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 al-Mursaleen, Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa Salatu wa Salamu ala Ashrafil Ambiya’i wa Imam al-Mursaleen Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain.
All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the Universes. All praises are due to Allah Who is beyond description and praise. All praises are due to Allah, Who is as He has praised Himself. All praises are due to Allah Who is the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All praises are due to Allah Who is Entirely Unique, and Exalted above all. All praises are due to Allah Who sent His Habib, Sayyidina Muhammad (AS), as the Mercy to the Universes and the Intercessor for Creation.
May all peace and blessings be upon Sayyidina Muhammad (AS). Ya Allah, bless our Master Muhammad (AS) who opened what had been closed, who is the Seal of what had gone before, he who makes the Truth Victorious by the Truth, the guide to Your straight path, and bless his household as is the due of his immense position and might. (Salat al-Fatih). Amin
And may all peace and blessings be upon his noble family and blessed companions. Holy Prophet (AS) is saying in his Hadith Sherif: Abu Bakr is in Paradise, Umar is in Paradise, Ali is in Paradise, Osman is in Paradise, Talhah is in Paradise, Az-Zubayr is in Paradise, Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqas is in Paradise, Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Awf is in Paradise, Ibn Zayd Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Nufayl is in Paradise, and Abu Ubaydah Ibn Al-Jarraah is in Paradise. (Tirmizi). May peace and blessings be upon them and all those who follow them until the Last Day. Amin.
Ya Ayyuhal Mu’minoon! O Believers! Welcome to you on this Yawm al-Jummah. Welcome to you on the Last Jummah of Shahru Shaban, the Month of the Holy Prophet (AS). Rajab came with Ragaib and Miraj, and they have passed. Shaban came with Beraat, and they are about to go. And insha’AllahurRahman tonight the long awaited guest, the Sultan of the Months, Shahru Ramazan is about to enter. The Believer’s heart must be joyful that the Month of the Ummat, the Month of Mercy, the Month of Forgiveness, the Month of Freedom from the Fire, that it is about to enter.
And we are beginning with the words that Holy Prophet (AS) was saying in the Last Khutba of Shaban, saying: O people! You are about to enter the shade of a great blessed month. A night therein is better than a thousand months. Allah (SWT) made fasting during this month an obligation and encouraged people to perform extra prayers during its nights. Seeking nearness to Allah through a good deed will be considered like performing an obligatory act of worship. The same way, performance of an obligatory act of worship during this month would be rewarded seventy times more than during any other month. It is the month of patience, and the reward for patience is Jannah. It is the month of comforting others, and the month during which believers would enjoy plentifulness. The Prophet (AS) went on to say: “Make sure you frequently do four things, two of which would please your Lord and the other two are indispensable for your safety in the Hereafter. As for the two things that would please your Lord, they are: saying La ilaha il-Allah and making Tawba. And the other two are: asking Allah the favor of entering Jannah and seeking refuge in Him from the Hell Fire.
This Month is at our door. Allah (SWT) is saying in the Holy Quran, in Surah Baqara: BismillahirRahmanirRahim. O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may attain Taqwa. (2:183). Sadaqallahul adzim
And Holy Prophet (AS) is saying: Ramazan has come to you. (It is) a month of blessing, in which Allah covers you with blessing, for He sends down Mercy, decreases sins and answers prayers. In it, Allah looks at your competition (in good deeds), and boasts about you to His angels. So show Allah goodness from yourselves, for the unfortunate one is he who is deprived in (this month) of the mercy of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted. (Tabarani).
And in another Hadith e-Sherif he is giving a warning for the month saying: Perhaps a fasting person will get nothing from his fast save hunger, and perhaps the one who stands to pray at night will get nothing from his standing except sleeplessness. (Nasa’i). May Allah protect us from falling into those categories, insya’Allah.
Before we enter into this month, we must make our intention correctly. Because, as Hz. Ali (KW) is narrating from Rasulallah, Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended. (Bukhari). So what are we intending for Ramazan? What is our heart’s desire for Ramazan? What are we seeking in Ramazan. Today, so many are trying to turn Ramazan into another Christmas. Saying, Ramazan is all about family. It’s about food, it’s all about giving give, it’s all about having warm feelings, and sharing memories. Ramazan is about sitting at the table and eating good food and feeling good.
This is not a muslim Ramazan. It’s another kind of Ramazan. It is a Ramazan without the heart. It is a Ramazan without any soul. That is a Ramazan that takes the greatest gift of Allah Jalla wa’Ala and turns it into a cheap attraction of dunya. May Allah protect us from destroying our Ramazan in that way. Our Ramazan must be for Allah! Let our Ramazan be for Rasulallah! Let our Ramazan be for the Evliyaullah! Ramazan is to bring the believer close to his Lord again. The purpose of fasting is not to eat later with your good friends. The purpose of fasting is to have taqwa. As Allah SWT Himself says in the Quran e-Kerim, ‘it is to have nearness to Allah.’
