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)
You have to know that Allah (swt) is watching you, the Prophet (s) is watching you, and the authority is watching you. Alhamdulillah that we are here in this majlis association, and we are obeying our Lord by coming together and we are obeying the Prophet (s) by making salawat and we are making the authority of dunya happy as we are not doing drugs or doing anything harmful, and we are sitting in an association of praise of the Prophet (s) and of dhikrullah that makes awliyaullah happy with us.
The majlis of a wali is seventy thousand times higher than the majlis of an `alim, because the majlis of a wali can take everyone in that meeting and present them to the Prophet (s), and then he will clean them and present them to Allah (swt) in the Divine Presence. That majlis of the `alim will only take them to read a paper, not to a wali. But the majlis of a wali will present them to the wali next in the hierarchy, and then to Prophet (s), and Prophet (s) will ask forgiveness on their behalf, and clean them and present them in the Presence of Allah (swt).
What is the difference between an `alim and a wali? The `alim reads from books and the wali reads from the heart of Prophet (s)! The du`a of a wali is never rejected, but the `alim’s du`a might be rejected. Allah (swt) described awliyaullah in the Holy Qur'an:
أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. `ala inna awliyaullahi la khawfan alayhim wa lahum yahzanoon.
Behold! Verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah Yunus, 10:62)
Awliyaullah are never fearful or sad. They have their hands in Allah's treasures; they put their hand in and take as much as they like. "O My wali! Take from My treasures as much as you want, as you love Allah and you love His Prophet (s)!" Awliyaullah are not easy to be known. They are hidden; they are forced to hide themselves because if they don't, people will leave their work and their dunya and run after them. Allah's wisdom is to keep dunya running and that is why He hides awliyaullah from human beings, but not from His Presence. To reach them, you have to work very hard, like people who are trying to become rich in dunya.
Today we were going to Masjid an-Nawawir. They say it is 200 years old. Near the masjid, I saw a very old man pushing an empty carriage. It seemed he might have been about 95 years of age. He was very slim and you could even see his bones, but he was very strong. That man was one of the awliyaullah who are hiding themselves. They are passing through the streets, observing what people are doing and supporting them.
Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa`iz ad-Daghestani (q) said, "It is impossible that someone cannot see a wali in 24 hours. If not, then Allah will send a wali to him to support him for living the next day." Awliyaullah's eyes can send laser beams that Allah gave them from the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). They can send that beam in order to give energy and power to every individual living on Earth. If someone is living up on the mountain, it must be that a wali passes by him, gives salaam, and leaves. In every 24 hours, there are awliyaullah that pass by you ten times. And there are awliyaullah who can reach someone in every time within 24 hours. As much as you are going up, that is as much as awliyaullah's eyes reach you.
They say that Indonesia has nine awliyaullah. Does Allah (swt) have just nine for Indonesia? There are 124,000 awliyaullah and Indonesia is the biggest Muslim country. Do they only have nine, who also are deceased? Where are the awliyaullah? Look for them and you will find them; they are like spotlights that shine on the stadium and that is why people run to them. And when people run to them, it is a sign that person is carrying the power of sainthood. If he doesn't carry that, people are not interested to look at his face even. But you see them running to him and even if they don't know him, they say, "Can we have a picture with you?"
Awliyaullah are known through the lights in their eyes and people can see that. When they are releasing the power in their eyes, people feel it, just like the bees are attracted to the queen bee. Awliyaullah are kings of dunya and Akhirah. People run to them because they are the doors of the Prophet (s). We are here now and all of us are sweating, and some are thinking, "Oh, we are sweating too much, we need a nice cool breeze." As Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) was when Nimrud threw him inside the huge fire, at that moment Allah (swt) said:
قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ
Qulnaa yaa naaru koonee bardan wa salaaman `alaa Ibraaheem.
