3 January 2013 New Jersey
Suhbah after Khatm at Private Residence (2)
(Recitation of Holy Qur’an.)
Do anbiya, prophets, get afraid? They might get afraid. Sayyidina Musa (a) was afraid from Fira`un. If prophets are afraid, what about us? When Sayyidina Shu`ayb (a) went to Sayyidina Musa (a), he said to him, najawta min al-qawmi ’zh-zhaalimeen, “Don’t get afraid! You are now safe in my territory.” Qaala laa takhaf, “Don't get afraid, you are safe!”
Are we safe from Shaytan? No, then we have to fear, not to take everything for granted. I had to cut his Qur’an recitation because we got afraid. Why did we get afraid? Maybe there is one police car that showed up for traffic, for people to pass, and everyone got scared and ran up, so I had to cut him off. Why then when the bell is ringing from Heavens through the Holy Qur'an we are not afraid? We pass through the verses like muroor al-kiraam, like it doesn't mean anything. I think that we are in a problem, we are in trouble. If we are not going to clean ourselves, and everyone knows what his or her weaknesses are in order to throw away the bad behaviors.
The problem or the common sickness for everyone is the main trunk of the Tree of Sins or Bad Behaviors, because if the trunk dies, the branches will die. And the trunk is anger and pride, arrogance. Forget about generosity and forget about `ilm, knowledge. In the narration of Abu Hurayrah (r) in Sahih Muslim, you see what the Prophet (s) said to the martyr, “You are not a martyr, you are a liar;” to the `alim, “You are not an `alim, you did it for yourself (for your ego), so you are a liar;” and for the generous one who has money, laa tumannimu bi maalak, “Don’t try to show off by making yourself, ‘O! I gave, I gave, I gave!’” You don’t need to. Allah (swt) will give the whole universe!
The Prophet (s) is “al-Qassim,” The One Who Divides. No one divides except the Prophet (s). That is why it is forbidden to call your son “al-Qassim” or “Abu ’l-Qassim,” because it is only for the Prophet (s). Don’t show us your generosity with your money as it might be that a poor person gives one small coin that is better than your millions you are giving.
So the most important thing is to leave off being generous or not, being an `alim or not, being a martyr or not. The problem is a common problem in every patient, in every human being: arrogance and anger. Arrogance brings hatred and jealousy, anger brings arrogance and arrogance brings the rest. So don't be arrogant! It means that if someone says to you something, say “yes,” accept and go along with his opinions. Don't put your ego there because then the form of Shaytan will come out.
I was explaining about sickness that comes in the body. For every sickness in the body, both physical and spiritual sickness, Allah allowed Shaytan to enter the heart. There is a small clot in the heart; you can see it. That is where Shaytan goes in and comes out. That was taken away only from the Prophet (s), who said, “I am the only one in the universe that I ride on my Shaytan and on my ego.” The only one rawadata, who trained his ego to accept what he wants; it means Shaytan cannot approach. But us, that is our main problem. Everyone! Think to yourselves and don't come and say, "Pray for me!" Not to me, as we are all asking Allah (swt), but you might not get it. Allah will not prohibit you from getting it, but He might delay what you are asking for.
There is the normal physical sickness and sickness of the soul, which is more difficult as it is when Shaytan enters. There are holes in the body; every cell has a hole. We have trillions of cells and every cell has a characteristic that not every Shaytan can enter from it, to go in and come out. Every Shaytan knows his entrance and every entrance is different in the body. When Shaytan enters, he’s like a cat. Do you know what the cat does? She sprays. When she wants to mate, sometimes she sprays everywhere! Do you have cat at home? They spray, so when Shaytan enters in that cell and goes out, he will spray his negative energy and people get sick. That is why every sickness is Shaytan's spray; he sprays and goes because of what you are doing, not realizing that Allah might not be happy with it. As we explained, he is a martyr and Allah said, “You are a liar.” He is an `alim and Allah said, “You are a liar.” He is a generous person and Allah said, “You are a liar! You did it from arrogance, only to show off, not for Me!” If we do it for Allah (swt) with no arrogance in whatever we do, that is what is needed. That is why Prophet (s) said--and this hadith is not scary but very, very merciful--he (s) said:
انما بعثت لاتمم مكارم الاخلاق
Innamaa bu`ithtu li utammimu makaarim al-akhlaaq.
I have been sent to perfect the best of conduct (your behavior and character). (Bazzaar)
He said, “Allah (swt) sent me to innamaa, especially...” “Innamaa” means “to confirm and affirm that Allah has sent me for one purpose: to complete the good characters in human beings.” That means, before death, you will know where you will go from this dunya, without your good characters being completed. Impossible! This is a confirmation from Prophet (s), “I affirm and confirm to you that Allah has sent me to perfect your manners.” If we are not perfected in dunya... Prophet (s) will perfect you but you might not see it as you are veiled, but you will see it as soon as you leave dunya! That is why his shafa`ah, intercession takes away all sins because he will intercede and will have already completed us.
