`Isha Suhbah after Dhikr
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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.
فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيم ِإِنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَهُ سُلْطَانٌ عَلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
Fa idhaa qaraat al-Qur’an fasta`idh billahi min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem. Innahu laysa lahu sultaanun `alaa alladheena amanoo wa `alaa rabbihim yatawakkaloon.
Now whenever you read this Qur’an, seek refuge with Allah from Shaytan, the Accursed. Behold, he has no power over those who have attained faith and who in their Sustainer place their trust.
(Surat an-Nahl, 16:98-9)
Allah (swt) said that, “Seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan when you recite the Qur’an.” What is the meaning? Wa saral ma’a wa `adal ma’ee, wa `adal jahdee wal ma’ee. So what you said, what is the meaing? Fa idhaa qaraat al-Qur’an, when you are reading the Holy Qur'an, for sure without reading it Shaytan is on you, but when you are reading, Shaytan wants to try to stop you from reading because reading Holy Qur'an is like water on fire, how water destroys fire, and Shaytan is fire:
قَالَ أَنَاْ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ
Khalaqtanee man naar wa khalaqtahu min teen.
I am better than him as You created me from fire and You created him from mud!
(Surat al-`Araaf, 7:12)
So Shaytan, as Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an, is from fire. So when you are opening to read the Holy Qur’an, it means you are entering the ocean that has no bottom, has no end, so you are dipping yourself in that ocean of bahr. In summer when it is very hot, what do you do? You go swimming, you jump in the ocean. So also when you open to read Holy Qur'an, Allah will open oceans for you and only Allah knows what He will open for you! So when you enter in that ocean Shaytan tries to pull you out, because as soon as you begin to read Shaytan is running away. So Allah said, “O Muslims! When you are coming to read Qur’an (seek refuge from Shaytan).”
Then you are not pure yet; even when you make wudu between the time you make wudu and pray two raka`ats, Shaytan might come so many times in that small period! How many khawaatir soow, bad thoughts, come between the time you make wudu and the time you pray? And we don't know, but we ask Allah’s forgiveness and support these days, for how the wudu is accepted as all the water is in the toilets (bathroom). Where are you making wudu? How do you make wudu and you are in toilets? SubhaanAllah, they tricked us in everything. In some countries you find the water separate from the toilet area. So from the moment you are taking wudu in the toilet to the moment you got to pray two raka`ats, to the moment you take Holy Qur'an to read, Shaytan has interfered in your life many times. So what did Allah say? “When you want to read Holy Qur'an, seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan,” because when you seek refuge then Shaytan will run away.
O Believers! We are ordered to read Holy Qur'an in order to keep Shaytan away from us. And if you don't Know how to read Holy Qur'an, then read three times Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad (Surat al-Ikhlaas), as the Prophet (s) said, “Whoever wants to be as if he read the entire Holy Qur'an, recite Ikhlaas three times,” because there must be many heavy secrets in it.
يا قوم أضنوا شياطينكم بالإخلاص في قول لا إله إلا الله
Yaa qawm, adnoo shayaatenakum bi ’l-ikhlasi fee qawl laa ilaaha illa-Llah.
O people! Make your shaytans get tired and exhausted by saying with sincerity,“Laa ilaaha illa-Llah”.
How to get Shaytan tired? By saying, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah.” It means, “We worship Allah (swt), we don't worship anyone else!” So Shaytan doesn’t like that; Shaytan doesn't like for anyone to say,“Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” he wants to take everyone on his side, because “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” means, “O My servant! You are saying ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,’ but you are still doing sins. What is that?” Saying, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah mutayyiba li ‘l-quloob, mufarriha li ‘s-sudoor, tashrahu ‘l-qalb,” will expand the heart, expand the chest and make the heart happy.
In Holy Qur'an, the heart has been mentioned 148 times; Allah is stressing on the heart. And He says, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan rasoolullah is the light of the heart. If you bring a candle, you need a match to put the candle on. Laa ilaaha illa-Llah is the candle or is the light of the heart, so don't cover it with darkness because no one can put it down: the Light is the Light. Allah's Light is never dark; Allah's Light is always light. No one can put Allah’s Light down or extinguish, yutdfee Allah's Light, no way.
So Sayyidina `Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) is saying, adnoo Shayaateenikum bi qawli laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadu Rasoolullah, “Make your Shaytans to be tired by repeating, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadu rasoolullah.” Even if you say it one time, then Shaytan will run away all the day from you, but if you forget, what can we do?
اضنوا شياطينكم بقول لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله فان الشيطان يضني بها كما يضني أحدكم بعيره بكثرة ركوبة وشيل أحماله عليه
Adnoo shayaatenakum bi-qawl laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah. Fa inna ash-shaytaana yudnaa bihaa kamaa yudnaa ahadukum ba`eerihi bi kathrathi ’l-ruqoobata wa shayli ‘l-ahmaalihi `alayh.
The Prophet (s) said: Make your Shaytans get tired and exhausted by saying,“Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammad Rasoolullah” for verily Shaytan gets exhausted just as one’s camel gets exhausted by excessive riding and overloading it.
