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The Prophet (s) Carries All Creation

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

7 March 2010 Nairobi, Kenya

Salaatu 'l-`Isha, Suhbah and Dhikr at Pangani Mosque

As-salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu al-lisan ajiz an takallam an hadha alhafalat al-rabbaniyya haflat al-mawlid (s). alhamdulillah...

...tuqadimoo biha `ila Hadrat al-Haqq, yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah! Allahuma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!

The tongue is frozen in such gatherings and especially when we are praising Sayyidina Muhammad, `alayhi afdal as-salaat w 'as-salaam. What better can we say except these qasidas? What better is there than to keep his love in our heart? Because his love is what guarantees us Paradise!

O Muslims! I am not here for any dunya issues; I came here by order my teacher, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani, may Allah (swt) give him long life. He is nearly 90 years of age and masha-Allah he is strong, because he spent all his life in seclusions, when they are in a cave or in a room where there is no one with them and they are only praising Allah (swt) and praising Prophet (s). May Allah give them long life; they are the barakah of the ummah!

I came only to see you, and I might come again, or not. Insha-Allah on Day of Judgment we can say we saw each other and say we accepted Islam in front of each other. (Mawlana stands.) Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluh! (Mawlana sits.)

The sad moments in our lives from which we need to keep tears in our eyes always is that we did not see the Prophet (s). I don't mean in dreams, but I am saying that we did not see Prophet (s) with our physical eyes. Because of our, what I cannot say, the non-acceptable things that we do that give us veils between us and Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Look in this beautiful mosque: on one column is written “Allah” and on the other is written “Muhammad.” But there is something significant there, if you look you can see it is written, “Allah Muhammad” and “Allah Muhammad.” This how we read it, but in reality this is not how it is. You see the Light where it is written “Allah” but it is Light, and where it is written “Muhammad” it is Light. That Light is the Light of Allah (swt) and the Light of Muhammad (s) is there!

It makes us sad that we can do that by writing of “Allah” and writing of “Muhammad,” but we cannot do that in our hearts! Yaa Rabbee, make our heart shining with that Light and give us from the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad, as that Light came from You!

قَدْ جَاءكُم مِّنَ اللّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ

Qad jaakum min Allahi nooran wa kitaabun mubeen.

Indeed, there has come to you from Allah a Light (Prophet Muhammad) and a plain Book (this Qur'an). (Suraatu 'l-Ma`idah 5:15)

That Light is what is important, not the name only. Of course the name is important, but that heavenly noor that came with Prophet (s) is what is needed to make our hearts shining; now our hearts are in darkness. We cannot say darkness; I cannot say that about you, because you rare Muslims! We can say the switch is off so there is no Light, or you need to switch it on to receive that Light. Because Allah (swt) said in Qur'an, qad jaakum min Allahi nooran wa kitaabin mubeen. Noor came before kitaabin mubeen, what is for sure Holy Qur'an, Allah's Words that are not created. You cannot say Qur'an is makhlooq, it is not created. Qur'an is kalamullahil-qadeem, Allah's Ancient Words.

Allah (swt) is saying, qad jaakum. It means, before Prophet (s) can carry Qur'an he must be noor, in order to carry noor, as every letter of the Qur'an is noor, over 500,000 letters! When you open and read Qur'an there is noor in every letter you come across, so don't read it like you read a story. Noor has to come, that is why Allah (swt) first created the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), in order to carry all Reality and to carry the Light Allah (swt) is sending with Holy Qur'an! And the proof of that, as many people have square heads and they cannot understand easily, especially our Wahabi 'friends' who always need evidence and they say, “Show us where is that in Holy Qur'an?” we say to them, look at Holy Qur'an and don't ask! We are not accountable to you; we don't need to answer your questions, we only say, “O our Lord! Bring them back to the normal belief of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama`ah.”

Look at what Allah (swt) said:

لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

law anzalna hadha al-Qur'an `ala jabalin `ala jabalin la-raaytahu khashi`an mutasaddi`an min khashyatillahi watilka alamthaalu nadribuha li 'n-naasi la`allahum yatafakkaroon.

What greater evidence they want more than that? Allah (swt) is saying, not any angel is saying, not any prophet is saying. “If We would have revealed that Holy Qur'an on a mountain, you would have seen that mountain khashiyan mutasadi`an min khashiyatillah, shattering into powder and dust as if it never existed anymore.”

Look, in Afghanistan that mountain that can carry the blasts of so many “smart bombs,” that were dropped and nothing happened. They throw 2000-pound bombs, the mountain is still a mountain. So Allah (swt) said, “If We send that Qur'an on a mountain, it will shatter.” So why the heart of the Prophet (s) did not shatter when Allah revealed the Qur'an on him?

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ

Inna anzalnaahu fee laylati'l-qadr.

Lo! We revealed it on the Night of Power. (97:1)

“We have revealed it in one night, the whole Qur'an,” to Prophet's heart, because noor carries noor. They say: Huwa 'l-Qur'an an-naatiq, the Prophet (s) is the speaking Qur'an.

O Muslims! We cannot learn or understand the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! Allah (swt) gave to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) `uloom al-awwaleen wal-akhireen (the knowledge of the First and the Lasts). Allah didn't leave anything (for anyone else); why should He? Is He in need of it? If Allah (swt) has knowledge, He has to give it, but not to me and you. He has to give to the one who is noor. It is enough pride for us to say we are from Ummat an-Nabi (s) and Allah (swt) gave that noor and knowledge to Prophet to do what? Some to keep it, and some to give it, and some to give privately, as he mentioned in his hadith: “Allah gave me three kinds knowledge: one I have to give, it is Shari`ah, and one is for me, Allah khasasanee biha that he specified for me, and some to give to the private one.”

