Mercy Oceans, Book 10 (239 pages, 5/21)
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u, O Lord. How could I do this?" And 'Abdul-Qadir Sayyidi said, "Maut at-tauhid, maut ad din, maut al-iman33" : If someone opposes the judgments or decrees of Allah - if, when Allah Almighty's will is working, he tries to keep it back - that is dangerous for a believer because it will bring about the death of faith, the death of upholding the unity of Allah Almighty.
We are Ahi at-Tauhid, People of Allah's Unity. When you say "No" or "Why?" you become divided, without unity, because will and orders come only from One. Therefore, among the six Pillars of Faith in Islam, the sixth, concerning qadar, is so important34. It shows unity and servanthood: we are servants, and we are going to be in agreement with our Lord's will. But, as we said, at our level, the common level, we are quarreling, we are fighting, we are not real Muslims. A real Muslim is the one who surrenders to his Lord's will; no more objections from him to his Lord. As his Lord says, he says. "As you like, O my Lord."
Therefore, it is the highest degree and the main attribute of our Prophet, p.b.u.h., to agree with his Lord in everything. His heart was always in agreement with Allah Almighty, and his body also did as his Lord willed; everything which appeared from the Prophet appeared according to his Lord's will. Therefore, in Islam we must practice firstly to be in a state of islam: to submit, not only to be obedient to orders. We are trying to be obedient to orders, but among orders, the most important one is to agree with our Lord's will.
One day Satan came to the Prophet, p.b.u.h., and the Prophet asked him, "Which of my ummah will save himself from you?" And Satan replied, "The one who is in agreement with his Lord. If his Lord puts him in any situation and he says, 'I agree with my Lord,' no way for me on that member of the ummah." If anyone agrees and is satisfied with his situation, Satan says, "No way for me on that person." It means that that person's attribute is in line with his Lord's attribute: If Allah says this, if our Lord's will orders this, I also agree with it.
33 The death of tauhid [belief in the Oneness of God and that, accordingly, everything takes place according to one will and decree) is the death of the religion, the death of faith
34 The six fundamental beliefs in Islam are belief in One God Almighty; in His angels; in His divinely-revealed scriptures; in His messengers or prophets; in the Day of Judgment and Heaven and Hell; and, finally, the sixth, in His decree or will as the cause of all things, so that nothing can take place without His willing and decreeing it, nor can anything hold back what He' has decreed.
It may be against our egos because our egos make objections, but our souls are never going to object to anything. Our souls are swimming in our Lord's Mercy Oceans, and they see everything as a manifestation of our Lord's Mercy Oceans - everything; they see the whole universe as swimming in Mercy Oceans.
Therefore, souls are perfect; they are pleased with their Lord. Only our egos are displeased, our egos are making objections. And the one who is on friendly terms with his ego goes far from his Lord Almighty; he is not going to make his Lord pleased with him. He is only trying to make his ego pleased, and you are never going to make it pleased with you. You can't find any limit to make your ego pleased with you; it always has objections. But if you keep with your soul, you are in comfort, you are in peace and in pleasure.
Therefore the Prophet, p.b.u.h., informed us that there would be a group of people among his ummah such that even if there is every fitnah. every trouble, among the ummah, those troubles will never reach them; they are always above troubles. Who are they? They are those people who are always in agreement with their Lord. They always see themselves as swimming in Mercy Oceans. And if someone looks at himself and sees himself in Mercy Oceans, for what is he going to make objections and fall into troubles and miseries and sufferings?
Everyone is trying to keep orders, but the first order that makes us Muslim is agreement with our Lord: we must be in agreement with him. And agreement already took place on the Day of Promises; we have already made it but now we are losing it. We gave our agreement that You are our Lord and we are Your servants, and for everything we agree that it shall be as you like. No one said, "I am going to act as I like"; everyone gave his promise to his Lord that I am going to be as you like, not as I like. And happiness and peace is for those who are in agreement with their Lord for everything here and Hereafter.
We are practising, and Allah Almighty is trying His servants. Every thing in our lives is a trial from Allah Almighty; by every means He tries us. By every means Allah Almighty looks to see if we are in agreement or are canceling that agreement.
If you keep your agreement, He keeps His agreement; if you keep your promise, He is going to keep what He promised you: here, in the mosque, in your home, with your brothers, with your wife, with your children, with your relatives, with your business, with your animals. You are being tried in your cat, in your dog; yes. You must always be awake: maybe Allah Almighty is trying you by something and asking you to be in agreement with Him.
Anything may happen in this life, to you or to others. You may say, "As my Lord likes, I agree with my Lord."
At night, when you get into bed to sleep, you must ask forgiveness from your Lord Almighty, saying, "O my Lord, today I was such a guilty servant - so many objections to Your will. I ask forgiveness. And I am trying to be as you like, O my Lord. Keep me on my way, as you like." And whoever keeps that adab, good manners, with his Lord is going to be among His awliya. That is the way of awliya, because they are wearing, the main attribute of beloved Muhammad, p.b.u.h.; that is the secret of all awliyah, sainthood.
ABOUT MEETING BEFORE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
In the spiritual world we were all together, so that we are sitting here now. If we had not been together in that spiritual world, we couldn't be all together here. He comes from Nigeria, she comes from Scotland. And you? German, Swedish, Irani, American - you can't be in the same place if your souls did not meet in the spiritual world; that brings us here to meet each other.
Therefore there is familiarity in our meeting, not wildness, so that I am looking at Catherine as if I had seen her before, so many years ago; she is not a strange person to me because my soul met with her soul and she looked at me, like this, and I looked at her. I looked at Edward and he looked at me. May Allah Almighty make us be in happiness, here and Hereafter.
ان اکرمکم عندالالتقكم
EVERYTHING PASSES QUICKLY AWAY
Night has gone and day has come. Yes, the night is buried; now the day comes. And when the night comes again, every event in this day, also will be buried, gone.
