A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta'ala al-`Azheem fee hadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:59)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
إنما الأعمال بالنيات , وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى , فمن كانت هجرته إلى الله ورسوله , فهجرته إلى الله ورسوله , ومن كانت هجرته لدنيا يصيبها أو امرأة ينكحها , فهجرته إلى ما هاجر إليه
Verily actions are by intentions, and for every person is what he intended. So the one whose emigration was to Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration was to Allah and His Messenger, and the one whose emigration was for the world to gain from it, or a woman to marry him, then his emigration was to what he made it. (Bukhari and Muslim)
Everything depends on the niyyah: if one intends to visit, it is written as if it is done. Sometimes you intend to do something, but you are not able as it is not written by Allah (swt), but it is accepted from you as if you did it. Sometimes you want to do something, but there are obstacles. If Allah does not want it to happen, you will still be rewarded for your niyyah. If you were not able to do it, it might be blocked because Allah's wisdom and will is different from ours for certain reasons, we don’t know why. Like the example of Sayyidina Yusuf (a) and his brothers: he is a prophet and they are prophets, the children of Sayyidina Yaqoob (a), but Allah wanted them to put him in the well to take Sayyidina Yusuf (a) from the Cana`an tribe, from Palestine to Egypt, or how else would he have reached Egypt? So that was a transition and for him to be tried, because there was no prophet who did not have problems. Sayyidina Muhammad (s) said, “I was the most tortured from my tribe of all the prophets.”
What did they do to Sayyidina Zakariyya (a)? They cut him into pieces. Sayyidina Ayyub, Sayyidina Yunus, Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) were all tested! Allah's will overcomes everything, you don't know the wisdom behind it and there is a lot of wisdom. Allah wanted to make Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a) not love anyone else but Him, so He took Sayyidina Yusuf (a) away from him. The one who was loving his son so much that he took the place of Allah in his heart was taken from him by Allah (swt), not for Yusuf (a) to be killed, but for him to be taken to Egypt to bring him back to a normal life.
How many people did Sayyidina Yusuf (a) bring from worshipping idols to worshipping Allah (swt)? Even Zulaykha went through that way and wanted Sayyidina Yusuf (a), and then had him thrown in jail. Then the king saw a dream, this was all Allah's will.
نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ
We relate unto you the most beautiful of stories. (Surat al-Yusuf, 12:3)
That is to take `ibrah, an example, that Allah’s (swt) will is completely different from any other. What is happening in the Middle East, in Afghanistan? It was a peaceful country. I remember in the 1960s when I was young, I visited my uncle, the greatest scholar in Lebanon, in the biggest mosque in Beirut, which was a former Christian monastery. When Sayyidina `Umar (r) took over Bilaad ash-Shaam, it was converted to a masjid. So we used to pray behind my uncle in that mosque after `Asr. One afternoon, an Afghan man who seemed strange to us came. He was wearing an Afghan hat and was praying beside me and my brother.
As soon as we finished the prayer, he approached my uncle and said, “Are you Shaykh Mukhtar?”
He said, “Yes.”
Then he looked at my brothers and he mentioned them by name, “You are Salim, you are Waleed, you are Hisham.”
“Yes.”
He said, “I am from Afghanistan and my father, Shaykh al-Mashaykh Shaykh Ibrahim an-Naqshbandi Mujaddidi, was under the Shaykh al-Islam in the time of the king. He sent me to Beirut and said, ‘Go to Masjid al-Umari al-Kabeer where you will find these people, and ask them what you need.’ I am sick, my father has sent me from Afghanistan to Beirut for me to be checked and told me your names.”
We never knew him, we had never heard of Afghanistan or where it was, it was not on the map. The Mujaddidi Naqshbandi and Mujaddidi Qadiriyya turuq are there. Who sent him? He had a disease, so we took him to be treated for some time at a hospital there. After one month he was cured and left for Afghanistan. He went back and we lost contact with him. One day I was in Fremont, California and was invited to give Jumu`ah khutbah in an Afghani masjid. After the Jumu`ah prayer, the imam came to greet me and introduced me to one person, a boy named Abu Bakr.
