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Salawaat that Instantly Raise You

The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 4

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

25 March 2012 Fenton, Michigan

Suhbah Before Salaat azh-Zhuhr

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

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

Alhamdulillah, today we spoke to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q) again, may Allah give him health, and he was sending salaams to everyone, as you saw on Skype. Alhamdulillah everyday he is improving and getting better and better, inshaa-Allah.

In the previous session, we were speaking about the importance of salawaat on the Prophet (s) in different ways. One of them was originated from Sayyidina `Ali (r), which is part of the salawaat we recite everyday. In his book Nahj ul-Muttaqeen, Peak of the God-Fearing, Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, man salla `alaa an-Nabi (s) bi haaoolaai kalimaati fee kulli yawmin thalaatha marraat wa fee kulli ’l-jumu`ah miyata marratin..., “Whoever makes salawaat on the Prophet (s) with these words three times every day and a hundred times on Jumu`ah day, will benefit from them as if all of Creation, all Muslims on Earth, all mu’min jinn, and all angels have made salawaat on the Prophet (s).”

That is what I was saying in the previous session, that different awliyaullah from around the world, like Imam Jazuli (q), who compiled Dalaa’il al-Khayraat, have taught us. He was not a Naqshbandi; he was from the Shadili Tariqah, but his Dalaa’il al-Khayraat is being read all over the world by every Muslim seeking the presence of the Prophet (s) in his or her Gnostic journey! Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), including all imaams after the time of Imam al-Jazuli (q), who is buried in Marrakech, Morocco, and all Naqshbandis are reading Dalaa’il al-Khayraat. They don't say, “Why should we read from Dalaa’il al-Khayraat when he isn’t a Naqshbandi?” Awliyaullah have a relationship with each other; therefore, they take from one another and know how important Dalaa’il al-Khayraat is for the seeker.

The salawaat Sayyidina `Ali (r) related is one way of making salawaat, which is part of the recitations of the Naqshbandi Order, so it is not coming only from Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) as-Siddiq (r); perhaps the first part of the recitation is from Sayyidina Abu Bakr but we cannot say Naqshbandis only take from him; they also take from the lineage of Sayyidina `Ali (r) through Sayyidina Ja`far as-Sadiq (r), and that is why we say we are taking from both sides. So if you recite the salawaat that Sayyidina `Ali (r) related three times a day or a hundred times on Fridays, you will get the reward of all that Allah (swt) has created, as everything makes salawaat on the Prophet (s)!

How many Muslims are there around the world and how many salawaat do they recite each day? If you add them all up along with the salawaat of all angels, salawaat al-khalq and salawaat jami`ee al-khalq, as Sayyidina `Ali (r) mentioned, gathering the salawaat of all Creation including mu’min jinn and other creations, it will be as if you made that many number of salawaat when you recite this three times a day. Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, man salla `ala an-nabi (s), “Whoever makes salawaat on the Prophet (s) in this way,” which means you do salawaat one way, he does it another way and that one does it some other way, and it will be as though you have made salawaat on the Prophet (s) in all these ways with all the angels!

Also, wa hushira yawm al-qiyamat ma` an-nabi (s), “You will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment with the prophets,” as mentioned in the Holy Qur'an:

وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاء وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـئِكَ رَفِيقًا

Wa man yuti`i Allaha wa ‘r-rasoola fa’oolaaika ma` ’Lladheena an`am Allahu `alayhim min an-nabiyyeena wa ‘s-siddiqeena wa ‘sh-shuhadaa’ wa ‘s-saaliheena wa hasuna oolaa’ika rafeeqa.

All who obey Allah and the Prophet are in the company of those on whom is the grace of Allah, of the prophets (who teach), the sincere (lovers of Truth), the witnesses (who testify), and the righteous (who do good). Ah, what a beautiful fellowship! (Surat an-Nisa’, 4:69)

Allah (swt) is saying, ma`alladheena an`ama Allahu `alayhim min an-nabiyyeena wa ‘s-siddiqeena wa ‘sh-shuhadaa’ wa ‘s-saaliheena, “Be with the prophets, the veracious, the martyrs and the pious,” and Prophet (s) will take your hand until you enter his place in Paradise!

Now there is a question that stuns the mind. It is not confusing, but muhayyar, something which makes you astonished and to say, “How can I understand that? It is too big!” The question is, if I made this salawaat along with ten other people, we will all be with the Prophet (s), is it not? Then how is the Prophet (s) going to take the hands of ten people? You can take the hand of two people, but you can’t take the hand of ten people! So how would he do that? Forget ten, as it is not only ten who are making salawaat, but it is millions and millions!