Everything is going, passing away; you can't imagine how speedily everything is going. And we think that we are stopping, as when I am in a plane and cannot see that it is going. But sometimes (I always sit by the window, to look down) I see another flight under our flight. From that I can see that we are like that flight, also flying; otherwise I would understand that we are standing still, not moving. And then the time is over, quickly going on to its destination.
!All the people in this world are passengers on our planet, sitting. When I think about that, sometimes I tremble. Going in space... who is the captain of it? Who is the director, the pilot - who? Without a captain? Never! A big planet with all its passengers, and the passengers fighting with each other, throwing this, what - all of them.
In space, how are we going? To where? If it goes out of orbit, finished; the people, all of them, will be thrown off, like this, like that. Ya Latif! And we are sitting on fire; there is fire inside the earth. But people are not afraid because they are non-thinking people, drunk people, now. La hawla wa la quwwata illa bil-Lah al-'Ali al-'Adhim!"
THE NEED FOR CERTAINTY
It is impossible for a person to leave evil and to take the right path unless his Lord helps him. Therefore we must ask help, divine help, for everything.
You can't take yourself away from evil if you do not ask for your Lord's help, and you can't put your footstep on the correct path without asking help from your Lord. Therefore, when you are in need of leaving evil, you must ask divine help by saying "A'udhu bil-Lahi min ash-Shaytani-r Rajim35." - That makes a protection, a fortress, for you. Any time you feel that Satan is approaching you, you must say, "O my Lord, Satan wants to make me his servant, to make me his follower; O my Lord, keep me from Him" - that sort of a meaning. Even if we say it only with our tongues, it gives benefit; if you say it with your heart, it is so strong.
And when you are asking to put your feet on the right path you must say "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim36."" In our time, if a person is asking to walk on the right path, one hundred satans rush at him to catch his feet so that he cannot move them forward, and when you say "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r Rahim," it takes them away and gives you power to walk on that straight path.
Yes, that is true; "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim" is so powerful. That is the key to every miraculous power. As much as you can be certain of that, if you put your foot on water, you can walk on it. It is only certainty which can achieve that. Everyone knows something, but only a few people have certainty. Knowledge may be for everyone, but certainty is not.
35 I seek refuge with God from Satan the Rejected
36 In the name of God, the Ccapassionate, the Most Merciful
A. Hasan al-Basri, may Allah bless him, was a famous imam, and during his time there was Habib al-'Ajami. Habib al-'Ajami was not an Arab; from Persia or from Bukhara - such a person, and he recited the Qur'an as we recite it, not as Arabs recite. He was an illiterate person, also.
Once Imām Hasan al-Basri came and saw Habib al-'Ajami praying Maghrib prayer. When Hasan al-Basri heard that that sheikh was unable to say "al hamdu37" but pronounced it "el-hemdü", he thought, "His recitation is not correct," and did not pray behind him; he prayed alone.
Then hatif ar-Rabbani, Allah Almighty's divine voice, came (Allah Al mighty sometimes "phones" some of His beloved people and they listen to what their Lord says). "Except for that prayer which you did not pray behind Habib, I was going to accept all your prayers," Allah Almighty said through ilham, inspiration, and Hasan al-Basri was listening. "But you left that prayer. You are still looking at the words, not looking at the heart of the imam, with whom is his heart. And I look at the one who is imam but I do not look at his recitation; I look at his heart. If his heart is with Me, that imam is all right. If his heart is not with Me but he is occupied with making his voice and his recitation beautiful, engaged with that and pemitting his heart not to be with Me, angels take that prayer to Me, but the one whose heart is with Me when he prays, I accept his prayers directly without any intermediary.”
Therefore, all prayers are of two kinds. One is of that, sort of a person who is going to pray and when he says "Allahu akbar38," he puts everything aside and is with his Lord; Allah Almighty directly takes his prayers to His Divine Presence. But for the one who says "Allahu akbar" and throughout his prayer he is traveling, selling and buying, going and coming, sleeping and awakening, eating and drinking, running after this and that, angels take his prayer to Allah. But Allah Almighty directly takes the prayers of those who are with Him. "O Hasan al-Basri, I would have accepted all of your prayers for the sake of the prayer that you left because of the way it was recited." And Imam Hasan al-Basri wept so much.
Once he was sitting near the Tigris River in Baghdad, waiting for the boat to come in and to cross over to the other side. Then Habib al-'Ajami came, saying, "O Ustad, my master, what are you waiting here for?"
37 The first word of the opening surah (chapter) of the Qur'an, Surat al-Fatehah, which is recital at the beginning of each rak'at (section) of prayer
38 The takbir, “God is the Most Great," a phrase which begins each prayer and which is repeated with each change of position during it
Hasan al-Basri said, "I am waiting for the ferry boat, to cross from one side to the other."
You are the imam and sitting here, waiting for that raft? Come and say ‘Bismillah' and walk." And Habib went and, saying "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani r- Rahim," walked on the Tigris and passed over.
And Hasan al-Basri cried, "This Tajam, this foreigner, an illiterate person, is crossing the Tigris and I am sitting here!" Yes. Hasan 'knew what the power of "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim" is, but that foreign person had certainty. Hasan didn't have enough certainty to say "Bismillahi-r Rahmani-r-Rahim” and step on the water.
Therefore, we are in need of more certainty rather than more knowledge. That is important. But in our time people are always running after learning too much. What is the benefit? You may learn so much and you will forget so much. But certainty never leaves you. Certainty is the seed of knowledge; you can plant it and it grows up.
Once when Habib al-'Ajami was sitting in front of his khaneqah, his takiyah39, Hasan al-Basri came running. "O Habib, hide me," Hasan said, "because Hajjaj, the caliph's governor, is sending his soldiers to catch me. Hide me!"
