I can speak to you as I understand it. And I understand that the Awliya, like Khizr (AS), operate at a completely different level than the ordinary ego-driven man or woman. Their sohbet itself has at least seven layers of meaning if we are seeking to understand it and submit to their guidance truly, otherwise, even the most knowledgeable of us will be like Musa (AS) and be unable to keep their company.

Shaykh Maulana uses the one incident in this sohbet, as a kindling point to represent a greater problem with ideology of the UN. When he calls them the center of shaitan, it is in the contexts of the statements before, not simply his experience praying:

“They are only knowing to kill innocent people. To kill them, to destroy, to burn everything.”

Further understanding and contemplation of the Sohbet will makes it clear that it is the core principles of the UN itself which are inherently shaitanic, and that is a something deep within its nature. The nature of the UN becomes more apparent to those who hold the return of Isa (AS) as an upcoming reality, and its role in the collapse of the Caliphate and the continued subjugation of a people. So indeed, Shaykh Maulana is not explicitly spelling out each and every aspect of the reasons ‘why’, but working in more subtle ways. It is clear it is far from his one experience which moved him to speak, the example was simply a perfect one to demonstrate a larger attitude towards religiosity from what is a secular organization.

As far as having this public opinion after visiting rather than prior based on policies, there is something to be said to physically seeing, feeling the reality of a place before speaking against it as well. Speaking from my own experience, holy and good places smell different, feel different, taste different from places of evil.

The Awliya see signs of Allah in different ways than us, who often forget that Allah is the cause of all things. When the Awliya experience Shaitans preventing them from praying, they know and acknowledge what is at the root of driving them from being hostile, whether that be simply following of ‘policy’ or an actual desire to disrupt prayer. Public prayer was not allowed in JFK terminal as a ‘matter of policy’, but this Sunday, on receiving Shaykh Abdul Kerim we did just that over objections.

Yes, there are certainly some people that have good intentions and do good work, in fact, as stated in the sohbet, one of his people had access to the UN. But when Allah Almighty reigns down chastisement and punishment on a group, it can be broad and apply to good and bad. Even if there are good amongst an inherently evil group, the good will be with the bad when the chastisement and punishment comes.

The chastisement of the Awliya (as in this sohbet) is one aspect of this ayat:

Quran al Karim, BismillahirRahmanirRahim
And guard yourselves against a chastisement which cannot fall exclusively on those of you who are wrong-doers, and know that Allah is severe in punishment. (Pikthal translation, Quran 8:25)

And with that in mind, there is no discussion in this sohbet preventing people from working with the UN, rather there are indeed key people in there who are representing and preparing for the things Shaykh Maulana has trained them with and for. But the intention has to be clear and the alignment with the forces of Haqq has to be clear against Batil.

With the instruction of this great Wali of Allah, inshaAllah rahman they will escape that described above.

Finally, Shaykh Maulana needs no defense from me, so please realize this is simply an advice to help a sincere individual understand how I perceive things.

Salamu’alaykum,

I have just recently started reading your blogs and although I am not in complete agreement with your thought process, I must say they are nevertheless enlightening. Keep up the good work. This was an interesting talk given by Shaykh Maulana. But I have some points that would require clarification – maybe you could help me with that.

First of all, it seems as though Shaykh Maulana had no problem with going to the UN center in the first place, and only labeled them as a ‘center of Shaitan’ AFTER the group was not allowed to offer their prayers there. Excusee the language for such a great Shaykh, but doesn’t that seem narrow-minded? I mean, various offices have certain policies to not allow religious practices within their buildings, and I think that should be respected. If the UN was to be called a Shaitan because of their policies in the Middle East (or lack thereof) for example, I could understand – but for not being able to offer prayer in their building? I think that is a bit harsh.

Second of all, I would like to say there is alot of good coming out of the UN as well. I personally know some people who work for the establishment and they are really helping people rebuild their communities, families, lives, etc. So to admonish everyone from ‘working with the UN’ is not universally applicable.

May Allah forgive me if I have said anything wrong.

WA
Junaid