Like how in previous times your animal, such as a camel, carried your loads and moved in the desert, if you put on him too much load he gets tired, exhausted and the camel can cross the desert without water, because when he drinks water he saves the water in his stomach for three months, but although it doesn't need water still it gets tired. So don't be tired from saying “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” but make Shaytan to be tired from hearing it from you as it is the most difficult Beautiful Name of Allah that makes Shaytan tire, and then he will say, “No need to chase him anymore as he is out of our hands.”
I will tell you a story. Grandshaykh (q) was ordered to do khalwat in Madinat al-Munawarrah, seclusion for one year full year and so one week before khalwat, he opened the room and fixed it up. What is the first thing we do to fix a room? We open the windows because you want to see the light; you open the windows to see if it is dirty or clean. So as soon as he entered he didn't open the windows, he brought wood and nailed it over the windows in order that no light would come in as he didn’t want anything to do with the outside world. For one year the window was closed in Madinat al-Munawarrah. He said his prayers near the Haram ash-Shareef, he could see the Haram and only left the room to change wudu as outside there was a wudu area, and he prayed in the room. His food was seven olives and one piece of bread.
He gave permission for Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) to do seclusion with him in the same room and he could go out for the five prayers. (During that seclusion) Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah grant him long life, rarely saw Grandshaykh sleeping; he spent 24 hours in `ibaadah. Mawlana said whenever Grandshaykh made du`a, he used to feel the room moving and he said more than that which I cannot say, but I will say a little bit. He said whenever Grandshaykh made du`a, the universe shook from it, and the du`a he made today he doesn't make tomorrow; it was a different du`a, not written, it was spontaneous du`a that comes to his heart.
For one year, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) stayed in the same room with Grandshaykh. He said just before the last `Asr prayer of the seclusion they heard moaning, crying, and a voice outside the room, saying, “We have nothing to do with these two people, they are out of our hands!”Grandshaykh (q) said that was Iblees was telling his army, the shayaateen, “Leave them alone, they are out of our hands and we cannot bring them to us.” That means Shaytan never loses hope of bringing someone towards him! There are many ways (to do that), too many. First is a husband and wife fighting, is it not? For any reason they shout at each other. Then children fight with with children, brothers with sisters, parents with each other. Shaytan knows wherever he can tackle the problem, so Allah (swt) said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اسْتَعِينُواْ بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلاَةِ إِنَّ اللّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ
Yaa ayyuha ‘Lladheena aamanoo ista`eenoo bi ‘s-sabri wa ‘s-salaati inna-Llaaha ma`a‘s-saabireen.
O you who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance and prayer, for Allah is with those who patiently persevere. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:153)
It means if you be patient, Allah will open for you a way to drop the fight, but be patient, don't get angry quickly. Today people get angry immediately; they don't like anything so they get angry.
So Sayyidina 'Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) is saying as someone will make a camel tired with the load, by saying “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah” even one time a day, you make your Shaytan tired by making him not to run after you. Everyone has a Shaytan assigned to him, how do you know? The Prophet (s) mentioned that in the hadith that, “There is a place in heart where Shaytan can go in and come out, and the only one able to ride on his Shaytan is me,” meaning the Prophet (s). It means we are under the hegemony of our Shaytan and so what do we need to say? “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammad rasoolullah.”
مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاء عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاء بَيْنَهُمْْ
Muhammadun Rasoolullah walladheena ma`ahu ashidaau `ala al-kufaari ruhamaau baynahum.
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and those with the Prophet (s) are tough on unbelievers (and on Shaytan, and those with Shaytan), (but) compassionate amongst each other. (Surat al-Fath, 48:29)
Who is with the Prophet (s)? The one who says “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” must say “Muhammad rasoolullah,” and those with the Prophet (s) are with Allah. Why? As Allah (swt) said:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَمَن نَّكَثَ فَإِنَّمَا يَنكُثُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِمَا عَاهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللَّهَ فَسَيُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
Inna alladheena yuba`yoonaka innamaa yuba`yoon Allah, yadullaahi fawqa aydeehim, faman nakatha fa-innama yankuthu `alaa nafsihi wa man awfaa bimaa `ahad `alayhullaaha fa-sayu’teehi ajran `azheema.
Verily, those who swear allegiance to you (Muhammad) swear allegiance only to Allah. The Hand of Allah is above their hands, so whoever breaks his oath does so only to his soul's injury, while whoever keeps his covenant with Allah, on him will He bestow immense reward. (Surat al-Fath, 48:10)
So anyone who makes bay`a, it is to the Prophet (s) and that is to Allah. It means comes to the door of the Prophet (s) and say, “Yaa Rasoolullah, I am coming in your presence to do bay`a with you,” and immediately your bay`a, your connection to the Prophet (s) will appear in you in the Divine Presence. So today, just as the Sahaabah (r) did bay`a to the Prophet (s), also we have to make bay`a, we have to follow the way of Sahaabah (r) and we need someone to witness our bay`a, someone good to take us to the presence of the Prophet (s). If you cannot find them, then from here-- or from your home or from the presence of Prophet (s) in the Rawda ash-Shareef, or in front al-Muwajaha ash-Shareef looking at the grill behind is the Prophet (s)--and reciting the ayah, “Inna alladheena yuba`yoonaka... (above),” reciting that verse and saying, “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah! We are coming to your presence and renewing our bay`a!” Then immediately that reaches the Divine Presence and it reaches the presence of the Prophet (s) and reaches the Presence of Allah (swt)! If you reach someone who is pure and sincere, if you know he is wali, you may make bay`a with him and that will reach to the Prophet (s) and from Prophet (s) to Allah (swt).
