Introduction to Sultan adh-Dhikr
The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 13
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
12 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah after Zhuhr Salaat
We are very happy today that we have with us Mawlana's son, Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Adil.
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Yesterday we completed clarification of a series of different matters, some issues that had recently been a little misunderstood. And we spoke in the previous lectures about the Greatness of the Prophet (s), which we were going to explain further, and we mentioned yesterday that there are thirty-nine different categories of benefits on Muslims from reciting salawaat on the Prophet (s). But first I would like to say that the Holy Qur'an is Allah's (swt) Ancient Words, and that is why Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah and most of the Muslims - other than Imam az-Zamaskhari and some scholars [of other Muslim doctrines] - say that the Holy Qur’an is ghayra makhlooq, not created. Just as Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes describe the Essence of Allah, the Holy Qur'an is Allah's Ancient Words and it is not created as an entity; the Holy Qur'an is Allah's Words revealed to the Prophet (s). Most scholars believe that and it is one of the obligations to be Muslim.
The reason I am bringing this up is to relate a story which happened in the time of Sayyidina Musa (a). Prophets like to travel and awliyaullah inherit from them, so they also travel. That is why we recorded in the book Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Way that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim's, may Allah (swt) give him shifa`ah, whole life has been a journey of traveling by body or by soul, as awliyaullah can also travel by soul. Many people have seen him, although physically he may not have moved, but in spirit he went somewhere and people who know him have seen him and there are a lot of examples of that.
One example that I can mention took place in the early 1980s when the Prime Minister of Lebanon, along with the governor of the city, came to visit Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, who normally stayed with me in Lebanon. They invited Mawlana Shaykh to go to Hajj, and everyone knows this story. Mawlana said, “This year I am busy and cannot go.” Although he made Hajj physically twenty-seven times and I also heard that he made Hajj forty times, that year he said, “I am not going.” He was in our home in Tripoli; after the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982 we moved to Tripoli from Beirut. He didn't agree to go with them to Hajj, so they left. When you are invited by a prime minister or by the government of Hijaz, you will be given special treatment; it will be a very comfortable Hajj and you may even go inside the Ka`aba, pray there and wash the inside of the Ka`aba. But he didn’t go, stayed with us.
When the Hajj finished, the prime minister and the governor of the city returned, and after one week Mawlana Shaykh said, “Let us go and welcome them back and take gifts for them,” because we were very close to that prime minister, whose plane was shot down in the Lebanese war. And he said to Mawlana Shaykh, “Mashaa-Allah, Yaa Sayyidee! You didn't come with us, but you went with the other group!” We looked at each other and wondered what is he saying. There was another group of politicians from Lebanon that went to Hajj separately, and the prime minister and the governor of Tripoli said to us, “Mashaa-Allah you liked their invitation more than our invitation, and we had that beautiful conversation around the Ka`aba and made that du'a behind you.” We were shocked, but a wali is a wali, cannot change. If Allah (swt) wants to give wilayah to someone, He will give, regardless of their actions.
What about Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), someone who spends day and night in da`wah, who all his life is bringing people to Islam and tariqah? So much so that even his sleep is da`wah as he separates from people and goes with his soul to wherever and to whomever Allah (swt) takes him! And we see this a lot today on the Internet: people take baya` and say, “We saw you, Mawlana!” And they are not seeing him just in dreams, but physically.
We were visiting Madinah, it was one o’clock in the morning, and a man came to us. I told Omar to take a picture quickly, and we were outside the Haram al-Madani, visiting relics of the Prophet (s) when one person of Ahlu ’l-Bayt came to us. He was two meters tall and I looked at him and he looked at me, and I thought of the description of Sayyidina al-Mahdi (a) that Grandshaykh `Abdullah ad-Daghestani (q) had given us, that “Sayyidina Mahdi is so tall and his hands extend down to his knees, and his hand is so big that you can place eight beans end-to-end across his wrist.” He looked like that person.
I looked at that man and said, “I know you.”
He said, “Yes, from twenty-five years ago, but I know your shaykh not just from twenty-five years ago but since the Day of Alastu bi-Rabbikum, “Am I not your Lord?”, The Day of Promises.”
