4 June 2011 Lefke, Cyprus
(Mawlana Shaykh stands) Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, laa ilaaha illa-Llah. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillahi 'l-hamd! Alfu salaat wa alfu salaam `aala Sayyidi 'l-Awwaleen wa ’l-Akhireen, Habeebi ‘r-Rabb al-`Alameen, Sayyid al-Bashar, Sayyid as-Saqalayn, Nabiyuna wa Sayyiduna Muhammad (s).
Zidhu yaa Rabbee `izzan wa sharafan nooran wa surooran, wa ridwaanan wa sultaanan. O Allah! Reveal his way (Shari`ah) in the east and in the west of the Earth. O Allah! Keep the oppressors away from us. O Allah! Send us a king who will keep us under the flag of Prophet (s).
Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmaani ‘r-Raheem. (Mawlana Shaykh sits) A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmaani ‘r-Raheem. The source of all good is the Master of Humanity, Sayyidina Rasoolullah (s)! He is the Source of Goodness and the source of all evil is Shaytan.
We have been honored by a gentleman from Kuwait, from the elite of people (a guest). SubhaanAllah. He has honored us, but he is in a hurry to return, and the right of a guest is three days. We Turks have a quote, “The guest is not a burden on his host and also the soul is not going to be in the physical body of man forever.” There is an appointed period of time in which the guest is not a burden and just like that, the soul is not in the body forever (as a burden). So if a guest comes to your home don’t feel burdened because Allah Almighty sends His provision forty days earlier before he arrives at the place of the host. Do you understand? Don’t feel annoyed.
Mashaa-Allah, here there are 300 or more guests everyday, three times a day they eat and drink! There is no burden on me, not at all. The guests come with more provisions. They are not taking my provisions and I am not responsible for their provisions. He, Allah Almighty, is responsible for provisions: He gives to His servants. Therefore, if this guest comes here he has a right to stay for a minimum of three days, and there is no limit for him to stay here!
May Allah teach us good manners. Allah Almighty taught His beloved good manners and Prophet (s) said:
ادبني ربي فأحسن تأديبي
adabanee rabbee fa ahsana taa'deebee.
Allah perfected my adab, discipline.
Adab is before knowledge. Iblees had knowledge but he didn’t have manners; he became arrogant because of his knowledge and disobeyed his Lord Almighty, Who is The Giver, The One Who gave Shaytan that knowledge. But Shaytan said, “I won’t prostrate.” He learned all kinds of knowledge but he was cursed and rejected. He didn’t learn that Allah Almighty should not be disobeyed! Not even one creature fell down. Iblees made a mistake because of his bad manners and he was rejected. On the other hand, Adam (a) disobeyed His Lord but he said:
قَالاَ رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
Qaala rabbana zalamna anfusana wa in lam taghfir lanaa wa tarhamnaa lanakoonannaa mina ‘l-khasireen.
They said, "Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls. If You don’t forgive us and don’t bestow Your mercy on us, we will certainly be lost!” (Surah al-`Araaf, 7:23)
But Iblees said to his Lord:
قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
Qaala fa bima aghwaytanee laa aq`udanna lahum sirataka ‘l-mustaqeem.
He said, "Because You threw me out of the Way, I will lie in wait for them on Your Straight Way!” (Surat al-`Araaf, 7:16)
Adam (a) said, “I made a mistake,” but Shaytan blamed His Lord, the Creator! Therefore, manners are before knowledge, but unfortunately, now the majority of people don’t have manners. They learn everything except for manners!
When Allah (swt) created the ego, He said to it, “Come!” but it withdrew. Then He said, “Go away!” and it came. Then Allah Almighty asked the ego, “Who are you and Who am I?” The ego said, “I am I and You are You.” This is the curse on Iblees and whomever follows his ways! The way of Truth is opposite to the way of Iblees! All the prophets (a) were on the way of Truth but Iblees was on the way of falsehood.
This is a crucial lesson for us; if we don’t learn it, our lives will become a part of Hellfire. If we owned all the treasures of the world, still we would not have spiritual luck; we would remain trapped in troubles! Shaytan doesn’t know he trapped himself in a prison of the ego, and people have generally trapped themselves in the prisons of Shaytan or the prisons of their own egos, finished! The present situation in the east and west, in the south and north, on lands and sea is that all people are imprisoned and they don’t know how to get rid of their situation. They say “democracy” will save them, but it is the prison of Shaytan!
They don’t have a way out. They run from one leader to the next, and when a good person leaves a bad person comes; if a blessed one leaves an non-blessed one comes. If Ghaddafi leaves, a worse one will come! The people must work hard and free their egos from the prison of Shaytan, but the ego runs to get imprisoned by the enemy of Allah, Shaytan. Now all people--men or women, rich or poor, learned or an ignorant one, black or white, European or oriental--are on the blocked way!
Allah Almighty says:
قَالَ هَذَا صِرَاطٌ عَلَيَّ مُسْتَقِيمٌ
Qaala hadha siraatun `aalayya mustaqeem.
(Allah) said, "This (way of My sincere servants) is indeed a way that leads straight to Me.”
(Surah Al-Hijr, 15:41)
The Straight Way is one, and the Prophet (s) drew a straight line with a stick in his hand and said, “This is the Straight Path.” It has two sides and on each of them there is a shaytan that advertises, “Come, come, come!” Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, the Emirates,Hijaaz,Yemen and Libya all claim something different; two cannot agree on one line, and so it happened:
جَزَاء وِفَاقًا
Jaza’an wifaaqan.
