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Salawaat Erases Every Sin

The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 22

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

4 May 2012 Singapore

Suhbah at Simply Islam, `Isha (3)

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.

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)

I would like to thank Shaykh Abdul Shakur and his group and mashaa-Allah they are getting better and better every day. It is an honor to listen to them because they are very good-hearted and also the best at making salawaat on Prophet (s), and everyone is here tonight for them.

To speak is easy, anyone can speak; Allah (swt) gave human beings a tongue and vocal cords to make it move and make different sounds, but are these sounds that we bring out of our mouth and tongue clean or are they mixed with many mistakes and sins we have made? No one is infallible, m`asoom, except Sayyidina Muhammad (s), to whom Allah (swt) gave that characteristic. Whatever he (s) says is haqq and whatever he gave us through his message, the message of Islam, and what he said in his hadith is haqq!

Muslims must not create a situation that puts people into doubt.

أن أبا هريرة قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول من رآني في المنام فسيراني في اليقظة أو فكأنما رآني في اليقظة لا يتمثل الشيطان بي

Man raa’nee fi ’l-manaam fa sa-yaranee fi’l-yaqazhah aw ka-annamaa raa’nee fi’l-yaqazhah laa yatamathal ash-shaytaanu bee.

The Prophet (s) said, "Who saw me in the dream really saw me, because Shaytan can not assume my image."

It means to see Prophet (s) in the dream is Islamically accepted; can anyone say no? No one. In the other hadith, he said:

مَن رآني في المنام فسيراني في اليقظة

Man raa’nee fi ’l-manaam fa sa-yaranee fi’l-yaqazhah.

Who saw me in the dream will see me in reality.

It changed little bit, instead of "he really saw me," he said, fa sayaranee, "Whoever sees me in the dream is going to see me in reality." Is there any question about it? No.

In his tafseer of that hadith, Imam Suyuti (r) said it means:

He will see me not only in akhirah but in dunya, because in akhirah everyone is going to see Prophet (s) and as all nations will come under his flag:

آدم ومن دونه تحت لواي يوم القيامة

Adamu waman doona wa tahta liwa’ihee yawmal qiyyama.

Adam and who is under Adam is under my flag on Judgment Day.

meaning he is going to see me in dunya before he leaves dunya. He will see Prophet (s)."

If you did not see Prophet (s), can you say, “I saw Prophet (s) in the dream.” No way, as no one can lie on Prophet (s)! You might lie on the street to someone, or to your father or mother, but to lie to a Muslim is difficult, especially for a scholar and especially to those about whom Allah (swt) described:

أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

`Alaa inna awliyaaullaahi laa khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.

Behold! Verily on the Friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surat al-Yunus, 10:62)

Unless they actually saw the Prophet (s), those pious, sincere servants can never say, “We saw Prophet (s) and did this.” If they see they mention it and otherwise not. The evidence of seeing Prophet (s) and asking something and him replying in a dream is a fact and not imagination, and there is a strong base in Islam to support it. I will give an example of a normal person who is not even a Sahaabi, Imam Ishma`il al-Bukhari (r). Whenever he heard a hadith, he would sometimes travel months to the person who had it, in order to see if that hadith is correct. Then he always made istikhaara and asked Prophet (s) for the final confirmation. That is a wali, a pious person and not a Sahaabi. Whenever he wanted to compile a chapter of ahadeeth, he made istikhaara and asked Prophet (s) which chapter and category to place it in, and Prophet (s) told him. This means Allah (swt) gave some people the ability to see Prophet (s), and while not everyone can ask and get an answer, there are some who can and do. And this is what we have been explaining for the last two months in the series "The Greatness of Salawaat on Prophet (s)."

Today we continue to see how much salawaat is important and how much those who make qasa’id are inspired to write what they write. There are du`as and praises on Prophet (s) given to us by awliyaullah, whose barakah these qasaa’id are never able to reach. I will mention a story about someone in the time of Sayyidina Musa (a). One person was a gangster, a troublemaker. He had too many sins and did not leave anyone from his sharr, badness, and Sayyidina Musa (a) was annoyed with him. One day that man died, just as all of us are going to die. When they take you inside the grave and close everything over you, what are you going to say there? Today if they put you in an MRI machine, you begin to feel claustrophobic. What then are you going to feel when you are in a narrow box two meters long; will you not be claustrophobic? Can you do that in real life? Can you go to a grave, cover yourself and sit there? You cannot do it even for five minutes!

