Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
31 July 2013 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Fajr Suhbah
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.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:59)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi ta`ala wa barakaatuh
Wherever you are, may Allah (swt) bless all of you viewers and listeners, bless all of you with His endless mercy that He dressed His Prophet (s). Allah said in Holy Qur'an:
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
Wa law annahum idh zhalamoo anfusahum ja’ooka f ’astaghfaroollaaha w ’astaghfara lahumu ‘r-rasoolu la-wajadoo ’Llaaha tawwaaba ‘r-raheema.
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)
“If only when they were oppressors to themselves they came to you, yaa Muhammad, and did dhikrullah,” where istighfaar is dhikrullah, asking Allah (swt) for repentance through dhikrullah, by saying, “Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah,” the Prophet (s) will then make dhikrullah on their behalf. But there is an immense difference between our istighfaar and dhikr and the Prophet’s istighfaar and dhikr. So they come to you, yaa Muhammad (s), asking for repentance, asking for Allah (swt) to forgive them, w ’astaghfara lahumu ‘r-rasool, and at that moment the Prophet (s) will ask istighfaar on their behalf. So when you make istighfaar, the Prophet (s) makes istighfaar for you.
When the Prophet (s) makes istighfaar on your behalf, what will Allah say? La-wajadoo ’Llaaha tawwaaba ‘r-raheema, so there is a condition here. La-wajadoo ’Llaah, “For sure they will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful,” but there is a condition. The condition is that your istighfaar is not enough as it has to be with the Prophet's istighfaar, because he is The Best of Creation (s). Sometimes we say, “The Best of Creation,” meaning, still we are comparing him to Creation and the Prophet (s) cannot be compared to Creation; he is higher than all creations that Allah (swt) created! The Prophet (s) is His Messenger and Allah created him from Siffat an-Noor, the Divine Attribute of Light.
رواه عبد الرزاق بسنده عن جابر بن عبد الله بلفظ قال قلت: يا رسول الله، بأبي أنت وأمي، أخبرني عن أول شيء خلقه الله قبل الأشياء. قال: يا جابر، إن الله تعالى خلق قبل الأشياء نور نبيك من نوره،...
`An Jaabir ibn `AbdAllah qaala: qultu yaa Rasoolullah, bi-abee anta wa ummee, akhbirnee `an awwala shayin khalaqahu ’Llaaha qabla’l-ashyaa? Qaala: yaa Jaabir, inn Allaha ta`ala khalaqa qabla al-ashyaa noora nabiyyika min noorih...
When Jaabir (r) asked, “Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Prophet of Allah! What is the first thing that Allah (swt) created?” the Prophet (s) said, “The first thing that Allah (swt) created is the Light of your Prophet from His Light, O Jaabir.” (Musannaf `Abdu ’r-Razzaq)
So the condition is the Prophet (s) has to do dhikr on your behalf, then at that time, la-wajadoo ’Llaha, “for sure they will find Allah Forgiving and Merciful.” So how to apply this verse of Holy Qur'an? It means we have to call on the Prophet (s), “Yaa Rasoolullah! Allah made it a condition to come to your presence,” and at that time going spiritually through yourself, your soul, to the presence of Prophet (s), calling on him, “Yaa Rasoolullah! Yaa Rahmatan li ‘l-`Alameen!”