O fire! Be cool and peaceful on Ibrahim. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:69)
Allah (swt) said, koonee bardan, "very cold" and salaama, meaning "very peaceful," according to the temperature of fresh air. Now, we are sweating in this weather, but on Judgment Day this will give you a cool breeze. Associations such as this, which are based on the love of Allah (swt), the love of Prophet (s), and the love of awliyaullah, are the gateway for everyone to receive the cool breeze on that Day when everyone will be sweating, when the sun will come down and will be above us by 70,000 arms-length! Today, if you sit under the sun for five minutes it will burn you. What do you think of the Day of Judgment, when the sun will come down, boiling the heads of people? What will save you then? These meetings that are made for the love of Allah (swt) and love of Prophet (s) will save you, and you will be in a cool breeze while others will be sweating. No problem; rain, tents or no tents, Allah will save those servants who are coming to his awliyaullah.
The Prophet (s) said:
ما جلس قوم يذكرون الله ، إلا حفتهم الملائكة ، وغشيتهم الرحمة
maa jalasa qawmun yadhkuroona Allah illa hafathum al-malaika wa ghashiyatahum ar-rahmat.
For the people who sit remembering Allah, angels will encompass them all the way to the first Heaven. (Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Ihtihaf ar-mahrat)
And it might be that people will ask, "Where is the first Heaven?" Allah can make the first Heaven reach us in one second. So don't underestimate Allah's power, kun fayakoon. Do not think there will be as many angels as the number of people here, but there will be unlimited numbers of angels passing up through the Heavens and they will all be making tasbih on your behalf. That will all be written as a reward to you and become a safety ship that will take everyone to Paradise.
I will tell a story about an `alim, and this is a lesson for all of us, so pay attention. His shaykh was a very big wali and the mureed was a big `alim. He asked his shaykh, who was a wali, "O my shaykh! I have been with you for 23 years. Can you give me permission to teach what I have learned from you? And if you can teach me more, then I can spread your message."
Pay Attention! This is a majlis of Rasoolullah (s) and awliyaullah are here; they are looking at us. We have to be very careful, so don't look left or right. Your duty is to focus on what I am saying!
The `alim said, "I will make summaries of your teaching and then I will teach people what you taught me, and I will become a shaykh myself."
The shaykh said, “Oh, do you want that?” This story teaches us humbleness. He said, "Before I give you permission, I want you to do one thing."
The mureed said, “Okay, whatever you say.” He was happy the shaykh was opening up and he was going to give him miraculous powers.
He said, "O my son, fill a basket with walnuts, then go to the masjid, and to anyone going in or coming out, take your shoe and give it to them. Tell them, 'Beat me on my head and I will give you one walnut. If you beat me on my head with both my shoes, I will give you two walnuts.' You have to do that, and when you finish come to me and I will tell you what you have to do next."
He was a big `alim who was going to be beaten by shoes. An`alim has knowledge of papers, `Ilm al-Awraq, Knowledge of Books. But awliyaullah have `Ilm al-Adhwaaq, Knowledge of Taste. The shaykh wanted to teach the mureed not to be arrogant. "Don't think you know something. The `ilm you have built has no foundation and may fall at any moment. To cut your ego down, you have to be humiliated. You have asked something, there is no permission, so now you have to be taught a lesson."
The `alim said to the shaykh, "La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah," with anger. He meant, "I am an `alim, subhaanAllah! La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah." This shows unhappiness.
The shaykh said, "O my son, do you know what you just said?"
The mureed asked, "What did I say?"
The shaykh answered, "By saying, La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah, a kaafir (unbeliever) will become a Muslim, and all of his sins will be erased. But in the way you said, La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah, you have made a sin." So beware! The ego will trick you.
إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ
inna nafs an la-ammaaratan bi ‘s-soow.
The (human) soul is certainly prone to evil. (12:53)
The ego is always ordering to do bad, except for awliyaullah; they are protected. May Allah protect ummat an-Nabee (s). To recite, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah, is our safety. Say, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah! (Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah! Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah! Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah!)
More than half the world was under the power of Alexander the Great, Iskandar Dhul-Qarnayn. He said to his cabinet ministers, "When I die, put me in a coffin and place my hands outside the coffin." He was very rich! He was the emperor; he conquered half the world.
They said, "O our sultan, our emperor! How are we going to let your hands be outside the coffin? It is not good for us. We have to put your hands inside the coffin."
