Masjid Al-Kaff, Kg Melayu
Introduction by Dr. Nasir
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. inna alhamdulillah wa nusalli nusallim ala rasoolillah wa `alaa alihi... wa uhayeekum bi tahiyyat al-islam. As-salaam alaykum, my beloved Shaykh Hisham, brother Nassir, brother and sisters. I will speak in both English and Malay. Anybody who tries to be the best servant of Allah despite his or her shortcomings is insaan Rabbani. Anybody who strives to be Allah's servant despite his or her shortcomings, despite sins sometimes, despite failures, can be considered insaan Rabbani. We want, if possible, every one in this masjid, every person in this world, to feel they can become a Rabbani person. If we do even a single honest thing, we do it sincerely; then we are on the path of becoming an insaan Rabbani!
I am just going to say two verses of Qu'ran, one from Surat at-Tin and one from Surat Aali 'Imraan, and two Hadeeth Qudsi. Allah (swt) says in Holy Qur'an:
Aoodhu Billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. laqad khalaqna'l-insaanu fee ahsani taqweem thumma radadnahu asfala saafileen illa alladheena amanoo wa `amilu 's-saalihaat falahum ajrun ghayru mamnoon.
Verily, We created Man of the best stature (mould), then We reduced him to the lowest of the low, save those who believe and do righteous deeds, then they shall have a reward without end. (At-Tin, 95:4-6)
In this verse which talks about ahsani taqweem, the best possible state, it is clear that when we are born on this Earth we are in a perfect state of fitra, meaning that it is a free-of-charge bounty that Allah has given to us. But along the way on this Earth, Allah brings this Creation of His to the lowest possible level, because among this Creation in this world we must try to do our level best, not to be in the realm or region of asfala saafileen by making sure that whatever `ilm we have, we implement.
Then in Surat Aali `Imraan, Aoodhu Billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. inna fee khalqis-samaawati wa 'l-ard, truly in the Creation of Heavens and the Earth, wa ikhtilaf al-layli wan-nahaar la-ayaatin li ooli'l-albab, in the cycle of night and day are signs for the possessors of hearts. Alladheena yadhkuroon 'Allah qiyaaman wa qu`oodan wa `alaa junoobihim wa yatafakaroon fee khalqi 's-samawaati wa 'l-ard, are those who, sitting, standing or lying down, contemplate the Creation of Allah. Allah is developing us to become a good person who doesn't have excuses...this thinking person, who is insaan Rabbaani, who is oolu 'l-albaab, when using the brain, the intellect says: Rabbana, O our Lord, maa khalaqta hadha baatilan, "You have not created all of this in vain," Subhanak fa qinna `adhab an-naar jahannam. "Glory be to you, so that I may be protected from " That is crux of the matter, the insaan Rabbaani is thinking: everything I do, will I do it that I will be protected from Hellfire, not just thinking am I doing this so that my boss will be happy? Or, the insaan Rabbaani has a very high standard; everything he does must be benchmarked. (He wonders,) "If I do this or write this, am I am I being protected from Hellfire?"
Now allow me to go to Hadeeth Qudsi. I will recite the Arabic for those who can't follow my Malay translation. Yaqul Allah ta`ala anaa `inda dhannee `abdee bee wa anaa m`ahu idha dhakaranee fee nafsih dhakartahu fee nafsee wa idha dhakaranee fee mala'ainn dhakartahu fee malaa'in khayran minhaa wa idha taqarraba ilayya shibran taqarabtu ilayhi dhira`an, wa idhaa taqaraba ilayya mashiyyan taqarabta ilayhi muharwalan. Allah (swt) says, "I am as My servant thinks of Me, and I am with him when He remembers Me, and if He remembers Me with within himself, I remember Him within Myself."
