A’ūdhu biLlāhi mina sh-shayṭāni r-rajīm. Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm:
“أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ”, “Wa ‘Awfu bil Uqūd”, “Fulfill (your) obligations.”
(Qur’an 05:01)
Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, what you promise, you must do. You must do it. Especially, if you want to make something with other people, you must accept and not say, “I didn’t say this. I do not agree with this.” From the beginning, you must not quickly accept, you must look and think if it is suitable for you, if it will benefit you. And if you accept what you will do, you must write it down between you and others. What you agree for, you write and accept. Put a signature. Or if you don’t know how to write, put a finger stamp. But you must do this because many times, maybe without knowing, you deny this. You say, “I didn’t say this. I don’t remember this.” But when it is written on paper, you will not deny. It cannot be denied. And you cannot forget.
In this time, these days, even with paper, most people do not accept. After that, they become enemy to each other. And what’s worse than this, the barakah will be gone. There won’t be barakah anymore when you are saying this. Because what you promised, you didn’t do. And to make a promise and not do it is the biggest sign of a hypocrite, munāfiq. This is whom Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla doesn’t like. Nobody loves him. The munāfiq is a very terrible thing. “إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ فِي الدَّرْكِ الْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ النَّارِ”, “Inna l-Munāfiqīna Fī Ad-Darki Al-‘Asfali Mina An-Nār”, ‘Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire.’ (Qur’ān 04:145). The munāfiq is the lowest in Jahannam, in Hell.
For this, when you promise, you must do. In old times, for people to say they promise and not do was a big shame. But nowadays, nobody cares about this. But it is important for Muslims, for Mu’min, for believer, especially for ṭarīqah people.
May Allāh ﷻ make us to be from those who keep their promise, because Allāh ﷻ praised them. He ﷻ says, A‘ūdhu biLlāhi mina sh-shayṭāni r-rajīm. Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm: “مِّنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ”, “Mina l-mu’minīna rijālun ṣadaqū mā ‘āhadū Llāha ‘alayhi”, “Among the believers are men true to what they pledged to Allah.” (Qur’an 33:23). These are men who keep their promise. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla and Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam are happy with them. May Allāh ﷻ make us happy with them.
And before you make a promise or do anything, you must think whether you will do it or not do it. This is also very important. Maybe you are coming excited saying, “Yes I will do this, I will do that.” And after that you are not doing. You promised the people. But after that, these people will be saying to you, “You are a liar. If you do not keep your promise, you are a munāfiq, hypocrite.” In shā’a Llāh, may Allāh ﷻ make us to keep our promise, in shā’a Llāh. Especially for Allāh ﷻ, for Prophet ﷺ, for mashāyikh, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
In Loving Memory of Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan – Ramadhan Series
Here is a short synopsis of a Sohbah given by Almarhum Sheikh Abdul Sattar Khan on 17 March 2023:
Two beautiful stories concerning the miraculous blessings of attending Majlis of AwliyaAllah, how it benefitted two villagers who passed away in the vicinity of two great AwliyaAllah, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق and Sheikh Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawaniق.
Why we should chase Laylatul Qadr from the first night of Ramadhan, and not wait till the last odd days only.
Beware the thief of time – scrolling on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram will devour precious hours of this blessed Month of Ramadhan. Before you know it, so much time has been lost forever.
The Month of Ramadhan is the time to harvest, the time to Battle our Egos – less eating and drinking, less sleeping, less speaking and less sinful deeds. Only one hijab is left between a servant and his Lord at iftar – so make Du’a when breaking fast, it is accepted.
How to tell if the inner voice is a Divine Inspiration or a Whisper from Shaytan?
Do watch the Sohbah for the full elaboration on the points above here:
Here is a transcription of the Sohbah:
Alhamdulillah wa syukru lillah. MashaAllah, we are now on the verge of the blessed month of Ramadhan. And Allah is giving us hidayah, guidance, to be gathering on this very blessed night. A gathering which may be a source of safety or a source of great blessings for us. We never know which of these gatherings will be the one that is accepted by Allah, the one that becomes the means by which all our sins are forgiven.
There was once in the village of Shaykh Abdul Khaliq Ghijduwani, in the mountainous regions where he used to conduct his Zikr, there was a villager who passed away and they were unable to lift his body because of the amount of sins he had done. They gathered many people from the village but they were unable to lift the body of this mayat, this dead one.
And so they came to see the Shaykh and said to him,“Ya Sayyidi, Ya Mawlana, there is such and such a person who has passed away, and we cannot lift his body. We ask from you for your du’a that he can be brought to the graveyard.” And so Shaykh Abdul Khaliq Ghijduwani went down to the place where this man had died and looked at the body, and he was deep in thought for some time.
He asked the people around the house of this man, the villagers, do you know this person? And they said, “Yes, Sayyidi, we know him.” Has he done any good deed to you before? They said, “No, as far as we know, he was a wretched person, a bad person. We’ve only seen from him evil and badness.”
After looking for some time and not finding anyone who can vouch for this man, for his goodness, for some good deed he has done to his neighbours or his friends, the Shaykh then entered into the house of the man who passed away and asked the wife, is this your husband? She said yes. Is he a good man? She said no. Has he done any goodness to you in the whole time you were married? She said no. He is indeed a very evil person and I suffered a lot at his hands. “What did he do?” the Shaykh asked the wife. She said, “He was a person who used to hide in the mountain trails and rob people and kill people and beat them senseless for whatever goods they were carrying. He had no mercy and he was a very cruel and evil person.”
So the Shaykh sat down and thought for some time and asked the wife, “Can you think deep into the past, can you think of any one incident of some goodness that he did?” She thought for a long time and she related the following.
There was one small incident. There was once my husband was waiting on the road that was leading to your Zikr. One of your mureeds was going to Khatam and he was carrying with himself a bottle of honey. So as usual, my husband stopped him.
First he asked this man, where are you going? The man said, I’m going for Khatam Khwajagan with my Shaykh. And he said, what is that that you’re carrying? He said, I’m carrying some honey. I wish to share with all the mureeds after the Khatam Khwajagan, so they have something sweet to take. So he said, I wanted to provide some honey for them. The thief said, no, give the honey to me. And of course, for fear for his life, for fear of being beaten or killed, he gave the bottle of honey to the thief.
The thief then took the bottle and began to walk downhill towards his house. Then he thought to himself, “This is not very much, it’s just honey. This is not gold or money or something of great value. It’s something they can eat and it will bring some happiness to them.” So he turned around and walked uphill towards the Dergah and chased after this mureed who was very frightened wondering why he was being chased. And the thief said, “No, come come, you take this honey and give to your people. I don’t want it.” So the mureed gladly took back the honey and began to run up the hill.
The thief turned around and began to go downhill and immediately his heart felt regret. He thought, “I already had it in my hands. Why did I go and return this thing to this person? I was so foolish, I could have just walked off with it.” So when he came back he told his wife how he actually had something in his hands and he gave it away. The wife remembered this story and told it to the Shaykh and the Shaykh lifted his hands and said, “Oh Allah, this man had walked towards my Khatam, walked towards the dergah, walked towards this majlis of Khatam Khwajagan bringing a gift for us. I seek shafa’ah of the Holy Prophet (SAW) for this one that his azab (punishment) is less and he is allowed to be carried and brought to the graveyard.” And by the grace of Allah Almighty, his mayat was able to be lifted off the ground and brought to the graveyard.
So imagine people like you who have come all the way, week after week, sitting in a gathering like this, and that man simply took maybe five steps, six steps, and not even to attend the Khatam in reality, just to return the honey, which he also regretted immediately. His good deed was just maybe for two seconds, three seconds, and immediately he was filled with regret. But by the Grace of Allah, by the Mercy of Allah, and by the intercession of RasulAllah, and the du’a of the Shaykh, Allah Almighty lifted the burden from him and allowed him to be brought to the grave.
In another very interesting story there was a man who passed away, and was buried in the village of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani, and the kashaf ones amongst the mureeds were able to hear this man screaming and shouting for help every night, so they went to see Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani.
They said, “Ya Sayyidi, Ya Mawlana, this man is being tortured in the grave. Can you please make du’a? We feel very sorry to hear his pitiful cries and his great suffering.” Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani asked the mureeds, Is he a mureed? They said no. Has he taken bai’ah? Has he ever come to this mosque to be with us? They said no. Has he ever sat in any sohbah, any gathering, I conducted? They said no. Has he ever passed by outside this Dergah when we are having a majlis here? They said, “No, Sayyidi. We have never seen him before. He has not come here. He hasn’t attended anything that we have done.”
Again, deep in thought, Syed Abdul Qadir Jailani began to do munajat, and asked all his mureeds, have any of you ever seen him do anything at any time? Have any of you even glanced and noticed him before? And one mureed said, “Yes Shaykh, once, you left with your horse and your carriage, and there was this cloud of dust that was on the road. I was still behind. I saw this man. He came. And he walked, and some of this dust touched his clothing.” Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani then lifted his hands, made du’a for this man, and the mureeds would later bear witness that they didn’t hear him suffering anymore after the du’a of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani.
What about yourselves, who came all the way, with the dust covering your feet and your hands, week after week, coming to attend a majlis inside Zawiyah? May Allah accept. May Allah grant us safety in this journey. May Allah grant us to be among the good ones, to have a good passing from this dunya. So, Alhamdulillah, Allah has chosen us, chosen you, to be here today, and for all the majlis to come. And we are going to enter into a very, very blessed month.
And this is a month, the month of harvesting. Rejab, you planted the seeds. In Sha’ban, it was the rain that caused these seeds to germinate. And then in this month, is the month of the harvest. I received so many emails inviting me to attend these talks to have tafsir, to have these classes in Ramadhan to talk about Ramadhan, to talk about the blessings of Ramadhan and I say to you my brothers and sisters, Ramadhan is not the time to attend lessons. When you’re already in the battlefield you cannot say, “Can you teach me how to ride a horse? Can you teach me how to fire a bow and arrow?”
Once you’re already in the time where you are in a battle, when you’re already harvesting what has to be harvested it is not the time for you to attend courses and to learn about Ramadhan and Laylatul Qadr. Next month, you would have already stepped into the battlefield against yourself. Your ego, jihad al-aqbar, jihad al-nafs, overcoming the ego, overcoming the desire to overeat when you break your fast, to eat massive amounts of food. No, you are trying to really keep to the minimal food that can keep yourself running because you can only taste the sweetness of Ramadhan if you are able to stop yourself from overeating, stop yourself from over-speaking, stop yourself from over-sleeping because you are fighting your ego.
Ego likes to sleep, eat, drink, talk, right, enjoy with your spouses, all these things you push aside, and you are trying to weaken your ego. It is mentioned in the Hadith that between a believer who is fasting and Allah, there is left only one hijab from the 70,000 hijabs that are between us and Allah. That is why it is said when you are about to break your fast, don’t start eating the moment you hear the azan. Give a few seconds to make du’a first.
Lift your hands because the du’a of the one who is fasting in Ramadhan is not rejected. Especially in the time he breaks his fast, your heart will be filled with happiness. It’s mentioned in the Hadith. Allah says, “All your deeds are for yourself but fasting is for me.” Because when you fast, you are against your ego. And when you are against your ego, it means you are pleasing Allah. Every act against the ego is pleasing to Allah.
And Allah says, “I grant them two happiness. One, the happiness of breaking fast. The second happiness, is when they look upon My countenance, My face.” So, you are fighting your ego this whole Ramadhan. Fighting, fighting, fighting. This is the big jihad and you are trying to draw close to Allah. Don’t strengthen your ego by eating a lot, sleeping a lot, talking a lot. Do not let Ramadhan pass like an ordinary month as if it’s nothing special.
You must feel it, you can feel it even when you enter into the azan of Maghrib this coming week. Already you can feel how the atmosphere is different. You’re entering into the 10 days of Mercy and these are the doors open so wide, to the point that even sleeping in Ramadhan is considered worshipping, what more if you are doing more and more worship. RasulAllah (SAW) says if you miss one day of fasting in Ramadhan, even if you fasted your whole life, the whole of your life 70, 80 more years you fasted, you cannot get back the reward from that one day of fasting in Ramadhan. So do not cancel your fasting by lying, backbiting and doing things that are displeasing to Allah, because you must fast for all your organs.
I wish to remind you in this month of Ramadhan to be very careful about your handphone because it is the thief that steals the time from you. Shaytan makes you busy with your phones, makes you busy as you scroll from a friend, sends you a nice video maybe something about Quran something about the benefits of Laylatul Qadr you get so excited and you open TikTok or Instagram or Facebook and then you scroll and the next one may not be such such a pious subject, it could be something irrelevant to Ramadhan then you start to watch and then you scroll and scroll and scroll and then one hour has passed. In one hour you could have finished two chaptersof Quran or maybe Quran and Dalailul Khayrat. So be very careful about this thief that comes to you in a very subtle form. Be very, very, careful because every second of Ramadhan is something that you cannot get back once it has disappeared or let go from your hands.
So many things we take for granted happen. For example, in the Hadith, the Prophet said, good health, free time. These are two gifts that people take for granted in their lives. A person doesn’t care about his health until he falls very sick. And MashaAllah, suddenly he’s trying to eat healthy, trying to take all the supplements, trying to blend these juices, trying to find fenugreek, mixing with cloves, mixing with oil. Suddenly he becomes a very healthy eater. But for the past 40-50 years, he didn’t care about his health. Now he is trying his best to get back the health that has slipped from his hands.
This is a reality. Many people are exactly like this. Right? And we take many things for granted. We go to work every day believing we will come back home. We say bye to our families every day when they leave, believing that we will see them later on. Not knowing that in this life, nothing is certain.
When we take something for granted, we become less shukur. Less prepared when something against our plans happens. And just as this Zawiyah is no longer going to be with us by the time we enter May, we are giving up this place. It’s a shock to many people. In fact, many people who spoke to me are devastated. Of course, we feel sad. So many memories here. Ten years of Shaykh visits. So many blessings.
People are trained in Zawiyahs to fight their egos. People are trained in Zawiyahs to transform themselves to change for the better. In Zawiyahs if you ask how many people came from such terrible backgrounds – all of us in fact – and when we step into a Zawiyah and the Hidayah enters our hearts. Very few people enter a mosque and straight away transform. I’ve never heard of that. They usually find hidayah from somewhere else and those places usually are the Dergahs, the Zawiyahs – the places where people come for training and places like this are very, very special.
Sayyidina Ali said, if you are the source of hidayah, just for one person to change, it’s better for you than this world and all its contents. Imagine the place which is the training ground when people gather, their hearts are transformed, where the spiritual training happens even though we are so far from Lefke, so far from Akbaba. But Mawlana said, just as every mosque is a daughter of Nabawi, every single Zawiyah is a daughter of Lefke or Akbaba. They’re always linked to Sultanul Awliya. It’s the same tajalli. If you’re sitting here and you’re sitting in Akaba, it’s the same tajalli. And so those people who have been helping to clean this place, to support the space financially, Alhamdulillah, we’ve come to the end of 10 years of doing so. May Allah reward those who have been taking the time and effort to look after this place.
But it’s a good lesson. It’s a good lesson for us. Things we take for granted, disappear. And then from there, we begin to realize, MashaAllah, I wish I had given more time to the Zawiyah. I wish I had given more effort to pay for the Zawiyah and things like that. And it will happen even in the time of Mahdi Alaihisalam when Imam Mahdi emerges and there’s no more charity from that point, no more charity because everybody is rich.
They will say, “Oh, if only I had given charity when I had the time, when I had the means, when I had the opportunity before this day had come”. So, cherish this time. We will have the last few months in this Zawiyah. So Inshallah, we will be gathering like this on Friday night, the night of Eid, which is a beautiful farewell to this lovely place, a beautiful way to take away our memories from this beloved Zawiyah.
It has helped many of us transform and grow. And when I asked Mawlana whether we will be able to have a new Zawiyah, he says when the mureeds are ready, the Zawiyah will be there. As they say, when the students are ready, the teacher will emerge. Those of you who begin to look for a teacher, you end up here, to be connected to a guide. So similarly, when the mureeds are ready, ready to commit financially, able to commit their time, then Allah Almighty will grant us something that will be a better Zawiyah, that we can put more people Inshallah, that we can use as a spiritual training ground for more people to reach their destination.
See how in the blink of an eye, something can just change. That is how when the coming of death, coming of something that changes our situation, it’s very shocking. Sometimes when we are eating, we never realize that could be the last meal before we ended up taking meals through a tube, through our nose, things like that.
Many a time, a person is not aware of the gifts of Allah, not aware of the situation, being able to be changed any time by the will of Allah Almighty. So similarly, this Ramadhan, don’t think that, ”Oh, I’ve worshipped through Ramadhan for the past 20 years. I have so many more Ramadhans to go. This Ramadhan, I’m busy. I got project. I have a lot of work in my office. I will do the basic minimal Ramadhan and Inshallah, you know, you see how it goes.” Don’t have that attitude. Just as we can see how things transform in the blink of an eye, this could be somebody’s last Ramadhan.
So, as we enter into this Ramadhan, you must put your whole effort to take these gifts. Allah likes to see one who is running after his gifts. Even Laylatul Qadr, don’t wait for the last 10 days. It’s mentioned in the Hadith, there are times Laylatul Qadr is even outside Ramadhan. There are times it’s even outside the last 10 days.
I met one man many, many years ago in Pakistan, when we finished our Ramadhan. He’s a very pious man. Some people say he’s Awliya. So I asked him, I said, Saidi, when was this year’s Laylatul Qadr? This is a very famous topic, right? Every time after Ramadhan finished, we would like to ask each other, right? When was Laylatul Qadr? Do you catch it? Do you see any signs? And of course, we find that everybody saw something on a different day. I asked this man, he said, this year’s, that was 25 years ago, he said, for this year, he said on the first night of Ramadhan was Laylatul Qadr. On the very first night Allah showed it to me, he said.
So don’t be heedless. Don’t say it must be in the last 10 days or it must be on the 27th. No, the Hadith clearly mentioned even outside Ramadhan can be Laylatul Qadr. That’s why Mawlana said to treat everybody as Sayyidina Khidir Alaihisalam and treat every night as Laylatul Qadr. So now that we are entering Ramadhan, from the very first night you must already be looking for Laylatul Qadr.
You must be already doing some tahajjud, don’t leave that night with nothing and say nevermind, last 10 days then I’ll do a bit, but now it is not the time. We don’t want this last Ramadhan of ours to be something whereby when you finally know on Judgement Day that it was on the 7th of Ramadhan or it was on the 15th because on the 15th, the flag of Laylatul Qadr comes down and is put on top of the Kaaba. That’s why on the 15th night, our Witir is split two and one instead of doing three at one go.
And so, chase your Laylatul Qadr from the first night of the entire Ramadhan. Make sure you wake up for Tahajjud every night. Because you have to wake up for sahur, right? Don’t have the bad habit, of having a sahur at 12 o’clock or 1am, you know? Don’t do that. Make sure you wake up an hour before sahur time, before azan or subuh. Wake up an hour before. And have maybe half an hour for worshipping. Try to do your solat najat, all the things that you’ve already learned in your journey so far.
Like I said, it’s not the time to learn, time to execute, right? If you know solat hajat, do. Solat tawbat, do. Solat tasbih, do. Solatul hubb, you do. Every single solat that you can do, you do. You can read Quran, do as much as you can. Dalailul Khairat do as much as you can. You’re already in the zone where you’re going to collect as much as you can from the gifts of Allah Almighty.
One of the prophets, Sayyidina Ayyub Alaihisalam, he went through so much difficulty and eventually Allah Almighty granted him richness again after he lost everything. It was said in a story that Allah Almighty sent down from the sky golden locusts, made of gold. And he lifted his jubah and was collecting these locusts that were falling from the sky. I mean gold, right, falling from the sky, he went to collect. And Allah Almighty said to him, “Ya Ayub, isn’t it enough what I’ve already given to you?”
And Sayyidina Ayyub Alaihisalam said, “No, ya Allah, I am your servant and I always want to be in need of whatever you are giving.” So Allah likes to see a servant, imagine if Mawlana throws sweets, and then you can’t be bothered to take any of the sweets, it’s a sign of arrogance, actually. But even if you have so many sweets at home, I hope you say MashaAllah, I want to take one as a barakah, as this is from my Shaykh.
Similarly, when Sayyidina Ayub lifted his jubah to take from the falling locusts it’s not as though he doesn’t have enough money, but it’s a sign saying I am a servant and I am always in need of whatever you throw at us.
We are beggars, ya Allah. We are the fukara, we are the fakir. We are the poor ones, ya Allah. So Allah is opening the doors of Forgiveness, Mercy, Elevation, Closeness, Familiarity, Love in this month of Ramadhan fully so don’t say, “Oh I’m only going to do 27 or I’m only going to wake up on the odd nights or last 10 nights. No, go from the first night saying “I am in need, ya Allah, whatever comes down from you, ya Allah, I am in need, a fakir, a poor one ya Allah. I need forgiveness, I need mercy, I need You to help me with all my difficulties, I need You to polish my heart, I need You to give me qalbun salim, I need You to grant me your pleasure, I need you to grant me servanthood.” Like this you are asking, grant my children, grant my parents, grant my neighbors, grant my jama’ah, everyone, ya Allah.
And you must always be begging and begging and begging. So many times it’s said in many of the Hadiths, Allah says to the angel,“Withhold my gift from this servant.” And the angels are amazed. They say, “Allah he is very pious. He’s praying to you.” And Allah says, “No, I love to hear his voice. I love to hear him begging me. I love to hear him as he’s asking me and praising me and humbling himself before me. I love to hear his voice. So hold back my gift. I want to hear his voice.” And so Allah loves to hear us asking.
So this Ramadhan, ask. Ask. Allah loves to hear. Allah is not poor. His storehouses are never empty. Allah said in a Hadith Qudsi, “If I gathered all of mankind from the first man, Adam a.s., to the last man who will live in this dunya, all of them on mashar, Allah says. And I ask every one of these people to ask from me all their needs, every single thing they want, they want Jannah, they want the biggest palace, or they want richness, they want everything from dunya and akhirat, they ask and ask until they have nothing to ask.”
Allah says, from the whole of my Ocean of Generosity. So don’t be scared to ask. Allah Almighty loves to hear us asking. Allah loves us to humble ourselves and don’t forget to ask for your dunya. Allah says in the holy Quran don’t forget your portion of this dunya. We live in dunya. We have taxes to pay, we have rentals to pay, we have to pay for so many things. Ask for your dunya, don’t be shy. Allah knows we are in need but don’t forget to ask for all the gifts of akhirat until the Qalbun salim, and don’t forget to ask all these gifts for your descendants as Mawlana said in the du’a of Nifsu Sha’ban, ”Oh Allah we entrust ourselves, our dignity, our children to you, oh Allah, to Rasulullah.”
Du’a for your descendents to receive guidance, to take bai’ah to follow a Guide, to meet the Sultan Awliya of that time to take bai’ah and to find safety in the Mercy of Allah. So this Ramadhan is a very precious, very powerful Ramadhan as we draw closer and closer to the emergence of Saydina Mahdi Alaihissalam, every Ramadhan is filled with more powerful dressings.
Mawlana said, if you combine all the Ramadhans before this, Shaykh Nazim was saying before he passed away, all the Ramadhans from before added up, the gifts in this one Ramadhan alone exceeds all the previous Ramadhans combined together. MashaAllah and if you live to the next Ramadhan, that Ramadhan will be so much more powerful than even this Ramadhan. Every Ramadhan Allah gives more than all the previous Ramadhans combined so don’t be one who is just chasing for a few days.
You are a mureed, chase from the first day up to the last day. Even on the last night Of Eid, don’t go out shopping, or go for bargains at the bazaar. So don’t be shopping. You want to shop, you go and shop now. You want to buy curtains, go and buy now. You want to paint your house, you still have six days, go and paint your house. You want to make baju (clothes), anything, you go and do everything now, right? You want to buy snacks that you can panaskan (heat up), go and buy now. Fill up your freezer. But don’t go out shopping during the daytime of Ramadhan or the nighttime of Ramadhan. Maybe a few minutes if you really need to buy something.
But don’t spend these precious nights just walking around bargaining for carpets and all that. Go and buy now. Don’t wait till the Holy Month has started. I’m devastated to see every year, thousands and thousands of people spend practically the whole night, especially the malam raya, the night of Eid, the shopping goes on up to Fajr. I used to do transportation, and people would be calling me and say, “Abang, your lorry available. I bought 15 carpets. You can come and collect from Geylang?” And this is the malam of Hari Raya, the night of Eid, and they are buying carpets, buying baju, buying food, all this kind of stuff.
Then on the morning of Eid, when you go for your prayers, all the roads are lined with angels giving you salams, shaking your hands, giving you salam upon salam upon salam, because you have Eidul Fitri, means to return to purity. You have become like a newborn baby. That’s what you must aim to be in this Ramadhan.
May Allah grant us a Ramadhan of forgiveness. May Allah grant us help in this difficult journey. May Allah make it easy for us and dress us with what makes us amongst the beloved ones, the servants of Allah.
Just to answer one question that has been asked of me a few times, I mentioned in the last few sohbas about following the voice from your heart, about the mintalah fatwa dari hatimu sendiri. Ask for a decision from your own hearts. A few people have asked me, so I decided to answer openly like this, how to tell whether it’s something from the ego or something from the heart.
I just summarise it very quickly, I don’t want to drag on. If something is coming, Mawlana said, if something is coming from your ego, it is usually something that happens one time. And also your state, your heart is full of excitement or full of anger or full of, you are in that sense, emotional. That’s the word I’m trying to find. But if something is coming from Allah, inspirations or from your heart talking to yourself, it is something that is persistent. The same message comes again and again and again, and you’re in a condition where you’re very calm.
So for example, somebody cuts into your way when you’re driving, then you feel the anger, you want to hammer the guy, you are wondering whether this is a Divine Inspiration. Look at yourself, you are emotional, right? You are emotional. And you feel, you know, all this anger and all, and you don’t feel yourself. And you can feel later on, after that incident has passed, when you go to a carpark, for example, you park your car, and then you have calmed down, the inspiration doesn’t come back like, let’s hunt him down, and let’s make him pay and regret for the rest of his life. That thing disappears.
Something coming from shaytan is an instantaneous, emotional thing that happens one time. But if something is a Divine thing, like for example, you want to go to Iktikaf, you know, in the mosque, and then you’re feeling lazy, then it comes to your heart. Iktikaf is good, let’s go to the mosque. The mosque is so nearby. And you say, you know, like, malaslah (lazy). Then it comes again after a few hours. Iktikaf lah, you know, if you have not been to Iktikaf before, try one day, two days.
When this thing keeps coming to your heart about Iktikaf, then you’re good. So you can see a difference? There’s no emotional feeling, there’s no loss of your mind. It comes regularly, and it’s the same message, and you’re in a state of calmness. That is Divine Inspiration.
Ameen Ya Rabbal Alameen. Bi hurmatil Habib, Bi hurmatil Fatiha.
• Almarhum Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan
17 March 2023/ 25 Shaʻban 1444 AH
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
In shā’a Llāh we make ṣuḥbah with our Muslim brothers. We are, in shā’a Llāh, asking Allāh ʿAzza wa Jalla to bless you. As Ḥaḍrati Abū Bakr said, may Allāh ﷻ make what they said to be, in shā’a Llāh. We are not claiming anything but, in shā’a Llāh, may Allāh ﷻ makes us as you think, in shā’a Llāh.
Our way, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is the way of all good things. Every nice, every beautiful thing is in this way. It is teaching human beings humanity. Only Islām is teaching this way. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is teaching this way. Real Islām is the way of our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
The first example, perfect example for this is Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, who said, “أَدَّبَنِي رَبِّي فَأَحْسَنَ تَأدِيبِي”, “Addabani Rabbi fa ahsana ta’dibi”, “Allāh ﷻ gave me good behavior and He perfected it.” Allah ﷻ taught me adab, good behavior, and He ﷻ made the best thing completely in myself, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said.
So, to have respect and adab is not bad. Adab is a very important thing. But nowadays, it is the worst thing for those who are claiming they are looking after humanity, teaching humanity. It is not an acceptable attribute for them. You must not be good behaved, you must be aggressive, you must be violent, you must be every bad thing. If you do so, nobody touches you. But if you are good behaved and quiet and so, they are riding on you and want to do every [bad] thing to you. So, Islām is opposite of this. Islām is, alhamduliLlah, giving, making people higher; making them higher and higher. But others make them and want them to be lower and lower.
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was in the middle of people who don’t have any respect, any adab or anything. They only have, the most important thing for them, is to be proud, Takabbur. This is the most important thing. Each one was going to the other saying, “I am better than you, I am higher than you.” And they didn’t speak with lower people. There were many things that they were doing. But Islām took out all this. Nobody is better than the other, only with good deeds, with good behavior.
So, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam taught the ṣaḥābah, all of them, to be the best example for us. The best example, they said, when Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam spoke – Normally when others were not Muslim, nobody listens to the other. They were shouting, fighting, doing. But then, they became Muslim and Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam taught them adab and good behavior. While Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was speaking, they said that they sit still as if there is a bird on their head. If they do anything, any movement, the bird will fly away. So, they didn’t even do any small movement. This is what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam taught the ṣaḥābah and they taught us. They taught us what we must do. But of course, like nowadays also, from that time there were also people who didn’t learn adab; even at that time.
After Madinah Munawwara, they came to Makkah, to open Makkah, to make it Muslim. After Makkah, there was the Battle of Hunayn. This was a big war. Many tribes came from places around to help against these people. They fought with Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. It was a difficult war, but with the mu’jizah, miracle for Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, Allāh ﷻ made him ﷺ win over them. It was a very strong war.
There is a time after war to take the spoils of war. They divided what they took from the enemy between the army, those fighting, those who became shahīd; all of them. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was giving each one what he must take. One of the fifth is for Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. He ﷺ can give as much as he ﷺ likes. And the left is distributed between the army or those fighting there.
So, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was distributing it. And there were some of this one tribe called Bani Tamim. One man from this tribe, his name is maybe Huwaysira or something, entered to where Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was. The ṣaḥābah were looking at him ﷺ. They were very happy to look at the face of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. And they were very happy to see him ﷺ doing, giving and speaking to people. One said, “I was very happy seeing, looking at Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.” So, this man came and said, “O Prophet ﷺ, you must divide with justice.” He said like this. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said, “If I don’t divide with justice, who will divide with justice?” If without justice, nothing will be here.
So Sayyidina Umar ibn Al-Khattab became angry very quickly – And one must be angry for this, for what this man said there – He said to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, “Let me punish him.” Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam has wisdom. All wisdom is with Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Wisdom comes from him ﷺ. “Don’t, Ya Umar. Don’t do this. He has a family, his tribe. It will be a big fitnah. Just leave him go.” But these people like him are the ones who read Qur’an, but the Qur’an is not coming down from their mouths down [to their hearts]. Only coming until here [their throats]; nothing more. And they will be going out of Islam like the arrow goes out of the bow.
This is what bad behavior does to people. Many of them are now around us.And many people are happy with them. They just ask, “Why are there many people following them, youngsters, others, all this.” I will tell you. It’s very easy. Because you are in the right way. Imagine, you can ask anybody who has a little bit of wisdom, “Why is it difficult for people to come here, yet they are going there?” A very easy question. Because if you come here, a thousand shayṭāns will make you not come. “You are tired. You are not good. Don’t go. These people are a few people. The majority are the other people.” When they go to the other people, shayṭān pushes them [to the same place, encouraging them], “Go there. Don’t come. You are right. You are all right. The other people are mushrik. They are kafir. Every bad thing is with these people”, he says.
So, people are cheated by shayṭān. For this, they are easily going. When doing the bad thing, shayṭān doesn’t prevent you, he helps you go there. This is the wisdom for people. Many people, maybe even our people are also saying this, “Maybe you are wrong, because not much people are coming. If 100 come to you, 2000 come to them. If 500 come to you, 50,000 people go there.” This is the reason. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, in the end of times, you will be many people but there isn’t any value for you. No value because you are not following, taking the valuable thing, precious thing. You only take stone; you only take garbage; nothing of benefit. So, what can you do? Nobody wants you. Can you collect garbage, can you collect stone, can you collect dirt? Nobody is happy with that. But if you are collecting jewelry, you will have value, and they will be against you, trying to take this from you.
For this, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says to be in his ﷺ way, to be respectful, to be good people. Because Muslims must be easy [going]. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says about the Muslim, easy [going], smiley and helpful to people. This is what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying. Not to be harsh and not smiling. Sayyidina Ja’far as-Sādiq who is from the great-grandsons of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, the sign of a good Muslim, believer is to be smiling, to be soft with people. And the sign of the munāfiq, or who doesn’t accept Prophet ﷺ and is not happy with Prophet ﷺ, is that his face is dark and he is not smiling, and he is bad with people. This is the sign of the munāfiq or the other people who are not respecting Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
AlhamduliLlah, we are, in shā’a Llāh, following Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. You must be all the time happy. Nothing makes you afraid from what people are saying and what they are showing: the way of shayṭān. Don’t follow and don’t be afraid of this. You are in the good way, alhamduliLlah, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. The way of ṭarīqah is the way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam which is connecting to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Without ṭarīqah, we see they call it gathering, this gathering, that gathering. They give names for things.
But if no ṭarīqah, all are going in the end to the wrong way. It can only be with ṭarīqah. Because Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam keeps who are following him ﷺ, reaching until him ﷺ. Because there are also many ḥadīths that tell to look for those who saw Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. This was a tradition. Some people were saying, this man saw Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. After him, another one who saw the Prophet ﷺ. After him, who saw the one who saw Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, until Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
So, our, alhamduliLlah, all ṭarīqahs are connecting to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. The real ones. Of course, some people can claim, “I am Shaykh, I am this, I am that,” but if he is not following sharī’ah, it is not real. You must look. We saw many people who claim they are Shaykh yet they’re not following. Some of them are not even praying. For this, it is not right to follow them. Also, Allāh ﷻ has given us a brain to look and see if it is true or not true. You must know. Don’t believe: this is coming from Sham, this is coming from Pakistan, this is coming from India, this is coming from Egypt, from anywhere. Don’t be cheated without looking, without seeing if he is following madhhab.
Madhhab is also very important. Nowadays, these people are denying. About ṭarīqah, they are denying ṭarīqah. And about madhhab, they are also denying. They say, “No need for madhhab. I can judge by myself what is right, and what is not right.” So, who is claiming this, don’t speak to him, go away from him. Because this puts illness in your heart. And people can be easily affected by these people. So, don’t follow him. Don’t follow anyone saying this. Even if he knows the whole Qur’an, if he knows ḥadīth, if he knows everything, but is not following madhhab and not following what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says: all of this is of no benefit.
Who is the biggest scholar, biggest ‘ālim? Shayṭān, Iblīs. Iblīs was knowing all the Heavenly Books. He knows everything. Everything. But he is a cursed one. There’s no benefit from what he knows. It’s not important to know, what’s important is to do. If you pray 2 rak’at in the night, it is better than 100 rak’at in daytime. But also, if you pray your whole life 1000 rak’at at night time and not pray 1 rak’ah from Fard, it is not equal to this. And this is also important. You must be awake, not be cheated with people. They say, “I am not praying but the whole night I am making tasbih, making dhikr, making ḥadrah, reading Qur’ān, ḥadīth. But there’s no need for praying because I am doing all of this. I think I am the most perfect one.”
It sounds like a joke, but many people are following these people. Many people believe in them and are following them. What we gave is one example; not about everybody doing this. One of them only. There are thousands of these. You must be careful because you are in the way. You must be very careful. It’s like you are in a high place, any time you can fall down. So, we must follow the way until we meet Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This is very important to be until our last time, our last breath, in the right way, stable and strongly in this way, insha’Allah.
May Allāh ﷻ help Islām and Muslimīn. Because with all of this, only Allāh ﷻ can help us. And this is what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam saying. Prophet means prophecy. He ﷺ was telling what will happen until Qiyamah, until the end of dunyā also. He ﷺ said about this time, as we said, there will be many Muslims but of no benefit. But also, after this, Allāh ﷻ will send one from the lineage of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, Sayyidina Al-Mahdi, to fix all of this, to finish the bad things and bad people. They will change or they will go. This is only what will be. There will only be clean, pure Islām in the whole earth, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Tonight marks the halfway point of Ramadhan, and the passing of The Rare Lady of Purity, Sayyida Nafisa at-Tahira (RA).
She was born in Makkah on the same night as the Prophet ﷺ, in the year 145 H.
She was the daughter of al-Hasan al-Anwar, the son of Zaid al-Ablaj, son of al-Imam al-Hasan (RA), brother of al-Imam al-Husayn (RA), son of the Daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, Sayyida Fatima al-Zahra (RA).
At the age of five, she relocated with her father after his appointment as the Governor of Madina al-Munawwara. There, she memorized the Qur’an and gained expertise in Islamic jurisprudence.
From the age of six, she would pray the five daily prayers behind her father in Masjid an-Nabawi.
Her father would often bring her to the room where the grave of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is situated, and address the Prophet ﷺ directly, saying:
“Ya Rasullullah! O Beloved Prophet of Allah! I am pleased with my daughter Nafisa!”
He continued these visits repeatedly until one day the Prophet ﷺ appeared before him in a dream saying,
“Ya Hasan, I am pleased with your daughter Nafisa, because you are pleased with her, and Allah ﷻis pleased with her because I am pleased with her.”
The people of Madina loved her deeply. She became renowned for her abstemiousness (zuhd) and piety (taqwa), for fasting the day, spending the nights in prayer, and for her excessive devotion to worshipping Allah ﷻ.
Sayyida Nafisa (RA) had many titles, derived from her many different miracles (karamat).
This included:
1. Nafisat al-Ilmi Wal-Marifat, (the Rare Lady of Knowledge and Gnosis) because of what she achieved and accumulated from knowledge of the Family of the Holy Prophet ﷺ
2. Nafisat al-Tahira, the Rare Lady of Purity
3. Nafisat al-Abida, the Rare Worshipful Lady
4. Nafisat al-Darayn, the Rare One among ladies in this life and the next
5. Sahibat al-Karamat, the Lady of Miracles
6. Sayyidat Ahl al-Fatwa, the Leading Lady in deriving rulings and verdicts
7. Umm al-Awaajiz, the Mother of Elderly Women
8. Nafisat al-Masriyyin, the Rare Lady of the Egyptians, because of the Egyptian people’s intense love for her and her love for them
Sayyida Nafisa’s Devotion
Sayyida Nafisa (RA) performed Hajj thirty times, most of them on foot.
She would say,
“I am following my grandfather, Imam al-Husayn, in this practice, for he said, ‘I feel shy to meet my Lord having never walked to His House.'”
During her circumambulation of the Kaaba, she would make this heartfelt supplication:
“O Allah ﷻ, be pleased with me (matiani bi-ridaaka annee), for I see nothing that veils You from me.”
Sayyida Nafisa (RA) memorized the Qur’an along with its interpretation. While reciting, she would often pray,
“O Allah ﷻ, make it easy for me to visit the grave of Sayyidina Ibrahim al-Khalil (as)”
She recognised him as the Father of the Prophets, and the ancestor of her own grandfather, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
She was deeply aware that the mission of her grandfather ﷺ, was a result of the prayer of Prophet Ibrahim (as), who supplicated:
“Our Lord! And raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who shall recite unto them Thy revelations, and shall instruct them in the Scripture and in wisdom and shall purify them. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Mighty, Wise.” [2:125]
Sayyida Nafisa and Prophet Ibrahim (as)
Many years later, Allah ﷻ answered her prayer, allowing her to visit the grave of Prophet Ibrahim (as), in Palestine. When she finally arrived, she sat in front of his grave, weeping and reciting:
“And when Ibrahim (as) said: My Lord! make this city secure, and save me and my sons from worshipping idols.” [14:35]
As she sat, immersed in recitation, she felt an intense, almost tangible presence. Before her, she saw the image of Sayyidina Ibrahim (as).
Describing that moment, she said,
“My heart began to beat harder, and my eyes started to blink.”
Overcome with emotion, she called out,
“O my grandfather! – Ya Jiddee! I have come to you in both body and spirit. My soul has visited you many times before, and now I come in person. I seek your good pleasure with me, and I seek your guidance so that I may worship Allah ﷻuntil my dying breath.”
At that moment, she heard a voice emerge before her, saying,
“Glad tidings, my granddaughter! You are chosen to be one of the sanctified, worshipful maidservants of your Lord.
My advice to you is to recite Surat al-Muzammil, wherein Allah ﷻsays:
“O thou folded in garments! Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night.'” [73:1]
She was instructed to recite and deeply contemplate its meaning, a testament to her devotion and spiritual journey.
Relocation to Cairo
At 44, Sayyida Nafisa (RA) moved to Cairo on the 26th of Ramadhan, 193 H.
As she passed through Arriche, crowds gathered to welcome her, having heard of her piety.
People traveled on horseback, camels, and on foot, waiting overnight in tents and chanting praises of Allah ﷻ. She was honored with a grand procession as she made her way to Cairo, where she was widely revered as a Saint and devout worshipper.
Healing Hands
The tradition of seeking blessings (baraka) from pious individuals was well known, as seen in the story of Handhalah Ibn Hudhaym.
After the Prophet ﷺ blessed him, Handhalah was able to heal the sick by touching them with the same hand.
Similarly, Sayyida Nafisa (RA) was sought after for her prayers and spiritual blessings, drawing large crowds wherever she went.
Sayyida Nafisa’s Longing for Her Grandfather ﷺ
Feeling overwhelmed by constant visitors, Sayyida Nafisa (RA) considered returning to Madina to focus on worship. The people of Egypt pleaded with the Governor, As-Sirri bin al-Hakam, to convince her to stay.
He gifted her a larger home in Dirr as-Sabah, which she accepted.
To balance her devotion and the people’s needs, she set specific visiting days—Saturdays and Wednesdays—while dedicating the rest of her time to worship.
Sayyida Nafisa and Imam Shafi`i
Sayyida Nafisa (RA) was known for hosting scholars and saints, creating an environment of deep learning and spirituality in Cairo.
Among the scholars who benefited from her company was Imam Shafiʿi, who moved to Egypt from Baghdad in 109 H, five years after her arrival.
A strong spiritual and scholarly relationship developed between Sayyida Nafisa and Imam Shafiʿi. He frequently visited her on his way to and from teaching at the Mosque of Umar ibn al-Aas and even led taraweeh prayers at her mosque during Ramadhan, with Sayyida Nafisa (RA) praying behind him.
Despite his vast knowledge, he sought her prayers and blessings, recognizing her deep piety. He also learned hadith from her and would send requests for her supplications when he fell ill. It is said that her prayers often led to his immediate recovery, further cementing her reputation as a saintly figure.
One time, Imam Shafiʿi fell sick and as usual, sent his messenger asking Sayyida Nafisa’s (RA) du’a. She sent him a message hinting at his approaching death, saying,
“Tell him that may Allah ﷻ make his meeting with Him the Best of meetings, and may Allah ﷻlift him to His proximity.”
Upon his passing, his body was brought to Sayyida Nafisa’s home, where she performed Salat Janaza (funeral prayer) from the women’s section while Imam al-Buwaiti led the congregation.
This final act reflected the deep respect and spiritual connection between the two, underscoring Sayyida Nafisa’s (RA) esteemed status among scholars of her time.
Sayyida Nafisa’s Majlis
Sayyida Nafisa’s gatherings were attended by many esteemed scholars and Sufis, who learned from her, sought her prayers, and benefited from her spiritual presence.
Other notable attendees included Imam Uthman bin Saeed al-Misri, Dhun-Nun al-Misri, Masri al-Samarkandi, Imam Abu Bakr al-Adfawi, and Abul Hasan bin Ali bin Ibrahim, all of whom were renowned for their scholarly and spiritual contributions.
Her Asceticism
Sayyida Nafisa (RA) was known for her extreme asceticism, eating only once every three days from what Allah ﷻ provided or from her husband’s food. She never sought wealth or luxury.
When the Governor of Egypt sent her a vast sum of money, she accepted it only to distribute it entirely to the poor. She treated gifts from nobles and commoners alike in the same manner, using them to help others rather than for herself.
Her devotion extended to worship, as Zainab, who served her for forty years, never saw her sleep at night or eat during the day except on non-fasting days.
Concerned for her well-being, Zainab urged her to take care of herself, but Sayyida Nafisa (RA) replied,
“How shall I take care of myself before I reach my Lord? Ahead of me are so many barriers, which no one can cross, except the successful ones (Al-Faizun).”
Her Passing
Sensing her time approaching, Sayyida Nafisa (RA) prepared her own grave within her home, frequently praying and reciting the Qur’an inside it.
She completed the Qur’an in her grave six thousand times, dedicating the rewards to all deceased Muslims. Despite her illness, she refused to break her fast in Ramadhan, stating that she had prayed for years to die while fasting.
After her passing, her husband intended to transport her body to Madina, but a dream of the Prophet ﷺ instructed him to bury her in Egypt instead.
Her funeral drew an unprecedented gathering, with thousands mourning her loss.
Miracles Attributed to Sayyida Nafisa
Sayyida Nafisa’s (RA) miracles were widely recorded, with over 150 attributed to her.
One of the most well-known involved a paralyzed non-Muslim girl left in her home. As Sayyida Nafisa (RA) made ablution, the water flowed towards the girl, who instinctively rubbed it on her legs. By Allah ﷻ’s mercy, she was instantly healed.
Overjoyed, her family embraced Islam, and soon their entire tribe followed.
In another miracle, a man’s son was imprisoned in a distant land. When Sayyida Nafisa (RA) prayed for his release, the son mysteriously appeared at his family’s doorstep the same night, saying he was freed by unseen forces after hearing her name mentioned.
His mother, witnessing this divine intervention, also accepted Islam.
Another famous miracle occurred when the Nile failed to flood, threatening agriculture and survival. People sought Sayyida Nafisa’s (RA) help, and she handed them her veil, instructing them to throw it into the river.
Immediately, the water began to rise, saving the land from drought.
A similar miraculous event involved an impoverished woman whose spun wool was stolen by an eagle. The bird later dropped the package onto a sinking boat, sealing a hole and saving the passengers.
The grateful sailors, directed by a divine voice, visited Sayyida Nafisa (RA) and gifted her 500 dinars.
She then gave the money to the woman, far exceeding her usual earnings, demonstrating her generosity and divine favor.
Miracles after Her Passing
Even after her passing, Sayyida Nafisa’s (RA) miracles continued.
In 683 H, thieves broke into her mosque to steal silver lamps, but found themselves trapped inside until morning.
A similar incident occurred in 1940, when a man attempted to steal a Kashmiri shawl; he too was unable to exit until he was discovered.
Another miracle involved a blind man, Abul Izz al-Yamani, who, after exhausting all medical treatments, sought Sayyida Nafisa’s (RA) help.
Falling asleep while waiting, he dreamt of her placing something in his eyes, and upon waking, he found his sight miraculously restored.
The Story of Affan bin Sulayman
The miracles extended to the powerful as well.
Affan bin Sulayman, a merchant, faced financial ruin after a Governor confiscated his wealth.
Seeking Sayyida Nafisa’s (RA) intercession, he prayed at her grave. Soon, the Governor had a dream in which she instructed him to return Affan’s property.
The next day, the Governor complied, not only restoring Affan’s wealth but also using his own treasury to help the poor.
Transformed by the experience, he ruled justly for the rest of his life, crediting Sayyida Nafisa’s (RA) blessing for his change of heart.
These accounts highlight her enduring spiritual presence and divine grace.
Her Maqam
The first mosque at her gravesite was built by Ubaydullah bin Sirri, and later expanded by various rulers. Her shrine remains a place of pilgrimage, visited by scholars and commoners alike.
Over her grave her lineage to the Prophet ﷺ is engraved.
Under that is written, “Anyone experiencing difficulties in his life should visit the grave of Sayyida Nafisa, recite Surat al-Fatiha (Qur’an, 1), Surat al-Ala (87), Surat al-Ikhlas (112) and al-Muwadhitayn (113, 114), gift that recitation to her and make du’a for Allah ﷻto solve that problem.”
The method of greeting Sayyida Nafisa (RA) is also described, “In a low voice say, ‘Peace be upon you, as-salaamu ‘alayki, O Sayyidatina Nafisa, daughter of Hasan al-Anwar, son of as-Sayyid Zayd al-Ablaj, son of As-Sayyid Hasan, son of Sayyidina Ali, and of Sayyida Fatima, daughter of the Prophet ﷺ.'”
Tonight, we offer Al-Fatiha for the soul of this great lady.
Till today, she continues to intercede through her miraculous presence, with stories of her blessings still heard.
“O Naqshband of the world! Engrave my impression on your heart and imprint it in such a way that you are remembered with the title of ‘Naqshband’ (the one who engraves) till the Doomsday.”
