Statement of Non-Association with Naqshbandi Michigan

BISMILLAHIRRAHMANIRRAHIM

Selam aleykum,

This is an offical notice to assert the authorized mission of Sheykh
Abdul Kerim al-Hakkani al-Kibrisi and the integrity of the Osmanli
Dergahi. Sheykh Abdul Kerim works world-wide, independently of any
other sheykh, with the permission and under the direct orders of
Mevlana Sheykh Nazim al-Hakkani al-Kibrisi.


This is a statement that the Osmanli Naks-i'bendi Hakkani Dergahi
(aka Osmanli Dergahi) has no connections whatsoever with Sheykh
Hisham Kabbani, his organizations based in Michigan, or any of his
deputies, associations, web sites, mailing lists, programs, etc. The
the Osmanli Naks-i'bendi Dergahi is a completely seperate entity from the "Naqshbandi Haqqani Sufi Order" of America.


Sheykh Abdul Kerim and the Osmanli Dergahi take orders directly from Mevlana Sheykh Nazim al-Hakkani al-Kibrisi. Sheykh Hisham Kabbani and his spokespeople do not speak for, and cannot speak for, Sheykh Abdul Kerim and the Osmanli Dergahi.


We have our work. They have theirs.


The purpose of this notice is a matter of protocol to make the
situation perfectly clear after a serious breach of etiquette on the
part of Sheykh Kabbani and his people. It has been over forty days
since the NY Times published an article in which the reporter
attacked by insinuation Sheykh Abdul Kerim's legitimacy as an
Islamic leader and as a Sheykh of the Tarikat. In that article,
Sheykh Kabbani's spokespeople - Abdul Haqq Sazanoff and Sanaa Nadim - supported that view.


From the article:
"On its Web site, Mr. Fuat's group says that he is a deputy of
Grandshaykh Muhammad Nazim, the spiritual leader of the worldwide
Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order. But Abdul Haqq, a spokesman for that order in North America, said he is not. 'He has made his own group,' Mr. Haqq said."


Neither Sheykh Kabbani nor Abdul Haqq have contacted Sheykh Abdul
Kerim Efendi to retract the statement, and to offer an apology.
Whatever their misunderstanding or ignorance in prior years and
months, they in fact knew Abdul Haqq's statement to be
categorically false when the article went to press. We had informed
the reporter of Sheykh Mevlana's message to Sheykh Abdul Kerim,
posted publicly on the http://www.naksibendi.org site with English
translation. Sheykh Mevlana definitively and with emphasis addresses
Sheykh Abdul Kerim as "Sheykh", states that Sheykh Abdul Kerim has
been working with permission for Islam, and he says that Sheykh
Abdul Kerim in fact has inherited and earned the title of "Evliya".
The reporter read Sheykh Mevlana's statement about Sheykh Abdul Kerim.


She later showed her true colors by never mentioning
Sheykh Mevlana's words in her article. But she contacted the
Kabbani organization to ask them about it just before publication.
Immediately, an order went out from their headquarters sending a delegation to Sheykh Mevlana to pressure him to say that he had excommunicated Sheykh Abdul Kerim. But alhamdulillah, they did not get the response they wanted, which would have pleased them and the New York Times.


This notice is intended for everyone on the Osmanli Naks-i'bendi
mailing list, as well as any other interested or effected parties.
We are putting out this message to clear the minds of anyone who believes in Sheykh Abdul Kerim and his work, to address the confusion and fitna that has been put out and going around for years. We have kept silent for a long time, amd we were still intending to keep silent up until the day they went public in the press. They are the reason that this has become open. We are protecting the rights of Sheykh Mevlana, of Sheykh Abdul Kerim, and our rights. Our Sheykh - Sheykh Abdul Kerim - and the Osmanli Naks-i'bendi murids around the world, are following Sheykh Mevlana's orders now, and inshallah we will do so until eternity.


Our message to Sheykh Hisham Kabbani's Naqshbandi group, and to all
others who are attacking us, is that they should stop the attacks on
us. They should stop partnering with enemies of Islam. And we should
all work together under the banner of Sheykh Mevlana for Allah and
for His Prophet aleyhi as-salatu ve selam.


All praises to our Lord Allah subhuana ta'ala and to our
Prophet aleyhi as-salatu ve selam, who is the most beloved
one in His Divine presence, and to our most beloved Master
and Guide Mevlana Sheykh Muhammad Nazim al-Hakkani.


If you still have not heard Sheykh Mevlana's unequivocal support of
Sheykh Abdul Kerim and his mission, you may go to

http://www.naksibendi.org/Extras/20051216_1426-
ThulQada-14_MSN_Message_to_SAK.wma

The English translation is at

http://www.naksibendi.org/Extras/20051216_1426-
ThulQada-14_Message_from_Seyh_Mevlana_to_
Sheykh_Abdul_Kerim_English.rtf


If you have questions, please direct them to
osmanlinaksibendi@gmail.com Inshallah we will do our best to answer.

Allah'a emanet olunuz,
Moderator

Aslan al-Adil: The Just Lion

Late but never too late to laud one of the most notable yet also one of the most gutlessly maligned freedom fighters of our age. The Lion revealed why he was respected by those standing for justice, and feared and hated by the enemies of courage.

Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Official Statement 24/09/2004

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT OF THE CHRI A. MASKHADOV: I CATEGORICALLY DECLARE THAT AFTER THE END OF THE WAR, PERSONS WHO ARE GUILTY OF CARRYING OUT CRIMINAL ACTS WILL BE TAKEN TO COURT, INCLUDING SHAMIL BASAYEV.

In connection with Shamil Basayev's statement, in which he took responsibility for the organization of the terrorist act in the town of Beslan in North Ossetia, I categorically declare that the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria under my command have nothing to do with this terrorist act.
I want to say once more that I most decisively reject and condemn such methods of fighting, no matter who uses them.

Unfortunately, it is practically impossible under the conditions of the continuation of the present war, to call to account those who are guilty of this terrorist act. However, I categorically declare that after the end of the war, persons who are guilty of carrying out such criminal acts will be taken to court, including Shamil Basayev. I call the international community to establish an international tribunal for the comprehensive investigation of all crimes committed during this war by both sides of the conflict.

However, I find it necessary to note that such acts are a consequence of and reaction to the genocidal war of the Russian government against the Chechen nation, during which the Russian army has killed 250,000 people, including 42,000 children.

The continuation of this war might finally lead to the situation becoming uncontrollable, and the result will inevitably be an increase in the number and scale of terrorist acts.
It is widely known that the reason for this conflict with a four-century-long history, during which the Chechen people has suffered extremely severe acts of genocide, is the striving of Russian colonialism to quell the will of the Chechen people to realize its vested right for self-determination.

