Maulana Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani 2000 Sohbats 1979-2013 (623/777)
https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=5223
. People are very afraid to surrender, even though that is the meaning of being a Muslim. Europeans tremble at the thought. But if you don't surrender to your surgeon, what can he do for you? They want to reach Heavens, but they don't surrender. They want to fly without having to get on board the plane. That is the mind of Europeans. They do not want to surrender. Surrender to your surgeon! 01.01.1997
BookDefendingTruth, CategoryMuhammad, CategoryGabriel, CategoryDressing
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8606 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SwallowYourAnger
Maulana Sheikh Nazim : SwallowYourAnger
l
Swallow your Anger; then Digest it
For those of us whose physical bodies are "over the hill", by this I mean over the age of fifty or so, we must face the fact that, no matter how well we look after ourselves, our physical powers are gradually deteriorating: step by step we are approaching death. But as for our spiritual condition, there is no such limit, no age when powers are at their maximum, then recede. Spiritual power may continue to grow strongly throughout our lives, but we must seek out conditions conducive to that continuing growth, and weed out those qualities which threaten to choke the precious plant. One of the most harmful weeds, the most inimical to our spiritual growth is the anger generated by the vanity of our egos. When anger rages it engulfs the light of faith, transforming in into fire. The light of Faith is the pure light of God, but when it is transformed into fire it no longer illumines, it burns. When you find yourself overcome with anger you must quickly run to a mirror and behold your own face. That ugly spectacle will be enough to calm your anger: for who wants to look like the devil himself? When a person is angry his actions are satanic - destructive and self-destructive. Our Grandsheikh stressed the necessity of abandoning anger, for when the ego's anger dominates a person he may readily deny even the
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8607 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SwallowYourAnger
sovereignty of God, and put himself in rebellion against the Overwhelming One - and that is very dangerous. Anger also wreaks havoc on our physical bodies, causing illness and premature aging, especially when a high level of anger is maintained over a long period of time. Very few people can turn back anger when it assaults them. This is why so few people advance spiritually. The reason that anger is so difficult to defeat is simply because it is an intrinsic part of our physical and spiritual constitution. Anger corresponds to the element of fire in our make-up, which is a balance of fire, water, earth and air. Only those who are trained from a very early age by enlightened parents or teachers will have learned to keep these elements in balance. As for most people, each of these elements may predominate on different occasions according to exterior circumstances and intrinsic propensities, setting the equilibrium off center. Fire flares up in the face of provocation and teasing, aggression or attempts to subdue the will (of the child). Since these occasions are usually frequent in our early lives, we are all adept at getting angry, and from a very early age. Our Grandsheikh also suggested that we perform a special Dhikr (prayer-meditation) at night in order to gain the upper hand in our struggle against anger. When you arise in the last third of the night to perform superrogatory prayers, after performing your ablutions, start by turning your face to the House of God and implore Him to aid you in your attempt to subdue anger. Then repeat one-hundred times. "Ya Halim" which means "Oh (God, who is) Forbearing and Slow to Anger" This name, al-Halim, is a Divine attribute of God which He wishes to bestow generously upon us, should we seek to receive it. The first step is to ask God, in this manner, to help us become forbearing; then we must meditate on that Divine Attribute, that it may be absorbed into our being. We are literally calling it upon ourselves. Next we must adopt a practice in our everyday lives that will further our purposes. This practice is, simply, not to show anger, even when you feel it welling up inside. Don't spit that anger out at those around you and poison the atmosphere, like a fire-breathing dragon. Hold it in, but not like a lump of undigested food; no, you must digest it. A certain amount of anger is part and parcel of every personality. Without some of that fire in our constitution we would die; therefore, it is possible for us to digest a certain amount of anger without suffering adverse side-effects. Of course, if we were to remain unchanged over a long period of time and swallow the same amount of anger, we would overdose; but that is not the case, for in time our intake of anger decreases as we learn, and are granted the ability not to react angrily to provocation in the first place. So, just as a baby
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8608 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SwallowYourAnger
initially drinks great quantities of milk, then graduates to solid food, decreasing its milk consumption drastically, we can swallow and digest anger, in the full knowledge that other forms of nourishment are soon forthcoming. If you can manage to refrain from showing anger for forty days, you will have passed a great milestone. When it assails you, you must evade it, and when it is going to issue from you, you must swallow it. If you can successfully avoid it for forty days, anger will begin to assault you less frequently: once every forty days. If you can manage to keep yourself in this manner the initial forty days, and thereafter, in the face of forty more assaults (forty periods of forty days, a little more than four years), Satan will announce to his helpers: "Don't bother attacking that person; you are just wasting your time and energy. His defenses are impenetrable: one thousand attacks are just as futile as one. Leave him alone, he has escaped from our hands". Satan's helpers are the selfish ego, vain desires and worldliness: these are our four great enemies, and whoso learns to control his anger will be victorious against these base influences. Whenever you feel anger arising you must be aware that you are being tested. Such tests are sent your way from the spiritual world in order to ascertain your trustworthiness. Disliked events are sent from that realm so that you may have the chance to forbear, and thereby advance toward your goal. If there were not some benefit to be found in anger it would not exist. The benefit is found in being patient in the face of it. Without passing this test there can be no improvement. Forbearance is a key to Divine Stations, and that key is forged by facing odious events with patience and controlling our anger. So, anger is a two-edged sword: if you can grasp its handle firmly you may rent the veils that blind your heart's eyes, but if it is in the hands of your enemies your faith will be severed. 01.01.1987