A fitting recompense (for them). (Surah An-Naba, 78:26)
If someone wants to be under protection and safety here and in the Hereafter, or if anyone wants his face to be enlightened, then he must follow the path of Truth that was sent by Allah Almighty and exemplified by His Beloved (s)!
يَوْمَ تَبْيَضُّ وُجُوهٌ
Yawma tabyaddu wujoohun.
On the Day when some faces will be (lit up with) white. (Surah Al-`Imraan, 3:106)
We don’t want anything; everything is available to us, alhamdulillah. Our request and our yearning is only to work to make Allah Almighty satisfied with us. If He is happy with us then all the creatures will be happy with us, but if He is not happy with His servants then everything will harm them and there will be no cure for them, neither externally or internally. Alhamdulillah, we are Muslims. We hope to be under the flag of Islam here and Hereafter, under the flag of the thankful ones that Allah (swt) promised will be granted from His Beloved (s). Say, “Alhamdulillah, shukranlillah, All praise and thanks to Allah Almighty!” What does our Lord Almighty say?
وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ
Wa qaleelun min `ibadiya ’sh-shakoor.
But few of My servants are grateful! (Surah Saba, 34:13)
Why are we not among the thankful ones? We have been created as the most honored Creation, so what more do we want? Do you wish to become a donkey, a bear, a dog or jackal? What do you desire? Allah Almighty granted you a form that was never granted to any of His Creation, and also gave you a title and honor that was not even granted to the angels! Why don’t you say thanks? Why do you complain? Allah Almighty says, “Few of My servants are thankful.”
O Servants of Allah! O Servants of Allah! These words are only an advice, ad-deenu naseehah, “Religion is advice.” Our guest came here and is asking about the situation of the world, of Kuwait and Arab countries. Today most of them are competing to build tall buildings, as Prophet (s) said:
وأن ترى الحفاة العراة العالة رعاء الشاء يتطاولون في البنيان
An tara al-hufaat al-`araat yatataawaloona fi ‘l-bunyaan.
You will see the naked barefooted Bedouins competing in high buildings.
Competing in building means competing in richness, to be able to show, “I am richer than him and he is lower than me as my building is higher.” To compete in building is a Sign of the Last Hour. In Hijaaz they want to construct a building that is 1500 meters tall! What is this craziness? And the Prophet (s) says, “Among the Signs of Last Hour is the construction of high buildings.” Is it not enough for the servant to go above two floors and when he reaches the third floor, the angels will say, “O soldier of Nimrod! Where do you want to go? Is the whole world not enough for you?”
Do you want to be like Nimrod? The people have gone crazy. Allahu Akbar! O Allah! Don’t make us from such people! If the person who made the building dies from above, two or three servants will wrap him in a sheet and will be scared to carry him in the elevator because people may stop using it after that, so they will carry him down stairs or from the fire escape in the darkness of night. What was his value? That building belonged to him but how did they take his body out? Take a lesson, O people of understanding!
And our brother came to visit us from a far country and we are happy. Perhaps he came to take wisdom from these words, because the people of Kuwait don’t spend for the sake of Allah, no! Their only aim is to collect more wealth, but what they collect benefits neither them nor anyone else. If these words reach them, Allah (swt) says:
وَأَنفِقُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ
Wa ‘nfiqoo fee sabeelillah.
And spend (freely) in God's Cause. (Al-Baqarah, 2:195)
Allah has indeed spoken the truth, and Prophet (s) said to Bilal, his companion (r):
أنفق بلالا ولا تخاف من ذي العرش إقلالا
Anfiq bilaa laa wa laa takhaaf man dha 'l-`arshi iqlaalan.
Give without (saying) 'no' and do not fear humiliation from Lord of the Throne.
And the Prophet (s) said:
بادروا بالصدقة فإن البلاء لا يخطوها
Badiru bil sadaqah fa inna ‘l-bala` la yakhtooha.
Start with charity, as difficulties cannot step over it.
If you even give the smallest valued coin in your country, you will be protected from problems! When you leave your house, immediately give one charity or keep a box near your door and when you leave put charity in it. If you do this, harm will be stopped by the charity and will not be able to reach you. Do you understand? This is all of it. All kinds of problems and difficulties come over their heads because they don’t give charity. Why not? Prophet (s) says, “Spend without saying, ‘no.’ It also means for Sayyidina Bilal (r), “Don’t fear that the Lord of the Throne will deprive you from giving.”
If you give even one coin, don’t say, “My wealth has decreased.” No! Allah will give you in substitute! The divine order is to spend for the Sake of Allah. Madad, yaa Sultan al-Awliya. This is enough for us.
(My sister who is a doctor called and asked Mawlana to pray for the guidance of the Kuwaiti people and you gave guidance now.)
SubhaanAllah! And from Allah comes success. May Allah open for us our hearts here and Hereafter to be in happiness and pleasure here and Hereafter.
Fatihah.
Here around 500 people come to eat and drink three times a day. He is The Provider. Any moment people may come and find something to eat. This is not a burden on us; Allah provides. There is one home bakery over there and, subhaanAllah, 10 or 20 kilograms of flour everyday is enough. But people are not aware of this and say that guests are a burden on them. May Allah open our hearts and minds and make our hands give generously, inshaa-Allah, until we become among those who give charity without counting. “Don’t fear that the Lord of the Throne will deprive you from giving.”
Allah, Allah.
Non-spending (greed) became a curse upon the presidents of Egypt, Tunis, Libya, Yemen , Sham, Baghdad, Turkey. Give and Allah will replenish! May Allah forgive us.
Welcome to you! Whenever you want you are welcome here. (Mawlana Shaykh prays for the guest.) He will not taste sadness or sorrow.
Fatihah.