Zhuhr Suhbah at Private Residence
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. (Du`a.)
O Muslims, Believers! Alhamdulillah that Allah (swt) gave us everything to be able to make sajda, which is the most important matter in our lives. Grandshaykh Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah bless his soul, said that as long as we are able to make sajda we are in good terms and when we are unable to make sajda then we have to worry. Alhamdulillah that Allah (swt) has blessed Muslims to make sajda.
وَلِلَّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَظِلَالُهُم بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ
To Allah everything in the Heavens and Earth prostrate, willingly or by force, and so do their shadows, in the mornings and evenings. (Surat al-Ra`d, 13:15)
“Heavens and Earth” means everyone Allah created makes sajda to Him either by force or by love. By force is not recommended, by love is recommended. Willingly or unwillingly. If willingly, Allah will be happy. There are people who do sajda unwillingly because they are forced and the others who have never made sajda in their life. So there are three groups: those who make sajda willingly, those who make sajda unwillingly and those who never made sajda. The best are those who make sajda willingly out of their love to Allah, occupying themselves with prayer and making sajda. Without sajda the prayer is not accepted, every prayer must have sajda, every Creation that Allah created has a sajda to make and they know Allah ordered them something special, either willingly and unwillingly to make sajda. Through your sajda, Allah gives you taqwa, piety or sincerity, then:
وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللّهُ وَاللّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
Fear Allah and Allah will teach you (Surat al-Baqara, 2:282)
At that time Allah will teach you, so don’t say, “I am left with no one to teach me.” Allah will reach you even if you are on top of a mountain. I heard Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, say many times that Awliyaullah, those to whom Allah gave sincerity and piety, as He described them in Holy Qur’an:
مِّنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّـهَ عَلَيْهِ ۖ فَمِنْهُم مَّن قَضَىٰ نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَنتَظِرُ ۖ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا
Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah: of them some have completed their vow, and some (still) wait, but they have never changed (their determination) in the least. (Surat al-Ahzab, 33:23)
RijaalAllah, “men (and women) who kept their covenant with Allah, they didn’t change, they kept their promise.” Allah described them as some of them passed away, some of them they are waiting, and those that passed away from that group of men and women:
بَلْ أَحْيَاء عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ
No, they live, finding their sustenance provided in the Presence of their Lord. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:169)
If you are from that group of people who make sajda willingly, you will be bal ahyaa’un `inda rabbihim yurzaqoon, alive in the grave, provided for, their graves become a home in Hayyat al-Barzakh between dunya and Akhirah, and Allah turns your grave into a Paradise to worship Him. He didn’t only say, “They are alive in the Presence of their Lord,” He added yurzaqoon, “provided for,” which is very important. With what are they provided? It means their soul is provided with Heavenly Knowledge: wa-ttaqoollaha wa yu`allimukum Allah. Have taqwa in dunya and Allah will teach you something that never came to your mind, because in spirituality teaching is from heart-to-heart, not through the mind. That’s why if you sit with the shaykh he will give you from his heart and he takes whatever is not good from your heart and pours good into your heart, as Prophet (s) did with the Sahaabah (r) as Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r) said:
حفظت عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وعائين فأما أحدهما فبثثته وأما الآخر فلو بثثته لقطع مني هذا البلعوم
I memorized from the Prophet (s) two containers (of knowledge): one I shared with everyone and the other one I was not able to share it, because if I spoke about it they would have cut my throat.
(Sakhawi, Ajluni)
“I have taken two kinds of knowledge from Rasoolullah: one I shared with everyone, one I kept to myself because if I share it they will not understand it, they will cut my neck.” So that knowledge Allah (swt) that Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r) took from Prophet (s) but did not share as he would have been killed, so he kept it, whenever scholars describe it we understand that it is a special knowledge that Prophet (s) gave to Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r) specifically. Also, Allah (swt) is providing His Awliya, knowledge in their graves that they send to their followers in dunya and, therefore, they are not ‘dead’; they are dead physically but their soul is free, like in the Hadith of Prophet (s) he mentioned that if an `abd is always in sajda, always doing good `amal, Allah loves him and turns his grave into a Paradise and your soul will be free to move and the soul comes and checks. Allah will make the grave of a good Muslim, a mu’min a Paradise and free him so that he can move anywhere he likes: some of them come to you in dreams and visions and through sending messages to your heart; they will not cut you down, they keep that relationship, that bridge that brings you to them is always there and they will present you to Allah (swt) as Prophet (s) mentioned:
قال رسول الله ص حياتي خير لكم تحدثون ويحدث لكم ومماتي خير لكم تعرض علي أعمال لكم فإن وجدت خيراً حمدت الله وما وجدت غير ذلك استغفرت لكم.
