Mawlid an-Nabi and Suhbah after `Isha
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Inshaa-Allah make this place a place of barakah, a place that du'a is accepted. When you do Mawlid, what is the procedure to do the Mawlid? It is to prepare the people in order that they love their Prophet (s) more and more. And to give them something sweet that the people feel happy with. The recitation of the Mawlid is to remember that Islam is Muhammad (s). If there was no Muhammad (s), there would be no Islam. Inna ad-deen indallahi al-islam, means "Islam is Muhammad (s)." as he is the Seal of Messengers. As Allah (swt) said, "Remember Me, I will remember you. And thank Me and don't be disrespectful and ungrateful of what I am giving you." When Allah (swt) gives you something, you have to say shukran lak ya Allah. You cannot do anything except praise Him.
What is the best that Allah (swt) gave humanity? The best Allah (swt) gave humanity is His mercy.
وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَـاةَ وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Wa rahamtee wasi`at kulla shay wa sa-aktubuhu lil-ladheena yataqoona wa yootoona 'z-zakaata walladheena hum bi-aayaatinaa yuqinoon.
My mercy has encompassed everything. I am going to give it to those people who are believers, accepting Allah (swt) and they are praying. (7:156)
So Allah (swt) wants to show the best of His mercy. If you are sick, you say, "Ya Rabbee, be merciful with me." If you are in a problem, you say, "Ya Rabbee, be merciful to me." So, whenever we have a problem, we say, "O our Lord, send mercy on us." If there is any disaster, people out of their mercy, go and help. Allah (swt) sent Muhammad (s) mercy for you. "Verily we have sent to you, mercy for everyone" wa ma arsalnaka illa rahmatan lil-alameen.
You are chemist, if you put in the formula: Muhammad (s) = mercy. If you breathe, it is mercy. If you see, it is mercy. If you hear, it is mercy. If you feel, it is mercy. If you talk, it is mercy. If you have child, it is mercy. All must come from a source of mercy. Who is that? That is Sayyidina Muhammad (saw) and Allah (swt) blessed him with that. That is not shirk. Why do you make salawaat on Prophet (s)? You are praying to him or you are praying to Allah (swt)? Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is happy to be servant to all. So any gesture you make of hamd is praise on Prophet (s).
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Inna Allah wa malaikatahu yusalloon `ala an-nabi.
Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect. (33:56)
O mu'min send salawaat, it means, "O our Lord raise your Prophet (s) always higher and higher." As we are his ummah, we will be raised higher and higher. So anyone who doesn't give respect to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is not giving respect to Allah (swt).
One of the big awliya that has passed away, he has a certain salawaat that through his vision, was given to him by Prophet (s) to recite it. And that wali said, "Allah (swt) was so grateful, He blessed me and His Prophet (s) blessed me with this salawaat." Awliyaullah can see and feel. They are not like us, blind. That is why when someone is blind, they think the other person is against them. So Shaytan plays with them to throw false accusation against each other. This happens between brothers and sisters and communities and countries. This is why fighting happens, because the other one is thinking that everyone is against him. So Allah (swt) blessed us with salawaat on Prophet (s).
So that wali said, "Every human being is not able to give the rights to Sayyidina Muhammad (s)." What Prophet (s) is doing for us, no one can pay back.
Don't look at the books and say, "What is Prophet (s) doing for us?" If Allah (swt) wants you to know, it is not going to be in books. What the Prophet (s) is doing for his ummah, no one knows. He said, "I am al-Mahi and I am al-Qassim. I am the one who erases sins and I am the one who divides the provisions to people."
That is why his name is al-Qassim. Wa anaa TaaHaa wa Yaaseen, "And I am TaaHaa and Yaaseen." Yaaseen is the heart of the Qur'an. If you read Surat al-Yaseen, it is as if you read the whole Qur'an. The whole Qur'an is different. The secret of the Qur'an is different. It means, the secret of Qur'an or the interpretation that every verse can carry. Grandshaykh (q) used to say that on every letter of Qur'an, Allah (swt) opened 12,000 oceans of knowledge even if the letter is repeated. How many letters are in the Qur'an? 500,000 letters. The alif is repeated 1,000 times in the Holy Qur'an. Multiply 1,000 by 12,000 oceans of knowledge. That's what you get when you are reading. And he will not get the same information as for him. There are always angels uploading, to the heart, information. And if he is reading one letter multiplied by 12,000 times and different than the knowledge that he gets.....