I asked, “By the way, do you know Shaykh Isma`eel al-Mujaddidi, son of Shaykh Ibrahim al-Mujaddidi?”
He said, “Yes, I am his son.”
I said, “Do you remember when your father went to Lebanon?”
He said, “Yes. He went to a family that took care of him and his problem. I was the only child in my family who was saved when the Russians came to Afghanistan. I was about one or two years of age. Our maid carried me and hid me in the oven when the Russian army came looking for everyone. They took the men, killed them or transferred them to Siberia, and I was the only boy saved.”
Later, he introduced me to his mother and sister. Look how that story turned out: his father came to Beirut in the 1960s to be treated by my father, and then was captured by Russians and his son escaped, came to America, and then I was in California in the 1990s, invited to that masjid to meet the son of Shaykh Isma`eel. SubhaanAllah! Who planned that? It became news there among the Afghanis; it is a big masjid with about 500-600 attendees. They were so happy to hear about that miracle! So when Allah has a will, no one can stop it and tat is why Awliyaullah don't interfere.
I once saw Sayyidina Baha’uddin Shah Naqshband (q) in a vision: he was coming out of Grandshaykh’s (q) room and went down the mountain to Sayyidina Muhiyuddin Ibn `Arabi’s (q) mosque. I saw his beard from behind: it was so wide, extending beyond his shoulders, reaching the floor! He was tall and thin. When he was on his deathbed, a flat piece of wood with a mattress on it, he was laying on his back and fell involuntarily to the floor on his face, so his back was facing upward and face and body were on the floor. He kept repeating, “Yaa `Afoow, Yaa `Afoow, Yaa `Afoow!” These were his last days and all his mureeds cried as that was happening to Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q).
Allah revealed to his heart, “Why did you interfere in My will?” He was asking forgiveness for something he had done in his life: he interfered by a miracle to help alleviate his people’s suffering. So in Sakhkharaat al-Mawt, the pangs of death, he saw that big vision and felt its punishment, “Why did you interfere in My will?” That is something big for Awliyaullah! When that inspiration comes to their heart, it is great. He was asking, “Allah, Yaa `Afoow, forgive me yaa Allah, I didn’t mean it.”
What was the problem he tried to fix? Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband’s (q) majlis always consisted of at least 10,000 people in his madrasa, which is still there in Bukhara. He was rich, he was helping all the poor and teaching Fiqh and Hadith, tafseer and Tariqah. One time there was a drought in the village, due to no rain. Just as in the story of Sayyidina Yusuf (a): when the king saw a dream of seven cows eating seven other cows, and the interpretation by Yusuf (a) was that there will be a drought and there will be cows that will die from hunger.
So there was a drought in Bukhara and people had no food to eat, there was no bread, which is common to eat in that area, as it is Sunnah. Not like the sub-continent, where they like to eat rice. The major food of Middle East and Turkish countries is bread. So there was no bread. He asked, “If anyone has a little bit of wheat, bring it to me,” because they asked him for help.
He saw that his people were dying from hunger, so what did he do? he went to tahoona, the mill where they use oxen to turn the stone and crush the wheat into flour to be baked. So they took some wheat that was left in home of a rich person, Shah Baha’uddin (q) then placed the yoke over his head like the ox and made the mill turn with the stones. That small amount of wheat began to be crushed by the stones and flour began to come out in massive quantities, he told the people to come and to collect wheat flour until the time of Maghrib. They filled the entire warehouse and their homes with the wheat that was coming from the barakah and miracle of Sayyidina Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q).
Because of that, Allah admonished him, “Why did you interfere in My will? I will let it to go for you, to accept what you did for the benefit of the people, but why did you interfere in it from the beginning? You have no right to interfere in My will. I have a wisdom: ‘Allah blots out or confirms what He pleases. With Him is the Mother of the Book.’ (13:39), But for you, I will erase the punishment and let you get the wheat, but I was not happy with that as you interfered in My will.”
