Go to media page

Evidence of the Shaykh Giving His Life to Others

The Greatness of Prophet (s), Vol 12

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

11 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus

Suhbah after Zhuhr Salaat

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.

Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,

nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.

First of all, we ask madad from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim to send us some support, because without his support none of us can get any kind of inspiration. But with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s support, everyone will have different inspirations that respond to his heart.

Now you have electricity that comes from the main line which is 360 volts, but they put a transformer to bring it down to 220 volts because the electric system in the masjid or house cannot take 360 volts and will explode. Energy comes according to the capacity of each person; some take only 110 volts. To everyone Allah (swt) gave a different understanding and way of thinking, and as long as everyone's understanding is in the direction of Islamic Shari`ah, of haqiqah, the Islamic way, then alhamdulillah, that is the best.

It is like driving on Germany’s Autobahn. How fast do you go? Perhaps 120 kph, but there are some signs saying, “Slow Down,” and these are exits. Shaytan has many exits on our Autobahn toward love of Allah (swt), love of the Prophet (s) and love of awliyaullah, and at any moment Shaytan can play with us to make us exit. If he played with Sayyidina Adam (a), can’t he play with you? So he can lead you out of the main way, off the Autobahn of the Gnostic’s way. Gnosticism is ma`arifatullah so any `arif billah, Gnostic, is also on an Autobahn seeking the journey to Allah, and Shaytan can mislead them to an exit. None of you come here for any purpose other than love of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), but here the exits are also too many!

So on the Autobahn, when you travel 30, 50, 70 kilometers, you see a rest house on the right or left side with restaurants, coffee and tea shops, quick marts and petrol stations. You exit there to refuel your vehicle, to eat food and then continue on the Autobahn, but if you exit before the rest house, you lose that piece of Paradise that is on Siraat al-Mustaqeem, where you find a lot of benefit. There are a lot of places with gardens on that Autobahn, but if you exit, thumma amanoo, thumma kafaroo:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ثُمَّ كَفَرُواْ ثُمَّ آمَنُواْ ثُمَّ كَفَرُواًْ

Inna alladheena aamanoo thumma kafaroo thumma aamanoo thumma kafaroo.

Those who believe then reject faith, then believe (again) and (again) reject faith.

(Surat an-Nisa, 4:137)

Grandshaykh (q) explained this, “One day they are in aamanoo, belief, then thumma kafaroo, they make mistakes. To keep on the right way we must show love to Allah (swt), love to the Prophet (s) and love to awliyaullah.

أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ

Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.

Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)

وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا

Maa ataakumu ’r-rasoolu fa-khudhoohu wa maa nahaakum `anhu fantahoo.

Take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)

We have explained this; Allah (swt) is telling us to take whatever the Prophet gave us. Don’t say, “No, later,” as that will benefit us in dunya and Akhirah. Yesterday we spoke about the Greatness of Prophet (s) and the importance of salawaat. Today we will speak on the benefits of making salawaat and how one can give his life for the love of Prophet (s), because it is easy to love a wali but very difficult to love his followers. Here we see how much the wali wants you to love his mureeds and for all mureeds to accept each other. Also, Prophet (s) wants us to benefit as much as we can from his love.

In the book Jawahir al-Ma`ani, Imam ash-Sha`rani (q) wrote that the biggest dhikrullah and the greatest benefit of it is that peacefulness comes to the heart.

QURA’NIC VERSUS ABOUT DHIKRULLAH

الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

Alladheena amanoo wa tatmainna quloobuhum bi dhikri ‘Llaahi alaa bi dhikri ‘Llaahi tatma’inn al-quloob.

Those who believe and whose hearts find tranquility in the remembrance of God! Verily, in the remembrance of God do hearts find tranquility. (Surat ar-Ra`ad, 13:28)

الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ

Alladheena yadhkuroona ‘Llaaha qiyamaan wa qu`oodan wa `ala junoobihim

Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides. (Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:191)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا

Yaa ayyuhalladheen aamanoo 'dhkurullaah dhikrun katheera.

