You are not Allah’s servant, you are a servant to your desires

Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s Daily Suhbah

4th January 2010, Monday

You are not Allah’s servant, you are a servant to your desires

A’uzubillah himinsh shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillahir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

• Maulana exhorts us to be thankful for these nightly lessons, these are blessed gatherings, and Allah has blessed us with the guidance to be amongst those present/attending, and to be taking useful knowledge from these heavenly majalis.

• Maulana again reminds us to spread the Islamic greeting of Assalamu’alaikum, as it dresses its receipient in heavenly lights in this world and in the hereafter, and when the salam is answered with ‘Wa ‘alaikum salam wa rahmatullahi wa barokatuh’, we are also dressed in the blessings, and rahmat and barokah, as stated in that reply. The exchange of salams removes pain and sufferings, burdens and difficulties – so spread the salam.

• Thank Allah continuously and sincerely, say ‘Syukran Ya Rabbi, Syukrulillah, Alhamdulillah’ – form a halqah (a circle) with your companions, and recite these verses of thankfulness to Allah. You may even stand and recite these words, as a sign of greater respect for Allah. Maulana made a special doa, “Ya Rabbi, give us the strength to stand and glorify You, all through our lives, do not let us be one of those bedridden ones, give us the power to stand to honour You, till the end of our lives, and for eternity too!”

• There is much honour and blessings in attending such lessons, so shaitan, your mortal enemy, tries to touch you with his evil touch, his evil whisperings, his evil suggestions – that you should NOT attend the Suhbah, since you are busy with work. He will suggest that you could attend the NEXT session instead. Maulana reminds you never to assume that you may live long enough to attend the next lesson!

• For those who manage to shrug off shaitan’s suggestion to skip the lesson, and persist in attending, shaitan then aims that you should leave the lesson empty-handed – that you come hungry, and leave hungry – which means, that you have failed to take any benefit or understanding from the lesson. He makes you day-dream and heedless during the lesson, so that you feel sleepy, bored or distracted – for if you learn nothing from the lesson, shaitan has succeeded in keeping you from ascending closer towards Allah. Each lesson that you miss or fail to concentrate on while attending, is an immense loss.

• One common trick shaitan uses, is to convince you that ‘you have heard this before’. True, there is much repetition in the Suhbah, just as there is repetition in the Qur’an. But each time Maulana teaches a lesson, even if there are parts that you have heard before, the LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING imparted during each lesson is different, and there are countless levels of understanding on each matter in Islam. (eg look at the study of Mathematics…it begins in Pre-School and goes right up to University…..there is a higher and higher level of understanding at each level). So NEVER say to yourself, that you have heard it before. Instead, ask Allah for more knowledge, a deeper and wider understanding, one that draws you closer to what was conveyed by Rasulullah (saw). The Sahabahs never got bored of listening or observing the Prophet (saw), they tried to take a lesson from EVERYTHING that they learnt, and they tried to understand as deeply as possible, all that they learnt. That is why, the Way of the Sahabahs, is the Way of Safety, they looked at all matters with an intense longing to be obedient and devoted to Allah!

• So beware shaitan’s poisonous touch/words/whisperings/suggestions/presence, recite A’uzubillah…often. Just like a train in a tunnel, seeking the light at the end of the tunnel, you must be focussed and strive hard to understand the lessons diligently, so that you finally emerge into the beautiful light at the tunnel’s end. But for those who take their journey as a game, who play and joke around during lessons, who are heedless, sleepy, distracted or bored during such blessed majalis, they will remain in the darkness of the tunnel, never emerging into the light at the end. Understanding knowledge is a great gift from Allah, so devote yourselves to seeking it, in all matters of religion.

• Salafi scholars conveniently label some Hadees as Dhaif (weak) and then forbid Muslims from practising these Hadees. Who gave them the authority to do this labelling and forbidding? Maulana gave an example of a Hadees by Rasulullah (saw), where he said, “The Amamah (Turban) is the Crown of the Arabs, whosoever wears/honours it, Allah will honour him, and whosoever discards it, Allah will discard him.” Look at the Arabs today, they have discarded the Turban, and in its place, they wear a keffiyeh (also known as hattah), a cloth held in place by a cord, called an agal. They have discarded the Turban! Maulana says that the Prophet (saw) never wore a Hattah in his life, so why do they persist in discarding the Turban and wearing the Hattah?

The Keffiyeh (Hattah) held in place by the Cord (Agal). The Prophet (saw) wore the Turban, not this weird concoction.

• Actually, Maulana says that, it is not the Arabs who have discarded the Turban, but Allah has taken it away from them as they are no longer fit to wear the Crown (Turban).

• Sufis, by bringing a gentle and loving message of Islam, have converted milllions of unbelievers across America and Europe. Maulana asks the Salafis, with their aggressive and critical method of preaching and teaching, how many unbelievers have taken Islam at their hands?

• The 99th and last name of Allah is As- Saboor, the Patient One. If not for that attribute of Allah, indeed, Allah’s wrath would have come down so often on Earth, till not even one being was left on it. But, Allah is Patient, and gives time to His servants to realise and repent, so we must always admit our short-comings, and seek forgiveness from Allah. So protect yourself from the ‘Heavenly slap’, from Allah’s punishment, by following the Way of Safety of the Prophet (saw) and his Companions. Do not step out of that boundary of safety.

• Do not be quick to judge and label the deeds of others as Bida’ah or Haram. Salafis label those who gather and do Zikir as Innovators, Maulana warns against persisting in such baseless accusations.

• Salafis are also our brothers in faith, that is why Maulana is continuously giving them advice, so that they will change their wayward ways, for religion is about giving good advice. Maulana himself says that he is open to any good advice, he will accept any advice that is leading him to more piety, for he views himself as a sinful servant of Allah, and he admits that despite trying his utmost, he still falls short of what is expected of a servant, hence he is always in repentance. Maulana takes comfort from this Hadees Qudsi, where Allah says, “When My servant reaches the age of 80, I instruct the the Angel of the Right, to continue recording My servant’s good deeds, but I forbid the Angel of the Left, from recording My servant’s sins.”

• Judge your own deeds, according to your scale of understanding, make sure they are all on the Way of Safety.

Fatihah.