In the Mystic Footsteps of Saints, VOLUME 2 (Shaykh Nazim, 115 pages, 2/7)
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for me a high holy day (Eid). I am ready and waiting anxiously for that transference, listening for that call that I may heed it. But
who is not on that level, who believes in nothing but this life, every day presses down on him like a heavy weight.
Have you heard of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the world famous Master of the order of the “whirling dervishes”, the Mevlevis? He made a will instructing people not to weep or lament at the time of his leaving this life. He said that that night would be his “wedding night”, and that his joy upon that event would be greater than that of a groom being led into the bridal chamber to be alone with his bride. Therefore, in accordance with his wishes they made a wedding procession of his funeral: with tambourines and pipes he was taken to the grave.
We are now, all of us, like fish who have been caught and hauled out of the sea. Look at the fish jumping about: you may think they are dancing, but no, they are slowly dying. If those fish are thrown back into the ocean in time they will be content, not now. I am waiting for that day of relief from the difficulties of this life, the day of immersion in endless Mercy Oceans, Beauty Oceans, Favor Oceans, Knowledge Oceans in the Divine Presence. That is my hope, to the fulfillment of which every day brings me a step closer, and so I am more joyful with each passing day, I am advising you, as my sons and daughters, how to be happy during this life and throughout eternity.
The Cavemen
Your attendance of such a meeting as this one is a sign that something inside of you is stirring. Among millions of people you are but a handful, but considering the conditions under which we are now living we are happy that even such a few distinguished people may seek to awaken their inner realities.
We are like people imprisoned in a dark mountain cave—we are seeking a way out. Therefore, we are not just sitting and feeling sorry for ourselves, but are groping towards the places where the air currents lead us, to see if, by moving a rock or two, we can at least let in some sunshine. But for blind people it is all the same: illumination and darkness—and most of the people living now are blind in their hearts.
And so, most people are making do with their lives in the cave, and it never even occurs to them that such a thing called “light” may exist, nor can they imagine such a thing or what it may be like. But those whose hearts’ eyes are ready to be opened feel the longing to see. They are certain that there is a realm of light, and so they are doing what they can to emerge from the cave.
Essential Practices for Beginners
It is the outstanding attribute of all prophets and saints to exhibit the utmost tolerance and forbearance in calling their peoples to their Lord’s guidance. It was the duty of the prophets, Allah’s representatives among mankind, to invite people to eternal felicity by a method suited to their temperament, a method which would find acceptance with all except those completely hard of heart. A main pillar of these methods was extreme patience and not looking after people’s shortcomings.
But along the course of history, divine wisdom has constantly lightened the load of responsibilities; a continual increase in tolerance as mankind’s weakness and inconstancy grew throughout the ages, culminating in the people of our time who, in general, are barely able to admit the existence of God, what to speak of worshipping Him.
The law revealed to Moses was too severe for the people at the time of Jesus Christ, therefore, God lightened the load and relaxed the discipline; and the law observed by Jesus was too difficult for the people living at the time of Muhammad and following generations, peace be upon all the prophets of Allah. But divine religion along the course of history has always contained the element of tolerance, and every prophet has been tolerant. Divine Tolerance Oceans are with our Lord, and the tolerance of anyone else is confined; therefore, all religions, governing not only man’s relation to God but also man’s relation to his fellow man, contain not only tolerance, but also limits to tolerance.
The Lord’s tolerance and leniency with His servants is endless; otherwise, how would the world be allowed to continue? Were it not for our Lord’s utmost
indulgence, He would instantly punish the whole human race for what goes on among us, but He is indulgent; and among all prophets and all religions, the last and Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, peace be upon him, represents his Lord’s attribute of forbearance most perfectly. The Last Prophet was sent with the most liberal of the divinely revealed laws, a law which is as wide as the distance between East and West.
When I say that the Islamic Law is “liberal”, I do not, of course, mean liberal in the sense that it has come to be known nowadays, meaning to tolerate all evil and degeneracy, no! What I mean by a liberal method is that within it one can find endless possibilities for doing good, for developing one’s humanity along lines that are pleasing to the Lord, not endless possibilities for evil. There is unrestricted space in Islam for healthy human development, not just a very narrow path; but space to work towards evil ends cannot be found, and we don’t accept tolerance of actions that are harmful to people as being really liberal.
We must make this distinction clear. Nothing that is forbidden in the liberal system of Islam is beneficial for mankind. Some people may make claims to the contrary, but sooner or later they will have to admit that they are at fault, as science and medicine eventually confirm that these things are harmful to people’s health, character or productivity. What then is the essence of Islamic tolerance? Islamic teaching guides people, according to their own capacity, to an awakening of the conscience, the most valuable faculty of man, which, once awakened, will prevent him from falling into ways harmful to himself and others.