BookOceanofUnity, CategoryAnger, CategoryMankind, CategoryShaitan
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8609 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
Maulana Sheikh Nazim : SweetAsHoney
l
SWEET AS HONEY are the TEACHINGS FROM THE HEART
Our Grandsheikh was speaking about people who instruct the community on the Islamic religion and topics relating to its practice. According to the command of Allah Almighty, there must be some people among each community who instruct people as to what they may do, as to what has been permitted for them by Allah Almighty (Halal), to warn them against those things which they must avoid, as they have been forbidden to them by Allah (Haram). Most people think that it is an easy job to address people: take a book and read it – finish. So many people think that it is only sitting and speaking; either reading to the people from books and explaining, or sometimes memorizing so that people think that he really knows a great deal – for one week they prepare to give a half-hour sermon – this kind of teaching is only of the imitative kind. A really important point for an instructor of the community is to understand the wisdoms that he speaks about. The fountain of wisdom is the heart, not the mind. If you can’t use your heart, you can’t be satisfied. As long as you are giving lessons from your mind, you and the people you are addressing are on the same level, and so you cannot teach them anything; to teach the teaching of Allah and His Prophet, you
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8610 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
must have learned to teach with your heart. If you teach from your heart, then the teaching will be like honey. But if you teach from your mind only – i.e. looking up information in a number of books and then reproducing it – then you resemble one who wings from flower to flower, like a bee, gathering the flowers’ nectar, then puts it in a jar and calls it honey, but it is not honey. Why not? – He says: “I saw a bee flying hither and thither collecting the nectar of flowers, so I did as he did.” But no honey comes from his jar. For honey to be made, the bee must eat the nectar, then the honey appears of itself. Therefore, you must not let yourself be fooled by those people who speak for hours and hours on religion thinking they give honey, because the difference between what they give and real honey is like the difference between heaven and earth. People who claim to be teachers are of two kinds : one kind are like wasps who go from flower to flower like bees, but never produce any honey or beeswax. Even if they have attained the highest level of knowledge that the mind can encompass, if their teaching does not come from the heart, it isn’t honey. The other kind of teachers are like bees, their teaching comes from the heart and is like pure honey. How does one become such a ‘bee’? the Prophet says, if a person can keep sincerity (Ikhlas) with his Lord for forty days, then his Lord will open up fountains of wisdom for that person. During the time that Sayyidina Ali was Khalipha in Kufa, he traveled to Basra and made his rounds of all the mosques in order to listen to the people who were teaching in those mosques. After visiting each of them and hearing every instructor speaking from his pulpit, he issued a decree ordering all except Hasan al Basri and Qadi Shureyh to stop preaching; he forbade all of them to address people in the mosques. He said that all of the ‘instructors’ other than those two were only storytellers who parroted stories without understanding their real significance, even if they were claiming to be teaching people good. Seyyedina Ali gave permission only to those two to do any teaching in the mosques, - for the others, no need. You may eat some rotten food, and your stomach might become upset and you will
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8611 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
induce vomiting, but whoever listens to something no-good cannot get rid of it so easily, and it may stay with him until the end of his life. It is for this reason that our Grandsheikh cautioned his murids against listening to scholars who deny Tariqats and Mushids, for maybe they will poison you. If a person sits with such deniers, he must be prepared to carry a heavy burden of darkness and live with an injured heart for one year. Our Grandsheikh told the following tale in order to describe people to whom you may, and indeed should listen: Ibrahim bin Adham, who is known as King of the Ascetics (Sultan az Zahideen), was a great king who one day heard the call to come to the way of his Lord. He left his kingdom and gave everything to his commanders, generals, princes and royal family. When he was just ready to leave the palace, he called one of his slaves, who had been the palace gardener, and told him to come; then he gave his royal cloak to that slave and asked him to give him his gardener’s coat in exchange. The gardener was astonished at this and full of fear; he said; “How may it be possible for the lowest of servants to wear the kind’s royal cloak, and for the majestic king to wear these dirty old rags?” The king answered: “Oh my son, do you not know that last night your Sultan became a slave of a slave of a slave..? Now I am a slave of seven slaves, the top one of them being a slave of the Almighty.” See how quickly he came to the level of humility, how he regarded himself as being nothing, as being level with the earth. Now our Grandsheikh says: “Oh Nazim Efendi, whoever desires to teach people in mosques and Sufi schools (Zaviya) must be very careful, especially in these times in which we are living. In the time of Ibrahim bin Adham, he counted only seven masters; now, in our times, if a person is not regarding himself as being on a lower level than many thousands of people, if he is not regarding himself as the slave of many people whom he deems superior to himself, then he will never be able to carry out his duty effectively: he will never make them believe in their Lord, or if they are already believing, he will never strengthen them in their faith.
