Soul and Ego

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.

BismiLlahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim:

(Qur’ān 04:28). ‘Wa Khuliqa Al-'Insānu Đa`īfāan’, ‘And mankind was created weak.’ Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, mankind is created as weak. What can the weak one be strong with? With Iman. Who has Iman is strong. Who doesn’t have Iman is weak, because he is defeated by his ego. And who is defeated is weak. Who defeats his ego is the strong one.

As people of old times had stronger Iman - People of old times didn’t have this [microphones]. They were not like us. When the holy ones spoke from some place, they had no sound tools, but even the furthest ones could hear them. Sayyidinā Abdul-Qādir Jīlānī had thousands of students. When he started a Sohbah, all of them heard his Sohbah as if he was sitting next to them. That is from both his Karamah and his power.

We were telling about this. People of old times brought light everywhere with the strength of Iman. They brought Islam, because they were not defeated by their egos. They didn’t follow their egos. Therefore, Allah ﷻ gave them strength. The more you obey Allah ﷻ, the more you believe in Allah ﷻ, the stronger you will be.

People of the present time are definitely higher in number. Muslims are not as few as they were in old times. However, they have no importance. They have nothing. Because their Iman is weak. Their Iman is very weak. It is more accurate to say that they don’t have any Iman at all. They have Islam but they have no Iman. Iman means to believe in Allah ﷻ, to know that your Rizq will come to you, to believe that Allah ﷻ will give you food and drink. People who believe in this are very few. Therefore, there are all kinds of hardships and all kinds of badness.

Because they are forgetting Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. They are leaving the way of Allah ﷻ. The way they follow is the way of shaytan.

The way of shaytan is not a good way. The way of shaytan takes you to hell. May Allah ﷻ protect us. It is not an easy way either. It is not an easy way. His way is a difficult way, because people are not only flesh and bones. They have a soul inside. Even if you please your flesh and bones, as your soul is not pleased, you are of no use. What pleases your soul is Iman.

The soul is different, and ego is different. The soul loves the way of Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla. It enjoys it and gets satisfied with it. But ego is not like that. It doesn’t like that way. It wants to escape from that way. It comes to the way, it’s not that it doesn’t come. But you can’t set it free. If you set it free, it will throw you down immediately. It won’t keep you above it for a minute.

Therefore, that is something necessary for people. Allah ﷻ didn’t create anything for nothing. He ﷻ didn’t create anything in vain. Its benefit is in defeating it, in throwing it down and not doing what it wants. The more you do so, the more benefit you will have. You will be raised accordingly, and your Iman will be stronger. Your soul will be happy. Your soul will be pleased.

The soul was created by the order of Allah ﷻ. It is a secret among the secrets of Allah ﷻ. What is the definition of the soul? The definition limit that has been allowed to us is that the soul comes to a baby in the mother’s womb after forty days. It stays with him throughout life. And when the time comes, it is separated from the body and goes to either paradise, or hell and waits for its owner there. This is the definition of the soul. Allah ﷻ knows what is beyond that.

There are many prattlers and charlatans who say the soul is like this and like that. And people believe them because they are curious about it. They make ridiculous definitions of the soul. But the definition of the soul is like this. And Allah ﷻ knows what is beyond it. Allah ﷻ didn’t hand you all the secrets. Allah ﷻ has defined the limits of what you should do. Do that. It is enough for you. Don’t interfere in things that are not necessary to you. They are not what Allah ﷻ will question you for.

What Allah ﷻ will question you for is; Did you pray five times a day? Did you fast? Did you give Zakah? Did you go to Hajj? Sadaqah. This is what you will be asked. You won’t be asked about the rest. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla won’t ask you “What is the soul?” Even if He ﷻ asks, He ﷻ may say “Why did you interfere in it?”

and may even punish you. As you talked about things you didn’t know, you will be punished.

