Do as Much as You Can

Assalamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh, Auzu Billahi Minashaytanir Rajeem. Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem, Wassalatu Wassalamu ala Rasulina Muhammadin Sayyidul Awwalin wal Akhirin, Madad Ya Rasulallah, Madad Ya Sadat As’habi RasuLillah, Madad Ya Mashayikhina, Dastur Mawlana Sheikh Abdullah Faiz Daghestani, Sheikh Nazim al-Haqqani. Madad. Tariqatunas sohba, wal khayru fil jamiyya.

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm:

(Qur’ān 02:286). ‘La yukallifu Llahu nafsan illa wus'aha’, ‘Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity.’ Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla only imposes things that people can do. He ordered to do them. All the worship that we perform is to follow His orders. These are the easiest things we can do. None of them is hard. The human body can handle that without effort. Moreover, they have benefits for both our bodies and souls. They have spiritual and physical benefits.

Therefore, no one should make an excuse and say that it is difficult. People do such things for making a living that they exert fifty times more the effort that any worship requires. They have difficulty in it. Nevertheless, they don’t say a word, as they are working. They are working for this world. When it comes to working for Allah ﷻ, people say that it is difficult. There are many people for whom even two Raka’at are difficult. If you tell them to pray two Raka’at daily, they say that they cannot do even that. If you tell them to pray on Fridays, some people find it difficult too. Therefore, this is not an excuse for not doing it. They are causing loss to themselves.

It is the same in Tariqah. Now some people enter Tariqah, and some people don’t want to enter it saying it is difficult. There is no difference between Tariqah and Shari’ah; they are the same. Both are in Islam. They are not the same, but more rightly, Tariqah is the way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. People can keep up by performing Nafl prayers. The more they perform, the more they will approach Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Our Holy Prophet says,. (Hadith Qudsi). With Nafl prayers people come closer to Allah ﷻ.

Therefore, when someone enters our Tariqah and takes Bay’ah, how much can a person do - even if he recites 100 times “Allah”, he will have done his duty in our Tariqah. His three Ikhlas will be accepted. No need to do our daily Wird straight away. But if he does, it will be very good. All of these are not Fard. If someone says it is Fard, he will have committed a sin, because Tariqah is with Nafl prayers, as we said. And Nafl is the worship that is not Fard and Sunnah. Not everyone has to do it. There are many people who don’t. It is the same with this. When you enter Tariqah, don’t be afraid that you will commit a sin if you don’t do something. There is no such thing. If someone says that you commit a sin, then he will have committed the sin.

It is basically the matter of the heart. Do as much as you can. And if you cannot, as your heart is connected to Tariqah, there is no harm in it. What’s important is to follow a Shaykh and to follow Tariqah. It is very important especially during these days, because Shaytan is catching those who are on their own and showing them different things [claiming] that it’s Islam. They become the biggest enemies of Islam afterwards. May Allah ﷻ protect us from it.

We should do as much as we can. As we said, people may do a lot and a little. Our door is the door of mercy. The door of the Naqshbandi Tariqah is the door open to everyone. It is so in all Tariqahs. But many people can be misleading others by telling them to do this much and that much daily. When a person says he cannot do so, they say he commits a sin. What they are doing is wrong. They are estranging people from Tariqah and they are estranging them from Islam as well. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ help us. May we be steadfast on this beautiful way, in our Tariqah insha’Allah.

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 25 November 2021/20 Rabīʽ al-Thani 1443 Fajr Prayer, Akbaba Dergah