The Night of Power

BismillahirRahmanirRahim

Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin. Wasalatu wa salamu ala rasulina Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain nahmadulllahu ta’ala wa nastaghfiruhu wa nashadu an-lailaha ilallahu wahdahu la sharika lah wa nashadu anna sayyidina Muhammadin abduhu wa habibuhu wa rasuluhu salallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa azwajihi wa ashabihi wa atbaihi.

Khulafail Rashidin mahdin min ba’di wuzerail immeti alal tahkik. Khususan minhum alal amidi khulafai rasulillahi ala tahqeeq. Umara il mu’mineen. Hazreti abu bakr wa umar wa uthman wa ali. Wa ala baqiyati wa sahabai wa tabieen, ridwanallahu ta’ala alayhim ajmain.Ya ayyuhal mu’minun al hadirun, ittaqullaha ta’ala wa ati’uh. Inna allaha ma allathina-ttaqaw wal-lathina hum muhsinun. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa Salatu wa Salamu ala Ashrafil Ambiya’i wa Imam alMursaleen Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain.

All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the Universes. He is saying in the Kuran-i-Kerim: “By the Book that makes things clear- We revealed it during a Blessed Night- for We wish to warn. In that Night is made distinct every precise matter, by Command, from Our Presence. For We are ever sending. A Mercy from your Lord- for He hears and knows all things. Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them, if you have an assured faith. There is no Allah except Him. It is He who gives life and gives death; your Lord and the Lord of your first forefathers and yet they play about in doubt.” (Surah Dukkhan, 44:2-10).

“Ya Allah! Send your blessings upon Sayyidina Muhammad and the family of Sayyidina Muhammad (AS), as you have blessed Sayyidina Ibrahim and the family of Sayyidina Ibrahim, verily You are the Praiseworthy and Glorious. Ya Allah! Send your peace upon Sayyidina Muhammad and the family of Sayyidina Muhammad, as you have sent peace upon Sayyidina Ibrahim and the family of Sayyidina Ibrahim, verily You are the Praiseworthy and Glorious.”

Rasulallah (AS) is saying: “The Most Merciful from my Ummah to my Ummah is Abu Bakr. And the most serious of them concerning the Commands of Allah is Umar. And the truest in modesty amongst them is Osman. And the best in judging is Ali. The Masters of the youth of Paradise are Hasan and Huseyin and the Master of the women of Paradise is Fatima. And Hamza is the lion of Allah and the lion of His Prophet. Ya Allah, grant your forgiveness to Abbas and his children, an outward and inward forgiveness and leave no mistake unforgiven.

Allah Allah! Fear Allah when it comes to my Sahabis. Do not make them targets after me! Whoever loves them he loves them because of his love for me; and whoever hates them hates them because of his hatred toward me. And the best of my Nation is my generation, then those who follow them, and those who follow them. The Sultan is the Shadow of Allah on Earth. Whoever honors the Sultan, Allah will honor him. And whoever hates the Sultan, Allah will hate him.” (Hadith Sherif). And the Prophet of Allah speaks the truth.

Ya Ayyuhal Mu’minoon! O believers. Today is the Last Jummah of Ramazan. Since Rajab Shahrullah we have been running and waiting and hoping for the Ramazan to come. And now, so quickly, we are saying Al-Wadaa’ to this Month of Mercy, this Month of Forgiveness, this Month of Freedom from hellfire. For the one with Iman, the departure of Ramazan must fill his heart with sadness. For the one with Iman, the end of Ramazan must make him to run more than he ran in the beginning. Because every soul is going to taste death, and we do not know if our death is waiting for us before the next Ramazan.

Hz. Fakhr-i-Alem Muhammad Mustafa (AS) said: “In the last night of Ramazan, all the heavenly creatures get together and begin to cry for the disaster that is about to come to the Nation of Muhammad.” The Sahabis asked, “What disaster is that, ya Rasulallah?” And he (AS) answered: “The disaster is that the month of Ramazan is coming to an end, and with it all the blessings it bestows upon mankind.” For the one who says Shahadat, his heart must be  turning in these days and asking, “did I treat this Ramazan properly?” The Sultan came as a guest, did I treat the Sultan well. The Sultan came with gifts, did I serve him well? The Sultan came with forgiveness, did I conduct myself with manners. And when he puts his head down, he is going to know that he can do more. And he is going to run to do more. Because the Ocean of Pleasing Allah and His Prophet, it is endless- we can always do more. O Believers! We still have some days left in Ramazan. We must run, so that we are not the most unfortunate ones when the Eid day comes. Don’t be fooled by your desires. Don’t be fooled by this dunya. Don’t be fooled that the end of Ramazan is coming to the end and there’s going to be a big celebration because Ramazan is ending. Don’t be fooled that this last few nights of huge mercy, that we are going to be busy with eating and drinking only, and celebrating, because the Sultan has not left yet. We are asking Allah that we’ll treat the next few nights with proper respect.

