MERCY OCEANS, Book 07 (Hidden Treasures, Shaykh Nazim, 220 pages, 5/12)
https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=5805
t your Lord, and your fear would be of Him alone, thus making that action acceptable in the Divine Presence.
We vowed on the Day of Promises (the day before our creation when all the souls were taken in front of their Lord and asked to recognize their Creator and promise their loyalty unto Him) to Keep our faith in this manner; not to behave any differently whether there would be witnesses looking on or not. Now, here, in the presence of so many people, if a lovely lady were to walk in, you wouldn’t look — you’d be ashamed to look; but if no one else were here, would there be any change in your behaviour? If so, then you haven’t yet attained to real faith. A real believer is always with his Lord, always
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
aware of his Lord’s Presence with him — but it is not easy to reach this level. One may, however, more easily control oneself if one has a guide, and feels his presence alongside him, guiding him, not going away. When a person says, “This is my guide,” then he believes that that person has the power to be with him all the time; if you can feel your Murshid with you always, it will give you power so that you will be able to feel your Lord’s Presence with you. In this way Tariqats are leading people to real faith — May Allah Almighty grant us that real faith, too!
* * *
PATIENCE IS THE KEY, AND ONLY FAITH WILL YIELD IT
My Grandshaykh is instructing us on the importance of being patient in the face of every disliked thing and saying that it is a most important practice for everyone to keep in his life. Don’t run in panic every time some disliked thing happens to you. Not to panic and not to lose one’s head are the most important and useful abilities anyone can have in our times. So many great and terrible events may occur suddenly, and you must not lose your cool; you must stand firm in the face of every terrible and gigantic event and hold them far away from you. What can give us this much needed characteristic? —A strong belief, faith. Without faith, you won’t be able to keep yourself standing firmly, only strong faith will keep you together.
Now, in these days, people will taste of terrible events and they are most in need of such strong faith. Grandshaykh was advising us that whenever such an unliked event appears, you must be ready to face it; it is your duty to face it. You must know that every
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
time you confront such an event with steadfastness you are improving spiritually, moving powerfully and deliberately towards your destination; and the more trying the event, the more quickly you are propelled to your destination. ‘‘Oh my sons”, says Grandshaykh, “Oh my people, you must know that every goodness is going to appear through your patience in the face of disliked actions or events; every goodness and real knowledge will spring from your patience. The Knowledge of Certainty (Ilm-ul-Yaqin), the Sight of Certainty (‘Ain- ul-Yaqin) and Truth of Certainty (Haqq-ul-Yaqin) will all appear through facing these unliked events with patience.” That patience is the key which opens up the treasures for the Sons of Adam, and all those who stand firmly in the face of trials and are patient, they will be given the keys to their treasures. * * *
THE REAL HONOUR OF MANKIND: IBRAHIM BIN ADHAM’S AWAKENING; DEFENDING OUR IMAN AGAINST ITS ENEMIES
We are beginning a new lecture, a lecture of which we may be in great need at all times. Our Grandshaykh was saying that he is always awakening people. People are all asleep, not in the sense of bodily sleep, but in that they are shutting their eyes and preventing themselves from seeing the facts and the Divine Wisdom in their lives. That is why we say that they are sleeping.
Prophets and Saints are called upon to awaken people, saying: “Oh people, don’t be cheated and deceived by the pleasures of this life, for they will make you blind to the facts and Divine Wisdoms you are in need of. Oh
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
people, you must know that you didn’t come to this life just for eating, drinking and dancing; if this is all you want out of life, then you and the animals are on the same level. But you must not stop at this, you must go on and up; there are so many levels you can find through your soul — don’t waste your precious lives in activities in the pursuit of which the animals are superior to you!”
Once there lived a great and majestic king in Central Asia, Ibrahim bin Adham; his was the Kingdom of Balkh, and he was a very rich and powerful king. He was so rich, our Grandshaykh was saying, that he had 12,000 shepherd dogs guarding his flocks. Each dog wore a golden chain with a golden plate attached to it, reading: ‘Property of the King’. You can’t imagine how great were his flocks of sheep and herds of cattle!
One day, this king was out hunting, and he was just chasing after a gazelle on horseback, when suddenly he heard a voice coming from his saddle, saying to him: “Oh King, is this what you were created for? Have you been ordered to do this?” That question gave him such a start that he awakened: he stopped what he was doing and remembered his Lord, then he returned to his palace and turned away from his kingship and from every pleasure in this life. He had understood that he was not created for the pleasures of hunting and worldly enjoyments, and he turned to his Lord to find out what it was he had been created for. He became one of the greatest Awliya of all times.
Now, that same question that Ibrahim heard coming from his saddle might be asked of any of us who is thinking that he was only created for the purpose of eating, drinking and sex-enjoyment. Only upon leaving that level may one reach the level of mankind. This is important for everyone to know so that they may strive for that honour of reaching real humanity; it is a
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
difficult practice, not easy, but we must gain that real honour. We are sitting here speaking on this point, and Grandshaykh’s lectures were always directed towards the goal of enabling his followers to reach that highest honour of belonging to true mankind. Why are we concentrating so much on this point? — Because whoever attains true humanity will enter the Divine Presence, where he will know Divine Pleasures and Favours from his Lord and will attain endless peace and satisfaction with his Lord; therefore, our Grandshaykh was saying, as all of the Prophets said: “Oh people, you must believe in these realities and pursue Divine Wisdom in this life.”
The Sons of Adam may be seen walking in two different ways: some of them are believing in and seeking the Absolute Truth, while others are not believing and not asking to be anything more than what they are; they say, “It is good enough for us to be on the same level as animals; we are not in need of believing in anything, and we are believing only in this life and trying to derive more and more pleasure from eating, drinking, dancing and sex.” These are the unbelievers (Kafiroon).
The first group are believers, but it is not enough for believers merely to believe, but they must prepare themselves — for there are so many enemies waiting to ambush the believer — they are: The Ego or Lower Self (Nafs), Satan the accursed devil (Shaytan), Vain Desires (Hawa), and this Life’s Pleasures along with the unbelieving people who run after them (Ad-dunya wa- Ahluhu). So a believer must be very vigilant in guarding his faith and beliefs, as they are the most precious things he has, giving him everything in this life and the next. With faith we may improve so as to attain the highest degrees in the Divine Presence; and if we hope to be able to keep that faith, we must learn how we can defend it in the face of the attacks of our enemies; the best way of doing this is to not merely preserve it at its present
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
level, but to strengthen it always and put it safely out of reach of the hands of our enemies.
