatee khayrun lakum tuhadithoona wa yuhdatha lakum fa idhaa anaa mitt kaana wafaatee khayran lakum. Tu`radu `alayya `amalakum fa in ra’aitu khayran hamadt 'allah ta`ala wa in ra’itu sharran astaghfarta lakum.
My life is good for you as you will relate from me and it will be related to you, and when I die my passing will be better for you. (Meaning, “My death is better for you than my life, because then I can pray for you.”) I observe your deeds. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see bad, I ask forgiveness for you. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
So inheriting from the secret of that hadith, they dressed HRH Raja Ashman Shah with the secret of that hadith, “I look at the `amal of my ummah and if I see good, I praise Allah, and if I see other than that I ask forgiveness for them.” So immediately it was presented, and he is looking at everyone whom he brought and to whom he gave baya` to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), and whatever they need by Prophet's Order and Allah's Order and awliyaullah's order he fulfilled. That is why Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said he is from the Abdaal, whom in every time number forty; when one dies another comes. They are forty in dunya and forty in akhirah. That is why they took him easily and quickly, in mere moments without anyone anticipating it, because that chair was empty, someone has to fill it, and it was under his name.
Tonight when they were doing the dhikr, I could feel Raja Ashman’s presence. When you feel a heavenly presence you get goosebumps. When we were doing dhikr, it came to me to make special du`a because he was present and he is happy where he is; if you give him the whole dunya he will not replace it with one moment of akhirah, because he is lucky to be between the hands of Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q)! When you call on awliyaullah, Allah (swt) will respond for you and take away your difficulties, and everyone has difficulties and problems. Call on awliyaullah and call on Abdal and they will reach you!
There are five groups that will appear and when Sayyidina Mahdi (a) appears you will be able to see them, but now they are veiled. They are: Budala, Nuqaba, Nujaba, Awtaad and Akhyar. There are forty Budala, fifty Nujaba, and ten Nuqaba, Awtaad and Akhyar. Usually I speak about hadith or tafseer, not about the stations of awliyaullah, but people are in need to hear this so Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) gave permission to speak on it. Sayyidina Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) was ordered to extract all the names of awliyaullah who will appear with Sayyidina Mahdi (a). For three months he rarely ate and only drank tea, and focused on extracting those names from Surat al-An`am. He wrote them in a small book that he gave to Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q), and said, “O my son! Keep this because I was extracting the names and my heart became weak, because to dive in that ocean is difficult."
Today when you dive in an ocean you are connected to oxygen and they tell you don’t go below a certain depth (20, 30, 40 meters) or you will die (from extreme pressure on your lungs). It is also diffcult to dive in spiritual oceans. Those names are hidden in Surat al-An`am and Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) used his power to extract them and his heart became weak. he told Shaykh Abdullah, “O my son! Take this book as I am not staying long in dunya, because I used too much power to extract these names.” The names are of the forty khalifas and fifty-nine deputies of Sayyidina Mahdi, which totals ninety-nine names, and Asma ul-Husna are ninety-nine and so each one of these awliyaullah are under the Light of one of the Ninety-nine Beautiful Names and Attributes.
As we mentioned in Singapore, that is the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Each of Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes has a Light that is dressed on the Prophet (s) and reflects on all of the ninety-nine awliya under their respective representation of the Beautiful Names and Attributes.
Then Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) extracted the names of awliyaullah that are higher than the deputies and khalifas, the Rijaal al-Ishraaqiyoon, “the Men who shine like the sun.” When they appear, if they lift their veils you will see light shining brighter than the physical Sun of dunya! They are approximately twenty-five in number.
Then he extracted the names of another group, A'immat al-Mudabiroon, who have been granted not the station of imaam but a'immat, “Men who manage everyone,” with the highest level of performance in dunya.
Then he extracted the nine Mashaykh al-Islam in the time of Sayyidina Mahdi (a). Then he extracted the 313 awliyaullah, each of whom takes from Sahaabaof Ahl al-Badr, the 313 Companions of the Prophet (s) who accompanied him in the Battle of Badr. Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) wrote all their names in that book that he gave to Grandshaykh (q) and said, “This strongly affected my heart and I am going to leave dunya in three days.”
