In the Mystic Footsteps of Saints, VOLUME 1 (Shaykh Nazim, 153 pages, 9/10)
https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=6028
cticed by all the prophets of all revealed religions from the beginning to the end. To help peop ple purify themselves of destructive charactcristics was the mission of Moses, of jesus and also of the seal of prophets Muhammad, who was ordered by his Lord: “Purify them.” They all worked to this end and never despaired of success, as they had certainty that a treasure remained buried in peaple’s hearts. Look, if you have a precious diamond and then it falls into the toilet, are you going to flush it down with the ditties? World anyone suggest such a thing? Perhaps some proud of weak stomached people might call for a servant to de it, but no one in his right mind would flush it away. Then when you retrieve that diamond you are going to wash it with soap and water thoroughly, pert haps dip it in rose of], and then return it to your finger. No one is then thinking that the diamond is chrty, Diamonds do net absorb the qualities of what they fall inte ~ souls are the same.
In our time many people are searching for common ground upon which followers of all religions may stand, a school of thought that may trace its thread through all true inspiration. This is that common ground: aspire to a deeper understanding through your religion, and understanding thai will open your eves to the presence of the One in all things, that will reveal to you the respectability of all creatures, especially human beings, and enable you to desist from hatmp evildoers even while opposing ther plots. This view will distance us from such a strong identity with labels that evoke fervor or enmity, such as: Amertcan, Russian, German, Turkish, Greek, Armenian, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and draw us closer to the realization that our Lord bas honored us all equally through the universal presence of His divine essence in our hearts. From that vantage point we will see that our Lord has given us through that essence wonderful and unique characteristics, made cach and every one of us a manifestation of His divine attobates, of Himself.
Then it will be clear to us as well, that the veils of ego that cover our essence ate as varied and subtle as the differences in the manifestation of the essence; every one has unique “ego traps”
Fie Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
designed to catch his own unique soul — and to avoid or escape these waps is at the heart of the knowledge of the Way. Only the one who approaches his Lord with sincere piety may discover that way, and that sincerity is what our Lord desites of us, what is of real valuc, as He says in His holy book: “The best (or most honorable) of you ts the most smecerely pious and God fearing.” In other words, our Lord has honered us all, but ecserves His highest honors for those who strive toward Him. ,
The Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was endowed with the widest understanding of the significance of the holy verse: “We have honored all of the Children of Adam’, the understanding of the presence of the One in the many. Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi was given the distinction of declaring these realities most openly to ail Nations, imviting all people unconditionally through an open door, saying:
Come, come, whoever you may he, come again, And be you non believer, Magian or idolater, come again, Ours 8 not a Dargah of despais! Though you may have broken your repentance a hundred dimes, come again.
As Allah Almighty opens His doors to all His servants, so de we aceept our Lord’s servants, We are not fanaties who spend their lives interrogating those who seek to quench them thirst at the fountain. This is the way of our grandshaykh, who declared: “T am an advocate for all the Children of Adam on the Last Day.” When someone arrives at our doorstep, we know whe sent him, so we can’t refuse,
13 Mystic Footsteps
By Love is Lovely
Love is lovely to the Lord and to His servants. Ho you do angthing with love, i will be accepted by your Lard and He will make tt tasteful for you. If yor love your work i will be easy for you to do, if not, it will only be a burden. The Lore says: “Tl arn not in aced of your worship, Lam only seeking the lowe with which itis offered.” Oh servants of the Lord, Oh believers, you must not overlook this point. Dent be like slaves rowing in the galley of a ship ~ if you pray, you must pray with love noe by foree, as if a slave criver were standing over vou with a whip! Allah never appreciates such forced devotions. Now we are treing to perform
all the practices but forgetting to ask for divine love, so we are becoming like mechanical robots, or lke people performing gymnastics,
Allah has asked us to enpape our bodies in His worship and in service to His creation through charity and g good deeds, bui what mast be the fruit of those actions? if the Grait is not love iL is a biter fruit and as rejected. Tf aur worship causes love of God to grow in our hearts, then we must keep to that practice and continue on our way; and if we are keeping the company of a spititual teacher, and fied that through keeping his company love of God is awakening in our hearts, then we must follow him closely,
The love of God is not easy to attain, for we cannet imagine Him, therefore, He Almighty has made the prophets apostles of His love. Allah’s Beloved, the seal of prophets, Mitharamiad, upon whom be peace, was such a pure mednem for the transmission of that love that the hearts of his companions were overwhelmed with
Ti4 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
his love, and were transported to the love of God. He was the representative of Allah, who is the Absolute Truth; therefore, the Prophet declared. “Who bas seen me has seen the Absolute Truth.”
