10 Ramadan 1427/2 October 2006
after Salat al-Fajr and Tahajjud
A`udhu billahi min ash-shaytaan ir-rajeem
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
Nawaytu'l-arba`een, nawaytu'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu'l-khalwah, nawaytu'l-riyaadah, nawaytu's-salook, nawaytu'l-`uzlah lillahi ta`ala fee hadha'l-masjid
Ati` Allah wa ati` ar-Rasula wa uli 'l-amri minkum
Allah I has favored us and honored us with the favor of Islam. Allah I made us from last nation, from ummat an-Nabi where Allah I said in holy Qur’an:
Kuntum khayra ummatin ukhrajit lin-naas…minhum al-mu'minoon…fasiqoon.
You are the best Ummah that has been sent in humanity, in human race, calling for good and prohibiting what is bad. If Ahl al-kitaab will believe what we believe it will be better for them. Because Allah I has sent the Prophet Muhammad e as a mercy for humanity.
Since he is a mercy for humanity, it means every person has from that mercy. If we have something from that mercy it means we have to respect each other, because we have to understand that mercy, that drop of mercy that is within us is coming from the manifestation and reflection of the light of Sayyidina Muhammad e on us.
As we said in the previous session the Prophet e is the reflection of the Beautiful Names and Attributes of Allah I. Even sometimes we do mistakes, and no one is ma`sum, no one is safe from doing mistakes, no one is able to be like the Prophet e, he is the one that is ma`sum, pure from falling into sins and mistakes, and all other prophets.
Awliyaullah, they have that understanding, but since they aren’t ma`sum, sometimes they look into something that is not concern for them, and they are looking sometimes into something they have no right to look.
Grandshaykh giving an example that even between awliya there are sometimes thing that you cannot understand from one wali to another or from one wali to a person who might not be a wali even.
Awliyaullah have several descriptions and several levels. And sometimes one of Allah’s I Names, that comes now to me to speak about is al-Wakeel I. Al-Wakeel I is one of his Beautiful Names and Attributes. Al-Wakeel I is the one who is al-Wali I, like for example if you go to a lawyer or you go to someone that you trust. That one you trust sometimes you go to appoint him with a power of attorney to represent you. If you don’t trust him you don’t give him power of attorney to represent you. And when you go to a notary to do that or to a law office, in this country, or you go in other countries to the court or to the government representative to appoint someone. When you go they ask you what kind of power of attorney you want: restricted one, private, or general one. If you say private not what is specific for an issue you want to solve. If it is a general one they look at you and say, are you sure. The private one they don’t say are you sure. They say you want to do it and say it is ok. But the general one they look at you and say, are you sure you say I am sure. They say “No, no, no you must think about it. If you give such a power of attorney it means you have given all your papers and all you own in the hand of that person.” Even in Muslim countries, Islamically, if you give general power of attorney, in Muslim or Arab countries, if you give the general power of attorney, even without your presence he can divorce your wife or he can make arrangement to marry you without you knowing. To that extent. You go to someone, you want your daughter to get married to this one, you say, “Yes!” He makes nikah representing you. And then she is married to you. Then you owe nafakha if she divorces you and she might take half your property. So they ask you again, do you really want general power of attorney. And you say yes. Still that is a human being. That person might one day get angry and might sell you even. He doesn’t leave anything with you. Sell your home, sell your business, sell everything even. To trust you have to have a lot of love to that person in order to give that person power of attorney.
You see even between father and children the father doesn’t give power of attorney to them. Even sister to brother or father to sister or father to son. They don’t give unless there is a huge trust between them. Then they give. What do you think when Allah I says my name is al-Wakeel I. What does that name mean? Guardian. No, guardian is protector. Wakeel means, “You represent me. You put your trust in Me, I support you. Sign this contract with Me.”
And we all signed that contract on the day of promises. We signed the contract that, “You, O Allah I are our wakeel.” What do you think when He said, alastu bi-rabbikum, when He brought the descendants of Adam u: Dhurriyyat, alastu bi-rabbikum, they said balaa, they signed that contract. He is best of wakeel. Why are you trying to run from that contract which you signed and appointed Allah I as your wakeel?
When you raise your hand and make du`a you say, “You are my wakeel, hasbee, and You are my guardian, hasbunAllah wa ni`am al-Wakeel.” We are surrendering and rendering all our problems to Allah I; only Allah I can solve it and we depend on him and He is the best One to be representing us. Represent us to whom? Represent us to Himself. When you appoint the head of the court as your wakeel, of course you will get the decision in your favor. The Supreme Court is your wakeel, So what you think of the Creator who created everything.
So when you signed contract, don’t look after what people are doing. Don’t put your iraada there. When you put your iraada thinking you are a wali, you will be falling down. Don’t think you are a wali. Wali will also fall down. Allah I did not give everything to awliyaullah. He hid much from them. And awliya, according to their level might do things which are not accepted. Or the second wali might not accept what the first wali is doing. That one knows more than the other. That is why keep a low profile.
In that Suhbat that happened 40 years ago, when Grandshaykh said, [about] a wali. That is why we are speaking about when you sign a contract with Allah I, leave the people, He is your wakeel and He is their wakeel also. If you think you are the highest and try to do according to that you might fall down.
