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The Value of One Letter of Holy Qur’an

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

26 November 2009 Burton, Michigan

As-Siddiq Institute & Mosque

Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad (s) hatta yarda Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismil-Lahi `r-Rahmani `r-Raheem.

Nawaytu ‘l-arba`een, nawaytu ‘l-`itikaf, nawaytu ‘l-khalwah, nawaytu ‘l-`uzla,

Nawaytu ‘r-riyadah, nawaytu ‘s-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fi hadha ‘l-masjid.

Ati` Allah wa at`i ar-Rasula wa ooli ‘l-amri minkum.

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

Tonight is a very precious night for Muslims, the 10th Dhul-Hijjah, and tomorrow will be ‘Eid al-Adha, the holiday of sacrifice. “Sacrifice” is to give everything in Allah’s way. Try as much as possible in this month to fast. Dhul-Hijjah is one of the sacred months in which war is not allowed, killing is not allowed, not even an animal when you are in ihraam. It means when you are performing Hajj you have no right to kill even a worm, unless it is something urgent to kill, if it is poisonous, etc. Dhul-Hijjah is a very precious month, when Allah asked Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) to sacrifice the best of what he had. Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) didn’t have children and that is why he married Sayyida Hajar (r) so Allah (swt) would give him a child. He became old and married her, and Allah gave him Sayyidina `Isma`eel (a), and Allah (swt) wanted to test him.

So here is a question: does Allah (swt) test his prophets? Are not His prophets ma`soomoon (innocent, protected from committing sins)? Although that is true, still Allah (swt) is testing His prophets. Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) is one prophet He tested with a big test, not a simple test. Sometimes we have a test coming to us, Allah (swt) is sending difficulty. Really, it is a difficulty and people cannot take it and you cannot take it. But compared to what prophets have been tested with, it cannot be described. Imagine someone who doesn’t have a child, who gets a child, and Allah orders him in a dream, “Yaa Ibrahim, go sacrifice your son for Me. Slaughter him with a knife. Put him on the rock, the altar, take the knife and cut his neck.” Who can do that? innee araa fi 'l-manami annee athbahuk.

فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَى قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاء اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ وَنَادَيْنَاهُ أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْيَا إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ

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

Falammaa balagha ma` ahu as-sa`ya qaala yaa bunayya innee arAa fee al-manAami annee azhbahuka f'andhur maadha taraa. Qaala yaa abatee ifa`al maa tu'maru sa-tajidunee inshaa-Allahu min as-saabireen. Falamma aslama watallahu li 'l-jabeeni wa naadaynaahu an yaa ibraheemu qad sadaqta 'r-ruyaa inna kadhaalika najzee 'l-muhsineen.

Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said, “O my son! I have seen in a dream that I am slaughtering you, so what do you think?” He said, “O my father! Do that which you are commanded; insha’Allah, you shall find me of as-Saabiroon (the patient).” Then, when they had both submitted themselves and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead, We called out to him, “O Abraham! You have fulfilled the dream!” Verily, thus do We reward the good-doers. (37:102-105)

He saw in a dream; that is how usually prophets say, “We saw in a dream.” Look at the humbleness of prophets. They didn’t say, “We received it by Jibreel (a),” in order to humble themselves. Today people who have permission to give a suhbah or a dhikr will not say, “I saw a dream.” They will say, “I saw a vision.” Some people are like that; they are a little bit foolish, some representatives. They have the sickness of arrogance. Instead of saying, “Oh, I saw Mawlana in a dream,” they are saying (“I saw) this, this, this,” or “Mawlana is talking to me and he is saying this to you.”

Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), the father of prophets, was saying, “I saw in a dream that Allah (swt) is ordering me to slaughter my son Isma`eel in this month, Dhul-Hijjah.” When he took him to the mountain, what did he say? “O my son! We are going to play ‘hide and seek’. Do you want to play with me?” That game is old, not something new! (laughter)

He said, “Yes, my father, I like to play ‘hide and seek’ with you.”

He said, “OK, let me cover your eyes.”

He said, “O my father, why are you covering my eyes? For what? What do you want? Don’t cover my eyes. I am ready to fulfill the order.”

Isma`eel knows. He is young, nine years old.. He already knew what was the order, for his father to sacrifice his son, the only son that he got at his age of 90 years. He said, “I am ready.” Inshaa-Allah tomorrow we will say the story for Jumu’ah. So the important thing is that he went along to sacrifice his son, who is the most precious person, isn’t he? What did his son tell him? We will say it tomorrow inshaa-Allah. In any case, the son said something and the father said something.