Grandshaykh was teaching us how we can put our faith in safety and strengthen it: in facing unliked events a believer must keep his heart, keep his faith and keep his balance — this is very important. He is like a tight rope walker, he must be very careful not to lose his balance; if he leans over just a little too far, he will fall. Likewise, a believer must move through difficulties with perfect composure. Those unliked events knock the faith out of so many people, they are falling out of faith but not feeling it. You will lose your faith if you are not careful.
You must know that every event, whether likeable or unlikeable, happens by His Will. You must not look at it as coming from people around you, rather, you must realize that the original Cause is Allah Almighty, no need to look for causes after Him.
Grandshaykh says that every time you look to the secondary cause, you are mistaken and have fallen down from faith in your Lord. For example, you may be walking down the street when a football hits you on the head, knocking off your turban. If you look back to see who hit your head with that football, you fall down from the level of real faith. Why did you look back? Do you not know that the initial cause is your Lord, and that whoever kicked that ball at you is only a secondary cause? What do you have to do with a secondary cause when you know the origin of all causes? If you are a real believer in your Lord, then why are you angry with that boy and looking back to see who struck you with that football, in order to quarrel with him and make trouble (Fitna)? If you continue walking, then there will be no quarrel, no fitna, no badness springing up; therefore, one of the main desirable results of being patient in the face
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
of unliked things is that it promotes peace in the world among its people. We must practice holding our tempers and being patient, for every time we are successful, the way of real faith is opened up to us.
This is a most important thing for believers: they must keep their positions firmly like a mountain: winds and typhoons may be coming at it from every side, since the beginning of Creation, wishing to push the mountain out of its place; but the mountain stands firm, unyielding. And in like manner, a believer must keep his position, unwavering, even though unliked events shower on him from all sides. A believer will always hold to his faith, prepared to regard Allah Almighty as the first cause of anything that befalls him. This is a sign of real faith. If someone is only pleased in the event of good happenings, and displeased with disagreeable events, then his is not real faith.
Our Grandshaykh gives us an example in the following story: Once upon a time there was a man who went walking through his grounds followed by his slave. When they reached a certain place in the gardens where cucumbers were growing, that man cut a cucumber from its vine, tasted it, and finding it bitter, gave it to the servant. The servant ate the whole cucumber. Then his master asked him: “Oh my slave, you ate that cucumber, did you not find it bitter?” The slave replied: “Yes, master it was.” “Then how could you eat it?” “Oh my lord,” the slave then said, “I have received so many favours from your generous hand and so many tasty foods, that it makes me ashamed to refuse something when for once it is not tasteful.” Then his master turned to him and said: “Oh my slave, you have gained your release, you are free now, go as you please.”
This is a short tale, but for everyone there is a big lesson contained in it, as to how we should behave with
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
our Lord. It is a very high good manner, if you have that you are very fortunate, and you have attained God’s pardon. If you are pleased with your Lord, your Lord will be pleased with you; when you are not pleased with your Lord, your Lord will also not be pleased with you.
* * *
THE IMPORTANCE OF EVERYONE’S HIDDEN APTITUDE (AHLIYYA): A STORY, THE DAY THE SAHABA DECIDED TO SLEEP IN; IT IS USELESS TO DEPEND ON ONE’S OWN ACTIONS OR WORSHIPPINGS
My Grandshaykh said that the Holy Prophet never gained any rank through his devotions or actions. As a proof of this, Grandshaykh quoted a tradition (Hadith) of the Holy Prophet: “Oh Allah, don’t leave me to my works, my actions, my devotions even for the time it takes to blink an eye — or less than that.” This Hadith indicates that the Prophet never depended on his own works and devotions, but always hoped for Allah’s causeless mercy, and that his rank was not a result of any actions on his part. Grandshaykh added, “Even if Allah Almighty was going to recompense the Prophet for his devotions, the Prophet would not accept that. How could he, the Prophet, accept a payment when even members of his Nation (Ummah) of lesser rank than him —Saints and sincere believers — would never accept any payment or recompense for their acts of worship; in fact, no real believer would accept anything, because he is worshipping purely to gain his Lord’s pleasure.”
Grandshaykh says that Allah Almighty has given
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
to each person a nature suitable for a certain rank (Fitra). For example, you have a competence (Ahliyya) for the Naqshbandi Way; no one can in any way change or alter that competence — it has to appear. Just as different seeds have different unalterable natures hidden within them, so each Son of Adam has a distinct aptitude granted to him by his Lord, granted according to the Divine Will alone, and at all times independent of our actions and devotions. Sooner or later everyone’s aptitude must appear; don’t be hopeless because those qualities may now yet be hidden, for you must know that at any time Allah Almighty decrees, those qualities will appear, and that appearance will not be connected in any way to our actions or devotions but will be purely a grant from Him Almighty. These words lead us to new horizons of understanding and open up vast areas of inner wisdom to explore — these good tidings should fill us with contentment.
Shah Naqshband said: “In our view, one’s having the competence for this Tariqat is more important a fact than his being a Muslim or Believer.” Why? — Because that capability which Allah Almighty has granted us is what is important, then, with our actions Islam and Iman will appear. But that secret capability from Allah Almighty is most important.
You may do all the good actions asked of you by Islam and Iman, but that capability which you have been granted is more important to Allah; therefore, the Prophet’s Hadith says: “Allah is not looking to our outward actions, but to our hearts.” With His looking to our hearts, that worthy-nature is going to be ever more inundated with divine lights — more beautiful and complete. But we are merely doing good actions with our bodies, while the heart and its movements in relation to its Lord are much more important.
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
The importance of that worthy-nature and of our realizing it is expressed by the following story: Once the Holy Prophet was addressing his companions after the night-time prayer (Isha) saying: “Oh my companions, it is the same for every one of you whether he prays and does good actions or not, because the ranks that Allah Almighty has granted to you are neither going to decrease nor increase — the ink of pre-destiny has dried, and what He has granted you must reach you — no more and no less — no matter what you do…’’
What was the reply of the companions? — All of them said, “Oh Prophet, if it is like that, why then do we tire ourselves out and inflict suffering upon ourselves with all these devotions and good actions? Why do we get up on cold nights and come to the mosque from far distances in the darkness? Why do we forsake our wives’ loving embraces every morning to come here? From now on we shall not come here so early to pray but shall remain with our wives in hot beds; this is very good news for us.” The Prophet replied: “You are free to do as you like; come or don’t come — no one is forcing you.”
