18 January 2014 Rockville, Maryland
Naqshbandi-Haqqani Center
As-salaam `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. Alhamdulillah rabbi ‘l-`alameen wa ‘s-salaatu wa ‘s-salaam `alaa ashrafi ‘l-mursaleen Sayyidina Muhammad wa `alaa aalih wa sahbihi wa sallim.
Alhamdulillah that He made us from Ummat an-Nabi (s)! Without our choice in the matter He chose him and He choose his ummah. Fa yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah! We came to your door, so don’t turn us back and we came to your presence with the presence of Allah (swt).
O believers, mu’mins! Too many mawalid, too many around the world. I just came and I attended more than one-hundred of them, every day three or four of them. And alhamdulillah, that even a small group might be better than a bigger group but, in any case, there were small groups and there were big groups. And what I mean by a small group is 10,000 and less, and what I mean by a big group is 10,000 and above.
Who is calling them and inviting them to come and attend? It is not like here, that they send letters or emails. Who is pulling them? Did we think about it? Who is pulling these people to come and remember salawaat on the Prophet (s) and istighfaar and praising Allah (swt)? I attended one in Indonesia and we went by train like five hours to Cirebon, a city, and the Mawlid was supposed to start by 8 o'clock. It was in front of a huge field of grass, nothing there. At least there were 250,000 people and if everyone is making one salawaat; it means 250,000 salawaat every moment. How is the Prophet (s) answering them? What can you imagine, because he said:
من صلى علي مرة صلى الله عليه بها عشرا
Man salla `alayya marratan salla ’Llahu `alayhi bihaa `ashara.
Whoever prays on me one time, Allah prays on him ten times. (Sahih Muslim)
“If someone makes salawaat on me, Allah sends my soul back to send him salawaat,” or salutation or whatever, sending something; we don’t go into what that “something” is. How can the Prophet (s) send salawaat on all these 250,000 people in that field in every moment, answering them all in the same time, in the same moment? Is it not his responsibility? He said, “Wa huwa asdaqu 'l-qaaileen, by the most true ones in all Creation, Allah will give back my soul in order that I give salaat or salaam on them.” How? I want to understand. Can’t I understand how the Prophet (s) answers them and sends salaam on them? By digital or analog? What kind of power Allah gave him?
Muhammad basharun wa laysa ka ‘l-bashari huwa yaaqootatun wa naasu ka ‘l-hajari.
Muhammad is a man, but not like other men! He is a gem and human beings are stones.
(Shaykh Muhammad al-Busayri, Burdat ash-Shareef)
“The Prophet (s) is a man, but not like a man.” Can you answer? When I came to America from the Middle East and I questioned myself, (whereas) in the Middle East if five people ask me I can answer them all because Middle East people are sharp people [laughter], but in America I have to answer one by one as they cannot speak with three or four people together. Pakistanis do that! [Laughter.] We are human beings and we can answer one, two, three, four or five in the same moment, but how the Prophet (s) answers them all at the same time? And this is for one salawaat!
So that event began at 8 o'clock, but from 5 o'clock they began to sit. Who is making them to sit and what kind of sitting? With no chairs, they sat on the grass and it was pouring rain like crazy, not normal rain like you see here. It was heavy rain everywhere and not one moved from his place under the rain. The rain water was up to my knee, at least two feet and accumulating, and they were sitting in the rain, sitting in the water, and the water turned to mud and they were sitting in the mud making salawaat and listening to the reciters! [Allahu Akbar!] How is that? Who is that? What kind of magnet is attracting them? I was surprised and everyone was surprised.
The masjid can take at least 20,000 to 30,000 people and no way to put one foot inside the masjid. It was in the back. There was the masjid and then the school and then the stage and then the field. It was full, you could only see heads because they wear white hats, all of them. You can see white hats like an ocean, but still water, river, pond, buhayra, calm, everyone making salawaat.
Yaa Rabbee! Make us to do salawaat on the Prophet (s) every day of our lives and every moment! [Ameen.] If we are unable to do it, and we are unable because we are helpless, yaa Rabbee, write for us (the reward) from those who can do it! [Ameen.]
That was one event and how many events like that are being done? Count how many millions of people are making salawaat at the same time. And some come and say Mawlid is haraam and bida`! But even if it is bida`, you are making salawaat on the Prophet (s).
