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.
If there is no light, nothing can be seen. Everything appears through light, and darkness covers and hides everything.
Allah Almighty opened from His ﷻ Divine lights, and then the universe and existence appeared. If that light were taken back, darkness would hide everything and nothing would remain in existence. Therefore, light, or Divine light, gives existence to everything. Without Divine lights, nothing can exist.
Everyone has a spiritual being. Those spiritual beings that belong to mankind, meaning our souls, are from the Heavens. They are not from this world. They exist through Divine lights, and they carry Divine lights. Allah Almighty sent thousands and thousands of Prophets (AS) to teach people about their souls and how to care for them.
Our souls are in greater need of care than our physical bodies. Allah Almighty gives daily occasions to His servants through which they may take more care of their souls. These are the prayer times. Allah Almighty granted them to all nations, from Adam (AS) until today. Through the Prophets (AS), every nation was given daily opportunities to care for their souls and to remain connected to their Lord ﷻ.
In every religion and every belief, you find daily prayers and worship at different times. Do not think it is enough for someone who seeks the pleasure of his Lord ﷻ to pray weekly, monthly, or annually. As long as a person understands even a little of this reality, five daily prayers should feel like very little, and he should ask for more prayers and more occasions, not out of obligation alone, but so that he may care more for his soul and reach more Divine favors.
Therefore, Tariqats look for more occasions for believers, especially Muslims, urging them to reach those opportunities and to care for their souls. In the morning and after sunrise there are prayers. At midday there are prayers. Between Dhuhr and ‘Asr there are prayers. After Wudhu there are prayers. For Maghrib and after it there are prayers. For ‘Isha and after it there are prayers.
Through the Prophet ﷺ’s training, there are so many daily occasions to keep the soul connected with Divine favors, Divine Mercy Oceans, and Divine Wisdom Oceans. For every Divine Ocean there is an opportunity to connect to our Lord ﷻ, and those connections are opened many times each day.
Only heedless people object to daily prayers, saying, “What is the point?” They do not understand the benefit of five times, nor why Prophets (AS) and Awliya worshipped more than five times a day and increased their worship as they increased in knowledge.
Every act of worship gives a new Divine breath to the soul. After each prayer a person should feel comfort, confidence, and satisfaction in the heart. Therefore, if someone feels fear, hesitation, or disturbance in the heart, he must quickly run to prayer. When he prays, Divine favors cover him so that he is no longer disturbed.
When people keep their prayer times and those Divine occasions, they should be pleased. After prayer, disliked things cannot remain in their hearts. Hesitation, unhappiness, and suffering must leave them.
If mankind knew what enters daily life through these occasions, they would quickly run to them, leaving every job and every action. Just as people run into the sea when they feel hot and thirsty, those who are depressed, stressed, or unhappy should run to prayer and worship, because worship brings happiness and peace that cannot be found elsewhere.
Therefore, it is important for nations and for mankind to be careful about worship and not reduce it. As long as people neglect their souls, stress and depression will rise. This is for everyone, because it is also a form of punishment in this life when Allah Almighty removes peace, satisfaction, and pleasure from hearts for not seeking Divine favors through the occasions He granted for their benefit.
As a result of this inner emptiness, mankind begins to escape from worship or delay it, not realizing that worship itself is the cure. Until people take proper care of these occasions for worship, they will never be successful and never be at peace.
In every religion there are daily acts of worship. Yet many Muslims have reduced daily worship to a weekly or even monthly practice. Christians also have left daily services and attend weekly services, and many even attend only annually, such as for Easter or the birthday of Jesus (AS).
Everything appears through Divine light. A person’s true personality should appear through Divine lights that reach the heart. When the heart is ready to receive those Divine lights, through them a person begins to see himself as he truly is.
That opening is futuhat. When a person reaches that level, Allah Almighty grants him from His Divine lights to look at his soul and to see Divine lights bringing things from darkness into light within himself.
We are in need of those Divine lights in our hearts. They cannot be obtained from markets, nor without effort, nor without a guide. A guide is necessary for everyone to lead them to their precious treasures, because many precious treasures have been placed within us and remain hidden without guidance.
If a person does not look at himself and his self has not yet come into existence for him to see, it is impossible to understand or reach anything from the Heavens during this life. We were not created to remain here until the end of the world. We were ordered to reach the Heavens. That is the true wisdom of the Night Journey of the Prophet ﷺ, Laylat al-Mi‘raj.
The Prophet ﷺ was showing us that although he was from mankind, there are ways to reach the Heavens. RasulAllah ﷺ was not an angel. He was from mankind. He traveled from Mecca to Jerusalem with body and soul, and from there he ascended to the Heavens. He reached the Heavens as a man, not as an angel, showing what is possible for mankind.
And he was teaching his Ummah, “O people, you can follow in my steps. You can go up also.”
It is possible. Do not think it is impossible. If it was possible for one human being, it is possible for all mankind. What is miraculous for Prophets (AS) is also miraculous for saints, and what is miraculous for saints can become miraculous for their nations.
The Mi‘raj was a proof that whoever follows the steps of the Seal of the Prophets ﷺ may also be raised in rank toward the Heavens. All people have been invited and commanded to strive toward that Heavenly ascent, each according to their capacity.
Therefore, Allah Almighty says, “We are placing every power under mankind’s authority.” This is not only for Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ who reached the Heavens, but for everyone who follows his steps. Where RasulAllah ﷺ reached, they must reach to that level, meaning up to the station of Jibril (AS). It is open for everyone to reach the highest station available to creation within their capacity and sincerity.
O people, you must take more care of your soul. To take care means to take more lights from the Divine Presence. During holy nights and holy days (which we are now in), more lights are available to us, because holy nights and days are different from ordinary nights.That is why it is very important for every believer, young or old, to take more care of the soul and not to waste these times.
That is the main purpose of keeping association with the shaykh, to remain with him and to be under his guidance. That association gives people the strongest means to reach the Heavens. As the shaykh advances and rises, he carries those who are sincerely with him. Do not think that the shaykh ascends and leaves his mureeds behind.
We are happy that we have Sultan al-Awliya, our Grandshaykh. May Allah ﷻ bless him, so that many Divine favors reach us through the channel of his heart. May Allah bless him and forgive us.
May Allah ﷻ allow us to benefit fully from the extra Divine lights placed in holy nights and holy days.
May He ﷻ grant the Ummah to walk the path of ascent shown by His Beloved Prophet ﷺ.
Al-Fatiha.
• Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق
More by Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق 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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