A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmaani ‘r-Raheem.
Nawaytu ‘l-arba`een, nawaytu ‘l-`itikaaf, nawaytu ‘l-khalwah, nawaytu ‘l-`uzlah,
nawaytu ‘r-riyaadah, nawaytu ‘s-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha ‘l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo ‘r-Rasoola wa ooli ‘l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
The head of every meeting is to recite Holy Qur’an. If you begin any work you want to do without reciting, that work has no barakah in it. And not everyone can memorize, but as Prophet (s) said, “Any deed that does not begin with “bismillah” is broken, it has no benefit. So it is important to read Holy Qur’an, and as we said, the top of every advice is Ati`ullaha wa ati`u ‘r-Rasoola wa ooli ‘l-amri minkum, “Obey Allah, obey the Prophet and obey those in authority among you.” (4:59)
Today people are not understanding the basis of moral excellence and they are asking, “What is Sufism?” Today one of Joachim’s questions (at another event) was, “What is Sufism?” I was surprised that very educated people who studied Islam and received degrees from different universities are asking what is Sufism. That means either they don’t know the answer, which is ridiculous, or they are being ironic, as if to say that Sufism is nothing!
But how can you be in Arabic, saafin, crystal pure? How can you become a very purified person, as we say in Arabic, the Sufi is like soofat al-kafa, a sponge. You have to be like a sponge, always soft, not hard. Unfortunately, some people refuse to understand this principle. But the reality is that we have to (be soft), just as Prophet (s) taught his Sahaaba (r) moral excellence, which is the State of Perfection (Maqam al-Ihsan) where Allah (swt) ordered the Prophet (s) to purify his Sahaaba.
And before I continue, since we are all the same, as people are asking (in their hearts), “Why is only this one giving suhbah and not me?” And Allah (swt) said, "وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ - wa fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `aleem, “Above every knower there is a greater knower.” Surat u ‘l- Yusuf (12:76) Above every scholar there is a scholar, and above every PhD there is a PhD, and I am speaking in general. wa fawqa kulli dhi ‘lmin ‘aleem, means above every knower there is someone higher in knowledge.
I was joking before and decided to make a drawing, to pull names to choose someone to give the suhbah, because today many people are saying, “Democracy, democracy, democracy!” So here we have names, and Ahmad Nazim put many names here (in this cap) and it surprised me to have these names. Let me see the names, Sharif, so we will check them now. It is good you didn’t get it. So now I shake them, come Shahzad, pick one; close your eyes and pull one and read the name. (he closes his eyes and pulls out one chit of paper from the cap, and announces the name, “Abdur Rahman.”) There are many Abdur Rahman’s? (There is only one). Ahha, catch him! That means he is the boss of this session. (Mawlana speaks to Abdur Rahman.) So what advice to do you want to give them? You want me to tell them more? You speak. (Abdur Rahman struggles to speak, from shyness.) That means all of you don’t deserve to hear anything, because he cannot speak. Speak!
Abdur Rahman: As-salaamu ‘alaykum, my name is Abdur Rahman. (His speech is inaudible.)
Mawlana: Allahu akbar! See Allah’s Wisdom! What is his profession? Auctioner. Continue.
Abdur Rahman: We are pleased to be here with Allah’s permission and it is very great to meet Shaykh Hisham Kabbani… [again, inaudible]
Mawlana: Come, speak!
Abdur Rahman: Alhamdulillah, I am very grateful to meet you all, Muslim brothers and sisters. And all this with intention of [inaudible]. I hope to come again and again for our sisters and brothers, and many more times to come. I hope everyone here is very happy and shukr alhamdulillah we are just [inaudible]..”
Mawlana: Continue! How many children you have?
Abdur Rahman: Seven: two daughters and five sons.
Mawlana: Are you happy in your life?
Alhamdulillah at this moment.
Mawlana: At this moment. Tell them you are happy.
Abdur Rahman: Of course, I am very happy to meet brothers and sisters here and hope to meet you again and again.
Mawlana: Do you have money?
Abdur Rahman: Money matter is of no matter. What matters is Allah (swt), imaan. Money is just a system to survive.
Mawlana: OK, finished?
Abdur Rahman: I finished.
Mawlana: Speak more.
Abdur Rahman: I am very shukr to Allah (swt) to meet you again, and again in the future inshaa-Allah. Thank you.
This speech of Shaykh Abdur Rahman has to be shown on You Tube and broadcast continuously on Sufilive TV. And how it began, because just now we were saying wa fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `aleem, and yesterday we mentioned the hadith of Prophet (s), Rubba asha`ath aghbar la aqsam `ala Allah la abarrah, “Verily there might be someone you don’t like who looks different than you and to Allah (swt) he is higher than everyone. If he asks something Allah (swt) will accept.” Abdur Rahman is that one, so let’s ask him make du’a for us!
