Maghrib Suhbah at the International Cultural Center (ICC)
As-salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.
Before you begin every du`a, you praise Allah: ‘alhamdulillah’ means thanking Allah (swt) and confessing that He is The Creator and you are the servant, Alhamdulillahi Rabbi ‘l-`Alameen, and then you begin with salawaat because it opens the hearts.
For the sake of Prophet (s), we ask Allah to bless us with what He blessed the Sahaabah (r). Just as the blind man came to Prophet (s) with so much love and wanted to pray behind him, but at night there was no one to guide him, and he said many times he wondered whether or not to say what he was thinking and finally he decided to ask Prophet (s), “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, I love you and want to pray behind you, but I am blind.” He was blind physically but we are blind spiritually; if we were not blind, we would have been happy every moment in our life in Allah's dhikr, but alhamdulillah, Allah granted us to sit together all around the world, to remember Him in these Gardens of Heaven. The blind man wanted these Gardens of Heaven, which, of course, are with Prophet (s), as he said:
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إذا مررتم برياض الجنة فارتعوا. قالو وما رياض الجنة؟ قال "حلق الذكر"
Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (s) said: "When you pass by the Gardens of Paradise, avail yourselves of them." The Companions asked: "What are the Gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of Allah?" He replied: "The circles of dhikr.” (Tirmidhi)
When Rasoolullah (s) sat with His Sahaabah (r), it wasn’t only Gardens of Heaven, it was much higher than that. For sure the blind man wanted maa laa `aynun ra’at, that which the eye never saw, the heart never understood and the mind never thought, to be in a Garden of Heaven with Prophet (s)! He said, “I want to be in the garden of that Heaven!” We also want to be in that garden and sincerity and humbleness bring us to it!
Time is running short. How many years are you going to live, a hundred? It passes in a moment. Everything will shut down. May Allah not shut us down, may He always give us through our hearts’ vision not to be blind, for the sake of Prophet (s).
So he came to Prophet and said, “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah,” and we're saying, “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, from this place at the end of dunya, the Far West, and the Far East is the other side, we're asking from this place don’t keep us blind, give us something to see! Like when Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), Khaleel ar-Rahmaan said:
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ ۖ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن ۖ قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي ۖ قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِّنَ الطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ اجْعَلْ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِّنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ادْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا ۚ وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
When Ibrahim said, "Show me, Lord, how You will raise the dead." He replied, "Have you no faith?" He said, "Yes, but just to reassure my heart." Allah said, "Take four birds, draw them to you and cut their bodies into pieces. Scatter them over the mountain tops, then call them back. They will come swiftly to you. Know that Allah is Mighty, Wise." (Surat al-Baqara, 2:260)
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), Khaleel ar-Rahmaan, asked, “Show me how You create the deceased ones.”
Allah (swt) said, “Is what I’m saying to you not enough? Don’t you believe?”
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) said, “Yes, I believe.” He felt shy.
Khaleel ar-Rahmaan was the grandfather of Prophet (s) and the first Muslim, the first to accept Islam, as Allah mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, “Allah replied, ‘Have you no faith?’ Ibrahim said, “Yes, yaa Rabbee.” He felt shy and was trembling, but Allah (swt) wanted him to ask for us to learn. Wa laakin li yatma’inna qalbee, “I want peace in my heart. I believe.”
To believe in the Hidden is important. Sayyidina Musa (a) knew Shari’ah, but wasn't able to understand the higher heavenly knowledge, so Allah sent him to Khidr (a). I don't like to say it, but Sayyidina Khidr (a) was not on the level of Sayyidina Musa (a), so like He said to Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), awa lam tu’min, Allah told him, “Go to Khidr, he'll show you (what you are seeking).” He’s not on his level, Khidr is lower than his level, but there's a wisdom in this: for us to always ask Allah to open our hearts. If our eyes are shut, all our life is shut down. If our physical eyes are shut, what about our spiritual eyes? If spiritual eyes shut down you'll be a loser, and we are losers, because we cannot understand what is going on around us. For that reason we are asking, “Yaa Allah! For the love of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), open our hearts and forgive us!”