Ma nafas kalaamullah. Allah's (swt) word does not end. The interpretations do not end. There are interpretations for every letter. That big wali said, "If I, from beginning of dunya to the end of dunya, standing facing holy Prophet's (s) grave, and 24x7, gave salawaat, I cannot pay back what the Prophet (s) did for me." Imagine, he said, "If I don't do anything, no eating and no drinking, nothing, only stand and make salawaat on Prophet (s) from beginning of dunya to the end, I cannot pay back what Prophet (s) gave for me or for anyone." And, he said, "Allah opened for me a vision."
As awliyaullah have meetings like this meeting. They sit and speak together, even if one is in the east and one is in the west, with spiritual power, they meet together. Don't interfere in awliyaullah's business. Don't burn your fingers. People are burning their fingers. They are saying this wali is better than this one. How do you know?
اولياي تحت قبابي
Awliyaee tahta qibaabee. "My saints are under My Domes."
من عادا لي وليا فقد آذنته بالحرب
Man aadha lee waliyan faqad aadhantahu bi 'l-harb
Who comes against My wali, I declare war on him.
It means that even any mu'min you speak bad on him, Allah (swt) will declare war on you. So people must open their ears. Remind me to come back to that wali and what Allah (swt) gave him.
Ayyuhhibu ahadakum an yaakul lahma akhihi maytan fa karihtumooh. Does anyone like to eat the raw flesh of his brother? You cannot, it is a disgusted matter.
Two sahaaba came to the Prophet (s) and said, "O Prophet (s), we have been in pain since morning."
He looked and asked them, "What did you eat?" Why did he ask them? Because later in the hadith, it showed he knew.
"We didn't eat anything."
"Yes, you ate. You ate raw meat." Look, we have so much food on our tables and, still, we are eating the flesh of our brothers and sisters.
They said, "We never ate meat. We are poor."
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Yaa ayyuha alladheena aamanoo 'jtaniboo katheeran mina adh-dhanni inna ba`da adh-dhanni ithmun wa laa tajassasoo wa laa yaghtab ba`dukum ba`dan ayuhibbu aahadukum an yaakula lahma akheehi maytan fa-karihtumoohu w 'attaqoo Allaha inna Allaha tawwaabun raheem
O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allah. Verily, Allah is the One Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful." (49:12)
People have to repent. If people think they are Muslim, they must behave as a Muslim; not as a non-Muslim. You just told me, today, that your father asked you before you get home to go see your neighbors. This is Islamic behavior. Other than Muslims, they don't know who is their neighbor.
So these two came and said, "Ya Rasoolullah, we have stomach pain." He is the doctor of medicine. He is the knower of everything.
He said, "You ate raw meat."
"We didn't eat."
"Put your fingers in your throat and vomit." They vomitted raw meat with the blood in it.
They said, "This is something strange. Ya Rasulullah, we didn't eat meat."
He said, "You backbite your brother. You spread rumors."
It is easy to spread rumors but difficult to fix. In the Day of Judgment, Allah (swt) gives all your good deeds to the one you oppressed. Grandshaykh (q) used to always repeat this verse: wa man `afaa wa aslaha fa ajruhu `ala Allah. Don't try to take your revenge. Allah (swt) will take it. The one who `afaa, forgave, and aslaha, made peace, Allah (swt) will reward him. You make the intention, it works or didn't work, that person will be rewarded. Those who do not accept, they will be punished a severe punishment. Prophet (s) extended his hand to other ummahs. He was praying 18 months towards Masjid al-Aqsa. Why? He knows there is Ka`abatullah.