When a delegation of non Muslims came to visit Medina, they were amazed at the love and respect shown to the Prophet by his companions. When they returned home they said to their leader: “We have met many emperors, kings and tribal chiefs, but never have we scen one whose subjects or courtiers treated hum with such sincere love and devotion. How can this ber” They were not able to comprehend the seeret of this love, as their egos caused them to deny Muhammad’s prophethood. The love cf the companions towards the Prophet was such that they used to say to him: “Tam ready to sacrifice for you even my mother and father’, which, for the Arabs, is much stronger than saying: “] would sactifice niyself for you.” And in teality many of them underwent nearly unbearable hardships for the sake of their belief in the mission of the holy Prophet: exile, disinheritance, boycott, torture and death,
Whe represented the boly Prophet after bis life on earth? Those who evoked such love. The Prophet himself described thera: “Those who see them are reminded of God.” He who thirsts for divine love must seek out such people, but in cur time they are mostly hidden, and Islam has come to mean for many people only a set of rules of conduct and forms of worship — an empty shell. Who can derive taste from such a thing? Shall mosques be only gymnasiums? And now the “gym teachers” ate opposing Safi Paths, which are the ways of the heart, ways that lead to the love of God.
Qer Lord has giv en us an instrament that measures not our blood pressure but our “love pressure” and our goal is to make it high! Yes, seek to improve with every new day, for the holy Prophet said: “Whoever does not improve with each day is losing ground.” What dees this mean? It doesn’t mean that if we pray forty takats of prayer today, we would pray forty one tomorrow
Ts Mystic Footsteps
arcl forey two the next day. No, thar is noe required, what is requged, what is intended is that you ll your worship with ever more love of your Lord, so that He will chserve: “My servant has sent Me more love today than yesterday. “One of our grandshaykhs summarized perfectly what 1 am trying to say: “An atonn’s weight of love is worth more than seventy years’ worship without love.”
716 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
® Love is the Mortar of All Prayer
As we were comune to the mosque today | saw a billboard that read: “Everyone Needs Standards.” ] didn’t understand what this coukd mean, but just then the traftic light tarned red, so that we stopped tight in front of the siga. Theu I looked mare closely and noticed that someone bad vandalized the sion, and with a pen had crossed our “Standards™, and written insteack “Love not Standards”, so that the billboard now read: “Everyone needs Love, not Standards.”
If ove is open to wisdom he may take wisdom from every side, and so, Glory to Allah, this bit of vandalism has given me a topic for this lectuee, Yes, that person was right, and this recalls to mind a saying Of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, in which he prayed to God:
“Oh Allah, Lash You to prant me the love of You and the love of these whom You love, and grant me, Oh my Lord, the love of thase actions which lead me to the love of You.”
To ask our Lord to oper up our hearts to Lis divine love is the most important request we can make of Him in our pravers, as nothing can take the place of love. The holy Prophet, who is called the Beloved of Allah, whom Allah created with the yeast of love, and whom Allah loved so much He dedicated the creation to him, even this beloved prophet asked Allah for divine love — whrpr Because who tastes of that love asks for more. Whose heart is kke a tock wall not ask rod for this love, but those who have had the shgohtest taste of that love know that m@ is the key to all spicitual progress, to mercy, beanty, wisdorn, to all favors that God may
Wa? Mystic Footsteps
bestow upon His servants. Therefore, the holy Prophet caughe all mankind what is precious in this life.
And thea his prayer continucd: “And grant me the love of those who love You.” The frst level, “love of God”, is the station of the prophets, and you can’t step from the bottom of the stairway to the top in one step. Allah Almighty is the Transcendent Being — you can’t even begin to fathom anything about Him Alenighty -- but it is easy to love those who represent His love among mankind, for itis much easier for us to begin to understand and love human beings ltke ourselves. You will find nothing in their hearts but the love of God: therefore, loving them is a means to approach the divine love.
Lastly, the holy Prophet asks for the love of those actions which lead to the love of God, actions which carry blessings with them, which softer our hearts and weaken our greed and selfishness. Uhese are the actions encouraged by our Lord through the example of His prophets, actions ordered and recommended in Hs holy books, «And, although in the beginning our mner state may not cortespond to these saintly actions, by engaging our limbs in what pleases our Lord, He wall strengthen our hearts thereby.
‘These are the three levels of love for which the holy Prophet prayed, and the wisdom reficeted in this prayer is proof enough of the veracity of Muhammad, peace be upon him. While Believers must abways ask for that love, Satan ts ever at war with such a notion, for he knows that once love has entered the heart of one of his slaves, that slave is lost to him, for he will not be able to snare bim anymore with this world’s pleasures. He who has tasted that love may aot even notice those pleasures, of may tegatd them as only a drop in att ocean.
Onee, as Moses, upon whom be peace, was headed toward Mount Sinai, be passed the cave of a bermut. The hermit emerged and called after Moses: “Oh Moses, please ask our Lord to bestow upon me just an atom’s weight of Tis divine love.” Moses apreed to do this, then continued on his way. Later, when Moses was addressing his Lord, he petitioned on behalf of that hermit. The
1s Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
Lord replied: “2 will grant that servant of My divine love, but not in the amount he requested. | wall only prant ‘him the tiniest fraction of an atom’s weight of that love.”
When Moses returned from the mountaig, he quickly went to sce what was happening to the herrnit, to sec what effect such a uny dose of divine love mught have had on him. When he arrived he was startled to see that where the cave had been a part of the mountain wus blown away, aad in place of that cave there was a deep chasm in the earth. “Oh servant of my Lord’, he cried out, “what has happened, where are you?” Then Moses looked down the chasm and saw the hermit sitting down there as if in another world, completely overwhelmed by that love.
