BismillahirRahmanirRahim

NO RETIREMENT FOR THE SULTAN-UL AWLIYA

Special Sohbet by Sheykh Abdul Kerim el-Hakkani el-Kibrisi

Friday 24, Jumada al-awal 1426
July 1, 2005.
Osmanli Naks-i'bendi Hakkani Dergah, Siddiki Center, New York.

Selamun aleykum. Meded Ya Sayiddi, Ya Sultan Evliya, Mevlana Sheykh Nazim al-Hakkani. Meded.

Allah subhana wa ta'ala has created us and counted us from the believers and put us forward in this Ahir Zaman, in the End of the Times, to run for Islam, to try to keep and to put it up in any way we can do. It is a big blessing for those people who are coming forward to be the nominees and trying to carry what Allah subhana wa ta'ala is giving.

When Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) came, millions of people at that time became against him. But that didn't change the reality because that one was held and supported by the Creator. All those who came against him were running after their own ego. They were running after only what was good for them. That's why they were against that Prophet (saw). And through the history of mankind on earth, that's how it happened. Since the beginning from our father Adam (as) it continued coming up to our Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam). When the nations moved out of their ways, Allah sent prophets to them as a mercy to them, to warn them, to give them good news, to give them good messages, but at the same time to warn them and to wake them up to say, "Wake up! You are not alone. It looks like you are alone. You think that the universe is circling around you. It's not. You are just one hopeless and helpless creature on the face of this earth." And when prophets came to give them that news, that message, the majority of them gathered together attacking those prophets.

And the same thing happened to Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam). But there was something different with our Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) than other prophets before him. He was the Last Prophet. So there will be no prophet coming after him until the Judgment Day. When you look at history, (you find that) it didn't pass maybe 100 years each time when Allah was sending prophets to man. From Adam (as) up to our Prophet (saw) 124,000 prophets passed. Maybe in every 100 years one (or more) prophet was coming, except between Isa (as) and Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam). And now from the Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) until today over 1400 years passed. No prophet came. So many small groups here and there claim that prophets came but there is no evidence anywhere that they can show, and they know themselves, from the Christians to the Jews, everyone knows that no prophet came.

From that time 1400 years ago, until today, one prophet is not being accepted. They are not accepting him. For 1400 years now they are not accepting him saying, "No, he's not a prophet. He was somebody who was talking from illusion, from imagination, or this or that." They can say whatever they want. Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) is saying to His Prophet (saw), "Ya Muhammad, your Lord is enough for you." That means, if a single one is not accepting you, Allah is enough for you. "Don't worry. Just tell them what I give you. Then leave them to Me." So all those ones from that time until today who are running against the Prophet (saw) are out of the road. They are not in Sirat-ul Mustaqim. They cannot claim to say, "I am in Sirat-ul Mustaqim." The Holy Quran is speaking about the People of the Book and giving us description of what they do, saying, "A small group of people among them get up at nighttime and they pray to their Lord. Allah will reward them. But the majority is out of the road." And deep inside they believe, "This must be some prophet." Otherwise, the blessing will not reach to those too.

So Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) in this Ahir Zaman, in the End of the Times, in a time of so much confusion, made us from the believers. He counted us from the believers. What is the value of that? How valuable is that to you? You must know what is the value and you must treat it with the value that Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has given it. Otherwise, we may lose it too. So many came, so many didn't hold it properly, and they lost it in the end. We have not reached to our end yet. Our end is the grave. We must carry this faith up to the grave. It doesn't matter what this one or that one is saying. To a believer, once he says the shahadat, that shahadat must be enough even if there is not a single man in this world who is not turned against him. That shahadat must be enough for you to keep you in the Sirat-ul Mustaqim, to keep you in the right road, the way that Allah and His Prophet (saw) want. That's enough.