The sincere seeker asking guidance in Islam will be led to understand the saying of the Holy Prophet, “Oh people, do your best and harm no one.” That is the
utmost tolerance as it makes people able to hear the inner voice of the heart that always inspires to the best of ways.
To lead people to an awakening of the conscience is the only effective way of bringing them to a good end of their lives, to prevent them from wasting their lives in activities that weigh them down and degrade them to the level of animals. If a religion fails to establish man’s contact with his own conscience, no amount of prohibition, no amount of courts and judges will be able to keep a population from evil.
Therefore, the main principle of Islam is, There is no compulsion in religion. (Qur’an, Surah 2, Ayat 257) Faith is a voluntary action, and declaration of faith under compulsion is not valid. No one likes to be told, “Do this” or “Don’t do that”: the ego always rebels when given such direct orders. The object of divine guidance is not, of course, to make people rebel, but to make it easy for them to follow. Therefore, especially with matters of interest to the ego (that hit close to the ego’s desires), prohibition was declared gradually and not directly. For example, the prohibition of wines was not revealed all at once, rather the use of spirits was more and more discouraged.
When the prohibition came more specifically, it came not in the form of a prohibition at all, but in the form of a question: “Will you not desist?” Now the harm of drinking to one’s health and character is clear and has been duly established by science and medicine; no one may dispute this. But Allah Almighty, when addressing mankind on this subject says, in His endless wisdom: “You must stand informed of the harmful effects of drinking, and leave it by means of your will power. That gives you more honor.”
Therefore, who believes in the Lord and in the prophets of the Lord, makes himself honorable in the sight of his Lord and in the sight of His prophet by preparing himself to follow goodness and abandon evil. This ability to distinguish is the greatest divine gift to man. So why are you awaiting orders when you yourself can know what you must do? It is as if your Lord says to you, “I have given you existence in this universe, now use it in the best of ways.” Who can find a school of thought, a sect or religion with such wide ranging vision?
During the lifetime of our grandshaykh, Shaykh Abdullah Ad Daghistani Sultan Al Awliya, may Allah Almighty sanctify his blessed soul, a number of Western people visited him in Damascus. An elderly lady from New Zealand who had met our grandshaykh wrote a letter to her friend, also an old lady of about eighty years, “Oh my sister, I have attained my life’s goal. I have arrived at my destination in this life and am ready to step into the life of the hereafter without sorrow. If you wish to find the goal of your life and attain inner peace to carry you into the hereafter, you must visit a person named Shaykh Abdullah Ad Daghistani who lives on Mount Qasiyun in Damascus. You must look for his servant, Shaykh Nazim, and he will lead you to him. I have met them, taken my trust and reached my goal. I hope that you will visit them also, so that you may be among the fortunate few who reach their destination.”
This lady had received her friend’s letter and had traveled to Damascus. When she found me she began to weep. I took her to our grandshaykh and she wept some more and kissed his hands. Then she wept some more and kissed his hands. Then Grandshaykh bade her be seated and addressed her, while I translated for him. She continued to weep the whole time he spoke to her; when it was time for prayer and we stood up to pray, she prayed
with us of her own accord—hat, shoes and all. It was a great blessing for her to have prayed with our grandshaykh.
The next morning Grandshaykh called her in for breakfast, and after the meal we sat for an association. What Grandshaykh said on that occasion is very important, and I have been ordered to relate it to you now, as an excellent instruction for our brothers and sisters on how to treat newcomers. Particularly our brothers who were raised as Muslims in Muslim countries must heed this lesson if they propose to teach Western people about Islam.
Grandshaykh ordered me to tell her the following: “Oh Nazim Effendi, last night in the private assembly of the Holy Prophet I asked him, peace be upon him, ‘Oh Prophet of Allah, this elderly woman from your nation has come to me and entered Islam. What shall I instruct her to do, what shall I teach her, being that she is so old and cannot remain here with us a long time?’
“The Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, replied: ‘Instruct her and all others from my nation who may embrace the faith but may not perhaps, be able to alter their situations so easily, on the following three points: firstly, let them repeat the Kalimat ash Shahada (the profession of faith) three times a day, saying: ‘Oh my Lord, I accept Thee alone as God, and I accept Muhammad as Your Prophet and Representative.’ The second point is for them to learn the five prayer periods: dawn, noon, afternoon, evening and night; and to give their respects to their Lord in those appointed times by prostrating themselves to the ground once, facing any direction, and saying, ‘Subhanallah’ (glorified be God Almighty). And if it is too difficult for them to learn this phrase it is sufficient to only prostrate.
That is enough for this lady and for others in similar situations. This practice is a seed being planted in her heart, and as it sprouts and grows she may be inspired to learn more of the ritual prayer, but in the beginning it is enough for her just to prostrate. What could be simpler and easier: no directional orientation, no ablution, no recitation.