Now yes we have to mention ahadith and verses of Holy Qur'an that put fear of Allah (swt) in us, but in which way? Fear of losing His Love, fear of not seeing Him in Paradise, fear in anything that makes Him not happy with us. If this whole dunya does sins day and night, Allah (swt) will never be affected! Does it affect Allah (swt)? No. If something doesn’t affect Him, what is He going to do with you where your negativity did not have any affect on Him? Awliyaullah say that that is where intercession comes in. Allah (swt) can and will send anyone to Paradise without judgment!
فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَه ُوَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ
Faman ya`mal mithqaala dharratin khayran yarah wa man ya`mal mithqaala dharratin sharran yarah.
Whosoever has done an atom's weight of good shall see it, and whosoever has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it. (Surah az-Zalzalah, 99:7-8)
Why does He say that, that whoever does an atom of good will see good and whoever does an atom of bad will see bad? Why, can Allah not send everyone to Paradise? Why does He have to say, “No, I have to judge them?” Do you know why? To tell us the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! He doesn't want so that he (s) will do it. Although Allah can do it--not can, but He will do it--He wants us to know that because of His Prophet (s) He accepted it, `uloowwi sha’nu ‘n-nabi (s), to give the Prophet (s) high level of prestige. Look at the Prophet (s), as that is where your door is! This is what it means. Why should Allah (swt) judge on something He doesn’t look at? He prohibited us to look at something bad, so how will Allah want to look at something bad? Allah doesn’t like to see bad. Does He judge bad? He is not seeing it and He doesn’t want to see it! He can send everyone to Paradise, but Allah says in the Holy Qur'an, “Yaa Muhammad! Yaa Rasoolullah! I now finished My Judgment: those for Heaven for Heaven and those for punishment for punishment, do what you want! Do what you want! I am giving you permission.” This is what this means as it shows the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) that cannot be described.
So on one hand Allah (swt) shows us “punishment,” “punishment,” “punishment,” “great punishment,” “heavy punishment,” “He is going to make people to drink the juice of Hellfire,” as in some ahadith that is coming from the Prophet (s) saying that `usaaratu ahli jahannam, Allah will juice the whole Hellfire and give to people to drink, after which their stomach will go into pieces from the temperature of that juice, from the dirtiness of that juice! Why did Allah (swt) say that? To say that Muhammad (s) is coming to take you to Paradise, ta`zheemu ‘n-nabi, to show the Greatness of the Prophet (s) and to make all prophets come to him, as when they see that shafa`ah is in his hands all of them with all their nations will come to him!
Do you think the Prophet (s) will reject them? No. What will he do? I heard from Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, that awliyaullah say even on Judgment Day when people are running for safety and when there is no jealousy at that time, people will still be jealous from each other. Why? Because they are going to see Ummat an-Nabi (s) sent to Paradise with no account! So what did Grandshaykh say, may Allah bless his soul? SubhaanAllah, look how much awliyaullah can go in depth! He said, “The Prophet (s) will make shafa`ah on Judgment Day, yatashaffa`a li-saairi ’l-umam awwala, he will intercede for the nations of all other prophets and send them to Paradise first, then he will intercede for his ummah and send them at the end after all those nations that went first.” Why? He said, “He doesn't want the nations of all other prophets to have jealousy of Ummat an-Nabi (s), because with the shafa`ah of the Prophet (s), Allah will put them in Jannat al-Firdaws, the Highest Paradise. So they will not see their levels.” So in order that the other nations will not get jealous of Ummat an-Nabi (s), first He will send them to the lower Paradises where they are happy, then He will send Ummat an-Nabi to a Paradise where they cannot see them. Allah will open for them (we say “a door,” but it’s not a door). Allah will open something for them where they go directly and there they can see Allah (swt)! The other umam (nations) cannot unless they are mu’min among them--that is different. So the Prophet (s) said, “I have been sent to perfect your characters,” and even there he knows that other nations or our nation will get jealous of each other. That is why you don't see the Paradise of your brother or your brother doesn’t see your Paradise because there is no jealousy there, as it’s not allowed. So the Prophet (s) will prefect us completely before we reach there!
May Allah (swt) keep us under the Prophet’s arms, under his feet, under his sandals, at his threshold, inshaa-Allah. We are asking, “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah! Yaa Rahmatan li ‘l-`Alameen! Yaa Shafi`yyi ’l-Mudhnibeen! We are coming to you, to your door, to your threshold and we are asking and requesting and begging, yaa man yughith al-waraa b`ad maa qanatoo, Allah will give support, yaa Rasoolullah! Present us to Allah clean every night, don't let us carry this dirtiness on ourselves, on our souls, on our ego.”
