Saints are hidden during Winter: 24th October 2010

Suhbah on 24^th October 2010

Saints are hidden during Winter

A’uzubillah himinash shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillah-hir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

• A bee knows which flower it can get nectar from, so it flies around until it finds that flower. Similarly, great Saints are like that, they seek out their mureeds, that is part of Allah’s endless grants. But it is difficult to find such great ones today, they are all hidden.

This is a conversation between Maulana and a visitor:

Maulana: Stop looking for Saints, for they are all in their Tombs now.

Visitor: We do go to the tombs, but the Saints don’t talk to us!

Maulana: If you are deaf, how can you hear what they are saying?

Visitor: If they wanted to, the Saints have the power to make us hear.

Maulana : Yes, they can, but even if they did make you hear, you still would not understand what you heard. If you could understand their language, they would pull you to different worlds (of understanding). But now is not the time for this….now is an empty time (Jahiliyyah). There is no Sultan (King) to lead the Nation (yet). In fact, in every era, there is a Sultan, but we are in a time, when they (the Saints and their Sultan) are all hidden.

• To illustrate why Saints are hidden now, Maulana gave the example of a market place, where some stall owners close their shops. When asked why they had shut their shutters, they said, “Why should we remain open, when there are no customers? Why wait here, if there is no one patronizing our shops? It is better for us to close our shops and to go off.”

• Maulana recounted a visitor he had from Eskisehir, a city in north-western Turkey, some twenty-five years ago. It had a population of between 600 000 and 700 000 back then.

Maulana asked the visitor, “Is there anyone in your city, whose hands are kissed (because of their piety) and whose home is open for you to visit to take advice, and whose table is open (to feed guests) to everyone?”

Visitor: No, don’t even bother looking for such a person in our city.

Maulana: What about in Islambul*, which has about 10 million people living there, is there anyone whose hands are to be kissed, and whose door and table are open to all, and who feeds you physically as well as spiritually?

Visitor: No Shaykh Effendi, it is finished, no such people exist.

Maulana: Then it is a dead city, if no such people exist.

(*Istanbul was known as Islambul in 1453, when the Ottomans conquered it and changed its name, to reflect its important role as the capital of the Empire. Before that, it was known as Asitane, the Doorstep of the Sultan/Government or ‘The Centre’ of the Ottoman Empire.)

• One of the attenders from Turkey then told Maulana that today, in Islambul, there are two such pious ones, Shaykh Muhammad Effendi (Maulana’s son) and Shaykh Mahmud. Maulana said, “Two people are insufficient to cater to the Spiritual needs of fifteen million city-dwellers. It is not enough, even if each Shaykh led one million followers….”�

• Maulana said that now (October) was Autumn in Lefke, and this will be followed by Winter that will extend till March next year. In Autumn, the leaves fall off and the trees grow bald, they barely look alive. Through Autumn and Winter, the trees will age gracefully. Come March, the snow melts, the rain falls, and the trees that had lost their leaves, start growing leaves and blossoming again. It is the rain that brings the trees to life – water is the key to life, without water, there is no life.

Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and forthwith the earth becomes clothed with green? For Allah is He Who understands the finest mysteries, and is well-acquainted (with them). (Quran 22:63)

• The state of the Muslim world today is like a Tree in Winter�- it is bare, without leaves or fruits. Similarly, in cities like Islambol, there are fifteen million bare homes, with none bearing any ‘fruit’ (Spiritual taste of sweetness) at all.

• We are looking forward to the end of Winter, for Islam’s Winter is now coming to an end. Spring is just around the corner, Imam Mahdi (as) will bring the water that will bring the blooms of Spring. And the Tree will start to bear fruit again. This is a Heavenly promise, it can never be prevented or thwarted by anyone.

For You never break Your promise. (Quran 3:194)

Maulana asks for Allah Almighty’s grant to be able to live to that time.

• There are evil ones, who wish for Winter to remain here always, and they are striving hard to make this Winter last forever. They have already seen the signs of the approaching Spring, some trees have begun to blossom, and they are going crazy with horror. “We thought that we had already uprooted the trees, so that they will never grow again, never blossom ever again, never bear fruit ever again and never provide shade ever again,”� they cried in astonishment, “how is it that the trees are still here, and blossoming?”� These are the diabolical ones, who thought they had managed to rip the Tree of Islam out by its roots, but now they look upon Islam’s unstoppable revival with astonishment!