I have his picture and it will attract you. His turban is three times bigger and wider than the normal Naqshbandi turban. This was outside the Muwaajaha (Holy Grave of the Prophet [s]) near Jannat al-Baqi`. So awliyaullah are in motion and their every breath is a motion. I explained to you the hadith from Bukhari and Muslim in the book, Baab az-Zakaat about when Allah (swt) created Sayyidina Adam (a) and stroked his back, and drips came. When Allah (swt) created Man, He created him with 360 points, and I explained in detail that we are not Buddhist. If Buddhists are taking from what the Prophet (s) is saying, they are taking because they see it’s perfection. We also mentioned the Prophet (s) said there are 360 mafsal, points, and that Egyptian doctors studied the human skeleton and found it consists of 360 points as the Prophet (s) had said.
Yesterday I was sitting with Mawlana Shaykh (q) and he said to me, “Why don’t you speak to them about the nine walis and the nine points that represent them?” Every point represents a wali, as mentioned in The Naqshband Sufi Way. Every one of these nine walis represent a point in the system of the human body and they are all part of the Golden Chain of whom there are 39 up to today, since you don't count the Prophet (s), but you count from Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r). You may also exclude Sayyidina Abu Muhammad al-Madani (q) if you want, as he was not from the Naqshbandi Tariqah, but because he was Shaykh Sharafuddin’s uncle, for barakah he added him to the silsilah. Mawlana Shaykh said these nine awliyaullah have Sultan adh-Dhikr. What is the best dhikr?
افضل الذكر لا اله الّا الله
Afdalu 'dh-dhikri laa ilaaha illa-Llaah.
The best remembrance of Allah is to say,“There is no god but Allah.” (Tirmidhi)
And then to say, “Allah,” and after that best of dhikr is to recite salawaat on the Prophet (s). And the best of the best is the Holy Qur’an:
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
Inna nahnu nazzalna ’dh-dhikr wa inna lahu la-haafizhoon.
Behold! It is We Ourselves Who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder and behold, it is We Who shall truly guard it (from all corruption). (Surat al-Hijr, 15:9)
“We have revealed the dhikr,” means the Holy Qur’an and, “We are the One that protects it.” Now scholars say this means there will be no changes made to the Book, of course Allah (swt) will protect His Book, His Words!
وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ اللّهُ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا
Wa maa ya`lamu taaweelahu ill ’Llah wa’r-raasikhoon fi ’l-`ilmi yaqooloon aamana bihi. kullun min `inda rabbinaa.
No one knows the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an except Allah (swt). And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord: (Aali `Imraan, 3:7)
But awliyaullah say, “We believe,” and that’s why Allah inspires them. That’s why you see there are hundreds of tafseer of the Holy Qur'an, which differs from one scholar to another and similarly, the interpretation differs between different awliyaullah. If Allah (swt) is protecting His Holy Words, what is the Sultan adh-Dhikr? It is the Holy Qur'an, which is the Sultan of all dhikr that Allah Himself is protecting! And it means He is protecting it in the hearts of awliyaullah and giving to them realities and secrets according to their capacity they can carry.
So these nine awliyaullah that Grandshaykh (q) mentioned are nine in number, from Sayyidina Aba Yazid al-Bistami (q), all the way to Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) and to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). And these nine points represent one wali on each point. In Naqshbandi Tariqah and other tariqahs there are seven lataa'if and there are five levels of the heart: qalb, sirr, sirr as-sirr, khafaa, and akhfaa. So Grandshaykh (q) said that Sultan adh-Dhikr is reading all of the Holy Qur'an with its secret. And Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) was able to read the Holy Qur'an with its secrets only once in his life because there are 24,000 oceans of knowledge on every letter, and there are almost 350,000 letters in the Holy Qur'an and 6,666 verses, ayaat al-Qur’an.
Sayyidina Bayazid (q) was able to complete the Holy Qur'an in his life, not reading as we read; rather, you read one juz’ and you finish in thirty days or if you read three then you finish in ten days. When I used to go for taraweeh in Madinat al-Munawarrah, I used to go late because the imam of the mosque used to read one or one-and-a-half juz’ every night and finish Holy Qur'an by Laylat al-Qadr. And there was another group with Shaykh Abbas, who is Bukhari and Grandshaykh’s mureed who died at more than a hundred years of age.
