To Draw Near to Allah (AJ) By Patience and Testing

September 5, 2019 February 26, 2023

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https://youtu.be/nGLH-u41cVo

From the Realities of Mawlana Shaykh (Q) as taught by Shaykh Nurjan Mirahmadi

A’udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the rejected one
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Alhamdulillahi Rabbil ‘aalameen, was salaatu was salaamu ‘alaa Ashraful Mursaleen, Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadul Mustafa ﷺ. Madad ya Sayyidi ya Rasulul Kareem, Ya Habibul ‘Azeem, unzur halana wa ishfa’lana, ‘abidona bi madadikum wa nazarekum.

Ana abdukal ‘ajeez, wa dayeef, wa miskin, wa zhalim, wa jahl. InshaAllah, always asking for Allah’s (AJ) rahmah, mercy, and to be nothing, and not to claim anything, and Allah (AJ) Ghafoor Raheem, that Allah (AJ) forgive us our wrongdoings. And in the end of our life, Alhamdu lillaahi Rabbil ‘aalameen, that Allah (AJ) dress us, and bless us, and take us to our destination. A good destination, in the presence of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ.

﴾الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٢

1:2 – “Alhamdu lillaahi Rabbil ‘aalameen” (Surat Al-Fatiha)

“Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds” (The Opener, 1:2)

When Allah (AJ) Loves You, He Guides You

Alhamdulillah, always a reminder for myself that when Allah (AJ) loves you, he guides you. And when Allah (AJ) really loves you, He really guides you. And guides you to the schools of ma’rifah (Gnosticism) and the schools of tarbiyah (discipline), that to perfect our faith, and perfect our character, and to destroy our form. And alhamdulillah, I believe the highest of them are all the turuqs (spiritual paths) in Naqshbandiya tul ‘Aliya, under the Sultanage of Sultanul Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Haqqani (Q), and our beloved Shaykh and Guide Mawlana Shaykh (Q).

That they guided us on this path, and it’s not like an imam (religious leader) at a masjid. Mashayikh al kiram, they’re beyond that understanding, that they are people who have a knowledge. They convey that knowledge and they’re not responsible if you understood it, you didn’t understand it. Nor they’re responsible for guiding you, or raising you, or presenting you into the presence of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ, in the presence of awliyaullah (saints). It means that the guides, waliyun murshidun, is a wali, a companion, nearness and friend of Allah (AJ), and given through the oceans of guidance.

﴾مَن يَهْدِ اللَّـهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ ۖ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا…﴿١٧

18:17 – ” …Man yahdillahu fahuwal Muhtadi, wa man yudlil falan tajida lahu waliyyan murshida. (Surah Al-Kahf)

“… He whom Allah, guides is rightly guided; but he whom Allah leaves to stray – for him you will never find Saintly Guide to the Right Way.” (The Cave, 18:17)

Allah (AJ) Wants Us to Draw Near Through Voluntary Worship

That what we are inspired in these schools of realities is that Allah (AJ) wants us to draw near. And that nearness is the wilayat (sainthood), that by drawing near to Allah (AJ), that Allah (AJ) befriends that soul, befriends that reality, and draw near to them. And that through voluntary worship, becomes the holy hadith that Prophet ﷺ describe that, ‘I be the ears in which you hear, the eyes in which you see…’ and the whole hadith that everybody is familiar with. It’s a proximity and a nearness to Allah (AJ), and Allah (AJ) gives through the schools of tarbiyah (discipline), that, ‘I want you to draw near to Me. I want you to be dear to Me. And I want to perfect your reality so that I can dress you from these blessings.’

عَنْ أَبِيِ هُرَيْرَةِ رَضِّيَّ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ‏،‏ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ ‏:‏‏ إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَىٰ قَالَ‏:”…وَلَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ، فَإِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْت سَمْعَهُ الَّذِي يَسْمَعُ بِهِ، وَبَصَرَهُ الَّذِي يُبْصِرُ بِهِ،…”
[حَدِيثْ اَلْقُدْسِي – اَلمَصْدَرْ: صَحِيحْ الْبُخَارِي – رقم:٦٥٠٢]

‘An Abi Hurairah (ra) qala, Qala Rasulullahi ﷺ : InnAllaha ta’ala qala: “ …, wa la yazaalu ‘Abdi yataqarrabu ilayya bin nawafile hatta ahebahu, fa idha ahbabtuhu kunta Sam’ahul ladhi yasma’u behi, wa Basarahul ladhi yubsiru behi, …” [Hadith Qudsi, Sahih al Bukhari, Raqam: 6502)

