Islam is Tolerance

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa Raḥmatullāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu Billāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. Bismillāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi Rasūlillāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad. Ṭarīqatunā aṣ-Suḥbah wa l-Khayru fi l-Jam‘iyyah.

Our way is with gathering with people, with anyone. It’s not important from where they’re coming or from which color. Our way is the way of prophets, since Adam ‘alayhi s-salam until our Prophet ﷺ, and until now we are in this way. The way of good things, way of beauty, as Feride Hanim said. Not many ways only this way continues from the first human being, our father Adam ‘alayhi ssalam. There are many ways that people try. It’s okay, but most of them are following this way because all the messengers and prophets are on the same way, not different. It’s said in the Qur’an, ‘ ’, ‘Lā Nufarriqu Bayna ‘Ahadin Min Rusulih’, ‘We make no distinction between any of His messengers.’ (Qur’ān 02:285). We make no differentiation between prophets. All of them are on one way. This continues until when? Until Qiyāmah, forever. Other ways are also for people to search for reality, for what is good for us, they give a good thing to think. For this, so many people join this main one.

Who joins this way is lucky. Because as we said, prophets are infallible. Allah ﷻ created human beings and the highest in His ﷻ Divine Presence are prophets and messengers; because many of the prophets don’t have a message, they continue other prophets’ message from Allah ﷻ. There are 313 prophets that are messengers. They bring teaching from heaven, from the Divine Presence of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. So the highest in the Divine Presence of Allah ﷻ are these people. And to not make people have doubt about this, they are infallible. They do not do any wrong; no sin, no wrong thing. Sometimes maybe to teach people, Allah ﷻ makes it special for them to do [wrong]. But normally, they don’t have this thing, to make sins. Maybe they can make wrong for teaching [people] and then they know this, they repent and teach people, “Look, what we did is wrong, we made a wrong because we are also human beings.” But for us, we must follow them.

So there are 124,000 Prophets. All on the same line. Around them there are maybe millions of people who claim that they are right, that they’re good. But most of them you cannot find any that reaches. Even if reaching until now, it will not reach forever, only until the Day of Resurrection, after it will finish. But our way, way of prophets, is going forever because we are believers and they taught us that real life is after our life now. Our life is only to make us [to see] which way we will go, where we will go. So Islam has this – all prophets have this, but people forget. To not ask “Why this happened? What is this?” No.

Who says about himself a believer must have good behavior. Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said, “Innama bu’ithtu liutammima makaarima l-akhlaq”, “I was sent to perfect good character” [Hadith]. “Allah ﷻ sent me to teach people good behavior.” And that is to be good with people, to have respect for people, for creatures, for nature, for everything. That’s the good behavior that Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is teaching us. And to have respect for everyone’s belief.

What they’re teaching about Islam is the opposite of this. And people who don’t belong to any rule of Islam, they claim to be Muslim and they show Islam as violence to people, no civilization, they don’t have anything. This is what they’re showing. They say, “Islam was spread with the sword.” But in that time, the whole world was coming from side to side and oppressing people. Other countries also, like Rome or like Persia. All of them were ruling people with oppression. So for Muslims to go and invite people to Islam, this was normal for them. And when they take [over] countries, they don’t kill civil people. They were only fighting armies and when they win they take the country. Also most of the countries they were going to such as Rome, they were not from that area, so they fought and won, and took this area for themselves. And because they don’t touch any civil people, all the people who were living there don’t kick them out from houses or cities. All of them stay there, they are safe with their religion, with their money, with their everything. They don’t say anything to people, only this country was under the rule of Islam.

This is the same from 1,400 years, all religions can be in a Muslim country without any harming. Or even if anybody harms them, they punish him more than if a Muslim harms a Muslim. This is the beauty of Islam, the tolerance of Islam. Everyone can be there, nobody forces you to be Muslim or anything else, or send you out from your place. Even Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam was taking loans from Jewish people and after he can give them. They were sometimes even coming and asking in a tough way, “Give me my money”. The Sahabah were

angry with them. He ﷺ said, “Don’t do anything. He’s right. Tell him to be patient, we will pay him.”

Islam is the religion of mercy. Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “Be merciful with people, Allah ﷻ will be Merciful with you.” This is the way of the Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam and the way of Sufi people, Tariqah people; they are following this.