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8612 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
For example, here we are in Damascus: if an instructor of religion can’t look at himself as being a slave to everyone, it means that he has some egoism, and that egoism will spread through his teachings to everyone who comes in contact with him. Grandsheikh was saying that if a man who addresses people doesn’t humble himself, and won’t regard himself as being a slave in front of his audience of thousands, then those people whom he is proposing to teach will ‘look down on him’ and his teachings. What I mean to say is that the people will hear so much good advice from that instructor, but they will do exactly the opposite of what they were advised. To prevent this from happening is no easy matter, because everyone who is studying and learning and learning still more is, in most cases, going to become an egoist; and when people come to him and listen to him, they will go off and do as he does. So many big sheikhs never admit or realize the necessity of fighting their egos, they just continue amassing knowledge which benefits neither themselves nor anybody else. Their knowledge feeds only their egos. They never consider, nor are they able to perceive that an important element is missing from their religious lives. And so, as they won’t accept training at the hands of a Grandsheikh, they find themselves, along with the teachings they have imparted being disrespected by those very people whom they were thinking to help. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for a person who wants to teach people to really see himself as their servant – to humble himself in front of the people he is hoping to teach. The son of Abdul Qadir al-Gilani was a famous learned man in his time, but he was not humble and did not surrender to his father’s superior knowledge, as he regarded himself as being much more learned and of a higher station than his parent. He was always astonished when he saw how the multitudes of his father’s disciples flocked to the Grandsheikh’s lectures, and how, when he began to speak, so many seemed to swoon away in apparent ecstasy. Whenever he witnessed that amazing spectacle he thought to himself: “My father’s knowledge is not as great as mine, I am seven degrees higher than he is; so, if the people swoon in such a manner upon hearing his
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8613 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
discourse, what will happen to them when I speak? I fear that if I address them they might have to be carried out dead!” So he thought. Now, Grandsheikh Abdul Qadir was listening to all these thoughts passing through his son’s heart; Awliya know so many things that are happening in the hearts of people because Allah Almighty has given them that power of perception. They may listen, but they are not in need of always exercising this power. – Only when a particular situation arises in which someone may well benefit from it will they put the power to use. For instance, they many listen to and then answer a question which might have been in someone’s mind without that person having ever said anything about it. By this unsolicited answer, that person might be taken unawares and be able to learn something. My Grandsheikh had such powers of perception, but concerning them he said to me : “Oh my son, the power of perception is not really such a great and miraculous power that one should covet and seek to gain, for it comes naturally to a saint; however, this power was also given to Satan, so that, if goodness comes to us, he easily knows it and seeks to turn us away from it. So we cannot say that this power is very miraculous for the saints, nor are they particularly interested in it, but if they are ordered by the Prophet, then they may use it.” And so, Abdul Qadir was sometimes listening to what went on in his son’s heart and could understand that his son had a nagging desire to speak in public. So one day he said to him: “Oh my son, tomorrow I am going to be very busy, and since our followers, spiritual sons and loved ones will be gathering at the great mosque, rather than sending them away, perhaps you could address them in my place, so that they may be pleased with you and not disappointed that there is no one to speak to them.” Needless to say, the son was very pleased about this and looked forward to the chance of showing the people exactly where he stood in the way of knowledge as compared to his father.
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8614 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
The next day, when the time for Abdul Qadir’s discourse arrived, his son mounted the pulpit in his stead and, closing his eyes, began to speak like a fountain, gushing out torrents from the highest level of his knowledge. He spouted for about ten minutes with his eyes closed in intense concentration; then, upon hearing not even the sound of breathing coming from the assembly, he thought: “perhaps they have all died from such sudden an exposure to this overwhelming knowledge.” So he opened his eyes to see what had happened, and there he saw the assembly, not dead – but sound asleep. Not one was awake, and now, as they fell deeper into their sleep, a number of them began to snore loudly, like saws cutting trees. Since no one was awake to hear his lesson, he quickly finished, came down from the pulpit and moved through the mass of sleepers, carefully stepping, and left the mosque. When he arrived at his father’s house, he complained to him: “Oh my father, do you know what happened? I am amazed at the condition of these people!” Abdul Qadir asked him, “What happened? Did anyone die or faint?” The son replied: “No, all of them fell fast asleep, even when I left the mosque, no one was aware of it – and this despite the fact that I was speaking to them on a level seven degrees higher than your teachings; I cannot understand what happened.” Then this Grandsheikh said to his son: “Oh my son, who was sitting there on the pulpit?” The son, surprised, replied: “I was, of course.” “Ah, you see, therefore, as you were sitting there, they all fell asleep.” “Oh my most venerable father, why should it be like this when I sit there; don’t you sit on the pulpit in front of them the same as I did?” Then Abdul Qadir explained to his son: “No, my son, I don’t sit there, I leave that pulpit to Allah Almighty and His Prophet and seat myself in the audience among the people in order to listen to Allah and His Prophet – when a verse is read, we hear Allah speaking to us, and when a hadith is read, we hear the Prophet speaking. When in this way I put myself among the assembly and leave the pulpit to Allah and His Prophet, I leave myself behind, no more Abdul Qadir, just Allah and His Prophet
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8615 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
speaking through Gilani, but no more ‘I’ is there. For this reason alone, Divine Outpourings (Fuyudat) are filling people’s hearts and they can’t keep themselves; they become happy and contented like fish in the sea. But you are sitting there yourself, saying ‘I know’, and you are appointing yourself deputy of Allah and His Prophet, and so there is no true harmony emanating from your words, nor any Divine Aid (Inayah) with you – that is why all the people fell asleep. You killed them with your ego which prevents any Inayah from coming to that assembly, so no benefit is possible from that meeting; they are like fish thrown out of the sea, and it is your fault.” “And thus, virtually every learned person is thinking that he is like a deputy of Allah Almighty or the Holy Prophet; so their address to the people is full of pride. They see the people as being on the lowest level and themselves as being on the highest. But, if you put yourself on such a high level, how can your words possibly reach to those lowly creatures whom you hope to benefit? Allah Almighty Himself, in His Essence, is with every creature, as it says in the Holy Qur’an: ‘And He is with you wherever you are.’ So if Allah Himself sees it fit to be with His creatures through His Power, Knowledge and Divine Will, how shall you mount yourself high and mighty upon a throne of pride and look down at the rest of the world? You miscreant! You monster! You are killing them with your pride!” Thereupon, full of shame and remorse, the son said to his father: “Oh my father and my Grandsheikh, please guide me to the path you are on so that I may follow you in it.” He begged forgiveness of his father and followed him on his way until he reached his heavenly station.
