Change your aim! 7th October 2010

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s Suhbah

7^th October 2010

Change your aim!

A’uzubillah himinsh shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillahir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

• Maulana welcomed the arrival of the first night of the Holy Month of Zulkaedah, the first of three Holy months that appear one after another, as Zulhijjah and Muharram follow Zulkaedah. Maulana prayed for honour, glory and mercy to be bestowed upon us in these holy months.

• Maulana calls upon us to awaken from our (heedless) slumber and to take the Spiritual treasures from this Suhbah.

• Imagine a huge ice carving standing outdoors, under direct sunlight. As the minutes tick by, the ice-carving begins to melt slowly, and after many hours, it has completely disappeared. Maulana uses that example to explain our lives – in each moment that we live, our clock is ticking, our bodies are growing weaker, our heart-battery is running out of energy, and we heading closer and closer to our deaths.

• Maulana says that each year, millions of people who go to sleep, pass away while they are sleeping, they never awaken from their eternal slumber. Knowing this, how can you be certain that you will awaken the next time you take a nap? Even a powerful King cannot ever say, that he is certain to awaken, as death can strike at any moment. And since you have no certainty of ever waking up, why aren’t you making preparation for death, seeing that it may strike you at any moment?

• Rasulullah (saw) said, “Oh Omar, let death be an adviser to you!” which means, let the remembrance of death always be with you, and guide you in this worldly life, for one who is making preparation for death will always be in worship, and will always shun sinful acts. This hadees is not just for Sayyidina Omar (ra) alone, it is directed at the entire Ummah, so death must a constant Warner that reminds us about our meeting with our Lord Almighty.

• Oh believers, death is stalking you at every moment! Death follows you, like a shadow following your body! And when you have reached the end of your appointed term, Death will strike you, without a moment’s delay. So you must prepare for that day, when you will part from this physical body of yours. Let death be your Warner and adviser. Death can strike the young or the old, the rich or the poor, the Princes or the paupers – so beware, and prepare.

• The Prophet (saw) used to pray, “Let the last day of my life on earth, be my best one!” Why are religious teachers not teaching this? They are not teaching about the reality of death, and they are not guiding their students to improve day by day, till their last day is their best. The Qur’an teaches us to remind one another, and Maulana says that we must remind one another, about death! Allah says, “Remind My servants that death is coming, remind them that they shall not remain in this world eternally.”

• Today’s humans are only interested in collecting worldly possessions. How will that new house or new car or new clothes, help you when the Angel of Death comes a-calling? Yet instead of preparing for the next life by changing our Spirituality, we are always thinking of how to change our homes, cars and clothes, for new ones. Wives too, are guilty of constantly egging their husbands to buy new clothes and jewellery for them; they are also guilty of spending much time shopping, window-shopping, sight-seeing and holidaying. You were not created for that purpose! So don’t force your husbands in that direction, you must not encourage the pursuit of useless and nonsensical activities, as it is shaitan’s intention to encourage humans to waste their lives in frivolous pursuits.

• Day by day, as your physical body grows weaker, your spirituality must get stronger! As your body prepares to go down (into the grave), your Soul must prepare to go up (in ascension). So, as you reduce your focus on seeking physical pleasure and entertainment (activities based on ego and lust), you will increase focus on your Spirituality, and climb to the world of Light. Our physical body is too heavy to fly, so when we discard it (by ignoring its desires), we become lighter and lighter, until we can ‘float’. But if your life is focused on feeding your carnal needs and bodily demands, you will forever remain heavy, and you will never ascend; you will remain in this dark world, and your world will get darker and darker, until you find yourself in a black hole, into which you will be sucked and never emerge from again. A black hole can swallow a thousand earths in an instant, so beware of falling into a black hole.