That night they left the mosque with the intention of staying comfortably in their beds the next morning. When the last part of the night had begun to show signs of giving way to the oncoming dawn, Bilal, the Prophet’s muezzin, began to recite devotional poetry from the minaret, as was his habit in the morning before calling to the prayer (Adhan), in order to awaken people in ample time for coming to the mosque. On this particular morning, as soon as he started reciting, all of the companions awoke with a start. They said to themselves, “We told the Prophet that we won’t be coming this morning; we must remain in our beds.” However, in spite of themselves, they threw aside their blankets, sprang from their beds, made ablutions (Wudu) and hurried off to the prayer.
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
When the Prophet entered the mosque that morning, he looked around and saw that it was full of worshippers, then he said: “Oh people, oh my companions, you intended something last night, and were firm in your resolve — what happened to you that made you come when you said that you wouldn’t?” They replied: “We swear to Allah that when we heard the call to prayer, our beds became like thorn bushes or as beds of nails, and lying in them was like lying on fire — we couldn’t remain there even for one moment, so we jumped, out and hastened to answer the call to prayer.”
The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, then said: “Every creature may find ease only in behaving according to his particular competence (Ahliyya). It is that ahliyya, that worthy-nature which Allah put in your hearts, that made you move from your beds despite the intention to the contrary which you made last night. Everyone is born with the nature of Islam (Fitra), and in his deepest heart is always yearning to re-discover that nature; this secret is inside every Son of Adam, and this is what made you get up.”
For these reasons, the Prophet was in no way afraid that his companions would really leave worship because of having learned those truths. Also, inheritors of the Prophet are not afraid to reveal some truths to their followers, because that hidden nature which Allah put in your hearts will make you do, make you come despite your desires.
Grandshaykh also says that if the Prophet declared that his worshipping was as nothing and that he never could depend upon it — how can we depend upon ours? If two prostrations of the Prophet’s devotions were put in a scale and weighed up against the combined devotions of the Nations, his two prostrations would be heavier, and if his declaring the Unity of Allah once (La ilaha
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
illallah) was weighed up against the sins of all the Sons of Adam, it would destroy all of those sins. From this you can understand what the power and rank of our Prophet is in the Divine Presence.
Neither our Prophet nor any other Prophet is in need of sacrificing himself in the way the Christians claim that Jesus Christ made himself a sacrificial lamb for Allah or for the sake of his Nation; this is a shameful thing to say. It is enough to say once ‘La ilaha illallah’, no need for human sacrifice. When Allah Almighty, desiring to try His servant, ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son, at the last moment, He withdrew His order for the slaughter and sent a ram down from the Heavens instead. So how is He going to make Jesus Christ a lamb, an offering for the sins of the world? This is a very ugly and unfounded claim.
The Last Prophet and all Prophets before him were given Divine Powers with which to guide people to the straight path — no need for them to be lambs for Nations.
Despite the high value of our Prophet’s devotions, he does not depend upon them and awaits no payment for them from Allah, but he performs them only for Allah’s good pleasure — that is his goal. Everyone may ask at this, “What use is our worshipping, our acting?” No one can do any worship that is suitable for our Majestic Lord. No one can worship his Lord as He deserves to be worshipped — beside His Greatness all is as nothing — but we have been ordered, and so we are carrying out those orders.
Then Grandshaykh quoted Sayyidina ‘Ali, who said regarding ladies: “Nothing good comes from them, but no one can live without them.” ‘Ali’s wife, the Prophet’s daughter Fatima, said to ‘Ali: “We are like roses, from time to time you must smell them, otherwise you are
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
useless.” “Similarly,” says Grandshaykh, “nothing is coming from our worship — it is useless — useless, that is, for giving adequate respect to our Majestic Lord; it is impossible to give absolute respect with such worshipping, but as we have been ordered, so we must do — and whether useless or not, we cannot depend upon it.”
This is a reality that one must be aware of, and when you understand this point it will prevent you from becoming proud of your devotions, and that is very important, as whoever becomes proud of bis devotions falls down, like Satan. The very worst thing for a servant is to look at himself and say: “Oh, how good I am, I am such an obedient servant of my Lord!” and to look at others, saying, “Look at them, they don’t do any worshipping, but we do!” We have been ordered to build ladders to the moon —builders of skyscrapers are puffed up with pride over their accomplishments and look down with disdain to the people on the ground, saying: “Oh you lazy people, we have already reached to the sky while you are still like miserable little ants on the ground.” They may say this, but no matter how high they build their skyscrapers, even if they pile stone upon stone eternally, they will never reach the moon in that way — it is impossible. What is important is to listen to the orders of Allah Almighty and to obey them as best we can, and although we will never reach the moon, perhaps we may be better than one who doesn’t try, because we carry out orders, and it is better to try even if we know that ultimate success is impossible to attain in this manner — we must do it out of respect for the Lord. In every religion, every Prophet came to teach us this point. * * *
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
ONLY ONE RAY OF THE EFFULGENT SOUL COMES TO THE FORMS IN THIS WORLD
We are listening to what Saints (Awliya) are saying to us, and every one of their words is giving power to our hearts and making them firm; just as a blacksmith strikes metal with a hammer in order to make that metal stronger, so we are receiving strength from the words of Saints. Perhaps you may say that it will be forgotten or “lost on you”, but you must know that you aren’t merely a physical body, but a spiritual soul — and that the soul is functioning in a way contrasting absolutely to the functioning of the body. On the physical plane you may be heedless, but your soul is always active, even while you are asleep — that is why, in paradise, when the physical body is no more and only the soul is in existence, there will be no sleep — at that time our souls’ power will appear. Now our bodies lie down to rest, and our souls’ leave the bodies to their rest and go on their own ways, leaving behind in those bodies only one guardian to look after everything — a ‘night watch-man’, so to speak — but apart from that thin connection, the souls move away from the limited domain of our waking state during the time of sleep.
And so, when we sit and listen in such a holy meeting to blessed words, those words must affect our souls, and you may perceive it or not. For example, who feels this tape-recorder writing on the cassette? — Likewise our souls’ recording is always working.
