School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University
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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:59)
I am not what they have said. All of us and I wish to be at the threshold of Prophet (s) and awliyaullah. I don’t know anything, but we will see what comes. I just saw this (water bottle) and noticed what is written here. It says “ishbak,” which in Arabic means “what is wrong with you?” (Laughter.) I don’t know what’s wrong with me. What is wrong with you that you are making all this noise here? We are coming here to be with Prophet (s), and that is our hope. That is what (this bottle) shows; it is a sign, and we have to follow signs.
Spirituality is signs. If there are no signs, it will be like this microphone with no sound; you speak and no one hears anything, but if you plug it in, then you can hear. If we are not plugged by awliyaullah, there is no connection. You will not be able to say even one word. What you say then would come from the ego. So ishbak means, “what is wrong with you?” What is wrong with me or “what is troubling me” is written on this flyer here in Arabic, which says, hubb, “Love.” My problem is my love: is it a true love or is it fake?
Also, love can perform miracles. It consists of two letters, the letter “Haa” and the letter “Baa.” These two letters control the whole universe, dunya and Akhirah. Allah! In two words, Prophet (s) said:
لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى يحب لأخيه ما يحب لنفسه
Laa yu'minu ahadukum hatta yuhibba li-akheehi maa yuhibbu li-nafsihi.
None of you will truly believe until he loves for his brother what he loves for his own self.
(Bukhari, Muslim)
So let us begin from here: do we love each other, meaning, we must love everyone as we love ourselves.Why is it then that hubb is the beginning, where there was no beginning and end, where there is no end? These two letters signify love. The first letter “Haa” is hayaat, life, the life that all are enjoying and that Allah (swt) has given to all human beings. He didn’t just give life to a few and prohibit it to others; no, it is general. It is the life that Allah gave to trees, they don’t give fruit until they pollinate and come together. This world does not pollinate until two people come together. So this Haa includes nature, human beings and even animals, and animals don’t enter Paradise, as Prophet (s) said that Allah will judge them also and then order them to disappear, except for one, and that is the dog with the People of the Cave. Because of his loyalty and love to these seven or six or eight or nine or three or four people in the cave, Allah (swt) will make that dog to enter Paradise with them.
So love shows miracles, such as a dog loving his people that will be sent to Paradise by Allah (swt). Allah will be happy if a human being loves another. What do you think He will give to the person with whom Allah (swt), Prophet (s), and all other exalted prophets such as Nuh (a), Musa (a), Ibrahim (a), `Isa (a), Muhammad (s) are happy with? It is beyond description! One of the `ulama of Sham, Shaykh `Abdul Wahab as-Salahi (q), never allowed any food to be left at home; everything he had of food and money he had to distribute everyday or whatever he was given as gift or charity, he had to give out. One day he came home, made wudu and prayed two raka`ats after `Isha and lay down to sleep, but he couldn’t. This meant there was something in the house that was not distributed that day.
So he awoke his daughter as his wife had died, and he asked, “Is there any food not distributed today because I cannot sleep?”
His daughter replied, “Yes father, everything has been distributed.”
Look at these pious people, how their love is for Allah, meaning that whatever they own they give to others in order to make Allah happy with them; they take what they need during the day and give the rest.
One day when Prophet (s) came home, he saw Sayyidah `Ayesha (r) wondering. He asked her and she said, “I saw something strange today. I saw a lady carrying two young babies. She said, ‘Give me something from what Allah gave you as I have not eaten for many days.’” Can there be any door better than this one? Are we eating or are we hungry? Sayyidah `Ayesha said to Prophet (s), “I had kept three dates for you. We didn’t have anything in the house except for those three dates. Please forgive me, but I felt bad for the lady so I gave one for her and one for each of her children. The children immediately ate their dates while the mother still had hers in her hand. The two children then began to look at the date that was the mother’s hand.” Look at what love did! “Although she had not eaten for many days, she divided her date and gave half to her daughter and the other half to the other daughter.” Prophet (s) said, “Her love and her action saved her from any punishment and she will go to Paradise with no account.”
Love creates miracles; it is something indescribable. How can I describe the love of Prophet (s)? I might describe the relationship of respect and love to (someone), but I cannot describe the love and relationship to Prophet (s). It’s impossible! We have to clean our breath and our bodies when speaking about prophets, as they all are infallible. It is not easy. Alhamdulillah, people make qasidahs and sing, which is alright as it is makes people happy and waives their sins, but where is the real love? After we leave the room now, we will forget.
So the daughter of that wali said, “Oh, I remember! Someone brought us some meat.” She had put it on top of the cupboard and forgot about it. He cut the meat into pieces and took it to the streets. It was after midnight and everyone was asleep. There were some dogs wandering around. It is unlike America or here, where you hardly see any dogs or cats on the streets, but back home they are everywhere as their homes are the streets. So he took that meat and gave it to them and they were happy. In the morning as he went to the mosque for Fajr, he saw all the dogs on the street standing in line waiting for him. This is a true story. All of the dogs were standing there with loyalty (as if saying), “This man gave us something, so we must be loyal to him.” They followed him all the way to the masjid until the shaykh entered, and then they left.
