A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ Why does Sunni Islam have 4 madzahib , considering they all came at least a generation after the passing of Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w.) ? ”   Sunni Islam has over 20 madzahib , schools of jurisprudence.  People talk about the four main ones because they are the largest, and most visible: the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali.  Even in this age, there are still madzahib that most Muslims, outside of those who study jurisprudence, are not aware of.  For example, in North Africa, there is the Zhahiri madzhab .  Among our great scholars who belonged to this madzhab include Imam Abu Muhammad ʿAli ibn Ahmad ibn Hazm ( r.a. ), and supposedly, Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Bukhari ( r.a. ), author of Swahih al-Bukhari .  Other madzahib included the Jariri madzhab , founded by Imam Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Jarir ath-Thabari ( r.a. ); the Laytsi madzhab ,...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) said, “Our Grand Shaykh said, ‘Allah ( s.w.t. ) Sent our Prophet ( s.a.w. ) to complete good character, to change bad characters into good.   He taught, during his life, how a man can change his bad character into good.   This is the main goal of prophethood.’   Once, I asked my Grand Shaykh , ‘O, my Master!   Is there any complaining from a man with good character?’   ‘Never!’ he replied to me.   ‘You, will not find a man with good character complaining.’   There are so many complaints from man, you cannot count them.   Yet, you will never find a man with good character complaining.   A person of good character is like a healthy body.   If you touch a healthy body, there is no complaint.   But if a man has sores on his skin, then, ‘Ouch!’   So, likewise, people of good character are healthy in their spiritual lives.   But people o...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) said, on the 01 st March 1980, that Shaykh ‘Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ) taught us the power of real faith.   The power of real faith is such a power that would enable a man to be stranded alone on a desert island for forty days with a very beautiful girl without any indecent thought entering his heart in relation to that girl.   The power of real faith would bar him from even considering a forbidden act with her.   The presence or absence of purity of heart will become evident in such a trial.   One may ask if such purity is within the capacity of a person, purity that would prevent the normal animal urges from even entering the mind of a man alone with an attractive woman for such a long period of time.   The answer to this question is, of course, yes: what if that girl was your daughter or sister, would it not then be natural for even any normal man to ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) said, “Once, I asked my Grand Shaykh , ‘O, my Master!   Are there any complaints from a man with good character?’   ‘Never!’ he replied to me.   ‘You will not find a man with good character complaining!’   So many complaints from people, you cannot count them.   Yet, you never find a man with good character complaining.   People of good character are like a healthy body.   If you touch a healthy body, there is no complaints.   But if a man has sores on his skin, then, ‘Ouch!’   So, likewise, people of good character are healthy in their spiritual lives.   But people of bad character, there are like a man wounded; wounds everywhere, you cannot touch any side of him, any part of his body.   Therefore, it is the measure of a man’s good character, or bad; how much complaining he does.   As much as his complaints are, you may know ho...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is taken from the teachings of Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ).   They are instructions for observance of the Day of ‘Arafat , given on the 01 st November 2011. Recite 100 x Laa ilaha illa Allah wahdahu laa shariikalah lahu al-mulku wa lahu al-hamd yuhii wa yumiit wa huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in qadiir 100 x Surat al-Ikhlasw 100 x Subhaanallahi wa al-hamdulillahi wa laa ilaaha illa Allah wa Allahu Akbar 100 x Istighfar 100 x Swalawat ‘ala an-Nabi ( s.a.w. ) For those with the capacity, recite 1,000 times, and complete it before sunset.   This was the practice of Shaykh ‘Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ).