Where were we before coming to this world? — In the spiritual world. What were we doing there? No one knows. Souls are never in need of eating, drinking, sleeping or anything that the body is in need of. They have been created in a time no one knows the beginning
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
of, and from that time on our souls have been swimming in Allah Almighty’s power Oceans, dwelling in the world of Allah’s power Kingdoms (Malakoot).
So, what reaches the body? It is impossible for the body to carry or withstand the power of the soul; if it were to try, it would melt. What reaches the Earth from the Sun? Only its rays. The Sun is in the Heavens, but its rays reach us on the Earth; if the Sun’s rays were not reaching to the Earth, there could be no more life here, finished. Life depends on the Sun; so, when the Sun will be rolled up, as the Qur’an prophesies, there will be no more life on Earth; but, if the Sun were to come even one step closer to it, life would no more be possible on the face of the Earth. In the same way, the real souls of the Sons of Adam are eternally in the Divine Presence since the time of their creation — never budging from there — but one single ray is coming to our bodies.
The Angel Gabriel (Jibril) is the carrier of Divine messages to Prophets: whomever Gabriel visits, that man is a Prophet. For some of the Prophets, he came just once — and that was enough to make that man a Prophet. Every time Gabriel comes to a Prophet, it gives more honour, guidance and safety to that Prophet, and power to his Nation. Apart from Sayyidina Muhammad, the Prophet who was most frequently visited by the Angel was Sayyidina Musa (Moses), whom the Angel came to a total of four hundred times. Upon the Prophet Muhammad, the Angel descended twenty-four thousand times in twenty-three years. From this fact, we can begin to understand the honour given to him. Every Prophet knew, and testified to the fact that the Universe was only created for the sake of the Last Prophet, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him, and if one considers that even one visit from the Angel Gabriel was enough to make a man a Prophet, how great is the honour and Prophethood of one whom the Angel came
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
to see 24,000 times! And yet there are still so many religious people in the world who deny his Prophethood.
One day Gabriel came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad in the form of a human being, and on that occasion all the companions of the Prophet were present and able to behold him with their very eyes — this is a historical event recorded in all well-known books of Hadith. The Prophet was sitting in the mosque with his companions, when Gabriel entered in the form of a very unusual looking person: having a jet black beard and an equally dark head of hair and wearing unimaginably white garments; and the most amazing thing of all was that nowhere on him was a single speck of dust. All of the companions were overwhelmed by the appearance of that person, as they had never seen him nor anyone the least bit like him before. He went and sat down right in front of the Prophet and began asking him questions. We are not going to go into detail about those questions now, but what seemed very strange to the companions was that this man asked the Prophet questions like a teacher quizzing his pupil in order to see if he has learned his lessons, and when the prophet answered each of the questions correctly, the man answered, “Yes, you are right, good, correct,” and went on with his questioning. When he had finished his question-and-answer session, he got up and left the mosque. The Prophet sent ‘Umar after him and told him to look where this man was going, Sayyidina ‘Umar ran out quickly to follow the unknown visitor. In front of the mosque there was a wide open space, a flat plain devoid of trees or buildings. ‘Umar looked and looked, to the right, to the left, everywhere, but there was no trace of anyone, he had disappeared. At that time, there were yet no planes or helicopters that could have whisked a man away quickly out of sight, so how could he have gotten away? Also, how could his beard have been so
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
black and his clothes so white if he had come through hundreds of miles of dusty desert?
So, ‘Umar came back to the Prophet saying, “Oh Rasulallah, I could not find him anywhere; that man was not from among the residents of Madinah — he came from nowhere and he quickly disappeared again into the same: He must have gone up or down! It is impossible!” At that the Prophet smiled and said: “Do you know who he was? He was Gabriel, come to teach you the basis of your religion with his questions about Islam, Faith (Iman), and Higher Goodness (Ihsan).”
In like manner, a number of times the companions saw Gabriel in a human form. The question could easily be asked: “How could Gabriel be in the form of a man when we know that twice the Prophet saw him in his original form consisting of six hundred wings that would crowd out East and West were he to spread them — how can he be contained in the body of man?” The answer is that Gabriel always remains in his original form in the Divine Presence, and when he has been ordered, he sends one ray of his power which appears in the shape of a person, without his ever leaving his original station or ceasing his Invocation of his Lord (Tasbih); at the same time he is complete in that world and also here, giving his messages to the Prophets as he was sent and ordered to do.
In the same way, the Sons of Adam never leave the Divine Presence; we stay there in our original soul- forms, and only one ray is coming from the soul to our shapes in this world.
* * *
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
THE STORY OF HOW ‘ALI CONFOUNDED THE PHILOSOPHERS; AND WHAT JESUS READ ON THE TOMBSTONE OF A KING
Our Grandshaykh once told me a tale about the Prophet’s cousin, Sayyidina ‘Ali: One day, during the time of his Khalifate, there came to ‘Ali twenty-five philosophers. Every kind of knowledge must have a foundation upon which that science is built; all, that is, except philosophy. Thereisno base uponwhich philosophy may be said to be built, and among philosophers you cannot find two who will be in agreement — even within himself each philosopher is a bundle of contradictions: when he is young he says one thing, and then, when he grows old, he sings an altogether different tune; in the daytime, one frame of mind, and at night another; one mood and the accompanying set of views for the summer, and by the time the winter has closed in, he negates all that he thought in the summer; one sort of utterance when he is hungry, and a new philosophy on life when his belly is full.
Thus, as has easily been shown, these philosophers are full of many contradictions even within themselves; their philosophy is without basis, and I don’t even call it ‘knowledge’. Some no-mind people are now speaking of ‘Islamic Philosophy’, and that sort of talk is sufficient for us to confirm their lack of understanding of Islam: Islam is based on the firmest base of reality, and that is a base upon which one may build, while those philosophical systems are based on nothing but thin air. In Islam there is reality, not philosophy. All of those twenty-five philosophers who came to Sayyidina ‘Ali were very learned men — knowing much
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
from the Torah, Psalms and Gospel, but not believing in any of it. They said: “We have come to debate you, and our first statement in this debate is that according to our judgement, you Muslims are all very foolish people, because you believe in Allah, the Judgement Day (Yaum-ul-Qiyamah) and Divine Predestination (Qada). You impose heavy burdens upon yourselves and can’t live as you would like to live. You have set up so many limitations and you are imprisoning yourselves within t
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=5805
t your Lord, and your fear would be of Him alone, thus making that action acceptable in the Divine Presence.