Why did that hermit ask for a portion of divine love? Because he was worshipping but feeling nothing: he felt an emptiness in his heart that could only be filled by that love. Without love, worship is tasteless and useless; therefore, we must be sure to build our worship upon a strong foundation of love and to bake love into the bricks of the building of our devotional practice, This is more than un analogy, for even physical buildings are etther alive with the love of thete builders, of dead from their hard heartedness. Therefore, old buildings often emanate a good feeling because of the love and goodness of those who built them. This is especially true of old mosques and churches, for their original congregations built them for the sake of their Lorel’s love and tn an attitude of sincere picty. There is often a very strong fechng of the Divine Presence in old mosques, but have you ever felt such an atmosphere in the new showpiece — of ~ sterile ~ architecture ~ mosques? No, it is impossible: you may feel only an inner contraction inside of such conerete hills. They have left the love out of the mortar: the most important ingredient is missing,
Hg Mystic Footsteps
xy He Who is Without Shoes, took at the One Without Feet!
Of all of our ego’s characteristics, without a doubt envy is the worst, for an envious person, even if he were in paradise would feel himself to be i hell. Aud the irony of this characteristic is, that the mote enviable positions people seem to attain in life, the more severely afflicted with envy they themselves become. Therefore, envy is most rampant among the rich and privileged who are disturbed by the fact that others may be even richer or of higher tank than themselves, and wish to be the only ones to possess everything, Common ‘people do not envy each other as much as the upper classes do,
‘Yes, it is mom that those who are more educated, who claim to have a beteer understanding than the masses should be blind to the harm they are inflicting upon themselves, oblivious to the fire that is rapidly burning them up. If they are so intelligent they should tealize that thetr Lord brings people into this hfe and sets them in different conditions, and that despite the discrepancy in their outward ranks, all have been honored by their Lord and bestowed with dignity. Whoever bas been favored with even the sightest degree of wisdom naast know dis and so he free of envy. God's holy prophets and their Isheritors, the Friends of God, have always reminded mankind of this fact: each and every one of them has been honored by being created as a human being, and need envy no one, Our Lord, in the holy Quran, encourages us to pot only understand this pot, but to declare it openly, when He Almighty says:
”
“(Ob people), proclaim your Lord's favers ante you.
rao Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
We were nothing and our Lord brought us into &: there be any favor greater than this? And our Lord informs us that ull things in existence ate busy glorifying their Lord, even atoms. «Atoms, too, have life, because without life it is impossthle to be tn existence. Perhaps we can say that the atern’s life ig of a very different kind from: our own, but they are also perfect m their own right and are praising thetr Lord for the grant of that perfection.
stence; car
Those who have attained cerkunty of faith, who have a light shining in their hearts, may perceive even manimate objects glorifying their Lord. One of the miracles bestowed upon our Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was that, one day be held up a handful of pebbles and all those present were made to hear those pebbles glorifying their Lord. All of creation participates in this glorification: rocks, earth, water, plants, trees, leaves, flowers, fish, birds, ants, bees roam Allah’s spacious carth, swim in His seas, Oy in His skies, or to past be » part of that creation ~ all are grateful, except for dissatisfied mankind. The holy Quran states:
“Eovervibing fn existence gortfier Allah, you just don't understand there porifcation”. and also:
“Vast thon nef seen hes to God bow all whe are it the heavens and all whe are in the earth, the sun and the moon, the shart and the prouittadas, the frees and the beasts, and many of mankind? tnd mary mertt the ebasiisement:
and mhom Gad abases, there is rane to ener him, God dees mbhatsoaver Ede mall
Nouee that “some of mankind” is the only exception to the rule. This is because all of creation is obedient to Allah by nature, and only mankind has been presented with the option ta praise the Lord and to find innet peace ot to be ungrateful and live in the hell fires of discontent and envy. So what about you, oh ungrateful mankind? You may own a Rolls Royce and Hve in a splendid palace, bue if you are ungrateful you are beneath the level of manmiate objects. Aud [ am sorry ta say that in our times widespread envy is destroying all humanity.
Mystic Footsteps
Nowadays, whoever is obliged to ride a bus is surely envious of car owners: and hew should it not be so with spiritual values in such a state of eclipse? A medieval Persian Sufi poet, Shaykh Sa‘adi Shirazi, wrote about a person. who was so poor he was not able to afford a pair of shoes. This person used to complain incessanily about his condition, but the more he complained the less inclined anyone was to buy him shoes. One day he came across a person who had no legs, and this sight caused him to repent, saying: “Oh my Lord, thank you for giving me legs with which to walk!” Yes, we must consider the blessings we have been piven.
The othee day J visited a man who is waiting to die of a terminal disease, a disease that does not leave him either to eat or deink. Tf that person possessed all the pold contained in the Bank of England, do you not think that he would gladby give it all if he thought he could thereby prolong his life? Does anyone think that he would refuse? You ovust consider what you have been given! Would anv of you apree to give me both of your eyes mm exchange for all that g gold, or even if, in exchange, I were to make you king of the world? (Now if T offered such power or wealth for one eye, so many foolish people would readily agree!) Of what use would that kingdom be to you then? You would be known as “the blind king.”
