We begin with the du`a of Rasoolullah (s):
يا معاذ، والله إني لأحبك، ثم أوصيك يا معاذ لا تدعن في دبر كل صلاة تقول: اللهم أعني على ذكرك وشكرك، وحسن عبادتك
Mu'adh bin Jabal (r) reported: The Messenger of Allah (s) held my hand and said, "O Mu'adh, by Allah I love you and advise you not to miss supplicating after every salaat by saying, allahumma a`innee `alaa dhikrika wa shukrika, wa husni `ibadatika, “O Allah! Help me remember You, express gratitude to You, and worship You in the best manner.” (Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i)
Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. Dastoor, yaa Sayyidi wa Mawlay, yaa Sultan al-Awliya.
Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah, `Azeez Allah.
Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah, Kareem Allah.
Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah, SubhaanAllah.
Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah, SultanAllah.
Yaa Rabbee! You are The Sultan, we are Your weak servants, yaa Rabbi 'l-`Alameen. O our Lord! We are asking You to remove all the difficulties we are having: financially, legally, health wise, medically; with banks, governments, courts, friends, neighbors, and replace them with goodness, yaa Rabbi 'l-`Alameen!
Make us from Your good servants. Keep our children and young generation on the Right Path, on the Sunnah of Rasoolullah (s). Keep husbands and wives happily together and grant them compassion, love, and mercy. And grant love, mercy, and respect between parents, and their children, yaa Rabbee.
Whomever quarrels with their parents, siblings, aunts, uncles or cousins, yaa Rabbee, make peace between them. Show them Your Kindness and bring them together, yaa Rabbee, for the sake and honor of Rasoolullah (s) and his Ahlu ’l-Bayt.
In this holy month, we ask that You make us to be on the Right Path, yaa Rabbi 'l-`Alameen. Ameen. Fatihah.
Alhamdulillah, we belong to and grand saints. Primarily, we follow Rasoolullah (s), the Guide for all Humanity. Allah (swt) loves him, and when you love someone, you’re jealous. What happens? You close the doors so no one can see your beloved.
Awliyaullah say the reason so many people throughout history did not believe in Rasoolullah (s) was because Allah (swt) does not want them to see His Beloved, “The turning away of those that turned away.” It is because the Domes of Allah’s jealousy are protecting His Beloved. He doesn’t want His Beloved to be seen by everyone: they have to be special and have mahram Ahlu ’l-Bayt, be from Ahlu ’l-Bayt, to see inside the house, or to be a family friend or guest that is allowed to enter the house. When people turned away from Rasoolullah (s), it was from Allah’s (swt) jealousy that no one except whom He wants will see His Beloved.
Second, Awliyaullah said, `Itiraad al-mu’tarideen. (‘Iraad means "turning away". `Itiraad with a taa means “objection".) `Itiraad al-mu’tarideen, "objections of those who objected." It is nothing but the majestic walls of Allah (swt) protecting His Knowledge and His Book from them. People think that it’s in their hands that they know Rasoolullah (s), but no. If Allah (swt) did not honor us by knowing His Beloved, you would never know him. Wa tarahum yanzhuruna `ilayka wahum la yubsiroon, “You see them looking at you, O My Beloved, but they don’t see.”
Once a king came to our Master of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain, Abu 'l-Hassan `Ali al-Kharqani (q), student of Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q).
He, said, “Tell me about Aba Yazid.”
Abu' l-Hassan `Ali al-Kharqani (q) replied, “Aba Yazid is a person who sees him; finds the way of Jannah.”
This king said, “Abu Jahl saw Rasoolullah (s), but did not find the way of Jannah.” Abu 'l-Hassan `Ali al-Kharqani (q) said, “O king! What Abu Jahl saw was Muhammad ibn Abdullah (s), he did not see Muhammad Rasoolullah (s).”
Nowadays they say, “Muhammad ibn `Abdullah.” Say, “Muhammad Rasoolullah.” Why do you say, “ibn Abdullah”? Why are you taking away the title Allah (swt) gave him? In Surat al-Fath, Muhammadun rasoolu l-lahi wa-alladheena maʿahu ashidda’u.
مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلَّذِينَ مَعَهُۥٓ أَشِدَّآءُ عَلَى ٱلْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَآءُ بَيْنَهُمْ تَرَىٰهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرِضْوَٰنًا سِيمَاهُمْ فِى وُجُوهِهِم مِّنْ أَثَرِ ٱلسُّجُودِ ذَٰلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِى ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَمَثَلُهُمْ فِى ٱلْإِنجِيلِ كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْـَٔهُۥ فَـَٔازَرَهُۥ فَٱسْتَغْلَظَ فَٱسْتَوَىٰ عَلَىٰ سُوقِهِۦ يُعْجِبُ ٱلزُّرَّاعَ لِيَغِيظَ بِهِمُ ٱلْكُفَّارَ وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ مِنْهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًۢا
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate among each other. You will see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure. On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. This is their similitude in the Taurat; and their similitude in the Gospel is like a seed that sends forth its blade, then makes it strong, it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the unbelievers with rage at them. Allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness and a great reward. (Surat al-Fath, 48:29)
Allah (swt) said "Muhammad Rasoolullah." Never in His Holy Book did He say, "Muhammad ibn Abdullah." He either called him, "yaa ayyuhu ‘n-Nabi", or "yaa ayyuhu ‘r-Rasool", or "Muhammad ar-Rasoolullah", all honoring him.
Abu' l-Hassan `Ali al-Kharqani (q) told the king, “What Abu Jahl saw was Muhammad ibn Abdullah. He did not see Muhammad Rasoolullah.” Looking at the shaykh, you are seeing his soorat, his picture, his image. He is like you, eating, drinking, sleeping, sitting, but there is something inside that you don’t know: a title given by Allah (swt), not human beings.
Nowadays so many people are running after titles, saying, “Give me `ijaazah. I am your khalifah, your deputy. I am this, I am that.” When Allah (swt) called Sayyidina Musa (a) to meet Him, Sayyidina Musa (a) said, wa qaala Musa li akheehi Haroona ukh’lufni fee qawmi.
وَوَٰعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰ ثَلَـٰثِينَ لَيْلَةً وَأَتْمَمْنَـٰهَا بِعَشْرٍ فَتَمَّ مِيقَـٰتُ رَبِّهِۦٓ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً وَقَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِأَخِيهِ هَـٰرُونَ ٱخْلُفْنِى فِى قَوْمِى وَأَصْلِحْ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ
We appointed thirty nights for Moses, and completed (the period) with ten (more): thus was completed the term (of communion) of forty nights with his Lord. And (before he went up the mountain) Moses charged his brother Aaron: "Act on my behalf among my people. Do right, and don't follow the way of the mischievous." (Surat al-A’raf, 7:142)
When Musa (a) wanted to meet Allah (swt), he told his brother Haroon (a), "Be my khalifah to my people.”
Then he came to the mountain and said, “Yaa Rabbee! Let me see You.”
Allah said, “You won’t see me, but look at the mountain,” falamma tajalla rabbuhu lil’jabal.
Afterwards, Allah (swt) told him, “I did not allow you to see Me as you did not see Me in your people.”
When you travel, with whom do you leave your family, what do you say?
Sayyidina Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (q) said in in "Hizb al-Bahr", wa kulli khalifatan fi ahli.
"Yaa Rabbee! When I travel, You are my Khalifah, the One Who cares for my family.”
Allah (swt) reprimanded Musa (a), saying, “You did not see that I was there to take care of your people. You assigned them to someone else.”
Look at the level of imaan. When a mu’mi'n's faith increases, he must be more careful about what he says. Allah asked, “How come you did not see Me taking care of your people? Because you did not see Me there, you’re not going to see Me here.”
What did Rasoolullah (s) do? He did not assign a khalifah. He did not say, “Hazrat as-Siddiq (r ) is my khalifah after me.” He only made him be the imam in salah when he was sick. When he was ill in his room, he asked Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) lead people in salah. He did not say, “Abu Bakr as-Siddiq is my deputy after me.” Why? Because he saw Allah (swt).
Allah (swt) assigns the khalifahs from the inside. Rasoolullah (s) did not need to say, “This one is after me,” because he knows Allah (swt) internally will assign khalifah for him at that time. Look at the difference.
One still has a ways to go. That’s why Sayyidina Musa (a) is in the Sixth Heaven: he did not go higher, because he still has a ways to go. Rasoolullah (s) passed all the Heavens, passed `Arsh and beyond. He went to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, a very, very close distance, two bows’ length or closer. Because Rasoolullah (s) has seen Allah’s (swt) Work, Power, Manifestation in everything, in all. He did not need to do it himself.
Once Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said that when Musa (a) was confronted by the sea, he said, inna ma’iya Rabbee sayah’deen, “My Lord is with me. He will guide me what to do.”
قَالَ كَلَّآ إِنَّ مَعِىَ رَبِّى سَيَهْدِينِ
(Moses) said: "By no means! My Lord is with me! Soon will He guide me!” (Surat ash-Shu’ara)
What did Rasoolullah (s) say to Siddiq (r) in the cave? InnAllaha ma`ana, “Verily, Allah is with us. (9:40)
Do you see the subtlety? One said, innama, yaa Rabbee, “My Lord is with me ,” and the other one said, innAllaha ma`ana, “Allah is with us.” That is the level of imaan we must reach, to see Allah (swt) everywhere, in everything.
Wa lahu fee kullu shay’in ayah tudhillu ala annahu wahid. Sayyidina Muhiyuddin ibn Arabi (q) said, “He has a Sign in everything, showing you He is One, He is Existing, He is creating, He is supporting.”
Who gives food to this little girl? Her mom is the first manifestation of Allah’s (swt) kindness and razziqiyyah, giving provision to that girl through the mother and father, who are mazhar, the appearance of Allah’s (swt) Holy Name Al-Khaliq ar-Razzaq, The One Who gives rizq to that girl. That’s how Allah (swt) is to that girl. He is providing for her and has made you the appearance of His Holy Name Al-Khaliq Ar-Razzaq, because she’s getting her sustenance inside and outside through you.
Don’t see yourself, but see Allah (swt) and you are with Him. When the sweetness of imaan starts to trickle into the heart, it gets sweeter and sweeter. This is what they call zawq. There is knowledge of awraaq, paper, books that we all read. And there is also adhwaaq, knowledge of the sweet taste of Allah’s (swt) Love. When you start seeing Him in everything in your life, then you start tasting His closeness to you, then you start wanting to be alone more often. Why? Because of familiarity with Allah (swt): you're not lonely anymore as Allah (swt) is with you wherever you go. When He is with you, you reach everything. When you are for Him, He is for you.
Once Sayyidina Dawood (a) asked Allah (swt), “Be for my son Sulayman (a), as You were for me.”
The answer came, “O Dawood! Tell your son to be for Me as you were. Then I will be for him as I was for you.”
If you are for Allah (swt), He is for you. He said in the Holy Qur’an, asta`eedhu billah, huwa allathee khalaqa lakum ma fi ‘l-arddi jamee’a. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:29)
He also said, wa as-tanatuka li nafsi, “I have taken you for Myself.”
وَٱصْطَنَعْتُكَ لِنَفْسِى
And I have prepared you for Myself (for service). (Surat at-Taha, 20:41)
He is telling Sayyidina Musa (a), “I have taken you for Me.” Awliyaullah have said everything was created for you, O human beings! Huwa allathee khalaqa lakum ma fi ‘l-arddi jamee’a. He has created whatever is on Earth and whatever is in Heavens for you. All of them are because of you, O insaan, He created you for Him. He didn’t create you for Earth, dunya. He said, “I created dunya for you.” That’s why that Hadith is true. So many people object on that Hadith, lawlaka lawlak, lama khalaktu ‘l-aflaq.
لولاك لولاك لمّ خلقت الأفلاك
We're it not for you, I would not have created this universe. (Hadith Qudsi)
This is Qur’an. I created dunya for you, insaan, but wa as-tanatuka li nafsi, “I have taken you for Me.”
Awliyaullah have said, “Don’t be busy with what is yours, but rather, that you are His.” You are for someone! If you get busy with what is yours and leave Him, Fa tabqa billahuwa, you will remain without Him!
You are special, O insaan: you are for Him! He did not create you for nonsense, to run after this dunya! We run after Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and become addicted. You are not for that, you are for Allah, to be His Mazhar, Appearance, the source of love, mercy, knowledge, and wisdom on Earth!
Rasoolullah (s) did not read or write, so from where did he bring that knowledge? If he was not a mazhar, appearance of Allah’s (swt) knowledge, love, and mercy, why was all that mercy given to this world through him?