• Just as trees do not provide fruits in Winter, this period of Islamic Winter was a fruit-less, and hence, tasteless one for us. So, the evil ones tempted the believers with ‘the tastes of dunia’ and snared many of the youth through music, entertainment, movies, pubbing and clubbing, video games, fashion…they were vaccinated against the life of the hereafter, they became immune to advice and guidance towards Spiritual taste and piety. In having tempted, snared and vaccinated the youths, these diabolical ones thought that they had uprooted the Tree of Islam!

• Oh foolish ones, the Tree of Islam is planted by Allah Almighty, it can never be uprooted! Those who try to uproot Islam, will themselves be uprooted by Allah! Have these foolish ones ever asked themselves, Who had planted the Tree of Islam on earth, in the first place? Did the One who planted it, not know where to plant it, how to tend to it, and when would be the appropriate time for it to blossom?

• Allah has placed the Tree of Islam in the most perfect of fields, and it will never be uprooted. If indeed it died, a new Tree would take root and grow again (like in a real forest), and if the dried up leaf-less tree looks dead, He would revive it and make it a green once again. That is a heavenly promise!

• Those who believe in that promise, are saved! Those who disbelieve, will always be angry ones – angry at the unexpected revival of what they thought was a dead, uprooted tree that was beyond redemption. These diabolical plotters had misled, cheated and trapped so many generations of humans in the quicksand of this earthly life, but that will now be a thing of the past – their time is up. They will not be able to lay their hands on even one more generation of humans! They have been cheating so many generations of people out of their eternal inheritance (by convincing them to exchange it for this temporary worldly enjoyment). A liar can appear to be a source of guidance, by lighting a candle in the darkness of the night, but once the candle burns out, it cannot be re-lighted again. The evil ones have had their one chance, and it is now over – their candle has burnt out. Now the Sun will rise, and even if they burst in anger (at seeing their plots foiled), the Sun will still rise – the Tree of Islam will grow, for Allah is the Lord of Islam, Lord of that Tree.

• Maulana concluded by reciting Fatihah, so that Allah may show us Islam’s Sultanate and glory once again, so that we may be of service to that Sultanate.

Commentary

• When Maulana said that Saints are now all in Tombs, it means that Saints are those who have ‘died before dying’ as taught by Rasulullah (saw) in a Hadees, they have killed their basal worldly desires, they are dead ones with respect to this physical life’s pleasures. People no longer understand the message of the Saints, as they have lost themselves to this worldly life.

• As humans moved away from seeking Spiritual gratification, to becoming slaves to physical pleasures of the flesh, less and less people sought out the teachings and guidance of Saints. Being un-needed and ignored, Saints have gone underground, and they are hidden to all, except those who are truly seeking. Just as a bee knows how to seek out a flower, the sweet scent of seekers brings these Saints into their lives. But to the rest of the heedless humans, these Saints remain hidden, and as such, the sweetness of Islam becomes lost to them, as the Tree becomes withered and fruitless. This is the Winter of Islam.

• Although it is still Winter now, Maulana gave some hints of the signs of Spiritually connected ones, for some trees have begun to blossom again. Just as a tree provides you with shade, beauty and food, Saintly ones provide you shelter (from evil), they beautify your hearts, and they feed you what is needed by your bodies and Souls. They carry themselves with piety, and their doors and tables are always open. Seek them out, every city has a few. It is from these ones that you will start to taste the sweetness of faith.

• Allah has orchestrated the beautiful seasons, and dictated from His Divine Wisdom, where and when each tree would take root, grow, blossom and bear fruit. Would He not know how to tend to the Tree of Islam, to protect it from pests, and to preserve it through the harsh Winter till the coming of Spring? Allah has tended to countless trees since time immemorial, would He not have given special treatment to the most important Tree for Mankind?

Do you not see not how Allah teaches by example? A goodly Word is like a goodly Tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the heavens. (Quran 14:24)

• During this Islamic Winter, we are in the Dark Ages of Islam, and in these dark times, diabolical con-men have lit candles, to ‘guide’ lost humans to fulfillment – fulfillment of the carnal desires of the flesh. But the night, no matter how dark, must come to an end. We are at a new dawn now, the candles are spluttering out, the Sun will soon rise, to bring true fulfillment -�fulfillment of the Souls that are thirsty for the Divine presence.

And say: “Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.” (Quran 17:81)

This 17 minute Snippet in Turkish, can be only be watched at www.Saltanat.org, choose from the menu on the right, ‘Islamabul 24.Oct 2010’. There is a CC button next to the Volume control at the bottom of the screen to choose choose subtitles in eight languages, choose from Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia/Melayu, German, English, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Turkish. During Live Suhbahs, the buttons at the top provide Live Audio Translations into other languages. No other site carries this video. Saltanat TV is the Official Site of Maulana Shaykh Nazim that is sanctioned and approved by him personally.

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