We vowed on the Day of Promises (the day before our creation when all the souls were taken in front of their Lord and asked to recognize their Creator and promise their loyalty unto Him) to Keep our faith in this manner; not to behave any differently whether there would be witnesses looking on or not. Now, here, in the presence of so many people, if a lovely lady were to walk in, you wouldn’t look — you’d be ashamed to look; but if no one else were here, would there be any change in your behaviour? If so, then you haven’t yet attained to real faith. A real believer is always with his Lord, always
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
aware of his Lord’s Presence with him — but it is not easy to reach this level. One may, however, more easily control oneself if one has a guide, and feels his presence alongside him, guiding him, not going away. When a person says, “This is my guide,” then he believes that that person has the power to be with him all the time; if you can feel your Murshid with you always, it will give you power so that you will be able to feel your Lord’s Presence with you. In this way Tariqats are leading people to real faith — May Allah Almighty grant us that real faith, too!
* * *
PATIENCE IS THE KEY, AND ONLY FAITH WILL YIELD IT
My Grandshaykh is instructing us on the importance of being patient in the face of every disliked thing and saying that it is a most important practice for everyone to keep in his life. Don’t run in panic every time some disliked thing happens to you. Not to panic and not to lose one’s head are the most important and useful abilities anyone can have in our times. So many great and terrible events may occur suddenly, and you must not lose your cool; you must stand firm in the face of every terrible and gigantic event and hold them far away from you. What can give us this much needed characteristic? —A strong belief, faith. Without faith, you won’t be able to keep yourself standing firmly, only strong faith will keep you together.
Now, in these days, people will taste of terrible events and they are most in need of such strong faith. Grandshaykh was advising us that whenever such an unliked event appears, you must be ready to face it; it is your duty to face it. You must know that every
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
time you confront such an event with steadfastness you are improving spiritually, moving powerfully and deliberately towards your destination; and the more trying the event, the more quickly you are propelled to your destination. ‘‘Oh my sons”, says Grandshaykh, “Oh my people, you must know that every goodness is going to appear through your patience in the face of disliked actions or events; every goodness and real knowledge will spring from your patience. The Knowledge of Certainty (Ilm-ul-Yaqin), the Sight of Certainty (‘Ain- ul-Yaqin) and Truth of Certainty (Haqq-ul-Yaqin) will all appear through facing these unliked events with patience.” That patience is the key which opens up the treasures for the Sons of Adam, and all those who stand firmly in the face of trials and are patient, they will be given the keys to their treasures. * * *
THE REAL HONOUR OF MANKIND: IBRAHIM BIN ADHAM’S AWAKENING; DEFENDING OUR IMAN AGAINST ITS ENEMIES
We are beginning a new lecture, a lecture of which we may be in great need at all times. Our Grandshaykh was saying that he is always awakening people. People are all asleep, not in the sense of bodily sleep, but in that they are shutting their eyes and preventing themselves from seeing the facts and the Divine Wisdom in their lives. That is why we say that they are sleeping.
Prophets and Saints are called upon to awaken people, saying: “Oh people, don’t be cheated and deceived by the pleasures of this life, for they will make you blind to the facts and Divine Wisdoms you are in need of. Oh
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
people, you must know that you didn’t come to this life just for eating, drinking and dancing; if this is all you want out of life, then you and the animals are on the same level. But you must not stop at this, you must go on and up; there are so many levels you can find through your soul — don’t waste your precious lives in activities in the pursuit of which the animals are superior to you!”
Once there lived a great and majestic king in Central Asia, Ibrahim bin Adham; his was the Kingdom of Balkh, and he was a very rich and powerful king. He was so rich, our Grandshaykh was saying, that he had 12,000 shepherd dogs guarding his flocks. Each dog wore a golden chain with a golden plate attached to it, reading: ‘Property of the King’. You can’t imagine how great were his flocks of sheep and herds of cattle!
One day, this king was out hunting, and he was just chasing after a gazelle on horseback, when suddenly he heard a voice coming from his saddle, saying to him: “Oh King, is this what you were created for? Have you been ordered to do this?” That question gave him such a start that he awakened: he stopped what he was doing and remembered his Lord, then he returned to his palace and turned away from his kingship and from every pleasure in this life. He had understood that he was not created for the pleasures of hunting and worldly enjoyments, and he turned to his Lord to find out what it was he had been created for. He became one of the greatest Awliya of all times.
Now, that same question that Ibrahim heard coming from his saddle might be asked of any of us who is thinking that he was only created for the purpose of eating, drinking and sex-enjoyment. Only upon leaving that level may one reach the level of mankind. This is important for everyone to know so that they may strive for that honour of reaching real humanity; it is a
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
difficult practice, not easy, but we must gain that real honour. We are sitting here speaking on this point, and Grandshaykh’s lectures were always directed towards the goal of enabling his followers to reach that highest honour of belonging to true mankind. Why are we concentrating so much on this point? — Because whoever attains true humanity will enter the Divine Presence, where he will know Divine Pleasures and Favours from his Lord and will attain endless peace and satisfaction with his Lord; therefore, our Grandshaykh was saying, as all of the Prophets said: “Oh people, you must believe in these realities and pursue Divine Wisdom in this life.”
The Sons of Adam may be seen walking in two different ways: some of them are believing in and seeking the Absolute Truth, while others are not believing and not asking to be anything more than what they are; they say, “It is good enough for us to be on the same level as animals; we are not in need of believing in anything, and we are believing only in this life and trying to derive more and more pleasure from eating, drinking, dancing and sex.” These are the unbelievers (Kafiroon).
The first group are believers, but it is not enough for believers merely to believe, but they must prepare themselves — for there are so many enemies waiting to ambush the believer — they are: The Ego or Lower Self (Nafs), Satan the accursed devil (Shaytan), Vain Desires (Hawa), and this Life’s Pleasures along with the unbelieving people who run after them (Ad-dunya wa- Ahluhu). So a believer must be very vigilant in guarding his faith and beliefs, as they are the most precious things he has, giving him everything in this life and the next. With faith we may improve so as to attain the highest degrees in the Divine Presence; and if we hope to be able to keep that faith, we must learn how we can defend it in the face of the attacks of our enemies; the best way of doing this is to not merely preserve it at its present
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
level, but to strengthen it always and put it safely out of reach of the hands of our enemies.
