Mawlana Sheikh Mehmed Adil. Translations.

اِنَّمَا الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ اِخۡوَةٌ فَاَصۡلِحُوۡا بَيۡنَ اَخَوَيۡكُمۡ​وَ (49:10) Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, commands: Muslims, believers are siblings. When discord arises among siblings, reconcile them with one another. This is a great virtue, an act of mercy. Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, says: If you do this, My mercy will rest upon you. لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُرۡحَمُوۡنَ (49:10) This is very important because Satan constantly tries to drive a wedge between the believers and disrupt their relationships. If he succeeds, the person falls under the influence of Satan. He then slanders and commits evil. He does the things that Allah has forbidden. As our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Everything of the believer is sacred to another believer. His blood, his property, his life, his honor—Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, has declared them inviolable. This must be observed. A person, when discord arises, is susceptible to all sorts of devilish actions. So when there are disagreements between people, one should resolve them with kindness and wisdom. It is important to focus on the positive and find conciliatory words, even if the parties have not directly expressed them. It can be helpful to emphasize the good intentions of the other person, such as saying: "I am sure this person appreciates you and does not wish to harm you." This is appropriate to make peace between people, to reconcile, to mediate. Nowadays, things often go differently. When something happens, they incite the person, or when a woman has problems with her husband, the families do not advise reconciliation but immediately say, "Get a divorce," and take her back to her parents' house. Instead of calming her, they stir up the conflict even more. They even do everything to prevent a return. That's how most people are nowadays. This puts the woman in a dilemma: She can neither enter into a new marriage nor reconcile with her husband. Instead, she is confronted with a multitude of new problems. These things require attention! People nowadays insist: "I am right." Even if you are right, sometimes you have to be patient for a good coexistence. Therefore, it is our duty to advise with wisdom and compassion. If there are disagreements or discord in the family or between people, one should explore all ways to achieve reconciliation. That is something that pleases Allah. Between siblings in faith, Muslims, spouses, in the family, between children and parents: In all these relationships, you must do your best to promote peace and good coexistence. May Allah grant good coexistence. Sowing discord is easy. Reconciliation is the more difficult path. May Allah help us in this. May no discord arise in families and between people. May good people come together.

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ كَانَتۡ لَهُمۡ جَنَّـٰتُ ٱلۡفِرۡدَوۡسِ نُزُلً (18:107) Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, will grant Paradise as a home to those who believe and act righteously. They will be the inhabitants of Paradise. Whoever does good in this world, believes in Allah, and serves Him, will be granted an eternal, blissful life in the hereafter. The truly beautiful life is Paradise. Sometimes people say "like in Paradise." About some places in the world, you say: "It is paradisiacally beautiful here." But Paradise is more than just beauty. Perfect peace prevails there. No worries, no disputes, no more Day of Judgment. As soon as one enters Paradise, the Day of Judgment is behind them. The Day of Judgment happens only once. Whoever passes it well will never again experience sorrow or worry in Paradise. No more money worries. No more tax concerns. No jealousy. No oppression. Nothing but beauty. In Paradise, there is only goodness. Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, invites everyone to Paradise. وَٱللَّهُ یَدۡعُوۤا۟ إِلَىٰ دَارِ ٱلسَّلَـٰمِ (10:25) Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, calls everyone to Paradise, but only a few follow this call. Allah's Paradise is immeasurably vast. No one will be turned away because too many have entered. Our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: The last Muslim to leave Hell does so after serving his punishment. No Muslim remains in Hell forever. The last one who comes out enters Paradise and thinks, "Surely there's no more place for me; it must be full." He is called out to: "Enter Paradise; a place has been prepared for you." "That cannot be," he says. "I was in Hell for so many millions of years." "How can there still be room in Paradise? So many billions have already entered." At first, he walks away but returns at the call. When he's told "Enter," this last newcomer sees that he's assigned a place six times the size of the earth. Such is the vastness of Allah's Paradise. It is enough for all, and there is still surplus. So let us follow Allah's call. Allah will surely forgive us. There is no doubt about that; praised be Allah. If Allah wills, we will all be together in Paradise. We will be near our Prophet. We will be together with the sheikhs. And we will also be reunited there with our ancestors.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) teaches: "Even a little bit of something intoxicating is a sin, haram." Mind you, he is not only speaking about alcohol but about everything that causes intoxication. Intoxicating substances... Nowadays, there's a whole range of them. From grass (weed) to pills to injections. They are all haram. Some think: "We don't drink alcohol; we only smoke weed. Weed is harmless." Far from it! No, it's not that simple. It remains a sin. It is sinful because it intoxicates. No matter what it is—all intoxicants are sinful. What does intoxicating mean? It clouds the mind and makes one a fool. People spend money to lose their minds. May Allah protect us from giving in to the base desires of the ego. When the ego's desires lead one astray from the right path, it makes one a fool. If you absolutely want to be crazy, have yourself admitted to an insane asylum. That's not normal. Alhamdulillah, this was not so common in Damascus in the past. We had a neighbor who drank alcohol. May Allah have mercy on his soul. He later repented and stopped. When he was drunk, we were astonished. Our mother, Hajjah Amina, would always say: "The man has lost his mind again." "What do you mean he loses his mind? Does he go crazy?" we asked. She explained: "For a while, he is out of his senses. Then he comes back to himself." People want to spend money to lose their minds. Humans are, in any case, only half in their right mind. And when they drink, they lose their minds completely. They no longer know what they're doing. الخمر أم الخبائث Alcohol is the mother of all evils. That means intoxication is the breeding ground for all bad things. It leads to all sorts of misdeeds. Afterwards, they say: "I can't remember anything. I wasn't in control of my senses; I was drunk." Seriously? Even in Europe, among the so-called "unbelievers," your driver's license is taken away if you drive drunk. Here we are supposedly in a holy Muslim country. A drunk person kills so many people. He does who knows what. But the punishment for it is hardly as severe as for running a red light. What else can one say? These people need punishments so they don't give in to the desires of their ego. Punishments are necessary. May Allah protect us from the evil of our ego. For this problem has gotten out of hand everywhere. It is rampant in the Islamic world. Why? Because faith has been lost. They no longer have faith. They claim: "We are Muslims." Some misguided groups consider themselves especially pious and declare others to be unbelievers, while they themselves consider these substances permissible and consume them. Then they kill people, run them over. They commit all conceivable atrocities. May Allah protect us from this evil, the temptations of the devil, and the desires of our ego. There is no harmless trying out or experimenting. Absolutely not! وَلَا تَقۡرَبُوا الۡفَوَاحِشَ (6:151) "Do not even approach it," warns Allah the Exalted. Keep your hands off it; don't even come near it. Whatever it is, stay away from it; avoid this filth. May Allah protect us all.