The only possible and correct solution of the Chechen-Russian conflict is a political one, which would provide an international guarantee of the stop and the impossibility of a renewal of the genocide of the Chechen people by Russian colonialism.

President of the ChRI Aslan Maskhadov, 23.09.04
Chechenpress, Department of Governmental Information, 24.09.04

------------
On , March 08, 2005, FSB head Nikolay Patrushev announced that special forces attached to the FSB had "today carried out an operation in the settlement of Tolstoy-Yurt, as a result of which the international terrorist and leader of armed groups Maskhadov was killed, and his closest comrades-in-arms detained".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aslan_Maskhadov

May Allah grant him the highest stations of Paradise, and lend strength and infinte blessings to his family, and all those who stand for truth in these backward and slanderous times. May he continue to be a model for valor to all those who dare to struggle for truth against tyranny and oppression. May Allah dress our hearts with the same light and beauty He does to his closest companions, and the Hakim-Adils' of the world. Insh'Allah Rahman, may we also be honoured with the Shade on the Day of Justice and Judgement He reserves for those as worthy as the noble Aslan. Ameen, Ya Rabbul Alameen. For the sake of our Sheykh.

Obituary at 'BBCnews.com'

The Expander

Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Rahim


"Do you know the description of the Prophet(ASWS), now? The Prophet's(ASWS) beauty is always expanding, growing in so many sites...Do you know the description as it is now? No,...we are only mentioning His name..."

- Sheykh Abdul-Kerim Effendi


Allah (SWT)'s first creation was the Light of Rasool'Allah(SAWS). His Nur. The Prophet(ASWS) said, "I was a prophet when Adam(AS) was still between water and clay."

From that light was created all of creation. Keeping this in mind, do you think it possible, that the beauty contained in all of creation, in all the universes, in all the heavens and the stars, in each drop of nectar that is formed in the belly of a flower, in each electron spinning in the plumage of a bird of paradise, in each explosion of color and light in the oceans and in the skies, can ever be limited by our perception of him as a "man"? And people today think they have the Prophet(ASWS) all figured out. Mash'Allah. It is enough for them, as Sheykh Effendi says, to bow their heads with complete and utter humility, and say, "Allah humma Salli Alaa, Muhammadin wa Alaa 'Aalihi Muhammadin wa Sallim."

Then, maybe, if you are sincere and have sown the seeds of Love for him in your hearts, with Allah(SWT)'s Grace and Rahmah, - will you then taste a drop of those oceans...

Insh'Allah Rahman, for such a taste, we will lay down all we cherish in this world, and what we hope to recieve in the next. Because there will be nothing better for us. The favor of our Lord is with He who Loves His Beloved. Subhan'Allah. The next time the words "Rahmatul-lil Alameen" roll off our tongues, we may reflect on the atoms of what we are saying. May Allah guide us to His beloveds. Ameen, Ya Rabbul Alameen. For the sake of our Sheykh.


Click to marvel at a glimpse of what is only a small part of Rasool'Allah(ASWS)'s fathomless ocean:

(Photographs: Rose courtesy of http://www.mccullagh.org/photo/1ds2-5/red-rose-side, Other flowers - courtesy of Michael Swanson's blog)

Carnage in the Hijaz

What is left of the House of the Holy Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)

Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Rahim

Sidi Yusuf at Copenhagen Interpretation has raised the alarm (& rightly so), drawing our attention to the most vicious of undertakings yet by the harbingers of hatespeech & zealotry, (the House of Saud): that of the relentless and systematic destruction of not only historically relevant relics, but sites immediately sacred to our faith, intertwined to the lifeblood of our past and testaments to our future as members of the Ummah of the Holy Prophet(ASWS). Well? Where is the uproar now, Burners of Embassies and Renders of Flags? Truly shameful indeed.

--------------------------------
Previously unseen photographs reveal how religious zealots obsessed with idolatory have colluded with developers to destroy Islam's diverse heritage.

Daniel Howden | The Independent | 19 April 2006

There is a growing shadow being cast over Islam's holiest site. Only a few metres from the walls of the Grand Mosque in Mecca skyscrapers are reaching further into the sky, slowly blocking out the light. These enormous and garish newcomers now dwarf the elegant black granite of the Kaaba, the focal point of the four million Muslims' annual Haj pilgrimage.

The tower blocks are the latest and largest evidence of the destruction of Islamic heritage that has wiped almost all of the historic city from the physical landscape. As revealed in The Independent last August,the historic cities of Mecca and Medina are under an unprecedented assault from religious zealots and their commercial backers...

Writing in response to the article, Prince Turki al-Faisal said that Saudi Arabia was spending more than $19bn (£11bn) preserving and maintaining these two holy sites. "[We are aware] how important the preservation of this heritage is, not just to us but to the millions of Muslims from around the world who visit the two holy mosques every year. It is hardly something we are going to allow to be destroyed." This rebuttal sits at odds with a series of previously unseen photographs, published today, that document the demolition of key archaeological sites and their replacement with skyscrapers...

Click here to read more

Hilye-i-Sherif

Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Rahim


Hilye-i Sherif

By Hafiz Osman Efendi

(from Tirmidhi:)

The Prophet(ASWS) said, “He who sees my hilye after me, it is as if he had actually seen me, and he who sees it out of love and desire for me, God will forbid the fire of Hell to touch him. He will be safe from the trials of the grave, and he will not be sent forth naked on the day of resurrection.”

Descriptions (Hilye) of the Holy Prophet (ASWS)
Translated by Mohamad Zakaria

Transmitted from Ali(Karam'Allahu Wajhu), may God be pleased with him, who, when asked to describe the Prophet, peace be upon him, would say: He was not too tall nor too short. He was medium sized. His hair was not short and curly, nor was it lank, but in between. His face was not narrow, nor was it fully round, but there was a roundness to it. His skin was white. His eyes were black. He had long eyelashes. He was big-boned and had wide shoulders. He had no body hair except in the middle of his chest. He had thick hands and feet. When he walked, he walked inclined, as if descending a slope. When he looked at someone, he looked at them in full face. Between his shoulders was the seal of prophecy, the sign that he was the last of the prophets. He was the most generous-hearted of men, the most truthful of them in speech,the most mild-tempered of them, and the noblest of them in lineage. Whoever saw him unexpectedly was in awe of him. And whoever associated with him familiarly, loved him. Anyone who would describe him would say, I never saw, before him or after him, the like of him. Peace be upon him.

Excerpted from "Dalail-i Hayrat, Wa Shawarqi’l Anwar Fi Zikris Salat ala Nabiyil-Mukhtahar
Guide of Good Deeds and the Brilliant Burst of Light in the Remembrance of Blessings on the Chosen Prophet", by Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Suleiman ibn Abu Bakr Al-Jazuli Al-Simlali.

