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Sufism is the Science of Purifying the Self

A Brief History of `Ilm at-Tasawwuf

Ramadan Series 2014, Vol 2

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

30 June 2014 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. For those who are here and for those who are seeing us around the world (online), may Allah bless us with the month of Ramadan, where the first ten days are Rahmah and we ask Allah to dress us with that Rahmah, which is Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and the Ocean of Rahmah Allah has because He is the Creator of Rahmah!

And we are trying to explain as much as possible as it is a question everywhere about `Ilm at-Tasawwuf. Many people know about it; they know its name but don't know its contents and why it is called like that. There are too many reasons and we will try to shed some light on that. As we said in the previous session, and I urge you to follow one session after another as they are related to each other and then we don't have to repeat. So we begin where we ended the previous session.

Why Weren’t the Early Muslims Called to Tasawwuf?

Many people might ask why the Knowledge of Tasawwuf was not spread, or `Ilm at-Tasawwuf or calling for Tasawwuf, because when you want to explain something or bring something out, you have to call people to it. But why were people not called to Tasawwuf when Islam first came? The answer is so simple: that there was no need to call it “Tasawwuf” as the Sahaabah (r) were so close to the Prophet (s) and they were always following in his footsteps in the three aspects of Islam: first in the foundation or base of Islam, which is the Five Pillars. Then they were following the footsteps of the Prophet (s) when he was teaching them `Aqeeda, Tawheed, and they were following the Messenger (s) directly so they didn’t need someone to tell them what to do as the Prophet (s) was telling them what to do, and Prophet (s) was the one that was calling for that. He was teaching them Imaan, the second part of the faith, where in the hadith of Sayyidina `Umar (r) Jibreel (a) came to the Prophet (s) and asked about Islam, Imaan and Ihsaan. So they were following that by following Prophet (s); they were praying behind him so they knew everything. Then when they completed that Level of Imaan, Prophet (s) took them to the Station of Ihsaan, of which many of us know, but only by name.

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‏انما بعثت لاتمم مكارم الاخلاق

Innamaa bu`ithtu li utammimu makaarim al-akhlaaq.

The Prophet (s) said: I have been sent to perfect the best of conduct (your behavior and character).

(Bazzaar)

“I was sent to complete your manners.” Maqaam al-Ihsaan is the perfection of the manners after you build your foundation. So the foundation is the Five Pillars, the building is the State of Imaan and the decorations inside the building to make it nice is Maqaam al-Ihsaan. At that time, it was not necessary to give it any name, because it was a follow-up on what Prophet (s) was teaching them and they were competing in following the Prophet (s) in his nawaafil, voluntary worshipness, so they did not need to call that knowledge something different. As it improved and moved forward, the Arabs of that time were not mixing the language with non-Arabs and it was only Arabs, and I am speaking of Arabs in the time of the Prophet (s) and before the time of the Prophet (s), and after the time of the Prophet (s) because, as he (s) said:

خَيْرُ أُمَّتِي قَرْنِي ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ

The best of my followers are those living in my generation (i.e. my contemporaries), and then those who will follow the latter. (Bukhari)

“The best of centuries is the one I am in, and the one after, and the one after.” So they didn’t need to learn any kind of grammar at that time. They did not make mistakes of grammar; even a child could make poetry without any mistakes of grammar.

The Evolution of the Various Sciences of Islam

Today you cannot speak about Islam or read Holy Qur'an or Holy Hadith perfectly without knowing grammar, because if one of these vowels, tashkeel, the fat-ha, dhamma, kasra, if it is put in the wrong place in a word it will give another meaning, which might be an incorrect meaning. So in the time of Prophet (s) and after by the three centuries or before, they did not need to do that because not so many non-Arabs were coming into Islam. But when many different nationalities and races and different dialects were coming into Islam, the language began to mix up and change, so they needed to correct their grammar and those who were scholars of language began to correct them by putting a new system called, `Ilm an-Nahuw, the Science of Grammar: how to pronounce and how to read in the correct way. Before they didn’t need to use it as it was learned and known by fitra, innocence, it came out.