O you who believe! Celebrate the praises of Allah, and do this often. (Surat al-`Ahzab, 33:41)

There are so many verses of the Holy Qur'an on dhikr, and more than 100 ayaahs emphasize the importance of the heart and how to fix it. Allah (swt) mentioned the heart in particular, as there are so many ayaahs about it. So when the heart is in love, one will mention the name of whom he loves. Nowadays, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) speaks mostly of Sham, because he is so much in love with it, and sometimes he even cries for Sham, because he knows Grandshaykh said:

أوله شام آخره شام

Awwalahu shaam aakhirahu shaam.

The beginning of it is Sham and the end of it is Sham.

I heard Grandshaykh (q) say many times that on Monday, Thursday and Friday nights all awliyaullah are present with the Prophet (s) on Jabal Qasyoun! Also, Grandshaykh (q) said Allah (swt) has moved the bodies of all prophets except Sayyidina Muhammad (s) to Jabal Qasyoun; they are all there! More than that, he said, “There are only mu’mins in the cemeteries of Sham, because mu’min are brought by angels to replace the others.” So therefore Sham is clean. Due to their love, awliyaullah have always had that affection and attraction to Sham.

If you love me, show it, and if I love you, I will show it. We are not making multiple lectures on the topic of love and then you don't show love to anyone (apply this knowledge). Our lectures are not for 'domestic consumption'! Don’t say, “I only will hear it.” No! Awliyaullah say, “I love you!” and they mean it.

In Jawaahir al-Ma`aniyy, Imam ash-Sha`rani said, “The best dhikr you can do as a human being and get benefit from it is salawaat on the Prophet (s), and it must be with the presence of heart.”

We previously explained that he asked the Prophet (s) in the dream, “If I make salawaat on the Prophet (s), is it necessary for my heart to be present?” And the Prophet (s) said, “No, even without presence Allah will reward one salawaat with ten of His Own. And if you do it with presence, Allah will reward you with what no one knows!” And he said the best of dhikr and afdaal faa’ida, rewards and benefit, is to do salawaat on the Prophet (s) with the presence of the heart.

Also, he said the benefit of salawaat on Prophet (s) is that it will take responsibility for you, mutakafilan, it will support you and give you the feeling that you are supported for all your problems in dunya and akhirah. So why do people come and complain? This one want this, that one wants that, this one is ill, that one needs money: sit and make salawaat! Then you will see Allah (swt) will send people to help you.

I know Mawlana Shaykh Nazim more than everyone, sorry to say. We used to eat together from one plate, and Hajjah Anne (q) used to cook and mashaa-Allah the fifteen of us sat in his house and enjoyed the meal. They made soup every day, which we ate with bread and it was enough to feed any number of guests! Why? Because the love of Prophet (s) is in the heart of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and Hajjah Anne (q) never made food without wudu. Now most people cook without wudu.

Grandshaykh (q) had a small hallway and we sat there. One door led to his bedroom, one to his living room where he sometimes sat with people, and one door led to the kitchen. He put a small plate in that hallway, which fed eight-to-ten people maximum. We sat on our knees, which is adab, and ate from the same plate. Once we sat there eating with him and he said, “Yaa Sayyidee! Yaa Rasoolullah! Yaa Shafi`ee al-Mudhnibeen! unzhur ilaynaa! Look at us! See us! Visit us!” Then he turned suddenly to look at the wall just behind him and said, “The wall is gone and the Prophet is there looking at us!” As I was sitting next to Grandshaykh, immediately I kissed the wall and Grandshaykh said, “You kissed the Prophet (s)!”

These are the experiences of awliyaullah, and you don’t know how valuable Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s presence is and how valuable is the presence of awliyaullah among the ummah. You don't know who sits with them and that is why you must keep adab. He said so many times not to approach the Sultan, because that is like approaching fire! Don't think you are familiar with the Shaykh, and speak with him as if you are speaking with an elderly person. No, you have to be with complete adab with the Shaykh and listen to him.

Therefore, if you make salawaat on the Prophet (s), it will give you support for all your problems in dunya and in akhirah, taking care of them immediately! And whoever uses salawaat on the Prophet (s) excessively, like in khalwah when we are ordered to complete 24,000 salawaat daily, he will be of the highest level of the chosen people! This is in Jawaahir al-Ma`aniyy, page 144, Volume 1. I'm not bringing something unverified.