WebSheikNazim2Com, CategoryHoliness, CategoryGrandsheikh, CategoryAbdulQadirJilani
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8616 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetnessOfLifeReversed
Maulana Sheikh Nazim : SweetnessOfLifeReversed
l
The Sweetness of Life reversed
It has been granted to the Umma-tul-Muhammad* that if something is difficult, beyond their capacity, power or ability, and they feel weak, to use the Holy Words, "La haula wa la quata ila biLlah ilathi lathim". These are Sacred Words. If someone is saying this out of their heart, they can move mountains and continents. That is how big the power is. Use it 100 times everyday! If there is something you are unable to carry, say, "BismiLlahi rahmani rahim, la haula wa la quata ila biLlah ilathi lathim." and you will be able to carry it. Life of man in these days is very heavy. It is most difficult. Never before has there been such a hard time for mankind. Technology has reached the top point. Machines are doing everything man used to. In spite of all inventions and instruments which have been made to ease the life of man in his everyday life, he has more problems than ever. The physical body is now at rest, but spiritually people are falling apart and suffering. If someone is spiritually restless, their life will be like in hell. What help can all the machines be to him, if he has no satisfaction within himself? What can a car, ship, plane, TV or computer give me, if I am not at peace? Nothing! Billions in money, gold or jewels... What can it give me? If a lady becomes ill and is told that she has cancer, do you think that technology will take away her sadness? If all the jewels in the world were given to her, she would still not be happy.
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8617 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetnessOfLifeReversed
The 20th century is the most difficult time for mankind, even though we can do everything by just pressing a button. We have no taste of life. The taste of life comes from faith. When someone has lost that, there will be no taste. For example tea: you can drink it, but without sugar, it will be tasteless. If you add sugar it will get taste. People are taking away faith from their life. So how do they expect a sweet life? Instead of putting sugar into it, they are adding poison, making it bitter, a bad bitterness. They are not using the honey of faith. They have either lost it or thrown it away, saying that it is useless. Instead they take poison. This is why it is the most difficult time for mankind since the beginning of time. Last night people were running until morning to find the sweetness of life. Do you think they found it? They want it so much, but they cannot reach it even though they run through the streets, into night-clubs, discos, theatres, cinemas, casinos... Don't think that they are tasting anything. All they are doing is getting the taste of poison. Don't be cheated by their clothes, jewels, cars, business, wealth, ranks, palaces, private lives, or the fact that they are so successful with young girls. There are so many things which can be added to the list of poisons. From the outside your ego might tell you that these people are tasting the taste of life, but they would love to get out. They just don't know how to do it. This is what Muhammad* was saying about the Anti- Christ, "He will demonstrate Paradise and hell. That which looks like Paradise will be hell, and his hell is in reality Paradise." All these things; night-clubs, discos, bars, casinos, theatres, operas... are what the 30 small Anti-Christs are organising before the big Anti-Christ comes. They have given their worst to mankind by giving them this kind of life-style. They have formed a group of Anti-Christs who are above other people. These are the ones who are arranging the life-style of the young people. They are the ones programming the life of mankind now. All this has been programmed. They say, "If you pass through our programme, you will be in Paradise!". Look at the life-style of the young ones everywhere! The Anti-Christ is dictating everyone; how they should live, what they should use, how to cook, how to eat, how to deal... everything has been programmed by the Anti-Christ. They are calling this paradise. In the universities everything is being programmed for them. Can you find anyone there with good behaviour? People are being turned into wild animals, planned by the Anti-
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8618 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetnessOfLifeReversed
Christ. "You must walk like this! You must do this! In your homes do this!" Buildings, decorations, houses, clothes... everything must be programmed by them. "Don't eat all together! Eat like dogs: just take a bone and run away!" It is programmed and ordered. Everything is organised and programmed by the Anti-Christ, telling you that this is Paradise. "Oh people, your Paradise is here! If you talk to young people about Paradise and hell, they will tell you that is here. That if you have money you are in Paradise, and if you have no money, in hell. That is their life philosophy. This is a greater fitna than ever before. These Anti-Christs couldn't enter the homes of the 19th century, even though they started. Now they have invaded every place; the streets, the homes. They are programming and people are following. La haula wa la quata ila biLlah ilathi lathim. This is why a believer must say this sentence a 100 times everyday to be able to carry the heavy burden of this life. Blessed are those who follow the Programme of Allah the Almighty. He is programming our lives, but we are refusing. Instead satan and the Anti-Christ program our life-style. We are running to them, leaving the life-style of Allah behind. Do you think there is any hope for people like that? They must be taken away. If a tree is dry it has to be cut. In the same way: if an olive is dry and no good, it has to be thrown away. When it has been removed, the rest
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=5223
. People are very afraid to surrender, even though that is the meaning of being a Muslim. Europeans tremble at the thought. But if you don't surrender to your surgeon, what can he do for you? They want to reach Heavens, but they don't surrender. They want to fly without having to get on board the plane. That is the mind of Europeans. They do not want to surrender. Surrender to your surgeon! 01.01.1997