وَجَزَاء سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِّثْلُهَا فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ
Wa jazaao sayyiatin sayyiatun mithluhaa faman `afa wa aslaha fa-ajruhu `ala Allahi innahu laa yuhibbu adh-dhaalimeen.
The recompense for an evil is an evil like thereof, but whoever forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah. Verily, He likes not the oppressors. (42:40)
He is trying to gain their favor, their trust, and to extend his hand to those not believing him, by saying, I pray towards what you are praying in order to show love and respect. In order they will come, but they didn't come. Some came. So our intention is to forgive and make peace. They accept, they accept. But people they don't know build assumption on what they heard. Like for example, Shaykh Hisham doesn't like Mawlid group. You heard that rumor. That is going around. You heard it? No. He doesn't like to make Mawlid. He only likes to make suhbah. How stupid! Every breath, if not for Prophet (s), you will not breathe. Every breath comes with salawaat, in and out with salawaat. He said, "Anaa al-qaassim. I divide the provision." It is not against Shari`ah. That is what Allah (swt) gave him. `Alamoo anna feekum rasulullah. Know the Prophet (s) is in you. I never saw Grandshaykh (q) doing Mawlid. Bring one to say "He did like that." We used to recite on Mawlid an-Nabi, yes. But he said, "Every movement you make must be Mawlid an-Nabi." These people only understand what they are seeing.
وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ فِيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ لَوْ يُطِيعُكُمْ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْرِ لَعَنِتُّمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الرَّاشِدُونَ
Wa `alamoo anna feekum rasoola Allahi law yutee`ukum fee katheerin mina alamri la`anittum wa laakinna Allaha habbaba ilaykumu 'leemaana wa zayyanahu fee quloobikum wa karraha ilaykumu 'l-kufra wa 'l-fusooqa wa 'l-`isyana ulaaika humu 'r-raashidoon
And know that, among you there is the Messenger of Allah (saw). If he were to obey you (i.e. follow your opinions and desires) in much of the matter, you would surely be in trouble, but Allah has endeared the Faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience (to Allah and His Messenger saw) hateful to you. These! They are the rightly guided ones." (49:7)
When we make du`a for food, we offer as Mawlid for Prophet (s), Mawlidan sharaafatan li 'n-Nabi, Mawlid is honor for Prophet's (s) birth. We will be written as if we are, where? As if we are present on his birthday. Awliyaullah know secrets. These dumb people know nothing. When you do Mawlid for Prophet (s), the angels carry you as if you are present when Sayyida Aminah (r) was giving birth and everyone in position reciting tala` al-badru alayna... It is not just when migrating to Madinah, but when he is coming to dunya. These big people don't have the heart to understand.
So that big wali, Allah (swt) gave him salawaat. It weighs more heavier in the balance than if he had a life from the time of Adam (a) up to Judgment Day and did salawaat on Prophet (s). If you put salawaat of Prophet (s) on the scale and put in the other side of balance; what Allah taught him that will be heavier. These people don’t understand the meaning of salawaat. That is why they say, “O Shaykh Hisham likes suhbah and doesn’t like salawaat.” If I didn’t speak that in suhbah, how do they know it. And, if that author of qaseedah didn’t write it, how are they to sing it? So there must be someone speaking or writing and the other listening and reciting.
What is this Tariqah based on? Tariqatuna as-suhba wa 'l-khayru fi 'l-jam`iyyah. Our way is suhbah as Sayyidina Shah Naqshband (q) said. He didn’t say, “Our way is only performing Mawlid.” Yes, you have to perform Mawlid, but suhbah is important as it will explain to you things. I will give you a simple example, easy to understand. Did you see Mawlana Shaykh (q) sitting all day and drumming? Why is he the head of Tariqah? So did Mawlana do something wrong? What does Mawlana do? He gives suhbah.
All scholars, all imams, and the Prophet (s) himself sitting with Sahaaba and giving advice how to follow Shari`ah and the message of Islam. He didn’t tell them to sit all day and drum and sing. That is for certain. People make us happy through their profession or hobby. But not for you every morning (drums on glass), not so, do you do that? Then you are wrong like me. You don’t like Mawlid. Is it not? It means we are all wrong. We have to, as soon as we open our eyes, (drums) wake up call.