So `Ilm an-Nahuw is a knowledge that has been arranged, fixed, and at that time even the points were not in the Qur’an, the dots that they put over letters, and they never had put dhamma, or fat-ha or kasra or hamza or shadda, nothing, but they were reading it correctly. Later they were not able to read it because of too many different people coming with different languages and dialects, so it became mixed up. So they call it `Ilm an-Nahuw. Then they found that they needed to put a curriculum, as they put now for students to study Islam in school or university. Why you have to put a curriculum? Because you want to fix the knowledge according to the capacity of the people, beginning with less knowledge and coming up and up until you reach PhD, and it began to be called `Ilm ul-Fiqh.

So, similarly, the good manners and good behavior and the psychology or the personality of a person changes from one person to another and everyone has a different psychology, a different behavior, a different way of thinking. He might think that is good and the other might think that is bad. So how do they meet? Someone has to come and put a structure for that knowledge, which is Makaarim al-Akhlaaq and Maqam al-Ihsaan.

So as we begin to move far from the time of the Prophet (s) and people were entering the garden of Islam from different races, every scholar from those different races who understood Islam well began to write and build up the different kinds of knowledges for people to understand.

* So that is how first came the birth of `Ilm an-Nahuw, the Science of Grammar, which began in the middle time of the Prophet (s) in order to correct spelling and grammar when the people spoke about the Prophet (s).

* Then came `Ilm al-Fiqh, Knowledge of Shari`ah, which is jurisprudence.

* Then `Ilm at-Tawheed, Knowledge of Oneness: how to believe, how you will have faith.

* Then `Uloom al-Hadith, Knowledge of the Hadith of the Prophet (s).

* Then Tafseer of the Holy Qur’an, `Uloom at-Tafseer.

* Then `Ilm al-Usool, Knowledge of the Fundamental Principles of Islam, the Basics of Islam and how to perfect them.

* Then Mustalaah al-Hadith, the Knowledge of the Science of Hadith, which is who mentioned the hadith and from where it came. All this needs [to be organized by] someone with the capacity to understand them and authenticate them. That’s why `Ilm ul-Hadith became one of the most difficult chains of the people you can take hadith from, and that’s why you find there are more than 50 different grades of hadith.

* Then came `Ilm al-Faraa'id, the Knowledge of Obligations and how you correct your obligations.

* Then `Ilm al-`Irth, Knowledge of Inheritance, which today is so complicated that if a judge did not study this for 4-8 years, he cannot decide how much each person should get after someone dies.

After the first century more mistakes began to happen, so it was a necessity in that time to fix that, especially as the language and knowledge of how to behave was so important, and how to perfect your manners. So they began to understand that as we are away from the time of the Prophet (s), the people are getting less Muslim in their behavior, there is no more a guide that they look at and follow. The Sahaabah were not in need of that kind of [naming] of knowledge, to call it `Ilm at-Tasawwuf, because they were following in the footsteps of the Prophet (s) and his behavior. So when more people came into Islam, they needed to put all these kinds of Knowledges.

So it is asked, who was the first person to build the foundation of `Ilm at-Tasawwuf, and Tazkiyyat an-Nafs? That word was not used in the time of the Prophet (s) or in the first century of Islam, because people were doing that in their innocence by following the Prophet (s). But in reality, who is the one who laid the foundation for it (asas usooluh). It is said by as-Siddiq al-Ghumari that the one who laid the foundation for perfection of behavior is Sayyidina Muhammad (s), and that is why it is called Maqaam al-Ihsaan, which is as related in the hadith:

أن تعبد الله كأنك تراه، فإن لم تكن تراه فإنه يراك

That you worship Allah as if you see Him, for, if you don't see Him, truly He sees you. (Bukhari)

He is seeing us, so when He is seeing us you need to perfect your manners! ow to do that is a ready material already compiled for you, so you don’t need to look for it and search for it as it’s already there and you can understand it immediately.

The Branches of Tasawwuf

It is mentioned by Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari (r) that Tasawwuf is Tazkiyyat an-Nafs and Maqaam al-Ihsaan. We will explain why it is called Tasawwuf later, not in this session. Why it was called Tasawwuf, why is it not left as Tazkiyyat an-Nafs? Because Tazkiyyat an-Nafs is a very wide, general term and under it come a lot of issues. They called it `Ilm at-Tasawwuf, to begin step-by-step, just as in studying Psychology today they give you the basics. If you want to major in Psychology and how to learn about good and bad manners and treat people, you have to learn the basics, until you take your Bachelors degree, and they give you higher and higher knowledge, up to a Masters degree and then PhD.