BookDefendingTruth, CategoryMuhammad, CategoryGabriel, CategoryDressing
http://www.sufismus-online.de/SurrenderToTruth (3 von 3)04.07.2013 23:35:44
8606 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SwallowYourAnger
Maulana Sheikh Nazim : SwallowYourAnger
l
Swallow your Anger; then Digest it
For those of us whose physical bodies are "over the hill", by this I mean over the age of fifty or so, we must face the fact that, no matter how well we look after ourselves, our physical powers are gradually deteriorating: step by step we are approaching death. But as for our spiritual condition, there is no such limit, no age when powers are at their maximum, then recede. Spiritual power may continue to grow strongly throughout our lives, but we must seek out conditions conducive to that continuing growth, and weed out those qualities which threaten to choke the precious plant. One of the most harmful weeds, the most inimical to our spiritual growth is the anger generated by the vanity of our egos. When anger rages it engulfs the light of faith, transforming in into fire. The light of Faith is the pure light of God, but when it is transformed into fire it no longer illumines, it burns. When you find yourself overcome with anger you must quickly run to a mirror and behold your own face. That ugly spectacle will be enough to calm your anger: for who wants to look like the devil himself? When a person is angry his actions are satanic - destructive and self-destructive. Our Grandsheikh stressed the necessity of abandoning anger, for when the ego's anger dominates a person he may readily deny even the
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8607 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SwallowYourAnger
sovereignty of God, and put himself in rebellion against the Overwhelming One - and that is very dangerous. Anger also wreaks havoc on our physical bodies, causing illness and premature aging, especially when a high level of anger is maintained over a long period of time. Very few people can turn back anger when it assaults them. This is why so few people advance spiritually. The reason that anger is so difficult to defeat is simply because it is an intrinsic part of our physical and spiritual constitution. Anger corresponds to the element of fire in our make-up, which is a balance of fire, water, earth and air. Only those who are trained from a very early age by enlightened parents or teachers will have learned to keep these elements in balance. As for most people, each of these elements may predominate on different occasions according to exterior circumstances and intrinsic propensities, setting the equilibrium off center. Fire flares up in the face of provocation and teasing, aggression or attempts to subdue the will (of the child). Since these occasions are usually frequent in our early lives, we are all adept at getting angry, and from a very early age. Our Grandsheikh also suggested that we perform a special Dhikr (prayer-meditation) at night in order to gain the upper hand in our struggle against anger. When you arise in the last third of the night to perform superrogatory prayers, after performing your ablutions, start by turning your face to the House of God and implore Him to aid you in your attempt to subdue anger. Then repeat one-hundred times. "Ya Halim" which means "Oh (God, who is) Forbearing and Slow to Anger" This name, al-Halim, is a Divine attribute of God which He wishes to bestow generously upon us, should we seek to receive it. The first step is to ask God, in this manner, to help us become forbearing; then we must meditate on that Divine Attribute, that it may be absorbed into our being. We are literally calling it upon ourselves. Next we must adopt a practice in our everyday lives that will further our purposes. This practice is, simply, not to show anger, even when you feel it welling up inside. Don't spit that anger out at those around you and poison the atmosphere, like a fire-breathing dragon. Hold it in, but not like a lump of undigested food; no, you must digest it. A certain amount of anger is part and parcel of every personality. Without some of that fire in our constitution we would die; therefore, it is possible for us to digest a certain amount of anger without suffering adverse side-effects. Of course, if we were to remain unchanged over a long period of time and swallow the same amount of anger, we would overdose; but that is not the case, for in time our intake of anger decreases as we learn, and are granted the ability not to react angrily to provocation in the first place. So, just as a baby
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8608 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SwallowYourAnger
initially drinks great quantities of milk, then graduates to solid food, decreasing its milk consumption drastically, we can swallow and digest anger, in the full knowledge that other forms of nourishment are soon forthcoming. If you can manage to refrain from showing anger for forty days, you will have passed a great milestone. When it assails you, you must evade it, and when it is going to issue from you, you must swallow it. If you can successfully avoid it for forty days, anger will begin to assault you less frequently: once every forty days. If you can manage to keep yourself in this manner the initial forty days, and thereafter, in the face of forty more assaults (forty periods of forty days, a little more than four years), Satan will announce to his helpers: "Don't bother attacking that person; you are just wasting your time and energy. His defenses are impenetrable: one thousand attacks are just as futile as one. Leave him alone, he has escaped from our hands". Satan's helpers are the selfish ego, vain desires and worldliness: these are our four great enemies, and whoso learns to control his anger will be victorious against these base influences. Whenever you feel anger arising you must be aware that you are being tested. Such tests are sent your way from the spiritual world in order to ascertain your trustworthiness. Disliked events are sent from that realm so that you may have the chance to forbear, and thereby advance toward your goal. If there were not some benefit to be found in anger it would not exist. The benefit is found in being patient in the face of it. Without passing this test there can be no improvement. Forbearance is a key to Divine Stations, and that key is forged by facing odious events with patience and controlling our anger. So, anger is a two-edged sword: if you can grasp its handle firmly you may rent the veils that blind your heart's eyes, but if it is in the hands of your enemies your faith will be severed. 01.01.1987