Abdur Rahman: Ameen. Bismillahi’r-Rahmaani’r-Raheem, was-salaat was-salaam ala ashrafil anbiya wal-mursaleen [continues in Bahasa language]. Ameen, ameen. Fatihah.
Read what is written on this chit. How many Abdur Rahman’s you have here? Only one, in all these papers there might be 70 or 80 different names. And might be some people are thinking on all of them is written “Abdur Rahman” and he chose one. You know bad thoughts, rumors. This is a miracle that rarely happens. It is not a miracle that you did something (and this is the result), like someone is sick and you read a du`a on him and he is cured. That is simple for awliyaaullah (to show you), but knowledge is more important.
Allah (swt) said, Wa yadriballahu 'l-amthaala li 'n-naas, “Give people an example from themselves” in their communities. Did anyone expect that they give the name “Abdur Rahman” and Allah (swt) chose him from everyone here? This is Allah’s irada, will. You might see him (Abdur Rahman) on the street and not talk to him. And before we said Wa fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `aleem, and that means there is above every knower another knower. Don’t look at yourself as, “I am the one to be chosen.” That one (Abdur Rahman) has no ego, and Allah (swt) wants him in this forum, not to push him to the back, like those who don’t have money who are thrown away. Those with money or fame, you put them to sit on couches. Is it correct or not?
This one, Abdur Rahman, would you ask him to sit on a couch or leave him on the floor? Tell the truth. You would leave him on the floor. But Allah (swt) wants to make a lesson for us and raised him up. I was in a Mawlid an-Nabi conference in California and there were 2000 attendees. You can see it in the Sufilive.com archive. I was there to give speech and the chairman of the mosque said, “We are offering Qur’an to one person.” And he asked me to pick one name and that person will receive a fancy, golden Qur’an. Everyone wrote their name, address, email, and there they mixed it in a basket and after I spoke they said, “Pick one.” I said, “Inshaa-Allah that Qur’an will go to the one who most deserves it,” the one who is most in need for it. There were 2000 people, 2000 names. I picked one and read the name, is it possible? I don’t know the person, but it is not a Muslim name and his religion is not Islam I was so surprised.
We called him to the stage and that man came limping. From his clothes you can say that he is not rich. Many poor persons, but he is not Muslim. The Qur’an didn’t go to a Muslim, it went to a non-Muslim! Because who is in need for the Holy Qur’an the most? For Muslims, thousands of Qur’ans are sitting in cabinets in their homes. That person, his name was John, strange name. You remember him, Ali? (Yes). He came crying. He said, “I heard about this meeting. I was coming forward and backward. I was debating, should I go or not? And I asked my Lord to show me a sign if I should accept Islam or not.” So he got that Qur’an and he took shahada. Allah (swt) shows His will to whom He likes. Don’t give too much importance to yourself, wa la tuzakoo anfusakum. You must be in the eyes of yourself, that you are the lowest one.
الَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَائِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَالْفَوَاحِشَ إِلَّا اللَّمَمَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَاسِعُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنفُسَكُمْ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَى
Those who avoid the cardinal sins and lewdness, except that they approached it and refrained; indeed your Lord’s mercy is limitless. He knows you very well since He has created you from clay, and when you were fetuses in your mothers’ wombs. Therefore do not, on your own, claim yourselves to be clean (for) He knows well who are the pious. (Suratu ‘l-Najm 53:32)
Don’t say, “I am a president,” or “I am a boss of this and that.” You cannot say that. Allah (swt) will take it in one second. How many kings died? What did they take with them? Nothing, except a just king, sultan adil, who prays all the time and takes care of his citizens, and whose reputation is good. That is what you take with you, that is what every king takes: their reputation. So if they are a good one, they pray for him to have long life and if there is a tyrant they ask Allah (swt) to take him quickly.
Allah (swt) sends His signs in this life and this one, Abdur Rahman, came two days ago and today he sat on the side. And my eyes were struck as Mawlana Shaykh Nazim was telling me, “Look at him well.” And I never expected his name to be chosen; that is to show us. Allah (swt) looks at all in the same way. Laa farq bayn `arabiyan wa laa `ajamiyyan illa bi 't-taqwa, “There is no difference between people except in taqwa; people are equal like the teeth of a comb.”
And he might be living in a small house with his seven children and for him it is like he is living in a palace, and people living in a palace are not content.
Mawlana: What happened to your hand?
Abdur Rahman: It is natural.
Allah (swt) wanted him to be like that. Allah (swt) wants us not to be tyrants. Don’t say, “I am president,” or “I am a businessman” or “I am a shaykh,” or, “I am a professor.” Look at yourself as the lowest. What did the Prophet (s) say? Allah (swt) took him in Isra wal-Mi`raj. Allah (swt) said to him, “Say to them yaa Muhammad (s), ‘I am only a human being like you.’” But Prophet (s) is not like us. He is lowering himself to show his humbleness. He (s) said, “Yaa Rabbee, you took me to Mi`raj and still I know nothing and You know everything.”
