The Body Is a Cage for the Soul

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, “Yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanurkaʿū wa-sjudū wa-uʿbudū rabbakum wa-fʿalū l-khayra laʿallakum tufliḥūn” (22:77). Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘aẓīm. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying in Qur’ān ‘Aẓīmu sh-Sha’n, “Perform worship, make sajdah and do goodness.” Goodness is all kinds of help to people. Showing the way is goodness. All kinds of goodness done to people are the order. So do that. Praying and sajdah are farḍ. And the rest are orders.

Who does them reaches “falah”, salvation. What is salvation? It is when people give out their last breath on the way of Allāh ﷻ, when the last breath is out of the body with the pleasure of Allāh ﷻ. That is the goal. You should do various goodness. And eventually, you will reach salvation.

Because this world is like a prison for the soul. Turkish people say a bird for the soul. That bird is in a cage. And the cage is our body. It wants to escape from that cage. That escape must be good. Otherwise, it is not happy with the cage no matter if it is good or bad. If you put the bird in a golden cage, it still won't be happy. If you open the door, it will run away. The soul is in the similar way. It waits for its time in this body. As soon as the door opens, it goes immediately. But as we said, does it go for salvation, or for the worse? Those who carry out the order of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla in this āyah certainly go for the better. They escape from the cage and go to a nice place.

Otherwise, people who do badness and don't carry out orders of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla, those who harm everyone; their souls go to the worse place. Those who will go to a good place are the people who do what Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says. And the way is shown.

Doing goodness is good for everyone. People who do goodness are loved by others. And those who do badness are not loved. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla doesn't give love to them. Because when Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla loves someone, He ﷻ tells Jibrīl ‘alayhi s-salām, “I admire this servant. Tell everyone to admire him.” Jibrīl ‘alayhi s-salām informs everyone. And people love him then. Creatures also love him. Otherwise, when someone is bad, “I don't like him. Don't let anyone like him,” says Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. Even though they pretend to love him in this world, not only people don't love him but they look for some benefit. It is a strange state which is not love but badness.

May Allāh ﷻ protect us. May Allāh ﷻ help us do goodness and good deeds. May we be allowed to go on His ﷻ way in shā’a Llāh. May He ﷻ give permission for this. Shukr to Allāh ﷻ, the people present here, mu’min people are striving to use various means and tools in order to do goodness and to attain the pleasure of Allāh ﷻ. They are both performing worship and making qurbān. They ask what to do with it. Helping poor people, helping people in need, helping neighbors; all of them are doing goodness. May Allāh ﷻ not deprive us from that goodness.

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 17 June 2024/ 11 Dhul Hijjah 1445 Lefke, Cyprus