Oakland Mosque | 02-15-2008
O Muslims! Believers! Allah swt created Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and he gave him to be the mercy for humanity. The mercy for everything. Where he said in Holy Qur'an:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
wa maa arsalnaaka illa rahmatan li 'l-`alameen
We have sent you not but as mercy for what we have created. (21:107) It is not just mercy for human or jinn but anything that Allah created, other than human and jinn, these universes, whatever there are creatures other than earth, we don’t know, Allah sent them as mercy to all these creatures. Because Allah said, rabbi 'l-`alameen, and he called Sayyidina Muhammad (s) rahmatan li 'l-`alameen.
Allah is not just Creator of human beings and jinn, but He is Creator to all things in this universe, whatever we know or don’t know.
So we don’t give the value of Sayyidina Muhammad. His importance in everything. The importance differs in their understanding from one person to another. Sayyidina Muhammad (s) cannot be compared to any human. Because if you want to compare him, no one went on Isra and Mi’raj. No one went on Mi’raj from earth to Allah’s Divine Presence. And the Divine Presence is not in this universe! It is the Divine Presence it is not created. It is not something difficult for Allah he says to a thing: "kun fayakoon - Be! and it will be."
So no one human being must raise his head as if he know everything as if he is a leader, as if he is a scholar. Leadership is for Sayyidina Muhammad, scholarship is for Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Tazkiyyat an-nafs is for Sayyidina Muhammad (s). to be of high character is for Sayyidina Muhammad. Good manners is for Sayyidina Muhammad (s). everything that you can imagine that you can praise someone goes to Sayyidina Muhammad (s). we are all sinners. No one can say I am not a sinner. But Sayyidina Muhammad (s) can say "I am not a sinner." So there is no resemblance, period. There is no way to compare.
That is why scholarship today doesn’t mean anything. It is not studying books and explaining books and teaching books and giving lectures in universities or giving interfaith or doing anything. That is something like the movement of an ant, it is not anything more.
Interfaith is for Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Knowledge is for Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Why? Because he is humble. He showed humbleness. When someone shows humbleness Allah will give him respect. That is why if `ulama today would show humbleness they would receive from Sayyidina Muhammad (s) secrets. But if they want to break the heart of everyone then you get nothing from the Prophet (s) and you are getting everything from someone else, whom I don’t want to mention his name because he is cursed.
Arrogance comes from Iblees and humbleness comes from Sayyidina Muhammad (s).
O Muslims, there is a big issue today of how to address people. People go on the minbar, and begin to criticize this one or that one. They are not soft as the Prophet (s) was soft with his Sahaba. The Prophet (s) was very soft with his Companions. He was so simple with them; soft with them. He was not strict with them.
How long did it take for Islam to come and to be perfected? It was 23 years. Today `ulama want to burden people with the full knowledge of 23 years. Today we are in time of ignorance more than time of ignorance of the time in which the Prophet (s) came. If we are not going to follow the way of the Prophet (s) in humbleness people will run away from us.
I see a lot of people who left the ways of their parents and families and accepted Islam. They left parents and family to say "we believe in Allah and His Prophet." What do you think of those people, are they not better than us who are raised and born Muslim? Of course. We have to respect them. We have to give them more attention. They have less sins than us. When they entered Islam, all their sins were waived.
Al-Islam yajib ma qablahaa.
As long you say shahada it is gone (cleaned). For us Muslims is it gone? No, for them it is gone, but for us is not gone.
So we have to show respect for those converts, those reverts, we call them in Arabic muhtadeen.
Those who left their parents and families you think that Allah is not merciful to these young converts and reverts. Because they have been guided Allah will forgive their parents even. That is not judgment for people. People today think they are the judges of Islam. They are not judges of Islam, they are judges of their own ego. Allah judge people not us. If we want to judge people judge yourself first. Are you clean?
Today if you do something wrong, what do they do? They take you to court. Then they have to take you to prison in order to clean you. Then you have a record. How are you going to judge people when you have a record of criminality. How do you judge people when you are in a criminal case? How we judge people when we are criminals? So judgment has to be left to Allah.
Those who judge others, whatever their religion they are, we cannot judge people. Allah sent Sayyidina Muhammad (s) as caller to call people to what is good and to call people to leave shat is bad. And he sent him only to give da’wah. He didn’t send him to judge anyone. So you see prophet never judged anyone. How is he going to judge if Allah sent him mercy to all humanity. If he is going to judge them then he is going to say, “forgive all of them, ya Allah! You are their Lord. You are their creator. You forgive everyone.”
