Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those who are on authority. (4:59)
As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatallahi wa barakatuh.
A`udhu billāhi min ash-Shaytān ir-rajīm Bismil-Lāhi’ r-Rahmāni ‘r-Rahīm.
I know it is 'Eid and you want to socialize, but since you are here I am taking the opportunity to hijack some of your time, to benefit me and you, (laughter) to explain some of the important knowledge Allah has given to us through Sayyidina Muhammad (s), through His message from the Seal of Prophets (s). We hear too much about makaarim al-akhlaq, the good manners. And adab, they translate in English as "good manners." Makaarim al-akhlaaq is good manners, adab. It is something that is not only good manners, but good manners in its smallest detail. Makaarim al-akhlaq is good manners, but sometimes you make a mistake. But adab is the level of no mistakes; on every action you have to keep the utmost perfection. That is why al-adaab hiya al-muhafizhat `ala ahkaam ash-Shari`ah, the adaab (plural) are for certain matters and you have to be perfect and precise in it, with no bad intentions.
Adab is in everything in your life; even in inhaling and exhaling you have adab with your breathing. If you breathe without adab, you are an oppressor to yourself. People today breathe without thinking. Prophet (s) taught his Sahaba (r) to breathe in and out with Kalimatu 'sh-Shahadah. They breathe out with remembrance by saying la ilaha ill-Llah in their heart, and such people are going in an ascension in every breath. They are not losing that focus for one moment of their life.
For us, how many moments of our life are lost? We sit every week for one hour to do dhikrullah and that is it. So he said, al-adaab hiya al-muhafizhat `ala ahkaam ash-Shari`ah hatta la yajri al-`abd bima la yasma lahu ash-shar`, "You have to keep the utmost highest relationship with all principles of Shari'ah (Islamic law)." You must not do something in your life which in any moment challenges any principle of Shari'ah. That is not easy. This is if we want to say that we are trying to be good ones, to learn what awliyaullah are teaching us. Shari'ah teaches us how to pray and fast, but from Haqiqat, awliyaullah want you to experience (taste) what you learned of Shari`ah. They don't want your life to be lost, and they want you to reach the station of complete perfection in your actions!
That is why Grandshaykh قدس سرّه said, "fa inna haqiqat al-adaab `inda saadata an-naqshbandiyya ... al mureed". The adaab in this Naqshbandi Order (or the Qadiri, Chisti, Shadhili or whatever Sufi Order you are in) is to make every breath in and out according to Shari'ah." This is if you want the reality that awliyaullah reached. So if you don't want to reach there, that's okay. You can have a palace or a shack; you choose. You have Heavenly Paradise and you have Jannat al-Firdaws. You can be in Paradise, but you cannot be in Jannat al-Firdaws with the Prophet and other prophets unless you keep full adab, respect with everyone. Don't say,"This is a believer," or, "This is not a believer." It might be on his last breath that one becomes believer. It might be you cursed someone who at the end of his life takes shahadah!
So adab is not to observe what others are doing, it is to observe yourself. Don't observe others. Many people took shahadah and they died. What do you say about them? They are Muslims and they will be in Paradise, because Islam waives all your sins when you take shahadah. In one brothers' dojo in Mt. View, California, we used to do dhikr there every Saturday and Thursday. One day an old man came, someone brought him and he sat in a chair because he could not sit on floor. He was more than 90 years old. (Mawlana asks someone) You remember him? He came, someone invited him. He liked it and we prayed. He was observing. The second week he came, and third week he came and said, "I like this remembrance of God, and I like to be Muslim." He took shahadah and he prayed with us. He doesn't even know how to recite shahadah, but he accepted Prophet (s). The next week he came and did dhikr and left. The next two weeks he didn't show up, then for three weeks he didn't show up. I sent someone to see what happened, and he found out the week after that old man took shahadah, he died! What you can say? He went to Paradise, without question.
So you don't know who anyone is and we have to be very careful in our dealings with others. You want to be saved? Of course there are a lot of ways to be saved, but awliyaullah like their mureeds to act with high standards and according to Shari'ah on every breath, so when you breathe in you remember your Lord and when you breathe out you don't forget to say la ilaha ill-Llah.
