Question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzBhcbP636E&feature=relatedAsalam, is it true that Shaykh Nazim isn’t accountable to Allah anymore and how would he know if he isn’t accountable? And is this video authentic? I don’t think it is because the Prophet pbuh used to repent like 100 times a day even though he pbuh never committed a sin and would have never done so in the future. No disrespect intended.
Answer:
Salamu Alaikum,
The video that you posted does not mention anything about that Sheikh Nazim is unaccountable to Allah. I think you are referring to this video instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJWGZAoymzA which is a short clip taken from a longer video and edited by people attacking Mawlana and taking his comments out of context. What he is referring to in this clip, in which he is speaking to an Arab sheikh who was visiting him, is in regards to Mawlana’s swearing against his attackers from Wahhabis and Salafis.
It is clear that he is saying that such behaviour is normally unacceptable, and in fact if you look at older videos of Mawlana he never used to swear at them. So he is asking the visitor to forgive this kind of language which he says is not appropriate. But that since he is now over 80 and an old man, he is hoping that Allah will not take that swearing against him. Saying that after a certain age, the angel on the right shoulder only writes the good deeds while the angel on the left stops writing bad deeds.
Mawlana here is being humble by suggesting that he is no longer ‘mukallaf‘ (responsible or accountable). And that is a widely accepted condition in Shariah when a person is either too young or too old to be fully responsible. Even by Mawlana’s mannerisms in the video, you can see him cover his mouth as if he is ashamed of what he is about to say but then he swears and laughs. He then explains that he has been ordered to do this by the Saints so that it removes the badness from the people who are being sweared at.
Please note that Mawlana is not claiming that he has a general license from Allah for anything that is special about himself, like a spiritual rank or anything like that. He is simply referencing his late age, which applies to all Muslims who reach to that age.
May Allah give Mawlana a much much longer life and increase our love and understanding for his teachings.
Wa Salam,
Hajj Khalid Aboulela
