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Spiritual Ascension

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

21 January 2017 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

Isha Suhbah (2)

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

Nawaytu 'l-arba'een, nawaytu'l-'itikaaf, nawaytu'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-'uzlah, nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta'ala fee hadha 'l-masjid.

وَذَكِّرْفَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَى تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the Believers. (Surat adh-Dhaariyat, 51:55)

Reminding people will benefit them. Allah (swt) honored His Prophet (s) by inviting him to His Divine Presence on the Night of Laylat al-Israa wa 'l-Mi`raaj, and no comparison can be made to that, even when you describe it you are limited. When Allah brought His Beloved Servant, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) to the Heavens and the Divine Presence, laa shareeka lahu, “There is no partner to Allah,” and no partner to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in his humility.

Now I saw a celebration and a cake [for Mawlana Shaykh Hisham’s birthday]; excitement and entertainment came with it and a feeling of happiness. I was touched by what people did. When I saw that it came to my heart from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), “Imagine, that is from men to men, celebrating for a certain reason. What then do we think of what Allah (swt), The Creator, gave to the Prophet (s) when He invited him to the Divine Presence? What we have in dunya is not even an atom compared to what Allah (swt) prepared for His Prophet (s).”

Allah not only raised him, He ordered His angels to make salawaat on the Prophet (s) and with every salawaat the Prophet (s) is raised to a higher level. If there is one angel, one level; if there are two angels, they will be raising the Prophet (s) to twice that level. If there are hundreds, hundreds of levels, if millions then millions of levels, and if trillions then trillions of levels, and more. We cannot count. It is not like us here , where we are limited; that is different from what we do here. Here we cut the cake and give gifts. Ascension is different. As much as Allah gives, that much Sayyidina Muhammad (s) ascends, going higher and higher in order that Allah is happy with him. Allah (swt) invited him (s) and his Ummah; he did not go alone by himself because he loves his Ummah and took them, and Allah gave him that choice:

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Say (O Muhammad), "If you (really) love Allah, then follow me! Allah will love you and forgive your sins, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Surat Aali-'Imraan, 3:31)

That means wherever Allah gave that opportunity to an-Nabi (s) it also includes the Ummah! Follow whom? Follow Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! It means the Prophet (s) is in continuous Mi`raaj until the Day of Judgment, because angels are making salawaat on him non-stop and their salawaat is also written for the Ummah, which the Prophet (s) raises with him. Allah gave the Prophet (s) ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah.’ Allah (swt) is Al-Khaliq, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah, and Muhammadun Rasoolullah is the Reality that he (s) is the Messenger of Allah and Prophet of the Last Era: after him there is no prophet. If we really love Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) then Allah is saying, “Come with him. I will let you come with him.”

May Allah bless Grandshaykh `AbdAllah and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), who taught us that Allah is the Creator, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah, and Muhammad Rasoolullah is the Creation. When that Noor of Laa ilaaha illa-Llah went to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), the Noor of the Prophet (s) was created and every creature is included in it, the circle of Muhammad Rasoolullah. Everything inside the circle is all of Creation and Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is the one controlling them through his Message.

‘Controlling’ is not the correct word; rather, they were given the honor to be his followers. That is why every human being has seven names in Paradise, and one begins with “`Abd” as the secret of ʿuboodiyyah, servanthood, will be opened to them. `Abdul-Hafeezh, `Abdul-Hakeem, `Abdul-Lateef, to be a servant to Allah. That is why the Prophet (s) said:

افضل الاسماء ما عبد وحمد

The best of names are those with ‘ʿAbd’ and ‘Muhammad.’

We spoke this afternoon about how the one who has an atom of arrogance will not see, he will be completely veiled from his Trust. Awliyaullah are entrusted by the Prophet (s) to deliver everything to the right place, they do not decide where it goes. A Wali gives an oath in front of Rawhaniyyat al-Nabi (s) to carry his student clean to the Presence of the Prophet (s), so if there is one atom of arrogance, he cannot reach what the Prophet (s) or the shaykh wants him to reach. That is what happened to the khalifah of Muhammad Zahid al-Bukhari (q). Because of one word he was thrown out, although he was a khalifah with the power of the Six Realitiesp and his reputation went East and West, in every village and every city.