So here also they call it Tasawwuf, because they regulate what you need to learn from `Ilm at-Tasawwuf, which is the psychology of human beings and what kind of spiritual approach you need to use to approach people slowly, slowly, in order to build for them a hierarchy in themselves, a pyramid in themselves and the peak of it is to worship Allah as if you see Him and if not, to know He is seeing you.

So Shaykh al-Islam Zakariyya al-Ansari, who died in 921 AH, he wants to explain in Risalat al-Qushayriyya, explaining what al-Qushayri wrote, said that Tasawwuf is a knowledge by itself. He was one of the big scholars of hadith, and he said, “Tasawwuf is a knowledge and through it you learn about Tazkiyyat an-Nafs, Purification of the Self,” because Tazkiyyat an-Nafs is the general title that includes many, many issues, and to take what you need you to begin step-by-step through the Knowledge of Tasawwauf, `Ilm at-Tasawwuf; and through it you will know what to you need to learn in order to purify the self. And he said, wa Tasfiyyat al-Akhlaaq, “to purify the manners.” Al-Akhlaaq is “manners”. Either you have good akhlaaq or bad akhlaaq and there are people in between, one time with good akhlaaq and one time with bad akhlaaq. Some always have good akhlaaq and some all the way have bad akhlaaq, so you have three here: good akhlaaq, which it is impossible for us, and it is impossible to have good akhlaaq all the time, except for awliyaullah as mentioned in Holy Qur'an:

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. (Surah Yunus, 10:62)

“Verily Allah’s Friends, the sincere, pious servants, have nothing to fear,” because Allah gave them that knowledge. Bad akhlaaq people are the evil ones that always create fitna and confusion and backbiting and speaking bad against people. They think that they are above everyone and in reality, Prophet (s) said:

عن ‏ ‏أبي هريرة ‏ ‏رضي الله عنه ‏أن رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏قال ‏ ‏إياكم والظن فإن الظن أكذب الحديث ولا تحسسوا ولا تجسسوا ولا ‏ ‏تناجشوا ‏ ‏ولا تحاسدوا ولا تباغضوا ولا تدابروا وكونوا عباد الله إخوانا.

Beware of suspicion for it is the worst of false tales, and seek out the faults of others, and don't spy and don't hate each other, and don't cut your relations with one another. O Allah's slaves! Be brothers! (Bukhari)

“Don’t be angry, don’t be jealous, don’t backbite, don’t make rumors.” Allah said in Holy Qur’an:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ

O Believers! Avoid suspicion as much as possible, for suspicion in some cases is a sin. And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would abhor it. But fear Allah, for Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:12)

This is Mukaarim ul-Akhlaaq: yaa ayyuhalladheena aamanoo 'jtaniboo katheeran min adh-dhann, as if Allah is saying, “O believers! Avoid bad thoughts about other people, avoid speaking about other people.” “Dhann” if someone comes to you and says this one said something bad about you, check it! Wa laa tatajassasoo, “and don’t spy on each other,” that is from Makaarim al-Akhlaaq, that is `Ilm at-Tasawwuf, that is `Ilm al-Akhlaaq, that is found in modern psychology.

If you go to a psychologist they will tell you, “Don’t listen without checking,” and if two people are fighting, let’s say a husband and wife, they bring them together to counsel them and verify what they are claiming. So in `Ilm al-Akhlaaq, `Ilm at-Tasawwuf you have to listen to yourself as sometimes it’s good sometimes it’s bad, so check! So they put for you such a structure in `Ilm at-Tasawwuf that today most of psychology takes from Islamic knowledge, `Ilm at-Tasawwuf, about good manners and bad manners. They are learning about good manners and bad manners. I mentioned this example yesterday, that if there is a stone on road to take it out is good, but some people will kick it. So while it is good that they take it out of the road, but it is without adab, respect. To observe more respect is to take it out with your hands as you don’t want anyone to be harmed by it and you don’t want to show disrespect to the stone which is also Allah’s creation.