Our duty now is to learn that Dhul-Hijjah is the month of sacrifice. And what is the best to sacrifice for Allah’s sake? It is to stop committing sins, to stop committing forbiddens. What are these forbiddens? People say, “Oh, forbiddens is that I must not look at something haraam.” That is correct. But that is not the only thing; the most important thing is to keep your anger down. Not one of us can keep his anger down! Why do people divorce? Because they get angry with each other. What is our duty? It is to sacrifice our ego by putting our anger under our feet. When you get angry say, "astaghfirullah". That is what Allah (swt) likes, for us to stop carrying or wearing bad characteristics. For people to get angry is from Shaytan.

In Dhul-Hijjah, Shaytan has been chained. If you make a sacrifice to Allah, if you say, “Yaa Rabbee! I’m not going to do anything this month. Help me!” do you think Allah (swt) will leave you to Shaytan? But we don’t think like that. We never thought about it, that Dhul-Hijjah is the month of sacrifice and Ramadan is the month of fasting. It means we must fast from everything that is haraam. In Dhul-Hijjah we have to sacrifice ourselves, our egos, from all kinds of bad desires. And the trunk of the tree of bad desires is anger.

Can anyone raise his hand and say, “I’m not angry at all in my life?” Ask Taher, first one. You get angry? (All the time.) All the time. Husayn, you get angry? (Yes.) All the time, all of us get angry. If the husband made a mistake and the wife cannot stand it, she wants to fight. If the wife made a mistake, the husband cannot stand it and he wants to fight. No one is patient on the other one and that’s why you find a lot of problems today.

This month, especially this year, is 1430 Hijri, it’s number eight. Eight is a number for earthly difficulties, and if the date or year coincides with the number eight there will be a lot of problems around the world. And if you add 1+4+3+0 = 8. That number means there will happen on Earth a lot of problems, preparing for heavenly support to appear, for restoring whatever has been damaged. And the first thing that has been damaged is the hearts of Muslims. Their hearts are damaged already! There is no way that anyone can clean them and purify them and bring them back to normal without heavenly support.

That is why awliyaaullah are looking today—and they were looking not in our time, but their time—the time of Madinat al-Munawwara, the time of Makkah, the time of Sham. The time in these three cities coincides with the time in the heavens, the real time. Today is the pilgrimage. As every year, they go to Jabal ar-Rahmah in Arafat, and today awliyaaullah, all their visions and their sights are on that mountain in Arafat; it is a hill, but it’s high. And Prophet (s), in Khutbat al-Widaa (Final Khutbah), stood up on Jabal ar-Rahmah, the Mount of Mercy, and gave his last speech. This year awliyaaullah were looking for that one (Sayyidina Imam Mahdi [a]) who is carrying and bringing heavenly support to human beings, and especially to Muslims, to restore their damaged hearts. His khulafah and 99 deputies were with him. They were asking Allah (swt) to authorize them to clean what has been done by oppressors.

The matter is in the hand of Prophet (s). The Prophet takes from the Divine Presence and delivers. Now it is in the hand of Prophet (s), who is waiting for the appropriate time to give authority and permission for that one who Prophet (s) described in many, many ahadith about yakhruju waladun min awlaadee yamla al-arda qistan wa `adlan kamaa muliyyat dhulman wa joora, “One of my grandchildren will appear, filling the Earth with justice, as it is filled with oppression.” That key has not yet been delivered. It is going to be delivered soon in order that what Allah (swt) likes to happen is going to happen on Earth. That’s why awliyaaullah are not saying next year, but they are saying it might be tomorrow. What we are waiting for tomorrow, if it didn’t happen today then it is going to happen tomorrow. If it didn’t happen tomorrow, it is going to happen after tomorrow. If not this month, next month. If not this year, next year; but it is going to happen.

For Allah (swt), time is not so important. Sayyidina Musa (a) was asking Allah to destroy for him the tyrant, Fir`awn (Pharoah). He was a tyrant giving a lot of troubles and difficulties to Bani Isra’eel, killing them. Sayyidina Musa (a) asked, “Yaa Rabbee! Destroy for me that tyrant.” And Allah said to him, `alaysa ‘s-subhu bi qareeb. “Yaa Musa! Don’t worry! Fajr is so near.” It means he was asking at night and Allah (swt) said, “Wait! Fajr is coming quickly!” That Fajr took forty years! And in Holy Qur’an it is saying, `alaysa ‘s-subhu bi qareeb, “It is very soon, only night comes, goes, and then morning comes.” That was forty years.

