Bismillahirahmanirahim

Lefke, Dec. 12, 2003

Everything must be put in its own position. Addu nasa man dhilahum wa - You must put people in their suitable position. There is balance in the world. You can't put polar bears into the African jungle, and you can't bring an elephant onto the Russian steppes, or an Eskimo into the Arabian deserts, or bring an Arab to Ireland, or to Iceland. or take Canadians to Mexico, or vice versa. A kanguroo can't live in the Indian jungle, nor can an Indian tiger survive in the Australian deserts. Everything belongs where it is supposed to be. This is very important. You can't force a king to be together with the people, and you can't put simple people into the position of a ruler.

Once I heard in Damascus that the government was building a new electric power station . Although the engineer had newly graduated, the government had given him the responsibility anyway. The old engineer sometimes mentioned that the old power lines couldn't carry the power, but the young engineer didn't want to listen, The day had come to turn on the new power station, with a big show and a government ceremony. Even the Minister of Public Works was present. In fact, the line couldn't carry the power, sparks showered down and the old power lines caught on fire. The people all ran away. The old engineer was brought forward and said, 'I warned the young engineer, but he kept saying "I know, I know". Now look at the damage.'

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Democracy gives power to people who can't handle it. Look at Iraq, India, England, Germany... All countries using this system are collapsing. They are falling backwards. Allah Almighty says everything has it's own position. Mankind was created to be protector of this planet. Human beings, however, are not "photocopies" of each other. Every one has got something special that nobody else has. Nations, too, have individual qualities that others don't have – e.g. Egyptians, Turks, Arabs. Allah Almighty created mankind from Adam and Eve, and then divided them into tribes, and He granted to some what He didn't grant to others. Egyptians have the waters of the Nile, and Sudan doesn't want their fish to go to into Egypt, or their crocodiles (because of the expensive leather).

Allah gave every group something special. Women were given certain qualities and men were given other qualities not granted to women. Look at nature, with its many-faceted systems. A real Hakim (physician) will know what to give to whom. People of the 21st century are turning everything upside down. The Heavenly System will bring peace and happiness. If you use a mental house system... Try using democracy in a mental house, and they will choose the craziest one as their leader.

This is a small place. If I ask somebody to make tea, and he can't do it, I tell him not to. The Heavenly rule is Addu li kulli haqqin haqq – Everything in its own place. That should be written in golden letters. Women must have their rights and men should not be like women. Each one is made for a special purpose. People in power opress others. In his first speech Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq said, 'You must know: Anyone can have power until I take it from him.'

Islam is not understood. Foolish muslims are running after the oppressors. The whole dunya should be in peace. My feelings are that the oppressed ones are taking their Heavenly rights.

May Allah forgive me and bless you. For the honour of the beloved one . I have little power but when Divine Orders come it will be irresistible. - Fatiha -

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Rajab 1984

Oceans of Mercy and Power

Audhu billahil mina shaitani rajim bismillahirahmanirahim. La haula wa la quatta wa ma taufiqi illa billahil aliul azim.
In the Name of Allah Almighty, the Most Merciful, the Most Munificent and Most Generous. There is no other Might or Power and verily, my success is only with Allah, the Most High, the Most Glorious.

Everything within limits is small – We are coming and appearing, then returning to Him – In this life we recognize ourselves – To prepare for Divine Presence: that is the Divine Therapy for mankind

We are in oceans of Mercy. Nothing can exist without Mercy, without Mercy Oceans. Wa ja’alna minal malikulla shay’in hay.Allah Almighty created everything from water – no life without water. He Almighty made water to be the source of life, and there is no life without it. He Almighty gives life, and He endowed water with a secret Divine Power which strengthens every living thing which lives by water. Plants, animals, and human beings need i to live.

Therefore we speak of Mercy Oceans, for the Mercy of Allah Almighty is like an ocean, an endless ocean. Everything that can be counted in numbers is small. Although one can imagine big numbers, one ends up with small numbers, which may be imagined to be multiplied millions of times, and then will be like zero, compared to the big number. And one can imagine the big number multiplied billions of times which in turn would also seem like zero, compared to the new number. Therefore everything within limits is small. What is without limits is big. A number without limits would be a big number. As long as it is within limits it is a small number.