In this book it also says, daf`an wa jalban `an kulli shay, “They push away anything that might harm you, and anything that will benefit you they bring to you.”

As we read yesterday, Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) was in Istanbul in the Massarat Hotel and Shaykh Zia asked him, “How do you expect to die?”

Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “What kind of question is this?”

He answered, “Yaa Shaykh, I want to know how long you are going to live.”

Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “I will die when the Armenians invade; that will be when I take my last breath. Why are you asking that?”

Shaykh Zia said, “I want to give my life to you and I will exchange it for your life.”

Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) said, “Don't say that!” But he insisted, then Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “Allah is accepting this from you.”

Eight years later the Armenians invaded Rashadiyya, which is now Gunekoy, and the first person they shot and killed was Shaykh Zia. Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “He gave me his life and he took my life.” Why? Shaykh Zia was always in salawaat out of love for Prophet (s) and his Shaykh, and dafa`n wa jalban, he prevented the killing of his Shaykh and put it on himself, although his Shaykh was the Sultan-al-Awliya of his time! So don't say there is no such thing in Shari`ah! We have previously explained three examples of this:

1) Sayyidina Adam (a) and Sayyidina Dawood (a);

2) Shaykh Qassim and his Shaykh, `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q);

3) yesterday we spoke about Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) and Shaykh Zia.

4) And now we have found the information on Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain.

It is well known about the the black plague that spread in Damascus (1348-1351). As you know, Shaykh Khalid (q) went from Baghdad to India and took tariqah from Shaykh Jan-i-Janan Mazhar and then he brought it to Damascus, where it spread. He resided in Jabal Qasyoun at the mountaintop.

The Prophet (s) said to him, “Yaa Khalid! People will not come to you here so go down to the market every day and ask how much people earn for the day and give it to them and send them up.”

So he went to the market and asked, “How much money do you take for one day of work?”

They answered, “Ten dinars.”

“Alright, I will pay you ten dinars, but you have to go up to the zawiyah, that is your work,” and he collected ten people and sent them to the zawiyah on the mountain.

So awliyaullah inherit from the Prophet (s) and give out whatever they inherit to their followers. After one year people came by themselves to the zawiyah of Sayyidina Khalid (q), although he had stopped giving them money. So what about Mawlana Shaykh, will he not be giving? He is giving and Allah (swt) is giving, so no one leaves here empty-handed!

As written in the book Hadaaiq al-Wardiyya by Muhammad Khani, one night Shaykh Khalid (q) entered his house and called his family so he could advise them. Listen, he “called his family,” and on Monday evening, when Mawlana Shaykh Nazim got sick and I had not arrived yet, didn’t Mawlana Shaykh “call his family” to his room and say to them, “This is my will. I am going!” Did he say that or not, is it correct? (Sultan’s grandson: Yes, it is). So Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) entered his house and called his whole family, just like Mawlana Shaykh did. It is the same and I am not inventing it, it is in Hadaaiq al-Wardiyya. He advised them that he was going to die on Friday, so they stayed with him all night. Before Fajr he got up to pray tahajjud and he was very sick, since the whole city of Damascus was contaminated by the plague. He got up, made ablution and prayed for awhile, then he entered his room and said that no one had permission to enter his room except those that he ordered. Did Mawlana Shaykh Nazim say the same thing or not, specifically, “I don't want anyone to enter my room without permission.” (Sultan’s grandson: Yes, correct.)

And Shaykh Khalid said, “No one may enter my room except by permission,” perhaps because the Prophet (s) or the awliyaullah were spiritually present and it would not be good adab. When Grandshaykh (q) was in Lebanon for his operation forty days before he passed, we collected Mawlana Shaykh Nazim from the airport and brought him to see Grandshaykh (q), who said, “I don't want anyone to be here except Shaykh Nazim.” Shaykh Adnan and I were troublemakers in those days, so we looked through the window and saw Mawlana Shaykh Nazim holding Grandshaykh’s hand; Mawlana Shaykh was trembling and that went on for half-an-hour. When we knew it was over, we knocked on the door and he let us in and said, “That secret is passed.” So they don't want anyone in the room who is not perfect, as in every moment of their life they are perfect and their whole life is perfect.

