Maghrib at Private Residence
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`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
Alhamdulillah, Allah (swt) is the Most Generous. No matter how generous we are it still has limits, but Allah's Generosity has no limits. Yesterday a lady came here and said, "I want to take shahadah." We know, "don't tire yourself to try to guide whom you like," as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an:
لَيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء
laysa `alayka hudaahum wa lakinna Allah.
Not upon you is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills. (al-Baqarah, 2:272)
That is an indication for this lady. Her Muslim name now is "Aminah," a sign of love. This gentleman, his Muslim name is now (...). Who brought him here? It is not by himself, rather, someone urged him through his heart to come here. If he tried his best to come here without that heavenly urge, he would never come, but that inspiration brought him here. So the ayah is clear, "Don't guide who you like." If Allah loves them, He guides them. Don't look to see if they have sins; that has nothing to do with guidance. There are those who consider themselves believers, however, they commit more sins than unbelievers! Some people say, "We are believers," and they pray their five prayers and fast in Ramadan, but for some reason they may kill someone.
There is a famous contractor in Egypt who builds mosques everywhere, and it might be that he does nothing but good. But for one dancer, he committed a crime: he killed her. So there are many unbelievers who are straightforward and many believers who are not. Therefore, don't look at their outward actions, look at their hearts. How many converts are here? Raise your hands, put the camera on them. Mashaa-Allah, it is half the room. Who brought them? You? Me? No, Allah (swt) guided them to come here. For what reason? It is very simple, as explained in the ayah, "Whom I love, I guide." Those are rewarded and honored. What is the honor they get? There is no limit!
If you love someone, you will bring her a ring on every anniversary as an expression of your love. I don't know how many events there are during the year, but there is Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day, but these moments are limited; it is not as if you are giving her a gift every moment. But from Allah (swt) you receive a gift in every moment. Whether you know it or not, He doesn't care. That is the meaning of karam, generosity. Do you love your Lord? (Yes!)
There is a very famous saying, "On the Day of Judgment people will be resurrected with whom they love." You will be with the ones you love, which means from the lower level all the way up, if you love someone, you will be together. What do you think about someone who loves Prophet (s)? He said it, we didn't say it. If you love Prophet (s), you will be with him! If you love Allah, Allah (swt) will take you to Paradise! Everyone here said, "Yaa Rabbee, we love you, we love you!" However, it is coming from the tongue, not from the heart; to come from the heart is a different matter. Even if it comes from the tongue, it is enough, as you will be with the one you love.
I will tell you a story. I was invited to Morocco four years ago by their government, to a conference for a big wali named Sidi Shekir (q). People used to come in caravans to his maqaam, where they ate and drank as if in a hotel because his followers gave everything for free, then they accompanied those visitors to Mecca and Madinah. After that invitation I was taken to Marrakesh and we visited seven saints there, and the first was ibn `Abbas as-Sabti. There was a big group of scholars and delegates for that conference who were accompanying every visit. To reach the grave of one of these awliya you have to go through an alley about half-a-kilometer long, maybe a little longer. You enter into a courtyard and then into the masjid where the maqaam is. That alley was crowded with about the same amount of people that are here today, and everyone was sitting there like that. As I entered the courtyard it was very quiet inside and in the masjid as well. Outside, people were reciting the Holy Qur'an, and all of them were blind. Allah gave us eyes to see and we are not memorizing the Qur'an, but they are memorizing the Qur'an! It is a 500 year old custom. One comes and one goes, then another comes and goes, and so on. It is always crowded with people all the way to the maqaam. That wali established the first school for blind students to memorize the Qur'an.
At the maqaam, I made a du`a that lasted an hour-and-a-half, in the presence of the awliya. That is not what Wahhabis like to do! How would they know it is something you can't control, like water running from an open tap. You cannot prepare yourself for it. MashaaAllah, there was something special about the du`a. I was not aware however, that there were people behind me, many men and women. I finished the du`a and there was someone weeping. I heard them, one after another. Then we went to each of the seven awliya and the people were coming behind me and each time I am making du`a they begin to cry. If Allah wants to put love, no one can ask why. The same incident occurred at the second maqaam, then the third, then the fourth, and so on; they were following me. I finally finished at the last one, the maqaam of Imam Jazuli (q), who wrote Dala'il al-Khayrat.
After this, we were scheduled to have a meeting with the brother of the king. We attended the conference and gave a speech. The person who was crying behind me said, "Shaykh, I would like to invite you to my home." How were we to go his home? They arranged special transportation for the conference, and that car was waiting to take us to scheduled events, but this person wanted me to go to his house. I said, "I cannot go. There is a group of five or six people going with me to the conference."
One of them was Kawthar, the wife of the minister of information. She spoke in French, telling him we will go to his house. I said, "What are you saying? I am not going to his house." But then she told me his name. I didn't pay much attention to his name, but she said, "His name is XXX," the famous Parisian designer. One purse they make may cost US $50,000, and one scarf can cost $10,000. His company also caters to airlines and airports. So we said, "Who wants to go to the other function and listen to a long list of speakers? We will go with this one!" and I accepted the invitation. (laughter) It is almost impossible to get an appointment with XXX. So we went to his house, which is located in an old alley of Marrakesh, where the streets are like that. At one end we saw an iron door that was not like a normal door. We looked inside and, Allahu Akbar, it is a museum. Every famous portrait, perhaps even the Mona Lisa was there, along with all kinds of hand-carved antiques. We entered and sat. He served me food with his own hands, and then he said, "O Shaykh! I was crying because I was not able to control myself. I don't know Arabic, but I felt the live conversation you were having with those saints; I felt that spirit in me. I want to take shahadah."