"Go inside and hide yourself," Habib said.
Hasan went in and, finding a place, hid himself. Then afterwards, soldiers came running, asking
"Have you seen Hasan al-Basri?" "Yes. I saw him inside. He is inside."
They went in and looked around, looking everywhere, everywhere, even going and doing like this on Hasan al-Basri's head, and he was looking around in fear. Then the soldiers went out, saying to Habib, "Now, aren't you ashamed, telling a lie? Where is he? Hajjaj will deal with the one who cooperates with Hasan al-Basri, and that will be appropriate for you. You said that he was inside, not ashamed of lying!"
"Inside. I am not lying. He is inside."
39 Hanegah (haneqah or tekke), a dervish monastery
Once again going, coming. Then, very angry, the soldiers went away: Then Hasan al-Basri came out. "O sheikh, what is this? I came to you. asking you to keep me, and you told the soldiers 'Inside!."
"Ya Hasan, ya Imam, najawt min sidqi-l-kalam - you were saved by my truth! I told the truth and Allah protected you because I spoke truthfully. I said, 'O my Lord, this Hasan al-Basri, Your servant, came to me and said, "Hide me, keep me!" I can't protect him. I entrust him to You, giving him to You as, my trust. You protect him. I said only that and recited Ayat al-Kursi40." For that reason the soldiers had run around, looking at everything and doing like this on his head, even, but never understanding that he was there.
Yes. If Allah Almighty protects His servant, it is all right. Awliya are deputies of our Lord Almighty. If a person runs to a wali and asks for protection, he may protect him, here and Hereafter. Those are miracles for awliya - miracles for anbiya, prophets, and miracles for awliya.
We are in need of some certainty. Once again, Hasan al-Basri came to visit that sheikh, Habib al-'Ajami. When Hasan arrived, Habib al-'Ajami, may Allah bless him, brought two loaves of bread, putting them in front of him as a courtesy to his guest.
Just as Hasan was beginning to eat, someone came hungry and asked for something for the sake of Allah. Then that sheikh, Habib al-'Ajami, came and took both the loaves from Hasan al-Basri and gave them to that person.
Then the imam, Hasan al-Basri, said, "O sheikh, you are a good person, but if you had some more knowledge of the Shari'ah, it would be better for you. You should know a little bit about the Shari'ah; you are in need of that." He meant to say, "One loaf for me and one for that person, not taking the two and giving them away."
The sheikh did not say anything. Then, after a bit, someone came to the door. The sheikh ordered, "See who is there."
A murid went and looked, saying, "A person has brought a tray full of food."
"Bring the tray here," the sheikh said. "Now, Imam, eat. You know so much," he said to Hasan al-Basri, "but you have little certainty. You must try to have more certainty." Because he had certainty, that sheikh knew that if he gave this for the sake of Allah, more than this must certainly come. "You were angry with me when I took the two loaves, giving them to that person. Look!
40 The Verse of the Throne, II:255, a verse of great power and majesty which describes the attributes of God Almighty.
If I had not given both of them, this would not have come. I am certain that when I give, Allah Almighty will return it at least tenfold."
Yes. Therefore certainty gives more benefit to everyone, and we are in need of that. If there is no certainty, knowledge can never give benefit but is only like an ornament to enable people to say, "We are doctor's, we are scholars."
What is certainty? Someone said, "If I put my hand in the mouth of a dragon and my heart is all right, it is never going to be afraid that that dragon will bite my hand - no. I know with certainty that only if my Lord gives the order it will bite. Therefore, without doubt, if I were to put my hand there, I would not be afraid."
Imam Sh'arani - he is one of the people of tawwakul, those who trust in their Lord completely - once said, "Once I was traveling and it was near Maghrib time41. I saw a dome and walked toward it. When I entered it I saw that there was a tomb in it, under the dome, in ruins.
After a short while peasants came running, saying, 'O sheikh, you must not stay here but must come with us. Our village is nearby. This is a terrible place, particularly at nighttime. So many snakes, big snakes, come out, and if anyone sleeps here, in the morning we find only his bones, nothing else. They eat him; only bones are left. Therefore we are warning you not to sleep here.'
Then Imam Sh'arani, may Allah bless him, said to the peasants, "O my brothers, when you tell me that, I can't move, I can't take even one step out of this place. Because when you warned me about those big snakes, my ego was too afraid of them, and I am so ashamed in front of my Lord because my nafs was too frightened of snakes, not fearing Allah Almighty but fearing snakes. Therefore I am not going with you; I can never accept your invitation. I must sleep here this night; it is better for such a nafs that I be eaten by snakes. Therefore, it is impossible that I should leave this place.’
Eh! The peasants said, ‘You know best, Sheikh. You are the sheikh; we don't know. We are inviting you, and we are also warning you about the snakes.’
‘Yes. Thank you very much. You go and I will be here this night. If, without saying anything about snakes, you had come and invited me officially, 'Come with us,' it would have been all right; I might have come. But since
41 The time of the sunset prayer
you are saying, ‘There are snakes, there is danger, this is a terrible place,' I can't move even one step from here. Go away.’
They went, and in the morning they hurried back with shovels to bury that sheikh's bones. And they saw that the sheikh was sitting and making dhikr, and the snakes were like this, like wooden beams, beside him. When he lay down, they went around him; in that sandy place they made tracks, traveling around and hissing. And he was at rest. Yes, if you know your Lord and trust in Him, He protects you. If you are familiar with your Lord, everything is going to be familiar with you.”
That is certainty - important! And we must try to improve in certainty, not trying to keep so many verses of the Qur'an, so many hadiths; but if we can acquire the secret power in them, that will be certainty for us.
