Are you of any value, in the Divine Presence? 4th Oct 2010

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s Suhbah

4^th October 2010

Are you of any value, in the Divine Presence?

A’uzubillah himinsh shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillahir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

• Maulana asks us to run from devils, as they invite us to evils (and hence into Hell), while Prophets invite people from evil to goodness (and hence into Paradise).
• Be one who is valuable in the eyes of Allah! Who is one who is valued in the sight of Allah? They are those who are welcomed by Angels on Judgement Day, for there is indeed another group who is unwelcome on that Day.

هَـٰذَا فَوۡجٌ۬ مُّقۡتَحِمٌ۬ مَّعَكُمۡ‌ۖ لَا مَرۡحَبَۢا بِہِمۡ‌ۚ إِنَّہُمۡ صَالُواْ ٱلنَّارِ. قَالُواْ بَلۡ أَنتُمۡ لَا مَرۡحَبَۢا بِكُمۡ‌ۖ أَنتُمۡ قَدَّمۡتُمُوهُ لَنَا‌ۖ فَبِئۡسَ ٱلۡقَرَارُ

This is a troop entering with you (in Hell), no welcome for them! Verily, they shall burn in the Fire! (The followers of the misleaders will say): “Nay, you (too)! No welcome for you! It is you (misleaders) who brought this upon us (because you misled us in the world), so evil is this place to stay in!” (Quran 38:59-60)

• How can we be one who is valued in the sight of Allah? The Holy Qur’an is a Vast Ocean of Knowledge, aimed at teaching Man to become a valued creature before his Lord. One who turns his back on the Holy Book, will be worthless in the sight of God. The Holy Qur’an was revealed only to teach the Children of Adam to differentiate between those who have value, and those who are worthless. You are free to choose which group you wish to be gathered with on that Day. Today’s people have no interest to know which humans are valuable and who are worthless in the Lord’s Sight. Prophets came to teach humans to differentiate between these two groups of humans.
• We must learn what makes a person valuable or worthless, in the sight of the Lord. Worthless things are discarded, like rubbish (found in dumps) and faeces (found in sewage pipes). One who is worthless, will be placed forever in such deplorable and despicable places.
• Sayyidina Adam (as) had two sons – Habil (as) and Qabil. The Holy Qur’an (Surah Al-Maeda) made it clear for all of Mankind, how each of these two humans had a different worth.

وَٱتۡلُ عَلَيۡہِمۡ نَبَأَ ٱبۡنَىۡ ءَادَمَ بِٱلۡحَقِّ إِذۡ قَرَّبَا قُرۡبَانً۬ا فَتُقُبِّلَ مِنۡ أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمۡ يُتَقَبَّلۡ مِنَ ٱلۡأَخَرِ قَالَ لَأَقۡتُلَنَّكَ‌ۖ قَالَ إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلۡمُتَّقِينَ. لَٮِٕنۢ بَسَطتَ إِلَىَّ يَدَكَ لِتَقۡتُلَنِى مَآ أَنَا۟ بِبَاسِطٍ۬ يَدِىَ إِلَيۡكَ لِأَقۡتُلَكَ‌ۖ إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ.إِنِّىٓ أُرِيدُ أَن تَبُوٓأَ بِإِثۡمِى وَإِثۡمِكَ فَتَكُونَ مِنۡ أَصۡحَـٰبِ ٱلنَّارِ‌ۚ وَذَٲلِكَ جَزَٲٓؤُاْ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ. فَطَوَّعَتۡ لَهُ ۥ نَفۡسُهُ ۥ قَتۡلَ أَخِيهِ فَقَتَلَهُ ۥ فَأَصۡبَحَ مِنَ ٱلۡخَـٰسِرِينَ 

And recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam (Hâbil and Qâbil — Abel and Cain) in truth; when each offered a sacrifice (to Allâh), it was accepted from the one but not from the other. The latter said to the former: “I will surely kill you.” The former said: “Verily, Allâh accepts only from those who are Al-Muttaqûn (the pious ).” (27) “If you do stretch your hand against me to kill me, I shall never stretch my hand against you to kill you, for I fear Allâh; the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (mankind, jinn, and all that exists).” (28) “Verily, I intend to let you draw my sin on yourself as well as yours, then you will be one of the dwellers of the Fire, and that is the recompense of the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong¬doers).” (29) So the Nafs (self) of the other (latter one) encouraged him and made fair¬seeming to him the murder of his brother; he murdered him and became one of the losers. (30) (Quran 5:27-30)