Ramazan is to gain Taqwa. Ramazan is to be with those whom Allah loves, to gain the love of Allah. Ramazan is to empty your heart from the love of Dunya and to instead fill it with the Ashk of Allah and His Prophet! Ramazan is to sit with the believers and to be in Jamaat. That’s why when Hz. Abu Hurayra (RA) and his companions used to fast, they would sit in the masjid and say, ‘let us purify our fast.’ And the Friends of Allah, they diagnosed the illness of cheapening Ramazan and gave the cure. Ghaws al-Azam Sheykh Abdul Qadir el-Gilani (KS), may his Himmet be with us, said: Most of you are out of touch with Ramazan. Respect for a command comes in proportion to the respect shown to the commander. As for anyone out of touch with Allah (‘Azza wa Jall), His Messenger, His Prophets and the righteous among servants (Peace & Blessings Upon Them), then how can he be in touch with this month?
Most of you have seen their fathers, mothers and neighbors fast, so they joined them in fasting as a matter of habit, but it’s not worship. They think that fasting is only to stay away from food and drink, so they do not fulfill its conditions & requirements. O People give up habitual practice and keep to worship. Fast for the sake of Allah (‘Azza wa Jall). Do not get bored of fasting and worshipping in this month. Do righteous deeds, during it, and make sure that you act with sincerity. Make a regular practice of the prayers of taraweeh. Illuminate the mosques, for this will be a light for you on the Day of Resurrection.
If you obey and respect Allah (‘Azza wa Jall) in this month, Ramazan will be an intercessor on your behalf in the presence of your Lord (‘Azza wa Jall) on the Day of Resurrection. It will beg Him, Ramazan will beg Allah to grant you a share of His favour, His Generosity, His Blessings, His Grace, His Graciousness, His Subtle Kindness and His Safekeeping. There are among you those who are Muslims outwardly but like idol-worshippers inwardly. The curse is upon you! Renew your Islam, your repentance, your apology & your sincerity in order that your Master (Allah SWT) will accept you and pardon your past sins. O You, who are fasting, thank your Lord (‘Azza wa Jall) for preparing you for fasting and enabling you to keep it! When one of you fasts, let his ears, his sights, his hands, his legs, his limbs and organs and his heart all fast. When you fast, give up lying, giving false witness, backbiting, defaming people and embezzling their properties. In principle, you fast in order to purify yourselves of your sins and keep away from them, so what benefit could you derive from your fasting if you commit, these sins yet again?
On the Day of Resurrection, you will be gathered hungry, thirsty, naked, afraid, ashamed and terrified. The person who feeds the poor and the needy this month in this world will be fed on that Day. The person who provides clothing for the poor and the needy in this world will be supplied with clothes on that Day. The person who is afraid and feels ashamed before the True One (‘Azza wa Jall) in this world will be made to feel safe on that Day. As for the person who is merciful to others in this world, Allah (‘Azza wa Jall) will be merciful to him on that Day.
O People do not make obtaining your food your concern because it is a low concern. You have been put to test through eating and drinking, but you have been saved the trouble of securing sustenance, so do not have any concern about it. Glory be to the Self-Sustaining One who never eats, drinks or sleeps. Your greedy keenness has increased, while your pious restraint and faith have decreased. Woe unto you! This world lasts only one hour, so spend it in obedience. And the friend of Allah speaks the truth.
Ya Ayyuhal Mu’minoon! We must keep our Ramazan with the Evliyaullah! Because Evliyaullah speak the Truth. And that Truth is coming from Allah (SWT), Whose name is al-Hakk.O Believers! The word Ramazan means to scorch, to burn. Run in Ramazan to scorch away your sheytan and your ego. Run in Ramazan, we must, to scorch away our sins. The highest degree of purification in this dunya for a material, it is through burning. In this Ramazan, we must run to burn away the evil that is inside us; in its place, you will find your spirit starting to wake up. And when the spirit wakes up, you start to live paradise inside this dunya.