– Ghawth al-Azam Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق to Shaykh Baha’uddin Shahق
On the 1st of Ramadhan, the birth of Ghawth al-Azam Sayyiduna Abdul Qadir Jilaniق marked a great blessing for the Ummah.
Allah ﷻ revealed to his parents in a dream that their son would someday be the Sultanul Awliya, and those who opposed him would be led astray.
Hazrat Abu Saleh Moosaق narrates, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق’s father, had a dream in which he saw our Beloved Prophet ﷺ, who said to him: “O my son Abu Saleh, Allah, Most High has given you a child who is my beloved son and also the beloved of Allah.His ranking among the Awliya is akin to my rank among the Prophets.”
The King of Awliya was born at dawn on Monday in 470 H, in the city of Jilan, Persia (modern day Iran) when his mother was sixty.
As he entered this world, his lips whispered “Allah Allah,” and the imprint of the Prophet ﷺ’s footprint was seen on his shoulder, signifying his Sainthood.
He observed his fast throughout Ramadhan and refused any milk till after sunset. On the very day of his birth, 1,100 other male infants were born in Jilan, and they all grew up to become Awliya Allah.
“My foot is on the shoulders of all Awliya Allah”
Once, whilst he was delivering a lecture, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق entered a spiritual state and said, “My foot is on the shoulders of all the Awliya Allah (Saints).”
When he uttered those words there were many Awliya Allah in his presence. Each one of them immediately lowered their necks. Sheikh Ali bin Haitiق who was also present in this gathering, immediately went and physically placed the foot of the great Ghawthق on his neck.
Sheikh Sayyidi Maajidق states: “When al-Ghawth al-A’zamق said these words, then every Wali on earth bowed his neck.” He also states, “There were 300 Awliya Allah and 700 Rijaalul Ghaib (Men of the Unseen) present in that gathering, and every one of them lowered their necks before him.”
Sheikh Makaarimق states: “The day on which al-Ghawth al-A’zamق made this statement, every Saint knew that the flag of Kingship was now planted before Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق. On this day, all the Saints from East to West lowered their necks on his command.”
Sayyidi Sheikh Khalifatul Akbarق states: “I saw the Beloved Rasool ﷺ in my dream and I asked him about the statement of al-Ghawth al-A’zamق – ‘My foot is on the shoulders of all the Saints.’”
The Holy Prophet ﷺ then said, “Abdul Qadir al-Jilaniق has spoken the truth and why should he not say this when he is the Qutb, and I am his Guardian.”
Al-Fatiha for Ghawth al-Azam (The Greatest Helper) Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق.
“These three months are blessed months. Especially, the month of Ramadhan. Allah ‘Azza wa Jalla granted more beauties to it, as it is the month of the Ummah. Wherever you are, you feel that beauty, everywhere.”
– Mawlana Shaykh Muhammadق
1) At Azan Maghrib tomorrownight (Saturday, 1st March), we enter into the Blessed Month of Ramadhan in Singapore.
Mawlanaق will begin tonight, 28th February, in Lefke, Cyprus.
2) Do clean your houses thoroughly today. Wash the toilets. Mop the floors, wipe dirty surfaces, rewash clothing that will be used for prayers this month, perfume the house and burn pleasant fragrances like oud and frankincense.
By Maghrib tomorrow, be ready to welcome Ramadhan in a clean garb, in a clean house.
Perfume yourself and wash your face with a handful of Rose Water.
3) At Azan Maghrib tonight, look at the sky for the Ramadhan moon. Although you will likely not see it, it is Sunnah to look for it on the 29th of Sha’ban.
4) There is the “Welcoming Ramadhan D’ua” to be recited after Maghrib tomorrow.
5) Do pray 20 raka’at of Terawih and 3 raka’at Witr with your family after Ishak.
Note to Imams – read quickly, and you only need to recite one Verse of any Surah, in each raka’at, after Fatihah.
Remember to keep prayers quick and brief, as we don’t want our families to feel burdened by our prolonged prayers.
6) All of Almarhum Sheikh Abdul Sattar’s Ramadhan Sohbahs have been compiled here.
Almarhum also gave some advice to start the month, which can be found here.
7) Ramadhan Kareem Mubarak to all. May this month bring us the closest we have ever been to Allah ﷻ and His Rasul ﷺ.
May we find it in our hearts to forgive those who have hurt us in any way, do find it in your hearts to forgive us and our families too, maaf zahir dan bathin.
Full practices & devotions of this Holy Month here.
A’ūdhu biLlāhi mina sh-shayṭāni r-rajīm. Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm:
“لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِه”
(Qur’an 02:253)
“Lā nufarriqu bayna aḥadin min rusulihi”
“We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
This āyah from Sūratu l-Baqarah means we are not making any difference between prophets; all prophets. All of them are in the same way. This is its meaning. Maybe some people thought this means that they’re all in one rank. No. The meaning of this āyah – maybe some people don’t have knowledge or they don’t have good adab or good behavior, they are saying about Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam that he ﷺ is like others, or that some Prophets are doing so, they are not good. No, all of them are the same, in the way of Allāh ﷻ.
But in ranks, there is a difference. “تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ”, “Tilka r-rusulu fadḍalnā bā’dahum ʿalá bā’d”, “Those messengers – some of them We caused to exceed others.” (Qur’an 02:285). Which means all Prophets, Messengers of Allāh ﷻ, some of them are also higher than others. There is, of course the highest one, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam. After him ﷺ, there is Uli l-‘Aẓim, which means the strong Prophets. And after that, there is also the 313 Prophets. And these are the highest between all Prophets. How many Prophets there are? There are one hundred twenty-four thousand. Because since thousands of years, Allāh ﷻ hadn’t let any time on this earth without prophets: since Ādam ‘alayhi s-salām, until Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam.
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam is the last one, and he ﷺ completed what prophets slowly, slowly brought, the Heavenly order. Some of them are finished, some of them not used anymore, some of them Allāh ﷻ changed. But the most perfect religion after those, which was not changed is Islām. Because it is the religion of Allāh Azza wa Jalla.
Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, we are billions of people following this. The most crowded nation, is the nation of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam. And they must be the most lucky ones if they know the value. If they don’t know the value, they are unlucky. There is no benefit for them. May Allāh ﷻ make us to be thankful for Him ﷻ, for this big ni’mah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
[Excerpt from ‘From the Light of Ahl al-Bayt: My Spiritual Experiences Unveiled’]
by Imam Metawalli ash-Sha`rawi
Sayyida Nafisa was born in Makkah on the 11th of Rabia al-Awwal, the same night that the Prophet (s) was born, in the year 145 H. Her father had been appointed governor of Madinat al-Munawwara in the year 150 H. She accompanied her father to Madina at the tender age of five. There she memorized the entire Quran and studied Islamic jurisprudence in depth. Being extremely intelligent, she also became adept in explaining the Qur`an despite her young age.
She was the daughter of al-Hasan al-Anwar, the son of Zaid al-Ablaj, son of al-Imam al-Hasan (r), brother of al-Imam al-Husayn (r), son of the Daughter of the Prophet (s) Sayyida Fatimat al-Zahra (r). She is from the family of the Prophet (s) about which Allah said in the Holy Qur`an: “Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! and to purify you a (thorough) purifying.” [33:33]
Young Nafisa frequented the grave of her grandfather, the Prophet (s) (mulazamat qabri jaddiha al-Mustafa). The People of Madina loved her deeply. She became renowned for her abstemiousness (zuhd) and piety (taqwa), for fasting the day, spending the nights in prayer, and for her excessive devotion to worshipping Allah (swt).
Sayyida Nafisa had many titles by which she was known among the people, derived from her many different miracles (karamat). She is known as Nafisat al-ilmi wal-marifat, (the Rare Lady of Knowledge and Gnosis) because of what she achieved and accumulated from knowledge of the Family of the Holy Prophet (s). She is called Nafisat al-Tahira, the Rare Lady of Purity, and Nafisat al-`Abida, the Rare Worshipful Lady, and Nafisat al-Darayn, the Rare one among ladies in this life and the next, and Sahibat al-Karamat, the Lady of Miracles, and Sayyidat Ahl al-Fatwa, the Leading Lady in deriving rulings and verdicts, and Umm al-Awaajiz, the Mother of Elderly Women, and Nafisat al-Masriyyin, the Rare Lady of the Egyptians, because of the Egyptian people’s intense love for her and her love for them, and her being their recourse for their every problem – collectively and individually.
Sayyida Nafisa used to pray the five prayers regularly behind her father in Masjid an-Nabawi (s) from the age of six. Her father used to take her by the hand and enter inside the room of the grave of the Holy Prophet (s), which is the house of Sayyida `Ayesha (r). He would address the Prophet (s) directly saying: “Ya Rasullullah!, O Beloved Prophet of Allah! I am pleased with my daughter Nafisa!” He continued these visits repeatedly until one day the Prophet (s) appeared to him in a dream saying to him, “Ya Hasan, I am pleased with your daughter Nafisa, because you are pleased with her, and Allah is pleased with her because I am pleased with her.”
Intercession
Here Imam Metawalli Ash-Sharawi has elucidated the true meaning of intercession in the understanding of the scholars and saints (awliya) of Islam, showing that it is a method chosen by the early spiritual pioneers of Islam (as-salaf as-salih) as the most excellent means of approach to Allah and His good pleasure – the path to perfection and purification.
On the 5th of Rajab, 161 H. at the age of sixteen years, Nafisa married her cousin Ishaq al-Mu`taman, a direct descendant of Imam al-Husayn (s). She bore from him a son named Al-Qassim (r) and a daughter they named Umm-Kulthum (r).
She performed hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) thirty times – most of them on foot. She would say, “I am following my grandfather Imam al-Husayn (r) in doing that, for he said, ‘I feel shy to meet my Lord having never walked to His House,'” for which reason he used to make the pilgrimage walking.
It is said that on her circumambulation around the Kaaba, she asked Allah (swt) “O Allah! be satisfied with me (matiani bi-ridaaka `annee), I see nothing that veils You from me.”
She memorized the Quran and its explanation. It is said that when she recited Quran she would pray, “O Allah make it easy for me to visit the grave of Sayiddina Ibrahim al-Khalil,” for she knew he was the father of prophets and father of her grandfather Prophet Muhammad (s). She knew that the mission of her grandfather Prophet Muhammad (s) was due to the prayer of Ibrahim (as), when he said, “Our Lord! And raise up in their midst a messenger from among them who shall recite unto them Thy revelations, and shall instruct them in the Scripture and in wisdom and shall purify them. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Mighty, Wise.” [2: 125]
Visit to Ibrahim al-Khalil (as)
It was only after many years that Allah (swt) answered that prayer making it possible for Sayyida Nafisa to visit the grave of al-Khalil, the Prophet Ibrahim (as) (in Palestine). When she finally arrived, she sat there in front of his grave weeping and reciting, “And when Ibrahim said: My Lord! make this city secure, and save me and my sons from worshipping idols:” [14: 35]
As Sayyida Nafisa sat in front of the grave of Ibrahim al-Khalil (as), reciting the Qur`an, she felt an intense presence, almost tangible, and saw the image of Sayyidina Ibrahim (as) in front of her. Of that moment she said, “My heart began to beat harder and my eyes to blink.” She called upon him saying “O my grandfather! – Ya Jiddee!” in the present tense. “I came to you in body and spirit… as my soul has come to you before many times, I now come to you in body as well. I seek your good pleasure with me and I seek your guidance and instruction in order that I may worship Allah until my dying breath.” At that moment she heard a voice emerging from the image of Sayyidina Ibrahim which was before her saying, “Good tidings my granddaughter! You are chosen to be one of the sanctified, worshipful maidservants of your Lord. My advice to you is to recite Surat al-Muzammil, wherein Allah says, ‘O thou folded in garments! Stand (to prayer) by night, but not all night,'” [73:1] until its end and seek to meditate on what you recite.
Relocation to Cairo
When Sayyida Nafisa was 44 years old, she moved to Cairo. She arrived on the 26th of Ramadan in the year 193 H. On her way, she passed through the city of Arriche. When people knew of her arrival, they rushed forth en masse to meet her, for her renown as a devout worshipper and lady saint had preceded her. Historians say the men and women of Egypt went to receive her in a huge procession, riding on horses, camels, donkeys, and on foot; waiting overnight in tents; greeting her in the morning with the chanting of “la ilaha ill-Allah” and “Allahu akbar,” and accompanying her in a huge procession from Arriche to Cairo, according her great dignity and respect.
Touching a Pious Person for Baraka
Al-Tabarani, and Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (5:67-68) with a sound chain as stated by al-Haythami narrated through Handhalah Ibn Hudhaym that the latter went with his grandfather, Hudhaym, to the Prophet (s). Hudhaym said to the Messenger of Allah (s): “I have sons and grandsons, some of whom are pubescent and others still children.” Motioning to the young child next to him, he said: “This is the youngest.” The Prophet (s) brought this young child whose name was Handhalah next to him, wiped on his head, and told him, “barakallahu fik,” which means: “May Allah bless you.” After that, people started to bring Handhalah a person with a swollen face or a sheep with a swollen udder. Handhalah would place his hand on that part of his head the Prophet (s) wiped, then touch the swollen part and say “Bismillah,” and the swelling would be cured.
Sayyida Nafisa’s Longing for Her Grandfather (s)
At that point, Sayyida Nafisa began to feel a tremendous burden due to the huge gatherings of people visiting her and asking her du`a, who came camping around her home, often overnight. She decided to leave Egypt and return to Madina al-Munawwara, feeling she was losing time for worship in meeting the endless throngs. Discovering her decision to leave, thousands of people sought out Sayyida Nafisa, begging her to reverse her decision and remain in Egypt.
They swarmed the Governor of Egypt, As-Sirri bin al-Hakam, asking him to request Sayyida Nafisa to stay. He paid her a visit, politely urging her to stay for the sake of the people who so needed her baraka and her prayers. She informed him that she had decided to stay in Egypt. “However,” she said, “I am a weak lady and these people have gathered in thousands which prevents me from observing my daily recitations. Also, my home is tiny and unable to accommodate these huge crowds. I began to feel extreme longing for my grandfather (s), so my heart is calling me to return to Madina to visit my grandfather’s (s) grave.”
The governor replied, “O granddaughter of Prophet (s)! I promise you I will try my best to solve this problem, for I know your house is small. But from the depths of my heart, without asking anything in return, for the sake of Allah I am giving you a mansion I own in the district of Dirr as-Sabah. I beg you to accept this house from me and to use it in whatever way you wish.”
Sayyida Nafisa paused for many minutes, engaged in deep meditation. Finally, she lifted her head from her reverie and said, “I accept your offer of your house.” Then she said, “O governor of Egypt! What am I to do with these huge crowds of people?” He said, “Assign Saturday and Wednesday for people to visit, and dedicate the other days purely for worship.”
Sayyida Nafisa moved to the larger house, granted to her as a gift (hiba), without giving anything in return, for the governor had granted it to her solely out of regard for her personal piety and sincerity. She followed his suggestion, relocated her residence, and received people on Saturdays and Wednesdays, devoting the remaining days to worship of her Lord.
Sayyida Nafisa and Imam Shafi`i
Sayyida Nafisa hosted most of the scholars of her time, experts in jurisprudence, hadith, and Quranic explanation. But by far the greatest scholarly gatherings were those she hosted for the pillars of tasawwuf and the pious of her time (Aqtab al-tasawwuf). Among these pillars of tasawwuf and fiqh was Imam al-Shafii who had moved to Egypt from Baghdad in 109 H., five years after Sayyida Nafisa’s arrival in Cairo.
Imam Shafi`i stayed in Egypt for over four years until his passing. There he classified his books and assembled his school of jurisprudence; it was in Egypt that he acquired fame and people came to sit in his majlis – association. His new school of thought was modified greatly from the school he had developed earlier in Baghdad, according to the change of times, culture, and customs. His judgments were written in the book Al-Umm.
Imam Shafi`i Differs With Himself
From Imam Shafii’s careful tuning of his “Baghdadi school” to produce the different “Egyptian school,” we see the importance he gave, in making a juristic decision about an issue, of taking into account not only the relevant verses of Quran and applicable hadith but the characteristics of the people he was giving the ruling for as well, including aspects of culture, behavior, the overall public level of morality, and other intangibles. So whereas Imam Shafii could be said to have differed with himself on some issues, unfortunately today, differences in jurisprudence between the imams have caused one group of Muslims to accuse another of insincerity, innovation (bida), unbelief (kufr), and worst of all, polytheism (shirk).
Scholarly and Spiritual Association with Sayyida Nafisa
Imam Shafii began teaching after Fajr prayer every day his students of Quran and its exegesis (tafsir) and other distinguished scholars would sit to study. Immediately after sunrise the hadith students would arrive and the students of exegesis would leave. Following them were the students of hadith explanation, followed by the group of speculative philosophy (kalam) students, then students of jurisprudence (fiqh) shortly before noon. Thus Imam Shafii would sit at least six hours, with different groups of students, teaching one course after another. The fertility and fruitfulness of Imam Shafii’s fiqh was a result of his vast intellect and life experience, acquired during his extensive travels throughout Muslim lands, and in his ongoing debates with other scholars.
When Imam Shafii arrived in Egypt, a relationship evolved with Sayyida Nafisa, based on adherence to faith and piety in religion. He used to visit her in her home going to and returning from his associations at the Mosque of Umar ibn al-Aas, in al-Fistat district.
Imam Shafii used to lead taraweeh in the Masjid of Sayyida Nafisa and she would pray following him for the entire Ramadan. Historians say that despite his tremendous scholarship, Imam Shafii used to visit Sayyida Nafisa to ask her invocation (dua) and seek her baraka (blessing).
Imam Shafii also used to sit in Sayyida Nafisa’s association, learning hadith from her. When on occasion he was sick, he would send one of his students to sit in her association. He would invariably tell her, “Your cousin ash-Shafii is sick and requests your dua.” Immediately. Sayyida Nafisa would raise her hands in supplication, asking Allah to cure Imam ash-Shafii. Often by the time the messenger returned to Imam ash-Shafii he would find him already cured, by means of her dua.
Sayyida Nafisa Recites His Funeral Prayer
One time Imam ash-Shafii fell sick and as usual sent his messenger asking Sayyida Nafisa’s dua. She sent him the message, “Tell him that may Allah make his meeting with Him the Best of meetings and may Allah lift him to His proximity.” When the messenger returned with this message, the Imam understood that his death was imminent. Immediately Imam Shafii wrote his will, stating that Sayyida Nafisa should pray the funeral prayers (salat al-janaza) over him. He died at the end of Rajab, 204 H.
Sayyida Nafisa also executed his will. Incapacitated due to her constant worship, they brought the imam’s body from his house in al-Fistat district to her home. There she prayed the funeral prayer (salat al-janaza) over him from the women’s section, following Imam al-Buwaiti who lead the prayer.
Sayyida Nafisa’s Majlis
Not only did Imam ash-Shafii sit with her, learn hadith from her, request her dua and seek her baraka, but so too did many other scholars and great Sufis (kaana hunaak katheera alulama i wa kibaar as-sufiyya). Among them were al-Imam Uthman bin Saeed al-Misri, Dhun-Nun al-Masri, Masri al-Samarkandi, Imam Abu Bakr al-Adfawi, (author of one of the greatest explanations of Quran, al-Istiftah fi ulum al-Quran), and Abul Hasan bin Ali bin Ibrahim who wrote ten volumes on Quranic grammar, and many others.
Her Asceticism
Sayyida Nafisa was renowned for asceticism and for living a life of hardship (zuhd). When asked what her meals consisted of, Zainab, daughter of her brother, replied, “My auntie used to eat once every three days. She had a basket hanging in her niche. Whenever she wanted something small to eat she would find something in that basket, sent from Allah (swt). She never ate anything other than food from her husband and that which Allah sent her as a gift.”
One day the governor of Egypt sent Sayyida Nafisa 100,000 dirhams (equivalent to perhaps millions of dollars in today’s money). He said, “Take this money from me. I ask nothing in return, but I thank Allah for this opportunity to repent. I give this money to you because of your piety.” She took that money as her own and distributed it to the poor until nothing remained. Princes, nobles and many ordinary people sent her gifts. She accepted them, then distribute them in whatever way she liked.
Historians report her niece Zainab saying, “I served my auntie Sayyida Nafisa for forty years. I never saw her sleeping at night and I never saw her eating during the day, except the days forbidden to fast – the two Eids and the Days of Tashriq (11th – 13th of Dhul Hijja).” Zainab once said to Sayyida Nafisa, “You must take care of yourself.” She replied, “How shall I take care of myself before I reach my Lord? Ahead of me are so many barriers which no one can cross except the successful ones (al-faizun).”
The Servant Returned to The Master
When she began to feel her death approaching, Sayyida Nafisa dug her grave with her own hands inside her home. Every day she would enter the grave and worship in it, as a reminder of the coming afterlife. She used to pray all her supererogatory prayers inside that grave. Al-Allama al-Ajhuri said, “She completed the Holy Quran while sitting in her grave six thousand times, and she granted the rewards of that recitation to all deceased Muslims.” [This is in contradistinction to the Salafi ideology’s rejection of gifting recitation of the Quran to the dead.]
When Sayyida Nafisa’s illness worsened she wrote to her husband Ishaq al-Mutaman, who was living in Madina al-Munawwara, asking him to return to Egypt. He came with their son Qassim and daughter Umm-Kulthum. She became very ill at the beginning of Ramadan, 208 H. Her companions asked her to stop fasting to keep her strength. She refused, saying, “I have been asking Allah to die fasting for thirty years; now you want me to break the fast.”
Upon her passing, her husband prepared to move her body to Madinat al-Munawarra, to be buried in Jannat al-Baqi, but the people of Egypt asked him not to do that, but to bury her in the grave she had dug with her own hands. The governor of Egypt along with many people asked Ishaq al-Mutaman to bury Sayyida Nafisa in Egypt. They collected a large sum of money and offered it to him. Returning the next day, they asked for his decision. He replied, “I have decided to bury her here. I saw the Prophet (s) in a dream last night, and he told me, ‘Give them back their money and bury your wife in Egypt.'”
The night Sayyida Nafisa died was an immense tragedy for the people of Egypt, who were stunned at the news. Coming from every village in Egypt, people gathered at her house in Cairo, lighting candles and weeping. For them Sayyida Nafisa was a beacon of knowledge and a source of blessing, baraka, from the family of the Prophet (s). It was a day of sorrow and mourning throughout Egypt. The day they attempted to bury her, it was very difficult to move her body to her final resting place, due to the crowds of people lamenting, crying, and calling on Allah by His Names and Attributes. The like of that gathering was unprecedented in all of Egypt.
Miracles after her death
More than 150 miracles were recorded by historians as appearing from Sayyida Nafisa. Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani wrote about them.
The story is related that when Sayyida Nafisa arrived in Egypt and settled in her home, there was a non-Muslim family living beside her, whose daughter was paralyzed from the waist down. One day the girl’s mother brought her to Sayyida Nafisa to watch while she went shopping. She left her daughter in one corner of Sayyida Nafisa’s house. Sayyida Nafisa began making ablution and water from her ablution flowed towards the girl. As the water touched the body of the girl, she experienced something strange. She began to take the water from Sayyida Nafisa’s ablution and rub it on her paralyzed feet and legs. Suddenly by Allah’s (swt) Mercy, the paralysis disappeared completely and she was able to stand.
Meanwhile Sayyida Nafisa was busy in prayer. The girl stood up and seeing her mother just returning from the market, ran to meet her to tell her what had happened. Her mother cried with joy declaring, “That woman is truly holy and her religion is the truth.” She came in, hugged Sayyida Nafisa, thanked her for healing her daughter and asked her to pray that she be guided from darkness to light. Sayyida Nafisa then taught her to recite the shahada.
When the father of the girl returned home that evening, whose name was Ayyub Abu Surraya, and saw his daughter cured, he was overjoyed. He asked his wife about what happened and she told him the whole story. He raised his head heavenwards saying, “O Allah! You guide whom You like and I now know that Islam is the true religion, completing what we believe in.” He went to the home of Sayyida Nafisa. Speaking to her from behind a veil he said, “I believe in your religion, and I accept it. I testify that there is none to worship except Allah and that your grandfather Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.” That miracle was the cause for the entire tribe of Sayyida Nafisa’s neighbors to enter Islam.
A Prisoner Set Free
One of Sayyida Nafisa’s miracles relates to a Muslim man married to a Christian woman. They had a son. When he grew up he began to travel. While traveling in a country far from home he was captured and held prisoner. After hearing of his capture, his mother used to frequent the church, praying that her son be released and returned to them. Years passed but he was not released. One day she told her husband, “I heard that there is a saintly woman Nafisa bint al-Hasan al-Anwar whose prayers are always answered. Since you are Muslim go and ask her to pray for the return of our son.” He went and asked Sayyida Nafisa for her dua.
Late that night they heard a knock at the door. Waking and wondering who it could be they went and opened the door. To their astonishment they found their son standing there. They asked him, “How did you come here” He said, “Tonight I was sitting there in prison, in chains. Suddenly I felt a spiritual presence, and I heard a voice saying, ‘Free him! Nafisa bint al-Hasan interceded for him.’ Suddenly I found myself standing here at the door of our house.” That day his mother went to visit Sayyida Nafisa, thanking her for saving her son, then accepting Islam at her hand.
The Nile fails to flood
In the year 201 H. (816 CE) the Nile failed to flood, as is its normal annual custom. People went to Sayyida Nafisa asking her to pray that Allah cause the Nile to flood, for without the usual flood no crops would grow. Sayyida Nafisa gave them her faceveil telling them, “throw that in the Nile and by Allah’s grace it will flood.” They took her burqa and threw it in the Nile. Immediately the river began to rise and overflow its banks.
[One should note here this is a miracle extremely similar to the incident of the shirt of Sayiddina Yusuf (as), which when cast on the face of his father Yaqub (as), was the cause for his sight to be restored by Allah’s Will. Again, such incidents clarify the true meaning of tawassul and shafaa (intercession) by means of objects related to pure, pious individuals.]
Stolen wool
Al-Imam al-Munawi mentions a story of Sayyida Nafisa, related to him from al-Azhari in his book al-Kawakib as-sayyaara:
There was an old lady who had four daughters. This woman used to spin wool into yarn, then take the yarn and sell it. With half the earnings she would buy more wool spending the rest on their food and drink for the week. One day the old lady set out for the market, with the spun wool wrapped in a red package. Without warning an eagle dove out of the sky, grabbed the package in its claws and flew off. The old lady, overcome with fear and worry, fainted. When she awoke she began crying. People around her, hearing her story told her about Sayyida Nafisa. She went to Sayyida Nafisa and related this strange incident. Sayyida Nafisa said, “O Allah! Exalted in Power and Owner of this creation: put right what the affairs of Your servant this lady fulana. She is Your servant and her children are Your servants and You are powerful over all things.” She told the old lady to return to her home and wait.
The old lady went home crying with worry for the sake of her young children. Night found her still crying. Suddenly a commotion was heard outside. It was a group of people seeking Sayyida Nafisa. They told her, “Something very strange just happened to us. We came to you because we have been ordered to do so.”
She said, “What happened” They related, “We were on a ship traveling at sea. As we began approaching land one of the planks suddenly sprung loose and the boat began to flood. Some of us did not know how to swim and we were in deep water still five hours from shore. The boat began to fill up and sink. All of a sudden an eagle appeared holding a red package in its claws. It threw that package, which was full of spun wool, into that crack filling it. The water stopped flooding and we managed to reach shore safely. We heard a voice saying, ‘Go to Sayyida Nafisa.'”
The boat crew presented Sayyida Nafisa a gift of 500 dinars. Sayyida Nafisa began to cry, “O Allah you are so merciful to Your servants.” She asked the old lady, “How much did you usually get for your wool each week” The lady replied, “I used to get 20 dinars.” Sayyida Nafisa gave her the 500 dinars and she went home overjoyed. She told her neighbors what happened and they came in droves to see Sayyida Nafisa. Many ended up giving themselves over to her service, helping her cook food for the poor, distribute alms and aid the sick and lame.
Miracles after her death
The miracles after Sayyida Nafisa’s death are too numerous to mention. Once thieves entered her mosque in 683 H. and stole sixteen silver lamps. As the thieves tried to escape they discovered there was no longer a door. They were trapped inside until morning, when the caretaker arrived, opened the door and found the thieves with the lamps.
Recently in 1940, fifty years ago, a similar occurrence took place. A person, well-known in the area, entered the Mosque of Sayyida Nafisa and hid himself. When everyone had left that person stole a beautiful Kashmiri shawl, a gift from the King of Kashmir to Sayyida Zainab. When he tried to escape he could not find the door. He was kept prisoner until morning, when the people found him and took him to the police.
It is related in history that Abul `Izz al-Yamani said, “I was very well-known in my community, rich in my family, owning many farms. I was proud of myself and arrogant. Then I came down with a sickness that caused me to lose my sight and I fell into great difficulties. I spent most of my wealth seeking a cure, but alas doctors were unable to help me. They told me I would be blind for the rest of my life. Finally I sought out Sayyida Nafisa’s help. While waiting to see her I fell asleep. I saw a dream in which Sayyida Nafisa visited me and put something in my eyes. When I awoke my sight had been fully restored.”
The Story of Affan bin Sulayman
Historians relate the story of an Egyptian named Affan bin Sulayman al-Masri. He bought a house and one day discovered a treasure buried under it. He began to spend his newfound wealth on the poor and the unfortunate.
One day he bought 1000 camel-loads of wheat from Prince Ahmad bin Keeghalgh. After some time the prices soared due to scarcity of wheat, shooting up to thrice its normal value. Prince Ahmad called Affan to his palace. The prince told him, “Either return the 1000 camel-loads or pay me for the wheat at today’s price.” Affan bin Sulayman refused, leaving angry. He went and distributed all the wheat to the poor and needy, leaving only a small portion for himself and his family.
Prince Ahmad went to the governor of Egypt Taqeen bin Abdullah al-Harbi, an arrogant and ruthless ruler. He ordered that all of Affan bin Sulayman’s wealth and holdings be impounded. Affan bin Sulayman decided to leave Egypt, running from the oppression of the governor Taqeen. He told his story to a descendant of the Prophet (s), Ash-Sharif `Ali bin Abdullah a very pious man. He took him to the grave of Sayyida Nafisa and both of them sat facing the grave reciting verses of Qur’an, asking Allah to send the rewards of the recitation to Sayyida Nafisa and asking Allah (swt) in her presence and for her sake and the sake of her grandfather the Prophet (s) to solve the problem of Affan bin Sulayman. Suddenly they both fell asleep. They both saw Sayyida Nafisa in the dream telling him, “Go together with Affan bin Sulayman to the governor of Egypt Taqeen. I solved his problem.”
Together they left and visited the governor, who to their surprise hosted them in grand style. The governor said, “Sayyida Nafisa appeared to me in a dream saying, ‘Be generous and host As-Sayyid Ali very well and return all Affan’s money to him; he asked for our intercession.'”
Taqeen, raising his hands said, “O Allah forgive me for what I did.” Turning to Affan b. Sulayman he said, “I am releasing all your money.” The governor Taqeen ordered Affan’s money returned to him and ordered that his own treasuries be opened and spent on the poor. He used to say, “All Egyptians are afraid of me, but I am afraid of Affan bin Sulyman and his dua at the grave of Sayyida Nafisa.” With that dua, the governor of Egypt corrected his wrong and unjust ways and lived as a righteous governor for the rest of his life. He wrote in his will that he should be buried in Bayt al-Maqdis, Jerusalem. When he died, that took place according to his orders.
Her Maqam
The first one to build a masjid by the grave of Sayyida Nafisa was the governor of Egypt, Ubaydullah bin Sirri bin al-Hakam. Then it was renovated by Badr al-Jamali, the commander in chief of the army of Egypt, in the year 482 H. It was renovated again by Muhammad bin al-Qalawun in 740H. Then Prince Abdur Rahman Katakhada renovated it further in the year 773 H. Finally the Ministry of Religious Endowments renovated it in 1314 H. to the structure it has today. The copper room which is entirely hand-carved over her grave was made in 1266 H. The door which is now there is ornately engraved, and was placed there by Ali Pasha, governor of Egypt in 1170. Water was piped in for people to drink. Above the water-dispensing room is a room for memorizing Qur’an. All Abbasid caliphs were buried on the eastern side of the grave in the time of al-Zahir Baybars.
From her death and until today, around the year and around the clock you will find people visiting Sayyida Nafisa’s grave: from the highest Islamic scholars to common people. Over her grave her lineage to the Prophet (s) is engraved. Under that is written “Anyone experiencing difficulties in his life should visit the grave of Sayyida Nafisa, recite surat al-Fatiha (Qur’an, 1), surat al-Ala (87), surat al-Ikhlas (112) and al-muwadhitayn (113, 114), gift that recitation to her and make dua for Allah to solve that problem.”
The method of greeting Sayyida Nafisa is also described, “In a low voice say, ‘Peace be upon you, as-salaamu `alayki, O Sayyidina Nafisa, daughter of Hasan al-Anwar, son of as-Sayyid Zayd al-Ablaj, son of As-Sayyid Hasan, son of Sayyida Ali, and of Sayyida Fatima, daughter of the Prophet (s).'”
‘Wa l-Ladhīna ‘Āmanū Bi-Llāhi Wa Rusulihi, ‘Ūlā’ika Humu s-Siddīqūna Wa sh-Shuhadā’u ‘Inda Rabbihim Lahum ‘Ajruhum Wa Nūruhum’
‘And those who have believed in Allah and His messengers – those are [in the ranks of] the supporters of truth and the martyrs, with their Lord. For them is their reward and their light.’ Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allāh Azza wa Jalla is saying, those who believe in Allāh ﷻ and Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam their ‘ajir (reward) is like the shahīd. They are shahīd and believers in the Divine Presence of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This is how they were raising the Islamic nations; in this way. To make everything for Allāh ﷻ, to be acceptable. And as believers in Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla they sacrificed everything, even themselves.
What does Allāh ﷻ want? He ﷻ wants us to spread justice, spread the good thing around the world. Of course, shayṭān is not happy with this. All the khalīfah, khulafa, after Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam: khulafa’ rāshidīn, and after khulafa’ rāshidīn, the normal khalifah of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam – their whole life was to spread this good thing for all of humanity.
And then, the last one was Ottoman, the Ottoman Sulṭāns. They sacrificed themselves just to keep this way, the Sulṭānate of Allāh ﷻ in this world. Because Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam says, “السُّلْطَانُ ظِلُّ اللَّهِ فِي الْأَرْضِ”, “As-Sulṭān dhillu l-Llāhi fi l-arḍī”, “The sultan is God’s shade on the earth.” Meaning the Sulṭān is the shadow of Allāh ﷻ in this world. Of course, Allāh ﷻ doesn’t have any shadow or like what we know. But it means to show people that the Sulṭān is very important.
So, after the Sulṭān, after they took down the Sulṭān Khalīfah, everything was going upside down. Nothing was going well. But still, shayṭān and his followers, are even trying to destroy the image of the Sulṭān. They are saying, “They were oppressors, they were like this, they were like that, they killed people, they killed this nation.” And it’s all a lie. In Islamic states everywhere, there were every kind of people, every kind of religion, all living in peace.
If they were obeying and giving their tax – maybe people thought the tax was very much. No, it was not like this. In Europe, when there was feudal lords or others, they were taking maybe more than half, even more. They were not leaving anything or very few from tax for people. But in Islamic nations, for Muslims, they give out zakāt. For others, not zakat but only a little bit tax. And they were living, they were worshipping, doing everything. But if they were doing war against the Sulṭān, who do this must also be punished. Without this, there cannot be justice.
Many of these people were sometimes attacking the villages of Muslims, killing women, children, elders. They thought they would win, but they were quickly taken and they did what must be done. You cannot leave a bad thing, a rotten thing in a place, for others also will be rotten. So, you take this out. Even now, they say if there is a little bit cancer in some place, you must cut it and take it out. What about the most important thing for millions of people to be living in peace! These thieves and bad people were trying to come against the Sulṭān, and were using the religion and the nationality to destroy it. So, they were taken out for this.
They say, Islām was spread by sword. Why was it spread by sword? Because there were oppressors on top of people. They were using the sword to oppress people, killing their nations and citizens. And so, Islām was coming. And people were happy. Many of them quickly accepted Islām. And some continued without Islām, paying a small tax. They continued living safely and peacefully.
This is Islām. But when others come, they even kill their own people from their religion because they are another kind. ‘Isa ‘alayhi s-salam says, if anybody hits you on the right cheek, you turn the other. But without anybody hitting you, you slaughtered in Quds, 70,000 Muslims, Christians, Jewish, anybody you saw. They didn’t leave anybody. How can they say after that, “This is Christianity. We are going to spread peace”?
And after this, all of this, after Khilafah, they found emptiness and put the unluckiest Muslims. We have a Turkish saying, “Merhametten maraz doğar.” Violence comes from mercy. Because you were merciful to the one who doesn’t deserve mercy, he will kill you. This is what happened to Muslim states, because they were all merciful and kept people without oppressing them. After that, they betrayed the Muslims and destroyed the whole Khilafah. After the Khilafah also, they put these Muslim traitors.
They gave them women, they gave money – I don’t know how they made them to be fond of the European life. They say, “Europeans are more civilized. So, we must be like them, to try to be like them.” This was all around the Muslim countries, for the last 150 years, since Mawlānā Shaykh was cursing and hating this French Revolution. Since that time.
The French Revolution is still there. It is not finished; it continues. In shā’a Llāh, Sayyidina Al-Mahdi ‘alayhi s-salam will finish it. The whole world is like this. This is a big lie in which they say that the king was an oppressor and they wanted to take over Bastille to save the people inside. But what happened? Even the historians say, when they went to Bastille, they imagined they would find people in chains and only bone and skin on them.
But there were seven people, masha’Allah, like our people now, overweight. There was nothing like that [what they imagined]. And they were not happy to go to their houses, but they kicked them out. And they said, the French farmers were 10 times happier than the English, richer than English. So, the Freemasons were doing this revolution, and still, they are controlling all around the world. Don’t try to take them out. Only Mahdi alayhi s-salām will do so, in shā’a Llāh. He will take them out.
And, as we said, they are destroying religion, destroying other religions. Christianity is finished. Nobody believes in Christianity. They all became atheist or other things. They are destroying Islām also. You see, there are many Muslims, but their belief is – if old ‘ālims see this belief, they not accept them as Muslims.
For this, our only hope, alhamduliLlah, is to wait for Sayyidina Al- Mahdi. And, in shā’a Llāh, everything is showing that he must be near, in shā’a Llāh. This is our situation. Our wazīfah is, as Mawlānā Shaykh said: make du’ā’ every time for Mahdī ‘alayhi s-salām. We are waiting for the faraj, meaning opening. And Allāh ﷻ rewards us for this also, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ help us. May Allāh ﷻ be with us to not be cheated by others. May Allāh ﷻ give hidāyah for Muslims also to not follow what shayṭān is cheating them with, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
‘Who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter.’ Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allāh Azza wa Jalla says, there are people who buy this dunyā, meaning the benefit of life with the benefit of ākhirah. Ākhirah must be bought with dunyā; not to buy dunyā with ākhirah.
Which means you use what you want from people, you take from them, cheat them, and show yourself as a holy one or good one. You cheat them and take from them not only money, but anything else. Many people look like awliyā’u Llāh, like ‘ālim, like mashāyikh and are doing this. These people are maybe happy, they have many things but Allāh ﷻ is not happy with them. Only a short time. Our life is for a short time; not so long. When they finish this life, they will see that what they’ve done was bad for them; not any benefit, no any good thing for them.
But people – you must also, people who are seeing this, must look if this man claims he is Shaykh, he is ‘ālim, he is awliyā’: if what he is saying is according to what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, then ok. But if he’s saying something that Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam hasn’t said, don’t believe, don’t accept.
But you are, al-ḥamdu liLlāh – because this has happened many times. It happens everywhere. Every man can be cheated. So, for this, we are again and again, every time saying: don’t believe. Some people put Islamic clothes on and then you think they are trustful. Many times, they cheat themselves, not cheat others. First, before others, they are cheating themselves because they are buying the little thing with the big thing. What is the big thing? The forever life, and this small thing is only a short way, a short time which is life. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam described it just as you open and close your eyes.
How can you be happy to get something that has no barakah, no any benefit? Only coming curse on you, Allāh ﷻ curses you, Prophet ﷺ curses you, ‘لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ’, ‘Lanatu Allāhi Wa Al-Malā’ikati WaAn-Nāsi ‘Ajmaīna’, ‘Upon them will be the curse of Allah and of the angels and the people, all together.’ (Qur’ān 02:161). All people, all the world will curse you, says Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla about these people.
In shā’a Llāh, may Allāh ﷻ give hidāyah to these people. And may Allāh ﷻ keep us safe from being cheated by these people. They cheat not only, as we said, with money. They can say anything for benefit, saying, “I made a hadiyyah (gift) for you, no need for you to pray. You are just following me, giving me money.” And this is what happens, step by step by step, reaching until this thing. Some of them say more than this. May Allāh ﷻ keep us safe from them. May Allāh ﷻ make them away from us, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Welcome to all of you. We are coming for the sake of Allāh ﷻ to meet good people; those whom everybody wants to be from. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla created human beings clean and to be good. And He ﷻ created the ego and created shayṭān to be a test for human beings. Who follows them will not be happy. Who follows his ego, shayṭān and does bad things will never be happy. First for himself. What you do, you do for yourself. If you do a good thing, you do it for yourself. If you do a bad thing, you also do it for yourself. People must know this. They know but they are cheated. They think what they do is good for them. After that, they regret it.
For this, Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is sending His ﷻ Messengers, Prophets. All these Prophets, since Ādam ‘alayhi s-salam until Sayyidinā Muḥammad ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam, had come to remind people not to do the bad thing, to remind people of their humanity. Humanity means to be good. You are, as a human, a good creature. But if you make bad things to people, even animals will be better than you. Any animal attacks others only to feed itself, just so it eats. After that, it doesn’t do so when it’s angry. But human beings are not like this. They are not getting enough. They want more and more and more. For this, many times animal are more merciful. They are only looking for what they want. When it’s enough for them, they sit there until they want another meal, another food. They go running after their food. But human beings take everything and it’s not enough. They are running after people to kill them, to steal them, to make bad things for them. Why? Because they have a mind, but they use this mind for bad things, not for good things.
But this life is a test for all human beings. And there is another life also; which is after death. They will be in life, the real life forever. Not only like this life: you are born, then you die, and after that you become earth or ashes. Now they also burn people. They say, “They are ashes. We were created from earth; we can be earth again. But when burnt to ashes, we cannot be [resurrected] again.” No, you can be [resurrected]. This is not a problem for the Creator. He ﷻ create us from nothing. So, there’s no problem if you are ashes, and even if you were eaten by animals or other things.
When all human beings will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection, you will become a whole human being again. Again, as we are now with blood and bone and meat. We will be again, same as now. And we will remember everything; even who was forgetting everything. Nobody will forget any moment. All of this will be shown to you, and you will be asked: what you had done, why did you do this, etc. And you will be a winner or a loser. There are two options there. It is a court but there’s no need for a lawyer. The lawyer is only here. He can make the right wrong and the wrong right, the white black and the black green. Lawyers can do anything. Why? Because this court can be cheated.
But in that court, nobody can cheat. Because everything will appear. It is said, even your body will be a witness for you. This is said in the Qur’ān. Your body, hand, foot, everything will say, “Yes, you had done this.” That time, everything will appear. No need to [lie] like in this time saying, “No. My hand cannot speak.” Everything can speak that time. And the man or woman will say, “You are a part of me. Why are you witnessing against me?” They will say, “Allāh ﷻ made us speak. We cannot shut up. When He ﷻ makes us speak, we speak truly. And you have done this. You have done that.” And these people will be punished.
For this, what’s important in life is to be good with everything: with humans, with animals, with nature. With everything. It is an order. Allāh ﷻ orders us to be good with everything. Don’t be extreme in harming anything; not only human beings. Everything that can be harmed, don’t harm it. Be careful. Live in this world peacefully and leave this world peacefully. You will be in peace the in the next life, in peace forever. There isn’t any more death, or sadness, or illness, or poorness, or stress; nothing. This is forever.
Some people say, “How forever?” Even now, all people are living life as if they will not die. You cannot imagine somebody from all these people saying, “I will die,” and is preparing for this. No. They just think that life is going on the same and nothing will change. But after that, it will end. So, this is a preparation for the forever life. Allāh ﷻ prepares people in this dunyā to think they will not die. This is a sign that the next life will be forever, no death, no any bad thing for good people.
And we are living like this. When you do this – what will you lose if you are good with people? Nothing. You will not lose anything. If you are bad with people, you will not win anything also. You will not be happier. You will not have a long life. You will not have any good thing for you, if you are bad with people. You will even be more anxious, more depressed, more afraid. This is what you will be. But if you are good with people, you will not lose anything and you will be a winner in the next life.
This is what prophets were teaching through holy books and especially the last heavenly book, which is the Qur’ān. And it is all reserved: nothing less, nothing more. It is all coming from heaven. It is a miracle. We can touch it, we can read it, we can understand it. And there is every knowledge in it, knowledge of the awwalīn wa l-ākhirīn, He ﷻ says. Knowledge of the beginning and the end. All this technology, all these things we see are coming through the Qur’ān, the knowledge of the Qur’ān.
Time by time, when something will happen, there becomes permission and inspiration for people to do something new. We see everything now. People are wondering how this can be. This can be because by the permission for Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, He ﷻ is saying, now is the time for electricity, now is the time for petrol, now is the time for atom. There is knowledge which this knowledge is nothing compared to it. You cannot compare the knowledge of Allāh ﷻ, what He ﷻ has with this.
We think it is too much. It is not much at all. It is only a little bit. And when the time comes, all of this will also go. And there will come knowledge which has never been before at all. All of this, they say technology, they say computer and other things, will be nothing compared to that knowledge. This is from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. His ﷻ mightiness is unlimited. And we are lucky because the only heavenly book now coming through heaven is the Qur’ān. And who reads it, gets all good things, good knowledge, blessings and health. Everything you want, you can find in the Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n.
Of course, there are other books: the Bible or Torah, etc. But most of them were written later on and were not preserved like Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n. Because each one is different from the other. So, the only heavenly book in the world is the Qur’ān. It is teaching people everything from beginning to end. It is blessed. And nobody can change it, nobody can imitate it. Arabs liked poems, and thought, “This is a poem, we can do this.” But in the Qur’ān it is said, if everybody comes together and tries to make one sentence like it, it is impossible to do like it. For this, there are thousands of miracles of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, but the biggest one is the miracle of the Qur’ān.
We thank Allāh ﷻ for this good present for humanity. It is light. It is a blessing for all humanity. May Allāh ﷻ make it in our hearts. We are asking du’ā’ from Allāh ﷻ, we pray to make it in our heart to lighten the whole world, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Tonight in Singapore (30th March), at the azan of Maghrib, we bid blessed Ramadhan, farewell.
Do look at the sky and read the new moon Du’a at Maghrib.
The night of Eid is a very blessed night to stay up in, it is the night of Distribution of Rewards.
There is no Terawih tonight, we are to do Takbir instead to decorate this night.
“Whoever stays up on the night of Eid, his/her heart will remain alive, when all other hearts have died.”- Hadeeth
Eidul Fitri means – to return to purity. That summarises what Ramadhan and this celebration is all about – thankfulness that Allah ﷻ has guided us back to the path of self purification, and hence closeness, to Him.
On the Day of Eid, there are many Sunnahs to perform, including:
✅ Eidul Fitr Prayer
Best done in congregation at the mosque for the many benefits. However if you miss it, you may pray at home anytime before azan Zuhur tomorrow.
These prayers are taught by Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق.
The notes for the devotions of the night of Eid, Eid day, and Syawal, are found in an earlier post, here.
The Prophet (ﷺ) summarised how we should spend Eid in a beautiful Hadeeth:
“Decorate your Eid with Takbir (Allahu akbar), Tahmid (Alhamdulillah), Tahlil (Lailahaillallah), Tasbih (Subhanallah) and charity.”
✅Recite Subḥāna Llāh wa biḥamdī’ 300 times on Eid Day
As narrated by Imam Al-Ghazali,
“The one who on Eid day recites ‘Subḥāna Llāh wa biḥamdī’ 300 times and gives its blessings as a gift to the Muslims who have died, then 1,000 enlightened blessings will enter the grave of every Muslim.
And when he dies Allah ﷻ will send 1,000 enlightened blessings in his grave”.
[Mukaashifa-tul-Quloob]
Also do try to complete,
✅ 6 Days of Syawal Fasting
Best to begin the 6 day fasting on the day after Eid, but this may not be possible for all as it is a day of visiting. So start your six day fast whenever it is convenient, perhaps after the weekend visiting.
