Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm
Maulana Sheikh Nazimق’s Suhbah
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By the name of Allah, All-Mighty, All-Merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent.
Today, coming to the mosque, I was passing by and I saw a piece of writing saying, “Everyone needs standards.” What was this? I did not understand. But someone had added three words to it with a pencil in big writing. The traffic lights caught our car and I was looking.
“Everyone needs standards” was written there, but he had written, “Everyone needs love and not standards.”
Nothing is accidental in this life. Everything is programmed. Who wrote that writing I do not know, correcting it to say that everyone needs not standards, but everyone needs love, muhabbah, the love of Allah Almighty.
If you want wisdom, you may take it from anywhere. That writing gave me something for this lecture, for this gathering.
Yes, he is right. I have seen, and I am also using, a prayer from among the Prophet ﷺ’s prayers. The Prophet ﷺ said, “As’aluka ya Allah hubbaka wa hubba man yuhibbuka wa hubba ‘amalin yuballighuni ila hubbik.”
Hubb means love, and that writing is right. The Prophet ﷺ asked from his Lord ﷻ, Allah Almighty, saying, “O my Lord, I am asking for Your love. For Divine Love I am asking.”
That is the most important thing to ask from Allah Almighty. Nothing may be put in the place of love and nothing may be above love. Allah Almighty created the Prophet, beloved Muhammad ﷺ, and the khamira, the yeast for him, was the love of God Almighty.
Without love, no Muhammad ﷺ, and if no Muhammad ﷺ, nothing would be in existence. Allah Almighty gave His ﷻ Divine Love to his beloved Muhammad ﷺ.
He ﷺ is the most beloved one in existence, and out of Allah Almighty’s love for His beloved Muhammad ﷺ, He ﷻ created all creation.
That is the reality, written in the Holy Books. And yet the Prophet ﷺ was asking for muhabbah, hubb, the love of God ﷻ. “I am asking for more love, because whoever tastes love asks for more. The one who is a stone does not ask for love.”
And the Prophet ﷺ taught all mankind to ask from their Lord ﷻ, “O our Lord, give to us from Your Divine Love.”
That is important. That gives you light, gives you pleasure, gives you mercy, gives you favors, gives you beauty, gives you wisdoms. When your Lord ﷻ loves a person, He gives him everything. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ was teaching all mankind.
O you who are objecting to the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ, if you are carrying around a brain in your head, you must understand!
Do not be like that person who found the greatest, most precious diamond, unpolished, and gave it to a spoonmaker, who gave him only a wooden spoon in return.
Look at Muhammad ﷺ, look at what he brought, at what he asked. “O my Lord, as’aluka hubbaka. I am asking for Your Divine Love.”
Muhammad ﷺ, throughout twenty-three years, what did he collect of this world’s properties, what did he have from this world? O people of the future, you must look to the Prophet ﷺ, or punishment will come to all people because they are not looking at him ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ stood up and called people to the unity of the Lord ﷻ, the Creator, Allah Almighty, saying, “La ilaha illa Allah. O people, come and say with me that there is no God but Allah. I am calling you to my Lord, to His endless Mercy Oceans, to His endless Knowledge Oceans, to His endless Wisdom Oceans, to His endless favors. I am calling you to His endless Beauty Oceans. Come to me!”
Then those ignorant people stood against him. His uncle, Abu Talib, outwardly took guardianship of Muhammad ﷺ because he was the chief of Makkah.
Then those big people among the mushrikin (unbelievers) came to Abu Talib and asked him to make Muhammad ﷺ stop calling people to his Lord ﷻ and to stop attacking their nonsensical idols. They would put their idols on little carts, pushing or pulling them, and then come to worship them, such foolish people!
Then they said, “O Abu Talib, you must look to your nephew, because it is too much. You must stop it or we must see about his case,” such proud people!
They also said, “O Abu Talib, look. You must stop him by any means. Tell him that if he wants, by calling people to himself, to be a king, we may make him king of Makkah and of all Arabia, also. If he wants treasures, gold, we can bring all treasures to him. If he wants marriage to a beautiful lady, all the beautiful ladies we shall give him.”
Those are the only three or four things that people are running after for this life, foolish people. Their hearts are with women, with gold, with titles. That is the whole life of this world for them.
Abu Talib called Muhammad ﷺ and said, “O my nephew, I am looking after you and I will look after you up to the end, also, to protect you from those people. They are saying to me that you must stop attacking their idols, you must stop saying La ilaha illa Allah. And if you want to be a king, they may make you their king, they may give you their treasures, their most beautiful girls. Leave off this, they are saying. But I am with you. What do you say?”
And Muhammad ﷺ said, “O my uncle, my respected uncle, tell them that even if they were able to put the sun in one of my hands and the moon in the other, I am not going to leave this. Because it is not from myself, it is from the Lord of the Heavens. I have been ordered to make this declaration to all people. I am not going to leave it. It is impossible. I must go on firmly.”
That is our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He came, and during the whole of his life he called people only to the love of the Lord ﷻ, Allah Almighty.
He ﷺ only asked from his Lord ﷻ, Allah Almighty, to give him more love, because that is the most precious thing for those who have a brain in their heads, not straw.
Yes, you may understand what is the most precious thing in life. If you can find something more precious than love, bring it to me. But you will not find anything.
Therefore, that person who was writing that everyone needs love is right. And the Prophet ﷺ was saying in that du’a, that prayer, “As’aluka ya Allah hubbaka. O my Lord, I am asking for Your Divine Love.”
Then he ﷺ also asked, “Wa hubba man yuhibbuka. I am asking, O my Lord, for Your Divine Love, and also I am asking for the love of those who love You.”
He ﷺ means to say, “I am asking for the love of Your Friends, also, O my Lord.”