O Believers! Every act of worship that has been taught to us by our Holy Prophet (AS) is a Mercy to us. Holy Prophet (AS) is saying: I saw astonishing things in my dream.The Angels of Punishment grabbed someone from my Ummah. The wudu’ he had performed came and saved him from the difficult situation he was in. I saw someone being squeezed in his grave. The Namaz he had offered came and saved him from the torment of the grave. The devils were pestering someone. The Zikr he had made came and saved him from the devils. That one’s tongue stuck out as a result of a raging thirst. The fasts he had observed in Ramadan came and quenched his thirst. Someone was surrounded by darkness. The Hajj he had made came and delivered him from darkness. The Angel of Death came to someone. The kindnesses he had done to his parents came. They averted death and delayed it. Someone was not allowed to talk to Muslims. Then his Silatur-Rahim came and made intercession for him, so he could talk to them. Someone who wanted to go near his Prophet was being prevented from going. The Ghusls he had taken brought him near me. Someone desired protection from the Fire. His voluntary charities came and became a veil against the Fire. When the Angels of Hell were taking someone to Hell, his enjoining the doing of what was good and forbidding the doing of what was evil came and saved him. Someone was thrown into Hellfire. The tears he had shed out of fear of Allah SWT came and saved him.
When the Book of Deeds of a person was being given to him from his left, his fear of Allah came and carried it to his right. Someone’s good deeds weighed light. His children who had died before himself came and made it heavy. Someone was shivering with fear of Hell. When his husn-i zann [having a good opinion] about Allah came, his shivering ceased. Someone who crossed the Sirat with difficulty came to Paradise, but the gates were closed. His Kalima-i Shahadat came and put him into Paradise. (Tabarani).
Ya Ayuhhal Mu’minoon! We must say Alhamdulillah! We must say Alhamdulillah for being a Muslim! We must say Alhamdulillah for being from the Ummat-i-Muhammad! ‘Ala Ni’matil Islam wa Sharafil Iman da’iman Alhamdulillah.
O Believers! Our hearts must be overjoyed that we have reached this Month of Ramazan. Our pious grandfathers, the Flagbearers of the Holy Prophet (AS), the Glorious Ottomans, they kept the Ramazan high. Our Sheykh, Sahib el-Sayf Sheykh Abdul Kerim el-Kibrisi el-Rabbani (KS) is teaching us about those blessed times, saying: During the Ottoman time, to welcome the month of Ramazan, people were shooting (into the air), they were celebrating, ‘Ramazan Geldin Hosegeldin…’ They were celebrating. They were very happy. There was excitement in their life. They were running around. They were running to do things. They were running to clean things. They were running to prepare things to bring it to mesjids to share with people.
They were running to cook. They were running to make sweets. Changing. The whole life was changing. Different atmosphere is entering. Different life is entering. People, they are finding different energy in their life. More rahmat is raining on them because they are running to hold on to those who are strong and continuing with them but in the meanwhile, they are running to hold the weak ones with them and to pull them together. They were going out of their way to reach out to the weak ones. To reach to the poor ones. Where are you in this picture? Ask yourself. You must ask yourself. You must look to say, ‘Really, where I am? Am I just a tourist? Or I am a part of it?’
Ask yourself. You will know and you do according to that. Whatever your heart says to you that time, move according to that. It’s okay that time, but, put some passion in your life. And the passion, it only comes with doing things for the sake of Allah (SWT).
O Believers! In this Ramazan, we must move to put that passion in our life. Because that passion, that is what gives some taste to life. Otherwise we are going to live like so many others are living; living dead. Today, they are giving people pills just so they feel alive. But the passion of living for Allah, that is real. That is the real taste of life. As Ghawth Abu Madyan is saying: What delight is there in life other than the companionship of the Friends of Allah? They are the sultans, they are the masters, they are the princes.
O Believers! In this Ramazan, we must run to find that real life. O Believers! In this Ramazan, run to become real people. Holy Prophet (AS) is saying: Real men are as rare as a reliable strong camel that can endure the burden of long trips; you can hardly find one in a hundred. (Bukhari). In this Ramazan, we should make the intention to run to be from that group. We must live with a purpose. Live with an intention. If you are calling yourself a murid, then live for your murad. That time you will have a value.
As Mevlana Rumi (KS) is saying: The lion looks most handsome when he is hunting. O Believers! We should not be seeking dunya. We should be concentrating in Ahiret. Seyh Efendi is saying: 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 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 (AS).
This is what we have seen through the history from Adam (AS) until the Holy Prophet (AS). After Prophet (AS) 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.”
Ya Rabbi! We are Your weak servants, and we are asking for Your Support. Grant us to stay on the Straight Path, and to be pleased with us. Accept our Rajab and Shaban. And let us to enter with honor into the Month of Ramazan. Let us to awaken our passion for You and Your Habib in this Month. Let us to awaken our passion for Hizmet in this Month. Write us as those who You are pleased with dunya and Ahiret. Write us to be with our Sheykh, this life and next life. Amin.
Sheykh Lokman Efendi Hz
Khalifah of SahibulSaif Shaykh Abdulkerim el Kibrisi (qs),
OSMANLI DERGAHI- New York
30 Shaban 1438
May 26, 2017
Sahibul-Saif Sheykh Abdul Kerim al-Kibrisi 