Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s Daily Suhbah

30th March 2010, Tuesday

The Emperor’s new clothes

A’uzubillah himinsh shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillahir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

• Maulana says that we must spend some time daily to attend the Suhbahs, even it is just for a few minutes. Sadly, most people today are shaitan’s followers, they give no value to Divine advice and messages. Shaitan always teaches Man to oppose and defy Allah. No follower of shaitan will ever succeed in dunia or akherat. We must give respect to Divine news, and take the advice seriously. Maulana said that if it were announced that the American president would be giving a speech, millions – maybe billions – would tune in. It is ironic, that a Suhbah, that has much spiritual reward, is viewed as unimportant, but a speech of no value in Divine eyes, is given so much attention by people. This is because people value a gathering, by how important the speaker is, whereas, they should actually be giving value to a gathering, based on who was sending the speaker and who’s message he brought. It is not the value of the speaker, but the value of the One that sent the speaker, that we should honour. For those attendees who are giving this nightly Suhbah its due respect and attention, heavenly blessings are raining down upon you, your hearts will be filled with tranquility and contentment.

• Most of Mankind think that they have been created for enjoyment in this dunia, others believe that they are here to follow shaitan’s teachings. These Suhbahs are Divine warnings sent to awaken you, so that you will know that you have not been sent for dunia or to obey shaitan. Ignore there warnings at your own peril, for such heedlessness, leads you to eternal regret!

• Even if you had absolutely nothing to do, and you were just sitting down at home, with time to attend the Suhbah, shaitan will whisper to you, “Don’t attend, you have important things to attend to, tomorrow!” Shaitan ‘creates’ busy-ness for you, based on a hypothetical assumption, that the next day would be busy.

• Humans are always worried about ‘tomorrow’, they are always thinking about what would happen ‘tomorrow’. They even count ‘tomorrow’s’ profits before they materialize. Maulana says, this is a most amazing phenomenon, that has infected almost everyone today, from the very young, to the very old! Maulana says, almost no one asks himself, “What if ‘tomorrow’ never comes?” Almost no one says, “I am sleeping in my bed today, but I may be sleeping in my grave tomorrow!” Death gives no special respect to anyone – a King, President and Commander-in-chief, will all die at the appointed time, and it may be a very sudden thing.

• How many important people, stand in their uniforms and beautiful suits, admiring themselves in the mirror, all the time? And while they see only how handsome or attractive they appear, a pious one may simply see an animal, dressed in fine clothes, for these people have yet to rid themselves of their animal-like nature. It is again mystifying why world leaders feel proud to copy cursed ones like Pharoah and Namrud, strutting about arrogantly in fancy clothes, belittling others, and constantly admiring themselves in the mirror (like preening ladies). Maulana advises us to discard this attitude, and to instead dress ourselves in humility, for that is the best clothing to be dressed in. With our fancy clothes, we may feel like a great person, but strip yourselves completely and look at yourself then, do you still feel like a great one? No, you will simply be filled with a sense of shame.

• When asked, many people believe that by dressing up in fine clothes, they would acquire more respect from people. Shaitan has cheated Man into believing that ‘clothes makes a man’. Without his majestic clothes, a person feels small and unimportant, so he spends a great deal of money on expensive clothes, and he spends a lot of time grooming and preening himself, so that he can look good and acquire more respect. So Man’s status, is now linked to his dressing! What is the point of changing our clothes, our hairstyles, our skin and hair colours – when our minds and hearts remain the same? The Prophet (saw) said, “Allah does not look at his servants’ exterior, He looks at their internal condition.”

• Would any of us dare to be seen naked in public? Of course not, we would be very embarrassed. After all, we are not animals, animals look good even when they are naked. A horse looks so majestic without clothes, but Man would look so out of place like that. But Maulana says, we are naked – spiritually naked, despite being physically clothed. Because shaitan has cheated Man into believing that honour comes from good dressing, so spiritually naked humans are strutting about, proud of their external dress, but naked in the eyes of those who can see their internal condition!