Ghawth al-Azam Sheykh Abdul Qadir el-Geylani (KS) is giving us heavy warning, saying: “What a horrible disaster it must be, to live through a month whose beginning is mercy, the middle is forgiveness, the end is freedom from the hellfire, and yet find yourself left out from sharing the peace that comes by the angels of the Lord of the sinners and the righteous. What could have brought this misfortune, this curse on you? Is it due to your fairness from the Merciful One, or to you being an agent of tyranny and a willing helper of sheytan and to following the rebellious style of those who walk the path to hell? Is this misfortune is because you stayed far away from the people who are walking to Jannah, and because you didn’t want to obey the One who has control over giving harm and giving benefit? Ramazan is the month of peace and purity, the month of fulfillment and loyalty. It is the month of the People of Zikr, the month of the People of patience, the month of the people of Truthfulness. So, if it is not making your heart to get better- if it does not make you to stop from rebellious actions  against your Lord, and does not make you to stay away from the association of troublemakers and criminals- then what could have a positive effect on your heart? What goodness could be hoped for in a case like yours? What saving quality can there be in someone like you? What good outcome can be expected from a person like you? You had better pay attention, you miserable wretched person, and try to learn from what has happened to you. Come to your senses! Wake up from your sleep! Shake off your ghaflat! Take a good hard look at what has happened to you!

However little of Ramazan is left, you must run for every chance for repentance and to show Allah that you are regretful. Take full advantage of what time is left to ask for forgiveness and to be obedient. If you follow this advice, you might still have the chance to be one of those that receive Mercy and Compassion. Then, when Ramazan comes to its end, you should say farewell to it by crying a lot. You should cry about your unfortunate self- cry sincerely. Because, you must know- So many people who fasted this year will never fast again- and so many who stood up for Qiyam allay will never stand for the night prayers again.” (Ghunya). And the words of the friends of Allah speaks the truth. These are the words of a Sultan, of a King-sized Wali. This is how the Evliyaullah speak. This is how they give sohbet. They bring your reality in front of you, they make you see the ugliness of your ego, and they show you the way back to safety. Their advice is there for us- it is our choice and it is our job to follow it.

Sahib el-Sayf Sheykh Abdul Kerim el-Kibrisi elRabbani (KS) is saying: “Too sad, they should be too sad, those ones who have destroyed this whole month of Ramazan. They didn’t show the proper respect. They didn’t take care of it. Who did it, they took care of it, they should be very happy. Who kept the Ramazan properly, with proper respect, giving their respect to Allah and His Prophet (AS), they should be happy. They should be happy now and they are going to be happy in the Judgment Day. Beyond that too.” This is advice for you and it is advice for me. We must ask ourselves- did we destroy our Ramazan- or did we show it edep? Will our ahiret be sadness, or will it be happiness?

Elhamdulillah, that Allah (SWT) is Rahman and Rahim. Elhamdulillah that His Beloved One is Rahmatal-lil-Alameen.  And Elhamdulillah that our Sheykh is the most generous one. That Holy Prophet (AS), he secured a grant for us from Allah (SWT) that gives us another chance even when the Ramazan is coming to an end. Once, Holy Prophet (AS) was telling his Sahabis about Four from the Bani Israil who worshipped Allah for more than eighty years without disobeying Him for even the blink of an eye. He was talking about Hz. Ayyub, Hz. Zakariyya, Hz. Hizqil (Ezekial), and Hz. Yusha’ ibn Nun. And the Sahabis were amazed at the lifespan of those Righteous ones, those Prophets of the Bani Israel, and they were sad because they knew that their lifespan was so short. And Allah SWT heard the sadness from the Holy Prophet (AS). He heard the sadness that is coming from the companions of the Prophet. He heard the sadness and the disappointment that that was given to the earlier nation and not given to the nation of His most beloved one, So Allah (SWT) sent Jibril (AS) to His beloved one and he said, “Ya Rasulallah! It looks like you and your Sahabis are very surprised to learn about these ones who were worshipping and serving Allah for eighty years without any disobedience, even for a blink of eye. So now Allah has sent you something even better than that.” And Jibril (AS) recited the Holy Surah, Surah al-Qadr, saying: BismillahirRahmanirRahim.“Behold, We sent it down on the Night of Power. And what will make you know what is the Night of Power. The Night of Power it is better than a thousand months. In it the angels and the Spirit come down by their Lord’s permission, on every task. Peace, it is, until the rising of the dawn.” (97:1- 5). Sadaqallahuladzim.

