Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest one of all?

Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s Daily Suhbah

23rd�March 2010, Tuesday

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest one of all?

A’uzubillah himinsh shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillahir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

• Maulana said that the first thing that Man must learn, is that he is a servant to the Lord of the Universe. That is the foundation of all teachings brought by all the Prophets, so we must teach this to our children from the moment they are able to understand, and we must remind them (and ourselves) of this, all their lives, right up to the very end.

• The second fundamental teaching, is that we must be thankful to our Prophet (saw), we must be thankful for being part of his Nation (Ummat), and we must be proud of him! Selawat upon him always, for the Angels are unceasing in their praises for him, and Allah showers him with goodness continuously.

• Maulana then recited A’uzubillahi minasy syaitan nirrajeem, and he reminded us that, without this recitation, there would be no protection for us. There are certain situations in which we would be unable to control ourselves, especially when emotions are concerned, so the recitation of Ta’awwuz and Basmallah, gives us control, just like how the steering wheel of a car gives us control of the vehicle. We lose control, when our ego takes over command.

• The ego likes to be praised. It likes to be hailed and idolized. It likes to inflate itself, to be far bigger than it really is. It likes to be respected, to be noticed, to be admired. “I am really very important,”� the ego says to himself. The ego is obedient to shaitan. Shaitan rouses the ego to puff himself up, to praise himself, to vie for leadership, to seek to become the one in authority. So, under the coaxing of shaitan, the ego grows bigger and taller, in his own perspective about himself. Maulana says that once, he was atop the Eiffel Tower, and he caught sight of a man at the foot of the tower. From such a height, the man looked no more than an inch tall, but Maulana says, in that man’s own mind, the man felt taller than the Eiffel Tower itself. Look at how drunk Man is! A man standing beside his palace is so small, yet he feels so great and proud, he feels bigger than his palace! Why?

• Shaitan has a magic mirror, that he holds up for our ego to admire itself. Shaitan tells us to use this mirror all the time. It is a special mirror, as when the ego looks at himself in that mirror, he looks humungous, he looks so important, he is the centre of attention, he is the special, chosen one, he looks so majestic. When we look into this mirror, we feel pride about ourselves, we feel arrogant and superior, we feel high and mighty! Our image in that mirror is one who is unmatched and unparallelled, we see ourselves as the most honourable, the incomparable. At the beginning of this Suhbah, Maulana taught us the foundation of the Prophetic teachings. This magic mirror, is the foundation of shaitanic teachings, it tells Man that he is the greatest of all, because of what he possesses. Because our egos listen to shaitan, it wants to show itself as a bigger and greater creature. It says, “I am better/more important/more honourable than everyone else, others must acknowledge me, as I have much wealth/beauty/expensive assets/jewellery/fancy clothes/branded goods etc. I am sitting on the board of directors, I am the chairman, I am the President, I am the CEO…”� Shaitanic teachings centre on teaching Man to be proud of what he has, of what he is, and to feel superior to all, and to demand that he be ‘worshipped’.

• It is the duty of every Muslim, and especially Scholars, to spread Islamic teachings! Man must be taught how dangerous an enemy shaitan is, and how dangerous a tool this magic mirror is. We must use every means that we possess to preach to the Muslim and non-Muslim world. It is wrong to be self-centred and to leave others to stumble in the darkness. Maulana specifically reached out to people who had the means of broadcasting, to spread this message – these teachings – from East to West. He even said that such teachings should be sent out 24 hours daily (so dire is the situation now, and so close to the End are we), and that wealthy Muslims should fork out money for this purpose. Man must be awakened, to know, why he was created, for whom he was created, for what purpose was he created, and why has so much honour been bestowed on him, surely that too, must have a specific purpose in it? With so many people and countries having gone astray, it is our duty to ‘encourage good, and to forbid evil,’ as taught in the Holy Qur’an. We must be like the Salafus Solihien (the pious ones of yesterday), they lived to destroy disbelief, and to uphold faith!

• We must know that Allah has reserved all honour, only for believers. There is no portion of honour for unbelievers. The only religion accepted by Allah, is Islam. This must be made known to all believers and unbelievers, in no uncertain terms. We cannot leave the unbelievers in the dark about this truth, and we must give good tidings to the believers to encourage them on.

• Sadly, even the Muslims have been poisoned by shaitan, we have become sinful ones, we have become heedless ones, our schools/Universities are teaching a ‘secular’ Islam, it is a hollow teaching, devoid of spirituality and understanding, they are just learning a ritualistic and shallow Islam, in which the two fundamentals, taught by Maulana at the beginning of this Suhbah, are missing. And what is the proof that we have been poisoned by shaitan? Muslims are living the life-styles of the Christians and Jews – the ‘Western’ brand of carefree, entertainment-seeking, meaningless life – a life in which they are constantly staring into shaitan’s magic mirror. Maulana says, teach the believers to abandon the ways of the unbelievers, for the Prophet (saw) said that those who followed the practices of a particular community, will be raised on Judgement Day, with that community. So we should strive to follow the Sunnah of Rasulullah (saw), in every aspect of our lives.

• Maulana says that faith (Iman) is a light. Use that light to observe what is happening around us today, to understand what is the truth (haq) and what is falsehood (batil). When one looks at this dunia, with the light of faith, one will understand what is the reality of life. Do not imprison yourselves within the walls of narrow-minded, deviant teachings, look to the Qur’an for guidance of the widest possible nature. Ask from Allah, for He can bestow upon you the width of understanding that you seek, and the depth of understanding that makes you certain of where you are headed. There is no limit to how much knowledge – both of this world and of the afterlife – that Allah can bestow upon you, so seek it fervently. Maulana reminds us to seek knowledge without stopping, and to ask Him to bestow knowledge and understanding upon us. As much as you are striving and beseeching Allah, that much will He shower upon you, He will send you heavenly lights, with which to understand the Holy Qur’an. An easy way to grow in knowledge, is to attend these Suhbahs. After all, they are completely free of charge, Maulana asks for no monetary reward from us, as he says that, any money-based religious teaching, is actually a shaitanic concept.

• Oh Scholars, says Maulana, beyond this horizon, lies countless other horizons, so do not be contented to remain where you are now. By limiting yourself to a narrow understanding, it is your own loss. Use your God-given abilities, and also beseech Allah, that He bestows upon you, the light of the Holy Qur’an, with which to view this world, and to understand your journey. The Salafus Solehein had no modern equipment – they had no microscopes or telescopes – but they had a far more comprehensive understanding of life and religion.

• We are living in difficult times, there is a spreading, enveloping darkness, it is our duty to bring this light, and to shine it around us, to guide Mankind, for he has lost his way. Have the intention to be one who destroys batil, and who spreads haq, and in doing so, may Allah raise you to high stations. Remember, every action is judged according to your intention (Hadees), so be sincere in all that you do, and you will be successful. Allah is All-Seeing, All-Knowing (of your intention), just as we look at a crawling ant, Allah is looking at us, He knows where we are headed towards, and what it is that we seek. So seek servanthood, and stop staring into the magic mirror!

Fatihah.