Awliyaullah are waiting and anyone who can recite in this day, which passed already, 1000 Qul huwa Allahu Ahad, and 1000 laa ilaaha illa-Llah, it will be written as if he had sacrificed for Allah’s sake, and there will be thrown away from his heart all these bad manners. If he is able to recite 1000 Qul huwa Allahu Ahad and 1000 laa ilaha il-Allah Muhammadur Rasoolallah `alayhaa nahyaa wa `alayhaa namoot wa `alayhaa nalqallah. Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadur-rasoolullah. Afwaka wa ridaak, yaa Allah.

So people are planning and Allah (swt) is not planning, Allah (swt) planned: kun faya koon. What He wanted is already done. It is not, “Every day is different from another day, I have to plan for tomorrow, I have to plan for the day after.” When Allah (swt) created Sayyidina Muhammad (s) to be known

كنت كنزا مخفياً فأحببت أن أعرف فخلقت الخلق لأعرف

kuntu kanzan makhfiyyan fa aradtu an `uraf fa khalaqtu khalqa fa bihi `arafoonee.

“I was a hidden treasure and I wanted to be known, so I created Creation.”

So Allah (swt) created the best of humanity, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) (Mawlana stands.)

As-salaatu wa 's-salaamu `alayka yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasulallah, yaa Rahmatan li ‘l-`alameen. As-salaatu wa 's-salaamu `alayka ya shafi`eeu ‘l-mudhnibeen. As-salaatu wa 's-salaamu `alayka wa rahmatullahi ta`ala wa barakaatuh wa maghfiratun wa ridwaan `alayka fi ‘l-`alameen innaka hameedun majeed. (Mawlana sits.)

Allah (swt) created the best of Creation. His Light, the light of Muhammad (s) being created, from that moment everything related to that creation already is planned for them. What relates to this Creation is whatever Allah (s) created, from angels to human beings, to nature, to oceans, to mountains, and to the universe, all these universes that we are part of, and you might not see the Earth even in this system or galaxy. You cannot see the Earth if you want to. Even if they want to put a dot for the Earth it cannot be seen. This huge universe and what is in it, Allah (swt) has already planned it. He doesn’t need to plan; only now it is executed. Now you are seeing it, but what has been planned is planned.

So from Allah’s (swt) plan, prophets have predictions. Predictions on what? When Sayyidina Muhammad (s) predicted the signs of the Last Days, he predicted on what? We call it a prediction, but already it is fact and Prophet (s) knew about because it is planned. And the secret of it was given to Prophet (s) when he was in the time of la ilaha ill-Allah Muhammadun Rasoolullah (if we can say time), when he had been created from Allah’s (swt) Light, and Allah (swt) created the Light of Muhammad (s) first. From that moment already Prophet (s) had been notified and that is why it is said in Holy Qur’an:

وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاء كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلاَئِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاء هَـؤُلاء إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

wa `allama aadama al-asmaa’a kullahaa thumma `aradhahum `alaa al-malaa’ikati fa-qaala anbi-oonee bi-asmaa-i haa’oolaa-i in kuntum saadiqeena.

And He taught Adam all the names (of all things), then He showed them to the angels and said, “Tell Me the names of these if you are truthful.” (2:31)

Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur’an, wa `allama adama, “He taught Adam all the names” of all Creation. Why did He teach Adam (a) that? Because the Light, the reality, the secret of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was on the forehead of Sayyidina Adam (a), so for the sake and honor of Prophet, Allah (swt) taught Adam, but in reality, that knowledge was coming to Sayyidina Muhammad (s). It is good to stand for the name of Prophet (s). (Mawlana stands.) Allahumma salli ‘alaa Sayyidina Muhammad. (Mawlana sits.)

So what Prophet (s) mentioned is going to happen, he already knew everything about it. Allah (swt) created when there was no Creation, and there was no one with Him, as Allah (swt) cannot accept a partner. Allah (swt) is the Creator; others are servants. Every live creature, even a pebble, is a servant to Allah (swt). What Allah (swt) created, even worms under stones deep in the sand, knowledge of them has been given to Sayyidina Muhammad (s). That is why Allah gave him the Holy Qur’an, the knowledge that cannot be known. It is a knowledge that Allah (swt) gave to those who can understand. As Grandshaykh (q) mentioned, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (r) was so deeply in the love with Allah’s (swt) sacred Words, the Holy Qur’an. He said even the ink of Holy Qur’an is precious. As soon as a letter or a word was written, that ink was sacred for him.