Whoever has it may give it. The one who has something may give it; if he doesn't, how can he give? You ask bread from a person, for example. If he has it, he will give it to you; if not, he will never give it. Certainty is with the prophets; their certainty brought Gabriel42 to them from the Heavens. And awliya, also; certainty is with them. You can acquire certainty from those people. All awliya have certainty; you can't find a wali without certainty.
Therefore we are asking our Lord to let us find one of them so that we may acquire certainty; they give certainty. There are some lamps of only five watts and some of one thousand, of ten thousand. As much as a person needs, they give; as much as you ask, they give certainty. We are in need of that. May Allah bless you and forgive you, and grant us certainty from His beloved people.
CONCERNING ALLAH'S DECREE AND ASKING FORGIVENESS FOR OTHERS
(The building next to Peckham Mosque, where most of these talks were given, was frequented by members of a rock music group. One morning Sheikh Nazim spoke about the carefree attitude of the members of that group.)
42 Jibril, p.b.u.h., the angel who brought God's revelations to all the prophets, including Muhammed, p.b.u.h. In the Qur'an Jibril is referred to as "the Holy Spirit" and "the Trustworthy Spirit." See, for example, II:87, 253; V:113 (v:110 in Pickthall's translation); XVI:102 and XXVI:193-195.
Very happy people. They are happy, we are happy, alhamdulillah. They are not asking to be like us, we are not asking to be like them. Everyone is happy.
Every group must be happy; if not happy, its people will change to another group. This is important. Allah Almighty says, "Kullu hizbin bima ladayhim farihun43," every party is happy with what it finds. Every group is sitting at a feast; from that feast they take their pleasure. If not taking pleasure from this group, they will get up from there and go to another one. If not taking it there, then their pleasure is going to be with a third camp.
I mean to say that everyone belongs to a group - by his thoughts, by his actions, by his behaviour, by his attributes, by his customs, by his beliefs. Even within religions there are so many groups. In London alone, some Muslims go to Central Mosque, some go to Peckham Mosque, some go to Shacklewell Lane Mosque, some go to the West Indian Mosque. Now Turks are three or four parties, also, each of them going with someone. And they are pleased; if not pleased, they would not go there.
That is a rule in the world. Allah Almighty has put that rule and He says, "Everyone is happy with the group that he finds in front of him, like a table put there for certain people." One person may say, "Yes, this is best for me," and sits at it. Someone else just comes and looks. Sometimes a person comes and sits, sits, sits, and then goes out. It means that he does not agree with our assembly, does not agree with what pleases us, and is asking for something else. Therefore, now, the people next door are pleased; they have so many people gathering, they are happy. We are also gathering and happy, alhamdulillah.
Allah Almighty gathers some people for evil. Some others He gathers together for good. They are bearing something; if they do not do that, if they leave, others must take that place. Perhaps it may come to us to play a trumpet. If those people are no longer alive, it is impossible for us to be free; those trumpets must be played. If there is no one else, perhaps the turn may come to us.
Therefore we are thanking Allah Almighty that there are some servants to play the trumpet so that we are free for Your service, Oour Lord. And we are saying, "Those people are tiring themselves by doing such a thing. O our Lord, forgive them and take from them their burdens."
They do not pray for us, but prayers must pray for them. Understand? They do not think of praying for themselves or for anyone else, but prayers,
43 XXIII:53
believers must be more generous than those people who are carrying around evil and representing evil and working through evil, and we are thankful to our Lord that we are free, away from evil. They can't think of praying for themselves or for others, but you must think about them, those people, because they are under a heavy burden, and say, "O my Lord, forgive them."
That is a high degree of faith. It is the level of the prophets, particularly the level of the Seal of the Prophets, peace be upon them all. He asked forgiveness for those people who had been used for evil, because our Prophet had knowledge of divine wisdoms; if he had not known divine wisdoms, he would not have been the Last Prophet.
More than any other one of the prophets, he knew the divine wisdom concerning the Sons of Adam, concerning the believers, concerning the others, unbelievers, and he knew about Satan, about the nafs and about this dunya; and for everyone he knew well concerning the Last Day and after the Last Day, concerning eternal life, and he was the person who knew most about the divine wisdoms concerning Paradise and Hell. Therefore, he always asked forgiveness for his nation, for his unmah. And all the people living now and earlier up to the end of this world are from his nation because when Jesus Christ, p.b.u.h., comes again, he is not going to be a prophet and there is not going to be a nation for him, but he is going to be from the nation of Muhammad, p.b.u.h. And the Prophet is asking forgiveness for everyone in the Divine Presence. Allah Almighty has given him a promise, saying, "On the Last Day I will say to you, O Muhammad, that as you like, I will do. As you like, I will give to you. As you like I will forgive. As you like I will give - for you."
No one can reach that point, that station. It is the highest station, maqam al- mahmud, the most respected station in the Divine Presence, the most praiseworthy station, which has been given to only one among all the Sons of Adam, among all the prophets, among all the saints. And Allah Almighty says to him, "Ask and I shall give, as you like."
Then the Prophet asks, and Allah says, "Ask more." He asks more, and Allah Almighty says, "I am giving. Ask more, ask more, ask more."
And the Prophet is ashamed and stops. Then our Lord Almighty says, "Now look at what I will give to My servants." When He opens a Mercy Ocean and divine rewards appear for the servants, the Prophet is ashamed to look at those divine rewards that he asked for the second time. He looks at what Allah is giving to His servants and to the nation of Muhammad, p.b.u.h.: as much as he asked, it is only a little drop from an ocean on the point of a needle - and that is from endless Oceans.
Man is going to suffer throughout his life, but as much as he may suffer during his life, when he leaves this life, in his grave, in Barzakh, and on the Day of Resurrection, he must keep his hope in his Lord, Allah Almighty at the highest level because He says, "Sabaqat rahmati 'ala ghadabi44” - My forgiveness surpasses My anger." Therefore, as much as the Sons of Adam may suffer finally they will reach their Lord's endless Mercy Oceans.
