Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s daily Suhbahs

1st April 2010, Thursday

Take off your mask and be yourself

A’uzubillah himinash shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillah-hir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

• Mawlana instructed all attendees to seek forgiveness and to cleanse themselves, for cleanliness (physical, spiritual, mental) is the first of all Divine Commands and the most important
 Mawlana said to have faith in the strength of Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Rahim, it is a heavenly sword that destroys Shayṭān’s forts.

• Mawlana said that, like us, he too awaits the knowledge that would be taught during each Suhbah to be revealed to him, as such knowledge assists one to subdue one’s ego, until we can pin it under our feet. Mawlana asked if we had ever tried to step on our egos. It is a very rare thing to find one who does so, Mawlana says that 99.9% of humans obey their egos, and obey Shayṭān. Have you ever wrestled Shayṭān into submission, and placed your feet triumphantly on its neck? Have you ever managed to defeat Shayṭān and step on it? Have you ever even seen Shayṭān before?

• If you had ever seen Shayṭān, you would know that it has a humungous collection of masks! Each day, Shayṭān places a different mask on your face, and suggests to you to look into the mirror. For example, he may put on you, a mask of a learned Saint, so you look at your self, with all your good deeds, and you believe that the mask you have on, is the real you. Each mask lifts your ego to a high status, and you are cheated into believing that you are really that honored one! Perhaps the mask is that of a humble servant, so that you think that you are that obedient one, and you feel that you are the special and chosen servant of Allah’s, that your deeds have brought you to a very high spiritual level. You admire your own greatness, your own holiness, your own Station – and you fall from grace because you have been cheated by Shayṭān’s mask. Each mask is a lie to your own ego, a trap to cheat you, so that you will give credit and position to yourselves! Your true self is hidden behind the mask.

• Each one who seeks spiritual ascension and who desires closeness to Allah, is targeted by Shayṭān. To fight Shayṭān, its supporters and its followers, it gives us honor.

• When Man inherits Paradise, he will find that each one of the seven levels of Jannah, is vastly different. At the first level of Paradise, Man would have left his physical body behind, and would be with a completely different type of existence. Man will be so stunned and amazed at his transformation, that he will ask himself, “Is this really me?” You will be overjoyed to see what Allah has made you into and what He has prepared for you there, your mind will be unable to take in all that it is experiencing. Overwhelmed, you will fall into prostration before Allah Almighty, and when you arise, your heart will be filled with thankfulness and gratefulness to Allah, for what He has bestowed upon you.

• This knowledge is indeed in the Holy Books sent down by Allah, but many of us are unable to picture what Paradise is like, as only the Prophets have real understanding of what is contained within them. Even for those of us who have some knowledge, we lack the certainty of faith, to truly understand what that knowledge means. That is why we have yet to understand the meaning of the seven levels of Paradise.

• When that blessed person who is in the first level of Paradise, is elevated to the second level, his senses will be swarmed by experiences that he has never undergone, not even in the first heaven below. Right to the smallest detail (sight, smell, taste, feel, hearing, honor etc) – it will be completely different from the first level he had just seen. Once again, he will fall into prostration in thankfulness to Allah. This scene will be repeated from level to level of Paradise, no two levels are alike in any aspect, and the person who has been blessed thus, will fall into prostration, at every level of his ascension. Each level of Paradise that you enter, your entire concept and understanding of Paradise will be revamped and completely altered. Subhanallah.

• It is only then, that you will finally understand the honor He has given you, in making you His Khalῑfah. You will finally understand that it is the Station of the Crown Prince, an honor no other creatures have been honored with. It is an honor from pre-eternity to eternity! When you have tasted of Jannah’s pleasures, you will never tire from it; you will seek more and more of it. Mawlana said that being in Paradise is not like watching television, you are not a mere spectator to the pleasures of Paradise, but you will be in the thick of it, experiencing with every nerve in your spiritual bodies, the perpetual pleasures that you have earned by your worldly deeds.

• But in order to inherit all that, you must be with the Sadiqeen! It is a Divine Command in the Holy Qur’an.

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُواْ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ

O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are true (in word and deed). (Quran 9:119)

• The Qur’an has advices for every member of the Nation (Ummat) of Muhammad (saw), so come and take your portion of advice, to advance to safety. The Sadiqeen are spiritual healers, doctors of the Soul, they come to teach us what ails us and how to cure our blindness and diseases. The Sadiqeen reveal to us that we are simply standing at the beach of Islam, we have not dived into the Ocean – if only we were to dive in, we would find all that we seek.

• Do you know, who will accompany you as you enter the first Paradise? That is an important question, Mawlana said. Just like a tourist visiting a town for the first time, a tour guide takes the tourist around town, showing him the various attractions. Mawlana said that even visitors to his humble home in Lefke (Cyprus), which is such a tiny town, need a guide. So do you not believe that we need a Guide, when we pass through this difficult doorway called death, when our Souls leave our physical bodies and rise through the heavens and enter the vast expanse of Jannah, for the very first time?

• Knowledge is the Key to unlocking such secrets, to unveil the hidden treasures of the reality of each heavenly level. Such knowledge leads one to praise Allah abundantly. One who has been endowed with the real understanding of reality, will afford the highest praises and respect to his Lord, the Almighty.

• No human being can understand the greatness of Allah and the reality of the seven Paradises, unless he has a Guide in this world and in the hereafter. We need a Guide, it is necessary for one to seek a Teacher, who will take your hand and walk you safely through this booby-trapped journey, to find your reality. A true, heavenly-sent Guide takes you on this journey, step-by-step, level by level. To teach about the unseen, mystical world is not for the unqualified, only those whose veils have been lifted, and who have been endued with Divine authority to do so, can be a source of illumination, for their students.

• For those Scholars who have yet to attain this, climb down from your pedestal, humble yourself, kun taliban (become a student), and learn from the Guides – there are endless realities to learn.

• The mysterious world of Unseen Oceans makes up a huge part of the study of Islam, and although we can only learn so much in our short lives – Mawlana says that we may not even learn an atom’s worth of the realities before us – we must make the effort to plant these tiny seeds and we must be patient, for these seeds grow a little day by day, and they will keep growing for eternity by Allah’s Grace! You shall reap the rewards from these eternally growing harvests forever, so don’t be foolish, said Mawlana, take off the masks of Shayṭān (stop deluding yourselves about who you really are), come and learn the secrets of the Holy Books, so that you shall achieve eternal salvation, satisfaction and contentment.

• Mawlana ended by painting a clear picture of what lies awaiting each of us, in the end. For believers, it is an eternal bliss, but for disbelievers, it is a perpetual darkness. So leave your masks on at your own peril!

Fatihah.