My life is a great good for you: you relate from it and narrations are related to you. And my death contains good for you as well, for 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 you. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
“I observe the `amal of my Ummah, I am looking, I am present, hearing and seeing, more than in dunya,” because when we do one salawaat…the evidence of that is the Prophet (s) said:
ما من أحد يسلم عليَّ إلا رد الله عليَّ روحي حتى أسلم عليه
No one prays on me, except that Allah will send back my soul to me to return his greeting. (Abu Dawud)
“Whoever does salawaat on me Allah sends my soul back to my body to do salwaat on him,” and Imam Suyuti said that for sure when Prophet’s (s) goes into his holy body, by Allah’s Order, then it never leaves because there are always people around the world making salawaat on Prophet (s), so there is always connection, so his soul is always in his body, “Allah sends the soul back to my body to pray on those who prayed on me.”
So if you say, “Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa `ala aalihi Sayyidina Muhammad,” and then someone else in the assembly says, “Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa `ala aalihi Sayyidina Muhammad,” then another one says, “Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa `ala aalihi Sayyidina Muhammad,” then in this area everyone says, “Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa `ala aalihi Sayyidina Muhammad,” then throughout the continent they say, “Allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa `ala aalihi Sayyidina Muhammad,” in every moment there are people around the world making salawaat on Prophet (s) and Allah is not sending and taking the soul of Prophet (s) in and out (of his grave), it is already in.
That is the meaning of shafa`ah, that Prophet (s) sends prayers to his Ummah. That’s why he (s) said, “I observe the `amal of my Ummah, I watch them, I see what they are doing: if it is good I thank Allah (swt), if it is not good, I make istighfaar on their behalf.” That’s why you cannot say anything about a person who prays or who doesn’t pray! Allah doesn’t like you to say anything to expose him. Allah is veiling everyone, so He doesn’t like us to speak bad about anyone who is making sajda, as long as he is making sajda, even if he backbites, which is a sin, but sins can be removed, as Prophet (s) said:
اتق الله حيثما كنت ، وأتبع السيئة الحسنة تمحها ، وخالق الناس بخلق حسن
Fear Allah wherever you are, and follow a sin with a good deed as it will remove it, and behave towards people with good manners. (Tirmidhi)
Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur’an, if you do or say something wrong, if you committed a sin or saw a sin, immediately say, “Astaghfirullah” and He will take it away. So Prophet (s) says, “I watch the `amal of my Ummah” if I find good I say, ‘alhamdulillah rabbi ’l-`alameen, yaa Rabbee,’ and if I see something different I say istighfaar on their behalf.”
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
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-Nisaa, 4:64)
“When they are oppressors to themselves,” how to oppress yourself? By sinning and not obeying Allah’s Order in the Divine Presence when Allah asked everyone on the Day of Promises, when we were souls in the Presence of Allah (swt), He asked us, “Am I not your Lord?” and we said, “Yes!” So in dunya when we don’t obey Him we are breaching our contract we made on the Day of Promises and we will be responsible. That’s why Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur’an, “When you oppress yourself, go to Muhammad!” To do what? Ihdinaa ’s-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, to guide us to the right track! “When they are oppressors to themselves they come to you, O Muhammad, and ask istighfaar, and jaa’ooka, you are going to guide them to Siraat al-Mustaqeem in order to enter Paradise.”
One of the Prophet’s (s) Beautiful Names is as-Siraatu ’l-Mustaqeem, that’s why Allah said in Holy Qur’an, “they come to you to guide them on that siraat to reach to Paradise.” That’s why it is important. So when we come to that, we ask in the Presence of Prophet (s), we make istighfaar and not only that, Prophet (s) will confirm it, like when you need an official document confirmed you go to a notary public to get it notarized. Prophet (s) is not a notary, he is the heavenly responsible person for all humanity, the Master of Humanity, and he will authorize that you said “astaghfirullah” in his presence, then Prophet (s) will do istighfaar on your behalf in the Presence of Allah. Don’t think it’s easy, it’s a process that Allah wants to save us from punishment, so He shows us that we are oppressors to ourselves and that we must go Prophet (s) to go on Siraat al-Mustaqeem, then we will do istighfaar there and then Prophet (s) will certify it and he will make istighfaar on our behalf.