One time I heard Grandshaykh (q) say, “Ummat an-Nabi (s) consists of four-hundred billion human beings, all of whom make salawaat on the Prophet (s)!” So then how is the Prophet (s) going to take four-hundred billion hands at the same time? That is the greatness of the Prophet, (s) to whom Allah (swt) gave that secret from His Beautiful Names and Attributes to take the hand of everyone! He will be like a mirror that you look into and see hundreds of reflections! One of his many reflections or roohaniyyah, realities, will accompany each person, taking each one with his level and that is how he will take them all.

Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:

وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ

Wa nahnu aqrabu ilayhi min habli ‘l-wareed.

And We are nearer to you than your jugular vein. (Surat al-Qaaf, 50:16)

And Allah (swt) also said:

وإعلموا أن فيكم رسول الله

W`alamoo anna feekum rasoolullaah.

And know Allah's Messenger is in you. (Surat al-Hujurat, 49:7)

The Prophet (s) is “within you,” not by himself, but by his holy manifestation. His reflection appears in you because Allah (swt) created human beings from three Lights: the Light of Allah, Light of the Prophet (s) and the Light of Sayyidina Adam (a). So that appearance of Light will come out of his greatness, and these spiritualities will appear in the form of his picture. Therefore, you feel yourself holding the hand of the Prophet (s).

To every person a different tajalli appears and it may be as the Shaykh or any other form that the Prophet (s) wants you to see. So awliyaullah have many different appearances of the Prophet (s) coming to them and they can be in the presence of the Prophet (s) at any time, but normal people may feel something when reciting, except they cannot see the presence of the Prophet (s) as they are spiritually blind. Awliyaullah can see the Prophet (s), as they say in Urdu, he is haadir, “present,” and naazhir, “sees.” So he is waiting for you to make salawaat, and we say, “Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!”

That is why there are some groups of people that when name of the Prophet (s) comes they say, “Allahumma salli `ala Muhammad wa `ala aali Muhammad!” We, Ahlu’l-Sunnah wa ‘l-Jama'ah, don't open our mouth, and in the time of the Ottomans when the name of the Prophet (s) was mentioned, all of them stood up--the sultan, the queen, the princes and princesses, everyone!

We ask the Prophet (s) to look at us and to defeat our enemies; we ask your vision on us yaa Aba Zahra, yaa Aba Zahra lillaahi nazhra, laa tukhayibna... “O father of Zahra! Gaze on us, don't let us down for the sake of Allah, and we are your guests so don't refuse us!” Will the Prophet (s) refuse anyone? There is no way! If you ask from your heart, he will answer. Say, “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah lillaahi nazhra, We are your guests, don't refuse us!” May Allah (swt) keep us with our shaykh, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q)! When we call on Prophet (s) he answers and he is present, but we are blind, we don't see. Just now that tajalli and appearance came with the barakah of Grandshaykh (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) for the sake of Sayyida Fatimah az-Zahra (r), when Prophet (s) said to her, “Yaa Fatimah! I want you to marry and `Ali (r) is proposing to you.”

She said, “No I don't want to.” That was so great, that she refused Sayyidina `Ali’s proposal and the Prophet (s) was surprised.

Sayyidina Jibreel (a) came and said, “Yaa Rasoolullah! Ask her why.”

And the Prophet (s) said, “Yaa Fatimah! Why are you refusing your cousin, the first young one to come to Islam?”

She replied, “Yaa Rasoolullah! When you were born, you came out of your mother's womb saying, ummattee, ummatee, ‘My Nation, my Nation,’ and when throughout your life you are saying, ‘My Nation,’ and when you are dying you are saying, ‘My Nation,’ and in the grave you are saying, ‘My Nation,’ and in Akhirah you are saying, ‘My Nation.’ So if you want me to marry Sayyidina `Ali (r), my dowry must be your Nation, the whole ummah of Sayyidina Muhammad (s).”

Now if the Prophet (s) agrees and she marries him, it means on the Day of Judgment she wants the whole ummah to be with her, or else her marriage to Sayyidina `Ali (r) will not be correct.

Prophet (s) said, “I cannot answer.”

Jibreel (a) came and said, “Allah (swt) is accepting that your dowry be the Nation of Sayyidina Muhammad (s).”

