Shaykh Nazim Haqqani
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ISUFI WISDOM SERIES LIBERATING THE SOUL A GUIDE FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH VOLUME FIVE By Shaykh Nazim Adil Al-Haqqani Foreword By Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani ISLAMIC SUPREME COUNCIL OF AMERICA © Copyright 2006 Naqshbandi Sufi Order of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the written permission of the Islamic Supreme Council of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Naqshbandi, Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani, 1922- Liberating the soul : a guide for spiritual growth / by Shaykh Nazim Adil al- Haqqani. 1st ed. Washington, DC : Islamic Supreme Council of America, <2002-2005 > v. <1-3> ; 23 cm. Subjects: Sufism. Naqshaband¯iyah. Series: Sufi wisdom series BP189 .N368 2002 297.4 21 2002109747 Published and Distributed by: Islamic Supreme Council of America 17195 Silver Parkway, #401 Fenton, MI 48430 USA Tel: (888) 278-6624 Fax:(810) 815-0518 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.naqshbandi.org First Edition July 2006 ISBN: 1-930409-33-8 Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani (right) with his disciple of fifty years, Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani. Head of the world’s largest Naqshbandi Sufi spiritual order, Shaykh Nazim is known for his life- altering lessons in how to discipline the ego, reach a state of spiritual sur- render, and achieve true liberation from the bondage of worldly distrac- tion and pursuit. Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, Shaykh Nazim’s deputy, ac- companies the venerable shaykh on his many visits to various regions of the world, where they meet with political and religious leaders, media, and throngs of common folk. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword..............................................................vii Introduction .........................................................xii Publisher’s Note ................................................... xv Notes ................................................................... xvi 1: Training Ourselves for Servanthood..................2 2: Preparing Ourselves to Carry Out Orders and Face Our Destiny ....................................................6 3: The Need to Turn to and Follow a Qiblah ...........11 4: About Being a Sincere Servant to Our Lord ....... 15 5: Concerning the Holy Prophet’s Knowledge of the Future and Sayyidina Mahdi ................................. 19 6: Following the Ways of Holy Men ....................... 23 7: The Greatness of Divine Mercy in the Face of Our Sins ......................................................................28 8: The Meaning of Tariqah: Patience ................... 32 9: Doing Everything for the Sake of Allah Almighty ...... 35 1o: Striving for Perfection .....................................39 11: Taking Away the Veils from Our Hearts ...........42 12: The Importance of Agreeing with Allah’s Will.. 47 13: Concerning Pride and Divine Love................... 51 14: About Restraining Our Egos ............................ 55 15: About Accepting Muhammad as a Prophet.......58 16: Changing Ourselves, the Condition for Receiving Divine Help..........................................60 17: Putting Our Lord’s Will First, Then Making Ourselves Follow His Will.....................................64 18: Concerning Familiarity ...................................68 19: The Common Sickness of Mankind: Love of Dunya .................................................................. 72 2o: Making All Our Actions for the Pleasure of Allah .. 77 v 21: Guarding Your Eyes......................................... 81 22: Finding Light Through the Prophets and Their Inheritors .............................................................85 23: Concerning Allah’s Greatest Name, the Night of Power, and Sayyidina Khidr.................................. 91 24: About Ihsan and Divine ‘Programming’ ..........96 25: Limiting Our Ego’s Endless Desires............... 100 26: Entrusting Ourselves to Our Lord ................. 105 27: Concerning Mankind, the Deputies of Allah, and the Second Coming of Jesus................................ 109 28: Seeking Help Through Patience And Prayer ...114 29: The Importance of Bringing Beliefs to People..118 30: Trying to Be a Good One and Benefitting Others .. 123 31: Concerning Seclusion and Depending on Allah for Our Provision.................................................127 32: The Current Degeneration of Muslim Society...... 132 33: The Time of Sayyidina Mahdi ........................ 136 34: Using Your Heart to Understand................... 140 35: Concerning Dhikr ......................................... 144 36: The Importance of the Night of Power........... 