BookOceanofUnity, CategoryAnger, CategoryMankind, CategoryShaitan
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8609 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
Maulana Sheikh Nazim : SweetAsHoney
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SWEET AS HONEY are the TEACHINGS FROM THE HEART
Our Grandsheikh was speaking about people who instruct the community on the Islamic religion and topics relating to its practice. According to the command of Allah Almighty, there must be some people among each community who instruct people as to what they may do, as to what has been permitted for them by Allah Almighty (Halal), to warn them against those things which they must avoid, as they have been forbidden to them by Allah (Haram). Most people think that it is an easy job to address people: take a book and read it – finish. So many people think that it is only sitting and speaking; either reading to the people from books and explaining, or sometimes memorizing so that people think that he really knows a great deal – for one week they prepare to give a half-hour sermon – this kind of teaching is only of the imitative kind. A really important point for an instructor of the community is to understand the wisdoms that he speaks about. The fountain of wisdom is the heart, not the mind. If you can’t use your heart, you can’t be satisfied. As long as you are giving lessons from your mind, you and the people you are addressing are on the same level, and so you cannot teach them anything; to teach the teaching of Allah and His Prophet, you
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8610 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
must have learned to teach with your heart. If you teach from your heart, then the teaching will be like honey. But if you teach from your mind only – i.e. looking up information in a number of books and then reproducing it – then you resemble one who wings from flower to flower, like a bee, gathering the flowers’ nectar, then puts it in a jar and calls it honey, but it is not honey. Why not? – He says: “I saw a bee flying hither and thither collecting the nectar of flowers, so I did as he did.” But no honey comes from his jar. For honey to be made, the bee must eat the nectar, then the honey appears of itself. Therefore, you must not let yourself be fooled by those people who speak for hours and hours on religion thinking they give honey, because the difference between what they give and real honey is like the difference between heaven and earth. People who claim to be teachers are of two kinds : one kind are like wasps who go from flower to flower like bees, but never produce any honey or beeswax. Even if they have attained the highest level of knowledge that the mind can encompass, if their teaching does not come from the heart, it isn’t honey. The other kind of teachers are like bees, their teaching comes from the heart and is like pure honey. How does one become such a ‘bee’? the Prophet says, if a person can keep sincerity (Ikhlas) with his Lord for forty days, then his Lord will open up fountains of wisdom for that person. During the time that Sayyidina Ali was Khalipha in Kufa, he traveled to Basra and made his rounds of all the mosques in order to listen to the people who were teaching in those mosques. After visiting each of them and hearing every instructor speaking from his pulpit, he issued a decree ordering all except Hasan al Basri and Qadi Shureyh to stop preaching; he forbade all of them to address people in the mosques. He said that all of the ‘instructors’ other than those two were only storytellers who parroted stories without understanding their real significance, even if they were claiming to be teaching people good. Seyyedina Ali gave permission only to those two to do any teaching in the mosques, - for the others, no need. You may eat some rotten food, and your stomach might become upset and you will
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8611 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
induce vomiting, but whoever listens to something no-good cannot get rid of it so easily, and it may stay with him until the end of his life. It is for this reason that our Grandsheikh cautioned his murids against listening to scholars who deny Tariqats and Mushids, for maybe they will poison you. If a person sits with such deniers, he must be prepared to carry a heavy burden of darkness and live with an injured heart for one year. Our Grandsheikh told the following tale in order to describe people to whom you may, and indeed should listen: Ibrahim bin Adham, who is known as King of the Ascetics (Sultan az Zahideen), was a great king who one day heard the call to come to the way of his Lord. He left his kingdom and gave everything to his commanders, generals, princes and royal family. When he was just ready to leave the palace, he called one of his slaves, who had been the palace gardener, and told him to come; then he gave his royal cloak to that slave and asked him to give him his gardener’s coat in exchange. The gardener was astonished at this and full of fear; he said; “How may it be possible for the lowest of servants to wear the kind’s royal cloak, and for the majestic king to wear these dirty old rags?” The king answered: “Oh my son, do you not know that last night your Sultan became a slave of a slave of a slave..? Now I am a slave of seven slaves, the top one of them being a slave of the Almighty.” See how quickly he came to the level of humility, how he regarded himself as being nothing, as being level with the earth. Now our Grandsheikh says: “Oh Nazim Efendi, whoever desires to teach people in mosques and Sufi schools (Zaviya) must be very careful, especially in these times in which we are living. In the time of Ibrahim bin Adham, he counted only seven masters; now, in our times, if a person is not regarding himself as being on a lower level than many thousands of people, if he is not regarding himself as the slave of many people whom he deems superior to himself, then he will never be able to carry out his duty effectively: he will never make them believe in their Lord, or if they are already believing, he will never strengthen them in their faith.
