Centre for Spiritual & Cultural Advancement (CSCA)
Isra wa ‘l-Mi`raaj is still going on until today as Allah (swt) wants to compensate Prophet (s) with the best reward, bringing him closer, closer, closer and ascending higher, ascending, ascending, never stopping, but as-saahib laa yarda illa bi ‘s-saahibi , the Saahib, companion, doesn’t like to be except with his companion, you cannot separate them to be away from each other. That’s why Allah described Abu Bakr (r) and his relationship with Muhammad (s) in the Qur’an, “Don’t be sad!” He was crying and Prophet Muhammad (s) asked him, “Why are you sad?” when they hid in the cave of Thawr. He knew why, as Allah taught the Prophet (s) `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ’l-Akhireen, Knowledges of Before and After, so he knew why Abu Bakr (r) was crying, but he was showing humbleness, how our relations toward each other should be. Abu Bakr (r) was only happy when seeing Muhammad (s); we also wish to see him, we wish to be with him.
So Abu Bakr’s head was on the Prophet’s (s) lap and he was crying. There was a hole in the wall of the cave and there was an animal, a snake, and Abu Bakr (r) had his foot over the hole because he was afraid the snake would harm Prophet (s), and the snake was eating his foot and he was crying.
Allah (swt) sent Jibreel (a) with a Revelation to Prophet (s), “Tell your companion, ‘Allah is with us, don’t worry.’” Abu Bakr (r) said, “I am not crying in pain; no, it’s because of love to you and that I don’t want any harm to come to you.” Even if the snake had eaten his whole leg...look at his relation to Prophet (s).
وإعلموا أن فيكم رسول الله
And know Allah's Messenger is in you. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:7)
Prophet (s) is in you, among you, he is always crying for you! We are forgetting things. Always Prophet (s) is among you. So Abu Bakr’s pain was nothing compared to the pain he would feel if anything happened to Prophet (s). If you do something nice Allah gives you ten rewards. They were in the desert, it was the Year of Tribulations. After trials and tribulations, Allah told the Prophet (s), “Don’t look at these things they have done to you, Allah wants to compensate you, come to Me!” Who else has that luck except Prophet (s)?
The Real Leader doesn’t accept only himself to be a leader, he wants his Family to be with him and a prophet wants his Ummah to be with him. A leader or a father cannot leave his children alone and say, “I am going by myself.” He will carry his children even before he moves. So Allah (swt) gave his Ummah an Ascension and this is the Night of Ascension.
Grandshaykh, Sayyidi Shaykh `Abd Allah Fa’iz ad-Daghestani, may Allah bless his soul, mentioned that verse of The Burdah: “Bushraa lanaa yaa ma`shara ‘l-islami, Good tidings to us, O the whole Muslim Ummah, inna lanaa min al-inaayati, we have from Allah’s Care, ruknan ghayra munhadimi, a pole that you lay your back on, never broken!” It means we are leaning totally, spiritually and physically, outwardly and inwardly on Prophet (s) and he will not leave us. “Bushraa lanaa ma`shara ’l-insaani inna lanaa min al-inaayati ruknan ghayra bi munfasimi, “Allah gave us good care to lean on Prophet (s) with all our helplessness and weakness and badness,” standing in front of the Prophet (s) who is still welcoming us, not saying, “No,” as he said:
قال رسول الله ص حياتي خير لكم تحدثون ويحدث لكم ومماتي خير لكم تعرض علي أعمال لكم فإن وجدت خيراً حمدت الله وما وجدت غير ذلك استغفرت لكم.
My life is a great good for you: you relate from it and narrations are related to you. And my death contains good for you as well, for I observe the `amal of my Ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see other than that, bad, I ask forgiveness for you. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
We are the Ummah that has already been forgiven! Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, “We were forgiven before we were created!” Allah knows, His knowledge to Himself; no one knows the Unseen except Allah. Only Allah can see what He is giving you, we cannot see that because we are helpless and we cannot carry the load.
نَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَن يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنسَانُ
إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا
We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains, but they refused to undertake it, being afraid, but Man undertook it! He proved to be a tyrant and a fool.
(Surat al-Ahzaab, 33:72)
Why did Allah say, “To the Heavens, Earth and Mountains.” It means He offered it to those who are in Heavens, the angels, and also to those who are other than angels on Earth, then to the mountains, meaning the Awliyaullah, and they all refused, saying, “Yaa Rabbee, we cannot carry, it is too much.” Unfortunately, as Allah continued revealing, human beings ran after it saying, “I will take it, I will take it,” so Allah said, “He is ignorant and an oppressor.” With all these bad characteristics on us, dhalooman, jahoolan, still Allah forgave us! When you say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah,” it turns you from kufr to imaan. What kind of secret turns you?