Around 300 Hijri, in the time of Imam Shafi`i (r), there was a lady named Sayyidah Nafeesa at-Tahirah (r) who, from the side of Sayyidina `Ali (r), is the grandchild of Prophet (s). She is buried in Egypt. Imam Shafi`i (r) used to pass by her house on his way to the masjid where he sat for one or two hours with his students as she explained tafseer of Holy Qur’an and hadith to them. She was called "Tahirah" because she made all her prayers, dhikr and salawaat day and night in a grave that she dug, to learn how to overcome the feeling of claustrophobia in the grave. She was one of the teachers of Imam Shafi`i (r).

So that man passed away, may Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us before we die, in the grave, and on Judgment Day with the barakah of Prophet Muhammad (s)! Sayyidina Musa (a) said, "Alhamdulillah his oppression on us is finished and we are relieved." So instead of praying on him and giving him a proper burial, they took him and threw him in a well. Allah (swt) used to talk to Musa (a), who was Kaleemullah. He (swt) said, "Yaa Musa! Today one of My servants whom I rewarded with Paradise died. Go and take him from the well, wash him, pray on him and bury him, as that one is one of My Friends."

Sayyidina Musa (a) was surprised and answered, "Yaa Rabbee, what happened? He was a gangster!"

Allah (swt) answered, "Yaa Musa! I will do anything for the ones I love. I created this entire creation for My Beloved and I will do anything for him! That person, who was a gangster in your eyes, one day opened the Tawraat and found the name ‘Muhammad.’ Upon seeing this name, he praised My Beloved, and I sent him to Paradise for saying ‘Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad’ only one time!"

It is mentioned in Talkhees al-Ma`arif on page 13 and in Fi ’l-Majaalis al-Makkiyya on page 27, that Prophet (s) said to one wali, as-Sakhawi, when he saw Prophet (s) in a dream:

Yaa Rasoolullah! If someone praises you what benefit will he get? He said, "Whoever praises me by praising the high level that Allah has given me, in order to show love and happiness towards me, Allah will create from this word an angel who has one wing in the east and one wing in the west and his head will be bowing under the Throne. And Allah will order that angel, "Praise My servant, because he praised My Beloved!" and that will be written for you until the Day of Judgment.

It is written in Kashf al-Ghummah on page 27, a very famous book of Imam Sha`arani, that Prophet (s) said to a wali in a dream:

For anyone who praises me out of love, Allah will create an angel who has a wing in the east and a wing in the west and Allah will order him to dip his wings in water and shake them, and from every drop of that water I will create an angel that will praise the Prophet (s) and all of that will be written for the one who made that salawaat. The Prophet said, "Praises on me are better at extinguishing sins than water can put out fire."

This means if only once we say, "Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadin wa `alaa ali Sayyidina Muhammadin was sallim," it will erase all our sins!

O Muslims! Allah gave us a way to save ourselves and for the ummah to save itself. Do you know Salaat al Faatih? Who wrote that salawaat? It is very well-known that it is from Muhammad al-Bakri (r), but he did not write it, it was dictated to him. He is a big wali of his time. He said, "I saw Prophet (s) in a dream" and he asked, "Yaa Rabbee! Teach me one salawaat that no one has said or written before, that if I recite it, it will equal the number of salawaat from the time of Sayyidina Adam (a) until Judgment Day!" And he saw Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in his dream saying, "Write Salaat al-Fatih (below)."

اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد الفاتح لما أغلق و الخاتم لما سبق ناصر الحق بالحق و الهادي إلى صراطك المستقيم وعلى آله حق قدره و مقداره العظيم

Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadin ‘il-faatihi limaa ughliqa wa ’l-khaatimi limaa sabaqa wa naasiri ’l-haqqi bi ’l-haqqi wa ’l-haadi ilaa siraatik al-mustaqeema salla ’Llaahu `alayhi wa `alaa aalihi haqqa qadrihi wa miqdaarihi ’l-`azheem.

O Allah! Bless our Master Muhammad (s), who opened what was closed and who is the Seal of what went before, he who makes the Truth victorious by the Truth, the guide to Your Straight Path, and bless his household as is the due of his immense position and grandeur.

That is like you have made not one salawaat, but just now we read it and Allah (swt) created 600,000 angels who are making salawaat that is written for you until the Day of Judgment! Allah is giving us things that will save us on the Day of Judgment because we are doing too many sins. Even for Sayyidina Dawood (a), when Allah created Adam and put the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in his forehead, He ordered all angels to make a sajda of respect to that Light of the Prophet (s).