Thirdly, she and all new Muslims should keep love in their hearts towards the community of Muslims and not allow themselves to hate them, in spite of their bad actions and characteristics. Tell them to overlook the shortcomings of the people and peoples of my nation and try to love them despite their pathetic state. Even if Muslims do bad actions under the banner of Islam, Islam is always above this, innocent of the blame. To try and use the name of Islam to attain one’s selfish ends is the greatest sin, and Islam disclaims responsibility for such people’.”
These are the three points our grandshaykh related from his meeting with the Holy Prophet, and these conditions are so wide that thousands and thousands of people may enter Islam and fulfill them, becoming sincere servants of the Lord.
Now, no doubt, many Muslims who are reading this will say, “What, shall we believe that the Holy Prophet has declared it to be so easy to become Allah’s obedient servant, when our Islamic Law spells out so many different types of obligatory worship and prohibitions which we are meticulously observing?”
Oh Muslims! Do not imagine that Allah Almighty is waiting for your prayers, your fasting, your covering your heads or your dressing in Islamic clothes! No! Allah Almighty is looking to your hearts to see if they contain an atom’s weight of sincerity, and only if He finds that
sincerity does He accept anything from you! None of your actions are, of themselves, pleasing to your Lord if they are not motivated by sincere intentions.
The heart of that old woman who came to Damascus may have been full of sincerity, so that her performance of these simple devotions may have been more acceptable in the Divine Presence than my prayers. Yes, that is all there is to it and it is enough for you to now know how to relay the message of servanthood of Allah Almighty to Western people.
We are seeking servanthood in the Divine Presence, nothing else, and we are trying to communicate some details of that servanthood in the Divine Presence to everyone. When we are praying we are not going to let our prayer be a cause of pride and conceit. We are not looking down on people. You must try only to keep your servanthood, nothing else, and this is the latest message from our Prophet on what is the least degree of worship to attain that goal.
Look, a king may have thousands of subjects in his employ. Each of the king’s servants has a distinct rank and a distinct duty to perform. The king will be pleased with the servant who performs the duty that has been assigned him well, as pleased with the common infantryman as with a Field Marshall. That Field Marshall has an awesome responsibility towards his king, and he will have attained that rank, presumably, because he is qualified for it, and will be expected to live up to his immense responsibilities. But the foot soldier is not expected to perform the duties of a Field Marshall; his duties are simpler, but they are also important, and doing them well will earn him the good pleasure of the king.
And so, Allah Almighty has called all mankind to His service, everyone according to his rank. According to her circumstances that elderly woman was given a light load, and if she carried it well she will be rewarded. If you are carrying more than that you must persevere in carrying your appointed burden and not throw it off halfway towards your goal—then you may attain your Lord’s pleasure.
And you should know also that a Field Marshall should not be proud because of his position, glorying in the edge that he has over those who have been assigned lower ranks. He must be thankful to his king who has honored him with such responsibilities, and must strive to fulfill that trust. It is not seemly for him to boast and gloat, saying, “Look at me, I am a Field Marshall.”
Oh foolish mankind, given over to false pride, know that this universe is full of the servants of the Almighty. What do your poor devotions amount to? Nothing! Now very many of our Muslim brothers from Islamic countries who have been raised on the strict observances of Islam look at themselves approvingly and say, “MashaAllah, we are as we should be or nearly so”, and now, perhaps, their way of seeing themselves and others, some of their conceit and complacency, as well as their false self opinion, is spreading like a contagious disease to some of our new Muslim brothers from Western countries, who have begun to observe the prescribes of the divine law.
Beg your Lord to free you of such vain self opinion, for it is the self opinion of Satan. All the prophets have said, “Glory to You, I have been a wrongdoer.” Seek earnestly the honor of being a sincere servant of your Lord in humility and lowliness.
Wa min Allah at Taufiq.
Fitting Spiritual Realities into Block Heads
Nowadays you cannot find two people whose hearts are in accord. In every nation and within every community one may observe mounting civil strife and discord. This is because Allah Almighty is punishing the people of this time by setting them loose on each other.
Because of this divine punishment one may find all nations divided into two main groups—even the Jewish people who are generally known to be strongly united and close knit are divided. Muslims nowadays are also divided: one party holds to traditional Islamic beliefs, following in the way of the prophets and saints, while the other party is trying to negate all spiritual power, explaining away all miraculous occurrences as resulting from material causes, as being easily explicable events that normal reason can accept and the mind understand. This second party tries to bring the sun down onto the earth, and the moon to the ground: it tries to make heavenly events mundane.