Narrated by Abu Hurairah (ra) that: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that: Allah the Almighty said: “…My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts of worship so that I shall love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees…” [Holy Hadith, Authentic by al-Bukhari, # 6502]

Our Love for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ Draws Our Soul into Allah’s (AJ) Proximity

If we’re not interested in that station, then we should tell Allah (AJ) that, ‘I don’t want that proximity, that I don’t want that nearness.’ Astaghfirullah hil Azeem. And that is not something that you choose. It’s Allah’s (AJ) Infinite Bounty and Endless Mercy. It’s a kiss of love from Divinely Presence. That if I kiss you and embrace you all, then naat sharif that we’re talking about is a embrace from Prophet ﷺ, that brings the soul deep into the Divinely Presence.

کسے نوں میں اپنا دکھڑا سنایا نہیں
تیرے باجو کسی مینوں سینے نال لایا نہیں
سینے نال لایا ای تے لائی رکھی سوہنڑیا
٢x (چنگے آں کے مندے آں)
نبھائی رکھی سوہنڑیا

Kisay nu may apna Dukhra sunaya nayi
Tere baajo kisse meno Seene naal laaya nayi
Seene naal laaya aey te Laaye rakhi soniya
(Changay aa, Ke mande aa) x2
Nibhayi Rakhi Soniya

I have never told my grieving story to anyone, No one has ever held me and brought me to their proximity like you did, Now that you have brought me to your nearness O Beloved, always keep me near to your light, Whether we are good or bad, Keep us with you, O Beloved

Allah (AJ) is present in the heart of Prophet ﷺ. That when the love of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ overwhelms the soul and brings the soul into that proximity, it’s a nearness and a dearness to Allah (AJ). And our whole life in the way of haqqaiq, its not a regular association. These are the ways of haqqaiq and realities that Allah (AJ) says, ‘I wanted for you something different. I want for you to lose your form. I want for you to lose all your wants and all your desires. And in my Divinely Presence, they mean absolutely nothing.’ And we wanted, we didn’t want, it didn’t matter, Allah (AJ) enrolled.

Follow Your Shaykh to Fulfill Allah’s (AJ) Will

Anybody who finds themselves walking through that door, they were enrolled in that darajah (station) to reach that reality. And Allah’s (AJ) will, irada, and amr (command) will be completed. There is no way to escape what Allah (AJ) wants in life, wants for us to reach of our darajah (station). Then the turuqs (spiritual paths) come and our beloved Shaykhs come, that Allah’s (AJ) Will wants to dress you and bless you.

You can either do it the hard way or you can do it the easy way. The easy way is to listen to the teachers. They’re not having any magical power, but they’re very near to Prophet ﷺ by virtue of listening to their lives and see the testing that they go through. By listening to their isharats (signs) and their guidance, their suggestions and nasiha, that it is recommended. If you do, if you don’t do, it’s up to you.

Awliyaullah Teach Us How to Be Closer to Allah (AJ)

All of those to teach us, that what my will for this school, for this darajah (station), for what Allah (AJ) has in store for us in this reality that we find our self in. This room here and thousands around the worlds. That these are the schools of tazkiyah and purification because Allah (AJ) wants that soul to be very near. Because if it’s taught by awliyaullah (saints), it means that whatever they’re teaching and dressing, whatever lights they have, they’re sending out.

And everybody in their schools will be dressed by that proximity and it’s not an easy life. If it’s not something that you want, you must take that up with your Lord. But we haven’t seen anybody who got away from that or wanted to leave that proximity. It’s a tremendous gift! Its…feel ashamed even to say those types of words, but for people who don’t understand and say, ‘Well, I did not enroll.’ But God loves you. And out of this 7 billion people, 124,000 awliyaullah (saints) on Earth. And in their associations, through their teaching, through the guidance that Allah (AJ) sending from Atiullaha wa atiur Rasula wa Ulil amre minkum, they’re teaching how to bring people near to that reality.