But people ate foolishly saying: “Why does that person own a Rolls Royce and not [? “Why does he live in a palace and I live in a flare’ “Why does he own a business and | have to work for wages?” * hy is that person a queen and T am a subjectr” You must be thankful that Allah Almighty put Her Majesty the Queen on that throne! A wise man observed: “Allah has placed His slaves in the positions He has chosen for them.”
Qne of history's most renowned Sad Shaykhs, and one of the golden Nayshbandi chain of transmission, Abu Yazid al Bistams, Sultan al Arifin, was once passing through a narrow alley with his followers. All of a sudden a small dog appeared at the other end and was alarmed at the emerpence of so many people: then Abu Yazid stepped asicie in order to a let the dog pass, and his followers did the same. Someone said to hint “Oh Aba Yazid, you are a
122 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
distinguished graridshay ckh, and you are walang with your respectable entourage — how can you give way to a dirty dogr” Then Abu Yaxid tephed, and in his answer is to be found a lesson for all humaniqy: “Oh coy sons, when that dog appeared and saw his way blocked by so many formidable figures, he said to me, ‘Oh Shaykh, don’t be proud of being a Shaykh and a man, thinking yourself above me in station. No, you must know that we are cquals in creation, for it is only the Creator ~ yours and mine ~ who dressed me in the form of a dog, and I am grateful and pleased with my Lord. He dressed you in a human form, you didn’t create it yourself, so don’t be proud! When it was addressing me in this mannce I felt ashamed in front of my Lord and knew that it is wrong to look down on any creature, as is Allah who created each one.
Once T was walking with our grandshaykh through the streets and noticed 2 rock bing in the road. Since it is a meriorious action to remove such obstacles from the way, T decided to move it, but being too lazy to bend down and take it away with my hand, I just kicked it aside with my foor. Then Grandshaykh reprimanded me, saying. “Oh Nazim [ffendi, you must never do that again. You mast consider Who brought that rock into existerce, and so maintain for it proper respect.”
Such vision is the vision of the People of Truth, those whe have pericctly grasped the teachings of Isham, and that perfect understanding leads one io respect everyone and everything in existence, And if such ts the level of respect maintained for a dog or a tock, what about out celations with our fellow man? How can envy thiive among teal believers? Tt is impossible. But we are only mnitators; that is why envy spreads through the world community like cancer through a body, and now that cancer is attaching individuals, natians and the whole world.
Know that it ts only this rotten characteristic that is preventing you from attaining the breakthrough, Leave envy and vou may
approach your goal, and the nearness of Angels, prophets and the Ferrends of God.
123 Mystic Footsteps
§ Our Stand Against All Cruelty
Abu Yavid al Bastar, a plant among our standshavkhs, once explained thar Islam, ia its essence, is baile upon two great pillars, that everything we are exhorted to do or to belteve in can be understood as falling into bro broad categories. One pillar is the acceptance of Adlah as our Supreme Lord, aad our striving to both respect His exalted station and recognize our true position as His humble servants. The second pillar is our being mesciful, our showing compassion towards all of God's creatures.
These two catemories encompass every aspect of our lives; and when we evaluate our actions according to the spirit of theac broad principles, we may derive benefit from Islam tn the way it was intended.
Hivervthing we do must be dedicated to our Lord: that is why we initiate all our actions with the iavocation of His atiributes of mercy, as Allah Almighty Himself invoked these atitibutes of metcy when tevealing the frst verses of the holy Quran (and when revealing succeeding chapters), by saying: “In te Name of Allah, Most Mercifl, Most Beneficent and Most Munifcent.” Invoking these ateributes of mercy is the key to success and the acceptability im the Divine Presence of our deeds of mercy towards our fellow creatures. You must always termain aware thar without His divine help you can’t succeed in any attempt at good actions. Indeed, without His support you can move neither hand nor foot.
Now that you have devoted your life and all of vour deeds to yout Lord, invoking aways His atiributes of mercy, you must strive to show pity fo all creatures. And even if you need to kill any
124 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
efeature you must do so as paimlessly as possible. Thar is why there is a very ‘specifically prescribed method of slaughtering animale for food, a way that involves the least suffering for the victim. When we carefully observe that ancient method of slaughtering we incur no guilt, but now people are so careless and so heedless of these divine Instructions and of the suffering of the victim, that they risk being blamed by their Lord for their cruelty.
Iiven wher caterminating harmful insects or antinals, it is necessary to do so in the most painless way possible. And it as absolutely forbidden in Islamic Taw to kill any liviag thing by Fre. Allab Almighty has reserved for Himself the right to buen who has cated such a fate in the fires of hell: He Almighty has estended
that tieht ro no one cise. It is forbidden to burn fields because of all the insects that are burned in the process, and most ensphatically it is forbidden to Bil any buman being by fire. Neither is it permissible in the case of execution (Nea burning at the stake!) nor in the case of war (No ouns, no bombs!) But aow Nations are preparing to burn up the entire world with fire, All modern weapons ate basically ficcarms: that is peohibtted. Mest of all, it is only permissible to wage wat when all attempts at a peaceful settlement have been exhausted, and then only with cold iron spears, swords, etc. Fire is only for cooking and heating.