He said, "No, you must do as I say. Put my hands outside the coffin."
They asked, "Can we know the wisdom in this?"
He said, "Yes, I will tell you. I want the world to know that Alexander the Great, who conquered and ruled half the world, is going from this dunya empty-handed. As he came to dunya naked, he is going naked; he is not taking anything from his riches, his lands, or his treasures. You must be generous, so whatever I have I am giving to my people. What I need is Allah's Mercy. I am giving my wealth to my people in the way of Allah." This is the person who conquered half the world.
I am very happy with the owner of this house and also with many others and all their families, with Nasran and his family, who are very generous with us. They opened their homes, prepared a program, and spent a lot of time and money to arrange this visit. This is an expensive task. It costs at least $40,000 to arrange transport, prepare food for iftar, ishraq, lunch, and midnight! Makan, makan, every time there is plenty of food! Allah (swt) is happy with this.
And at the end we say that every meeting has a separation and after every separation there is a meeting. Inshaa-Allah we will see you as soon as possible. Don't miss the dhikrullah that you are doing every week. It can be in a masjid or you can rotate from house to house, and don't forget this place also, to have dhikr here. If other people would like to have dhikr in their homes, they can if they have enough space to hold people. That dhikr is your ticket to Paradise.
Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi (r) is saying, "You didn't tell my story, tell it." I was going to not mention it, but I mentioned his name in this gathering so he is insisting. From his place in Egypt, he said, "No, tell my story." So we will tell his story!
In his `urs, the annual commemoration of one's death, for one month huge crowds of people--some say more than one million--gather in his area at Tanta, Egypt. Ahmad al-Badawi was an `alim, not a wali. Ahmad al-Badawi is now correcting me, and I am correcting him; he was `abid. It came to his heart that he wants to increase his worshipness, until he asked Allah (swt) to open His door for him to become a wali. Day and night he offered `ibadah, tahajjud prayer, Salat an-Najat, Salat al-Layl, Salat al-Hajjah, observing every kind of sunnah after midnight. He even completed khatm al-Qur'an daily, asking, "Yaa Rabbee! Open Your door for me!"
One day he heard a voice. He saw a man looking at him from the street and the voice came to his ears,"Yaa Ahmad!" He looked and saw a man with a beard and turban."Yaa Ahmad, are you asking for the key to open Allah's door?"
Ahmad al-Badawi (r) answered, "Yes."
The man said, "I have that key. Come to me, I will give you the key."
He looked at him and said, "You came to me out of nowhere and you are asking me if I want the key? I am not taking the key from you. Who are you? You are nothing."
Look at how big the ego is! When you are drunk with ego, you are not able to accept anything from anyone. Those who are on drugs think they are like peacocks or emperors. The many representatives of the shaykh think they are something, like a big balloon, but if you poke it, it will deflate. So that man left after Ahmad al-Badawi (r) said that. He gave permission now, so I will cut it short. Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi (r) kept on saying, "O my Lord! Open, open!" And finally he heard a voice, "Yaa Ahmad! That wali has your key. Go find him." That is the way of dunya. Everyone is in need of something or someone, and everything is in need of the Prophet (s), and Prophet (s) is in need of Allah (swt). So he began looking everywhere for that wali, but could not find him. That wali was near him, but hiding himself. Then after six months he appeared in front of him.
Ahmad al-Badawi (r) said, "O my shaykh! I need the key you have for me."
The shaykh answered, "O, now you want it? Now you have to pay! Everything you learned in Islam you learned by your ego. Now give me every knowledge you have."
He accepted, so the wali said, "Look into my eyes," and he pulled all Ahmad al-Badawi's knowledge out through his eyes and left him knowing nothing, not even how to read Surat al-Fatihah! He could not even function normally and the children threw stones at him, saying, "Shaykh al-Islam lost his mind." And then that wali left him for six months, then reappeared. He put heavenly knowledge into him through his eyes, then Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi was so full of light coming from his eyes that he had to wear a burqa to keep people from seeing them, or they would faint (from it's intensity).
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.