Edited on behalf of Sheykh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi
Osmanli Naks’ibendi Hakkani Tarikat
www.naksibendi.org
Translation by S. Ahmad Darwish

(Download the PDF here)



(Calligraphy(Tehzib) of the Beloved's Blessed Name)

Wake up and Run!

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Wake up! Avoid the Confusion of Sheytan!

Jummah Khutba given by Sheykh Abdul Kerim Al-Hakkani al-Kibrisi

Friday 17 Safar, 1427
March 17, 2006
Osmanli Naks-i'bendi Hakkani Dergah, Sydney Center, New York.

Auzu billahi minash sheytanir rajim
Bismillahir rahmanir rahim
La hawla wa la quwwata illa billahil aliyyil azim.

Medet Ya Syyidi Ya Sultanul Awliya, Medet.

Alhamdulillah wa shukr Allah. All praising belongs to our Lord Allah (subhana wa ta'la) and to His Rasul, our Habib Muhammad (alayhi salatu wa salam), to the Ashab-e Kiram and to all those who came. They stood in the way of Allah and Islam came to us. Fourteen hundred years has passed and it has reached to us. They did their part. They did their job. Now we must think how far we are going to take this. Where it is going to reach and what we are going to leave behind us. If this world is going to continue for another thousand years then how far what we are doing today and what we are leaving is going to reach. Man must sit, think and calculate to himself to understand whether he is leaving something behind or not. It's not like today everyone running top-speed like head-cut chickens trying to reach somewhere. Hmph!

Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) is saying, "I have created you man and I have given you intelligence." The religion spread in the world not with miracles but with one man. The Habibullah. Yes, he is Allah's Prophet (sws) but he was one person. One man. He came to awakening station and woke up the whole world. Through him it passed to others and the other ones, the other ones, the other ones and it reached to us. How are we today? Are we sleeping or are we in awakening station? You check yourself. Leave what anybody else says to you. Check yourself. Check your activities. Check yourself how sincere you are with your Lord and with His orders. Check yourself to find out which one is priority to you, Allah and His Prophet (sws) or your ego, or this world. (If it is ego or this world) then your problem never ends. Don't worry. If you don't keep Allah priority then it's never going to end. It never ended for anyone and it's not going to end for you.

This is the problem that so many people that I am watching who are going back and forth not understanding the superiority, who is more superior or if anybody else is more superior than others, and this is how it goes. The prophets are like us humans. They were spirits that Allah had created and He chose them among the other spirits and He said, "You will be the prophets." They are higher. He put them in higher stations right away. As soon as He chose them saying, "You are prophets" then they became higher than the normal spirits instantly because the title is given by the Creator. It's not given by man who are voting and giving titles. The Creator is giving titles saying, "I choose these ones to be my prophets." He didn't ask us, "Would you like it or not? Would you vote for these ones?" (Sheykh smiles). No. He says, "These ones are My prophets and you are My normal servants and you are going to obey them. You want to reach back to Me? You have to obey them. You have to follow their footsteps. Without following their footsteps you cannot reach to Me. You cannot come to Me. You are coming to Me through their doors. If you are looking to come to Me you must look through their doors. You must look to make them happy. You must look to make them satisfied with you. Then I will be happy with you."

Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has created man for His service. He created the donkey for your service. He created you for His service and you have to find your part in that service. "What is it that I have to do in this service? What is for me in this work? What has Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) given to me?" You must know, you must find out, you must work and you must go according to that. You must live according to that.

Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) is saying in another Ayat in Surat-ul Ale Imran, "You are the Nation that I have created. You are the Nation that is ordering good things and you are forbidding people from the bad things and you are believing in Allah." Check yourself. Are you fitting into that Ayat? Are you fitting really and sincerely? Not because Allah is saying, "You are the Nation". Allah is saying to that nation. Check yourself. With your activities, what you are doing and how you are living, are you fitting into that Ayat? If you are fitting then be happy but if you are not fitting then alarm yourself right away. Say to yourself, "What am I doing? Sheytan got me from somewhere. He put me to sleep." Wake yourself up. Whatever it takes and whatever you have to do, you have to wake yourself up because otherwise you will fall out of that Ayat and if you fall out of that Ayat then in the Judgment Day you will not fall into that category that Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) said, "You are the nation". You will fall with the other nations.

So the believers cannot live a heedless life. The believer is that one who is in awakening station all the time and forces himself (finding a tariqat and going into tariqat, of course). Tariqat is to make the believers reach to higher and higher stations, not to go to lower stations, not to go to sleep, not to talk nonsense here and there, or as so many today are saying, "My Sheykh is praying in my place. My Sheykh is doing this and my Sheykh is doing that." If your Sheykh is doing then what Allah has created you for? To be donkey? You are not even good for a donkey then. What are you doing? What is in it for you? How are you going to bring that message to others? If that is so good and you like it then have you brought that message to others? Anyone who lives in the foreign countries, don't make any mistake. Questions will be asked to every one of you. When you come to the Judgment place it will be questioned to you, "You love Islam and you lived according to Islam. Who did you bring with you in the Divine Presence? For whom did you become a reason for that person to enter into Islam? Did you bring anyone here?" If not then even if you earn the whole Paradise what is it good for? Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) is saying that you are a selfish one. You want Islam only for yourself.

If a man is not in awakening station then never mind about reaching to others, he cannot even reach to himself. He only falls into his own illusions and delusions. And later some squareheads that saved themselves from hell are trying to save Sheytan from hell too now. That's what happens to man. When a man leaves the main road, the road of the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam), Sheytan is going to find so many ways to fool that man. And so many are sitting on that road but they are not doing anything, they are not getting up, they are not moving. They are not getting anything. We must wake up because the danger is waiting for us. If we are heedless now then when the big wind is coming then we are not going to have time, not even a minute to look around. We are not going to have people to warn us then. You are not going to find anybody to tell you, "Turn this way or turn that way." Warning is now. Everyone is going to fall into their own problems then. They are going to run to find their way out. Don't make any mistake to think that, "Oh, everything is so nice now. America, beautiful country", or whatever you are in, or to think that it's going to continue like this. No. It's coming to an end.

Of course, there are so many people suffering right now in different parts of the world. Right this minute they are suffering. They have woken up and they are screaming. But their prayer is not accepted now. Holy Prophet (sws) is saying, "If you stop forbidding people from the wrong ways and asking people to turn their ways to the right way, to the way of Allah and His Prophet (sws), then Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) will put punishment on you, on that nation, He will put terror on that nation and then you will beg and you will cry but your prayers will not be accepted." Check it out. Look around the world. Is this how it's happening or not? If it's not like that then ask questions again later. We will tell you specifically what's happening where.