http://www.sufismus-online.de/SweetAsHoney (3 von 7)04.07.2013 23:35:45
8612 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
For example, here we are in Damascus: if an instructor of religion can’t look at himself as being a slave to everyone, it means that he has some egoism, and that egoism will spread through his teachings to everyone who comes in contact with him. Grandsheikh was saying that if a man who addresses people doesn’t humble himself, and won’t regard himself as being a slave in front of his audience of thousands, then those people whom he is proposing to teach will ‘look down on him’ and his teachings. What I mean to say is that the people will hear so much good advice from that instructor, but they will do exactly the opposite of what they were advised. To prevent this from happening is no easy matter, because everyone who is studying and learning and learning still more is, in most cases, going to become an egoist; and when people come to him and listen to him, they will go off and do as he does. So many big sheikhs never admit or realize the necessity of fighting their egos, they just continue amassing knowledge which benefits neither themselves nor anybody else. Their knowledge feeds only their egos. They never consider, nor are they able to perceive that an important element is missing from their religious lives. And so, as they won’t accept training at the hands of a Grandsheikh, they find themselves, along with the teachings they have imparted being disrespected by those very people whom they were thinking to help. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for a person who wants to teach people to really see himself as their servant – to humble himself in front of the people he is hoping to teach. The son of Abdul Qadir al-Gilani was a famous learned man in his time, but he was not humble and did not surrender to his father’s superior knowledge, as he regarded himself as being much more learned and of a higher station than his parent. He was always astonished when he saw how the multitudes of his father’s disciples flocked to the Grandsheikh’s lectures, and how, when he began to speak, so many seemed to swoon away in apparent ecstasy. Whenever he witnessed that amazing spectacle he thought to himself: “My father’s knowledge is not as great as mine, I am seven degrees higher than he is; so, if the people swoon in such a manner upon hearing his
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8613 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
discourse, what will happen to them when I speak? I fear that if I address them they might have to be carried out dead!” So he thought. Now, Grandsheikh Abdul Qadir was listening to all these thoughts passing through his son’s heart; Awliya know so many things that are happening in the hearts of people because Allah Almighty has given them that power of perception. They may listen, but they are not in need of always exercising this power. – Only when a particular situation arises in which someone may well benefit from it will they put the power to use. For instance, they many listen to and then answer a question which might have been in someone’s mind without that person having ever said anything about it. By this unsolicited answer, that person might be taken unawares and be able to learn something. My Grandsheikh had such powers of perception, but concerning them he said to me : “Oh my son, the power of perception is not really such a great and miraculous power that one should covet and seek to gain, for it comes naturally to a saint; however, this power was also given to Satan, so that, if goodness comes to us, he easily knows it and seeks to turn us away from it. So we cannot say that this power is very miraculous for the saints, nor are they particularly interested in it, but if they are ordered by the Prophet, then they may use it.” And so, Abdul Qadir was sometimes listening to what went on in his son’s heart and could understand that his son had a nagging desire to speak in public. So one day he said to him: “Oh my son, tomorrow I am going to be very busy, and since our followers, spiritual sons and loved ones will be gathering at the great mosque, rather than sending them away, perhaps you could address them in my place, so that they may be pleased with you and not disappointed that there is no one to speak to them.” Needless to say, the son was very pleased about this and looked forward to the chance of showing the people exactly where he stood in the way of knowledge as compared to his father.
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8614 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
The next day, when the time for Abdul Qadir’s discourse arrived, his son mounted the pulpit in his stead and, closing his eyes, began to speak like a fountain, gushing out torrents from the highest level of his knowledge. He spouted for about ten minutes with his eyes closed in intense concentration; then, upon hearing not even the sound of breathing coming from the assembly, he thought: “perhaps they have all died from such sudden an exposure to this overwhelming knowledge.” So he opened his eyes to see what had happened, and there he saw the assembly, not dead – but sound asleep. Not one was awake, and now, as they fell deeper into their sleep, a number of them began to snore loudly, like saws cutting trees. Since no one was awake to hear his lesson, he quickly finished, came down from the pulpit and moved through the mass of sleepers, carefully stepping, and left the mosque. When he arrived at his father’s house, he complained to him: “Oh my father, do you know what happened? I am amazed at the condition of these people!” Abdul Qadir asked him, “What happened? Did anyone die or faint?” The son replied: “No, all of them fell fast asleep, even when I left the mosque, no one was aware of it – and this despite the fact that I was speaking to them on a level seven degrees higher than your teachings; I cannot understand what happened.” Then this Grandsheikh said to his son: “Oh my son, who was sitting there on the pulpit?” The son, surprised, replied: “I was, of course.” “Ah, you see, therefore, as you were sitting there, they all fell asleep.” “Oh my most venerable father, why should it be like this when I sit there; don’t you sit on the pulpit in front of them the same as I did?” Then Abdul Qadir explained to his son: “No, my son, I don’t sit there, I leave that pulpit to Allah Almighty and His Prophet and seat myself in the audience among the people in order to listen to Allah and His Prophet – when a verse is read, we hear Allah speaking to us, and when a hadith is read, we hear the Prophet speaking. When in this way I put myself among the assembly and leave the pulpit to Allah and His Prophet, I leave myself behind, no more Abdul Qadir, just Allah and His Prophet
http://www.sufismus-online.de/SweetAsHoney (6 von 7)04.07.2013 23:35:45
8615 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetAsHoney
speaking through Gilani, but no more ‘I’ is there. For this reason alone, Divine Outpourings (Fuyudat) are filling people’s hearts and they can’t keep themselves; they become happy and contented like fish in the sea. But you are sitting there yourself, saying ‘I know’, and you are appointing yourself deputy of Allah and His Prophet, and so there is no true harmony emanating from your words, nor any Divine Aid (Inayah) with you – that is why all the people fell asleep. You killed them with your ego which prevents any Inayah from coming to that assembly, so no benefit is possible from that meeting; they are like fish thrown out of the sea, and it is your fault.” “And thus, virtually every learned person is thinking that he is like a deputy of Allah Almighty or the Holy Prophet; so their address to the people is full of pride. They see the people as being on the lowest level and themselves as being on the highest. But, if you put yourself on such a high level, how can your words possibly reach to those lowly creatures whom you hope to benefit? Allah Almighty Himself, in His Essence, is with every creature, as it says in the Holy Qur’an: ‘And He is with you wherever you are.’ So if Allah Himself sees it fit to be with His creatures through His Power, Knowledge and Divine Will, how shall you mount yourself high and mighty upon a throne of pride and look down at the rest of the world? You miscreant! You monster! You are killing them with your pride!” Thereupon, full of shame and remorse, the son said to his father: “Oh my father and my Grandsheikh, please guide me to the path you are on so that I may follow you in it.” He begged forgiveness of his father and followed him on his way until he reached his heavenly station.