Everything Is in His Mercy and Power

Allah Almighty's Mercy Oceans are endless, without ending or beginning. And everything existing is swimming in these Mercy Oceans. They surround everything created – not only from the outside but also from the inside. Hence there is no place without Mercy Oceans, no atom, nor any smaller thing. This means that all existence belongs to these Oceans of Mercy. Ice swimming in oceans is not only surrounded by water but its entire existence is water. You can't find a spot in it or on it that isn't water. We may call it ice surrounded by water, and yet it is water. And you will not find anything in existence which, in its essence, is not connected to this Mercy. Even the smallest thing existing in the universe is connected with that Ocean of Mercy, inside and outside. This means that everything is connected to these Oceans of Mercy; they reach to each point of creation.

Likewise the smallest part of existence is surrounded by Oceans of Power. They must also reach its smallest point, for the Mercy Oceans would not be able to appear as creatures without the Power Oceans. Rahmatu wa qudratu: His Mercy and Power must be with everything, however small it may be. Nothing can be found in existence except for His Power and His Mercy. Everything is in His Mercy and in His Power.

That is why Grandsheikh Abdullah (may Allah bless him) said: 'Everything appears in Allah Almighty’s endless Oceans of Power.' Everything is from Allah Almighty's Oceans of Power. He says 'Come and Appear', and it comes: San atul qadir – the creation of Allah Almighty which belongs to Him, His Creation from His Wisdom, comes, from endless Power Oceans. Therefore you won't find any interruption in creation, from pre-eternity to eternity. Creation goes on and on, it never stops, impossible. The existence of Allah Almighty is absolute, and His Power Oceans are in His Existence, also absolute.

Nobody knows when creation began. It was before time. He created time and space, and He isn't in need of time or space. Time doesn't affect Him, and He is not in need of space. He wouldn't be Allah if He were in need of anything. If He were in need of space this would mean that space would be more powerful than Him. Allah is not in need of anything, neither space nor time. His Existence is Absolute Being. He gives existence to creatures. No one knows the beginning of Creation, and no one knows anything about its end. Creation goes on forever. We are in this Ocean only for a moment. We stick our head out and have a look at this world and after one second we have disappeared.

We Appear and Disappear

Everything comes into being by His Endless Power Oceans. Everything appears in His endless Power Oceans. We are coming from Allah and we are going back to Allah. We are coming and appearing, then disappearing and returning to Him – coming from Him and going to Him.

That is the Divine Wisdom of Allah Almighty. He wants to show His Servants a way to meet themselves, and He wants to help them along on this journey. He wants you to look at and understand yourselves so that you can meet yourselves and realize who you are. Therefore he makes us appear for a short while. During this short time you may say, 'Oh, I am Sheikh Ahmad, I am Sheikh Muhammad, I am Fatima or Nadia.'

A little child doesn't know yet who he or she is. This comes only when it is growing older, when it knows its name and recognizes itself. When it sees itself in the mirror making faces it gets very angry because it doesn't realize that it is seeing itself, and no one else. In this life we recognize ourselves. We say we are this one or that one, but 20 years ago I wasn't like I am now, I was someone else, and I've changed. The new moon begins as a small crescent, but only when it is full can we recognize it as the whole moon. Human beings begin the process of recognizing themselves at the beginning of their lives. When they have grown up, like the full moon, they recognize themselves. Then they become less and less until the end. That's the script – from beginning to end. We appear and disappear. You recognize yourselves when you come, disappear and move on.

Divine Therapy

But you will take something with you from this life. Whatever you do, chair or scharr, goodness or badness – you will recognize yourself by this. When your life is fulfilled, you will move on. You will disappear. You will be taken underground, covered with earth, and hidden. There you will continue your way until the Day of Resurrection. On that day all human beings will appear, and there will be many expected and unexpected events for humanity. To prepare for the Divine Presence on this Day, that is the Divine Therapy for mankind. On the Day of Resurrection there will be unexpected events.

