Tame Your Ego and Accept Advice

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.

May our gathering be blessed and of barakah. This is a blessed community. We are gathering for the love and sake of Allāh ﷻ, and His ﷻ pleasure is upon us. These are gatherings of knowledge. We are here to seek Allāh’s ﷻ pleasure. You seek advice, and you receive advice. Advice is given for the sake of Allāh ﷻ. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wasallam says, “Ad-Dīnu n-Naṣīḥah”, “Religion is advice”. [Ḥadīth]. Religion is entirely about giving advice. It is for showing the right way and goodness.

Therefore, attending these gatherings and seeking knowledge is obligatory. It is obligatory for every Muslim. Seeking knowledge is obligatory for people from the cradle to the grave. Whether you are present in gatherings or seeking advice from people, this means being a student of knowledge. Being a student of knowledge has great virtue. It requires intention. Nothing happens without intention. Our intention should be to learn goodness and our religion for the sake of Allāh ﷻ. Loving our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, loving his ﷺ companions and his ﷺ family; all of these are knowledge. Knowing what is evil and what is ḥarām is also knowledge.

We should accept advice as much as we can. Advice is something given for the sake of Allāh ﷻ. Many people dislike advice. Why don’t they like it? Because the ego doesn’t like advice and goodness much. The ego is wild; because it hasn’t been tamed, it constantly avoids advice. No matter what you say, it won’t accept it. However, it too can be tamed. The ego can be disciplined. The shayṭān cannot be disciplined, but the ego can be. Every human being has [these enemies] shayṭān, ego, this world, and desires. One mustn’t follow them. The shayṭān whispers, but one should never listen to him. No matter how hard you try, you cannot tame the shayṭān. But you can tame your ego. How? As you stay away from bad things, your ego gradually becomes tame. Of course, it becomes tame, but the ego still waits for an opportunity. Because it will want to rebel against you again and do evil, you must always be vigilant. If you say, “My ego has been tamed, I no longer have an ego,” and become confident in yourself, it will instantly overthrow you. May Allāh ﷻ protect us. May Allāh ﷻ grant us all the ability to listen to advice and act upon it, in shā’a Llāh. To overcome our ego, we must accept advice. May

Allāh ﷻ help us, in shā’a Llāh. May we all remain steadfast on this way and be a means of guidance for others, in shā’a Llāh.

Wa min Allāhi t-Tawfīq. Al-Fātiḥa.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 02 August 2026/ 19 Safar 1448 Fajr Prayer – Akbaba Dergah, Istanbul