Suhbah at Baytullah al-Ihsan Masjid
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluh. Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.
Alhamdulillah `ala ni`amihi allatee laa tuhsaa wa nashkuruhu `ala karamihi alladhee laa tuhsa wa naqool alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, wa naqoola ash-shukrulillah, ash-shukrulillah, ash-shukrulillah, wa ash-hadu laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasoolullah.
O Honored Believers! We are here by the barakah of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and the bounty of Allah (swt), seeking His guidance. Whoever is guided there is none to misguide them, and whoever is misguided there is none to guide. We thank Allah that He created us as Muslims and favored us by the barakah of the Prophet (s). Yaa Rasoolullah, yaa Rahmatan lil-`alameen! We are at your service! O Allah! We believe in You with no partner, and in Your angels, Your books, Your prophets, and the Last Day! O Allah! Accept us! Yaa Allah! Enter us in Paradise with no account!
O Muslims and Believers! I have been coming here two-to-three times each year now and it is a great honor for me and Shaykh Mustafa to see your illuminated faces. These souls were gathered like battalions and those who know each other in this life were the ones together in akhirah, where we all said shahadah in the Divine Presence, and the proof is the following verse:
وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى شَهِدْنَا أَن تَقُولُواْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِين
wa ashhadahum `ala anfusihim alastu birabbikum qaloo bala shahidna an taqooloo yawma al-qiyamati inna kunna `an hadha ghafileena.
Am I not your Lord (Who cherishes and sustains you)? They said, ‘Yes! We do testify!’ (al-A`raf, 7:172)
What is the best place in the whole world to pray? It is where Allah (swt) said to us, “When you want to pray, face Ka`batullah in Mecca.” Allah called Ka`ba “Baytullah,” The House of Allah. When you pray there, you are praying in His House. One salaat there is equal to 100,000 salaat. For example, if you pray Fajr there, it is as if you prayed 100,000 Fajr prayers, if you pray Zhuhr, it is as if you prayed 100,000 Zhuhr prayers, and it is the same for the other prayers. That means Allah (swt) will write for you 100,000 prayers for every prayer you pray in Mecca and Madinah. So that is why it is important for people to pray in Haram al-Mecca and Haram al-Madina, it will save them from Hellfire and take them to Paradise.
Let us make a calculation: if you lived for 100 years and made all your prayers, in 100 years you would have made 180,000 prayers. Imagine, Allah (swt) rewards you with 100,000 prayers for just one prayer in Mecca! That doesn't mean you do not have to makeup your missed prayers; you must, it is an obligation, but Allah’s rewards are unlimited!
A student of university or school takes an exam and at the end of the year and is given a certificate that he was successful and he gets a passing grade and the student cries tears of joy!. Similarly, we also should cry tears of joy because of what Allah (swt) is giving us of rewards, all because of our beloved Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! These are the rewards for Allah’s (swt) House, the real house is Bayt al-Maa’moor in the Fourth Paradise.
(On the other hand) every masjid is Baytullah.
فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ
Fee buyootin adhinaallahu an turfa`a wa yudhkkara feehaa ’smuhu yusabbihu lahyou feehaa bi ’l-ghudoowwi wa ’l-aasaal.
(Lit is such a Light) in houses that Allah permitted to be raised to honor (and) for the celebration in them of His Name. In them is He glorified in the mornings and in the evenings, (again and again). (al-Nour, 24:36)
Every masjid is Baytullah, so you are coming to Allah's House and don’t think you are not getting rewards. No matter who speaks, your presence in the masjid is what brings the rewards. Allah (swt) has ordered His Name to be raised up, and today we are coming to a masjid and by His will, Allah (swt) made it into a masjid in which His Name is raised up and remembered. It means Allah made this mosque from the Day of Promises to be one to which people will come and remember His Name.
All these cameras are recording everything. If you come back tomorrow, these cameras will show you everything that happened here today. If you come back a year later, they will show you all the people who attended the program today. And if you come back 100 years later, you will be able to see the same people who are sitting here today. Every masjid and every house has a heavenly camera that can show who was sitting in this place and what they were doing at that moment: praying, listening to a suhbat, or doing dhikr. Every masjid will come to the presence of Allah (swt) on the Day of Judgment and say, “I bear witness these people were saying, ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah.’” If these cameras can do that, do you think Allah's camera cannot?
O Muslims! It is said that in every country there is a parliament where the members and prime minister are elected by the people; that is a dunya parliament. This is Akhirah parliament, we are members of Muhammad (s)! We want akhirah, not dunya!
Allah (swt) invited His Prophet (s) for Mi`raaj. Did we go for Mi`raaj? Yes, we did! We are in crowds, we go wherever our Prophet (s) goes! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Wherever Muhammad (s) Sayyid ar-Rasool, Sayyid al-Bashar goes, we go with him; he will not leave anyone behind! If a husband and wife have ten small children, will the children be by themselves or will they follow their parents? We are the children of the Prophet (s) whom Allah honored by making us from his ummah. Therefore, you must cry from happiness. Make the tears flow from your eyes, move your hearts! One tear of a mu’min will bring Hellfire down! By Allah's Order when Prophet (s) visited, Allah (swt) sent him to see the people of Hellfire. As soon as he entered, the Fire came down to the temperature of a bathroom.
A man came to the Prophet (s) and said, “When is Judgment Day?” Prophet (s) asked him, “What have you prepared for that day?” He replied, “I did not prepare much of good deeds but I love Allah and I love His Prophet.” The Prophet (s) answered, “Go, you are with the one you love.” The love of Muhammad (s) will save us from the Fire.