NO ONE LIV
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u, O Lord. How could I do this?" And 'Abdul-Qadir Sayyidi said, "Maut at-tauhid, maut ad din, maut al-iman33" : If someone opposes the judgments or decrees of Allah - if, when Allah Almighty's will is working, he tries to keep it back - that is dangerous for a believer because it will bring about the death of faith, the death of upholding the unity of Allah Almighty.
We are Ahi at-Tauhid, People of Allah's Unity. When you say "No" or "Why?" you become divided, without unity, because will and orders come only from One. Therefore, among the six Pillars of Faith in Islam, the sixth, concerning qadar, is so important34. It shows unity and servanthood: we are servants, and we are going to be in agreement with our Lord's will. But, as we said, at our level, the common level, we are quarreling, we are fighting, we are not real Muslims. A real Muslim is the one who surrenders to his Lord's will; no more objections from him to his Lord. As his Lord says, he says. "As you like, O my Lord."
Therefore, it is the highest degree and the main attribute of our Prophet, p.b.u.h., to agree with his Lord in everything. His heart was always in agreement with Allah Almighty, and his body also did as his Lord willed; everything which appeared from the Prophet appeared according to his Lord's will. Therefore, in Islam we must practice firstly to be in a state of islam: to submit, not only to be obedient to orders. We are trying to be obedient to orders, but among orders, the most important one is to agree with our Lord's will.
One day Satan came to the Prophet, p.b.u.h., and the Prophet asked him, "Which of my ummah will save himself from you?" And Satan replied, "The one who is in agreement with his Lord. If his Lord puts him in any situation and he says, 'I agree with my Lord,' no way for me on that member of the ummah." If anyone agrees and is satisfied with his situation, Satan says, "No way for me on that person." It means that that person's attribute is in line with his Lord's attribute: If Allah says this, if our Lord's will orders this, I also agree with it.
33 The death of tauhid [belief in the Oneness of God and that, accordingly, everything takes place according to one will and decree) is the death of the religion, the death of faith
34 The six fundamental beliefs in Islam are belief in One God Almighty; in His angels; in His divinely-revealed scriptures; in His messengers or prophets; in the Day of Judgment and Heaven and Hell; and, finally, the sixth, in His decree or will as the cause of all things, so that nothing can take place without His willing and decreeing it, nor can anything hold back what He' has decreed.
It may be against our egos because our egos make objections, but our souls are never going to object to anything. Our souls are swimming in our Lord's Mercy Oceans, and they see everything as a manifestation of our Lord's Mercy Oceans - everything; they see the whole universe as swimming in Mercy Oceans.
Therefore, souls are perfect; they are pleased with their Lord. Only our egos are displeased, our egos are making objections. And the one who is on friendly terms with his ego goes far from his Lord Almighty; he is not going to make his Lord pleased with him. He is only trying to make his ego pleased, and you are never going to make it pleased with you. You can't find any limit to make your ego pleased with you; it always has objections. But if you keep with your soul, you are in comfort, you are in peace and in pleasure.
Therefore the Prophet, p.b.u.h., informed us that there would be a group of people among his ummah such that even if there is every fitnah. every trouble, among the ummah, those troubles will never reach them; they are always above troubles. Who are they? They are those people who are always in agreement with their Lord. They always see themselves as swimming in Mercy Oceans. And if someone looks at himself and sees himself in Mercy Oceans, for what is he going to make objections and fall into troubles and miseries and sufferings?
Everyone is trying to keep orders, but the first order that makes us Muslim is agreement with our Lord: we must be in agreement with him. And agreement already took place on the Day of Promises; we have already made it but now we are losing it. We gave our agreement that You are our Lord and we are Your servants, and for everything we agree that it shall be as you like. No one said, "I am going to act as I like"; everyone gave his promise to his Lord that I am going to be as you like, not as I like. And happiness and peace is for those who are in agreement with their Lord for everything here and Hereafter.
We are practising, and Allah Almighty is trying His servants. Every thing in our lives is a trial from Allah Almighty; by every means He tries us. By every means Allah Almighty looks to see if we are in agreement or are canceling that agreement.
If you keep your agreement, He keeps His agreement; if you keep your promise, He is going to keep what He promised you: here, in the mosque, in your home, with your brothers, with your wife, with your children, with your relatives, with your business, with your animals. You are being tried in your cat, in your dog; yes. You must always be awake: maybe Allah Almighty is trying you by something and asking you to be in agreement with Him.
Anything may happen in this life, to you or to others. You may say, "As my Lord likes, I agree with my Lord."
At night, when you get into bed to sleep, you must ask forgiveness from your Lord Almighty, saying, "O my Lord, today I was such a guilty servant - so many objections to Your will. I ask forgiveness. And I am trying to be as you like, O my Lord. Keep me on my way, as you like." And whoever keeps that adab, good manners, with his Lord is going to be among His awliya. That is the way of awliya, because they are wearing, the main attribute of beloved Muhammad, p.b.u.h.; that is the secret of all awliyah, sainthood.
ABOUT MEETING BEFORE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
In the spiritual world we were all together, so that we are sitting here now. If we had not been together in that spiritual world, we couldn't be all together here. He comes from Nigeria, she comes from Scotland. And you? German, Swedish, Irani, American - you can't be in the same place if your souls did not meet in the spiritual world; that brings us here to meet each other.
Therefore there is familiarity in our meeting, not wildness, so that I am looking at Catherine as if I had seen her before, so many years ago; she is not a strange person to me because my soul met with her soul and she looked at me, like this, and I looked at her. I looked at Edward and he looked at me. May Allah Almighty make us be in happiness, here and Hereafter.
ان اکرمکم عندالالتقكم
EVERYTHING PASSES QUICKLY AWAY
Night has gone and day has come. Yes, the night is buried; now the day comes. And when the night comes again, every event in this day, also will be buried, gone.