Just think how it is when Allah remembers us with our name, "Ahmad," "Jamal." Isn't it so nice? Like we are mentioning Allah's Name in this assembly, "I will make mention of him in an assembly better than this." Just imagine! Allah said, "If he comes to Me a hand-span (like this), I come to him one arm's length." If we do one small effort to be near Allah, Allah replies back and returns back with a far greater effort! That is the benefit of being insaan Rabbani. If the whole world becomes Muslim, Allah doesn't gain anything, and if the whole world becomes kafir, Allah doesn't lose anything. Man `ada lee waliyyan faqad aadhantahu bil-harb, "Whoever shows enmity to someone close to Me, I will declare war on him."
Allah has ways that this servant cannot think about. "My servant draws near to Me through nawafil works so that I will love him, and when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears." That means when we become insaan Rabbani. "When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes." And, "I don't hesitate about anything as much as I hate seizing the soul of My faithful servant."
We are here to listen to our shaykh and I am here just to warm you up. And now we listen to our beloved shaykh!
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
Salaam `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. A`oodhu Billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Alhamdulillah was-salaat was-salaam `ala ashraf al-mursaleen Sayyidina Muhammad wa `ala aalih wa sahbih wa sallam. Alhamdulillah alladhee hadana lil-islam wa maa kunna li-nahtadee law la an hadanaa-Allah....
O Muslims, Believers! I would like to thank the administration of this masjid that is allowing us to come here and be with you honorable people, honorable servants of Allah (swt). Also I am thanking the Ustadh, the servant of Allah, who helped a lot in arranging this program. I would like to thank (Mr) Dato to be with us today, and those whom we cannot count.
This is a difficult subject and I am someone at the threshold, asking for Allah's (swt) forgiveness. I am not that one that claims he knows anything. I say to myself, "Yaa Rabbee,without looking at our actions, forgive us! Without Your forgiveness we cannot achieve anything!" This is a majlis, an association, coming here only for love of Allah (swt) or love of His Prophet (s). There is nothing else, we are not making deal here, no. And we are asked to speak on insaan Rabbani. Are we Haqqani's really Rabbaniyoon? That is the question.
Ar-Rabb is the One that owns everything. Allah says in Holy Qur'an, alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen; He is the Owner of Creation. That means everyone from human beings to jinn, to angels, to living species, to non-living, all belongs to Him and that belonging is Sacred, because we cannot own anything; He owns us! And what He owns must be purified and cleaned. Allah (swt) doesn't like to own something that is not clean. That is why Allah (swt) created Creation clean. That is why Dato mentioned that hadith, khuliqa al-insaan` ala al-fitra, that Allah created human beings clean. And there are other Creations that also have a fitra. Look at Iblees: he was head of angels before, but then Allah cursed him. What I mean to say here is that Allah owns human beings and non-humans, and what He owns must be purified.
Muslims! Don't worry, you are purified, because there is shafa`a of the Prophet (s), shafa`tee li ahl al-kabaair min ummatee, "My shafa`ah is for the big sinners of my nation." And there are many hadeeth that go into that matter, and I will quote one from Adab al-Mufrad of Imam Bukhari. He (Prophet) appears on Judgment Day asking for the shafa`ah that Allah promised him. Why? Because human beings are so beloved to Allah, He honored human beings by making them Rabbaniyoon. We don't have to do so much because it is a grant, hiba from Allah (swt), especially those for whom Allah is going to make shafa`ah: he is in Allah's Presence and goes into sajdah and he says, and this is what is astonishing and we have to think about it, "Allah opens to me du`as that were never opened to me before." What kind of du`a is there that Allah didn't open before? And we have all the ad`iyya al-maathoor; most of what he mentioned in front of Sahaabah (r) has been written. But what kind of du`as he will mention on Judgment Day? Is it Arabic or not? And if it is Arabic, what kind of letters will be put together to make new words in Arabic, as Allah (swt) mentioned in Holy Qur'an words whose meaning we don't know: alif, laam, meem, kaaf, haa, yaa, ayn, saad, although scholars interpret their meanings.