This is the inspiration that came to his heart: when Allah’s will comes, don’t try to stop it. That is why Awliyaullah don't interfere in the will of Allah (swt), they know it is dangerous. One of the shuyookh of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain had many mureeds in his time; Grandshaykh (q) mentioned this story, but did not mention the name of the shaykh. The shaykh had many khulafah around the world, representatives who can keep the tradition of Tariqah, Tasawwuf and teaching of Islam running. One of his mureeds reached a station where he saw a lot of visions. I see a lot of people who have dreams, but also visions, between bayn al-nawm and wa al-yaqazha, sleeping and non-sleeping, which is higher, . One of his representatives, a very pious person, was able to see the future. Prophet (s) mentioned in Hadith Qudsi:
عن أبي هريرة قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إن الله قال من عادى لي وليا فقد آذنته بالحرب وما تقرب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضت عليه وما يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها وإن سألني لأعطينه ولئن استعاذني لأعيذنه وما ترددت عن شيء أنا فاعله ترددي عن نفس المؤمن يكره الموت وأنا أكره مساءته ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه، فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به، ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها،
My servant does not cease to approach Me through voluntary worship until I will love him. When I love him, I will become the ears with which he hears, the eyes with which he sees, the hand with which he acts, and the legs with which he walks (and other versions include, “and the tongue with which he speaks.”). (Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari)
So the most important thing here is love: when Allah loves someone, He opens his eyes and ears, according to that Holy Hadith. That mureed reached a level where he could see the Lawh al-Mahfoozh, Prescribed Tablets, and he saw it written there his famous shaykh was among the people entering Hellfire. He immediately went into sajda and said, “Yaa Rabbee! If our shaykh enters Hellfire we all are entering Hellfire! Yaa Rabbee, how can he enter Hellfire? Then we have to enter with him. O Allah! Forgive him.” For forty days he cried and prayed for his shaykh morning and night, making sajda, but never showing any changes on his face, so even his wife and children did not know what he was doing.
The shaykh asked the mureed’s family what had happened to him. They said, ”Wa’Allah Sayyidi, we see him at home always making sajda and praying.” After forty days he saw on the Lawh al-Mahfoozh it written that his shaykh has been changed from being in Hellfire and moved to Paradise. He rushed to the majlis of the shaykh to tell him what had happened.
As soon as he entered that long hall, his shaykh at the other end his shaykh said, “Stop!” then took his siwak, broke it in half and said, “O my son! If you don't return me to where I was before, I will break you as I break this siwak. You have no right to interfere in Allah’s will!For twenty-five years I am have seen it written like that and never asked for it to be changed! I only asked for the Love of Allah (swt). Wherever Allah wants to put me, I accept. It’s not My will, it is His will. If you don’t return me to where I was, you will be thrown out and I will break you in two!”
The representative went back home and asked, “Yaa Rabbee! Restore my shaykh to the situation he was in before.” He cried and cried, because then he had a big problem: he saw something he thought his shaykh didn't know about, he thought himself higher in knowledge! The ego and desires make you arrogant and proud, then you think you know better than your shaykh. All of us fall into this problem. We try to guide the shaykh, telling him, “Do this, don't do that,” is it not? The mureed wants to bring this to the shaykh’s attention, as if he does not know. They make themselves look stupid, but really the shaykh knows everything and we are the stupid ones who make ourselves look as if we know., astaghfirullah wa atubu ilayh. That is a big sickness in every mureed: only one was called As-Siddiq, because of what? Whatever the Prophet (s) said, Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) said, “Sadaqta yaa Rasoolullah,” he never questioned.