The 7th of Syawal is the most important day to fast, as 8th of Syawal is Eidul Abrar, the Eid of Saintly Ones.
You may celebrate Eidul Abrar even if you have not completed the six day fast yet.
To all of you, we wish you Eid Mubarak, minal Aidin wal fa izin, have a blessed Eid.
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Sohbah on 28 April 2022 by Almarhum Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In Loving Memory of Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan
As we are approaching the final 10 nights of Holy Ramadhan, do take some time to watch the Sohbah given by Almarhum Shaykh Abdul Sattar, where he shared invaluable advice regarding the conclusion of Ramadhan, the significance of Lailatul Jaza’a (the Night of Reward), and the blessed Eid-ul-Fitr.
May this be of great benefit to us all, inspiring us to maximize what remains of this sacred month.
This is our last chance to go all out, leaving Ramadhan with hearts purified and souls uplifted.
May Allah accept our fasting, prayers, and supplications, forgive our shortcomings, and grant us the ability to make the most of these final nights. Ameen.
For more resources on the Last 10 Nights of Ramadhan, please click here.
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Wassalam.
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
In this Sobhah, which is also translated into English, Shaykh Muhammadق speaks of the great blessings of:
1) Striving our utmost in this month to become close to Allah, this month is a priceless gift to the Ummah of Rasulullahﷺ.
2) Waking up for sahur, even if it is just to drink water
3) Doing 20 rakaats of terawih, and not 8. Doing only 8 rakaats, is a fitnah spread by shaitan to reduce the number of rakaats of terawih, to deprive believers of the great rewards of the full terawih prayers.
For thousands of years since Rasulullah’sﷺ time, and even till today at Makkah and Medina, 20 rakaats of the terawih prayer is still being done. Ignore those who try to reduce your terawih and do the full 20 rakaats nightly.
What should I do if the mosque I am praying at, does only 8 rakaats of terawih? When you return home, do gather your family to complete the balance 12 rakaats of terawih with them. Read, short surahs. However, you may NOT repeat the witir prayer.
39th Master of the Naqshbandi ‘Aliyyah Golden Chain, Grandshaykh Abdullah al-Faiz ad-Dagestaniق
Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm
Du’a of Grandshaykh Abdullah al-Faiz ad-Daghestaniق
“O my Lord! I am asking you to accept all the prayers I have made to You until the end of my life; also all the prayers at which I was present, or that I hear, before I go from this life.
O my Lord! Show me the results of these prayers.
May my prayers be acceptable from now up until my life’s end and give me from Your secret mercy treasures, from Your secret favours, more ‘hidaya’ (guidance), and make me more respectable here and Hereafter.”
The 4th of Ramadhan marks the passing (haul/uroos) of Grandshaykh Abdullah al-Faiz ad-Dagestaniق.
Heق is the Khatmal Awliya, and the 39th Master of our Golden Chain.
Heق trained Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق upon the instruction of Rasulullah ﷺ, and today, we are basking in the guidance and light, radiating from his veil-less heart, through Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق and Mawlana Shaykh Mehmetق.
Alhamdulillah.
Hisق Maqam is in Damascus, on Jabal Qasiyoon, and is being tended to by Shaykh Ibrahimق, who also runs the Soup Kitchen there feeding thousands of refugees daily.
We would not be where we are today, if not for the Sohbahs that poured from hisق beautiful heart.
7,000 Sohbahs that dressed Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق to perfection, and with our beloved Mursyid Shaykh Mehmetق being a perfect reflection of those Sohbahs.
Shaykh Nazim Al-Haqqaniق and his Mursyid, Grandshaykh Abdullah al-Faiz ad-Dagestaniق.
Who is Grandshaykhق?
He was raised and trained by his uncle, Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestaniق, the 38th Master of the Naqshbandi Order, who took special care of him from his early life.
During Shaykh Sharafuddinق sister’s pregnancy, he told her:
“The son you are carrying has no veils on his heart.
He will be able to see events that have passed or that are coming.
He is one of those who can read the Unseen Knowledge from the Preserved Tablet (Loh Mahfuz) directly.
He is going to be Sultan al-Awliya’ in his time.
He is going to be called, among the Saints, ‘Naqeeb al-Ummah’, the Leader of the Nation of Muhammad ﷺ.
He is going to perfect the ability of being with God and being at the same time with people.
He will inherit the secret from the Prophet ﷺ which he referred to when he said, “I have one face looking at the Creator and I have one face looking at Creation,” and “I have one hour with the Creator and I have one hour with the creation.”
When you give birth to him call him Abdullah, because he will be carrying the secret of Servanthood.
He will spread the Tariqat back to the Arab countries, and through him, his successor will spread the Tariqat in Western countries and in the Far East.
You must be careful with him.
I am asking that when he reaches the age of seven, you give him to me to raise him and to be under my guardianship.”
On the 12th of Rabiul Awwal, his mother Amina gave birth to her son, whom she named Abdullahق.
Five Year Seclusion
Shaykh Sharafuddinق raised and trained Shaykh Abdullahق with intensive spiritual discipline and long hours of Dhikr. After six months, he was ordered to enter seclusion for five years.
He, Shaykh Abdullahق said:
“As I was making Dhikr one night after midnight, a huge storm raged on the mountain. I could hear that storm felling trees, pouring rain and finally snow.
It was very cold and nothing made me warm except the heat of my Dhikr.
A heavy wind blew the cloth out of the hole [that was covering the cave]. I was freezing and snow blew in around me.
I was so cold that I couldn’t move my fingers to count the repetitions of my Dhikr.
My heart almost stopped.
Then it occurred to me to close the hole again.
As soon as that thought came to me, I saw the vision of my Shaykh shouting, ‘O my son! Are you busy with yourself or are you busy with the One who Created you? If you die from the cold it is better for you than allowing your heart one moment of heedlessness.’
That vision gave me warmth in my heart and determination to restart the Dhikr immediately.
As I continued the Dhikr, more wind came, and with it more snow. I struggled with myself, finally telling myself, ‘Let me die, even so I am continuing my Dhikr.’
As soon as I said that, the wind stopped and the snow stopped. Then a tree fell, and covered that hole in the cave.”
May Allah ﷻ continually honor his soul and elevate his station. Ameen.
Remember Grandshaykhق tonight by doing the following:
✅ Make intention to humbly make Spiritual ziarah of hisق Maqam in Syams Shareef.
✅ Recite 3 Surah Ikhlas and 1 Surah Fatiha for himق, give himق salams, and ask to be dressed from hisق Light, Himmat and Madad, through the living Naqshbandi Master of our time, Shaykh Muhammad Adilق.
✅ Recite Yasin and Tahlil with love for himق.
✅ Ask to be gathered with himق and all our Naqshbandi Guides of the Golden Chainق, on the Day of Resurrection.
As we are in the precious remaining days of this Blessed Month of Ramadhan, here is some advice on what to do in these last few days.
For your benefit, please do take some time to read them.
The Last Days of Ramadhan
1) Feel the intense sadness.
Ramadhan is leaving us, together with its blessings and forgiveness and barakah.
2)Feel the regret.
For all the time wasted in this Holy Month, and triple all efforts to do as much ibadah as humanly possible in these last days, and nights, right up to the last night.
3)Beg for another Ramadhan.
Pray to Allah, that we be amongst those who will meet the next Ramadhan to come, and make a sincere intention to improve further, the standard of our fasts, in the coming Ramadhan.
4)Du’a fervently.
Pray to Allah, that He accepts whatever little we have sent forth in this month by His Infinite Grace and Mercy, and that He allows us to leave this month, sin-free and with an improvement in Taqwa and Iman. Ameen.
Night of Hari Raya Eidul Fitri
1) There is no Terawih prayers on this night.
2)Do Takbir instead.
We are to do the takbir, as follows:
Allahu akbar (3 times),
Lailaha illallahu Allahu akbar,
Allahu akbar wa lillahil hamd.
The recital of this takbir may be done until the end of the Hari Raya prayers the next day.
3)SpecialNight of Reward.
This night is very special, one of 4 during the entire year, according to Sayyidina Ali (ra).
“One who is in ibadah on this night, his heart will not die, when the hearts of others do”, says Rasulullah ﷺ.
So spend the night in,
• prayer and supplication (du’a)
• tahajjud,
• Qur’an reading and taubah.
Thank Allah sincerely for giving you the blessings of Ramadhan – so many have died from disasters before and during Ramadhan, yet our country is peaceful and you are still alive to peace and wonderful ibadah.
Alhamdulillah wa Syukrulillah, thank Allah, and He will add more blessings upon His grateful servants.
4)Plant seeds of good intentions.
Make a sincere intention to continue practising the good amalan that you have done in Ramadhan – like eating less, talking less, backbiting less, praying more and reading Qur’an more – good deeds that you have picked up in Ramadhan.
Also make intention to leave all bad amal that you have left in Ramadhan – like backbiting, overeating, laziness, overspending, time wasting etc.
5)Do not go shopping.
Whether at Geylang, online or elsewhere, do not do shopping tonight, when Allah is handing out the gifts and blessings all night long.
When does a worker get paid for doing his job? At the end of his job, right? Would any worker walk away before receiving their wages?
Obviously, no.
Allah asks that same question to His angels on that night – “What should a worker get at the end of a job well done?”
So it’s payment time, in the form of blessings and forgiveness, and it would be so unimaginable if you were busy shopping at that moment.
Day of Hari Raya Eidul Fitri
1)Check the timing of Solat Eidul Fitri.
Do check online for the different prayer times/locations offering Solatul Eid.
Performing the sunnah prayer privately at home, with family, is also an option if one cannot go to a nearby mosque.
Given the choice of praying at the mosque or at a Multi Purpose hall, stadium or open space, choose the latter.
The Prophet ﷺ did not perform Solat Eidul Fitri at the Mosque, he held it at the open ground, so it is a Sunnah to do that.
2)Before going to the prayer.
It is sunnah to,
• bathe(mandi ghusl Sunnat Hari Raya)
• put on perfume and,
• eat a light meal before going.
It is forbidden to fast on this day.
3) Solatul Eid for Women and Children.
Women and children are also encouraged to join in the festivities by going to the Solat Eidul Fitri.
Even menstruating women may go, and although they cannot pray, they can listen to the Khutbah Hari Raya.
4)Khutbah Hari Raya.
In the Solat Hari Raya, the Khutbah is after the prayer (unlike Friday prayers when the Khutbah is before solat).
Do not talk during the Khutbah – listen respectfully, as if it were the Prophet ﷺ speaking to you from the mimbar.
5) 2 raka’at Solat Hari Raya Eidul Fitri.
It is identical to any other 2 raka’at prayer except that there are some extra takbirs (Allahu akbar) inserted in each raka’at.
You may say the niat for the prayer in Malay or English – that is allowed.
Simply said, it is as follows:
“I am performing my Sunnat Eidul Fitri prayer, 2 raka’at, for the sake of Allah.”
6)After Khutbah Hari Raya.
After the prayer and khutbah is over, do stay for a while to make du’a.
7)Going home.
Return home by a different route from which you came.
This is also a Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
8)Time for Solat Eidul Fitri.
If you missed the prayer at the mosque because you woke up late, you may pray this Solat Hari Raya at home, on your own.
The prayer can be done anytime from 7am to just before the azan of Solat Zuhur.
Once past the azan, the time for the Solat Hari Raya has lapsed.
9) Seek forgiveness all day.
From family and friends, seek forgiveness and forgive all those who have hurt you in any way too. (You can start forgiving now, no need to wait for Hari Raya).
Give priority to parents, in-laws, grandparents, elders, ustads, teachers and senior members of a family, when visiting.
10)Join family ties.
You have spent Ramadhan in isolation, uzlah and iktikaf, so spend this day in visiting, and joining family ties.
11)Leave all family fueds behind.
Be the first to visit, never feel that someone must visit you first, because you are senior.
The Prophet ﷺ said that the better of 2 brothers is the one that gives the salam first.
So be the first to bury the hatchet and to join family ties.
The Prophet ﷺ said,
“Shall I show you an amal that will increase your sustenance (rizqi) and lengthen your life? Join the family ties.”
12)Spend the day in good acts.
Do zikir (as you jalan-jalan), charity and ensure that you perform all your fardhu prayers. So many people skip prayers on the pretext that it is inconvenient to pray while on the move.
Do not destroy your Ramadhan’s amal in a day!
The effect of performing a Haji or Umrah, is seen when the person returns from the Holy Lands – has he turned for the better?
Similarly, the effect of Ramadhan is seen when a person finishes Ramadhan – has he become more obedient, more fearful of defying Allah – or is he the same?
You be the judge of your own Ramadhan.
13)Dress modestly, and Islamically.
Many ladies dress provocatively on this day, so as to look ‘attractive’ for visiting.
The end of Ramadhan marks the re-appearance of Iblis and Syaitan, and they are very very upset to see all their hard work gone – as Allah has forgiven His servants and has given them His blessings.
So Iblis and Syaitan then vow to work extra hard from this first day of Syawal to drag us back into sin and into Allah’s wrath.
Remember, Iblis is your enemy, why take his advice over Allah’s?
Allah teaches women to dress modestly in the Qur’an, but Iblis says, flaunt what you have.
Whose advice will you take?
14)Decorating Hari Raya.
The Prophet ﷺ summarised how we should spend Hari Raya in a beautiful Hadeeth,
“Decorate your Hari Raya with Takbir (Allahu akbar), Tahmid (Alhamdulillah), Tahlil (Lailahaillallah) and Tasbih (Subhanallah).”
Adab of Visiting
1)Do check with the host when it is convenient to visit. Do not surprise people.
2)Do not make the host wait.
If you have promised to be at his house at 2pm, be there at 2pm.
The host may himself wish to visit others, and by being late, you are inconveniencing the host.
3) Spread love and forgiveness.
Do not go with the intention to collect money.
The intention is to join family ties and to spread love and forgiveness.
4)Be sincere in giving, and expect nothing in return.
Do not comment on the amount of money given to you or your children. Some people say things like,”Oh, what a stingy guy, he gave my son $2, but we gave his daughter $5.”
Such words are evil back biting and also destroys your amal.
Remember, many people are out of a job now in Singapore, so they may not be able to give as generously as before.
5)Do not over eat.
Remember, your body has been fasting for one month, and is not ready for a sudden, massive increase in food.
6)Finally, do not overstay your welcome.
The host may have plans to go visiting too.
So do politely check with the host, if you wish to stay on.
Adab in Syawal
1)6 Days of Syawal fasting.
Do fast (puasa sunnat) 6 more days in Syawal.
You may fast on Mondays and Thursdays so as to get added pahala (rewards) and you may even niat (make intention) to pay back any fast you have missed at the same time.
So that’s a 3 in 1 fast –
✅ Niat (make intention) to fast Sunnat Syawal +
✅ Niat to fast Sunnat Isnin (Monday) or Khamis (Thursday) +
✅ Niat to Qadha missed fasts.
2)Solat Sunnat Khusoma.
On the Day of Eid, there are many Sunnahs we can perform, including Solatul Khusoma (Prayer of Litigation).
The prayer is best done between Zuhur and Asar of Eid.
Both these prayers are taught by Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق.
4)Do not fast when visiting.
It is rude to the host, who may feel offended that you are not eating.
5)If guests arrive when you are fasting.
It is best to break your fast and join your guests (you will still get the reward for fasting).
Do not make your guest uncomfortable by fasting while they are eating.
6)Finally, start saving money.
So that you can participate in the next major Islamic celebration – Hari Raya Haji – where the best amal that can be done on that day (besides performing Haj), is to sacrifice an animal for Allah.
So do save up, so that you too can afford to sacrifice an animal.
For those going to perform the Haj (pilgrimage) take this period to do lots of taubah and du’a, as preparation for the life-changing journey ahead.
Conclusion
Eidul Fitri means – to return to purity.
So that summarises what Ramadhan is all about, and what this celebration is all about – thankfulness that Allah has rightly guided us back to the path of self purification, hence closeness to Allah.
Alhamdulillah and Ameen.
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The 17th of Ramaḍhān is a profoundly significant day in Islamic history, marking two pivotal events that shaped the course of Islām.
It is the night of Nuzūl al-Qur’ān, the Descent of the Qur’an, where the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to our Prophet ﷺ as divine guidance for all humanity.
The momentous event took place when the Holy Prophet ﷺ first encountered Jibril (as) on Jabal Nur, in the Cave of Hira.
During this divine meeting, Jibril (as) commanded the Prophet ﷺ to read, marking the revelation of the first five verses of Surah Al-‘Alaq:
“Read, in the Name of your Lord Who created— He created humans from a clinging clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who taught by the pen— Taught humanity what they knew not.”
(Surah Al-‘Alaq, 96:1-5)
This profound moment marked the beginning of divine revelation, setting the course for the final message to humanity.
On this same day, in the second year after Hijrah (624 CE), the Muslim community faced its first major test of strength and faith, the Battle of Badr.
The Battle of Badr, also known as Yawm ul-Furqān, was the day of separation—distinguishing truth from falsehood. It was a divine test for the believers, as their perseverance and trust in Allāh ﷻ were put to trial. Had they suffered defeat, the survival of Islām would have been in grave jeopardy.
Many miracles occurred on that day, displaying the boundless power of Allāh ﷻ.
It marks the first victory of our Holy Prophet ﷺ over the kāfirs, granted by the divine grace of Allāh ﷻ. This day witnessed the downfall of those who had oppressed and defied Allāh ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ for years, succumbing to the power of truth and justice.
The Muslim army comprised only 313 men, with 70 camels and three horses—a stark contrast to the 1,000-strong army of the Quraysh, led by Abu Sufyan, boasting 100 cavalry and 170 camels.
Yet, victory was never about numbers or strength; it was about the will of Allāh ﷻ. For when Allāh ﷻ is with His servant, even a single believer can overcome thousands.
To support the believers, Allāh ﷻ sent 3,000 angels dressed in golden turbans, riding white horses. This divine reinforcement turned the tide of battle, ensuring a decisive victory for the Muslims.
Despite the overwhelming odds, only 14 Muslims were martyred, including Sayyidunā Umayr ibn Abi Waqas (RA), the beloved cousin of the Prophet ﷺ.
Despite being outnumbered, our Holy Prophet ﷺ and his companions stood firm in faith, for Allāh ﷻ had promised victory.
Allāh ﷻ orchestrates everything with perfection, and on that blessed day, His decree was fulfilled.
It became a day of Islām, the first and greatest battle in its history.
The names of the righteous warriors who fought in the Battle of Badr, referred to as Badrīyūn, are sacred and often remembered in prayers and dhikr.
Their status is exalted, and their remembrance brings great blessings.
In earlier times, believers would write their names and place them in their homes, bringing goodness and barakah into their lives. It is said that Allāh ﷻ accepts supplications made in their names.
In times of hardship and despair, when it seems that kāfirs dominate and oppress believers, we must remember that Allāh ﷻ’s promise is true. No matter how powerful the oppressors appear, they can never overcome the decree of Allāh ﷻ.
Hence, we must remain steadfast in our faith in Allāh ﷻ. The example of our Holy Prophet ﷺ proves that divine assistance is always near.
Allāh ﷻ sent thousands of angels to support the believers at Badr—not out of necessity, for even one angel could overturn the world—but to honour our Holy Prophet ﷺ and reinforce the truth.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ deeply loved his daughter, Sayyida Fatima (Raḍiy Allāhu ʿAnhā), and she is beloved by all the angels and righteous believers. We ask Allah ﷻ to grant us the honor of being under her protection on the Day of Judgement.
The Prophet ﷺ once confided in her, saying, “I am experiencing stomach pain and have not eaten for three days.”
Sayyida Fatima (Raḍiy Allāhu ʿAnhā) replied, “Ya Rasoolullah, I have not eaten for seven days as there is no food in the house.”
Prophet ﷺ wept and said, “Ya Fatima, my eyes have tears because Allah ﷻ gave me someone like you who doesn’t complain. If I ask Allah ﷻ to send me a table from Heaven He will, but due to love of Allah, I prefer hunger now and to go to Paradise hungry.”
Sayyida Fatima (Raḍiy Allāhu ʿAnhā) replied, “I am like you. I prefer Akhirah to dunya.”
Then Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Ya Fatima, abshee, glad tidings! Be happy that because of you suffering hunger without complaint, you are the queen of all ladies in Paradise (without exception), you are their Sayyida, master.”
Sayyida Fatima az-Zahra (Raḍiy Allāhu ʿAnhā) had only one dress and it did not cover her feet or head. Prophet ﷺ showed her how to cover herself with his turban cloth.
Our Prophet ﷺ—who will first appear in front of Allah ﷻ on Judgement Day—will observe people and decide to send them to Paradise without account, standing on behalf of the whole Ummah that Day.
And yet in this world, for three days he did not eat. While we live in a world where freezers overflow and complaints abound. Instead of practicing moderation, we choose to waste.
May this Ramadhan inspire our hearts to embrace the noble Sunnah of contentment and simplicity. Ameen.
The 3rd of Ramaḍhān marks the passing (haul/uroos) of the greatest women in all of creation, Sayyidā Fāṭimah az-Zahrāʾ (Salāmullāh ʿAlayhā).
She is the mother of Sayyidunā ʾImām Ḥassan and Sayyidunā ʾImām Ḥussain (Raḍiy Allāhu ʿAnhʾum).
She is the wife of Sayyidunā ʾImām ʿAlī ibn ʾAbī Ṭālib (Raḍiy Allāhu ʿAnh).
She is the daughter of the Beloved of Allāh ﷺ and Sayyidā Khadījah al-Kubra (Raḍiy Allāhu ʿAnhā).
Some of her holy titles include:
Haura Insiyah Heavenly beauty in human form.
Rasulullah ﷺ said, my daughter Fatima is heavenly, every time I miss heaven, I will kiss Fatimah (RA).
Mansuroh The one who is granted Help.
This name is the most famous in the heavens, Jibril (AS) calls her by this name.
Az-Zahra The Resplendent.
When she entered her mihrab to worship and pray to Allah, her light illuminated the inhabitants of the heaven like the stars illuminate the inhabitants of the earth.
As-Siddiqoh The most honest.
She never lied.
Al-Mubarokah Which brings blessings.
Everything she touches brings blessings.
At-Thahiroh The Pure, Purified.
She has been purified by Allah.
Zakiyyah Clean, beautiful and fragrant.
Ar-Rodhiyyah Who accepts all God’s provisions and never rejects His Decree.
Mardhiyyah Obtaining God’s pleasure and approval.
Al-Batul Who is cut off from the world.
She only focused on Allah and the afterlife, never seeing anything except Allah.
One of her Karamah was she never experienced menstruation and postpartum bleeding.
Al-Haniah Most gentle.
Sayyidatun Nisa
Sayyidatun Nisa Il ‘Alamin, Sayyidatun Nisai Ahlil Jannah and Sayyidatun Nisail Mukminin.
Leader of all women.
Ummul Hasanain
Mother of Sayyidina Hasan and Sayyidina Husain (RA).
[Excerpts from the book ‘A Talk by the Caller to Allah’, by al-Habib Muhammad ibn ‘Abd ar Rahman as-Saqqaf al-Husayni.]
In her character she was like Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh ﷺ — in her mannerism, in her disposition and the way she walked. She even looked like Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh ﷺ.
No one from aṣ-Ṣaḥābah resembled Sayyidunā RasūlAllāh ﷺ more than Sayyidā Fāṭimah (Salāmullāh ʿAlayhā). She was a pure example of how to be a daughter, how to be a wife and how to be a mother.
She was so attached to the Prophet ﷺ that after he left this world, she soon followed him ﷺ to the next world.
Sayyidā Fāṭimah az-Zahrāʾ had a short lifespan, of which she spent in poverty and considerable hardship — yet, despite not having lived a very long life, she was blessed with one of the highest ranks amongst all women in creation.
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said,
“Fāṭimah is the leader of the women of Paradise.” [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī]
“Fāṭimah is a part of me, so whoever makes her angry makes me angry.” [Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī]
“The four greatest women are Maryam, Āsīya, Khadījah, and Fāṭimah.” [Kanz al-ʿUmmāl]
“The most beloved of my family to me is Fāṭimah.” [al-Jāmiʿ al-Saghīr]
“O ʿAlī, Jibrāʾīl has informed me that Allāh has married you to Fāṭimah.” [al-Riyāḍ]
“All the children of a woman are attributed to their father, but not the sons of Fāṭimah [as they are to myself].” [Kanz al-ʿUmmāl]
“On the Day of Judgment, a caller will call out, “Lower your gaze until Fāṭimah has passed by.”” [al-Sawāʾiq]
Our Mother, Sayyidā ʿAʾishah (Salāmullāh ʿAlayhā) was asked, “Who was most loved by the Messenger of Allāh?” She replied, “Fāṭimah.” Then she was asked, “And amongst men?” She replied, “Her husband ʿAlī.” [Mishkāt ul-Masābīh]
Sayyidā ʿAʾishah said, “Never have I seen anyone like the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, in his solemn way of standing and sitting, more than Fāṭimah. When Fāṭimah would come to the Noble Prophet, he would stand up for her, affectionately kiss her on her forehead and, would make her sit in his spot. When the Noble Prophet would go to Fāṭimah, she would stand up, would kiss his blessed hand and, would respectfully make him sit in her place.” [Sunan at-Tirmidhī]
The Prophet ﷺ was extremely happy whenever he set eyes on Sayyidā Fāṭimah. Whenever he underwent a journey, the last place he would leave, would be his daughter’s home and, the first place to which he would return would also be his daughter’s home.
Tonight, do recite Al-Fatiha for her blessed soul.
May Allah ﷻ allow us to benefit from her noble life, and may we be raised together with her.
Saturday, 1st March is the first night of Ramadhan in Singapore.
1) After Asar, close to Maghrib, do a Sunnat bath with the intention to welcome the holy month of Ramadhan.
2) Express joy in your hearts that Ramadhan is beginning.
3) At the Azan of Maghrib, look at the sky to seek the new moon of Ramadhan (unlikely that you can spot it, don’t worry, do it as a Sunnah) and read the Doa welcoming the new Islamic month. (Doa is found on this Sufihub site, link at the end of this post).
4) Make intention to do fardhu Ramadhan fasting for the whole month.
5) Do Charity.
6) There is “Welcoming Ramadhan” recitation to be recited after Maghrib (posted below).
9) In the first raka’at of terawih tonight, it is encouraged to read the Surah that starts with Iqra’, as it was the first Verse revealed.
10) It is encouraged to read Surah Fatah three times tonight, followed by the Doa of this Surah (posted below).
11) Wipe your face with fragrant rose water for blessings.
12) Sleep early and wake up in the last third of the night if possible and repeat this all month. If you wake up close to Subuh, at least do two raka’ats of Tahajjud each nite.
13) The best Sahur is the one closest to the Azan Fajr.
14) For Sahur, choose foods that give you energy all day, like dates, eggs, oats, yoghurt….keep hydrated too.
15) For those on long term medication for diabetes and hypertension, do remember to take your medication too.
16) Sahur is a very blessed time to make doas, it is full of Barokah.
17) Try to end sahur about 10 minutes before the Azan of Fajr, so that you can brush your teeth. Angels dislike people who have food stuck between their teeth, it also adds to the bad odour later in the day, so brush your teeth to ensure it is free of any food before you start your fast.
18) Perform the Azan of Fajr if you are praying with your family at home. Make Azan loudly each time you pray at home, the louder the Azan, the greater the rewards. Mercy descends when Azan is made.
Shk Mehmet just dreamt two nights ago that Shk Nazim told him in a dream, “Call the Azan!” as a way to remove the calamities befalling Turkey, as Azan will bring Mercy and not punishment.
It is not the same to play the Azan from the radio! Instead, do an actual Azan in your homes with your own voice.
19) Perform the full Adab of Fajr and stay in your prayer place till sunrise, then perform the Ishraq Sunnat prayer. The reward for one who does this is a full Umrah and Haj. And it is multiplied in Ramadhan, so do this daily if possible.
20) Keep all food and snacks out of sight in case you accidentally forget you are fasting, and eat. Should that happen, stop eating immediately and you may continue fasting still.
21) If you are an asthmatic and are in need to use the inhaler, you may do so and it will not nullify the fast. You may also receive injections (eg insulin) without nullifying the fast. You may not perform cupping or receive cupping whilst fasting.
22) When breaking fast, make Doa at that time as it is accepted. Take dates or plain water to break fast. Remember the biggest Sunnahs of eating: ✅ Eat in moderation ✅ Eat slowly ✅ Chew your food thoroughly before swallowing ✅ Stop eating before you feel bloated and full.
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
‘Wa in tuti’ ‘akthara man fī l-‘ardi yudillūka a’n sabīli Llāh’
‘And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah.’ Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allāh Azza wa Jalla is saying, if you listen to most people, they make you go away from Allāh ﷻ, away from religion, away from any good beneficial thing. They are in ḍalāl (misguidance). Ḍalāl means corruption and every bad thing. At the end of ḍalāl, you lose; you lost and lose everything. If you listen and want to be with those who don’t know Allāh Azza wa Jalla and Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, you will be lost.
For this, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, those who follow ṭarīqah and follow madhhab are safe. But others, not only non-Muslim, there are many kinds of people who claim they are Muslim, but they also make you be away from Allāh ﷻ, away from Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam, away from awliyā’u Llāh, from ṣaḥābah, from Ahlu l-Bayt. All these are the majority, said Allāh Azza wa Jalla; ‘akthar. Those who are in the right way, way of Allāh ﷻ, they are few. The majority are making you go away; making you be in doubt. After doubt, you will be lost.
Because īmān is stronger than Islām. Of course, everybody is Muslim but not everybody is mu’min. Mu’min means believer. Many of the people believe different. Even in Islām, they believe that what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam was doing, even in what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam was saying is not right.
How can it be like this and everything has come through ulamā’, through scholars, through ṣaḥābah: what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam was saying and doing. And you call this shirk, meaning you are making partner for Allāh ﷻ. This is the teaching of Prophet ﷺ, teaching of ṣaḥābah, teaching of Ahlu l-Bayt; all of this. You forget this and make people doubt and after – because they are not connecting with ṭarīqah, just a normal Muslim.
For this, we see most Muslims now are a big group going, following these people because they thought it is right. And Allāh Azza wa Jalla is saying they are wrong. May Allāh ﷻ help Muslims to be awake. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla the whole time, since Adam ‘alayhi s-salam until now, has been sending people: prophets, and after prophets their companions, those who teach peope, awliyā’uLlah, ‘ulamā, mashāyikh.
They were sent for this: to keep people with strong īmān, to give them strong īmān to save them from these people. May Allāh ﷻ make us be with the good people; not with the majority. To be with: “وَقَلِيلٌ مِنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ”, “Wa qaleelun min ‘ibadiya sh-shakur”, “And few of My servants are grateful.” (Qur’an 34:13). In shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
In this month, we feast so much. Yet the Prophet ﷺ hardly had any food in his home, months would go by without cooked food in hisﷺ Holy Home, hisﷺ Holy Family ate dates and drank water mostly, and tied stones to their stomachs to alleviate their hunger.
Ramadhan is a month to fight the weakened Ego and to eat little. It’s the easiest month to reduce our eating – weakening the body and strengthening the Spirituality. They are opposite to each other.
If we make it a festival of food, then the womenfolk spend much of their time cooking and the menfolk spend much of their time in bazaars buying exotic food.
Where then is the Ramadhan experience? The experience to taste a closeness to Allah ﷻ, that you have never tasted before.
Not to taste foods that you have never enjoyed before.
One third of Ramadhan is almost over. There is still time to correct the over-eating. Have simple one-dish meals, oh mureeds!
Watch the video link. Very beautiful words to ponder over:
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
The final 10 days of Ramadhan is fast approaching, and these are the Days of Liberation from Hellfire.
It is also the most important 10 days of Ramadhan, in which we do iktikaf and seek the Night of Power.
We are to seek it on all the odd nights, but it is best if you can stay up all nights in these 10 nights.
How to get the strength to stay up all night?
1) Do take a short nap in the daytime after Zuhur each day, so as to have the strength to awaken for Tahajjud. This is advice from a Hadeeth.
Also make intention when sleeping, that it is for the purpose mentioned above.
2) Have a lighter meal than usual at break fast time. Too much food makes the body sleepy.
3) Take a short nap after Terawih if you need to, and awaken by 12am to 1am.
4) Drink coffee when you have awakened, let the aroma of coffee linger in your mouth all night long.
This aroma brings Angels who pray for your forgiveness and the coffee keeps you awake and focused.
How to approach Laylatul Qadr?
1) Bathe with good smelling soap before Maghrib and mop your house and prayer area clean.
2) At break fast and throughout the night avoid food with smell, like garlic, onions and durian.
3) Speak less, spend the nights in worship and du’as/prayers.
4) Make the intention for Iktikaf.
5) Start each night with Charity.
6) Read this nightly so as to not miss it.
What worshipping should we do?
1) Recite the attached Prayer of Forgiveness (below).
2) Pray to receive the FULL dressings of Laylatul Qadr, not just a portion.
3) Pray to be dressed with Ikhlas (sincerity) and Husnul Khotimah (good death in faith).
4) Ask to be in service of Sayyidina Mahdi (as) and Sayyidina Isa (as).
5) Ask for the gifts that will allow us to serve the Ummah.
6) Ask to have the name of ALLAH stamped on our hearts, which is the meaning of NaqshBandi.
Shk Nazim said, whomsoever has Allah’s name embossed on his heart, will never enter Hellfire, hence that is the secret to safety in these last ten days.
So many ladies get very upset and traumatised when they are having their menses during these special nights.
Some get depressed and feel like God has excluded them from the blessings of this night.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
A lady in this state, accepting His Will, pleases Him.
She is also able to do much khidmat that night, for the others who are worshipping, preparing food, coffee, finger food, and seeing to their needs and comfort.
Khidmat (Service) means one also attains the rewards of the worshipping of those one serves.
Also, she can engage in Zikrullah and much du’a till Fajr.
A woman may recite Qur’an silently in her heart, but she cannot touch, carry or recite audibly the Qur’an, during her period. In the Shafie mazhab, a menstruating lady may recite Qur’an in her heart, without moving her tongue.
She may also recite our Naqshbandi Adab & Awrad, but recite the Quranic verses silently in her heart.
May Allah grant us to meet Laylatul Qadr.
Ameen ya rabbal ‘alameen.
For more resources on the Last 10 Nights of Ramadhan, please click here.
Wassalam.
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Nabeez – a simple delicious drink made with dates.
Nabeez is a Sunnah, healthy, tasty drink, ideal for Sahoor and iftar. Our Prophet ﷺ used to drink it as well.
Lots of health benefits, dates have been a staple diet of the Prophet ﷺ all his blessed life.
How to make: Soak dates in water or zam zam, overnight and add a pinch of salt. I use 7 dates (ajwa or others) with zam zam and a pinch of Himalayan or Celtic salt. Do remember to cover the cup.
You may blend it when ready to drink and have it cold or warm.
It’s very filling, it’s a meal by itself and perfect for Sahoor, when you don’t have appetite for a heavy meal. It keeps you feeling energised and full all day too.
Try it, and you may even want to use it daily, it’s a power breakfast that is energising and healing and best of all, you get rewarded for this simple Sunnah!
In Loving Memory of Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan – Ramadhan Series
Here is a short synopsis of a Sohbah given by Almarhum Sheikh Abdul Sattar Khan on 12 March 2023:
• Allah ﷻ created the Mind and Ego to lead us in different directions – one towards Him ﷻ and the other away from Him ﷻ.
• Ramadhan is a month where the Ego is weakened by hunger and thirst, giving believers the strength to worship and harvest the best gifts of the month to draw closer to Him ﷻ .
• Learn about the different levels of fasting, and the best practices to attain the greatest benefits of this Holy Month.
• A sign of the closeness of Qiyamah is in the gathering of large numbers of beasts. Listen and learn how this sign is manifesting today.
Almarhum Sheikh Abdul Sattar advised us to listen to this Sohbah to prepare for Ramadhan, which is just days away.
He reminded us to settle our worldly matters and Zakat Mal, and, like a racehorse, be ready for the starting pistol to begin the race and reap the most bountiful harvest of our lives this Ramadhan.
He encouraged us to give our all and collect from the Divine Dressings, Blessings, Gifts, Mercies, Forgiveness and Closeness being offered in this coming Holy Month.
A month so blessed that even sleeping is considered worship!
“If you knew the blessings of Ramadhan, you would pray that all year round is Ramadhan.” (Hadith)
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
“O Allah, indeed You are Pardoning and Generous; You love to pardon, so pardon us.”
Ramadhan is known as a month of Forgiveness. A tremendous opportunity to seek Divine Mercy and to ask and grant forgiveness, amongst ourselves, opens in this blessed month, in hope of earning Allah’s ﷻ Pleasure. It is also a month of good fasting, where believers restrain from all that displeases Allah ﷻ externally and internally.
Mostly, Ramadhan is known as, Shahrul Qur’an, the month of the Holy Quran. In it, our Beloved Prophet ﷺ recited the Quran in its entirety and twice in the last Ramadhan before his ﷺ passing, with Sayyidina Jibrail (Alayhi Salam).
Ramadhan and the Qur’an are inseparable. It will appear either as a source of intercession or, Allah ﷻ Forbid, a curse for the believer on Judgement Day, favouring those who have understood and esteemed its Divine Value, as the honourable month bearing the final revelation of the Holy Book of Allah ﷻ.
Abstaining from what is forbidden in the Quran and upholding its laws are the people who will see it come as an intercessor for them in the Hereafter.
Allah ﷻ has made this easily attainable for the Ummah by weakening obstacles and removing Seventy Veils, except one, which prevents us from being with Him ﷻ.
The one hijab (barrier) left is for us to work on removing steadfastly, with the i’badah of fasting, reciting Quran, Zakat, Zikrullah, Tawbah and giving Ramadhan its highest respect as the month that will bring one closer to Allah ﷻ.
There is no other month like the Sultan of all months. Mawlanaق said that Ramadhan is the most special month of the year, as in it believers increase their worshipping and in turn, gain the gift of closeness to Allah ﷻ.
Therefore, mureeds must strive to fully submerge into the Abundance of Ramadhan, emerging cleansed, as a servant worthy to be granted its Shafa’a.
May we be raised as those who honour Ramadhan and the Holy Quran, attaining its intercession on Yaumul Qiyamah.
Please do take some time to listen to the full Sohbah here:
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
“If only you could see the wicked hanging their heads in shame before their Lord, crying: ‘Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back, and we will do good. We truly have sure faith now!’”
(Surah As-Sajdah 32:12)
Every soul shall, without doubt, taste death. For most people, it brings forth unsettled affairs and the revelation of unfulfilled duties.
As mentioned in Surah As-Sajdah above, doomed are those who, at death, awaken to an eternity of unbearable difficulties for having neglected the purpose of this fleeting life and being left to compensate for it in the afterlife.
A great heaviness awaits those whose graves, instead of being places of peace, become pits of eternal regret. This marks the beginning of atonement for all unfinished business.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ warned, that curses befall the one who reaches Ramadhan yet gains nothing from Allah’s ﷻ Mercy and Forgiveness.
Just as a person is formed only once in the darkness of their mother’s womb, cell by cell until they are ready for life on Earth, so too is this life the only opportunity to build and make preparations for the Hereafter.
There is no way one can return to the womb to correct any defects or deformation, and likewise, there will be no course of returning an unprepared soul to rectify mistakes, for the Akhirah.
In the afterlife, every hardship is insurmountable, and every pleasure unfathomable, in comparison to this life.
Therefore, as Mawlanaق reminded us time and again, take Ramadhan seriously. Let us put forth our best efforts and, at the very least, sincerely yearn for Allah’s ﷻ Mercy and Forgiveness.
Beg to be shown our mistakes, rectify them, and settle all our incomplete affairs and debts before our time comes to move on to the next Alam.
May Allah ﷻ grant us to be amongst those to receive His ﷻ Divine Forgiveness this Ramadhan and to be in His ﷻ Pleasure, as the fortunate, Prepared Ones passing on to the Akhirah.
Please take some time to listen to the full Sohbah here:
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
In Loving Memory of Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan – Ramadhan Series
Here is a short synopsis of a Sohbah given by Almarhum Sheikh Abdul Sattar Khan on 15 April 2021:
The Holy Month of Ramadhan sees its first ten days as Allah ﷻ raining Mercy onto the believers.
Take heed. Fill every single moment of these days in Zikrullah.
1. Pay careful attention to Fridays.
Complete the practices of Jumaah and do Salawat on our Holy Prophet ﷺ abundantly.
Those who do not get to perform SolatulJumaah in the mosques, should not leave the prayer or treat Jumaah as an ordinary day.
2. Be in constant Zikrullah.
Mentioned in a Hadith, two things dear to Allah ﷻ in Ramadhan are:
• the one testifying, ‘La ilaha illallah’
and
• the one begging for forgiveness, ‘Astaghfirullah’
Two things dear to the believers are:
• Eternity in Paradise
and
• Salvation from Allah’s Punishment
For this, recite in abundance the following:
3. Make Du’a fervently in Holy Ramadhan Sharif.
Beg for Allah ﷻ to:
• Open blindness of the eyes
• Forgive every bad action, assumption and thought in your past
• Forgive the hurt you caused to the hearts of others, since your youth until now
• Forgive and cleanse all your ancestors and descendants from their sins
Every atom of goodness you do, you will see it, and for every atom of evil you did, you will see it too.
May Allah ﷻ grant us His Mercy and help us to persevere in our worshipping in this Holy Month, despite all difficulties and challenges we face, with the firm handhold of our Guide.
Listen to the full Sohbah here:
Jazakumullahu Khairan.
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
Do keep away snacks and unfinished food in the house, as we may accidentally start snacking, due to the force of habit that may have developed in the past.
Should you eat by accident, it does not nullify the fast; continue fasting.
It is sign of Allah’s ﷻ Might and Power, that He ﷻ can put food in the belly of His ﷻ servant, even when he is fasting obediently.
2) First 10 days of Ramadhan are Days of Mercy.
Recite abundantly: Allahummar Hamna ya Arhamarrahimeen
A servant is saved only by His ﷻ Mercy, so beg Allah ﷻ for His ﷻ Mercy for yourself and all of Mankind.
Do daily charity, recite Quran and Selawat Fatih abundantly.
Eat and sleep moderately.
Reduce unnecessary conversation.
Don’t pass the time binge watching TV, not even Islamic shows. Instead hold your Tasbih/Quran and plunge into the world of remembrance. When tired, switch to tafakkur of Allah’s ﷻ Signs and self introspection of how we have sinned, and repent.
Watch the acts of your organs, don’t sin even with your mind or heart.
Keep your eye on your heart. Keep your heart with your Mursyid.
Indeed, reminders benefit the believers. (Quran)
3. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) used to say: Seek Lailatul Qadr (LLQ) in every night of Ramadhan, and treat every person as Sayyidina Khidr (as). (Meaning, show the highest respect for each night and each person you meet).
Dear Jemaah, never assume that LLQ is going to be in the last 10 days, or on the 27th.
It has occurred even within the first few days of Ramadhan. And even outside Ramadhan!
So treat every night, as if it were LLQ, otherwise, you may miss it.
Angels descend in every night in Ramadhan bearing different and amazing gifts, dressings and blessings.
Aim to awaken by the last third of the night, and do the morning devotions, followed by having sahur and fajr prayers.
On days in which you are not working the next morning, you should awaken a little earlier at tahajjud time, to take more blessings from Qiyamullail.
There are great blessings in Sahur, especially when taken close to Fajr, so don’t skip it. Even if you are not hungry, just take a sip of water, with intention of sahur, with intention to follow the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet ﷺ, and share in its blessings.
4. Don’t miss tahajjud on even a single night throughout Ramadhan.
Even if it is just to perform two raka’ats of Solat Sunnat Shukur.
“Two raka’ats before Fajr, is worth more than the world and all its riches,” said our Holy Prophet ﷺ.
Eat light at breaking fast time and sleep immediately after terawih, then try to awaken in the last third of night, to be with Him ﷻ.
5. Beware of foul odours in the house, for these cause the Angels to avoid coming to our homes.
Prophet ﷺ forbade some Companions from attending tahajjud with himﷺ in the Mosque, for their mouths were smelly after eating foods like garlic and onions.
So keep your clothes, bodies and especially mouths, clean and fragrant always. Beware of foods that contains raw onion eg cole slaw, satay. Remove food stuck between teeth after sahur and after breaking fast, it is much disliked by angels.
6. What was Prophet ﷺ busy with all Ramadhan?
Ibn ‘Abbas (ra) narrates, “Rasulullah ﷺ was the most generous person, and he ﷺ would be at his most generous in Ramadhan because Jibrail (as) would come to him ﷺ every night and he ﷺ would read/study the Qur’an with him (as).
Truly, when Rasulullah ﷺ would meet Jibrail (as), he ﷺ would be more generous than a fleeting wind.”
So, Prophet ﷺ was busy with:
✅ Reading Qur’an with Jibrail (as) every night.
✅ Spending the nights with Jibrail (as), his ﷺ Spiritual Guide.
✅ Being generous, Rasulullah ﷺ called Ramadhan, “a month of charity”.
So, let us be busy with these three things too!
Read Qur’an abundantly, keep connection with your Mursyid, and donate generously in this month.
And when is the best time to read Qur’an?
Qur’an can be read at any time, but especially between tahajjud time & fajr time, it is extra special and blessed, as, “Angels gather to witness the reading.” (Qur’an 17:78)
May Allah ﷻ grant us all to meet the actual moment of the Night of Power.
Ameen ya Rabbal ‘alameen.
Al-Fatiha.
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
We are thanking our guests; they host us and they praised. Insha’Allah this praise is for Allāh ﷻ, not for us. Everybody can be Awliyā’uLlāh. Whoever follows the order of Allāh ﷻ is Waliyu’Llāh. AlhamduliLlāh all of us, in shā’a Llāh, we’ll be ‘awliyā’uLlāh, all together.
We are happy to see this place which Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says about in the Qur’an, A‘ūdhu biLlāhi mina sh-shayṭāni r-rajīm. Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm: ‘وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ’, ‘Wa ta‘āwanū ‘ala l-birri wa t-taqwā wa la ta‘āwanū ‘ala l-lithmī wa l-‘udwān’, ‘And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.’ (Qur’ān 05:02). Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm. Allāh ﷻ is ordering, help each other to do the good thing, to help people, to help give benefit for Ummat Sayyidina Muhammad ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. So, alhamduliLlah we are happy with our brothers. It is the first time that we come here. But alhamduliLlah what they have done is very good. May Allāh ﷻ bless them.
When you see something for Allāh ﷻ done in the middle of a kufr place, you are happy. Why? Because it is giving light for the place and for people. They benefit from this good place in everything. Especially and firstly the mosque. The mosque which is Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s house, Baytu Llāh, Buyutu Llāh. The mosque is the house of Allah Azza wa Jalla, He ﷻ said. And beside them, like old people, alhamduliLlah, the sultans, ‘ulamā, awliyā’ were building mosques and around them, they make a place for people to come, to listen, to learn, to get benefit. Anything good for humanity, you can find there. AlhamduliLlah, this is the same. Like old places in which they were doing madrasah, doing hospital, feeding people.
Allāh ﷻ is happy with this. This place is for ākhirah. It is to prepare people for Jannah. Because there must be a place for gathering people. And alhamduliLlah here also, not only for gathering, but they are also encouraging people to be with good people. Because in some mosques, they only pray and go out without seeing anybody. But here, anyone can come and benefit from lessons of Qur’an and ṭarīqah; any ṭarīqah. AlhamduliLlah, they are open for all ṭarīqah. They are not banning anyone. “You are from that ṭarīqah. You are from this ṭarīqah. We don’t like. Don’t speak.” Here, there’s nothing like this at all. This is how Muslims must be. Muslims must accept what people like. What do the people like? They like the way of Allāh ﷻ, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, to follow, to find good people.
We grew up in Damascus. AlhamduliLlah, they now cleaned the biggest mosque, Jami’ al-Amawi (Umayyad Mosque). In each corner you find one ‘ālim, Shaykh, making a circle and giving lessons. Maybe you can find 10 or 20 people because there are many ‘ālims there. And they have a book. They continue every day with this book in the same time, by themselves. Nobody gives them a salary or orders them to do this. They are happy to do this. And each one, as we said, has maybe 10, maybe 50, maybe 100, some of them 200 people around them listening, and also writing what they understand. In each place one. This is good for people: not only coming for praying, but to learn also. The mosque is very important. Besides this, if anybody asks something, they are also giving them an answer.