O Muslims. Islam is a taste. It is not letters and words what we take only literary and we go and do things against human belief and human nature.
Allah said in Holy Qur'an,
ادْعُ إِلِى سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ
Ud`u ila sabeeli rabbika bi ‘l-hikmati wa ‘l-maw`idhati ’l-hasanati wa jaadilhum billatee hiya ahsanu inna rabbaka huwa a`lamu biman dalla `an sabeelihi wa huwa a`lamu bilmuhtadeen.
Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance. (16:125).
Allah said, “Speak with them in the best way, with Muslim and non-Muslim.” You cannot speak with them in a harsh and rude way. They say “interfaith”. Who is the first who brought interfaith? Today they come and say “let us do interfaith.” Interfaith is when you accept the opinion of the other. Not to bring an issue that you might fight with it.
The first one to do interfaith was Sayyidina Muhammad (s). When he was young going to Mecca, to Sham, for trade he used to sit with monks and priests and he used to sit with rabbis to speak with them and he wants to know what is their opinion. It never came to a fight, it never came to a misunderstanding.
What did Allah say? لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ “Lakum deenakum wa leeya deen – to you your religion and to me mine.” (109:6)
You accept the Torah, it is a light that Allah sent to Sayyidina Musa (as) as mentioned in Surat al-Ma’ida. You accept the Injeel, it is a light that Allah sent too Jesus. You accept the Qur'an, it is a light that Allah sent to Prophet Muhammad (s). Those who accepted the Torah, you cannot say to them they are unbelievers. Those who accepted the Injeel, they are believers (in heavenly message), those who accepted the Qur'an, they are believers. Leave them to Allah’s Judgment.
O Muslims this is something that is coming up every day, interfaith, interfaith, interfaith. Once when I was in England it was an interfaith dialogue there was about 100 people and I was thinking what I have to Sayyidina everyone going for interfaith.
Then it came to me to mention what happened when the prophet went in Isra and Mi’raj in the Divine Presence. Whom he saw there on his way there? He said, ”ra’itu Musa qaiman yoosallee fee qabrih - I saw Musa standing up and praying to his Lord in his grave.”(It means) “I shared that with him.” I saw `Isa (as) in the first Paradise and I prayed together with all the prophets,” including Sayyidina `Isa (as) and Sayyidina Musa (as). When the Prophet (s) prays with all the prophets what does that mean? It means he is making interfaith with all the prophets that Allah sent - it is a bigger circle.
And when he went to Isra and Mi’raj to the Divine Presence and I am not going to explain that - everyone knows it - but Allah gave him fifty prayers for us every day. Now what happened on the way back? Someone interfered. It was Sayyidina Musa who met him on the way back down from Paradise.
So Sayyidina Musa (as) asked “What did your Lord order you?” He said, “Allah ordered me 50 prayers.” And Musa is prophet of who? Bani Israel. The Prophet (s) didn’t fight with him. The Prophet (s) didn’t fight with Sayyidina `Isa (as). Why today do we fight then? Islam as I said, is a taste. It isn’t radicalism; it is not violence; it is understanding others and building bridges. It is tolerance and more than that it is acceptance. You have to tolerate others, and more than that, accept what they say.
So Sayyidina Musa (as) said, “I tried my people and I found it difficult. Your people will not accept 50 prayers.”
He said, “Go back and ask less.” What is Sayyidina Musa (as) doing? He is giving consultation. The Prophet (s) didn’t say, “I am the Seal of messengers, I know.” He said, “Yes, but how can I go back?” Sayyidina Musa (as) said, “You don’t need to go back. Ask from here.”
So the Prophet (s) said, “O my Lord! My brother said his people would not carry 50 prayers, so would you make it less for my people?”
So asking for a discount. So the answer came, “yes, ok, I reduce it by 5.”
So the Prophet was happy. But Sayyidina Musa (as) said, “No you didn’t get a good discount, ask more reduction.”
So Prophet (s) asked more and it was reduced more. And Sayyidina Musa (as) said, “No! it is not enough. Ask more.” So he was on his ears until it was reduced to 5 . then Sayyidina Musa (as) said, “even 5 they will not pray. Ask for zero.”
Sayyidina Muhammad (s) said, “No, I am shy to ask more.” And then Allah said, “O My prophet. That 5 prayers will be equivalent to 50.”