But leave that part. We must worry for ourselves now. Man must worry to save himself first before reaching to others. If you cannot save yourself then you cannot reach to others. Allah's order is not a game as so many people today are taking Islam and they are acting like they are representing Islam and they are saying, "The more Sheytan is disobedient to Allah the higher station he gets." Squarehead! And they are not feeling shame to say that they are following the Sultan-ul Awliya. But leave them. We must look at our acts. You must look at yourself. Don't get fooled by fools like that. You know by yourself whether you are in Paradise or you are in Hell in this world. You know by yourself. Nobody has to say to you anything. If you have reached to that station and your heart is so open to the whole world then you wouldn't live that kind of lifestyle. You wouldn't have any single minute in your life that has any problems. You will live in peace.

But that is the time that you will not have any peace. Sultan-ul Awliya is not having peace because he is looking around the world and the whole mankind has lost the direction. The whole mankind is running towards Jahannam and he is screaming. For over eighty years now he is screaming to mankind saying, "Oh mankind! Turn. Turn your way this way. You are going in the wrong direction." Nobody is waking. And some of his so called deputies, who call themselves deputies, they are running to bring Sheytan out from Jahannam. Don't get fooled by that kind of foolishness. Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) punished and perished so many nations before this nation. Nothing can stop Allah. Everything is in His Hands. All authority is in His Hand. He does as He likes. Don't make any mistake. Those people must be in drugs anyway. The drugs that they have been taking are still working in the body. The body is not clean from the drugs.

You must wake up. Sheytan has so many ways to fool man and Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has so many Ayats in the Quran-e Kerim saying to us, "Wake up." He is warning us from the confusion of Sheytan and Dajjal. Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) is warning us in hundreds and hundreds of hadith. Where are we going to put these? Which side should we put these? Should we ignore all these now? Is it another new style now? Everyone is talking from the spiritual aspect? Where is your Shariat now? Where is the law that Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has given. The Nation lost every Shariat today. Today, the Nation is living worse than the unbelievers. The majority of the Muslims are living worse than the unbelievers. And now you are going to be that tolerant (to Sheytan)? You cannot. That is only Sheytan fooling the man. But those who do not want to be fooled must check themselves up. They must watch out, they must look and they must be worrying. In every higher station that they are going they must be worrying. They must be watching out because the higher station they are reaching they are seeing the danger that is waiting.

And Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has given this job, this duty, to man. Man must establish the Shariat again in this world. Man must open the Quran-e Kerim. Man must work to bring the Khalifah and man must open the flag of the Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam). It's not going to come from the sky. It's going to be from these men that are living today on earth. We are all responsible. In the Judgment Day we will all be questioned. Allah will ask us, "What have you done to bring the Khilafat back and to put My laws back on. What did you do? What did you do?" Everyone will be questioned according to their level and according to their station. So is this the time now that you are going to worry to save Sheytan from hell? Sheytan is not worrying to save you from hell. Sheytan is running to bring you to hell with all these kinds of foolishness, with ideas.

You must wake up. We must wake up. "O my nation, wake up. Don't sleep", Holy Prophet (sws) is saying to us. Don't sleep doesn't mean going to sleep in the nighttime. Be in an awakening station! Ahir Zaman! Holy Prophet (sws) is saying to us, "In the end of time, the man will walk out from his house early in the morning as a believer and he will come back to his home at night as an unbeliever." He will hear so many things here and there and he will start questioning. He will start making ideas, thinking and accepting some of those things. He is going to lose his faith. That's what it means. If you are sitting and thinking, "Yes, this is okay, this is okay, this is okay, everything is okay", you are losing. Have you become more merciful than Allah (subhana wa ta'ala)? Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) is the most Merciful one. That Me'lun will not be forgiven unless he goes and submits his will saying, "Oh my Lord, I made a mistake. I have been a fool and I am asking You to forgive me and I am making Sejdah to the Children of Adam." Then he will be forgiven, yes.

People want to take some parts for themselves saying, "Well, I have been forgiven." What did you do? Did you at least cry for the mistakes and the wrong things that you did? When you and Allah are together and every time you are remembering it, are you crying for it? Are you being sorry for it? This is what we have to remember. Otherwise, Sheytan is going to fool us. Sheytan has fooled so many ones, so many people. He has fooled people who reached the level of sainthood in the time of Musa (alayhi salam). As soon as they gave an inch, he knocked them down bringing them all the way to Jahannam.

So, if we take the hadith of Holy Prophet (sws), we apply it to our lives and we try to live according to that then we will find safety. There is no other safety. And also not every hadith. You have to know which one is for you. You have to know which one is working for you. All the hadith Holy Prophet (sws) is addressing is good but maybe it's not for you. You have to take one, apply it and you must live according to that every single day. When you wake up you have to check and you have to say, "I am living according to this hadith." Then you are following the sunnat of Rasulullah (salatu wa sallim) and then because you are in constant contact with Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) through that hadith, his blessings and his protection will reach to you and then you will not have any foolishness like that to think and to say such words, but you will run to clean yourself up. Every time you think you have cleaned one part you will find that another part is dirty. You will be continuously running and then you will see that you are going to have doubt, "Am I going to be able to clean myself before I leave this world or not?" So you will cry for yourself and you will run for yourself. Leave crying for Sheytan. Cry for yourself because Sheytan is not going to cry for you and for me. Holy Prophet (sws) is crying for us, Awliya Allah are crying for us and they are saying to us, "Oh nation, turn your face this way. Turn your face this way. Turn your face to the way of the Prophet (sws) and not to the way that Sheytan is showing to you."

So we must say one (as I always say, of course) hadith from our Grandsheykh. Whatever we learn, we learn from our Grandsheykh. Grandsheykh is saying what his Grandsheykh Sheykh Abdullah Daghistani (ks) is saying. He is saying, "My son, the whole mankind today have entered into a big truck." Think that there is a big truck and the whole mankind is behind that truck, sitting inside the trailer in the back. The driver is driving that truck towards the ocean and everyone is going to sink. Everyone is going to die. The driver is Sheytan and all man is sitting in that truck. And Sheykh Abdullah Daghistani (ks) is saying, "We, the Awliya, are holding that truck from behind for it not to go into the ocean. But the power that the engine has is dragging us with it together." He says, "We must know where to let it go. If not then the power that the truck has in its engine is going to pull us into that wrong place." InshaAllah this will be enough for us to clarify so many matters that are happening.

Wa min Allahu taufiq

Bihurmatil Habib

Bihurmatil Fatiha.

Amin.