وَمَن كَانَ فِي هَٰذِهِ أَعْمَىٰ فَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ أَعْمَىٰ وَأَضَلُّ سَبِيلًا
Whoever is blind here will be blind in the Next Life and most astray from the Path. (Surat al-Isra, 17:72)
Who is blind in this life will be blind in Akhirah even if he's completing the obligations, but if he doesn’t repent he'll be blind in higher Akhirah levels. Allah will give him Paradise because he said Shahadah, but he'll be away from Prophet (s).
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُواْ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاء وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
Behold, your Lord said to the angels, “I will create a vicegerent on Earth." They said, “Will You place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood while we celebrate Your praises
and glorify Your Holy (Name)?" He said, “Verily, I know what you know not.” (Surat al-Baqara, 2:30)
Allah (swt) said, “I know what you don't know: in My Presence no one knows anything.” He asked the angels to make sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a), to create a khalifah on Earth. They said, “Why? Why are you doing that yaa Rabbee?” The angels objected; you cannot object! Why did Allah honor human beings? Because some human beings never objected, they were like rivers coming into the ocean, in complete submission!
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), the first of the Believers, was asking for evidence, although imaan is to believe without asking, but Allah gave His prophets things to say for humanity to learn from them. So, angels complained about human beings, “Some of Creation will spread corruption and bloodshed, and will be ignorant,” to which Allah said, “I know what you don't know,” and He sent Sayyidina Jibreel (a), an angel, to see Sayyidina Ibrahim (a). This is submission, Allah was telling Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), “Submit.” Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) said, “I'm not objecting, but I want peace of mind, to be happy and satisfied.”
When the angels objected to Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) being made khalifah, Allah sent Jibreel (a) to him on Earth, and he said, “Yaa Ibrahim, what do you have?” He had a flock of sheep, livestock.
He (a) said to Jibreel (a), “Why? Are you jealous that Allah gave me all this?”
Jibreel (a) said, “No, but I'm looking, and Allah said you're the khalifah. You have everything in dunya and I have nothing. You own all the flocks in these valleys, filling all horizons from East to West, are you for Akhirah or are you for dunya?”
He said, “Do you want some?”
Jibreel (a) said, “Yes.”
He said, “Say after me, ‘Subboohun Qudoos Rabbu ‘l-Malaa’ikati wa ‘r-Ruh.’”
Subbooh, “The One to be Worshipped.” Qudoos, “The One that Created.” Rabbu ‘l-Malaa’ikati wa ‘r-Ruh, “The Lord of Angels and Souls.” He is the Owner of everything created!
He said, “Say that and I will give you one-third of what I have.”
Jibreel (a) said, “Subboohun Qudoos Rabbu ‘l-Malaa’ikati wa ‘r-Ruh.”
He said, “Okay, I am keeping my two-thirds and give you one-third.”
Jibreel (a) said, “Still you have too much, I only have one-third.”
He said, “Don’t worry, I will give you more. Say, ‘Subboohun Qudoos Rabbu ‘l-Malaa’ikati wa ‘r-Ruh.’”
Jibreel (a) said, “Subboohun Qudoos Rabbu ‘l-Malaa’ikati wa ‘r-Ruh.”
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) gave him another third and said, “Do you want more?”
He said, “I want more,” showing how greedy human beings are.
Ibrahim (a) is so pious and loves Allah (swt), and when one angel came to him and repeated ‘Subboohun Qudoos Rabbu ‘l-Malaa’ikati wa ‘r-Ruh’ he gave him one-third of all his assets, not stacking it in every place like many people do. He (a) said, “Say another time, ‘Subboohun Qudoos Rabbuna wa Rabbu ‘l-Malaa’ikati wa ‘r-Ruh,’” included himself and Jibreel (a), which means there is no difference, “You and I must say it as the matter is in Allah’s Hand.” Then he said, “Alhamdulillah, I gave you everything, I am going.”
Jibreel (a) said, “Yaa Ibrahim, where are you going? Allah sent me to see you. I am not going to take care of all this! You have to take care of it.”