That is not shirk. Those who are narrow-minded say, “Don’t say that, it is shirk!” because from the beginning they have hate toward the Prophet (s) and they don’t appreciate the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). They think, “O! He gave the message and then left.” No, our duty is ta`zheem an-Nabi (s), our duty is to honor him. Allah (swt) honored him! If Allah (swt) honored him, then we have to honor him according to our small capacity. Allah honored him with an honor that has no beginning and no end, but our duty is to still honor the Prophet (s) by making salawaat, by calling on him. The Sahaabah (r) used to call on the Prophet (s), so why can’t we call on him? The Sahaabah used to go to the presence of Prophet (s) and make istighfaar. Why is it not allowed for us and only allowed for them? No one can reach the level of the honorable Sahaabah (r), but that is open for everyone. Allah opened for the Sahaabah (r) to see the Prophet (s) and we are not able to see him, but we are believing in him. Ibn Abbas (r) narrated in Sahih Bukhari:
وعن بن عباس أنه قال لجلسائه يوما :أي الناس أعجب إيمانا؟ قالوا : الملائكة. قال: وكيف لا تؤمن الملائكة والأمر فوقهم يرونه؟ قالوا :الأنبياء. قال: وكيف لا يؤمن الأنبياء والأمر ينزل عليهم غدوة وعشية؟ قالوا: فنحن .قال: وكيف لا تؤمنون وأنتم ترون من رسول الله ما ترون؟ ثم قال: قال رسول الله :" أعجب الناس إيمانا قوم يأتون من بعدي يؤمنون بي ولم يروني . أولئك إخواني حقا ".
That is why the Prophet (s) said, when he asked the Sahaabah (r), “Man `ajabu imaanan”, or in another narration, “Man ashaddu imaanan, who has the strongest belief?” They said, “The angels.”
The Prophet (s) said, “How are angels not going to have strong imaan when they see what they are seeing in Paradise?” They said, “The prophets.”And the Prophet (s) said, “How can they not have strong imaan when wahi is coming on them? They see the truth, of course they are going to have strong imaan.”And they said, “Then us, your Companions.” And the Prophet (s) said, “How can you not have strong imaan when I am between you?” They said, “Who then, yaa Rasoolullah?” So the Prophet (s) said, qawmun yaatoona min ba`dee yu’minoona bee wa lam yarawnee. Oolaa’ika ikhwaanee haqqan, “A group from the last ummah, coming after me who believed in me without seeing me. They have the strongest imaan.”
And so we didn’t see the Prophet (s) and we believe in him, and we go to him. And he said, “Those have the strongest of imaan. You are seeing me, you have strong imaan; they didn’t see me and still they have strong imaan.” Yaa Allah! Keep our imaan strong! So to apply this verse, it is through your heart: send your heart to the presence of the Prophet (s). As we mentioned in the previous session on dhikrullah, one has to put his heart on his side and make his heart to do dhikrullah. So when we are doing dhikrullah we have to be focusing to be in that presence of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). He will give his on our behalf that repentance to Allah (swt)’s Greatness. What did Allah say? La-wajadoo ’Llaaha tawwaaba ‘r-raheema. He (s) offers that repentance, saying, “Yaa Rabbee! This is what they can do and as by Your Order in the Holy Qur’an, they have to come to me and this is what I can do, and You, O Allah, can do what You want, You can judge.”
And what Allah said? La-wajadoo ’Llaaha tawwaaba ‘r-raheema, “They are going to find Allah Forgiving, Merciful,” by dhikrullah, as istighfaar is dhikrullah, but the condition is to be in the presence of Prophet (s) through your heart.
عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ خَرَجَ مُعَاوِيَةُ عَلَى حَلْقَةٍ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ فَقَالَ مَا أَجْلَسَكُمْ قَالُوا جَلَسْنَا نَذْكُرُ اللَّهَ . قَالَ آللَّهِ مَا أَجْلَسَكُمْ إِلاَّ ذَاكَ قَالُوا وَاللَّهِ مَا أَجْلَسَنَا إِلاَّ ذَاكَ . قَالَ أَمَا إِنِّي لَمْ أَسْتَحْلِفْكُمْ تُهْمَةً لَكُمْ وَمَا كَانَ أَحَدٌ بِمَنْزِلَتِي مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَقَلَّ عَنْهُ حَدِيثًا مِنِّي وَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم خَرَجَ عَلَى حَلْقَةٍ مِنْ أَصْحَابِهِ فَقَالَ " مَا أَجْلَسَكُمْ " . قَالُوا جَلَسْنَا نَذْكُرُ اللَّهَ وَنَحْمَدُهُ عَلَى مَا هَدَانَا لِلإِسْلاَمِ وَمَنَّ بِهِ عَلَيْنَا . قَالَ " آللَّهِ مَا أَجْلَسَكُمْ إِلاَّ ذَاكَ " . قَالُوا وَاللَّهِ مَا أَجْلَسَنَا إِلاَّ ذَاكَ . قَالَ " أَمَا إِنِّي لَمْ أَسْتَحْلِفْكُمْ تُهْمَةً لَكُمْ وَلَكِنَّهُ أَتَانِي جِبْرِيلُ فَأَخْبَرَنِي أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُبَاهِي بِكُمُ الْمَلاَئِكَةَ
Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri (r) reported that Mu`awiya (r) went to a circle in the mosque and said, “What makes you sit here?” They said, “We are sitting here in order to remember Allah.” He said, “I adjure you by Allah (to tell me whether you are sitting here for this very purpose)?” They said, “By Allah, we are sitting here for this very purpose.” Thereupon, he said, “I have not demanded you to take an oath, because of any allegation against you and none of my rank in the eye of Allah's Messenger (s) is the narrator of so few ahadith as I am. The fact is that Allah's Messenger (s) went out to the circle of his Companions and said, “What makes you sit?” They said, “We are sitting here in order to remember Allah and to praise Him for He guided us to the path of Islam and He conferred favors upon us.” Thereupon he adjured by Allah and asked if that only was the purpose of their sitting there. They said, “By Allah, we are not sitting here but for this very purpose,” whereupon he (the Messenger) said, “I am not asking you to take an oath because of any allegation against you but for the fact that Gabriel came to me and he informed me that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, was talking to the angels about your magnificence.” (Sahih Muslim)
It is mentioned that one day Mu`awiya, one of the Sahaabah, went to the masjid and saw a group of people sitting there, and he asked them, “What made you sit together?” They said, jalasnaa nadhkurullah, “We sat together making dhikrullah, to remember Allah.” He said, “Are you sure you are sitting for that only? Qaal Allah maa ajlasakum illa dhaak, are you sure it is for Allah, that you sat only for dhikrullah?” They said, w ‘Allahi maa ajlasanaa illa dhaak, “We give an oath by Allah (swt) that we didn't sit except for dhikrullah.” I am not comparing our sitting for dhikrullah like their sitting, they are Sahaabah (r), their sitting is highly elevated and no one can be like them, but as the Prophet (s) said:
من تشبه بقوم فهو منهم
Man tashabbaha bi-qawmin fa huwa minhum.
Who imitates a group of people are from them. (Abu Dawood)
So they gave an oath that they sat only to do dhikrullah. Now this group of people and many others around the world today, many people sit in groups for dhikrullah. Are they doing anything other than that? Look here and this is an example, thousands and millions of people are sitting doing the same thing doing dhikrullah or speaking or lecturing for Islam, or they come together for reciting Holy Qur'an or reciting hadith, that is all dhikrullah. And he said, “W ‘Allahi I didn’t ask you this question to accuse you of not making dhikrullah, but I heard the Prophet (s) one time asking a group of Sahaabah (r) sitting together like you, maa ajlasakum, “Why are you sitting, what is the reason of your sitting together?”Qaaloo jalasnaa nadhkuru ‘Llah, “We are sitting to remember Allah (swt) and to recite His, Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes and to do the dhikr you have taught us,” wa nahmaduhu `alaa maa hadaana li‘l-islaami wa manna bihi `alayna bika, “and to thank Allah that He honored us with Islam, thanking Him, showing shukran lillah.”
لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ
La-in shakartum la-azeedanakum.
