Bury Mosque Bury, UK
DEC 2009 UK TOUR
Kullu `am wa antum bi-khayr. Happy Islamic New Year! May Allah (swt) grant us in this year all kind of maghfirah, forgiveness, although we cannot save ourselves from our `amal .May Allah forgive us and take all kinds of problems from us for the sake of Prophet (s). Today is Thursday evening, the night of Friday; it is a blessed night and it is an important night. That is why we begin with dhikrullah. (Khatm khwajagan offered.)
Suhbah after dhikr:
As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.
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.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
O Muslim brothers and sisters! Every assiciation has to begin with the head letter, the title of every suhbah, and that is Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum, "Obey Allah (swt), obey Sayyidina Muhammad (s), and obey those who are on authority."
On behalf of our teacher Sayyidee Sultan al-Awliya Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q), best regards to all. He is sending his best salaams to all of you. Allah said, "If you have been addressed with a greeting, answer in a better way." When awliya greet, it is not similar to our greeting. So from here we say, As-salaatu wa 's-salaamu `alayka yaa shafi`ee'i 'l-mudhnibeen, yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasulullah, Allahuma a`tihi maa laa `aynun ra'at wa laa udhunun sami`at wa maa khatar `ala qalbi bashar, Allah, Allah. (Mawlana sits)
From where do we begin? We are still moving like an ant. People today say that light is the fastest on earth in this universe because it moves 300,000 km per second. So it is considered the fastest. And nowadays they found that light is not the fastest. There is another faster speed that they are unable to understand. It is not a wavelength, it is a straight wave, very fast. You have long wavelength, acute wavelength, vertical wavelength, which brings more different channels. So as much as it is going up and down, it has more to retrieve. Now they found that the strong one has so much secrets, they are unable to understand it. But we ask, "Is there another wavelength faster than these two?" If they ask a Muslim, the answer might be, "Yes." If they ask a non-Muslim, the answer might also be, "Yes." Both sides might say, "Yes." What is that speed that no one can understand, the third one? When someone is leaving this dunya. How fast the soul goes back to its origin. You cannot calculate the kilometers or miles, it is so far. Inna lillaahi wa inna ilayhi raji`oon, so quickly it reaches the Ocean of Qudrah, from where the soul came. Is there something faster? Yes there is, the fastest possibility that enables human beings to see or hear, but they cannot understand. It is the speed that you go somewhere and come back in seconds.
But where do you go? It is the Prophet (s) who went with the speed of mi`raj. No one can understand going and coming back, qaaba qawsayni aw adna. He (s) visited all the Heavens. He (s) visited Hell fire to check. The fire in Hell had been reduced to what man can carry.Allah reduced the Hell fire for Ummati Muhammad (s), so as not to feel any punishment. It's as if you are in a bathtub. Look, it is warmer here, outside it's cold. Prophet (s) saw because Allah gave him (s) shafa`ah. Allah reduced it to a normal level so that you can carry it. Prophet (s) visited all universes and when he (s) came back, his bed was still warm. How can that be?
Alhumdulillah, they move in space as soon as Mawlana's (q) name is mentioned. He (q) was present SubhaanAllah, looking at his students, what condition the are in. If you greet someone, they have to great you back. When we greet our shaykh, he has to greet us back. It's Allah's order. The shaykh cannot say I am busy now, no way! SubhaanAllah, the level of wilayah (sainthood)! They know that knowledge, when you say, "As-salaamu `alaykum Mawlana Shaykh Nazim," he has to answer in a better way. He (q) is not going to say, wa `alaykum as-salaam wa rahmatallahi wa barakatahuh; he (q) has to say at least the most minimal.
He (q) will extend his hand, take all your mistakes, and carry them!
Tomorrow is the first day of Muharram. Look how Allah (swt) is generous. It is the hadeeth that whoever fasts the day of Ashura, Allah will wave the sins of one year. What do you think about Ramadan, if that is the reward for fasting on Ashura? And what about the day of `Arafat? Allah will give more and more. What about Nifs Shabaan and all the other days Prophet (s) mentioned about fasting? So if the shaykh will answer you back with his tahiyyah, what do you think when you send salaams to Prophet (s), as-salaamu `alayku ayyuha 'n-Nabiyy (s)? (Mawlana stands.) Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! (Mawlana sits.)