We have an order; we can fight who makes trouble for people. But what about those who claim that Islam is violence and all this reality is in front of them! But the other side: Isa ‘alayhi s-salam, who’s our prophet also, said to people of his time, “If someone hits you on the right side of your face, turn your left side so that he hits you on that side also.” We see his holy – AstaghfiruLlah not his – [but] those who are claiming that they are following him in his holy word, when they conquered Jerusalem – and they are [mentioned] in history, in your book also – they cut 70,000 from old, young, baby, from Muslims and Jewish; they cut them there. This is reality. And we visited Spain also, Andalusia where these Monks were reading the bible and they were saying to people, “You will die and we will change your religion.” They killed many people, many millions, I don’t know how much. Not only Muslims but from Jewish also. They were telling them, “If you don’t change [your religion], we will kill you also.” So the Ottoman Sultan saved many of them and brought them to a safe place in a Muslim country. The Ottoman Empire saved them and until now they are in this area. Tolerance is supposed to be with these people but the real tolerance is with prophets, Isa ‘alayhi s-salam. Who is following him must be tolerant. But we are following him, we have this tolerance and especially Sufi people, they respect all the creatures of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla.

And the biggest enemy for these people who are making violence in the name of Islam are the Sufi and Muslims. We do not accept this. They are not real Muslims. They are not real followers of the way of prophets. We are trying to keep this way. This way will not finish. Other will finish. What’s not good will be removed, and reality will appear for all people.

There are many things that maybe Western people don’t understand well. We are in this world not the second world; we are not in paradise. Allah ﷻ created everything for testing us. He is testing us: who will be in the right way, and who will follow himself and run away from the right way. Because we hear from many people, because they don’t have this culture of good behavior. They don’t know what good behavior means. They have this system; they say this word for what

they like to do but when they don’t like it they ignore it: “Democracy”. They put it in people’s minds from a young age and it cannot be changed. This civilized world is using this and they think it’s a perfect thing, but I don’t think so. We see this in our world. With democracy, millions of people die, tens of millions of people run from their houses to Europe, to everywhere in the world. And Masha’Allah democracy was very nice.

But this is not our subject, only [mentioned it] through, we will continue with this. It is also a test from Allah ﷻ for people. “In democracy we can say anything for everyone”, this is what they say. They began from our father, the first man, Adam ‘alayhi s-salam. They became angry at him, “You did this and we are carrying your sin. All human beings are carrying your sin”, they are saying. This happened by a wisdom from Allah ﷻ. We came to this world until a [certain] time, and after that some people will go back to paradise and some people will go to another place.

The subject and point here is that when you say something about a prophet, and he’s the first man, he’s our father, you don’t have a good behavior towards him, accuse him and say bad things to him, this is the beginning, opening the door of bad behavior. For this, when people open this door, they make a bad behavior towards our Creator Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Many of them say, “Why are these people suffering from hunger, people suffering from illness, people suffering from this, from that? Why is Allah making this?” This is bad behavior, because you cannot come against Him ﷻ. You cannot ask Him ﷻ why.

This is the first good behavior in Islam: to accept everything that comes from your Lord Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Don’t say this is good and this is bad at all. Especially for Tariqah people, this is very important. Prophet salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam says, “How wonderful is it for the Mu’min! Everything is good for him.” If he’s happy, he’s rich, and he’s thankful for Allah ﷻ, Allah ﷻ gives him more and rewards him. And if he’s suffering from badness, from illness, from poorness or from anything else, and he’s patient and Allah ﷻ will reward him for his patience. This is the teaching of Islam, teaching of Tariqah, Sufi. This is the main teaching: to accept everything, don’t object, don’t say your opinion especially for things that are the orders of religion or spiritual things.

The summary of this is to explain about Islam, about Sufi, about Tariqah. We made it a little bit long, but the summary is Tolerance, Mercy and love for your Creator, and the respectable people. The most respectable people are the prophets. You must respect them. We accept all of them. This is the summary of this lecture insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ make it of benefit for people, for who are listening, to be happiness for you here and hereafter.

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 17 September 2022/ 21 Safar 1444 Berlin, Germany