عن أنس - رضي الله عنه - أن رجلا أتى النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - فقال : متى الساعة يا رسول الله ؟ قال : ما أعددت لها ؟ قال : ما أعددت لها من كثير صلاة ، ولا صوم ، ولا صدقة ، ولكني أحب الله ، ورسوله . قال : أنت مع من أحببت .
So love makes everything. A Bedouin from the desert came to Prophet (s). He did not know anything, but his heart, spirit and soul were open. That is love. He came to Prophet (s) on Jumu`ah and asked, mata` as-sa`ah yaa rasoolullah, “When is the Day of Judgment?” Prophet (s) said, innahu safarun ba`eed famaa `adadta lahaa, “It is a long travel. What you have prepared for that Day?” He said, Yaa Rasoolullah, maa `adadta lahaa min katharti ’s-siyamin wa laa min kathariti ’s-salah, “I have prepared something, but not from too much praying or fasting.” He meant he was not doing more than the obligations, such as carrying beads and making tasbeeh. He was a man from the desert and people from the desert are rude and speak in a harsh way, so when he spoke to Prophet (s) he was harsh in addressing him, saying, “O Muhammad!” not “Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah.” So he said, “I have not prepared much, but I have love of Allah and His Prophet (s).” Prophet (s) said, “This is enough for you.”
يحشر المرء مع من أحب
Yuhshar al-maruw ma` man ahab.
Each person will be resurrected with the one he loves.
He didn’t even pray and he left; his love was enough for him. When the two letters in “hubb” are used in the right way, and when you bring that love through your shuyookh and show how you love and respect them and eliminate from that all kinds of bad characteristics, they will love you. Before the revelation, all of Quraysh loved the Prophet (s) as he was “al-Amin,” the Trustworthy. So first comes hubb, “love,” then hudoor, “presence,” then fanaa, “annihilation.”
(The levels of spiritual development are) Mahabbat al-Mashaykh, “Love of the Shaykh,” to Mahabbat al-Habeeb, “Love of the Beloved (Prophet),” to Mahabbatullah, “Love of Allah.” Then Hudooru ’l-mashaykh, “Presence of the Shaykh,” Hudooru ’l-Habeeb, “Presence of Prophet,” and Hudoorullah, “Presence of Allah.” Then Fanaa’un fi ’l-mashaykh, “Annihilation in the Shaykh,” Fanaa’un fi’l-Habeeb, “Annihilation in Prophet,” and Fanaa’un fillah, “Annihilation in Allah.”
These are the three levels of love to Allah, His Prophet (s) and to people. When you love them, you will remember them at every moment and they will always be in front of you, just like your child is always in front of you, even when you are at work, from your love. No one can deny that, unless you are not married, in which case perhaps you may see your boyfriend or girlfriend. (Laughter) So people see something, especially ladies; when they see a new cream in the market they keep seeing it for days and months, even years, until their husband buys it!
So you can really see your child’s face, sorry to say, more than you can see your wife’s. When that love increases in your heart from your children to Prophet (s), miracles happen. I am giving you a simple way to understand because there might be some people saying, “Why do you say love of Prophet (s) or love awliyaullah or love of Allah? We cannot see anything.” No! You must imagine and think well about this.
Prophet (s) said:
تفكر ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة
Tafakkarru sa`atin khayrun min `ibaadati saba`een sannah.
To remember Allah (swt) (contemplate or meditate) for one hour is better than seventy years of worship.
I am surprised to see so many people in the streets thinking deeply, but then I look and I discover that it is from them smoking marijuana! (Laughter) That is not accepted. You have to make people happy, otherwise they will not like to hear anything (so we tell a few jokes).
Love is from person to person, then it increases to Prophet (s). Christians love Sayyidina `Isa (a) and the Jewish people love Sayyidina Musa (a). That is alright, as the one you love will come as a defender for you on the Day of Judgment. We (as Muslims) love Sayyidina Muhammad (s), Sayyidina `Isa (a), Sayyidina Musa (a), Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), Sayyidina Nuh (a), and all the other 313 prophets. As Sayyidina Abbas (r) mentioned in the tafseer of Surat al-`Araf that there are 124,000 prophets, and we love them all even if just by tongue, as they will love us back. They will not prohibit us.