Hidden Music

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (M)



Hidden Music

With love you cannot bargain
there, the choice is not yours.
Love is a mirror, it reflects
only your essence, if you have the
courage to look in its face.

To the parched lips of those who
are willing to surrender
Love will bring the wine that
changes darkness into vision,
cruelty into compassion and dust
into precious incense.

Love means to reach for the sky
and with every breath to tear a
hundred veils. Love means to step
away from the ego, to open the eyes
of inner vision and not to take this
world so seriously.

Like a thief, reason sneaked in and
sat amongst the lovers
eager to give them advice.
They were unwilling to listen, so
reason kissed their feet
and went on its way.

When you plant a tree
every leaf that grows will tell
you, what you sow will bear fruit.
So if you have any sense my friend,
don't plant anything but love, you
show your worth by what you seek.
Water flows to those who want
purity. Wash your hands of all
desires and come to the table of love.

If you can't smell the fragrance
don't come into the garden of Love.
if you are unwilling to undress
don't enter into the stream of
Truth. Stay where you are, don't
come our way.

From the heart of the lovers, blood
flows like a vast river. Our body is
the windmill, and love, the water.
Without water the mill cannot turn.

Can the essence and the scent
be separate?
Whisper to me intimately, like a
lover for tenderness is rare in this
world.
It is difficult to convey the magic of
love to those who are made of dust.

When you see the face of anger
look behind it and you will see the
face of pride. Bring anger and pride
under your feet, turn them into a
ladder and climb higher. There is
no peace until you become their
master. Let go of anger. It may taste
sweet but it kills. Don't become it's
victim, you need humility to climb to
freedom.

There is a thread from the heart to
the lips where the secret of life is
woven. Words tear the thread
but in silence the secrets speak.

Do you want me to tell you a
secret? The flowers attract the most
beautiful lover with their sweet
smile and scent.

To find a pearl dive deep into the
ocean, don't look in the fountains.
To find a pearl you must emerge from
the water of life always thirsty.

Do not be flattered by reason,
reason is only the child of the
mind. But true friendship
in born out of love and is the water
of life.

My dear heart, never think you are
better than others. Listen to their
sorrows with compassion. If you
want peace, don't harbour bad
thoughts, do not gossip and
don't teach what you do not know.

Those who think the heart is only
in the chest take two or three steps
and are content. The rosary, the
prayer rug, and repentance are
paths that they mistake for the
destination.

Seek the wisdom that will untie
your knot. Seek the path
that demands your whole being.
Leave that which is not, but
appears to be, seek that which is,
but is not apparent.

You are searching the world for
treasure but the real treasure is
yourself. If you are tempted by
bread, you will find only bread.
What you seek for you become.

Your earthly lover can be very
charming and coquettish but never
very faithful. The true lover is the
one who on your final day
opens a thousand doors.

First, lay down your head,
then one by one let go of all
distractions. Embrace the light and
let it guide you beyond the winds of
desire. There you will find a spring
and nourished by its sweet waters
like a tree you will bear fruit
forever.

Why are you so afraid of silence,
silence is the root of everything.
If you spiral into its void
a hundred voices will thunder
messages you long to hear.

You have woken up late,
lost and preplexed
but don't rush to your books
looking for knowledge.
Pick up a flute instead and
let your heart play.

Do not look back my friend,
no one knows how the world ever
began. Do not fear the future,
nothing lasts forever. If you dwell
on the past or the future you will
miss the moment.


- Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi Hazratleri(QS)

All text from "Rumi: Hidden Music" translated by Maryam Mafi & Azima Malita Kolin

The Sharr Corporation

BismillahirRahmanirRahim

THE SHARR CORPORATION

Sohbet by Sheykh Abdul Kerim el-Hakkani el-Kibrisi

Saturday 8 Rabi-ul Akhir, 1427
May 7, 2006
Osmanli Naks-i'bendi Hakkani Dergah, Siddiki Center, New York.


Auzu billahi min-ash sheytanir rajim
BismillahirRahmanirRahim
La hawla wa la quwwata illa billahil aliyyil azim
Hasbinallah wa ni'mal wakeel

Medet Ya Seyyidi Sultanul Awliya, medet.

We are asking support from our Sheykh to make us to say a couple of words that will benefit us inshaAllah ar-Rahman. If someone takes them and lives according to it then they will win. If not then we do the part that is given to us and blessings are coming with it inshaAllah ar-Rahman. We must renew our faith saying, "Ash-hadu an la ilaha ilallallah wa ash-hadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu sallallahu ta'ala alayhi wa alihi wa ashabihi wa sallim."

124,000 prophets have been sent to this world to show people, to teach them to turn their way from Dunya to Mawla, from the world to Akhirat. When they passed, they left their inheritors in this world and they called to those nations until another prophet came to those nations. Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) is the Seal of Prophets. No more prophet is coming until Judgment Day. He also left behind those people who are reminding themselves and the mankind to turn from Dunya to Mawla. The majority of people are always in need of reminder. They have forgotten. They are forgetting that they have not been created for this world. They turned around and fell in love with it and Allah send somebody to them to remind them. If people take that seriously and hold on tightly then they find safety in Dunya and Akhirat. If they are saying, "Well, I know but we are living in Dunya and we have to work." Of course. We are living in Dunya and we have to work. And at the same time we are living in Dunya to earn our Akhirat, not to work only, but to earn our Akhirat, earn the hereafter life while we are living in Dunya. You cannot earn that in the grave or in the Judgment Day. At least we have to make some work right now through which maybe we will leave some pages open that when we enter to the grave we will still earn higher stations in Akhirat inshaAllah ar-Rahman.

It is so valuable but we are treating it in a very lousy way. We are not treating it properly, this value that Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has given to us. The value is the Shahadat and with Shahadat the Akhirat is coming, the eternal life is coming with that Shahadat. But while we are living in this world we are treating it very badly. It is so valuable but we are not taking any care of it. The little devices that we have here and there, the little things, the computers, the cameras, the cars, we show more care to those than the Shahadat. You cannot call that one so intelligent who is treating such a valuable thing very carelessly because that has a very big enemy also. Because it's very valuable, the enemy is running after it to catch it and take it away from us. The enemy is coming to us in so many different forms to steal that Shahadat away from us. They became a big company together. Nafs, Hawa, Sheytan and Dunya. These four are tying us, chaining us. Nafs is one chain holding from the right hand like that. Hawa, the desires, are holding from the left hand, Sheytan is holding from the right foot, tying with that chain and Dunya is holding from the left. We are in chains. We cannot move. And everyone is saying, "I am free. I do as I like." Mashallah. If you do as you like then don't die. Why are you dying? Every single day you are running top-speed to die. One day is gone again and we came one more day closer to our death. Don't speak foolish words saying, "I am free." What free? If you are free then you should not die. Man is running to find the cure to that. He is not finding and he is not going to. When he is going to through science, when Allah is going to open to them from that ocean a little bit, then they are going to beg to die. That's what they are trying now.