Ibrahim (a) said, “I don’t know that, I gave it to you for saying ‘Subboohun Qudoos Rabbu ‘l-Malaa’ikati wa ‘r-Ruh’ three times.”=
He sold his dunya for Akhirah and Allah made him khalifah. Being Khalifatullah fi `Ardee is not easy. When Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) asked Allah (swt), “Let me see how You bring the dead to life,” no one can do that except by Allah's permission and order, like Sayyidina `Isa (a) and Sayyidina Muhammad (s). It is if Allah wants, He is the Owner. Allah (swt) said, “Do you not believe?” and Ibrahim (a) said, “I want peace of mind.” Allah (swt) said, “Take four birds and cut them into pieces, mix them all together and put them in every corner of the mountain.” (2:260, see page 2.)
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) cut them into pieces, mixed them up and was able to extend his hands to every corner of this world: East, West, North and South. Allah said, Ud`oohum ya`teenaka sa`yaa, “Call them back, they will come swiftly to you.” When Allah said, “Call them!” Ibrahim (a) called them and all the mixed parts knew where to go, they came together and ran to him! Wa`lam anna ‘Llaha `Azeezun Hakeema, “Know that Allah is Mighty, Wise.” Allah knows everything, He is Al-Hakeem, the Judge. So we are under judgment and we must believe that one day we are going to be asked. Angels saw the future bloodshed and complained, “Why are You sending them to cause bloodshed in dunya?”
Allah said, Innee a`lamu maa laa ta`lamoon, “I know more than you do, don't ask this or else you will be out!” Iblees disobeyed, he didn't make sajda when Allah ordered him to, so Allah cursed him, so we have to be careful; alhamdulillah Allah didn't curse us, but we have to be on the safe side. Allah knows and angels know, when Allah sent the Holy Qur’an on Prophet’s heart 1500 years ago, angels complained about the bloodshed that will happen now, but Allah said there is wisdom. What about when Sayyidina Musa (a) said to Khidr (a), “I'll follow you.” Sayyidina Khidr (a) said, “You’re unable, you will complain and reject.”
قَالَ لَهُ مُوسَىٰ هَلْ أَتَّبِعُكَ عَلَىٰ أَن تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمَّا عُلِّمْتَ رُشْدًا قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرًا وَكَيْفَ تَصْبِرُ عَلَىٰ مَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ خُبْرً قَالَ سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاءَ اللَّهُ صَابِرًا وَلَا أَعْصِي لَكَ أَمْرًا قَالَ فَإِنِ اتَّبَعْتَنِي فَلَا تَسْأَلْنِي عَن شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ أُحْدِثَ لَكَ مِنْهُ ذِكْرًا فَانطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰ إِذَا رَكِبَا فِي السَّفِينَةِ خَرَقَهَا ۖ قَالَ أَخَرَقْتَهَا لِتُغْرِقَ أَهْلَهَا لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا إِمْرًا قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِيَ صَبْرًا
Moses said to him: "May I follow you, with the understanding that you teach me something of the (Higher) Truth which you have been taught?" He said: "Verily you will not be able to have patience with me!" "And how can you have patience about things about which your understanding is not complete?" Moses said: "You shall find me, if Allah so will, (truly) patient: nor shall I disobey you in anything." He said: "If then you will follow me, ask me no questions about anything until I myself speak to you concerning it." So they both proceeded: until, when they were in the boat, he caused it to sink. Moses said: "Did you cause it to sink in order to drown those in it? Truly a strange thing you have done!" He answered: "Did I not tell you that you can have no patience with me?" (Surat al-Kahf, 18:66-72)
When Sayyidina Musa (a) asked for evidence, Allah sent him to Sayyidina Khidr (a), who said, “Although I'm on a lower level than you, you cannot follow me. You're one of the Five Great Prophets, Oolu ‘l-Azam, but in His Wisdom, Allah gave me something that He knows best, so you cannot keep company with me because I see things differently; you see it one way, but I see it in a different way.”
Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “No, I'll be patient.”
Khidr (a) said, “Okay, come.”
He then made a hole in the boat and showed him the first sign; second, he killed a child; third, he built a wall to protect the treasure orphans’ father had left them. Awliyaullah know these facts and they also know there is a limit as to what they are allowed to speak which they cannot go beyond.