Mankind talk about many things without knowing. But Masha’Allah people of this time know everything. They hear something, they become very knowledgeable and start telling everyone immediately. This man said this about the soul. That woman said that about the soul. That is wrong.

Therefore, we must be careful. People must do their duty. They have other things apart from their duty. Shukr to Allah ﷻ, they should study their religion. They should find a Shaykh, a true Murshid and follow him. Not everyone is obliged to go to the same Shaykh. There are thousands of Shaykhs. Whoever sites in your heart is good. And of course, he should not be from those outside Shari’ah. There are many people claiming to be Shaykhs that are outside Shari’ah as well. No need for them. We must be careful about that as well.

Shukr to Allah ﷻ, who seeks finds. A seeking Darwīsh finds it. Allah ﷻ will give according to your intention. “I am looking for a Murshid. I went there. May Allah ﷻ be pleased with him, it was nice. But my heart is not content.” Content means your heart did not open. Go to another one. There is another Shaykh. Go to him. If it doesn’t open there, go to another one. Beg to Allah ﷻ and ask Him ﷻ to show you your Shaykh, your Murshid. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla will certainly give you according to your intention. A person who finds Murshid attains a great favor, because his way is the way of our Holy Prophet ﷺ. He will reach him ﷺ. It is the way that leads to him ﷺ. Therefore, this is important.

People pass Tariqahs now, they don’t even want Maddhabs now. Let alone Maddhabs, they don’t accept Hadith as well. They think they are clever and say “We will check with Qur’an.” Open and check. It is not important. We don’t force anyone. Whoever is meant will come. Whoever is unfortunate will look at that nonsense and listen to them. When you tell about Tariqah, they wonder how to run away. When you mention Shaykh, they don’t want that at all.

This is what is necessary for people, something that people need. Who finds it should not leave it. He must hold firmly onto it. Being together with the good ones means gathering with them on Judgment day. Their way means being together with our Holy Prophet ﷺ. May Allah ﷻ give this to all of us insha’Allah. May He ﷻ not separate us from the right way.

We are in the time of a lot of Fitnah. We are in the time mentioned by our Holy Prophet ﷺ. We are in the time of oppression and darkness. People don’t know what they are doing. They don’t know why they are living. They don’t know why they die. We are living in such a time. May Allah ﷻ protect us. What’s important is to protect our Iman. It is the most important thing. Insha’Allah it is good to be with the good ones.

Being with the bad ones - Some people want to give advice. You may give advice. That is ok. But once or twice, if you realize it is not going to do anything, stay away from them. Find other people. If other people are going to benefit from it, advise them. If they don’t want it too, it means Allah ﷻ didn’t mean it for them. Don’t get upset. May Allah ﷻ protect us.

May Allah ﷻ give guidance to people, because the Mu’min has goodness inside him. He doesn’t have envy. He wants people to be well. And what they want happens with the will of Allah ﷻ. Therefore, Mu’mins don’t have envy. They don’t have a wish that no one comes here. What they want is for everyone to be on the way of Allah ﷻ, for everyone to have Iman, to be Mu’min. If everyone is Mu’min, this world will flourish. Otherwise, it will never be good. No matter how much they strive, this world will be good only with Iman and Islam.

Insha’Allah after darkness there is light. Darkness will be gone, and everywhere will be full of light insha’Allah. We believe in this. And we are waiting for Mahdi ‘alayhi s-salam insha’Allah. May Allah ﷻ send him as soon as possible. Ummati Muhammad is in a very miserable condition. They are in a miserable condition both physically and spiritually. They have nowhere to hold. They have become miserable. This world is playing with them from all sides. “How can we do evil?” They are striving so that people don’t do goodness. They are preventing Muslims from doing goodness. They are trying their best so that no help comes to them. Their attribute is envy, badness and evil. May Allah ﷻ protect us from their evil. May Allah ﷻ send us the Sahib so that we are saved from their evil insha’Allah.

Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 11 August 2024/ 07 Safar 1446 Eyup Sultan Dergah, Istanbul