If you thank Me, I will give you more. (Surah Ibraheem, 14:7)
“We were thanking Him, glorifying Him and praising Him for honoring us by guiding us to be in Islam, wa manna `alayna bika, and honored us to be with you and and honored us because of you. We are very happy for that.” And the Prophet (s) said, Allah, maa ajlasakum illaa dhaak, “Allah! (as when you see something big), did you not sit except for that?” And they said, w ‘Allahi yaa rasoolullah, maa ajlasanaa illaa dhaak, “We did not sit except for that, to thank Him for His Favors that He granted us Islam, and offered us to be with you.” The Prophet (s) said, qaala amaa innee lam astahlifkum tuhmata lakum, “Allah is my witness, I am not asking you, accusing of something, wa laakinnahu ataanee jibreel, but Jibreel came to me and...”
What did Jibreel say to the Prophet (s)? People sitting in a gathering and making dhikrullah, and Prophet (s) asked them for what purpose? They answered, “For thanking Allah that they were guided to Islam and guided to be with the Prophet (s).” So what will Allah compensate them with? W ‘Allahi ataanee jibreel fa akhbaranee anna ‘Llaah tabaaraka wa ta`ala yubaahee bikum li ’l-malaaikah. When you hear this you melt completely. What is the word, like you “dissolve”, immediately melting; they melted. What did he say? Inna ‘Llaha yubaahee bikum li ’l-malaaikah, “Allah (swt) tells His angels He is so happy with what you are doing that He will show off to His angels: Look! These are My servants. I am so happy with what they are doing and proud of them.”
When Allah is happy what does that mean? Fa haadhihi mubaahaat `an rabbihim, daleelun `an sharaf adh-dhikr. This showing-off, of Allah to His angels, of happiness from His servants is proof of the honor of dhikr they are doing; the greatness of dhikrullah - how much Allah appreciates the one remembering Him.
That is why Allah said:
أَنَا جَلِيْسُ مَنْ ذَكَرَنِي
Anaa jaleesu man dhakaranee.
I sit with him who remembers me. (Ahmad, Bayhaqi)
“I am with the one who remembers Me, I am sitting with the one who remembers Me.” That means Allah will give dunya and Akhirah to the one who sits and remembers Him. And we say, “O, we have difficulties in dunya, how is Allah giving us in dunya and Akhirah?” But the Prophet (s) had difficulties in dunya, he was the one must abused by his people and his family. Yes, He is rewarding you in dunya, it will be written for you and you will find that reward in Akhirah in order to be saved. Although you see difficulties you will be rewarded for these difficulties because you are dhaakir, your tongue has noor, your mouth has noor, your ears have noor, your eyes have noor, your body has noor, and we have explained that before; you have noor, light in front, you have noor on your right and noor on your left, in the back, above and below, everything is noor. The Prophet (s) used to say, Allahumma ja`alnee nooran, “O Allah, make me Light.” May Allah (swt) make us light. (Ameen.)
That happiness from Allah (swt) towards His servants when they are doing dhikr shows the honor of dhikrullah, and Allah’s Love to that, for someone to call Him, not to call anyone else. It is said that people get addicted to drugs, is it not? It is not a good example, but there are some people who lost their way and they go and do drugs. Now it is everywhere, and before it was in some countries, but now every country around the world, they sell it and do drugs. So when they become drug-addicted there are also people addicted to something else, they are addicted to dhikrullah. Anna mudminu ‘dh-dhikr yadkhul al-jannah wa huwa yad-haq, “The one who is addicted to do dhikrullah will enter Paradise smiling and laughing,” because he is addicted.
When someone is addicted to drugs he doesn't know what he is doing, he smiles from dunya but the one who is addicted to dhikrullah, is drunk with Allah's love, and drunk with the Prophet's love, and drunk with awliya's love, and drunk with Holy Qur'an, and drunk with imaan, and with Islam, and with ihsaan. He is drunk with everything that Allah gave him as a mu’min, he is drunk in that; his mind is dhikrullah and his food is dhikrullah!