Grandshaykh (q) said, “That manifestation and that appearance came to Fatimah az-Zahra (r). And when the Prophet (s) will come to ask shafa`ah for the ummah, she will stand up and say, ‘Give me my dowry,’ then Allah (swt) will say to her, ‘Take your dowry,’ and she will go to Paradise with them!” She did not live too long; when the Prophet (s) left dunya, she also left dunya shortly after as she was so near to Sayyidina Muhammad (s).

So Sayyidina `Ali (r) is saying, “Whoever reads that salawaat will be as if he read all the salawaat of all Creation, including ins, jinn, angels, and anything that makes salawaat on the Prophet (s).” We also said that the Prophet (s) will take his hand towards Paradise and bring him into Paradise. At the same time there are billions and billions of Muslims and for the Prophet (s) to take them to Paradise, he will take the hands of those who read that salawaat.

There are salawaat for all different kinds of issues. The Dalaa’il al-Khayraat combined all these salawaat, it contains all the salawaat of awliyaullah that they received in dreams and visions. As we mentioned the hadith:

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (r) reports that the Messenger of Allah (s) said, “He who saw me in a dream has certainly seen me, for Shaytan can not take my form.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

So awliyaullah are taking these salawaat from the Prophet (s) in their dreams, as we mentioned that Imam Bukhari (q) was taking the titles of hadith after sleeping and seeing Prophet (s) in his dream telling him the title and the placement.

(From the Naqshbandi Guide Book.) Are you reading this in your daily awraad? Yes, and all are taking from Grandshaykh `AbdAllah and Great-Grandshaykh Sharafuddin, back to Shaykh Abu Ahmad as-Sughuri (q), and so on. (Shaykh Hisham recites this part of Sayyid as-Salawaat three times.)

Salawaatullaahi wa malaa’ikatihi wa anbiyaihi wa rusoolihi wa jami`ee khalqihi `alaa Muhammad wa `alaa aali Muhammad `alayhi wa `alayhimu ‘s-salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. (3 xs)

Blessings of Allah Almighty, of His Angels, of His Prophets, of His Messengers, and all Creation be upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad; may the Peace and Mercy of Allah Almighty and His Blessings be upon upon him and upon them.

Yaa Sayyidina `Ali (r)! We read it three times, as you said, “Anyone who reads it three times daily and a hundred times on Jumu`ah, it is as if he recited the salawaat of all of Creation!” It is like a treasure chest full of gold coins! When you open the box of salawaat, it opens the salawaat of all Creation as if you read every one and then the Prophet (s) will take you by the hand to Paradise!

Then the following was added to that salawaat, recited three times:

`alaa ashrafi ‘l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammadin salawaat. `alaa afdali ‘l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammadin salawaat. `alaa akmali’ l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammadin salawaat.

On the Most Honored of Creation Sayyidina Muhammad prayers. On the Best of Creation Sayyidina Muhammad prayers. On the Most Perfect of Creation Sayyidina Muhammad prayers.

Salawaatullaahi wa malaa’ikatihi wa anbiyaaihi wa rusoolihi wa jami`ee khalqihi `alaa Muhammad wa `alaa aali Muhammad `alayhi wa `alayhimu ‘s-salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.

Blessings of Allah Almighty, of His Angels, of His Prophets, of His Messengers, and all Creation be upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad; may the Peace and Mercy of Allah Almighty and His Blessings be upon upon him and upon them.

And the next part is the salawaat of Shaykh Sharafuddin. Then the next part was added by the Prophet (s) in a vision of Shaykh Sharafuddin (q):

Wa radi-Allahu tabaaraka wa ta`alaa `an-saadaatinaa as-haabi rasoolillaahi ajma`een. Wa `ani ‘t-taabi`eena bihim bi-ihsaanin, wa `ani ‘l-a’immati ’l-mujtahedeen al-maadeen, wa `ani ‘l-`ulamaai ’l-muttaqeen, wa `ani ‘l-awliyaai ‘s-saaliheen, wa `an mashayikhinaa fi ‘t-tareeqatin naqshibandiyyati ‘l-`aliyyah, qaddas Allaahu ta`ala arwaahahumu ’z-zakiyya, wa nawwarr Allaahu ta`alaa adrihatamu ’l-mubaaraka, wa `adallaahu ta`alaa `alaynaa min barakaatihim wa fuyoodatihim daa’iman wa ‘l-hamdulillaahi rabbi ‘l-`alameen.