May Allah (swt) protect us from Iblees wa junoodihi, because he is looking from that place Allah granted him in the heart of human beings. He can go enter and exit our heart. Allah threw him of Paradise because of arrogance, when he replied to Allah (swt):

قَالَ أَنَاْ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ

I am better than him, as You created me from fire and You created him from mud! (Surat al-`Araaf, 7:12)

Ana khayrun minhu, “I am better than Adam (a)! You created me from fire and You created him from mud! I will not make sajda.” He did not speak those words, but his heart said it and because of that he was thrown out. “How am I going to make sajda? No one has prayed like me.” There are some Ahadeeth that Iblees made sajda in every corner of this universe, nowhere lacks his sajda, and that for two-thousand years he did `ibaadah. Yet, Allah threw it in his face and cursed him because he was arrogant and he was jealous of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), because he knew the Noor of the Prophet (s) was in the forehead of Sayyidina Adam (a).

May Allah (swt) not test us. If you fill this dunya with books and gather them all, they are not going to benefit you. One mistake, like that one mistake of the khalifah of Muhammad Zahid al-Bukhari (q), will cause you to be thrown out because you are a scholar and you know that arrogance is not accepted. We are not scholars, we have a low level of education with no responsibility as sheep, lambs and goats are not responsible, only their shepherd is responsible, the Wali.

Sayyidina `Ali (r) stood in front of the Sahaabah (r) and said, shakar Allah sa`ee al-musannifeen, “May Allah bless those who wrote books.” He praised them at the beginning: may Allah bless them because they wrote what benefits the Ummah, but also all they wrote gave pain to the heart. When you take a mushaaf, the Qu’ran, and you read, do you see anything? No, because we are reading it like a toy, not knowing what we are reading. According to Awliyaullah, Allah (swt) will open from twelve thousand to twenty-four thousand oceans of knowledge on every letter, because it is alive!

Sayyidina `Ali (r) knows that Reality and said, “I thank them because they spent time (spreading knowledge), but I feel bad for them because they did not reach the right interpretation as their veils have not been lifted.” He said the entire Qur’an and Ahadeeth are on one point which, if you understand, you will succeed. If you gather all the knowledge of `ulama or Awliyaullah in one place, it will all point to one issue. If you eliminate that issue from your heart, you will reach Realities.

The Sahaabah (r) said, “Yaa `Ali! What is that?”

Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, “That point is like bees coming with no queen so there is no honey, but when the queen comes and the bees connect with her there is honey.” So if you get that point of Reality, you get honey and Allah will open to you, maa laa `aynun ra'at wa la udhunun sami`at wa la khatar `ala qalbi bashr, “What no eyes have seen, no ears have heard and what has never come to the heart of a human being.”

They said, “Yaa `Ali! What is that? Tell us, we will run for it!”

He said, “Makhaafatullah, fear of Allah: if you have makhaafatullah in your heart you will succeed.”

All of Qur’an focuses on makhaafatullah, fear to be far from Allah (swt). That is why if you really love Him, follow Muhammad and you will see yourself there! Today and in every time, shuyookh try to advise and guide their followers, and the followers are trying to achieve that in order to improve themselves. When it is difficult, the shaykh gives the mureed a hard time, like the story we mentioned many times.

Sayyidina Khawaja `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q), a Master of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain, had a pious, `alim mureed who said, “Yaa Sayyidi, I love you. I have been with you for twenty-seven years, and yet I am not able to see with these eyes what you explain and what other mureeds who have been with you two or three years can see what others cannot see and hear what others cannot hear. I am blind! What is the issue?”

The shaykh said, “Yaa waladee, O my son! I love you, but I cannot give you your Trust because you are arrogant; however, from now I can begin with you to take that arrogance away.”

The mureed said, “How?”

The shaykh said, “It is very simple. Go buy a basket and walnuts to fill it, sit by the door of the masjid and take off your shoes, then tell everyone who comes, ‘I will give you one walnut if you hit me on my head with my shoes one time; if you hit two times, you get two; if you hit three times, you get three.’’ Every time someone comes, give them your shoes to hit you, then give them walnuts.”

He said, “I have to do that? I’m an `alim!”

The shaykh said, “`Alim or not `alim, we are not in school. If you want to lose your arrogance and improve, if you want Allah to open secrets to you, you must be hit without complaining.”

Like when Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) was struggling and said, “Yaa Rabbee, open for me Your Door!” And as we mentioned earlier today, like Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi (q), was seeking to reach Allah and heard a voice saying, “I will open My Door for you, but there is a condition: utruk nafsak wa ta`al, leave your self (ego), don’t come with your arrogance and bad desires. Leave them outside and then I will open for you.”

He said to Allah in his heart, “Okay, my Lord, I will do that.”