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
We increased that suhbat for the people who just came.
(Baya`.)
This is her son, which is why she put her hand on his back for baya`. We don't break Shari`ah here! Those who break Shari`ah, their tariqah is not okay. We can't break Shari`ah for tariqah but we can break tariqah for Shari`ah. Send my salaams to Sulaiman Jamil. They are with Mawlana Shaykh since the 80's. His brother who passed away was the first one to carpet the first masjid that Mawlana Shaykh established in London at Green Lanes, and later he carpeted the Peckham Mosque, al-Fatihah for him.
Q & A Session
Question: Can you give sadaqah to non-Muslims?
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham: Yes, but not zakaat.
[Very powerful suhbah, Mawlana, thank you.]
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham: Allahu Akbar! I gave two suhbahs! [Yes, both.] When you read a hadith (this is another suhbah now), whatever bad characteristic you are carrying at that moment will be eliminated by that hadith. When you read a verse of the Holy Qur’an, whatever characteristic the ayah comes with will either take away any bad characteristic you are carrying or if it is a good characteristic, it will dress you with Allah’s Rahmah for that moment that you are reading. You may begin to sin another time and that is why it is good to recite the Qur’an everyday, even one page, as it will dress you with the tajalli, manifestation that is in that ayah or on that page. You should also read one hadith everyday from any Sahih. One hadith will take away from you all your heaviness and give you all kinds of goodness. So it is good for everyone if they can do that, inshaa-Allah.
Question: You said to read one page of the Holy Qur'an; should it be in English or Arabic?
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham: You can open it and if you don't know Arabic, put your finger under the ayah and move your finger while at the same time you are looking at the English, because there is light coming from every letter of the Holy Qur'an. So open it and move, and if you don't want to move your finger then move your eyes along the first line, the second line, third line, etc. and all these lights coming from every letter of the Holy Qur'an will dress you with a different dress, then you can check the meaning in English. [So read the Arabic first and then the English?] Yes, you are not reading but you are looking at the aayaat, and if Allah gives you more power and more time to learn Arabic it will be great. You are Turkish, is not? [Pakistani.] Allahu Akbar! You don’t know Urdu? [Yes, I know Urdu.] Then you can read! [No, I know but I don't understand.] I don't understand also. [Laughter] Nevermind, do what you can, but this is how the fatwa of `ulama came, but don't leave it closed--open the Holy Qur’an and read any page; if you cannot read then look.
Question: Is hearing the recitation of the Holy Qur’an equal in rank to reading it?
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham: It is not advisable to close the Holy Qur'an and put it on the shelf. It is good to hear the recitation, but it is also very good to open the Holy Qur'an and look at the aayaat. There is a secret there: the eyes have to see! The ears can hear and the eyes can see, so it is better to do both of them. So put on eyeglasses to see when you read and put earphones to hear! [Laughter]
Question: Is there general permission to recite Salawaat al-`Azheema?
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham: Why not? Inshaa-Allah. All of these salawaat are coming from very pious, sincere servants of Allah (swt) who wrote them by permission of Prophet (s). They saw the Prophet (s) in their dream and wrote them. It is not something that they have invented.
Khalas? Okay, I will go up running. We will meet you tomorrow. You want to bring all these people for Fajr? There is no place! They can pray at home, it’s okay. What time is Fajr? [6:00] Okay, so at 5:30 for qiyaam, inshaa-Allah. What time is Jumu`ah? [12:30] So there will be Arabic khutbah later. First we will give a speech in English and then khutbah. Arabic is five minutes. [Laughter] No one understands, so why you are going to keep giving (in Arabic)? Give in English then ten minutes maximum in Arabic or else the khutbah is not accepted. But now some Pakistanis and Arabs are giving fatwa that they can do the khutbah in any language, that it can be mixed. Now everywhere they are mixing. [Some people are doing that...] No, I am traveling everywhere around the world and in every country they are not doing in Arabic, in the Far East, the Subcontinent. Most mosques are controlled by governments and so they are doing in the language of the country, but if you build your own mosque and you have your own board, you can do whatever you like. In Indonesia with 250 to 300 million Muslims, they don't know one word in Arabic, not all of them. So how are you going to explain the khutbah to them? So the government gave fatwa that they can do it in their language. Here, they do it the same. If you go up (on the mimbar), say, “Alhamdulillahi rabbil-`alameen was-salaatu was-salaamu `alaa ashrafi ’l-mursaleen, sayyidina wa nabiyyinaa Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahibihi wa ajma`een. yaa ayyuha ’n-naasu ittaqoollah wa qooloo qawlan sadeeda yaghfir lakum dhunoobakum.” You have to say “ittaqoo” at least one time and sit, then stand a second time and then recite and the khutbah is finished.