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( s.a.w. ) said, on the 01 st April 1999, in reference to the teachings of Shaykh ‘Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ), “Our Grand shaykh described how a dervish may be acceptable as a servant to Allah ( s.w.t. ).  He must have one character from each of these three animals.   From the donkey, he must be able to carry burdens with patience and without objection.  Unless he can do this, he will be unsuccessful, because without patience, one cannot carry the responsibilities of life.   From the dog, he must learn faithfulness to his master.  If the master tells the dog to stay somewhere until he returns, that dog will stay, even until death.  If the owner beats it and chases it away, the dog will still return, with its tail wagging, when its master calls.   Finally, when a man looks at a pig, he must know that his nafs is dirtier and filthier than a pig.  The...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) wrote, in “Mercy Oceans”, that Shaykh ‘Abdullah al-Fa‘iz ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ) said, “Allah ( s.w.t. ) Sent 124,000 prophets, and with them, scripture; and after them, awliya’ and thuruq .  Why so?  This is to teach people to say, ‘There is no god but Allah’, and to be humble servants to their Lord.  As every religion states, no apostle ever called people to himself.   If you see yourself growing in pride, you are on the wrong path.  If you see yourself becoming humble, you are benefiting from religion.  With humility, we may tolerate every person, and not quarrel.  It involves perceiving everyone as better than yourself, inculcating love and respect for everyone.  It is a desirable thing.  The prophets put seeds of respect and love in our hearts.  This spread of humility alleviates suffering in the world.  It is Paradise here when we love one...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh ‘Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ) used to say, “All ways are closed except one, and that is to say ‘ Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim ’, with every movement.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) said, “Once, I was walking with our Grand Shaykh along the street and noticed a rock lying in the road.  Since it is a meritorious action to remove such obstacles from the way, I decided to move it, but being too lazy to bend down and take it away with my hand, I just kicked it aside with my foot.  Then, Grand Shaykh reprimanded me, saying, ‘Oh Nazhim Effendi, you must never do that again.  You must consider Who Brought that rock into Existence, and maintain, for it, proper respect.’”

Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim ‘Adil al-Haqqani was not given to elaborate philosophical constructions.  He taught in parables.  He said, “Aim to live in this world without allowing the world to live inside you, because when a boat sits on water, it sails, but when water enters the boat, it sinks.” The Analogy A boat on water is a functional instrument.  It sits on the surface of something that would destroy it if it entered.  The integrity of the hull is the only thing between the boat’s purpose and its annihilation.  The moment the water breaches the hull, the boat ceases to be a boat.  It becomes wreckage in the process of sinking. The world — ad-dunya (الدنيا) — is not inherently evil.  The Qur’an does not instruct Muslims to flee the world, deny its existence, or pretend its pleasures are not real.  It instructs them not to be consumed by it.  The distinction is the hull of the boat.  You must be in the world.  You must navigate...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a swuhbah by Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) on the 13 th April 2002.   In a Church in Lefkosa, there was a priest with a white beard when I was young, 8 or 9 years old.  He was full of light.  He used to give me sweets and said “ Salaam ”.  He used to read the Qur’an.  Once, in Damascus, we went with Grand Shaykh to the market.  Someone greeted him, and Grand Shaykh said to me, “There are 50 like him, hidden ones, that carry faith.  They came to me and asked me if they should announce their belief.  I said, ‘No, stay as you are in order to avoid fitnah .’   Because our ancestors believed in the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) in secret, they prayed like this.  All of those who come to me are like that - their prayer was accepted.  The Germans and the English will come into Islam.”   This was said many, many decades ago.  Since then, the numb...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) said, “Our Grand Shaykh said that if a man loves a person, he never sees any disliked thing; everything is perfect, her features, her speech and actions.  By practice, you may reach that station, like Layla and Majnun; he loved everything belonging to her, her dogs, her village, including even the stones.  Perfect love results in looking at a person and seeing only perfection.  For a lover, nothing can be disliked in his beloved; if we see perfection in people, we will like them.  Because everyone is unique in His Creation, there is a complete and special perfection with him.   Even physically, each one is a special individual.  This is from Allah’s ( s.w.t. ) Infinite Power making everyone unique.  Looking with these eyes, our hearts must incline to at least be friends with everybody.  Then everybody also comes to us with friendship, and then friendship will...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Once, Shaykh ‘Abdillah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ) said, “If an ant is moving on top of a smooth rock in the west and I am in the east, I can hear her footsteps in my ear as I hear the crack of thunder.”  