Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm
Maulana Sheikh Nazimق’s (MSN) Suhbah
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By the Name of Allah, All-Mighty, All-Merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent.
Allah Almighty is the Creator, and He ﷻ knows mankind best. He knows what He created and what He placed within His servants. As He created mankind to be both Heavenly and earthly, and honored them to be His deputies on earth, He also arranged every condition suitable for them to reach the true station of that deputyship.
From the beginning of revelation to its completion, Allah Almighty made clear what mankind needs in order to progress and reach that station. In His final testament, the Holy Qur’an, He showed us what is required. In one word, to reach the stations of divine deputyship, mankind is in need of patience.
Allah Almighty is asking His servants to reach those positions. He ﷻ says, “O believers, you must ask help from Me. But the way of asking for My Divine help is that I lead you to certain practices, so that you may reach My Divine help within yourselves.”
For what are we asking help? We are asking so that, by His Divine support, we may take total and complete control over ourselves, meaning over our egos.
If Allah ﷻ says to you to go in one direction, the ego always says the opposite. If Allah Almighty says, “Come,” the ego says, “Go back.” If Allah says, “Go,” the ego runs forward in opposition. The ego is always contradicting its Lord. If a person is not able to take control over his ego, that ego will never carry him to his Heavenly stations.
You must know what ego is. Allah Almighty created the ego as a mount, not as a master. It was created to carry us, not to rule us. We are meant to ride it, to guide it, and to discipline it. This reality was shown most clearly on the Night Journey, when Allah Almighty honored His Beloved Prophet ﷺ.
When the time came for that journey, Buraq was brought. Sayyidina Jibril (AS) and Sayyidina Mika’il (AS) brought it under complete control, and only then did the Prophet ﷺ ride it. That was not only an honor for him, but a lesson for his nation.
On the same Journey, Allah Almighty addressed His Beloved ﷺ, and said, “O My servant, beloved Muhammad, if I were to give such an opportunity or chance as I gave to Pharaoh, each one of My servants would be just like Pharaoh. They would say to people, ‘I am your greatest lord.’ If they find the same conditions and the same power and authority that I gave to Pharaoh, they are going to be like him.” This is the nature of the ego. Its characteristic never changes.
Therefore, you must be careful about your ego and you must not blame anyone, even Pharaoh. Do not say that Pharaoh was such a bad one. You cannot believe in your ego either, because Allah Almighty is saying, “If I leave you free and no one is commanding you, you are going to be like just Pharaoh. You will also say, ‘I am your lord,’ to people. But I am not giving that chance to you.”
You must look at your own ego and do not blame anyone because he does not worship or he is not a good person. If we are left in the hands of our egos, our ways will also go in that direction. But when it is brought under control, it becomes a Buraq.
Whenever Allah Almighty granted the Prophet ﷺ honor, the honor of mankind and of the universes, the Prophet ﷺ always asked, “Is this for me alone, or also for my Ummah?” And Allah Almighty answered him with His endless favours and generosity.
The Prophet ﷺ was the most merciful of all creation. From the moment he was born, he was concerned for his nation. His mother heard his lips moving, and he was saying, “Ummati, ummati, ummati.” Throughout his life, whatever Allah ﷻ granted him, he asked for his nation too.
He was informed that on the Day of Resurrection he would be given the Flag of Praise. Whoever stands beneath that flag will be in safety from Allah Almighty’s anger and protected from punishment. The Prophet ﷺ said that from Sayyidina Adam (AS) until the last of mankind, all Prophets (AS) will stand beneath that flag. It will cover the Prophets and their nations, showing the vastness of the mercy that Allah Almighty placed in him ﷺ.
When the Prophet ﷺ reaches the Bridge leading to Paradise, he will be the first to cross it. At every step he will ask, “O my Lord, give safety and protection to my Ummah.”
When he reaches the gate of Paradise and knocks, the guardian Ridwan (AS) will ask, “Who is that?” It will be said, “Muhammad.” Ridwan will open and say that he was ordered not to open for anyone before him.