I will tell you one story about Hafizh `Abbas Qaari from Uzbekistan. He used to slaughter lamb and feed so many dervishes, and we ate at his zawiyah. When he reached seventy years of age, he wanted to marry. His helper brought a lady for him to marry, and when she came to his house she was completely covered from head-to-toe; no one could see anything. He had a small apartment with one room, a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, and his dargah was called Madrassat ash-Shoona, Waqf il-Bukhariyya, Trust of the Bukhari People. That lady married him and then she entered her room and never came out until she died twenty-seven years later! There was not even a window in that room. No one saw even one nail of her finger, and she spent twenty-seven years in that room and never came out until the day she died, and we took her to her janaza at Jannat al-Baqi`. Twenty-seven years! This is an example of who Shaykh `Abbas al-Qaari was.
There was one room there in the dargah, in which Grandshaykh (q) made a seclusion for one year, and Mawlana Shaykh (q) made seclusions in the room next to him, one for six months and another for three months, so a total of nine months. After the seclusion, it was the first Hajj we went on in 1967, Grandshaykh (q) said to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, “Let them stay in your room where you made seclusion and teach them (Shaykh Adnan and myself) from the secrets of the Naqshbandi Way.” One secret was about the nine points. I forgot something: I used to pray taraweeh prayers with Shaykh Abbas during Ramadan and we took six hours! Not one-and-a-half hours, but six hours of taraweeh. We would finish the entire Holy Qur'an in three days, and some years we finished in five days. Your feet would become numb, you would be unable to stand anymore, and still Shaykh Abbas would be standing like a bird (light as a feather). He was a wali, a representative of Grandshaykh `AbdAllah ad-Daghestani (q).
If Shaykh Abbas is like that, then what do you think about Sultan al-Awliya, the one to whom we are connected? Are we lucky, or not? We are very lucky that he doesn't ask us to do anything, since he is carrying everything on his shoulders! In Salaat an-Najaat, the responsibility of the Shaykh is to take away all the sins of the mureeds and present them clean to the Prophet (s). Grandshaykh (q) used to say, “All mureeds pass before me one-by-one in five minutes and I take all their difficulties on me, and I present them to the Prophet (s).” This secret was passed to Mawlana Shaykh (q) through his arm when Grandshaykh (q) was in the hospital; he held Shaykh Nazim’s arm and poured everything from his heart into him, after which we were given permission to enter the room.
Whatever we say about awliya, we cannot give them their rights. Whatever we say is like a drop in the ocean. Don’t say, “He is sick.” Physically he is sick, but spiritually they are lions! Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said he is the only mureed who made khalwah with his Shaykh, because usually they don’t accept that. He said when Grandshaykh (q) made du`a the whole building would shake, much like Sayyidina Yusuf al-Hamadani (q), by whose du’a the angels of the Throne used to tremble! Allah (swt) gave them power that we don’t see. They will never stop; even after death they are stronger and stronger, and in their life they are stronger and stronger!
Shaykh Bayazid al-Bistami (q) completed the Sultan adh-Dhikr once in his lifetime. Shaykh
Sharafuddin (q) spoke to Turkish scholars who visited him in Rashadiyya, and they would say, “You are always giving importance to `AbdAllah Effendi.”
He asked, “Do you want me to tell you where he is putting his feet now, or where he will put his feet on Judgment Day (what his rank is now or on the Day of Judgment). Where he is putting his feet now, none of the awliyaullah from all time has entered! And if I tell you what his level will be on Judgment Day, you will not understand what I am saying! `AbdAllah Effendi didn't complete Sultan adh-Dhikr once, like Bayazid and other awliyaullah completed it many more times, but with every breath `AbdAllah Effendi takes he completes Sultan adh-Dhikr! Every time he inhales, he completes Sultan adh-Dhikr and every time he exhales, he completes Sultan adh-Dhikr with that power Allah (swt) gave to him! He completes it with all its secret oceans of Realities and knowledges and new information coming out to him!”