So Grandshaykh told the story that: A wali saw a Bedouin, and you know Bedouins [how they are], he is in the desert, so for sure his clothes are dirty. He looked at him and he is coming from the desert to the village, and that wali likes to see everything good. He looked at him and said, “O my brother!” And look according to his eyes he saw a Bedouin, a rayy, a shepherd. All the day he is with the sheep and goats, with dirty clothes, smelly. Don’t run from smelly things. You are smelly also.
Sayyidina `Isa u was with his students the Hawaariyyoon one day going into the jungle and they saw an animal, dead. But that animal from the heat of the sun is smelly, it might be one week dead; so what will happen? Decomposing and all these worms are eating that animal. And this smell, the smell is everywhere. So the Hawaariyyoon, the disciples of Sayyidina `Isa u, put their hands over their noses. Sayyidina `Isa u looked at them and said, “Follow me!” He approached that dead animal and with his stick, he put the stick on his mouth and pushed his lips to show his teeth. And he said to them, “Take your hands away. Look at the beauty of his teeth; how Allah I, [as the teeth don’t decompose quickly, the flesh decomposes quickly.] Look how Allah I has made them in a perfect way and enabled that animal to eat. Look at the bones how perfectly they are connected to each other. Look at the greatness of the Creator, don’t look at the smell.”
You are going to smell worse. That animal has no ego, but you have an ego. You in the grave, [since] you don’t have respect to people and you speak about what people are doing, you are going to smell worse in the grave. Don’t look at the bad things people are doing. Don’t backbite and have doubts in what people are doing. Why I cannot work with this one, why I don’t be partner with that one. This one I like more than the other one. That is what makes us all hidden backbiters or [even] open backbiting. So we have to be careful.
So that wali was looking at that shepherd and seeing him very dusty and his clothes very smelly form sheep and goats and said to him, “O my brother, Allah I did not order us to pray with dirty clothes. We have to have clean clothes.”
That shepherd he said, “O my brother. You are right. But Allah I said in a holy hadith (qudsi), inna Allah laa yandhuru ila suwarikum wa laakin yandhuru ila quloobikum. Allah I does not look at your outside but he looks at your heart. And the Prophet e said, rubba aghbar ash`ath law aqsama `ala Allah la-abarrah. It might be that a curly-haired dusty person, [ash`ath is not curly haired only but greasy haired], if he will ask Allah I something, Allah I will answer him immediately.” The shepherd said, “Look at my heart, don’t look at my clothes.”
And he looked at his heart with the light that he has in that presence and that light of the manifestation of the light of Sayyidina Muhammad e that is the manifestation of the light of Allah I coming on his heart. That made that wali who complained to be thrown away and begin to say istaghfirullah. A wali—even a wali begins to say istaghfirullah. He said, “O My Lord! I will never look anymore into something that looks to me not good and it might be to me good, who knows. I will not follow `uyyub - shortcomings of people. I have to look at my own shortcomings.”
Today people are busy looking at shortcomings of others. They are not looking at their own shortcomings. They are not keeping that in their hearts. They forget immediately.
So when you are asking and requesting, “Ya Rabbee, You be my wakeel,” Allah I will build you up, because Allah I wants to give you the best. Because you said, you are my wakeel. That wakeel wants to do for you the best that can be done to represent you in the best way and to represent you where? In His presence He wants you to have … He doesn’t look at your clothes. Even the wakeel hides shortcoming of the person he represents. Always you try to hide it. What do you think of Allah I? He will try to keep you in the highest level of respect in his presence. That is why hadith of Prophet e, whoever remembers me in an association I will remember him in a better association, which means “In My Presence.” If he remembers that I am his wakeel, I will send angels to guide him. When people sit in gathering of remembrance, Allah I sends angels that assemble around them up to paradise. So we must not look at shortcomings of others. We don’t known what is in their heart. That shepherd looks like a shepherd but he was higher than that wali.
Second description of awliyaullah is that whenever you travel, any kind of travel, awliya have to take permission for their travel from the Prophet e. And that is why students of a wali must take permission when they want to travel from their shaykh as he will take permission on their behalf from the Prophet e. If we don’t take permission form our shaykh to travel, anything that might happen to us they are not covering us. Today if you want to travel they tell you buy insurance. But we don’t guarantee. We only pay. If you die you die, but we will pay your inheritors. But when you take permission from Prophet e they make sure you reach safe. And awliyaullah when you take permission for traveling, they take permission from their shaykh and their shaykh from the Prophet e. If you take permission from the one representing the shaykh, that person has to take permission from the one he represents who is the living wali and that wali will take permission from the propend. Else they cannot save you if something happen. If a ship is sinking they make all possibilities that ship doesn’t sink. They ask Allah I, as they can see, yamhullah maa yashaa'u wa yuthbit.
So awliyaullah immediately jump in on your behalf to ask the Prophet e for my student to be saved and Prophet e is asking for his Ummah. If sinking ship or riding horse in desert or jungle or car or bus or train, all this technology today you have to take permission to ride it or to go. Else if we don’t take permission we will not fall in the category to be saved, they pull their hands. And that is second description that we will explain in next session and the story behind the two walis that were negotiating with each other on that matter. That is second character of awliyaullah.
Bi hurmatil Fatiha.
The first quality is not to judge people on the outside appearance.