Shaykh Khalid (q) said, “No one may enter my room except those whom I order to do so,” then he lay on his right side facing the qiblah and said, “I am carrying all the plague which has descended on Damascus.” How many times has Mawlana Shaykh Nazim said, “I am carrying the mureeds,” or, “I am carrying the whole ummah. The Prophet (s) is giving me power to bring baatil down and bring Haqq up.” All awliyaullah are similar.

Shaykh Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) raised his hand and prayed. Allahu Akbar! Look at what he said in his prayer, because he wanted to remove that difficulty from everyone. Although his life was meant to be longer, he prayed, "Whoever the plague touches, let it strike me instead!" It meant that he asked, “Yaa Rabb! I give my life so you may take away death from anyone who would be struck by the plague. I will take that from them and I give my life to them.” This is different from Mawlana Qassim, the mureed who gave his own life to the Shaykh.

In the case of Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q), the mureed gave to the Shaykh, but in the case of Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi (q), the Shaykh is giving to the mureed. He said, “Let it strike me instead and spare everyone in Sham who would die.” He said that and he was praying inside the locked room. On Thursday, all 299 of his khalifahs entered his room including Sayyidina Isma`eel an-Naraanee (q) and Sayyidina Isma`eel ash-Shirwani (q), and they asked him, “How are you feeling?”

He said, “Allah has answered my prayer!”

What was his prayer? That anyone who was to be struck by the plague be given life and for it to strike him. So, can awliyaullah extend life? Yes, when they ask Allah (swt)! What is the du`a of Laylat al-Bara`ah? How many times have we read that du’a; don’t we read the second Surah YaSeen with the intention for Allah to extend our lives? Is that not from the du`a of Laylat al-Bara`ah, asking Allah (swt) to stretch our life? Yes, that is correct, as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:

وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلٌ فَإِذَا جَاء أَجَلُهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلاَ يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ

Wa li-kulli ummatin ajalun fa idhaa jaa ajaluhum laa yastaakhiroona sa`atan wa laa yastqdimoon.

And for all people a term has been set and when their time has come, they can neither delay it by a single moment nor can they hasten it. (Surat al-A`raaf, 7:34)

But in another ayah Allah (swt) says:

يَمْحُو اللّهُ مَا يَشَاء وَيُثْبِتُ وَعِندَهُ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ

Yamhullaha maa yashaa wa yuthbitu wa `indahu ummu ‘l-kitaab.

Allah will erase or confirm whatever He likes and with Him is the Mother of Books.

(Surat ar-Ra`d, 13:39)

The du`a of a wali can bring a change, just as the du`a of the Prophet (s) will send the whole ummah to Paradise! Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) said, “Allah (swt) has answered my prayer. I will take all the plague from the people of Sham and I alone will die on Friday and after they can bury me and everything will be okay.” Shaykh Isma`eel an-Naraanee (q), his khalifah who served him, lived only seven days after Shaykh Khalid and died from the plague; because of his love for his Shaykh, he could not live without him!

They offered Shaykh Khalid (q) water, but he refused and said, “I left this world behind to meet my Lord.” He meant, after Allah (swt) accepted his du`a, he did not want anything from dunya, no food or water. “I have accepted to carry the plague and relieve those in Sham who are infected. I will pass on Friday.” His janazah was on Friday and millions of people attended and were cured, which is another story, but in this case the Shaykh spared the lives of mureeds, while in the other case the mureed spared his Shaykh’s life. Also, it is mentioned in the hadith of Sayyidina Adam (a) that he gave forty years of his life to Sayyidina Dawood (a).

BENEFITS OF SALAWAAT ON THE PROPHET (s)

Now we will continue with the explanation of some of fawaa'id salawaat `alaa ar-rasool, the benefits of salawaat on the Prophet (s). I counted 39 of them but we will not discuss all of them now, we will leave that for next time. However, there is one hadith in this book Hadaaiq al-Wardiyya that I will mention. (Also appears in Dala’il al-Khayrat of Imam al-Jazuli, chapter “The Benefit of Requesting Blessings upon the Prophet.”)

