Suhbah at Private Residence (1)
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah, nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta`ala al-`Azheem fee hadha 'l-makaan. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.
إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْإِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ
To you have We granted the Fount (of Abundance); therefore, to your Lord turn in prayer and sacrifice, as he who hates you will be cut off (from future hope). (Surat al-Kawthar, 108:1-3)
When ignorant people said to Prophet (s) that he has no more descendents, Allah (swt) said to Prophet (s) in Holy Qur’an, “Say to them, inna `ataynaaka ‘l-kawthar…‘We have given you a lot,’ fa salli li rabbika wanhar, ‘Pray to Allah (swt) and sacrifice,’ inna shaani’aka huwa ‘l-abtar, ‘The one who accuses you of not having descendents is going to have that [happen to them].’” It means, “Yaa Muhammad (s)! Your name is going to be on every tongue”, and alhamdulillahi Rabbi ‘l-`Alameen, the name of Prophet (s), no one can put it down!
Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur’an:
وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ
And We raised up your remembrance. (Surat al-Sharh, 94:2)
“We have raised your name high up,” and today we are meeting here in this place and people have conferences and workshops with the intention that they are remembering Prophet (s)! It is a kind of remembrance, but it is not the perfect one. The perfect remembrance of Prophet (s) is not in the hands of scholars, it is not in the hands of Awliya, it is not in the hands of the Prophets, but the remembrance of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is with Allah (swt) reminding and ordering these angels to remember Sayyidina Muhammad (s), to mention Sayyidina Muhammad (s), to make salawaat on Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! So the perfect remembrance of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is by our remembrance to him and that he is remembering us and mentioning our names! That is what is important, because we need his remembrance of us because when he remembers us, he takes the responsibility and the liability of our sins as he is the Intercessor who intercedes for us!
So to remember Sayyidina Muhammad, `alayhi afdala ‘s-salaatu wa ‘s-salaam, is what we get from the other side, because when we remember Sayyidina Muhammad (s), Allah rewards us by remembering us and mentioning us. So as much as our remembrance is clean, the reward that Allah is rewarding us is highly important because it has no limits.
ياأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him with a worthy salutation. (Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)
Allah (swt) said to human beings, “O Believers! Make salawaat on Prophet (s).” He wants us to make salawaat in order that we get salawaat back from Heavens! If we don’t make salawaat on Prophet (s) angels will not remember us. Allah wants angels to remember us by us making salawaat on Prophet (s), as Allah’s servants we remember His Beloved Prophet (s). That is why He said, “yaa ayyuhalladeena amanoo salloo `alayh.” But usually we only remember Prophet (s) when we are in need, but in reality we have to do it every day. Every day people come and say, “We have this problem or that problem!” Yes of course, when you forgot about Prophet (s) and are remembering only yourself, then of course you are going to have a problem and of course you are letting Shaytan play with you! By remembering Allah (swt) and remembering His Prophet (s) and making salawaat on Prophet (s), then Allah is going to reward us with rewards that have no beginning and no end!
إنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. (Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)
Allah is confirming that Allah and His angels are sending salawaat on Prophet (s), which means Allah is manifesting His Beautiful Names and Attributes on Prophet (s). So it is an order on us: if Allah and His Prophet (s) are saying that, what about, yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo salloo `alayh “O Believers! Make salawaat on him.” What happens?
من صلى عليّ مرة صلى الله بها عليه عشر
The Prophet (s) said: Whoever sends one salawaat on me, Allah will send ten salawaat on him for it. (Muslim)
“Anyone who makes one salawaat on me, Allah sends ten salawaat on that person.” And Allah’s salawaat on that person is not like our salawaat on Prophet (s)! Allah (swt) rewards with no limits. Allah is giving us that choice and today people, due to their work or businesses, they are not anymore remembering salawaat on Prophet (s)! People say to you, “Don’t carry a masbaha, beads.” In the time of Prophet (s) they used to count on rocks, one-hundred, two-hundred, three-hundred...today Allah made it easy to count on a masbaha. Why Awliyaullah or `ulama carry beads? It is a good practice to carry beads in your hands even if you don’t say anything because it reminds you of doing something good, it reminds you to make dhikrullah. So if you are carrying it in your hand it is like wearing something nice, like wearing a watch or like a lady wearing bracelets, or a man wearing a ring. You are carrying beads and it reminds you every time to make salawaat on Prophet (s)! So anything that reminds you to make dhikrullah and salawaat is recommended.