إنما الأعمال بالنيات , وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى , فمن كانت هجرته إلى الله ورسوله , فهجرته إلى الله ورسوله , ومن كانت هجرته لدنيا يصيبها أو امرأة ينكحها , فهجرته إلى ما هاجر إليه
Verily actions are by intentions, and for every person is what he intended. So the one whose emigration was to Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration was to Allah and His Messenger, and the one whose emigration was for the world to gain from it, or a woman to marry him, then his emigration was to what he made it. (Bukhari and Muslim)
Your niyyat is like, “I am stupid and I don’t know how to read and write and I love Prophet (s) and I want to read on him and make Mawlid every moment of my life!” So what is wrong with that, what is the problem, what is the intention? That is an example. You scholars consider it bida`! Okay, we will see on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet (s) will not turn his face from me, but he may turn his face from you scholars! Why the Prophet (s) doesn't turn his face from me or from you or from those who do Mawlid? Because we are suzdesh, we are dumb, sitting and making salawaat on the Prophet (s)!
When you give someone a gift, will he turn his face from you, or whenever he sees you will he run to you? When you send a gift to the Prophet (s), is he going to turn his face from you? Yes, you claim, “The Prophet (s) didn't do it, he didn't do it (make salawat).” How is someone who is a prophet going to do it for himself? Does he praise himself? No, he doesn’t praise himself, he praises Allah (swt) and we have to praise him! If he is a president, does he praise himself? No, the ummah has to praise him. The Prophet (s) can’t praise himself as he is humble! Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur’an:
وَسَخَّرَ لَكُم مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا
Sakhkhara lakum maa fi ’s-samaawaati wa maa fi 'l-ardi jamee`an.
We subject to you whatever is in Heavens and in the Earth. (Surat al-Jaathiya, 45:13)
Allah made everything for Prophet (s) or else why Allah took him in Israa’ wa 'l-Mi`raaj, can someone tell me? And decorated all Heavens, why? Why he went to the First Heaven, the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and the Eighth Heaven, the Maqadis-Sidq, which is the eighth. Why? Was he not able to go directly to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa? But tashreefan lahu, Allah wants to honor him by giving a parade, if we can say that, a procession to him. If a king comes to a country, what do they do? They put a red carpet at the airport and if it is a very high-level king they put a carpet up to the palace. Why? And they honor him by decorating the whole road and the honor depends on the host of that event, his generosity. So what kind of hosting did Allah do for Prophet (s)? Did He host him? What kind of hosting He did? Can anyone describe it? No one can describe it; even if they write millions of books it is not enough to describe it! As you said, abaakira, if all the intelligent, genius people in the whole world with all its geniuses (were gathered), they cannot describe a fingernail of the Prophet (s)!
Our intention is good. That is why it is better to be dumb, not to be educated, because if we are educated and listen to such people they make our minds confused. Either you educate correctly with Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah [because, as cited in this well-known, long hadith]:
Ma ra'ahu muslimoona hasan raahullahu hasan.
Whatever the Muslims see as good, then Allah (swt) sees it good.
(Ahmad, at-Tabaraanee, at-Tayalasee, Bayhaqee, Abu Na`eem)
If the majority of Muslims see it as good, to Allah that is good. A majority of Muslims around the world celebrate Prophet (s)’s birthday and they make it a national holiday. All these years it was correct and now becoming incorrect?
Allah said regarding Sayyidina ‘Isa (as):
وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيَّ يَوْمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوْمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوْمَ أُبْعَثُ حَيًّا
So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)! (Surat Maryam, 19:33)
وسئل عن صوم يوم الاثنين قال ذاك يوم ولدت فيه وي
And when they asked the Prophet (s) about fasting on Monday, he said: “It’s the day that I was born, so fast.”
That is narrated by Muslim. We are not coming here against anyone, but we are clearing up a situation that always there is a confusion about it.
So all these people, they are making salawaat around the world to the Prophet (s). How can he answer them? When you are able to tell me how he can answer them, at that time if you say it is bida`, I will accept! Imam Busayri said, “He is a human being, but he can answer millions at the same time.” How is he a bashar then? Can a bashar do that? He can answer everyone, answer even in the grave. He answers from there, in his house, his grave! Can anyone else answer in his grave? No, as he is shaking from (the questioning of) Munkar and Nakeer. They come and ask him, “Who is your Lord? Who is your prophet? What is your religion?” Can you answer? We ask Allah that He doesn't tie our tongues when they ask us!
