Suhbah at Jamia Masjid Sultania
Introduction by Ali Elsayed
Alhamdulillahi wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa Sayyidina Rasoolullah (s).
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
To introduce someone like Mawlana Shaykh Hisham is really unfair to the one who is introducing because no matter what I say about my shaykh it will only be a drop in an ocean! I will try to give a short description, inshaa-Allah.
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani is a descendant of Saylegsyidina al-Hasan (r) and Sayyidina al-Husayn (r) [Hasani wa Husayni] and a family of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah scholars. At the age of 11 or 12, he became a student of Mawlana Shaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani (q). At the age of 25 or 26, when Grandshaykh `AbdAllah left this dunya, he wrote Shaykh Hisham’s name in his will [making Shaykh Hisham a spiritual heir]. A copy of that will is in Grandshaykh’s holy grave and it says, “I left this dunya and I am happy with three.” One of them is Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and the other two are Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani and his brother, Mawlana Shaykh Adnan Kabbani. So it means that when he was only 26 years old, one of the great saints of Allah (swt) said, “I am testifying and certifying by the permission of the Prophet (s) that he is a holy one.”
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham spent his entire life, over 60 years, in the service of Grandshaykh and his shaykh, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. He is married to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s daughter and they have four children.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim said many things about him. He told him his wilaya titles and one of them is “Madad al-Haqq.” He even declared his Qutbiyya on the Internet, that he is a Qutb. Of all the work Mawlana did, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim singled out one thing: he once said, “If the work Mawlana Shaykh Hisham did to defend Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah at a time when the Wahhabis were at their utmost power, before 9/11, Shaykh Hisham was almost standing alone in the United States, on the Internet, through books, at his own personal expense, exposing the Wahhabi doctrine and fighting to spread the love of Prophet (s) and Mawlid al-Nabi all over the world! If Shaykh Hisham didn’t do anything else except that service, it is enough for him of honor from Prophet (s).” I can go on and on endlessly, but I think you want to hear Mawlana Shaykh Hisham speak.
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi ta`ala wa barakaatuh.
Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.
O our Prophet (s)! We are calling upon you from this masjid up north in England and we are asking you to look at us! You are al-Kareem, you are al-Habeeb, dress us from the Rahmah that Allah (swt) dressed you with!
What did Allah (swt) say in the Holy Qur’an?
فَأْوُوا إِلَى الْكَهْفِ يَنشُرْ لَكُمْ رَبُّكُم مِّن رَّحمته ويُهَيِّئْ لَكُم مِّنْ أَمْرِكُم مِّرْفَقًا
Take yourselves to the cave. Your Lord will shower His mercies on you and dispose of your affair towards comfort and ease. (Surat al-Kahf, 18:16)
Before I continue, I would like to say that it is an honor for me to be one of the first people who visited this place before it was built. Today I am seeing it a masjid that can hold at least five or six-thousand people inside, even the shoes area and the shelves for the shoes are done in marble. It shows love. We are people of love. There is nothing in Islam except love! Allah (swt) brought us to be in His Month, which means everything we do cannot be recorded without His permission to the angels. The rest He gave to the Prophet (s) and to the Ummah, but Rajab is for Him.
In this month, Allah will reward with rewards that no one can imagine, but koonu `ibaadAllahi ikhwaanan, but [it means] to be the servants of Allah, to be brothers and sisters, not to fight and not to argue as Allah doesn’t like arguments, and we must not hate each other or speak against each other or make rumors or doubts!
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
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! (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:12)
Don’t doubt each other because most doubts are not true, like doubting awliyaullah. From this podium we are carrying those who know themselves. Those who come against awliyaullah are not going to be happy in their Akhirah! May Allah be pleased with those who defend awliyaullah, like the ex-mufti of Egypt, Dr. Ali Gomaa, who defended Mawlana yesterday in many cases in the Far East because Wahhabis don’t like Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah, whatever you do. Yes, they are Muslim. Will Allah forgive them? Inshaa-Allah yes, and forgive us. Will Allah guide them? Inshaa-Allah yes, and guide us, but what they are doing is showing the opposite. We have to be careful. Islam is built on love. What did the Prophet (s) say?
لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى أكون أحب إليه من والده وولده والناس أجمعين
None of you believe until I am more beloved to him than his children and his parents and all other people. (Bukhari)
Don’t ever think that you are a mu’min if you don’t do what the Prophet (s) said in this Hadith! You say you are Muslim, yes, but:
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)
Don’t say, “We are mu’mins,” say, “We are Muslims,” until imaan comes into your heart. So what is required from us? As the Prophet (s) said in this Hadith, you cannot be considered mu’min until you love the Prophet (s) more than your father, more than your children, more than anyone on Earth, as narrated by Imam Bukhari. This means that to love the Prophet (s), all these are included. Prophet (s) wants the Ummah to be loved and to love him. When he mentioned the father, the brother, the people, it is to awaken yo, to know, “You must love me the most!” When he told Sayyidina `Umar, Sayyidina `Uthmaan, Sayyidinaa `Ali and the Khulaafah and the Sahaabah to help, Sayyidina Abu Bakr brought everything he owns and gave it to the Prophet (s), and Sayyidinaa `Umar brought half of what he owned and gave it to the Prophet (s).
Prophet (s) asked, “Yaa Abu Bakr, what did you leave for your family?”
He said, “I left you and Allah (swt).”
Prophet (s) said, “Yaa `Umar, what did you leave for your family?”
He said, “I left half and I took half.”
Prophet (s) said, “Your imaan is half the imaan of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.”
Even though the Prophet (s) also said, “If there were a prophet after me, it would have been `Umar.” So then what do you think about the imaan of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq?
O Muslims! Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qu’ran, “Run and sleep in the cave.” Which cave? We read the ayah in Surat al-Kahf, “Betake yourselves to the cave. Your Lord will shower His mercies on you and dispose of your affair towards comfort and ease.” (18:16)
Run to the cave, the shelter, as anyone who runs to a shelter will be guided and the tools of Shaytan will not be in his hand. When he is running to the shelter, Allah will shelter, protect and guide him; however, to run to a cave to be guided is not an easy guidance. One day, Sayyidina Musa (a) was moving through a desert and heard a very nice voice coming from a cave. As he approached the voice was clearer and clearer, nicer and more beautiful, a very nice sound, not like sounds of munshideen these days; it was a heavenly, angelic voice. That person was in sajda when Sayyidina Musa (a) approached the cave. What was he saying? He was reciting something, and he was sheltered by Allah (swt) in that cave, because He mentioned:
وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ
And for men and women who engage much in Allah's praise. (Surat al-Ahzab, 33:35)
“Men or women remembering Allah (swt).” He was remembering Allah (swt). What was he saying? He was saying something nice, subhaan alladhee faddalanee `alaa katheerin min man khalaqa tafdeelan. “Praise be to Allah that He favored me over many that He favored.” This means, “Thank you, yaa Rabbee, that You have favored me, guided me to imaan, guided me to the Zaboor of Sayyidina Dawood (a).” In that time they lived long lives. Allah opened his eyes to see the future. Awliyaullah can see with the power of Prophet (s).
So he was saying, “Allah favored me over so many,” and Sayyidina Musa (a) looked at him and approached and saw him in sajda, and when he came out of sajda he saw he has no arms, no limbs, only a torso and head, and yet he was saying, “Praise be to Allah for favoring me more than anyone.”
Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “Yaa akhee, do you believe in me?”
He said, “I believe in you Musa, I know you.”
Musa didn’t know him.
He said, “What did he favor you with? You have no legs, you have no arms.”
He said, “Yaa Musa, this is not the favor I want, I don’t need arms or legs.”
Then at that moment a female deer came and raised her leg and he suckled the milk from her. That was his food every 24 hours: Allah brought him something to give him energy and he was praising Allah (swt).
And he said, “Yaa Musa, do you know why I am favored? Because Allah made me Muslim.”
That was from the time of Sayyidina Musa (a); Allah made him Muslim and he knew he was Muslim. We are Muslim and Allah honored us with Islam, but we want to go one step more to the level of Imaan, then to Ihsaan. We are Muslim, yes, and that’s why we go back to the ayah, “Betake yourselves to the cave. Your Lord will shower His mercies on you and dispose of your affair towards comfort and ease.” Run to the cave, you will be guided. Why will you be guided? Because Allah is going to give you yanshur lakum rabbukum min rahmaatihi wa yuhayyi lakum min amrikum mirfaqa, He is going to dress you strongly from His Mercy, and who is the Mercy? It means He is going to dress you from Prophet’s mercy and:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
(O Muhammad!) We have sent you not except as a Mercy for all the Worlds. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:107)
He is al-Rahmat ‘l-Muhtaab, the rahmah that has been given as a gift to the Ummah.
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ
You were the best of Nations evolved for Mankind. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:110)
You were the best Ummah that has been sent to humanity, because of what? Not because of me or you, but because of our love to Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! What did the Prophet (s) say in another Hadith?
لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى أكون أحب إليه من أهله وماله والناس أجمعين
None of you (truly) believe until I am more beloved to him than his family and his wealth and all other people. (Muslim)
He mentioned here ‘ahlihi’ his family, relatives, while in the Hadith before he did not mention that. It means, “Be good, all your ancestors will be forgiven; when you love Sayyidinaa Muhammad (s) your family will be taken care of.” If you want to take care of your family, make salawat on Prophet. If you don’t care, then it is something different. “Betake yourselves to the cave. Your Lord will shower His mercies on you and dispose of your affair towards comfort and ease.”
I heard the imam reciting “Alif. Laam. Meem.” but I didn’t understand what he said. Where was the imam? For reciting one letter of the Holy Qu’ran, as the imam said, you will get ten rewards from Allah (swt), but what is the significance of “Alif. Laam. Meem.”? I will summarize it; how long do we have until Maghrib? When Allah (swt) opens for the Ummah as he opened for the Sahaabah (r) of the Prophet (s), they become Light upon Light! We are weak servants and Allah will raise us when we love His Beloved One, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), as His `Abd. Allah revealed the Holy Qu’ran on Prophet (s)! Alif. Laam. Meem., the muqatta’at, in Arabic we call them ahruf, letters. We don’t know their meaning, but if Allah opens, He gives Awliyaullah meaning: Alif symbolizes and guides you towards Allah (swt), because it is the first letter of His Beautiful Name, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. Al-wujood al-mutlaq li ‘l-Llaahi ta`aalaa, the Alif is Allah’s Absolute Existence, no one else’s: we don’t exist, we are going to go, but Allah is the Creator. When He orders Israfeel to blow the trumpet, every living and non-living thing will melt, disappear; no one will be left, not even angels. Allah (swt) says:
لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ
Whose will be the Dominion that Day? That of Allah, The One, The Irresistible! (Surat al-Ghaafir, 40:16)
He answers Himself by Himself! Allah says by Himself, “To whom is the Kingdom today, O kings, O presidents, O ministers, O Muslims, O mu’mins, O unbelievers, all those who consider themselves something, shaykhs, awliyaullah, prophets?” There is no one on Earth anymore, He orders the Earth cleaned and says to Himself by Himself, lillahi ‘l-waahidi ‘l-qahhaar! Al-Mulk is for Allah (swt), The Destroyer, al-Qahhaar, The Overpowering: He is The One that has everything in His Hand!
That is Alif, only a little bit of the explanation. If you take the Alif from “Allah”, the word becomes “lillah”, owned by Allah (swt). The meaning changes completely, from The Absolute Existence, Allah, to lillah, which means “everything is for Him.” If you take that one Alif, you will be left with Lahu, “to Him”, and if you take that Laam, it will become Hu: Qul Huwa Llahu Ahad, “Say to them, yaa Muhammad, that there is no existence for anyone. Qul Huwa, say, ‘He is The Hidden, The Unknown One! Nno one can see Him, He is The Creator!’”
Laam represents Jibreel (a), because directly after the Beautiful Name of Allah (swt) the Laam comes, it is the word that faces the Divine Presence. Who faced the Divine Presence waiting for orders and for Revelation to be given to him, to send to all the prophets, messengers and Sayyidina Muhammad? It is Jibreel (a), so that Laam represents him. We are not going to go too much further.
Then we come to the last one, what is it? “Alif. Laam. Meem.” How many Meems are there? Two Meems, and between them is what? Yaa. In Arabic grammar, the Yaa is Alif, so between the two Meems there is an Alif, the first letter of the Name “Allah”: one Meem facing Jibreel, facing Allah (swt), and one Meem facing the Ummah. So this first Meem is focusing on the Divine Presence, the second Meem is what Prophet (s) took of Revelation from Jibreel (a) that no one knows except him and Allah (swt), Who revealed it to him. The Meem that comes facing the Ummah is a drop of an ocean; Prophet reduced it in order for people to take it, because if he expressed it people could not carry it, because it belongs to Prophet Muhammad (s). So there are these two Meems: one is facing Jibreel (a) and the Divine Presence, and the other is facing the Ummah. In-between them is an ocean of knowledge, `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ‘l-Akhireen, because the Yaa is Alif. The first Meem takes and the second Meem gives, because when they take they have to give, they don’t keep to themselves.
Awliyaullah know the relationship they have built with Prophet (s), and what they take they have to give. That’s why...who brought all these people here? It is from the love of Prophet (s). For sure, Awliyaullah, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah bless his soul, and Mawlana Shaykh `AbdAllah al-Daghestani, of course they build up the reality of the Tariqah as there are too many secrets in Tariqah, it is impossible to express them as people might not understand. So what he gave to speak, we speak, and what he stopped connecting, your speech becomes like soup with no meaning. You are not always plugged with them, but when you are plugged you can say what you need to say [you are supported].