Instead of trying to free the mind from its normal definitions and limitations so that it may attain to a more transcendent realm, these people try to fit spiritual realities into their blockheads. When they try to stuff the endless realities of Islam into such a cube, they will get something totally at variance with the original heavenly guidance, as Islam is a religion of heavenly origin and not a system produced by man’s thought processes.
Since the nineteenth century this party has been gaining a wider following as the general level of faith, piety and knowledge of the Muslims has gone down, making them vulnerable to faulted arguments, and also
more in love than ever before with material possessions while becoming less and less interested in the spiritual essence of Islam. The people of that party are dry and thickheaded—their heads are like rocks—and because of them the state of the Muslims becomes more and more pathetic.
Islam is always strong, never weak: it is like gold that may pass through centuries, through thousands of years without corroding or losing its value, but become even more valuable. Don’t think that these foolish people in their pitiable state are the possessors of that fine gold, no! They are bankrupt because they have lost that treasure; but the treasure is not really lost, it is found in the hearts of true believers.
Wa min Allah at Taufiq.
The “Personality” of Allah
Question: How can we conceive of God as a “person” whom we can address in a way similar to that of one person addressing another, when, on the other hand, Islam confirms the transcendence of Allah Almighty: that He is beyond definition or description, that He is Everything, and always greater than His creation? In the Judeo Christian Islamic tradition, while Allah is Supreme and Transcendent, yet, somehow, He is still a “person” in some way, while in most Eastern religions the Absolute is conceived of more abstractly, in parables, or as Pure Light, a concept which is also present in Islam, as He is known as “an Nur the Light”. Can you help me to understand something of these matters more clearly?
The Shaykh: The existence of our Lord, Allah Almighty, is Absolute, Real, Eternal Existence, while the existence of all appearances is relative: they may be or not be according to their Lord’s will. You are inquiring about the Eternal Personality and Existence of Allah Almighty, but that knowledge is beyond your reach. How can our limited minds, our limited knowledge, limited personalities, encompass anything of the Personality, The One that is beyond the limits of our minds? Now you have asked a detailed question, and are trying to grapple with such matters with your mind; but all that you can know with your mind is He is in existence, that His Existence is revealed through His divine attributes, that His divine attributes are known through His holy names, and that His holy names appear in this world through His works or deeds.
Our relationship with our Lord Almighty is the relationship of Lord to servant and servant to Lord. The
Lord is never going to be like His servant and the servant never like the Lord, and this distinction is never going to be blurred or diminished in the slightest no matter how close the servant may draw or how dear he is to his Lord.
We know that He Almighty is “The Light”, but don’t think that you can describe Him as “Light” (‘Pure Light’ or ‘White Light’), as ‘The Light’ is only one of His holy names, which indicated just one of His holy attributes from among endless names and attributes. Indeed, His deeds and His creatures are endless; so don’t imagine that you can describe Him so simply. To say that Allah is Light is like saying, “Man is eye” or “Man is foot”. If you describe man as being the total sum of all his organs and limbs you have still not described him fully, so what of describing him as being just one single organ? That would be foolishness.
Allah Almighty makes Himself known to His creatures through His divine attributes, as He has implanted His attributes in mankind. The key to the knowledge God made available to man is embedded in our divine personality. Specifically, He Almighty has implanted in each person one of His divine attributes, which is his key to opening his relationship with his Lord. Everyone has such a key attribute in himself, and it differs from person to person. Through your particular divine attribute you may be able to address your Lord Almighty, to be with your Lord Almighty—your whole relationship develops through that Attribute.
Therefore, whoever seeks to approach his Lord must know the Attribute in himself that is the key. Until we have that key in hand we may be in need of an intercessor to help us perceive what our Lord desires of us, but once you have learned about that Attribute you may open yourself up and clearly see who is in you: who is out of you, who is with you and with whom you are.
Now, if you can take that key by following any spiritual tradition, then take it, but if you are not on the way to receiving it you are wasting your life. Try as many ways as you like, then, if you still feel that your key is out of hand, and if you are still seeking it, come—we have some methods, methods coming to us from the Holy Prophet to teach people how to take their keys. Then you may understand who He is and who you are. Otherwise you may ponder and perform practices, and all of it will be in vain.
Don’t deceive yourself with empty titles, no; empty titles will never give you anything. You must only ask, “Where is the key that opens me?” Then you may see you in yourself.
We are practicing something here. Perhaps I am not addressing you very often, putting you to work, instead, at tasks of physical labor; it doesn’t matter, the important thing is that you are with us so that you may learn the whereabouts of your key. A Shaykh who is appointed by the Holy Prophet may give you your key, and all that you are doing here is training for that.