AlhamduliLlah, now it is open again. In shā’a Llāh, everywhere becomes like this. May Allāh ﷻ make such places more and more. May Allāh ﷻ bless those who put one stone here and make us to be with you. May Allāh ﷻ bless them. We are really, from our heart, praying for them, because they thought and did this. They say, “In this time, we cannot do like this.” In shā’a Llāh when Allāh ﷻ wants, you can do it. Don’t say anything. Begin and Allāh ﷻ continues. Allāh ﷻ helps because this is to “إِعلَاءِ كَلِمَةِ الله” – to make Superior the Word of Allah ﷻ. To make His ﷻ Word the highest. Allāh ﷻ surely helps. AlhamduliLlah, many mosques are established everywhere. And when people say, “Maybe we cannot finish this.” Allāh ﷻ opens and they finish it. For this, if anybody has an intention, Allāh ﷻ gives him for his intention. The intention must be pure for Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, for helping people; and Allāh ﷻ helps. Not for the ego, or to make nifāq (hypocrisy) between mu’mins, or to make it for their way, a way different from what Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says.
Because last year alhamduliLlah, we were in Canada. And we went to pray Salatu Jum’ah. We passed through a mosque. They said there is mosque here, a little bit between an industrial area. So, we went there to pray Jum’ah. We passed through one mosque. It was very huge, with a kubba, minaret; exactly like the Islamic style. I said, “This one.” They said, “No. No. This is not following. They are not even praying Jum’ah.” But the mosque was really exactly like the Islamic Mosque. But they said that there are no people even. And nobody was around. After that, we went to what looked like a mosque. It was maybe a factory or a place of stores, a big place; but not a mosque originally. It was built as a place to put something or as a factory. AlhamduliLlah, we prayed Jumah here, it was full; maybe a thousand people. They said, “This is the first Jum’ah this happens, and there are still the three-fold who will pray.”
AlhamduliLlah when the intention is good, Allāh ﷻ is happy with you. Because when the munafiqs (hypocrites) made a mosque in Madina, Allāh ﷻ was not happy. He ﷻ said in Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n, this is not good intended. So they demolished this mosque. In shā’a Llāh, our mosques are all with good intention, Allāh ﷻ accepts this. Allāh ﷻ is happy with us because, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, they have every good thing for human beings. Muslims and non-Muslims, anybody can benefit. And they are blessed ones. This is the order of Allāh: ‘وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ’, ‘Wa ta‘āwanū ‘ala l-birri wa t-taqwā’, ‘And cooperate in righteousness and piety.’ (Qur’ān 05:02). Help each other to give good things and to be aware from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, to be afraid of Allāh ﷻ.
How is being afraid of Allāh ﷻ? If you have a bad intention, you are not afraid of Allāh ﷻ. If you have a bad intention, Allāh ﷻ is not happy with you. This is the first ḥadīth [taught]. Intention is very important. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ”, “Innama l-‘aa’malu bin-niyyat”, “Actions are but by intentions”. Good deeds must only be with good intentions. Even for hijrah, this was the saying of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Who emigrates for Allāh ﷻ and Rasul, his emigration is acceptable, it is for Allāh ﷻ and Rasul. If for a woman whom he wants to marry, or for dunyā, then he emigrates for this also; for dunyā, not for Allāh ﷻ and for Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
May Allāh ﷻ make all our intentions for Allāh ﷻ and Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Because this is the real valuable thing for us. You cannot take dunyā with you to ākhirah. Dunyā will stay in dunyā for other people, and you will take what you’ve done from goodness for the sake of Allāh Azza wa Jalla. May Allāh ﷻ make all our intentions to be our whole life for Allāh Azza wa Jalla. Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm, ‘قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَُ’, ‘Qul ‘Inna Şalātī Wa Nusukī Wa Maĥyāya Wa Mamātī Lillāh Rabbi Al-`Ālamīna’, ‘Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.’ (Qur’an 06:162). We read this every time. Our life, our death, our everything is for the sake of Allāh ﷻ, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm: “الْحُبُّ فِي اللَّهِ وَالْبُغْضُ فِي اللَّهِ”, “Al-ḥubbu fi Llāh wa l-bughdu fi Llāh.” [Hadith]. This means love for the sake of Allāh ﷻ and also do not love for the sake of Allāh ﷻ. You cannot love all your life. It cannot be. Sometimes you love something or somebody, and sometimes you don’t love.
But the Muslim must not hate the Muslim; only for the sake of Allāh ﷻ. If he sees something not good, he must not agree with it. If you agree, you are not with Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. You must be with Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. What He ﷻ loves, you must love. What He ﷻ doesn’t love, you don’t love.
What does Allāh ﷻ love? He ﷻ loves the good thing. What does He ﷻ not love? The bad thing, the dirty thing, every bad thing.There are thousands or more. Before, it was 800. Now, what Allāh ﷻ doesn’t like became more and more.
For this, our way is the way to ask for the love of Allāh ﷻ. And the love of Allāh ﷻ is like this: what He ﷻ loves, you must love. What He ﷻ hates, you must hate. We hate the bad thing, we hate shayṭān, we hate the oppressor, we hate what is making people suffer. This is what Allāh ﷻ doesn’t like.
He ﷻ doesn’t hate what is good; never. Never is Allāh Azza wa Jalla like this. It is not from His ﷻ attribute. Allāh Azza wa Jalla’s attribute is only the good thing. The bad attribute is for human beings, for shayṭān. We do not agree with this and we hate this. We don’t have hate the personality of a human being or other. No, we hate the bad attribute they have. This is what Allāh ﷻ orders us. Some people say, “You are Muslim,” they hate everything. No. We hate only the bad thing.
May Allāh ﷻ show us the bad, and to hate it. And may He ﷻ show us good, and to love it, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Nikāḥ can be done anywhere. When there are two witnesses and one asking if they really accept to be wife and husband – with two witnesses, nikāḥ is done. They become ḥalāl for each other. Without this, nothing. Because sometimes, some people claim to do something, making the ḥalāl ḥarām and the ḥarām, ḥalāl.
Some claim to be dressed like Muslims, wearing a turban. They say, “Ok, now we make nikāḥ and the angels are witnesses for us.” It is not the angels, but shayṭān. They are cheating many people by their appearance. Their appearance is Muslim and their inside is shayṭān. This is a very important thing.
After the real nikāḥ, they must know what marriage is. Marriage is two different people coming together. It is difficult to be one. Each one has their own ideas, their own ego. But they must know that this must go. It is not as you say, “I will do this,” he will go like this with you, or she will go with you as you like. Sometimes they are different: they don’t like something, you don’t like something. You must be patient. Don’t be quickly divorcing.
Nowadays, they are quickly divorcing and they are looking for another. But later, there becomes another problem. For this, in this time, divorce is happening very much. Before, it was not like that. They say there’s maybe more than 60%-80% divorce. That’s because they have another, they are looking outside, not happy, not patient. So it becomes difficult.
They say, if you have a good wife and good children, you must be happy, you are in paradise. If you have a bad wife or a bad husband or bad children, you must cry, you are everyday in hell. For this, don’t make dunyā hell. Be good with each other. Because every day, I listen to complaints from this and that. Especially, I see some murīds masha’Allah who have turban, bigger than my turban, are oppressing their wife. They throw her out.
But this is not good. You must be better. You must follow the best example for us: Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. He ﷺ never oppressed his wives. He ﷺ was gentle with them. He ﷺ was happy with them. You must follow him ﷺ, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
AlhamduliLlah, we reached this day, a blessed day. May Allāh ﷻ accept our du’ā’, our prayers. We are not claiming we are doing good. We are just trying to obey Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. He ﷻ ordered us to pray, fast, make Zakat. All of this is His ﷻ order. And what we can do, Allāh ﷻ accepts. Because we are not claiming we are doing the best. No, what we do is nothing. But this is adab of obeying the order of Allāh ﷻ. Human beings must have adab. To obey: they must even know that it is nothing. There’s no value for what we are doing. The only value is that we are all following the order of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.
“هَٰذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّي”, “Hadha Min Fadhli Rabbi”, “This is by the grace of my Lord.” This is the favor of Allāh ﷻ. He ﷻ made us to pray, to come together for His ﷻ love, to give charity, give Zakat, going hajj, coming here, going there. All this is from the favor of Allāh ﷻ. Don’t think you do anything. For this, we just ask forgiveness from Allāh ﷻ to forgive us and to continue His ﷻ favor upon us and all Muslims, and to give hidayah for Muslims.
Of course, if you are saying, “I follow ṭarīqah. I am from that family, from this family,” and you are not doing what Allāh ﷻ ordered, there’s no value for anything you do. Especially there’s some kind of people who say, “We are not praying but the whole day we make dhikr of Allāh ﷻ from morning to midnight without cutting.” If you do a million years, it is not equal to one Takbir. For this, don’t be proud, “I am from this family. I am from that family. I am from ṭarīqah but I am not doing anything,” it has no effect. Just have good behavior, adab and follow what Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, and be sure Allāh ﷻ will be happy with you insha’Allah, and He ﷻ accepts our deeds. Our deeds are not complete, but He ﷻ accepts them and He ﷻ is happy with us alhamduliLlah.
This is good tidings for ṭarīqah people, especially Naqshbandi ṭarīqah which is holding all other ṭarīqahs from going away from sharī’ah. It holds them all like a magnet. Because without this, many of them will still be in ṭarīqah, but there is some kind of way that they will go out from this way. As some say, “We are from this ṭarīqah and it is for us,” but there’s no benefit. Our ṭarīqah is holding all ṭarīqahs to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, to be safe from any bad intention, any badness out of sharī’ah. The Naqshbandi ṭarīqah is a strong way to Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. We are thanking Allāh ﷻ for this.
In shā’a Llāh, today many people made Khatm ul-Qur’an, they made salawat, they made awrād, they read Ayāt, Surahs all for this intention, Allāh ﷻ accepts. We send this to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
Ila sharafi’ ‘n-Nabi, sallaLlahu `alayhi wa sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahi jamee’i al Anbiya’i wa l-Mursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ila arwahi Mashayyikhina fi t-Tariqati n-Naqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu l-Khaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri Sadatina wa s-Siddiqiyun, amwatuna wa amwat al-muslimin, Li-Llahi Ta’ala.
Insha’Allah in this blessed night, Allāh ﷻ make His ﷻ Nur showering on us insha’Allah. Nur of Prophet ﷺ, Nur of Awliyā’ to shower us insha’Allah. You are, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, coming for the love of Allāh ﷻ, love of Prophet ﷺ. In shā’a Llāh, may Allāh ﷻ give you what you want. The most important thing is to be in His ﷻ way. This is the biggest wish for everybody: for him and his family, his relatives, his friends to be on this way.
AlhamduliLlah, tonight is holy blessed night which Allāh ﷻ praised in the Holy Qur’an in Surat ad-Dukhān, “فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ”, “Fīhā Yufraqu Kullu ‘Amrin Ĥakīm”, “On that night is made distinct every precise matter.” (Qur’an 44:04). This night, Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla – every night He ﷻ accepts du’ā’. But this night is special because you know for the next year who will be, who will go, what we will be doing. SubhanAllah, everyone’s destiny will be written in this night.
For this, we are reading Sūrat Yāsīn three times between Maghrib and Ishā’, and asking for it to be a good year for us. Because it is said in this du’ā’ (that is read after Yāsīn), if you write us as not lucky – not lucky means to be outside of the way of Allāh ﷻ – or to have no rizq, or have any illness, anything, O our Lord, You can change this. Because this is what You said, everything is in His ﷻ Will, His ﷻ Hand. Allāh’s ﷻ Hand can change. He ﷻ does what He ﷻ likes. When somebody is asking from Allāh ﷻ to change, He ﷻ can change.
For this, don’t be hopeless. Ask from Allāh ﷻ to change. If what He ﷻ wrote for you is not good, He ﷻ can change it for a good thing. This is His ﷻ will and His ﷻ secret which we don’t know. What we only know is: everything is with Allāh ﷻ. He ﷻ knows everything and He ﷻ can change, or He ﷻ can leave it as it is. This Qadar, destiny is very secret in Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s knowledge. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam also said, don’t ask for this. It is a secret. But there are some people who speak to show themselves, “This is like this” about destiny, Qadar. And they speak about what’s more dangerous than this: the Ruh, the soul. These two – there are many things that are forbidden to speak about. But the most dangerous thing is to speak about these things.
For this, we only ask from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Because He ﷻ said that He ﷻ can change everything written, and He ﷻ can confirm it there; not changing. But when you ask Allāh ﷻ not to make it, with sincerity, He ﷻ will accept, in shā’a Llāh. By His ﷻ will, He ﷻ can surely change, in shā’a Llāh; no problem.
For this, this night is a very blessed night. And many people do not know about it. Masha’Allah, this mosque is full of people. By Mawlānā Shaykh’s barakah, ‘aa’la Allāh ﷻ darajātuhu dā’iman, these people are gathering here for his barakah, asking barakah from him. May Allāh ﷻ make his darajāt, his rank, by this Khidmah (service) he has done here and everywhere else, more and more higher. For this, we are asking Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla for people who are not knowing, to know and benefit from this night and other nights also, to be with Allāh ﷻ and to not lose the most precious thing Allāh ﷻ gave them.
Unfortunately, there is also a kind of people: they are Muslim but not mu’min. They do not accept this, even if it is written in Qur’an and in ḥadīth. So, they make people also not benefit from this jewel, from this light, from this reward which is showering from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla for mu’mins, for believers who are worshipping Him ﷻ, asking Him ﷻ. Because Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying, “Ask.” He ﷻ is saying to the angels, “Go. Look for My servants. What each one wants; he wants health, he wants īmān, he wants rizq, he wants a good life, he wants a wife, he wants to study opening his mind, whatever they are thinking. Go and look for these people who are asking, praying making du’ā’. Give them what they want and make their good deeds acceptable. This is a ḥadīth of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, and Qur’an is also saying this. Yet, these ones are cheating people.
Unfortunately, we are living in a time – everybody is now seeing what life in this time is. They say for the black, white and everybody believes. They say for the white, black, also everybody believes. They do everything and people must be happy with them. And they are happy also. If anything happens to them, all people get angry with them. This time is like this. So, people who are claiming against the ḥadīth of Prophet ﷺ, against Awliyā’uLlah, against ṣaḥābah are normal. It is normal in this time. But what’s not normal is to follow them. But unfortunately, there are people like sheep. They can cheat them and take them to destroy themselves.
Once we saw – many times we hear about that, but we saw one sheep that went to the cliff and jumped. And after it, 300 sheep jumped. All of them died. And those are like this. If one goes, everybody goes. No, you mustn’t be listening, you must – The sheep, poor sheep. Allāh ﷻ didn’t give them a brain for thinking, only a brain for eating, drinking and walking. But for us, Allāh ﷻ gave us a brain to look, to not throw ourselves to danger.
The Sheep die and finish. But people, when they die, as Sayyidina ʿAlī raḍiya Llāhu ‘anhu, karrama Llāhu wajhahu, says: “النَّاسُ نِيَامٌ، إذَا مَاتُوا استفاقوا”, “The people are asleep, and only wake when they die.” The people are sleeping. “We are not sleeping; our eyes are open.” No, we are all sleeping. The real awakening is when you close your eyes, when ‘Azrail is taking your soul. That time, you will see everything clearly. And that time, those who are denying, saying “No shafa’ah, no Ahlu l-Bayt, no ṣaḥābah, no mashāyikh, no ṭarīqah, no madhhab,” will be awake, but a very bad awakening. He’ll say, “Oh, we were really asleep our whole life, following these people, shayṭān people.” But that time, there’s no benefit.
For this, you must be careful. You must take the chance every time you have a chance, like these nights, the last night, holy nights, to make ‘ibadah, to be with good people, to mention Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla and to make du’ā’, to be awakened here before ākhirah. For this, Sayyidina Abu Bakr says, “مُوتُوا قَبْلَ أَنْ تَمُوتُوا”, “Mootu Qabla an Tamootu”, “Die before you die.” What does it mean? Die means not only dying, but awake before you die. When you die, you awake; so, you must awake before dying.
May Allāh ﷻ bless you. May Allāh ﷻ make you with Mawlānā Shaykh. Allāh ﷻ is happy with us, alhamduliLlah. AlhamduliLlah, because this is Mawlānā Shaykh’s inheritance. You are loyal to Allāh ﷻ, to mashāyikh, to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. You are in their way. Nothing can take you away. AlhamduliLlah, you and your whole family, generation, children and grandchildren insha’Allah.
Insha’Allah we hope – the world is, as we said, very bad. Everything is upside down. So don’t worry. Don’t listen to what this said, what that said. What Allāh ﷻ said will be. All of this must be, because Allāh ﷻ wants this. We don’t say anything. As we said, time is becoming very bad. Somebody must change it. There are people who think they can change the world, but they are only puppets. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla makes them move from here to there, speak something, do something. It must be like this for Sayyidina Al-Mahdi in shā’a Llāh to appear, to clean and to make people understand the reality to save them from this bad thinking and bad doing.
May Allāh ﷻ make us to be with him, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ save you. Don’t worry, in shā’a Llāh. We are safe with barakah of Mawlānā Shaykh. In shā’a Llāh, we meet Sayyidinā Al-Mahdī soon, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Al-ḥamdu liLlāh we are here for the love of Allāh ﷻ, love of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. Al-ḥamdu liLlāh thank you for the imām and for mā shā’a Llāh, the munshid. This nashīd of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam, and for Mawlānā Shaykh is coming from his heart. May Allāh ﷻ bless him.
Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, we are here for gathering once every year. We are here once every year. But, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, it is a blessing for us, all of us, to be gathering for the love of Allāh ﷻ, love of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. Allāh ﷻ loves this and praises us. He ﷻ orders the angels: put your wings under their feet. And this is a big honor. In some places, Allāh ﷻ is happy that He ﷻ orders the angels to put their wings and you step on them, on the angel’s wings. It is a very high thing for human beings. Many people ask, “How can we be like the angels?” You can be higher than the angels. When you are following Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam, praising him ﷺ and asking shafā’ah from him ﷺ, Allāh ﷻ gives you this.
Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, today is also a very blessed day because we are in Shahr Shā’bān (the month of Shā’bān). And tomorrow night will be the 15th of Shā’bān Sharīf, the month of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. For this, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, we are here. It is blessed, more blessed for us. Tomorrow night is blessed, and we must do prayers as much as we can. Because this night is mentioned in Qur’ān Aẓīmu sh-Shā’n, “فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ”, “Fīhā Yufraqu Kullu ‘Amrin Ĥakīm”, “On that night is made distinct every precise matter.” (Qur’an 44:04). In Surat ad-Dukhān. It is this night. Allāh Azza wa Jalla made it that for one year – from tomorrow night, Allāh ﷻ writes for each of us what will happen, who will die, who will be born, for rizq, for wedding, for marriage, for illness, for ḥidāyah, for outside of ḥidāyah: to be cheated with people who do not respect this night. Tomorrow night, Allāh Azza wa Jalla writes all of this for each one.
For this, from the beginning of the night – which begins after Maghrib. The Arabic, Islamic day begins from Maghrib to Maghrib. You know Maghrib; there’s no need to explain for you. For this, tomorrow, in shā’a Llāh, between Maghrib and Ishā’, you must read three times Sūrat Yāsīn; with intention for a long healthy life, for īmān and for rizq, in shā’a Llāh. For each one (Yasin) you mention the intention. Maybe some people will do it with jamā’ah. If there’s no jamā’ah or they don’t have jamā’ah, it can be done alone in your house also.
So, this is what the Mashāyikh tell us. Because in this night, Allāh Azza wa-Jalla, ‘يَمْحُو اللَّهُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيُثْبِتُ’, ‘Yamhū Allahu mā yashā’u wa yuthbit’, ‘Allah eliminates what He wills or confirms.’ (Qur’ān 13:39). Allāh ﷻ can change and can leave it as it is. For this, we are praying, making du’ā’ to be good for us: īmān, healthy life and rizq, in shā’a Llāh. Rizq ḥalāl, this is important also. The Muslim must ask for this from Allāh Azza wa Jalla. Allāh ﷻ has treasures; not afraid to finish. Here anybody, if he gives too much, even if he’s rich, he thinks he will go bankrupt. But from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, ask. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be ashamed to ask from Allāh ﷻ. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla likes people to insist. But people don’t like somebody to come and insist, saying something a hundred times to you. In the end we say “Enough” for him. But Allāh Azza wa-Jalla loves you to insist. Ask, ask, ask. Don’t worry. Don’t be ashamed. Don’t shy from Allāh ﷻ. Ask what you want. Every time you can ask. But tomorrow is very important to ask for the next year to be in health and in life with īmān, Islām and rizq, in shā’a Llāh. This is important. Don’t think it is not good, not adab for you to ask from Allāh ﷻ. Allāh ﷻ is saying, ‘ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ’, ‘Id’ūnī ‘Astajib lakum’, ‘Call upon Me; I will respond to you.’ (Qur’ān 40:60). It is an order. “You must ask from Me ﷻ.” Anything – health also. Many people have an illness or they are afraid from illnesses. Nowadays, illness is everywhere. There are many kinds, countless kinds of illnesses that we haven’t heard of before. Now there are.
For this, tomorrow night between Maghrib and Ishā’, we must do this waẓīfah (duty). After that, in shā’a Llāh, tomorrow we also have dhikr and khatm, normally for Thursday night. And for this night also, there is a hundred raka’ah that we must pray. This is not obligatory but we mustn’t miss this opportunity to get more reward. It is, of course, not easy; but you can do it. Normally, you must read in each rak’ah: ten times Sūratu l-Ikhlāṣ. In a hundred raka’āt, it becomes a thousand Ikhlāṣ. But Mawlānā Shaykh, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, sees that we are not so patient and we cannot do this. He said, you can read in the first raka’āh two Ikhlāṣ, and the second raka’āh one Ikhlāṣ. So, you can finish three hundred Ikhlāṣ. Don’t be lazy. To put down your ego, your nafs, you must try to finish this.
And there is a thing you must know. One lady, she is from Awliyā’u Llāh, may Allāh ﷻ bless her. These English ladies are all the time asking about ladies, “Why no lady here? Why not making a lady awliyā’, not making Prophet?” There are ladies a hundred times higher. This lady is a million times higher than us. Her name is Rabi’a Al-Adawiyyā. Everybody knows her. This lady was praying every night a thousand raka’āt. Once a year, we are making a hundred raka’āt and we are finished. But you must know this. When you pray and get tired say, “Oh my ego, she is even a lady and she wasn’t eating. She was hungry all the time. She was like skin and bone, and she was doing a thousand raka’āh each night.” Us, we must be ashamed. We are, mā shā’a Llāh, we eat very much, all are overweight. So don’t be lazy. This is an occasion that you must benefit from. We say we cannot do the whole year but accept from us as we are doing this hundred raka’āt all year, in shā’a Llāh.
This is a good time for everyone. Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, today we are here, we visit maqāms. We visit our many murīds, very sincere people, very good people. People who were with us last year, but this year are under ground in mazār, in qabristān. So, in shā’a Llāh, may Allāh ﷻ bless them. May Allāh ﷻ give them rewards from what we are doing also. May Allāh ﷻ reward them, reward Mawlānā, reward all of our ancestors, in shā’a Llāh.
May Allāh ﷻ keep you in this way. Don’t listen to people who are refusing. You give them gold, they say, “No, this is not good. We don’t want gold. We only want stone. We only want iron. We only want glass.” They are not accepting precious things and are cheating people, “Don’t accept this. This is not true.” What is true then? When Allāh Azza wa Jalla is saying something, how can you say it is not true? When Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam is also saying something, how can you say it is not true?
Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, our way, since Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam, more than 1400 years, nearly 1450 years, is the same way; no difference. But others, many people like those who are claiming, come and go, nobody remembers their name, nobody remembers anything from them. If they remember some of them, only remembering to curse them; not to say anything good for them. But those in our way, all Muslims are praising them, praying for them, asking for barakah through them. This is, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. Ṭarīqah, ṭarīq. Ṭarīq means way, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. Every ṭarīqah is like this.
As we said the last time, there is no Awliyā’uLlāh, no blessed one outside of this way, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. You cannot find anyone. If they said, “This Awliyā’ is from us”, don’t believe them. He is surely from the way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam, way of ṭarīqah. This is true; other is not true. You must be connected to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. Without connection, you cannot get barakah, you cannot get anything.
For this, they are maybe going quickly and finishing quickly also. May Allāh ﷻ give hidāyah for them also. We are asking goodness for human beings, for Muslims, for non-Muslims; all of them. What is good for human beings, for Muslims or for non-Muslim: is to be with Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam to save themselves, to save their family, in shā’a Llāh, to save humanity. May Allāh ﷻ give them hidāyah. May Allāh ﷻ make people come to the way of Allāh ﷻ, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. The whole benefit, the whole happiness, every good thing is in this way, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam.
There is one man, they said he was blind and paralyzed also. He couldn’t even walk; somebody must look after him. He was saying, “Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, Shukran li-Llāh, Shukran li-Llāh.” One of them was asking him, “For what are you saying al-ḥamdu liLlāh, shukr li-Llāh? You are in the worst situation. You cannot walk. You cannot work. You cannot do anything. You are blind, you are paralyzed. You cannot even walk. Why? Which ni’mah are you speaking about?” He said, “No, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, I am Muslim. Allāh ﷻ gave me this tongue to speak, to make thanks for Him ﷻ. It is the biggest ni’mah. Other, I don’t care for this”, he said. We must know what we have from precious things. Jewels, not even gold. Even more precious than gold: jewels. Not like these people, stone, iron and glass.
May Allāh ﷻ send us Sayyidinā Al-Mahdī, ‘alayhi s-salam. We must pray also tomorrow; every night, every day, we must pray for him to save humanity. Because humanity is now coming to an end. There is no humanity any more, only ego and shayṭān. May Allāh ﷻ keep us safe from them, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Ṭarīqatunā ṣ-ṣuḥbah wa-l-khayru fi l-jam’iyyah.” Our Naqshbandī Shaykh, Baha’uddin Naqshbandī repeated this every ṣuḥbah. He made twelve thousand ṣuḥbahs. Ṭarīqah is to be together and to make ṣuḥbah, teaching the way of Allāh Azza wa Jalla: what Allāh Azza wa Jalla likes, what He ﷻ loves.
Awliyā’u Llāh means those whom Allāh ﷻ loves. Is it difficult to be Awliyā’u Llāh? No, not difficult. Because Allāh Azza wa Jalla showed us and told us which people He ﷻ loves. He ﷻ said, Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm, “إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ”, “Inna Llāha yuḥibbu l-tawwābīn”, “Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant”. (Qur’ān 02:222). First is this one. Who is the tawwāb? The one who is asking tawbah, asking forgiveness for what he has done. Allāh ﷻ loves them. He ﷻ is happy with them. “If you’ve done anything and you come asking forgiveness from Me ﷻ, I am happy to give you this forgiveness.” This is Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s saying. It’s not from ourself, it’s from His ﷻ Holy Book. The only book in the world that came from the Divine Presence of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. He ﷻ is saying this for humanity. Who asks for forgiveness is a beloved for Allāh ﷻ. He is Waliyu’Llāh. Which means Allāh ﷻ loves him.
For this, we say to be Awliyā’u Llāh, to be a Wali is easy. People think to be a Wali is to be making miracles, making karāmāt; making this can also be. But if we like to be beloved for Allāh Azza wa Jalla, we must ask for forgiveness. Because Allāh ﷻ is very happy and He ﷻ loves us after that.
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam has a famous ḥadīth on how Allāh ﷻ is happy with the one who asks for forgiveness. He ﷺ gave an example, a very good example on how the extreme happiness for someone in this world can be. What is this example? He ﷺ says, it is like someone travelling in a desert. And in the desert, you must travel by camel. You cannot go one day without something with you: water, food, a place to stay. All of this, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam said, one man was on a camel and he made the camel go down. Everything was on this camel. And he slept there. When he woke up, he found no camel around; nothing at all, not one drop of water, nothing. He was only by himself in the desert where he cannot go anywhere. He maybe needs one month or fifteen days or something like this [to reach anywhere]. And he was going, looking around, looking around, here, there. And he was very tired. After that, he fell asleep. When he woke up, he found his camel over his head, waiting for him. Just as he felt extreme happiness for this, he ﷺ says that Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is (more) happy when anybody asks forgiveness from Him ﷻ. Can you imagine how Merciful Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is!
This is the teaching of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam for ṭarīqah people. Ṭarīqah people are, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, following this and are happy with this. But some people are not happy. We are not looking at them. We are looking at the Qur’ān, looking at the ḥadīth of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. This is very important for us.
After this, “إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ”, “Inna Allāh’a yuhibbu t-tawwabin wa yuhibbu l-mutatahhirin”, ‘Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.’ (Qur’ān 02:222). The first thing before tahārah – because tahārah means cleanliness; it is the first thing in Islām. But before this is to ask for forgiveness. This is the beginning. After forgiveness, comes tahārah; cleaning yourself, to make yourself clean to pray, to do ‘ibadah. But the first thing: ask for forgiveness. This is the most important thing. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla loves these people and He ﷻ loves the clean people.
Islām is a religion for humanity; the religion of Allāh Azza wa-Jalla. The best thing nowadays is that also. They say, clean your hand, put some cream, put soap, put something. You must be clean. But Allāh Azza wa-Jalla, from the beginning, gave an order for human beings to be clean. And he must clean not only the outside. The first thing to clean the outside is to ask for forgiveness. This is first cleansing; tahārah. The second tahārah is with water, to make ablution, to make ghusl, to make everything that we must do for ‘ibadah. This is our religion. This is the most important thing for human beings, for ṭarīqah especially. Ṭarīqah means light for people.
May Allāh ﷻ make us from His ﷻ Beloved ones, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ make us from His ﷻ Awliyā’u Llāh. We are not looking for miracle, for karāmah. We are only looking to be beloved for Allāh ﷻ, pure for Allāh ﷻ. Maybe who asks for karāmah, asks for benefit for himself. For this, we are not looking for karāmah. We are only looking to be a beloved one for Allāh ﷻ, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. May Allāh ﷻ make all of us from His ﷻ beloved ones, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is making the ummah to wake up, to be careful, to not be cheated. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “لاَ يُلْدَغُ الْمُؤْمِنُ مِنْ جُحْرٍ مَرَّتَيْنِ”, “Lā yuldaghu al-mu’minu min juḥrin marratayn”, “The believer is not stung from the same hole twice.” Meaning the mu’min, believer cannot be bitten by a snake from the same hole twice. Of course, in old times there were many snakes. If someone was bitten from one hole on earth, he would be careful. But this means from everything, not only snakes.
We cannot find a snake to bite us now. But there’s what’s more dangerous than snakes. There is shayāṭīn, evil ones. They are trying to take everything from you: money, land and many things. For this, be awake, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying. And look after yourself. What you have, you must keep it because it is a gift from Allāh ﷻ; especially īmān. Don’t leave it for people who cheat you and take your īmān. You must be awake. Don’t be cheated. Many people say, “We were looking here, hearing and from this and that. After that, we left the right way and went to many different ways. But there’s no benefit. They are only teaching the bad thing.”
And you must be careful. As Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was also saying to one Bedouin who came to the mosque of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. He left his camel outside the mosque. He prayed and went out looking for his camel so that he rides it camel and goes. He didn’t find it. He was looking here and there. And he was complaining to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam “My camel! I just left it here and now it disappeared.” Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam asked him, “When you put it here, did you tie it?” “No, I came here to a holy place. I thought it will stay here and not go anywhere.”
For this, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said to him, “اعْقِلْ وَتَوَكَّلْ”, “Aʿqil wa Tawakkal”, “Tie it, then rely upon Allāh ﷻ.” First, make sure – Aʿqil means tie it. “Aʿqil wa tawakkal”. After this, depend on Allāh ﷻ. If you tie it and they took it and left, you have the right to complain. But now, you didn’t do what must be done and you are complaining; this is your fault. But also, from the mercy of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, this Bedouin found his camel later. Many people don’t know the end of the story; what happened. They only say that he lost his camel. But that is also [important]. Everything in Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam’s life is a big lesson for us. And especially this word of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam, Aʿqil. “Aʿqil wa Tawakkal”. Aʿqil means tie. And it also means to you use your brain, use your mind, use your wisdom. It comes from Aql which means brain.
So, you must be using your brain. Allāh ﷻ did not create it only to eat and live. Animals also can do so but they don’t have the will to do what must be done, and not to do what mustn’t be done. Only a little bit – Allāh ﷻ has given them a brain to eat, drink and to be aware of what’s dangerous. Allāh ﷻ gave them this. But for human beings, Allāh ﷻ has given them a brain to look after themselves and after their families.
Many people now also are cheated by people every time. People cheat them saying, “I will make this. We will make that.” After that, they cheat them and take their money, and they are not doing anything. This also is their responsibility. Who has this thing, must look if it is good or not good. Because Allāh ﷻ also gave you a ni’mah, favor from Allāh ﷻ. He ﷻ gave you this, so you must be careful. Don’t make cheaters, crooked people take your money. When you do this, if you are clever, you will not give this money for crooked ones. And it will be good for this crooked one before you: for him not to make ḥarām, eat ḥarām and feed his family and children with ḥarām. After that, when they eat ḥarām, they will be bad people. And you will be a little bit responsible also because you gave them this money and they ate ḥarām.
This is very important. Awliyā’u Llāh and ṣaḥābah were not eating ḥarām at all. Especially Imām ‘A’ẓam Sayyidinā Abu Ḥanīfah. He was never going to an invitation. When people invited him, he was never going to eat outside or anywhere. Even the hadīyyah (gift) also, he did not accept it at all. They were like this. Many people were swearing, “We are not doing ḥarām. This is very ḥalāl, you must eat. Please eat from this.” Never; he never ate. Many awliyā’u Llāh, many ulamā’ were very careful to not put one piece in their mouth because they don’t want to eat ḥarām. One of them was eating, and after that, he was vomiting. He said, “What is this? From where is this coming?” He thought it was from his house. They said, “Somebody sent this for you.” So even his body didn’t accept anything. This is very important for people to look for the good, clean thing to feed their children. If they are cheating people and they are happy with it, “Today, oh, we cheated one idiot. We took a thousand pounds and he didn’t know.” And they brought kebab, brought burger, brought many things to their house. But this is not food, this is poison that you feed your family. Anybody likes to bring poison to feed their children? Not poison, but even old food, they do not give to their children.
For this, from the beginning of the ṣuḥbah we said, Aʿqal. Be clever. Use your brain. Not everything you get is benefit for you. Many things are poison for you, that will kill you, that will harm you. This is Allāh’s ﷻ rule. Why is He ﷻ saying, “كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا”, ‘Kulu mimma fi l-Ardi Halalan Tayyiban’, ‘eat from whatever is on earth [that is] permissible and good.’ (Qur’ān 02:168). Eat ḥalāl and clean. This ḥalāl gives you power, gives you health, gives you happiness. Ḥarām gives the opposite. It gives you illness, gives you sadness, gives you every bad thing for you and your family. After this, you will regret and say, “What happened to these children, what happened to this family. My family are miserable. They are not good. We are wondering from where this is.” Don’t wonder. Just feed them good and you will be safe, in shā’a Llāh. There isn’t anything else. Of course, without knowing, Allāh ﷻ forgives us. But if you insist and you know that this ḥarām, be careful.
Be careful and give what you get even if without knowing all these people. Because we have another place where nothing is kept secret. Everything will be openly shown on the Day of Resurrection. And people will see what this man or woman had done. The angel will say to these people, “This man cheated you. He stole from you. He made badness to you.” “Oh, this man! I thought he is my friend. I thought he is a good man.” They say, “No, this is what he had done for you. So, you have the right to take from his good deeds.” So, they will give him. In this dunyā, when he is in this life, he can save himself by asking forgiveness from these people whom he cheated and made bad things for. If he left this for ākhirah, it will be a big problem for him. As we said, everything will be clear there.
And when they do something, as Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying, there will come men with good deeds like mountains, big mountains coming with them to the scale. And after, as we said, somebody comes and they say, “Give this. You had done bad things to this man, to this woman. Give from your deeds.” Other coming, other coming; that coming, this coming. After that, all these good deeds, which are like a mountain, will be finished. They will be finished, but still, there are many people in queue, whom he cheated and took their money without them knowing. So, there are no good deeds left. What will happen? He’s bankrupt. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, they say, “Take the bad deeds from these people whom he cheated and put them on him.” This becomes minus now. Other one, other one, other one; he will become full of sins. After this, they send him to take what he deserves. He thought he is a winner and he is happy. But in ākhirah, nothing goes without justice. Everybody takes their right. After that, this goes to that side, other goes to the other side.
For this, we are saying, be careful to not make these people suffer in ākhirah. This is more important than what you lose. If you want to be merciful to these people, don’t let them do what they like to, what their ego and shayṭān is ordering them. Shayṭān is only ordering them to take them to hell. But the Muslim must be merciful towards his Muslim brother. Give him naṣīḥah. If he doesn’t understand with naṣīḥah, warn people from him, “Be careful of this man. He is not a right one. He is harming himself first before others. So be careful. Don’t make him harm himself.”
In Istanbul, there is big bridge, the Bosphorus. People go there to jump down. So, you see the police and people coming, 100 people, 200 people blocking the streets causing traffic. Traffic becomes worse, very bad. What is this? There is one who wants to jump to kill himself, but people are trying to save him. This is what happens. So, we must be careful for these people to not harm themselves. Be careful. Because shayṭān now is teaching people to do this. And they are very “Cesur” (brave/daring), not afraid. These people are becoming, more and more, not afraid. So, you must not let them to harm you and harm themselves.
This is also from Islām’s order. When ḥarām is growing among society, the curse is coming on them also. For this, we must be careful. It is not, “We are Muslim, we are merciful. Ok, we can leave him,” No. You must tell people. Even when you tell, there are still many things happening. But Allāh ﷻ is seeing. Nothing can be a secret.
For this, Allāh ﷻ gives the mu’min light with his good, ḥalāl thing. But without it, there isn’t any light; coming darkness, coming badness. May Allāh ﷻ save us from these people. May Allāh ﷻ give hidayah (guidance) for people. Because belief is becoming less and less. People are making the ḥarām ḥalāl, and the ḥalāl ḥarām. Even those who are praying. This is also very important.
For inheritance, Allāh ﷻ is showing in the Qur’an what must be given when somebody dies. When one dies, you must give everybody his right. They say, “الْمَوْتُ حَقُّ و الْمِيرَاث حَلَال”, “Al-mawt ḥaqq wa l-meerath ḥalāl.” Death must happen for everyone, and inheritance is ḥalāl. So, this is also important. Not only the crooked people who cheat you. If some of you also have inheritance with your family, you must make it with justice. And when it finishes, everybody must say for the other, “Ok, I am happy.” You must only ask happiness for each other. And asking forgiveness, if anything is a little bit less or more to be barakah for them. If you are not doing this, it will be cursed and it will not be good.
Many times, with Mawlānā Shaykh, I saw many people asking what’s not a right for them. And Mawlānā was saying for them, “Look, you have your health. It is better than anything else.” Once the richest one in one country, Mawlānā told her many times, “Look.” She was complaining, “My father-in-law left his money to this woman, to that boy.” And they have, alhamduliLlah, good money, millions. Mawlānā Shaykh was saying, “Your health is more important.” And many times, I was a witness for this. She was complaining, complaining.
After one year, SubhanAllah, she had cancer. After 6 months, she passed away. And this is also a karāmāh of Mawlānā. She was, alhamduliLlah, rahmatuLlah ‘alayha, a very good lady. But when money was coming and she – This is because a man or a woman; anybody can give their inheritance to anyone in life. There’s no problem for this. Just or not just; it is ok, it’s not ḥarām. But after this, especially that they have a law, the Roman law: they can take it again from you. Any law, any inheritance, anything: they are not looking at it, they can take it. But when they take this, they take this from the people who own it. They steal it from them or take it by force. And this will not be good for you.
I saw many things with Mawlānā like this. Even Muslim mūrids, when it comes to money, to benefit themselves, they forget Allāh ﷻ, they forget sharī’ah, they forget Prophet ﷺ. They say, “Our country’s law doesn’t accept this. We can go to court. We can take it quickly.” This is not good. But another thing also. When people have inheritance but they do not give their brothers and sisters. This is also ḥarām. They take the right of these people, so it will be ḥarām also. What they eat will also be poison.
So may Allāh ﷻ make us, as we said from the beginning of the ṣuḥbah, “Aʿqal”, be clever. Don’t be stupid. Don’t be idiot. Who does this is an idiot. He is stupid. May Allāh ﷻ make us not be stupid, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Our meeting here, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, with our Mu’min, Muslim, Mu’minat, Muslimat: all are following ṭarīqah. Some of them are Naqshbandi, some of are Qadiri, Rifa’i, Badawi, Chishti. All together are the same: going to Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This is the way of Allāh ﷻ. And the Imam Hazrat [host] said, “Awliyā’ of Ahlu s-Sunnah.” There are no awliyā’ out of Ahlu s-Sunnah. Clearly. All awliyā’ are Ahlu s-Sunnah. There are no others because they do not accept other people, they do not accept Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam, not accept Ahlu l-Bayt, not accept Ṣaḥābah. They are making – There cannot be awliyā’ from these people. The only awliyā’, in shā’a Llāh, and surely are with Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah.
They are claiming, “This wali doesn’t believe in the Ṣaḥābah.” This is cannot be. Many times, we see places in which they say – because these people don’t have awliyā’ – an example of one of them is in Beirut. There was war and the whole bazar was burned and destroyed. Under one building there was a maqam. This building was under the control of an Armenian. And he built the building around it to hide it. Because if they see it, they will take his shop because it’s waqf. It cannot be sold for anybody to use it. So, he was hiding it. And when it was destroyed, this maqam appeared. And these people who do not accept the ṣaḥābah were controlling there. Thousands of people were coming to visit saying this and that. After many months, they knew this maqam was for Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah. So, they quickly disappeared from there. Nobody was coming there.
This is an example, one example. But there are many examples about this. Because without going on the way of Prophet ﷺ, which is as he ﷺ said: to love Ahlu l-Bayt and to love his ﷺ ṣaḥābah; you cannot be from Ahlu s-Sunnah. And this cannot be for them. They cannot be awliyā’uLlah.
AlhamduliLlah, awliyā’uLlah from Ahlu s-Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah are different. There are many Awliyā’uLlah. All of them have karāmāh, miracle; all of them. Normally, our ṭarīqah, Naqshbandi ṭarīqah, do not show karāmāh, miracle. They don’t want this; “This is not our thing”, they say. But other ṭarīqahs, masha’Allah, they show. Many, until now, can use karāmāh. Karāmāh for awliyā’. And miracles for Prophets, ‘mu’jiza’, we say. This is the difference between karāmāh and mu’jiza. Mu’jiza is for Prophets, and karāmāh is only for awliyā’uLlah.
So, in our way, we are not showing. We don’t want – not us but Sayyidina Shaykh Baha’uddin Naqshbandī and others, all of them do not show karāmāh to prove what they are saying. But karāmāh is coming through them without asking because maybe others say karāmāh and it appears directly. But what Shaykh Baha’uddin Naqshbandī, Imamu t-Ṭarīqah was saying is that we keep this power for ākhirah, to make shafa’ah for the ummah in ākhirah. Here, it can be. But what happens is that somebody comes asking the Shaykh. Mawlānā Shaykh many times hadn’t said anything special for making karāmāh. They ask for du’ā’, and he asks for the sake of our Prophet ﷺ. This man or woman are coming and believe in Allāh ﷻ. She is asking something she wants. She is sincere. For their sincerity, Allāh ﷻ gives them this. They believe, and come with iʿtiqād. Awliyā’uLlah are beloved for Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, and Allāh ﷻ will accept through them. Therefore, Allāh ﷻ accepts this. Because of the love of these people, Allāh ﷻ accept insha’Allah.
Mawlānā Shaykh has many karāmāt without asking, without saying this and that. Karāmāh is coming by itself. Not saying, “Come, jump from here, there will not be anything for you. Don’t do this, you will be like this and that,” no. Just giving his naṣīḥah, advice, the good thing. If you follow, you take what you want. But it’s not like we are painting a jar; you put it and take it looking different. No. When you ask, you must believe, be sincere and patient. You ask, you wait. When Allāh ﷻ wants, it will be in shā’a Llāh. This is the way of the Naqshbandī ṭarīqah.
Other ṭarīqahs, there is permission for them to make karāmah, many karāmat among people; no problem for them. But for Naqshbandī, as we said, we are not allowed to do karāmah directly. But what happens also is that if anybody wants badness for the Shaykh or a Muslim, he can be beaten by the karāmāh of the Shaykh. There are many, countless karāmāh. Every day, we hear from people. Even when you hear this – Mawlānā Shaykh lived for 92 years, but when you hear his karāmāt, you think he lived for maybe 500 years or more. Everybody tells us the karāmāt and how Mawlānā was speaking to them. But it is impossible to be like this. This is also a karāmāh without appearing. Only to be helpful for believers, for Muslims. And alhamduliLlah, those who follow this [way] spread goodness, spread happiness, spread Islām all around the world. This is also a big karāmāh for them. The biggest karāmāh is to put belief, īmān in people’s hearts. They put nūr, nūr ul-Islām, light of Islām in their hearts. This is the biggest karāmāh.
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam has countless mu’jizat, miracles. But the biggest miracle is Qur’ān. Qur’ān which looks like it’s easy to make like it, but Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, if the whole world, the whole universe was to come, from mankind or jinn or other kinds of creatures, they cannot make one sentence from the Qur’ān. Many people after Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam were coming and claiming they are Prophets. But they made something and people were laughing at them. Because in Saudi Arabia or Hijaz, or this area, they speak Arabic and they are very clever in poems and good speeches. But all of them were astonished with Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n. Even kāfirs, when Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was in Makkah – of course, in that time there was no light, no electricity. They were coming to where Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was, in Dar ul-Arqam, listening to Qur’ān. It was like a magnet pulling them to it and they were becoming very happy. Because they like poems, and they said “This is like one, but we cannot do something like this.” For this, the Qur’ān is also the biggest miracle for Islām; from Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam to all humanity. It is oceans. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla described this: not any pen or ink can be enough to describe what the Qur’ān is saying.
This is a miracle. And the miracles of awliyā’uLlah also is to follow the Qur’ān and to give light through the Qur’ān for people. To take away the bad ways. Those in which many people sell themselves for dunyā. They leave ākhirah. They are selling ākhirah for dunyā. They are claiming they are prophets. They are claiming they are a new thing from Islām. “You don’t know Islām. We must renew Islām. We must make it modern. You must take this ḥadīth. You must take that ayah”, and they are cheating people.
For this, the (most) strong defender for Islām, for Muslimin, and whom Allāh ﷻ defends, are awliyā’uLlah. Awliyā’uLlah, alhamduliLlah, what people don’t know, is that in every time, there is 124,000 awliyā’ in the world. 124,000 Prophets came, and for each Prophet there is one awliyā’ in this world. They are alive. When somebody passes away, another one comes in his place because they have a mission. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “بِهِم تُمْطَرُون، بِهِم تُرْزَقُون ، بِهِم تُنْصَرُون”, “Bihim tumṭarūn, bihim turzaqūn, bihim tunṣarūn.” “Rain falls upon you by their Barakah. Rizq (provision) comes to you by their means. You reach victory by their means.” Prophet ﷺ is saying, by this man of Allāh ﷻ, awliyā’uLlah, Allāh ﷻ sends rain, sends rizq and sends victory also; through them.
For this, it is not empty. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla does not leave earth only for shayṭān and their followers. You are all the time fighting, jihad. They make jihad. Jihad is also to make jihad with your ego. Jihad ul-Nafs, Jihad ul-Akbar (The struggle against the ego is the greatest struggle). This is very important because we now have a very bad war upon us. War without weapons, but worse than weapons. So, we are all in jihad to control our egos, control ourselves to not follow, to not be beaten by these people. You must stand up strongly. Children, young and old people also. We hear stories every day that make you unhappy. Not young ones but old ones, by following their egos, do something that is a shame for everybody to do.
For this, who controls himself is in jihad and is taking the reward of mujahid insha’Allah. First, you must kill your ego; not killing people. Before people; your ego is bigger than others. If you kill your ego, others cannot do anything for you; nothing affects you. This is our war. Not with weapon, but with our strong will. We must make our will strong, not to follow them for even one small minute. Don’t follow your ego at all. Every time, you must be strong and attack your ego. Until dying, saying, “Ok, I heard.” But also, don’t believe it. It can wake up quickly if you turn your back, and jump on you and beat you also. With the barakah of awliyā’ and mashāyikh insha’Allah, with listening to naṣīḥah, you will be ready all the time, not cheated by your ego.
May Allāh ﷻ help us. We are in a really terrible time. Why a terrible time? We have everything. We have cars. We have planes. In old times, people couldn’t travel with planes; they couldn’t afford it. Food, we have many, masha’Allah. Everybody here is oversized. What terrible time? It’s a terrible time because it is very easy to find every ḥarām. To do every ḥarām is so easy. So unbelievably easy. In one second, you can find all ḥarām and you can do them. This is the terrible time, as we said. In old times you cannot find. You cannot find it. You must look and ask. Now there’s no need to ask. Just in one minute, you can find everything. For this, we are saying we are in a terrible time.