قُل لَّوْ كَانَ الْبَحْرُ مِدَادًا لِّكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّي لَنَفِدَ الْبَحْرُ قَبْلَ أَن تَنفَدَ كَلِمَاتُ رَبِّي وَلَوْ جِئْنَا بِمِثْلِهِ مَدَدً

qul law kaana al-bahru midaadan li-kalimaata rabbee la-nafid al-bahru qabl an tanfadu kalimaatu rabbee wa law ji’na bi-mithlihi madada.

Say, “If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it for its aid.” (18:109)

It means the secrets coming from the letters, words and verses of Holy Qur’an are so much, that if you keep writing from the beginning of dunya to the end and using the oceans as ink, the oceans will finish and still the interpretation of Holy Qur’an will not finish.

And this has been given to Prophet (s), to Ummat an-Nabi (s). The Qur’an is not sitting on the shelves, like what we are seeing. What is inside the Holy Qur’an, no one can fully understand because it is more oceans; whatever you can explain, there are more secrets than that. So it means, when you read a verse or word of Holy Qur’an, how many secrets will be in it? When you say, for example, alif, lam, meem, if the oceans were ink and you used it to write the secrets of alif, laam, meem, the oceans will finish and the secrets of alif, lam, meem will never finish! So how many rewards will you be getting? Because when you read the word, every secret comes with it, but you remain veiled from it. You cannot see it, you cannot understand it, but it’s there. It’s like in a box of medicine there is a general, bulleted description of it, but at the end of the brochure is the detailed breakdown of two or three pages telling you this, this, this, this, the chemistry of that drug. Similarly, if you read any word of Holy Qur’an, the whole package has to come with it—overflowing secrets that never end! So when you read it, you get the reward of what you read, along with the whole package, and that cannot be described.

Imam Shafi`i (r) used to say, “If you give one word to those who are being punished from Ummat an-Nabee (s)... although they are at the bottom of Hellfire, Allah will take them to the highest level of Paradise because of the barakah of the words of Holy Qur’an.”

If one is being given the reward of one word or one letter of Holy Qur’an, if you give it to someone who is in Hellfire, if you sacrifice from yourself and say, “Yaa Rabbee! I am giving to my father, my grandfather or my ancestor who was not doing good in dunya, the reward You are giving me,” Allah (swt) will pull that person from Hellfire into Paradise. The benefit of one word, not two! There are people who say la ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah who will go with shafa`at an-Nabee (s), but if someone is not and you give him the benefit of one word you read in Holy Qur’an, it will reach them.

That is why Prophet (s) said:

اقرءوا يس على موتاكم

Iqraa YaaSeen `ala mawtaakum, “Recite (Surah) YaSeen on your deceased.” “YaSeen” is the holy name of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Allah (swt) is giving an oath by Muhammad (s): YaSeen, wal-qur’an il-hakeem innaka lamin al-mursaleen, “Oh Muhammad (s)! Surely you are My messenger!”

That is the baraka of Holy Qur’an, so don’t keep it on the shelf (unread) or on the Day of Judgment it will come against you and say, “Yaa Rabbee! This one did not read me.”

وَقَالَ الرَّسُولُ يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًا

Then the Messenger will say: "O my Lord! Truly my people took this Qur'an for just foolish nonsense." (Surat al-Furqan, 25:30)

People today are putting it like a decoration on the shelf. All of us are doing that. Look on the shelves there (in the mosque). That copy of holy Qur’an might be like that since one or two months and still I am seeing it the same place; it is not being touched.

What do people want? They are running after dunya, dunya, dunya. Alhamdulillah, in this group not everyone is running after dunya, but many people are running after akhira. That is why such meetings, such associations, are highly recommended because they open up some words, some secrets that our shuyukh have mentioned to us and it fills the heart.

So, this is the month of sacrifice. There are still 20 days; tomorrow is the 10th. Try to sacrifice for the sake of Allah (swt) and for the sake of Prophet (s). Try to sacrifice any kind of bad characteristic and throw it away. Say, “Yaa Rabbee, this month I am not going to be angry.” This is the first thing. And some people, if you have time, can recite from 100-1000 times Qul huwa Allahu Ahad before you sleep. Even 100 times is OK. And from 100-1000 times la ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah.

Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Faatihah.

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