I know people, I know them very well one is my uncle, he didn't eat and he only drank tea. He lived to 85 years of age and had only tea with one sugar, and he was one of the biggest scholars of Islam, head of the scholars of Middle East. You see his library was full of books, he was sitting in his library and he used to sleep in his library. One time like five years ago, I met someone who was one of the linguist geniuses in Arabic, and there was a dispute about one word and what it means in reality, as the Holy Qur'an came on seven qiraats, seven different dialects, it changes the words and the Prophet (s) agreed on all of them. There are more than seven, it goes up to fourteen, but the main ones are seven.
Five years ago, I went back home and was invited by some important people and among them was the archbishop of the Orthodox Christians, the big famous one, Metron Khidr. It was the first time I was meeting him and they asked me to speak something and he asked me, “From which family are you?” And I mentioned it and he knew there was a relation between my family name and my uncle’s family name. He asked me, “Is this man related to you?”
And I said, “Yes, he was my uncle,” (and from those who do dhikrullah and who are among thousands of books, and he read them all, thousands of books!).
He said, “I will tell you a story that happened with your uncle.” He is also a linguist, that archbishop. He said, “I used to go visit your uncle always as I knew his high level, and one day I mentioned that word and he gave me an example of that meaning and I disagreed with him, but he insisted on that meaning. He said, ‘Give me a proof from the old writings of what you are saying,’ (and this came haphazard, not prepared beforehand like in a discussion that my uncle would have prepared something to show him, so it is very difficult to get a proof, but when knowledgeable people speak they understand.) And he looked at me not happy, but because of dhikrullah (the archbishop is saying that, because of dhikrullah these people show patience, they don’t show anger) those who have dhikrullah don’t show anger. So he said to me, ‘Go to the right side of the shelves and on the fifth shelf there is a book there, behind that book,’ (as it is wide they put many books behind each other). ‘Go five and six books back and you will find a book and pull it out and bring it to me.’ (He pulled it out and brought it to my uncle, who said), ‘Open x page and on the 16th line you will find your answer,’ and it was that.”
That comes from what? Purity of the mind. He still remembered where he read it from among these thousands of books and the right answer!
And the archbishop said, “I was surprised; he was going to make me Muslim!”
He had purity of mind due to dhikrullah and he didn't eat, pouring tea after tea, like Pakistani dood pati! So those who are doing a lot of dhikr, Allah will be happy with them and show them to His angels, “Look how happy I am with them.” Inna jamee`a ’l-`amal innama shurri`at iqaamatan li dhikrillahi ta`ala, “All `amal--prayers, fasting, zakaat, Hajj, Shahadah, Maqaam al-Ihsaan--everything you do reminds you of Allah (swt), so that is dhikrullah.”
So, innama jamee`a ’l-`amal shurri`at iqaamatan li dhikrillah, these actions are only decreed for the sake of dhikrullah. These constitutions and orders are there for the purpose of dhikrullah. (Someone sneezed and said “alhamdulillah.”) Saying “alhamdulillah” is dhikrullah! So the one addicted to dhikrullah will enter Paradise laughing because of no hisaab; he is not there, his mind is already with Allah, not in dunya, and he is not seeing anything else as he is already with Allah, he is only loving Allah and that one does not need to walk on Siraat al-Mustaqeem as he is already there directly. So dhikrullah is a safety for us to enter Paradise.
اتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاء وَالْمُنكَرِ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ
Utlu maa oohiyya ilayka min al-kitaabi wa aqimi ‘s-salaata inna 's-salaata tanhaa `ani 'l-fahshaai wa 'l-munkari wa la-dhikrullaahi akbaru w 'Allaahu ya`lamu maa tasna`oon.
