A`udhu billahi min ash-shaytaan ir-rajeem
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
Nawaytu'l-arba`een, nawaytu'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu'l-khalwah, nawaytu'l-riyaadah, nawaytu's-salook, nawaytu'l-`uzlah lillahi ta`ala fee hadha'l-masjid
Ati` Allah wa ati` ar-Rasula wa uli 'l-amri minkum
Obey Allah I; obey Prophet e and those in authority.
E
very action we are going to do we have to know that Allah I is seeing us and Prophet e is seeing us. And we have to know that uli’l-amr, whether physical or spiritual are monitoring your actions. Physical ones monitor only for bad. They care only for what is bad and they come against you.
Awliyaullah monitor you for what is good and if you are doing good they push you forward out of love for their disciples.
They want us not to be heedless, but although that is so, sometimes Allah I will send something to them in order to test them and check them.
We were speaking about that wali that at that moment forgot, as he was traveling getting on the boat, [to ask permission from Prophet e]. And as we said before, when you travel, marry or divorce, you have to ask permission, from those who are on authority on you; for their guidance. It might be they will tell you not to travel, not seeing it good.
So awliyaullah when they travel must have permission from the Prophet e, or else there is no safety, as you go on the road. Out of love of Prophet e he wants you to ask permission. Out of his love to you that shaykh wants you to ask permission.
Awliyaullah understand the importance of love in everything we do. They see that in the life of the Prophet e how much he was a loving person. And when you love someone you obey him, that is for sure.
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Qul in kuntum tuhibboona Allaha faittabi`oonee yuhbibkumu Allahu wa yaghfir lakum dhunoobakum waAllahu ghafoorun raheem.
Say: “If ye do love Allah I, Follow me: Allah I will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah I is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [3:31]
In kuntum tuhiboonAllah fatabi`oonee.... if you love Allah I obey the Prophet e, then Allah I loves you.
So love leads to obedience. And awliyaullah, Prophet e wants from them, when they are a wali, to obey, to know that there is higher authority on them. If you are heedless in your love, even one second, if that love diminishes in that second you are losing a lot.
And the example of that love, even animals, out of their love to Prophet e they go and complain to Prophet e. They went and said to Prophet e and said, we are complaining of our owner. Animals go to door of Prophet e to complain.
And the example of that is the Prophet e going to ziyarah of one of his Sahaaba and one camel was standing near the house of the gathering and the camel was looking at Prophet e and the Prophet e was looking at him. And the camel began to have tears in his eyes coming crying and they begin to see tears. And the Prophet e asked, “Who owns that camel?”
And they said, “This Sahabi owns this camel.” The Prophet e said, “That camel is complaining against you.” Look at the Prophet e’s love to everything. He wants everything to be in order, to work in harmony. He even wants animals and humans to be in harmony.
Then what you think of human to human. That is why the relationship of the human to human must be in harmony. He was complaining, “You are loading it more than it can carry.” Look how the Prophet e cares for everyone. So that is why don’t be heedless, even the wali must ask, as Grandshaykh said to take permission to travel, else he will be lost.
The other example is about solids [inanimate objects], they are not even living, and the Prophet e cares for them. That is out of love. When someone makes a piece of art, he loves that piece of art.
So the Prophet e wants a relationship with everyone. Know that Muhammad e is in you. He was sent as rahmatan lil-`alameen, mercy to all the worlds. Know that is very important. You feel mercy for someone that is from love. That shows that relationship of love to the Ummah. He wants you safety, he wants you to be careful in every step you move. Out of love, if you are wali or not, he wants you to follow the principles. Don’t jump from windows, but come to the house from the door.
Don’t be like those who said, “Ya Rasulullah e, do we leave the camel or tie it? Do we just leave it and trust in Allah I?” No he said, “`aqilha wa tawakkal. Tie it and then trust.” Of course if you leave it, it will go into the jungle not staying in its place. So the relationship requires whatever is necessary to be done.
The Prophet e when he does Friday khutba, there is a wood trunk that they dug in the earth and he puts his hand on it and leans upon it in order to give his speech, his advice.