He wrote his will and passed away in three days. Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) did not say, “I have a paper; sign it for me (to certify that I am your khalifah).” Awliya are not like us; rather, Grandshaykh (q) tore the will apart and threw it in the river, saying, “I don't want anyone to know who am I! Astahiyy min Allah, I am ashamed before Allah to say I am something.” Today we like to say we are something, which is why when we make conferences, to introduce a speaker many moderators read a one-page introduction or that speaker will get upset! But awliyaullah don’t want anyone to say they are a wali, as they are hiding themselves. Grandshaykh (q) gave me the book, and I made three copies: one is with me, one I gave to Shaykh Adnan, and one is with my cousin.
One such wali of those that hid themselves and no one knows about them is Raja Ashman. He left without saying to anyone what his level is and now I am revealing that, as I revealed on the same night he died in a lecture on Sufilive. (See https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KC-Z5YrndFUdYhX6iVrOXEZngAjc1vcPWVQ6XLd9VEE/edit)
The secret is with him, like the many awliyaullah that don’t like to say they are something! He is from the group of al-A'immat al-Mudabiroon, who number fifty or sixty. Alhamdulillah, Allah (swt) brought that person into our lives. If we have done anything that hurt him, which I don't think so, but if so, we are apologizing and may Allah (swt) raise his level higher and higher.
Once I heard a story from Mawlana Shaykh (q) about Raja Ashman. In the early 1980's in London, Mawlana was invited to a group of people to break fast. Everyone was sitting and there was one person who sat by the door that caught Mawlana’s eye, someone different. I am quoting Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q):
I looked and saw something special in that person sitting by the door. I looked more and that person's heart was shining, so it came to me to ask, “Who is that wali that I never saw before in physical life?”
Physical life is different from the spiritual life and even if you are a wali, your spirituality doesn't tell your physical self anything; you act like a normal person unless you get permission to check the spirituality.
They said, “This is the son of a Sultan in Malaysia.” I said, “Are you not ashamed that all of you are sitting around and keeping that person at the door? Move from here and bring him a chair," and I put him beside me. From that time my heart was attracted to the Prince and I dressed him with what awliyaullah dress their followers.
This is a short suhbah, but it shows how much we need to know! Everyone of us here understands differently what is said in lectures, and this is more of a spiritual understanding than an understanding of matters in dunya. In conferences, you cannot speak like that unless you teach them many courses and prepare them, but here everyone understands the issue and knows that physically we lost one of our awliyaullah, but not spirituality; in spirit he is free in Barzakh. That cycle of life between death until Judgment Day is called “Barzakh,” in which you are dead but did not yet reach the Day of Judgment, and your spirit is free and can go everywhere and look at every mureed; he can look at his wife and children.
May Allah (swt) forgive you and bless us, and bless his family, especially Raja Eleena, who is going to take on a lot of responsibility that she might face in the near future. But mashaa-Allah, she is strong and can take that responsibility, and we pray for her, that she will have good guides who will guide her with sincerity to what is needed, because she has to depend on a trustworthy guides and, mashaa-Allah, there are many to assist her. We are very happy that she began her work, although she has many other tasks to do, but to look after these two centers, to take care of these buildings and all what her brother has planted, as these are two gardens that he planted with flowers and each one has a different color and name! Each of you are a flower that needs to be watered. So HRH Raja Ashman wants his sister to do her best and if she needs any help, we are ready to say something, and if she doesn't, may Allah (swt) make her successful!
May Allah (swt) bless all of you and your families and us, and take away all difficulties.
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
In Singapore they asked me to speak on a hadith in a conference titled "Even Though We Never Met." What do you understand from that title? That sentence is not complete, because the Prophet (s) said, "I so long to see my brothers!" and the Sahaabah (r) said, "Are we not your brothers?" and he (s) said, "No, you are my Companions. My brothers are those who come at the end and they believe in me without seeing me; those are my brothers." And so even though we didn't meet the Prophet (s), he knew everyone of us as Allah (swt) gave him the knowledge to know all his ummah and all that He created.
Then at the end of the event, after a one-hour speech, he asked if there were any questions and perhaps there were sixty questions, one of which upset me, and when I am upset I will not throw flowers, but rocks! So out of sixty questions that were relevant to the subject, that person asked, “Can you explain why we do Mawlid an-Nabee (s)?" I replied, “I am not going to answer this question because the one who is asking it is a Wahhabi who wants to make fitna here!” He didn't open his mouth; might be he ran away!
If you want to be lucky like HRH Raja Ashman Shah, then follow awliyaullah.
May Allah (swt) forgive us and may Allah bless us.
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/The_Spiritual_Maqam_of_His_Royal_Highness_the_Late_Prince_Raja_Ashman-4310.html
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