Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s daily Suhbahs

4th April 2010, Sunday

Name one thing that you own in this world

A’uzubillah himinash shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillah-hir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

 

• Mawlana said that we are all His servants – some of us are obedient ones, others, disobedient ones. Disobedient ones are servants who have been stripped off their honor.

 

 

• Today, Man rejects the concept that all that he possesses is a Divine grant to him. No, he says, “What I have is because of my hard work!” Man also rejects the idea that all of what is with him, belongs to Allah. “It is mine,” he claims.

 

 

• Mawlana asked, if what you possess now, is truly yours, then why do you leave them all behind when you die? Why not take them with you to the next world? Why leave behind the private plane, the luxurious yacht, the castle-like house, the sports car, the string of businesses, the wife and kids, the jewelry, the money in the bank, the branded goods? Why leave all that behind?

 

 

• Name one treasure that you can take along with you! You can’t even name one, yet you claim that all that you own in dunyā, is yours? Man has become a liar, Mawlana said, taking after the accursed Shayṭān. Shayṭān is the Chief Liar, he teaches Man to lie too. Anyone, who rejects reality, is a liar.

 

• Mawlana then asked, to whom do you belong? To yourself? If that is so, why do you not take your body along to the other world? Why do you leave that carcass behind, here in the earthly realm? As they wash your body prior to wrapping you in the kafan and burying you, they will strip your body of every earthly treasure, right down to your earrings and rings! You may have been a King in this world, having servants at your beck-and-call, but as you stand beside your dead body, no one can hear you pleading for your treasures, and even if they could hear you, no one would obey you, as the body must be stripped of its earthly treasures, before it is buried. All your life, you have lived by the mantra, “This is mine!”

• Mawlana asked, why doesn’t the dead person stop people from taking away all that he owns and all that is on him, by proclaiming to them, “Stop! Don’t take anything! This is all mine!”

• Man is a drunk creature, he is always adding on his calculator, counting all that is his, but Mawlana said, we are ignorant ones, for in Divine mathematics, all that is with us in this world, always adds up to zero. In the end, Man is buried naked, save for his kafan, he brings nothing, not even his dead body, into the hereafter. At the very end, Man finally realises that he cannot name even one thing that is his to keep from this dunyā. We have nothing, everything belongs to Allah, but Shayṭān, the Chief Deceiver, is repeating constantly into our ears, “All these (things that you have earned with your hard work) are yours! Keep all of it securely, make sure no one lays hands on them. They are yours, yours, yours!”

• We are all His servants, we must never lay claim to being better than those around us. Many Scholars look upon themselves as being superior to others. Scholars must realise that they are also part of Bani Adam, they originate from the earth, like all the rest of us, so they must discard their holier-than-thou attitude.

• Walking around with a Kitab tucked underneath their armpits (as many of these Scholars do) is not a sign of piety. True knowledge that rejuvenates the Soul, is not in the books, neither is it on the tongues – it is found in the heart.

• Mawlana shared a story to illustrate this. There was once a wise Sultan, who liked to keep the company of the pious. Whenever he heard of any learned ones, he would invite them for mudzakarah (discussion). However, if the invited one arrived to meet the Sultan, bringing his Kitabs, the Sultan would say, “No, I don’t want to hear what is in the book – that we know, that we can read. I am asking to know what is in your heart, what you have understood, what special enlightenment the good Lord has gifted you with – that I am keen to know! A Kitab is written by Man, it is from this dunyā, I don’t want that. I am asking to know of what Divine refreshments He had sent down upon you, what your Soul has understood by its striving, so leave the Kitab out of our discussion.” That is an important point to remember, said Mawlana. Anyone can read and understand a Kitab, but what seekers yearn to know from a true Guide, are the Divine gifts of spirituality, that have been entrusted to his heart.

• We must always be seeking such knowledge, we must never tire of asking Allah to add to what we already know and understand. But to receive such Oceans of knowledge, one has to open one’s heart wide (you cannot be negative, prejudiced, narrow-minded, opinionated, intolerant or extreme), for such a broad, all-encompassing knowledge cannot fit into a constricted heart. These Oceans have no shores and no seabed – they are so vast and deep! Knowledge is a treasure that is immeasurably wide, why just ask for common and simple information? Instead, we should seek of what has never been spoken of before, we must ask to open what has never been opened before!

• Some Scholars do not believe in Spirituality. Others do not accept that there are those who know more than them. Yet others only want to teach, they never want to learn. It is not easy to be a Guide – you must take from what the Prophet (saw) brought, and bring that to the Nation (Ummat). You must seek the correct understanding in your heart on each matter, before you can teach.

• Many such Scholars concentrate on looking very scholarly, with their scholar’s robes and reading glasses, but Mawlana said that it is irrelevant. What is relevant is that they must have something to teach the Nation, something that can awaken the sleeping masses, to their lives’ mission, their journey ahead and their mortal enemies here. Can these Scholars bring to their students, teachings that can pierce through the thick veils that enshroud each student – the veils of lust, desires, sin and dirtiness? Do they have the means and methods to train their followers to become obedient ones? It is not an easy thing to be a Guide.

• The Prophet (saw) left us such Guides, as stated in the Holy Qur’an:

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُواْ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ

 

O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are true (in word and deed). (Quran 9:119)

 

 

• It is Divine Command that we be with the true ones, the Sadiqeen. They are those who receive Divine inspirations. This is the teaching that we must spread to the believers, so that they seek out the Sadiqeen, and study from them. The Sadiqeen are the Divine-inspired Guides. Scholars have taken such heavy responsibilities on their shoulders by assuming the mantle of leadership (despite being unqualified, as they are not the Divinely-appointed guides), they are in grave danger of receiving the brunt of Heavenly Anger. They themselves must seek out the Sadiqeen, as this Quranic Commandment above is not just for the Companions of the Prophet (saw), it is for the entire Nation of Muhammad (saw). Look at the Companions – they studied from the best of the Sadiqeen – Rasulullah (saw) – and their building of Islam, still stands tall and proud, glorious and magnificent, today.

 

 

• All you need to seek in dunyā, is the company of the Sadiqeen. Mawlana asked which Sadiqeen are you following? Everything else of dunyā that you seek, you will leave it behind eventually!

 

Fatihah.