Insaan is a mirror of what? Anwar as-Sifaatihi wa Jalaalihi wa Jamaalihi. You are the mirror that reflects the Light of His Beauty, Majesty and Perfection. You’re nothing except a mirror; whatever is shown to that mirror, it reflects.
Allah (swt) sends Rasoolullah (s) to punish the unjust. Rasoolullah (s) was not only the manifestation of Jamaal, Beauty, he was the manifestation of Jalaal, showing that power and taking revenge, punishing when it was needed. It’s Two Hands of Allah (swt), the Jamaal and Jalaal. He created you with both Attributes of Beauty and Power.
You are a mirror. When Allah (swt) wants to reflect something on this world, He reflects it through Insaan i-Kaamil, the perfect reflection, the Qutb of the Time. Allah (swt) looks at that Qutb, the mirror, and from His Divine Presence lights reflect on that mirror to this world. That is who Qutbs are, no longer human creatures or images or appearances. They have gone, they are not there anymore. They are a pure mirror. You can put any image you want in front of it and it doesn’t say, “I don’t like this image.” The mirror reflects it.
That is our way. Rasoolullah (s) has said, innal qalba la yasda, “Your heart will collect rust.” Wa jeela’oo dhikrullah, and tilaawat al-Qur’an also in one of the Hadith.
قالَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ (صَلَّى اللّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ آلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ): إِنَّ هذِهِ الْقُلُوبَ لِتَصْدَأُ كَما يَصْدَأُ الْحَـدِيدُ وَ إِنَّ جَلائَها قَراءَةُ الْقُرآنِ
The Messenger of Allah (prayers of Allah be upon him and his family) has said: “These hearts rust just as iron rusts; and indeed they are polished through the recitation of the Qur’an.” [Irshad al-Qulub, page 78. ]
Qu’ran is dhikr anyway. The way to clean that heart of yours, that mirror, is dhikrullah, whether it’s Qur’an al-Kareem or mentioning Asmaa’ullah al-Husnaa or by yourself remembering Allah (swt). All of that is to clean the heart.
I heard a nice story from my father, Mawlana Shaykh Hisham. A king assembled two groups of artists and put a divider between them. He showed them a picture and said, “Draw this.” One group started copying the picture with all its colors and the other group polished the wall.
After forty days he said, “Show me what you have done.” They removed the curtain and saw the artists had drawn a beautiful picture. The king looked at the other side, where the wall had become a mirror from their polishing and reflected that image perfectly.
But in Whose Hand is the Pen? Qalam al-`Aala. Who is The One controlling the writer, Sahib al-Qalam? The Qalam is writing but Who is holding it? Allah (swt) draws His Creation perfectly. When you make dhikrullah, you are preparing yourself to reflect all of His Creation onto you.
That is why Insaan i-Kaamil knows all Creation and is a mercy to all Creation, because all Creation is within him. That is one of the descriptions of Rasoolullah (s). We try to reflect from his mirror. We cannot say we reflect straight from Allah (swt). There is Muhammad Rasoolullah: you cannot bypass him. He is the Beloved, al-Habeeb. But you can be a beloved of the Beloved. You reflect from his heart. That is how the chain has come. All of these grandshaykhs have polished their hearts to a certain degree that they reflect from the origin, who is Rasoolullah (s). In Creation, he reflects from the Divine Presence whatever Allah (swt) is reflecting. That is why he is the origin of everything, Rahmatan li ’l-`Alameen. All of the rahmah comes to al-`Aameen through Rasoolullah (s).
How many lines can you draw through one point? How many lines can converge into one point? Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, “I am the dot under the baa. I am that point.” He is the door of Rasoolullah (s). Wa ‘tu ‘l-buyuta min abwaabiha, "Enter houses through their doors.”
وَأْتُواْ الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ أَبْوَابِهَا وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
So enter houses through their proper doors, and fear Allah, so that you may be successful. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:189)
Our guides, Sayyidina `Ali (r), Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r), Sahaabah Kiraam (r) and Ahlu ’l-Bayt, all of them and all of Creation has to converge into that dot. You converge into Hazrat `Ali (r) and then lines go out from him. Whatever line you draw is from the Circle of Wujood, that is Qaaba Qawsayni. Qaws is a bow, a semi-circle. When you put two together, they form a circle.