Why then what happened to Sayyidina Ya`qub (a) and Sayyidina Ibrahim (a)? They were both prophets. Sayyidina Ya`qub (a) lost his son Sayyidina Yusuf (a) for many years when his brothers threw him in the well. Then some merchants came across him, rescued him and sold him in Egypt. You can read that story in the Holy Qur`an. Sayyidina Yusuf (a) was a prophet and so were his brothers and yet Allah (swt) made Sayyidina Ya`qub (a) cry for 27 years! Until finally when they had no means to survive, as there was widespread famine, they went to Egypt, Cairo to get food from the prime minister and who do you think they found there? It was Sayyidina Yusuf (a). So Sayyidina Ya`qub was crying and longing for him until his eyes turned grey. He left him for ten years until he was blind, then Allah called him, “Yaa Ya`qub, the heart of a human being cannot contain two, it must contain One! That One Who possesses your heart is jealous of anyone who enters your heart. I am your Lord, al-Ghayour, the Possessive. You cannot have anyone else possessing your heart! ” So as soon as Sayyidina Ya`qub (a) repented, Allah reunited him with his son.
Why was Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) thrown in the fire (of Nimrod)? Because he had immense love for Sayyidina Isma`eel (a) and Sayyidina Ishaq (a). Allah said, “Go and sacrifice your son, offer him to Me.” He was testing him to see if Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) will do it or not. So he went to the mountain and before he put the knife, Sayyidina Isma`eel (a) said, “O my father, why are you putting a blindfold? I know what Allah ordered. I will die for my Lord and I am ready.” So he took the knife and put it down to cut, but it would not cut. With all his might, he put it again and again as hard as he could, but it would not cut! Out of love, fire was coming from his heart.
Isma`eel (a) said, “O my father! I am smelling the scent of barbecue meat.”
He said, “Yaa Isma`eel, this is the smell of my heart burning for you!”
Isma`eel (a) said, “Cut me!”
Then Sayyidina Jibril (a) came and said, “Stop, you did what you were ordered!”
Afterwards, they were discussing who had more love. Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) said, “O my son, I did my best to fulfill the order of my Lord so I am better in this way than you, as I gave everything.”
Sayyidina Isma`eel (a) said, “What? I am better! You were offering me, I was not offering you! I gave my life and my love to my Lord is more!”
So love is the miraculous power that will build a relationship and a bridge from the hubb to the presence. You will be always be in the presence of the person you love, as someone mentioned earlier the stories of Romeo and Juliet, and Layla and Majnoon. They both loved each other and would do anything for that love. Romeo sat under Juliet’s window every day (playing an instrument) as he was deeply in love with her, and Juliet listened to him as she too was in love with him. It is correct, as we studied that. So that kind of love in your life will build that bridge to be present with that person and if you truly have love, you will be in the presence of Prophet (s)! When we make our qasidah with love, Prophet (s) will be looking at us.
Prophet (s) said:
أنا حيٌ طري في قبري
I am alive and supple in my grave.
من صلى علي مرة صلى الله عليه بها عشرا
Man salla `alayya marrah, salla ’Laahu `alayhi bihaa `ashara.
Whoever prays on me one time, Allah prays on him ten times. (Sahih)
If you make one salawaat, Allah will send ten back, even though your salawaat is impure. But what kind of salawaat does Allah send? We do not know, but we say,“Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad wa `ala aali Sayyidina Muhammad.” We do not know what kind of reward Allah gives; it is beyond limits because Allah is Al-Kareem, “The Generous.” He gives in huge and infinite quantities as there is no beginning and no end to His Generosity!
So Allah gives endless rewards and what He gives Shaytan cannot take, as they are safe. That is why the one who does salawaat on Prophet (s) is safe from Shaytan. It takes you to Fanaa’un fi’l-Rasool, “Annihilation of Prophet (s),” then anything you do will be out of vision because Prophet (s) connects you. When you develop that Haa, hayaat, it takes you to the other side, which is the Unseen, and that is Baqaa, “Everlasting Life.” It is a station in which you will exist in your dunya as if it is Akhirah. That is where the Sahaabah (r) were.
Prophet (s) said:
أصحابي كالنجوم بأيهم اقتديتم اهتديتم
As-haabee ka 'n-nujoom bi ayyihim aqtadaytum ahtadaytum.
My Companions are like stars (on a dark night); whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.
(`Abd ibn Humayd, ad-Daraqutnee, ibn `Adiyy, ibn `Abd al-Barr.)
I will end with this small example. Allah (swt) ordered Jibreel (a) to go to the Paradise of the Buraaq, which has an endless numbers of buraaq, don’t think there is only buraaq. Do you think Allah would create one lonely buraaq? There are infinite numbers. So when Jibreel (a) saw all of the buraaq, he could not pick. All of them appeared similar, with each making their own tasbeeh. He looked around and saw one of them in a corner, if we can say that; we cannot even say “area,” however, there was one between them who was crying.
Jibreel (a) approached him and said, “O buraaq, why are you crying?”
The buraaq said, “Yaa Jibreel! Leave me alone, I cannot express my feelings to you!”
He said, “You have to tell me!”
The buraaq replied, “When Allah created us and I don’t know when that was, He said, ‘One of you will bring Prophet to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa.’ I have been crying since then. I am deeply in love with Prophet (s)!”
Muhiyuddin Ibn `Arabi (r) said that every tear that buraaq shed was like a pearl and was so big that we cannot explain it! May Allah (swt) develop in us that hayaat and baqaa.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
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