148 37: Trying To Be Good Ones ................................ 149 38: Taking Only as Much as You Need from Dunya.... 154 39: The Prophet’s Intercession on the Day of Judgment............................................................ 159 40: The Need for Spiritual Support in Our Time... 163 41: Working Toward Our Main Goal: To Reach The Station of a Deputy ............................................. 168 Glossary...............................................................173 vi Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani FOREWORD Bismillahi-r-Rahmani-r-Rahim In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful All praise is due to God Almighty, Allah the Exalted and Bounteous. And praise and blessings be upon His perfect servant, the exemplar to hu- mankind and mercy to all creation, Prophet Muhammad ,1 and on his family and Companions. This fifth in the series, Liberating the Soul, is another wonderful com- pendium of sohbets or spiritual discourses by our master, the chief of saints and reviver of the prophetic way, the Sunnah, in an age of materialism; the teacher of millions and worldwide leader of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani, may Allah grant him bountiful health and a long life. In past times, the living Sufi shaykh and saints never accepted a stu- dent or follower before completing his Islamic law and jurisprudence, memorizing the entire Quran, and knowing Islamic law, Shari‘ah, from be- ginning to end. Then and only then, would the shaykh give them bay‘ah (ini- tiation) for at that time they know they are sound. In the past everyone had to study religious knowledge. This was going on until recently. In the past, wherever a parent raised a child—whether on the subcontinent, the Middle East, or the East, where most of the saints are living—their focus was that their children grow up and study the basic structure of Islam. This was their higher education. If you look into history, this was the educational system and whatever other subjects or sciences that were directly related to it. So these people were given a complete under- standing before they took initiation from a shaykh. 1 stands for “Salla-Lahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,” meaning, “Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him,” the Islamic invocation for Prophet Muhammad . vii liberating the soul All people entering a Sufi path, tariqah, knew what the Sufi saints re- quired and they were coming to the shaykh only after they had graduated. Then they sought to achieve the spiritual aspect of the faith in addition to its discipline. After they finished the physical dimension, they sought the haqiqah dimension - Reality. At that time they were more powerful because the knowledge of Reality does not change the external (Shari‘ah) knowledge but rather gives it support. Today no one is seeking such knowledge. Now, everyone is seeking the knowledge of science. In this era, in this century, the educational system is focusing on science, computers, and so on. Although both parties are going to die and they will not take that science with them to the grave, the party that took the knowledge of Reality will receive something beneficial because they took something that is eternal. Today people’s focus is scattered. So now, the Sufis and especially the Naqshbandi-Haqqani line, which is a direct chain to the Prophet through the lineage of the Grandshaykh, have relaxed the restrictions and require- ments to enter tariqah. Since the time of the Prophet we know that in spirituality, knowl- edge is always rising. Knowledge is always growing. It is impossible, like in any science, for knowledge to stop; it is always on the increase. In the Naqshbandi understanding, spirituality is always ascending, be- cause the Prophet’s knowledge is continuously ascending. Moreover, as the Prophet is ascending, all other prophets are ascending and so too are all awliya ascending, because scholars and saints are inheritors of the proph- ets. They move with them. Therefore, from one centuty to the next that knowledge is ever-increasing and more new things are coming. Therefore, in understanding the spirituality of Islam, our grandshaykh used to say that in the past the meaning of tariqah was obedience. But today the meaning of tariqah is love, because not everyone can obey today. Our Grandshaykh said that in this time nobody has the ability to obey or listen, therefore, what would be the benefit of tariqah if it was still based on obedi- ence? For that reason the manifestations that are coming from the Divine Presence, by the intermediation of the Prophet ÿ has changed. viii Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani It is enough in this century for the seekers to love, because times are harder. The darkness is more and sinning is more. Therefore, mercy is higher, so as mercy is greater now, only a very thin