Grandshaykh was teaching us how we can put our faith in safety and strengthen it: in facing unliked events a believer must keep his heart, keep his faith and keep his balance — this is very important. He is like a tight rope walker, he must be very careful not to lose his balance; if he leans over just a little too far, he will fall. Likewise, a believer must move through difficulties with perfect composure. Those unliked events knock the faith out of so many people, they are falling out of faith but not feeling it. You will lose your faith if you are not careful.
You must know that every event, whether likeable or unlikeable, happens by His Will. You must not look at it as coming from people around you, rather, you must realize that the original Cause is Allah Almighty, no need to look for causes after Him.
Grandshaykh says that every time you look to the secondary cause, you are mistaken and have fallen down from faith in your Lord. For example, you may be walking down the street when a football hits you on the head, knocking off your turban. If you look back to see who hit your head with that football, you fall down from the level of real faith. Why did you look back? Do you not know that the initial cause is your Lord, and that whoever kicked that ball at you is only a secondary cause? What do you have to do with a secondary cause when you know the origin of all causes? If you are a real believer in your Lord, then why are you angry with that boy and looking back to see who struck you with that football, in order to quarrel with him and make trouble (Fitna)? If you continue walking, then there will be no quarrel, no fitna, no badness springing up; therefore, one of the main desirable results of being patient in the face
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
of unliked things is that it promotes peace in the world among its people. We must practice holding our tempers and being patient, for every time we are successful, the way of real faith is opened up to us.
This is a most important thing for believers: they must keep their positions firmly like a mountain: winds and typhoons may be coming at it from every side, since the beginning of Creation, wishing to push the mountain out of its place; but the mountain stands firm, unyielding. And in like manner, a believer must keep his position, unwavering, even though unliked events shower on him from all sides. A believer will always hold to his faith, prepared to regard Allah Almighty as the first cause of anything that befalls him. This is a sign of real faith. If someone is only pleased in the event of good happenings, and displeased with disagreeable events, then his is not real faith.
Our Grandshaykh gives us an example in the following story: Once upon a time there was a man who went walking through his grounds followed by his slave. When they reached a certain place in the gardens where cucumbers were growing, that man cut a cucumber from its vine, tasted it, and finding it bitter, gave it to the servant. The servant ate the whole cucumber. Then his master asked him: “Oh my slave, you ate that cucumber, did you not find it bitter?” The slave replied: “Yes, master it was.” “Then how could you eat it?” “Oh my lord,” the slave then said, “I have received so many favours from your generous hand and so many tasty foods, that it makes me ashamed to refuse something when for once it is not tasteful.” Then his master turned to him and said: “Oh my slave, you have gained your release, you are free now, go as you please.”
This is a short tale, but for everyone there is a big lesson contained in it, as to how we should behave with
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
our Lord. It is a very high good manner, if you have that you are very fortunate, and you have attained God’s pardon. If you are pleased with your Lord, your Lord will be pleased with you; when you are not pleased with your Lord, your Lord will also not be pleased with you.
* * *
THE IMPORTANCE OF EVERYONE’S HIDDEN APTITUDE (AHLIYYA): A STORY, THE DAY THE SAHABA DECIDED TO SLEEP IN; IT IS USELESS TO DEPEND ON ONE’S OWN ACTIONS OR WORSHIPPINGS
My Grandshaykh said that the Holy Prophet never gained any rank through his devotions or actions. As a proof of this, Grandshaykh quoted a tradition (Hadith) of the Holy Prophet: “Oh Allah, don’t leave me to my works, my actions, my devotions even for the time it takes to blink an eye — or less than that.” This Hadith indicates that the Prophet never depended on his own works and devotions, but always hoped for Allah’s causeless mercy, and that his rank was not a result of any actions on his part. Grandshaykh added, “Even if Allah Almighty was going to recompense the Prophet for his devotions, the Prophet would not accept that. How could he, the Prophet, accept a payment when even members of his Nation (Ummah) of lesser rank than him —Saints and sincere believers — would never accept any payment or recompense for their acts of worship; in fact, no real believer would accept anything, because he is worshipping purely to gain his Lord’s pleasure.”
Grandshaykh says that Allah Almighty has given
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
to each person a nature suitable for a certain rank (Fitra). For example, you have a competence (Ahliyya) for the Naqshbandi Way; no one can in any way change or alter that competence — it has to appear. Just as different seeds have different unalterable natures hidden within them, so each Son of Adam has a distinct aptitude granted to him by his Lord, granted according to the Divine Will alone, and at all times independent of our actions and devotions. Sooner or later everyone’s aptitude must appear; don’t be hopeless because those qualities may now yet be hidden, for you must know that at any time Allah Almighty decrees, those qualities will appear, and that appearance will not be connected in any way to our actions or devotions but will be purely a grant from Him Almighty. These words lead us to new horizons of understanding and open up vast areas of inner wisdom to explore — these good tidings should fill us with contentment.
Shah Naqshband said: “In our view, one’s having the competence for this Tariqat is more important a fact than his being a Muslim or Believer.” Why? — Because that capability which Allah Almighty has granted us is what is important, then, with our actions Islam and Iman will appear. But that secret capability from Allah Almighty is most important.
You may do all the good actions asked of you by Islam and Iman, but that capability which you have been granted is more important to Allah; therefore, the Prophet’s Hadith says: “Allah is not looking to our outward actions, but to our hearts.” With His looking to our hearts, that worthy-nature is going to be ever more inundated with divine lights — more beautiful and complete. But we are merely doing good actions with our bodies, while the heart and its movements in relation to its Lord are much more important.
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
The importance of that worthy-nature and of our realizing it is expressed by the following story: Once the Holy Prophet was addressing his companions after the night-time prayer (Isha) saying: “Oh my companions, it is the same for every one of you whether he prays and does good actions or not, because the ranks that Allah Almighty has granted to you are neither going to decrease nor increase — the ink of pre-destiny has dried, and what He has granted you must reach you — no more and no less — no matter what you do…’’
What was the reply of the companions? — All of them said, “Oh Prophet, if it is like that, why then do we tire ourselves out and inflict suffering upon ourselves with all these devotions and good actions? Why do we get up on cold nights and come to the mosque from far distances in the darkness? Why do we forsake our wives’ loving embraces every morning to come here? From now on we shall not come here so early to pray but shall remain with our wives in hot beds; this is very good news for us.” The Prophet replied: “You are free to do as you like; come or don’t come — no one is forcing you.”