I will tell you a story that I mentioned fifteen years ago in Shaykh Mustafa’s house. Muhyideen ibn `Arabi (q), one of the biggest Sufi saints who passed away 800 years ago, said, “When Allah (swt) invited the Prophet (s) for Mi`raaj, He ordered Jibreel (a) to go to a Paradise called ‘Jannat al-Buraaq’ and bring the buraaq to the Prophet (s) as his heavenly stead. When Jibreel (a) went to that Paradise, he didn't see one buraaq, but he saw an infinite number. That Paradise was full of them and he had to take just one and go to the Prophet (s). He began to search for the fortunate buraaq that would become Prophet’s (s) heavenly stead. They all looked the same, heavenly and pure, making beautiful salawaat as Allah (swt) ordered:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
inna-Llaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabi, yaa ayyuhal-ladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was sallimoo tasleemaa.
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him. (al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)
The buraaq are angels in the shape of a buraaq. Salloo `ala an-Nabi! Salloo `alayh! Praise the Prophet (s), one salawaat is enough to take you to Paradise! Muhyideen ibn `Arabi (q) continued, “Jibreel (a) kept looking for a buraaq to choose. Still undecided, he saw one buraaq standing by itself very far away from the others, whose tears flowed like a river.
Jibreel (a) approached it and said, ‘All the other buraaqs are praising the Prophet (s). Why are you here by yourself and what made you to cry?’ That buraq answered, ‘When Allah (swt) created us and informed us that one of us is going to bring Muhammad (s), from that day my heart is burning for the love of the Prophet (s) and I am asking to be the one that brings him to Paradise! I have been crying since that day!’ Jibreel (a) said, ‘You are the one I am taking.’ At that moment, he stopped crying out of happiness that he is going to bring Sayyidina Muhammad (s).”
O Muslims! Open your eyes. Did you see Muhammad (s)? If not, then do you want to see him? Make one tear come from your eyes! It is enough to show Allah that you love Muhammad (s)! Go to your homes when everyone is asleep and sit in the corner of the room with no light, make salawaat on Muhammad (s) and say, “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, innee uhibuk! Yaa Rasoolullah adriknee! Yaa Rasoolullah, sallaAllahu `alayk wa sallam!” And find yourself crying and crying! Keep crying until rivers of tears are coming from your eyes. That is a sign that Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is looking at you. Because in the qasa`id we say, “Nazhra yaa Rasoolullah, adrikna yaa Rasoolullah!” Say, “Unzhur lanaa yaa Rasoolullah, nazhran minka yaa Rasoolullah, tutahhiru bihaa quloobaana, adriknaa yaa Rasoolullah! Yaa Sayyid al-Bashar, yaa Habeebullah!” You will feel his presence. As soon as these tears come, it means the Prophet (s) is looking, as he said, “I see what my ummah is doing, I observe them.” Try and you will be with the Prophet (s).
Why did Allah (swt) order Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) to slaughter Sayyidina Isma`eel (a)? Allah said, “Sacrifice him for Me.” Ibrahim (a) thought it might have been a wrong vision. Then another time he had the same vision, “Go and sacrifice Isma`eel.” So Ibrahim (a) said to his son, “We are going out to play,” and took him to the mountains. He placed him on a big stone and covered his eyes.
Isma`eel (a) asked, “O my father, why are you covering my eyes?”
Ibrahim (a) replied, “Because we are playing.” His heart was crying for the love of his son. He could not bear to see his son looking at him while he cuts his throat.
Isma`eel (a) said, “O my father, I smell meat. What is that flesh I am smelling?” That was the heart of Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) burning!
He said, “Yaa abataa, do hukumullah, follow Allah's orders. Don’t think that I don’t know. I am ready, cut my throat. There is no need to close my eyes. I am happy with what Allah wants, cut my throat!”
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) put the knife to his son’s throat and was crying out of love for his son, his flesh smelling like barbecue meat. He put the knife on his throat and recited, “Bismillah, Allahu Akbar,” and cut! His son’s throat was not cut, but the heart of Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) was cut. So he placed the knife on his son's throat a second time but still, the knife would not cut. He tried a third time and still it would not cut.
Then he said, “O knife! Why are you not cutting?”
The knife said, “O Ibrahim! I am obeying Allah's order not to cut and I obeyed from the first time, but you did not! You waited to see the vision three times before you obeyed!”
So why did Allah (swt) order Ibrahim (a) to sacrifice Isma`eel (a)? Because Allah does not like anyone of His servants to love anyone more than Him or share their love with Him. Allah la shareeka lahoo, you cannot put your children inside your heart together with Allah (swt). You have to choose: your children or Allah. Do you want your children? Look at the story of Sayyidina Isma`eel (a). Allah wants you to put only Himself in your heart.
ما وسعني أرضي ولا سمائي ولكن وسعني قلب عبدي المؤمن
ma wasi'atni samawaati wala `ardhi walakin wasi'ani qalba `abdee al-mu'min.
Neither My Heavens nor My Earth contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant contains Me. (Hadeeth Qudsee)
When we put Allah's love and Prophet’s (s) love in our heart, then we will be able to fly, but when we share our love of dunya in our heart with love to Allah, we cannot fly. Today a qasidah was recited in which the last verse read, qata`tu kabadee, “I have cut my liver into very small pieces to make it a rope in order for me to reach the love of Muhammad (s)!” These are the ones we need to follow, Allah’s pious and sincere servants. May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.