Therefore Allah Almighty grants existence to human beings, and to so many creatures around them whom they know, and recognize, and everything, in turn will recognize human beings. On the Last Day as they enter the Divine Presence, they will be covered and surrounded by endless Oceans of Power and also by endless Oceans of Mercy. May Allah Almighty pass His Judgment over every one, according to His Divine Wisdom. Only Allah Almighty knows what will happen on that day. Until this point we have been informed by the holy Prophet and Messenger of Allah, upon whom may be peace, but that is as much as he told us. When we pass over into the Real Life, we shall understand what the Divine Wisdom was for everyone in this life. It will be clear for everyone.

Now we need Guidance to take us to our Divine goal and to help us see with each step, day by day, where we are going. Guidance helping us to enjoy the Divine Thoughts received from our Lord in this life, and to do our best, in praying, thanking, and praising Allah Almighty. Knowing this you must try to give even more praise to Allah Almighty. When you give Him a lot, He will give you much, much more in return. This way will lead you to Marifatullah. Here Divine Knowledge will be revealed to His servant knowledge that Allah Almighty surrounds us with in His endless Oceans of Mercy, and with His endless Oceans of Power. He never leaves His creatures, for no creature can create itself. Allah is the Creator. Endless praising to our Lord Allah Almighty. May Allah Almighty bless you, and us.

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'It Was Like Paradise'

Everything with him and for him was easy –
We are here with Maulana's Barakah (blessing) –
He is the greatest Wali in this century.

Sheikh Muhammad Adl ar-Rabbani about Maulana Sheikh Nazim's Miracle of Time

Bradford/England, Jan. 21, 2023

[…] During the three holy months Maulana Sheikh Nazim was traveling, and being with people. Until 1974 he had been traveling from Cyprus to Damascus. From that time he had been coming to London, England. You know, and many people know. He was here for three months, but when it was Ramadan it was very special in his time. People were coming from all around the world: from Far East, from Far West, North, South... All of them spent one month with him: praying, fasting, doing Tasbihat, Tahlilat, and Sohba in his presence. It was like Paradise for people.

Now people say that we must do this, but this passed; times have changed. Our time is very strange, it is very tight. The Tajalli (manifestation) changes, and our Tajalli, Hal (state) is different from Maulana's. Mash'Allah Maulana Sheikh Nazim is the real sultan. Everything with him and for him was easy.

With Maulana Sheikh – there are Awliyah who have Karamah (miracle) of Tayyu Makan. Tayyu Makan means when they want to go somewhere, in one step, they can be in Makkah, they can also be in Madinah. Many times they pray there, then come back and pray with their Jama'ah also.

Awliyau'Llah (saints) are famous for this, but also for something else: Tayyu Zaman. Zaman means time. Their time can be widened. In one day they can do what we are maybe doing in one week. That was Maulana's real Karamah. In his last days people were coming every day; he was meeting nearly at least a hundred people. How?! And he was listening to people, "slowly, slowly", taking their time. When we listen they say "quickly, quickly". But he was listening to all of them, and finishing with all of them. It was real. He has thousands of Karamah, but this is one that you can see, you cannot deny it.

Alhamdulillah, this is what his time was like – that time when he was coming to London, to England, and also here. Very easily he was coming and going, meeting thousands of people. Now we are hearing – we know of many Karamah of Maulana but every time we hear a new one. What is this! Mashah'Allah! We have never heard of it! What we know from his Karamah is maybe one percent. There is a thousand percent. Some even saw Maulana once, with his Karamah he appeared to them.

Alhamdulillah, these are Awliyau'Llah. He is the greatest of them, the greatest Wali in this century. What was said here or what others said, all is from his Karamah. He sent you to gather here. We are only like a mirror, a small mirror of him. Somebody must appear to collect the people around him. He said, 'He (Maulana Sheikh Muhammad) is Khalifa. I now have work on the other side.'

So he is still active, sending all of you to gather here, to continue on his way, the way of the Prophet . Once, before passing away, he said. 'Insha'Allah I am leaving.' My brother said, 'How shall we live! What shall we do!' He said, 'This is Tariqah, the way of Allah. One after one. it will continue. It is not cut when somebody changes worlds. It will continue, and we shall have help, insha'Allah.'