Especially in these days. Especially in these days when the majority of the so-called believers are out of the road. And especially in these days when the Ahle Sunnat people are divided, the Tariqats are divided and inside one Tariqat people are divided. And when we take it and we start searching it saying, "Why is this happening? What is the problem? If we are believing in one Allah and His Prophet (saw) and the same Mazhab, the same Tariqat and the same Sheykh, then what is the problem? Where are we separating?" We are finding again this Dunya, this world standing on the way, or fame or something that the man is claiming to be. Don't you see and don't you know yourself? You who are here and those who are not here. Don't you look at yourself alone? Lock yourself in a room, look at yourself and say, "What is the power that I have? What am I good for? If my Lord is not giving permission then I cannot breathe the air. What am I good for? And I am running and trying to change the Divine Destiny."

That's what some are trying. They are trying to change the law that Allah has put. The Qadar. How? What kind of mind that individual may have? That has the same kind of mind that the Yahudis had in their time. When knowing that Holy Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) is going to come in Hijaz, he is going to be born in Hijaz, and they checked the Hijaz area and they said, "This Prophet is going to be born from a mother and a father. He is going to come out from a woman, and all these signs in Taurat and all other books are showing that he is going to be born in Hijaz. But we have no people living in Hijaz. We have no Yahudi, (so-called Yahudi today, that is, the Children of Israel), we don't have anybody living in Hijaz that he is going to come from that family."

Yaqub (as) had twelve children and those twelve children were all prophets and the Bani Israil, the Children of Israel are coming from them. And they were looking saying, "None of the sons of Yaqub (as) moved there and they are not living there. So if the Seal of the Prophets, the big Prophet is coming in Hijaz, it shows that he is not going to be from us." But those square-heads of their time, reading and knowing too much, thinking that they are going to change the divine laws again, said to them, "It is easy. We may make it from ourselves. Collect some good families and send them to live in Hijaz from this time and check their generations and every child that is coming. We know the signs of the Prophet. When he is going to be born, we know what kind of activities are going to happen in this world." The majority of the Muslims don't know it until today, what are the activities that happened when the Prophet (saw) was born. The Yahudis knew before Prophet (saw) was born. They said, "As soon as we see that sign we will check every family to see which one gave birth and from the signs we can understand that it is the Seal of the Prophets."

And they did. Otherwise, the Yahudis are always going and finding the best places in the world, nice sea-side, nice beautiful areas to live. What were they doing in the desert? Ismail (as) is there. Not the Yahudis. They moved there to see if they are going to change the divine destiny. And when they saw the signs of that Prophet, they knew that the Prophet is born. They ran to every family and said,

"Did you have children today?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Oh! We lost." They said, "All these prophets came from our generations and now the Seal of the Prophets is not from us." And Allah is speaking in the Qur'an saying, "They know the truth. They know everything. They know what they did. And they know that he is the Prophet and the Seal of the Prophets. But because Allah didn't give it from their generations they became against the truth. That's why they have been cursed."

So many today are also running to do that. How? What kind of brain do you have? That means even your brain is not controlling you. Leave the heart, because if the heart is working you are receiving messages from the unseen world. That means your brain is not controlling you too now. That means someway somehow Sheytan is holding certain reins in his hands and pulling you left and right. That is for those who are doing that. If you are doing it then it's for you too. If I am doing it then it's for me. No one can change the Divine Orders. It's going to happen whether you like it or not. Who cares if you like it? Did Allah ask you when He was creating you? Did Allah ask you when He was sending you to this world? Did Allah ask you, "Would you like to be in this world?" He created you and He sent you to this world. That is enough for you to know and to worship Him. Nothing else. We have nothing to claim and we have nothing to say, "I am this one and I am that one. I can do this and I can do that." If the permission is not given to you, you cannot even breathe the air.