May Allah, the Blessed and Most High, be pleased with every one of our Masters of juristic reasoning and with the pious scholars and the righteous saints and with our shaykhs in the exalted Naqshbandi Order. May Allah (swt) sanctify their pure souls and illuminate their blessed graves. May Allah (swt) return to us of their blessings and overflowing bounty, always. Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.

As Grandshaykh (q) said, “If you recite that salawaat once, it is heavier than if the whole of Creation--from the time of Sayyidina Adam (a) up to Judgment Day--was standing twenty-four hours in salawaat, and if they finished that they repeated it for another twenty-four hours, and then repeated it then endlessly, and took all their lives and put their salawaat on one side of the Scale and the salawaat of Grandshaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) on the other side, it will be heavier!

Now there are many forms of salawaat, but since Sayyidina `Ali (r) mentioned that particular salawaat, which is in the middle of Shaykh Sharafuddin's salawaat, coming from Prophet (s) to heart of awliyaullah, we recite this daily. See how lucky we are! They don't turn us down, but teach us what we need to learn and know!

I will end with this. It is said in the book Matali` al-Massarraat, which mentions some of the sayings of the Sahaabah (r) that there is not a single place in which salawaat on the Prophet (s) is recited but a sweet scent will rise up from that place reaching to the Heavens, and all Creation will smell that scent except human beings! And that is why we used to read Dalaa’il al-Khayraat in jama`at and sat on benches, twenty, seventy or a hundred people, two-hundred people, and in the same voice we recited Dalaa’il al-Khayraat, in the late 1960s, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

We once went to Bonovodro Village in Pekalongen, East Java, Indonesia near the home of Shaykh Mustafa, in which the whole city closes an hour before Maghrib, and after `Asr thousands come to the main masjid that holds thousands of people, and they place microphones on the grass everywhere and they collectively recite Dalaa’il al-Khayraat! They have done this daily for two-hundred years. We got one copy; it is on Sufilive.com. All of them recite in the same tone, like the sound of a swarm of bees. They finish at Maghrib and go. They say they observed that practice since one Yemeni Shaykh came there.

The Sahaabah (r) can see the Prophet (s), the imaams and grandchildren in dreams, a'immat al-ithnaa `ashar, they can be with the Prophet (s) anytime. They said in any place that you are reciting any form of salawaat--and the form we mentioned is one of the highest, but any form, even, “Allahumma salli `alaa Muhammad wa `alaa aali Muhammad”--there will appear a beautiful, heavenly fragrance from the Prophet’s beauty that will penetrate the Seven Heavens until it reaches the Throne of Allah (swt)! Because every mu’min or Muslim who makes wudu and prays two raka`ats before he sleeps, his soul will ascend in sajda under the Throne, and this is an authentic hadith of the Prophet (s), so they cannot deny it.

All of Creation will smell that heavenly fragrance except two groups, human beings and jinn, who are both liable because of their bad actions. Angels are ma`soom, infallible, and animals and plant life are not judged; trees and animals make tasbeeh and they can smell it. Whatever Allah (swt) created can smell that, except those who are on Earth and ins and jinn, who, had they smelled it, life would have stopped, because everyone would be preoccupied with that smell: their life and breath will be that smell, their heart would pump that smell, their thinking would be focused on that smell, their hands would move on that smell, their feet would walk on that smell! That is why Allah (swt) did not allow it to be smelled by ins or jinn.

And everything that Allah created other than ins and jin, meaning angels and whatever Allah created other than angels, will ask istighfaar for these people, and on the number of those making istighfaar for you in that association, all will be written for you. If one-million or one-billion are in that association, it is for you. That is why there are levels in Paradise, the First Heaven, Second Heaven, and above the seven levels of Heaven, Allah (swt) knows what is there. Whether there is one person in that majlis or a large number of people doing salawaat, they will all get the same amount of rewards, as mentioned in the book Talkhees al-Ma`arif page 73.

We will inshaa-Allah continue more on these issues of salawaat on the Prophet (s).

Because Mawlana Shaykh Nazim asked from his representatives especially that he wants to put a school for teaching only the Greatness of the Prophet (s). So we are, inshaa-Allah, doing this program to show the Greatness of the Prophet (s) and we are trying through small associations until we are able to make a school in London in this new building, to make a kind of crash course on the Greatness of the Prophet (s). This is a taste of that and you are tasting the sweetness, but there is more!