It is good to make salawaat, of course, and it is good to make Mawlid. Yes, of course, but every action, if your intention is to make it Mawlid for Prophet (s), it will be written as if you read whole seerah. Then if you make any salawaat, any way, allahuma innee asaluka wa atawajahu ilay bi sayyidina Muhammad (Mawlana gave several examples here), any salawaat, it is written for you as if from Sayyidina Adam (a) to end that you are doing salawaat on Prophet (s). But that salawaat of that wali, he said, “Even you read it one time in your lifetime, it is heavier in scale than common salawaat that people do, even me.
You like to know that salawaat? “Yes!” (audience responds) Do you like to hear it? “Yes!” I think many of you know it, but you don’t know the secret of it. Some they know. Already we have said it many times. That salawaat was dictated, like in a dream. Like Sayyidina Imam Bukhari (?), when he writes hadith, he might travel 3-4 months to get one hadith and return to Bukhara, and before he writes it, he sleeps. Unless Prophet (s) appears to him in a dream and certifies that hadith he will not write it. And he will not put the title of the hadith chapter until he sees a dream and the Prophet (s) gives him that heading. There is a chapter in Bukhari, “Baab al-`Amaaim”, that is the chapter of turbans. Many scholars today wear tie and suit and nothing on their head and make jumu'ah. Or they go to different religious functions, or work as religious officers, with nothing, no turban and nothing on their head. Prophet (s) gave many hadith on ama'im.
العمائم تيجان العرب فإذا وضعوها وضعوا عزهم, و في لفظ: وعز العرب،
Al-ama'imu tijaanu 'l-`arab, fa idhaa wa`oohaa wada`oo `izzahum. (and in another narration) wa `aizzu 'l-`arab.”
Turbans are crowns of Arabs, means Muslims, and who put them up, Allah (swt) will raise. And who put it down, Allah (swt) will put down.
Now you see everyone in street with no hat. How do you know if he is Muslim? How can you give salaam? That salawaat that was opened to Sayyidina Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), who was the shaykh of Grandshaykh (q), in his dream, when he was in a trance state of haalat al-kashf, the vision state. He said, “Ya Rasulullah! Teach me something that I can keep honoring you with it." The words that he spoke felt so sweet to the heart of Prophet (s). I cannot repeat the words. He was a big `alim. Grandshaykh (q) had a book that Sayyidina Shaykh Sharfuddin (q) wrote, and we copied that book. I copied five copies by hand when I was young. I took from Grandshaykh (q) and copied.
The original book is now gone, but every page was like calligraphy of du’a. And in that book are the names of Sayyidina Mahdi (a) with his seven khalifah's and together with 47 ministers and together with 59 deputies and silsilah and du’a and verses of Qu’ran that the Ismullah al-`Azham is in these verses. And awliyaullah know that Allah's greatest name is in Awa'il as-Suur, in the beginnings of the surahs. He wrote with his own handwriting very beautifully the beginning of the surahs from Fatihah to Surat an-Nas, and with all major du’a. And he wrote that salawaat. Many people are doing it but don’t know why. “`Ala afdal al-`alameen sayyidina Muhammadin salawaat...” until the end.
And I think many people know it and they recite it, but they don’t know what it is. You were reciting it? You? No one explained it. Now I came. Why? Mawlana said, “Explain to them, what is importance of mawlid in our hearts.” Not necessary to be drumming. On top of that, there is guitar, we are guitar people, and now flute and saxophone. You know this one? Like nose of the elephant. And all kinds of garbage that comes with these musical instruments. It is okay, as long as people are happy. I am not going to say anything. But don’t accuse people. So that one salawaat is heavier in on the scale. Doesn’t mean: don’t do any salawaat. Keep repeating it and when we do that, we are approaching Sayyidina Muhammad (s) more and more. It means our day and night is Mawlid. It is not just 10, 15 minutes and that is it. When people get together like this, and there is no time to do whole Mawlid, then do suhbah and at end say, “Ya Sayyidee, Ya Rasulullah, this is for you.”