That night they left the mosque with the intention of staying comfortably in their beds the next morning. When the last part of the night had begun to show signs of giving way to the oncoming dawn, Bilal, the Prophet’s muezzin, began to recite devotional poetry from the minaret, as was his habit in the morning before calling to the prayer (Adhan), in order to awaken people in ample time for coming to the mosque. On this particular morning, as soon as he started reciting, all of the companions awoke with a start. They said to themselves, “We told the Prophet that we won’t be coming this morning; we must remain in our beds.” However, in spite of themselves, they threw aside their blankets, sprang from their beds, made ablutions (Wudu) and hurried off to the prayer.
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
When the Prophet entered the mosque that morning, he looked around and saw that it was full of worshippers, then he said: “Oh people, oh my companions, you intended something last night, and were firm in your resolve — what happened to you that made you come when you said that you wouldn’t?” They replied: “We swear to Allah that when we heard the call to prayer, our beds became like thorn bushes or as beds of nails, and lying in them was like lying on fire — we couldn’t remain there even for one moment, so we jumped, out and hastened to answer the call to prayer.”
The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, then said: “Every creature may find ease only in behaving according to his particular competence (Ahliyya). It is that ahliyya, that worthy-nature which Allah put in your hearts, that made you move from your beds despite the intention to the contrary which you made last night. Everyone is born with the nature of Islam (Fitra), and in his deepest heart is always yearning to re-discover that nature; this secret is inside every Son of Adam, and this is what made you get up.”
For these reasons, the Prophet was in no way afraid that his companions would really leave worship because of having learned those truths. Also, inheritors of the Prophet are not afraid to reveal some truths to their followers, because that hidden nature which Allah put in your hearts will make you do, make you come despite your desires.
Grandshaykh also says that if the Prophet declared that his worshipping was as nothing and that he never could depend upon it — how can we depend upon ours? If two prostrations of the Prophet’s devotions were put in a scale and weighed up against the combined devotions of the Nations, his two prostrations would be heavier, and if his declaring the Unity of Allah once (La ilaha
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
illallah) was weighed up against the sins of all the Sons of Adam, it would destroy all of those sins. From this you can understand what the power and rank of our Prophet is in the Divine Presence.
Neither our Prophet nor any other Prophet is in need of sacrificing himself in the way the Christians claim that Jesus Christ made himself a sacrificial lamb for Allah or for the sake of his Nation; this is a shameful thing to say. It is enough to say once ‘La ilaha illallah’, no need for human sacrifice. When Allah Almighty, desiring to try His servant, ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son, at the last moment, He withdrew His order for the slaughter and sent a ram down from the Heavens instead. So how is He going to make Jesus Christ a lamb, an offering for the sins of the world? This is a very ugly and unfounded claim.
The Last Prophet and all Prophets before him were given Divine Powers with which to guide people to the straight path — no need for them to be lambs for Nations.
Despite the high value of our Prophet’s devotions, he does not depend upon them and awaits no payment for them from Allah, but he performs them only for Allah’s good pleasure — that is his goal. Everyone may ask at this, “What use is our worshipping, our acting?” No one can do any worship that is suitable for our Majestic Lord. No one can worship his Lord as He deserves to be worshipped — beside His Greatness all is as nothing — but we have been ordered, and so we are carrying out those orders.
Then Grandshaykh quoted Sayyidina ‘Ali, who said regarding ladies: “Nothing good comes from them, but no one can live without them.” ‘Ali’s wife, the Prophet’s daughter Fatima, said to ‘Ali: “We are like roses, from time to time you must smell them, otherwise you are
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
useless.” “Similarly,” says Grandshaykh, “nothing is coming from our worship — it is useless — useless, that is, for giving adequate respect to our Majestic Lord; it is impossible to give absolute respect with such worshipping, but as we have been ordered, so we must do — and whether useless or not, we cannot depend upon it.”
This is a reality that one must be aware of, and when you understand this point it will prevent you from becoming proud of your devotions, and that is very important, as whoever becomes proud of bis devotions falls down, like Satan. The very worst thing for a servant is to look at himself and say: “Oh, how good I am, I am such an obedient servant of my Lord!” and to look at others, saying, “Look at them, they don’t do any worshipping, but we do!” We have been ordered to build ladders to the moon —builders of skyscrapers are puffed up with pride over their accomplishments and look down with disdain to the people on the ground, saying: “Oh you lazy people, we have already reached to the sky while you are still like miserable little ants on the ground.” They may say this, but no matter how high they build their skyscrapers, even if they pile stone upon stone eternally, they will never reach the moon in that way — it is impossible. What is important is to listen to the orders of Allah Almighty and to obey them as best we can, and although we will never reach the moon, perhaps we may be better than one who doesn’t try, because we carry out orders, and it is better to try even if we know that ultimate success is impossible to attain in this manner — we must do it out of respect for the Lord. In every religion, every Prophet came to teach us this point. * * *
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
ONLY ONE RAY OF THE EFFULGENT SOUL COMES TO THE FORMS IN THIS WORLD
We are listening to what Saints (Awliya) are saying to us, and every one of their words is giving power to our hearts and making them firm; just as a blacksmith strikes metal with a hammer in order to make that metal stronger, so we are receiving strength from the words of Saints. Perhaps you may say that it will be forgotten or “lost on you”, but you must know that you aren’t merely a physical body, but a spiritual soul — and that the soul is functioning in a way contrasting absolutely to the functioning of the body. On the physical plane you may be heedless, but your soul is always active, even while you are asleep — that is why, in paradise, when the physical body is no more and only the soul is in existence, there will be no sleep — at that time our souls’ power will appear. Now our bodies lie down to rest, and our souls’ leave the bodies to their rest and go on their own ways, leaving behind in those bodies only one guardian to look after everything — a ‘night watch-man’, so to speak — but apart from that thin connection, the souls move away from the limited domain of our waking state during the time of sleep.
And so, when we sit and listen in such a holy meeting to blessed words, those words must affect our souls, and you may perceive it or not. For example, who feels this tape-recorder writing on the cassette? — Likewise our souls’ recording is always working.