We are living the last days on this earth. It's not only man's life that is finishing but the whole world and all worlds that Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has created are coming to an end. The Judgment Day, Qiyamat, is coming very close. We are the nation that reached to the end of that era. We are not in the beginning, in Adam alayhi salam's nation to say, "We still have time. Oh, generations are going to come after us until Judgment Day." We don't have too much left. So we should be more careful because we are the last nation on earth and we are very close to the Judgment Day, to Qiyamat. We are keeping ourselves busy everyday with so many other things. The unbelievers keep themselves busy with other foolishness, the believers keep themselves busy with other things and the man who is in the way of Allah keeps himself busy thinking, "This is coming, that is coming, I am preparing for Mahdi and I have to have a nice life afterwards." Qiymat is coming! Prepare yourself! When the angel of death is reaching to you it's your Qiyamat.

There are two Qiyamats. One is when the angel of death reaches to man and the second one is for all things, anything that you can think of, you can imagine that is existing in this world, the end is coming to that too. And we are very close. These young people, maybe they are in early ages of their Qiyamat, but the whole mankind today is very close to the big Qiyamat. So we must prepare ourselves. We don't really need too many people to tell us that that's the direction the world is going top-speed. If you have a little bit of sense and you put it together then you see it. We are seeing it. Everyday we are watching the news, we are watching the activities in the world, we are watching the activities that are happening around us and activities with our families and with our friends. Everyday we are seeing how fast everything is changing and in top-speed it's going to its destiny.

We cannot escape from it saying, "It was my destiny."
Yes, there is a big destiny. Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) drew the plan and everything is moving according to that. But we have to take care in that walk ourselves. We are responsible from what we are preparing for ourselves. We are responsible if we say that we are intelligent people, that we have intelligence. If we don't have intelligence then we are not responsible. But even the animals know their reason of creation and even the animals are putting curses on today's people saying, "Man has been created in Ahsani Taqweem and the Lord of the Heavens has created us for their service. We are remembering our Lord and they are not remembering their Lord." In the old days, at least the general main groups were remembering. Now, only a handful of groups are remembering. It turned around completely. The 20th century's uncivilization. The 20th and the 21st century's barbarism. The history books must write saying that they were the people who had been educated with the worldly knowledge so much but they were the worst ignorant ones ever living on earth. The second Jahiliyya Time. We should escape from that. We should not let our names to be written in that book.

The reality is not changing whether they are putting it in the history books or not. The reality is there. The angels are holding the history book and they are putting, "The 21st century: Ignorant man. The worst ones that ever lived on the face of the earth." The curse is raining. We must escape from that. We must try to escape with every opportunity that Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) is opening for us. Then they will not put our names in that list. And if we are holding tightly in fighting against these four Sharr Corporation, Nafs, Hawa, Sheytan and Dunya, if we are looking and understanding that these are our enemies then we must be careful with these ones. Then the help will reach to us and inshaAllah ar-Rahman we will be able to keep our Shahadat strongly. We will live and we will pass with that Shahadat. That is Marifat. If a man is looking for Marifat, Karamat then that is Marifat. That is Karamat. All the secrets of all Books and all the prophets came to teach man to take that faith that Allah has granted to them, to live according to that faith and to go out from this world with that faith. MashaAllah to those who did and inshaAllah we are asking from our Lord Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) for the sake of those who are most beloved ones in His Divine Presence, we are asking their Shafa'at to reach to us, and for their sake Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) to make us to live and to go out from this world with this Shahadat inshaAllah ar-Rahman.

Wa min Allahu taufiq

Bihurmatil Habib

Bihurmatil Fatiha.

The Second Jahilliyah

BismillahirRahmanirRahim

THE SECOND JAHILIYYA

Sohbet given by Sheykh Abdul Kerim el-Kibrisi

Manhattan Dergah, New York City.

Selamun aleykum. Meded Ya Sayiddi, Ya Sultan Evliya, Mevlana Sheykh Nazim al-Hakkani. Meded.

When you put honey in the middle, the bees are going to come. But the mosquitoes, flies and all kinds of other harmful creatures will also come to the honey. Everyone has to take their share from it. The bees are not going to fight with the mosquitoes, because they will take what is for them, elhamdulillah. The mosquitoes are going to take what is for them, and the flies.

There is Haqq and Batil, the Truth and false. Either we are on the side of Truth or we are on the side of false. The people who are on the side of Truth have to be on the same road. They have to understand each other. They have to respect their ways. The people who are representing false, they are all together anyway. They are eating each other but they are all together in front of us.

This is the worst time that happened to Muslims about which Holy Prophet (saw) is saying, "The second Jahiliyya is going to be worst than the first one." And this is what we are facing today. The second Jahiliyya time. He said that it is because people in the second Jahiliyya time will know certain knowledge and they are not going to accept anything from anyone.

In the first Jahiliyya time people were ignorant. When someone from the Sahabi spoke to them, they were sitting and listening and comparing it with what they know. And so many were accepting. That was a Jahiliyya time, the first Jahiliyya, where Holy Prophet (saw) came only one person and then hundreds and thousands of people started following. Those people were against the Holy Prophet (saw) because they did not have any knowledge of what he brought. They were holding on to their traditions only. They were ignorant people. They did not know any better. When the other ones went and approached them properly and they showed them what Holy Prophet (saw) brought to them, they accepted. They did not argue about it. They did not feel threatened. The only ones who felt threatened were those people who were the knowledgeable people for that time. Like Abu Jahil and all the other ones. They were the people who knew how to read and write. They were the people who knew the activities of the world. They were the people who knew what was happening in the business world. They could not accept what Holy Prophet (saw) brought to them because it would not be good for their political and economical matters. What Prophet (saw) brought to them required them to change what they were doing. Not so for the ignorant. They did not fight. They sat and they listened. And sometimes later they accepted it.

Holy Prophet (saw) is saying that the Ahir Zaman, the End of Times, the second Jahiliyya time is going to be worse than the first because people are going to study the religion, they will know how to read and write but they are not going to accept anything, they are not going to accept anybody. They are just going to accept what is only for them, what is their understanding from what they read and write. So in this time people read and write. Millions read and write. So many people are reading and writing but they are ignorant. Holy Prophet (saw) is saying, "They are going to be ignorant with what they read and write. They are going to become ignorant with the knowledge that they know."

