Never Forget the Favor Among You
As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh.
Aʿūdhu billāhi min ash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. Bismillāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Aṣ-ṣalātu wa s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-awwalīna wa l-ākhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi Rasūlillāh, madad yā Mashāyikhinā, dastūr yā Shaykh ʿAbdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistānī, Shaykh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad. Ṭarīqatunā aṣ-ṣuḥbah wa l-khayru fi l-jamʿiyyah.
Shukr to Allah , with the barakah of Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim, the dergahs couldn’t accommodate all the people. It needs to be expanded as it’s not fitting them. May Allah make them even bigger. May more congregations and people benefit, inshā’Allāh.
Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim used to always say, “My intention.” He said, “My first intention is to destroy disbelief.” Allah ʿAzza wa Jalla gives according to the intention. Disbelief will be destroyed. Inshā’Allāh, it will be destroyed one day.
In the current situation, Allah ʿAzza wa Jalla has rewarded Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim according to his intention. And all the murīds benefit from that reward. The Shaykh doesn’t keep it for himself. He gives that reward to everyone. And it doesn’t diminish. It’s not like money. If you give something – if you have money, and you give to one person, it diminishes, and then to another, it diminishes even more. Allah ʿAzza wa Jalla’s reward and thawāb is not like that. Whoever gives someone, both will earn the same reward.
Therefore, in the Khutbah, we read this Āyah Karīmah,
وَلَا تَنسَوُا۟ ٱلْفَضْلَ بَيْنَكُمْ
“Wa-lā tansawu l-faḍla baynakum.”
“And do not forget graciousness between yourselves.” (Qur’ān 02:237).
Do not forget kindness. Do not forget virtue. If someone among you does you a favor, do not forget it. Human beings, by Allah ʿAzza wa Jalla’s wisdom, have a wild nature. This wild nature needs to be cleansed and pruned, so that it becomes something beautiful.
Another nature of humans is ingratitude. There is a lot of ingratitude in humankind. Only by disciplining, taming and pruning that a beautiful person emerges. That happens by following the way of the mashāyikh.
Therefore, don’t forget whoever has done you a favor. Remember him. And the greatest favor is to follow the way of Allah and our Prophet ṣallAllāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. And that happens with a Murshid. Our Murshid is above our heads. Don’t forget his virtue. Sometimes people forget.
Even if it’s just a friend, if someone invites you to a good gathering and you enter the way through them, be sure to remember it, don’t forget it. “Because of this person, I entered this way.” “But this man you say led you to this way has gone astray himself.” “Even if he went astray, I will still make duʿā that Allah guides him. Because he showed me this way. It’s by Allah’s decree that it wasn’t destined for him. He was the means; it was through him. He led me to the right way. Because he led me to the right way, because he put me on the right way, I will constantly make duʿā for him. May Allah guide him to this way again.” Otherwise, one says, “He is like this, he is like that”— Of course, people have many states.
Therefore, one shouldn’t look at their states. Allah ʿAzza wa Jalla is the one who commands us to do every good thing. “That man was the means of my guidance. I must not forget that.” Even if this poor man followed shayṭān and his ego, went astray, abandoned this way and turned against it, we must still make duʿā for him. We must never forget the person who led us to this way.
Also, if you brought someone to the right way, they are not your property. Don’t harm them either. You set him on the right way, and he’s following that way. He hasn’t strayed from it. You brought him here; you didn’t buy him! He didn’t become your slave! You brought him to the right way, and you receive the same reward as him. But if you act otherwise – you will still receive the reward, but you will also have sin. Because you are slandering this person, you are not thinking well of him, you are not thinking good things. Therefore, you must be careful about that too.
Pay attention to both: the one who brought you and those you brought. It’s not a big deal if those you brought to the right way don’t continue on the way with you. As long as they are on the way of Allah, wherever they are, the fact that they’ve left the way of shayṭān is a great reward and virtue for you. As long as they don’t go to another way, your reward and thawāb is great. Allah ʿAzza wa Jalla will give you the same reward and thawāb.
Our Prophet ṣallAllāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam says in a ḥadīth sharīf, “Whoever guides a person to the right way will receive the same reward as that person.” If you guide two people, you will attain reward for those two people. Ten people, a thousand people, a hundred thousand people; you will attain reward and thawāb for all of them. But if you lead someone astray, if you show them the bad way and everyone does the same as you, then their sin will be on your shoulders.
Therefore, you must be careful. If someone enters that way and continues on the way of Allah, thank Allah and praise Allah. This is not a bad thing. They are going on that way, shukr to Allah . You must pay attention to this. Because shayṭān is trying so hard, thinking, “I can’t get them out of this way. But at least let’s reduce their rewards. Let’s make them enemies of each other. Let them not love each other. If they don’t love each other, Allah won’t be pleased with them. The Prophet won’t be pleased with them.” Don’t bother with that. Since they are on the way of Allah, let them go on the way of Allah. Don’t pay attention to them. Other people will come to you. Allah will grant you to receive even more reward and thawāb, inshā’Allāh. Just because he left you doesn’t mean your reward and thawāb have ended; it continues.
May Allah grant us all goodness. May we recognize what is good. May we not be caught by our ego. May we not be caught by the desires of our ego. May Allah not separate us from the right way, inshā’Allāh.
Wa min Allahi t-Tawfīq.
Al-Fātiḥa.