Suhbat
Shaykh Muhammad (s) Hisham Kabbani
09-27-2007
Audhu billah min ash-shaytan ir-rajeem
Bismillahi 'r-Rahman i'r-Raheem
Nawaytu al-arba`een nawaytu al-`itikaaf nawaytu al-khalwah nawaytu al-riyadah nawaytu al-sulook lillahi ta`ala al-`adheem fee hadha al-masjid
Rahmatullah wasi`atun – Allah’s mercy is vast, wasi`at kulla shayin fee ad-dunya wal-akhira. It encompasses everything in dunya and akhira.
As we explained in previous session, everyone … wa rahmatee wasi`at kullu shay - His mercy has encompassed everything means that nothing will be out of it. It means that whatever Allah swt has created is under Allah’s mercy. So it means that there is a mercy on earth, which I think the smallest planet in this universe. Every other planet is bigger than the earth. With planet that is the smallest receives mercy, means that everything in the universe receives mercy and when you say rahmatullah ala khalqihi, Allah’s mercy upon his creation it means there must be a creation in order to receive the mercy. Since that is one of Allah’s attributes, ar-Rahman ir-raheem, so his mercy is from pre-eternal to post-eternal, never disappearing. So it means under it falls any creation. And that means that creation must be not without life, but it must be living. So it means as we said in the previous session, that there are creations that we don’t know, that Jibreel as was telling Khidr that in this vast desert of crystals there was one tree and one green bird, picking up a crystal going up tree, eating the crystal and then going down, picking another one… and he said this green bird symbolizes the Prophet and each crystal symbolizes a creation a universe and the Prophet is prophet to each of these creations.
So that mercy covers whatever is being created, anything that appears from the attribute of al-Khaliq, has mercy manifesting itself on that creation. That Is why if you are asked since when are you a Muslim, you answer since the Day of Promises, alastu bi-rabbikum. When you are on that day and you declared to Allah “O Allah you are my lord and I am your servant.” It means from that moment you came under that mercy. And what is the effect of that mercy? It is for faith, imaan to be planted in hour heart.
And that is why when Allah asked the souls in His divine presence, “who are you?” and we said, “You are our lord and we are Your servants.” From that time and day we were believers, mu’min. And then we came to dunya and we forgot it.
And then the question comes, if someone generous gives you something does he take it back? No even if a generous person fights with you then he still doesn’t take back what he gave you. So what then you think about the One who created generosity? If He gave something will He take it back? So that light is in the heart of ? [human beings] say! [all humans]
So all humans, no one has been left. That is the hadith of the prophet, yulid al-insaanu ala al-fitra -The human being is born on Iman.” Then he continued the hadith “either his parents make him Jew or Zoroastrian or Christian.” He didn’t say “they make him Muslim” because he is already granted faith. That is why when people say in the west, “we are not converts, we are reverts.” Because we are back to our origin, that is a correct word. Because imaan is a heavenly grant. When a heavenly grant comes no one can take it back. That is there but the problem is our character. It is blocking it to appear. that is why reverts say “don’t tell we were converts, we were not something else and we came to be Muslim. That light was there and we brought it back.”
Like when we have a stone, we explained yesterday and you want to get the diamond from it. What do you do? You have to crack it, else you cannot get the diamond from inside. Butt he cracking has to be professional not everyone can crack a diamond. That is why you have to come against some mureeds in order to come against their bad character and behavior in order to bring the diamond out.
So these reverts they cracked already these stones thrown into their hearts and they made like a shrine? Shroud? Wrapping around that imaan in the heart. So when you need it what do you do? You take the shroud back or cut it with the scissor. Like the silkworm? What does it make after it becomes a worm? [butterfly] it makes a cocoon, sharnaqa in Arabic. What do you need to do to come out? To open it, crack it and for it to come out, and that butterfly it doesn’t come out, it lays thousands of eggs. What happens to the eggs later? Butterfly lays eggs, and what happens to them? More worms! Simple. So when that Iman these obstacles or that shell that cocoon that was made around the Iman, you need to crack it and when it comes out it flourishes it and from its light it reflects over a lot of people that are around as if that Iman lays eggs on everyone and everyone begins to benefit from these reflections of that Iman and these people begin to change. That is hwy it is very important to be diplomat of what you believe int. not to sit day and night and what are you doing? Nothing. I asked this what time you go to work? 11. why 11? If you are doing something for Allah it doesn’t mean you have to go lazy to work. This is voluntary worship, you have to do it on time. Else you are responsible on Judgment Day that you have stolen from your work. 8 in the usual western work. 8 in western but in tariqah it is 16 hrs. they keep working. So you have to wake 8 hours. We are joking. But you are not working 8 hrs. you are wasting 2 or 3 hrs a day. Who is responsible? You are. When the employee you they told you and you agreed 8 hrs. when you are not dong 8 hrs it means you are cheating and you are going to be responsible.
So that diamond gives lights. They will be affecting the people around you like oasis in the desert. What will people do ? in previous times they run to put their tents there in order to benefit from the oasis.
So on the day of promises we said yes you are our lord, when we were asked. So that Iman has been granted. Some people, they have been ordered to promote that Iman because that cocoon has been cracked. Some have cocoon and they have to crack that cocoon. These are the reverts. Who did that cocoon. Their parent who raised them in a dif. Way. Or wherever they were environment Or culture that raised them in diff. way. So these people are not able to declare it until they crack it and com out. And these people will be given double reward. Why? Because prophet said, “Islam yajib ma qablahu - Islam erases what came before.” They must be happy that Allah gave them that chance, at that age, whatever age 25, 30, or whatever age, that is gone, that unbelief. But for us it is not gone.
I told you that story of the one in California, 95 years of age. Came 1st week, 2nd week attending suhbat. And 3rd week came and said, I want to take shahada and baya. Then next week he didn’t come. We sent someone to see what happened; he had died. He was a lucky one.
But not everyone gets that chance. Therefore hurry up, crack your cocoon. That one was lucky at 95 years of age.
So those who didn’t crack their cocoon in life, what will happen to them? Those who didn’t revert. Iman is there, as the hadith of an-Nabi. They are born on faith and that innocence is there. So what will happen to them at the moment of death? Because at that moment it is finished. madhaa yajree fee sa`at al-intiqaal bayna al abdu wa rabbihi.
What will happen in the hour of death when the servant is transported to his lord? Doe we know? Does anyone know? No. we know that person when he was created there was innocence Iman and that the environment Around him changed him, raised him differently. But that Iman is there in that cocoon. What is between the abd and his lord we don’t know. He said, then Iman attracts sa`adat, happiness, like a magnet. So the magnet attracts anything metal but it doesn’t attract anything that is not metal, huh? So Iman attract happiness. When there is no obstacle or barrier, if you put the magnet and there is a barrier it cannot get the nail because the barrier is thick. But if no barrier the nail comes quickly. So Iman Is magnet for happiness. Btu when there is a barrier, like the cocoon then the magnet cannot pull it until that barrier is taken away. So will that barrier be taken away and who will take it away. We don’t know. So that Iman Is there and it is read to be pulled out and so if Allah takes that barrier what will happen? Immediately sa`adat will come and be attracted there.
So what was first thing created? It was the light of Muhammad (s). then he said, I was prophet when Adam between clay and water. Then that light passed to Adam and Allah ordered the angles to make sajda, for that light. Then he came to this life and when he was born he said, my nation and when he was passing he was saying it and on Judgment Day he is saying it. And so with his concern for each person of his Ummah don’t you think he will be there at the moment of his death. This one is from my Ummah, give him to me.
So Allah is Kareem. He gave him shafa`a. He says, go ahead Ya Muhammad (s), take him out.
So these days if a president goes to a place for execution. They prepare to execute a person. What do they use? Lethal injection? And suddenly the president appears and says, stop, release him, can anyone say no? no, no one can say no. that one will be released. What do you think about sultan of sultans. That no sultan can be in his presence even an ant. Even huge sultan cannot be an ant in the presence of allah. If Allah wants to send someone to paradise can anyone say no. that is why he said, Shariah-wise it is not acceptable to say this person died on other than Islam. On a non-Muslim, he died… we don’t know. You cannot judge people how they died and what kind of religion they died on – it is between Allah and his servant swt.
I told you the story of the monks in Damascus. Grandshaykh used to say there are 40 priests, monks, in Damascus. They are related to Vatican. He said, 40 priests came to me and reverted. And I always want to see one of them, thinking, thinking. So one day Shaykh Nazim told me come. He didn’t say this is why I am taking you. He took me to downtown and there is closed market there, about 2 miles of covered.
So we went there and a priest was coming and the have something like turban on their heads. So we entered the same store, and we didn’t see the priest. And we went in and they told Mawlana shaykh come. And we went in a back room and they were talking and Mawlana said, that is one of them. That teaches us to not judge people. We have no right to judge anyone.
Allah created creation with His mercy. And he raised them up with his mercy. And he favored them, poured on them all kinds of happiness and all kinds of favors - subba alayhim. That takes him to Paradise. That is one of the favors that Allah is sending him to paradise. And that is way he said, Allah gave from his favors something and poured on him from the beauty of paradise and gave him happiness from dunya and akhira. And from that we can conclude that if everyone has been given something we can conclude that paradise has levels. For those who are worshipping, for those who are half worshipping, for those who are not worshipping. Allah gave them paradise because they believe in Allah and His prophet. So whoever says la ilaha ill-Allah enters paradise. If someone said, la ilaha ill-Allah muhammadun Rasulullah you cannot he will not enter paradise. But there are levels in paradise. You don’t want to be in paradise and not with the prophet. If you are in the normal paradise you are eating soup. If you are higher you will be vegetarian. If you are higher you will be eating [meat] . no. you will be eating angelic heavenly food. Meat is for dunya, meat. But there - there is heavenly food that you never imagined. One bite you put in your mouth it glows. Wherever it is moving in it glows. You know x-rays. You put person in x-ray, you can see. From that food you can see all a person’s system and it is heavenly done, now, everything is decorated with heavenly touch in his or her system. That is lowest meaning you can speak.
Grandshaykh was describing that one hhur al-`ayn that Allah gave to mu’min on Judgment Day if one of this hur al-`ayn, would show her finger, the one piece of it, not all three, the whole dunya would faint from the beauty of her finger and the smell of her finger. The whole world will faint from being drunk with that.
So in paradise you will not be given one finger, you will be given the whole. So we cannot imagine that beauty. And Jannat al-awwaam we are not asking. We are asking maq`ad sidqin inda maleekin Muqatadir. The normal heaven is like someone coming to a village he doesn’t have a house. So what he does/ and the whole village empty no one there. But is a village. So what you do? You lay down on the floor. You lay on the dirt. That is the Jannat al-awwaam compared to the other paradises. Everyone homeless no palace goes there. You don’t want that. You want to go to a paradise that is full of decorations and heavenly power. That is on given to the one whose cocoon has been cracked and that magnet of faith will attract to you.
Then we will discuss the difference between Jannat as-suwariyya and Jannat al-haqiqiyya. Real paradise and the image one, the photocopy which is not the real one. It is a copy of it but everything is not real as the other one, it is a reflection of the real, and you need the real one, not the reflection . we will explain that next time.
Wa min Allah at-tawfiq bi hurmatil Fatiha.