Question:
With Sh Ali Elsayed’s announcement of being under Shaykh Mehmet as he said in the live stream that Shaykh Hisham is a big awliya however the Shaykh now is Sh Mehmet, also noticed Nurjan Mirahmadi is now supporting Shaykh Mehmet. UK mureeds are confused!
Answer:
Saying that mureeds are confused “now” because of some followers moving here and there is not accurate. If there is any confusion, it began shortly before Mawlana Shaykh Nazim left this dunya, for a wisdom which Allah Most High wanted. When such Major Awliya leave this dunya it is normal that there will be fitna and confusion, but at the same time there is protection and the continuation of the Divine blessing and the Prophetic connection. Ultimately, therefore, there was, is, and never will be any confusion. It is always the same bay`a, the same suluk, the same sabr, the same istighfar and dhikr and tawba and rabita until our last breath for all us.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim all his life confirmed that:
(i) Grandshaykh Abd Allah Daghistani and himself did appoint to khilafa Shaykh Adnan and his elder brother Shaykh Hisham Kabbani respectively,
and
(ii) that this is the will of Allah and the command of the Prophet (see “The Fruit of Real Belief and Perfect Practising is Peace”). This was further put in writing, signed, and ordered explicitly to be followed by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim more than once. Everyone in this Tariqa knows this without exception.
However, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim also knew that after his time, shaytan would spread dissension and whisper to murids that you cannot follow this one and you cannot follow that one. This dissension began even in Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s own lifetime. He saw it with his eyes and in his house. He saw those whom he himself described as appointed by the Prophet (s), and by Grandshaykh, and by himself, both of them his in-laws, being disrespected in his own house and in his own presence. Such a mistake is enough for many people to fall forever into a deep valley from which they would never come out; but this would mean that shaytan was succeeding in his tricks–and that cannot be.
So, with the wisdom of the Friends of Allah and their inconquerable superiority to the tricks of shaytan, and in the manner of Mawlana Shaykh Khalid al-Baghdadi who is famous for leaving 300 Khalifas, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim took pity on our weakness, not like a parent giving in to their child but as a Shaykh and Murshid. He came down to the level of our needs and addressed our nafs to save us from our nafs. He cast a wider net and asked the Prophet–upon him blessings and peace–to also include his son, Shaykh Mehmet Efendi, in the succession line of the Golden Chain, and this request was granted, and Mawlana announced it. Now, no-one could have an excuse to walk out anymore. Not Turks, not Arabs, not Westerners, not the old, not the young, etc.
The reason for such additional appointments is never to create confusion or dilute or hide the secret of the Tariqa. Even less is the reason to cancel or abrogate previous Prophetic appointments of khilafa. Whoever thinks that, might be prosecuted by the Prophet on Qiyama. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim never said “Grandshaykh’s two previous khalifas and my two previous khalifas now stand abrogated and are superseded by my son.” Whoever claims that, might be prosecuted by Grandshaykh and by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim on the Day of Resurrection. Mawlana is not negotiating with us, as he is not answerable to us.
Then what is the reason? As Mawlana Shaykh Khalid explained, and this was made very explicit in the book of one of his khalifas (Ahmad bin Ahmad Khalil al-Khalidi, رسالة في آداب الطريقة النقشبندية, “Treatise on the Manners of the Naqshbandi Tariqa, 1249/1833):
الخليفة يؤذَنُ له لتربية المريدين قبل كماله، لأنّ الخليفةَ كُلَّما كان حالُه أنقصَ، يكون تأثيره أكثرَ، لمناسبتِه للمريد النَّاقص؛ هكذا سمعتُ من مرشدي. وكُلَّما كان حالُه أرفعَ، يكونُ تأثيرُه في الابتداء أَقَلَّ، حتَى تصيرَ المناسبة.
“The khalifa is given permission to educate the murids before his own kamal (perfection), because the khalifa, the less complete his own state is, the greater his influence can be, because it/he matches the defective murid. This is how I heard it from my Murshid [Shaykh Khalid al-Baghdadi]. And the higher the state of the khalifa, the less his influence can be in the beginning [of the murids], until matching is achieved.”
The reason for such additional appointments is therefore like a “match-making”. Our beloved Mawlana Shaykh Nazim knows us better than we know ourselves, he knows that murids are all different types that vary in their maturity and their iman, and in their vulnerability to shaytan in times of fitna. The departure of such a Sultan as Mawlana Shaykh Nazim from this dunya is a big fitna. Therefore he gave to each one an avenue that matches their need and even their nafs, but following which, they are still in one and the same Tariqa. He kept them “inside the tent.” We accept that.
We always pray to stay inside and not to be cast outside. We ask not to be left to our own worthless selves but to remain always connected. This is given in full to every sincere follower no matter who the khalifa is. Such is the economy of this Tariqa. The most difficult thing for murids has always been to love one another in the absence of the Shaykh, and not fight or disrespect one another. The stake in all this is our connection to this Silsila, to the Prophet (s) himself, and our Iman: who would want to risk that? So we make duaa for all of them and we keep respect for all of them from beginning to end, also love for the sake of Allah, and Allah is our goal and our reliance.
Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and all his Companions and Successors until Resurrection.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