﴾ياأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُواللَّه وَأَطِيعُوٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ…﴿٥٩

4:59 – “Ya ayyu hal latheena amanoo Atiullaha wa atiur Rasula wa Ulil amre minkum…” (Surat An-Nisa)

“O You who have believed, Obey Allah, Obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you…” (The Women, 4:59)

Use Your Spiritual Tools As Often As Possible

So, then they teach, you want the easy or you want the hard? You want the easy, follow me. Follow the teaching. Follow the guidance. That all of the practices, all of the zikr (Divine remembrance), all of the contemplation, all of the meditation, are your tools. Use these tools as often as possible, to sit and to contemplate, and to meditate, and in the zikr (Divine remembrance) to connect your heart, and be somebody who is connected.

And the more that you can connect your heart and connect with all your practices, you begin to understand what Allah (AJ) wants for you, wants for me – I’m talking to myself only. Wants for me, says that, ‘As I am raising you and lifting you; your form is not going to be a buddha in My presence.’

We Are Put Into Difficulty to Lose Our Desires

‘Whatever fame you think you have, whatever recognition you think you have, whatever stations you may be achieving, I am always going to crush you. So that your form is never anything in My presence!’ Your form and the body will begin to calcify itself over the soul. And become like a statue, become something as if it’s something important. And Allah (AJ) says that has to be destroyed.

And through continuous path of humiliation and effacing that the whole world will come against you and humiliate you, and efface you, and put difficulty upon you. And you be surrounded by people who put difficulty on you. And all of that was so that you would use your tools. That, ‘As I am raising you, that body can’t come on My beloved servant. Your desires can’t come. Your will can’t come. If it’s your desires you want, then I will put you in a different path. If it’s your will, and YOUR will, not MY Will, I will put you on a different path.’

Face Your Testing in Silence

The easy way is that what we understood – this is my reality. This is what God has granted for me. That the love to be emanating in my soul and my being, then begin to contemplate and meditate and try to choose the right answer, try to choose the right path. That whatever’s presented to you, choose the higher reality so that you can achieve what Allah (AJ) wants you to achieve. And anytime humiliation and difficulty comes your way, face it! And face the humiliation. Face the difficulty. Face the backbiting. Face all of those things, but without your mouth. Nobody wants to hear from you. Nobody wants to hear your complaints.

This means that you face it with all your heart and being that, ‘Ya Rabbi, this is Your will, this is what You want from me, Ya Rab.’ That I take a path of silence. I take a path in which to close my mouth, connect my heart, and if necessary, then you cry onto your Lord. That, ‘Ya Rabbi, this is what You want from me.’ That if somebody coming that you love, and aggregating, and defacing, and effacing you; if it’s Allah’s (AJ) Will, it’s Allah’s (AJ) Will. It means constantly in our lives, it’s a path of constantly being crushed and constantly being raised, constantly being crushed, constantly being raised. And that same system brought us into this Earth.

We Came Into This World Being Crushed

How many contractions the mother’s womb had before that child came onto this Earth? And that child came through the womb and crushed the skull. You know, the skull is not attached. It’s all like a puzzle with one piece missing. And it comes out, and the whole skull collapses, the body comes out, and then Allah (AJ) begins to put it back. Strategically left one piece out, so that it could all come like this. Only later that one piece Allah (AJ) begin to make it hard again.

‘You came into this world and I had to crush you, bring you through.’ Why Allah (AJ) couldn’t bring us through a nice big opening? It could have been much easier, but everything through difficulty comes ease, through difficulty comes ease, through difficulty comes ease.

﴾فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ﴿٥

94:5-6 – “Fainna ma’al ‘usri yusran. (5) Inna ma’al ‘usri yusra. (6) (Surat Al-Inshirah)

For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. (5) Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease. (6)  (The Relief, 94:5-6)

Do Not Put Your Will Above Allah’s (AJ) Will!

And that is the opening of the heart. That is the opening of realities. That is the opening of the soul. That is, as much as I am effacing your physicality because I don’t want your physicality rising into my presence, blocking you. I don’t want your will blocking My Will. It’s not about an argument with you that, what do you want, and what do I want, and we sit on the table and begin to argue about it. Nobody argues with Allah (AJ)! Nobody argues with the Divinely presence!

We argue with each other. We argue with each other as a mercy. If a guidance is given to you, a suggestion given to you, it’s a rahmah and a mercy to you, that pay attention. Pay attention to that guidance, it may be a path of ease for you. You say, ‘No, I don’t care for what you say.’ No problem. If that advice is coming from Allah (AJ), from Prophet ﷺ, and you’re refusing that advice, then beware for the path of difficulty, that Allah’s (AJ) Will will be done.