أَنَّ رَجُلاً، مِنْ أَهْلِ الْبَادِيَةِ أَتَى النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَتَى السَّاعَةُ قَائِمَةٌ قَالَ " وَيْلَكَ وَمَا أَعْدَدْتَ لَهَا ". قَالَ مَا أَعْدَدْتُ لَهَا إِلاَّ أَنِّي أُحِبُّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ. قَالَ " إِنَّكَ مَعَ مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ ". .
A Bedouin came to the Prophet (s) and said, "O Allah's Messenger (s)! When will the Hour be established?" The Prophet (s) said, "What have you prepared for it?" The Bedouin said, "I have not prepared anything for it, except that I love Allah and His Apostle." The Prophet (s) said, "You will be with those whom you love!" (Narrated Anas Ibn Malik. Bukhari, Muslim)
A Bedouin came to Prophet and asked about the Signs of the Last Days: it is like us, we are an era of too many problems and killings, Signs of the Last Days. Prophet (s) asked him, “What have you prepared for the Last Days?” He said, “Love of you and love of Allah (swt).” Immediately Anas (r) said, “Yaa Rasoolullah! I also love you, and I love Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman, and `Ali, I love all of them, so show me who is left to love?”
So Islam is built on mahabbah, love, as Prophet (s) is teaching, not like today: we are fighting brothers and sisters, mother and husband, all the day people are fighting and people are running away, they don’t know where to go. But Islam is built on love! So he said, “I love them all. Although I don’t do what they do, they do better than me, but I wish to be with them.” The Prophet (s) said, “You are with them.” This was narrated by Muslim.
May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us. We are in a time of problems. The Prophet (s) said:
من عادا لي وليا فقد آذنته بالحرب
(Allah [swt] said) Whoever comes against My wali, I declare war on him.
(Hadith Qudsi; Bukhari, from Abu Hurayrah)
“Anyone who comes against My Awliya,” but why didn’t He say ‘mu’min’ or ‘Muslim’? What did He say? Anyone who comes against a Wali of Mine.” So does it mean there are Awliya or not? If you say yes, raise your hand. There are Awliya, but there is too much ignorance in the Ummah today and that’s why the Prophet (s) said knowledge will be lifted up.
حَدَّثَنَا الْمَكِّيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا حَنْظَلَةُ بْنُ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ، عَنْ سَالِمٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " يُقْبَضُ الْعِلْمُ، وَيَظْهَرُ الْجَهْلُ وَالْفِتَنُ، وَيَكْثُرُ الْهَرْجُ ". قِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا الْهَرْجُ فَقَالَ هَكَذَا بِيَدِهِ، فَحَرَّفَهَا، كَأَنَّهُ يُرِيدُ الْقَتْلَ.
The Prophet (s) said, "Knowledge will be taken away (by the death of religious scholars), ignorance (in religion) and afflictions will appear, and Harj will increase." It was asked, "What is Harj, O Allah's Messenger (s)?" He replied by beckoning with his hand, indicating "killing."
(Narrated Abu Hurayrah, Bukhari)
They asked if the Qur’an will be lifted up, he said no, but there will be no substitute to replace a Wali or a scholar when they die. So Allah said in a Hadith Qudsi, “If anyone comes against my Wali, I declare war on him.” On whom did He declare the worst war? On Iblees, He cursed him! Allah is saying “Anyone that comes against one Wali of Mine, I declare war on him!” which means, “I make him nothing: I crush him in his life, in his family, in his wealth, in everything when he declares war against My Wali!”
What if someone is not declaring war on a Wali, what will happen? You have to look at the other side. [If we believe] “Yaa Rabbee, yaa Rasoolullah, we are not going to declare war against any Wali,” Will we be rewarded or not? You didn’t declare war, and Allah (swt) said only for those who declare war. We are not declaring war, we are accepting as Mawlana has taught us, there are 124 thousand Walis, not only one or two, and there are different levels of Awliya and different Tariqahs and different Tasawwuf. So we don’t declare war on anyone, but if we did, Allah said, “I will declare war on him.” So don’t declare war against a Wali, and don’t declare war against love of the Prophet (s), which means don’t reject that!
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
(O Muhammad!) We have sent you not except as a Mercy for all the Worlds. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:107)
And don’t declare war on Allah (swt)! Allah ordered us to love Prophet (s), to love Ahlu 'l-Bayt, to love Awliyaullah, and for everyone to love each other, to be united in unity. Who likes to be a shaykh we follow, we are not losing anything. Anyone who wants to be a shaykh we will follow. I am saying this from the bottom of my heart. We have no resistance of any person that deserves this package, this chair; we will support them and be with them wherever they go. And we want to be with Prophet (s) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (qs) inshaa-Allah!
Wa min Allahi ‘t-tawfeeq, bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.
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