So don't interfere! You don't know what they know; they know everything, but they don't interfere in Allah's will. So the mureed began to say, “Yaa Rabbee, restore my shaykh to where he was before.” He was unable to mention Hellfire, as he was so ashamed of himself. The shaykh saw himself in Hellfire; do you think the shaykh does not see? He knows, but that was a test for the mureed and us to learn from their examples and stories.
نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ
We relate to you the most beautiful of stories. (Surat al-Yusuf, 12:3)
“We (Allah) are The One Who tells ahsana al-qasas, the best of stories, examples in the Holy Qur’an,” and that is where you have to look. Awliyaullah’s experience--their actions, behavior, attitudes, what they do physically, eat and drink, and what they do spiritually through their hearts by contacting others through dreams and inspirations, and any relationship between the mureed and the shaykh and how they treat people--gives them the best stories.
The shaykh wanted his mureed to learn, “Yes, Allah accepted your du`a and moved me, but you stopped Allah’s will because you don’t know. When the Prophet (s) visited Paradise and checked on Hellfire to see the condition of the people in it, Hellfire lowered its power down to the point that the Prophet (s) was able to enter.” Awliyaullah say when you are taking a shower, you balance the cold and hot water so your body can carry it and Hellfire went down like that. So that story is the best of stories, because it teaches us not to interfere.
The mureed began to pray, “O Allah, bring my shaykh back to where he was,” he was shy to mention Hellfire. After many du`as and sujood, he saw on the Prescribed Tablets his shaykh was back in Hellfire. He happily ran back to him to give this news, his shaykh said, “Yaa waladee, I have seen myself in Hellfire for twenty-five years and I never asked for anything except for Allah’s Love. I don't care where Allah puts me.” Rabi`a al-`Adawiyya (q) replied to the `ulama and they asked her to marry, “I have no time, I am busy making istighfaar.” Her focus was to approach the Divine Presence, because istighfaar immediately brings us to Presence of the Prophet (s), as mentioned in the verse:
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
If they had only, when they were unjust (oppressor) 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)
As soon as we make istighfaar, we are immediately in the Presence of the Prophet (s) and he is ready. Now when we say “astaghfirullah,” the Rawhaniyyat an-Nabi (s) is there for sure. We don't see it because we are veiled because of our bad `amal, but more and more istighfaar takes all those veils away for us to reach the Reality of the Divine Presence. Awliyaullah say there are 70,000 veils of darkness between us and the Presence of the Prophet (s).
Grandshaykh (q) gave the example of beads: as each bead is one veil and there are 70,000. In other turuq, you begin to take away veil after veil by practicing your awraad and what the shaykh teaches you, until it becomes lighter and lighter and you begin to see. The first and thickest veil is hijab al-awaam, the common veil. Those entering Islam or Tariqah begin by first taking away the common veil and then remaining veils one after the other. As a result, they begin to see some light and dreams, and feel ecstasy and contentment of the maa`arij they experience.
Grandshaykh (q) said there are another kind of Awliyaullah who do not take the common veil away, instead, they take the veils from the back. You do not see anything, because the common veil is the thickest. So they begin with the lightest veils, you don't reach anything because the thick veil is blocking that light. Some Awliya take from the beginning, but the latter set of Awliyaullah are at a higher level. They take from back and keep you reaching and seeking to keep telling you that you are nothing. That is why istighfaar after istighfaar after istighfaar takes you to see if you are in Hellfire or Paradise, and that is why Rabi`a al-`Adawiyya (q) said, “I don't care where Allah (swt) puts me.”
So according to that, Awliyaullah have their own teachings for their followers that differ from Wali to Wali. That Wali of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain wanted to show how to behave with the shaykh of the Tariqah.
Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) was always saying “Sadaqta yaa Rasoolullah.” Sayyidina `Umar (r) was, we don't say objecting, but sacrificing his reputation to raise that of Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r). Each khalifah was always trying to raise the respect of the other khulafah. Sayyidina `Umar (r) said, “Look what you’re Sahib is saying.” When we reach the station of saying “Sadaqa Mawlana bi `ilmihi wa qawlihi,” not to question them. Today professors teach students to question the teacher. That is not the station of the taalib, you must not question. If you are not happy, don't take the post.