As everyone of you know, by the law of the government today you have to send your children to school. They have to learn how to read and write. But learning how to read and write is not giving them any knowledge or wisdom. However they are programming them, that is the only thing they know. Today's people became more ignorant than the people fourteen hundred years ago. They became ignorant with the knowledge of reading and writing. Not being able to read and write is not the sole problem. The secret is to know, that you need to read and write to understand. Everyone who reads and writes does not understand. They say, "Take the Quran and read." If you take the Quran and read and understand only according to your own understanding most likely you will become a terrorist. That is what most of them are doing. You cannot even understand the newspaper. Take a part from the newspaper and read. Then I am going to ask you "Give me the summary" and you are not going to be able to put it together. To be able to write and read is to learn. To know what? To know your self. Not to know other things but first you have to study you, your self, you have to know yourself, who you are, what you are and what is your position in this world. What is your secret, what is your duty, what is your mission, why have you been created, why are you occupying this space, why are you leaving this space and where are you going? That is the most important matter.

The schools are only teaching people lying and cheating these days. They know that the theory of evolution, Darwinism is finished. It is bankrupt. But they are still teaching. Everything is on that. The foundations of schools are on that theory. All those children that are studying and coming out of the schools, now their foundation is evolution which is completely against creation. So they are going to become ignorant. So ignorant that they are not going to know that they are ignorant. Taking one man's word, ordinary man. Who is this man? Who is this Darwin? Why are you accepting him? (I am saying to the Chrisitan world) You are accepting Darwin and putting his books in the schools and universities. You say you are accepting Jesus but you are not using his book in the schools. What kind of nonsense is this? (Shaykh smiling). You are saying, "Jesus is the Lord. We are the creatures, he is the creator." But you are not teaching in the schools to these people about that and you are teaching about Darwinism, about Sheytan. The same thing is with the Muslims and the same thing is with the Jews. In the Muslims countries they say, "We are Muslims. We are accepting Allah and His Prophet." But no school is teaching anything about Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam). With the Jews it is the same thing. They are not teaching about Moses or the Tewrat. So everywhere in the world they are concentrating to teach people Darwinism. Evolution.

So Prophet (saw) is saying, "The second Jahiliyya is going to be worse than the first one." That is what we see. Not by individual ignorance but by general ignorance. You are sending your children to school and this is what they are going to teach them. When they are growing up if you want to plant something in them by saying to them, "Allah created you", they are going to say to you, "You are crazy. This is what they teach us in the school." If you say to them, "They are wrong", they say, "Then why are you sending us to school?" So you are stuck between those two things and you cannot even touch your children in this time. Did Holy Prophet (saw) say that? Yes, he said this too. He said, "A time is going to come when you are not even going to be able to reach to your own children, your own families. Nobody is going to listen to you. There is not going to be one house left in the world where the confusion will not enter." This is the time. Of course, we are pretty happy that we reached to these days. And we reached to the end of this time too because every activity in the world that is shown to us (when you know the life of Holy Prophet alayhi salatu wa salam and when you know the teachings and the hadith that he pointed with, that when this comes this is going to happen and when this comes this is going to happen) we are watching that everything is moving towards the direction that Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) has pointed to us.

Holy Prophet (saw) is saying, "The nation of Bani Israil is going to deviate into seventy-one different divisions. One is going to be on the Siratul Mustakim, in the straight path and seventy is going to be wrong." He says, "The Christians, people who say they are following Jesus is going to divide into seventy-two different divisions. One will be on straight path and seventy-one will be wrong." He says, "My nation is going to divide into seventy-three different divisions. Only one will be in Siratul Mustakim and seventy-two of them will be in the wrong ways. And if they stay in that wrong road they will be punished before they enter Paradise." He says, "Those ones who stay on Siratul Mustakim will live clean lives and they will go out from this world clean." And when they asked him, "Who are those Ya Rasulullah?" He says, "Those are the ones who hold on very tightly to my traditions, to my sunnat." He says, "Although my sunnat is going to be forgotten in that time by my nation, by the ummat of Muhammad (salatu wa sallam). People are not going to follow my sunnats. If they keep one of them they will be rewarded the equal of a hundred martyrs in the Judgment Day."

So these are the days. And as you said, you went to one place and you were surprised. I want you to go around and see what is it that they are giving. What is it they have and what is it that they are concentrating on. Are they concentrating on other than what other groups are doing? So many people today, Friday, are making certain activities. Different celebrations. They are coming together, eating together, enjoying together, doing so many activities. They have so many social gatherings under the name of religions gatherings. But when you look at the lifestyle they are living, there is no familiarity with the lifestyle of the Prophet (saw) and his Sahaba-e Ikram. But you will find familiarity with what the Christians are celebrating or the Jews are celebrating. As a matter of fact, so many are celebrating with liquor, but they are Muslims.

There was a time, when I was working with the United Nations, the Palestinians one night made a Palestinian Night, celebrating and trying to express and show their rights to other nations, and they were making a big cocktail party. Of course I had to be there. And I went and I looked. I saw all these Palestinians under the name of religion and the Arab-Israeli conflict were celebrating, they were trying to say their rights to others saying, "This is our problem, this is what had happened to us." But they had liquor in their hands, they were drinking and the time of the prayer was passing. So I said to the top official whom I know, "I have to go now."

He said, "But we did not begin yet."

I said, "Well, I know. Before you began you failed. So I have no business here."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you were Muslims."

"Of course we are Muslims."

"But you are celebrating with liquor that Allah and His Prophet forbade you."

"But all these people are Christians and we have to show them that we have familiarity with them."

"Good, you are becoming one of them. They are not becoming one of you. So you lost. The beginning is lost. So I have no business here."

I left elhamdulillah. What I am trying to say is, when you are trying to get your rights you cannot get them from the way that Allah has forbidden you. Allah banned those things for you. You cannot say, "I do these things to be better looking to those ones in order to ask my rights". Your rights are going to be given to you by your Lord. By this one's hand or that one's hand but He is going to approve. If you are trying to please them you are never going to get your rights. The story that I told you happened maybe in 1979 and now we see that they did not get their rights and they are not going to get their rights and the worst is coming.

Everyone is saying, "What is our fault? What have we done?" What we have done is we have deviated into seventy-three different ways and we have left the one way, we left the Holy Prophet's way. All other ways are claiming, "We are following Allah's orders" and this and that. Everyone is claiming that. If the claim is right then you have to follow what Holy Prophet (saw) is teaching. Because Allah is saying to you, "Follow that one." He is giving order. He says, "Follow! Say to them: If they love Me they must follow you." It is an ayat-e kerim. Allah is saying, "IF they love me", they are claiming that they love Allah. He says, "If they love Me, they must follow you. Because you are the one whom I love and you are the one whom I showed the way and they must follow you for Me to love them."