O Believers! Don't miss these rewards that Allah preparing for Ummat an-Nabi. You must be happy that you are from Ummat an-Nabi. Say shukr lillah, alhamdulillah, sami`na wa ata`na. Shukran that you are from Ummat an-Nabi, for if Allah made you from another nation, you are not as lucky as the people of this nation.
As narrated by Abu Hurayrah (r), "The Prophet (s) said, ana awwla man tanshaq anhu al-`ard, "I am the first to come from the grave." When Sayyidina Isra'fil (a) will be ordered to blow the great trumpet, then everything dies, even him. Then Allah creates everything back again, and no one knows after how long. Some seerahs and some hadiths say after 40 years. During that time, Allah is purifying the Earth from the sins of human beings, so His Throne will come to judge between people. You think Allah will come on a dirty Earth? It has to be clean. Allah will say, koon fa ya koon, "Be! and it is," (Surah YaSin) and finished. Then Allah brings back to life the archangels Sayyidina Azra'il, Sayyidina Mikha'il, and Sayyidina `Israfil, and Sayyidina Jibra'il (a).
Sayyidina Jibra'il (a) will be first, because he brought the divine revelation to Prophet. Sayyidina Azra'il (a) holds all souls of human beings. Sayidinna Mikha'il (a) is responsible for the rain Allah sends on Earth, the rain of sperm that races to fertilize eggs. On every sperm is written the name of that person and the sperm will go to the egg of the one whose name is on it, without any errors. These four angels will come to Prophet (s).
And the first question that Prophet (s) asks, so we will learn, is, "My Ummah, have they been judged?"
Jibra'il says, "You are the first one Allah has called forth from Earth."
Then Prophet (s) says, fa uqsa min uqsa hullat al-Jannah, "Allah will dress me in the highest perfect dress," garments that befit the honor of Prophet (s). That is a manifestation of beauty. He (s) will be dressed with that beauty over him from the beauty Allah is manifesting on Paradise from His Beautiful Names.
Then Prophet (s) says, Fa aqoom `inda yameen al-`Arsh, laysa ahadun min al-khala'iqi yaqoomu hadha al-maqaam. "I will stand on the right hand of the Throne. No created one will have that rank; that is for me."
What you think then? You are someone from that nation, from the Ummat an-Nabi. If the Seal of Messengers (s), whose shafa`a is for the big sinners of the ummah, what is for those keeping the perfect adab of Shari'ah? Prophet (s) is standing on the right of the Throne; what does that mean? Who stands on right of the king? The main representative, the calipha of the king. Innee ja`ilun fil-ardi khalipha. Qaaloo ataj`aloo feeha man yufsidoo feeha wa yufsikud-dima, "Allah said, 'I am making calipha on earth.'" Who is that calipha on whole earth and he is on yameen al-`Arsh, the right of the Throne? Sayyidina Adam? Sayyidina Nuh? Sayyidina Ibrahim? Sayyidina Musa? Sayyidina 'Isa? (a) No, it is Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! So Adam and whoever is other than Adam (s) are under Prophet's (s) flag on the Day of Judgment. They all come asking intercession for themselves and for that ummah. So he is that one, the Praised One that Allah created to be on the right side of the Throne. It means he is handling the issues of humanity, until they reach their eternal life, their places in heavens or punishment, Prophet (s) knows about it.
So that is why Allah says in Holy Qur`an, man ya`mal mithqaala dharratin khayran yarah - whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. (Zalzala, 99:7).
"I judge between My servants. Who does an atom of good receives good and who did bad, I give him what he deserves."
(Missing portion)
"But no, I give to you that authority. You do what you want with them. I am establishing My calipha on Earth, the one most near to Me, who came to My Presence; I am giving him that responsibility."
When Allah gave Prophet (s) that responsibility, it means he is responsible for all of them, from Adam and lower. What do you think Prophet (s) will do? In his birth he is saying, "Ummatee, ummatee, my nation, my nation (forgive them, Ya Allah!)." In his holy grave he is saying, "Ummatee, ummatee," and when he is brought back in Judgment Day he is first asking, "Has my ummah been raised up yet?" Jibra'il will answer, "No, you are the first one to be raised up."
