The Secret of how a Saint remained clean for 37 years

Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s daily Suhbahs

12th April 2010, Monday

The Secret of how a Saint remained clean for 37 years

A’uzubillah himinash shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillah-hir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu”alaikum wrh wbkt

• Maulana began by seeking heavenly support to rid us of the dirtiness brought by shaitan. He then recited the customary A’uzubillahi minasy syaitan nirrajeem and Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, explaining that no one knows what Allah knows, so no one can understand what happens to a servant each time he recites Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, for Allah does not create or bestow the same gifts twice, each recitation of�Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, brings new and different grants for that human being from Allah’s endless Blessing Oceans, Power Oceans and Glory Oceans. No servant can fully imagine or understand what it is that Allah will bestow upon him for each recitation.

• Maulana then recited the prayer of Sayyidina Yunus (as):

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

• Maulana asks how many times (if ever), we recited this zikir of repentance? Are we humble enough to accept that we are oppressors to our own Souls, that we are zhaaleem? Many people would hesitate to call themselves a cruel one, but in reality, we all are. We are people who oppress ourselves.

• What is the definition of a zhaaleem? Everyone who obeys his ego, is a�zhaaleem. When we follow our desires, instead of the Holy Commandments of the Qur’an, we are written as one of the�zhaaleemeen, oppressors to ourselves, one who has been cruel to himself. Why Sayyidina Yunus admitted to being a zhaaleem, is told in the Holy Qur’an. Maulana asks, if we treat the Holy Qur’an like a mere story book or as a boring old history book – or do we realize that every story and every Verse, from start to end, contains countless lessons and teachings for Mankind?

• Who is the teacher for this ummah, Ummata ‘l-Habeeb? It is Sayyidina Muhammad (saw)! Do you not know that his name is mu`allimu ‘n-naas ul-khayr, “The teacher of goodness to Mankind�?”�Sayyidi ‘l-awwaleen wal-akhireen, the Seal of Prophets (saw) is a teacher to all of Mankind, including other Prophets and their followers. Through the tongue of Rasulullah (saw), Allah teaches Mankind the Holy Quran, and He will question us on Judgement Day, as to what we had learnt from the Holy Book. How much we gain and benefit from the teachings of the Holy Book depends on how much effort we make to learn and understand from it. Each time we obey one more Verses of the Qur’an, we are opening new doors of elevation, rewards, grants and benefits, that no one prior to us had ever received before!

• Allah says in the Holy Qur’an in Surah Al-An’aam, Ayat 132:

For all there will be degrees (or ranks) according to what they did. And your Lord is not unaware of what they do. (Quran 6:132)

• For every creature, there is its own status/position/maqam of honour. Maulana says to note the Arabic word, kullin, which means everyone is included, not one creature is omitted, without exception. And this Verse shows that every creature has a position of honour, not one person has been bestowed a lowly rank – Allah has offered every human being with a chance to climb in ranks of honour; no one is deprived of an honourable station. He has bestowed us the Qur’an to recite, to understand and to obey. To attain one’s station, one must fulfill one’s responsibilities – every creature must obey Heavenly orders.Every human being has a different rank, so we practise the Qur’an according to our ablilities – for we each have our individual strengths and weaknesses.

• While Allah Almighty commands all of Mankind to fulfill His heavenly orders, He assigns each of His heavenly orders to us, according to our inherent weakness and our limited capacity. Allah does not burden us beyond our abilities; as Allah says in Al-Baqarah (Quran 2:286)

Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope (ability).

• As such, we are given responsibilities, in line with our ranks.Allah Almighty never loads on an ant, what an elephant can bear – never! An ant has a very limited ability, it can never bear the responsibility an elephant can carry. Therefore, because each human being has different abilities, capabilities and capacities, with no two humans being identical in these aspects, this means that each Soul has its own unique appearance, existence, personality and identity and it is only burdened with what it has been designed to withstand – no Soul is burdened with more than it can bear.