Alhamdulillah we are here with his Barakah (blessing). Even when we speak two words this Barakah will come to all of you insha'Allah – Barakah of Mashayikh, and Barakah of this gathering. Masha'Allah there are many Awliyau'Llah here; one of them is enough Barakah for all of you insha'Allah. […]

Introduction by the Editor

During the lifetime of Maulana Sheikh Nazim, in the heavenly pre-Internet days, I frequently went for "treasure hunting", namely visiting his Dergah in order to write down his talks, which he had told me to do previously. Maulana Sheikh Nazim's description of the spirit (or rather the total lack of it) of his epoch, were ahead of his time. Then, however, I wasn't able to see the often visionary quality of his discourses.

This has changed. Looking again at those unpublished pages of Sheikh Nazim's Suhbas over various decades I am stunned by their modernity – the way he had analyzed the spirit of his/our era became a mirror of our present day society, where collective madness, technology worship, and the decay of any form of manners have become normality (as predicted by Archangel Jibreel, a.s.). Indeed, they are memories of his future, which is now – our present time.

Pressed and impressed by the impact of Maulana's message, and, in line with Sheikh Mehmet's above honouring of his blessed father's giant achievement, we decided to publish these Suhbas under the title

one by one, two times a month, so that you can absorb them in the leasurely time they were given. insha'Allah. (But there will also be a short version, along with the extended version!)

Here is the first of those Suhbas 'The Last Tap', with many more to follow insha'Allah. May his memory be honoured by this project, may he be thanked endlessly, and may he be blessed always. To quote Maulana Sheikh Mehmet again, 'Everything was easy with him.'

It was Paradise, indeed. Wa min Allah at-taufiq. - Fatiha -

Aachen, 15th Rajab / 9 .February 2023

Safiyya Linges-Ramadan

Lefke Guest House, December 2003

The Last Water Tap

[After Dhikr Maulana Sheikh Nazim passes a cup filled with honey around, of which the attendants taste a bit.]

In Western countries people have got everything – everything but contentment! Outwardly and materially they were given everything. I am not saying given as "a present" since that would mean they would be thankful in their hearts. They have got everything – everything but contentment.

This is a sacred meeting. There are a lot of spiritual centers in Europe where they are passing around "cups", just like after this Dhikr. But there is nothing in them, and people just act as if they were drinking. The cups we are passing around in our meetings are full of water, and the water tap I'm connected to is working: when you open it something comes out. I am sorry to say that all other water taps are empty.

Once upon a time Dervish Hajji Mukhtar had to stay in hospital for a while. He was fed up with the bad food they were serving, and so he pretended that his plate was full of delicious things, like kebab, chicken, sweets... But in reality his plate was completely empty!

Sohbat by Mawlana Sheikh Nazim, Lefke, 24. December 2003

A home without an entrance is useless. Water is the cause of life, and cleanliness. There is no cleanliness without water.

This refers to our physical being. Our souls, however, need another kind of water, sacred water running from Heaven to the hearts of chosen servants. Those were chosen by the Lord of Heavens. From that sacred water, sacred streams of wisdom were granted, directly from Heaven. But coming down this way it wouldn't be useful and too much would get wasted.

Therefore Divine Wisdom makes one source to come down and spread this in the hearts of people. Not every home needs an electric center; no need to install that power station in every home and city. When something is wrong in the main center it affects the generator. One power station from Heaven is spreading Heavenly Wisdom: this sacred stream is what your spiritual being is in need of, and is what keeps it alive. It doesn't come under the material heaviness of your personality. Those taps belong to power centers appointed for this area.

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Our physical being needs water for living and cleaning. Even more so our souls need "water" to provide them with power, and to enable them to reach their heavenly homeland in the spiritual world. If you want an airplane to fly from continent to continent you must fill it with petrol, to prevent it from falling down. In order to return to our Heavenly Homeland we, too, need, as it were, sacred water. Since we are going back there don't waste your spiritual power here by being occupied with your physical desires that cut you off from reaching the Heavens.

We are here to collect power every day for the cleanliness of our souls. Being surrounded by the dirt of our physical desires, we must save our efforts to return to the spiritual homeland. That is our real mission, and all prophets came to clean mankind from the dirt of their physical desires. Shaytan came to prevent people from this by filling them with dirt, and all satanic groups and teachings have this aim.