Recite what is sent of the Book by inspiration to you and establish regular prayer, for prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds. And remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) you do. (Surat al-`Ankaboot, 29:45)
“Read from the Revelation that we have sent to you, yaa Muhammad! Read from these wahi, revelations, utloo maa uhiyya ilayk, read what has been revealed to you from the Book; that is dhikrullah, reading Holy Qur'an is dhikrullah. Wa aqimi ’s-salaat, and establish the prayer, begin to pray; that is dhikrullah. When you enter into prayer what do you say? “Allahu Akbar,” and then what do you say? “Subhaanak allahumma wa bi hamdika wa tabaaraka ‘smuka wa ta`ala jadduka wa jalla thanaauka wa laa ilaaha ghayruk.” So when you enter your prayer, it’s dhikrullah. You enter your prayer with what? First you say, “Allahu Akbar!” meaning, “Yaa Rabbee! The way I’m doing my prayer I’m sorry, it is not to Your Honor. My ego, my self, my bad `amal is blended with my prayer and it doesn’t befit You so forgive me. You are Allahu Akbar, You are Greatest, no one can reach You, yaa Rabbee! I didn't praise You as You deserve.” And then according to the Hanafi School you say, “Subhaanak allahumma wa bi hamdika,” you are making tasbeeh and you are making hamd, wa bi hamdika wa tabaaraka ‘smuk, “Your Name be blessed,” wa ta`ala jadduk wa laa ilaaha ghayruk.
In Shafi`i School you say:
إِنِّي وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِي فَطَرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ حَنِيفًا وَمَا أَنَاْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
Innee wajahtu wajhiyya lilladhee fatar as-samawati wa ’l-ard haneefan, wa maa anaa min al-mushrikeen.
"For me, I have set my face, firmly and truly, towards Him Who created the heavens and the earth, and never shall I give partners to Allah." (Surat al-An`am, 6:79)
قُلْ إِنَّ صَلاَتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَايَ وَمَمَاتِي لِلّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ اَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَبِذَلِكَ أُمِرْتُ وَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
Inna salaatee wa nusukee wa mahyaaee wa mamaatee lillaahi rabbi ‘l-`aalameen, la shareeka lahu wa bi-dhaalika umurtu wa anaa awwal al-muslimeen.”
Say: "Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds in whose divinity none has a share: for thus have I been bidden-and I shall [always] be foremost among those who surrender themselves unto Him." (Surat al-An`am, 6:162-163)
This also has the Tawheed in it, it has Hajj in it, wajjahtu wajhiyya lilladhee fatara ‘s-samaawati wa ’l-ard, “I directed my face to the One Who created Heavens and Earth and I am not mushrik,” wa maa anaa min al-mushrikeen, “I am not from the mushriks that associate someone with You.” Inna salaatee wa nusukee wa mahyaaee, all my prayers, all my nusuk (the different rituals: you begin with tawaaf, sa`ee, going to `Arafat, coming to Mina, Muzdalifah, and going back to Mecca), all these are nusukee. Wa mahyaaee wa mamaatee, “My life and my death is in Your Hand, yaa Rabbee,” wa anaa min al-muslimeen, “and I am from the Muslims.” This is the du`a of Sayyidina Ibraheem (a).
So that is why He said, aqimi ‘s-salaat, “Establish the prayer,” which means begin with dhikrullah, and you begin it with dhikrullah and then when you open it with dhikrullah, with showing Tawheed or showing du`a, as Imam Abu Hanifa (r) mentioned, you enter the prayer reciting Surat al-Fatihah. Now you are clean, your tongue is clean, your smell is clean, your breath is clean, your heart is clean to read Surat al-Fatihah. You cannot read Holy Qur'an unless you are clean as it is Allah’s Words, especially Surat al-Fatihah as it is the secret of the Holy Qur’an. So you begin by reciting Fatihatu ‘l-Kitaab and inna ‘s-salaatee, and in this way that you are doing your prayer, reading the Fatihah and a surah, and then you go into ruk`oo and you say, “Subhaana rabbee al-`azheem wa bi hamdih.” Some people say, “Subhaana rabbee al-`azheem,” but it is not enough. Also say, “wa bi hamdih,” and that is dhikr. Then you stand up and you say, “Sami` Allahu liman hamidah, rabbanaa wa laka ’l-hamd hamdan katheeran tayyiban mubaarakan feeh, mil as-samaawaati wa mil al-ard wa mila maa shi’ta min shayyin ba`da,” and that is dhikrullah, that is du`a there. Now people are in a hurry and they cut that and they say only, “Sami` Allahu liman hameedah, rabbanaa laka ’l-hamd,” that is if they say it, and they go for sajda, but in any case that is dhikrullah.