We must be merciful, Den’t even step on an ant without reasom
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=6028
cticed by all the prophets of all revealed religions from the beginning to the end. To help peop ple purify themselves of destructive charactcristics was the mission of Moses, of jesus and also of the seal of prophets Muhammad, who was ordered by his Lord: “Purify them.” They all worked to this end and never despaired of success, as they had certainty that a treasure remained buried in peaple’s hearts. Look, if you have a precious diamond and then it falls into the toilet, are you going to flush it down with the ditties? World anyone suggest such a thing? Perhaps some proud of weak stomached people might call for a servant to de it, but no one in his right mind would flush it away. Then when you retrieve that diamond you are going to wash it with soap and water thoroughly, pert haps dip it in rose of], and then return it to your finger. No one is then thinking that the diamond is chrty, Diamonds do net absorb the qualities of what they fall inte ~ souls are the same.
In our time many people are searching for common ground upon which followers of all religions may stand, a school of thought that may trace its thread through all true inspiration. This is that common ground: aspire to a deeper understanding through your religion, and understanding thai will open your eves to the presence of the One in all things, that will reveal to you the respectability of all creatures, especially human beings, and enable you to desist from hatmp evildoers even while opposing ther plots. This view will distance us from such a strong identity with labels that evoke fervor or enmity, such as: Amertcan, Russian, German, Turkish, Greek, Armenian, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and draw us closer to the realization that our Lord bas honored us all equally through the universal presence of His divine essence in our hearts. From that vantage point we will see that our Lord has given us through that essence wonderful and unique characteristics, made cach and every one of us a manifestation of His divine attobates, of Himself.
Then it will be clear to us as well, that the veils of ego that cover our essence ate as varied and subtle as the differences in the manifestation of the essence; every one has unique “ego traps”
Fie Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
designed to catch his own unique soul — and to avoid or escape these waps is at the heart of the knowledge of the Way. Only the one who approaches his Lord with sincere piety may discover that way, and that sincerity is what our Lord desites of us, what is of real valuc, as He says in His holy book: “The best (or most honorable) of you ts the most smecerely pious and God fearing.” In other words, our Lord has honered us all, but ecserves His highest honors for those who strive toward Him. ,
The Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was endowed with the widest understanding of the significance of the holy verse: “We have honored all of the Children of Adam’, the understanding of the presence of the One in the many. Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi was given the distinction of declaring these realities most openly to ail Nations, imviting all people unconditionally through an open door, saying:
Come, come, whoever you may he, come again, And be you non believer, Magian or idolater, come again, Ours 8 not a Dargah of despais! Though you may have broken your repentance a hundred dimes, come again.
As Allah Almighty opens His doors to all His servants, so de we aceept our Lord’s servants, We are not fanaties who spend their lives interrogating those who seek to quench them thirst at the fountain. This is the way of our grandshaykh, who declared: “T am an advocate for all the Children of Adam on the Last Day.” When someone arrives at our doorstep, we know whe sent him, so we can’t refuse,
13 Mystic Footsteps
By Love is Lovely
Love is lovely to the Lord and to His servants. Ho you do angthing with love, i will be accepted by your Lard and He will make tt tasteful for you. If yor love your work i will be easy for you to do, if not, it will only be a burden. The Lore says: “Tl arn not in aced of your worship, Lam only seeking the lowe with which itis offered.” Oh servants of the Lord, Oh believers, you must not overlook this point. Dent be like slaves rowing in the galley of a ship ~ if you pray, you must pray with love noe by foree, as if a slave criver were standing over vou with a whip! Allah never appreciates such forced devotions. Now we are treing to perform
all the practices but forgetting to ask for divine love, so we are becoming like mechanical robots, or lke people performing gymnastics,
Allah has asked us to enpape our bodies in His worship and in service to His creation through charity and g good deeds, bui what mast be the fruit of those actions? if the Grait is not love iL is a biter fruit and as rejected. Tf aur worship causes love of God to grow in our hearts, then we must keep to that practice and continue on our way; and if we are keeping the company of a spititual teacher, and fied that through keeping his company love of God is awakening in our hearts, then we must follow him closely,
The love of God is not easy to attain, for we cannet imagine Him, therefore, He Almighty has made the prophets apostles of His love. Allah’s Beloved, the seal of prophets, Mitharamiad, upon whom be peace, was such a pure mednem for the transmission of that love that the hearts of his companions were overwhelmed with
Ti4 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
his love, and were transported to the love of God. He was the representative of Allah, who is the Absolute Truth; therefore, the Prophet declared. “Who bas seen me has seen the Absolute Truth.”
When a delegation of non Muslims came to visit Medina, they were amazed at the love and respect shown to the Prophet by his companions. When they returned home they said to their leader: “We have met many emperors, kings and tribal chiefs, but never have we scen one whose subjects or courtiers treated hum with such sincere love and devotion. How can this ber” They were not able to comprehend the seeret of this love, as their egos caused them to deny Muhammad’s prophethood. The love cf the companions towards the Prophet was such that they used to say to him: “Tam ready to sacrifice for you even my mother and father’, which, for the Arabs, is much stronger than saying: “] would sactifice niyself for you.” And in teality many of them underwent nearly unbearable hardships for the sake of their belief in the mission of the holy Prophet: exile, disinheritance, boycott, torture and death,
Whe represented the boly Prophet after bis life on earth? Those who evoked such love. The Prophet himself described thera: “Those who see them are reminded of God.” He who thirsts for divine love must seek out such people, but in cur time they are mostly hidden, and Islam has come to mean for many people only a set of rules of conduct and forms of worship — an empty shell. Who can derive taste from such a thing? Shall mosques be only gymnasiums? And now the “gym teachers” ate opposing Safi Paths, which are the ways of the heart, ways that lead to the love of God.