People are diving and can anyone tell me why they dive in the oceans? To get pearls and to see Allah's Greatness. You go down and you see Allah's Greatness, because when we look at each other we no longer see the Greatness of Allah in each other's faces, because we are accustomed to seeing human beings. But when you see something in darkness and in water, all these different kind of creatures, they don't stop; all kind of fish moving, all different colors. Who made them different colors? Divers dive in order to see the Greatness of Allah (swt). Is the Prophet (s) not diving in the Ocean of Allah’s Knowledge? Can we dive like him? No, no way! Allah gave him `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ‘l-Akhireen. What is `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ‘l-Akhireen, the Knowledge of the First and Last Ones? That means there is a limit, a boundary. `Uloom al-Awwaleen means “The First Ones,” and He didn't say, “The First One,” so it means more than one was there when this universe appeared. `Uloom al-Awwaleen, the Prophet (s) has been given knowledge of the First Ones. Who are these First Ones, we don't know. Whatever we say is speculation, because our hearts have not yet been enlightened and we are too much diving in dunya.
The First Ones. What was the universe before it appears? It was different gases, and from these condensation of these gases there was a huge explosion, according to the Big Bang Theory of Physics; there was a huge explosion and the universe came all with all these stars and planets and everything. ‘Awwaleen’ is this. What is meant by `Uloom al-Awwaleen, “The First Ones,” is the universe or what Allah had created before, the creation of angels or created Creation, who knows? One wali was asked about Sayyidina Adam (a) and he said, “Which Adam? Is there one Adam or there are many?” We don’t know.
وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاء كُلَّهَا
Wa `allama adam al-asmaa kullahaa.
And He taught Adam the names of all things. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:31)
Allah taught Adam all the names, but which names? There are many meanings, but that might be names of those who came before. We don’t know. They say there was no sound in the Stone Age as they were not talking and were acting like monkeys, but Allah said, `allama adama al-asmaa kullahaa, He taught to Sayyidina Adam (a) before the angels and asked him to tell them these names as they didn’t know. Who did that?
Allah gave to the Prophet (s) what He did not give to anyone: `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa `Uloom al-Akhireen. What is Akhireen? Is it after the Day of Judgment when everything will stop or is there more? Is there life after the Judgment Day or not? There is life after the Judgment Day, either to Paradise or to Hell. Prophet (s) knows everyone’s place in Paradise, because when he makes du`a and asks Allah (swt) and Allah gives him to make shafa`ah, the Prophet (s) knows them one-by-one and what that person has done from the first moment in his life to its end! And he makes du`a of shafa`ah for him and he makes shafa`ah for everyone in the same moment, or else it is going to be, “What is your name? And what is your father's name? And do you have an ID? Show me your ID.” So it is done in one moment.
We speak about “sincerity and piety” (and some say) “We are awliya,” and “people are praying and fasting…” I went to India with this gentleman and it was amazing. I was calling it “the land of awliya.” When we hear stories about them, it is not like realities. We used to hear that some of them do sulook, training of dhikrullah, in a well and some do that underground. We didn't...it is a story I wrote it in a book, The Naqshbandi Golden Chain book, that most of these awliya from the Golden Chain are in Sirhind in Hind (India). We visited more than twenty and we were seeing some kind of door beside everyone, and everyone has a madrasah, a school, a mosque and khaniqah where he gives food. Everyone, not like these scholars today that jump from one cable TV channel to another TV channel. Go and do like those who came before you, how they spread knowledge! Go to where these people spread Islam! They are on top of mountains and hills. It is surprising to go on top of the hills in order to find these awliya. They first taught `Uloom ash-Shari`ah, which has to be totally completed.
I was looking and we saw a small door, and I asked, “What is this door outside the masjid? Where does it go?”
They said, “This is where he used to pray when he was doing seclusion, khalwah. He used to sit down and pray.” I thought it was a flat space and he sits. It turned out you have to go down like 30 meters, like 90 feet underground and there a small place where he is only able to pray and he sits there for his awraad and dhikr and qiraat and reading books and tafseer and writing and anything.
I said, “Can we go, can we see it?”
They said, “No. This place has not been opened for 70 years. Where you want to go down, it is full of insects, worms, spiders and ants.”
