Suhbah at Private Residence
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani' r-rajeem. Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani' r-Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen wa' s-salaatu wa 's-salaamu Sayyidina `alaa Muhammadin wa wa` alaa aalihi sahbihi ajma`een. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, yaa Sultan al-Anbiya. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, yaa Sultan al-Awliya. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, yaa Qutb al-Mutasarrif. Yaa Rijaalallah! [Tawassul.]
Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani' r-Raheem. We all want to connect with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and for him to teach us how to do it. Now we can connect with our murshid and we can connect with him, we can be with him spiritually, and it is a secret revealed by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). So, how to connect with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) now when he has gone to the Next World? He said first of all, Believers should know the best charity they can do and charity created the connection to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and it is a charity that is very, very easy to do for lovers of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and lover of all the Saints whose names we just mentioned.
All saints, guides, all 124,000, if we want to connect and pray with them, to be in a spiritual presence with them, we can do it now, we'll do it tonight and we'll do it tomorrow, and we can do it every night and every day, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) taught us how. He said that the Prophet (s) and the Believers who have gone to the Next World, especially those who have secrets and lights which they spread in this life, when they go into the Next World God clothed them with the attributes of verses:
بَلْ أَحْيَاء عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ
No, they live, finding their sustenance provided in the Presence of their Lord. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:169)
That is the secret of "alive". Mawlana Shaykh said that when they were alive, like us, we must do our prayers, fasting and worship, and when people go to the Next World, all this stops except the one thing that was ordered and required of them. The saints, prophets and shaykhs who have gone to the Next World all have an obligation to do the things of this world and one thing that is not lost is Salaat al-Fajr, the pre-dawn prayer. All the prophets and saints were told when they went to the Next World, because they live in the Presence of their Lord and receive sustenance, they were ordered to pray Fajr with the Prophet (s), who prays in Bayt al-Maa'moor, the Kaaba in Heaven that was raised at the time of the flood (Noah) and taken to Heaven. That's where the angels and spiritual beings pray to their Lord, Allah (swt). So Mawlana Shaykh said all their obligations ended when they went to the Next World, except they have to perform Fajr prayer behind the Prophet (s) in the temple of Heaven, Bayt al-Maa'moor. Also, those who have gone to the Next World, the Prophet and the wali that was behind him and those who still live in this world are required to undergo a spiritual journey to Bayt al-Maa'moor and pray together with the prophets and saints behind Prophet Muhammad (s), but they were also instructed to maintain their physical presence in this world with us.
Further, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said if we pray Fajr prayers in congregation, Allah (swt) will create an angel who intercedes for us in Heaven behind the Prophet (s), behind the saints, behind the shaykh, on the backs of the prophets, so we are going with them every morning. Anyone who wants to connect spiritually with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) must wake up for morning prayers and go to the mosque, and to connect with Sidi `Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (q), Sidi `Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q), Sidi ad-Dasuqi (q), Sidi Ahmad al-Badawi (q), Sidi `Ali al-Hujwiri (q), pray Fajr in congregation even at home. To pray Fajr at the mosque is difficult because no one wants to get up from his bed and drive to his car to the mosque for Fajr, and that's where we lost contact with our murshid.
I saw it myself when I was visiting Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) in Cyprus; I was present in a room when he told two people, confirming that every morning they have to come to visit and mention his name and always try to do the Fajr prayers in congregation in the mosque. He said, "This person connected with me and prayed with me every morning,” although that person does not live in Cyprus. That's what we should do: get up, go to the mosque for morning prayers, mention Mawlana’s name and you will be connected with him and other shaykhs, and it our obligation to pray behind the Prophet (s) every dawn at Bayt al-Maa'moor. We are ordinary Muslims and if we do it, Allah (swt) will create an angel representing us, praying behind the Prophet (s) and our murshid, and the reward will be written as charity on our behalf.
When we are in rows in the mosque, you see people who are on your side and you can shake hands with them and you can say ‘hello’ to them. Similarly, when we are in the rows behind the Prophet (s), we are also connected with every soul there, the saints, prophets and also angels. So the trick is get up before dawn and go to the mosque. If you are able to do so, it means you connect with them, spiritually you are there even if you do not feel it.
The ego does not want to pray in the mosque, especially `Isha and Fajr, and Prophet (s) said in a Hadith these two prayers are most difficult on the hypocrites but they came for Zhuhr, `Asr and Maghrib prayers because you're doing your daily routine, so it is not a problem. So the second thing Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said is, whoever is praying evening prayers at the mosque prayed behind Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r), and behind him is the Naqshbandi saints and Allah created the angels from His Light that will represent us before Him. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said this is Jihad al-Akbar, so if we just do this, praying predawn and evening prayers in congregation you put the ego between two poles, Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and the Prophet (s). If you put a piece of metal between the two poles of a magnet it cannot escape: the ego is fettered, it has limited movement because now it is between the two poles!
Mawlana Shaykh (q) said those who continue to do that will reach the Jihad al-Akbar, the safety of the hegemony of his ego (nafs). That is the secret to free the shackles of the ego, the world, the desires and the devil: perform Jihad al-Akbar these two times daily because our prayers follow Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and they all the Holy Ones pray Fajr behind the Prophet (s), while those who are still alive are in-between two worlds, physically with us but in fact with them. If we pray like that, following an imam at the mosque, and as taught by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), when we enter the Divine Presence through prayer, we should say, "O my Lord! I have entered the House of Haqq, in the presence of Haqq, and I've put myself behind the imam who was present at Hadratillah,” then our worship will be directly connected with the Almighty in Hadratillah.
When we pray behind an imam at the mosque, you do not know if it is connected, so Mawlana said that this is the best deeds we can do, namely Fajr Salaat in the mosque and everything will be easier for us during the day, because we've started with Fajr Salaat, but the secret to connecting with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is if you are able to get up from your bed, go to the mosque and pray Fajr Salaat; otherwise, you cannot connect, but this is an easier, quick way, and they're all praying behind the Prophet (s) before dawn.
We ask God to give us the power to do that! It's very hard on the ego, it's very heavy, but we ask God to enter us as people who are praying for spiritual guidance behind saints, prophets, the imams, behind the Prophet (s), and for us Naqshbandis to pray behind Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) in the evening. Our Lord, make us able to do so, give us the power, health, wealth and ability, yaa Rabbee, and provide love and encouragement to do so, yaa Rabbee!
Bi hurmati ‘l-Habeeb bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.
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