Don’t imagine that you will attain this opening by reading books. You must not imagine that everything can be encompassed by the mind. The mind is bound to earth, but our way is the way of the soul’s understanding. The mind refuses but the he
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for me a high holy day (Eid). I am ready and waiting anxiously for that transference, listening for that call that I may heed it. But
who is not on that level, who believes in nothing but this life, every day presses down on him like a heavy weight.
Have you heard of Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi, the world famous Master of the order of the “whirling dervishes”, the Mevlevis? He made a will instructing people not to weep or lament at the time of his leaving this life. He said that that night would be his “wedding night”, and that his joy upon that event would be greater than that of a groom being led into the bridal chamber to be alone with his bride. Therefore, in accordance with his wishes they made a wedding procession of his funeral: with tambourines and pipes he was taken to the grave.
We are now, all of us, like fish who have been caught and hauled out of the sea. Look at the fish jumping about: you may think they are dancing, but no, they are slowly dying. If those fish are thrown back into the ocean in time they will be content, not now. I am waiting for that day of relief from the difficulties of this life, the day of immersion in endless Mercy Oceans, Beauty Oceans, Favor Oceans, Knowledge Oceans in the Divine Presence. That is my hope, to the fulfillment of which every day brings me a step closer, and so I am more joyful with each passing day, I am advising you, as my sons and daughters, how to be happy during this life and throughout eternity.
The Cavemen
Your attendance of such a meeting as this one is a sign that something inside of you is stirring. Among millions of people you are but a handful, but considering the conditions under which we are now living we are happy that even such a few distinguished people may seek to awaken their inner realities.
We are like people imprisoned in a dark mountain cave—we are seeking a way out. Therefore, we are not just sitting and feeling sorry for ourselves, but are groping towards the places where the air currents lead us, to see if, by moving a rock or two, we can at least let in some sunshine. But for blind people it is all the same: illumination and darkness—and most of the people living now are blind in their hearts.
And so, most people are making do with their lives in the cave, and it never even occurs to them that such a thing called “light” may exist, nor can they imagine such a thing or what it may be like. But those whose hearts’ eyes are ready to be opened feel the longing to see. They are certain that there is a realm of light, and so they are doing what they can to emerge from the cave.
Essential Practices for Beginners
It is the outstanding attribute of all prophets and saints to exhibit the utmost tolerance and forbearance in calling their peoples to their Lord’s guidance. It was the duty of the prophets, Allah’s representatives among mankind, to invite people to eternal felicity by a method suited to their temperament, a method which would find acceptance with all except those completely hard of heart. A main pillar of these methods was extreme patience and not looking after people’s shortcomings.
But along the course of history, divine wisdom has constantly lightened the load of responsibilities; a continual increase in tolerance as mankind’s weakness and inconstancy grew throughout the ages, culminating in the people of our time who, in general, are barely able to admit the existence of God, what to speak of worshipping Him.
The law revealed to Moses was too severe for the people at the time of Jesus Christ, therefore, God lightened the load and relaxed the discipline; and the law observed by Jesus was too difficult for the people living at the time of Muhammad and following generations, peace be upon all the prophets of Allah. But divine religion along the course of history has always contained the element of tolerance, and every prophet has been tolerant. Divine Tolerance Oceans are with our Lord, and the tolerance of anyone else is confined; therefore, all religions, governing not only man’s relation to God but also man’s relation to his fellow man, contain not only tolerance, but also limits to tolerance.
The Lord’s tolerance and leniency with His servants is endless; otherwise, how would the world be allowed to continue? Were it not for our Lord’s utmost
indulgence, He would instantly punish the whole human race for what goes on among us, but He is indulgent; and among all prophets and all religions, the last and Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, peace be upon him, represents his Lord’s attribute of forbearance most perfectly. The Last Prophet was sent with the most liberal of the divinely revealed laws, a law which is as wide as the distance between East and West.
When I say that the Islamic Law is “liberal”, I do not, of course, mean liberal in the sense that it has come to be known nowadays, meaning to tolerate all evil and degeneracy, no! What I mean by a liberal method is that within it one can find endless possibilities for doing good, for developing one’s humanity along lines that are pleasing to the Lord, not endless possibilities for evil. There is unrestricted space in Islam for healthy human development, not just a very narrow path; but space to work towards evil ends cannot be found, and we don’t accept tolerance of actions that are harmful to people as being really liberal.
We must make this distinction clear. Nothing that is forbidden in the liberal system of Islam is beneficial for mankind. Some people may make claims to the contrary, but sooner or later they will have to admit that they are at fault, as science and medicine eventually confirm that these things are harmful to people’s health, character or productivity. What then is the essence of Islamic tolerance? Islamic teaching guides people, according to their own capacity, to an awakening of the conscience, the most valuable faculty of man, which, once awakened, will prevent him from falling into ways harmful to himself and others.