Then he heard another inspiration, “No, no, you misunderstood Me, you have to leave your self, make yourself a dump for My servants. Whatever pain they give you, sacrifice your self for the, carry their burdens, then you can come to Me. Tatahammal al-adha.” You have to carry their harm, as many people are not friendly and they have their own mind. They are not friendly except with their own selves. If you carry their suffering and wrongdoing, and if you give them the rewards of the prayers you are praying in exchange for their sins, they will be purified and you will come to Me with nothing. Then I accept you.”

Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q) is the highest authority in the Naqshbandi Order, which is named after him. He was a big `alim for many years. His masjid in Bukhara can hold five-thousand to twenty-five thousand people. Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said in that area of Samarqand where Isma`il Bukhari wrote the compilation of Ahadeeth, subhaanAllah, when they spoke everyone could hear it, with no microphone. When Sayyidina Isma`il al-Bukhari (q) addressed people on Hadith of the Prophet (s), everyone heard him as if he was beside them. One time, Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q) was in his meditation, and:

تفكر ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة

To remember Allah (swt) (contemplate or meditate) for one hour is better than seventy years of worship.

Allah will give you a reward, that is the importance of contemplation.

وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ

Contemplating the creation of the Heavens and the Earth. (Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:191)

For those “who contemplate the Heavens and Earth,” it is not easy because their vision is so strong, there is no wall there, their vision reaches behind the wall with tafakkur (contemplation), as Allah mentioned in Holy Qur’an. So he was in contemplation and in that state of haal, a trance, he smelled a beautiful fragrance and was compelled to follow it and he ended up in the masjid, where he stopped at the entrance, where his shaykh, Sayyid Amir Kulal (q) was sitting. Sayyidina Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q) was a scholar and an `alim coming and when he reached the door, the fragrance stopped. It was the scent of Sayyidina Amir Kulal (q).

Then the mureeds said to Amir Kulal (q), “Yaa Sayyidi! This is Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q).”

He looked at his followers and at Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q) and told them, "Throw him out, I don't want him in my presence."

That was Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q)! How can we reach his level? We wish to be under his feet! He was a great `alim whose reputation spread to the East and West! Every day he hosted five-thousand students who ate, drank, and slept in his masjid. His reputation went far. When someone's reputation goes far, what happens to that person? He begins to see himself, which is arrogance. Sayyidina Amir Kulal (q) is showing us that Awliyaullah also have tests and he was testing Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q), his successor.

He said, “Throw that person out!” Trembling with fear, the mureeds wondered what to do. He shouted, “If you don't do as you are told you, you will be like Iblees!” So they immediately threw him out of the masjid into the snow!

Where did Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q) have to go? He did not want to leave, as he felt he had done something wrong, but he did not know where to go because the love of his shaykh kept him steady and firm to not return home, but to stay at the door of the masjid. `Isha came, he prayed `Isha, placing his forehead on the threshold of the masjid and although his head was covered with snow, he did not raise it. He said to himself, “I am not raising my head from sajda until my shaykh forgives me,” and he didn’t know what wrong he had done. Had it been us, we would have interrogated the shaykh and make excuses, saying, “You cannot say this or that. No, this is wrong!” But he said, “I won’t lift my head until my shaykh forgives me.”

The snow covered him. Fajr time came and Sayyid Amir Kulal (q) came to the door and put his foot on Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband’s head while he was still in sajda and he pressed his head very hard in order to teach him a lesson., slowly taking the arrogance of `ilm out of his heart. Nowadays if you invite an `alim, you have to refer to him as “Doctor” or “Professor so-and-so” or they think you don't know protocol. I arranged a conference over ten years ago and invited a university professor, “Dr. [his name]” and he accepted the invitation, but I don't think he read the letter. Two days before the conference, we sent a message that we will pick him up from the university, and he replied, “I am not coming.” Everyone was waiting for him. We know his secretary and asked her what had changed, and, she said, “He was offended that you referred to him as “Dr.” but did not include his other titles.” So we included his abbroviated titles, resent to invitation, then he agreed to come.

Sayyidina Shah Bahauddin Naqshband (q), with his vast `ilm, didn't need to put his title as everyone knew of him, but still Sayyid Amir al-Kulal (q) saw something that had to be cleaned like surgery. They have to clean every clot in the body, and so he was pressing on his head and pressing on his head and Shah Bahauddin Naqshband (q) was in pain.

Then Sayyid Ameer al-Kulal (q) pulled him up from the threshhold and said, “O, you are here! Since when are you here?”