Everything is going, passing away; you can't imagine how speedily everything is going. And we think that we are stopping, as when I am in a plane and cannot see that it is going. But sometimes (I always sit by the window, to look down) I see another flight under our flight. From that I can see that we are like that flight, also flying; otherwise I would understand that we are standing still, not moving. And then the time is over, quickly going on to its destination.
!All the people in this world are passengers on our planet, sitting. When I think about that, sometimes I tremble. Going in space... who is the captain of it? Who is the director, the pilot - who? Without a captain? Never! A big planet with all its passengers, and the passengers fighting with each other, throwing this, what - all of them.
In space, how are we going? To where? If it goes out of orbit, finished; the people, all of them, will be thrown off, like this, like that. Ya Latif! And we are sitting on fire; there is fire inside the earth. But people are not afraid because they are non-thinking people, drunk people, now. La hawla wa la quwwata illa bil-Lah al-'Ali al-'Adhim!"
THE NEED FOR CERTAINTY
It is impossible for a person to leave evil and to take the right path unless his Lord helps him. Therefore we must ask help, divine help, for everything.
You can't take yourself away from evil if you do not ask for your Lord's help, and you can't put your footstep on the correct path without asking help from your Lord. Therefore, when you are in need of leaving evil, you must ask divine help by saying "A'udhu bil-Lahi min ash-Shaytani-r Rajim35." - That makes a protection, a fortress, for you. Any time you feel that Satan is approaching you, you must say, "O my Lord, Satan wants to make me his servant, to make me his follower; O my Lord, keep me from Him" - that sort of a meaning. Even if we say it only with our tongues, it gives benefit; if you say it with your heart, it is so strong.
And when you are asking to put your feet on the right path you must say "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim36."" In our time, if a person is asking to walk on the right path, one hundred satans rush at him to catch his feet so that he cannot move them forward, and when you say "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r Rahim," it takes them away and gives you power to walk on that straight path.
Yes, that is true; "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim" is so powerful. That is the key to every miraculous power. As much as you can be certain of that, if you put your foot on water, you can walk on it. It is only certainty which can achieve that. Everyone knows something, but only a few people have certainty. Knowledge may be for everyone, but certainty is not.
35 I seek refuge with God from Satan the Rejected
36 In the name of God, the Ccapassionate, the Most Merciful
A. Hasan al-Basri, may Allah bless him, was a famous imam, and during his time there was Habib al-'Ajami. Habib al-'Ajami was not an Arab; from Persia or from Bukhara - such a person, and he recited the Qur'an as we recite it, not as Arabs recite. He was an illiterate person, also.
Once Imām Hasan al-Basri came and saw Habib al-'Ajami praying Maghrib prayer. When Hasan al-Basri heard that that sheikh was unable to say "al hamdu37" but pronounced it "el-hemdü", he thought, "His recitation is not correct," and did not pray behind him; he prayed alone.
Then hatif ar-Rabbani, Allah Almighty's divine voice, came (Allah Al mighty sometimes "phones" some of His beloved people and they listen to what their Lord says). "Except for that prayer which you did not pray behind Habib, I was going to accept all your prayers," Allah Almighty said through ilham, inspiration, and Hasan al-Basri was listening. "But you left that prayer. You are still looking at the words, not looking at the heart of the imam, with whom is his heart. And I look at the one who is imam but I do not look at his recitation; I look at his heart. If his heart is with Me, that imam is all right. If his heart is not with Me but he is occupied with making his voice and his recitation beautiful, engaged with that and pemitting his heart not to be with Me, angels take that prayer to Me, but the one whose heart is with Me when he prays, I accept his prayers directly without any intermediary.”
Therefore, all prayers are of two kinds. One is of that, sort of a person who is going to pray and when he says "Allahu akbar38," he puts everything aside and is with his Lord; Allah Almighty directly takes his prayers to His Divine Presence. But for the one who says "Allahu akbar" and throughout his prayer he is traveling, selling and buying, going and coming, sleeping and awakening, eating and drinking, running after this and that, angels take his prayer to Allah. But Allah Almighty directly takes the prayers of those who are with Him. "O Hasan al-Basri, I would have accepted all of your prayers for the sake of the prayer that you left because of the way it was recited." And Imam Hasan al-Basri wept so much.
Once he was sitting near the Tigris River in Baghdad, waiting for the boat to come in and to cross over to the other side. Then Habib al-'Ajami came, saying, "O Ustad, my master, what are you waiting here for?"
37 The first word of the opening surah (chapter) of the Qur'an, Surat al-Fatehah, which is recital at the beginning of each rak'at (section) of prayer
38 The takbir, “God is the Most Great," a phrase which begins each prayer and which is repeated with each change of position during it
Hasan al-Basri said, "I am waiting for the ferry boat, to cross from one side to the other."
You are the imam and sitting here, waiting for that raft? Come and say ‘Bismillah' and walk." And Habib went and, saying "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani r- Rahim," walked on the Tigris and passed over.
And Hasan al-Basri cried, "This Tajam, this foreigner, an illiterate person, is crossing the Tigris and I am sitting here!" Yes. Hasan 'knew what the power of "Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim" is, but that foreign person had certainty. Hasan didn't have enough certainty to say "Bismillahi-r Rahmani-r-Rahim” and step on the water.
Therefore, we are in need of more certainty rather than more knowledge. That is important. But in our time people are always running after learning too much. What is the benefit? You may learn so much and you will forget so much. But certainty never leaves you. Certainty is the seed of knowledge; you can plant it and it grows up.
Once when Habib al-'Ajami was sitting in front of his khaneqah, his takiyah39, Hasan al-Basri came running. "O Habib, hide me," Hasan said, "because Hajjaj, the caliph's governor, is sending his soldiers to catch me. Hide me!"
"Go inside and hide yourself," Habib said.