Prophet (s) wants to be present to make sure his ummah is saved! So we have to be thankful we were created from Ummat an-Nabi (s) and that is given to those keeping the highest level of perfection to Shari'ah of Prophet (s). They will be resurrected and sent by intercession to Jannat al-Firdaws, the Paradise of Prophet (s). Those who were struggling to keep Shari'ah, one day yes, one day no, about them Prophet (s) said, "I was sent for the big sinners of the ummah," But they will not be in Jannat al-Firdaws. So where you want to be, in highest Paradise or normal Paradise? In heavenly issues always look up (set high goals), in earthly matters always look down (have low expectations and curb your desires) so you are not struggling. If you look up in dunya you will live struggling and die struggling and you will never benefit for your akhirah.
Alhamdulillah, I am seeing these young Bengali boys sitting and listening. Must be hundreds like that. The problem is, how they will be guided to the sweet love of Prophet (s); how they can feel it? Awliyaullah give us that feeling because they make us to taste. They don't show you, "This is water. I drink it but I don't give any to you." Awliyaullah give you to drink, saying, "If anything is left, give it to me." They give you to taste the sweetness. People go by what is written in books, not by the sweetness of what Prophet (s) gave to Sahaba (r), who gave their lives for Sayyidina Muhammad (s); they never said "no" to him about anything! Always, whatever Prophet (s) said, they listened and obeyed him.
Listen to what Prophet (s) is saying. We are not saying; he (s) is saying!
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (r), "Prophet (s) said, ana awwal man tanshaqu `anhu al-ard wa aqsul-hullat al-Jannah. Thumma akoon ala yameen al-`Arsh laa taqoom dhaalika al-maqaam ghayree. "I will be first one to come up from the Earth on the Day of Judgment, and I will be dressed from the Paradise dress and I will stand on the right side of the Arsh (Throne). Is that how you hear it? Yes, but when a wali reads it, when he says, "Prophet (s) says," you will hear the Prophet's voice saying it! When Prophet (s) says, "I will be the first one coming from the Earth," you will hear the sweetness of his voice, but you have to go through different awraad and spiritual trainings to hear that beautiful sound.
Sayyida Rabi`a al-Adawiyya (r), a very famous lady saint in history, suffered a lot with her husband, who hurt her, beat her, came home drunk, and yet she still took care of him. She was patient. Patience is important. We bark. Don't bark. I bark also, as I don't want someone to say, "Oh, he referred to us and not to himself." She was patient with her husband and what was her compensation? She was granted to see the light of Prophet (s) appearing in her other room of her house. Once after her husband beat her, she went to her room, awaiting the spiritual presence of Prophet (s) to appear to her. Her husband woke up and he saw his wife in the other room. Guidance wants to call him.
So he said, "Who is with you in the room?"
She said, "No one!" and she closed the door.
He said, "No, you have to tell me, who is in that room with you?"
She said, "No one!"
He said, "No, I feel the presence, I am feeling the goosebumps, I have to see."
She said, "Don't look."
He insisted to look through a small hole in the door, and when he beheld that exquisite Light of Sayidinna Muhammad (s), he immediately died! So awliyaullah prepare you to carry that high voltage of heavenly lights. Awliyaullah cannot put their mureeds to hear the voice of Prophet (s), or they will disappear immediately when they hear that sweetness. When we recite Qur'an, we are hearing our own voice. When Sahaba listen to Qur'an, they hear the voice of Prophet (s), and when awliyaullah listen to Qur'an, they hear the voices of the Sahaba (r) taking from Prophet (s)!
You must be so happy that in the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, we are taking directly from Sayyidina `Ali قدس سرّه and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq قدس سرّه. They take you to see what cannot be seen.
Hadith, "As long as My servant approaches Me through voluntary worship, then I will love him. When I love him, I will be the ears he can hear with." What is that hearing? We are hearing now. When Allah says, "I will give you My hearing," you have to be raised to that level to hear what cannot be heard with normal ears. "I will be his eyes that he can see with." You can see what cannot be seen. Today you see what is here in front of you, but you will see what is in Heavens. They don't see what is in the future, that is not important to them. They try to bring you to see akhirah. So when they recite a hadith, they are hearing it from Prophet (s) and want their followers to hear that sweetness.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (r), "The Prophet said, 'I am the master of the Children of Adam on Judgment Day, and I am the first one on whom the Earth will crack open, and the first to intercede." Be happy that you are from Ummat an-Nabi! The ummah is great because of Prophet (s).
May Allah forgive us and may Allah bless us. Bi hurmati' l-Habeeb, Bi hurmati 'l-Fatiha.