The child is in the womb of the mother for nine months and ten days, what is is that ten days? When Sayyidina Musa (a) went to Mount Sinai, Allah called him for 30 days’ seclusion then completed with 10 more days, so it became 40 days: al hasanah bi `asharati amthaalihaa, for one hasana you do, Allah rewards you ten. What is the significance of ten? Ten = 1+0: all of you are zero, sifr, He is The One! He is laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah `abduhu wa habeebuhu. That ten demonstrates Tawheed: the `abd is non-existing, sifr, zero, only The One is existing. When you put the zero by the one then the `abd appears, then you know that you are `abd, servant, and Allah is The Lord Creator! When you admit that, Allah (swt) will reward you 10 hasanaat. That means that Allah will reward you with Maqaam al-`Abdiyyah, the highest maqaam of servanthood. Allah will dress you and bless you with that level.
So when you dissolve your self, annihilate yourself, you don’t see yourself doing anything, from Allah everything good is coming, when you see yourself not existing in the Presence of Allah (swt), at that time they open for you, but as long as you are carrying your ego, your self with you, there is no opening for you and whoever claims to be open it is false until he gets rid of his nafs and his ego. When the`abd reaches that, then he can ascend. Allah (swt) praised the Prophet (s), describing him as the Level of `Abdiyyah:
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى
Glory be to He Who transported His servant by night from the Inviolable House of Worship (at Mecca) to the Remote House of Worship (at Jerusalem). (Surat al-Israa’, 17:1)
Allah is praising Himself, He does not need our praise: we do it for us to be nearer, to be a real `abd. Allah does not need anything from us! He wants us to be rewarded, so as long as you destroy your ego--and destroying the ego is not easy, many people claim they destroyed their ego but in reality they are immersed in the ocean of egos-- instead of immersing themselves in Bahru ‘l-Qudrah where all Prophets are immersed and where Awliyaullah are running and bringing knowledge to the hearts of their followers; let us not waste our time petting our egos, but instead use our time to benefit from that which Allah will reward us! Allah described us as innahu kaana zhalooman jahoola, finished! Allah is describing human beings as ignorant and oppressors, so why do we have to describe ourselves as other than that? Everyone who heard of Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) knows he reached a high level of Nearness, Maqaam al-`Abdiyyah.
Once he said, “Yaa Rabb, open for me Your Door,” and he struggled with himself in order that Allah will open the door, and he was praising and praying, and he cried day and night and prayed. He heard a voice calling, “Leave your nafs and come, itruk nafsak wa ta`l, you want to come to Me? Don’t come as two, your nafs is one and you are one,” which is duality. You look in mirror and see yourself. In the Level of Forms your physicality appears, but also in the Level of Spirituality Allah gave the Awliyaullah the power to see you in the spiritual realm and your level, they see you as you see yourself in the mirror. Until you begin to see that, then you will understand you are entering the Level of Servanthood, when you are differentiating between yourself and your ego, “This has a physical form and this has a spiritual form.” They can see every mistake, even a small spot on your spiritual form is dirtiness and you have to clean it. That is why they guide you in how to clean it and that will take you to Maqaam al-`Abdiyyah. As long are you aren't seeing yourself as zhalooman jahoola and confessing, “Yaa Rabbee, I am ignorant and an oppressor,” if you think you are something then it is up to you (you are on your own).
When Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) heard the message that came through his heart, he was so happy and said, “Yaa Rabb, I am going to pray two raka`ts like no one before me prayed before, the best.” That was the beginning of Allah showing him his pride, even though he was a big Awliya but Allah wanted to clean him.
So he said, “Allahu Akbar,” and entered in khushoo`, very meticulously and in the Divine Presence and then when he finished he said, “As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah, as-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah.” A voice came through his heart, angels saying, “Yaa zhaalim, O oppressor!” Now, he thought, “Heaven is telling me I am an oppressor, before that humans told me it’s okay, I may be correct or I may be wrong, but when Heavens say that,there is a big question mark. What did I do? I prayed two raka`ts with no whispering in my ear, no gossips, nothing, and I said my salaam!”
Because he claimed he wants to pray two raka`ts better than anyone ever prayed, Allah called him zhaalim, because he was not able to keep that. His mistake was that he asked for something above others! Only ask, “Yaa Rabbee, how can I reach you through istighfaar or Kalimat at-Tawheed?” Be busy with that, don’t speak about this one or that one, leave the Ummah completely behind as no one is going to benefit except those who guide you to certain level, and after he has done his job then you are between the hands of Prophet (s) and he will guide you beyond that!
" إِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِعَبْدٍ خَيْرًا ، جَعَلَ لَهُ وَاعِظًا مِنْ قَلْبِهِ يَأْمُرُهُ وَيَنْهَاهُ "
If Allah (swt) wants goodness for His servant, He will make for him a guide in his heart.
(Abu Na`eem al-Ispahani in Hilyat al-Awliya from Ahmad bin Hanbal)
If Allah wants khayr, good for his servant, He will give him a guide in his heart, an angel or a wali to guide him from far away. This is what we need. Who did this and who did that, who fought with whom you don’t need to discuss. Leave that if you want to be in the Level of `Abdiyyah. We are all trying and struggling, but there too many anti, negative forces attacking us! In your house you have a problem, at work you have problems, in the community you have problems, at the mosque you have problems, in a store you have problem, when you sit by yourself you have a problem, because Shaytan comes to you and there is no way out. We are in Israa’ wa ‘l-Mi`raaj, and to show its greatness, Allah said:
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ
مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ
Glory be to He Who transported His servant by night from the Inviolable House of Worship (at Mecca) to the Remote House of Worship (at Jerusalem), the environs of which We had blessed so that We might show him some of Our symbols, for verily He Alone is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (Surat al-Israa’, 17:1)
The first level is moving him from Mecca to Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. Some Awliyaullah say in order to show him where he will be in the future, abadan, Sayyidina Jibreel took him to Madinatu ´l-Munawwara and then to Masjid al-Aqsa, and from there to Ascension. So if you want to ascend, be with the Prophet (s), and the Ascension was not done by a human being, it was done by Allah’s Order to His angels to make salawaat on the Prophet (s)!
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him with a worthy salutation. (Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)
Allah gave honor and grandeur to the Prophet (s) because He loved him and He brought him with such power, such love. Do you think Allah (swt) gave the Prophet (s) flowers? He gave him what He gave to no one before! Where is Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, ‘so near’? Before Allah bought him to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, He brought him in an Ascension from one level of Paradise to another. What reception did Allah give the Prophet (s), can you imagine? No way, whatever you imagine is not even a drop of that Ocean! What Allah gave to the Prophet (s) no one can explain or define! What we can understand is that Allah said, “I and My angels are praising Muhammad (s).” That is enough. “You, yaa ayyuhalladheena aamanoo, make salawaat, salloo `alayh.” He said ‘mu’min’, He did not say ‘Muslim,’ there is a difference. You make salawaat as a mu’min, you make salawaat different than as a Muslim. As a Muslim when you make salawaat there is too much interference, it is a fuzzy picture, it is not clear. Mu’min you are reaching the Level of Servanthood, where you can see. May Allah (swt) make us to see. May Allah (swt) make us in this night of Israa’ wa ‘l-Mi`raaj, to be with the Prophet (s), dunya and Akhirah.
Don’t underestimate the power of Laylat al-Israa’ wa ‘l-Mir`raaj. Prophet (s) prayed two raka`ats and some riwaya say he prayed in Masjid al-Aqsa as imaam to all the Prophets who were brought there physically, to appear there. Ahlu s-Sunnah wa 'l-Jama'ah believe that physically the Prophet (s) prayed as the imaam and 124,000 Prophets prayed behind him. Awliyaullah say what the `ulama said of course, but the realities of these Prophets is that Allah made them appear to the Prophet (s) in his Mi`raaj in the Fourth Heaven, where he physically stood and led them just as he led it in Masjid al-Aqsa; he led them in the Bayt al-Maamoor, the Ka`bah; Ka`bah al Haqeeqiya, the real Ka`bah in the Fourth Heaven.
This Baytullah physically is exactly like the one in the Fourth Heaven and Allah knows best, we cannot enter in that discussion, we will finish it here. What we know from the Awliyaullah is that the real Ka`bah is from the Fourth Heaven, as-samaa ar-raabi`a. May Allah (swt) make us pray there. I don't think there is a prohibition; if Allah wants all of us we can be there. Inshaa-Allah we will recite Du`a al-Maathoor of 27th Rajab, Laylat al-Israa’ wa 'l-Mi`raaj, and we can pray two raka`ts following the way of the Prophet (s) when he prayed with all the Prophets, in order that Allah might clean us of all sins and make us always in the presence of the Prophet (s) and Awliyaullah, and also that Allah makes us always in under His Love and secure the Door of Paradise and lock the Door of Hellfire for us, in this life and the Next, dunya wa ‘l-Akhirah. Ameen.
Wa min Allahi ’t-tawfeeq, bi hurmati ‘l-Habeeb bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/Isra-and-Miraj-Celebrations-1437-Feltham-UK-6188.html
© Copyright 2016 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected
by international copyright law. Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.