Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

The 6th Grandshyakh of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain, Mawlana Shaykh Bayazid Al-Bistamiق said, “to be close to Allahﷻ, one must first be close to those beloved to Allahﷻ.”

When Shaykh Bayazidق passed on, he was over seventy years old. Before heق died, someone asked him his age and Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah Faiz Daghestaniق said that after Shaykh Bayazid’sق encounter with Sayyidina Khidr Alayhi Salam at a graveyard, where Al-Khidr was pointing to the graves of some great scholars in a Muslim cemetery saying, “This one is few months old; that one, three; that one, seven.”

Shaykh Abu Yazeedق said: “I am four years old. For seventy years I was veiled. I got rid of my veils (egoistic-self) only four years ago.”

Tariqah is the blessed school of journeying to Allahﷻ, taking the guiding handhold of a Spiritual Master and leaving the clutches of slavery to the egoistic-self. It is an institution for destroying any form of self-aggrandisement in one’s heart, until one progresses to have only Allahﷻ remaining at heart.

“Indeed My earth and My heavens could not contain Me but the soft peaceful heart of My believing servant can.”
Hadeeth Qudsi in Ihya ‘Uloom Al-Deen of Imam Al-Ghazali Vol. 3

With the help of a Spiritual Guide, the merciful breaking of the ‘idol’ filled heart begins, through daily tests, cleansing it from all self-worship.

It is the most difficult and painful process, the greatest battle, as Prophetﷺ said, ‘Jihaddun Nafs’, the battle with the ego. One who can defeat his ego is the one with true strength. Only when the egoistic-self has died, can a person truly live and reach Servanthood to Allahﷻ.

The most ferocious attribute of the ego is anger- ghadabin nafs. Manifesting in two forms, the anger out of Love for Allahﷻ or the destructive anger of the Nafs. The latter is the prevailing symptom of the lack of Iman and Ego’s hold on a person.

Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق said that Iman is light, it consumes all darkness of evil, but anger is like fire, it destroys all goodness and extinguishes the light of Iman. Anger comes from you planning and wanting the opposite of what Allahﷻ Plans for you.

Anger, heق said, is like a big pond with many fish alive in it. Each fish is likened to a bad characteristic a person possesses. The only way to drain this pond and exterminate the ‘evil fish’ living in it, is through the night vigil Sunnah of Solat Najat, a daily practice for the Naqshbandi mureed.

Solat Najat is the ‘extinguisher’ of the ‘Flames of Fury’ of the lower egoistic-self. It is the remedy for the aspiring mureed, to slowly and steadily attain true peace, paving his way towards healing from the darkness of anger, to attain light of Iman, real humility and true acknowledgement of the Will of Allahﷻ, becoming Rabbani, only for Allahﷻ.

(Listen to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s Sohbah - How to Control Anger here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvqXq79cdJA)

May Allahﷻ make us to be sincere mureeds seeking to progress everyday, preparing our hearts to be only for Himﷻ, holding on to the firm handhold of our Guide, until we reach to Servanthood to Allahﷻ, Insha’Allah.