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاء رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا
Say: I am only a mortal like you. My Lord inspires in me that your God is only One God. And whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous work, and make none a sharer in the worship due unto his Lord. (Surat al-Kahf 18:110)
O brothers and sisters in this part of the world, in Malaysia, you must be happy that Allah (swt) has given you a good country. Other people are having problems in their countries and you don’t have those problems; only you have problems between politicians and politicians are main cause of every sickness, because they all want to pull the carpet to themselves and they don’t surrender to Allah (swt). We are happy we are not politicians, and we don’t want to be politicians! Don’t ask for a chair, because when you have chair it is glued to you and you will never leave it. Be a sheep, not the shepherd, or Shaytan will play with you. A shepherd has to take care of everything but a sheep has no responsibility. Be a sheep in the way of Allah (swt), then Prophet (s) will carry you. He is a shepherd of the Ummah; he is the leader and prophet of the Ummah. Be a sheep, don’t push to be a shepherd as there is only one shepherd, and that is Sayyidina Muhammad (s).
But a shepherd has helpers, the awliyaullah, who help to guide us to Prophet (s). I saw another question in that list, “Who can be a guide?” Who is a murshid, a scholar or not? O stupid! The Prophet (s) was the Seal of Messengers and he showed us he needs a guide. He didn’t say, “I don’t want a guide.” This is a lesson for us! He is the Seal of Messengers, who 1400 years ago predicted and mentioned all the sciences they are discovering today. But he said, “I need a guide.” And he needed a guide when he was migrating from Mecca to Madinah; he didn’t go with Sayyidina Abu Bakr (q) alone. He said, “Without a guide we will be lost in this desert.” So Sayyid ar-Rasul, the master of messengers and the last prophet said, “I need a guide.”
So, we don’t need a guide? For dunya matters you need a guide. For akhira matters, which one is far more difficult that you need a guide? For akhira Prophet (s) took Sayyidina Jibreel (a) as a guide (during Laylat al-Isra wal Mir`aj). Why can’t Prophet (s) go by himself? He went by himself when Jibreel (a) said, “Beyond this point I cannot continue,” and Prophet (s) went forward. He was not able to come all the way to the presence of Allah (swt), but he wants us to learn to show humbleness, to show that we don’t know everything.
Show me one person living in dunya who knows everything. No one does, not even awliyaullah, because if they
know everything, that is only for Prophet (s) to know everything. Their knowledge is only a drop from Prophet’s ocean of knowledge. wa fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `aleem, “For every knower there is someone who knows more. Knowledge never ends. Whatever level a wali reaches he must still say, “I am a student.” He cannot think he is the highest knower or Allah (swt) will throw him out. Our example is every day when Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) says, “I am a weak servant.” Can any king, president, or minister publicly say, “I am a weak.” If he says, “I am a weak president,” they will throw him out. Can he say, “I am weak servant”?
أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُواْ يُدْرِككُّمُ الْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِي بُرُوجٍ مُّشَيَّدَةٍ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ حَسَنَةٌ يَقُولُواْ هَـذِهِ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَقُولُواْ هَـذِهِ مِنْ عِندِكَ قُلْ كُلًّ مِّنْ عِندِ اللّهِ فَمَا لِهَـؤُلاء الْقَوْمِ لاَ يَكَادُونَ يَفْقَهُونَ حَدِيثًا
Wherever you are, death will overtake you, though you are in towers, raised high. And if good befalls them, they say: This is from Allah; and if a misfortune befalls them, they say: This is from thee. Say: All is from Allah. But what is the matter with these people that they make no effort to understand anything? (Surat an-Nisa 4:78)
If you are powerful and you have so much under your authority, why are you afraid someone will kill you? They have a ninja security detail from this side, cars in front and back, and a helicopter on top. They also have metal detectors around them, with security guards on the roadside, and road blocks! Did Sayyidina `Umar (a) block the roads? Sayyidina Khalid ibn al-Waleed (r) didn’t die on the battlefield. He had 101 wounds on his body from battle, any one of which could have killed him, but he died in his bed. Why? He had intense love for Sayyidina Muhammad (s). What is that love? When they shaved the Prophet’s head in the Last Hajj and Sayyida Umm Salama distributed it to the Sahaaba (r), and out of his love Sayyidina Khalid (r) put some (according to some narrators) in his sleeves and in his turban. No one knew he put Prophet’s hair in his sleeves and turban; when he died they found it, but he kept that love to himself. So Allah (swt) will protect you when you love Him and love His Prophet (s). Don’t feel any kind of fear because Allah (swt) will protect you from everything!
Our house in Beirut burned completely in the war of 1975. By Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s order we moved to Tripoli, another city in Lebanon. There we experienced rockets flying day and night, bombarding from the city. Two groups were bombarding each other and we are in the middle; from this side bombs and from that side bombs. They showered the area with bombs and rockets, every rocket is 500 lb. and it comes on buildings and brings six, seven floors down each time. Every area around us was coming down except our building was still standing, and we were there. When Allah (swt) wants to protect, He protects! He doesn’t say, “This is a rich one,” or “This is a poor one.” When you submit to Allah’s wishes, you are safe. We reached a level where we were not able to sleep without hearing bombs. Really! We could not sleep until we heard the rockets and the machine guns! (Mawlana and Hajjah Naziha laugh.) (We thought,) “Now we can sleep,” because it meant they (the warring factions) began a new chapter! (laughter)
Until today if someone slams a door I am startled, because when you hear a bomb your heart cracks. And those were special bombs that are forbidden, but they were using them. We went through is so much, but what Allah (swt) wants to protect, He protects. I remember we had to drive with rocket shells coming down, and had to return home, and we saw behind us a car was hit and the bombshells falling on children, and yet we were protected. What is the problem if you die go to Paradise? If the moment death approaches you, nothing will save you.
أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُواْ يُدْرِككُّمُ الْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِي بُرُوجٍ مُّشَيَّدَةٍ
aynamaa takoonoo yudrikakumu 'l-mawt wa law kuntum fee burujin mushayada - Your death will reach you even if you are in tall towers.
فإِذَا جَاء أَجَلُهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلاَ يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ
Fa idhaa ja’a ajalahum la yastaakhiroona sa`atan wa yastaqdimoon - You cannot move your time of death forward or back. (16:61 )
You cannot prevent death, even if you are hiding behind big fences or security; if it is written for you to die, you will die.
So our duty is to submit and Allah (swt) will protect. If there is no submission to Allah’s will, it means we are rejecting Islam, because Islam is submission, to surrender to Your Lord. What is surrender? To give yourself up. Like Sahaaba (r) surrendered to Allah (swt) and his Prophet (s). That is why in Holy Qur’an for the three men who didn’t go where Prophet (s) ordered them (in battle), when he came back from his mission he didn’t talk to them. They were so sad that Prophet (s) didn’t talk to them! They stayed back because they didn’t have something to go with for war, not because they wanted to stay back. If your son doesn’t talk to you, don’t you get sad? They call it modernity, civilization. This is civilization? This is nakedness; this is abnormal!
What did Allah (swt) do when they were crying? Prophet didn’t talk to them until Jibreel (a) came with the verse.
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
“wa law annahum idh dhalamoo anfusahum jaaooka f'astaghfaroo Allaha w 'astaghfara lahumu 'r-rasoolu la-wajadoollaha tawwaaban raheema - Say to them, yaa Muhammad (s), if they were oppressors to themselves come unto thee and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (4:64)
When they were oppressors to themselves they were sad, but Allah (swt) gave them a way out of it. “They come to you, O Prophet (s) and ask your forgiveness and you ask forgiveness from Allah (swt) on their behalf.” And Allah (swt) revealed another ayah concerning that:
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ صَلاَتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَّهُمْ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Khudh min 'amwalihim sadaqatan tutahhiruhum. Wa tuzakkihim biha wa salli `alayhim. Inna salataka sakanun lahum wa Allahu Sami`un `Alim.
Of their goods take alms that so you may purify and sanctify them, and pray on their behalf. Verily your prayers are a source of security for them, and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (9:103)
"Take from them a donation, by force.” Today if you ask politely they don’t give, because you are polite. Don’t be polite: force them to pay because you relieve them from problems. Allah (swt) said khudh (take!) from their wealth sadaqa to clean them. And when you clean them, then you purify them, and then you pray on them. At that time you open for them the way, as the prayer is tranquility for them. How much did Prophet (s) take from them? Not 2.5% as they say zakat is today. Yes, zakat is 2.5% of your wealth, but he took one-third of their wealth.
So today we are in need for that. That is why we mentioned about the guide. We cannot guide ourselves. These patients, 14 of them they can do it by themselves or they need doctor. Not every doctor even, your brother is a doctor also. But this is his specialty and you cannot do what he does. So a guide is not like a scholar. A scholar can do something and a guide can do something else. A scholar can guide through books and a murshid can guide through his heart. A scholar guide you through with car but a murshid can guide you with a rocket; he is more advanced. One has the same ability as the other but is faster. The real murshid can take you in the blink of an eye, and the evidence, as always they say “show us evidence”.
In 1996 we had the 1st International Islamic Unity Conference in Los Angeles, and two scholars from Egypt arrived ten days early, Shaykh Ahmad al-Amir and Shaykh al-Buhayri.
(end of transmission)