We said, “Never mind, can you open it?”
He said, “Okay, for you we will speak with the caretaker's grandson.”
And he gave permission and we went down and some people went down. You have to put your neck down (bend) and go down the stairs for 30 meters and you reach a space where you can sit and pray. There were small two rooms, not rooms, but half rooms, to sit in other than the place of worship and we were full of ants and insects biting us under the clothes. I went and we prayed there two raka`ats Sunnat az-Ziyarah. We went up and I went to the bathroom, took the clothes and shook it, and all insects and ants were gone. I put it back on and went out. Oh, another time I went back, I found the khuffs full of them as they entered inside your socks! I had to clean out. How were these people able to sit there?
I was in Indonesia, and they say Indonesia was opened by nine saints, Wali Songo. And we went to one of them and we went up and they said, “You cannot go more, it is locked.” His room, his children, his grandchildren, his grave were locked, not opened for 400 years, but they opened for us. We went inside. What kind of nice smell coming from nowhere, we don’t know from where, a very beautiful smell. We stayed for a little bit and left. He was a king, but what he took with him? He took nothing. He took his salawat with him because he was adil, a just king. Allah gave him in dunya what he did for Akhirah of prayers and fasting.
So today there are scholars, but unfortunately these scholars are only scholars of ahruf, letters, they read letters. We are nothing, we are not scholars, we are students asking questions. These scholars must answer us and today they don’t speak except letters, as Ibn `Ajeeba said, “There are two kinds of knowledge: `Ilm al-Awraaq and `Ilm al-Adhwaaq, Knowledge of Paper/Letters and Knowledge of Taste.” Can you ask one of these scholars who appear on the TV channels to go down 30 meters for seclusion for one day? At night many jinns will come to him and he will run away!
O Muslims, why I said that story? Because that moment when we say something that is related to Akhirah, Allah (swt) will not let you leave until you taste it! If someone comes to you and you are eating a piece of cake, at least you give him a piece to taste. And so those awliyaullah whom we visited, they will share with us, they will not let you go empty-handed. In Akhirah, they will pray for us and they will say, “Yaa Rabbee, they visited us, forgive them.” May Allah (swt) forgive us! And not to do Mawlid only on the 12th of Rabi` al-Awwal, although it is important to do on the 12th of Rabi` al-Awwal, but you can do it every night!
They say do it every night, it is okay, but why you do on the 12th of Rabi` al-Awwal? We say that with the birth of Prophet (s), that is birth of Islam. On the 12th of Rabi` al-Awwal, Islam began and came with the Prophet (s) and the moment the Prophet (s) came to dunya Allah dressed him.
كنت نبي و ادم بين الماء و الطين
I was a prophet when Adam was between water and clay.
كنت نبيا وآدم بين الروح والجسد
I was a prophet while Adam was between soul and body.
Why the Prophet (s) has to say, “I was a prophet when Sayyidina Adam (a) was between water and clay or body and soul.” Why does he have to say that is another question. That means huwa muraafiqan li ummatahu, he is accompanying his ummah. At least when we say the Prophet (s) said, he said that and we didn't say. He said, “I was prophet when Sayyidina Adam (a) was between spirit and body.” That means he is the ‘First’ Prophet and the ‘Last’ Prophet. And does the Prophet (s) have knowledge or no knowledge? If you have ten children, do you know their names? If you have twenty children, you know their names. Does not the Prophet (s) who is on the Ummah not know the ummah? He is the Prophet for Creation, for Bani Adam. Does he not know them?
If Allah taught Sayyidina Adam (a), did He not teach the Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad (s)? For Adam (a), scholars says that Allah gave Sayyidina Adam (a) knowledge of His Beautiful Names and Attributes. Some scholars say not only that He gave him the names of all Creation, some scholars say Allah gave him to know the names of everything. Then what about the Prophet (s)? SubhaanAllah! We try to minimize his power and his status, for what? We are not making sajda to the Prophet (s) and saying, “Yaa Rasoolullah, Anta rabbee (you are my Lord)!” Haasha! Istaghfirullah! We pray to Allah (swt) and we praise the Prophet (s) as His `Abd, Servant!
So they have to understand that they must not be in a position on Judgment Day that they will be ashamed in front of the Prophet (s), not shy, but ashamed!
May Allah forgive us. May Allah bless us and bless this meeting.
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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