Yet the Prophet ﷺ will say, “I cannot enter before my Ummah.”
Then Allah Almighty will say, “Let all his Ummah enter. Open all the gates.” And they will all enter.
If you want to be proud, then be proud of being from his nation. Everything that the Prophet ﷺ was granted, he asked also for his nation. When Buraq was brought to him, he asked, “Is this only for me?”
And he was told, “O Muhammad, O Beloved one, for your honor they have been given it also. Tell them the conditions by which they may have that Buraq.”
Those conditions are discipline and obedience. When the ego is left free, it becomes Pharaoh. When it is disciplined, it becomes Buraq.
Mankind is moving in this life as caravans. Two caravans are traveling, and every person must join one of them. One caravan is the caravan of the Prophets (AS), the Awliya, and the believers. It is calling people to patience, discipline, and responsibility. The other caravan is the caravan of shaytan, calling people to freedom without restraint and enjoyment without consequence.
The first caravan passes through huge deserts, difficult mountains, and terrible valleys. The ego dislikes it and resists it, because its road is difficult in the beginning. But its end is nearness to Allah Almighty and eternal peace.
The second caravan appears easy and attractive. “Come and join and enjoy yourselves,” they say. But its end is eternal regret.
If the ego is not controlled, it will always pull its rider toward the second caravan. But when it is brought under discipline, it becomes a Buraq that carries its rider with the first.
The first condition for taking control over the ego is patience. Allah Almighty sent verses to His beloved servants. He ﷻ said, “If they want to be patient, they must use two kinds of worship. O servants who believe in My Beloved one and seek to be with him in this life and the Hereafter, use two kinds: use sabr, patience, and ask help to gain control over your egos through prayer, salat.”
Sabr is explained through fasting. Fasting teaches patience, and these months are given for its practice. Without fasting, it is not possible to gain control over the ego. If you are asking for Divine support against your ego, then you must increase your fasting. Through fasting, you may reach Divine help.
Secondly, you must pray. Without prayer, you can never gain control over your ego. When prayer is established, the ego weakens and the Buraq appears. You must never forget these two pillars.
Sayyidina Adam (AS) ordered his children to fast and to pray, and to make sajdah. Sayyidina ‘Isa (AS) was fasting, praying, and making sajdah, and he ordered his nation to do the same. This principle has never changed.
If a person cannot control his ego, he cannot reach the stations of Divine deputy stations. But when the ego is brought under discipline, it no longer claims lordship. It becomes a servant, and that servant becomes a Buraq, carrying its rider upward by Allah Almighty’s permission.
May Allah ﷻ grant us patience to master our egos, and transform them into a Buraq that carries us toward His pleasure.
May He ﷻ make us firm in worship, and admit us among the sincere of this Ummah.
Al-Fatiha.
• Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق
More by Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق can be found here.
This series was initiated by the SufiHub Team in honour of the 2nd Urs of our beloved Sheikh, the late Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan, who lovingly dedicated himself to transcribing and summarising the daily sohbahs of Mawlana Sheikh Nazimق.
It was through this blessed service that he began his journey on this beautiful Way in 2008, remaining steadfast upon it until his final breath in 2023. Today, his legacy continues at our Zawiyah at A’Posh Bizhub Singapore through his representatives Sidi Shalihin, Ismail, and Syed Muhammad, who humbly carry forward the path he sincerely paved.
We pray that our dear Sheikh Abdul Sattar has been reunited with his beloved Mawlana Sheikh Nazimق and all our Grandshaykhs, and that their light continues to guide us always on the way of Haqq.
The text was originally taken from Liberating the Soul – A Guide for Spiritual Growth by Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق. With love and sincere intention, parts of this sohbah have been gently revised by the SufiHub Team for clarity and contextual relevance.
If you wish to share it on your platforms, kindly post it in full and ensure that proper credit is given to all its sources. For this is adab, the very core of our beautiful religion and way.
Should you have any queries or concerns, you are always welcome to reach us at thesufihubteam@gmail.com.
Wassalam.
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