So some of the Sahaaba, after many times, saw it was difficult for Prophet e to lean upon it because more and more Sahaaba coming, in order for the Sahaaba to see him. So they decide to build a minbar, a platform with several steps so Prophet e can go up and everyone can see him. So that Friday they built the minbar and they brought it to mosque and put it in mosque next to the tree trunk that Prophet e used to lean on. The Prophet e went and stood on the minbar and then they hear haneenin from that trunk of wood. Every Sahaaba heard that. Out of love the wood, missing the Prophet e’s hand was crying. When you love someone you put your hand on him or her. When you love your children you put your hand on them, you hug them, you show that relationship, that energy goes from them to you. That flow of energy is important. So what do you think of the Prophet e when he puts his hand, how much energy goes. So that wood was moaning and crying and all Sahaaba heard that. So the Prophet e had to go down from the minbar.
Look! If someone is on authority and they built for him a nice minbar he will be happy. He will say we have a “Grand opening” and throw the other one in the garbage. Look at the difference.
Everything has that relationship of love that creates energy. Today they speak about energy, energy, energy. That is not energy but that is love that creates harmony, as we mentioned in the last talk about the Buraq and the heaven of buraqs in the series of Indonesia. How the Buraq was crying and showing its relationship of its love to the Prophet e from that the tears coming from their eyes, different kinds of gems were coming from these buraqs and every tear from them is bigger than this world, and each of these tears is a pearl or sapphire or diamond and each one Allah I was creating bigger than this world. And each of these huge jewels are made like palaces for believers on the Day of Judgment. So that love is immense that cannot be described.
So the Prophet e went down and looked at that stick or that trunk. He said, “Do you love me?” He said, “Na’m Ya Rasulullah e. I love you and that is why I don’t want you to use the minbar and I want the blessings of your hand to be on me. I cannot stand without it.”
That is a solid, a dry wood, a stick. And the Prophet e said, do you like me to be with you in dunya, or you like to be with me in akhira. I give you a choice. “If you love to be with me in dunya I will keep putting my hand on you and if you love to be with me in akhira, I will guarantee you paradise.” He said, “Ya Rasulullah e, I love to be with you in this life and in the next, but as you like.” Akhira is better. Look he made the wood alive from his hand and the wood finally said, “I prefer akhira.”
So Prophet e said, “Take that wood and bury it as a dead person.” So they buried the wood and he promised that he would be with the Prophet e in Paradise. So the wood was not heedless—it wanted to be with the Prophet e always and Allah I granted that. He gave that non-living trunk to be living in akhira and be in Paradise.
Even the animal, Allah I gave one animal to be in paradise out of love to Ashaab al-Kahf. Though it is not accepted to be in Paradise, that dog was accepted into Paradise.
So the Prophet e went up on the minbar and he was giving that advice to the Sahaaba. Out of love he wants everything to be perfect.
So when that wali went on that ship, usually the wali has to use tayy, the power of folding distances, time and space, when something happens. That is why it is recommended 100 times Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem dhaalika taqdeer al-`azeez ar-raheem before you travel, that is Allah I created angles that under that name, dhaalika taqdeer al-azeez al-raheem, under that praising, Allah I created angels that anyone who recite that of disaster or problem they carry that person in order not to be in that difficulty.
They come and take that person and fly him. They take care of the safety of that person, whether on car or train or ship or boat or rocket.
So that wali forgot to take permission of the living shaykh or if no living shaykh to take permission of the Prophet e. During that travel on the sea a big storm came up and the boat was in difficulty. There was another wali on that boat who had taken permission. That boat was breaking into pieces and that first wali who does not know how to swim was drowning with all the people. The second wali who took permission from the Prophet e was able to float on one of these pieces. As if nothing happening. As if that piece of wood became for him like a boat. Like what happened with nimrod and Sayyidina Ibrahim u.
When Nimrod built a huge fire and threw Sayyidina Ibrahim u, with manjaniq, a catapult. It was a huge place they built the fire and because the fire was so huge they were unable to approach to throw Sayyidina Ibrahim u. So they take something which stretches, like a slingshot, a catapult, and they throw Sayyidina Ibrahim u inside the fire, coming within the fire and Jibreel u immediately came. He said, “Ya Sayyidina Ibrahim u, do you want any help?” He looked at him, “Why do I have to ask you for help? My help I ask from the One who sent you. Allah I knows my situation. If He wants me not to be burned. If He wants me to be burned, I am submitting to His Will. I am not going to change anything.”