The first part, Allah ﷻ’s love, is at the level of prophets (AS), but you cannot put your foot all at once at the top. Then he ﷺ comes to the second level and says, “I am asking for the love of Your Friends who love You.”
That is possible. Anyone may look at those people whose hearts are with their Lord ﷻ. You will find nothing in them except the love of Allah Almighty. You can find such people, and it is obligatory for all believers to keep love in their hearts for the Friends of Allah Almighty.
That is important, because immediately, all at once, you cannot reach the love of Allah Almighty. It is so difficult.
But he ﷺ is showing us the way, also, that leads us to the love of Allah Almighty. “Wa hubba man yuhibbuka. O my Lord, give me love for those who love You. Their hearts are filled up with Your love, those people.” And shaytan is fighting with people not to love such people.
And then the Prophet ﷺ comes to a third level and says, “Wa hubba ‘amalin yuballighuni ila hubbik.”
He ﷺ is asking and teaching us, “O my Lord, make me love such actions that by the blessings of those actions I may reach the love of Your Friends and may reach the love of You.”
Those are three kinds of supplications, du’as, which the Prophet ﷺ would often make. Only those three du’as that he asked from his Lord ﷻ are enough to bring as witness and proof for those who are intelligent that Muhammad ﷺ is a true and perfect prophet.
You must think about that.
This is for all people and particularly for you, O believers. When you start to ask for something, you must ask, “O my Lord, give me a little bit of love, a little bit of love.”
But shaytan is fighting people, saying, “If a little love comes to your heart, then you are going to leave everything of this world’s pleasures!”
Yes, if you may be given a little bit of that love, you are going to sink down into an endless Pleasure Ocean, so that all pleasures in this life are not going to be even one little drop in that huge Pleasure Ocean.
Once Musa (AS) was traveling to Mount Sinai. He passed by a little temple, like a monastery, where people went to worship. There he saw a worshipper.
That worshipper greeted him and said, “O Musa, when you speak to your Lord, Allah Almighty, please ask Him to give me a little bit of love, a dharra, one little particle of love.”
Then Musa (AS) came to Mount Sinai, and he said, “O my Lord, Your servant is asking for a little bit of Your Divine Love.”
“I have given it to him, not as much as he is asking for but less, less, less, less, less. Seventy times less than the little bit he was asking for, I have sent to him,” because that worshipper was worshipping but not tasting, and without love, worshipping is nothing.
Therefore, you must build your worshipping on love. Into every stone, every brick, put love for your Lord ﷻ. Then that building will give you love.
Every action that you do with love becomes lovely in His Divine Presence. Allah Almighty is not looking at your movements. He ﷻ is looking at your love.
When you are praying, pray with love. When you are giving, give with love. When you are speaking, speak with love. Because if there is love, everything becomes light. Without love, even worship becomes heavy.
So ask your Lord ﷻ to fill your heart with love. Ask for that love to grow and never be taken away. Because only what is built on love will remain.
If you are asking for Divine Love, then build with love, walk with love, pray with love, speak with love, live with love. Then that love will never leave you, here or in the Hereafter.
In old buildings you can find, when you pray in them, some holy feelings and love. Go to Central Mosque, you cannot find that, never! Go to that new mosque, you cannot find it.
Even for churches, people put those bricks there with love. And in old mosques, also, you can find so much spiritual feeling. In new ones, never, they are only concrete hills.
Yes, love is most important.
That worshipper was praying but had not yet tasted, and he said, “O Musa, ask your Lord to give me a taste.” May Allah ﷻ give us a little bit, but I am afraid, because of the tremendous and overwhelming power of Allah ﷻ’s love.
When Musa (AS) returned from asking that to his Lord ﷻ, he saw that the earth in that place was opening, cracking. And that worshipper was calling out to him, “Where are you, O servant of my Lord?”
Musa (AS) looked. No one was there. Then he looked down and saw that person, finished! He could not carry that little bit of love. If he had asked that it come through Musa (AS), he would have been able to, but when he asked directly, for himself, he could not hold it.
For what are prophets (AS) sent? For this purpose. People are saying there is no wasitah (intermediation) between people and their Lord ﷻ. They are wrong, they are denying the prophets and prophethood! You cannot reach anything if there were no prophets.
That worshipper asked Allah Almighty to send him His ﷻ love, not through Musa (AS) but coming to him directly, and like that, he went away, died. But still he has taken his share. Now he is in such a state up to Qiyamah. Yes, he is now in the Station of Divine Love.
O people, ask from your Lord ﷻ for what is most precious in His Divine Presence. Nothing can be more precious than love in the Divine Presence. Ask!
And we are asking, through His beloved Muhammad ﷺ and through His beloved Friends, asking for Divine Love.
O Allah ﷻ, as Your Beloved Prophet ﷺ prayed,
“As’aluka ya Allah hubbaka wa hubba man yuhibbuka wa hubba ‘amalin yuballighuni ila hubbik.”
Grant us Your Divine Love, the love of those who love You, and the love of actions that bring us closer to Your love.
O Allah ﷻ, fill our hearts with Your remembrance and with longing for You. Remove from us the love of this dunya and replace it with the sweetness of knowing You. Make us taste from the Oceans of Your Love, and make us among those whom You love and who love You.
O Allah ﷻ, make us among those who love sincerely for Your sake, who find sweetness in worship, and who see Your signs in every breath. Fill our homes with love, our gatherings with light, and our steps with purpose that leads only to You.
O Allah ﷻ, let us live in Your love, die upon Your love, and be raised among those whom You love, under the banner of Your Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Mercy to all the worlds.
Al-Fatiha.
• Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق
More sohbahs from the Liberating the Soul Series can be found here.
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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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