Alhamdulillah alladhee hadana li hadha wa ma kunna li-nahtadee law la an hadana-Allah....
O believers, Allah granted us guidance. He granted us intelligence. He granted us a brain. He granted us a body that can see and can hear. He granted us all His favors. He honored us and He favored us and He sent to us the perfect human being, Sayyidina Muhammad (saws) with the message of Islam…the message of responsibility…the message that sets the limits of what you can do and what you cannot do…the message that saves you in order to live a good life in this life and to live a good life in the hereafter.
He sent him in the month of Rabi` ul-Awwal, the month of baraka; the month of blessings. Called Rabi` in Arabic, although you know on the Arabic calendar it is different. Time changes on a solar calendar. Ramadan can be in summer, in spring, in fall or in winter - in any season: and the month changes. In the solar calendar we know spring is spring, it doesn’t change. However, on the lunar calendar, it changes. The same month is not always in spring or winter or fall. Allah made sure that He made His Prophet (saws) to be born in the month of Rabi`, which means spring in Arabic. That is when everything blossoms, the flowers rise higher and higher giving off nice smells and everything gives life back after a wintry season. Everything was dead and in spring everything is alive.
In the time of ignorance the Prophet (saws) came to a desert where everything was dead; there were no values, no limits, and no principles. Everything was like a jungle: the strongest can live and the weakest can die and always in a way that showed that men are strong and women are weak. When someone had a daughter they used to kill her and bury her as soon as she was born. The Prophet (saws) came and stopped that: it is spring, you cannot kill. The Prophet (saws) set the values for everything. Yet here we are in the 21st century forgetting our values. We’re forgetting what Allah wanted us to feel from this life: love to Him and love to human beings and love of remembrance of Him in every moment of our lives. Today we are not remembering except on Friday, some people come, some don’t come; some might pray, some might not pray; no principles, no values, and the majority are running after their wild desires. No one is having desires within the limits and laws that Allah has set. Everyone is acting according to his own thinking. Allah did not create us to punish us - He created us to save us.
One of these things, in that month which is blossoming in the spring, is the 12th Rabi` ul-Awwal (which is the 30th or 31st of March this year), with a lot of remembrance of that birth and with celebrations all over the world. Some people agree with it and some people disagree. We agree with that…we are not going to discuss why right now.
I wanted to discuss the issue that Allah wants to save us and Allah sent the Prophet (saws) as "a mercy to humanity, rahmatan lil alameen," not as a mercy to this group or that group.
Everyone knows that you cannot be Muslim if you don’t believe in Jesus and you cannot be Muslim if you don’t believe in Moses. Allah wants to save us in many ways and one of these ways is to remember Him.
I will mention one of these hadith, which is from Bukhari, as they accept what is from Bukhari. If not, then they don’t accept anything…as if they are big scholars. They have brainwashed them already that if a hadith is in Bukhari it is accepted, if not it is not accepted. They do not know there are tens of scholars like Imam Bukhari. He took only 4000 of several hundreds of thousands of hadith that are accepted. In any case we won’t go into that but this hadith is from Bukhari and it is hadith Qudsi; the Prophet (saws) is relating something that Allah related to him through Jibreel . It is different from hadith that he mentioned in his life from his own teaching.
(إن لله ملائكة يطوفون في الطرق، يلتمسون أهل الذكر، فإذا وجدوا قومًا يذكرون الله تنادوا: هلموا إلى حاجتكم. قال: فيحفونهم بأجنحتهم إلى السماء الدنيا، قال: فيسألهم ربهم -عز وجل- وهو أعلم بهم: ما يقول عبادى؟ قال: تقول: يسبحونك ويكبرونك ويحمدونك ويمجدونك. قال: فيقول: هل رأوني؟ قال: فيقولون: لا والله ما رأوك. قال: فيقول: كيف لو رأوني؟ قال: يقولون: لو رأوك كانوا أشد لك عبادة وأشد لك تمجيدًا وأكثر
لك تسبيحًا.
