BismillahirRahmanirRahim

Question: One thing that people who wants to be critical of Tarikat or people in Tarikat says that there’s so much injustice in the world and you are just concentrating on fixing yourself and that’s a selfish thing. What is the answer to this?

BismillahirRahmanirRahim. That is Sunnat. Prophet (asws) when the Nubuwat was given to him, he did not go out to declare war on them or to bring the structure down. What did he concentrate on? La Ilaha Ilallah. For 23 years, La Ilaha Ilallah. Especially for the first ten years, La Ilaha Ilallah.

The system that he was living in, it was corrupt, correct? Completely. It was oppressive, correct? Completely. Did he come out to destroy the world order that he was living in? He came to teach people about their Lord. To say, ‘La Ilaha Ilallah,’ not just externally, but in here (Sheykh points to the heart). For ten years, by all accounts, we are shame and shy to say this, but let’s say objectively, ten years when he made the hijra which a lot of non muslims are saying, when he made the hijra, his mission was lost because he did not gain Mecca, how many people did he manage to, be with him? Majority they were indigent, they were poor, they had no real power. Some they had. It became so oppressive that he had to leave Mecca.

It was only in Medina that he came to his own. But is that how we see it? No. Because what he brought? The Muhajirins. For ten years. Ten years, not one year, ten years, the Holy Prophet (asws), put in their hearts nothing but Allah and nothing but the obedience to the Rasul of Allah. And it did not matter to them whether they win or they lost this world. All they wanted was Allah and His Messenger. Until they were willing to leave everything, not just their possession, don’t think just because they left Mecca, they left their possessions. They left everything. They left all social ties. They believe in him and they were willing to be cut off, to be ostracized, to be thrown out from their own clans and their own families at that age where if you have no ties to anyone, you are a what? You are a slave. You are without any protection. That is what the meaning of the slave is, no one is there to protect you. And instead they became the slave of Allah and slave of the Prophet (asws). Servants meaning. Complete submission to him.

They were clean, they were pure. Ten years. They didn’t just say, ‘may my parents be sacrificed for you, ya Rasulullah,’ which they did.Today, if anyone says about that to the Prophet (asws) especially on Facebook, the Muslims will be the first one to say, ‘please brother don’t say things like that. This is is too extreme. This is violent. This should not be.’ Sahaba e-Kiram did that. They didn’t just say, they sacrificed their parents for them. They said, ‘may my children be sacrificed for you.’ They didn’t just say, their children was sacrificed for the Prophet (asws). But all this really hard passion did not make them to become cruel. The opposite, it made their heart to become the most soft. Because you cannot now put the Mercy to the universes in your heart without you being merciful. Impossible. Rahmatan lil ‘alamin, you cannot put Rahmatan lil ‘alamin, the Mercy to the Universes in your heart without you being merciful. Now,everything they do is mercy. When they strike, they strike with mercy. They don’t pass their limits.

So those who were saying, ‘eh this Sufi, they just sit around and they make zikr, they are not changing the world.’ Number one, which planet you come from? That means you don’t know history and you don’t know politics, and definitely you don’t know Khilafat. Definitely you think if only all of us just pull ourselves together and be united, we can change this whole world. And we are saying again, ‘which planet do you come from?’ are you really that naive? Or you want to be that naive and you want to be that idiot. Don’t be.

So Prophet (asws) first he taught them, ‘La Ilaha Ilallah.’ Evliyaullah and some scholars they say, yes in the first ten years it was La Ilaha Ilallah he taught. And when he came to Medina sharif, then he taught them Muhammadur Rasulullah. In different ways, of course. Then that time, when your faith is clear, and when you know what is Haqq and you know what is Batil, and you are not fooled and you don’t fool, that’s the time power will be given to you. Even if there’s one person, he can change the direction of this world. We believe in this. And we have proof of over seven thousand years, say seven thousand years that it only takes one to change this whole world. But not one like this one, like us. One who is Divinely appointed.

This whole world is turning to a wrong direction, to the direction that dajjal is making it to turn. There is only one who is going to come back to make it turn to the right direction. This right direction is only going to be in the hands of Mahdi (as). If Muslims are still thinking, ‘if only we can get together, if only we have more education, if only we have more money, if only all Muslims are PHD, if only we have more technology, we can change all this,’ then we say you are still naive. You are still not understanding. There’s nothing then I can say to you. Because unless you want to learn, there’s nothing I can teach you. Unless you say, ‘I’m ignorant of some things and you have something to say,’ there is nothing that you are going to understand from anything. But this is what majority of people they are thinking and they are believing. And we say that’s fine.

We are not here also trying to stand up, trying to convince the whole world. We are not here trying to collect murids. We are not here trying to say, ‘more people should come on our bandwagon.’ No. We are here to speak. Wherever that we are sent, we are here to speak . if you listen you listen. You don’t listen, we speak to those who are in front of us. If not there are others who are listening. If not, we are going to go to the cemetery and we are going to make sohbet. And those ones in the grave, they are going to listen to us well. This is part of the knowledge of yourself. Once you understand yourself, you understand your Lord, you will not be fooled. That’s the time Allah swt through the mouth of His Prophet (asws) is saying, ‘Beware of the vision of a believer, because he looks with the Nur of Allah.’ He’s not going to be fooled. Otherwise you are going to be fooled with every passing trend, every passing philosophy, every passing ideology, every passing fatwas.

We hold on to the teachings of our Sheykh, to the Holy Prophet (asws). It’s okay if we are unfashionable. It’s good. It’s okay if we are strange. It’s good. We want to be strange. We want to be gharib. Because the Holy Prophet (asws) is saying, ‘Islam began strange and it will end strange. And welcome to the strangers.’ If you still don’t think that you are a stranger, especially if you are a Muslim and you are trying to make yourself to be more comfortable, that you are not feeling that you are a stranger, there’s a question to your faith. As a believer, this world must be strange to you. Forget about ahir Zaman or other things, as a believer this world must be strange. You can possessed this world too, doesn’t matter, but it must feel strange to you. Because this world, it is a prison for the believer. But it is Paradise for the unbelievers.

May Allah make us to have more sincerity and more understanding insya’Allah. To know what is beneficial and what is not beneficial for us. May Allah forgive me and bless you. Al-Fatiha. Amin. SelamAleykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatu.

Sheykh Lokman Efendi Hz,
Khalifah of SahibulSaif Shaykh Abdulkerim el Kibrisi (qs),
OSMANLI DERGAHI- New York
10 Shawwal 1437
July 14, 2016.