That kind of dhikr in the prayer:
إِنَّ الصَّلَاةَ تَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاء وَالْمُنكَرِ وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ
inna 's-salaata tanhaa `ani 'l-fahshaai wa 'l-munkari wa la-dhikrullaahi akbar
for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds and the Remembrance of Allah is greatest (thing in life) without doubt (Surat al-`Ankaboot, 29:45)
What is in this ayah, that prayer prevents you to fall into, tanhaa `ani ‘l-fahshaai wa ’l-munkar, to fall into the trap of Shaytan to be faasiq, a corrupt person. Allah said, wa la-dhikrullaahi akbar, “but still put it in your mind that greater than that is dhikrullah.” Wa la-dhikrullaahi akbar. Allah wants to show His Dhikr, not your dhikr, but “O My `abd, whatever you have praised Me in that salaat, My return praising of you is greater! When I mention you, it is more than your mention of Me.”
اذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ
Fadhkuroonee adhkurkum.
Remember Me, I will remember you. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:152)
You have to remember that He remembers us differently than when we remember Him. We remember Him small and He remembers us greatly, according to His Greatness. Wa laa-dhikrullaahi akbaru w ‘Allaahu ya`lamu maa tasna`oon, Allah's remembrance is greater, because Allah knows what you are doing. When He sees you doing something small, He gives you something big.
That is why Sayyida `Ayesha mentioned in a Sahih Hadith that the Prophet (s) said:
إِنَّمَا جُعِلَ الطَّوَافُ بِالْبَيْتِ وَبَيْنَ الصَّفَا وَالْمَرْوَةِ وَرَمْىُ الْجِمَارِ لإِقَامَةِ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ
Inamaa ju`ila’t-tawaafu bi’l-bayti wa bayna as-safaa wa’l-marwati wa ramiyu’l-jimaari li-iqaamati dhikrillahi.
Going around the House (the Ka'bah), running between Safa and Marwa and stoning of the pillars are meant for the remembrance of Allah. (Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi)
The tawaaf of the House has been ordered and running between Safa and Marwa; it has been ordered for every person who enters Harami Makki to circumambulate around Ka`bah if he is coming for `umrah. If he lives in Mecca he doesn't have to make tawaaf; if he lives outside of Mecca, in Jeddah for example, and he comes to Mecca, he has to do Tawaaf al-Qudoom; you make Tawaaf az-Ziyarah, if you enter you make tawaaf, you don’t do sa`ee. If you are in `Umrah, you have to do sa`ee between Safa and Marwa and to throw the stones in Hajj and all the other rituals, all of them are to remind you of dhikrullah because they are dhikrullah, all of these nusuk, actions are from dhikrullah. Even throwing stones at the devil is dhikrullah; you are stoning Shaytan, but you are saying, Ridan li ‘r-rahmaan, raghman li ‘sh-shaytaan, “Allah to be happy with us and for Shaytan to be down,” to reject Shaytan and for Haqq to be up, so that is dhikrullah. And running between Safaa and Marwa, reading all kinds of du`a that the Prophet (s) used to do, that is dhikrullah. Tawaaf around Ka`bah is dhikrullah and going to Mina is dhikrullah and going to Arafat is dhikrullah and going to Muzdalifa is dhikrullah; all the shara`ih that has been put, principles of Hajj are all dhikrullah. So in salaat there is dhikrullah and in Hajj there is dhikrullah and in visiting the Prophet (s) in Madinah there is dhikrullah, in making salawaat and praying there, and so all of Islam is built on remembering Allah (swt)!