قال: يقول: فما يسألوني؟ قال: يسألونك الجنة. قال: يقول: وهل رأوها؟ قال: يقولون: لا والله يارب ما رأوها. قال: فيقول: فكيف لو أنهم رأوها؟ قال: يقولون: لو أنهم رأوها كانوا أشد عليها حرصًا وأشد لها طلبًا وأعظم فيها رغبة. قال: فَمِمَّ يتعوذون؟ قال: يقولون: من النار. قال: يقول: وهل رأوها؟ قال: يقولون: لا والله يارب ما رأوها. قال: يقول: فكيف لو رأوها؟ قال: يقولون: لو رأوها كانوا أشد منها فرارًا، وأشد لها مخافة.
قال: فيقول: فأشهدكم أني قد غفرت لهم. قال: يقول ملك من الملائكة: فيهم فلان ليس منهم، إنما جاء لحاجة، قال: هم الجلساء لا يشقى جليسهم ) متفق عليه).
Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet (saws) said, “inna lillahi malaikati yatufoona fi ’t-turuq. Yaltamisoona ahl adh-dhikr”- they are roaming, like your telephone today roams. So, if anyone wants to know where you are, they check your phone or they check your credit cards, and they will know if you are in
“Inna lillahi malaikati yatufoona fi’t-turuq.” - They don’t walk in streets. They circumambulate: that means from a higher level. He didn’t say “yamshoon,” but he said “yatufoon.” We know that angels are spirits: souls in a physical body - it is the heavenly body. It is energy. It is that heavenly energy that Allah is putting into every human being - that which Allah puts into every cell of the human body to make it move. Allah said “There are angels that are roaming.” Now human beings made the phone which roams… how? - Through energy; through electromagnetic wavelengths. They roam around. The Prophet (saws) was saying 1400 years ago that it exists. What are they looking for? Today everyone has a different tone on his cell phone. Tones, musical tones that some people are downloading from the internet: ringing Qur’an or nasheed or praise of the Prophet (saws). Or even a different musical tone.
So that means you always like to hear a nice tone when you are being called. That is what you like to hear; not evil power or bombs or wild animals in the jungle - you don’t like that.
So when Allah is trying to call you through his angels, what kind of sound does he like to hear from you? Yaltamisoona ahl adh-dhikr: Those who have heavenly tones: the tones of love and humility and those who respect others. Those who respect are those who are always rejoicing and enjoying and always remembering their lord and praising him in associations of dhikrullah. You can have remembrance of the Holy Qur’an - just sit and recite together. Have remembrance through the holy hadith - sit and recite them together. That is hadith of Bukhari, it is not innovation. That hadith is of Bukhari and they like to hear that word.
We don’t see this any more in masjids. We used to in
So when they find people who are remembering their lord they call each other, halumooo ila hajatikum. Come let us join them. What better do you want than the angels to come join you when you are in a dhikr gathering?
So they haffa. Haffa has a meaning in Arabic: “they come around them” or the other meaning is “they rub you.” They are around you - with you - in circles. If they rub you, you are lucky. If angels rub you with their wings you are lucky. Some people say, “O, don’t say angels have wings.” The Prophet (saws) said that angels have wings. Sahih Bukhari said angels have wings. The Holy Qur’an says that they have wings.
They circumambulate them up to Heaven and they are the top ones, like in a pyramid. They say “No hierarchy in Islam.” Yes there is hierarchy in Islam and no one can be a judge or mufti.
So, of the higher ones, Allah asks, “What are my servants saying?” Immediately the message goes to bottom. Allah knows best but he is revealing to the Prophet (saws) and the Prophet (saws) is revealing to the companions in order that they can hear what happened and learn what is going on. He says, “What are my servants remembering, what are they saying?” It is Bukhari, insisting on that. What are they saying; why is Allah asking the angels? In order that when they answer we know.
Qaala yaqooloona yusabihoonaka wa yuhamiddoonaka, wa yumajidoonak.