Grandshaykh (q) was like that for his whole life and he said, “I passed that secret to Shaykh Nazim.” So don’t underestimate the power of shuyookh! The power of shuyookh is not on our level. The Prophet (s) said:
إنما الأعمال بالنيات , وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى , فمن كانت هجرته إلى الله ورسوله , فهجرته إلى الله ورسوله , ومن كانت هجرته لدنيا يصيبها أو امرأة ينكحها , فهجرته إلى ما هاجر إليه
Innama al-`amaalu bi ’n-niyyaat wa innamaa li kulli imrin maa nawaa. Man kaana hijratuhu ila ‘Llahi wa rasoolihi, fa hijratahu ila ma haajara ilayh, wa man kaanat hijratuhu ila dunya yuseebuhaa aw imraatan yankihuhaa fa hijratuhu ila maa haajara ilayh.
Verily actions are by intentions, and for every person is what he intended. So the one whose emigration was to Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration was to Allah and His Messenger, and the one whose emigration was for the world to gain from it, or a woman to marry him, then his emigration was to what he made it. (Bukhari and Muslim)
Innama al-`amaalu bi ’n-niyyaat, “Every action is according to intention.” If your intention was good to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s), He knows. If he is coming to this house and to this heavenly, spiritual, angelic maqaam on earth from heaven, his intention has to be clean or else what is the benefit? Man kaana hijratuhu ila ‘Llahi wa rasoolihi, fa hijratahu ila maa haajara ilayh, if your intention is to come here for Mawlana Shaykh and the barakah that he represents, not for any dunya benefit, Allah knows. Faman kaanat hijratuhu ila dunya yuseebuhaa aw imraatan yankihuhaa, “If he is making hijrah for dunya or a desire, or to marry a wife, then he is coming for that purpose.” Allah (swt) knows his intention.
لو وزنت الدنيا عند الله جناح بعوضة لما سقي الكافر منها شربة ماء
Law wazinat ad-dunya `indallahi janaaha ba`ooda lamaa saqaa kaafirun minhaa shurbatu maai.
If this dunya weighed the wing of a mosquito, Allah (swt) would not have given a cup of water to anyone to drink.
If the value of this dunya weighs the wing of mosquito, Allah will not give one cup of water to an unbeliever, so Allah knows. Let us clean our hearts and speak the truth; let us not go and put unspoken words into the ears or the mouths or their eyes! Remember the ayaah in Holy Qur’an:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَأٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ
Yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo in ja’akum faasiqun bi naba'in fa-tabayyinoo an tuseeboo qawman bi-jahaalatin fatusbihoo `alaa maa fa`ltum naadimeen.
O you who believe! If a corrupt person comes to you with something wrong, ascertain the truth unless you harm people unwittingly and afterwards become full of repentance for what you have done. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:6)
This is especially true here, since this place is Jannah, Paradise. It is much like when Iblees tried to come to Sayyidina Adam (a) in Paradise disguised as a snake. Don’t try to come in a different form. Make salawaat on the Prophet (s) and that will change what you did; even if you spoke wrongly about someone and put words into the mouth of someone, istighfaar and salawaat will clean that. Make salawaat and repent; Allah (swt) will take that away.
I am more clever in English but not in Turkish. One time Mawlana Shaykh asked me something and I said, “öldu.” He said, “What are you saying?” He asked me if I had finished a job and I said, “öldu, died” and not “oldu, done” (same word with different pronunciation). So I might have made a mistake in the Turkish language. Therefore, after taking the permission of my uncle, Shaykh Muhammad, khalifah of Mawlana, I would like to clear one important point.
Hajji Muhammad said that Raja Eleena, sister of Raja Ashman Shah, is a good saalihah lady and you said, “This is an inspiration coming to my heart that she is a saalihah lady who can look after the zawiyah in Malaysia.” And I know her; she is very good, she comes weekly to dhikr and can make decisions regarding what needs to be done as administration, and at the end of the suhbah Hajji Muhammad wanted to say the same thing as this, but his English made it sound different. Instead of saying, “I hope that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim will go with my ‘inspiration’ because it is a good way of looking after the place,” he said, “Mawlana Shaykh Nazim ‘appointed’ (Raja Eleena).” So there is a big difference, like I said “öldu” and “oldu” it is a huge difference.