This struggle, namely between Satan and human beings, has been going on since Sayyidina Adam , and as the children of Adam have been getting more numerous, satanic groups have also been increasing. Satan trains his armies to fight against our souls: our real being. This struggle has been going on from beginning till today, la yazal.

They say that the first man existed thousands of years ago, and that we have reached the top point of civilization, with the top point of technology. Satan came to Pharaoh without knocking, so Pharaoh asked about the one entering without a key, and he sent his soldiers after him. Satan said, "I'm the one who is not in need of this." Therefore I often ask you if you know places without Satan? Or if you think that the Holy Kaaba, the House of our Lord, is without shaytan? or Medina, or the Al-Aqsa mosque? or the sacred land of Palestine? Therefore Satan could say, "I can get anywhere without keys, to palaces, emperors, magnificent palaces, sultans, pashas, without any legitimation. I've got carte blanche. Oh Pharaoh, how can you say you're lord of these foolish Egyptians", or "I've got more than 124.000 wizards, and with their help I'm in command".

As we said in the beginning: Mankind needs a cleaning for their physical and spiritual being, as their minds are connected with their souls. Dirty Antichrist brings dirty ideas which dirty the souls of mankind. Our souls need this "operation", this soul cleaning. Our souls need that water from sacred streams, which, by secret ways, comes to the servants of the Lord of Heavens. People of the 21st century, however, think they don't need this cleaning; they think that physical cleanliness is enough.

Every day something comes to help with cleaning our souls. but every day, also, something comes and puts more darkness on the hearts of people.

"The Perfume of Paradise – Sheikh Nazim's Little Book of Marriage"

Sheikh Hassan advises anyone who wants to get married to read this book. That's what he says in the foreword:

Now available: "The Perfume of Paradise"

"A Jewel" – Jalal Rebler

Available through: books(at)osmanische-herberge.de

Minimum order: 5 copies

The book is at offer for a budget price of 4 Euro only. If interested, please send an e-mail to books(at)osmanische-herberge.de

The Herberge currently has more than ten brothers and sisters from Syria, Morocco, Turkey, Italy, Argentina and other countries, who not only find a safe place to stay with mosque connection and food, but also voluntary support in office visits, job and apartment searches.

While talking to the host and spiritual leader in the center's restaurant, Mr. Esser was able to admire the elaborate Arabic calligraphy and ornaments that were hand-crafted by a Syrian guest. They testify that integration does not have to mean giving up cultural identity and tradition. Musically too, our new neighbors have enriched us - their songs tell us beyond the words of passionate love for the Prophet and deep yearning for home.

Music connects people and creates bridges, and it speaks to our hearts. This explains the popularity of the annual Sufi Soul Festival, which will be held for the 19th time this summer on the green space behind the Osmanische Herberge. On the occasion of the mayor's visit, organizational issues relating to the festival were discussed as well. Further there was mentioning of the long-term school project, where students of Kall Elementary School visit the Osmanische Herberge as part of an annual interreligious event to learn more about Islam.

The meeting was an interesting encounter between a secular and a spiritual leader. Mr. Esser also showed his human side when talking about the heavy burden that his office imposed on him. Sighing, he mentioned that you can often see a light burning in the town hall when you drive past it in the evening at eight, and that this is usually his room. During the final tour the obligations of our honored Sheikh Hassan got mentioned, whose phone never stops, because brothers and sisters from all over the world call for advice on spiritual, health and professional issues, or just because they had a bad dream. Sheikh Hassan added with a smile that his light also is still burning at eight in the evening (and as we all often know after midnight).

If you want to measure the success of the project by the visible result, then you can draw a positive conclusion: All planned work, namely insulation of the roof and replacement of all skylights, were done timely and with German thoroughness.

Or, if you measure it with the satisfaction of the volunteer planners, helpers and supporters, it looks even better. The atmosphere in the team was just perfect and despite all the hard work there was enough time to relax. The beautiful nature of northern Hessen invited you to long walks under magnificent, wintry-blue sky, after which you could warm yourself up in the cozy living rooms of the main house and enjoy the good company. The best food was provided by the host Ahmadullah and the wives and sisters, without whose delicious meals - prepared with love - certainly no beam would have been raised, and no nail set.