But before that I said, "I have a message for you."
"What message?" he asked.
I replied, "I have three messages for you and if you follow them, you will be successful."
He asked, "What are those three messages?"
"You know about them in your heart," I said, "but you won't speak to people about them."
"What?" he asked.
"First, you are in love with your secretary, but you won't marry her. Go and marry her."
He said, "Oh. That is true."
"I will perform nikah for you." He was a very sincere man and you don't see that very often. "Second," I said, "you are about to sign on a project. Don't sign it. I won't say more, but you will be losing 100 or 200 million dollars."
Then he took shahadah. He was one man who came to the grave of a wali, and that love pulled him up. Love makes miracles. One Bedouin came to Prophet (s) and asked a question. What is the meaning of the word, "Bedouin"? It means "man of the desert," and they know nothing. They are not rough, like me. I'm sometimes rough, so be careful. When I am rough, run away! Mawlana told them in Cyprus, "When Shaykh Hisham is rough, I am not going to save you from his tongue. Run away!" Prophet Muhammad (s) (Mawlana stands) Allahuma salli wa sallim wa baarik `alaa habeebika wa nabeeyika, Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! (Mawlana sits) Prophet (s) was giving the Jumu'ah khutbah, during which no one is allowed to speak. I see people in Jumu'ah using their beads, and that is haraam; between the adhaan and when the khateeb is going to the minbar, no one has a right to touch the beads. I have even seen people talking on a phone. You must not touch anything because that times is also part of the Jumu`ah prayer!
The Bedouin stood and said, "Mata as-sa`ah, yaa Muhammad." (Mawlana stands and sits) Prophet (s) didn't answer, because he was giving the khutbah. The Bedouin asked a second time and Prophet (s) didn't answer. He asked a third time, and then Jibreel (a) came and said, "Allah is sending you His salaam; you must answer." The Bedouin asked, "When is the Day of Judgment?" You live 60 or 70 years, then you die. And then they put you in the grave. Then two angels will come and ask you questions. Prophet (s) asked, "It is a long journey. What have you prepared?"
We have come here to the house of Haji Muhiyuddin, for which his wife has been preparing food for one week. What are we preparing for akhirah? Are we preparing, or wasting our time? You cannot say, "We are doing something," when we are only wasting our time. So Prophet (s) asked that Bedouin, who answered without thinking. Innocence and good intention is important. Most of you here, I am not speaking about myself or Hajji Muhiyyuddin, but about the converts who immediately jumped and said, "I want shahadah." All the sins they had before were taken away. This means you are better than me and `Ali. (Mawlana asks a Muslim convert.) How many years have you been Muslim? (Twenty years.) Take away twenty years; all sins up to age 30 have been taken away. You will be asked about from age 30 up to now. She took shahadah; I will not ask her age. (laughter) All sins were taken away and she is anew.
We have a center in California, where a man came weekly. I would give a lecture and then we would do dhikr. After that we left. He came the second week and the third week Then on the fourth week he came and said, "Shaykh, I like you."
I said, "Alhamdulillah, I like you too."
He said, "I want to take shahadah."
I asked, "Do you know the meaning of shahadah?"
He said, "Yes."
So I gave him shahadah. On the fifth week he didn't come and the sixth week passed with no sign of the man. I asked people, "Why he hasn't been coming?"
Some people said, "He changed his mind for the shahadah."
I said, "No, go and check on him."
They went to his house. His younger brother came out and said, "My brother died. After he came back from dhikr, he had a heart attack and passed away." He was 95 years old. He died just one week after taking shahadah. Whatever he enjoyed his entire life, all of his sins were gone. So you took it early, when you are still young! (laughter) Now you are as a newborn child. If Allah puts love in your heart, no one can take it. At 95 years of age, he took shahadah and died.
So the Bedouin was asked by Prophet (s), what did he prepare? He said one word, "Muhabbat, love of you is my provision." Jibreel (a) told Prophet (s) to tell the Bedouin, "That is enough." The Sahabah (r) were surprised. This dunya is going to go; slowly, slowly it is ending. What are you taking with you? Love Prophet (s) and you will be saved. Love yourself, and it may take you into miseries. We are not saying don't love yourself, but love Prophet (s) also. Allah granted us to live a good life, so balance the two, not to take one side and leave the other.
Mashaa-Allah, you are a big group and growing. What are you (Hatem Shalak) doing in Sydney? Mawlana has authorized me to appoint you to do dhikr every week there; don't leave it. Bring your wife and your family. Hazem Omran is doing good work. You do it there; call your friends and bring food. Say, "I am inviting you for dinner," as everyone loves his stomach, but make them do dhikr first, then feed them. If you need anything, you can contact Hazem; he can guide you.
May Allah forgive us and may Allah bless us. May we keep that love to each other, not to be divided. The most dangerous is a rotten apple to enter among the other apples, because they all become rotten. Don't let an intruder get in-between the group.
`Ali here can read qasidah in Urdu, Arabic, English, Tamil, or any other language. We were with the president of Sri Lanka and it came to me to make qasidah for him; the inspiration came from Mawlana Shaykh. So I said to `Ali, "I will begin, you follow." I began to sing, "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Sajeda, Happy Birthday to you!" (people clapping and laughing) It was my daughter's birthday two or three days later. The president looked at me and said, "How do you know it is my birthday?" The next day, it was put out in all the papers that the delegation from America came to wish the president a happy birthday!
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah