Pre-Jumu`ah Suhbah at Ideal Islamic Center (Bengali Mosque)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
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)
It happened that today I am here, alhamdulillah. Last week I was in New York and I think someone asked one of our people if I can come here and I said, “Yes, I will come,” because mashaa-Allah, Bengali people have strong belief and we will get barakah from them, and I wish to go to Bangladesh one day. I know many of them in Saudi Arabia and in the Gulf are very sincere and pious people. So when Taher told me to come here, I said, “For a long time I didn’t come here.” So when I came, I found a new masjid.
This Friday is the last days of welcoming the month of Rabi` al-Awwal, which is going to be on Sunday. So it is not a coincidence that one or two days before Rabi` al-Awwal--some countries are observing it on Saturday and some on Sunday--but alhamdulillah we are here this week, welcoming Rabi` al-Awwal, which is the month of the Prophet (s) and the month of Islam, because the moment of the birth of the Prophet (s) is the birth of Islam. That is why it is appropriate to observe this month, the whole month that is coming in two days, as the beginning of Islam, because without the Prophet (s) there is no religion, no religion!
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَم
Inna ad-deena `inda Allaahi al-islaam.
The religion in Allah’s view is Islam (submission to His Will). (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:19)
To Allah, Islam is the religion, as all others were religions in their time: what Sayyidina Musa (a) came with we accept and what Sayyidina `Isa (a) came with we accept, and Allah mentioned that the first religion with Allah is Islam, and He said that Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) was Muslim:
مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلاَ نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
Maa kaana ibraaheemu yahoodiyyan wa laa nasraaniyyan wa laakin kaana haneefan musliman wa maa kaana min al-mushrikeen.
Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian; but he was true in Faith, a Muslim, and he joined not gods with Allah. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:67)
That message was passed through Ishaaq (a) and Ismaa`eel (a) that reached to Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Allah (swt) revealed to Sayyidina Musa (a) the Tawraat and He (swt) revealed to Sayyidina `Isa (a) the Injeel, but with all of that, He revealed that "The religion with Allah is Islam."
One of the main scholars in Islam, al-Qurtubi, said that when Allah (swt) ordered angels to make sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a), that was sajda of tahiyyah, respect and admiration, not sajda of worship. It was a sajda of respect. Al-Qurtubi said in his tafseer that the first one to make sajda after Allah ordered that sajda was Israafeel (a), which is why he is known as “`Abdur-Rahmaan,” because he was the first to make sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a). Most strong scholars of Islam accept and believe that sajda was to accept and show honor to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), whose Light was in the forehead of Sayyidina Adam (a). Allah showed the honor of the Prophet (s) to the angels when He ordered them to make salawaat on the Prophet (s):
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Inna-Llaaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabiyy, yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi wa sallimoo tasleema.
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him.
(Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)
There is a very hidden meaning here: Allah and His angels are making salawaat on the Prophet (s). Just now, his father or teacher offered me something and he told him to bring water to him. To offer someone something you must first see someone or you cannot come and put the bottle (of water) here. I don’t know if it's for me as he didn’t give it to me, but if he gave it to me after seeing me, then who did he give the bottle to? To me. He is your brother-in-law. If you told him to give a bottle of water to the lowest of people, Hisham Kabbani, he will say, where is he to give it to? Now what do you think when Allah says to the angels, “Make salawaat on the Prophet (s).” Do they do it or not? Do they see or not? So do angels see the Prophet (s) or not?
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 angels are seeing that Light and when they are ordered to make salawaat they are making salawaat directly as they are able to see what Allah wants them to see from the Reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!
Allah said:
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُ
Inna ad-deena `inda Allaahi al-islaam.
The religion in Allah’s view is Islam. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:19)
مَّنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللّهَ
Man yuti`i ar-rasoola faqad ataa`a Allah.
Who obeys the Prophet obeys Allah. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:80)
So then what do we need to do? To obey the Prophet (s) in what He ordered, which is why the big scholar, al-Qurtubi, said that when Allah ordered the angels to do sajda, Israafeel (a) was the first to obey and make sajda and Allah rewarded him by writing the entire Holy Qur’an between his two eyes! So after being ordered to bow down, they made sajda and Allah wrote the entire Holy Qur'an between his two eyes.