The sincere seeker asking guidance in Islam will be led to understand the saying of the Holy Prophet, “Oh people, do your best and harm no one.” That is the
utmost tolerance as it makes people able to hear the inner voice of the heart that always inspires to the best of ways.
To lead people to an awakening of the conscience is the only effective way of bringing them to a good end of their lives, to prevent them from wasting their lives in activities that weigh them down and degrade them to the level of animals. If a religion fails to establish man’s contact with his own conscience, no amount of prohibition, no amount of courts and judges will be able to keep a population from evil.
Therefore, the main principle of Islam is, There is no compulsion in religion. (Qur’an, Surah 2, Ayat 257) Faith is a voluntary action, and declaration of faith under compulsion is not valid. No one likes to be told, “Do this” or “Don’t do that”: the ego always rebels when given such direct orders. The object of divine guidance is not, of course, to make people rebel, but to make it easy for them to follow. Therefore, especially with matters of interest to the ego (that hit close to the ego’s desires), prohibition was declared gradually and not directly. For example, the prohibition of wines was not revealed all at once, rather the use of spirits was more and more discouraged.
When the prohibition came more specifically, it came not in the form of a prohibition at all, but in the form of a question: “Will you not desist?” Now the harm of drinking to one’s health and character is clear and has been duly established by science and medicine; no one may dispute this. But Allah Almighty, when addressing mankind on this subject says, in His endless wisdom: “You must stand informed of the harmful effects of drinking, and leave it by means of your will power. That gives you more honor.”
Therefore, who believes in the Lord and in the prophets of the Lord, makes himself honorable in the sight of his Lord and in the sight of His prophet by preparing himself to follow goodness and abandon evil. This ability to distinguish is the greatest divine gift to man. So why are you awaiting orders when you yourself can know what you must do? It is as if your Lord says to you, “I have given you existence in this universe, now use it in the best of ways.” Who can find a school of thought, a sect or religion with such wide ranging vision?
During the lifetime of our grandshaykh, Shaykh Abdullah Ad Daghistani Sultan Al Awliya, may Allah Almighty sanctify his blessed soul, a number of Western people visited him in Damascus. An elderly lady from New Zealand who had met our grandshaykh wrote a letter to her friend, also an old lady of about eighty years, “Oh my sister, I have attained my life’s goal. I have arrived at my destination in this life and am ready to step into the life of the hereafter without sorrow. If you wish to find the goal of your life and attain inner peace to carry you into the hereafter, you must visit a person named Shaykh Abdullah Ad Daghistani who lives on Mount Qasiyun in Damascus. You must look for his servant, Shaykh Nazim, and he will lead you to him. I have met them, taken my trust and reached my goal. I hope that you will visit them also, so that you may be among the fortunate few who reach their destination.”
This lady had received her friend’s letter and had traveled to Damascus. When she found me she began to weep. I took her to our grandshaykh and she wept some more and kissed his hands. Then she wept some more and kissed his hands. Then Grandshaykh bade her be seated and addressed her, while I translated for him. She continued to weep the whole time he spoke to her; when it was time for prayer and we stood up to pray, she prayed
with us of her own accord—hat, shoes and all. It was a great blessing for her to have prayed with our grandshaykh.
The next morning Grandshaykh called her in for breakfast, and after the meal we sat for an association. What Grandshaykh said on that occasion is very important, and I have been ordered to relate it to you now, as an excellent instruction for our brothers and sisters on how to treat newcomers. Particularly our brothers who were raised as Muslims in Muslim countries must heed this lesson if they propose to teach Western people about Islam.
Grandshaykh ordered me to tell her the following: “Oh Nazim Effendi, last night in the private assembly of the Holy Prophet I asked him, peace be upon him, ‘Oh Prophet of Allah, this elderly woman from your nation has come to me and entered Islam. What shall I instruct her to do, what shall I teach her, being that she is so old and cannot remain here with us a long time?’
“The Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, replied: ‘Instruct her and all others from my nation who may embrace the faith but may not perhaps, be able to alter their situations so easily, on the following three points: firstly, let them repeat the Kalimat ash Shahada (the profession of faith) three times a day, saying: ‘Oh my Lord, I accept Thee alone as God, and I accept Muhammad as Your Prophet and Representative.’ The second point is for them to learn the five prayer periods: dawn, noon, afternoon, evening and night; and to give their respects to their Lord in those appointed times by prostrating themselves to the ground once, facing any direction, and saying, ‘Subhanallah’ (glorified be God Almighty). And if it is too difficult for them to learn this phrase it is sufficient to only prostrate.
That is enough for this lady and for others in similar situations. This practice is a seed being planted in her heart, and as it sprouts and grows she may be inspired to learn more of the ritual prayer, but in the beginning it is enough for her just to prostrate. What could be simpler and easier: no directional orientation, no ablution, no recitation.