Qer Lord has giv en us an instrament that measures not our blood pressure but our “love pressure” and our goal is to make it high! Yes, seek to improve with every new day, for the holy Prophet said: “Whoever does not improve with each day is losing ground.” What dees this mean? It doesn’t mean that if we pray forty takats of prayer today, we would pray forty one tomorrow
Ts Mystic Footsteps
arcl forey two the next day. No, thar is noe required, what is requged, what is intended is that you ll your worship with ever more love of your Lord, so that He will chserve: “My servant has sent Me more love today than yesterday. “One of our grandshaykhs summarized perfectly what 1 am trying to say: “An atonn’s weight of love is worth more than seventy years’ worship without love.”
716 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
® Love is the Mortar of All Prayer
As we were comune to the mosque today | saw a billboard that read: “Everyone Needs Standards.” ] didn’t understand what this coukd mean, but just then the traftic light tarned red, so that we stopped tight in front of the siga. Theu I looked mare closely and noticed that someone bad vandalized the sion, and with a pen had crossed our “Standards™, and written insteack “Love not Standards”, so that the billboard now read: “Everyone needs Love, not Standards.”
If ove is open to wisdom he may take wisdom from every side, and so, Glory to Allah, this bit of vandalism has given me a topic for this lectuee, Yes, that person was right, and this recalls to mind a saying Of the Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, in which he prayed to God:
“Oh Allah, Lash You to prant me the love of You and the love of these whom You love, and grant me, Oh my Lord, the love of thase actions which lead me to the love of You.”
To ask our Lord to oper up our hearts to Lis divine love is the most important request we can make of Him in our pravers, as nothing can take the place of love. The holy Prophet, who is called the Beloved of Allah, whom Allah created with the yeast of love, and whom Allah loved so much He dedicated the creation to him, even this beloved prophet asked Allah for divine love — whrpr Because who tastes of that love asks for more. Whose heart is kke a tock wall not ask rod for this love, but those who have had the shgohtest taste of that love know that m@ is the key to all spicitual progress, to mercy, beanty, wisdorn, to all favors that God may
Wa? Mystic Footsteps
bestow upon His servants. Therefore, the holy Prophet caughe all mankind what is precious in this life.
And thea his prayer continucd: “And grant me the love of those who love You.” The frst level, “love of God”, is the station of the prophets, and you can’t step from the bottom of the stairway to the top in one step. Allah Almighty is the Transcendent Being — you can’t even begin to fathom anything about Him Alenighty -- but it is easy to love those who represent His love among mankind, for itis much easier for us to begin to understand and love human beings ltke ourselves. You will find nothing in their hearts but the love of God: therefore, loving them is a means to approach the divine love.
Lastly, the holy Prophet asks for the love of those actions which lead to the love of God, actions which carry blessings with them, which softer our hearts and weaken our greed and selfishness. Uhese are the actions encouraged by our Lord through the example of His prophets, actions ordered and recommended in Hs holy books, «And, although in the beginning our mner state may not cortespond to these saintly actions, by engaging our limbs in what pleases our Lord, He wall strengthen our hearts thereby.
‘These are the three levels of love for which the holy Prophet prayed, and the wisdom reficeted in this prayer is proof enough of the veracity of Muhammad, peace be upon him. While Believers must abways ask for that love, Satan ts ever at war with such a notion, for he knows that once love has entered the heart of one of his slaves, that slave is lost to him, for he will not be able to snare bim anymore with this world’s pleasures. He who has tasted that love may aot even notice those pleasures, of may tegatd them as only a drop in att ocean.
Onee, as Moses, upon whom be peace, was headed toward Mount Sinai, be passed the cave of a bermut. The hermit emerged and called after Moses: “Oh Moses, please ask our Lord to bestow upon me just an atom’s weight of Tis divine love.” Moses apreed to do this, then continued on his way. Later, when Moses was addressing his Lord, he petitioned on behalf of that hermit. The
1s Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
Lord replied: “2 will grant that servant of My divine love, but not in the amount he requested. | wall only prant ‘him the tiniest fraction of an atom’s weight of that love.”
When Moses returned from the mountaig, he quickly went to sce what was happening to the herrnit, to sec what effect such a uny dose of divine love mught have had on him. When he arrived he was startled to see that where the cave had been a part of the mountain wus blown away, aad in place of that cave there was a deep chasm in the earth. “Oh servant of my Lord’, he cried out, “what has happened, where are you?” Then Moses looked down the chasm and saw the hermit sitting down there as if in another world, completely overwhelmed by that love.