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

You can go back to yesterday’s suhbah where we mentioned one of these salawaat, ( Salaat Nuraniyyah / Salaat Badawi Kubra) and many pious and sincere people have said that it is a kaffarah (amends wrong actions) and forgiveness for those who missed prayers and fasting in their lives. If you missed prayers and fasting, go back and see it. However, that doesn’t mean you don't need to make them up; rather, with every prayer, make up one prayer; also, keep the intention of making up all your missed prayers. For those who missed fasting, they can fast Mondays and Thursdays or during winter when days are short, they can fast. To fast on Friday is not recommended. It is easy to fast twelve hours, so find those days and fast then, and it will be kaffarah, unless you want to give out sadaqah, but that is not as easy.

I don't want to stress you out, but if someone intentionally breaks his fast, his kaffarah is to fast sixty consecutive days for one day’s fast or to give food to sixty people, the cost of one meal per person. So you can do that over the coming years and Allah (swt) is The One Who Forgives, so make your intention. What else can you do other than that? You can distribute sixty breads a day in a poor Muslim country, giving one bread to one person and a cup of rice, or one pound of rice and whatever of flour, etc. That will be enough for a whole family. In any case, you can give kaffarah money or make intention that you will slowly, slowly make it up, and Allah will forgive you, inshaa-Allah.

I will tell you a story about a rich man in the time of Great-Grandshaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) and Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q). He was so rich and he was not a practicing Muslim, when suddenly Allah (swt) guided him back to the normal practice of Islam and he said, “I am leaving behind all that I did before and am going to be a mu`min, a Muslim, keeping all my prayers and fasting.” He went to many scholars and asked them, “All these years I have not paid zakaat. How much do I have to pay now?” Each one said, “One-million golden coins,” which disturbed him. You know it is hard to say, “I will pay.”

May Allah (swt) forgive us, as we have made many mistakes in our payments of zakaat, but his ego was not letting him spend half a million or one-million, until finally he came to Grandshaykh (q) `AbdAllah, who was young at the time, and said, “What do I have to pay?”

Grandshaykh (q) said, “I, as khalifah of Shaykh Sharafuddin (who only lived sixty-three years), will make istikhara. Come tomorrow and I will give you an answer.”

He came the next day and Grandshaykh (q) told him, “My istikhara showed you only have to pay five-hundred golden coins.” That was a huge discount, might be 99% of what he was previously told!

Astonished, that man said, “Is that it?”

Grandshaykh (q) said, “That is it and you will be excused.” Look how awliyaullah can manage people! He said, “Okay, I will bring five-hundred golden coins.”

Then Grandshaykh said, “No, no, don't give that to me, but bring a drinking water system for the villages.” You can see in villages all these taps for water from the Ottoman times.

That man said, “I am going to begin it.” After saying that to Grandshaykh (q), that night a dream in which the Prophet (s) said to him, “O my son! I accept what my son told you.”

That man came running to Grandshaykh (q) in his night clothes at Fajr time and said, “Yaa Sayyidee! I saw the Prophet (s) saying to me he accepted the five-hundred golden coins. Now I will not give only five hundred, I will give five million!” See how awliyaullah hook people? That man was so happy to see the Prophet (s)! People wish to see the Prophet (s) and will give their lives to see him! And then he gave five-million gold coins to supply drinking water to different places in Turkey. So awliyaullah know.

Now we say, make intention and do your prayers and fasting and do your goodness, and when the intention is strong to do that, Allah (swt) will see your actions and intentions and forgive you! May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us!

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

`Alaa ashrafi ‘l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammadin salawaat, `alaa afdali ’l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammadin salawaat, `alaa akmali ’l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammadin salawaat. Salawaatullaahi wa malaa’ikatihi wa anbiyaaihi wa rusoolihi wa jami`ee khalqihi `alaa Muhammad wa `alaa aali Muhammad `alayhi wa `alayhimu ‘s-salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.

When you recite this, it is as if you made salawaat with all of Creation and the benefit of all that was shared with you. Say it three times a day and a hundred times a day on Friday:

Salawaatullaahi wa malaa’ikatihi wa anbiyaaihi wa rusoolihi wa jami`ee khalqihi `alaa Muhammad wa `alaa aali Muhammad `alayhi wa `alayhimu ‘s-salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuh. (3 xs)

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