Sayyidina Ali says: رأس الحكمة مخافة الله "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." It is the origin of all knowledge. For a person who has reverence for Allah and fears Him will do nothing evil. He is protected from all kinds of evil. He never loses sight of Allah. Unfortunately, people today have lost all sense of shame and modesty. They no longer fear Allah. It is said: "Beware of those who do not know the fear of God." May Allah protect us from this and guide people to the right path. The fear of God is no disgrace. But for today's people, it seems to be so. They think obedience to Allah does not suit their desires. It hinders them from yielding to their lusts. It keeps them from doing evil. It hinders them from harming others. Therefore, they want nothing to do with the fear of God. Instead, they follow the desires of their ego, and the whole world preaches: "Follow your desires." So they indulge in all kinds of vices and evils of the ego. They are even encouraged to do so. It keeps them from doing good. People no longer know discretion. In the past, they were ashamed and acted in secret. Now they openly proclaim: "Follow the desires of your ego, do everything you crave." Listen to nothing else. There is freedom, they say. Do what you want. Freedom—they give you the freedom to do evil. And then they wonder why the world has become like this. Of course, it becomes like this. When a person follows his ego, he finds nothing but evil. The whole of humanity follows their desires. From great to small, the world is upside down. To the one who does not participate, they say: "We will not help you." "You do not allow this evil, so we will not support you." Keep your help to yourself. May Allah assist us all, God willing. Allah's help is decisive. Others may help or not; a person finds what is destined for him. If Allah helps you, no one can stop you. What He gives, no one can withhold. Therefore, let us fear Allah and follow His commandments as best as possible. For our weaknesses, let us ask for forgiveness; Allah will accept our repentance and help us. Do not oppose Allah. To oppose Him is folly. May Allah protect us from that. May He grant people understanding and insight. People even pay money to lose their minds. What more can be said?

وَكُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ وَلَا تُسۡرِفُوٓاْۚ (7:31) Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, says: "Eat and drink, but do not be wasteful." Allah has predetermined for every person how much food and drink they will consume in their lifetime. When this predetermined amount is exhausted, the person dies. That is the normal case. There are exceptions where people with special gifts can manage without food. But normally, a person dies if they do not eat and drink once their predetermined amount is depleted. There is no other possibility. Therefore, you will certainly receive the food that is destined for you. When you receive your food, you should be grateful to Allah. For He has provided you with this sustenance. The provision from Allah is something amazing. For every bite, it is determined who will eat it. No one else can eat that bite. The one for whom it is destined will definitely eat it. This is the belief of a Muslim. Therefore, a person, wherever he is, will eat the bite that is destined for him. For this reason, our scholars say, based on a Hadith of the Prophet, that when a guest comes, his provision has already arrived. For what he will eat there is being prepared. This person will eat here. Therefore, the one who hosts the guest also benefits. His provision has also come. Mawlana Sheikh Nazim loved guests and said: "Thanks to you, we also receive our provision." He used to say: "Because your food is here, we are also given food so that we can offer it to you." Such are the great scholars. Whatever Allah has given, whose food it is, it will come. It will be there, in that place. And others will benefit from it. Therefore, people now panic and say: "We will do this, we will do that." There is no need to panic. Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, provides. Whatever this provision is, one will receive it. And whoever eats should be grateful and depart. He should not say: "I did not like it." Whoever says "I did not like it" behaves improperly. This behavior means rejecting the gifts of Allah. And whoever does not accept the gift will be deprived of the gift. So the more grateful you are, the more it will increase. Wherever you go, do not consider the gifts that someone offers you as coming from that person. Consider them as coming from Allah, so that you thank Allah. This gift is a great gift. Whoever does not recognize the value of this gift loses. And he will not even find what he despised. Therefore, thank Allah for the gifts He gives. If Allah wills, every bite will become light and faith in our body. It will become strength. It will become the strength to walk the right path. Begin with Bismillah and end with Bismillah and Al-Fatiha when you eat. Then it will become strength and faith, with Allah's permission.

Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, says: The earth belongs to Allah. If you follow Allah's path, Allah will be with you. If you deviate from Allah's path, He will replace you with other people who love Him. They will certainly walk on Allah's path. Thus it is. It has always been so even after the time of our Prophet. The world does not belong to the unbelievers, but to Allah. Since the world belongs to Allah, He takes and gives as He wills. Allah does what He wills. If a people say, "We do what we want," it has no value. Without being on Allah's path, everything is useless and worthless. Allah takes whom He wills. Therefore, it is wise to stay on Allah's path. It is unwise to deviate from it. If you stray from Allah's path, neither you nor your family nor your country retains any good. Do not oppose Allah. Allah has given you everything. Allah only wants the best for you. But you desire what is bad. Whoever desires bad finds no good. One must repent and return to Allah's path. Our Prophet, peace be upon him, says that we should repent every day: Say "Astaghfirullah" at least seventy times so that Allah forgives us. Straying from the path like mad brings nothing. It leads only to bad—at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. May Allah protect us from that. We see it. Throughout the entire Islamic world, young and old have fallen into the hands of the devil. It starts with alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes because they consider it something special. The devil deceives them. Then he leads them off the right path. Families are destroyed. May Allah protect us. Why does this happen? Because they oppose Allah and do not believe in Him. Whoever believes does not do such things. May Allah preserve us and guide us rightly. May He not replace us with others.

The illnesses of the ego are, of course, numerous. One of them is the susceptibility to praise. The more praise the ego receives, the more satisfied it becomes. Flattery makes it even more content. The ego enjoys this greatly. However, the wise have said: One should neither be sad when someone criticizes the ego, nor rejoice when it is praised. Both should be treated equally. This means that whoever rejoices at praise and is saddened by criticism is subject to their ego. After that, the ego can no longer be controlled. One should stand neutral toward everything. One should not pay attention to the words of others but keep one's own ego in check. One should not ascribe too much importance to it and not spoil it. For an excessively large ego can no longer be restrained. One must keep it small constantly. In humility, one should say: "My ego is not praiseworthy," and when one encounters difficulties, one should say: "What they say is still mild; it is true. My ego is even worse than that." Whoever follows the Tariqah should especially heed this, so as not to succumb to their ego. Otherwise, one will be ruled by an excessive ego. Only a small ego can be conquered. May Allah help us with that. There is also the following: Some people flatter to achieve something. That is well known. They try everything to deceive others. They say: "You are so good, you are so great," and flatter. The person then feels obliged and gives in. Why does he yield? Because his ego was flattered, the person can be more easily manipulated. Otherwise, this would not be possible. Someone who controls their ego will not, with Allah's help, be exploited or moved to unjust concessions. May Allah protect us all from the dangers of our ego and help us to conquer our ego.