• Like in the story of the Emperor’s new clothes, the Emperor was parading naked for all to see, thinking that he had on beautiful clothing, until a young boy said, “But he has nothing on!” Only then did the Emperor and his subjects accept the reality that they had been cheated. Today, we are all Emperors in our egoistic world, we are walking around spiritually naked, yet we are parading ourselves because we think we have clothes on, having been cheated to believe that our external clothing is indeed the clothing of honour, when in fact, the internal clothing of the Soul is the actual dressing of honour. The young boy in the story represents the Saints in this analogy, those who could see the reality, who spoke the truth and who could not be cheated by shaitan. Shaitan has stripped Man spiritually naked, and Man looks so ugly like this, stripped of his honour (for it is a disgrace to be naked in public view), and he doesn’t even realize that he is indeed naked! What returns to Allah in death, is not our physical bodies – it is our spiritual selves that return, and if that returns naked, we will be in eternal humiliation.

يَـٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ لَا يَفۡتِنَنَّڪُمُ ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنُ كَمَآ أَخۡرَجَ أَبَوَيۡكُم مِّنَ ٱلۡجَنَّةِ يَنزِعُ عَنۡہُمَا لِبَاسَہُمَا لِيُرِيَهُمَا سَوۡءَٲتِہِمَآ‌ۗ إِنَّهُ ۥ يَرَٮٰكُمۡ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُ ۥ مِنۡ حَيۡثُ لَا تَرَوۡنَہُمۡ‌ۗ إِنَّا جَعَلۡنَا ٱلشَّيَـٰطِينَ أَوۡلِيَآءَ لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ

O ye Children of Adam! let not shaitan seduce you in the same manner as he got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their clothing, to expose their shame: for he and his tribe watch you from a position where ye cannot see them: We made the Evil ones friends (only) to those without Faith. (Quran 7:27)

• True dressing is the dressing of our spiritual selves, bestowed by Allah, on His obedient servants. We must never judge people, as we do not know what spiritual dressings of honour Allah has bestowed upon him, so never look down on anyone. Never judge someone from his external condition, for that does not reflect what is within him. Many of the Companions of the Prophet (saw) had only one set of old and worn clothing, perhaps if you saw them, you may not have thought much about them, but they were people whom Allah was pleased with, and they were pleased with their Lord,

وَٱلسَّـٰبِقُونَ ٱلۡأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُهَـٰجِرِينَ وَٱلۡأَنصَارِ وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوهُم بِإِحۡسَـٰنٍ۬ رَّضِىَ ٱللَّهُ عَنۡہُمۡ وَرَضُواْ عَنۡهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمۡ جَنَّـٰتٍ۬ تَجۡرِى تَحۡتَهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيہَآ أَبَدً۬ا‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ ٱلۡفَوۡزُ ٱلۡعَظِيمُ

And the first to lead the way, of the Muhajirin and the Ansar, and those who followed them in goodness – Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him, and He hath made ready for them Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. That is the supreme triumph. (Quran 9:100)

• Religion is about giving good advice, so remind people, especially the rich, that death is close to them, so that people will not be busy with dunia, and forget death. Death can be very sudden, a person can be a King in the morning, and be a corpse the same night. The Prophet (saw) did not want the Companions to bury their dead quickly and secretly, he wanted people to know who had died, and to see their corpses, so that those who were living could take a lesson from the dead, to see how the rich, the royalty, the famous ones – all had to die, leaving behind their physical bodies, their physical dressings, and their physical treasures. Be very afraid of the Day of Judgement, for the Judge on that Day is Allah Almighty Himself, and when you are raised spiritually naked, and told that you had been on the wrong track, that you had been amongst the heedless ones, it would be too late to regret. Don’t forget to advise your own selves to get dressed, to put on your best spiritual dressing, for your meeting with your Lord.

Fatihah.