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  FOUR ENEMIES of DIVINE LOVE

           Our Grandsheikh, (may Allah bless him), was always saying that from four directions, four difficult enemies are attacking us, not allowing us to go forward towards Allah Almighty's Divine Presence.  These four enemies are:  firstly, ego;   secondly hawa, the 'storm-power' of our egos which pushes us towards prohibited desires;    third, Shaytan;    and fourth, dunya, this world.

        These are four dangerous, terrible enemies.  If one of them goes away, the second one attacks; or they attack as a company - because they are connected to each other. Therefore, a mu’min, a believer, must direct their attention towards these four enemies -- what they are doing, or what they have forced (him) to do. These four enemies have so many means to attract our egos.  They are close to our physical beings making it easy for them to ‘cheat’ us, and carry us towards prohibited desires;  and so to fall into Hells.

        On the other hand, Allah Almighty and His Prophet (P) are calling, inviting people to goodness, to the glory of the Eternal Life in the Divine Presence; but    it is difficult for our egos to surrender and submit to the holy commands.

     Therefore, it is always necessary to fight against these four enemies, to take yourself away from their magnetic field.   As long as you are in it, you are caught by them, and you can't be free;  you are a slave and your feet are tied by iron chains.  Sometimes we are finding a way towards Allah Almighty, but a little later, we find ourselves re-captured by the attractions of these four enemies and we are working for them.   At any moment you may stop and ask yourself: "Am I the servant of my Lord or am I the servant of my ego?  To whom do I belong?"       If you see that you are doing something which you have been ordered to do, then you may be happy that you are a servant of the Lord, Almighty Allah.

                Allah Almighty sent a human Prophet to mankind so that his every action would be a model for mankind; every action of his would be  like an order for mankind,  a sunnah,.  The Prophet ate, and (so) to eat is sunnah.  The Prophet drank, and we are drinking.  The Prophet married, and we are marrying and it is sunnah.  The Prophet was buying and selling, and it is sunnah.  The Prophet was working, the Prophet was fighting; it is all sunnah.  The Prophet was from mankind and everything that is necessary for mankind, is going to be a sunnah of the Prophet.        Therefore every action in which we are trying to follow our Prophet (P) gives us honour and protects us from falling into the magnetic field of our ego's prohibited desires.  That is the reason why Allah Almighty makes halal above haram.  We need a control on ourselves, and the control is - not to run after haram but to accept halal.  But if you are heedless, even for the blink of an eye, you will find yourself captured by one of the four enemies, and they will tie your feet and make you their slave, and you are not going to be a free one.

            Therefore (it is) important for everyone to try to fight against these four enemies, to be free from their slavery.  That is the most valuable thing that a person can achieve during their lifetime.  All the prayers and dhikr and worshipping that we are doing are only for ourselves,   to make us push away our enemies and (get) free from them.  Allah Almighty is in Glory from pre-eternity up to eternity; our prayers and worshipping do not add to Allah Almighty’s glory or honour.  When we give our respect through worshipping, it is re-bounding on us,  to make ourselves free for divine service. 

Once you become free, really free, there will come other orders and services.  You will be appointed for a new service for the Divine Presence.  If we were appointed (now) for such a service, we couldn't handle it; we are not yet trustworthy enough because sometimes we are listening to our ego, to (this world) dunya, to Satan, to hawa’, passions. 

            All tariqats, [sufi paths] are making people practice, and teaching them how they may be free.  Now, in our days, all tariqats, and especially the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Order, are keeping a very powerful way; and its attraction is a powerful means for carrying people and making them free from their egos and from Shaitan, from the hands of dunya and from the wind of bad desires, and for making ourselves free for divine service in the Divine Presence.

 (edited from a talk given by Sheikh Nazim, March 14, 1989)