“They make tasbih to You, takbir to You. They praise You, and ask You for more favors through Your Beautiful Names and Attributes.” That is Bukhari; he didn’t say this in the Holy Qur’an or hadith. He said, “Yusabihoonaka.” What is that? Is it not saying Subhanallah? You can say it loud or you can say it silently. So if we say it loud, what is the problem? Bukhari is saying you can make dhikr in different ways. Salawat inna Allah wa malikatahu yusalloona `ala an-Nabi…
So after this kind of dhikr, I am surprised that, at masjid, when they don’t do dhikr, someone doesn’t go and ask, “Why don’t you do dhikr?” Who told you it is not correct?
If you go to Jeddah, to
When the people are praising Allah He says [to the angels], “Did they see Me?” They say, " “No! by God! They didn’t see You.” They say “la wallahi ma ra’awk.” Subhanallah, who can see Allah? They say it with exclamation. And Allah says to them, “If they are praising Me without seeing Me, then how will they praise Me if they can see Me?”
It means that it is going to change completely. He is showing His mercy to us. He is showing His love to us. What are they going to do in reality when they see me?
قال: يقولون: لو رأوك كانوا أشد لك عبادة وأشد لك تمجيدًا وأكثر لك تسبيحًا.
“Yaqooloona law ra-awka la-kaana ashhadu laka `ibadatan wa ashhadu laka tamjeedan wa aktharu laka tasbeeha - If they see You they will do more,” and stressed more … “they will do more worship; more worship, and more tasbeeh.”
“Ok,” He said, “What, then, do they want?” He said, “They are seeking your
The angels say, “If they were to see
Then Allah said, “From what are they afraid?” “They are afraid of hellfire.”
Can anyone say “we are not afraid?” Why come to pray then?”
Allah said, “Did they see hellfire? If they see hellfire what will they be doing?”
They said “they will be so much afraid that they will keep running to infinite limits!” They will keep running; they are afraid and they are worried.
And what does Allah say? He is speaking about whom? About the people of dhikr; go back to beginning of the hadith. Those who make tasbih, tamjeed, takbir… praising the Prophet (saws) - that is Islam; besides reciting hadith and the Qur’an. Those are the people of that hadith.
After He asks them if they see Him what will their feelings be; if they see hellfire what their feelings will be…?
He says, “and makes you My witnesses!” Allah doesn’t need witnesses.
“I make you My witnesses that I have forgiven all of them.” What more do we want? You want a position, a chair? - For what? You want the position of chair for headaches? - To fight for what, for whom? Try to run away.
يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ الْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ وَصَاحِبَتِهِ وَبَنِيهِ
The day will come when the man will run from his brother and mother and father and wife and children. 80:34-36
They will say, “Myself, myself.” Now they say, “My community, my community.” But don’t involve yourself in problems because of your community. The Prophet (saws) is always saying, “Ummatee, ummatee - My nation, my nation.” But Allah purified him to be perfect and made him the best.
You have your nation; He gave him shafa`. Do you have shafa`? Can you intercede for people on judgment day? So try to do the best you can for people and run.
Allah said, “I make you witness that I forgive them all.”
Allah gave one of these angels the strength to speak. One of these angels that are among these angels that are encircumambulating - how many angels are there, up to the first heavens? - As this hadith of Bukhari? How many millions? We don’t know. Trillions? We don’t know, because the heavens cannot be in this universe. And this universe has six billion galaxies and each galaxy has 80 billion stars.
The universe is related to dunya, not to the heavens. It is related to the Big Bang if we want to relate to it…. so angels are from this group. As in every group there are such angels.
And one of them said something; Allah made him speak in order to save everyone.
“There is someone amongst them who is not related to them. Only he came mutatafil - for a purpose.” That has nothing to do with dhikr, nothing to do with these people. It may be that he needs something from imam or from a friend or … feehim fulan laysa minhum innahu ja’a li haajatin. And Allah said, in that famous hadith of the Prophet (saws) in Buhkari, “They are the ones that, whoever sits with them, will never be without them.” That one is the same as all of them; they will be with him in dunya and akhira. That one is saved. “I don’t differentiate.”
رحمتي وسعت كل شيء
Wa Rahmatee wasi`at kulla shay` -- My Mercy has encompassed everything[1].
This is Bukhari and Muslim. It is found in these two books. Whatever is found in Bukhari is found in all of them.
Allah created