We’re asking, “Yaa Rabbee! keep us under our shuyookh that show us the Way. We are not saying we must all have one shaykh, like when you go to Madinatu 'l-Munawwara there are millions of people and everyone has his own shaykh. You can follow anyone, you can sit in any majlis, and we are following the Awliyaullah of the Naqshbandi Order, but it doesn’t make us sinful if we sit with other shuyookh as we can sit and listen and learn from anyone, but our love is to our shaykh, that is what is important. And Awliyaullah know best whom they assigned as their successors and they learn they have limits they cannot transgress, they have to stand by their limits. We are asking to keep us under the way of our shuyookh in dunya and Akhirah, and to have their support and not object to what they say.
This year there will be lots of changes and Awliyaullah are discussing that; Allah gave them something that will keep them busy with future events and they are ready. There will be changes. May Allah save us from any bad changes and keep us with good people. We ask Allah (swt) to forgive us. There might be some declaration coming to us for the followers of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and Shaykh `AbdAllah ad-Daghestani (q), followers of the Naqshbandi Order, some declarations will come, so prepare yourself for it. May Allah forgive us, may Allah bless us. Bi hurmati ‘l-Habeeb bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.
Allah knows best, His Prophet (s) knows best, His Awliya know best. We listen and we obey. When we say something, it's coming from them for the benefit of everyone. Something is going to come soon and open our eyes and step on our ego, and we have to move forward inshaa-Allah. There will be so many changes. Inshaa-Allah, we're asking Him to send Sayyidina Mahdi (a) as Prophet (s) said:
كيف أنتم إذا نزل ابن مريم فيكم وإمامكم منكم
What will your state be when the son of Maryam descends among you and your imam is from you? (Bukhari)
How it's going to be when `Isa (a) descends to Earth, imamukum minkum means Mahdi (a) will be around. So that time is coming. We don't know, Allah knows best, but the signs are showing that to bring peace on Earth and everyone to be following the right shaykh that Awliyaullah have assigned. Even if the shaykh assigns...when Grandshaykh (q) did khalwah for five years in Rashadiyya, Turkey as ordered by Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), he was 18 years of age and his shaykh ordered him to observe seclusion for five years by himself. When he finished, the first thing he wanted to do after khalwah was to go see his shaykh. He said, “When I entered, I was big (heavy),” and at the end of five years he became like a stick, he lost so much weight. For them, dunya is:
لو كانت الدنيا تعدل عند الله جناح بعوضة ما سقى كافراً منها شربة ماء
If the value of this dunya weighed the wing of a mosquito, Allah would never give a cup of water for the unbelievers to drink. (Tirmidhi)
Dunya is like the wing of a mosquito and to them dunya is finishing. He wanted to go to his shaykh, who sent him a message, saying, “No, don’t come to me. Stay for forty days and listen to that person.” Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) wanted to teach him to be patient and humble. So, Grandshaykh (q) went and stayed with that one. He said, “For forty days I treated him like my shaykh, because the order came from my shaykh.” So everyone, including me, must step on their egos and follow the orders of the shuyookh, follow the orders of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), of Shaykh `AbdAllah Ad-Daghestani (q) and all mashaykh up to Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and Sayyidina `Ali (r) to Prophet (s). So inshaa-Allah we hope that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) will be happy with us and we are asking forgiveness from Allah (swt) if we have done something wrong and we don’t have anyone to go to except to Prophet (s) as Allah said in the Holy Qur’an, “When they oppress themselves because of not listening, they come to you, yaa Muhammad, and they ask forgiveness,” so we are asking forgiveness that Allah forgive us if we did something wrong. May Allah bless us with His Endless Mercy and may Allah keep us with His Prophet (s).
مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاء وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـئِكَ رَفِيقًا
Those on whom is the Grace of Allah: the Prophets, the Sincere (lovers of truth), the Witnesses (who testify), and the Righteous (who do good). Ah! What a beautiful fellowship! (Surat an-Nisa, 4:69)
May Allah grant us that and keep us in dunya and Akhirah together with our shuyookh as their disciples. We have one shaykh and we must unite under one shaykh. Inshaa-Allah soon a declaration is coming, may Allah make it easy for everyone.
Bi hurmati ‘l-Habeeb bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/We-Are-Asking-to-Stay-Under-the-Wings-of-Our-Shaykhs--6252.html
© Copyright 2016 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected
by international copyright law. Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.