Subhanallah, what do you think Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is going to send with his (s) salaam? His (s) greeting will be is up to his generosity, up to his rahmah. Prophet (s) is Rahmatan li 'l-`alameen, meaning he has no limit. He (s) will greet you continuously up until the Day of Judgment, not like I give you salaam and you give me salaam: we are like ants. But Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is moving to qaaba qawsayni aw adna, and he (s) will give you up to that level! So then what do you think when you say at-tahiyaat? When you are sending at-tahiyaat to Allah (swt), He will give you what an eye was never able to imagine and what an ear has never heard before, in dunya and in akhira.
O Muslims! Keep sending salaams. Keep sending tahiyaat. As-aalaamu `alayka - salaam to Prophet (s), as-salaamu `alayna wa `ala `ibadillahi 's-saaliheen, then to everyone of us. At-tahiyaatu 'lillah, "At-tahiyaat to You, O Allah." When you visit someone, to enter their house you have to say, as-salaamu `alaykum. You have to address in the best way. Even if the door is open, you still knock out of good adab. Allah taught us at the end of prayer how to be in His Presence. Okay, you did your prayer and now you have to present it. You are sitting in prayer humbly requesting, sitting in the presence of a king. You sit on the floor with adab. So then you address, "Yaa Rabbee," you did not yet say at-tahiyaat. But because you cannot see and cannot know as is too far from your heart to know, you have to greet Allah (swt) in absent tense. That's why you say, wa 's-salawaatu; you are preparing yourself now to reach highest salawaat, meaning all kinds of praises will be included in it. Sallu `Alayh is a du`a, and every praise and every respect will be in that. It means, "O My servant, You will receive all kinds of praises back to you. I am the Most Generous, al-Kareem." Allah (swt) will give from that generosity.
He will give you all kinds of praises. You read today thousands of kinds of du`as, such as Imam Busayri's Burda Shareef; all these will be included as if you have read them all with one word, salawaat. After you present at-tahiyaat and salawaat, you become tayyib, pure and clean, not like Qaabil with Haabil: you cannot offer the worst, you have to offer the tayyib. When you offer that, then the door opens for you to enter the holy presence of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) , because you cannot enter before that; only Sayyidina Muhammad (s) can enter there. But when you enter Sayyidina Muhammad's (s) presence, you are greeted by Allah with the best praises and you say, As-salaamu `alayka directly to him (s). No one from any ideology can say it, it is difficult. That is why Ibn Mas`ood (r) said when they were reciting that, they were saying, As-salaamu `Alayna ayyuha 'n-Nabi (s). But when Prophet (s) left, they changed it. Because for them, Prophet (s) left dunya, then Ibn `Abbas (r) said,"No, it has to be As-salaamu `alayka, (with the Arabic letter kaaf) because our salaam goes directly to Prophet (s), because he is still here with us." Anyone who says As-salaamu `alayka, Prophet (s) is present with him, but he has to be clean. Ideologies that come against Ahlu 's-Sunnah have a problem with Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!
So when we give salaam, Prophet (s) has to return the greeting. And when you are in the presence of Prophet (s), you have to pray for all Muslims; it is not complete otherwise. When you perfect yourself by saying at-tahiyaat, then salaam ,and then sending salaam to everyone, then your tawheed is accepted. Then you will understand the meaning of your shahaadah. Because when you say, la ilaaha illa-Llah (There is no god save Allah), then you say ash-hadu, (I bear witness), it has a completely different meaning. You bear witness. But bear witness on what, when you are not clean? So Allah is preparing you by letting you sit and say salaam and confirm in that holy presence that He is the Creator, and Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is the Prophet. That is your m`iraj, when you are sitting on your knees, that is when you enter the m`iraj, which is an imitation, but Allah (swt) will accept from you.
O Muslims! Understanding of Islam is not that easy. These subtle substances are through awliyaullah's hearts; you cannot find them in books. It's coming to them and they send to those who are interested. Some other people are not, they are listening. And Allah gave angels to every human being. Like you upload files on the computer: when awliyaullah speak, they upload information in their hearts. So then, what do you need to do? Download them. If you know the password, you may have it all opened to you. Why can't we download? If we perfect our imaan, we can download. That is why you need a guide. If you have no guide, you are lost. That is why Allah said, "Those are your guides: obey them. If you are obedient, Allah will open to your heart." Don't be obedient to those who say there is a khalifah! Make sure you know where you are getting your knowledge from! We don't want to get it from someone who is claiming they know something. Be careful or you will be lost in the wilderness of the wild character of the ego.