• Qabil killed his brother – and he became worthless. When we recite his name, we do not say, alaihis salam, instead we say, heavenly cursing upon him. Habil (as) on the other hand, became one of value, and we recite his name with respect and prayer. Those who follow the different paths of Habil (as) and Qabil, will inherit the different fates of these two brothers.
• Today, people give worldly titles to themselves, as if such titles enhanced their value and worth in Allah’s eyes! Maulana asked us to ponder if we thought of ourselves important (because of the worldly titles or wealth that we possessed)? Maulana asked us if we believed famous historical figures (like Ayatollah and Shah of Iran) were valuable in Allah’s eyes? Or if any of the current famous people that we knew have any worth in Allah’s eyes?
• Know this – that the adulation and admiration of humans do not add anything to the value to your worth! Millions of adoring supporters, fans or boot-lickers, do not add one iota to your value, in Allah’s eyes! So do not judge a person’s worth by the number of supporters he has. And do not seek to impress those around you, as their support and devotion does not add to your worth.
• This is the time of tyrants. Every tyrant has no value in the Divine Presence. They will never receive a heavenly welcome. That is the truth, so speak the truth (without fear of offending anyone), for that is the honour of a human being, it adds to his worth. A Prophet brings news of the future. The Companions were anxious to know who would come after Rasulullah (saw), and Rasulullah (saw) explained that there would be four rightly guided Caliphs, followed by the  (Ottoman) Sultans, and finally, tyrants would overthrow the Sultans and Kings. Today, almost all countries have disposed of their Kings, England is one of the few countries that still honours its Royal Family. So we in that time now, where tyrants are ruling the Earth. And Allah’s heavy punishment will descend on such tyrants and their supporters in this world, and in the hereafter, they will never receive any heavenly welcome.
• Rasulullah (saw), “There will come, after the rule of tyrants, a man from my Family, he will fill the earth with justice and balance, just as it was filled with darkness and oppression.” Let us be happy with that promise. Those who are happy with their Lord in this world, will be happy in this world and the hereafter. Similarly, those who are unhappy with their Lord in this world, will be unhappy, in this world and in the hereafter.

Fatihah

Commentary

• Maulana spoke about tyrants today. How does it relate to us, seeing that we are not rulers or politicians? A tyrant is one who is cruel. And one who is cruel, is one who follows his desires, and is defiant towards his Lord. Qabil was one such person, he followed his nafs, and was cruel to himself. Sayyidina Yunus (as) also wronged himself, but he repented.

لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ إِنِّى ڪُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ

None has the right to be worshipped but You (O Allâh)], Glorified (and Exalted) are You [above all that (evil) they associate with You]. Truly, I have been of the wrong-doers.” (Quran 21:87)

• We must repent from our cruel ways and seek to be valuable in Allah’s eyes. If you wish to be valuable in His eyes, then His Commands and His Pleasure must be valuable in your eyes! Obey Him, and do it for His sake!

• Maulana quoted the example of one brother killing another. Again how does that concern us, seeing that we don’t commit murder? How often have we stabbed our brother/sister with our tongue and deeds – and ended up taking his/her sins, just like Qabil did? Habil (as) restrained himself from retaliating, and in doing so, attained salvation. So we must guard ourselves against this daily ‘killing’ of our brothers and ‘eating’ their dead corpses.

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱجۡتَنِبُواْ كَثِيرً۬ا مِّنَ ٱلظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعۡضَ ٱلظَّنِّ إِثۡمٌ۬‌ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُواْ وَلَا يَغۡتَب بَّعۡضُكُم بَعۡضًا‌ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُڪُمۡ أَن يَأۡڪُلَ لَحۡمَ أَخِيهِ مَيۡتً۬ا فَكَرِهۡتُمُوهُ‌ۚ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ۬ رَّحِيمٌ۬

O you who believe! Avoid much suspicion, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting)[] . And fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is the One Who forgives and accepts repentance, Most Merciful. (Quran 49:12)

• Finally, Maulana spoke about being happy. Yes, we must be happy – happy with what our Lord has decreed for us. We must stop complaining. One who complains is saying, “I am unhappy with what Allah has ordained.” In an earlier Suhbah, Maulana said that, one who complains is like one with a skin disease. Such a person is always complaining, regardless of his surroundings. He complains that his skin is itchy when the weather is hot, or when it is cold, or when it is dry or when anyone touches his skin….in other words, the problem is himself, but he always perceives the problem to be from those around him, so he complains. So when you complain, you are announcing that you have a problem, a disease. Those who are unhappy and critical (and complaining) always, are those who are displeased with their Lord, so how can they attain felicity here and in the hereafter? So be happy with your Lord! Say, “As You please Oh Allah, not as I please!”

If you would like to listen to the actual Suhbah by Maulana Shaykh Nazim when it was recorded, please click here. Once at the site, please click on the Sohbat 04 Oct 2010.

Maulana Shaykh Nazim teaches daily, at 1800 hours GMT, please go to www.Saltanat.org to attend these illuminating lessons. There are no charges to attend these lessons, they are completely free-of-charge. These transcripts and Study materials are found at the Singapore Naqshbandi portal, recent.sufihub.com, these are also completely free-of-charge.