• A great King, Ibrahim ibn Adham (qs), was once hunting deer in the forest. He was in hot pursuit of his prey, when he was addressed by a heavenly voice in his right ear, “Oh Ibrahim ibn Adham, do you think you have been created for this, for hunting? You like hunting, because your ego likes it, but do you think that is your main mission in this life? ” And in his left ear, he heard, “Do you think you have been created for such frivolous pursuits of the ignorant ones?” This story applies to us too, we must all take lessons from this story. Just as Ibrahim was chasing the deer, we are chasing dunia. As just as Allah spoke to hum, Allah is saying to us, “Oh people, do you think you have been created for dunia? Do you think you have been created to collect worldly treasures?”

• Ibrahim bin Adham (qs) rode back quickly on his horse, and when he reached his palace, he cried to his Lord, “Oh Allah, I am giving everything (of my worldly riches) away, for the sake of my Lord Almighty. Oh my Lord, I am asking for forgiveness! I am seeking for Your forgiveness and I am returning to (obedience to) you, I am changing my target from dunya to Mawla (Allah).”

• Allah is waiting for us to do the same, to change our aim – from aiming to be with dunia, to aiming to be with Allah, to have none except Him, in our aim and our hearts! Allah is awaiting for us to cry out to Him, and say, “Oh my Lord, I am leaving everything and I am turning to You, oh my Lord. I don’t want anything, my Lord, except You. I am changing my aim from this world, to You, my Lord!” To change our aim, means this, “I am doing this for Your sake, oh my Lord, not for my ego’s sake. I am trying to do everything for You, oh my Lord.” Turn your hearts, only to Him, and and turn your intentions, to do only for Him.

• On this holy night, Maulana prayed for attenders to be granted understanding about His honourable commands and His heavenly orders, to attain happiness here and in the hereafter, for those who do not understand, will face a never-ending rain of problems and troubles.

• So we must correct our steps, and walk the path of righteousness, qadama sidqin. Allah is inviting you to come to Him, to be in His Special Presence, but you can only approach Him whilst you walk the path of truth and sincerity. Only true steps lead to Him. You must be aware, on which path you are walking on, at every moment, for you cannot approach Him with a false step, for that is a step in dirtiness. When you step in dirtiness, and you will be discarded like Iblis. So seek to become clean ones, for that is the honour of a servant.

• Leave dirtiness, leave dunia!

Commentary

• By praying for blessings in these Holy months, Maulana is actually informing us to increase our devotions to partake of our share of Divine gifts in these months, for, certainly, such gifts are for those who strive sincerely, as compared to those who put in no effort. For example, a Hadees mentions that the first ten days of Zulhijjah are the most Holy days in the Islamic calendar, and no worship done by a servant of Allah, is more pleasing than those done in those ten days. Each day of fasting is rewarded with a year’s fasting, and each night’s worship is rewarded as one Lailatul Qadr. Then there is the Sacrifice, Haj and Eid followed by the end-of year doa done at the end of Zulhijjah. Muharram also has special days such as the first (new year doa) and tenth (Day of Ashura). So there are many special worship that must be done in these months, by every one who aspires to be close to Allah.

• Rasulullah (saw) said, “The wisest amongst you is he who prepares for death.”

• Strangely, Maulana mentioned women and worldly possessions (zeenatal hayatul dunia) in the same paragraph. Why? Rasulullah (saw) said in a hadees, “The best of worldly decorations, is a pious wife.” So one who has a good and virtuous wife, has inherited the best of this world’s glitter and wealth; he has no need for any more worldly decorations, and he and his wife are contented. On the other hand, a heedless wife will nag her husband to seek more and more of this worldly life, and since such a man has yet to acquire the best of dunia (since he doesn’t have a pious wife), he is always searching for more and more dunia, at the behest of his wife!

• A black hole describes a condition in which a human being is covered in layers and layers of sin and disbelief, until he dies as an unbeliever and will never attain salvation. Nothing, not even light, can escape from a black hole. So one who dies as an unbeliever, can never escape the eternal torment, regret and despair that he will face.

• Keep you aim focused intently on acquiring His pleasure, and do not lose focus. Do what Ibrahim ibn Adham did, abandon dunia and its dirtiness, walk in cleanliness towards Him. You were not created for dunia! Allah created this dunia to serve us, He created us to serve Him.

وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ

I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me. (Quran 51:56)

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 07 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.