3 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah After Zhuhr Salaat
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`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
I have opened a book here because I heard Mawlana say many times that he wished that all around the world scholars would speak about the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), how he is different from everyone else and has been respected by Allah (swt) and His angels. So I brought this book to mention something from it about the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and how up to today many scholars and awliyaullah from around the world have been respecting and loving him, and encouraging their followers to give more and more love and respect to him (s).
And just to say, I am speaking by the order of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and taking permission from Shaykh Mehmet, who is the representative of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim.
I will begin by mentioning one hadith that stresses the importance of love of the Prophet (s). Once a Bedouin came to the Prophet (s) while he was on the minbar giving khutbah. He came to the door of the masjid and said, “Yaa Muhammad!” You know the desert Bedouins are sometimes rude in the way they talk; their life is hard and they can be very direct, so he said, “Yaa Muhammad!” he didn’t say, “Yaa Rasoolullah!” The Prophet (s) was in Jumu`ah and didn’t answer. Then he asked a second time, “Yaa Muhammad! When is Judgment Day?” And the Prophet (s) didn’t answer out of adab to Allah (swt) that this is the Jumu`ah. Then the Bedouin asked the third time, “When is Judgment Day?” Then Jibreel (a) came to the Prophet (s) and said, “Answer him,” so Prophet (s) answered him, saying, “What have you prepared for that long journey?”
Life is a journey; you might live ten, fifty or one-hundred years, but what have you prepared for that journey? It is not easy.
In another hadith, when the Prophet (s) asked the Sahaabah (r), “Who is the bankrupt, poor one who has nothing?” The Sahaabah (r) said, “The one who has no money.” The Prophet (s) said, “No, the one who has no `amal is poor.” And they said, “Even if he fasts and prays?” He said, “Yes, even if he fasts and prays.”
The Prophet (s) said:
Do you know who the muflis (bankrupt one) is? The muflis from my Ummah is one who comes on the Day of Judgment having performed prayer, fasting, and giving zakaat. However, along with all of this, he abused this person and slandered that person, ate the wealth of this person and unlawfully spilled the blood of that person. These people will take from his good deeds. If, however, his good deeds become exhausted, then their sins will be put upon him and he will be thrown into the Fire. (Muslim)
So being “bankrupt” is due to many incidents that happen in our life and instead of covering them, we are exposing them. We may hear something and it might be a mistake, but we bring down the respect of that man or woman. So the Prophet (s) taught us to always have good intentions, good thoughts, and to look more at the positive, not at the negative. If that person has mistakes, look to see is he more positive and if he is, cover the mistake and overlook it.
So the Prophet (s) asked that Bedouin, “O `Arabee! Did you pray and fast? Did you not spread false rumors and backbite people? Did you prepare to be a good and lovable person? Did you audit and check yourself before checking others?”
Let us check ourselves before we check others to see are we on the right path or wrong path. Alhamdulillah, we are on the right path of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and we are following him, may Allah (swt) support him and give him health and honor him and show his power in front of the Prophet (s)! But that does not mean we have to refrain from what has to be said, not in the way of complaining and putting someone in the corner, but rather in the way of giving good advice. So let us audit ourselves before we complain about our brothers and sisters. That applies to all of us, to you and to me.
There is only one who is perfect: the Prophet (s)! Allah (swt) has protected Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and all other Prophets, as they are ma`soom, infallible. Although the brothers of Sayyidina Yusuf (a) who were also Prophets put him in the well, still they are ma`soom; they were drawn to do those acts to show the greatness of Sayyidina Yusuf (a). Similarly, for Sahaabah (r), of whom we don’t speak badly, or for great Shuyookh, for whom respect is to respect their followers, we must also respect each other. To love Mawlana Shaykh Nazim is easy, but we also have to love each other. So that hadith of the Arab coming from the desert is important.
The Prophet (s) asked him, “What have you prepared?” He had not prepared anything, so he said, “I love you, yaa Rasoolullah!” The word “love” in Arabic is “hubb.” Many people speak about hubb; they say, “love, love, love.” You might love a girl more than your father and mother. Is that love? Where is your father and your mother (in that love)? Or you might love your son more than yourself; is that real love?
The word “hubb” consists of two letters: “haa,” which represents “hayaat,” life and the beauty of life in loving Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) and the Sahaabah (r); and, “baa” representing “baqa,” which means “existence that never disappears.” Therefore, “hubb” also means “life” and “existence.” When you reach fanaa`, the state of complete annihilation in the Divine Presence of Allah (swt), the Prophet (s) and in the Shaykh, that will take you to baqa. When you annihilate, your Shaykh takes you to real existence and that makes you like a spotlight, a magnet that attracts people. That is hubb: fanaa` and baqa. When you love someone you annihilate in them and even if he kicks you out from the door, you come in again from the window. Grandshaykh (q) said many times, “If I kick you from the door, come from the window. If I kick you from the window, come from the ceiling!”