May Allāh ﷻ keep us safe from this time, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ save the old, the young and the children, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ save us also, in shā’a Llāh. Don’t think, “We are imam, we are Shaykh, we are this,” we all have this ego. When you are more [higher], you can have a (more) stronger ego. So, for this, be careful and all the time ask Allāh ﷻ to keep us safe, to be with us, to give us victory on our ego in shā’a Llāh. Bi ḥurmati l-Ḥabib, bi ḥurmati sirri Surati l-Fatiḥa.
Alhamdulillah wa syukru lillah, Allah Almighty has gathered us up through the month of Rejab into the month of Sha’ban (Shahrun Nabi ﷺ). A month which the Prophet said most people neglect, between the months of Rejab and Ramadhan. This is a month in which those who are lovers of Mawlid and Salawat, must intensify our remembrance of the Prophet. And we are always thankful to Allah ﷻ for keeping us with our guides and keeping us constantly reminded of the various deeds and worshipping that can be done to fill the time, day by day, as we come to the end of our lives. Tariqah means guidance, to use your life fully in the remembrance of Allah ﷻ and we are always seeking guidance, seeking a way to understand deeper into ourselves.
The one who knows himself, he knows his Lord. And the one who knows his weaknesses, he knows who he really is. The one who is blind to his own weaknesses, will not be able to see that Allah ﷻ is the All-Powerful and we are but an insignificant part of His universe. The significance of a human being is actually only by his association with Rasulullah ﷺ. The Holy Prophet was told by Allah Almighty, “If not for your sake, I would not have created anything.”
Ponder deeply this simple sentence, that everything is created for the sake of honouring Rasulullah ﷺ, and everything is coming from his light. A human being, no matter how rich or powerful or famous, is nothing if he is not existing for the sake of the Prophet.
Maulana Shaykh Nazim called such people sewage, which is a very strong word. It means rubbish. It means things that you throw away. It’s because if a person is not existing for the sake of Rasulullah ﷺ, by carrying the beautiful attributes of the Prophet, then he has not understood the reason why Allah created him.
Allah ﷻ created all of us for the sake of the Holy Prophet and for no other reason. We are not honoured because of us. We are honoured because we were created for his ﷺ sake. One who understands this concept will strive to imitate the Holy Prophet in every aspect of his life. And the Prophet said to us, “قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِي”. To follow him, as Allah has created mankind for his sake, and in doing so, we may find ourselves beloved by Allah, the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful.
This is something so important for us to ponder. People are proud because of their own achievements, fame and wealth. Proud because they are rich or famous or they are big CEOs of a company. But they fail to understand, that something is only of value when it is for the sake of Allah ﷻ and His Rasul ﷺ. Allah Almighty is honoring His whole universe in celebration of Rasulullah ﷺ. Every single thing coming from his life, every single thing coming from what Allah has dressed him with, from his ﷺ beauty Allah gave beauty of creation, Allah Almighty made this whole entire universe as Sollu Alan Nabi, as a Salawat upon Rasullulah ﷺ because we cannot understand the Divine.
The entirety of creation is a Salawat upon Rasulullah ﷺ by Allah Almighty. Allah has sent his Rasul as a divine mirror for us to understand Him. And so, one must understand that our value is only in resemblance to the Prophet. They call this Fanna’ Fi Rasul. To dissolve your own ego and behave exactly as the Prophet would. Through this, you may slowly inherit all the beautiful ways of the Prophet within yourself.
Fanaq means to disappear. In other words, you do not eat the way you eat, you eat the way he eats. You do not sit the way you sit, you sit the way he sits. You do not behave the way you wish to behave with all our badness and ego and boasting and empty talk, but you try to be exactly like the Holy Prophet as much as you can. Then, you may rise day-by-day in value in the eyes of Allah ﷻ.
This is something Shaytan has hidden from the eyes of people today. Modern man seeks honour in wearing fancy clothes and driving fancy cars, collecting from dunya. MashaAllah, they feel as if they have attained some very high level of honour and fame. And they feel so important when they are driving a good expensive car. They feel so honoured collecting from the ways, which are not the ways of the Prophet and collecting from this dunya, which is sewage. Shaytan has decorated us with these useless things, making us feel that they are very, very important. And when someone is dressed in the Sunnah of the Prophet, no one in this dunya attributes any honour to him.
This corruption has affected even the believers of today, who seek honour in trying to be like the unbelievers in everything they do. Allah says, “إِنَّ صَلَاةِ وَنُسُكِ وَمَحْيَا يَوَمَ مَاتِ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ”. Everything that we do, we earn, we strive for, we live, we die, everything is for Allah ﷻ. Allah says, for My sake, that means you must be like My Beloved. I have shown you the example, and for the example of this one who is beloved to Me, I created all of you.
You are people of common sense. If you and I were created for the sake of the Prophet, where would our honour lie? Honour would lie in being like the Holy Prophet, the one who is Beloved to Allah ﷻ. Would honour lie in dressing in a very expensive $5,000 suit, or driving a million dollar car? Or having lots and lots of money in the bank? Or mixing with the high-end people sitting in expensive restaurants and drinking wine and dancing and passing our time listening to music?
So my dear brothers and sisters, wonder about this ayah. It’s very deep, it’s a huge ocean that Allah ﷻ created you for the sake of the Prophet, you must think about this ayah and ponder upon it. InshaAllah, this will open for you the understanding to know that you are here only because of Rasulullah ﷺ, no other reason.
Once you understand that you have been created only for the sake of the Prophet, then you may begin to rid your heart of all these worldy desires. Allah ﷻ would not have created you just because you are handsome or to collect nice things. No, all that is nothing to Allah, you were only created for His Beloved. And if you understand this then you will begin to strive to throw away, to scrape away everything dirty from your heart; you must throw all your bad characteristics, all your badness slowly until you come to a point where you are knowing of your destination.
In fact, it is very easy once you know your destination. A person who knows he’s heading for a destination, it becomes easy for him because he is very clear where he is headed. A person going to Hajj knows he’s going to Hajj, so everything he packs in his bags and every single knowledge he is seeking, he is seeking to perform his Hajj. It becomes very clear.
But today, we are not clear about our destination, our destination being death. It is a very clear destination but again Shaytan has drawn the shutters over our eyes and we become blind and we all feel as if death is very far away, death is a very simple event or death is something that will only happen when we are ready.
We must know that on Nifsu Sha’ban, which we are going to prepare in a few days time, a believer’s life, in fact even the unbelievers, their lives are determined from one Nifsu Sha’ban to the next. Once the kitab comes down on the 15th of Shaban, if on that night it states that a certain person will pass away in the year that is to come, for certain he will pass away. And if it is written this person will live, inshaAllah then he will live for another year.
Our rezeki and all that will happen to us in the coming year is written on this day. And all these things are able to be seen by the angels. And this is why why we see in the stories of people passing away, that the angel will come, Angel of Death will come with the angels who are looking for our water, looking for our food. And the angels come and they will say to you, I’m the angel tasked to look for your food. And I’ve traveled the world and I’ve looked for your food and I couldn’t find it anywhere. And because of that, I must let you know that your time in this dunya is finished.
This is something that struck me when I was on my flight to Istanbul. They were serving the food, and as you know, everything is given on your plate on one small platter on the airplane. And everything bite-sized, small amounts. And I remember they served in a very small container one big prawn covered with olive oil and lettuce.
We had long hours on the flight, so a lot of time was spent in Tafakur and I was looking at this one prawn and MashAllah, it was shown to me that when this prawn was born, my name was written on this prawn already amidst the millions and millions of prawns that were swimming in the sea off the coast of Sri Lanka. My name was written on this prawn. Allah ﷻ protected this prawn from being eaten by any other creature out there in the sea because the rezeki has been terjamin, as they say in Malay. It is promised what has been written for you will reach you.
That’s why the angels are always full of admiration for Allah ﷻ. They say, oh Allah, you know better than us. You know what we do not know. Because as an angel looking at all these billions of prawns and you are looking at the names of the various people who are going to eat this prawn, and sometimes this can be very mind-blowing that this prawn is in Sri Lanka, in the sea. Yet the names of the people are written from all over the world.
Even though this is hundreds of miles away from where I stay, 30,000 feet in the sky on that morning on the way to Istanbul, this prawn had been waiting six months with my name on it before it reached me on my table, on my flight. And beside it, even more amazing, there was an eggplant. And not the whole eggplant, just one slice. So imagine this single eggplant that was growing. The angels would have seen so many names, you know, on one eggplant and my name is there also with a demarcation. This is Abdul Sattar’s portion. Subhanallah. And that portion, again, protected from all the predators, again, harvested from Turkey, and then served on that plane. That precise slice with my name was there beside me. Subhanallah.
So I spent the flight doing a lot of thinking, looking with amazement, the Mercy of Allah Almighty, His kindness to His creation. Allah is writing everybody’s rezeki everyday when you see all these Grab riders zooming all across the island the entire day, every single grain of rice whether it was growing in Vietnam or whether it was growing in China, wherever it was growing in the Philippines, that single grain had your name on it and it will reach you on that day when you ordered from Grab to bring to your house. So amazing.
And it was something very sad for me when I saw the person beside me throwing away her prawn. She didn’t eat it. On a normal day, it would have meant nothing, right? Somebody threw away her prawn. But after you have been deep in thought for half an hour, about how this prawn from small became big and it was harvested and then flown to the airline and then cooked with tender care and then served onto our plate and then this person simply tells the stewardesss “I don’t eat prawns.” and threw it away.
And so this is the danger of mankind today. The ungratefulness in people. Tak bersyukur, not Syukur to Allah ﷻ. Very few people are thankful to Allah, very few people are appreciative.
If you knew that I was sick and then you brought me soup to my house and I threw it away how would you feel, after you spent so much tender loving care with getting the herbs from all over to cook it. That’s what mankind is doing to Allah ﷻ. Allah is sending them food and rezeki from all around the world and they are not grateful for the gift of Allah.
So in this very short nasihat today, be aware of the Mercy of Allah Almighty. How he arranged everything in your life before you were even created. Before I was created, Allah already wrote for me that we are going to have this prawn born in the sea on this day, for the sake of this servant of mine. Allah Almighty wrote for all of us our rezeki 50,000 years before we came to this dunya. If you don’t see his love in those things, you don’t see his tender loving care, his kindness, then how else will you see Allah? How else will you find the Mercy of your Lord? You must see these things and be very, very, thankful. Not just Alhamdulillah on your tongue, but from the bottom of your heart, you must understand.
You must realize how much your life is not as you please, not as you wish to do. Every part of your life is something that has been written so precisely such that every atom, that you will consume or you will drink or you will breathe is something that has already been laid out by Allah ﷻ completely and perfectly until the last second of your life. So be thankful to Allah, as a servant because it is the greatest Sunnah of the Prophet, and we are trying to be like the Prophet.
So practise this in Sha’ban. Say Alhamdulillah not just from your tongue, but from the deepest recesses of your heart. As narrated by Aisha RA, when asked about his ceaseless prayers till his ﷺ feet were swollen, the Holy Prophet responded; Is it not appropriate that I should be a thankful servant to Allah ﷻ?
So be a very thankful servant of Allah ﷻ. Everything that you receive, never take it for granted. Never feel that you got this nasi lemak on your table, because I have money what? I can buy what I want to eat. It’s not that. What has been written will reach you. But His gift, you must receive that. You must thank Him. You must be more and more like the Prophet. Remember, you are created for his honour, right?
So throw away your bad characteristics, inshaAllah, all of us, bit by bit, and try to be like the Holy Prophet. Go back and ponder about the meaning of you being created for the honour of Rasulullah ﷺ. May Allah ﷻ grant us more realisation when it comes to our food, more realisation when it comes to our rezeki and thankfulness in our hearts and make us servants who are constantly thankful to Allah.
We make Dua for each other. May Allah ﷻ grant us all healing, not just healing physically but also from our hearts. Allah heal us of all our illnesses that keep us away from tasting the sweetness of worshipping and from tasting the sweetness of being close to Rasulullah ﷺ. This is a month in which the door of closeness to the Prophet is open and it’s only up to you. As the Prophet said in the Hadith, he who wants to go to Jannah will go to Jannah. Which means that if you want to go, you will enter. It’s only those who don’t want to go, then they will not enter.
Similarly, Mawlana was saying, on these special nights especially, the Door of Mercy is open. Those who want, just ask. Those who don’t ask will not get it. That means if you are humble enough to wake up at night, lift your hands and say, Ya Allah ﷻ, I ask you for your Mercy. Ya Allah, forgive me. Have pity on me. Allah will grant you. Nothing to stop Allah.
He is happy to give. He is happy to grant. He is happy to grant anything that you ask for from himself. Allah Almighty created all His gifts for mankind. But if mankind doesn’t want to ask from Him, then there’s nothing that can be done if we don’t want to ask or humble ourselves and beg from Allah Almighty. So InshaAllah, we ask from Allah Almighty that he grant us this chance in this month to dream of Rasulullah ﷺ, to see Rasulullah, to be with Rasulullah, to do a lot of Salawat upon him.
You can do a bit of maulid in your homes. You can do a lot of Salawat even with or without Wudhu, wherever you are. Constantly be in the remembrance of Allah ﷻ and His Rasul ﷺ.
May Allah ﷻ grant us all healing inshaAllah, and to be given the chance to taste the sweetness of this journey.
Ameen Ya Rabbal Alameen. Bi hurmatil Habib, Bi hurmatil Fatiha.
• Almarhum Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan
24 February 2023/ 4 Shaʻban 1444 AH
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
AlhamduliLlah we are in ṭarīqah which is the heart of sharī’ah. Like anything in our body, it is the same. We cannot say sharī’ah is different and ṭarīqah is different. No. Ṭarīqah is alhamduliLlah the heart. As Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying, Islām, īmān. Īmān means ṭarīqah. Without ṭarīqah, no īmān.
Because ṭarīqah teaches the first thing for human beings, for Muslims. He must be first human being and after that Muslim. They are teaching the first important thing which Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is praising Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam in: ‘وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ’, ‘Wa-innaka la-‘alá khuluqin ‘aẓīm’, ‘And indeed, you are of a great moral character.’ (Qur’ān 68:04). To be good behaved. The perfect, perfect one is Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. And what is the first thing? To be good behaved, which we call “Adab”. Adab is very important. It is important for Muslims. And only in ṭarīqah they are teaching adab. In other ways, maybe you can imagine they have adab. But when something happens, this adab, good behavior, flies, disappears and bad manners come. This is what ṭarīqah is striving for, for people to be the whole time in adab. The most important thing for Muslims is adab. There must be somebody to teach them adab.
AlhamduliLlah, who are following ṭarīqah – there are other people who sometimes have adab, and sometimes don’t have. But when like this, they can be caught by those who want people to be away from ṭarīqah. When you are away from ṭarīqah, you are away from sharī’ah because your īmān: you lost your īmān. And it is difficult to be in the way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam without īmān. Maybe you can be Muslim.
What they say – the worst thing in these people, the worst bad behavior is to not believe in Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam’s shafa’ah (intercession). They say, “We don’t want it. We are praying, we are…” Many of them know the Qur’an by heart. They know ḥadīth. But they don’t have any belief in their heart. This is what we are trying with people: to make them believe in Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam’s shafa’ah, his ﷺ value in the Divine Presence of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.
Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, there are few from Arabs. We have, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, a murīd who is very active. He is giving lectures, giving ṣuḥbah on the internet. More than maybe 500 from those who were against shafa’ah, against Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, became very hard defenders for this, al-ḥamdu liLlāh. Because when somebody is listening with wisdom, he accepts the truth. There’s no way, no way to deny the shafa’ah of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Many times, I cannot believe how these people are saying, “We are Muslim” and are not accepting Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam’s value, not accepting Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam’s shafa’ah.
Without this shafa’ah, how can you enter Paradise? Not 100 years, if you worship a million years, it is nothing; there’s no value for it in the Divine Presence of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This worship – Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla takes what he worshipped, and throws it in his face. “Wait here,” this is a ḥadīth or a [transmitted] saying – the value of any part of your body, one of your eyes’ [deeds] – if you worship the whole 100 years day and night, you cannot compensate only for one eye’s [bad deeds]; what Allāh ﷻ gives you [compared] with your ‘ibadah, with your worshipping.
But with Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, everything is easy. You do and ask shafa’ah, Allāh ﷻ accepts. Everything you do – because we are now; before they were better than us, (more) better. This time, we don’t – I think [starting] from me and everyone, there’s no value for our worshipping. We worship; in ‘Isha, we pray qunut. I forget to pray qunut and make sajdah sahu. This is our ‘ibadah: nothing. How can we be proud and happy we are making ‘ibadah, and we are as such! No.
But we are happy. AlhamduliLlah, we are loving Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. And he ﷺ said, “اَلْمَرْءُ مَعَ مَنْ أَحَبَّ”, “Al-mar’u ma‘a man aḥabb”, “A man will be with whom he loves.” (Hadith). This is good tidings, very good tidings for all people. Don’t make waswas. Many people ask, “How can I have taqwa?” I don’t know, maybe you can make ḥalwa (sweets). AlhamduliLlah to have taqwa, just love Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. It is enough for you. And do what he ﷺ teaches us; it’s enough. Don’t look for other things. The (most) strong thing you put in your ‘ibadah, which is not rejected, is the love of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam, as-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalayhi. This is the most important thing for us.
AlhamduliLlah, Allāh ﷻ made us be in this way. We are lucky because the will of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla can be that we can be as – ḥāshā mina l-ḥuḍūr [expression of respect meaning: saving your presence] – another creature. If we are another creature, it is also ok, but not to be a non-believer, kafir, mushrik and not love Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. We can be, alhamduliLlah. For this we are thanking Allāh ﷻ. He ﷻ put us in this place and we are all coming, gathering for the love of Prophet ﷺ, love of Allāh ﷻ, love of Awliyā’ radiya Allahu anhum, love of Ahlu l-Bayt and love of ṣaḥābah.
This is also very important: we must love what Allāh ﷻ loves and what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam loves. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying about Ahlu l-Bayt; “I left two things after me: Qur’an and Ahlu l-Bayt.” So, Ahlu l-Bayt, you must love them. And after them also, the ṣaḥābah: “أصحابي كالنّجومِ بأيّهم اِقتديتُم اِهتديتُم”, “Aṣḥābī kā n-nujūm bi ayyihim qtadaytum htadaytum”, “My companions are as the stars. Whichever you follow, you will be in Hidayah (guided).” Also, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam praises his ﷺ companions. He ﷺ loves them. He ﷺ said, “Who hates my ṣaḥābah, I hate him. Allāh ﷻ doesn’t like him and curses him.” There are many ḥadīths about this.
So alhamduliLlah, we are, all ṭarīqahs are like this. They are following Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. We love what he ﷺ loves, and we don’t love what he ﷺ doesn’t love. This is our way. Who follows this way will not be cheated. Because many shaytan people from this side, from that side, from that side, are trying to put fitnah between Muslims to be against Ahlu l-Bayt and against ṣaḥābah. This is not our way. We don’t want this way. Because Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam was saying about this, but he ﷺ said fitnah will be and come and go, and we are far away from those days. We can only look at ourselves: to be good people, sāliḥ (righteous) people, not to make fitnah between Muslims.
Muslims are kept with Awliyā’uLlah, with ṭarīqah in the right way. 41 ṭarīqahs are all connecting to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam through Mashāyikh, through Ṣaḥābah, through Ahlu l-Bayt, through Khulafā’u r-Rāshidīn. All ṭarīqah are in a strong, clear, lightened way. Exactly as what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying: in the end of times, there will be more division between Muslims. It will be 73 parts and only one will be safe. All 72 in fire, hell. And only one in Jannah. And they said, “Who are those?” Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said, “The (most) biggest crowd which is Ahlu as-Sunnah wa l-Jama’ah and especially ṭarīqah.” Ṭarīqah people are not going out of the way, the way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
There is light, nūr with this ṭarīqah until Jannah, in shā’a Llāh. And it is not cutting. Al-ḥamdu liLlāh, coming one after one. When the time comes, Allāh ﷻ puts special good people to continue the way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. So, when some mashāyikh are going, many people are confused: “What can we do? What will happen?” But this is – My brother, Shaykh Baha’uddin was asking Mawlānā Shaykh who was very ill at that time. He was very sad and asking Mawlānā, “What will happen?”
He said, “Don’t worry. They appointed me until here. From here, the way is still going; not cutting.” One after one after one until Qiyamah, in shā’a Llāh. It will continue. No fear. Not any sadness. Because we are believers, we are not sad if we pass away or if another one passes away. We know they are going to the Divine Presence of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla and to mashāyikh where they are waiting for them. There isn’t any fear. And people must follow the way of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This is very important.
AlhamduliLlah, we are happy with you, masha’Allah, all of you, praising. I am ashamed to be here. I never want to be in this position, but it is obligatory for us to be here. Insha’Allah, Allāh ﷻ bless you. Allāh ﷻ give you more light, more īmān, more love for Allāh ﷻ and for Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. This is our wish. We wish for goodness. Ṭarīqah people don’t have envy, they don’t have ḥasad, they don’t enmity for anybody. We are seeing all creatures, all people as creatures of Allāh ﷻ and in shā’a Llāh we ask for hidayah for them and goodness for people, for all creatures. The best wish for human beings, what we wish is to have īmān. The best and biggest treasure is this. Nothing is bigger than the treasure of īmān. Allāh Azza wa Jalla is saying, they wish on the Day of Resurrection that if all of this world is for them, they will give it all. Not only Manchester or England or London. They can give the whole world without a blink of an eye, just to be safe; but it’s finished. They cannot be.
For this, we say īmān is the most precious thing Allāh ﷻ has given us. We wish for others also to have this īmān. Because in our heart, we know Allāh ﷻ is Generous and His ﷻ Jannah is enough for a hundred thousand times of these people to be inside, and still there is a place for more people. Maybe those who don’t believe in shafa’ah are afraid if more people come to Jannah, there will be no place for them. Jannah not like this. Jannah is different. But every time we speak about this place. They say, “It was empty. It was not a place; it was a field. Now it is full of houses, no field, nothing. There is no place. People are coming and finishing the river, the jungle, the wood. They will finish them all. There will be no place for us.” Every time, people are not happy with this. But in Jannah, there’s no problem as this. Allāh ﷻ made the Jannah big. You cannot imagine how big it is.
For this, we are not envious, not afraid. “If the whole world became Muslim, there will be no place for you.” No, there will be a place. As we said, there will be a place maybe a million times like this dunyā. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s Mightiness: no one can imagine anything about it. There is no comparison but today, I was saying one ḥadīth that we cannot remember very well. When we say some ḥadīth, we cannot remember. But there are people who are studying ḥadīth. A ḥadīth like: “إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ”, “Innama l-‘aa’malu bin-niyyat”, “Actions are but by intentions”. They say: coming from this to that, to that…; counting. This is ḥadīth musnad. Reaching to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, [mentioning] who transmitted it. They mention them until Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. This is one ḥadīth. But there are ʻulamā’ who mention [the transmitters of] not only one ḥadīth, but maybe a thousand, maybe two thousand, five thousand, six thousand ḥadīths. They know them and can say the names one by one, name after name after name after name until Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. So, this is what we think of. Even this, you cannot imagine. So how can you compare what Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s mightiness is in all of this universe, beyond the universe, here, hereafter, everywhere!
So, we are happy to be in way of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Not like the crazy people. They are worshipping idol, worshipping wood. I don’t know what they are worshipping and they think themselves that they are clever. It is impossible to think about something like this being your Creator, your Lord. Ḥāshā (far from it). May Allāh ﷻ give hidāyah for them also, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ fill our hearts with His ﷻ love, love of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, and wisdom from His ﷻ wisdom, in shā’a Llāh.
We are thanking you. We are coming here. In shā’a Llāh this is from the barakāt of Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim, barakāt of our mashāyikh. There was in Damascus – we were small when I went to madrasah. But there were huge ulamā’, awliyā’ whom we took lessons from. And Mawlānā Shaykh was saying, they are very taqwa people, ulamā’ taqwa in Damascus. And they were real taqwa ulamā’. And they were not taking money. Now everywhere, when you go to school, they take money. That time, they were not taking money. They were even giving salary also every month for us. But they said, what we only want from you: we don’t want anything just spread this. This is an ‘amanah (trust) for you. Spread it for people. Al-ḥamdu liLlāh. In shā’a Llāh, we make a little bit of their wasiyyah (will). May Allāh ﷻ bless them. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. In shā’a Llāh we will be with them in Jannah, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Ṭarīqah is ordering to be together. This is an order for Muslims, for good people to be together because in Ākhirah they will also be together. Which in Qur’ān Aẓīmu sh-Shān He ﷻ is saying, one in Jannah with his friends, in Jannah also.
People will be together; those who love each other. And he was wondering, “There was one, my friend in dunyā. He was saying, ‘Do you believe that after, when you die becoming earth, dust, you will be [resurrected] again, you will come to life again?’ I wonder where he is!” And in Jannah you can also see.
Allāh ﷻ makes that when somebody asks something like this, He ﷻ shows him that he is in hell, in between fire. And he will look at him saying, “You nearly made me with you!” When he was in dunyā, he was all the time saying to him, “You cannot believe this. This is not true; this is not so. I don’t believe. I am going my way. I am enjoying myself in dunyā. After this, I will be dust and it’s impossible to be a human being again like this.” And he was proud. He said, “You could’ve cheated me. You could’ve made me like you. You are now suffering in hell.”
This is what dunyā people do, when you are with them too much, sometimes they make doubt in your heart. For this, you must be away from people who are too much against Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, against Prophet ṣalláLlāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Be with good people.
For this, we are saying, “Ṭarīqatunā ṣ-ṣuḥbah wa-l-khayru fi l-jam’iyyah.” Jam’iyyah means to be together, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ make our jam’iyyah, our gathering all-time, in shā’a Llāh, forever, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. May Allāh ﷻ give you long life, in shā’a Llāh; with īmān, Islām, and happiness, you and your family also, in shā’a Llāh. This is very important, al-ḥamdu liLlāh. May Allāh ﷻ give this ni’mah for us and give it for others also in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Allāh ﷻ y-zidkum ‘izzan wa sharafan. (May Allāh ﷻ increase you in glory and honor.) Masha’Allah.
May Allāh ﷻ help Muslims, help us insha’Allah. Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying, Muslims in end of times will be many. Lots of Muslim will be around countries, cities. But what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying is that there’s no value for them, only like the bubbles of foam, he ﷺ said. Bubbles [foam] of water. When the tide from the sea is coming, it makes bubbles and is quickly going; no any effect. This is what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, with his ﷺ miracle, is saying about this time.
Our time is a difficult time. Why? Because they are not following and not respecting Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. They know, mā shā’a Llāh. There are ʻulamā’. They know everything. But shayṭān does not let them accept Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and his ﷺ barakah. Still, with his ﷺ barakah, with his ﷺ madad, all these Muslims are still there. Without him ﷺ, they will finish. Because when you don’t have love for Prophet ﷺ and respect for Prophet ﷺ, your īmān is under zero; not zero, under zero.
This is what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam described about this time, the end of times. He ﷺ said, Muslims – we have, I don’t know, 2 billion or more or less. We have at least around 2 billion Muslims. But small countries, from any European country, are more effective than all these billions of Muslims. Maybe 4-5 million countries are non-Muslim, they are more effective for the world than Muslims.
This is because they don’t have īmān. They are Muslim but no īmān. Īmān is important for Muslims, and without respect and love of Prophet ﷺ, there is no īmān. Because they are not accepting what Allāh ﷻ gave him ﷺ from being the highest creature. Among the whole creation of Allāh ﷻ, the highest one is our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. But they say, “No. He’s a man like us. We are men, he’s a man. He died.”
These people have no respect, no good behavior, no adab. And this is going through everywhere, especially in places which are outside of the Muslim countries; like Europe or other places. They are even affecting Muslim countries also. They cheat them. This is the way of shayṭān. He is not happy to not be obeyed and to be following Islām; he is not happy. But he found a trick to finish īmān, belief, to make it under zero.
This is important for our life. Our life – in Qur’an it is said, ‘قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (162) لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ’, ‘Qul ‘Inna Şalātī Wa Nusukī Wa Maĥyāya Wa Mamātī Lillāh Rabbi Al-`Ālamīna (162) Lā Sharīka Lahu’, ‘Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. (162) No partner has He.’ (Qur’an 06:162-163). Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm. Our life and our death are for Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.
This is what we are ordered; not for dunya, not for pleasure. We can have pleasure, of course. There is pleasure allowed with Islām, with what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam had done; we follow him ﷺ. Everything from what’s ḥalāl – Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam is happy for you to do this ḥalāl. Don’t prevent yourself.
There were three ṣaḥābah. They came to Masjid an-Nabawī. One of them said, “I will not sleep at night time. The whole night, I will worship.” The other one said, “I will never get married. I will only work for Islām.” The third one said, “I will fast the whole time without breaking the fast.” They were saying this. And when Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam heard this, he said, “I am sleeping and waking up. I am fasting and breaking my fast also. And I am married. It is my sunnah to marry. I am also married. No need to make this.”
So, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was not happy to make it difficult for people. But it is more important to follow him ﷺ, to not make something that’s ḥalāl as ḥarām. It is forbidden. It is ḥarām to make the ḥalāl ḥarām and the ḥarām ḥalāl. This is forbidden. The most important thing in this story, what they are not knowing and not noticing is: to follow the sunnah of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. To love what he ﷺ loves, and to hate what he ﷺ hates; no other thing.
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam loves people, especially youngsters. When you hear about the ṣaḥābah, you think this man is maybe 60 years old or at least 40 years old. But all the commanders who were with Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, fighting with him ﷺ, were between 16 or some of them 14 and until 18. They were going with a huge army and they won. This is important, that Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is giving love for youngsters.
And with his ﷺ miracle, he knew that these people will spread his ﷺ sunnah and his ﷺ way, way of Islām. And especially to make these youngsters remember Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam until they get old, to transmit from one to other what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam has done, who he ﷺ is, what he ﷺ likes, what he ﷺ didn’t like, how he ﷺ makes everything; everything. Not any Prophet you can see about.
Maybe you can hear some about Sayyidinā ‘Isa, Sayyidinā Musa or others; a little bit of what they had done, how they were doing. But our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam: every movement, everything from every minute is registered with the ṣaḥābah. Because they were also very clever people. Especially with the du’ā’s of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
Sayyidinā Daḥyā al-Kalbī was also young. He was maybe 17 years old when Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam ordered him, “You must learn Hebrew.” Hebrew is not easy to learn. In 15 days, he was speaking like them, like the Jewish people and writing also. This is how those people were. And Allāh ﷻ can give you, if you are following Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, [power] that you can do everything.
But these days, they make our youngsters and old people also, all of them, only on this small machine, from night to Fajr, not sleeping. They are looking at this. After that, maybe sleeping at four until night. Waking up and eating hamburger or something, to become fat and fat and fat. Not eating curry, not eating rice. When we were in madrasah, our mashāyikh used to say, “When you eat too much, you become not understanding too much.” “البطنة تُذهِبُ الْفِطنَة”, meaning to make your stomach big, your cleverness goes away from you.
AlhamduliLlah for this, it is very important for our youngsters to control [their ego], and obey their family. My children were also doing the same. I was forcing them only half an hour, not a day but a week [on the phone]. They were waiting for this half an hour, or one hour. But others now, they give this for children, even one-year-old children, two-year or three-year old. After that, they say, “Oh, my son became autistic.”
This is coming from this [machine], not coming from air. You find easiness. After easiness, difficultly. If you find difficultly, after it comes easiness. This is the rule Allāh ﷻ put and mentioned in Qur’an, “فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ﴿5﴾ إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ﴿6﴾”, ‘Fa-inna ma‘a l-‘usri yusra (5) Inna ma‘a l-‘usri yusra (6)’, ‘For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease (5) Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease (6).’ (Qur’ān 94:05-06). Twice. Meaning after the difficult comes the easy. A second time also to be sure: also, after the difficult, easiness; ease is coming.
For this, people now are only thinking of enjoying themselves, not thinking [of anything else]. But they have many old stories also about this summer cricket. He is all summer singing, and in the winter he dies. But the ant is working the whole time. And in the winter, what it gathered can suffice for many winters. This is from old times. They were saying this good advice for people. But people are running away from work. They are running from job, and they think it is a win for them.
In old times, even in the time of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, on Friday there was no holiday at all. Seven days: you work as much as you can. If you like to work, you can work. But only half an hour or one hour, it is forbidden. When is it? Juma’ time. When it is time for Juma’ prayer, you must go pray and then come continue work. Because you know, Muslim countries, on Friday they have holiday. They close everything. But now, there are many different countries that close only on Sunday or Saturday. But normally, Allāh ﷻ made people such as they can work as much as they like. But now they are making people work less and run after their desires, running after shayṭān.
Mawlānā Shaykh was saying, shayṭān comes to those who have nothing to do. If you are busy, you cannot find time to make soḥbah (acquaintance) with shayṭān. But when you are not doing anything, you will find something to enjoy yourself, and shayṭān catches you that time. For this, you must help people or not leave yourself without doing anything. At least, read Qur’an, read a book, go walk, come, help people. Don’t stay without doing anything; especially for youngsters also. They must be hard-working, looking after their parents, helping their parents, helping people, learning something, not only studying.
Study – everybody studies, there’s no benefit. But if you find something you are happy with, it will be good for you, for your community and for your family, and Allāh ﷻ will be happy with you. Without this, you’ll be the whole day only looking at this trap of shayṭān [phone]. We hear many bad stories also; not only playing [on it]. People are doing – they spoil them, they make them to be with no brain, so they can do anything for themselves or for others with this. And now coming a more dangerous thing. They want to control humanity and to make them as a slave for themselves. Normally, who does this is a slave for himself, for his ego. Because he is not leaving this bad thing from his hand and he is destroying himself and destroying families.
Allāh ﷻ knows better. But alhamduliLlah we are Muslim. We know that after this, after darkness there will be light. Somebody will help us. Because there are many kinds of Awliyā’uLlah, many kinds of men of Allāh ﷻ. Some are not interfering with anything. If they see that you are burning, you are falling down, people torturing you, other things, they do not care. Why? Because they are saying, “This is Allāh’s ﷻ will.” They are not even moving their finger. There is this kind and there is another kind who are helping. But these people are also waiting for the order. And the order is, in shā’a Llāh, coming with Sayyidinā Al-Mahdī ‘alayhi s-salām. Without this, nobody, no hope for the world. With Mahdi alayhi s-salam, in shā’a Llāh, he will save the world.
Now is a very dangerous time, but it is also a time for trading. Allāh ﷻ gives you a thousand times more than the normal time. Because you are obeying and doing what He ﷻ wants. For this, we are saying, for youngsters especially, to be in this way because they are more acceptable when worshipping in the Divine Presence of Allāh ﷻ. This what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam told us. May Allāh ﷻ help them. May Allāh ﷻ keep them safe. Here and everywhere in the world, they are the same. Muslim or non-Muslim countries, all have now became the same; no difference.
For this, we are asking, praying for Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla to keep our children, youngsters, safe from badness, from shayṭān and his followers. Really, we are sorry for them because in our time we cannot find such a chance to do what they can do in this time. They have very, very much easiness for them to do [badness]. So, when they are away from this, Allāh ﷻ rewards them a thousand times more than our time. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. May Allāh ﷻ, in shā’a Llāh, make us meet Sayyidinā Al-Mahdī an-Qarību z-Zamān (soon), in sha’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“There are two statements that are light for the tongue to remember, heavy in the Scales and are dear to the Merciful: Subḥāna Llāh wa biḥamdī, Subḥāna Llāh l-Adhīm, astaghfiru Llāh
[Glory be to Allah and His is the praise, (and) Allah, the Greatest is free from imperfection. I seek forgiveness from Allah].”
This is what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying, but people are thinking differently. From Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s generosity, He ﷻ is giving to all human beings. He ﷻ asks them to come to His ﷻ house of peace, Daru s-Salam.
These two words, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam is saying, are light on your tongue. You say, “Subḥāna Llāh wa biḥamdīhi, Subḥāna Llāh l-Adhīm, astaghfiru Llāh.” Very light. But it is very heavy on the scale on the Day of Judgment. This scale which weighs the good and bad. This makes your scale on the good side, very heavy. Very heavy.
You will be rewarded and you will be safe from the wait in this place which is very difficult. Here, people cannot wait one day, two days, or even one hour. There, they will wait for years, maybe hundred years, maybe thousand years; they will wait there. But who is making in dunyā what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying – it is very easy now to say this – on the Day of Resurrection, you will not wait at all. You will be directly going, in shā’a Llāh, to Jannah. This is our belief.
So don’t be cheated by people who don’t accept ḥadīth, and don’t accept Qur’ān. Follow what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying. He is always a Bashīr (gives good tidings) for us, in shā’a Llāh, and Nadhīr (warner) for bad people. Nadhīr means warning them, “Don’t do this, come to peace, come to Jannah, to Paradise.”
This is what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying. And it is very easy to save yourself from waiting for years, hundred years, thousand years. Only follow Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and be safe, in shā’a Llāh. In dunyā also, you will be safe. In ākhirah, the most important is not to – al-ḥamdu liLlāh, when you are following ṭarīqah, mashāyikh, you will be safe. But to be (more) quicker to Paradise, in shā’a Llāh, make what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam advised us. It is not difficult. May Allāh ﷻ help us. May Allāh ﷻ make us not to wait; directly to Jannah, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
This is our way. AlhamduliLlah, Allāh ﷻ is gathering us for His ﷻ love, for the love of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. This is very important for human beings. They are asking “Why?” Many people don’t know why Allāh ﷻ created them. And many of them even don’t believe in the Creator. They thought they are clever, and that as much as they deny, they become more clever and more popular between people. And shayṭān encourages them to do this. Many times, we are or some people who are believers are asking themselves, “How can someone be like this: not afraid from Allāh ﷻ, not ashamed from people, to do something like this?” Anyone Allāh ﷻ gave mind to, thinks to know the truth.
What Sayyidina Ibrahim ‘alayhi s-salam said, when Allāh ﷻ first showed him; he saw a star, he said, “This is my Lord, I will worship him.” But after it disappeared. The moon came. It was a full moon. It was nice. And he also said, “I must worship this.” After that, it disappeared. The sun came. It’s bright and very big. Everywhere was lightened, all light. And he said, “This is my Lord.” But after, when the evening came, it also disappeared. He said “This cannot be the Creator. It cannot be a Lord for me.” Even without anything, Sayyidina Ibrahim ‘alayhi s-salam knew this.
Now, people have everything. If they just think a good thinking, they will accept and they will follow. But how are they cheated? I don’t know. They are not accepting. They are fighting against Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, fighting against believers, fighting against humans and humanity. These people cannot be clever. But now is a time when – Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “يَجْعَلُ الحَلِيمَ حَيْرَاْنًا”, “It makes the forbearing one confused.” It makes the good people, the peaceful people to be astonished. How can people be like this! Like the lowest thing, lower than animal even, lower than everything. How can this be? There’s a saying, “How do you know others? From yourself.” If you cannot do this, you think other people cannot do it. But when they are doing this, you are astonished.
For this, we are asking people not to tolerate or pardon what you see from bad things; don’t accept. Even if you cannot change, but don’t say, “Okay.” Because this is what happened since – I realized this. This was beginning even for 40 years. Of course, what is happening now, what we are seeing from bad things has been there for more than 100 years. But it has appeared the most for the last 40 years. Beginning with small, small, small, small; and after that, they control everything. They are forcing people. Before, they weren’t forcing. Now, they are forcing people to be like them.
For this, we must – as Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was saying, if you see something bad, you must change it. If you cannot change, say, “This is not good.” If you can’t even say it, say it by your heart. This is also a miracle of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Because when they saw some bad thing in old times, they can change it. Nobody can keep a bad thing. People got angry and they changed it. They were not brave to do what they are doing these days. Even if not changing, but saying. But now, if you say something like this for these people, they will sue you and they will even make a problem for you. At least, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying, don’t accept this. In your heart, don’t accept. When you see something say, “I am not accepting this. This is not good for anybody. This is bad for everybody.” This is what we must say to not be used to it, [saying] “Okay.” After okay, coming worse and worse and worse.
For this, you must obey Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, what he ﷺ is saying about this situation. They only want to destroy humanity, destroy good people. They don’t want anyone from good people to be in the way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. The biggest enemy for them is Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, because Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is the biggest defender for humanity, the best example for humanity. They are following this and that. They said, “This one is from 2,000 years. This one is from 5,000 years. These people have wisdom.” They don’t have anything. People only take what they like and leave what they don’t like.
In our time, the only chance for humanity to follow Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, and to save themselves. But of course, we are living in the end of times, what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam told us by miracle also about this: It is impossible for people to follow Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Only by miracle, when Sayyidina Al-Mahdi ‘alayhi s-salam comes. And he will be leading people to happiness, to justice, to all good things. And he will remove what is against humanity, against good people.
Because bad people cannot be with justice. They don’t like justice. They only like what they want. They force people to follow them. Slowly, slowly they are controlling. But it is with shayṭān, and shayṭān: “إِنَّ كَيْدَ الشَّيْطَانِ كَانَ ضَعِيفًا”, ‘Inna kayda l-shayṭāni kana dha‘īfā’, ‘Indeed, the plot of Satan has ever been weak.’ (Qur’ān 04:76). The shayṭān is weak. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is Strong. And when the time is coming, He ﷻ will make change, in shā’a Llāh.
And we are with Mawlana Shaykh. His good tidings for us, he said that: time is not so far. It will be a good time after this bad time. After darkness, coming light. After night, coming day, sun; everywhere will be clear. In shā’a Llāh, we reach this time. We are happy with this good tidings. We must (Bashshirū – give good tidings.) Bashshirū, Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying. Bashshirū, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying. Bashshirū Awliyā’u Llāh are saying. They have good thoughts for people, for Islām, in shā’a Llāh. Don’t be sad. Don’t be afraid.
Many people say, “We have darkness in our inside. We are hopeless. We have stress. We have something.” Between Muslims also they have this. It is forbidden for Muslims to say this, because the order of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, “لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ”, ‘Lā Taqnatū Min Raĥmati Allāhi’, ‘Do not despair of the mercy of Allah.’ (Qur’ān 39:53). Don’t be hopeless from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s mercy. This is an order, the order of Allāh ﷻ. You are not living in paradise. We are living in this world. This world is the place of tests. It is a place for testing people. You are not in a holiday village, where you will find everything. You are in a test. And people only – the system, 100 years after the Khilafah (Caliphate) finished, are controlling everywhere and making every person think about himself only, not thinking about others at all.
The best example for this is, one month or two months ago, in Syria. You see these people who were in prison, some of them, Allāh ﷻ saved them. But he maybe liked to die before saving him, because he’s been for 40 years in jail. Can you imagine? And not a jail like England’s: they put everybody in [a room], they have library, they have television. They even don’t have a toilet. Every day, they beat them, they torture them. We know many of our friends from Damascus, maybe more than a hundred did not make it out of prison. Only some, Allāh ﷻ gave them life. Because everyone has a life and it must be finished. For some of them it finished from the first day of going to this prison; they kill him and throw him. Or sometimes, a hundred people come in, and one of them is still alive. Other hundred comes, and again they kill them all with torturing. And again.
You must think about these people: how they were living, how much difficulty they had. Don’t think only of you. You must be thankful for Allāh ﷻ. You are in a good place, going, coming, everything, but you say, “I am depressed. I am not happy.” This is not good. You must be thankful for each breath you have. This is what they have been doing for a hundred years, making people think as such. Because after that, there was no Khalifah also. Allāh ﷻ is not happy with Muslims, because they don’t put a Khalifah. For this, this was coming on them. And they are not thinking that this is the will of Allāh ﷻ. If you think that this is the will of Allāh ﷻ, you will be rewarded for every difficulty you have. You will be rewarded for this; not coming without reward. But if you are not accepting and so you will not be rewarded and you will be more depressed. May Allāh ﷻ save us from this thinking of shayṭān. They are pumping, pumping, pumping this for Muslims; especially for Muslim people. And they are making trouble for them.
This is what happened at the end of the Ottoman Caliphate, the Islamic Caliphate. They took people from Turkey. The Sultan sent them to learn to make machinery, to make something good for the Ottoman Empire. So, they went and these Europeans, masha’Allah, took them and gave them women, gave them drugs, gave them alcohol, and they came back to Turkey. They began to write bad newspapers, teaching people to make bad things, saying, “Look at Europe, how they are happy, how they are…” So, for this, they destroy. And with this idea, destroying also the happiness of people. Allāh ﷻ will finish this. There is time for everything and the time for this is, in shā’a Llāh, not far; to save people, to finish this shayṭān time, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“A-lā bi-dhikri llāhi taṭmainnu l-qulūb”, “Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm. Meaning, the heart is only satisfied with mentioning Allāh ﷻ, putting Allāh ﷻ in your heart, and not knowing anything else. This makes you satisfied and not worry about anything else.
Allāh ﷻ, He ﷻ is One. No partner for Him ﷻ. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla does not like partner. And it is from His ﷻ attributes. It is impossible to have partner for Allāh Azza wa Jalla.
For this, we must put Allāh Azza wa Jalla in our heart. That which Allāh Azza wa Jalla is saying about: no skies, no earth, not anywhere [encompasses Him ﷻ] – because there is no place for Allāh ﷻ. He ﷻ said, “I can only be in my believer, mu’min’s heart; not any place else.”
For this, you must not put anything in your heart. Only the love of Allāh ﷻ. With the love of Allāh ﷻ, you will be happy in your heart. Don’t put dunyā. Don’t put money. Don’t put woman. Don’t put anything; only Allāh Azza wa Jalla. “حُبُّ فِي اللَّهِ وَبُغْضٌ فِي اللَّهِ”, “Ḥubbun fi Llāh wa Bughdhun fi Llāh”, “Love for Allāh ﷻ and hate for Allāh ﷻ.” Love for Allāh ﷻ. What Allāh ﷻ loves, you love this in your heart. But when you put others, you will be your whole life miserable, not happy, unhappy.
This is a small word [advice] but it is enough for the happiness of humanity. Because they put in their hearts everything except Allāh Azza wa Jalla. They put money, they put woman, they put very bad things in their heart, but no place for Allāh ﷻ in their heart. For this, they are unhappy. They are miserable. May Allāh ﷻ open our hearts only for Him ﷻ, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
AlhamduliLlah, we thank Allāh ﷻ that we meet again after one year. AlhamduliLlah, Allāh ﷻ gave us life. AlhamduliLlah, we are here. AlhamduliLlah, you are also in the way of Allāh ﷻ, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. This is the biggest luck, ni’mah for us, for mu’min, for believer, for human beings: that Allāh ﷻ gave him life to continue the same, straight on this way, way of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.
Because billions of people are following their way, their egos’ way, their devils’ way, the bad way. Allāh ﷻ, in this end of times, made everything more easy for people to do good, or to do bad. So, many people are not looking for the good thing, but only looking for the bad thing.
For this, we must every day – if you are in this way, you must thank Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. He ﷻ keeps us in this way, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, way of Awliyā’uLlah, way of mashāyikh. And gives you power to win on your ego, to wake up for Fajr. If you can go to the mosque, it will be better. If not, then at least pray Fajr on time. And to pray all prayers on time is sometimes difficult in some countries; even in Muslim countries there is difficulty also to pray on time for many people. But if Allāh ﷻ wills, you must try to not leave it to another time. This is a ni’mah, we are thanking Allāh ﷻ for this.
May Allāh ﷻ keep you and us in the way, and not make us feel tired or feel “We can do this later;” no. In shā’a Llāh, to do exactly what He ﷻ wants, to make us on our way, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. And his ﷺ love; not only worshipping. The most important thing also is to worship and to know that Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is happy with you, and you will be happy with him ﷺ, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. In shā’a Llāh, Allāh ﷻ make us to meet with Sayyidinā Mahdī soon, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allāhi t-Tawfīq.
‘Qul ‘Inna Şalātī Wa Nusukī Wa Maĥyāya Wa Mamātī Lillāh Rabbi Al-`Ālamīna (162) Lā Sharīka Lahu wa bi-dhalika Umirt wa ana awwalu l-Muslimin’, ‘Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. (162) No partner has He. And this I have been commanded, and I am the first [among you] of the Muslims.’ Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
This Ayah Karimah informs people what they should do. Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says: “My everything, my prayers, my supplications, all kinds of things are for the sake of Allāh ﷻ, for the pleasure of Allāh ﷻ. There is no partner with Him ﷻ.” This is what people must know.
There are some people who ask, “Why did Allāh ﷻ create us?” He ﷻ created us for that reason. Everything must be for the sake of Allāh ﷻ so that Allāh ﷻ will be pleased with you, He ﷻ will put you in Paradise and grant you ranks. Otherwise, those who live their lives for play and entertainment will not be able to have fun in the hereafter, even if they have fun in this world.