WebSheikNazim2Com, CategoryHoliness, CategoryGrandsheikh, CategoryAbdulQadirJilani
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8616 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetnessOfLifeReversed
Maulana Sheikh Nazim : SweetnessOfLifeReversed
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The Sweetness of Life reversed
It has been granted to the Umma-tul-Muhammad* that if something is difficult, beyond their capacity, power or ability, and they feel weak, to use the Holy Words, "La haula wa la quata ila biLlah ilathi lathim". These are Sacred Words. If someone is saying this out of their heart, they can move mountains and continents. That is how big the power is. Use it 100 times everyday! If there is something you are unable to carry, say, "BismiLlahi rahmani rahim, la haula wa la quata ila biLlah ilathi lathim." and you will be able to carry it. Life of man in these days is very heavy. It is most difficult. Never before has there been such a hard time for mankind. Technology has reached the top point. Machines are doing everything man used to. In spite of all inventions and instruments which have been made to ease the life of man in his everyday life, he has more problems than ever. The physical body is now at rest, but spiritually people are falling apart and suffering. If someone is spiritually restless, their life will be like in hell. What help can all the machines be to him, if he has no satisfaction within himself? What can a car, ship, plane, TV or computer give me, if I am not at peace? Nothing! Billions in money, gold or jewels... What can it give me? If a lady becomes ill and is told that she has cancer, do you think that technology will take away her sadness? If all the jewels in the world were given to her, she would still not be happy.
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8617 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetnessOfLifeReversed
The 20th century is the most difficult time for mankind, even though we can do everything by just pressing a button. We have no taste of life. The taste of life comes from faith. When someone has lost that, there will be no taste. For example tea: you can drink it, but without sugar, it will be tasteless. If you add sugar it will get taste. People are taking away faith from their life. So how do they expect a sweet life? Instead of putting sugar into it, they are adding poison, making it bitter, a bad bitterness. They are not using the honey of faith. They have either lost it or thrown it away, saying that it is useless. Instead they take poison. This is why it is the most difficult time for mankind since the beginning of time. Last night people were running until morning to find the sweetness of life. Do you think they found it? They want it so much, but they cannot reach it even though they run through the streets, into night-clubs, discos, theatres, cinemas, casinos... Don't think that they are tasting anything. All they are doing is getting the taste of poison. Don't be cheated by their clothes, jewels, cars, business, wealth, ranks, palaces, private lives, or the fact that they are so successful with young girls. There are so many things which can be added to the list of poisons. From the outside your ego might tell you that these people are tasting the taste of life, but they would love to get out. They just don't know how to do it. This is what Muhammad* was saying about the Anti- Christ, "He will demonstrate Paradise and hell. That which looks like Paradise will be hell, and his hell is in reality Paradise." All these things; night-clubs, discos, bars, casinos, theatres, operas... are what the 30 small Anti-Christs are organising before the big Anti-Christ comes. They have given their worst to mankind by giving them this kind of life-style. They have formed a group of Anti-Christs who are above other people. These are the ones who are arranging the life-style of the young people. They are the ones programming the life of mankind now. All this has been programmed. They say, "If you pass through our programme, you will be in Paradise!". Look at the life-style of the young ones everywhere! The Anti-Christ is dictating everyone; how they should live, what they should use, how to cook, how to eat, how to deal... everything has been programmed by the Anti-Christ. They are calling this paradise. In the universities everything is being programmed for them. Can you find anyone there with good behaviour? People are being turned into wild animals, planned by the Anti-
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8618 Maulana Sheikh Nazim: SweetnessOfLifeReversed
Christ. "You must walk like this! You must do this! In your homes do this!" Buildings, decorations, houses, clothes... everything must be programmed by them. "Don't eat all together! Eat like dogs: just take a bone and run away!" It is programmed and ordered. Everything is organised and programmed by the Anti-Christ, telling you that this is Paradise. "Oh people, your Paradise is here! If you talk to young people about Paradise and hell, they will tell you that is here. That if you have money you are in Paradise, and if you have no money, in hell. That is their life philosophy. This is a greater fitna than ever before. These Anti-Christs couldn't enter the homes of the 19th century, even though they started. Now they have invaded every place; the streets, the homes. They are programming and people are following. La haula wa la quata ila biLlah ilathi lathim. This is why a believer must say this sentence a 100 times everyday to be able to carry the heavy burden of this life. Blessed are those who follow the Programme of Allah the Almighty. He is programming our lives, but we are refusing. Instead satan and the Anti-Christ program our life-style. We are running to them, leaving the life-style of Allah behind. Do you think there is any hope for people like that? They must be taken away. If a tree is dry it has to be cut. In the same way: if an olive is dry and no good, it has to be thrown away. When it has been removed, the rest
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=5223