So Sayyidina `Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) said, “O people! Try to make your shaytans tired;” he said “shayaateenikum,” which means “your Shaytan, our Shaytan.” Bil ikhlasi qawli laa ilaaha illa-Llah, “from the sincerity of saying ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,’” not because you memorized it, but with pure sincerity you must say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” and end with “Muhammad rasoolullah.”
And in the presence of Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q), always I mention Grandshaykh because at that time I was young and he used to tell us what you need to say. He said, “When you make dhikr, cover yourself with a sheet and be in a room where you are alone.” Why cover yourself with a sheet? In order to know that is your limitation, that is the amount of space you take up in this life and there is no more than that although you run, you run, and end up in a grave with a maximum of nine feet or six feet. So when you cover yourself and say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” you have to feel that from your belly up, negating that there is no other Creator, saying towards your right side going to your left side, over the heart, to make sure your heart says “Allah.” So first (recite to your) right, “Laa ilaaha” and then left, “illa-Llah.” So when you always do that by yourself, you begin to see your heart reciting that by itself and then as soon as you bring the sheet, Shaytan runs away from you. There is no way for Shaytan, even before you say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” because he knows that is the way, running away from you so as not to see what is going on to him!
And Grandshaykh (q) said, (that is) laa bi mujarradi ‘l-nafas, not just by tongue, but bi ‘t-tawheed, this is word of tawheed, saying to Allah (swt), “Yaa Rabbee! You are One! You are our Creator, we are your servants!” So when you say that, that is what puts Shaytan on fire, yahruku ‘sh-Shaytan, and that burns Shaytan. By saying “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” it means you are expressing to yourself, to your ego, to your desire, that there is no Creator but Allah, and you are accepting that with sincerity, not without sincerity or it doesn't mean anything.
You go to doctors to check yourself and there are doctors only who want to take the money and they don’t care and there are doctors that are really sincere, with sincerity they do their work. They want their patients to feel happy, not doing it for money. Of course you are going to be paid, you have expenses, but they do their work with love and with sincerity to feel that the patient is being cured. So what the patient is going to say? “May Allah bless you, O doctor, because you did your best!” Is it not? So Allah (swt) wants us to say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” with sincerity and purity, that, “Yaa Rabbee! You are the Creator, we are the servants.”
It means “servant;” you are nothing, “servant” you are nothing, they can sell you in the market. They cannot sell you? Anyone can be sold, they are selling us. When they take taxes from you, what they are doing? They are selling you. “Go work for us and give us 50% of your income.” They are teaching people to be clever, I don’t want to say the other word that begins with “c” and “r,” crook. To be clever in order not to pay taxes. They are making you to cheat. Why are all these accountants, for what? To save you money, to cheat. So but when you say what Allah wants you to say with sincerity, with humility that to show Him that “Yaa Rabbee, we are accepting what you have ordered us to do.” I will not be too long, we will stop here. But I will say he is says, “Saying ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah’ noorun bil mawahideen.” Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,as we said before, is the Light for those who accept Allah’s Oneness, but Sayyidina 'Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) is reminding us, “Be careful of how many gods are in your heart.” He is asking the question, which we will continue next time, “How many gods, idols in your heart?”
Everything you think about takes you always to something wrong, even when you say, “Allahu Akbar,” you don’t know how many prayers you are praying. Why? Because Shaytan comes and takes you on a journey, saying, “Come, I have a nice journey for you today! We are going to plan all your 24 hours today. I am going to give you a nice plan to make sure that you do this, you do that, you will be successful.” As soon as you say, “As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaah, as-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaah (in salaat),” he disappears! Why in the prayer you are coming giving me a plan? For the year 2020, he takes you all the way and soon as you say, “As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaah,” what will happen? He is gone! Now why you left me alone? He is cheating us! So we have to be careful, O Muslims, not to be cheated by Shaytan. We have to say: Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah, `alayha nahyaa wa `alayhaa namoota wa `alayhaa nalqallah insha-Allah, aamantu billahi wa malaa’ikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wa bi ‘l-yawmi ‘l-aakhir wa bi ‘l-qadri khayrihi wa sharrihi min Allahi ta`ala wa bi’l-ba`tha ba`d al-mawti haqq, “There is no God except Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah, upon it we are made alive, upon it we die, and upon it we shall meet Allah, by His will. I believe in Allah and in His Angels and in His Prophets and in His Books and in the Last Day and in Destiny, its good and its bad being from Allah.”
If you say this, you will be saved. If you don’t want to say this, it is up to you.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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