Why did that hermit ask for a portion of divine love? Because he was worshipping but feeling nothing: he felt an emptiness in his heart that could only be filled by that love. Without love, worship is tasteless and useless; therefore, we must be sure to build our worship upon a strong foundation of love and to bake love into the bricks of the building of our devotional practice, This is more than un analogy, for even physical buildings are etther alive with the love of thete builders, of dead from their hard heartedness. Therefore, old buildings often emanate a good feeling because of the love and goodness of those who built them. This is especially true of old mosques and churches, for their original congregations built them for the sake of their Lorel’s love and tn an attitude of sincere picty. There is often a very strong fechng of the Divine Presence in old mosques, but have you ever felt such an atmosphere in the new showpiece — of ~ sterile ~ architecture ~ mosques? No, it is impossible: you may feel only an inner contraction inside of such conerete hills. They have left the love out of the mortar: the most important ingredient is missing,
Hg Mystic Footsteps
xy He Who is Without Shoes, took at the One Without Feet!
Of all of our ego’s characteristics, without a doubt envy is the worst, for an envious person, even if he were in paradise would feel himself to be i hell. Aud the irony of this characteristic is, that the mote enviable positions people seem to attain in life, the more severely afflicted with envy they themselves become. Therefore, envy is most rampant among the rich and privileged who are disturbed by the fact that others may be even richer or of higher tank than themselves, and wish to be the only ones to possess everything, Common ‘people do not envy each other as much as the upper classes do,
‘Yes, it is mom that those who are more educated, who claim to have a beteer understanding than the masses should be blind to the harm they are inflicting upon themselves, oblivious to the fire that is rapidly burning them up. If they are so intelligent they should tealize that thetr Lord brings people into this hfe and sets them in different conditions, and that despite the discrepancy in their outward ranks, all have been honored by their Lord and bestowed with dignity. Whoever bas been favored with even the sightest degree of wisdom naast know dis and so he free of envy. God's holy prophets and their Isheritors, the Friends of God, have always reminded mankind of this fact: each and every one of them has been honored by being created as a human being, and need envy no one, Our Lord, in the holy Quran, encourages us to pot only understand this pot, but to declare it openly, when He Almighty says:
”
“(Ob people), proclaim your Lord's favers ante you.
rao Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
We were nothing and our Lord brought us into &: there be any favor greater than this? And our Lord informs us that ull things in existence ate busy glorifying their Lord, even atoms. «Atoms, too, have life, because without life it is impossthle to be tn existence. Perhaps we can say that the atern’s life ig of a very different kind from: our own, but they are also perfect m their own right and are praising thetr Lord for the grant of that perfection.
stence; car
Those who have attained cerkunty of faith, who have a light shining in their hearts, may perceive even manimate objects glorifying their Lord. One of the miracles bestowed upon our Prophet Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was that, one day be held up a handful of pebbles and all those present were made to hear those pebbles glorifying their Lord. All of creation participates in this glorification: rocks, earth, water, plants, trees, leaves, flowers, fish, birds, ants, bees roam Allah’s spacious carth, swim in His seas, Oy in His skies, or to past be » part of that creation ~ all are grateful, except for dissatisfied mankind. The holy Quran states:
“Eovervibing fn existence gortfier Allah, you just don't understand there porifcation”. and also:
“Vast thon nef seen hes to God bow all whe are it the heavens and all whe are in the earth, the sun and the moon, the shart and the prouittadas, the frees and the beasts, and many of mankind? tnd mary mertt the ebasiisement:
and mhom Gad abases, there is rane to ener him, God dees mbhatsoaver Ede mall
Nouee that “some of mankind” is the only exception to the rule. This is because all of creation is obedient to Allah by nature, and only mankind has been presented with the option ta praise the Lord and to find innet peace ot to be ungrateful and live in the hell fires of discontent and envy. So what about you, oh ungrateful mankind? You may own a Rolls Royce and Hve in a splendid palace, bue if you are ungrateful you are beneath the level of manmiate objects. Aud [ am sorry ta say that in our times widespread envy is destroying all humanity.
Mystic Footsteps
Nowadays, whoever is obliged to ride a bus is surely envious of car owners: and hew should it not be so with spiritual values in such a state of eclipse? A medieval Persian Sufi poet, Shaykh Sa‘adi Shirazi, wrote about a person. who was so poor he was not able to afford a pair of shoes. This person used to complain incessanily about his condition, but the more he complained the less inclined anyone was to buy him shoes. One day he came across a person who had no legs, and this sight caused him to repent, saying: “Oh my Lord, thank you for giving me legs with which to walk!” Yes, we must consider the blessings we have been piven.
The othee day J visited a man who is waiting to die of a terminal disease, a disease that does not leave him either to eat or deink. Tf that person possessed all the pold contained in the Bank of England, do you not think that he would gladby give it all if he thought he could thereby prolong his life? Does anyone think that he would refuse? You ovust consider what you have been given! Would anv of you apree to give me both of your eyes mm exchange for all that g gold, or even if, in exchange, I were to make you king of the world? (Now if T offered such power or wealth for one eye, so many foolish people would readily agree!) Of what use would that kingdom be to you then? You would be known as “the blind king.”
