Three Essential Practices For Beginners

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

"During the lifetime of our grandshaykh, Shaykh Abdullah Ad Daghistani Sultan Al Awliya, may Allah Almighty sanctify his blessed soul, a number of Western people visited him in Damascus.

An elderly lady from New Zealand who had met our grandshaykh wrote a letter to her friend, also an old lady of about eighty years,

“Oh my sister, I have attained my life’s goal. I have arrived at my destination in this life and am ready to step into the life of the hereafter without sorrow. If you wish to find the goal of your life and attain inner peace to carry you into the hereafter, you must visit a person named Shaykh Abdullah Ad Daghistani who lives on Mount Qasiyun in Damascus. You must look for his servant, Shaykh Nazim, and he will lead you to him. I have met them, taken my trust and reached my goal. I hope that you will visit them also, so that you may be among the fortunate few who reach their destination.”

This lady had received her friend’s letter and had traveled to Damascus. When she found me she began to weep. I took her to our grandshaykh and she wept some more and kissed his hands. Then she wept some more and kissed his hands. Then Grandshaykh bade her be seated and addressed her, while I translated for him. She continued to weep the whole time he spoke to her; when it was time for prayer and we stood up to pray, she prayed with us of her own accord—hat, shoes and all. It was a great blessing for her to have prayed with our grandshaykh.

The next morning Grandshaykh called her in for breakfast, and after the meal we sat for an association (sohbah). What Grandshaykh said on that occasion is very important, and I have been ordered to relate it to you now, as an excellent instruction for our brothers and sisters on how to treat newcomers.

Particularly our brothers who were raised as Muslims in Muslim countries must heed this lesson if they propose to teach Western people about Islam.

Grandshaykh ordered me to tell her the following:

“Oh Nazim Effendi, last night in the private assembly of the Holy Prophet ﷺ I asked him ﷺ, peace be upon him, ‘Oh Prophet of Allah, this elderly woman from your nation has come to me and entered Islam. What shall I instruct her to do, what shall I teach her, being that she is so old and cannot remain here with us a long time?’

“The Holy Prophet ﷺ, peace be upon him, replied:

‘Instruct her and all others from my nation who may embrace the faith but may not perhaps, be able to alter their situations so easily, on the following three points:

✅ Firstly, let them repeat the Kalimat ash-Shahada (the profession of faith) three times a day, saying: ‘Oh my Lord, I accept Thee alone as God, and I accept Muhammad as Your Prophet and Representative.’

✅ The second point is for them to learn the five prayer periods: dawn, noon, afternoon, evening and night; and to give their respects to their Lord in those appointed times by prostrating themselves to the ground once, facing any direction, and saying, ‘Subhanallah’ (glorified be God Almighty).

And if it is too difficult for them to learn this phrase it is sufficient to only prostrate.

That is enough for this lady and for others in similar situations. This practice is a seed being planted in her heart, and as it sprouts and grows she may be inspired to learn more of the ritual prayer, but in the beginning it is enough for her just to prostrate. What could be simpler and easier: no directional orientation, no ablution, no recitation.

✅ Thirdly, she and all new Muslims should keep love in their hearts towards the community of Muslims and not allow themselves to hate them, in spite of their bad actions and characteristics.

Tell them to overlook the shortcomings of the people and peoples of my nation and try to love them despite their pathetic state. Even if Muslims do bad actions under the banner of Islam, Islam is always above this, innocent of the blame. To try and use the name of Islam to attain one’s selfish ends is the greatest sin, and Islam disclaims responsibility for such people’.”

These are the three points our grandshaykh related from his meeting with the Holy Prophet ﷺ, and these conditions are so wide that thousands and thousands of people may enter Islam and fulfill them, becoming sincere servants of the Lord.

Now, no doubt, many Muslims who are reading this will say, “What, shall we believe that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has declared it to be so easy to become Allah’s obedient servant, when our Islamic Law spells out so many different types of obligatory worship and prohibitions which we are meticulously observing?”

Oh Muslims! Do not imagine that Allah Almighty is waiting for your prayers, your fasting, your covering your heads or your dressing in Islamic clothes! No! Allah Almighty is looking to your hearts to see if they contain an atom’s weight of sincerity, and only if He ﷻ finds that sincerity does He ﷻ accept anything from you! None of your actions are, of themselves, pleasing to your Lord if they are not motivated by sincere intentions.

The heart of that old woman who came to Damascus may have been full of sincerity, so that her performance of these simple devotions may have been more acceptable in the Divine Presence than my prayers. Yes, that is all there is to it and it is enough for you to now know how to relay the message of servanthood of Allah Almighty to Western people.

We are seeking servanthood in the Divine Presence, nothing else, and we are trying to communicate some details of that servanthood in the Divine Presence to everyone.

When we are praying we are not going to let our prayer be a cause of pride and conceit. We are not looking down on people.

You must try only to keep your servanthood, nothing else, and this is the latest message from our Prophet ﷻ on what is the least degree of worship to attain that goal.

Look, a king may have thousands of subjects in his employ. Each of the king’s servants has a distinct rank and a distinct duty to perform. The king will be pleased with the servant who performs the duty that has been assigned him well, as pleased with the common infantryman as with a Field Marshall. That Field Marshall has an awesome responsibility towards his king, and he will have attained that rank, presumably, because he is qualified for it, and will be expected to live up to his immense responsibilities. But the foot soldier is not expected to perform the duties of a Field Marshall; his duties are simpler, but they are also important, and doing them well will earn him the good pleasure of the king and so, Allah Almighty has called all mankind to His service, everyone according to his rank.

According to her circumstances that elderly woman was given a light load, and if she carried it well she will be rewarded. If you are carrying more than that you must persevere in carrying your appointed burden and not throw it off halfway towards your goal—then you may attain your Lord’s pleasure.

And you should know also that a Field Marshall should not be proud because of his position, glorying in the edge that he has over those who have been assigned lower ranks. He must be thankful to his king who has honoured him with such responsibilities, and must strive to fulfil that trust. It is not seemly for him to boast and gloat, saying, “Look at me, I am a Field Marshall.”

Oh foolish mankind, given over to false pride, know that this universe is full of the servants of the Almighty. What do your poor devotions amount to? Nothing!

Now very many of our Muslim brothers from Islamic countries who have been raised on the strict observances of Islam look at themselves approvingly and say, “MashaAllah, we are as we should be or nearly so”, and now, perhaps, their way of seeing themselves and others, some of their conceit and complacency, as well as their false self-opinion, is spreading like a contagious disease to some of our new Muslim brothers from Western countries, who have begun to observe the prescribes of the divine law.

Beg your Lord to free you of such vain self opinion, for it is the self-opinion of Satan. All the prophets have said, “Glory to You, I have been a wrongdoer.”

Seek earnestly the honor of being a sincere servant of your Lord in humility and lowliness.

Wa min Allah at Taufiq."

Selected Sohbah by Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil Al-Haqqani (q) from the book, Mercy Oceans of The Heart.

Summer 1984 | Germany & Switzerland

Winter 1985 | Lefke, Cyprus

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