So there is a struggle between good and evil within you, and `Ilm at-Tasawwuf came to teach you to clarify the matter before taking action, to first listen. That is why Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, “When you are sitting with some people: listen. Don't talk.” Don't try to talk, because as soon as you open your mouth your ego and desires begin to speak and you fall into mistakes, until you reach the highest level of understanding and then you don’t make that mistake.

Why do they make doctors do three years of training internship [residency]? They are already doctors, they did an internship for three years, but they have to go more: fellowship, another two or three years to build up their experience, not to make mistakes on the patients.`Ilm at-Tasawwuf doesn’t want you to make mistakes on patients. Akhlaaq might be good or bad and `Ilm at-Tasawwuf will purify that by sifting it and bringing the best up and the worst out. So `Ilm al-Akhlaaq, `Ilm at-Tasawwuf is a sieve for your characters, for your manners, in order to build your zhaahir, outside [external actions of the body] and to build your baatin, inside [internal state of the soul]. It is not only building the outside. Without a battery in a watch, you have the two needles but you cannot know the time, so you need what is inside and what is outside, you need the soul and you need the body. Tasawwuf before was body and soul, both together, now it’s a body without a soul, it’s a form now, a body without a soul, and we are all forms, we have no good manners, no good behavior, we only we want to kill each other! That will take us to Nayl as-Sa`ada, to reach the Heavenly Happiness. I will give an example.

Ascetics are the Kings of Akhirah

One of the big scholars on Tasawwuf said, “The zuhaad are Mulook al-Akhirah, the Ascetics are the Kings of Akhirah.” If you want to be king, be ascetic: drop the dunya from your eyes.

Ibraheem ibn al-Adham (q), one of the famous ascetics in Islam, said to someone, atuhibb an takoonoo waliyyan, “Do you want to be a wali?”

Do you like? [Yes.] Everyone thinks he is a wali, he doesn’t need to ‘want’ to be a wali as he is already! So why do you have to ask this question if everyone is a wali? Like one very well-known scholar from America, everyone goes to his conferences, and he says, “Every Muslim is a wali.” Does he know more than Ibraheem ibn al-Adham (q)? Ibraheem ibn al-Adham (q) was showing that to be a wali is different, it is a higher level in Islam and a higher level in Ihsaan, so he is showing that not every mu’min is a wali, but every wali is a mu’min, not every Muslim is a wali but every wali is a Muslim. So Ibraheem ibn al-Adham (q) was asking that person, “Do you want to be a wali?” that means, “Do you want to learn how to purify yourself?”

That is `Ilm at-Tasawwuf. He is one of the biggest Sufi scholars! Who does not want to be a wali?

That man said, “Yes, I want that! Tell me how.”

So I am asking us, how to be a wali, what do you have to do to be a wali? [You have to be zaahid, ascetic.] Zaahid from what? Zaahid from eating good food? Zaahid from what? You have to be zaahid, but he said, laa targhab, “You must not desire,” so it is not just to be zaahid by doing voluntary prayers and so on; that’s part of it, but when you go in higher levels you have to drop your desires.

That man said, “Okay, I will drop my desires from dunya.”

Ibraheem ibn al-Adham (q) said, “No, you have to drop your desires from dunya and Akhirah.”

That one was shocked, as you are shocked now and perhaps the (online) viewers are shocked. How to drop our desires for Akhirah?

Ibraheem ibn al-Adham (q) said, “Of course you have to drop all your desires, because many people worship in order to be saved in Akhirah,” which is 100% correct and a must to do well for your Akhirah, “but to go higher, you must drop the desire for Akhirah as you drop your desire for dunya.”

Like Rabi`a al-`Adawiyya (q), who said, “O Allah! I am not worshipping You to put me in Paradise,” as if there is a trade between you and Allah, because there is no trade between you and Allah! “And I am not worshipping You so that You don’t put me in Hellfire.”

So:

1) “I am not worshipping You to put me in Paradise, I have no desires for Paradise,” and

2) “If You want to put me in Hellfire, that is Your Desire, not my desire.”

3) I am worshipping You because I love You, and if I am not going to have that love, I am lost! Dunya and Akhirah are nothing to me.”

So Ibraheem ibn Adham (q) said to him, “You have to drop your desires from dunya and Akhirah, wa faarigh nafsaka lillah and you have to prepare yourself only for Allah.”