And Allah will inspire to his heart to pray, and then Allah says, irfa` rasak sa'l tu`ta, "Raise your head and ask; you will be given." He doesn't ask... but we are under that heat there, and he asks, "ummatee, ummatee, my nation, my nation." And Allah says, "Take one-third of your nation to Paradise." With shafa`a of the Prophet (s) people become Rabbaniyoon, they go back to their origin, which is pure; you go back to your reality. Finished! With one word, kun fayakoon! That is a big honor for us that the Prophet (s) mentioned that hadith.
And then he goes into sajdah another time, saying, "And Allah opens to my heart du`a that He didn't open in the first sajdah. And I ask Allah through these du`as, asking and asking," for how long? We don't know; it might be one second, one hour, one day, but we say (and hope) that for us it will be like one second, as we will be under that heat that boils the brains of human beings! Prophet's sajdah will be as long as needed for that du`a to be accepted. And Allah (swt) says, "Raise your head and ask; you will be given." And he asks for his ummah, and Allah says, "Take them, one-third of who are left." And he takes them to Paradise! And then he goes into sajdah another time, and by shafa`ah of the Prophet (s) he takes them all to Paradise. You will be saved when you say, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammad (s) rasoolullah. That is the key to Paradise, and Allah says, "Take them to Paradise, all but one!" That is the worst one. All of us say by our tongue, "I am the worst one," but there is a real worst one. And Allah looks at that worst one and says, "Who put that love and mercy in the heart of My beloved? Take him, as there is no one more merciful than Me." So he enters with shafa`ah into Paradise with the mercy of Allah (swt)!
Allah said, ya ma`ashar al-jinn wal-ins, "O human beings and jinn!" in istatataum an tanfudoo, "If you are able to move in the universe, to penetrate different regions of the Earth," and that samawaat means "skies". You go here or there, is this up? Or that is up? Down? No direction? You can penetrate but you need a vehicle, a sultan; that sultan is our discussion today. Rabbaniyyoon is to be Rabbani, to reach the stage of purity. When you are pure you can go through the universe; Allah does not prevent it. Who was the purest one? Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Did he not cross through the universe ? Yes, but he went further, to qaaba qawsayni aw adna, all the way past Heaven and Earth and Paradises, to qaaba qawsayn. So that is special for him. But you, O Human Being, are restricted in this universe.
And there are people, as he mentioned in that hadith, "Who comes against one of My awliyaullah, I will declare war against him." That means someone who became Rabbani. As Allah said, "Fear Allah and be with trustworthy people," it means those Rabbani people, who guide you and navigate you, as today we are navigated by GPS in our cars. What happened that they put a lady's voice in the GPS, not a man's voice? Look how far we are from being Rabbaniyyoon! (laughter)
But ummat an-nabi is granted purity. Look what Allah said in Surat ar-Rahman, ar-Rahman `allam al-Qur'an. "The Most Merciful taught the Holy Qur'an." There is a teaching of the Holy Qur'an, is there going to be a teaching of one to one? Or did Allah teach the Holy Qur'an to the Prophet (s) in the Day of Promises, where we were all souls, and Allah asked us, "Am I not your Lord,": and we all said, "yes." There Allah (swt) taught the Holy Qur'an to the souls, and then He created human beings. The creation of the body came next, the creation of the soul came first. We were not in a physical body on the Day of Promises, we were souls; the creation of the body came later. What came next? `Allamahu al-bayyaan, "The way he believes and acts, and the way Allah inspired the self with what is good and what is bad," that is for the physical body. But for souls, Allah taught the Holy Qur'an to the Prophet (s), and he taught the souls. So only the soul knows the reality of Holy Qur'an, and the body is a curtain that closes us from reaching our reality.
As mentioned in the hadith Dato mentioned, "As long as my servant approaches Me through obligatory worship." That is obligation, you have to do it. Then you are `abd, servant. But when you do nawaafil,that is extra and through that you are Rabbani, then you are approaching more and more to your first reality.