But people ate foolishly saying: “Why does that person own a Rolls Royce and not [? “Why does he live in a palace and I live in a flare’ “Why does he own a business and | have to work for wages?” * hy is that person a queen and T am a subjectr” You must be thankful that Allah Almighty put Her Majesty the Queen on that throne! A wise man observed: “Allah has placed His slaves in the positions He has chosen for them.”
Qne of history's most renowned Sad Shaykhs, and one of the golden Nayshbandi chain of transmission, Abu Yazid al Bistams, Sultan al Arifin, was once passing through a narrow alley with his followers. All of a sudden a small dog appeared at the other end and was alarmed at the emerpence of so many people: then Abu Yazid stepped asicie in order to a let the dog pass, and his followers did the same. Someone said to hint “Oh Aba Yazid, you are a
122 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
distinguished graridshay ckh, and you are walang with your respectable entourage — how can you give way to a dirty dogr” Then Abu Yaxid tephed, and in his answer is to be found a lesson for all humaniqy: “Oh coy sons, when that dog appeared and saw his way blocked by so many formidable figures, he said to me, ‘Oh Shaykh, don’t be proud of being a Shaykh and a man, thinking yourself above me in station. No, you must know that we are cquals in creation, for it is only the Creator ~ yours and mine ~ who dressed me in the form of a dog, and I am grateful and pleased with my Lord. He dressed you in a human form, you didn’t create it yourself, so don’t be proud! When it was addressing me in this mannce I felt ashamed in front of my Lord and knew that it is wrong to look down on any creature, as is Allah who created each one.
Once T was walking with our grandshaykh through the streets and noticed 2 rock bing in the road. Since it is a meriorious action to remove such obstacles from the way, T decided to move it, but being too lazy to bend down and take it away with my hand, I just kicked it aside with my foor. Then Grandshaykh reprimanded me, saying. “Oh Nazim [ffendi, you must never do that again. You mast consider Who brought that rock into existerce, and so maintain for it proper respect.”
Such vision is the vision of the People of Truth, those whe have pericctly grasped the teachings of Isham, and that perfect understanding leads one io respect everyone and everything in existence, And if such ts the level of respect maintained for a dog or a tock, what about out celations with our fellow man? How can envy thiive among teal believers? Tt is impossible. But we are only mnitators; that is why envy spreads through the world community like cancer through a body, and now that cancer is attaching individuals, natians and the whole world.
Know that it ts only this rotten characteristic that is preventing you from attaining the breakthrough, Leave envy and vou may
approach your goal, and the nearness of Angels, prophets and the Ferrends of God.
123 Mystic Footsteps
§ Our Stand Against All Cruelty
Abu Yavid al Bastar, a plant among our standshavkhs, once explained thar Islam, ia its essence, is baile upon two great pillars, that everything we are exhorted to do or to belteve in can be understood as falling into bro broad categories. One pillar is the acceptance of Adlah as our Supreme Lord, aad our striving to both respect His exalted station and recognize our true position as His humble servants. The second pillar is our being mesciful, our showing compassion towards all of God's creatures.
These two catemories encompass every aspect of our lives; and when we evaluate our actions according to the spirit of theac broad principles, we may derive benefit from Islam tn the way it was intended.
Hivervthing we do must be dedicated to our Lord: that is why we initiate all our actions with the iavocation of His atiributes of mercy, as Allah Almighty Himself invoked these atitibutes of metcy when tevealing the frst verses of the holy Quran (and when revealing succeeding chapters), by saying: “In te Name of Allah, Most Mercifl, Most Beneficent and Most Munifcent.” Invoking these ateributes of mercy is the key to success and the acceptability im the Divine Presence of our deeds of mercy towards our fellow creatures. You must always termain aware thar without His divine help you can’t succeed in any attempt at good actions. Indeed, without His support you can move neither hand nor foot.
Now that you have devoted your life and all of vour deeds to yout Lord, invoking aways His atiributes of mercy, you must strive to show pity fo all creatures. And even if you need to kill any
124 Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Haqqani
efeature you must do so as paimlessly as possible. Thar is why there is a very ‘specifically prescribed method of slaughtering animale for food, a way that involves the least suffering for the victim. When we carefully observe that ancient method of slaughtering we incur no guilt, but now people are so careless and so heedless of these divine Instructions and of the suffering of the victim, that they risk being blamed by their Lord for their cruelty.
Iiven wher caterminating harmful insects or antinals, it is necessary to do so in the most painless way possible. And it as absolutely forbidden in Islamic Taw to kill any liviag thing by Fre. Allab Almighty has reserved for Himself the right to buen who has cated such a fate in the fires of hell: He Almighty has estended
that tieht ro no one cise. It is forbidden to burn fields because of all the insects that are burned in the process, and most ensphatically it is forbidden to Bil any buman being by fire. Neither is it permissible in the case of execution (Nea burning at the stake!) nor in the case of war (No ouns, no bombs!) But aow Nations are preparing to burn up the entire world with fire, All modern weapons ate basically ficcarms: that is peohibtted. Mest of all, it is only permissible to wage wat when all attempts at a peaceful settlement have been exhausted, and then only with cold iron spears, swords, etc. Fire is only for cooking and heating.
We must be merciful, Den’t even step on an ant without reasom
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=6028