Don’t have bad feelings about the Shaykh, who is a mirror. When you look in the mirror it reflects your character. The Shaykh also has representatives and they are like him, so when you look at them you see your own character, not the representative's character. That is your own character you are seeing there.
المؤمن مرآة أخيه
Al-mu’min mirraat akheehi.
The believer is the mirror of his brother (or sister).
You don’t see him, you see yourself, so you are seeing your own characters. When you see his good character it means yours is good, and if you see his bad character then yours is bad, and it might not be one-to-one, as always Shaytan might play with the mirror to give you a bad feeling about that person. Therefore, we must always say “astaghfirullah.” When the Bedouin asked, “When is Judgment Day?” the Prophet (s) said, “What did you prepare for that? Did you audit yourself?” We counted seventeen major categories of bad manners when we look at the self. Some of them are stinginess, pride, anger, love of dunya, and you need to get rid of them. These obstacles are in front of you and yet you claim you love. Actually, you don’t love, you have pain.
And the Bedouin said from a real heart, “I love you with my life! I give my life to you, yaa Muhammad!” How many times did the Sahaabah (r) say, “I give my life to you, yaa Muhammad, and the life of my father and mother!” That is real love. At that time they will reach baqa, existence in the Divine Presence, not to disappear. So the love of the Prophet (s) is with awliyaullah, and we want to establish this while I am here because I will make this a series of talks.
Also, we want to mention something to help us better understand. They might say, “Everyone is a wali,” or, “Every mu’min is a wali.” So who is a wali? In that hadith, it is said that a person might be bankrupt of deeds even if he prays and fasts. So we need to establish what is meant by “wali.” What is the best or most-read book after the Holy Qur'an, from the sihah books? Is it not the book of Imam Muhammad Isma`eel Bukhari (r), the Sahih al-Bukhari? Every hadith he found, first he verified it; he didn't write the hadith until he made istikhara, even if he travelled hundreds of miles to get that hadith. Then he slept and would get the answer. This process is established by all scholars, Ahlu ‘s-Sunnah wa 'l-Jama'ah and even Wahhabis, that he would see a dream of the Prophet (s), who would confirm that hadith.
The form of the Prophet (s) cannot be taken by Shaytan, so whoever saw the Prophet (s) in a dream saw him in reality and will see him in reality! So whatever the Prophet (s) said to someone in a dream, that is haqq and that person cannot lie. No Muslim can see the Prophet (s) and lie about it, saying, “I saw the Prophet (s),” although they didn't, because he would feel bad. As in the Holy Qur'an, we see that many times where Allah (swt) sent dreams. We say “dream,” but for the Prophets it is a vision as in the case of Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) and Sayyidina Isma`eel (a), and so on. So when awliyaullah see something by vision or dreams, they cannot lie about that.
Each wali has different highways. There are 124,000 awliyaullah and each one has a different way, but for us, Mawlana is our Sultan, Sultan ul-Awliya, and we are on his way, a big highway.
Long ago, one wali, Muhammad al-Talmaysani (q), saw the Prophet (s) in a dream. Shaykh Muhammad Talmaysani (q) had read Dala’il al-Khayrat 100,000 times and then he saw the Prophet (s) in the dream, saying to him, “Yaa Muhammad! If you read this salawaat, it will be as if you read Dalaa’il al-Khayraat 800,000 times!”
It is the recitation of Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi:
هُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَباَرِكْ عَلىَ سَيِّدِناَ وَمَوْلاَناَ مُحَمَّدٍ شَجَرَةِ اْلاَصْلِ النُّوْرَانِيَّةِ، وَلَمْعَةِ الْقَبْضَةِ الرَّحْمَانِيَّةِ، وَأََفْضَلِ الْخَلِيْقَةِ اْلاِنْسَانِيَّةِ، وَأَ شْرَفِ الصُّوْرَةِ الْجَسْمَانِيَّةِ، وَمَعْدِنِ اْلاَسْرَارِ الرَّبَّانِيَّةِ، وَخَزَائِنِ الْعُلُوْمِ اْلاِصْطِفَائِيَّةِ، صَاحِبِ الْقَبْضَةِ اْلاَصْلِيَّةِ، وَالْبَهْجَةِ السَّنِيَّةِ، وَالرُّتْبَةِ الْعَلِيَّةِ، مَنِ انْدَرَجَتِ النَّبِيُّوْنَ تَحْتَ لِوَائِهِ، فَهُمْ مِنْهُ وَاِلَيْهِ، وَصَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَباَرِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلىَ آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ عَدَدَ مَاخَلَقْتَ، وَرَزَقْتَ وَأَمَتَّ وَأَحْييْتَ اِلَى يَوْمِ تَبْعَثُ مَنْ أَفْنَيْتَ، وَسَلِّمْ تَسْلِيْمًاكَثِيْرًا وَالْحَمْدُ ِللهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِيْنَ.
Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baarik `alaa Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadin shajarati ‘l-aslin nooraaniyyati wa lam`ati ’l-qabdati ‘r-rahmaaniyyati wa afdali ‘l-khaleeqati ‘l-insaaniyyati wa ashrafi ‘s-soorati ‘l-jismaaniyyati wa m`adini ‘l-asraari ‘r-rabbaniyyati wa khazaaini ‘l-`uloomi ’l-istifaaiyyati, saahibi ‘l-qabdati ‘l-asliyya wa ‘l-bahjati ‘s-saniyya wa ‘r-rutbatil `aliyya, manin darajati ‘n-nabiyyoona tahtali waaihi, fahum minhu wa ilayhi, wa salli wa sallim wa baarik `alayhi wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi `adada maa khalaqta wa razaqta wa amatta wa ahyayta ilaa yawmi tab`athu man afnayta wa sallim tasleeman katheera wa ‘l-hamdulillahi rabbi 'l-`alameen.
We just read it now as it was given to Muhammad al-Talmaysani (r), and it is as if we read Dalaa’il al-Khayraat 100,000 times. The daleel is from Sayyidina `Ali (r) and this is in the book Nahj al-Mutaqqeen,” and it says, because they are awliyaullah and it is established by what the Prophet (s) said to them, as they see a dream with the Prophet (s), it means they saw him correctly because Shaytan cannot imitate the Prophet’s image. The hadith mentioned, sa yaraanee, “You will see me.” Imam Suyuti (r) said, “That means you will see Prophet (s) in dunya. It would not refer to akhirah, because everyone will see the Prophet (s) in akhirah.”
Also, if you recite this next salawaat three times daily and one-hundred times on Jumu`ah, it will be as if you have performed the worship of all human beings since the time they were created up to Judgment Day! How many human beings are there? How big is the ummah of the Prophet (s)? In one dream or vision, Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q) said that the Prophet (s) said to him, "My ummah is 400 billion people." That is ummat an-Nabi (s)! In this century it is 1.5 billion. If you add them all up, from the time of Sayyidina Adam (a) to today, it is 400 billion! There is a hadith about that where the Prophet (s) said, “My ummah is 70,000 times 70,000 times 70,000,” which is nearly 400 billion, coinciding with what Grandshaykh (q) said.
So if you read that salawaat, (the reward) is on the number of the ummah, which is 400 billion, as Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, “It is on the number of all Creation, including the number of non-Muslims, from the time of Adam (a).” It is a huge number! Who recites this three times a day and one-hundred times on the day of Jumu`ah will be raised on Judgment Day with the Prophet (s), who will take his hand until he takes him to his place in Paradise!
I was curious since a long time ago, because Grandshaykh (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) ordered us to read a salawaat: `alaa ashrafi ’l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammad (s) salawaat, `alaa akmali ’l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammad salawaat, `alaa afdali ’l-`alameena Sayyidina Muhammad (s) salawaat. And I looked through many books and never found that hadith of Sayyidina `Ali (r) until I found it in Nahj al-Mutaqqeen:
Salawaatullaahi wa malaa’ikatihi wa anbiyaaihi wa rusoolihi wa jami`ee khalqihi `alaa Muhammad wa `alaa aali Muhammad `alayhi wa `alayhimu ‘s-salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuh.
Blessings of Allah Almighty, of His Angels, of His Prophets, of His Messengers, and all Creation be upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad; may the Peace and Mercy of Allah Almighty and His Blessings be upon upon him and upon them.
That is part of the salawaat that Mawlana told us to recite every day or after each prayer, because this allows us to take the hands of the Prophet (s), who will take us into our place in Paradise! I will not say more than this now, as Shaykh Muhammad does not want to make it long and people will get tired. So we will continue on that tomorrow. I will read that hadith before we end:
روى الإمام أحمد في صحيحه عن أم المؤمنين السيدة عائشة رضي الله تعالى عنها أن رسول الله قال : "إنه خلق كل إنسان من بني آدم على ستين وثلاثمائة مفصل فمن كبر الله وحمد الله وسبح الله واستغفر الله وعزل حجراً من طريق الناس أو شوكة أو عظماً عن طريق الناس وأمر بالمعروف ونهى عن منكر عدد تلك الستين والثلاثمائة سلامي فإنه يمشي يومئذ وقد زحزح عن النار"مسلم
`Aisha reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Every one of the children of Adam has been created with 360 joints; so he who declares the Glory of Allah, praises Allah, declares Allah to be One, Glorifies Allah, and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and removes a stone, thorn or a bone from people's path, and enjoins what is good and forbids from evil, to the number of those 360 (joints) will walk that day having removed himself from Hell.
(Sahih Muslim, Book 005, Number 2199)
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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