Shah Bahauddin (q) said, “Since you threw me out.”

The shaykh took him home, dressed him in warm clothes on him, then he took him to the masjid and by order of the Prophet (s) made him his khilafah.

Everyone is arrogant about his knowledge, thinking, “By virtue of my knowledge, I am an `alim.” Iblees was the biggest `alim and Allah threw all his `ibaadah and `Uboodiyya in his face, all because of arrogance.

May Allah (swt) take arrogance away from our hearts and grant us to be here for the love of Allah (swt) and His Prophet(s)! This is not a circle of study, but rather a circle of cleansing. Study? We are rasideen, a group of failures! When you have no responsibility and you fail, then admit you are zero, no one will tell you to do anything. Don't show that you know everything, show that you know nothing. If you don’t tell anyone you know something people will not bother you, but when you show you know something they will keep you awake all night to question you! Ask me: I went through that route and it is very difficult!

Allahu Akbar! We are all failures, losers, but inshaa-Allah with the barakah of the Prophet (s) we will not lose, but we still failed because we are not up to the level for our shuyookh to be happy with us. However, when they look at you, if they find you genuinely think you are a failure they will give you your Amaanah immediately! This happened to a mureed of Sayyidina `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q), O'Kallisa Muhammad from Daghestan, who was very dedicated and his shaykh wanted to test him. The Amaanah does not come without the test, which is very hard.

He came to the shaykh and said, “I want to be your mureed.”

Sayyidina `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q) said, “Okay, we will check, but until then, as winter is coming, go out and cut wood and bring to the masjid in order for us to burn them in winter.

So he took his axe and rope and went to bring wood, he spent the whole day in the jungle cutting wood came in the evening, but it was a strenuous job and he said, “Yaa Sayidee, is there a better job than this?”

He said, “Okay, take the sheep in the morning and return with them in the evening.”

One night on Laylat al-Isra and Mi`raaj, he slaughtered ten sheep and fed people. Then it was Laylat al-Bara'at and he slaughtered twenty sheep, and in this way he finished all his shaykh’s sheep in three months. When he knew the shaykh was upset with him, he went to the masjid and told himself, “You are the worst person on Earth! You made your shaykh upset and you did not respect his order.” That night after Salaat al-`Isha, after they locked the masjid, he stayed inside and continued to speak to himself, not knowing the shaykh was hiding behind a pillar waiting to pass the amaanah to him!

The mureed said, “W’Allahi, He did not create anyone worse than you! I am believea hundred percent that I am the worst person!” The shaykh saw he was speaking the truth in his heart. The mureed continued, “He gave you the job to cut wood and you were not efficient, and he gave you sheep to care for and you did not take care of them!” When the shaykh heard this, he laughed. The mureed said, “O my shaykh, are you here?”

He said, “Yes, I have been here from the begining and heard everything you said. By order of the Prophet (s), I am passing the secrets to you.”

He had no more arrogance in his heart, why be arrogant? He sold the wood but did not bring the money to his shaykh, and he ate the sheep with his friends without leaving anything for his shaykh. So he realized he is the worst student of the shaykh and at that moment, Shaykh `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q) looked at his heart and was inspired by the Prophet (s) to deliver his amaanah. He sat on his knees and the mureed sat on his knees facing him and Shaykh `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q) pointed his index finger to the mureed’s heart and by moving it he sent a ray of the Six Realities into his heart.[1] As that was passing to his heart uplifting him, he repeatedly floated up to the ceiling and came down as Realities continued to open his heart. He said, Yaa Sayyidi, is this the Tariqah?”

Secrets the shaykh opened for him made him so light that gravity did not pull him down, like when Sayyidina Jalaluddin ar-Rumi (q) taught his followers to whirl and rise up. He was rising and coming down, rising and coming down, until all Six Realities were passed to his heart. Then his shaykh dressed him with his cloak and sent him to make da`wah.

Every mureed and every heart has arrogance that must be removed. May Allah (swt) protect us from arrogance! The shaykh is ready, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and Grandshaykh 'Abdullah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q) can take that from us! Awliyaullah, both living and those who have passed from this world, are ever ready to support us if our intention is correct and we struggle to remove our arrogance. May Allah (swt) make us happy here and Hereafter. Wa min Allahi ‘t-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

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[1] Haqiqat al-Jazbah, Haqiqat al-Fayd, Haqiqat at-Tawajjuh, Haqiqat at-Tawassul, Haqiqat at-Tayy, and Haqiqat al-Irshaad.

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