And for sure she is strong enough and capable of doing the things that have to be done there for the benefit for the tariqah as she is the daughter of the Sultan, and this was Hajji Muhammad’s inspiration and recommendation that, “Inshaa-Allah my father will later appoint, will do this.” Is this correct? (Shaykh Muhammad: Of course.) So I am clearing this as I asked Shaykh Muhammad, may Allah give him long life, as it is important to clear it as people are not clear about what is to be done, and they are calling and asking about it. This is to clarify what he said so that we understand that he said, “My inspiration that my father will appoint,” meaning, that appointment comes from his father (Mawlana Shaykh Nazim) and the inspiration came from him.
Now I am happy that Shaykh Muhammad is here! Put the camera on my shaykh, Mawlana’s Khalifah Shaykh, so to clear this will benefit everyone because it is an important issue. Correct?
(Shaykh Muhammad: Of course.)
Do you want to add anything?
(Shaykh Muhammad: No, because I am not familiar with Malaysia or any other place, but it must be that time, like this coming inspiration, because I am not going to Malaysia or any other place and don’t have any benefit with them and I think Raja will be happy.)
May Allah (swt) forgive us and we wish, as my uncle Shaykh Muhammad wishes, that in the future Mawlana Shaykh (q) will say it himself, inshaa-Allah, because up to now Mawlana has not said anything, is this correct?
(Shaykh Muhammad: Yes, yes, of course.)
Until now he didn’t say anything, and today is Thursday, April 12th. I would like to read you this email that came just now from the palace, which must make all of you happy inshaa-Allah:
From The Palace of the King of Perak. Raja Ashman's parents, the King and Queen, are expressing how very happy they are that their son gave the remainder of his life to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). They were joining in the hadrah and the King was doing the dhikr and he opened the palace for the mureeds of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. He is praying that Allah (swt) give Mawlana Shaykh Nazim the best of life and he has asked the mureeds to read Surat al-Fatihah.
This was sent today from the Sultan’s palace in Malaysia. May Allah (swt) give long life and bless Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), his sons, daughters and grandchildren, and to all his followers and mureeds and everyone who loves Mawlana. May Allah give him shifaa quickly in order to come up strong and make everyone happy. May Allah forgive us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
I would like to say this to Khalee Shaykh Muhammad, that Bahauddin (Mawlana’s other son) said to me and to his son Memmo, that when he was in Malaysia he spoke with `Amr, the private secretary of Raja Ashman, who said to him that before Raja Ashman left from this world physically, not spiritually, as he is here with us, he asked, “Yaa Rabbee! If my life will give Mawlana long life, take it and give to my Shaykh!” That was said by him two weeks before he left dunya and your brother said it to me and to Muhammad Nazim. So we say that may Allah (swt) give long, long life to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and grant him to be with Mahdi (a), and to take us with him to Mahdi (a) and to give long life to all of us to see Mahdi (a), not just for the people who are here, but also those who are not here.
I ask, would any of you like to eat the raw flesh of his brother, as Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an?
وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ
Wa laa tajasassoo wa laa yaghtab b`adakum b`adan ayyuhibbu ahadukum an yaakulu lahma aakheehi maytan fa-karihtumooh.
And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would abhor it. (al-Hujurat, 49:12)
No, since it would be disgusting to eat the flesh of your dead brother. That is why if someone tells you something about someone else, say, “I don't want to hear it.” I never heard Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) or Grandshaykh (q) mention anything about something that occurred even one hour before! When someone came and spoke bad things about others, they said, “I don’t want to hear it,” because then Shaytan comes.
May Allah (swt) forgive me if I said something wrong and that made them upset, may Allah forgive them if they said something wrong and made people upset, and may Allah forgive all of us if we said something wrong and made others upset.
Fatihah.
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" English Suhbah: Introduction to Sultan adh-Dhikr"
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