This Laylatul Qadr is a gift to us from Allah (SWT), sent to make His Habib (AS) pleased and happy. Because Holy Prophet (AS), he was crying for us. He was crying for Allah to forgive us. He was crying with Allah (SWT) to give us a chance to reach to safety. He was crying for us from his birth until he left this world. He cries for us now when he sees our state. And when he cries he asks Allah (SWT). And Allah (SWT) does not send His Habib away empty handed.

Once Holy Prophet (AS) was crying for us and Jibril (AS) came and said, “Ya Rasulallah! Allah promises to give your nation everything he gave to the prophets of the past, except the title of prophethood. Other than that, He wants to give them his Mercy and Favor in the same measure that He gave to the Prophets. He has said, “Peace be upon Nuh in the worlds,” and He gave him prophethood along with Salaam, and He saved him from the flood.  And He said, “Peace be upon Musa and Harun,” as He gave them Salaam and made them victorious over Firaun and safe from his plots. Then He said, “Peace be upon Ibrahim,” and He gave Ibrahim His Salaam and safety from the fire of Nimrud and saved him from destruction. Now He has sent me, Jibril, in this Laylatul Qadr to bring Salaam to your nation, and to whoever Allah sends His Salaam, He also sends His Mercy. So give your Ummat this good news! Allah has said, “O My Beloved! Do not be sad for your nation, because I will give them a high rank and dignity when they have left this world.” May Allah bless and raise the station of our Prophet (AS).

We are looking for Laylatul Qadr. Yes, the Ottomans are saying it can be any night. They are saying, ‘treat every night like it is Laylatul Qadr and treat every person as if he is Khizr (AS).’ But we have been told to look especially in Ramazan, and especially in the last ten nights, and especially in the odd nights, and especially in the 27th Night. We must run and make intention to find it. Because this night is not like other nights. It is a night of holy activity in the heavens, and the activity of the heavens comes down to earth. Hz Ibn Abbas is saying that “as soon as Laylatul Qadr comes, Allah sends Jibril (AS) and a company of 70,000 angels from the dwellers of Sidratul Muntaha to go to the earth. They will carry with them banners of light, and once they have reached the earth, Jibril (AS) will set up the banners next to the Ka’aba, next to Holy Prophet’s tomb, next to the Masjid al-Aqsa, and next to the Masjid of Tur Sina. Then Jibril (AS) will tell the angels to spread out and they will go in all directions.” And they will go and greet the believers and pray for them.

That night we must look for it tonight and every night, until the Ramzan ends. Our hearts are beating now. We have the breath of life  now. We should not waste our time. Ramazan came and we said Hos Geldin to it. It is now leaving and we are saying Al-Wadaa’. We should run while we have a chance so that we may say goodbye to it with honor and with dignity. We must run to ask our Lord for His Mercy, for His Forgiveness, for freedom from the fire. These last few days of Ramazan, let us show proper honor to Ramazan to the Sultan that is living.

Our Grandsheykh, Sheykh Mevlana Muhammad Nazim Adil el-Hakkani (KS) is saying: “This holiest of nights is granted to (Holy Prophet) from his Lord Almighty Allah. In it all powers dress him, all lights illuminate him, and all angels come to  him. The Archangel Jibril comes to him, and he is dressed with countless honors on this holy night. The angels ask forgiveness from Allah for the people for the sake of the master of humanity (Seyyid al Bashar), from the Owner of creation (Rabb al-Ka’inat). For his honor, may Allah forgive us and take away our bad states. May Allah change our conditions from bad to good and change everything in us to be for His Sake. May we be good servants, obedient servants, beloved servants, respected servants and praised servants. Try to be servants such as this.”

Ya Rabbi! We are asking to be your good servants! We are asking for Your Pleasure and the Pleasure of Your Habib! We are asking for the companionship of Your Friends, and to be in their service. Ya Rabbi- Have Mercy on us. Ya Rabbi!– Forgive us. Ya Rabbi– Free us from the Fire. Ya Rabbi, raise the station of the One who taught us to Love You and to serve You, raise the Maqam of our Sheykh, Sahib el-Sayf Sheykh Abdul Kerim elKibrisi el-Rabbani. Amin.

Sheykh Lokman Efendi Hz 
Khalifah of SahibulSaif Shaykh Abdulkerim el Kibrisi (qs),
Osmanli Dergahi, NY
24 Ramazan 1439
June 8, 2018