Question: What is the easiest way to fight against the two bad characteristics on a daily basis and is there any way to measure our progress?
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham: Yes, every day fight with your mother or with your wife, then you will be safe. [Laughter] She is here. There were two mureeds of one of the grandshaykhs and they prayed every prayer in jama`ah. They were married to two sisters. When the adhan comes, one of the two mureeds would say, “Allahu Akbar,” and see himself praying at the Ka`bah. The other one would be holding his jubba and also find himself at the Ka`bah. One mureed was stronger than the other. What did they do everyday? They fought with each other. They tried to irritate each other in order to begin a real fight. It was very painful and they would try to be as patient as they could. Later, they checked each other’s heart and see, “Did he get angry? Is he stronger? He was stronger the other day.” They check each other and keep a balance.
One day they woke up and discussed with each other, “How did we get to this level that we are able to pray in front of the Ka`bah?” Both of them were saying, “It is because we learned to be patient by fighting each other like Sayyidina `Ali (r), not to fight for your ego, and because of that Allah gave us that level.”
Who heard their conversation? Their wives! They said, “You think you are something? You are nothing! We made you to pray at the Ka`bah!”
“How did you make us pray at the Ka`bah? You are sitting at home making bread!”
“It’s okay, we will see tomorrow.”
The next day was Jumu`ah, so that night the two ladies prepared the dough and then mixed chicken manure with the bread, so it’s dirty. In the morning they offered it to their husbands to eat. The time for Jumu`ah came and (he said), “Allahu Akbar,” but he was not rising up; he was in the same place. The other one said, “Allahu Akbar,” and was in the same place.
The two ladies said, “Who made you to pray at the Ka`bah, your patience or us?” It was so because they never cooked for them without taking a shower; they never touched without wudu. Food is so delicate to keep the body pure and that is why Grandshaykh (q) never liked to eat in a restaurant. He never liked to eat outside. Everything has to be done at home, as you don't know who is cooking and what they are doing. So we go back to his question. To take anger away you have to be patient. Remember that story and put it in your mind.
One time I wanted to go to Grandshaykh (q) but my mother was not allowing me to go as in two days I had finals in the university and the subject I was taking was very difficult. She said, “No, you stay here and study. Don't go!”
I said, “No, I have to go,” and she said, “No!” and then we began to fight like Hasan fights with his mother. Do you fight with your mother? So I took the keys of the car and left to go to Grandshaykh (q) and she was not happy. We reached the door of Grandshaykh’s house. You come to a door and then you have to go up ten stairs and go through a hallway and then come to his house, inside his room. He never came down. Just when I was about to knock on the door, he opened the door!
He said, “Don't come to me dirty! Go back from where you came and when your mother is happy with you come to me!”
Who told him? No one. There was no telephone, nothing. This happened in the 60's. So we couldn’t go in, finished.
He said, "Go away!" and we went back.
She said, "O, you came?"
We said, "We listened to your advice and came.” Then we said, “Mawlana kicked us out. He said, ‘Go home, make your mother happy, and then come,’ so I came. We will study for the test, take the test and then go.”
She said, “Okay.”
So after two days, we took the test and then went back to see Grandshaykh. As soon as we arrived, the same: he opened the door and said, “Now you can come.”
So awliyaullah don't like fighting; awliyaullah like it when someone is angry and you cool yourself down. He gave three choices: either you make wudu and pray two raka`ats, and if didn't go, make a shower and pray two raka`ats, and if it still didn’t go away, take a shower and pray two raka`ats and then go out of the house--don’t fight back. Then slowly, slowly that characteristic will go down. But if you keep feeding it like feeding fire, it will never end because Shaytan is there. The most important thing Grandshaykh (q) said after this incident, he called us into the room and said, “I did that for you out of mercy. You have to know that we are ordered by the Prophet (s) in visions, that a wali will not get his sainthood without helping his mureeds. The minimum that a wali will do is that he has to look at his mureed at least three times in 24 hours to see what he is doing and try to fix it.” He said, “When you are in a fight or in a difficulty, remember that we are looking at you. That’s why it comes to you, to test you--in our tests, not like your tests. Your test compared to our test is like digital compared to analog. Today with digital you are powerful. He said, “We look at every mureed every day three times in 24 hours and we send them something they are not happy with to check their anger and then we ask forgiveness on their behalf in the presence of the Prophet (s), and the Prophet (s) will ask in the presence of Allah (swt).” So for people who are angry or jealous, when that happens, let them remember that the shaykh is looking at them at that moment. Then slowly, slowly it will go away. More explanation or it is enough, Waleed? [Yes, thank you very much Mawlana!] No problem.
Question: I have something bothering me, can I speak to you personally, as it is a personal problem?
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham: Inshaa-Allah, if there is time. We will see the queue. [Laughter]
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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