It has been mentioned in many places and in many combined ahadeeth that the beautiful smell that comes from making salawaat on Prophet (s) penetrates all the earths and all Seven Heavens, reaches the Throne and makes sajda, and it is written for that person! To make salawaat is the easiest way for Allah (swt) to forgive our sins. I will mention one salawaat and ask, are you afraid from the grave? Yes, of course, and it makes you to feel claustrophobic. The salawaat I am about to mention will take claustrophobia away from you and will make ease for you in the grave, and will make you to not be afraid from the interrogating angels Munkar and Nakeer, like Sayyidina `Umar (r).

It is said that Sayyidina `Ali’s and Sayyidina Umar’s sons were always debating each other, which are norms of dunya, but their eyes were open. When Sayyidina `Umar (r) passed away they buried him, and after everyone left, the sons of the two Sahaabi stood by the grave debating with each other, "My father is better," "No, your father is not better," as they were young. Then the two angels came and Grandshaykh (q) said they began to ask him questions, and the first question was, "Who is your Creator?" You have to say, "Allah (swt)," but can you trust yourself there to say it? If Allah froze our tongue we will be lost! May Allah (swt) not freeze our tongue and may we successfully say, "Allah is the Creator! Prophet (s) is the Messenger! Islam is our religion! The Holy Qur’an is our book!"

So Munkar and Nakeer asked, "Who is your Creator?"

Sayyidina `Umar (r) looked at them and said, "Do you not know me?"

They said, "We don’t know anyone, we are asking you!"

No one can do what Sayyidina `Umar did; he was fierce, strong, and gave power to Islam. He said, "Come nearer, I can’t hear the question." So Sayyidina Munkar came closer and asked again, and Sayyidina `Umar (r) asked Munkar, "You are coming all the way from heaven, how long did it take you? Do you think I have already forgotten my Creator when it is only 100 meters from my home to this grave?" Then he punched Munkar in the eye!

Grandshaykh (q) said that even up to today, Sayyidina Munkar has pain in that eye from Sayyidina `Umar’s blow, which was done on behalf of the whole ummah! It means, "Do not approach ummat an-Nabee (s)!" So for anyone who recites that salawaat, upon their death Prophet (s) will go with them to their burial and bury them himself with his own blessed hands! It is mentioned as An-Tusimma Salaatu ’l-`Aali, "The Highest Salaat." It is:

اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد النبي الأمي الحبيب العالي القدر العظيم الجاه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم

Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baarik `alaa Sayyidina Muhmmadin an-Nabee, al-Ummee, al-Habeeb, al-`Aali, al-Qadri, al-`Azheem, al-Habeebu ’l-`Aaliyy al-qadr, al-`Azheemi ’l- ja’a, wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.

Shaykh Yusawi (r) said that Ad-Dardeer, who is very famous, explained that and Imam Suyuti (r) has confirmed this salawaat. It is mentioned that whoever keeps reciting it once every Friday will not be put in the grave except that he will be with Prophet (s)! Also, Syed Zayni ad-Dahlaan of Mecca, a very famous mufti from the Shafi`i school of thought, wrote in one of his collections on page 65, "It is from the best forms or versions of praising Prophet (s)." Numerous awliyaullah said, "Whoever recites it even once on Friday or from Thursday evening onwards, Allah will allow his soul to see the Exemplar of All Souls (s) at his death." Allah (swt) will open for him to see Prophet (s) when his soul is coming out, not only in death but also when they take him to his grave, until he sees Prophet (s) is the one taking care of him in that grave! That is the for the one who will recite it just once!

And how many sins do we have? Do we need this salawaat? We did it once, so now when Munkar and Nakeer will be with you and will see the Prophet (s), they will feel shy from him and run away. Some ahadeeth say about Salaat al-Fatih that if you recite it once, it is equal to 600,000 readings of Dala’il al-Khayrat.

I will give an example of a sin from a Prophet, which is not considered a sin as Prophets are m`asoom, infallible, but they are teaching us. This is related from the son of Sayyidina Hussayn (r). Everyone knows the story of Sayyidina Dawood (a) from the Holy Qur’an, when the two angels came to him and he wanted to marry the wife of his general, aside from his existing 99 wives. Although that was not a sin, he asked thus and no sin was committed, but for Prophets it is considered a sin, so Allah (swt) is teaching us here. Sayyidina Dawood (a) began to cry until all of Bani Israel was crying. With one tear that comes from your eyes in the middle of the night out of love for Allah, He will heal you from all kinds of sins! In the hadith of the Prophet (s), he said, "Allah loves most a servant whose tears come from crying in the middle of the night and that one tear will save him from Hellfire."