Now this telephone that they carry, it reminds them about the time of prayer. Is it good or bad? It’s good. So beads remind you to do salawaat, because when you are carrying it that inspiration comes to everyone: do salawaat on Prophet (s) or to do dhikrullah or to say istaghfirullah or to repent or to say subhaanAllah or to say shukranliLllah. And people today are in need for more and more dhikrullah because we are living in times full of too much problems, too much heavy, too much fitnah. Husband and wife fight, sons and brothers fight, communities fight, and there is nothing in the minds of people except fighting today, as if fighting is going to make you win. Win what, win the chair? In a second a heart attack might come to you and you lose your chair and your life, but if you don’t want to lose your life or chair, remember Allah! What did Allah say to the Prophet (s) and Prophet (s) said to us?
أَنَا جَلِيْسُ مَنْ ذَكَرَنِي
I sit with him who remembers Me. (Hadith Qudsi. Ahmad, Bayhaqi)
“I am sitting with the one who remembers Me, I will be with the one who remembers Me, I will take care of the one that remembers Me.” What do you want better that that? When you say “Allah” just one time, Allah will send His Manifestations (tajalliyaat) of His Beautiful Names and Attributes to be with us:
من قال لا اله الا الله دخل الجنة
Whoever says “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” enters Paradise.
Whoever says, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” will enter Jannah, so say “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah!” It is so easy, it is nothing difficult. Say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” and Allah is happy and sitting with you in Paradise and when you say this two times, three times, four times, each time you get a Paradise in a higher level in Allah’s Presence. You might ask, “What is Paradise?” Allah gave Prophet (s) Paradises on the number of Creations! Allah said, “Yaa Muhammad, this is for you to give away.” But what are these Paradises, is it a building? Do you need a building? That is like a person drawing this building from the outside, an architectural drawing, and you look at it and think, “Mashaa-Allah, very nice.” But what is the benefit when the Reality is inside it and the outside is nice drawing, but it’s only a drawing?
When you are on mountain and they tell you, “That is the beach,” what is the benefit if you didn’t put your feet on the beach? They draw you a house so beautifully, but what is the benefit? The benefit is to be inside, to see the Reality of this from inside, so see the Reality that they have saved for you on the Day of Judgement. What Allah has given to Prophet (s) to give to you will be kept until the Day of Judgement, when you will be diving in the ocean of that Paradise, that is the Ocean of Knowledge, the Ocean of Beauty of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), the Ocean of the Beauty of Asmaa’ullahi wa Sifaatih, the Names of Allah and His Attributes. That’s what you want, you want the ‘inn’ that is within you, which is Prophet (s), because it is the way to run to him.
وإعلموا أن فيكم رسول الله
And know Allah's Messenger is in you. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:7)
Allah is saying in Holy Qur’an that you have to know that Prophet (s) is in you, but we are unable to see it or feel it because we are not doing salawaat and dhikrullah. Those who do salawaat and dhikrullah are able to feel it in their hearts, because Allah (swt) said:
ما وسعني أرضي ولا سمائي ولكن وسعني قلب عبدي المؤمن
Neither My Heavens nor My Earth contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant contains Me.
(Hadith Qudsiyy, Al-Ihya of Imam al-Ghazali)
“Neither My Heavens or Earth contain Me, but the heart of a Believer contains Me,” so this is what we need. It is said that Allah (swt) said, Qalbu ‘l-mu’min baytu ‘l-Rabb, “The heart of a Believer is the House of Allah.”
If you are a Believer then your heart turns into a Ka`aba for you, into a Qiblah for you, then you will see the Light, like in Mecca al-Mukarrama at Ka`abat ash-Shareefah, when you take away the walls what do you see? [Nothing.] It depends on your level: you might see nothing and others see Ma`rifah, Knowledge, Realities. Everyone can see something, but these four walls are only for us to understand that this is the House of Allah, this is where Allah manifests His Beautiful Names and Attributes from His Reality there. If you make sajda from any corner, it is sajda for Allah, for that Light that is in Ka`aba. So your heart becomes like the Ka`aba, where the Light is sent in your heart.
The heart has a pilot light, a little flame that powers the water heater and all the water it will heat in seconds. Like that, warm up your heart, then the light will become stronger, then with the light of the heart you begin to see, “This is the lamp showing.” Without that lamp we cannot see. So the heart is in darkness and when the light comes and heats up with dhikrullah, your heart will open to see what cannot be seen, to hear what cannot be heard.
عن أبي هريرة قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إن الله قال من عادى لي وليا فقد آذنته بالحرب وما تقرب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضت عليه وما يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها وإن سألني لأعطينه ولئن استعاذني لأعيذنه وما ترددت عن شيء أنا فاعله ترددي عن نفس المؤمن يكره الموت وأنا أكره مساءته
ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه، فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره
الذي يبصر به، ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها،
From Abu Hurayrah (r) who related from the Prophet (s) that Allah said: ...My servant does not cease to approach Me through voluntary worship until I will love him. When I love him, I will become the ears with which he hears, the eyes with which he sees, the hand with which he acts, and the legs with which he walks (and other versions include, “and the tongue with which he speaks.”). (Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari)
Allah gave you a Ka`aba to turn your face towards Him and it has four sides. Why not three sides? Still three sides can close...why not three sides? Allah made four sides. Only He knows; our duty is to keep this Ka`aba within the heart enlightened, and everything can only be enlightened with dhikrullah.