You Cannot Escape Allah’s (AJ) Testing

If Allah (AJ) wanted a crushing, wanted a darajah (station), and the person feels that they can escape that – and how many people we know that they thought they escaped something – and boom, something happened to them? We’re talking today with somebody else. Say you given an advice. You do something in your life, say, ‘No, no, thank you. Thank you, Shaykh, I am not going to do that.’ Okay, no problem. Do it as you like. You go outside, you get into a big car accident. Everything smashed. It’s not that Allah (AJ) now raised your darajah (station), but cleaned you from the sin of not following, and not achieving what you were supposed to achieve. And Allah (AJ), when He loves you, He’s not going to let you to destroy yourself.

And you are your worst enemy and I am my worst enemy. That if hardship begins to come, it becomes a cleansing upon the body to achieve the same means. This means that when you take guidance and you take a step towards something you don’t like, you don’t understand, and it hurt. It agitated your being, agitated your life, your body cracked. I’m giving an analogy so you can understand what’s happening. It means when Allah (AJ) wants the body to crack, the zalzalah (earthquake). Why? So, what’s inside can come out.

Beware the Path of Nafsani

Our nature on Earth is let’s fortify the body. Let’s put even more garbage, and more garbage, so it becomes so solid that nothing is coming out. Every choice I make is another layer of concrete. Everything I want is another layer of concrete, and Allah (AJ) says if I want that opened, I am going to get that opened. If you listen, and take the pill of, of ‘dis-ease’, the pill of humiliation, the pill of following the guidance, and not what you want, it cracks nicely. But you said, ‘No, no, no, I don’t want to listen.’ Don’t listen. Allah (AJ) will send something to crack it. And then that becomes a path, that they call nafsani. That nafs (ego), everything and every difficulty begin to hit that servant, and will achieve the same goal.

Allah (AJ) Will Make You to Taslim (Submit)

We have somebody who left the tariqah (spiritual path) and didn’t want to have a shaykh. And Allah (AJ) sent upon them a very ill child. Wasn’t it easier life to have a shaykh? And to listen, and you liked the advice, you don’t like the advice? Who cares? Follow it. Now, they thought they got away. Says, ‘Oh Shaykh, I don’t have to follow you.’ Said, ‘No problem, it’s not me.’ If Allah (AJ) wanted a station from you, and you’re choosing not to follow, be amazed at how Allah (AJ) going to make you to taslim and submit.

And poor man was given a very sick child. That child is a very blessed child. That child now is the shaykh for that family. Same thing because now you’re going to clean him. You’re going to wash him. You’re going to feed him all the way till he’s 60 – 70 years old, until you leave this Earth. You will be serving that one and that one is super holy. We know from that disease, that Mawlana Shaykh (Q) says when that disease comes onto a family, that child is a very holy child. And you’re going to serve that child. You don’t want to serve the shaykh, no problem. You don’t want to follow the turuq (spiritual paths), no problem. There’s no compulsion. They’re only here as a means of a rahmah (mercy).

Mawt Qablil Mawt: Death of Worldly Desires Before Physical Death

And as an understanding for themselves because they live that life, that ‘Ya Rabbi, no, no, no, no, no, I don’t, I don’t want the sledgehammer. I don’t want the difficulty. Let me fight my own difficulty when something bad comes, something humiliating comes, something difficult comes. That let me to remain silent. Let me to do my zikr. Let me to find in my contemplation and meditation, that you’re effacing me now. You’re crushing me now. You’re taking away my will now. You’re taking away and making me to be humiliated.’

Alhamdulillah! And then you meditate and contemplate, and do all your practices so that Allah (AJ) can bring out what’s hidden within that being. Bring out the reality of the soul. And that the soul begins to govern more and more the physicality because that is the mawt qablil mawt. Mawt qablil mawt, death before death is not something easy. Many are read in tariqah (spiritual path). Many have read these, many have heard these stories, but this station and this tariqah is so real, that they give this death like a shot. Every couple of weeks, you get this shot of a very bitter taste, a very bitter experience.

Free Your Soul Through Spiritual Practices

That once again, somebody humiliates you, effaces you, defiles you, backbites you, does all sorts of things, and again the shot came. The shot came, the shot came until your physicality is like dead on this Earth. It really doesn’t care anymore for anything. And the soul is free. And you feel the soul in your zikr. You feel your soul in your prayers. You feel your soul in everything.