Who are these private ones? There must be some in the ummah to whom Prophet (s) gave knowledge. What did Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r) say? “I learned from Prophet (s) two kinds of knowledge: one kind I shared with everyone (and that is why you see so many hadith from Abu Hurayrah), and one that if I reveal it they will cut this neck of mine!”

Awliyaa understand that. There is big difference between awliyaa (saints) and `ulama (scholars). An `alim can be jahil, ignorant, but a wali cannot be jahil. That `alim might learn letters from books but doesn't apply that knowledge to himself, and that is jahil! So to whom Abu Hurayrah (r) is saying, “If I share that knowledge they will cut my neck.” Who was living in that time? Sahabah (r) were living then. It means, “If I say some of things that Prophet (s) gave me especially, some of Sahabah would not accept it.”

وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ

fawqa kulli dhil `ilmin aleem

Above every knower is a higher knower. (12:76)

Not everyone is on the same level of knowledge, although in Paradise all in the same level. What Prophet (s) gave to one Sahabi he didn't give to another; that is why when you see a collection of hadith, some know one and some know another.

It is easy to find examples of this in Holy Qur'an. Sayyidina Musa is “Kaleemullah,” to whom Allah (swt) spoke directly, because he didn't need an intermediary. Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was so humble that he accept an intermediary, he accepted to take messages from Jibreel (a) to show humbleness, to show us that in our work we need each other! Don't do something without guidance! Don't say, “I don't need a teacher.” In reality Prophet (s) didn't need a teacher, but to show us we need a teacher, he took a guide from Mecca to Madinah. Does the one who went to Paradise and to qaaba qawsayni aw adna, (within two bows' length in the Divine Presence) need a guide to go from Mecca to Madinah? But to teach us not to raise our heads, we don't know anything, what we know is a drop from an endless Knowledge Ocean. Humans knowledge is secular and religious knowledge is not a drop in the Ocean of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! It is nothing, because whatever levels of knowledge they reached is like going 100 kilometers high in space, and Sayyidina Muhammad (s) went beyond space. Think about it.

How big is this universe? How many galaxies are in it? We are in one galaxy and it has 80 billion stars, each bigger than the sun. How many suns, moons, earths it has? Allah (swt) is “al-Khaalaq,” Creator Who is always creating, because if that creation stops then He is limited. That means every moment Creation is being created. They have a Day of Creation and a Day of Resurrection, jaakum min Allah noor, "there has come to you form Allah, light." Knowledge is not yet appearing; knowledge will appear when Allah (swt) wants. If you look at Signs of the Last Days, you will see it and you can read it by yourself; time isn't enough today to explain it. Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r) said, “They will cut my neck if I reveal that.”

O Muslims! All knowledge Allah (swt) gave to Prophet (s). What is the first letter of Allah's name? Alif. What is the first letter of the alphabet? Alif. What is the last letter of the alphabet? Ya. What is the first letter of Prophet's name, “Ya-Seen”?

يس وَالْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ

Ya-Seen. Wa 'l-qur'ani 'l-hakeem.

Ya-Seen, By the Wise Quran. (36:1-2)

That means, “Yaa Muhammad! You and the Qur'an go together. The first letter in the Arabic alphabet is alif and the last letter is ya. The first letter in Prophet's name mentioned in Holy Qur'an is “Ya-Seen,” which begins with the letter ya. So all knowledges stand in that name, as all the knowledge is written by that alphabet and it is included between ya and alif. That is why Prophet (s) said, “Ya-Seen is heart of Qur'an,” and the Prophet is that Ya-Seen, so Prophet (s) is the heart of Qur'an!

So how do you square-head people think you can understand Qur'an? an-naas kal hajari, “People are like pebbles.” Sayyidina Imam al-Busayri (r), a big wali, said, “I am a small stone in comparison to a diamond.” What you do with the stone? You throw it away. What do you do with the diamond? Keep it in your heart, keep Sayyidina Muhammad (s) as he is yaaqootatan.

An example of Imam Busayri's piety is, one time he was sitting at the Nile River composing the “Burdah ash-Sharif.” He was reciting and putting his feet into the river, and downstream somewhere very far, there was another wali coming with this followers, because the company of the wali is necessary. if you don't accompany a wali you cannot understand. That is why the Sahabah are called, “Sahabah” (plural of “sahabi”); they accompanied the Prophet (s). Someone may ask you, “Do you know him?” If you did not accompany him in travel, you don't know him. So they were traveling by the Nile and they prayed Isha and that saint gave an advice and dhikr and they slept. They woke before Fajr and all needed ghusl (they were ritually impure). They were waiting for the shaykh, and they were going to jump in the river to take a ghusl. but they could not jump in the river, and when the shaykh came he asked what happened. They said, “We need ghusl and we cannot (jump in the river) because the Nile is boiling!” They walked towards the Nile and reached Sayyidina Imam Busayri (r) and found him reciting the beautiful words of praising and those words heated the water of the Nile! (So when you also recite) you may see difficulty but you don't feel it.

Like Sayyidina Zakariyya (a) when they killed him inside the tree, or like Sayyidina Bilal (r) when they were torturing him and he was saying, Ahad, Ahad. Why was he saying, Ahad, Ahad and not Wahid, Wahid? We will speak about that next time insha-Allah. Wahid indicates “oneness,” meaning that everything shows the touch of the Creator. But Ahadiyyah is the Level of Oneness, of shahadah, witnessing. We will leave that for now.

Du`a. Thank you.

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