Advise Yourselves First

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.

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm:

‘Atamurūna l-nāsa bil-birri watansawna anfusakum’, ‘Do you order righteousness of the people and forget yourselves.’ (Qur’ān 02:44). Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.

Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying, “You order goodness to others but forget about yourselves.” Therefore, when people want to give advice, they must give advice to their egos, to themselves first. They must follow the advice themselves and then tell it to others. Otherwise, they won’t be considered as acceptable in the presence of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla, because you order goodness and beauty, but you don’t have anything yourself. You have the opposite of you what you say. You don’t follow a word of it.

Our Holy Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said scholars of the end of times will have much of it. They speak a lot. They have a lot of verbal expression, but they don’t have any actions. They don’t have goodness. They have nothing. What they do will be against them: “You said these things but didn’t do them yourself. You did the opposite.” They will be entitled to more punishment than the punishment of normal people.

Let alone ordering goodness, many scholars of the present time explain goodness differently. They say things that don’t exist as if they are in the religion or as if that is the right way it should be. What they say will be against them. Unless they repent, they will pay the consequences. They will be punished in this world; and people who leave Akhirah for Dunya have goodness neither here nor hereafter.

People or scholars who think they are clever and strive to reach their personal interest are not clever, because Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla has given them an ability. When they use that ability for badness, things don’t go well, they go wrong. They destroy what you do, and they destroy you as well.

Therefore, when we order something, insha’Allah we must order it to our egos first. We must give this advice to ourselves and then give it to others. It is a big mistake if others do it and you don’t do it yourself. There is a compensation for this if you repent and ask for forgiveness for your actions from Allah ﷻ. But if you persist, you will make an even bigger mistake. May Allah ﷻ protect us from the evil of our egos. May Allah ﷻ not separate us from the right way.

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 22 March 2024/ 12 Ramadan 1445 Fajr Prayer, Akbaba Dergah