أَنَا جَلِيْسُ مَنْ ذَكَرَنِي
I sit with him who remembers Me. (Hadith Qudsi. Ahmad, Bayhaqi)
“I am sitting with the one that remembers Me.” Did you read and try to understand that Hadith? Does Allah ‘sit’ with someone? No, but for us to understand, literally it means “I am sitting,” which means “I am sending My rewards, My divine knowledge, My beauty, My generosity, all these good characteristics I am giving to your heart and I'll be with you: I'll observe you and appoint angels to help you with your problems and difficulty, but only come to ME!” Allah (swt) is saying:
فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ
Fa-firroo ila ‘Llah.
Run to Allah (from all that is false and evil)! (Surat adh-Dhaariyaat, 51:50)
Run to Allah, run to Him as He is your escape! When you run to Him, do you think He says, “Close the door! No, you cannot come in.” He says, “I'm sitting with you!” If Allah is sitting with us, what’s the benefit? For example, this person is taking a ‘selfie’ to say, “I’m sitting with Shaykh Hisham” or, “with Shaykh Nour” or, “with the president.” What will you do? The picture will go everywhere. Allah (swt) is saying to you that He is the Creator--all presidents and kings and everyone are His servants--and, “I'm sitting with you,” not, “You are sitting with Me.”
When Allah (swt) says, “I am sitting with you,” He is teaching us humbleness and how to address others. When He says, “Remember Me and I am sitting with you,” the first thing that happens is Shaytan runs away! Can Shaytan be in the Presence of Allah (swt)? No way! Astaghfirullah al-`Azheem wa atoobu ilayh. When Allah sends an angel to sit with you when you remember Him, Shaytan will completely run away. Shaytan is always around us, trying to find opportunities, “What kind of bad issue am I going to put this servant of Allah in?” This is his work, there is nothing else for him but to stab you in the back. He wants you to turn your back to Allah and then he will stab you in the back!
That’s why Allah (swt) said first, “I'm sitting with him,” not, “Who remembers Me, I sit with him.” He put Himself first and dhaakir, remembrance, second, to show you that He comes to you! You don't need to come as He will come first, when you remember Him! Anaa jaleesu man dhakaranee. Then what will happen? Shaytan will leave you alone, but then he comes back, because Allah is testing you to show, “Did you remember Me one time or a thousand times?”
For example, we went to Hyderabad, India and made ziyara to Baba Sharafuddin Suhrawardi (q), a wali on top of the mountain at Pahadi Sharif where there is a rock bigger than this house, with two sides of stone and empty in the middle, like a place you can sit. He didn't come out except to refresh his wudu. They brought him his food and he was day and night sitting within these rocks in dhikrullah, like Sayyida Maryam (a). She's not a prophet, but when she was in dhikrullah day and night, Allah provided her with heavenly provision because of her dhikr. So that wali was on top of that mountain between two rocks, day and night making dhikrullah and salawaat. If anybody visits him they bring tea and they sit with them and they give them suhbah and they go. Are we doing that? That one is completely as Allah (swt) says, “I am with the one who remembers Me.” Every moment of his life he says, "Allah, Allah."
They said, “We have to visit him,” and when we asked how far up is it, they said, “Not far, a few steps.” We climbed up 360 steps up and every step is like half a meter! I had to sit for a while and then continue until I reached the top, and there was so much noor coming from that grave and you feel relaxed.We made dhikrullah there, because he was in dhaakir day and night and you can feel the Light coming from his grave filling the whole place! If anyone makes du`a there, it is accepted! I made one du`a, from one of the Naqshbandi shaykhs, Shaykh Ahmad al-Farooqi as-Sirhindi (q), who is Mujaddid al-Tariqah. It was an important du`a, I said, “Yaa Sayyidi! I am giving that complaint and putting it in your hands as I don't know what to do. You solve it for the sake of Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s).” For three days it could not be solved, it was a very difficult case, and it was important to me to help that person, and after three days it was solved completely and easily! Allah (swt) is sitting with these Awliya, not in a physical way, but in a spiritual understanding.
So keep dhikrullah in your heart and your heart will become like Qiblah Ka`aba and keep salawaat on Prophet (s)and he will give you a Paradise that Allah has given to him to give to Ummat an-Nabi!
Wa min Allahi ‘t-tawfeeq. Bi hurmati ‘l-habeeb, bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.
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