عن عبد الله بن بسر رضي الله عنه أن رجلا قال: يا رسول الله إن شرائع الإسلام قد كثرت علي فأخبرني بشيء أتشبث به؟ قال لا يزال لسانك رطبا من ذكر الله" الترمذي.
Anna rajulan qaal: yaa rasoolullahi inna sharaa`i al-islaamu qad kathurat `alayya fa-akhbirnee bi-shayyin atashabathu bih? Qaal: laa yazaal lisaanak ratban min dhikrillah.
A man came to the Prophet (s) and said, "O Rasoolullah! The rules of Islam became heavy on me, so give me news of something which I can maintain." Prophet (s) said, "Make your tongue wet with dhikrullah." (Tirmidhi)
A Bedouin came to the Prophet (s) and said, “The conditions and principles of Islam are too much for me, yaa Rasoolullah, give me something small for me to do, that I can do.” If we want to do what the Prophet (s) was doing, there are too many things to recite. The Prophet (s) used to recite in every step in his life, in every moment: when he wanted to go out, when he wanted to come in, when there was adhaan, when you want to eat, drink, fast, pray, if you see a dream you don’t like, etc., and you need to recite these, and I think many western people cannot memorize that as their language is not Arabic. So the Prophet (s) said, “Keep your tongue moist, wet with dhikrullah.” That is why we have to keep our tongue wet with dhikrullah.
Ibn Qayyim continues in his al-Waabil as-Sayyib:
أن ذكر الله عز و جل من أكبر العون على طاعته
Inna dhikrullah `azza wa jalla min al-akbar al-`awn `alaa ta`tihi,
“Verily dhikrullah is for sure the best pillar to support us to obey Allah (swt).”
I am not going to explain it all, but the second one he continues:
أن ذكر الله عز و جل يسهل الصعب وييسر العسير
inna dhikrullah `azza wa jalla yusahili ’s-s`ab wa yuyasiri ’l-`aseer,
“Dhikrullah will make the difficult easy and make the obstacles to go away.”
And further:
أن ذكر الله عز و جل يذهب عن القلب مخاوفه كلها
Inna dhikrullah yudhhib `anil-qalb mukhawwifahu
“Dhikrullah takes away from the heart all things that make the heart to fear.”
أن الذكر يعطي الذاكر قوة
Inna dhikrullah y`utid dhaakir raquwaa, dhikrullah gives you a strong memory.
I am jumping through them. There are too many ways of dhikrullah you can do:
1) First of them, dhikrullah can be done by heart and by tongue, wa dhaalika afdal adh-dhikr, that is the best of dhikr.
2) Second is you can do by heart alone.
3) Then you can do by tongue alone.
4) And then you can do by heart and tongue, and that is the best of them. If you mix both, then that is the best dhikr of what you are doing.
الذكر أفضل من الدعاء
Adh-dhikr afdal min ad-du`a,
“Dhikrullah is better, higher than supplication.”
الذكر ثناء على الله عز و جل بجميل أوصافه وآلائه وأسمائه
Adh-dhikru thanaa `aan al-Llah `azza wa jall, bi jamee`i siffaathi wa asmaaihi
“Dhikrullah is praising, if we can say that, praising Allah, , that is praising Allah by His Attributes, His Names, and His Greatness.”
So here is another example for those who say, “Don’t make dhikr with asma-Allah,” this is confirming that you can do that.
والدعاء سؤال ال عبد حاجته
Wa d-du`a sual al-`abd hajaata,
“The du`a is the request of the servant for his needs.”
So the difference between du`a and dhikr is du`a is the request of the servant for his needs which means you are asking for yourself, but dhikrullah is praising Allah for Himself, so there is a big difference here.
We will continue next time, a new day with a new page!
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/All_Worship_Was_Decreed_Because_of_Dhikrullah-5159.html
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