I will tell you why there is no time for Mawlid. Because here, and some other countries, they begin Isha at 9:00 p.m. then finish at 9:30, then do dhikr one hour, end at 10:30 p.m., then suhbah one hour, 11:30 p.m. Then they want to eat, and it's 12:30 p.m., so when can you do Mawlid? If you want Mawlid every day, begin early, at 7:00 a.m. I don’t like staying after Salat al-`Isha. Grandshaykh (q) never stayed after Isha more than one hour and then he went to sleep. Today everything is upside down. They like to stay up to Fajr and talk, socializing, nonsense, and then they sleep just before Fajr. And, most of the time, they don’t wake for Fajr. Which is better? To sleep early and pray Fajr or sleep late and miss it? Is that correct, Muhammad Nazim, you are the one responsible. You wake them for Fajr, they get upset. The way to fix it, is by teaching. Bit-taqrar yu`alim al-himar.
With repetition, you teach a donkey. I am a donkey, in order to learn, and those who like to learn may learn. So Allah's duties, Allah's rights are first, then ours. If you like Mawlid, we like to hear Mawlid, then come early. The first importance is Salaat al-`Isha then dhikrullah then advice. Without advice, what is the benefit of Tariqah. Tariqah is advice. Anyone wants to do Mawlid, stay late and do. No need to blame. Come early and do Mawlid or do dhikr early. People like to go home. You are keeping in closed doors like sardines. You put 12-15 in cans, there is no breathing, no air conditioning, no fan. What are they going to feel, and you want to keep six to seven hours?! Everything has its discipline. Can you make conference and tell people to come at 11 o’clock? No. You are a teacher of conference. What time do they come? Eight or nine o’clock. You cannot keep people longer than that.
Before it ends, let us get some benefit. It is said in Sahih Muslim from Abu Hurayrah (r) that the Prophet (s) said, “Whoever glorified Allah (swt) 33 times after prayer" Means to praise Allah (swt) by subhaanAllah, and make al-hamd 33 times and make takbir 33 times, "wa qaala tamaam al-miyya to complete the 100 is la ilaaha illa-Llaah wahdahu la shareek lah will be forgiven all his sins." Even if his sins are like the ocean, when the foam comes on the shore how it keeps coming on the beach, means coming non-stop until the Day of Judgment. Allah (swt) will forgive all that, if you recite the 33, 33, 33 and end up with la ilaaha illa-Llaah wahdahu la shareek lah. If we don't read that, we get benefit? Or do we get more from drumming?
We believe in reciting na`at and qasaa'id ash-shareefat an-nabawiyyah. Of course we are Ahl as-Sunnah; Sayyidina Hasan bin Thabit (r) wrote and recited these praises and many of them today are from him. So why did we open that subject? I come and look and you find a lot of small u`yoob, faults. Before those people speak up and say, "O we have to pay attention to Mawlid group. Shaykh Hisham doesn't care for Mawlid, only for suhbah." No, I care for them, and like them to be happy and I like them to be sponsored to be taught how to sing. They have good voices, but don't have melody. Instead of singing in a haphazard way--one from east, one west, one north and up and down--they need to make it melodious. I am not speaking about that group only, but also the Kuala Lumpur group; when they sing it is not melodious. If an Arab hears it, he gets fed up. That is why I said, listen to him (a murid), but he doesn't have a book to recite. The way of recitation is very important. Now you remember after I finish? But let him say this first. (Recites: Tala` al-Badru `Alayna)
You know the makhaarij al-huroof, when it comes out it is perfect here, because he studied. That is what I like. They have to be melodious. Some say, "You don't like Mawlid". We are, because of very tedious work and hard work, for four years in London. We have been invited to Trafalgar Square in London by the mayor of London to do Mawlid an-Nabi and fifty-thousand people attended and you can see it on QTV. We brought Mawlana Shaykh Nazim's name up! And what they did--those people sleeping--who criticize us and those around them. They have to know their limit or else Allah (swt) will punish them!
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