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.
We are now living in this world. Goodness and badness, truth and falsehood, haqq and batil, are always fighting. This side is the right side, the side of truth, and people are divided into two groups.
One group wants to follow the right path, to be righteous, to do good things, to be with haqq. The second group wants every bad thing, wants others to do evil also, and lives only for pleasure and their own benefit.
The first group fights against their egos. They are following the way of the prophets (AS) and the Seal of the Prophets ﷺ. The second group is never interested in anything holy or heavenly.
They are occupied with their pleasures in this temporary life. For everything that pleases them they say, “It is all right.” For everything that goes against them they say, “That is batil, falsehood.”
Those without faith are also filled with envy. Envy is an illness and a danger. Everyone has some of it, but if you do not cure it, it can destroy your faith.
Shaytan was poisoned by envy when he envied Adam (AS). Envious people are dangerous because they cannot bear to see someone else have what they do not have. They become crazy when they see it.
Any good thing they see, they want it to disappear. If someone has a house, they say, “Why does he have a house? He must be like me without a house.” If you have a car, they are envious. If they have a car, they envy your walking.
People even pay more for exclusive cars, but the car still stops at the same traffic light as every other car. Whether you ride in an old car or a Rolls-Royce, you still drive on the same roads. What is the benefit?
Those who follow falsehood are the unbelievers and disobedient ones. They keep company with batil, and everyone crooked wants the true ones to be crooked too. That is their hobby.
O believers, you must recognize such people if you wish to walk on the right path. This is important because such people come to deceive you out of envy and pride.
Grandsheikhق used to say, “In our time, if a person intends to put one foot on the right path, one thousand devils rush to pull it back.”
We are living in such a time. When people see someone placing his foot on the right path, they go mad. The most important thing for believers now is sabat fil-amr, perseverance on the right way, and mutahammil, patience to carry difficulties.
You must fix your foot firmly on the right path. Conditions may be of any kind, but under any condition you must not move from your station. A believer must be like a gigantic mountain. No wind or storm can move it from its base.
There was once a Grandsheikh, the sheikh of a sultan. He was not big or heavy, but thin. A famous wrestler came from Europe and defeated all others. He was brought before the sultan and overcame everyone.
Then that sheikh said, “O sultan, give me permission to fight that one.”
“O my Grandsheikh, what are you going to do with that one?” the sultan asked. “It will be like an elephant falling on you.”
“If you give me permission, I will fight him,” said the sheikh.
He took off his turban, preparing to fight. He was so small and old.
The wrestler asked, “What are you doing?”
“I am coming to wrestle you. But now I will stand here,” said the sheikh, fixing himself in place. “You attack me. Try to put me down. You can do the first attack, then I will try.”
The wrestler laughed and struck him, but it was like hitting a rock. The sheikh never moved.
The wrestler tried again and again, from every direction, with all his might. But the sheikh stood unmoved, his heart fixed on his Lord ﷻ. Even if all the people on earth combined their power and rushed at him, they could not have moved him from his place.
This is an example of how a believer should be in his faith. When he stands firm on his belief, if the whole world comes to push or pull him, they cannot move him from his base. He is a mumin, standing with his Lord ﷻ.
Allah Almighty said to His Prophet ﷺ, “Ask, you have been given.”
He ﷻ says also to the sincere believers and followers of the beloved Muhammad ﷺ, “O My servants, ask and you will be given. I am keeping those favors for those who ask.”
That sheikh asked to show that we have a power beyond physical power. You find strength in bulls and elephants, but believers possess a higher power because they have been created as deputies of the Lord ﷻ of the heavens and the universes. So do not doubt yourself.
We are always in doubt, lacking steadfastness. You may read and learn everything from books, but firmness on this path cannot be taken from books. You must be with someone who possesses it.
As a physician cannot become a surgeon by only reading books but must train under a master surgeon, you must be with the People of Certainty, the Awliya, to be established in your way.
That Grandsheikh, the sheikh of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, was such a one. No one moved without his permission. He gave the sultan and all who attended a lesson they never forgot: you must be firm and steadfast and reach certainty.
Physical strength can be found in animals, but spiritual strength belongs to believers who are steadfast.
After the wrestling, the Grandsheikh asked the wrestler, “Have you finished?”
“Yes, I have,” said the wrestler.
The sheikh then caught him by his belt and said. “Now it is my turn.” He lifted that huge man like a feather, throwing him over the people, onto the grass.
The wrestler stood up, ran to the sheikh’s feet, kissed them, and said, “O Grandsheikh, let me say Shahadah with you and enter Islam.”
Islam is the most perfect religion, the most powerful physically and spiritually. It gives people perfection from every direction. Do not look at the Islamic world now, thinking it is finished. The lions of Allah ﷻ are not gone.
They are awake and watching us. One hundred twenty-four thousand of them are guarding, not only the Muslim world but all of mankind. Do not think everything is in the hands of those who press the buttons of bombs. There are commanders above them, protecting people.
You are educated, you know many things, but steadfastness cannot be taken from books. Scholars who lack it cannot give it to others. This is why, when scholars gather for conferences, people only sleep!
But even a few minutes with such a person of certainty can open hearts and bring people to Shahadah!
This is the way of Islam. This is the way of the Prophet ﷺ. The Sunnah carries power, and the People of Certainty carry that power.
A believer must be like a mountain. All the storms may come upon it, but they do not move it from its base. Do you think the Himalayas move?
Mount Everest stands on the same base after so many storms, so must you stand on your base. Even if one thousand devils attack you, even if everyone becomes a devil rushing at you, they cannot move you from your base if you are firm.
May Allah Almighty make us among those who are steadfast, firm in our faith, and immovable on the right path.
May He ﷻ grant us perseverance and certainty, and make us lions for His ﷻ sake, victorious always.
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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