So even though it is only 5 and still we are not spending time to do it. And how much time it takes? 10 minutes, including wudu. So how much total time (in one day)? 50 minutes. So if you worship 50 times a day how much time is that? It is 10 times as much which is 500 minutes. That is as if you worship the whole day.
So today so many are saying “We are the best. We are right, they are wrong.” Even in the Muslim community, even in the Christian community, even in the Jewish community.
What we have to say? All of us are on the straight path and it is not up to us to judge them. May Allah send all to Paradise. Then we will all be saved. The hadith of the Prophet is that I mentioned last time, not in Jumu`ah. So Allah will say, “I am giving you intercession, you do what you want.” And in Bukhari the hadith says that “Allah will open to me prayers never opened to me before in dunya or akhira, in barzakh.” And then he praise Allah and praise Him and praise Him and then Allah says, “Raise your head, ask what you want.” Then he will ask to take one-third of the people. Allah will grant that.
Then he will go into sajda another time and praise Allah and praise Allah. So then Allah will then tell him “sa’l tu`tah -Ask you will be given.” Then he will ask more.
Then Prophet will ask to take everyone (with an atom’s weight of faith) out of Hell into Paradise. He will not want to leave anyone behind.
He will say, “take out one-third.” Then he will ask another time. And Allah will say “take all except one.” Then that poor guy is left standing there. We don’t know who Is that one. Allah knows best. Then Allah will say to that poor guy “you are `ateeq ar-rahman - You are the one to be liberated by Allah and that is the verse وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ “wa rahmatee wasi`at kulla shay – My Mercy encompassed all things…” (7:156) Let our hearts to be big to let everyone in, not to make everyone away.
We ask Allah to make us closer to love of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). There are people who might take my words and say, “what are you saying?” Other people might not say it. There are people who can have visions. Don’t think in the Ummah there are not people who is opened to them their realities. Allah said as the Prophet related, “If a person will approach me through worship I will love him. And when I love him, I will be the ears with which he hears; I will be the eyes with which he sees; I will be the lips with which he talks; I will be the hands with which he acts; I will be the legs with which he moves.”
I was visiting a country and one high official and there they are more strict in the way they accept things and he is very high in his position and he was sitting and he was talking to me. When I say high official you have to understand it means a very high position, from a country from the Gulf, that you know some of them are very strict in their understanding. He said to me, and you know he is busy 24 hours. He has 3-4 telephones and all of them are always ringing at the same time.
He invited me for dinner and he said to me, I was speaking to him. He addressed me in a nice way: “I don’t like to say it, but I am reciting every day something, is it good?” He said, “I get up before Fajr by one hour. Then after Fajr I recite.” I said, “What do you recite?” He said, “I recite Surat al-Kahf, Surat al-Waqi`ah, Surat an-Naba, Surat al-Mulk complete. Then I recite 1000 times Salaat al-Ibrahimiyya, (you know Allahuma salli ala Muhammadin wa `ala aali Muhammadin kamaa salayat `ala Ibrahim…). That I recite 100 times. Then I recite dhikr La ilaha ill-Allah 10000 times, then I recite Allah Allah 10,0000 and then I go to work.”
I said, “You are at 8 o’clock at work. How do you find the time?”
And he said, “I go home and in the evening I recite the same.” He doesn’t sleep more than 4 hours.
He is big politician. He said, “I permit myself to say, that one time I recited Salaat al-Ibrahimiyya 1000 times. I recite 1 time more and suddenly I don’t see anything and I see the Prophet (s) sitting on his knees touching my knees. And he said to me recite ‘Allah, Allah,’ and he was teaching that to me himself.”
That is not someone who will lie. He is very big politician and he is fixing problems of people and countries.
Then let us ask ourselves what are we doing? We are not important people and we might have lot of time.
When someone recites from his heart, sincerely, for sure he will see visions and see in his heart as I mentioned that hadith: “I will be his ears that he can hear with, I will be his eyes that he can see with.”
Build that sincerity in our heart and miracles will happen. If we are on haqq, we will see miracles. Unfortunately we are not on haqq anymore. Muslims brought the name of Islam down. If we are on haqq at least we will be respected. But we are not, because we are not on right path.
May Allah keep us on the right path.
Ya fawzan li ‘l-mustaghfireen istaghfirullah.
Before I step down I would like to thank Hajj Rida, Shaykh Rida that helped to put this place together. But I would request that someone help him or help to put these calligraphies on these walls.