Hasan went in and, finding a place, hid himself. Then afterwards, soldiers came running, asking
"Have you seen Hasan al-Basri?" "Yes. I saw him inside. He is inside."
They went in and looked around, looking everywhere, everywhere, even going and doing like this on Hasan al-Basri's head, and he was looking around in fear. Then the soldiers went out, saying to Habib, "Now, aren't you ashamed, telling a lie? Where is he? Hajjaj will deal with the one who cooperates with Hasan al-Basri, and that will be appropriate for you. You said that he was inside, not ashamed of lying!"
"Inside. I am not lying. He is inside."
39 Hanegah (haneqah or tekke), a dervish monastery
Once again going, coming. Then, very angry, the soldiers went away: Then Hasan al-Basri came out. "O sheikh, what is this? I came to you. asking you to keep me, and you told the soldiers 'Inside!."
"Ya Hasan, ya Imam, najawt min sidqi-l-kalam - you were saved by my truth! I told the truth and Allah protected you because I spoke truthfully. I said, 'O my Lord, this Hasan al-Basri, Your servant, came to me and said, "Hide me, keep me!" I can't protect him. I entrust him to You, giving him to You as, my trust. You protect him. I said only that and recited Ayat al-Kursi40." For that reason the soldiers had run around, looking at everything and doing like this on his head, even, but never understanding that he was there.
Yes. If Allah Almighty protects His servant, it is all right. Awliya are deputies of our Lord Almighty. If a person runs to a wali and asks for protection, he may protect him, here and Hereafter. Those are miracles for awliya - miracles for anbiya, prophets, and miracles for awliya.
We are in need of some certainty. Once again, Hasan al-Basri came to visit that sheikh, Habib al-'Ajami. When Hasan arrived, Habib al-'Ajami, may Allah bless him, brought two loaves of bread, putting them in front of him as a courtesy to his guest.
Just as Hasan was beginning to eat, someone came hungry and asked for something for the sake of Allah. Then that sheikh, Habib al-'Ajami, came and took both the loaves from Hasan al-Basri and gave them to that person.
Then the imam, Hasan al-Basri, said, "O sheikh, you are a good person, but if you had some more knowledge of the Shari'ah, it would be better for you. You should know a little bit about the Shari'ah; you are in need of that." He meant to say, "One loaf for me and one for that person, not taking the two and giving them away."
The sheikh did not say anything. Then, after a bit, someone came to the door. The sheikh ordered, "See who is there."
A murid went and looked, saying, "A person has brought a tray full of food."
"Bring the tray here," the sheikh said. "Now, Imam, eat. You know so much," he said to Hasan al-Basri, "but you have little certainty. You must try to have more certainty." Because he had certainty, that sheikh knew that if he gave this for the sake of Allah, more than this must certainly come. "You were angry with me when I took the two loaves, giving them to that person. Look!
40 The Verse of the Throne, II:255, a verse of great power and majesty which describes the attributes of God Almighty.
If I had not given both of them, this would not have come. I am certain that when I give, Allah Almighty will return it at least tenfold."
Yes. Therefore certainty gives more benefit to everyone, and we are in need of that. If there is no certainty, knowledge can never give benefit but is only like an ornament to enable people to say, "We are doctor's, we are scholars."
What is certainty? Someone said, "If I put my hand in the mouth of a dragon and my heart is all right, it is never going to be afraid that that dragon will bite my hand - no. I know with certainty that only if my Lord gives the order it will bite. Therefore, without doubt, if I were to put my hand there, I would not be afraid."
Imam Sh'arani - he is one of the people of tawwakul, those who trust in their Lord completely - once said, "Once I was traveling and it was near Maghrib time41. I saw a dome and walked toward it. When I entered it I saw that there was a tomb in it, under the dome, in ruins.
After a short while peasants came running, saying, 'O sheikh, you must not stay here but must come with us. Our village is nearby. This is a terrible place, particularly at nighttime. So many snakes, big snakes, come out, and if anyone sleeps here, in the morning we find only his bones, nothing else. They eat him; only bones are left. Therefore we are warning you not to sleep here.'
Then Imam Sh'arani, may Allah bless him, said to the peasants, "O my brothers, when you tell me that, I can't move, I can't take even one step out of this place. Because when you warned me about those big snakes, my ego was too afraid of them, and I am so ashamed in front of my Lord because my nafs was too frightened of snakes, not fearing Allah Almighty but fearing snakes. Therefore I am not going with you; I can never accept your invitation. I must sleep here this night; it is better for such a nafs that I be eaten by snakes. Therefore, it is impossible that I should leave this place.’
Eh! The peasants said, ‘You know best, Sheikh. You are the sheikh; we don't know. We are inviting you, and we are also warning you about the snakes.’
‘Yes. Thank you very much. You go and I will be here this night. If, without saying anything about snakes, you had come and invited me officially, 'Come with us,' it would have been all right; I might have come. But since
41 The time of the sunset prayer
you are saying, ‘There are snakes, there is danger, this is a terrible place,' I can't move even one step from here. Go away.’
They went, and in the morning they hurried back with shovels to bury that sheikh's bones. And they saw that the sheikh was sitting and making dhikr, and the snakes were like this, like wooden beams, beside him. When he lay down, they went around him; in that sandy place they made tracks, traveling around and hissing. And he was at rest. Yes, if you know your Lord and trust in Him, He protects you. If you are familiar with your Lord, everything is going to be familiar with you.”
That is certainty - important! And we must try to improve in certainty, not trying to keep so many verses of the Qur'an, so many hadiths; but if we can acquire the secret power in them, that will be certainty for us.
Whoever has it may give it. The one who has something may give it; if he doesn't, how can he give? You ask bread from a person, for example. If he has it, he will give it to you; if not, he will never give it. Certainty is with the prophets; their certainty brought Gabriel42 to them from the Heavens. And awliya, also; certainty is with them. You can acquire certainty from those people. All awliya have certainty; you can't find a wali without certainty.