Therefore, the way of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is the Haqq/right way. It is the way of salvation. The way of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is the way of every goodness. One must know this and believe in this. Otherwise, a person lives in vain. He wastes his life in vain. And he will regret it in the hereafter. The one who is on this way should remember Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla in everything, every second, every minute, and intend to be as He ﷻ wants. Otherwise, our deeds will not be of use. Nothing, no other way, other than this way, will be useful. It will not benefit. It will harm and not benefit.
Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has put this way in front of people’s eyes, but people leave it and go to useless ways. May Allāh ﷻ protect us. Insha’Allah may everything we do, eat, drink, walk, go, come and everything be for the pleasure of Allāh ﷻ insha’Allah. May Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla accept it. May He ﷻ not separate us from the right way. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“He will say, ‘Oh, I wish I had sent ahead [some good] for my life’.” Sadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Mankind says, “If only I valued my life. If only my life didn’t go in vain.” When do they say this? When a person is dying, Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla shows him everything he did. So he says, “If only I didn’t waste this life.”
This life must be for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. When so, life has value. Otherwise, people live in vain. They don’t attain anything and pass away with a load of sins on top of that. What is life? The value of life is in being on the way of Allah ﷻ. Who is on the way of Allah ﷻ wins his life. The rest – People of the present time say nonsense things most of the time. They don’t do anything right. They say “We come to this life only once. We should have fun and entertain ourselves. It shouldn’t pass in vain.” When someone dies, they say “Let him die. Life is short. We should spend our life having fun.” They think they attain something. But in the end, they realize they have wasted their lives. There is saying they have which is not good but right. They say someone loses his life in the end. His life is over then, indeed. Life is given only once and he loses it. He has wasted it for nothing and passes away to the other side with many sins. He regrets it there and says “If only I didn’t do so”. It’s too late for his regret then.
Life is the life of those who are on the way of Allah ﷻ. Otherwise, it is not a life. It is nothing. Whenever the life of a person on the way of Allah ﷻ starts, it is a life then. It is the same when someone joins Tariqah. There is ascension in Tariqah and going higher. The more he fights his ego and doesn’t obey his ego, the earlier his life starts. And there is life when he worships, of course. But it is more different when the person overcomes his ego.
Someone had come to one of the holy Mashayikh. He asked, “How old are your Murids?” He said, “My Murids are in the grave.” They went to look. One was written 6 months on the gravestone, one was written 1 year old, another one 2 years old, another one 5 years old. The oldest one was 10 years old. “Were all your Murids children and infants?” He said, “No. It is their ages when they overcame their egos. Otherwise, all of them were of 50, 60, 70, 80 years old. But they could overcome their egos for only this time. So it is counted as such in the life of Tariqah.” In the presence of Allah ﷻ, of course it is accepted for those who are on the way of Allah ﷻ. But these ranks are higher. Because joining Tariqah means killing your ego, overcoming your ego. Only then they enter the age of men – Rijal. So the time they lived as such was written on their gravestones.
Life is not something to lose. It is something to win. There are many people who have lost their lives. Who lose their lives; as we said, sometimes people say the truth unknowingly. They don’t want to say the right, they want to say the wrong. But they say “He lost his life” without knowing. May Allah ﷻ not make us from those who lose their lives. May He ﷻ make us from those who win their lives insha’Allah. May our lives not go in vain. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying that Muslims are like one body. If the body of a person has pain in one part, all parts of the body become restless, they feel that pain, says our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Muslims are the same. Even though they are in different places and different countries, they get upset when something sad happens. And they get happy when there is joy.
Shukr to Allah ﷻ, Muslims are a bit better these days. All Muslims are happy as they are saved from oppression in some places. Because there was big hardship and big oppression. As they are saved from that, all Muslims are happy. As we said, Muslims are not like others. Non-Muslims say “We got rid of him. Good for him,” when something happens somewhere. No matter where Muslims are, all of them get happy when there is relief. And they get upset when there is oppression.
This is a big sign and proof given by Muslims to people that shows that Islam is the true religion. The rest are false or broken religions. When something bad happens to humanity, they think it is profitable for them and get happy; whereas it is badness to all humanity, not only Muslims, when there is badness to one person. And Islam is the opposite of it. It wishes compassion and goodness to everyone.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla gave this religion to humanity so that people are in comfort here and hereafter. But shaytan doesn’t want it. Shaytan – ‘إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَن يُوقِعَ بَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ’, ‘Innamā Yurīdu sh-Shaytānu ‘an Yūqi’a Baynakumu l-Adāwata wa l-Baghda’a’, ‘Shaytan only wants to cause between you enmity and hatred.’ (Qur’ān 05:91). He wants to spread animosity, revenge and badness. Who are on his way do those things. And who are on the way of Allah ﷻ spread goodness.
They cheat people by saying “Why did Islam spread with sword and war?” People fought to get rid of badness, not to do badness. Muslims fought in order to be saved from people who do badness, to spread justice and beauty with the order of Allāh ﷻ and our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. The Islam he ﷺ spread became light and goodness to people. It turned into all kinds of beauty to people. We must know this. We must make Shukr to Allah ﷻ for creating us upon this beautiful religion. Thousands and millions of Shukr to Allah ﷻ. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Sultan ul Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Al-Haqqani An-Naqshibandi (QS), Sohbat – 2004
Last Friday (Thursday night) of Shaban Mu’azzam. There are many tajallis (manifestations) on this night. It came down heavily on me. I kept sleeping and waking up. As my spirituality looks at the other side completely, this side gives heaviness and I feel like sleeping because during sleep the activities of spirituality become easier. It works while sitting but when you lie down it is of a different quality. It comes down on my eye like this, sleep becomes dominant, I leave to sleep.
(Beginning of Jumaah Khutba)
Al-hamdu lillahi lladhi fataha lis-sa’ilina abwaba l-jinan. Wa a’dalahum n-na’ima wa akramahum bil huri wal ghilman. Fa subhan alladhi afada rahmatahu ala s-sa’imina fi sh-shahri Ramadan. Ash-shhadu an la ilaha illaAllahu wahdahu la sharika lah. Wa la nadhira lahu wa la mathila lah. Alladhi man alaina bil in’ami wa l-ihsan. Wa nashhadu anna Sayyidana wa sanadana wa Mawlana Muhammada, Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa Habibuhu wa Rasuluh. Shafi’u l-mudhnibin fi yawmi l-mizan. SallAllahu Ta’ala ‘alaihi wa ‘ala alihi wa awladihi, wa azwajihi wa as’habihi wa atba’ih, wa khulafa-i rashidina l-murshidina l-mahdiyyina min ba’dih. Wa wuzara’ihi l-kamilina fi ahdih. khususan minhum ‘ala l-a’immati khulafa-i Rasulillahi ‘ala ttahqiq. Umara-i l-mu’minin. Hadarati Abi Bakrin wa Umara wa Usmana wa ‘Aliyyin dhawi l-Qadrin jalee. Wa ‘ala bakhiyyati l-sahabati wa t-tabi’in. Ridwanullahi Ta’ala alaihim ajma’in.
O believers, this Friday is the last Friday of Shaban Mu’azzam. Next Friday is for those who will reach it, and we ask from Janab-ul Mawla to let us reach it. It will be the first Friday of holy Ramadan Sharif. How happy for those who reach it! How happy for believers who reach these months, and whose hearts are filled with love for Allah and Rasulullah, filled with longing and love towards Allah and His Rasul. There is here and hereafter for them.
What a pity for those who can’t appreciate these holy days and especially who can’t respect, who can’t even think of respecting, holy Ramadan Sharif. They are Khasira d-dunya wa l-akhirah; they are losers both here and hereafter. They won’t have dunya. Let them not think they are having it.
When they don’t come to Juma prayer, they are losing. Let them not think they are benefitting from not fasting in Ramadan Sharif, from not respecting Ramadan Sharif. They are harming themselves. They are harmed both in appearance and in spirituality. Their physical lives will be shameful, and their spiritual lives will diminish. And there are new troubles now; countless people are bothered with these new troubles. What is the least trouble they have? They call it depression. In the old days, they used to say “I’m depressed, I will go and have a walk”. In old days, they would come back to normal after having a walk when depressed. They would be relieved.
Nowadays, the depression of these people is from the moment a man is conscious, he is in depression. Because they can’t have everything what they want. When they can’t have it, there happens a huge blast, and as a result of this blast, that man perishes without spirituality. Neither with pills, nor with syrups, neither with doctors, nor with judges will they prosper. Their job is over. Jobs of aghas and beys became over.
Take care before the illness comes.
Listen carefully. Listen carefully to this matter. It is good when a man takes precautions. Take care before the illness comes. They used to say “See when you’re sick”. When you are caught by an illness, you can’t even have a bite. Now they’re not asking. Everyone is depressed. They go to doctors for check-ups. A doctor checks and says: “Ya Hu, you are like iron, you are a healthy woman. You don’t have anything. Let me examine your mind.” When he says so, she becomes happy: “Where will you examine?” Dr: ”There’s a neurology hospital in Nicosia. They don’t like to call it a mental hospital now. They call it a neurological centre.” Woman: “Why don’t you say it’s a mental hospital? May Allah keep us away from it.”
A mind is the biggest blessing Janab-ul Haqq granted to His servants.A man can guard himself with a mind; he can find his way and path. As soon as the mind is gone, he’s not good anymore. He falls to an animal level. His job is done. Therefore “You don’t have anything, we will only examine your mind. Come”. “Where shall I come?” “There’s a neurology hospital in Nicosia. Go there. Let’s see what they say for you.” May Allah not lead us to that hospital. As soon as you enter the door, If you’re partially crazy, you become crazy completely before you’re out.
What’s the reason? They don’t make research. They send to a mental hospital, but the doctor in a mental hospital is partially crazy together with them. They say someone sitting with a people for 40 days will become one of them. People around crazy ones not for 40 but for 140 days will become partially crazy too. Shortly, this is not being researched.
The man’s body is healthy. They’re not asking what other cause could there be. If the body’s fine and nothing is seen, then there’s a deficiency in spirituality that this person has fallen into such condition. He has money, a car, a wife, a horse, everything but comfort. A man says “I’m depressed.” What shall we do? Shall we tie your feet and throw you into the sea? What will your condition be? It’s not an illness of the physical. It belongs to spirituality.
Do you pay attention to the spirituality of these people? Do you meet their spiritual needs? What are their needs? Can you cover them? Do you give such education to your children? You teach them foolish things with useless inventions. Inventions don’t make a stomach full.
If you bring a plastic car, plastic fruit and vegetables, what’s the use? Why do you take them in? What will their use be? They won’t fill the stomach. They are of no use. Bring the real ones. They can’t give because they can’t cover the spiritual needs of these people. They became irritated and confused.
A little more and maybe everyone will go crazy. Now the conditions of people can still be tolerated, we tolerate a lot. May it not become so bad that we long for these days. But still they push ahead. After being pushed, pressed it will burst. Now there’s nothing. They said to a man in a hospital – now they are only pulling the tail of the bear. They said: “You’re just raising some dust. We are just holding the tail of a bear so the bear scratches and raises dust.” When you pull off the tail of the bear, then you have real trouble. The explosion comes when the bear is released. Now there’s nothing.
If you’ve money, you’ll find everything. The time will come when you won’t find anything with your money. We… I managed for WWII – The war which was 60-70 years ago. I managed for the war, which was 60 years ago so I know. I know well the conditions of the markets, how we couldn’t buy bread for money, how we couldn’t find bulghur, wheat. There was no pasta, no rice. I know all of it. You can’t buy for money. You are on this island. Don’t think they will send you ships full of food so that you eat and throw the half away. No. Therefore, be cautious. There’s nothing yet. Comfortable, we’re very comfortable. We have to make a lot of shukr to JanabAllah. Something will happen to those who don’t make shukr. If you want to know what is hunger, fast in Ramadan and taste it.
Now people’s mouths chew everything they want for 24 hours. If they don’t find something, they chew gum like camels. Both men and women put chewing gum into their mouths. For women it’s ok, for men it’s better not to chew. It is like the people of Lut. It’s embarassing. It’s not appropriate for men to chew gum in their mouths. It’s like men who became like women. It’s not appropriate at all.
I’m telling it as a fable because people of this time, starting from their childhood have something in their hands to eat. They don’t eat at home but instead eat this and that in the streets. They drink coke. Adults drink beer. More desperate ones drink alcohol. They eat everything. Their mouths chew for 24 hours. Time will come. We’re on an island. They will fall into such a condition, they won’t find what they want. They will search in the garbage.
They have bad habits. They got such bad habits during the last 30 years. Instead of gathering to make shukr, they opened themselves (to bad habits). Next week is Ramadan Sharif. Allah is watching. He says: “I’m looking at My servants one more time.” Especially, He looks at these Cypriots. “Let’s see, if they are going to fast and count.”
A war is waiting at the door. A war is not far. You are in the area of war. Don’t think that you can protect yourself, hide yourself. You are in the open. No protection for anyone except who is protected and hidden by Allah. Certainly they will be swept away and suffer. There will be ones who’ll go at once and ones who’ll suffer a lot. Therefore…
The time is coming when everyone will have what they deserve.
Ramadan Sharif is coming, once more Janab-ul Mawla will look: “Do they know Me, or not? Do they know themselves? Do they know who they are? How is humanity on earth? How did they appear? What did they appear for? Did they look for it? Did they ask what they were created for? They will come to their senses. If not, we’ll leave them again.” Then, after this Bayram there will be another Bayram. We seek refuge in Allah. Don’t leave fasting. Who openly doesn’t fast this year won’t reach next year. If a war starts, they will vanish in this war. It’s a sign of Divine anger.
Mountains are exploding. Fire is billowing like the fire of hell. Don’t think that fire comes from volcanoes only. Janab-ul Haqq can raise a volcano from wherever He wants whenever He wants. Any place of the world can explode. A sign of Divine anger is not necessarily a volcano. A hurricane is coming, a strong storm is coming. It’ll destroy houses. They are not coming to their senses, not taking heed. Floods are coming, floods are covering. They’re not taking heed, still saying it’s nature. Still saying it’s nature. Everywhere is shaken with calamities. They’re still saying it’s nature. Don’t. Say Allah. Who is nature? Who is nature? Where is it? Where does this nature rule from? Tell. They have degraded these people with inventions. Muslims are going after them as well. What a pity! The time is coming when everyone will have what they deserve.Pay attention and respect Ramadan Sharif, you’ll find peace.
JanabAllah is opening the doors of paradise in Ramadan Sharif.
We read first khutba for Ramadan as a preparation. JanabAllah is opening the doors of paradise in Ramadan Sharif. For those who know themselves and keep the orders, the doors of the 8 paradises are open. For those who don’t know, a fire of hell will be sent on earth. The doors of hell are opening too. Watch yourself. Guard your religion, guard your faith.
We are not without religion and faith. We haven’t come from families of unbelievers without religion or faith. Our seven generations back were Muslim. What have we become? What have we become? What happened to us? Why did we change? There were Greeks, our companions on the island. Did the Greeks change their religion? Did they destroy their churches? Did they change their priests? Did they change their alphabet & everything? Did they lean towards Islam or remained with their religion or get rid of it? Do they keep their religion? What happened to us? Is there a purer religion than Islam that we follow after them? Leaving this religion what have we become? Where did we reach? They’ll see where we reached on Bayram.
Ala inna ahsana l-kalam wa ablagha l-nizam. Kalamullahi l-Maliki l-Azizi l-Allam. Kama qal Allahu tabaraka wa ta’ala fi l-kalam. “Wa idha quria l qur’anu fa’istamiu lahu wa ansitu la’allakum turhamun”(7:204) (Listen to Qur’an when it’s read) Audhu billahi mina sh-shaytani r-rajim, Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim “Wa ma khalaqtu l-jinna wa l-insa illa liyabuduni”(51:56) (Men & Jinn were made to serve Me) Al-hamdu lillahi hamdan kamilin, wa s-salatu wa s-salamu ‘ala Rasulina Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in. Ta’ziman li Nabiyyi wa takriman li fakhamati sha’ni safiyyihi faqala. Fa qala ‘Azza wa Jalla min qa’ilin mukhbiran wa amira. “Inna Allaha wa mala’ikatahu yusalluna ala an-Nabiyyi ya ayyuha lladhina amanu sallu alayhi was sallimu tasliman”(33:56) Allahumma salli wa sallim ‘ala Sayyidina Muhammadin. Hasbuna Allahi wa ni’ma l-wakeel. La hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi l-‘Aliyyi l-‘Azim.
“Waylun Lil-muţaffifīn”, “Woe to those that deal in fraud.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is telling about those who cheat in trade. There is a valley called Wail in hell. It is special for people who cheat in sales and deceive people. There is hell in Akhirah for people who are not merciful to people in this world but cheat them for their profit, who cheat with scales when shopping. They won’t benefit from anything they earn.
Why are we telling this? Because people have confused the principles completely in the last 2-3 years. They don’t think about anything but profit. They don’t care what to earn from. They don’t think if the poor will eat or not, they don’t care about it. All they want is to earn themselves. The government makes a raise of 3 kurush, but they raise for 30 kurush. The government looks and sees so much forgery. We see that they add something to meat, they add something to oil. They add things in everything. People have gone wild. And they don’t care at all. They are not scared of Allah ﷻ. They are not ashamed of people. And they don’t fear the government. They are following their egos and think they are in profit. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla says they don’t. The things they earn will come out of their nostrils.
Earn a little but with Barakah. If you earn a lot, the profit which is not Halal brings no benefit to you. It will come out of your nostrils. You will earn 3 kurush but become sick. Even if you spend a hundred or a thousand times more, you won’t recover. Nothing will work. Therefore, we must be careful. Don’t obey your egos.
They have devastated people. The whole world is devastated. It is the work of shaytan. It is those who are together with shaytan who do these things. There is no such thing as conscience in people anymore all over the world. May Allah ﷻ help poor people. May people eat from Halal to have the strength of Iman and the strength of the body. Otherwise, they will lose both Iman and health. They will lose Barakah and peace. A person who thinks he earns a lot by cheating people, who thinks he attains something out of it is a complete idiot. He is the mindless. He is the absolute fool. We must say so, as people don’t understand otherwise.
You look and see they sell the same product for 3 kurush in one place and for 5 kurush in another place. It is absolutely the same thing. There were no brands in old times, you could do anything. And in another place, it is sold for 10 kurush. Have fairness! May Allah ﷻ help us. May He ﷻ give mind and understanding to those people. They must know that if you earn a little but with Barakah, that is enough for you. It will be enough for your family and children. Otherwise, you will lose your heath, and what is worse, your children will be disobedient to you because of Haram money. Therefore, it is widespread now. They take pills, alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. Where do these things come from? They come from earning Haram money and lack of Barakah. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ help Muslims and their children insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Sha’ban Al-Mu’azzam, the holy month belonging to our Prophet ﷺ, is of symbolic value, being between Rejab, month of Allah ﷻ and Ramadhan, month of the Ummah.
Sha’ban is the link, a celebration of the impeccable adab (prescribed Islamic etiquette) that can bring creation (people) to their Creator.
Just as a common folk in society would need to go through an intermediary should he wish to speak to the highest authority of the land, so too would we, the average person, need the ‘Best of Creation’ ﷺ, to reach to The Almighty Creator ﷻ.
Rasulullah ﷺ is The Channel to Allah ﷻ
Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is the only one, in all of creation, who can reach the Divine Presence of Allah ﷻ. His ﷺ love is our only salvation.
Allah ﷻ states in Surah Al-Imran 3:31:
“Say (O Muhammad, to mankind):
‘If you (really) love Allah then follow me, Allah will love youand forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.‘”
2. Allah Offered His Love
Allah Almighty is not in need of creation.
All the Love that He offers benefits only us, His creation.
3. Focus on Your Guide
In order to reach this Divine Love, one must keep a close watch on the ego.
Focus on the one sent to guide us to His Love.
A connection to Rasulullah ﷺ is our only source to Allah ﷻ.
4. Beware of ‘The Little Destroyer’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily, what I fear for you more than the Dajjal (the false messiah) is hidden idolatry (Shirk Khafi).”
[Sunan Ibn Majah 4204]
Hence, we must make a conscious effort to cleanse ourselves of the hidden deeds, feelings or thoughts that take us away from Allah’s ﷻ Pleasure.
5. Be Busy with Your Own Decree
The 15th of Sha’ban (Nisfu Sha’ban), is the night Allah ﷻ determines the provisions and destiny of each person for the next year.
Our Shuyukh, the inheritors of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, reminded us to be careful:
Do not interfere with matters that do not concern you, and
to be swift in seeking taubah (repentance).
With the barakah (blessings) of the owner of this month, Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ, may Allah ﷻ grant our love for His Beloved to increase, and may his love for us allow us to reach to ‘eternal love’.
Al-Fatiha.
• Almarhum Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan
March 18 2021/ 6 Shaʻban 1442 AH
Watch the full Sohbah here:
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
May the month of Sha’ban be blessed today. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says, “It is my month.” Sha’ban Sharif is the month of our Holy Prophet ﷺ, and it is a holy month. It has a lot of Barakah, because Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla created this universe for the honor of our Holy Prophet ﷺ as a gift. The glory of our Holy Prophet ﷺ is high. Who doesn’t know that harms and oppresses himself. The more you honor our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, the more benefit you have.
The mercy of our Holy Prophet ﷺ is for all the Ummah. Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam had invited his family to Islam at first. All of them had gathered in one place, and he ﷺ invited them. All of them were accepting. But his ﷺ uncle Abu Lahab stood up and said bad words. He prevented all of them from becoming Muslim. Certainly, most of them became Muslim afterwards. But Abu Lahab didn’t become Muslim. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla wrote that he belongs to hell in Qur’an ‘Azimu sh-Shan. Who doesn’t honor and respect our Holy Prophet ﷺ will have a bad ending. May Allah ﷻ protect us.
Allah ﷻ has given an example to people. Even if it is his ﷺ uncle, if he doesn’t honor our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, he belongs to hell. Therefore, for people to know this for sure, Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is showing his bad condition in Qur’an ‘Azimu sh-Shan, the eternal book. Why? Because he had caused suffering all the time and prevented people from doing goodness and good deeds. They were prevented from following him ﷺ and attaining goodness. This is on his shoulders forever until Qiyamah.
Some people are like this nowadays. Those who don’t honor our Holy Prophet ﷺ have no Iman no matter if they are Muslim or Kafir. They are without Iman. It is possible they say they are Muslim with their tongues. But they have no Iman. Shaytan is showing and creating Fitnah for people of this time. He says “Beware of honoring the Prophet ﷺ. If you do so, Allah ﷻ will punish you, as he ﷺ is a person just like you. You will make Shirk. You will go out of the religion.” This is the trick of shaytan to take away people’s Iman. May Allah ﷻ protect us.
We should do as much as we can to honor our Holy Prophet ﷺ in this holy month. We should make more Salawat. For each Salawat, our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says he ﷺ responds to us. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says, “You give Salam to me, so I give Salam back to you.” This is a great profit. We must not miss it. We should make Tasbihat and Salawat as much as we can insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ bless this month. May He ﷻ make it the means for goodness. May we have strength of Iman. And may our love to our Holy Prophet ﷺ grow. The more it grows, the more beneficial it is to us. May Allah ﷻ bless it. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.
There are recited Khatm Sharif, Tasbihat, Tahlilat, Salawat, Surahs and Ayat. We gift all of the good deeds firstly to our Holy Prophet ﷺ, his ﷺ Ahlu l-Bayt and Sahabah, souls of all Anbiya, Awliya, Asfiya and Mashayikh, souls of our late relatives, souls of Muslims and Mu’mins. For goodness to come and the evil to be gone. May all good goals of those who have recited be reached. May they have strength of Iman insha’Allah. May they have Barakah. May they be happy here and hereafter. Li-Llahi Ta’ala.
“Wa Khuliqa Al-‘Insānu Đa`īfāan”, “And mankind was created weak.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying mankind is created weak. If you look, mankind is the weakest among all creatures in terms of physical strength. They are even physically weaker than insects and bugs. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla created them specifically like this. Yet, despite being created as the weakest, they challenge everyone and try to suppress them. If mankind know their limits, they will be clever. They will get strength with mind. They get strength with the help of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. They are weak on their own. Even if they own the whole world, they can’t do anything when their breath is over.
Therefore, mankind must know his weakness. “I am ‘Alim. I am Shaykh. I am Sultan. I am a minister. I am a president” – they have nothing to do with strength. Strength comes from being with Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. We must know our weakness and ask for help from Allah ﷻ to defeat our egos, as that is our biggest enemy. People’s egos do the worst to them. Unless they defeat their egos, they will be oppressed by them.
The days and times we are living in show that those who have oppressed mankind for 60-70 years, for 100-1,000 years are gone. Where are they now? Thousands of years have passed. They didn’t attain anything. Those who were with Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla are in profit. Their names are exalted, and their ranks are raised in the presence of Allah ﷻ.
People nowadays have forgotten. They think they are strong. They have bombs, weapons, money; they think the strength is in them. There is no power there. They work now with the permission of Allah ﷻ. When the time comes, none of them will work anymore. These things happen with permission. Without the permission of Allah ﷻ, nothing works. Therefore, Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying that people are created weak. If they think the strength is somewhere else, that strength will be gone at once, and they will be left there alone. They won’t be able to attain anything else. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May we be with Allah ﷻ. May we know our weakness. We are weak servants. May Allah ﷻ help us all insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Quli s-tahzi’ū ‘Inna Allāha Mukhrijun Mā Taĥdharūna”, “Say, “Mock [as you wish]; indeed, Allah will expose that which you fear.”” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla says people mock. They often mock those who invite to Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. They don’t like them. They think they are clever and perfect people and that people on the way of Allah ﷻ are idiots and stupid. So they mock them. He ﷻ says, “Mock! I will reveal what kind of mistake you made later.” “مُخْرِجٌ مَّا تَحْذَرُونَ”, “Mukhrijun Mā Taĥdharūna”, “Expose that which you fear.” (Qur’an 09:64). Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla will bring it up to you to teach you that your mocking is in vain. That will be both here and hereafter. A person who thinks something is right and the rest are wrong in this world, he is mistaken most of the time. And he will be disgraced in the end.
If those who mock and oppress those on the way of Allah ﷻ regret it in this world before going to Akhirah, it will be good. If they don’t regret it, it will be bad. When they regret and ask for forgiveness, Allah ﷻ will forgive. But if they persist on it, they will be disgraced in this world and in Akhirah. Allah ﷻ will certainly give everyone’s due. Everyone is in the Hand of Power of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Allah ﷻ is merciful. If they repent for what they do, He ﷻ will forgive. If they don’t repent, they will be disgraced in this world and have a great loss in Akhirah.
We must be careful. People think they own the world when they are given something. They think others are useless and unimportant, that they deserve to be mocked. We must be careful. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone might say wrong things. But if they repent and ask for forgiveness, Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla will surely forgive them. This is very important.
They mocked the people on the way of Allah ﷻ a lot. Kafirs and faithless ones mocked and laughed at the Prophets, their nations and their followers a lot. Their condition is described in Qur’an ‘Azimu sh-Shan and history books. It is described how they perished. There was no gain in mocking them. Those who mocked and went against Haqq always got disappointed. They didn’t attain anything and passed away to the other world; may Allah ﷻ protect us.
May Allah ﷻ protect us. Because they are cheating children, youth and the elderly in this time. Therefore, may Allah ﷻ protect them and all of us. Because this situation is dangerous. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Al-Lahu Khāliqu Kulli Shay’in ۖ Wa Huwa`Alá Kulli Shay’in Wakīl”, “Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is, over all things, Disposer of affairs.”
Adab is the main teaching of Tariqah. Who joins Tariqah learns Adab. For whom must Adab be first of all? It must be for Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is the one who created everything. He ﷻ gave life to everything and everyone: to people, non-living things, insects. The whole universe is created with His ﷻ power. All of them belong to Him. “الملك لله”, “Al-Mulku li-Llah.” Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is Mālik Al-Mulk, The Owner of Absolute Sovereignty.
Therefore, the Adab of Tariqah must be for Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. It is to know that everything is from Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and to not object to it. Objection is the work of shaytan. Those who go on his way object. They object to everything, to the good and the bad. They don’t like anything. They object to everything. Some of them, those who are not in Tariqah interfere in the business of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. They say, “Why does Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla not go against that much oppression? He ﷻ is fine with it.”
This world of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is not paradise. This world is the place of tests. Various things must happen. May Allah ﷻ protect us. Mu’min people must beg Allah ﷻ to protect them. Otherwise, it doesn’t work. You may object as much as you want. What will come to you is only by the mercy of Allah ﷻ. You must make Du’a and ask that He ﷻ protects you. Nothing works out by going against Allah ﷻ. Don’t trust anyone by saying “This one will do better, that one will do worse”. Only trust Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla does everything with His ﷻ power and will. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is powerful over everything. He ﷻ makes the difficult easy. Allah ﷻ protects from all kinds of afflictions. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is the one who does everything. This is the base of Tariqah. Those who are not in Tariqah object and do this and that even if they are Muslim. That doesn’t bring any benefit.
Therefore, you must accept the will of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. As we said, you must beg upon Adab and say “We are weak servants. Don’t test us. It is the world of tests. Nevertheless, treat us with Your beneficence. Make the difficult things easy. May we not have any test insha’Allah”. This is our Du’a insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ help us all. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Tonight is a holy night again. May the barakah of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla be upon us. May we have the strength of īmān. Tonight is a big night. It is a magnificent night for humanity and for Islām. In this night our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam ascended to ākhirah, all over the world, everywhere until ‘Arshu l-‘Alā. His ﷺ glory shows how high he ﷺ is. The glory of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is great.
Therefore, tonight is a blessed night. Du’ā’s are accepted. Worship performed in this night is more accepted. Therefore, we should do as much as we can. Some people say to revive the night. They spend the whole night awake. That is difficult. Everyone should do what they can. As long as they worship before going to bed, if they pray two rakāt with wuḍū’, get up early for tahajjud, perform the prayers and worship and make du‘ā’, those du‘ā’ are accepted.
Shukr to Allāh ﷻ, He ﷻ created us with īmān. We make du‘ā’ that He ﷻ strengthens our īmān. Most importantly “‘afwa wa-l-‘āfiyata wa-l-mu‘āfāta l-dā’imah”, we should ask for forgiveness from Allāh ﷻ and for good health. May we always be with good health. That is the biggest favour. This is the advice of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Who does this will be in profit. Who doesn’t do this will miss a lot and lose a lot, as Allāh will not have granted it to them.
This holy night is something that tests people’s īmān. Mu’mins, people with īmān believe in everything our Holy Prophet ﷺ says. They believe in the Ghayb (hidden). Ghayb means we believe in what we don’t see. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ has told about them. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has informed us about these things through him ﷺ. We have faith in them and we believe in them, shukr to Allāh ﷻ. Whom is it with? It is with those who are on the way of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, with those who follow his ﷺ sunnah, those who obey what he ﷺ says and what we’re ordered. Who don’t obey destroy other people too. They play with their īmān. They become the means for them to lose their īmān. They are like mushriks. Mushriks didn’t believe when our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam ascended to heavens to ‘Arshu l-‘Alā. They said “It is a lie and he is a liar”. Also nowadays, there are some people who live by as Muslims but play with people’s īmān. Some of them say it was a dream. Some of them don’t believe at all. They say it is neither a dream, nor anything. There is such a group out there. Shayṭān has cheated them. He took away their īmān, so they have no īmān. Without īmān, they may go out of the religion as well. May Allāh ﷻ protect us.
It is a dangerous thing. You must believe in this. Nothing is difficult for Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla who created you from nothing does whatever He ﷻ wants. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla can take you up to the highest point or put you down to the lowest point in an instant. Therefore, such people who put others to doubt and play with their īmān are stupid themselves. Those who think they are very clever, who have studied too much and learnt too much fall in such a doubt. They fall in the trap of shayṭān. And there is no salvation from that trap. May Allāh ﷻ protect us. Very few people are saved. Therefore, we should stay away from such people. We should stay away from people who don’t respect and honor. No need to even talk to them. Because they are poisonous. May Allāh ﷻ protect us, that poison will destroy and kill you. You will be dead spiritually, and there will be no salvation in ākhirah forever. May Allāh ﷻ protect us.
May Allāh ﷻ make tonight’s barakah everlasting for us in shā’a Llāh. As we said, it is a magnificent night as our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam travelled all around. They say “How come?” In the sight of Allāh ﷻ, both time and space are in His ﷻ Hand. Both of them are created. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla uses them as He ﷻ likes. Therefore, our Holy Prophet ﷺ travelled to paradise and hell, to ‘Arshu l-‘Alā and the Presence of Haqq, Divine Presence of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla in two hours that night. Allāh ﷻ had expanded time in that short time. As we said, time had stopped. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla stops the time. And a 100 years pass in a moment like it does nowadays.
Therefore, people’s minds comprehend some things and don’t comprehend other things. The matter of the night journey and ascension of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is inside the limits of mind, not outside of it. There are still many things outside of it. There are places which have no limits. There is no limit for the knowledge and wisdom of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Limits and borders are made. But the wisdom of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is unlimited. Therefore, this matter of night journey and ascension is quite simple. It is a believable thing for mu’mins. When people who studied at universities, who studied theology don’t believe in this, it means they are short of mind. May Allāh ﷻ give īmān and mind to all of us in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has holy places. And He ﷻ has holy times. He ﷻ granted them to Ummati Muḥammad ﷺ, to mankind so that they benefit from them. He ﷻ gave these beautiful things. It is for the body and soul. It may be a suffering for the body, but it is a relief and beauty for the soul. And it is beneficial for the body too.
These worships: prayer, fasting, ḥajj. Ḥajj and ‘umrah. Of course, the time of ḥajj is once a year. In old times, not everyone could go to ḥajj. It was difficult. Its difficulty was different and the difficulty of this time is more different. So not everyone is meant to go. There may be an obstacle for various reasons. It is the wisdom of Allāh ﷻ. We can’t say anything about it. In old times, people wouldn’t go just for ‘umrah. They would go to ḥajj. And they would perform ‘umrah after ḥajj. They would only do it once in their lives. But now they can. They can just go. It is more easy to go for ‘umrah any time. Anyone who wants can go.
But for ḥajj, what is important now is to perform ḥajj before ‘umrah. They say, “We are waiting our turn. It isn’t coming. Let’s do ‘umrah until our turn comes.” If you spend the money you saved for ḥajj on ‘umrah and then your turn comes for ḥajj and you cannot go, this is wrong. But if you have allocated a sufficient amount of money for ḥajj aside, then you can make ‘umrah. Then, whenever you are granted to go to ḥajj – that intention is already there. Every year, with the permission of Allāh ﷻ, that reward is written to you. Because every year – we know some people who’ve spent fourteen years waiting for ḥajj. They get hopeful every year, “We will go this year.” They make an intention with that hope. If they didn’t go, Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla does not turn them empty-handed. They attain that reward. The second year is the same. Until they go to ḥajj.
As we said, without wasting that money, put it aside. After that, if one is able, he can go to ‘umrah so that he can see: he will have visited our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and he will have seen the Ka’bah. Because a person has never seen them in his life. So it is good to see them, to take from their virtues. Because every deed you do near the Ka’bah has one hundred thousand rewards. Each rak’ah has the reward of a hundred thousand rak’āt; each prayer has the reward of a hundred thousand prayers. A grant. All of them will be beneficial to those people. But “I went to ‘umrah now” and next year or later, you were granted ḥajj, but you couldn’t go, that time you lose a great reward.
So today, Shukr to Allāh ﷻ, our ḥajjis are going to ‘umrah. Our sister Rukiye Hanim, your ḥajji Anne, Sultan Anne; ḥajji Mehmet and Shaykh Baha’uddin Efendi, were destined to go to ‘umrah, Shukr to Allāh ﷻ. When Allah ﷻ destines it, it’s great. Places like these are where people benefit. The real benefit is in going there; nowhere else. “I went to London, I went to Paris,” I don’t know where, “I went here and there.” They have no benefit. When doing it for dunyā, it is of no use. These beautiful places which are for ākhirah are the beneficial places. May Allāh ﷻ grant us. May Allāh ﷻ accept it. And in shā’a Llāh, may their blessings and rewards be written to us as well, to those here and to those listening, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ grant ḥajj many times to those who haven’t been to ḥajj, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Shukr to Allāh ﷻ, the holy month of Rajab is almost approaching its end. It is one of the forbidden months. There is a holy night in the beginning and a holy night in the end of it. There is Laylatu l-Raghā’ib in the beginning, and the other one is Laylatu l-Isrā wa-l-Mi‘rāj. No one can deny it. Who live by as Muslims and deny the night journey of our Holy Prophet ﷺ will pass away without īmān. Because Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla puts it right in the middle of the Qur’ān so that there is no other interpretation.
What is Isrā’? It is the night journey from Makka to Jerusalem. Jibrīl ‘alayhi s-salām gave an animal to be ridden named Burāq. There is not such a speed like this holy animal’s in the whole world. If it moves, it goes from one place to another in just a minute. By stopping at five places, our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam prayed two rakāt and moved on. He ﷺ prayed together with Prophets in Jerusalem and made Mi‘rāj, ascended from there. ‘Urooj means ascent. He ﷺ was ascended to heavens. Up to the highest point where people can reach. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla raised our Holy Prophet ﷺ to the highest level. He ﷻ had raised him ﷺ already. But He ﷻ did it physically as well so that people see that the highest rank belongs to our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla addressed him ﷺ in a way we cannot know. Its manifestation; this ascension was not meant for anyone apart from our Holy Prophet ﷺ.
Why are we saying this? Some people and Muslims now say it happened in his ﷺ dream to make their belief weak. Those who say so claim to be scholars, to have graduated from universities, to have done PhD, to have done master’s degree and I don’t know what. These people say it happened in a dream, that it is a dream. Everyone can have dreams. What can you do with that? It is not important what they say. What’s important is the truth. The miracles of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, believing in the hidden is from the first conditions of īmān. It is to believe in what we don’t see. Nevertheless, people say “No one saw it. It can’t be so. How did he ﷺ travel the distance of forty days in one night? They hadn’t reached heavens. They couldn’t comprehend the worldly matters yet, whereas it is quite simple now.” Therefore, that hidden thing is open now. But it is the condition of our īmān to believe that our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was taken to the highest levels by Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. As the last Prophet, as the most beloved servant of Allāh ﷻ he ﷺ went to His ﷻ presence, to the nearest level. As we said, there is no space and time there. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla knows what the addressing was. We believe in that. As we said, who doesn’t believe in that may lose his īmān and religion. May Allāh ﷻ protect us.
Therefore, this holy night is a blessed night. In shā’a Llāh we will revive it in two days. Its barakah will be upon us. Performing worship then will make us closer to Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. These holy days are gifted to us by Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla for the honor of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. They are beautiful nights. Therefore, there will be strength to our īmān. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ was shown outside the time and space by Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. If these things he ﷺ saw were in time and space, it would take millions of years to be able to see them. Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam went to all of these places in two hours. He ﷺ attained these beautiful things, then returned and gave good tidings to people. People who got the good tidings are the people with īmān. Those who didn’t accept it were kāfirs.
Kāfirs were very happy for this matter. They said, “No one will follow this person after this.” Ḥāshā (far from it). Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam – As they didn’t accept the Prophet, they addressed him ﷺ as “this person” or with other useless words. But when they told Sayyidinā Abū Bakr, the closest one to Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam about it, he said, “Did he ﷺ say this with his holy mouth?” They said, “He ﷺ said that.” They became happy. But when he said, “I didn’t hear it from someone else but from himself ﷺ. I believe him ﷺ,” they were surprised. They ran away. This shows the closeness of Sayyidinā Abū Bakr as well. Also, when the addressing was made, the voice of Sayyidinā Abū Bakr was heard. In order to for there to be a familiarity for our Holy Prophet ﷺ, as he was the closest and best friend of our Holy Prophet ﷺ, his voice was heard to our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
These things point at the beauties given to us by Allāh ﷻ and show how valuable it is to be from ummat Muḥammad ﷺ. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ thought about us even in that position. He ﷺ asked for forgiveness for his ﷺ ummah from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Shukr to Allāh ﷻ, we make millions of shukr for being from his ﷺ ummah. May Allāh ﷻ let us reside close to him ﷺ in paradise in shā’a Llāh, for the honor of these beautiful days in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Ṣadaqah is important. It is very important. Mankind has 360 body parts; moving parts, fingers, feet, neck. There are 360 joints all over the body. You should give ṣadaqah for each of them, says our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
The Ṣaḥābah asked, “What if we don’t have [money] to give?” Instead, if you pick up dirty things or garbage from the ground, if you remove stones from the way, that is ṣadaqah as well. Ṣadaqah doesn’t have to be money. All kinds of goodness are counted as ṣadaqah. People must give it daily. They must give it as gratitude to Allāh ﷻ for every body part. It can be done like this. Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam tells to give ṣadaqah. Even if it is half a date, not even all of it. There was poverty then. “If you eat half and give the other half as ṣadaqah, it will protect you from hellfire,” he ﷺ said. This is important.
People don’t want to give ṣadaqah. Their egos don’t want. They think it is difficult to give ṣadaqah. Especially those with money become even greedier. They do it for their egos. Because little ṣadaqah keeps big disasters and badness away from people. It keeps accidents and afflictions away and extends life, says our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
It is a very important and beautiful advice for mankind given by our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Because ṣadaqah is not farḍ for mankind. It is not obligatory but important. They say “Why should I give ṣadaqah? I give zakāh.” But it’s unknown if they give zakāh. They don’t want to give ṣadaqah at all. But they give tons of money for other useless things. Yet, they don’t give even one thousandth of it as ṣadaqah.
Ṣadaqah is a very important thing. Ṣadaqah prevents accidents and disasters. People are protected from them. If people knew its benefit, they’d give half of their money as ṣadaqah every day. It is that important. This is the advice for the ummah from our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Don’t be stingy. Stinginess is not nice. Allāh ﷻ doesn’t like it. He ﷻ doesn’t like stingy ones. He ﷻ loves generous ones. Sinful but generous is more accepted in the sight of Allāh ﷻ than a stingy servant.
Therefore, don’t ignore it for your own benefit. Every day. They say “I give every week.” It mustn’t be so. The daily Ṣadaqah is different, says our Holy Prophet ﷺ. Every day when sun rises, the ṣadaqah of that day is different, says our Holy Prophet ﷺ. “Do I go and look for beggars or poor ones every morning?” Don’t look for them. Put a box. Put your ṣadaqah in that box. When it’s full, you can give it wherever you want. You will give ṣadaqah. Otherwise, no need to look for someone to give to. Your daily ṣadaqah will be accepted like that. You put in that box. When you need, you can exchange coins. Because some people put ṣadaqah and don’t touch it at all. No, if you need, you can exchange and round up the money. You can give it like that. There is no problem. What’s important is that ṣadaqah is there. It is benefit for you. Just like they make insurance and are forced to pay for it; this is a daily insurance. The best insurance is ṣadaqah. Everyone must pay for their insurance every day in shā’a Llāh.
May Allāh ﷻ make us from – As we said, there is more benefit for you than the poor ones to give ṣadaqah, to put it there. May Allāh ﷻ protect us from accidents and disasters. We live in the end of times. It is unknown what may happen to us. Therefore, put your ṣadaqah and go in peace. “I put this ṣadaqah for the pleasure of Allāh ﷻ today for the poor and the needy, for our body parts, for our children and family.” Say so, and Allāh ﷻ will protect you for the honor of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. When you do so believing in his ﷺ holy words, you will be at peace that day in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ protect us all. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“In hādhā illā asāṭīru l-awwalīn”, “This is not but tales of the former peoples.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
It is said in Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n, they say, “It is like old stories.” When prophets said something, they objected saying, “These are old stories.”
Many times, Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim used to laugh a lot at those people; at what they did, what they said and what they wrote. In his sight, everything they do is ridiculous. They called it “Çağdaş (Shadash)”; modernity. Mawlānā used to call Çağdaş, Shay-dash. He used to joke about that. He meant it’s something useless. Çağdaş means modern. It means being modern.
That is nothing new. It’s been there since old times. They would tell the prophets, “You’re telling old stories. You’re saying old things.” They would object. Unbelievers and kāfirs didn’t like what they did. But unfortunately, nowadays – Allāh ﷻ created all people the same. For two hundred years, what shayṭān has embedded inside the Islāmic world is: “You are stuck behind. Your mind is so backward. Look at the kāfirs, they’ve surpassed you! They are modern. They surpassed you. Don’t keep those old principles in your religion. Let’s renew that religion. Let’s be innovators. New things. Don’t accept those old ones. Look how the Europeans live. Look how they do things.” There was an admiration. When you say Europe, the admiration for kāfirs was at its peak. Whatever they did was very beautiful in people’s eyes.
They’ve done more and more, until we reached this day. Eventually, they saw that there was no difference. But still, people would directly go to them with their ideas. They go because “There is money”, they say. But normally, people never have to. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla created mankind. Wherever they are, their sustenance will come. No one is superior to anyone else. There is no need to be subject to anyone. They subject to them. They lost their dignity. They lost their personalities. They lost their honor. They fell into pieces. They play with them as they want. So modernity is not a skill. It’s not modernity – If you are not smart, be a thousand modernists, it is of no use. There is harm not benefit. They robbed you by calling it modernity. They took everything, leaving you nothing. They took their hometowns. They killed, cut and reaped. Then, you follow them in the name of modernity.
That’s not important about normal people. But what’s more dangerous: those claiming to be scholars, those claiming to be ‘ulamā’, don’t love the Mashāyikh. They don’t like them. They say, “They are reactionary, backward. They are not intellectuals like us. We look at the orientalists in Europe. Look how beautifully they talk and what good ideas they have.” Their ideas are to make people without īmān, to take them away from Islām and to make them enemies to our Holy Prophet ﷺ the companions; nothing else. These are the modernists. It is more dangerous than the admiration for the life of the Europeans. It is more dangerous because they are striving directly with the intention of disrupting the society; nothing else. They have nothing. Those who follow them are either fools or traitors; nothing else. One of the two; there is no third.
Therefore, watch out for that. Our way, the way of our Mashāyikh is the right way. Don’t leave their feet. Hold onto it tightly so that they don’t make you a toy and play with you with their hands. May Allāh ﷻ protect us from evil. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says in several places in Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n:
“أفَلا تَعْقِلُونَ”, “A-fa-lā taʿqilūn”,”Then will you not use reason?”
(Qur’ān 37:138)
He ﷻ says, “Don’t you have mind? Do you not use your minds? Be mindful.” Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla gave mind to people so that they see the bad and the good, to see the useful and the useless, to see the harmful and the harmless. He ﷻ has given mind.
People have mind. Animals don’t have mind, but they don’t approach some bad things. They run away if there is something dangerous. They don’t go for it. Allāh ﷻ has given enough brain to them. So they manage with it. But people must realize what is good and what is bad. Because when animals die, they will turn into earth and disappear. They won’t go to hell or paradise. There are only a few insects and animals that will go to paradise. And the rest, if they cause suffering to others, they will get their punishment on Judgment day. On Judgment day, if one is beaten, that animal will beat the other one. If it is bitten, it will bite back. And then they will become earth.
But mankind is not like this. Mankind will be punished for their deeds forever in ākhirah. Many faithless kāfirs will wish, “If only I became earth. If only I were punished for my mistakes and turned to earth.” But there is not such a thing. Why? Because Allāh ﷻ gave them mind so that they realize what happens with that mind, to know the danger and stay away from it, to see the good and to perform their worship. Worship is difficult. They must work and earn a living. Mind is given for that. They are given mind. Not everything is easy. Those who work for this world go through hardship too. They have to work, earn money, do this and that. It must be the same for ākhirah.
Now, by the wisdom of Allāh ﷻ, Allāh ﷻ does whatever He ﷻ wants. We are in the middle of the coldest time of winter. But it is sunny and warm now. Foolish people say, “How nice! It is so sunny. We don’t get cold. There is no darkness. There is no rain. We have no dirt and mud over us. What a nice winter we have.” What will happen in summer then? Clever people make du‘ā’ to Allāh ﷻ in winter asking Allāh ﷻ to send rain. “May there be mud. May there be rain. May there be snow and cold so that we have our crop.” Everything is linked to water. Allāh ﷻ created everything from water. Without water, there is nothing. Clever ones are pleased with sunny days, as it is the wisdom of Allāh ﷻ. But they don’t see it as normal like the rest. There are many people who say, “What a beautiful day! We are going out and having fun.”
It is the same for ākhirah. There are many people who have fun and don’t pray. They don’t do any goodness and are not in obedience. They live for their pleasure. But this pleasure – The end of this winter is summer. There will be draught and no water. They won’t find any water and will start thinking what to do. Ākhirah is even worse. If you don’t do anything in this world, if you enjoy your days and entertain yourself, if you drink alcohol and I don’t know what and then ask for something, you will carry punishment in ākhirah.