But this 21st century sickness, when Sheytan has put his kingdom everywhere and especially in the schools from the children to every education places, they are teaching people how to be egoistic ones, how to be selfish ones and how to be thinking only about themselves. So many times I am reminding you, let me remind you again. Either you are a Muslim or you are following some other kinds of laws. Islam has its own identity. Islam has its own laws and Islam has its own ruling system. Maybe it's not ruling in the world today, {there's a divine secret there too why Allah has removed that and put it behind the curtains}, but if you are a believer you must run to hold on tightly to the orders of Allah and His Prophet (saw). And for the orders of Allah and His Prophet (saw) on you, first you must turn to yourself to say, "I am not good for anything if it is not for My Lord. I am not any better than anyone and if permission is not given to me then I cannot even open my mouth." Then you cannot find any space around you to be proud of yourself, to be an egoistic one, to be selfish, arrogant and stubborn.

Islam is forbidding all these. From the first step that you are entering you are saying, "I am not existing. You are. You are the Lord and I am the creature." If you are the creature then what is it that you have that you can claim? You are continuously forever in need and you must ask. And if you carry that properly then you will become a servant. When you become a servant then you may be given the ruling of the whole world but you will not exchange that servanthood for it. But if Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) at that time is giving you a job to do then you do it properly too.

So for the 21st century man it is very blessed at the same time. Allah is giving invitation to everyone saying, "You want something? Turn yourself to Islam. You want a high station? Turn yourself to Islam. You want high honor? Turn yourself to Islam." Anybody who is looking to find honor must turn to Islam. Otherwise, the honor that people are giving to you, their cheering and putting you up there, it is only very temporary. As soon as you become retired, it doesn't matter what you are, the president, the prime minister, the head of the army, the head of the people, the head of the donkeys and the head of the animals, it doesn't matter. They say to you, "You are retired." Retirement means you are not good for anything. Take it, go to the corner and sit and wait to die.

Retirement. That is retirement. It is a sad thing to know that in these days some fools are also making their Sheykhs to be retired. Mashallah. They reached now to the station of the ego saying, "I am the only one. I am the only one existing now. Nobody else except me." They cannot dare to say it openly through the mouth. That's why they are saying it that way. How? Nowhere in the history of Islam or in the history of mankind we have ever heard that the wise men become retired. Go to the President. The presidents have consultants around them. The wisest people who have seen the world and they know so many things. And I heard that the American President has over 300 such people. Who are those? They are not in the television. They are the most knowledgeable ones, the most intelligent ones that the President must go to consult before he takes some decision. In the Christian world, over 2,000 years of their fake calendar, I have never heard any priest or any leader, Orthodox or any other Christian groups, to be retired. I have never heard any groups, any Jewish rabbi to be retired. I have never heard up until today of any person in the 1400 years of the Islamic calendar that an imam or a sheykh has retired. Now we've heard something. Mashallah. Subhanallah! That one must be giving a high title. Hmm. Giving title to himself.

Where is that one? We don't know. We just heard here and there. We hear and we are saying. Retirement. What does retirement mean? Retirement means that you are ready to die. Go and don't talk. Retirement means you lost your mind now. Your mind is not controlling you. So we cannot trust you anymore. Sit on the corner. That's what it means. So you are saying, "You are crazy. You lost your mind. Sit on the corner now. You are retired. I am better." Don't you see that the Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) is saying through the hadith, "As much intelligence you have, that much religion you have." The most intelligent ones in this world are the prophets. And the second ones are the saints. How a saint is going to become retired? How a believer is going to lose his mind? Have you ever heard that a believer lost his mind? He doesn't know what to do? In Turkish they say, "Bunadin." Did you ever hear in the history that, "This one was a good believer but he lost his mind?" The only people to lose their minds that you can hear are, "He was the President, he was the Chief of the Army, he was the Prime Minister, he was this and he was that, and he lost his mind." Yeah, that we hear all the time. "He was the Head of the Supreme Court, he was the Head of this Company, this and that," anybody who was running after worldly matters lost their minds. That's why retirement is necessary.

But for Sheykhs it is impossible. Especially for a Sultan-ul Awliya it is impossible. Allah is sending (to them) and they are more knowledgeable than anybody and they are rising to higher stations and higher stations and higher stations. It is impossible for those and for us to catch them, because if we are in this station today then they reached to a higher station. If tomorrow we reach to that station then they are no longer there. They are in a higher station. You don't say that to yourself to make belief or not to make belief. You must believe by heart to say, "This is how it is." Otherwise, Sheytan may fool you one day saying, "Eh, I reached to this station and that one stayed behind. So now I am in a higher station." Hmm.