And every time you’re reciting, all you can do is cry into the presence of Prophet ﷺ because every word were from the awliya (saints) who had the same feeling. You read their words? It says who am I going to cry to, but you. Only through these praisings, I gain these stations and nearnesses to you, and once you hold me, don’t let me go. Oh, and they think I am something, but I am nothing, and veil my sins, and keep me to be veiled. All these naats, all these salawats, it’s all the verification of the same school.

آقا دے غلاماں دا میں ادنیٰغلامآں
لوکیکہندےخاصمینوں میںعاماںتوںویعامآں
پردہجےپایاہےاےتے پائیرکھیںسوہنڑں
چنگےآںکےمندےآں
نبھائی رکھی سوہنڑیا

Aaqa de ghulama da may Adna ghulamaa
Loki kehnde khas mayno May aamaa tu wee aamaa
Parda je paaya hai te Paayi rakhi soniya
Changay aa Ke mande aa
Nibhayi rakhi soniya

I am the smallest servant of your real servants, O Master, people think I am special but I am just a regular person. As you have been veiling my sins, keep on veiling, O Beloved, whether we are good or bad, keep us with you, O Beloved.

We Are Oppressors to Ourselves

That with all the crushing in life, all we have is to run to Allah (AJ). Where’s Allah (AJ) to be found? In the light of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ. Then when we take a path of loving Prophet ﷺ, loving Prophet ﷺ. That is all we want, begins to come down, from right and left, and front and behind. And every time a test comes, a difficulty comes, a yelling and a screaming comes from all directions, we have only Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ to run to, that provide an opening for me, Ya Sayyidi Ya RasulAllah ﷺ. That’s why Allah (AJ) says in Qur’an, when they’re oppressors to themselves, that’s the oppression. That’s the zulumat (oppression) that Allah (AJ) talking about.

﴾إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ النَّاسَ شَيْئًا وَلَـٰكِنَّ النَّاسَ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ ﴿٤٤

10:44 – “Innal laaha laa yazlimun naasa shai’anw wa laakin nannaasa anfusahum yazlimoon” (Surat Yunus)

“Indeed, Allah does not wrong the people at all, but it is the people who are oppressor to themselves/their soul.” (Jonah, 10:44)

Be Patient and Exhibit the Characteristics of Paradise

Only reason you’re sad is because it’s your body, but they don’t care a drop for your body. Allah (AJ) only looks to the…doesn’t look to the surah and to the form. Allah (AJ) only looks to the heart. So, the only one crying is your body. ‘I’m looking only to your heart, and I’m seeing the darajat (station) in the caliber in which your character is. That when I squeeze you, you don’t speak. When they attack you, you don’t backbite and attack back. You have, and you’re exhibiting the characteristics of paradise.’

And you’re a paradise person walking upon the Earth. And everyday there is going to be a choice. Are you making your choice for your paradise station? Then you calibrate your life and say that, this choice coming to me now – is this from my paradise station or from my dunya (material world)? If it’s for your dunya (material world), that know that there’s going to be a crushing in that.

Time is Running Out in Dunya, Choose a Heavenly Life

Every moment in every breath, every choice that we take in our life, has to be for our paradise station. And that to achieve what Allah (AJ) wanted us to achieve, and now, more so because the dunya (material world) is finishing. And the time is ending, and the game is in its last and final calls. We’re in, I don’t know, I never follow sports. What ending, what ending…we’re in the final ending. This is the last quarter of the game. You see all the world and all the nation are gathering in different locations. This is not the time now for me to choose everything that benefits my body, but what is the benefit for my soul? And take all of the tools that I learned along the way to reach towards that reality, to reach towards that goal.

And this was a talk for myself. For everyone to understand that anytime they taste a bitter pill, it was given by Allah (AJ). Don’t worry about who were the actors who are giving it, and it’s this guy and that one, and this shaykh and that shaykh. No, no, everything was given by Allah (AJ), by order of Allah (AJ) to Prophet ﷺ, and by means through different humans and different people. Something came to us, to see our quality and our character. Choose the heavens, choose the heavenly life, choose the heavenly way, and don’t worry about dunya (material world), and following what the dunya rules, inshaAllah.

Subhana rabbika rabbal ‘izzati ‘amma yasifoon, wa salaamun ‘alal mursaleen, walhamdulillahi rabbil ‘aalameen. Bi hurmati Muhammad al-Mustafa wa bi sirri surat al-Fatiha.

Special thanks to our transcribers for their help with transcribing this suhbah.

Original Date of Suhbah: January 10, 2016
Updated: July 9, 2021

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