So when Sayyidina Dawood (a) asked for that marriage and fell into that mistake, he began to cry and all of Bani Israel also cried. He went to the forest and all the animals cried with him. Sayyidina Adam (a) cried for forty years because of one sin, one act of disobedience! How much do we disobey? Adam cried for forty years and tears flowed from his eyes like rivers, until Allah (swt) said to him, "Raise your head, you are forgiven." What about us, are we worried or not? Don’t worry, but make salawaat.

Sayyidina Dawood (a) became so frustrated from his mistake and he heard the mountain making tasbeeh and he went to the mountain and said, Fa yunaadee ilayka rahibtu ilaahee min `azheem jurmee, "O my God! I am coming to You asking forgiveness for my great mistake," and he cried until midnight, return home, enter his room, lock the door and remain praying, prostrating, fasting and crying continuously.

One night his young son came to him and said, "O my father! Night came and the people who are fasting have broken their fast."

He said, "O my son! Your father is not the same father he was before; he fell into a deep problem and is busy. He is not interested in your supper."

The child went back to his mother crying and the mother came to the door and said, "O Allah's Messenger! For your sake, I give you my father’s and my mother’s life! Night came and the food of the one who is fasting is ready. Can we bring you your food?"

He called her from behind the door, "What is Dawood going to do with the food? Nothing. What is he going to do after he committed this sin?"

How much of sins we commit and how many tears come from our eyes? He kept crying like that for years, until Allah (swt) sent him a message, "Yaa Dawood! I forgive you." Did we get a message like that? No.

This is written in the tafseer of the creation of Adam.

When Sayyidina Adam (a) was created, Allah (swt) stroked his back and drips came from it and all his offspring began to appear from those drips. When all those whom Allah created through Adam (a) appeared, (and He taught him all the names, not only of human beings), he said Allah made Light come out between the eyes of people, (and that Light is a trace of noor an-Nabee (s) that Prophet (s) gave to each of his ummah and every human being inherited a little bit of that Light). Sayyidina Adam (a) saw one of them who was very beautiful and he cried, asking, "Yaa Rabbee, who is that?" Allah (swt) said, "That is one of your ummah." One riwaya says it is from the ummah of Sayyidina Muhammad and one says it is one of Sayyidina Adam’s children and that one was Sayyidina Dawood (a). Sayyidina Adam said, "Yaa Rabbee, why did you make his life short, give him part of my life?" And when the Angel of Death came to take his soul, Sayyidina Adam said, "Why have you come? I still have forty years left."The angel said, "You forgot that you gave forty years of your life to Sayyidina Dawood?" (Tirmidhi, hasan sahih)

He forgot, so that is why Allah (swt) made all his children forget. Jahada means "he revoked his promise." When the angel came, he said, "Revoke it, cancel that deal." So that is why his ummah revokes too much and they cancel many things and they forget too much. However, Allah (swt) gave us a way through reciting many salawaat on Prophet (s) and that will save us from problems and from Hellfire. May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless this meeting, and bless all your children so inshaa-Allah they will be strong enough to fight Shaytan, who penetrates each one of us! This is the biggest challenge we face today, the struggle between good and evil. There are too many evil ones, but still there are also some good ones.

And we mentioned in Jumu`ah today that:

آية المنافق ثلاث إذا حدث كذب وإذا وعد أخلف وإذا ائتمن خان

Ayatu ’l-munaafiq thalaath: idhaa hadatha kadhib wa idhaa wa`adu akhlaf wa idhaa utumina khaan.

The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, and when he makes a promise he breaks it and when he is charged with a trust he deceives. (Bukhari)

The signs of a hypocrite are three: If he talks he lies. (There might be some who don’t lie, but the majority lie and Allah (swt) does not like that). If you trusted him, he betrays you.

How much we trust many people and then at the end they betray us, especially in the stock market, so don’t invest in stocks as they raise the price then drop and use the stock market like a machine. Third is, if he promises, he revokes his promise.

Sayyidina Adam (s) promised forty years of his life, astaghfirullah, he is a prophet and he will not do that like us. Also one time, when the Prophet (s) was in a mosque at Madinah two Sahaabah said, "We want to go to the next village and we will come back after prayers," but the time for prayer came and they did not return. The time for `Asr passed and then Maghrib. The Sahaabah had to spend the night in the village as it was then nightfall. Finally when they returned in the morning, they found Sayyidina Muhammad (s) still there waiting for them. He (s) said, "A mu’min keeps his promise."

Look at the hadith of the three signs of the hypocrite: if he speaks he lies, if he is trusted he betrays the trust, and if he makes a promise he revokes it, even though he prays and fasts! We can see that hadith is mentioning a Muslim; if they have these three signs they are munaafiq, even though they might pray and fast! So we have to struggle to take these characteritics out of us.

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

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