We have to know that Allah (swt), with His endless blessings, honored us to be from Ummati Muhammad (s), and honored us to be from students of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q).
(Everyone cheers: Sultan al-Awliya, zindabad! Shaykh Hisham Kabbani, zindabad!)
No need to put my name, only Mawlana Shaykh's name, may Allah give him long life! The others, zero. Only with him (q) we will succeed. May Allah (swt) open to our hearts the real knowledge. We are carrying wild animals with us.
There is one story Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) used to always say. One person was so sincere to Allah's servants. People were not rich like today. So this person used to always stand by the pillar of Ka`aba and watch them make tawaaf. These people were poor. You are young. You don't know that there were no roads, maybe just dirt roads, and Jeddah was so small. Now it is connected with Mecca. So that man always used to pray to Allah, "yaa Rabbee, let me see Sayyidina Khidr (a) so he can give me gold, and let me feed the people. Yaa Rabbee, I am running day and night, give me something! I heard about Sayyidina Khidr (a), but never saw him."
One day he was standing and asking that du`a. Someone was standing next to him.
He said, "You want to see Khidr (a)? Why?"
He said, "I want to give to these poor ones. I feel bad for them."
The other person said, "What about you?"
He said, "Forget about me."
So then that person said, "I will give you a sign. If you see a person who wants to make that mountain move by pointing his finger, and the mountain moves, you will see Khidr (a)."
That man saw the mountain move, but did not pay attention because his heart was with all the poor people. He was concerned with how he can help, like awliyaullah are always caring for their students. So Sayyidina Khidr (a) left and returned one day with a golden turban.
He (a) said, "You are still waiting?"
The man said, "Who are you coming everyday here wasting my time?"
He said, "I will tell you about Khidr (a). If he tells that mountain to move, it will move."
Now that man was awake and said, "You are Khidr (a)."
He said, "Yes, and look, I have all this gold to give you, but you have to put on my turban, my crown."
Prophet (s) has said, "Turbans are the crowns of Muslims. Who doesn't wear it, Allah will put him down. And who wears it and dignifies it, Allah will raise him." O Muslims, when you are at home, put it. It is not necessary to have a big one. Just one meter is enough. Grandshaykh (q) used to say, "Keep it in your pocket, because you live in western countries."
So as soon as that one put that taaj (crown), he looked and everyone disappeared. He only saw their wild characters. He did not see their bodies anymore. Only wild animals like snakes, tigers, lions cats, and hyenas. Our character is not the body; Allah honored the body. We all have this problem. Drugs, dealing with money under the table, selling wine and alcohol and giving from that money to the masjid.
So he was not seeing the people anymore. To whom is he going to give? He found one between thousands, and today there are millions. He found one and said, "Come, come. I am seeing only bad characters, I can see nobody. But I can see you mashaAllah! Take all of this."
That person said, "O my brother, you want to give me dunya? I left dunya! Take your money and go."
So he looked at Khidr (a) and said, "Here is your turban back. I am not going to interfere with Allah's decisions."
Be careful of these wild characters like hyenas. They have teams and they are not alone; like munafiqoon (hypocrites) they team together against haqq, not against batil. So when you see someone teaming with someone else, that is not coming by his shaykh's orders! They team and then they attack.
(Shaykh Hisham discusses problems in the Naqshbandi mosques in London.)
I asked Mawlana Shaykh to speak with them. He spoke with them and they said, "We don't want anything to do with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim!" After hundreds of thousands of people prayed there, and it was the first mosque Mawlana Shaylh opened in London. Everyone used to come and pray there. In Peckham Mosque, there is no one there to do anything. Those two Islamic universities where people used to come. At the Priory (St. Anne's) when I used to be in the Board of Trusties, I resigned. No one wants to go there. They said that there was some confusion there, so I left it. Now it has become the Center of Hizbut Tahreer, so it is closed. I warned them but they didn't listen. And now only the prayer hall is open, the rest is closed; they rented the rest as apartments. These are the three places that Mawlana Shaykh opened. What kind of legitimacy do we have? I don't know. The one who sees haqq and does not speak about it, it means he is a devil. He is keeping his mouth shut. This is our problem today.
O lovers of Shaykh Nazim (q), try to unite! Don't be separated, that is my message. I brought this issue not to come against them but to warn you not to separate, keep united! Then you will have respect from around the world. May Allah forgive us and bless us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Faatihah.