And he said, “We can hear and feel the movements of our muridun no matter what they are doing, as loud as if we heard thunder.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) said, “We are trying to give a perfect method to everyone who is seeking real peace because reaching this peace and satisfaction is the destination of everybody.  You may take a train from London up to Edinburgh and on your way, there may be one hundred stations and at each station some people get out because everyone knows his destination.  If you get out before Edinburgh, you will not be satisfied.  This is not your destination.  If you get struck and remain in that station, you are going to suffer forever because you have reached a wrong destination.  Therefore, you must know your destination, and then you must take a ticket to that station, not to a station before it nor after it.  A person must do everything to save himself from arriving at the wrong station.  It is dangerous for a person not to look for his destination.  He must look out for his destinatio...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ). on the 01 st October 1979.  It is found in Mercy Oceans, Book Two.   Our Grand Shaykh , Shaykh ‘Abdullah Fa’iz ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ) said that if we seek benefit from listening or attending a majlis , we must be present in body and heart.  But so many people are just like empty jars, sitting there with no presence.  Divine Knowledge pours out when the heart is present.  It means listening with the ears of our heart.  Shaykh ‘Abdullah ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ) said that if one person in a meeting is scratching his head, the one speaking must come down seven degrees.  He may lose that Divine outpouring.  But some people are speaking with each other, some watching the door to see who is coming and going, some looking at the clock, and that Divine outpouring is diminished.  Shaykh ‘Abdullah ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ) ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani an-Naqshbandi ( q.s. ) said of Shaykh ‘Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ), “Our Grand shaykh said about trials, ‘Everyday they come afresh and the seeker must be ready and careful each time for that test, that his faith may become real faith.  Everyone may improve his station.  For one still under his ego’s rule, he will be tested by that which his ego never likes, of everything: family, friends, work and neighbours.  It may come to you what you do not like.  The way of advancement is the way of patience.  There is no quick advancement.  One must be agreeable to all that happen to and around him . ’   That is the sign of advancement, to endure peoples troubling you.  It is not important to fly in the sky or to walk on the sea or to be seen in several places at once or to dream good dreams.  What is important in our way is to be patient, resisting every wave...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) on the 05 th November 2010.   Every word uttered by Rasulullah ( s.a.w. ) was recited with honour.   For the entire 23 years that he was preaching, each spoken word brought a rain of endless blessings on all his companions.   The companions were truly Blessed and Honoured to have been with him, the Most Glorified One in the Divine Presence.   Hence, it is only such a Blessed soul today who listens to the teachings of the companions for the rain of Blessings has never stopped; Blessings still raining on those who follow these teachings.   Each time we speak of or glorify the Seal of Prophets ( s.a.w. ), we are Showered with these Blessings.   We must follow Rasulullah’s ( s.a.w. ) example, and utter only Blessed words, not waste our breath on a single heedless word.   We should collect from the treasures of the Heave...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) on the 09 th November 2010. There is a mountain, near Damascus, called Jabal al-Qasiyun, on which Shaykh Nazhim’s ( q.s. ) house is located.   Shaykh ‘Abdillah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghistani’s ( q.s. ) maqam and mosque are but a few metres from the house.   Shaykh Nazhim ( q.s. ) said that if he spoke of the virtues of Jabbal al-Qasiyun for 40 days, he would still be unable to finish describing it.   It is a glorious mountain, and light falls on it constantly.   On a dark night, one can see the mountain shining and glowing. Shaykh ‘Abdillah ad-Daghistani ( q.s. ) had explained that Allah ( s.w.t. ) had Sent 124,000 Prophets.   The tombs of 1,000 of them are found around the world, but the holy bodies of the remaining 123,000 are inside that mountain.   Because of this, Mercy falls upon it continuously.   In the old day...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) said, “Years ago, as I was walking with my Grand Shaykh in Damascus, a football that some boys were playing with hit me on the head and knocked my turban off.  I got very angry and turned around, shouting, “O you miserable brat!’   Grand Shaykh said, ‘Oh Nazhim Effendi, you have just lost your faith.  How can you claim to believe that everything comes from Allah ( s.w.t. ) when you are ready to blame someone for something that hits you on the head?  Do you not know that Allah ( s.w.t. ) is the Original Cause of that event?  So why are you blinded by secondary causes?  When that ball hit you why did you look to see which one threw it in order to quarrel with him?  Do you not know that it is from Allah ( s.w.t. )?’  Then I recited the confession of faith to renew my faith.   The level of faith that our Grand Shaykh referred to is the level of prophets ...