In 1996, I invited a shaykh from al-Azhar University in California. Two `ulama from the reciters of Holy Qur’an and one doctor, Dr. `Ali Zaki (may Allah bless him, he is good person) were also present. Dr. Zaki invited the `ulama from al-Azhar to a dinner. You may be familiar with the group that is known for often saying,“That is bid`a!” regarding so many Islamic practices, and that was the kind of questions those `ulama began to face. They gave answers from Holy Qur’an and Hadith, but those questioning still wanted to put them down. Then Shaykh al-Buhayri, one of the `ulama and among best Qur’an reciters in Egypt, said in front of the `ulama ikhras yaa waladee, “Shut up, boy! We are shaykhs of al-Azhar: what we say is the truth! They don't certify us if we don't know. Go to the restroom and ask your question! Throw him out!” Afterwards, those opposers kept quiet all evening.
The Sahaabah (r) of the Prophet (s) show us how to act. The Prophet (s) said:
أصحابي كالنجوم بأيهم اقتديتم اهتديتم
My Companions are like stars (on a dark night); whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.
(`Abd ibn Humayd, ad-Daraqutnee, ibn `Adiyy, ibn `Abd al-Barr, with unsound chains but the meaning is sound.)
Allah (swt) gave us a choice to follow any Sahaabi and you will be saved, which is why Awliyaullah are the same number of Ashaab an-Nabi (s): 124,000 Awliya at the feet of 124,000 Sahaabah (r). Every Wali is on the footstep of a Sahaabi (r), so where they take you depends on the level of the Wali. You can be on the beach, sailing in the ocean or diving. Wherever you put your feet there is one waiting for you, so find them and don't doubt, as doubt comes from Shaytan.
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱجۡتَنِبُواْ كَثِيرً۬ا مِّنَ ٱلظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعۡضَ ٱلظَّنِّ إِثۡمٌ۬ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُواْ وَلَا يَغۡتَب بَّعۡضُكُم بَعۡضًاۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُڪُمۡ أَن يَأۡڪُلَ لَحۡمَ أَخِيهِ مَيۡتً۬ا فَكَرِهۡتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ
O you who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible) for suspicion in some cases is a sin, and spy not on each other, nor speak ill of each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would abhor it! And be conscious of Allah. Verily, Allah is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace! (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:12)
We fall into doubt and spy on each other, then make gheebah (backbiting) and nameemah (slander). All these big sins are in that ayah, but at the end, Allah is Tawaabun Raheem, Forgiving and Merciful. The verse begins with Yaa ayyuha ’Llladheena aamanoo, imaan is higher than Islam.
قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ
The Arabs declare, “We believe (amanna).” Say (to them, O Muhammad), “You do not; rather say, ‘We submit (aslamna),’ because belief has not yet found its way into your hearts.” (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:14)
When imaan enters your heart, then you will be in a different position. We are still at the beginning, although we are old in age we are still struggling to enter imaan, which is not that easy: it is Tawheed and `aqeedah. Islam is the Five Pillars, but imaan is higher. If you do not respect imaan, you are on the fringe of kufr. Tawheed comes from imaan bi ‘l-ghayb, faith in the Unseen. When you perfect your imaan and your Five Pillars of Islam, you reach the level of Imaan and then the level of Ihsaan. So begin with Islam, don't say you have reached imaan. You perform your daily prayers, fast and make Hajj and yet still do maasiya, but when you enter imaan there is no maasiya. The Prophet (s) prepared his Sahaabah (r) to immediately enter imaan, they skipped. Yes, they fulfilled the Five Pillars: Shahadah, wa iqaamu ’s-salaat, wa itaau 'z -zakaat wa siyaamu ramadan wa hajj al-bayt.