However, if one applies spiritual success as a measure of the success of the work, then all of our evaluation criteria fail. But according to the words of our Master Sheikh Nazim, the service in a Dergah is associated with immeasurable blessings, and the Prophet says in a confirmed tradition:

”Whoever builds a mosque for the sake of Allah, Allah will build for him likewise in Paradise." (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

Just as the rays of the sun reach the earth, so do heavenly blessings flare up briefly even in this world. At the end of the work week, our honored Sheikh Hassan visited the Rasenmühle on Sunday and hosted a Maulid with Abu Nur and Ustad Daud Khan (to video). While listening to the beautiful praises of our Prophet , those present were able to forget space and time and open their hearts to receive waves of light, love and beauty.

As soon as next wek we will be proceeding with the second stage, inshallah. Among other things its planned to do the insulation and lining of the ceiling of the lower room as well as the wiring and electrical installations. Any support is welcome, be it in the form of labor, provision of resources or donations.

Not only the refurbishment of the barn needs to be be financed, but even more the planned purchase of the Raenmühle. Information on this matter can be found at our donations page.

There our guests had the opportunity to listen to a lecture of Sheikh Hassan Dyck, in which he explained the principles of Islam and Sufism, the relation between Islam, Christianity and Judaism, and spirituality in general. Fitting the occasion we were reminded, that faith means to open up, not to close down; it should connect us, not disconnect. And since Islam is a deeply practical religion it got practised immediately with a communal remembrance of God (Dhikrullah - Remembrance of the 99 Names of Allah).

Then our honoured guests had the chance to raise questions, and after some brief hesitation they were engaged in a lively conversation, which led to Sheikh Hassan explaining, why Christians and Jews are not unbelievers for Muslim people, but in the contrary enjoy special protection, and why music as expression of love of Allah Almighty is not haram but encouraged.

If you like have a look at our video recording of the whole event:
Sheikh Hassan - Wege zu den Himmeln und Sufi Meditation

And so we hope, that this day of encounter was a enrichment for all visitors and that they share our perception: that we happened to came a bit closer as brothers and sisters, as witnesses of the One-God-Believe, as humans.

Of course this positive resonance is mainly due to the presence of our beloved Sheikh Hassan, who came night by night to lead the night prayer and dhikr, to give sohbat and to answer the personal requests of our guests with good advise and humour until late after midnight, despite his advanced years. Every night the hearts of the visitors got illuminated by the loving kindness of our host. Recordings of the Sohbats can be found at our video page.

Good mood was provided also by Ustadh Ali Keeler, who not only brought near to us in his famed Quran school the beauty of the noble Quran, but also of the Arabic und Andalusian music for the sake of Prophet , accompanied by Abu Nour, Muslim und Abdul Razzaq. Recordings of the concerts will be published here within the coming days.

Music also played an important part at the well attended psychology seminary with Sheikh Abdul Hamid Staepke. Based on the teachings of Imam Ghazalis we learned not only in words but specially in practical exercises, that Allah didn't create us for grieve but for joy.

This might be confirmed by the participants of the Clown workshop of Dr. Omar Obst, who got encouraged to rediscover their inner Clown and present it in a playful way.

Hard work brings its own reward (or fi'l haraka baraka, as the Arab says). That's why the sport activities where in high demand, specially with the youths. The Sunna of the Prophet got exercised at Brasilian Jiu-Jitsu with Yunis Aways and at traditional archery with Ibrahim.

A bit more quiet was the popular calligraphy course with Sajida - here the attendees were allowed to experience the healing, relaxing effects of drawing in focussed contemplation, while the visitors of the Hu meditation with sister Rabia could find access to this deep relaxation by singing and breathing exercises. Many thanks also to Maria, who managed to get the kids enthusiastic about learning the Arabic alphabet, despite of the concurrence of iPhone & co.

No Wintercamp is complete without snow and ice. After the blessings of the Juma brought us a strong snowfall within the first days of the camp, there was only left to us artificial ice towards its end. The excursion to the ice rink at the lake of Zülpich provided a lot of fun for kids as well as adults, with the backdrop of a serene, sunset light scenery.

We say Alhamdulillah for the present of the community, for the blessings of this gathering and of Sheikh Hassan and Mawlana.