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ (68:4) Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, says: The most important attribute, the greatest characteristic of our Prophet is good character. He is the person with the most exemplary conduct. Whoever wishes to join a Tariqah must follow the way of the Prophet. Whoever is not ready to follow the path of good character should not even join. Let us clarify once again what is the opposite of the Tariqah: It is Wahhabism and Salafism. Their most conspicuous feature is indecency. So whoever says "I belong to a Tariqah" but does not behave decently strives in vain. For the first rule in the Tariqah is good character. The great Sheikh Efendi, Sheikh Abdullah, had Sheikh Nazim Efendi write the following: "At-tariqatu kulliha adab," he says. That means: "The entire Tariqah is based on good manners." Without good manners, there is no point in joining a Tariqah. Find something else. You are not needed here. Without good manners, you have nothing. The Tariqah will not benefit you then. What is good manners? It encompasses everything. Good manners mean asking for permission. It is written in the Quran: When you enter somewhere, do not jump through windows or over walls. Enter through the doors. Come to the door. Politely ask for permission. If you are given permission, enter. If not, do not argue with the homeowner and ask: "Why don't you let me in?" Do not argue with others. If they do not give permission, you must leave, even if they do not give a reason. You cannot enter by force. That does not correspond to good manners. For everything you take, you must ask for permission. Whatever it is, if it belongs to someone else, you must ask for permission. If they do not allow it, you can do nothing. If you do it by force, it will be counted as a sin for you. Then you have acted contrary to the commandment in the Holy Quran. The good manners of the Tariqah is the most beautiful way in the world. It is a light for humanity. Whoever does not adhere to it will gain no benefit from it. On the contrary, he will suffer harm. May Allah help us all. Let us show good manners. Good manners is a characteristic of our Prophet. May we also acquire this characteristic.

Tariqa and Sharia are closely intertwined. While the Sharia is obligatory for every Muslim, the Tariqa is already a part of it. Whoever embarks on this path gains the favor of Allah and the Prophet. However, this path angers the devils. Therefore, they try to dissuade people from it. With all sorts of tricks, they entice the believers to deviate from the right path. Sometimes you see someone who has prayed for years become offended over a small matter and give up everything. In doing so, he only harms himself. He throws away all his merits because of a small annoyance. Such situations are frequent. Even though people often don't notice it, many stray from the path in this way. Believing they are doing something good, they become angry with Allah or the Prophet and leave the path. Yet there is nowhere to flee. Sooner or later, one returns. The anger has only caused harm, not benefit. Instead of becoming angry, one should be patient and consider the situation as a test. As the saying goes: "Breaking the fast out of anger at the priest." That's exactly how it is. The priest doesn't want you to fast anyway. He doesn't want you to walk this path. Most enemies of Islam are like that—not all, but most. So there's no point in being angry at him, except to please him. The one who will truly be angry and suffer harm is you. Others will rejoice in your place. Therefore, these paths are not paths of sulking or offense. Allah's way is a way of testing. Sometimes it also passes without a test. Sometimes with testing, sometimes without. Therefore, one must be cautious. Becoming angry, getting annoyed is not good anyway. Our Prophet says: "Do not become angry"—"La taghdab." Remain calm. May Allah grant us all serenity. May Allah grant us understanding and wisdom. Because when one becomes angry, understanding is lost. May Allah protect us all.

May Allah be pleased with our brothers and Muslims here. Through them, Allah has enabled us to make this visit. When a believer comes to another believer, our Prophet, peace be upon him, says: With every step, he receives a good deed, a sin is forgiven, and he rises a level higher. We make our journeys for the sake of Allah. May Allah accept our sincere intention. May He reward us and you for it, God willing. إلهي أنت مقصودي ورضاك مطلوبي Oh Allah, You are my goal. Your pleasure is our desire. This should be the goal of a Muslim in life. That may seem simple. For the one who sees it as easy, it will be easy; for the one who sees it as difficult, it will be difficult. إلهي أنت حاضر أنت ناظر أنت معي Oh Allah, You are present, You observe me, and You are with me. One should never forget that Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, is always with us, sees us, and knows all our deeds. Whoever believes in that will hopefully not stray from the right path. In worship, difficulties arise; Satan, passions, and the ego oppose it. The resistance can sometimes be stronger for people who do not perform worship and do not believe in Allah. They follow their ego and their passions. The believer follows the right path. We ask Allah for help. One must constantly pray that Allah does not let us stray from the right path. May Allah protect us. In the past, it was said that, regardless of sin, everything was allowed in Europe. They committed more sins. Now it is the same everywhere in the world. Sinning is very widespread. May Allah help us and send Mahdi Alayhissalam.