A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is adapted from a swuhbah by Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) on 11 th April 2010.   Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim ( q.s. ) supplicated that Allah ( s.w.t. ) increase him and all of us in knowledge that is beneficial.   The entirety of knowledge brought by Rasulullah ( s.a.w. ) consists of only beneficial knowledge.   The spiritually drunk are those who seek other than this knowledge.   The intoxicated cannot differentiate reality from illusion.   They live in their own world of fantasy.   Far too many of us lives in a make-believe world of worry, uncertainty and fear.   They worry about their future, their wealth and their lives; they invent scenarios full of what ifs.   Why are they always worried and unhappy?   This is a way of life that is whispered by Shaythan into our hearts.   Such fear are useless acts that drain us emotionally and destroy our faith in Allah ( s.w...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ We were at the Maqam of Habib Nuh ibn Muhammad al-Habshi ( q.s. ) for the hawl and Mawlid .   It was beautiful.   Many people were there.   Habib Nuh ( q.s. ) himself was there for some time before he left to visit a friend.   The Mawlid is a place of reflection and a recollection of the sirah as they went through the readings.   We stood in valley during the prohibition against Banu Hashim, in the Year of Sorrows.   The Prophet ( s.a.w. ) lost both his beloved wife, Sayyidatina Khadijah bint Khuwaylid ( r.a. ) and uncle, Sayyidina Abu Thalib ibn ‘Abd al-Muththalib ( r.a. ).   This was a year of losses.   What are our losses compared to the Prophet ( s.a.w. )?   For we undergo is nothing but dust in the eye of a storm compared to the tests of the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ).   We were at Tha’if, where the angels of death and destruction came with Jibril ( a.s. ).   The Prophet ( s.a.w...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is adapted from a swuhbah by Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani ( q.s. ) on 01 st April 2010.   Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim ( q.s. ) asked if we have ever tried to step on our egos.   It is a very rare thing to find one who does so.   Perhaps 99.9% of humans obey their egos and follow Shaythan .   Have we ever wrestled Shaythan into submission and placed your feet triumphantly on his neck?   Have we ever even seen Shaythan before?   Those who have ever seen Shaythan would know that it has a large collection of masks.   Each day, Shaythan places a different mask on our face and suggests we look into the mirror.   For example, he may put on us, a mask of a learned saint, so we look at ourselves with all our good deeds, and we believe that the mask we have on, is the real us.   Each mask lifts our ego to a high status and we are cheated into believing that we are really that hon...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ On the 1 st of April 2010, was Shaykh Muhammad Amin Teo’s 15 th year in Darul Arqam.  He was my registrar when I converted a decade ago.  I converted on the 31 st of March. If there is any person who can be said to be the face of Darul Arqam Singapore , it is he.  If there is any person who it can be said is close to the converts, it is he.  He has been the registrar for numerous conversions, the witness for numerous weddings and the person they turn to in their times of crisis. I have been privileged enough to see him in a way that most people have not.  This is the man who when he gives salaam at Maqam Habib Nuh, Habib Nuh ibn Muhammad al-Habshi ( q.s. ) actually replies. But the day passed by without fanfare.  And most people at the Association were none the wiser.  But it is enough that Allah ( s.w.t. ) Knows him and His awliyaullah know him.  And knowing him, he would have preferred ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ On the 28 th March, 2010, we sat there at the lounge.  All of us were converts except for one.  And every single one of us converts are former Catholics.  It was a gathering of friends.  And holding court was an 82-year-old.  His name is Shalleh Lengyi and he converted to Islam long before I was born.  He had a mind as sharp as a razor and the sprightliness of men twenty-years younger.  He was witty, he was charming and he is an inspiration to all of us.   His back had been broken in three places and he walked with a cane.  Every step, every movement was with excruciating pain and yet he never once complained about it.  His every sentence was punctuated with “ al-Hamdulillah ”.   He told of a time, just after he converted, when he went through a period of difficulty.  He spoke to his parish priest.  And the priest asked him if he ever regretted converting.  He said he did. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Consider this.   When we are low on hope, just like Noah ( a.s. ) on the ark.   It has been almost forty days.   And there is no land in sight.   There is water, water everywhere.   Water all around and below.   Nothing but sky above.   And this was no normal flood.   These are the Waters of Wrath.   They did not merely drown everyone; they burned them as if they were the fires of damnation even though the water was not hot.   According to the sirah , a raven was sent forth first.   It never came back.   And then, Noah ( a.s. ) sent a dove.   It came back, cold and miserable and shivering.   It had flown all night and found no place to roost.   All it saw was water and more water.   In the morning, he tried again.   He said a du’a and let the bird go.   He watched it until it was a mere speck on the horizon.   And then that speck was gone. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The history of Muslim resistance against the Czarists, the Soviets and their successors is inextricably the history of the Sufi orders and their muridun .  And the most prominent order in the region until today is the Naqshbandi, including the Naqshbandi Haqqani, followed closely by the Qadiri.  If we had to fight to believe, would we take your religion for granted?   Much of Central Asia is the heartland of the Naqshbandi.  This was the land of Shah Baha’ ad-Din Muhammad an-Naqshband al-Bukhari ( q.s. ), the Imam of the Thariqa’ and the Ghawts al-Khaliqah .  The Naqshbandi shuyukh of Central Asia from the 10 th to 16 th century were known as the Khwajanagan or Khwajagan .  It is for this reason that the dzikr of the Naqshbandi is known as the Khatm Khwajanagan - it is the completion of the wisdom of the Masters.  “ Khwaja ” itself is a Persian title meaning “Master”.  Other prominent Masters of the...