That is why we mentioned the story of Sayyidina Yusuf (a) yesterday (when his brothers out of jealousy sought to kill him). Allah inspired one of his brothers not to kill him, but rather to put him in the well in order to be a teaching lesson to his father, Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a). And what was it? “Don’t have two in your heart, empty yourself, don’t have anything in your heart except Allah! Don’t put any other things inside there, wa aqbil wajhak ilayh, and direct your face toward Him.” Do not direct your face to this one or to that one, not to this one for baya` and to that one’s maqaam, that one baya`.

Reaching Higher Levels of Knowledge does not Come from Taking Baya`!

Reaching higher levels is not from taking baya`, it is only through sincerity! Sincerity makes you reach. No one can take your hand if you are not going, for example, to pray. Some people make baya` and don't pray, I know many people like that, so what is the benefit? No benefit. Some take baya` and they backbite, too many of them, every time they sit together they backbite people, so how are you going to give them baya` and take their hands? The baya` has to be to a perfect shaykh like Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah bless his soul, and wa aqbil wajhak ilayh, “direct your face towards Him,” no right, no left, there is nothing left and right, only straight forward!

That is why Allah (swt) said to the Prophet (s) in Holy Qur'an:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَمَن نَّكَثَ فَإِنَّمَا يَنكُثُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِمَا عَاهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللَّهَ فَسَيُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

Verily, those who swear allegiance to you (Muhammad) swear allegiance only to Allah. The Hand of Allah is above their hands, so whoever breaks his oath does so only to his soul's injury, while whoever keeps his covenant with Allah, on him will He bestow immense reward. (Surat al-Fath, 48:10)

Why they went to Prophet (s)? To purify it, to purify their baya`. Why did we go to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) for baya`? Because he is a perfect wali who can petition for us in front of the Prophet (s) and can help us to purify our baya` by his guidance. I know from history that Grandshaykh (q) never gave baya` to anyone, as no one was up to level of baya` except to two he gave. And throughout history they would not give baya` except after you completed your study of Fiqh, to understand that when you give baya`--and there are many different kinds of baya`, it depends what you are giving and who is receiving--and on the one whose hand you are taking, what kind of level does he have. Baya` is not easy.

So he said to him, aqbil bi-wajhika ila-Allah, “Direct your face towards Allah,” and to direct your face you need the ayah of Holy Qur’an:

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا

If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:64)

Baya` is Forgiveness

Baya` is when you have oppressed yourself by sins and mistakes and you come to Prophet (s) to ask forgiveness of Allah in front of him, then Allah accepts to forgive you. So baya` is forgiveness. It is not to take baya` and still you remain as you were before, that is a joke. Today baya`, I’m sorry to say, is not at the level it should be. When you come directing your face, aqbil bi-wajhika ila-Allah, directing your thinking and all your heart, your body, your cells, your brain, towards Allah, what will happen? yaqbil `alayka wa yuwaaleek, “He will come to you and support you!” If they say, “How will He come to you?” let them know this Hadith Qudsi of the Prophet (s):

من تقرب إلي شبراً تقربت منه ذراعاً، ومن تقرب مني ذراعاً تقربت منه باعاً، ومن أتاني يمشي أتيته هرولة

If he (My servant) draws near to Me a hand’s span, I draw near to him an arm’s length. And if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running. (Hadith Qudsi, Narrated Anas Ibn Malik, Bukhari)

That is what Ibraheem ibn al-Adham (q) is advising that person. Show me who can take baya` today when they have behind it different agendas? Your agenda is one: anyone who wants to take, take, and anyone who does not want to take, you cannot force people and tell them they will be thrown out, you cannot! Then everyone will be thrown out as none of them know anything from Islamic Shari`ah!