Therefore, everything has adab and principles. You must ask for that. You must worship in this world. You will get its fruit in ākhirah. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla tells to use your mind. Know what is good and what is bad. Things that happen on time are good. When the time is over, you can’t get it again. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla advises us for that. May Allāh ﷻ let us all use our minds. May He ﷻ let us have minds and use them. Because, as we said, there is no one clever in this world anymore. “Give, give, give.” If He ﷻ gives, what will happen next? Nothing. As you give, they take from another side. You ask, and it goes from the other side.
May Allāh ﷻ send the Sahib. May he clean up as people have already lost their minds completely. They don’t even appreciate money. They don’t appreciate their goods. They don’t appreciate their health and their lives. They don’t appreciate the blessings of Allāh ﷻ. May Allāh ﷻ make us from those who appreciate, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ protect us. May He ﷻ send good rain, in shā’a Llāh. May the sunny days stay for summer. May there be rain and storm. May there be snow, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ give barakah, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
The religion of Islām – “النَّظَافَةُ مِنْ الْإِيمَانِ”, “An-naẓāfatu mina l-īmān”, “Cleanliness is from īmān.”
[Hadith]
Islām is based upon cleanliness. Cleanliness is the basis of Islām. If there was no cleanliness, no worship would be accepted. Therefore, in the book of fiqh, the first lesson is Kitabu ṭ-Ṭaharah (The book of Cleanliness). It is based upon ṭahārah, cleanliness. It shows it.
The first thing is that the water must be clean. It shows how the clean water is and how many types of water there are. Everything is made of water. And the cleanliness of water is a must. It’s wrong if it wasn’t clean. When obliged, he can make tayammum. That’s another issue, but the main thing – there will definitely be water later so he can cleanse himself.
This is the outer cleanliness. The inner cleanliness is also needed; for the inside to be clean. How is the inner cleanliness done? The inner cleanliness is done with sincerity and with going on the way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. His ﷺ way is clear and open. There are persons who show his ﷺ way. There is sharī’ah. There is ṭarīqah. One must follow him ﷺ. Those who follow his ﷺ way continue their lives as clean. After the outer cleansing, the inner cleansing also happens like this. Otherwise, if you don’t do that, your water mixes with dirt. Just as it’s not permissible to perform ablution with that water, you mix with other things while going on that way. Those things you mix will make you lose your īmān. May Allāh ﷻ protect us.
Shayṭān and his helpers have been striving hard with these issues, since after the time of our Holy Prophet ﷺ, to corrupt the religion. They come up with new things every time. But Shukr to Allāh ﷻ, the imāms of Madhhabs and the Mashāyikh of ṭarīqah clean all their dirt. They clean people. People don’t respect them. But now unfortunately, these shayṭāns are causing troubles more and more lately. He tells you something, and all seems good and very beautiful. But in the end, he mixes some dirt in it. It makes you dirty inside. The deeds you do become useless. Those deeds won’t benefit you, but harm you. Therefore, mankind must certainly go on the way shown by our Holy Prophet ﷺ, so that his hereafter is prosperous, so that his hereafter is complete.
Otherwise, there’s a new fashion now, “There’s no need for madhhab. There’s no need for ṭarīqah.” They are the things that are needed first. Ṭarīqah, madhhab, sharī’ah and ṭarīqah are already the same; they are not different. Some people don’t understand that. That’s why they are cheated. Even when they are cheated, the benefit in the deeds they do is very little. It is Islām; it is all complete. But they also have sins then. How is that? They are hating. They hate some companions. They hate Ahlu l-Bayt. “They are like us. They have no importance at all.” They say these kinds of things; and sometimes things lighter than that. Those who are more cunning from the inside say it more gradually. Slowly, slowly in order to make people fall into doubt and destroy their īmān.
Not everyone has īmān. There is Islām, but the rank of those with īmān is higher. A Muslim has a rank, but people with īmān have a higher rank. They have much more importance. They are the beloved servants of Allāh ﷻ. May Allāh ﷻ protect us. May Allāh ﷻ protect us all from badness, evil and dirt, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Wa ta‘āwanū ‘ala l-birri wa t-taqwā wa la ta‘āwanū ‘ala l-lithmī wa l-‘udwān”, “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
This is the blessed order of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla: Help each other in doing goodness. Help each other. Do good. Do not do evil. Do not make enmity. Help each other. This is the order of Islam and Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, for people to live a good life. Do good. Help. If you cannot do good, at least do not do evil.
If people do this, they will live in paradise both here and hereafter. But shayṭān does not leave people alone. He says, “Do not do good. Why do you do good to them? What is the benefit in that? What do you get out of it? Will you benefit from it? No, there is no benefit.” How is there not? There is, in fact. But shayṭān does not see that good, and does not show it. He shows goodness as harm. He makes evil appear as good and beneficial. He thinks that what he achieves by deceiving or oppressing people is a profit. However, it is not a profit but a direct harm to oneself. The person harms himself before anyone else. The more evil he does, the more harm he does to himself. The more good a person does, that goodness is to himself. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla rewards every good deed, down to the smallest atom-like deed, and raises his rank. Whoever does evil, the harm of every evil he does, down to the smallest atom-like deed, returns to him.
May Allāh ﷻ protect us. May Allāh ﷻ give alertness. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla has given mankind mind so that he can think. If he thinks about this, he wouldn’t harm anyone. He would certainly want to do goodness. But people do not use their minds. They have left their minds somewhere else. They do whatever shayṭān says. May Allāh ﷻ protect us from his evil. May it be a means for goodness insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “المُؤمِنُ يألَفُ ويُؤلَفُ” aw kama qal. A Mu’min and Muslim person is the one who gets along well. People get along well with him, and he gets along well with them. He is an accepted Muslim. Muslim is the one who doesn’t harm people and gets along well with them.
There is no contrariness between Muslims. There is nothing like harming people. The attribute of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is mercy. The attribute of Mu’mins must be from the attributes of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. They must be merciful and generous. They must help people. This is what being Muslim is. Islam is not what they show as bad.
Hypocrites and non-Muslims are the ones without mercy. They seem merciful from one side, but from another side they do all kinds of badness to people without pity. Therefore, Muslims must not be similar to them. Muslims must be similar to our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, Sahabah, ‘Alims and Awliya’. They must follow their way and be like them to bring benefit to people. If they are like Kafirs without mercy, will there be any benefit? There is no benefit.
It is important that our Holy Prophet ﷺ is the one who shows us the way. He ﷺ is the most beautiful person. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is the most honorable one among all creatures. We must follow and imitate him ﷺ as much as we can. Therefore, people should get along well with others, with their parents, children and families. They should treat all of them well and live in goodness. This is the order of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. It is a beautiful order. Instead of living in contrariness all the time, live nicely and have good relations with people. Your life will be good as well. This is Islam. Islam does not order anything apart from goodness and beauty. May Allah ﷻ not let us obey our egos. May we be like this on the way ordered by Islam and our Holy Prophet ﷺ insha’Allah. May it be perpetual insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.
There are recited Qur’an Khatms, Surahs, Yasin, Tabarakah, Tasbihat, Tahlilat, Dala’il al-Khayrat, Salawat, and whatever goodness there is, may Allāh ﷻ accept them all. We gift them to our Holy Prophet ﷺ, his ﷺ Ahlu l-Bayt and Sahabah, souls of all Anbiya, Awliya, Asfiya and Mashayikh, to the souls of all Muslims and Mu’mins, may they reach them. May the good goals of those who recited be reached. To us all insha’Allah may there be happiness here and hereafter.
“Huwa Al-Ladhī Ja`ala Ash-Shamsa Điyā’an Wa Al-Qamara Nūrāan Wa Qaddarahu Manāzila Lita`lamū `Adada As-Sinīna Wa Al-Ĥisāba”, “It is He who made the sun a shining light and the moon a derived light and determined for it phases – that you may know the number of years and account [of time].” Sadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is addressing mankind, Jinns and everyone who has mind. They say people live like grass. Many people live like grass. They have nothing to do with thinking where they came from and where they are going. They don’t care.
Some people ask “Where did we come from? Where are we going?” We came from the presence of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and we are going to Him ﷻ. From Him ﷻ to Him ﷻ. We go from Ḥayy to Hu. Sometimes people understand it wrongly. They say who comes from “ḥay” goes to “ḥuy”. They think it means coming from emptiness and going to emptiness. It is not so. Ḥayy is Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. And Hu is Him ﷻ. We go from Him ﷻ to Him ﷻ. There is nowhere else to go.
The whole universe came from Him ﷻ and goes to Him ﷻ. It is said in Qur’an ‘Azimu sh-Shan, “They run around. Moon, sun and stars; all of them go towards one place.” Allah ﷻ has given some knowledge to people. This world has a speed of 1,000km. Together with the sun, it speeds up to several hundred thousand km. Together with the galaxy, it goes with the speed of several million km. Where does it go? Where did it come from and where does it go? People ask these questions. It came from the power of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and it goes back to His ﷻ power. It goes ahead without stopping.
There are some nice old sayings. One of them says “We got on a sign and are going to doomsday.” To doomsday, we are going to the presence of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla insha’Allah. People must be prepared accordingly. Also, they must know it is not empty. There is nothing as ḥay- ḥuy. It is Ḥayy and Hu. We come from Him ﷻ and we return to Him ﷻ. Therefore, people should not waste their lives for nothing. They should not destroy themselves. They should not harm people. They should not harm themselves. Mankind should not harm their families. There are things that will be asked and you will have to answer.
Iman is important. Iman is the most important thing. If Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla gave it to us, we must make Shukr to Allah ﷻ a million times for that. People are not animals. Even animals are sometimes on a much higher level than people. They know Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and make their Tasbih. Everything makes Tasbih for Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and bows to His ﷻ Greatness. Therefore, this world is going to Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Everything has its end. And the end is the presence of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. May Allah ﷻ give Iman to all of us. May He ﷻgive mind insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Yuđillu Man Yashā’u Wa Yahdī Man Yashā’u”, “He causes to stray whom He wills and guides whom He wills.” Sadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ﷻ guides whomever He ﷻ wants. And He ﷻ doesn’t give it to whomever He ﷻ wants. The grace, generosity and wisdom of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla are endless. His ﷻ secrets are endless. “وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا”, “Wa Mā’Ūtītum Mina Al-`Ilmi ‘Illā Qalīlāan”, ‘And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little.’ (Qur’ān 17:85). Very little is given to you from knowledge, says Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This knowledge of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is endless rivers. People do a couple of things. They think there is no one cleverer and more knowledgeable than them. There is. The knowledge of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is boundless and unlimited.
Therefore, the most important is the guided person. The rest who see themselves as superior, who say “We don’t recognize Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. We don’t know the religion” are not given any value by Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Whoever they are, they may own the whole world. Their value is not worth five pennies. Therefore, people who are given guidance by Allah ﷻ have attained a great blessing. They have a big gift from Allah ﷻ. Guidance is a gift from Allah ﷻ to people. There can’t be a bigger thing for guided people.
As we said, the mind cannot comprehend Allah’s ﷻ wisdom. The mind cannot comprehend Allah’s ﷻ business. Some people rant. The Majzub ones are different. Majzub ones say what they want. But those who think they are clever and tell people “This is so and so. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla says to do like this and that” according to their own minds have no benefit. They have harm but no benefit. May Allah ﷻ protect us. It is important that people in guidance make Shukr to Allah ﷻ for reaching the grace and generosity of Allah ﷻ and attaining His ﷻ mercy. This is the greatest thing we must make Shukr for. May Allah ﷻ make all of us steadfast insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Alhamdulillah wa syukru lillah, extending our greatest happiness and thanks to Allah Almighty. He, having written our names among those who will attend a majlis of cleansing, a majlis of elevation, a majlis of realization, a majlis of knowledge. And we are seeking from Allah Almighty in every gathering that we come, that Allah Almighty opens the hearts, eyes and ears to understand the journey that lies ahead.
I have shared this dream before, but I wish to bring it up again as a lesson for all of us. In this dream, I was standing on the Sirat surrounded by darkness. In a glimmer of light, you could see the Sirat was but a shining hair over the abyss. And I remember, when it was my turn to cross, I began to raise my hands and make Dua to Allah, “Oh Allah, help me, help me, save me, guide me, show me the way.”
After some time, there was a voice in my right ear, somebody saying to me, “Abdul Sattar, this is not the place for prayer or for seeking such things. You must have done all this in your Dunya before you came here. This is a place where you will reap what you have sown.”
It was a very sobering lesson for me when I woke up and realised that this journey, this Dunya, is where you begin to plant, and strive to make this plant grow into a beautiful tree. You can either be a treasured tree with the best fruits, providing benefit to the community and yourselves, or you can be a dead piece of wood that provides no benefit to anybody save for being burned in the fire to provide heat in the coldness of winter.
This month of Rejab is also described as a month in which we plant the seed. Plant the seed in the month of Rejab, in the month of Sha’ban you water it, and in the month of Ramadhan this tree will grow and begin to bear fruits.
For those who only honour the month of Ramadhan, it is very difficult to plant and water and look after a tree in such a short span of time. But, by the Mercy of Allah, many of them still get to taste something from these fruits of theirs. Masha’Allah, maybe for those who started in Ramadhan itself, their tree might just be a short shrub or bush but those who started in Rejab, they have a humongous oak tree that provides shelter for hundreds of people, habitats for thousands of creatures, and fruits for millions of people.
So we are seeking to be amongst the people who prepare, prepare from this month of Rejab, and we are seeking to taste the fruits in Ramadhan, starting from the efforts we are putting in now.
I will share with you something that we have all seen. Whenever you go to the hospital to visit a loved one, you will find that they are very weak and listless. They don’t like eating the food. Whenever you ask them, they say the food is terrible, hospital food is poor. Everybody tells you that the hospital food sucks, but the reality is that the food is ordinary food that we may all partake in. But it’s the condition of the people eating the food that taints it. When the body is sick, it is unable to taste the Ni’mah (goodness), the benefits, the blessings, the pleasures of the food it is eating. And similarly, a sick soul, a sick heart, cannot taste the pleasures of the food for the heart and soul. And this is the reason all of us find so much boredom in worshipping.
To share a story from the time of Bani Israel, there once was a man who constantly irritated the Prophet of his time. Constantly taunting and defying him. After many years, when he confronted the Prophet, he said, “You see, I’ve been defying Allah for so many years, nothing happened to me. I have good business, I make money, I am still able to taunt you, I’m in good health. So I’m not scared about what punishments you are talking about.”
And so this Prophet made Munajat (heartfelt prayer) to Allah and asked, “Ya Allah, teach me the wisdom of what this man just said.” Because every Prophet was always deep in contemplation, knowing that nothing happens except as a lesson, for them and for their Ummah (people). And Allah Almighty revealed to this Prophet, saying, ”Do you know that I have made his heart very hard? And he is one of those who do not taste any pleasure in any of the worshipping that I have sent down. His heart is not drawn to me, his heart is not tasting the sweetness of religion. His heart is hardened, and this is the biggest musibah (disaster), a punishment that I can send upon my servant.”
So my dear brothers and sisters, the greatest punishment for a person is to be left in a condition where his heart is hardened, where he tastes no pleasure in his Ibadah (worship), where he is not drawn to be sitting in a gathering like this, not drawn to Tahajjud or to read the Holy Quran, because these are all by invitation. Allah says, “I am sitting with the one who remembers me.” (Hadith Qudsi, Ahmad Bayhaqi) So if Allah does not want to be with you, Allah will not move you to sit with him. Allah will not sit with you. Allah will not move you to remember him.
And so, like the one who is ill in the hospital, not tasting the pleasure of the food, those with hardened hearts taste nothing of the food that Allah sends for the soul – Zikir, Salat, Fasting, Quran, Iktikaf, Seclusion, Munajat, Fikir (contemplation) and Dua – the endless dishes of the spiritual world. And that is the greatest disaster that can befall any of us.
So, the fruits we are trying to attain in these three months are sweetness of companionship with Allah, sweetness of Zikrullah, sweetness of remembrance, sweetness of closeness and sweetness of familiarity with the Lord Almighty. And that is the greatest gift Allah can give you.
A poor man sitting in Africa, living in a thatched hut in the middle of the desert, is happy reciting his Quran because his heart has tasted the sweetness of being with Allah. And there are people sitting in mansions, in skyscrapers, surrounded by millions of fans, having everything except Allah, who feel this constant emptiness.
Only when you are with Allah will your hearts find satisfaction. So many people have been tricked by Shaitan, telling you to look away from God. Come, try to find the sweetness in music, fine dining, dressing up and going out and buying expensive cars and showing off your wealth. And mankind is so foolishly taking the bait, trying to find sweetness in other than Allah. That is the greatest musibah.
You find so many people who have the world in their pockets who jump off buildings or hang themselves or overdose on drugs as they cannot find one moment where their hearts feel content. But you will never find this despondency and depression in a man who has tasted the sweetness of Quran and Zikrullah, even if he is poor and hungry and living in the middle of a desert. Because being a servant is all that you were created for; if you attain servanthood, you have attained the purpose of your creation.
Mawlana once gave the most beautiful example for us to ponder. Look at a man eating the whole day, from morning till night. Even when you offer him the most delicious meal he will say, “I ate so much today, I don’t want to eat.” He cannot find sweetness even in the most exquisite food. But, if you look at a man who is fasting, the whole day he is fighting his ego, pleasing Allah, seeking to be a beloved one to Allah Almighty. When offered a cup of water at the end of the day, to him, it is the sweetest thing he has ever drunk. Because he is tasting, not from the sweetness of the food, but from the sweetness of his relationship with his Lord Almighty.
Allah has created us only for the purpose of worshipping. Any other purpose you strive for you will never find your happiness, you will never find your contentment, you will never find your fulfilment. And so, these three months are very important. Rejab is the month where you plant the seed, Sha’ban you water it and then in Ramadhan you have the tree with fruits filled with the sweetness of Allah inviting us to be with Him and seeking Him.
So my dear brothers and sisters, in these three months, do not be busy with anything other than trying to become one who is close to Allah. Yes, you will feel tired, lazy, sleepy and bored but you must make this effort to draw close. You must also say, “Ya Allah, I’m trying my best and finding it very heavy, help me.” Take some coffee, wash your face, renew your wudhu (ablution). Make an effort to stay awake.
No, not many people can taste the sweetness of sitting for an extended period of time in worship. It doesn’t come in one day. You do not fall in love just like that, you do not taste the sweetness, you do not grow a tree and bear its fruit in just a moment, that is why you are given these three months. Maybe boredom or tiredness sets in, but that’s okay. That’s why Allah says in the Hadith Qudsi, man gets bored of making Dua to me, but I never get bored of listening to him.
Once the sweetness of these devotions enters your heart, that means you are beginning to taste the closeness to Allah. Because what is the purpose of all that you are doing? To draw close to Allah. And as Mawlana said, it is not possible for you to draw close except that Allah draws you close. That’s why Allah says in the Hadith Qudsi, when my servant, is doing his best to draw close to me by means of all these Sunnah acts – Sunnat prayers (anything outside the 5 daily prayers), Sunnah fasting, partial seclusion – then I draw him close to me. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 76, Hadith 509)
Allah says, “If he is walking to me, I am flying to him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 7405) Even though he is tired, even though he is sleepy, even though he is struggling. Allah knows your struggle. Allah knows your struggle. And Allah values it. Allah created man weak, he knows we are weak.
Allah created man in toil and struggle.
In that struggle that we are trying to come close to Him, Allah says, “I will then be the eyes by which he sees, the tongue by which he speaks, the ears by which he hears, the feet by which he walks. Allah says, I will be with him and he will be Rabbani. He will be mine, Allah says. When he says Kun, Allah says Faya Kun, it shall be.” (Riyad as-Saliheen, 386)
The process of becoming the beloved of Allah is neither easy nor instantaneous. Yes, you may feel lazy to come to Khatam or wake up for Tahajjud. Yes, those are the beginning stages. We all struggle with these things. And it shows you are human. It shows you are really a person trying from scratch and then that is where we say we are doing, Jihad – fighting this laziness, this sleepiness, this boredom, this tiredness.
We are fighting against our ego, which tells us to do as we please and not as advised. But we must remember, Allah is Ash-Shakur (The Most Grateful). He does not leave our deeds in vain. Your struggle to become close to Allah will eventually bear fruits, through the slow process by which we ask from Allah in these months.
We ask Allah to soften our hearts. We ask Allah to make our hearts gentle. We ask Allah to make our hearts pliable, not stubborn, not aggressive, not always finding trouble, but being soft. Because Allah Almighty said, “The seven Heavens and the seven earths cannot contain me, but the soft, gentle heart of a believer can contain me.” (Hadith Qudsi, Al-Ihya of Imam al-Ghazali)
This soft, gentle heart is what we aspire to achieve in these three months. To make our hearts into Baitullah, the House of Allah, such that we will no longer be reluctant in our worship, having tasted the sweetness of being close to Allah. Now your soul is being healed, and having shed its sickness, it realises how hungry it is.
When your heart is cured from all its ailments, you will be eating continuously from Al-Ma’idah (The Table Spread). Eschewing worldly pleasures and devoting yourself to spiritual pleasures. This month of Rejab, the month of Forgiveness, is the month in which you begin to heal your heart.
This is why you must reflect. If you missed your Tahajjud, Hasan al-Basri q.s once said, then check what you did the day before. Once you identify the sin, you realise that Masha’Allah, yesterday I backbit about my friend, and this morning I missed my Tahajjud! The sin is what makes the illness stronger, until you are unable to wake up to do your worshipping. And then you will understand, Masha’Allah, this is the heaviness of sin.
Allah is opening up these three months for us to heal the illnesses of the heart and the soul. So be consistent and determined to rid yourselves of all these illnesses, for you do not want to carry them into the grave when you go back to Allah. Return to Allah with Qalbun Salim – with pure, clean, healthy, perfect, golden hearts.
May Allah grant us Insha’Allah to be busy in this month, seeking forgiveness from Allah. May Allah grant us the sweetness of the fruit of closeness and familiarity with Allah Azzawajal.
Ameen Ya Rabbal Alameen. Bi hurmatil Habib, Bi hurmatil Fatiha.
• Almarhum Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan
27 January 2023/ 5 Rejab 1444
Our beloved Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan reunited with his true love, Allah Almighty, on 11 November 2023.
May Allah forgive his shortcomings, bestow upon him endless blessings, mercy, and light, and elevate his rank for the sincerity of his efforts and contribution during his lifetime.
May he be placed amongst those closest and dearest to Allah Almighty.
“Man `Amila Şāliĥāan Falinafsihi, Wa Man ‘Asā’a Fa’alayhā, Wa Ma Rabbuka bi- Zallaamin lil-Abeed’, ‘Whoever does righteousness – it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it. And your Lord is not ever unjust to [His] servants.” Sadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla does not oppress anyone. Ḥāshā! (far from it). Oppression is not from the attributes of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. The attributes of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla are mercy, patience and all kinds of beautiful things. Oppression and other things don’t refer to Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Ḥāshā!
Things that are Wajib for Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla are written in our books of belief. Oppression is the attribute of shaytan. It is the attribute of those who follow him. And the greatest oppression is when a person does it to himself; not otherwise. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla has favoured people and created them to worship. But they leave Him ﷻ and worship themselves. Instead of worshipping Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla, they worship their egos. Therefore, they make oppression to themselves.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla does not need anything from anyone. Because He ﷻ is the creator. He ﷻ is the creator of this universe. We are not even dust inside this universe. He ﷻ has favored us. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla said in Qur’an Karim, ‘وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ’, ‘Wa Laqad Karramnā Banī ‘Ādam, ‘And We have certainly honored the children of Adam.’ (Qur’ān 17:70). “We have given favors to mankind. We have raised and exalted them.” But as we said, not only us, but the whole world is like dust inside this universe. It is not even dust in the enormous realm of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla.
He ﷻ has favored us with so many treats, but we leave Him ﷻ. As if Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla needs our worship, when people pray or do something, they admire themselves and think they’ve done something important. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla has favored you with that. You must do it no matter if your ego likes it or not. You must do it to have benefit. It won’t bring benefit to anyone. And Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla doesn’t need it at all.
Everything is in the Hand of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Allah ﷻ has given this favor. Who doesn’t do it oppresses himself. And the greatest oppressor is the one who oppresses himself. Many people do that. They dogmatize and say, “This is so and so. It works this way and that way. We are clever. We know everything.” Who are you to think so high of yourself? As we said, even the world is not like dust inside this universe. And what are you?
Who is with Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla will be raised. Who is not with Him ﷻ will be lowered. This is what Ayat of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla say. Those who oppress people oppress themselves. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ give guidance to people. People who think they are clever – there is no cleverness in them unless they use their mind on the way of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. May Allah ﷻprotect us. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Yaqūlu Yā Laytanī Qaddamtu Liĥayātī”, “He will say, Oh, I wish I had sent ahead [some good] for my life.” Sadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Mankind says, “If only I did that” and feels regret about things they didn’t do.
People have two types of regret. Worldly people and everyone; Muslims, those who believe and don’t believe. Mankind says “If only I did this, I would have been in a better place now.” “If only we bought that land 5 years ago, we would have earned so much by now.” “If only we lent money to this man, we would have earned this much.” There are these coins now. They say “If only we bought bitcoins, we’d have so much profit” and feel regret. That regret is useless, because it was not in your fate. You’ve come to your senses now, but then you were thinking about something else.
Mankind must think about it. If you were told to do this and that then, you wouldn’t do it. And then you wish you had done so and so. This is regret for nothing. It has no benefit. Beneficial regret is wishing, “If only we weren’t busy with Dunya so much. If only we worshipped more. If only we didn’t miss our prayers and fasting.” If you feel regret about these, that is the beneficial regret. If you regret not doing things that were ordered by Allah ﷻ, or regret doing bad things, Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla will forgive you. If you repent and ask for forgiveness, He ﷻ will forgive you. That will bring benefit.
Otherwise, if you regret not doing this and that regarding Dunya, what will it do to you? It will make you worse and devastated. You will keep wishing “Akh! If only we did that as well. Look how much this man has earned.” You may regret as much as you want. That thing will not return. As we said, what will return is regretting doing bad things, asking for forgiveness from a person if you’ve taken his right. If you have no right of others, Allah ﷻ will forgive you. Ask for forgiveness from Allah ﷻ for the sins you’ve committed. That will have benefit. They will be erased, and Thawab will be written instead.
This is a mercy and grace shown to people by Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla in this world. Clever people will pay attention to this and will not upset themselves for Dunya and things that didn’t work out. They say it is over. Our late Uncle Ahmet used to say “The market in Bor is over, drive the donkey to Niğde.” The market here is gone, go to another market and earn from there. But there is always a chance for Akhirah. Therefore, regret and ask for forgiveness from Allah ﷻ, and Allah ﷻ will forgive you. May Allah ﷻ forgive us all insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Allahumma la tu’akhithna bima faa’la s-sufaha’au minna”, “Our Lord, punish us not for what the foolish ones among us have done.”
It is a beautiful saying. It says “We don’t accept the actions of bad ones. Don’t punish us like them, we beg Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla.”
During the time of Musa ‘alayhi s-salam, if one person committed a sin, punishment came to all of them from the presence of Allah ﷻ. Shukr to Allah ﷻ, there is no such thing now for the honor of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. Nevertheless, darkness comes down because of the badness done. What should we do? We should not accept badness.
Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says if you can change something with your hands, you must change it. If you can’t do that, you must give advice and tell them, “This is not good. Don’t do that.” If you can’t do that as well, you must say in your heart “It is badness, I don’t accept it. I don’t want it” and disapprove it. Certainly, it is impossible now to change with hands. If you talk with them, they are not in a state to accept it. Because they think the badness they do is good. They think the badness they do against Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and against humanity is good. Therefore, you can’t talk to them.
The best is to disapprove in your heart. As we said, you must not accept what you see. Because they’ve done such a thing that it appears normal to people. People are getting used to it step by step, whereas everyone must know that the things we see are bad. They must see goodness as good to attain the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. It is the weakest thing; Muslims must say it is bad, it is Haram, it is not right. They must know this. They must know Haram and Halal and differentiate them. They must not accept Haram.
May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ improve us. People are doing all kinds of badness. And then they boast with it. May Allah ﷻ give them mind and understanding. May Allah ﷻ improve them. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May He ﷻ protect our Iman insha’Allah. May He ﷻ not put us in such conditions insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla created people. He ﷻ sent Prophets to teach them manners and discipline. In order to remove their wildness, so that they have good manners, He ﷻ sent the Prophets. What is wildness? Wildness is like a tree. You must arrange and organize it to make it useful. If you don’t do it, the ego does everything to make a person think something of himself.
Pharaoh said “I am your greatest God.” He must have seen others as little Gods to say “I am your greatest.” People’s egos think they are Gods. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim used to say if everyone was given that chance, everyone would become like Pharaoh and say “I am your God.” Pharaoh had that chance, but people don’t have that chance. So they can’t do so. Otherwise, if they had a chance, the ego would make everyone act like Pharaoh. Therefore, we must train our egos.
Contrarily, in the time we are living, the more you praise your ego, the less it is. They say “There is no one better than me” and want to show themselves everywhere. Whatever they do, they want people to see it. O stupid man, stupid human, what benefit will you have if they see it? There will be no benefit but loss. The things you show, the things that are useless will attract evil eye on you and become an affliction. And others will be upset too. There will be envy and jealousy. There won’t be anything else. Therefore, the more people train their egos, the more benefit they will have. The more they exalt their egos, the more loss there will be.
What is the benefit if all people say you are so and so? When you are dead and gone, there will be no use of you. And you will have no profit but loss. Therefore, may Allah ﷻ protect us from the evil of our egos. Thinking that people you see are doing something great and imitating them is a foolish thing, not otherwise. Clever people know their capacity and limits. We are weak people in the sight of Allah ﷻ. No matter how strong they are, people are still weak.
Therefore, we must know this. We must be servants of Allah ﷻ. Our necks are in the Hand of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. He ﷻ will take it whenever He ﷻwants and wherever He ﷻ wants, and bring it whenever He ﷻ wants. May Allah ﷻ help us. May He ﷻ not let us obey our egos and put us in ridiculous position. And may He ﷻ not let us out of His ﷻ way insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Al-Lahu Nūru s-samāwāti wal ard”, “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Light belongs to Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. He ﷻ gives it to those who believe. They take from His ﷻ light. He ﷻ created this universe from the light of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla created everything.
People who don’t have Iman don’t have light. The light is the sign of Iman among people. It is the condition of Iman. You can’t find it in people without Iman. They can be black or white or anything. But when they are Mu’min, even if they are black, their faces shine brightly with the light of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla.
He ﷻ gave this thing for people to believe in this world as well. But those who don’t believe are unaware of it. Only Mu’mins are aware, because Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla informed us with our Holy Prophet ﷺ about light being with believers. How would unbelievers know about light? They live without knowing anything. It is not meant for them. And those who are given must make Shukr.
It is good to be like believers. Who imitate believers take from their light. That light leads them to happiness. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is the creator of everything. He ﷻ has wisdom and everything. He ﷻ created people to believe in the Ghayb (hidden). Believing in the hidden gives people light. That light will protect them in the darkness of Akhirah. And it will protect them in this world with the permission of Allah ﷻ.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla created everyone to believe and wants it. But people – There is something called partial willpower which is from wisdoms and secrets of Allah ﷻ. His ﷻ secrets and knowledge are not even close for our imagination to approach them. Therefore, Allah ﷻ doesn’t oppress anyone. He ﷻ gives to whomever wants it. He ﷻ has given willpower. And with that willpower and wisdom – We don’t know what that secret is. Whoever asks may take it.
There are people who make excuses saying this and that. Their excuses are fake and have no value. Ask for light. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim used to say to ask for light in his last times. Ask for light so that Allah ﷻ gives light. Light means Iman. It means goodness and beauty. May Allah ﷻ give us all from that light insha’Allah. May He ﷻ enlighten our hearts, all of us. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.
There are recited Qur’an Khatms, Tasbihat, Dala’il al-Khayrat, Salawat, Ayat, Yasin, Surahs. We gift them all firstly to our Holy Prophet ﷺ, his ﷺ Ahlu l-Bayt and Sahabah, souls of all Anbiya, Awliya, Asfiya and Mashayikh, Alims and ‘Ulama, Muslims and Mu’mins, Sultans, especially our Shaykh Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim, souls of all of our late relatives. May the good goals of those who recited be reached. May their Iman get stronger. May they be happy here and hereafter. May there be strength for our Iman. Li-Llahi Ta’ala l-Fatiha.
“Wa Mā Al-Ĥayāatu Ad-Dunyā ‘Illā Matā’u Al-Ghurūr”, “And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion.” Sadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying worldly life is just a game and entertainment. This world has no value, says Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. We live in this world, but it has no value. Because it won’t last. What doesn’t last has no value.
People fight over this world. They kill each other and do badness to each other for this world. But it has no value. The value is for Akhirah. And the valuable things in this world are the houses of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla: Ka’bah, Makkah, Madina Munawwara and Quddus. Wherever there are mosques and Masjids, they are valuable in the presence of Allah ﷻ. These are the valuable things in this world. Apart from them, nothing in this world has any value or importance.
They are not for this world; they are for Akhirah. Masjids of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and our Holy Prophet ﷺ, other Masjids and mosques all over the world are the places for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. Dergahs and tombs are for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. As they are not for Dunya, they are the valuable things on earth. Neither skyscrapers, nor cities, nor palaces; they have no value in the sight of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. And they should not have value in the sight of people as well. But people, contrarily, don’t value what is precious and value worthless things.
People leave their homelands even if they don’t have to and go to other places chasing Dunya, for worldly things. But things which are not for Dunya, places of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla – If they are preventing you from your religion, the earth of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is wide and vast, you may go to another place. But going after more luxurious life and for worldly benefit means you are chasing Dunya. It has no benefit. Allah ﷻ is not pleased with that. Because Allah ﷻ gives Rizq everywhere. Wherever you are, He ﷻ gives you your Rizq. Therefore, pay attention to the things that are for Akhirah while you are alive.
Who’s gone is gone. But those who say “I will go there for Rizq”, Allah ﷻ is Ar-Razzaq. He ﷻ will give you Rizq wherever you are. Nevertheless, you must pay attention if you can keep your religion, if you can keep your children, if you can keep your grandchildren. You must pay attention to that. As we said, wherever people go, they should always be in places beloved by Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. They must find shelter in Masjids, Dergahs and mosques wherever they are. Allah ﷻ will help and protect them insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ help people and Muslims insha’Allah. May we guard our religion. May the religion of our children be protected insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Inna Al-Muttaqīna Fī Žilālin Wa `Uyūnin (41) Wa Fawākiha Mimmā Yashtahūna (42) Kulū Wa Ashrabū Hanī’āan Bimā Kuntum Ta`malūna”
“Indeed, the pious will be among shades and springs (41) And fruits from whatever they desire, (42) [Being told], Eat and drink in satisfaction for what you used to do.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying, “Possessors of Taqwa and Iman are sitting nicely together under the shade of paradise without feeling cold or hot.” Who are they? They are the beloved servants of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla who passed away with Iman.
Shukr to Allah ﷻ, today is the Urs of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. He passed away to Akhirah on the 8th of Rajab. We are together with him every day, Shukr to Allah ﷻ, with all brothers. He has become the means of guidance you can’t even imagine for how many people, with much more power after his passing. He is merciful to them. And their fate is like this. Paradise is prepared for all of them.
This world is three days. What’s important is Akhirah. And it is a great blessing to be with such holy ones in Akhirah. It is a great luck. Everyone thinks the luck is to earn money or to possess something good in Dunya. That is not luck. The luck is to be from the beloved servants of Allah ﷻ among so many millions and billions of people. The luck is to be with them. Therefore, those on this way are lucky people. May Allah ﷻ protect them. And may Allah ﷻ increase them. May they become more in number with the Barakah of our Shaykh. May they become the means of guidance for people. The Thawab of every person who reaches guidance also goes to the person who shows guidance to him.
Shukr to Allah ﷻ, the book of deeds of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim is open until Qiyamah. And those with him will meet in paradise insha’Allah. This world consists of three days, as we said. There are yesterday, today and tomorrow. That’s it; there is not much to do. Therefore, pay attention to be with good ones.
Many people ask for advice from us. Our advice is – be with good people. Stay away from bad ones. If there are good people, you may spend time with them. If they don’t listen to advice, don’t deal with them. Because if you hold someone with your hand in a swamp, he will pull you and sink you too. Therefore, when you see such people, there is no benefit from them. Kick them away and finish it. Beware of holding their hands.
Be with good ones, stay away from bad ones. Bad ones are evil, as we said. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ protect all of us from their evil for the Barakah of our Shaykhs. We have nothing. We don’t have any power. Everything happens with their power with the permission of Allah ﷻ. May Allah ﷻ bless them. May their Maqams be high. We will all be together in paradise insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Wa-ma Khalaqtu l-Jinna wal Insa illa li-Ya’budun (56) Mā ‘Urīdu Minhum Min Rizqin Wa Mā ‘Urīdu ‘An Yuţ`imūni”
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me (56) I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Many people question why Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla created us and don’t know the wisdom of creation. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, “I created people and Jinn in order to worship Me.” This is the wisdom. Who know this do not agonize about it and don’t trouble themselves. Who don’t know this live a totally useless life. Sometimes they commit suicide, as they don’t know the wisdom. They think they appeared in this world all of a sudden. They wander around thinking there is no one. They don’t know there is Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and that they must believe in Allah ﷻ. And when they believe in Allah ﷻ, all good things come to them.
People without Iman are not aware of anything. They come up as deniers and then expect goodness. How will goodness come to you? You may have the whole world, but you won’t be saved from this hardship. In order to be saved from hardship, you must worship. You must honor Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla, you must honor our Holy Prophet ﷺ. And you will live with wisdom. There is nothing without wisdom in life. They even ask their parents, “Why did you bring me into this world?” AstaghfiruLlah. It is not your parents who brought you here. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla created you. He ﷻ made them the means. And if you have to do something, that is to respect them. You must serve them for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ.
People who are after Dunya oppress and insult their parents. They say it is their fault. If Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla did not create you, where would your parents bring you from? Is it that easy to create a person? There is no one but Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla who creates. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla creates whenever He ﷻ wants to, so you come to this world. It doesn’t work otherwise. Without Him ﷻ it is impossible. When Allah ﷻ doesn’t say “Be!”, it is not there. When He ﷻ says “Be!”, it appears. We must know this too.
As we said, the wisdom is that we were created for worship, to worship Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Matters of this world are not important. What’s important when it comes to people’s minds is to know that we are created for worship. People must believe in this to be at rest. Otherwise, there is no rest. They run here and there, do this and that. But they realize they have no rest and no satisfaction in their hearts. “أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ”, “A-lā bi-dhikri llāhi taṭmainnu l-qulūb”, “Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” (Qur’ān 13:28). Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm. Satisfaction comes from remembering Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla, from always making His ﷻ Dhikr.
May Allah ﷻ give guidance to people and all of us. May they follow this beautiful way, as Allah ﷻ has opened this way for everyone. It is not open for you and closed for me. Anyone willing should come to this way and reach peace insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“إِنَّ اللهَ لَا ينظرُ إلى صُوَرِكُمْ وَأمْوالِكُمْ ، ولكنْ ينظرُ إلى قلوبِكم وأعمالِكم”
“Allah does not look at your figures and your wealth but He looks at your hearts and deeds”, aw kama qal (or as he ﷺ said.) Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla doesn’t give you Thawab by looking at your appearance, your face and eyes.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla looks at the deeds you do, at your goodness and obedience to Allah ﷻ.
It was so before, but nowadays people show more importance to the appearance, shape and looks. They don’t care about the inside. They are worse from inside. But they think, according to their own minds, they are beautiful from the outside. They suffer for their egos and go through various hardships. It is fine for their egos. But if you tell them to pray two Rakat for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ, they won’t even do it.
They do various things; they don’t eat, they run, they have surgeries changing their faces and eyes for their egos. That is for the corpse that will be rotten. No matter how beautiful they make it, it changes after a while, and they will do it again. While they go for the third and fourth time, life comes to end. Allah ﷻ knows if they are beautiful from the outside. It is according to their minds. But they don’t look inside at all. They only look at the outside.
You don’t see your appearance anyway, others see it. Allah ﷻ has given you eyes and ears. He ﷻ has given you everything. That is not for you to look outside, or for others to look at you. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla created you. Make Shukr to Allah ﷻ. Ahsan ul-Khaliqeen created us the way it suits us. Our eyes, noses and everything is the way He ﷻ wants. No need to change and touch them. Look inside yourself. Instead of torturing yourself, look inside at your heart and soul. Even if you do one thousandth of it, you will reach the highest ranks.
Therefore, we should not show importance to the appearance. It has no importance in this world. Because the things are not done for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. We don’t change our noses so that Allah ﷻ loves us more. We don’t plump our lips, we don’t broil our eyes for that. All of them are for Dunya, for the ego, for people to love them. It is not about love, they look at you with lust then. That is even worse. May Allah ﷻ protect us.
Shaytan is cheating people in various ways. As we said, Fitnah of the end of times is even bigger. There were not such things in old times. Nowadays, everyone left their inside and deal with their outside. Instead of dealing with their Adab, behavior and manners, they deal with their appearances and strive so that people look at them with lust. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ not let us obey our egos. May we be pleased with whatever Allah ﷻ gives us insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Laqad Kāna Lakum Fī Rasūli Llāhi ‘Uswatun Hasana”, “There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent example.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is the best example for you. Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is teaching the best not only to Muslims but to all humanity. Who follows him as much as he can becomes human. He acts like a human.
All Tariqahs follow him ﷺ. Especially Naqshbandi Tariqah strives to do everything our Holy Prophet ﷺ did and said. Of course, people can’t do 100% like our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. What he did is Sunnah. And our duty as Tariqah is not to leave Sunnah. Among people, he ﷺ is the most superior.
Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is sent as an example for people by Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Who follows him ﷺ will have no oppression in this world. He will not have badness. There will be nothing but goodness. This is the way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. But there are Muslims who say this is permissible and that is not permissible when you do some things. Shukr to Allah ﷻ, our Tariqah is showing everything our Holy Prophet ﷺ said. It follows his ﷺ way.
Tariqah is not outside Shari’ah. Tariqah is the core and heart of Shari’ah. Therefore, its way, the way of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is the light for humanity. It is guidance and goodness. Who follows it reaches happiness. He lives well in this world and will be better in Akhirah with the permission of Allah ﷻ. May Allah ﷻ make us all successful on his ﷺ way. May He ﷻ help us walk on his ﷺ way insha’Allah. May He ﷻ not let us obey our egos insha’Allah. May we all reach this beauty insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
“Yu’til-hikmata man yashā’u, waman yu’tal-hikmata faqad ūtiya khayran kathīrā”
“He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good.” Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla gives wisdom to some people. People with wisdom have attained great goodness. What is wisdom? It is understanding good things and doing them so that others benefit from them. This is wisdom.
When something is said, even if it is a good thing, they tell it wrongly when it is without wisdom. Because there is no wisdom. Everyone sees the apparent. But to explain its wisdom is one thing, and to tell things without truth is another thing.
Why are we telling this? Masha’Allah, there are many people everywhere who live by as ‘Alims. They say “We have knowledge. We speak and preach.” They do this and that. But very few have wisdom. Apart from wisdom, there are new groups who don’t accept things that are always practiced in Islam; whatever its use is. They say it is not Sunnah and that there is not such a thing. They come up and speak about it. What do you earn from it? What is your benefit? This only serves their egos. They attack the true things just to show themselves. They say it is wrong and it is not permissible.
When there are so many impermissible and Haram things, you are attacking the things done by Muslims. Why? Because you don’t have wisdom. If you had wisdom – There are so many impermissible things all over the world; Kufr, immorality and dissoluteness. You leave them and say it is impermissible when Muslims fast in Rajab. They say Rajab has no value. This thing has been there since the time of the Sahabah and after our Holy Prophet ﷺ. Certainly, it was in the time of our Holy Prophet ﷺ as well. The Sahabah did it, then Tabi’in did it. All of them did it. You say it is not permissible for something practiced for over 1,400 years. What is it, if not idiotism? It is nothing but lack of wisdom. That’s it.
Wisdom is a very important thing. Hanging out with people without wisdom, listening to them brings harm to people. It doesn’t bring benefit. May Allah ﷻ protect us from their evil. People without wisdom are either idiots, or traitors and hypocrites; nothing else. May Allah ﷻ protect us from their evil. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
‘Wa Lā Taqrabū Māla Al-Yatīmi ‘Illā Bi-Atī Hiya ‘Aĥsanu Ĥattá Yablugha ‘Ashuddahu ۖ Wa ‘AwfūAl-Kayla Wa Al-Mīzāna Bil-Qisţi’, ‘And do not approach the orphan’s property except in a way that is best until he reaches maturity. And give full measure and weight in justice.’ Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla says to respect the rights. Don’t take anyone’s right. Allah ﷻ forgives everything. Allah ﷻ is forgiving. But for the right of a servant, you must only ask for his forgiveness, or return his right so that his right is not on your shoulders. If that right remains to Qiyamah, you will have a hard time. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla will take from your Thawab and give to him. If you don’t have any more Thawab, He ﷻ will load his sins onto you.
Therefore, everyone must return others’ rights in this world. No one should think “I’ve cheated him, I will have profit from that.” That is not profit but loss. That loss can be gone in this world. If you return the right while you’re still alive, it may be gone. But if he doesn’t forgive you, you have a hard time then. You should be careful not to take anyone’s rights while you’re alive. If you’ve taken others’ rights, you should go and ask for their forgiveness and return their rights.
Many people live by as Muslims. But they take others’ rights. It can be spiritually as well, not only physically. They close their eyes on what is right and put them in harm. That means taking the right. You are given a chance to be with the right. If you do the opposite, you commit a very big sin. Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says the worst is the false testimony. Our Holy Prophet ﷺ said in one of his ﷺ Hadiths, “The biggest sin is the false testimony.” Then he said again, “It is the false testimony. It is the false testimony.” They said, “If only our Holy Prophet ﷺ stopped saying so.” He ﷺ had repeated it so much, as the worst way of taking someone’s right is by making false testimony. So in order not to make false testimony, we must pay attention to the right spiritually. Not only materially, but also spiritually. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ not let us obey our egos. Our egos show the bad as good. Therefore, may Allah ﷻ protect us. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.
There are recited Khatms for the honor of the holy night. There are Khatms of Yasin, Surahs, Ayat, Tasbihat, Tahlilat, Khatms of Dala’il al-Khayrat and Salawat. We gift all of them for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ to our Holy Prophet Sayyidina Muhammad ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahijamee’i al Anbiya’i wa l-Mursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ilaarwahi Mashayyikhina fi t-Tariqati n-Naqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu l-Khaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri Sadatina was-Siddiqiyun, Wa ila ruhi ‘aba’ina w ummahatina, ajdadina wa jaddatina, wa ila jamee’i al muslimin wal muslimat, wal mu’minin wal mu’minat al ‘ah’ya’i minhum wal amwat. ‘Ala niyyat al shifa’ wa daf’i al bala’, wal futuh wal faraj a’n al muslimin. For goodness to come and the evil to be gone. May the good intentions of those who recited be reached. May they be happy here and hereafter. Li-Llahi Ta’ala l-Fatiha.
[(Translation) There are recited Khatms for the honor of the holy night. There are Khatms of Yasin, Surahs, Ayat, Tasbihat, Tahlilat, Khatms of Dala’il al-Khayrat and Salawat. We gift all of them for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ to our Holy Prophet Sayyidina Muhammad, Prayers and Peace be upon Him, and his family, and his companions, and the souls of all the prophets as well as of His messengers and of those who served their Sharia, and to the souls of the four Imams. And to the souls of our Mashayikhof the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Tariqa, in particular to the soul of the Imam of the Tariqa Ghawth al-Khaliqa(the Help of Creation), Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, and the rest of our masters and Siddiqiyun. And to the souls of our fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and to all Muslims and Muslimahs, Mu’mins and Mu’minahs, the ones alive and dead from them. By the intention of cure and preventing affliction, for conquests and relief for Muslims. For goodness to come and the evil to be gone. May the good intentions of those who recited be reached. May they be happy here and hereafter. Li-Llahi Ta’ala l-Fatiha.]
Today is first Thursday and first Friday night of the holy month of Rajab. The night linking this Thursday to Friday is Laylat ul-Ragha’ib. And today is a blessed day. It has great Barakah. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is generous and kind. He ﷻ is the possessor of generosity. He ﷻ wants to give. He ﷻ wants to give to those who want. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, “Take. Come and take.” But people are not taking jewels. They go and collect dirt and filth, ḥāshā mina l-ḥuḍūr [expression of respect meaning: saving your presence]. They get happy with that and put it on their heads, eyes and bodies. They don’t appreciate jewels. They don’t know their value.