The Prophet (s) protected the Sahaabah (r) from falling into maasiya, sins, as they are mahfoozhoon, protected. So doubt is the most dangerous problem we face: we even doubt ourselves. Shaytan comes as soon as we say “Allahu Akbar” to enter the prayer. When we sit idle, nothing comes--when watching TV, listening to the radio, sitting in a lecture room--but as soon as we sit in dhikr, Shaytan whispers. It is the same with prayers: when you begin your prayers by saying “Allahu Akbar,” immediately a distraction comes because when you pray you are between the Hands of Allah and Shaytan wants to destroy it.
Avoid too much bad, suspicious thoughts because, i’jtaniboo katheeran mina ‘l-dhdhanni inna ba`da ‘dh-dhann, they are not real, but fabricated by Shaytan. So that is why when the mureed was in sajda, the shaykh wanted to correct him and showed the shaykh’s name written in Hellfire. That was to show him his arrogance and pride, which we see by him wanting to move the shaykh from Hellfire to Paradise! He began to think he is better than his shaykh, with more knowledged or spiritual power. That is what we think about our shuyookh. “Had he done it this way, it would have been better than that way.” How do you know? Don’t question! The problem today is they teach you to question, you cannot have a PhD without it. They want to make your teacher completely naked and you interrogate and corner him until he gets fed up and gives you a zero. They taught you how to do that. They made him a professor because he knows how to make his professor naked (expose his flawed knowledge)!
In university, I studied Shakespeare and others. They give you an A+ when you criticize the great thinkers, so don't criticize Sayyidina Muhyiddin ibn `Arabi (q)! This movement is the same, it wants to put people down. Leave people to their beliefs, don't try to impose something on them as people in West are fragile.
يوشك أن يأتي على الناس زمان لا يبقى من الإسلام إلا اسمه ولا يبقى من القرآن إلا رسمه ، مساجدهم عامرة وهي خراب من الهدى ، علماؤهم شر من تحت أديم السماء ، من عندهم تخرج الفتنة ، وفيهم تعود
There will come a time upon a people when nothing remains from Islam except its name, nothing from the Qur’an except the form of its letters, mosques will be built but are empty of guidance, their scholars will be the worst people beneath the sky, and chaos will emerge from them and return to them. (Bayhaqi)
There will be nothing left of Islam but its name and nothing left of Holy Qur'an but its calligraphy. Even in the Middle East, the non-Muslim Maronites and Christians say, “Allahu Akbar,” they have the same Bible and same religion as in the West, but here if you say “Allahu Akbar” it is wrong. We say it when we are struggling against our nafs, meaning. “Yaa Rabb, I am seeking refuge in You.” Today people don't understand as we are in the time about which Prophet (s) said there will not remain anything from Islam and Holy Qur’an. Today that’s what is left, how to write verses of Holy Qur’an beautifully in different ways and so on.
May Allah (swt) guide you. Have no doubts in your heart about Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s), because Shaytan comes to everyone--the young, the adult and the elderly--and puts doubts in their hearts. That is why some shuyookh say, “Don't study, just pray, fast and learn the basics of Islam.” When you begin to go higher and higher and ask questions, you will make mistakes. When they take away the common veil, you begin to see and you don’t go higher, but when they take veils from the back, you struggle and struggle without seeing progress until your last breath, when that last veil is lifted! May Allah take the common veil from all of us and from all humanity. You see the hikmah behind you coming here: you opened that subject and that is hikmah that he came and told me there are guests here. I asked, “Who are they? I am tired,” but when I came I became powerful, and that opened this discussion. May Allah make it a fruitful discussion and remove the problems within families and any obstacles in their provision.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
We began with the story of Shaykh Isma`eel al-Mojaddidi and his father Shaykh Ibrahim, Shaykh al-Mashaa’ikh of the King of Afghanistan when the Russians came, and how that son was saved by putting him in the tandoor, a big oven because they did not take the women. No one knows the whereabouts of Shaykh al-Mashaa’ikh. I don't know if you know that story.