And Ibraheem ibn al-Adham (q) said, izhad fi ’d-dunya yuhibbuk Allah, “Drop dunya from your eyes, then Allah loves you. Do you want Allah’s love? Drop dunya from your eyes. w ’azhad `ammaa bayna aydi ’n-naas yuhibbuka ’n-naas, drop whatever is in the hands of people and don’t be jealous of, have no desires for what people have in their hands, then people will love you.” So if you really want to take baya` from someone, he has to have these three characteristics:

1. Desire only for Allah; he comes to Him directly and Allah comes to him, supporting him.

2. Dropped dunya from your eyes and Allah will love you.

3. Dropped desire for what people have in their hands, then people will love you.

And Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q)...you see this is nothing to do with Fiqh and Shari`ah, Shari`ah is Shari`ah and you have to implement it, but this is about bad characteristics, the Knowledge of Tasawwuf, called Tasawwuf, because for certain reasons we will describe later, and it is the Tazkiyyat an-Nafs and Tasfiyyat al-Akhlaaq, “Sifting the Bad Manners.” By sifting, we say “tasfi” from tasfiyya, which means cleaning, is coming [the word] Tasawwuf and we will discuss this later.

We Take Baya` with Awliyaullah as They Sift Out the Bad Manners

I will mention what Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) said, inna lillaahi `ibaadan. SubhaanAllah, no one can do that except awliyaullah! Didn’t you see that at the end of Mawlana’s life when, for one year, he was always crying? Always crying. There was nothing to cry about. Say one word and he cried, and he said a word and he cried after it. Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) said, “Allah has servants that if Allah veiled Himself from them in Paradise, they will say, ‘We want to be out of Paradise if we cannot see You there!’ la-astaghaathoo min al-jannata kamaa astaghaathoo ahl an-naar min an-naar, And as they want to get out of Paradise, it is as the people in Hellfire are asking, ‘Yaa Rabbee, take us away from Hellfire!’”

The people of Jannah, if Allah veils Himself from them they will ask to be out of Paradise! Where are these people? I want to find someone to give baya`, but tell me where I can find these people? I found it with Grandshaykh and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah bless their souls. And we gave and it is going, and we are not people who are arrogant and say, “We don't give baya`.” We give baya` anything, it depends what kind of baya`.

Like someone is praying in jama`ah and someone came and saw the jama`ah prayer and he has no wudu, and it is too difficult in that time to get wudu, as you have to go behind a tree and so on to make wudu, so he enters the prayer without wudu, and Allah will accept, but when you finish you repeat the prayer. So someone might put his hand, but in his intention he is not accepting, so what is the benefit? Then why are you saying, “If you don’t do that you will be out!” It is not their decision who is out or not out, it is Allah’s decision who is out or not out! He said to Prophet (s), “You are giving baya` to Me? Taking baya` from the Sahaabah (r) is to Me!”” You cannot say baya` to ‘this person’. Allah (swt) immediately said:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَمَن نَّكَثَ فَإِنَّمَا يَنكُثُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِمَا عَاهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللَّهَ فَسَيُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

Verily, those who swear allegiance to you (Muhammad) swear allegiance only to Allah. The Hand of Allah is above their hands, so whoever breaks his oath does so only to his soul's injury, while whoever keeps his covenant with Allah, on him will He bestow immense reward. (Surat al-Fath, 48:10)

“Yaa Muhammad! Those who gave you baya` gave their baya` to Allah!” Finished! You cannot say “Give baya` to this one,” and never Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, “Give baya` to me.”

So this is part of `Ilm at-Tasawwuf and we will continue next time.

Wa min Allahi ‘t-tawfeeq bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.

Consult and Quote from Books

Why we are using books, some people ask. I heard it from Grandshaykh (q) many times, he said, “Open your notebook of whatever you learned from me, put it and speak, then more comes. Don't be arrogant and sit on the chair and say, ‘I know everything, coming to my heart and I am speaking.’” This is Shari`ah, you make one mistake and it’s big, so you have to be sure that anything said is registered by many scholars back to the Sahaabah (r), in order not to fall into any mistake. And you can get references for what you want to say, because Islam is so wide, with millions of books, millions of knowledges that Prophet (s) gave to the Sahaabah (r), so you need to come to a condensed book that the subject you are discussing is condensed in a manuscript, so that you can focus more on explaining. It gives better results when people see you reading from a book, they say, “Oh, that’s good.” When a professor reads from a book people say, “Oh, that is a professor,” and when not reading from a book, then they say, “Oh, he is making it up!” We are not making it up, these are Ahl as-Sunnah wa 'l-Jama'ah books.

If anyone is objecting to what I am saying, let them give evidence that what I said is wrong. The Prophet (s) gave different baya`s and in different meanings.

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

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