He said, “Ya Ibrahim u, I can stop the fire.” He said, “I don’t want it from you, I want it from Him. If He wants, He knows my situation better.” Jibreel u said, “Ya Sayyidina Ibrahim u, give me authority, I will help you.” He said, “Ya Jibreel u, your words are like the words of children. When they threw me in the fire, did not Allah I see me? If He wants to save me, He will save me. I don’t like to listen to children’s words.”
And Allah I made the fire cool and peaceful on Sayyidina Ibrahim u.
قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ
“Qulna Ya naari koonee bardan wa salaaman `ala Ibrahim.”
[But] We said: O fire! Be thou cool, and [a source of] inner peace for Abraham u!” [21:69]
Immediately it turned like paradise. So that wali, because he asked permission and he had taken permission from the Prophet e, he rendered everything to Allah I. So that is why taking permission is very important.
So that wali took permission and he was on the piece of wood like it was a boat, the first one was drowning. The second wali, though lower in status, was enjoying happy the safety on his wood like a happy safe boat cruise that you can find everything on it. For him it was like Paradise and the other wali was suffering. And he said to him, “Let me help you my brother,” like Jibreel u was saying to Sayyidina Ibrahim u.
The first one said, “O my brother, until now I never did something against Allah’s I Will. I never committed something disobeying Allah I. I am surrendering to Allah I in that difficulty and I am patient on it. I don’t need your help.”
So the second wali was laughing and saying, “Ok, we will see how long you will last until you beg me to save you.”
So that wali began to drown more and began to shake, in panic and become like he is going to die, swallowing water. And the second wali said, “Now is it time to help you or are you still on arrogance?” He said, “No, I am not asking your help, I am surrendering to Allah’s I Will.”
So when someone is panicking in the ocean and drowning, all his limbs started flapping, with his hands and with his legs trying to save himself, but he cannot because it is a storm. So he was moving his body and falling more and more. The second one said, “Do you give me permission.” He said, “No!” Then the other said, “Ok, we are going to see how long until you need help and you give me permission.”
So he continued panicking and floundering around and moving his body. The second wali said to him, “O my brother why are you floundering and splashing around, as if you don’t have patience [with the Divine Will]?” The first wali said, “O my brother that is the right of the body, to flounder and splash, but Allah I doesn’t look at the body, he looks at the heart. Look at my heart. Is it panicking or not?”
When that wali looked in the heart of that first wali and saw how much the submission of that wali and saw how much Divine Light was coming to the heart of that wali and the mercy of Prophet e coming down onto that wali from his patience, from seeing that he was overcome and fell into the water and began to drown. And then that first wali looked at him and with the power of his vision took that wali and threw him to the shore seven months journeying from the storm and from drowning in the ocean. That was from the tajallis of ismullah, Allah’s I Name as-Saboor I, The Patient, that second wali was not able to control himself. So under the tajallis of that Name the first wali was obliged to save him and for that Allah I saved the first wali, for his help to the second one. So the awliya are at different levels. Although you might see them physically struggling or according to your mind they are quarrelling and they are saying things that are not accepted you might not see the relationship that they have in their hearts.
Some might object, “Why are they quarreling with each other? Why do they speak like that?” You are looking at the outside not the relationship inside. About the relationship between them and how much the shaykh cares for the disciple or the representative. And Allah I does not judge by the outside. Be sure you don’t fall in the trap of what is going on outside. The relationship of the heart is like that—it is never affected. The higher one always comes over the lower one. But the lower one cannot understand the higher one. The higher wali is always more patent and merciful. Out of love and mercy they look; not from a different angle.
So don’t judge what is going on between awliyaullah, else you will burn your fingers. Don’t say, “I am like that; I am this or I am that, or my name is this or my name is that. I must be respected.” Be yourself. Remember Allah I said in Holy Qur’an “Wa laa tuzakoo anfusikum. Don’t praise your selves.” Don’t listen to a fuzzy signal and say, “I am this and I am that.” May Allah I forgive us. We continue next time.
Bi hurmatil-Fatiha.