Jumu`ah Khutbah
Allahuma salli `alayk yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah wa narjoo an nakoona m`ak fee al-akhira. (May Allah send Your blessings on you, O our master, O Prophet of Allah, and we hope to be with you in the hereafter).
O Muslims, O Believers! Allah mentioned in this holy verse that Allah (swt) and His angels are praising and making salawaat on Prophet (s). And the question comes, since it is Allah’s Holy Words, "since when?" When He was praising His beloved one and sending His angels to praise that one, not one was left behind and Allah (swt) did not mention the number of angels. At that time how many are praising? No one can give a number; if you give a number you are limiting `Azhaamat, Allah’s Grandeur.
And don’t think that any angel’s praising is the same as any other. Every angel’s praising is different and it is not repeating like us; angels have no repetition. Every angel, each one is praising Allah (swt) with a different praise on Prophet (s) than the other. And the salawaat he makes the first time, he does not repeat a second time. At every moment Allah (swt) creates a new praise that is different from the other one.
O Muslims! The greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) cannot be described. And I will quote you the hadith of Jabir ibn ذAbdullah (r), related in al-Musannaf of `Abdur Razzaq and in al-Mawaahabi al-Laduniyya, written by Shaykh Shihab al-Din al-Qastallani . And he asked the Prophet (s) a question, as the Ashaab (r) asked the Prophet (s) or as a mureed asks the shaykh.
رواه عبد الرزاق بسنده عن جابر بن عبد الله بلفظ قال قلت: يا رسول الله، بأبي أنت وأمي، أخبرني عن أول شيء خلقه الله قبل الأشياء. قال: يا جابر، إن الله تعالى خلق قبل الأشياء نور نبيك من نوره، فجعل ذلك النور يدور بالقُدرة حيث شاء الله، ولم يكن في ذلك الوقت لوح ولا قلم ولا جنة ولا نار ولا ملك ولا سماء ولا أرض ولا شمس ولا قمر ولا جِنِّيٌ ولا إنسي، فلما أراد الله أن يخلق الخلق قسم ذلك النور أربعة أجزاء: فخلق من الجزء الأول القلم، ومن الثاني اللوح، ومن الثالث العرش، ثم قسم الجزء الرابع أربعة أجزاء، فخلق من الجزء الأول حَمَلَة العرش، ومن الثاني الكرسي، ومن الثالث باقي الملائكة، ثم قسم الجزء الرابع أربعة أجزاء: فخلق من الأول السماوات، ومن الثاني الأرضين، ومن الثالث الجنة والنار، ثم قسم الرابع أربعة أجزاء، فخلق من الأول نور أبصار المؤمنين، ومن الثاني نور قلوبهم وهى المعرفة بالله، ومن الثالث نور إنسهم وهو التوحيد لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله.
So he said, bi abee anta wa ummee, “I sacrifice myself and my father and my mother to you, but tell me,” as he wants to get the answer, “Yaa Muhammad! What is the first thing that Allah (swt) created al-ashya, before He created anything?” It is not an easy question and not simple.
Look what Allah (swt) gave Sayyidina Muhamad (s) from greatness! Prophet (s) said, qaala yaa Jaabir inna Allah khalaqa qabl al-ashyaa nur nabiyyika, “O Jabir! What Allah created first before any Creation was the light of Prophet Muhammad, before He created anything from His Light.” Prophet (s) continued, “Then this light began to turn, that light in Allah’s Ocean of Power, al-Qudrah." Everything is turning from there; it is like a generator. An airplane cannot fly without a turbine. That light was moving at a speed beyond description, not like our light moving at 300km /second. It was turning and turning and turning and as it was turning it was generating many, many things that we come to in that hadeeth. And as it was turning, it was turning in Allah’s Ocean of Power. And there was no Preserved Tablet at that time and no Pen and no Paradise and no Hellfire and no angel and no sky, no universe, and no Earth and not a sun, wa laa qamarun, and not even a moon, wa laa jinniyyun wa laa insiyyun, and not a jinn or not a human being.
And when Allah (swt) wished to create Creation, He took that light He gave to Muhammad (s), turning in the Ocean of Power (Qudrah), and divided it into four parts: from the first part He created the Pen and that is where we know, from the hadith of Prophet (s), that when Allah (swt) asked the Pen to write, what did he order it to write? He had created it from nur an-nabi and he ordered it to write, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah, and then it wrote for 70,000 years, and then it stopped. And then He ordered it to write, Muhammadur Rasoolullah, and the Pen asked, “Who is Muhammad? Who is that one?” and He said to the Pen, “Keep silent! If not for Muhammad, I would not have created any Creation.” So from the first part was created the Pen, from the second part of light He created the Preserved Tablet and from the third, He created the Throne. The last part He divided into four parts: from the first group of the fourth part He created the hamalat al-`arsh, the angels to carry the Throne, and from the second part the Kursee, the Chair. And from the third part He created the rest of the angels and still these angels are being created in every moment, and no one knows how much Allah (swt) is creating from that light of Prophet (s).
