Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Adab is the Soul of Knowledge

Don’t look down upon anything or anyone... The ego only loves itself. It is Kafir, not accepting Allah, and it wants to be sitting alone on the Throne.

The Holy Prophet said: "Allah Himself has taught me the best manners, Adab."

A human being is living through his soul, and the soul of knowledge is Adab. Knowledge without Adab is a misfortune for its owner. Shaitan had knowledge, but he had no Adab, behaving badly in Allah’s Presence, and then he was finished. Always the ego is bad-mannered, going against Allah, denying Him. It never likes to be under the control of anyone. All our egos are the same. We have to bring it under control, and train it to become Allah’s servant, and not be controlled by the ego.

Allah is not forcing anyone. Not everybody can keep his ego, and they are falling from one trouble into the next, never finding any rest or peace.

Man needs, and must learn Adab. It is not easy to teach Adab. Someone may read hundreds or thousands of books, but he may not be able to control his ego. He may have knowledge, but he can’ t practice it. Shaitan had so much knowledge, and it didn’t benefit him. And everybody in our time wants to study, and they all fail the test...

And someone may go on Hajj, he may stay 40days, make Hajj, Umrah, Ziyarat and become clean. Everything seems perfect. But then he gets on the plane home and he looks to a stewardess with desire, and everything is lost, finished... Six months, one year he stayed there, so many prayers he did, Tawafs, 'Umrahs, everything is good. But then, for one moment he doesn’t control his ego, forgetting that Allah is looking to him, forgetting and being without Allah, and Shaitan makes him from his staff...


Don’t give a chance to Shaitan, because he is always looking for an opportunity to catch people. There is Haram and Halal. Whoever is not respecting that border falls out of Adab with Allah. Few people want to save themselves from their bad-mannered ego. Tariqats and the four Madhhabs are based on Adab, and that is why Shaitan is against them, because they are against his school. His school is the fifth Madhhab, the school of Batil. So many people follow it... May Allah not leave us in the hands of our bad ego. Whoever is not asking that will be caught by Shaitan.


Your ego is telling you that you are number one, that nobody is like you. It is telling you that you don’t have to listen to anyone, that you are strong and know everything, that you are your own Sheikh. And the ego is lying to us.


What we are saying here is what they have put in our hearts, and we are ashamed in front of Allah and fearing Him because we are such ignorant ones, making so many mistakes and bad-mannered actions. Who is the Sheikh? He is that one who teaches you about Allah and His Prophet. How you can know by yourself? But they don’t want to accept a teacher, these Wahhabi people. And whoever doesn’t accept a Sheikh, a Hoja, an Imam, a guide, Dalil, his teacher is Shaitan. He is telling them: "Why do you need a Sheikh?"


Follow a pure guide, that he may take you to purity because only pure ones will enter Paradise... Allah knows best who are the hypocrites... We are trying, working on it, asking to be clean. But: "Thumma amanu, thumma kafaru..." sometimes we believe and sometimes not, listening to our ego and Shaitan. On the way of faith, Iman, you can be saved...


And the Angels of the Grave will ask you if your face is turned to Dunya or towards Maula, Allah. They will ask you what is your Qibla, to where is your heart directed? If they find your face turned towards Allah, everything is good. But if they find your face turned away from Him, then Allah will also turn away from you. If in prayer you turn your eyes away from the place of Sajda, looking left and right three times, then Allah is saying: "My servant has turned away from Me. Leave him..." This is an important point in Adab... Don’t behave badly in the Presence of the Sultan...
May Allah forgive us and not throw us out of the Ummat-i-Muhammadi sws... Fatiha.

from 'Bridge to Eternity' by Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani, compiled by Khairiyah Siegel.

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