Then we came to the story of Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q) and then to the shaykh of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain whose mureed took him out of Hellfire. Then we came to Sadaqta yaa Rasoolullah, and then to not having doubts in what is happening in the Middle East. What the Prophet (s) predicted, must happen.
These are the Signs of the Last Days; who is correct or not and who wins or loses is something else. The Prophet (s) said there will be a war in Baghdad and Basra and mentioned a fire will come forth from Najd whose heat will be so intense, it will reach the camels of Basra. This does not say who will win or lose, but mentions the events. Then the Hadith mentions Bani al-Asfar will come down through Turkey and fight the Muslims, whether Muslims are right or not in their `aqeeda is not mentioned.
اعْدُدْ سِتًّا بَيْنَ يَدَىِ السَّاعَةِ، مَوْتِي، ثُمَّ فَتْحُ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ، ثُمَّ مُوتَانٌ يَأْخُذُ فِيكُمْ كَقُعَاصِ الْغَنَمِ، ثُمَّ اسْتِفَاضَةُ الْمَالِ حَتَّى يُعْطَى الرّجُلُ مِائَةَ دِينَارٍ فَيَظَلُّ سَاخِطًا، ثُمَّ فِتْنَةٌ لاَ يَبْقَى بَيْتٌ مِنَ الْعَرَبِ إِلاَّ دَخَلَتْهُ، ثُمَّ هُدْنَةٌ تَكُونُ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَ بَنِي الأَصْفَرِ فَيَغْدِرُونَ، فَيَأْتُونَكُمْ تَحْتَ ثَمَانِينَ غَايَةً، تَحْتَ كُلِّ غَايَةٍ اثْنَا عَشَرَ أَلْفًا
Count six signs that indicate the approach of the Hour: my death; the conquest of Jerusalem; a plague that will afflict you (and kill you in great numbers) as the plague that afflicts sheep; the increase of wealth to such an extent that even if one is given one-hundred dinars he will not be satisfied; then an affliction which no Arab house will escape; and then a truce between you and Bani al-Asfar who will betray you and attack you under eighty flags and under each flag will be twelve-thousand soldiers. (Narrated `Auf bin Malik; Bukhari)
So that war is coming. Don't make sins, don't make bloodshed, keep peace within yourself and in your family. That is why he said, “There will be fitan like big chunks of dark nights.”
عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى الْأَشْعَرِيِّ ، قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : " إِنَّ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ السَّاعَةِ فِتَنًا كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ يُصْبِحُ الرَّجُلُ فِيهَا مُؤْمِنًا وَيُمْسِي كَافِرًا ، وَيُمْسِي مُؤْمِنًا وَيُصْبِحُ كَافِرًا ، الْقَاعِدُ فِيهَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْقَائِمِ ، وَالْمَاشِي فِيهَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ السَّاعِي ، فَكَسِّرُوا قِسِيَّكُمْ وَقَطِّعُوا أَوْتَارَكُمْ وَاضْرِبُوا سُيُوفَكُمْ بِالْحِجَارَةِ ، فَإِنْ دُخِلَ يَعْنِي عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْكُمْ فَلْيَكُنْ كَخَيْرِ ابْنَيْ آدَمَ " .
Before the Hour comes, there will be a tribulation like patches of dark night. A man will get up a Believer and go to sleep an unbeliever, or will go to sleep a Believer and wake up an unbeliever. The one who sits at that time will be better than one who stands and the one standing will be better than the one walking and the one walking will be better than one running. Break your bows, cut their strings and strike your swords against stones. If someone comes to kill any of you, then be like the better of the two sons of Adam. (Narrated Abu Musa al-Ash`aree, Abu Dawud, ibn Majah.)
May Allah protect us, this country, and every country around the world, good people and bad. Allah knows them and He judges them, we don't judge.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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