Every Friday is blessed. And every day of the three holy months is blessed. But Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla has given these days as more favorable among them. Ragha’ib means beautiful things that are given. It means desired things. And what is the desire? Akhirah. It is to follow Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla and our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, to be the way He ﷻ wants. These are the things that should be desired. Good things should be desired. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla has given Halal and Haram. Desire Halal. Halal things bring benefit to you. They increase your rank. Halal means good things that should be desired. Clean things bring benefit to people’s bodies and even more benefit to their souls and spirituality.
Today and tonight, Shukr to Allah ﷻ – We must make Shukr to Allah ﷻ for making us know. Many people don’t know about Rajab and Sha’ban, about the three months and prayer. There are many people who don’t know anything. They are the people who desire Dunya. May Allah ﷻ improve them. And may He ﷻ grant them insha’Allah.
Our duty is to inform, to tell people about these days and good things. The good things are these. The good things are the favors given by Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. We must make Shukr for them and nourish our bodies and souls with them. There is no benefit in nourishing otherwise with Haram. That is nothing but harm to the body. May Allah ﷻ make His ﷻ favors perpetuate. May these days and nights be blessed.
Shukr to Allah ﷻ, it is the first holy night. All nights are holy. But tonight is the first one among the beautiful nights of the three holy months. And then there is Laylat ul-Miraj and Laylat ul-Bara’ah. There is Laylat ul-Qadr in Ramadan. We have those, Shukr to Allah ﷻ. Whoever wants may benefit from them. They are not special to only one person. There is enough for everyone and more. Even if there is a thousand, a million, or a billion fold of this world, paradise is enough for them. They will all fit. Therefore, may we be on the way of Allah ﷻ insha’Allah. May this day and night be blessed insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.
The month of Rajab starts tonight insha’Allah. The three holy months – Rajab, Sha’ban, Ramadan. The specialty of the month of Rajab is that there is another thing: it is one of the forbidden months. Rajab, Dhu l-Qa’dah, Dhu l-Hijjah and Muharram are the four forbidden months. They have their special features. And Rajab is one of them. It has the virtue of the three holy months and the virtue of the forbidden months.
We should see it as opportunity and benefit from this holy month. It starts tonight insha’Allah. After Maghrib prayer, the 1st of Rajab will have come insha’Allah. Certainly, we must look at the moon. But people don’t know where the moon rises and where it sets anymore. Therefore, follow what your government says. Insha’Allah Allah ﷻ will accept that.
People should make partial seclusion; an hour or two hours, as much as they can do. There is no permission for the other seclusion now. There is no permission to stay in seclusion for forty days now. Because people have no tolerance. Therefore, with the mercy of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla, you can make the partial one. Make intention for seclusion and make it between Maghrib and ‘Isha, or between ‘Asr and ‘Isha, or from Tahajjud until sunrise. There is Wazifah (Duty) of Tasbihat and Tahlilat. You can do that. You will attain their virtue, as there shouldn’t be anyone who is in Naqshbandi Tariqah but hasn’t done seclusion.
Therefore, the partial seclusion substitutes for the big seclusion, said Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. There must be easiness in everything. People can’t bear difficult things. Therefore, out of mercy, as we live in the end of times, as our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said to the Sahabah, “If you do 99 things and skip 1, you are responsible for it. But in the end of times, if they do 1 out of 100, that will be enough for them.” Therefore, Shukr to Allah ﷻ, we must do it when there is such easiness.
Certainly, there is also fasting. Who can fast in these three holy months should fast. Who can’t do that, tomorrow is the 1st, and then there is a holy night on Thursday. Fast on that day. Then fast on Thursdays and Mondays, Mondays and Thursdays. Who can fast more can do so. You will have great benefit from that. There will be benefit to people insha’Allah.
Also, there are thirty Rakat in Rajab. If you pray them as two Rakat every other day with 1 Fatiha and 11 Ikhlas in each Rakah, the thirty Rakat will be done throughout the whole month. No need to pray all of them at once. If you pray two Rakat every other day in order to attain the virtue of Rajab, that is good. There is Tasbihat: Subḥana Llāhi l-Ḥayyi l-Qayyūm, Subḥana Llāhi l-Aḥadi ṣ-Ṣamad, Subḥana Llāhi r-Ra’uf. Each one changes every ten days accordingly. There is a written instruction anyway. You should do that.
May Allah ﷻ make it blessed. May our three holy months be blessed. May they be the means of goodness insha’Allah. May we have the strength of Iman. May there be guidance to Muslims. May they be protected from the evil of shaytan. May they be protected from the evil and Fitnah of the end of times insha’Allah. With the intention of reaching Mahdi ‘alayhi s-salam insha’Allah, may Allah ﷻ make it blessed upon you. Insha’Allah there will be much better days. Days of test will be over, and good days will come with Mahdi ‘alayhi s-salam insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ grant it to all of us.
The way is the way of life. We are all going on a way. It is either a good way, or a bad way. The good way is walked with a good friend. Whose friend is bad will lead him to the bad way. And the bad way will destroy him in this world and will make it even worse in Akhirah.Oftentimes, children and brothers ask for advice.
The best advice is to be with good people. When you are with good people, as it is said in Hadith of our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, a good person is like a shop that sells perfume. If you enter it, you benefit from nice fragrance even if you don’t buy anything. Beautiful fragrance gives beauty to people. It gives comfort and goodness. A bad friend is like blacksmith shop. Blacksmith shop is necessary, of course. But if you enter it, you will be either bothered by the smell, or a spark may burn you. Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa- sallam has given this example and tells to be on the good way, with good people in good places.Saying “This is my closest friend” and this and that; the worst badness comes from trusting him and thinking you are safe. It is the biggest stupidity and badness to yourself.
Therefore, you must be cautious with your friend. If he makes a mistake, you must ask “What are you doing, my friend? What is it? Why are doing so? Does it have any wisdom? Are you doing it for your ego?” At least, you should correct your friend and not warp the way. You should not go out of the way.The conditions we see now, the biggest badness everywhere is from friends.
One sees the other doing something and wants to imitate him. “Is it right? My father, mother and relatives would not understand it. Masha’Allah my friend is very clever and smart. What my father and mother say is outdated, they don’t understand anything. This guy understands. I must be like him and go with him.” While doing so, they’ve spoilt the condition of the world and everywhere in the country.
May Allah جل جلاله give them mind and understanding. May they not leave the right way insha’Allah.
Whoever wants to imitate people or a nation, he is from them.
Sometimes people do unnecessary things without realizing. Everyone is wearing the same clothes now. That is another matter. But there is a more useless thing like the New Year. They decorate here and there. This is something totally useless and has no benefit. It removes Barakah, peace and Iman.That is the tradition of pagans, not even Christians.
They added it in Christianity. But it has nothing to do with Christianity. Muslims think something of it and make decorations too. So why is your decoration? Are you getting married? Or is the house getting married? It is something that has nothing to do with logic.
We see they do it every year. Who does it keeps himself busy for nothing. If it had little benefit, we’d say you did well. But no, there is no benefit but only loss. People think something of it, and others want to imitate them. They try to do the same everywhere. What is its benefit? Will it bring back the last year? Will it bring back your lost days? Or will there be benefit for the new year? Not at all. Allah جل جلاله has given mind and understanding to people. But what they do is a useless waste of money, useless work.
They shouldn’t do so. They should do useful things. There are a thousand beneficial things they can do instead. There are a thousand beautiful things to do. They must be busy with them.
People say look at yourself. Indeed, people must look at themselves. They must think if what they are doing is good or bad. They should not look at their faces or appearances.
They must look if what they are doing is useful or not. People must always look at themselves, control themselves and control their egos. If people imitate each other like a flock, they should not wish to do everything together. If an animal from the flock jumps off a cliff, they all jump after him. So a hundred, five hundred animals perish all at once. Imitating them is not a clever thing.
Animals don’t have mind. But we are given mind by Allah جل جلاله. Allah جل جلاله tells us to use our minds. May Allah جل جلاله help us. May He جل جلاله wake people up from heedlessness. May they not do useless things insha’Allah.
‘‘Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.’’ (Qur’ān 02:156).
Whatever lifespan Allah جل جلاله has granted each of u, we will return to where we came from. We came from Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla, and we will return to Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, our brother-in-law passed away last night. We’ve been together for over fifty years, almost sixty years. May Allah جل جلاله bless his soul. May he rest in paradise. With the guidance of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, he has reached these ranks, Shukr to Allah جل جلالهWhen they had come, they were students. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim brought them to Grandshaykh Mawlana Shaykh AbduLlah ad-Daghestani.
They were brothers. His brother Shaykh Adnan passed away a couple of years ago. They were together. They had taken their worldly clothes off and kept on this way in Jubbahs and turbans. With the Barakah of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, they reached these ranks, Shukr to Allah جل جلاله. Their ranks are not like worldly ranks. Worldly ranks disappear. They had other brothers with worldly ranks. Their names are not even remembered. They won’t be remembered. Because their way was different. The way of Allah جل جلاله and the way of Dunya are different. Therefore, may Allah جل جلاله bless him. May his Maqam be high insha’Allah. We express our condolences.
His health had slowly deteriorated after Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, and he was sick for years. May Allah جل جلاله be pleased with our sister Hajjah Naziha. She took his burden, as she was taking care of him and was in his service. Her service is accepted. And with that service, she has reached these ranks. Everything has its wisdom. Who are with the Mashayikh are always in profit, because all the worry and matter of Mashayikh is Akhirah, not this world. How happy are they if they earn Akhirah.
There is nothing better. So today is his feast. It is a feast for a person who goes to Akhirah today. As Mawlana says, it is Urs. Urs means holiday. Meeting Allah جل جلاله, meeting His جل جلاله beloved is a holiday.May Allah جل جلاله give the safety of Iman to all of us. May He جل جلاله not separate us from the right way. May He جل جلاله not separate us from the way of Allāh جل جلاله. That is what’s important.
May He جل جلاله not let us be greedy for Dunya. May Dunya be for Akhirah. Dunya should not be for this world. You may have worldly things, but they should be for the way of Allah جل جلاله. May there be strength for Muslims and help for the poor. May there be various help for all needy people insha’Allah. May we help them.What Allah جل جلاله says happens in order.
This is something that will happen to everyone. It means our turn is approaching. When someone goes, it’s turn for someone else. May Allah جل جلاله not separate us from the right way. May our service be for the pleasure of Allah جل جلاله. May it not be for this world insha’Allah. May Allah جل جلاله bless his soul. Condolences to our sister and their children. May Allah جل جلاله give them long good life. May they go in the footsteps of their father. May they not leave the way insha’Allah. May they all walk on the way of Mashayikh insha’Allah.
Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying it is not good for Muslims to be resentful of each other for longer than three days. It is not permissible for Muslims. Certainly, people sometimes have badness from others. They get upset and don’t want to deal with them anymore. Yet, even though they are in such a state of mind, our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says there must not be resentment.
People nowadays find excuses in everything; within the family or out of the family. There is more resentment inside the family, between each other. It turns into animosity later on. And animosity causes worse things. Therefore, our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says goodness brings goodness, and badness brings badness. And resentment is a sort of badness.
Certainly, as long as Muslims don’t go out of the way of Allah جل جلاله, you should deal with them. But if they go out of the way and out of the religion, if there are other things, you don’t have to deal with them then. But it is important that Muslims support each other. They should accept their mistakes. And they should forgive if they there’s a mistake.
This is what Muslims must do. Otherwise, as we said, bit by bit, they turn into worse things. Much worse things take place when they pile up on top of each other. Useless things happen. Harmful things happen. Therefore, we should come to an agreement. We should know our mistakes. Not making them again is accepted in the sight of Allah جل جلاله. It is better.Muslims should be in unity.
Muslims already have all kinds of enemies. So it is not permissible for them to do badness to each other, to be enemies of each other. It is wrong. It is harmful to them and to Muslims around them. May Allah جل جلاله protect us. May جل جلاله protect us from the evil of shaytan.
The evil of shaytan is big. May Allah جل جلاله Allah protect us from his evil.
Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘aẓīm. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying good men are for good women. And bad ones are for the bad, says Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.Good people are the benefit for this world and humanity. Their bodies being together here, or them showing us the way is the greatest favour. Those who follow them and walk on that way, those who meet them attain many things. Even if they don’t meet, thousands of such good, righteous and ṭayyib, beautiful people have come and gone. All awliyā’ and Prophets are ṭayyibūn. It means they are good ones. And ṭayyibāt means good women.
Those who are on the way of Allāh ﷻ, who serve people, who help their husbands, who make this way easy and show this way to people are from them. Such people are rare people. And their way is the way of light. People ask for that. They ask for such people.Shukr to Allāh ﷻ, for most of us – probably there are not many but few are left who met Ḥajjah Anne. But her service is enormous. That service has surely reached all of you. And it will reach until qiyāmah.
She was the helper of Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim. She was in his service. She served humanity. Of course, she changed worlds twenty years ago. She wouldn’t want to see these conditions. That’s why, that was very good for her. Her changing worlds twenty years ago was better for her than seeing these conditions. Because of her compassion, she would not bear these days. Therefore, as she is from the arba‘īn, they took her away immediately. And she is still helping us in ākhirah.
A day before she passed, she had severe pain. What we mean by severe is not that bad pain. It was like bad flu. One of our brothers had insisted that we went to talk to Ḥajjah Anne in the evening. We said she was sick and we’d rather not, but we did. And that morning when we were having rest after prayer, an exclamation came from there. They said Ḥajjah Anne passed away. Our brother Metin came after a while and said Ḥajjah Anne was gone. But before she passed, she passed through Akbaba like a storm and left withouth looking back.
AlhamduliLlah for everything. Allāh ﷻ favored us with this meeting, this blessed meeting. This is barakah. AlhamduliLlah you are used to these gatherings, these meetings. You don’t know how other places are. To be happy with gathering for Allāh ﷻ is a big ni’mah from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This is a gift from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla for you.
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
‘‘Inna Llāha Aa’la Kulli Shay’in Qadīr’’‘’Certainly, Allah has power over all things.’‘ (Qur’ān 02:20).
AlhamduliLlah, insha’Allah the whole country is masha’Allah like this. Insha’Allah more and more also come to this way, way of love of Allāh ﷻ, love of Prophet ﷺ, love of Awliyā’uLlah.Awliyā’uLlah are praying for the ummah to be in the way of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
AlhamduliLlah this love and belief is very important for the mu’min and mu’minah. Because Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla put some awliyā’uLlah to be barakah for earth, for human beings.One Awliyā’uLlah, great Awliyā’uLlah was in his majlis – his name is Abdul Salam, Shaykh Abdul Salam Shahu ‘Aa’la. He is from India; you know him maybe. In his majlis, one of his friends, not so far, was speaking with another one, he said,”In this time, there’s no awliyā’uLlah.” He heard him and said, “What did you say?” He said, “No, nothing.” He said, “No, you said something. Don’t be afraid. Repeat what you said.” He said, “I said, there is no awliyā’uLlah in this time.” Shaykh Abdul Salam Shahu ‘Aa’la said, “Don’t say this because without Awliyā’uLlahnothing can happen. Because they are wasitah (means) between Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla [and mankind]. They appoint them. They have a job to do. With them, water is coming, rain is coming. Every barakah, everything is coming through them. Without them, you cannot take this. In every time, they [people] have them.
He said, “I only said maybe in this time there’s no awliyā’uLlah like this.” And he was speaking to the Shaykh who was a big Awliyā’, maybe a Qutub. When he said this, he looked at him and this murid was falling down and crawling on earth. People took him to his house; leaving him to stay in his house.
He came for Fajr time, and repented and asked for forgiveness from the Shaykh. The Shaykh said, “Ok don’t worry, but don’t say anything, don’t even think anything aboutawliyā’uLlah.” Because awliyā’uLlah are beloved for Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. A HadithQudsi says,
ِمَن ْ عَادَى لِي و َ لِيًّا فَقَدْ آذَنْتُهُ بِالْحَرْ ب
“Whosoever shows enmity to a Wali (beloved) of Mine, then I have declared war against him.”Alhamdulillah, this is the mission of awliyā’uLlah.
It is a big job for them. They are looking after the ummah. Especially in this time – alhamduliLlah here, people are following the teaching of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, the teaching of Islām. But in other places, it is incredibly bad.For this, following ṭarīqah is very important to protect and make your belief safe from shayṭān. Because shayṭān is coming through people who then say, “There’s no need for ṭarīqah, sharī’ah, madhhab. Don’t follow this.” Ṭarīqah keeps you safe from shayṭān and makes your belief, īmān stronger. For this, we are giving this naṣīḥah (advice) insha’Allah.
Everybody can follow ṭarīqah. Any ṭarīqah from the 41 ṭarīqah are connecting to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. May Allāh ﷻ keep you, all of you, in His ﷻ way to be all awliyā’uLlah insha’Allah. WaliyuLlah is not only with karāmāh. It is to be beloved for Allāh ﷻ Allāh ﷻ loves mu’minin. Allāh ﷻ loves muh’sinin (benefactors). Allāh ﷻ loves Al-Muttaqin. WaliyuLlah means the one whom Allāh ﷻ loves.To be in ṭarīqah is not difficult. We are not asking from people what they cannot do. It is normal like any Muslim: praying, fasting, doing and just connecting to ṭarīqah, you are in ṭarīqah then; [It is to do] as much you can do.This is insha’Allah – I think people here are tired [late time].
Thank you. I am very happy to be in this gathering with good people. This is the third time we come here. I am happy very much insha’Allah. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. May Allāh ﷻ keep you safe from every badness insha’Allah. May Allāh ﷻ make you in the straight way and give you strong īmān; you and all your family and your country insha’Allah. Insha’Allah may Allāh ﷻ make us meet many times insha’Allah and to be together forever.
We are thanking Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla that He ﷻ made this meeting, and to be together all this time. Insha’Allah today it is [the last day] – everything has an end. But this end is not for the believer; it continues spiritually. Maybe we are not here[physically], but with spiritual, ‘arwāḥ (souls) it continues.
Because Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla created human beings, but the soul/rūḥ, He ﷻ knows about it. Nobody knows about the rūḥ. This is one of His ﷻ secrets which we do not know. But spiritually, when you are connecting, alhamduliLlah, you are connecting to all – not only to us but to Sayyidina Muhammad ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and all awliyā’ are present with you.
So you must know this. You must follow the order of Allāh ﷻ. Hold onto the way of Allāh ﷻ. Don’t leave it. You will be happy also; safe and happy. Maybe sometimes there is some separation, because you cannot stay; you cannot stay the whole time with some people. This separation will not appear with the connection of the heart, with the connection of the spirit, spiritual. Connection is for you to Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, to Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.
Insha’Allah this is a good meeting. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. Be careful from the Fitnah of this time. Don’t argue with people who don’t have mind, don’t have any respect for Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. When you see these people speaking, don’t stay with them. Wherever you are, everywhere you are, be away from these people because Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla doesn’t love these people. Allāh ﷻ loves people who have respect, have adab and love of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Allāh ﷻ mentioned in the Qur’an the love of Prophet ﷺ
People who are not accepting this, don’t stay with them. Because if you stay there, there becomes more Fitnah, more doubt for you. Maybe you will also follow them; you don’t know. Because intention when you go out – the intention when going out and not sitting with these people for the love of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu alayhi wa-sallam . Allah ﷻ will make this love increase more and more and Allāh ﷻ will bless you. Don’t be sorry, be happy that Allāh ﷻ made you on this way of His ﷻ beloved one insha’Allah.
Don’t be sorry, be happy that Allāh ﷻ made you on this way of His ﷻbeloved one insha’Allah. May Allāh ﷻ keep us safe from this Fitnah. This Fitnah of Akhir Zaman is normal; not abnormal. It is very normal. The lucky one is who doesn’t follow this Fitnah. May Allāh ﷻ give hidayah (guidance) for everybody. This is what we are asking. May Allāh ﷻ keep us safe from shaytan and his followers. May Allāh ﷻ make us to meet again insha’Allah.
May Allāh ﷻ give us health and wealth, make us not be in need for anybody, and give us happiness for all of us in dunya and akhirah insha’Allah.
Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.
Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 22 October 2024/ 19 Rabih Al-Akhir 1446 Fajr Prayer – Kuala Lampur Dergah, Malaysia
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is very interested in taking us to Paradise. The first thing he ﷺ said after his ﷺ birth is,“Ummati, Ummati. O My nation. May Allah ﷻ keep them safe.” He ﷺ was worried about his ﷺ nation, his ﷺ Ummah. For this, he ﷺ said on making ṣalawāt on Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam: he ﷺ gives you salam, ṣalawāt back again from him ﷺ.
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu‘alayhi wa-sallam said, “Who makes one ṣalawāt for me ﷺ, Allāh ﷻ makes ten ṣalawāt for him.”So ṣalawāt is a very good thing for Mu’mins. As much he can do ṣalawāt on Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, he gets more reward, and his light, his nūr becomes more and more.
Light, nūr is a very important thing because Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla created all the existence with his ﷺ nūr. So if you don’t have nūr, you become less in value in the Divine Presence of Allāh ﷻ. And our aim is to have some value in the Divine Presence of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This is very important. May Allāh ﷻ keep us in this way insha’Allah.
Ṣalawāt is a very important for everything, for every good thing for the believer, for the Mu’min. Allahumma Salli ‘ala Sayyidina Muhammad ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, “Travel and see the sovereignty of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla in the world.” Take lessons and benefit from them. And bring benefit to people.
There are two types of traveling.There is traveling for Dunya and your ego,and there is traveling for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. Insha’Allah we are going for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. This time we are going to far places [Far East]. There are Muslims and non-Muslims in these places. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim has gathered the hearts of those people on this way. And they are going on this way. Beautiful seeds he had planted are growing and spreading. They are bringing benefit to people.
This way is the way of Allah ﷻ.It is a blessing from Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. As we said, there are definitely Muslims as well. But mankind sometimes goes astray. Sometimes some things don’t fit them. Shukr to Allah ﷻ, Tariqah and Shari’ah are one and together. And our trip is to show this way. Insha’Allah there will be benefit to us and to them.
As we said, mankind lives for Akhirah. This world is the farm of Akhirah. Whatever you plant here, you will reap it there. Shukr to Allah ﷻ. People had dove into Dunya. They don’t think about anything but Dunya. But they have woken up with the means of this way and kept on the way of Allah ﷻ. They kept on the way of Allah ﷻand did not care about Dunya. They used Dunya for the pleasure of Allah ﷻ. That is necessary
“And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers.”
(Qur’ān 51:55).
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla tells to remind. Reminding brings benefit to people.
Therefore, insha’Allah may Allah ﷻmake us successful. May it be the means for new people to come to guidance and to join Islam. We are going to remind people about Akhirah, and may we help to bring the light into their hearts insha’Allah. We don’t have anything. It is the way of the Mashayikh. And through them, through their gaze, this beautiful way is reaching the hearts of people as light, as light of Islam all over the world insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ be pleased with all of you. May more people come to this right way.Because the way of shaytan seems easier for the ego. But its easiness is not good.
Who follows his ego will be together with his ego. But people who go on the way of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla will win. Insha’Allah may Allah ﷻ make us all from them.
‘And indeed, you are of a great moral character.’ (Qur’ān 68:04). Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘aẓīm.
Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is showing the attribute of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. His ﷺ greatest attribute is Adab.
Our Holy Prophet ﷺ has the most Adab among people. Who wants to join Tariqah must follow the way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. If he doesn’t follow the way of Adab, he should not join Tariqah at all.
We are saying it here once again. What is the opposite of Tariqah? It is Wahhabism and Salafism. Lack of Adab is their biggest feature. A person who says he is in Tariqah but does not have Adab should not strive in vain. Because the first rule in Tariqah is Adab.
Grandshaykh Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah ad-Daghestani used to make Mawlana Shaykh Nazim write this down:
“الطَّرِيقَةُ كُلِّهَا آدَاب”,
“At-ṭarīqah Kulluha ‘Adaab”,
“Ṭarīqah is all good manners.”
Tariqah is all based on Adab. Without Adab, don’t come to Tariqah. Go and wander somewhere else. You don’t need it here. Without Adab, you won’t have anything. Tariqah won’t bring you any benefit.What is Adab? Everything shown. Adab is that you must take permission. It is written in Qur’an ‘Azimu sh-Shan. When you go somewhere, don’t jump in through the door and window before asking for permission. Enter from the door. Ask for permission out of Adab. If they give permission, enter. If they don’t give permission, don’t fight the owner of the house asking “Why are you not letting me in? Why don’t you let me come in?” Don’t fight with others. If they don’t give you permission, even if there is no excuse, you must go away. You should not go in by force. This is not upon Adab. In everything, whether you are giving or taking, if that is the place or belonging of someone else, you must ask for permission. If they don’t give you permission, they don’t have to. If you take it by force, you will make a sin. You will oppose the order.
Tariqah is the most beautiful way in the world. It is the light for humanity. Who doesn’t obey it gets no profit but loss. May Allah ﷻ help us. May we have Adab inshaAllah. It is the attribute of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. May we dress ourselves with that attribute insha’Allah.
Tarīqah and Shari’ah are obligatory for everyone. Tarīqah is already interconnected to Shari’ah. Everyone who goes on that way attains the pleasure of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla and our Holy Prophet ﷺ. Going that way will anger the shaytans. They want to take people out of that way. They lead you astray with all kinds of things.
Sometimes you say that a man has been praying for years, something happens: he gets offended, he gets angry and leaves. This harms him. He left so much virtues behind because of something he was angry about. He left. There are many situations like this.
Even though people don’t see it, many people have gone astray from these situations. It looks like they’re doing a good deed, they get angry with Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla and with our Holy Prophet ﷺ. They leave the way.
You have nowhere to run.
Eventually, that is your way in your future. The thing that angered you was your detriment, not for your benefit. You mustn’t be angry, you must be patient. You have to say, “It is a test. I must pass that test.”
As they say, “He gets angry at the priest and breaks his fast.” This is exactly what happens. The priest doesn’t want you to fast anyway. In other words, he does not want you to be on these ways. Some of them are not like that, but most of them are like that.
This is not a situation to make you angry. If it will make you angry, it will hurt you. Someone else will be happy instead of you.
Therefore, these ways are not ways to get angry. It’s not a way to get offended. The way of Allāh ﷻ is the way of test. Sometimes it passes without any test. It passes with test and it passes without test. Therefore, you need to be careful. To get angry is not good.
Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says,
“Don’t get angry.” “لَ ا تاغْضاب”, “La Taghdab”. Don’t get angry, he ﷺ says. Be calm. May Allāh ﷻ grant us all tranquility. May He ﷻ grant us mind and understanding, because when you get angry, your mind goes away. Therefore, may Allāh ﷻ not separate us all from the right way. It is a bad thing to leave this beautiful way. May He ﷻ protect us.
AlhamduliLlah the Mashāyikh teach us how to be in this life, how to manage to be happy in this life. And the first thing is to thank Allāh ﷻ every time. Make Shukr for Allāh ﷻ. Because, ‘بالشكر تدوم النعم وتكثر’, ‘With gratitude do favors perpetuate and multiply.’ With being thankful, what Allāh ﷻ gives you continues without cutting and becomes more. Shukr for what He ﷻ gave us, for Iman first. Shukr for our health, our good health, and for our provision also. We are thanking for everything. Everything you remember, whatever comes to your mind, say Shukran li-Llah.
This is special. Allāh ﷻ gave it for believers who believe that everything is coming from Allāh ﷻ. They are patient and they are not complaining about their life for people. Because complaining to other people means, as Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, you are not happy with Allāh ﷻ. Telling people about your situation, “My situation is not good. My situation is bad. I am not happy. My life is not good.” For whom are you saying this? Allāh ﷻ is hearing this. Allāh ﷻ has given you this. Because Allāh ﷻ gave us everything. Everything is from Allāh ﷻ; nothing is from yourself. You are hard working, you are a good learner, you are intelligent so you succeeded; no. This is all from Allāhﷻ.
For this, the Mu’min, the real one is never sad for what is happening in the world, what is going on. Just looking, not interfering, not objecting. This is from Allāh ﷻ and we are living for test. We are just thanking Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla that He ﷻ keeps us in Iman.
When Allāh ﷻ gives you, you must – you can enjoy yourself, no problem; with halal not with haram. Everything Allāh ﷻ gives you, your life can be – you can enjoy yourself with halal, Allāh ﷻ will be happy with you also. No problem. You can have work, you can have money, you can have a wife, children, land; you can have everything. There’s no problem. When you are thanking Allāh ﷻ, you get reward also.
In Islam, there’s nothing as what the others are teaching: Monks living in monastery or other places, not mixing with people. This is [made] by themselves.
But in Islam, there is no need for this. To live with people, mixing with people – maybe sometimes you are happy, but they are not happy. There are problems. This is better than being alone, away from people, without any problem. With this [being with people], if you keep your heart, with all these problems, you are a thousand times better than monks.
Once we were with Mawlānā in Istanbul visiting one big Awliyā’ [named] Abu l-Wafaa. They showed us a little room; they showed Mawlānā. They said this is the seclusion room of this Awliyā’uLlah. Mawlānā said, “Now seclusion is not inside a room, it is outside.” With people, it’s more difficult than this seclusion.
For this, for everybody: to keep his heart among all these problems, he has a big reward. Allāh ﷻ will be pleased with him. Prophet ﷺ will be pleased with him also. To not put dunya in his heart- this is important, you can have the whole world in your hand but not inside your heart. Who does this will be an acceptable one in the presence of Allāh ﷻ. And he is very clever. Not giving any importance for dunya, not putting it in his heart. Putting it in his hand and spending for akhirah, to get reward from Allāh ﷻ from this dunya.
Because there are billions of people who have billions of gold, jewelry, everything – they left and are gone. They didn’t get anything. They left all these treasures, and they died and were finished. They have nothing with them. But who is a believer, when he spends this for the sake of Allāh ﷻ, all of this will be with him in the next life. Not like these idiot people. They put all their money, treasures and they say, “We will use this in the next life.” They found them in Egypt or other places. They put a lot of treasures in many graves. They thought they will use them there.
There’s no need to make all this [effort] tiring yourself and tiring people to put all of this for you. There’s a more easy way there. Like now, they transfer with electronic [devices]. They can put one coin and get a palace in Akhirah.
And those other people even in dunya, the thieves or those who claim are looking for antiques, they open and take all this money. They will also go without anything for Akhirah. Mawlānā was saying many times that this is for them a curse: to put something like this. They will open it [violating] their privacy. They will take all of this and nothing will be left. Because they put something, people will come and open it for them.
This is why alhamduliLlah, we are the whole time thanking Allāh ﷻ to give us – He ﷻ gave us this understanding. And the mashāyikh, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and awliyā’, teach us to not have dunyā in our heart, to not give it any value and put it in our heart. We must put the love of Allāh ﷻ and love of Prophet ﷺ in our heart.
Many people are coming – today morning we were walking and we saw people living in miserable places. They ran away from their country and came to find a better life, or so they thought. But they have pity for these people. Because they don’t have real belief that Allāh ﷻ can – they will get their provision everywhere. Even in this way: they are running from their country, they are suffering, they are doing this, that, and that, and they are coming here. And after that, in their life, most of them forget their honorable way of life. They do anything to get money or enjoy themselves with this bad way.
May Allāh ﷻ help us. May Allāh ﷻ send us the Sahib to take care of us. This is very important because without him there will be no humanity even. We are living in the darkest time of mankind’s history. The worst, darkest time is now. But after the darkest time of the night, light appears insha’Allah. After this, it will appear insha’Allah. We ask Allāh ﷻ to make it quickly insha’Allah.
May Allāh ﷻ be pleased with our brothers here and with the Muslims. Allāh granted us this Ziyarah by their means. When a believer visits a believer, our ﷻ Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says that with every step: Thawab is earned, a sin is forgiven and they are raised a rank.
Insha’Allāh we make our trips for the pleasure of Allāh ﷻ. May Allāh ﷻ accept our intention as sincere. And may He ﷻ give you and us Thawab and rewards insha’Allāh.
“Ilahi Anta maqsudi wa Ridaka matlubi”,
“O, my Lord! You are my objective and Your Pleasure is my desire. My request is Your Pleasure.” – “O Allāh You are my goal, and Your pleasure is what we ask for.” This must be the goal, of Muslims in life. This seems easy. It will be easy for those who see it easy. And it will be difficult for those who see it difficult.
“Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is with me. Allāh ﷻ is my Witness, Allāh ﷻ sees me, Allāh ﷻ, is my witness. You see me and You are my Witness. Your Gaze is always upon me.”
We must always know this: Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is with us. He ﷻ sees us. And He ﷻ knows what we are doing. Who believes accordingly will not deviate from the way insha’Allāh.
There are difficulties while doing so: shaytan, Hawa (desire) and ego. They oppose you. Their power is sometimes strong for people who don’t worship and don’t believe in Allāh ﷻ. They follow their egos and desires. Believers go on the right way insha’Allāh.
We must always make Dua. We ask for help from Allāh ﷻ that Allāh ﷻ doesn’t separate us from the right way. May Allāh ﷻ protect us. In old times, they used to say Europe was more free. It has become the same all over the world.Committing sins has become too much.
May Allāh ﷻ help Islam and send the Sahib InSha’Allah.
Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.
Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani
30 September 2024/ 27 Rabih Al-Awwal 1446
Fajr Prayer – Fatih Mosque; Falkensteinstr, Berlin
“There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful.” (Qur’an 09:128).
Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allāh ﷻ says, we have sent you a Prophet ﷺ from you. He ﷺ is very gentle, very merciful, very caring for you. AlhamduliLlah this time, we celebrate every day, as we said, Mawlid of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. As much as we celebrate, as much as Allāh ﷻ is pleased with us and rewards us.
This is the biggest Ni’mah for people, for human beings: Prophet ṣallá Llāhu’alayhi wa sallam. For the whole universe, li l-Alamīn, says Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. He ﷻ sent him ﷺ as mercy for all human beings, creatures, everything, even stones. Everything got blessed with Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. This is a precious gift from Allāh ﷻ for humanity. Because He ﷻ made our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam from human beings, not from another creature. His ﷻ creatures are countless. But we are lucky He ﷻ gave this honor for human beings. We are thanking Allāh ﷻ; we cannot say about other people why they’re not appreciating. This is their will. They are free. AlhamduliLlah, Allāh ﷻ made us follow this way.
For this we are, AlhamduliLlah, celebrating his ﷺ birth every day now to get this blessing from Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. This is what we learn from awliyā’, from ṣaḥābah, from all ulamā’, scholars: to appreciate and celebrate.
Mawlānā Shaykhق was celebrating every time. Once, they invited him to the Far East. They said there is a big celebration for Mawlid in that area. So Mawlana was going there. It was an every day celebration. Mawlānā was very happy with this country. The Sulṭān and his whole country were celebrating,marching in the streets for the honour of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. They were celebrating everywhere in this area, but in some places they were looking even more after this day for celebration.
For this, Mawlānā was nearly every year traveling to this area for the honour of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, to be happy, to see the whole country celebrating Prophet’s ﷺ Birth Day. AlhamduliLlah we also celebrate – when Mawlānā Shaykh couldn’t go anymore, we were celebrating in Cyprus, in Lefke. This is a blessing for people who are coming and a blessing for the land also. Because when you are gathering people for praising Allāh ﷻ, praising Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, Allāh ﷻ sends His ﷻ mercy, showering mercy to that place, those people.
May Allāh ﷻ make Mawlānā’s Maqām higher and higher. He ﷻ taught us every good thing and made some things continue. AlḥamduliLlāh this way continues until Qiyāmah inshā’Allāh. This wisdom in loving Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is a big wisdom. With his ﷺ love, you save yourself from hell. Without this, I don’t think anybody can survive.
AlhamduliLlah, we believe in what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam [brought]. Mu’min means believer. We believe in what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is saying. He ﷺ said,
“اَلْمَرْءُ مَعَ مَنْ أَحَبَّ”,
Al-mar’u ma‘a man ahabb”, “A man will be with whom he loves.” [Hadith]. The person will be with whom he loves. Inshā’Allāh, we are sure, we believe we will be directly in Jannah inshā’Allāh.
Because there are people – there is you know the bridge, the Sirāt they call it, between the place of Mah’shar, the place of gathering on Yawm Al-Qiyamah, where people wait for their judgement. After this [place], everyone goes on this bridge in which under it is fire. And there are many people who are not believers, they quickly fall down from there. It is very difficult. It needs thousands of years to pass this.
But for the believers, they will be opening their eyes in the grave, Allāh ﷻ makes them to be human again from earth, to be like before. Directly, they will be in Jannah, in Paradise.
So, they ask the angel Ridwan or who is on the door of Jannah, “When will we pass this bridge?” Because they know there is Sirāt, Bridge. We must go on top of it [pass it]. It is difficult, so it takes time. “When will we go there?” [they ask.] They didn’t know they are already in Paradise. The angel says, “You already passed it.” They say, “But the fire! We didn’t see anything from fire or hell. We passed through!? We didn’t feel anything!” So normally, the fire of hell is like a wild animal, roaring. He [the angel] says, “From the Nur of what Allāh ﷻ gave you of the Nur of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. From what you have from it, the fire was running down; ashamed to go up there.” This is the wisdom of the love of the Prophet ﷺ; how it will be the help for us. Love is more easy for anyone to have. If you have love, your heart is happy, you are at rest. If you hate, you will become more miserable,(more) sad, more stressed.
So we must leave this anger. We must leave hate from us. You must look at yourself. Do not look at others. The others can manage themselves; or they are responsible for themselves. May Allāh ﷻ bless you.
“And do not incline toward those who do wrong, lest you be touched by the Fire.”
(Qur’an 11:113).
Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, do not be with the evil ones [or else] their harm will touch you too. You cannot prevent them but don’t accept them. Do not accept it like it’s normal, their sins and badness, says Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla.
If a person sees a sin or evil, “This is not right. I’m far away from it. I have nothing to do with it”, he must say; even if just [saying that] in your heart. Then, he will be saved from that sin. He will also stay away from the sins of that group. He will not be punished.
We are not saying this just for this place. All over the world, evil is now
shown as good, and goodness is shown as bad. People are also used to that, and they’re going on like that. May Allāh ﷻ make us among those who are protected.
Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.
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Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani
29 September 2024/ 26 Rabih Al-Awwal 1446
Fajr Prayer – Fatih Mosque; Falkensteinstr, Berlin
Mubarak insha’Allah again this month, Mawlid an-Nabi. You must remember Mawlid of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and celebrate every day. Insha’Allah with this also, we celebrate Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. Because the most important thing for us is Allāh’s ﷻ order to praise Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. In every occasion, we must remember, we must praise Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
There’s an order in Qur’an, Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying, Bismi Llāhi r- Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm:
‘If you love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you.’ (Qur’ān 03:31). “If you love Allāh ﷻ, you must follow me ﷺ for Allāh ﷻ to love you.”
As much you are following Prophet ﷺ, you are becoming higher. You become higher than other people. Allāh ﷻ raises you; makes you higher. People are the same. Allāh ﷻ created all people the same. Only with His ﷻ love and the love of Prophet ﷺ, they are becoming different from others. For this, we see the highest people near the Prophet ﷺ or after Prophet ṣalláLlāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, are those who are following him ﷺ.
They look at what he is doing and saying, and try to follow 100%. For this, the most close one was Sayyidinā Abū Bakr. He was the whole time with him ﷺ, following him ﷺ. After him comes the other Sahabah, old Sahabah. There’s a difference between them. But who is more of a follower, doing what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam does, becomes higher in degree. For this, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was saying,
“Aṣhābī kā n-nujūm bi ayyihimqtadaytum htadaytum”, “My companions are as the stars. Whichever you follow, you will be in Hidayah (guided).” [Hadith]. “My companions are like stars. Which one of them you follow, you will be in the right way.”
They were very sensitive (meticulous), looking at what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was saying, doing, and were quickly doing the same. For this, they were the best companions, the best time for the Ummah, time of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and his ﷺ companions.
After them also Awliyā’uLlah and ulamā. They are looking at what Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is doing. What he ﷺ is doing: we call it Sunnah. What Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam had done, it means Sunnah. They were seeing. They were with Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, so they were teaching people after them. Other people, ulamā’ were hearing what Prophet ﷺ was saying and were writing this Sunnah.
Sunnah is not like Fard. It is not obligatory, but it is very important. Fard is obligatory. You must do it. You cannot run away from this. If you run, you can make it up again later. But the Sunnah, you cannot do it again. And the Fard – when you miss the Fard and you make it up later, you cannot reach the reward that Allāh ﷻ gives if you do it in time. His ﷻ orders, like praying five times, if you don’t make it on time but make it up later, you cannot reach the reward or Allāh’s ﷻ pleasure. If you miss one day [of fasting], you don’t fast one day of Ramaḍān, the obligatory, the Fard – if you fast your whole life, until the end of your life, you cannot reach its reward.
‘ و َ تَحْسَبُونَهُ هَيِّنًا و َهُو َ عِندَ اللَّ ه ِ عَظ ِ يم’,
‘Wa Taĥsabūnahu Hayyināan Wa Huwa Inda AllāhiAžīm’,
‘And you thought it was insignificant while it was, in the Sight of Allah, tremendous.’ (Qur’ān 24:15).
You think it is nothing, but in the Divinely Presence of Allāh ﷻ, it is a big thing. Because He ﷻ gave you something. He ﷻ is not in need of your fasting or praying; but it is for you. When you are not doing it – He ﷻ gave you this precious thing and you didn’t do it, He ﷻ is not happy with you. So ulamā, Mashayikh and Awliyā’ were following Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam Sunnah and what he ﷺ shows us. There are many Sunnah that many people forgot about. But still, they have them in books. Of course, we cannot do them 100% because we are ordinary people. We do as much as we can. Many of them are easy. We can do them. Our intention is to imitate Prophet ﷺ, to follow Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam; Allāh ﷻ rewards you for this. With this good intention, to love Prophet ﷺ and to follow him ﷺ, most of Tarīqah Mashāyikh are in this way. They are following that and they try to teach their followers also. Sometimes, something happens to them, yet they are happy with what happens for them, even if it is very difficult.
Once Shaykh Bahauddin Bukhārī, Sayyidunā Imam Naqshbandī, our imām, was in Hajj. Something happened and he said, “My son, Allāh ﷻ will take him.” When he came back to Bukhara, they told him, “Your eldest son passed away.”
What did he do when he heard this? Normally, people cry and feel very sorry if such a thing happened. The most difficult is to lose a son. It is the most difficult in life. But what happened? He was extremely happy. Why was he happy?
He said, “AlhamduliLlah Prophet ﷺ also lost his ﷺ son. His ﷺ son passed away, my son also passed away. I follow Prophet ﷺ a 100%.” This is the love of Awliyā’, the Mashāyikh whom we follow. And he said, “I didn’t leave any Sunnah of Prophet sallaLlāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam without doing. I do every Sunnah of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.”
AlhamduliLlah all Mashāyikh are like this; Mashāyikh and Sulṭāns also. And especially the Ottoman Sulṭāns, alhamduliLlah. Sulṭān Murad maybe built the biggest mosque in Bursa. He said, “We must find an Imam to pray here.” But he said, “I have one condition for that.” He said, “I want one who has not missed any Sunnah of Asr.” Because the Asr Sunnah is not a Sunnah Mu’akkadah. Many people are not doing it. In that time, everybody was doing, but still, maybe sometimes not doing it. Nobody appeared. He said, “I will pray. I have never missed any Sunnah.”
All these Salāṭin said, “We are servants for Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. We are not Sulṭān, we are just servant for him ﷺ, for his ﷺ nation, for Ummat Muḥammad.” For this, these Sulṭāns are the most oppressed ones from shayṭān’s people. They are jealous of them because they are showing people the good way, the good thing, justice and every good thing. This is not good for the shayṭān people. They are doing – they have done the most sacrificing of their life. They’ve done every good thing for serving the Ummah, for the sake of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. And they are accused of things that did not happen at all. But Allāh ﷻ is the Witness. Justice will appear inshā’Allāh. The most important thing is that they did this for the sake of Prophet ﷺ and for the sake of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. If they were following their ego, it would’ve been different.
For this we must take these great people as an example for us; how they were serving, how very great they were in everything. People now think themselves that they are clever, and they have more intelligence than that. But these people were a hundred thousand times more intelligent than them.
For this, Allāh ﷻ gave them this power to save the way of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. They were defenders of Prophet ﷺ and Islam. They brought justice for Muslims and non-Muslims; no difference. This is an order of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.
Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “If anyone harms non-Muslims in a Muslim country when following the ruling of the country, his punishment must be double of the Muslim.”
And all these Sulṭāns were following this order very sensitively. For this, there was a long sultanate, ruling of Islam, Khilafat of Islam with them.
So we are thanking Allāh ﷻ for this Ni’mah of being in this way, the way of these great people, of Sulṭān: Zāhiri Sulṭān and Mā’nawī Sulṭān (apparent Sultan and spiritual Sultan). Each Sultan of the Ottomans has a Shaykh. He is under the command of a Shaykh. He is following a Shaykh. With this spiritual power, the power of Sultan, they would rule AlhamduliLlah. When they took this [away], they [sultanate] were finished.
May Allāh ﷻ insha’Allah send us the Sultan to spread justice in the whole world insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.
Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 26 September 2024/ 23 Rabih al-Awwal 1446 Isha Prayer – Fatih Mosque; Falkensteinstr, Berlin
A‘ūdhu biLlāhi mina sh-shayṭāni r-rajīm. Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm:
حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَو َ اتِ و َ الصَّلَ َ ةِ الْو ُ سْطَى ٰ و َ قُومُوا لِلّ ِ َّ ِ قَانِتِين َ “Ĥāfižū `Alá Aş-Şalawāti Wa Aş-ŞalāatiAl-Wusţá Wa Qūmū Lillāh Qānitīn”,
“Maintain with care the [obligatory] prayers and [in particular] the middle prayer and stand before Allah, devoutly obedient.”
(Qur’an 02:238).
Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.
Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is ordering us to keep our prayers. Perform all your prayers, and the most important is the middle prayer. There is a disagreement on whether the middle prayer, Salatu l-Wusta is the Fajr prayer or Asr prayer. But mostly, it is Fajr prayer. Fajr prayer is the most precious prayer, because its time is difficult for most people: to get up early in the morning, to get up at the end of the night and pray. Because the night prayers are more virtuous and because it is at the end of the night, it is important. It is the most virtuous. Everything has something as the most virtuous, and this is the most virtuous among prayers.
Praying ‘Isha then waking up for Fajr prayer is considered as if one stayed up the whole night, says our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. If you start the day with prayer and do all the things with your intention being for the pleasure of Allāh ﷻ, then all of them are counted as worship. We will have fulfilled the purpose of our creation. Allāh ﷻ created us so that we worship. His ﷻ order will be fulfilled, and all kinds of goodness will come to mankind.
And still, those who cannot perform it [Fajr prayer] on time, after the sun rises, they can perform it again until Dhuhr with its Sunnah. Of course, its reward is not the same as praying it on time. Nevertheless, Allāh ﷻ accepts it. You will have started the day with worship.
Now we will say a few words, following the order of Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق as we are in Dergah insha’Allah, after Fajr prayer it will be beneficial for all of us InSha’Allah.
People now all over the world don’t want the many Sunnahs our Holy Prophet ﷺ and the many beneficial things for humanity. They have no idea even about the simplest one that everyone does. They don’t know that it’s bad. They think it’s normal. They eat and drink while standing. It is not from Sunnah. It is not beneficial for people either; it causes harm.
You must drink while sitting down. You must eat while sitting down. At least, you must do it as it is a Sunnah of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. You will also attain the reward of a hundred Shaheed, and it is good for your health. Children, youngsters and everyone drink bottles and drinks on the way while standing. Whereas, if it was a cup they won’t be able to drink while walking.
Only Zamzam is to be drunk while standing. It mustn’t be drank while sitting. You must drink it while standing up. Secondly, after performing ablution, take a sip while standing towards Kiblah, with the Basmala. Apart from these all of them must be done while sitting down.
You see everywhere at restaurants, people standing up while eating and drinking. People think there’s no difference. They say, “It doesn’t matter. Standing and sitting are the same.” No, they are not the same.
The words of our Holy Prophet ﷺ are important for Muslims. His ﷺ orders are important. When done, Allāh ﷻ gives rewards, Thawab and health to people.
May Allāh ﷻ be pleased with us all.
Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha
There are recited Qur’an Khatms, Surahs, Yasin, Tasbihat, Tahlil and Salawat. We gift them all to the soul of our Holy Prophet ﷺ, his ﷺ Ahlu l-Bayt and Sahabah, to the souls of all Anbiya, Awliya, Asfiya and Mashayikh. Especially our Shaykh Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, and Hajjah Anne. To the souls of all our passed ones. For goodness to come and evil to be gone.
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