Rasoolullah (s) has come to a maqaam where he basically absorbed all Wujood in himself. Aw Adnaa, he is out of Wujood to something Adnaa, closer than that. He became the perfect circle, da’irat al-Wujuood, Qaaba Qawsayni, two bows’ length. Qaws, one bow, complete circle. Any point on that circle converges to the center. All Creation on the Circle of Wujood converged to that center, that dot, which is Rasoolullah (s).
Try to find your way to him! Every point on that circle can start moving towards the center. Draw a line. What happens when you draw the lines closer to the center? The lines become closer to each other. Hub fillah, when you love your brother for Allah, the closer you get to Rasoolullah (s), the closer you are to your sister or your brother. If you put the lines from the circle, they are very far away in the beginning, but when you are going towards the Haqq, the center, you get closer and closer and closer, then eventually you become one, the same point, you converge.
You become one in that Ocean of Rasoolullah (s), in his light, because we all have light from him. Alhamdulillah, we are mu’mins, we are Muslims. That light has to go back to its origin. W`alamoo anna feekum Rasoolullah, inside.
وإعلموا أن فيكم رسول الله
And know Allah's Messenger is in you. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:7)
Or feekum means “among.” Fee is also fee 'l-kitaab, in the book. Inside of you there is Rasoolullah. It means there is the Light of Rasoolullah (s) inside of you, so find it. By you and others finding that light, all of you converge into Rasoolullah (s) Light! That is the true friendship.
May Allah (swt) make us from those who converge directly to Rasoolullah’s (s) Light, which is from the Divine Presence. The first thing that Allah (swt) created is Noora nabiyyik, yaa Jaabir.
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،...
When Jaabir (r) asked, “Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you, oh 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)
Inshaa-Allah, we become from them. Polish your heart, you don’t have to draw. The one who draws is Sahib al-Qalam, but The One Who has the Qalam in his hand, Qalam al-`Alaa, is The Artist. That’s why His name is Al-Musawwir, The One Who gives soorat. Musawwir is The Fashioner, The Designer. He designs. Be busy with dhikrullah, then your heart is polished and you will start receiving the Light of Rasoolullah (s) directly in your heart. That fa’iz comes. Without you knowing from where or how, some meaning will appear in your heart and you will say, “Ah, I never thought of it this way.” `Ilm will come.
If you have hawd, the pool, it feeds rivers, which feed this lake. What do you find in the lake? Leaves, branches, dirtiness. As long as the rivers come from outside, externally to the pool, there is dirt. Your heart gets information from the five physical senses. You read, you hear, you see, whatever it is, all this information comes to your heart through the five physical senses, but because it’s coming externally, there’s always dirt in it: shirk, nifaaq, riya, sumaa, ‘ujub. But when the water gushes from under the lake, it’s pure.
They said `ilm of the heart comes from two ways: either from inside,`Ilm al-Ladunni, not contaminated, no dirtiness, pure; or it comes from the physical senses that carry dirt, branches, leaves. Whatever comes from outside is dirty stuff, but from within is clean.
If you are busy with dhikrullah, that `ilm will come from within, then you will be inspired by angels that throw `ilm into your heart by the order of Allah (swt). Rasoolullah (s) may allow certain `ilm to come to your heart. That is dhikrullah, so be busy with that, then Allah (swt) will give you what you never imagined.
أبي هريرة أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال قال الله عز وجل أعددت لعبادي الصالحين ما لا عين رأت ولا أذن سمعت ولا خطر على قلب بشر ...
Allah said, “I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what never came to the heart of a human being. (Bukhari, Muslim)
That means what Allah (swt) has prepared for you these eyes cannot see, these ears cannot hear and this heart cannot understand. You need something else, something different: dhikrullah.
Inshaa-Allah, Allah (swt) make us from these lucky ones who know the reality of Rasoolullah (s) and can swim in the oceans of his love, respect and honor, who can reach Hazrat `Ali (r), Hazrat Siddiq (r), the Sahaabah (r) and Ahlu ’l-Bayt. Inshaa-Allah, all of us will be their neighbors in Jannah, of Hazrat Fatima (r), `Ayesha Siddiqa (r) and all the rest, Ahlu ’l-Bayt and As-haab al-Ghizeen.
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
This is what I learned from my shaykh. May Allah (swt) raise them higher and higher, and bless them more and more, inshaa-Allah.
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