Then He says, "I will be his ears he can hear with. I will be his eyes he can see with." O, what is that? Do we not hear now? Yes, but when Allah gives us hearing, "I will be the ears he can hear with," means you will hear things that no one can hear. Don't say it is too much. These cameras are hearing us; are they better than Allah's Creation? We say for technology, can Allah not upgrade your ears? He can, as much as He likes with much heavenly software; don't worry, as much you ask, you receive! And these softwares are voluntary worship, and each voluntary worship has its own taste, its own upgrade. Yaa Rabbee, "upgrade me," that is what we need to ask. As the hadith says, you will hear with Allah's hearing, you can even hear the tasbeeh of malaa'ikah and what they are writing on your right and your left. What kind of language they are writing? Is it electronic language, one and zero, or is it Arabic? Of course it is Arabic, as whatever is spoken related to heavens is in Arabic.
So when they are writing, these ears can hear, like when they do an EKG. "O doctor! I am feeling something in heart." The cure comes from Allah, the doctor only facilitates it. So he puts EKG wires from here and there, he can read and hear them, he is a specialist in reading and hearing. So his ears have been upgraded. We have to ask to upgrade our ears and our eyes. The first revelation is iqra, "read." What to read? It is not only as they say, as it is a scholarly interpretation, "Jibril hugged me to his chest as I don't know what to read." Prophet doesn't know what to read? Is he not normal? (One attendee kisses Mawlana hand.) He is giving a signal that what we are saying is the truth. That is a sign of happiness coming from the other side, that we have to see and hear. Who sent Prophet here? Someone revealed to him, "Go and kiss," and he did it. That signal came to him, may Allah make us to learn.
Upgrade your ears and eyes. And Allah revealed to the Prophet (s), "Iqra!" And he said, "What am I going to read?" Is it possible that the Prophet (s) that brought the heavenly message doesn't know how to read? He didn't say "recite," he said "read." So how to recite something if you are not seeing it? He said, "What am I going to read? Am I going to express everything, or am I going to express something special for that case?"
Allah (swt) said, "No, iqra bismi rabbik alladhee khalaq."
Scholars say that Allah (swt) opened to the Prophet (s) everything that He created up to Judgment Day, and that is enough those three words to say, uteetu jawami`u 'l-kalami, "I have been given knowledge of awwaleen wa 'l-akhireen (Firsts and Lasts, Before and After)." Now, when you become pure you have no gravity pulling you down. Why jinn and angels are not pulled down? They are subtle beings, not affected of gravity. When you are raised up, you are heavenly subtle; you will move up. Allah (swt) said:
أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
`Alaa inna awliyaaullah la khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.
Verily the Friends of God have no fear on them, nor do they grieve. (al-Anbiyaa, 10:62)
Be a wali, be Rabbani! When you are like that you have no fear and you will be free!
وَالْعَصْرِإِنَّ الإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْر ٍ
w'al-`asr inna al-insaan la fee khusr.
By al-`Asr, the time. Verily Mankind is in loss. (al-`Asr, 103:1-2)
What is `asr? Some say 100 years, some scholars say it is the life of the Prophet (s), 63 years, and some say it is a prayer between Dhuhr and Maghrib. Some scholars say it is the time between ummat an-nabi and Judgment Day, and some say it is the time from when Prophet (s) said, "I was a prophet when Adam was between water and mud." Allah is giving an oath by that period, about which many different interpretations say that Mankind is in loss, except the one who is mu'min. Are you mu'min? Do you say, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun rasoolullah? You are Muslim. Whoever said, laa ilaaha illa-Llah enters Paradise! So you are a loser, you lost your chance in dunya, but I am going to clean it in the grave.
Habib Nuh (q) is on the top of a mountain. There are many awliyaullah whose graves are opened after hundreds of years and their bodies are still fresh. Why? Because Allah kept them clean, those who are believers and did their best of good actions, wa tawaasaw bi 'l-haqqi wa tawaasaw bi 's-sabr. They followed the advice of those around them and they kept Allah's way of patience. So don't object on your brothers.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
(Khatm)