And then one part stayed behind and Allah (swt) divided that light into four more parts: from the first He created the heavens, and from the second the universes. And He didn’t say ard, he said ardeen, two or more, many Earths. From the third part He created the Paradise and Hellfire. Then He divided the fourth, the last of that section into four divisions: from the first he created the light of mu’mins, the vision of the believers, of awliyaullah, the salaateen, sultans of this dunya, the shuyookh. And from the second part He created the noora quloobihim, the light of their hearts, and that is m`arifatullah, the knowledge of the light of Allah's Divine Presence. And from the third part He created the light of their familiarity, their love and their softness. Awliyaa are not rude; they are soft, peaceful and submitting to Allah's will. They submit, they don’t control as you like, as he likes, or as she likes. They leave everyone alone; they don’t interfere, and they keep their hearts connected with Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s). And from the fourth part, it means the heart of this group of people, the awliyaullah. That familiarity is His Tawheed, where He said, La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadur Rasoolullah, and where Allah (swt) has placed the reality of Oneness and the reality of the love of Prophet (s) and Ahlu ‘l-Bayt. And that love of Ahlu ‘l-Bayt, the family of the Prophet (s), is so important and they were so important to him! He put in their hearts the love of Prophet (s). Allah (swt) is so Great and He has created according to this hadith.
O Muslims! Allah (swt) is showing the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). And from Ibn Abbas (r), that Quraysh was a light. Here "Quraysh" represents Muhammad (s); he and his familiy were a light in the hands of Allah (swt) before he created Adam (a) by 2,000 years, and that light of Muhammad (s) was making tasbeeh, praising Allah (swt) continuously. And the angels were making tasbeeh, following what Prophet (s) was saying and praising Prophet. So the leader, the master and the one praising and showing the leadership to angels was Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! And Allah (swt) then created Adam and put that noor, that light in the forehead of Sayyidina Adam (a).
عن أبي سعيد الخدري قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إني قد تركت فيكم ما إن أخذتم به لن تضلوا بعدي الثقلين أحدهما أكبر من الآخر كتاب الله حبل ممدود من السماء إلى الأرض وعترتي أهل بيتي...
O Muslims! Prophet (s) said, `an abi sa`eed al-khudree, qaala rasoolullah, innee taraktu feekum ma in aakhadhtum bihi lan tadilloo bihi ba`dee abada, ath-thaqalayn, aahadahum akbar min al-aakhir, kitabullah hablun mamdood min as-sama ila al-ard, “I am going to leave you with something that you will never deviate after that. One is bigger than the other: the Holy Qur’an, and the secret of the Holy Qur’an, that Allah (swt) knows. Allah’s Qur’an is a straight path like a rope coming from heaven to Earth.” That is always connected, never breaking down. Wa `itratee, “My family, ahlu ‘l-baytee. I love them, and you must love them.” Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur’an and Prophet (s) said, as Allah (swt) revealed to him:
قُل لَّا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبَى
Qul laa asalukum `alayhi ajran illa ’l-mawadata fi 'l-qurba,
Say: O People! I am not asking anything from you, no ajar, no wealth, but only to love my family. (42:23)
And loving the family of Prophet (s) is very important and that is why at that time, Prophet (s) covered them and they are Sayyidina ‘Ali (r), Sayyida Fatimat az-Zahra (r), Sayyidina 'l-Hasan (r) and Sayyidina 'l-Husayn (r). Shuyookh are inheriting from that secret: love them and love their family. Keep happiness around them by being happy and not fighting and criticizing and not swearing. But hold fast to the rope of Allah (swt) and don’t separate. And Allah (swt) revealed that verse:
فَمَنْ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْاْ نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءنَا وَأَبْنَاءكُمْ وَنِسَاءنَا وَنِسَاءكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَةُ اللّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ
Faman haajjaka feehi min ba`di maa jaaka mina al-`ilmi faqul ta`alaw nad`u abnaana wa abnaakum wa nisaana wa nisaakum wa anfusana wa anfusakum thumma nabtahil fanaj`al la`nata Allahi `ala alkaadhibeen
If any one disputes in this matter with thee, now after (full) knowledge Hath come to thee, say: "Come! let us gather together,- our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: Then let us earnestly pray, and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!" (3:61)
That ayah was revealed because of what? Because Allah (swt) wants to show that Ahlu ‘l-Bayt, that Prophet (s) is going to bring them to that place where the kuffar (unbelievers) were saying, “The Prophet is not right. I am saying, ‘Bring your family and I will bring my family and who is successful, will be okay and the others will be gone. They will fail.’” They didn't come; they were afraid and they didn’t show up. Because Prophet was bringing Sayyidina ‘Ali (q) and Sayyida Fatima (r), Sayyidina ‘l-Hasan (r) and Sayyidina ‘l-Husayn (r).
O Muslims! We need a passport to Paradise and we need a ticket. That is our shuyookh, who take us to the presence of Prophet (s)!