• Every Soul is carrying a heavy burden on earth, every one of us has a heavy responsibility in life – some more than others. Each one of us is working and striving towards our respective goals. Because of the burdens we carry, and because we are striving to fulfill our heavy responsibilities, Allah accepts from us, what we do, and rewards us – but the greatest honours are for those who do their best for their Creator. That is why we must recite:

“There is no god save You, Exalted and Glorified! Truly, I am of the oppressors!”(Quran 21:87)

• No one on the Day of Resurrection can stand before Allah without saying, laa ilaha illa Anta Subhaanak, innee kuntu min azh-zhaalimeen, each one of us must accept that we are on the level of zhaaleemeen, self-oppressors, because in everything that we are doing (even our good deeds), something from our egos is mixing with it and making it unclean. Only Prophets and their real representatives (insal kaamil) are clean ones – the rest of us are oppressors to ourselves, we have followed our desires and dirtied our Souls.

• One big Saint of the Golden Chain, Abdul Khaliq Al-Ghujwani (q) said to his students, “Oh my sons, oh my followers! I am going to tell you something from which you may take a lesson, and from which you may learn how you should be obedient to the Lord of Heavens. Oh my students, oh my followers! For the past 37 years, up till this moment, I have never stepped in dirtiness or jumped into it.”� That means that he has never allowed anything into his heart that was not acceptable in the Divine Presence. What is it that is not acceptable in the Divine Presence? Dirtiness. So he meant, “I am not jumping in filth or stepping in corruption. I am trying, in such a way, to be clean, because I am going to His Divine Presence.” He was always aware of his impending meeting with his Lord, he was always aware that he was being observed by Allah! Hence, to achieve that state of purity, you too must always be with your Lord. Don’t be alone. Don’t think that you are alone or that you are left alone, no! You must know that your Creator is with you and you must remember, “My Lord is with me. Am I going to step in dirtiness (while He is watching me, defying Him openly)? That is not an honourable thing for me to do (and I am too ashamed to do such a thing)!”

• Therefore, those people who reached cleanliness through the Seal of Prophet’s teachings, they are saying, Allahu Hadhiree, Allahu nadzhiree, Allahu ma`ee – Allah is present, Allah is watching me, Allah is with me -�that is the Way to Cleanliness. You must remember that He is looking at you. What are you doing? Where you are putting your foot, on dirtiness or on cleanliness? Allahu nadzhiree, He is looking at you, so say to yourself, “I am not alone because I can’t be in existence if He isn’t with me. I am with Him, in existence.”�Allahu ma’ee, He is Present with me. Say, “He is observing me.”� Allah Almighty is scrutinising you. Why you are not keeping yourself away from forbidden things? Be aware where your eyes look, be careful what your tongues speak, and observe what your heart is occupied with, for He is looking to your heart! (see Suhbah dated 20/04/10). Oh People! When you are looking, He is looking with you:

He (Allah) knows what eyes are looking at and what breasts are hiding.(Quran 40:19)

• Oh believers, why you are not cleaning your eyes and your hearts? You must try to do this (to keep yourselves clean by remembering His constant presence and His observation of your actions), so that you will be clean for your appointment on the Day of Resurrection, and so that you can say then, “I was always with my Lord (during my worldly life), and I was giving my highest respect to Him (by obeying His every Command sincerely), and I was taking the utmost care, so that my actions were always pleasing to Him (by seeking His pleasure in every breath of my existence).”

• Islam brings heavenly guidance to Mankind, to take them away from the filthiness of this dirty worldly life, to the pure existence of a perfected servant of Allah (insaan kaamil). Unfortunately, not many people understand this message of Islam, so why are our religious teachers not bringing this knowledge to the masses, why are they not teaching the Ummah how to acquire the best dressing with which to face Allah with, on the Day of Resurrection, for on that Day, all that we wish to hide will be exposed, and we would not want to be ashamed in the Divine Presence by facing Him in the Divine Court with filthy rags. Why are Scholars not trying to teach people about such crucial matters? The Prophet’s (saw) real mission, is to teach the Ummah, what is good, what is better, what is best, and what is most beloved in the Divinely Presence! He has been sent to guide us to become insaan kaamil, a perfected human being.

• So always say and remember, Allahu hadhiree (Allah is Present), Allahu nadziree (Allah is looking), Allahu ma`ee (Allah is with me) before you act – it will make you too ashamed to step into any forbidden deed, it will help you keep on the path of cleanliness, purity, chastity and perfection. Practice it and you must teach people to do so too! Fatihah.