Anyone who is dismissing the Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) one way or the other, it is impossible for them to reach Allah. You can only claim. But Allah is not a little creature like you. You have not understood the Creator. If you did, then definitely you are going to look for a Wesil (means of approach) between Him and you, someone who is going to represent you. Otherwise, the ego is always representing itself and the ego is always seeing itself above anybody. That is wrong because no matter who we are and what we are, we are creatures. Allah is the Creator and we are creatures. That is what we have to know.

Time is up for Maghrib.

Wa min Allahu taufiq

Bihurmatil habib

Bihurmatil Fatiha.

The Arrogance of Ignorance

They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling,
wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where
graceful youth should have filled their features out, and
touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled
hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and
pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat
enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No
change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any
grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has
monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him
in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but
the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie
of such enormous magnitude.

'Spirit. are they yours.' Scrooge could say no more.

'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down upon
them. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both,
and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the
writing be erased. Deny it.' cried the Spirit, stretching out
its hand towards the city. 'Slander those who tell it ye.
Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse.
And abide the end.'

- Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol"
--------------------------------------


Bismillahirrahamanirrahim,

As-Salaam wa Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu,

Alhamdulillah. I'm writing this as a personal adjunct to Sidi Yursil's most recent post on the attack on Islamic "traditionalism" by the leaders of progressive Islam and the lemmings who follow them. From the current trend, I think 'traditionalism' may have beaten out 'fundamentalism' for top spot on the "Dirtiest Word in Religion" list. Sidi Yursil's essay is well-written Mash'Allah. However, the grit and guts of this cogent and intelligent piece may fly right over the cuckoo's nest of his intended audience, if they be of the Eteraz's and Manji's and Ayaan Ali Hirsi's of the World. Their PHD's in the farce of "exposing" the dangerous ills of 'cattle-driven' Islam,( and whitewashing the crimes of Islam's self-declared enemies), are just duplicitous badges of "boldness" pinned on a headless-chicken. They tout & peddle this chicken to the masses of wide-eyed, fence-sitting spectators, calling it progressivism. But what is this progressivism? I may have an idea.

It's the neo-syndrome of blameless non-conformism which has become an integral ingredient in the recipe for liberal democracy in this age. But to what end? When all is said and done, the circular logic of these "revolutionaries" seeks again to be part & parcel of the elite body of the Intellectual Cream. Or at least a group of like-minded dissenters. Ah! Acceptance!

The democratic value system, especially in this country, has been eroded and replaced by the hard and fast rule of 'desensitization to all which was once cherished'. Be it religious, or racial sensitivities, or just the universally accepted code of human decency. Not immediately stepping on something you don't understand is considered 'weak' and 'behind-the-times'. For those who understand - It is clear: When nothing is sacred, and you're not bound by adhering to the principles of courtesy, then acts like Defecating on the Cross become Art, sold to the highest bidder. Anyone who disagrees is obviously an enemy of free speech. Jyllands-Posten anyone?

So what happens when THAT becomes the norm, I wonder? What is happening here? Quite plainy, the abandonment of God in one's life has ramifications. Turning oneself to Allah not only gives purpose and direction, but strength as well (gaurding against depression, suicide, or at the other end of the spectrum - wild, uninhibited acts of appetite - all appetites). When that abandonment is on a pandemic level, and it's endorsement bombards your brain from every channel available - an organized anarachy against traditional principles results, as is currently happening today. When the ego is given free-reign in a mob-based movement-the pre-occupation of amusing oneself becomes the utmost priority and the focus of one's existence.

Just read Eteraz's essay on "The Hoor", or as I call it - "Jackass" for the literati. Clearly an *blank* now, Eteraz descends into incoherent babble in his liberature, struggling to shock his audience into submission with each "progressive" sentence, as well as deigning to have a point to his purpose: Raucous attacks on the Qur'an, denigrating the mercies of Allah, and outright blasphemy drowned in the futile ambitions to make a name for oneself. What has he found with that piece of his, I wonder? A few seconds of euphoric pride? An outlet to vent his frustrations at his own ignorance or his ineptitude in finding the truth? Or just an exercise fueling a massive ego-pump of self-pleasuring proportions? Whatever it is, (All of the above?), maybe the real question we should be asking this guy is - "Are you happy?"

I may already know the answer. And for those who can think - you might know it as well. As long as we make an enemy of the one who is sustaining us with each breath, we can never be truly happy. These progressivists seek the love and acceptance of those they feel that can provide them with a liberated, unaccountable lifestyle - fearing no one and nothing. Invincibility...with a catch. What then if the Dons don't receive their monthly protection money? Will these free-thinkers be strong enough, then to endure their wrath. Failing to realize that fearing creation at the expense of the creator is the real loss,...well,...is the Real Loss.

If they spent half of a neuron in half a minute to seek the love and acceptance of the One which gave them life, instead of trampling their own graves, (As He will eventually give them death) -, if they use even an atom of the intellects they carry in titles and certificates, in the years of education which brought them to this point, towards seeking the Sunnah (and keeping it once found) of the Holy Prophet(ASWS,) instead of daring to stand and point a finger(a middle one at that), to the Almighty and His Beloved, - they may realize what it means to submit. To be a Muslim. Maybe. If not, then, they may find the realities of an after-life to be indigestible. I hope well-articulated pieces such as Sidi Yursil's will be the panacea to this diseased ideology. May Allah guide them before their souls are "liberated" from their bodies. I ask Allah to save us all from such a fate. For the sake of the Holy Prophet (ASWS), Sheykh Mevlana, and Sheykh Effendi. Ameen, Ya Rabbul Alameen. I'm going to follow this up with a Sohbet of Sheikh Effendi's that is immediately relevant to the 'progressive predicament'. Insh'Allah Rahman.


Was-Salaam wa Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu

"Holy Prophet (saw) is saying, 'The second Jahiliyya is going to be worst than the first one.' And this is what we are facing today. The second Jahiliyya time. He said that it is because people in the second Jahiliyya time will know certain knowledge and they are not going to accept anything from anyone. "

- Sheikh Abdul Kerim al Hakkani al Kibrisi

*edit: I've removed the word apostate from this post, only because it reminded me of the story of Hazrat Umar(RA), and the Munafiq, and the reaction of the Holy Prophet(ASWS). I fear to be stricken from the company of Allah's beloved by daring to walk on what the Prophet(ASWS), himself, considered "thin ice". However, the rest of the post still stands - I feel the bankruptcy of self-assessment in this world needs some recognition, and progressivism needs to know, no matter how hard it shuts its eyes, and clicks its heels, the boundaries will remain. Respect the boundaries.