O mu’min, O Muslims! Have a better idea about your Prophet (s)! Open your mind [to the fact that] that Prophet (s) is not like you and me, he is someone special to Allah (swt), that’s what our Prophet (s) deserves from the whole Ummah, non-stop salawaat on him! May Allah keep us doing salawaat on him to get that barakah.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah. As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
That’s important, that Awliyaullah inherit from Prophet (s) when Allah says, “When they are oppressors to themselves they come to you, O Muhammad.” Okay, we are oppressors to ourselves, but we are not As-haab an-Nabi (r), we wish we were, we wish were with him in Paradise, and we know we are oppressors to ourselves and we know we have to go to Prophet (s), but we are here, far away, how to go? If you ask a child he will tell you. Allah says, “Go to Prophet (s)” and we are here asking to go to him, so will he will block us? No, because he said, “If you make salawaat on me, Allah will send my soul back to make salawaat on you,” so it’s a circle: you come in the circle, you go to Prophet (s), as-Siraatu ’l-Mustaqeem, he will make istighfaar on your behalf, and you go to Paradise.
So when you say, “Yaa Sayyidee, I am coming to you,” he (s) said, “Come, of course, make salawaat on me, I will come to you and make salawaat on you.” So it means when we open our tongues to make salawaat, our hearts have already prepared the principle, the ground for us to reach him by immediately cleaning us to be in his presence, and our wudu needs istighfaar with it to reach to Prophet (s). Therefore, he will not tell you go back or say, “I don’t want you,” no, he says, “Come in!” Jaa`ooka, and they ask forgiveness, not going to anyone else, “They come to you, yaa Muhammad!”
Also, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) has Inheritors, Awliyaullah, who are alive and provided, so you go and ask a sincere `abd to make a du`a for you because their du`a is clean, not like our du`a, mixed and blended with all kinds of negative energy. Who takes the du`a to the Divine Presence? When you make a du`a, angels will take it up, but if there is a bad smell in your mouth they will not take it, they cannot approach you. Our tongue is completely rotten, so we need someone pious whom we ask to make du`a on our behalf from Prophet (s) to Allah (swt), so we go to a sincere person who is nearer than us to Prophet (s). When he says, “Yaa Rasoolullah!” Prophet (s) says, “Yaa Ummatee.” If you say, “Yaa Allah! ” Allah says, “Yaa `Abdee.” Say “Yaa Allah!” [Yaa Allah!] Allah says, “Yaa `Abdee.” What do you want better than that? When Allah says “yaa `Abdee,”it means sami`ana wa ata`anaa, “We hear and we obey,” and He will throw in our hearts to accept and believe and obey Allah (swt)!
All this is taqwaallah, those who are willingly making sajda, Allah makes them have some spiritual power that makes them happy and Allah is happy with them. Like we mentioned this morning, we were in Mecca with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and on the fourth tawaaf just before Maghrib the sun was setting, it was a hot day with no clouds, and he stopped near Baab al-Muntazar and said, “Yaa Rabbee! We are coming from far, shower us with Your Rahmah, we are coming all the way to be blessed with Your Rahmah.” Suddenly clouds came from everywhere, thunder and wind and then rain and rain and rain non-stop and water up to our chests! Then he stood and smiled, saying, “Yaa Rabbee, are we going to drown?” Everyone ran up the stairs to the escape the flooding; in 1967 there weren’t enough sewers like there are today. Allah accepted his du`a and it rained and showered, that’s why He said:
ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ
Call on Me, I will answer you. (Surah Ghafir, 40:60)
Your du`a will not have the same power as the sincere person’s du`a that is accepted immediately. Your du`a sometimes is accepted immediately, sometimes delayed, like with a microphone there is a delay in sound reaching, like when you speak overseas on the Internet or telephone you hear a delay, and in our du`a there is a delay. That’s why when you make du`a you make istighfaar first and then salawaat and then do your du`a.
It’s recommended when you make your du`a to say, Alhamdulillah hamda ’l-kaamileen wa ‘s-salaatu wa ‘s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi ‘l-mursaleen, to praise Allah first, saying “alhamdulillah,” then to make salawaat on Prophet (s), then you make your du`a.
If you don’t know how to make du`a, say, “Yaa Rabbee! You know better than anyone else about my problem. Yaa Rabbee, I am sending that matter to you, laa hawla wa laa quwatta illa billahi 'l-`Aliyyu 'l-`Azheem,” render your matter to Allah (swt) and for sure, Allah will respond to you in the best heavenly way, inspiring your heart and inshaa-Allah your problem will be solved.
Aqoolu qawlee haadhaa w’astaghfirullah al-`azheem lee wa lakum wa li saa’ir al-mustaghfireen fa yaa fawzan li ‘l-mustaghfireen astaghfirullah.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
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