Some might ask, “How does it fit?” Today they write the entire Holy Qur’an in an iPhone. How does it fit? With Allah’s (swt) Heavenly Power; when He gives, He gives! Also, your students are memorizing the Holy Qur’an here; how are they doing that? With their intelligence, and according to medical science, the mind is not more than a lentil seed, a small chip planted in human beings. What is carrying all that knowledge? Look at how many programmers and engineers are needed to make a chip! How about human beings, who are memorizing Holy Qur'an? So Allah put the Holy Qur'an with all its taweel between the eyes of Sayyidina Israafeel (a). Allah permitted some scholars to pull some knowledge from that, but it is a drop of Allah's Knowledge.
When Jibreel (a) revealed the first ayah of Surat Maryam to the Prophet (s), he said what? He said, “Kaaf,” and the Prophet (s) said, “`Alimtu.” He said, “Haa,” and the Prophet (s) said, “`Alimtu,” etc. And so every letter that Sayyidina Jibreel (s) said, the Prophet (s) said, "I know." That means for every letter of the Holy Qur'an there is a meaning. Today when the scholars write about meanings of Holy Qur'an, they can write 2-3 volumes on the first three letters of the Holy Qur'an, “Alif. Laam. Meem.”
Holy Qur'an is not created and Allah ordered the entire Holy Qur'an to be written between the eyes of Israafeel (a) because he did the first sajda of respect, so that is for a sajda of respect! We are doing sajda of `ibaadah, which is higher. Sajda of respect is one time, but sajda of `ibaadah is all the time around dunya. That was one time, as now there is no sajda of respect, today there is only sajda of `ibaadah. If for one sajda of respect Allah (swt) wrote the entire Holy Qur'an between Israafeel's eyes, what then will Allah give for those making sajda of `ibaadah? Allah (swt) will reward them with what no one knows!
Imam Nawawi (r) said that when human beings went into sajda to Allah, who was first to make sajda from human beings? Sayyidina Adam (a). When he was the first one to make sajda, to pray to Allah, Allah compensated him and compensated and rewarded all his grandchildren to raise food to their mouths, not like animals who have to bend down to the ground to eat food. Allah (swt) said, “Verily we have honored the sons of Adam!”
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ
Wa laqad karamnaa Bani Adam.
We have honored the Children of Adam. (Surat al-'Israa, 17:70)
So for that sajda, Allah raised up human beings to eat from their mouth not by bending down to Earth. Also, Allah likes a good scent of the breath. Today, there is too much bad breath. People today brush their teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste to show "we are high class," but Allah (swt) says that what is good for our mouth is not to spy and backbite. Backbiting and namima have a bad smell for angels.
The Prophet (s) said, “I observe the `amal of my ummah.”
حياتي خير لكم تحدثون ويحدث لكم ، فإذا أنا مت كانت وفاتي خيرا لكم ، تعرض علي أعمالكم فان رأيت خيرا حمدت الله تعالى وإن رأيت شرا استغفرت لكم
Hayaatee khayrun lakum tuhadithoona wa yuhdatha lakum fa idhaa anaa mitt kahan wafaatee khayran lakum. Tu`radu `alayya `amal ummatee, wa in wajadtu khayran hamadt 'allah wa in wajadtu ghayrah astaghfarta lahum.
I observe the `amal of my ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see other than that, bad, I ask forgiveness for them.
So we have to clean our mouths with dhikrullah, with salawaat and darood. If you think you made backbiting, then make dhikrullah and salawaat on the Prophet (s). If you finish your prayer, then wrap it up with istighfaar and salawaat and dhikrullah. Don’t sleep before doing dhikrullah, and there are many ways of dhikrullah. For example, reciting the Holy Qur'an, or reciting from Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes or reciting from ahadeeth of the Prophet (s).
May Allah forgive us and bless us. It is good to encourage children to recite the adhaan and to recite the Holy Qur'an, then they all become good Muslims.
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