Thirdly, she and all new Muslims should keep love in their hearts towards the community of Muslims and not allow themselves to hate them, in spite of their bad actions and characteristics. Tell them to overlook the shortcomings of the people and peoples of my nation and try to love them despite their pathetic state. Even if Muslims do bad actions under the banner of Islam, Islam is always above this, innocent of the blame. To try and use the name of Islam to attain one’s selfish ends is the greatest sin, and Islam disclaims responsibility for such people’.”
These are the three points our grandshaykh related from his meeting with the Holy Prophet, and these conditions are so wide that thousands and thousands of people may enter Islam and fulfill them, becoming sincere servants of the Lord.
Now, no doubt, many Muslims who are reading this will say, “What, shall we believe that the Holy Prophet has declared it to be so easy to become Allah’s obedient servant, when our Islamic Law spells out so many different types of obligatory worship and prohibitions which we are meticulously observing?”
Oh Muslims! Do not imagine that Allah Almighty is waiting for your prayers, your fasting, your covering your heads or your dressing in Islamic clothes! No! Allah Almighty is looking to your hearts to see if they contain an atom’s weight of sincerity, and only if He finds that
sincerity does He accept anything from you! None of your actions are, of themselves, pleasing to your Lord if they are not motivated by sincere intentions.
The heart of that old woman who came to Damascus may have been full of sincerity, so that her performance of these simple devotions may have been more acceptable in the Divine Presence than my prayers. Yes, that is all there is to it and it is enough for you to now know how to relay the message of servanthood of Allah Almighty to Western people.
We are seeking servanthood in the Divine Presence, nothing else, and we are trying to communicate some details of that servanthood in the Divine Presence to everyone. When we are praying we are not going to let our prayer be a cause of pride and conceit. We are not looking down on people. You must try only to keep your servanthood, nothing else, and this is the latest message from our Prophet on what is the least degree of worship to attain that goal.
Look, a king may have thousands of subjects in his employ. Each of the king’s servants has a distinct rank and a distinct duty to perform. The king will be pleased with the servant who performs the duty that has been assigned him well, as pleased with the common infantryman as with a Field Marshall. That Field Marshall has an awesome responsibility towards his king, and he will have attained that rank, presumably, because he is qualified for it, and will be expected to live up to his immense responsibilities. But the foot soldier is not expected to perform the duties of a Field Marshall; his duties are simpler, but they are also important, and doing them well will earn him the good pleasure of the king.
And so, Allah Almighty has called all mankind to His service, everyone according to his rank. According to her circumstances that elderly woman was given a light load, and if she carried it well she will be rewarded. If you are carrying more than that you must persevere in carrying your appointed burden and not throw it off halfway towards your goal—then you may attain your Lord’s pleasure.
And you should know also that a Field Marshall should not be proud because of his position, glorying in the edge that he has over those who have been assigned lower ranks. He must be thankful to his king who has honored him with such responsibilities, and must strive to fulfill that trust. It is not seemly for him to boast and gloat, saying, “Look at me, I am a Field Marshall.”
Oh foolish mankind, given over to false pride, know that this universe is full of the servants of the Almighty. What do your poor devotions amount to? Nothing! Now very many of our Muslim brothers from Islamic countries who have been raised on the strict observances of Islam look at themselves approvingly and say, “MashaAllah, we are as we should be or nearly so”, and now, perhaps, their way of seeing themselves and others, some of their conceit and complacency, as well as their false self opinion, is spreading like a contagious disease to some of our new Muslim brothers from Western countries, who have begun to observe the prescribes of the divine law.
Beg your Lord to free you of such vain self opinion, for it is the self opinion of Satan. All the prophets have said, “Glory to You, I have been a wrongdoer.” Seek earnestly the honor of being a sincere servant of your Lord in humility and lowliness.
Wa min Allah at Taufiq.
Fitting Spiritual Realities into Block Heads
Nowadays you cannot find two people whose hearts are in accord. In every nation and within every community one may observe mounting civil strife and discord. This is because Allah Almighty is punishing the people of this time by setting them loose on each other.
Because of this divine punishment one may find all nations divided into two main groups—even the Jewish people who are generally known to be strongly united and close knit are divided. Muslims nowadays are also divided: one party holds to traditional Islamic beliefs, following in the way of the prophets and saints, while the other party is trying to negate all spiritual power, explaining away all miraculous occurrences as resulting from material causes, as being easily explicable events that normal reason can accept and the mind understand. This second party tries to bring the sun down onto the earth, and the moon to the ground: it tries to make heavenly events mundane.