Where were we before coming to this world? — In the spiritual world. What were we doing there? No one knows. Souls are never in need of eating, drinking, sleeping or anything that the body is in need of. They have been created in a time no one knows the beginning
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
of, and from that time on our souls have been swimming in Allah Almighty’s power Oceans, dwelling in the world of Allah’s power Kingdoms (Malakoot).
So, what reaches the body? It is impossible for the body to carry or withstand the power of the soul; if it were to try, it would melt. What reaches the Earth from the Sun? Only its rays. The Sun is in the Heavens, but its rays reach us on the Earth; if the Sun’s rays were not reaching to the Earth, there could be no more life here, finished. Life depends on the Sun; so, when the Sun will be rolled up, as the Qur’an prophesies, there will be no more life on Earth; but, if the Sun were to come even one step closer to it, life would no more be possible on the face of the Earth. In the same way, the real souls of the Sons of Adam are eternally in the Divine Presence since the time of their creation — never budging from there — but one single ray is coming to our bodies.
The Angel Gabriel (Jibril) is the carrier of Divine messages to Prophets: whomever Gabriel visits, that man is a Prophet. For some of the Prophets, he came just once — and that was enough to make that man a Prophet. Every time Gabriel comes to a Prophet, it gives more honour, guidance and safety to that Prophet, and power to his Nation. Apart from Sayyidina Muhammad, the Prophet who was most frequently visited by the Angel was Sayyidina Musa (Moses), whom the Angel came to a total of four hundred times. Upon the Prophet Muhammad, the Angel descended twenty-four thousand times in twenty-three years. From this fact, we can begin to understand the honour given to him. Every Prophet knew, and testified to the fact that the Universe was only created for the sake of the Last Prophet, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him, and if one considers that even one visit from the Angel Gabriel was enough to make a man a Prophet, how great is the honour and Prophethood of one whom the Angel came
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
to see 24,000 times! And yet there are still so many religious people in the world who deny his Prophethood.
One day Gabriel came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad in the form of a human being, and on that occasion all the companions of the Prophet were present and able to behold him with their very eyes — this is a historical event recorded in all well-known books of Hadith. The Prophet was sitting in the mosque with his companions, when Gabriel entered in the form of a very unusual looking person: having a jet black beard and an equally dark head of hair and wearing unimaginably white garments; and the most amazing thing of all was that nowhere on him was a single speck of dust. All of the companions were overwhelmed by the appearance of that person, as they had never seen him nor anyone the least bit like him before. He went and sat down right in front of the Prophet and began asking him questions. We are not going to go into detail about those questions now, but what seemed very strange to the companions was that this man asked the Prophet questions like a teacher quizzing his pupil in order to see if he has learned his lessons, and when the prophet answered each of the questions correctly, the man answered, “Yes, you are right, good, correct,” and went on with his questioning. When he had finished his question-and-answer session, he got up and left the mosque. The Prophet sent ‘Umar after him and told him to look where this man was going, Sayyidina ‘Umar ran out quickly to follow the unknown visitor. In front of the mosque there was a wide open space, a flat plain devoid of trees or buildings. ‘Umar looked and looked, to the right, to the left, everywhere, but there was no trace of anyone, he had disappeared. At that time, there were yet no planes or helicopters that could have whisked a man away quickly out of sight, so how could he have gotten away? Also, how could his beard have been so
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
black and his clothes so white if he had come through hundreds of miles of dusty desert?
So, ‘Umar came back to the Prophet saying, “Oh Rasulallah, I could not find him anywhere; that man was not from among the residents of Madinah — he came from nowhere and he quickly disappeared again into the same: He must have gone up or down! It is impossible!” At that the Prophet smiled and said: “Do you know who he was? He was Gabriel, come to teach you the basis of your religion with his questions about Islam, Faith (Iman), and Higher Goodness (Ihsan).”
In like manner, a number of times the companions saw Gabriel in a human form. The question could easily be asked: “How could Gabriel be in the form of a man when we know that twice the Prophet saw him in his original form consisting of six hundred wings that would crowd out East and West were he to spread them — how can he be contained in the body of man?” The answer is that Gabriel always remains in his original form in the Divine Presence, and when he has been ordered, he sends one ray of his power which appears in the shape of a person, without his ever leaving his original station or ceasing his Invocation of his Lord (Tasbih); at the same time he is complete in that world and also here, giving his messages to the Prophets as he was sent and ordered to do.
In the same way, the Sons of Adam never leave the Divine Presence; we stay there in our original soul- forms, and only one ray is coming from the soul to our shapes in this world.
* * *
MERCY OCEANS HIDDEN TREASURES
THE STORY OF HOW ‘ALI CONFOUNDED THE PHILOSOPHERS; AND WHAT JESUS READ ON THE TOMBSTONE OF A KING
Our Grandshaykh once told me a tale about the Prophet’s cousin, Sayyidina ‘Ali: One day, during the time of his Khalifate, there came to ‘Ali twenty-five philosophers. Every kind of knowledge must have a foundation upon which that science is built; all, that is, except philosophy. Thereisno base uponwhich philosophy may be said to be built, and among philosophers you cannot find two who will be in agreement — even within himself each philosopher is a bundle of contradictions: when he is young he says one thing, and then, when he grows old, he sings an altogether different tune; in the daytime, one frame of mind, and at night another; one mood and the accompanying set of views for the summer, and by the time the winter has closed in, he negates all that he thought in the summer; one sort of utterance when he is hungry, and a new philosophy on life when his belly is full.
Thus, as has easily been shown, these philosophers are full of many contradictions even within themselves; their philosophy is without basis, and I don’t even call it ‘knowledge’. Some no-mind people are now speaking of ‘Islamic Philosophy’, and that sort of talk is sufficient for us to confirm their lack of understanding of Islam: Islam is based on the firmest base of reality, and that is a base upon which one may build, while those philosophical systems are based on nothing but thin air. In Islam there is reality, not philosophy. All of those twenty-five philosophers who came to Sayyidina ‘Ali were very learned men — knowing much
SHAYKH NAZIM AL-HAQQANI
from the Torah, Psalms and Gospel, but not believing in any of it. They said: “We have come to debate you, and our first statement in this debate is that according to our judgement, you Muslims are all very foolish people, because you believe in Allah, the Judgement Day (Yaum-ul-Qiyamah) and Divine Predestination (Qada). You impose heavy burdens upon yourselves and can’t live as you would like to live. You have set up so many limitations and you are imprisoning yourselves within t
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=5805