وكما ذكر في كشف الغمة كان صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول من صلى على تعظيما لحقي جعل الله عز وجل من تلك الكلمة ملكا له جناحان جناح في المشرق وجناح في المغرب ورجلاه في تخوم الأرض وعنقه ملتوي تحت العرش يقول الله عز وجل صلى على عبدي كما صلى على نبيي فهو يصلى عليه إلى يوم القيامة

Man salla `alayya ta`zheeman li-haqqee ja`ala allahu `azza wa jall min tilka’l-kalamati malakan lahu janaahun fi ’l-mashriq wa janaahun fi ’l-maghrib wa rijlaahu fee takhoom al-ard wa `anaqahu multawiyyan taht al-`arsh. Yaqoolullahu `azza wa jall salli `alaa `abdee kamaa salla `ala nabiyyee fa-huwa yusallee `alayhi ila yawm al-qiyaamat.

`Abdur Rahman ibn `Awf (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) said:

Whenever someone asks for blessings upon me, magnifying my rights and station, Allah (swt) creates from his words an angel with wings stretching from the east to the west with feet connected to the nethermost part of the seventh earth and a neck bent beneath the Throne. Allah (swt) says to him, “Bless My slave as he asks for blessings upon My Prophet,” and thereupon the angel will bless him until the Day of Resurrection.

It is not the east we see on this earth, but rather it is the east of the entire universe, which is always moving westward, as verified in physics: the universe is moving west, not just one galaxy but all 6,000 galaxies. Each galaxy has 80 billion stars and all are moving in a vacuum to the west. That is why Allah (swt) mentioned in different verses of Holy Qur'an, “mashriq wa ‘l-maghrib,” or, “mashriqayni wa ’l-maghribayn,” or, “mashaariq wa maghaarib.” That whole universe is moving from east to west at the speed of light, 300,000 km per second. Where it is going no one knows, but it is moving in a vacuum with no gravity. Subhaan-Allah!

The Prophet (s) said from that salawaat, Allah (swt) will create an angel with one wing in the east that is moving, and one wing in the west that also keeps moving. That means it is reaching both ends of what Allah said:

بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَى أَمْراً فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ

Badee`u ‘s-samaawaati wa ’l-ardi wa idhaa qadaa amran fa innamaa yaqoolu lahu kun fa-yakoon.

He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth and when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, "Be" and it is. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:117)

Allah (swt) said,“Kun faya koon,” which means He commands into existence all that is and all that will be, and the angels are in salawaat as they are ordered. Where is that east and that west? It means that wing is moving as well, expanding more and more, like a child whose small arms grow until they are the size of an adult’s. One of the angel’s wings is in the east and one is in the west and his two legs are rooted in the earth. “earth” here is not our earth; there are seven earths within this solar system that are like ours and nearby, but scientists cannot find them. His feet are rooted in the earth and his head is not erect because he is so tall, so it is bowed under the Throne. This is all from salawaat on the Prophet (s)!

Allah (swt) says to that angel, “Make salawaat on My servant who is making salawaat on My Prophet and as he praised My Prophet, O angel, you praise him!” There is a big meaning in this. Allahu Akbar! Can we understand that? No, it is beyond our mind. And that is from just one salawaat! If you make salawaat two times, there are two angels and if you say it 100 times you have 100 angels, and so on. None of the angels recite the same, each one is reciting a different salawaat on Prophet (s) as Allah (swt) does not use copy machines! He creates millions of angels for one person making salawaat on the Prophet (s)! That is why awliyaullah emphasize the reality of making salawaat; for even one salawaat, fa huwa yusalli ilaa Yawm al-Qiyaamah, and that angel will be praying on your behalf until the Day of Judgment!

May Allah (swt) forgive us and may Allah bless us. I am sorry for any mistake in delivering this lecture, but it is about the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and of awliyaullah who inherit from the Prophet (s). We are helpless, we are sinners, we are weak and we ask in every moment that Allah (swt) forgives us and forgives everyone.

Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

http://www.sufilive.com/rnd.cfm?m=4235

© Copyright 2012 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected

by international copyright law. Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.

UA-984942-2