Therefore we are asking our Lord to let us find one of them so that we may acquire certainty; they give certainty. There are some lamps of only five watts and some of one thousand, of ten thousand. As much as a person needs, they give; as much as you ask, they give certainty. We are in need of that. May Allah bless you and forgive you, and grant us certainty from His beloved people.
CONCERNING ALLAH'S DECREE AND ASKING FORGIVENESS FOR OTHERS
(The building next to Peckham Mosque, where most of these talks were given, was frequented by members of a rock music group. One morning Sheikh Nazim spoke about the carefree attitude of the members of that group.)
42 Jibril, p.b.u.h., the angel who brought God's revelations to all the prophets, including Muhammed, p.b.u.h. In the Qur'an Jibril is referred to as "the Holy Spirit" and "the Trustworthy Spirit." See, for example, II:87, 253; V:113 (v:110 in Pickthall's translation); XVI:102 and XXVI:193-195.
Very happy people. They are happy, we are happy, alhamdulillah. They are not asking to be like us, we are not asking to be like them. Everyone is happy.
Every group must be happy; if not happy, its people will change to another group. This is important. Allah Almighty says, "Kullu hizbin bima ladayhim farihun43," every party is happy with what it finds. Every group is sitting at a feast; from that feast they take their pleasure. If not taking pleasure from this group, they will get up from there and go to another one. If not taking it there, then their pleasure is going to be with a third camp.
I mean to say that everyone belongs to a group - by his thoughts, by his actions, by his behaviour, by his attributes, by his customs, by his beliefs. Even within religions there are so many groups. In London alone, some Muslims go to Central Mosque, some go to Peckham Mosque, some go to Shacklewell Lane Mosque, some go to the West Indian Mosque. Now Turks are three or four parties, also, each of them going with someone. And they are pleased; if not pleased, they would not go there.
That is a rule in the world. Allah Almighty has put that rule and He says, "Everyone is happy with the group that he finds in front of him, like a table put there for certain people." One person may say, "Yes, this is best for me," and sits at it. Someone else just comes and looks. Sometimes a person comes and sits, sits, sits, and then goes out. It means that he does not agree with our assembly, does not agree with what pleases us, and is asking for something else. Therefore, now, the people next door are pleased; they have so many people gathering, they are happy. We are also gathering and happy, alhamdulillah.
Allah Almighty gathers some people for evil. Some others He gathers together for good. They are bearing something; if they do not do that, if they leave, others must take that place. Perhaps it may come to us to play a trumpet. If those people are no longer alive, it is impossible for us to be free; those trumpets must be played. If there is no one else, perhaps the turn may come to us.
Therefore we are thanking Allah Almighty that there are some servants to play the trumpet so that we are free for Your service, Oour Lord. And we are saying, "Those people are tiring themselves by doing such a thing. O our Lord, forgive them and take from them their burdens."
They do not pray for us, but prayers must pray for them. Understand? They do not think of praying for themselves or for anyone else, but prayers,
43 XXIII:53
believers must be more generous than those people who are carrying around evil and representing evil and working through evil, and we are thankful to our Lord that we are free, away from evil. They can't think of praying for themselves or for others, but you must think about them, those people, because they are under a heavy burden, and say, "O my Lord, forgive them."
That is a high degree of faith. It is the level of the prophets, particularly the level of the Seal of the Prophets, peace be upon them all. He asked forgiveness for those people who had been used for evil, because our Prophet had knowledge of divine wisdoms; if he had not known divine wisdoms, he would not have been the Last Prophet.
More than any other one of the prophets, he knew the divine wisdom concerning the Sons of Adam, concerning the believers, concerning the others, unbelievers, and he knew about Satan, about the nafs and about this dunya; and for everyone he knew well concerning the Last Day and after the Last Day, concerning eternal life, and he was the person who knew most about the divine wisdoms concerning Paradise and Hell. Therefore, he always asked forgiveness for his nation, for his unmah. And all the people living now and earlier up to the end of this world are from his nation because when Jesus Christ, p.b.u.h., comes again, he is not going to be a prophet and there is not going to be a nation for him, but he is going to be from the nation of Muhammad, p.b.u.h. And the Prophet is asking forgiveness for everyone in the Divine Presence. Allah Almighty has given him a promise, saying, "On the Last Day I will say to you, O Muhammad, that as you like, I will do. As you like, I will give to you. As you like I will forgive. As you like I will give - for you."
No one can reach that point, that station. It is the highest station, maqam al- mahmud, the most respected station in the Divine Presence, the most praiseworthy station, which has been given to only one among all the Sons of Adam, among all the prophets, among all the saints. And Allah Almighty says to him, "Ask and I shall give, as you like."
Then the Prophet asks, and Allah says, "Ask more." He asks more, and Allah Almighty says, "I am giving. Ask more, ask more, ask more."
And the Prophet is ashamed and stops. Then our Lord Almighty says, "Now look at what I will give to My servants." When He opens a Mercy Ocean and divine rewards appear for the servants, the Prophet is ashamed to look at those divine rewards that he asked for the second time. He looks at what Allah is giving to His servants and to the nation of Muhammad, p.b.u.h.: as much as he asked, it is only a little drop from an ocean on the point of a needle - and that is from endless Oceans.
Man is going to suffer throughout his life, but as much as he may suffer during his life, when he leaves this life, in his grave, in Barzakh, and on the Day of Resurrection, he must keep his hope in his Lord, Allah Almighty at the highest level because He says, "Sabaqat rahmati 'ala ghadabi44” - My forgiveness surpasses My anger." Therefore, as much as the Sons of Adam may suffer finally they will reach their Lord's endless Mercy Oceans.
NO ONE LIV
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