So, the 21st century sickness is very big. And Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has permitted us to be among the believers. That's enough title for you. That's enough title for us. It doesn't matter what the world says. It doesn't matter what the people around you say. You know that you are a believer. That's enough. That's enough for you. You know in your heart, "My name is in that book alhamdulillah. Although I am not worthy of that but because of the good ones that passed before me, because of their prayers, Allah put my name into that book. Ya Rabbi! Thank you." That should be enough for a man living now until Judgment Day, if he is going to live (that long). But the life that you are running after to be reaching here and there is not guaranteeing you if you are going to reach to tonight.

How intelligent is that man? You are running and fighting for something that has not been given to you? How intelligent is that? Is that the work a believer must do? Is that the work a leader must do? The leader must be the one who is running forward in front of everybody. You want that leadership? Run! In the old days, the kings must be the best of the horsemen, the kings must be the best of the swordsmen, the kings must be able to use the best equipments better than anybody. The kings and the rulers must be the wrestlers and the kings and the rulers must be the most knowledgeable ones to be able to have the authority in their hands. The kings and the rulers, when there was a war, they were going in front of the army. Not in the back having bodyguards around. "Protect me." Protection? You are expecting protection from people who are under your authority? How are they going to protect? Ask protection from that One saying, "I am working for You, Ya Rabbi! I am under Your protection. No other protection can save me."

This is the time that we have entered alhamdulillah. The 21st century. The 21st century people left and right. And the people in the Sirat-ul Mustaqim also, Sheytan is finding so many ways trying to fool them. Oh believers! You must not be fooled. You must not get fooled by that kind of foolishness because every title in this world is only temporary. Whatever is being given to you in this world, you are going to get it. Even if you run or don't run, it's going to be given to you. It's going to come to you. Don't think that, "I am more smart. Let me move and fool this one and sit on his place." Allah doesn't like it then. His Prophet (saw) doesn't like it. The good believers don't like it. Who likes it? Sheytan, saying, "Run after it. Fool that one."

Allah is saying to us, "Race in the way of Allah." Race. Race is in doing good things. In doing good deeds racing with each other. That's acceptable. And knowing where your energy is finishing. If you are running for Islam and if you know that you are racing with that one together, and you know that your energy is finishing, you must be able to transfer the power from you to that one. Let that one carry it, saying, "This is the end of my time. You must carry it." Then you will become beloved to Allah and His Prophet (saw). This is what we have seen through the history from Adam (as) until Prophet Alayhi salatu wa salam. After Prophet (alayhi salatu wa salam) we have seen this very openly all the time through the history of the Seljuk Empire and the Ottomans.

We are Osmanli, we are pek sanli, we are Ottomans and we are very honored. Allah has honored us with that. So many dropped it today. So many are attacking the Ottomans also. They can attack in any way. It doesn't matter. Allah keeps them high and they are high. And we are very honored holding them high and we are going to hold them high. We are not good for anything. We know that. What they did, it is impossible for us to do. But at least we say, "Ya Rabbi! We love them. We love what they did because they did it for Your sake and for Your Prophet's sake."

If we hold that high, Allah will keep us high. If we drop it down, we are dropping ourselves down. Through history we are seeing from individuals to groups of people to nations, that when they kept the orders of Allah, Allah kept them high. As soon as they dropped it down, He took it away from them and He gave it to another nation. We must be the nominees to say, "We are the nominees, Ya Rabbi, trying to hold this very high. We are knowing our power that we have no power. We are very weak ones, very weak servants. We are asking support from You. If support is coming from You to us then we are the most strong ones. And don't let us to deviate from the Sirat-ul Mustaqim."

Wa min Allahu taufiq

Bihurmatil Habib

Bihurmatil Fatiha.