Centre for Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (CSCA)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.On behalf of myself and Shaykh Muhammad as-Saggaf, because he is from Madinatu 'l-Munawwara, we are asking his permission to speak. 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.
I have nothing to say, but I was thinking of yesterday what he said about love, that Allah (swt) loved His servants, because many asked the same question: is there good and evil? Is there good and evil or evil and good? They say, “Yes there is,” but Allah (swt) does not have evil. Allah (swt) only created goodness, love. Then where does the evil come from? Iblees was in Paradise and Allah cursed him, because he disobeyed, then sent him to Earth, but he was still able to speak with Allah (swt). Allah cursed him for sure, and all Muslims and Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah believe that, but he was able to ask Allah to keep him to the End of Time and Allah accepted his request, because He wants His servants to be clean.
The difference between good and evil: as far from good as you go, you are creating evil through yourself. So if you do something good, like recite Mawlid an-Nabi (s), that is accepted alhamdulillah, but as much as you go far away from what you are reciting, like going to a movie theatre or looking into this or that badness, according to Awliya that is evil. We are only summarizing it, not going deeply into it. So who creates good and evil? It is our bad `amal, our own behavior, from as long as we are away from the right side that is evil.
I was at a conference in India and they wanted me to speak about good and evil. We create good and evil within ourselves and we become bipolar about it, crazy. One of the speakers said to that big audience of academics, “In order to fix ourselves, we have to count how much goodness we have done in our life, to see what is making good and evil.”
I said, “No, that is wrong. That is not our belief in spirituality and Islam.”
He said, “What is the belief?”
I said, “I am asking you, I will answer later.” He asked the students to count how many good deeds they had done that day, then they will improve. I said, “If they count the good in themselves, they always think they are good, so really they have to count what is bad, not what is good.”
In 1967, Grandshaykh AbdAllah (q) ordered Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) into seclusion for six-to-nine months, his last khalwah. He said when you go far away from the Sunnah of Prophet (s) and from Awliya, `ulama and mashaykh, you have fallen into Shaytan’s hands. Iblees went to Paradise and whispered to Sayyidina Adam (a). He was cursed, so how was he able to enter Jannah in the form of a snake? You can’t ever trust a snake.
Evilness comes from being away from Allah and His Prophet (s). So does Allah love us or not? We say yes, but how much? As much as you stop doing bad things you will improve and return to good things, to normal, to where your eyes will be opened, and there you will be able to see. So to Awliya, the definition of evil to is how far you went away from goodness, because Allah (swt) loved his Prophet (s) and His Ummah, which is the whole world, not just those who are in Paradise; it means Ummat an-Nabi and different nations. So Allah loves the Ummah of Prophet (s), which He created for him, and that Ummah is torturing themselves through their own bad deeds, not through something else, because they become far away from obedience to Allah (swt) and Prophet (s).
Allah loves the Ummah of Prophet (s), yes. The example is the story of Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q). He was making tawaaf during Hajj and when he finished, holding the two chains of Bab al-Ka`bah near the Multazam, he said, “With the power you gave me, yaa Rabbee, I am requesting You to allow me to turn the whole world to Islam.” Awliya can speak like that, shatahaat, they say things people don’t understand. For example, who allowed Iblees to enter Jannah and whisper in Sayyidina Adam’s ear, and why? I will give the answer through story of Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q).
He held the two chains and said, “Yaa Rabbee, give me the power to chain not Shaytan, but the pilgrims, and and bring them to You and to your Prophet (s)!”
In that moment he fainted. Then Allah (swt) ordered an angel to bring him up and that angel said, “Yaa Abu Yazid, what have you done?”
Bayazid said, “I asked Allah to give me power to make everyone enter Paradise.”
That is love: the end of love is to enter Paradise! The end of love between husband and wife is to marry, although after that they fight. [Laughter.]
Then the answer came through visions and inspirations,"Look above you!" Abu Yazid (q) looked and saw all this mercy:
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)
The Prophet (s) is holding that mercy and Allah inspired to Bayazid, "Yaa Aba Yazid, to whom am I going to give that rahmat? I don't need it. I am giving that mercy to My Prophet so that he will turn his Ummah and everyone to Islam. So to whom am I going to give that rahmah if I have to give you power over Iblees? That means his actions are going to stop and that means there will be no more sins, everyone will go to Paradise, which is good, but I am making that rahmah for the sinners, and I let them sin but then repent, and when they repent I give them more."
That’s why Prophet (s) ordered us to make istighfaar as much as possible, so you reach that rahmah, as that’s the real love, more than when Allah created Prophet (s) and He put in his forehead Noor an-Nubuwwah and Maqaam al-Mahmood, and Prophet gave all of it to the Ummah. That is love, to pull you from something bad to something good. We ask Allah (swt) to guide everyone, that is our hope.
Allah’s (swt) Last Name of the Ninety-Nine Names is as-Saboor, The Patient, because he loves Ummat an-Nabi (s) and He is delaying punishment and is patient on them, or else He would have destroyed them like He did with many other nations before. He didn’t because of His love to Prophet (s). That is love.
Allah gave Safinat an-Najaat, the Boat of Safety, to whom? To Sayyidina Nuh (a) when his people came against him. He was 950 years old and became fed up with dunya and asked Allah, “Take me.” In that last fifty years, he began to build that boat. Similarly, out of love, Allah did not let the mushrikeen burn Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), He saved him. He made the fire cool:
قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ
O fire! Be cool and peaceful on Ibrahim. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:69)
Allah did not order the fire to freeze as Ibrahim would have died from that. He said, “Be cool, bardan wa salaaman, nice and peaceful,” that is why he was able to live in the fire. Allah was showing His love and He sent Jibreel (a) to him and ordered Jibreel (a) to do something, and he asked Ibrahim (a) “Do you need anything, can I help you?” Ibrahim said, “No, I don't need anything.” Look at that love: Allah sent someone to save Ibrahim (a), and he said, “I need you, yaa Rabbee! I need you to save me.” That is why He said, yaa naaru koonee bardan wa salaaman `alaa Ibraaheem.
Look how patient Allah was with the Ummah of Sayyidina Musa (a). He did not destroy Fira`wn, he let him be, and then Fira`wn went far away from good deeds and so far into bad deeds, but even though he had done all of that , when he entered the ocean Fir`awn said, Amantu billahee amaanat bihi Banu Israa`eel wa ‘ana mina ‘l-muslimeen, “I believe in what Bani Israel believed in and I am from Muslims.”
Jibreel (a) didn’t like that and said, “You cursed one! Now you are asking for that!” and he threw mud in his face, and closed his mouth from saying anything.
Awliya continue the tafsir, explaining that Allah said to Sayyidina Jibreel (a), “Why did you do that? If he became Muslim will you be upset? He is My servant, and if I want him to become Muslim he will become Muslim!” Look at the love. Allah made Jibreel (a) wait a little bit, that perhaps Fir`awn will become Muslim. And He gave Sayyidina Muhammad (s) higher than that when He brought him to the Divine Presence and allowed him to senter with his shoes, what He did not allow anyone else.
May Allah bless us and forgive us. I was short because Hajji Shair was very long in reciting. I want to remind him of the Hadith of Prophet (s) that says, “Don't pray too long because there may be ill people (praying with you).” We will put a chair for Ziyarah of Prophet’s Holy Hair, and inshaa-Allah I hope to see you in twenty days.
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