Instead of trying to free the mind from its normal definitions and limitations so that it may attain to a more transcendent realm, these people try to fit spiritual realities into their blockheads. When they try to stuff the endless realities of Islam into such a cube, they will get something totally at variance with the original heavenly guidance, as Islam is a religion of heavenly origin and not a system produced by man’s thought processes.
Since the nineteenth century this party has been gaining a wider following as the general level of faith, piety and knowledge of the Muslims has gone down, making them vulnerable to faulted arguments, and also
more in love than ever before with material possessions while becoming less and less interested in the spiritual essence of Islam. The people of that party are dry and thickheaded—their heads are like rocks—and because of them the state of the Muslims becomes more and more pathetic.
Islam is always strong, never weak: it is like gold that may pass through centuries, through thousands of years without corroding or losing its value, but become even more valuable. Don’t think that these foolish people in their pitiable state are the possessors of that fine gold, no! They are bankrupt because they have lost that treasure; but the treasure is not really lost, it is found in the hearts of true believers.
Wa min Allah at Taufiq.
The “Personality” of Allah
Question: How can we conceive of God as a “person” whom we can address in a way similar to that of one person addressing another, when, on the other hand, Islam confirms the transcendence of Allah Almighty: that He is beyond definition or description, that He is Everything, and always greater than His creation? In the Judeo Christian Islamic tradition, while Allah is Supreme and Transcendent, yet, somehow, He is still a “person” in some way, while in most Eastern religions the Absolute is conceived of more abstractly, in parables, or as Pure Light, a concept which is also present in Islam, as He is known as “an Nur the Light”. Can you help me to understand something of these matters more clearly?
The Shaykh: The existence of our Lord, Allah Almighty, is Absolute, Real, Eternal Existence, while the existence of all appearances is relative: they may be or not be according to their Lord’s will. You are inquiring about the Eternal Personality and Existence of Allah Almighty, but that knowledge is beyond your reach. How can our limited minds, our limited knowledge, limited personalities, encompass anything of the Personality, The One that is beyond the limits of our minds? Now you have asked a detailed question, and are trying to grapple with such matters with your mind; but all that you can know with your mind is He is in existence, that His Existence is revealed through His divine attributes, that His divine attributes are known through His holy names, and that His holy names appear in this world through His works or deeds.
Our relationship with our Lord Almighty is the relationship of Lord to servant and servant to Lord. The
Lord is never going to be like His servant and the servant never like the Lord, and this distinction is never going to be blurred or diminished in the slightest no matter how close the servant may draw or how dear he is to his Lord.
We know that He Almighty is “The Light”, but don’t think that you can describe Him as “Light” (‘Pure Light’ or ‘White Light’), as ‘The Light’ is only one of His holy names, which indicated just one of His holy attributes from among endless names and attributes. Indeed, His deeds and His creatures are endless; so don’t imagine that you can describe Him so simply. To say that Allah is Light is like saying, “Man is eye” or “Man is foot”. If you describe man as being the total sum of all his organs and limbs you have still not described him fully, so what of describing him as being just one single organ? That would be foolishness.
Allah Almighty makes Himself known to His creatures through His divine attributes, as He has implanted His attributes in mankind. The key to the knowledge God made available to man is embedded in our divine personality. Specifically, He Almighty has implanted in each person one of His divine attributes, which is his key to opening his relationship with his Lord. Everyone has such a key attribute in himself, and it differs from person to person. Through your particular divine attribute you may be able to address your Lord Almighty, to be with your Lord Almighty—your whole relationship develops through that Attribute.
Therefore, whoever seeks to approach his Lord must know the Attribute in himself that is the key. Until we have that key in hand we may be in need of an intercessor to help us perceive what our Lord desires of us, but once you have learned about that Attribute you may open yourself up and clearly see who is in you: who is out of you, who is with you and with whom you are.
Now, if you can take that key by following any spiritual tradition, then take it, but if you are not on the way to receiving it you are wasting your life. Try as many ways as you like, then, if you still feel that your key is out of hand, and if you are still seeking it, come—we have some methods, methods coming to us from the Holy Prophet to teach people how to take their keys. Then you may understand who He is and who you are. Otherwise you may ponder and perform practices, and all of it will be in vain.
Don’t deceive yourself with empty titles, no; empty titles will never give you anything. You must only ask, “Where is the key that opens me?” Then you may see you in yourself.
We are practicing something here. Perhaps I am not addressing you very often, putting you to work, instead, at tasks of physical labor; it doesn’t matter, the important thing is that you are with us so that you may learn the whereabouts of your key. A Shaykh who is appointed by the Holy Prophet may give you your key, and all that you are doing here is training for that.
Don’t imagine that you will attain this opening by reading books. You must not imagine that everything can be encompassed by the mind. The mind is bound to earth, but our way is the way of the soul’s understanding. The mind refuses but the he
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