Pre-Khutbah Suhbah at Hounslow Jamia Mosque
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta`ala al-`Azheem fee hadha '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)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.
First of all, I would like to thank the organizers and all those looking after this masjid, because they are giving from their own time to take care of the masjid and masaajid are the houses of Allah (swt); it means you are guarding a house of Paradise and inshaa-Allah it will be written in your good `amal.
It is very difficult to stand in front of such a gathering where they have imaan in Allah (swt) and imaan in Rasoolullah (s) and imaan in Awliyaullah. This world is not as we see it, this world is being taken care of. What we are seeing is a drop of a struggle between good and evil. Allah (swt) wants to show us what is evil and what is good where evil and good started from the time of Adam (a) from between his two sons, Qabeel and Habeel, and Qabeel in the end killed Habeel. Why? Out of arrogance and out of pride: he didn’t want competition that showed his brother is more sincere than him. That is why we see from the first day that there is a competition between brothers, as we are still seeing today as it is the same problem. Today there is a competition between who is right and who is wrong and if we see someone that differs in his opinion, we say, “He is wrong!” and to the one on our side we say, “He is right.”
Nimrod saw himself as correct and he tried to destroy Sayyidina Ibraheem (a). There is a very nice story about Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) that will make clear how much we need to work on ourselves.
Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur’an:
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُواْ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاء وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
Behold, your Lord said to the angels, "I will create a vicegerent on Earth." They said, "Will You place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood, while we celebrate Your praises and glorify Your Holy (Name)?" He said, "I know what you know not!" (Surat al-Baqara, 2:30)
“I am going to make on Earth someone to represent Me,” representation, khalifah. Qaloo a taj `aloo feehaa ma ’yufsidoo feehaa wa yasfiku ’d-dimaa, angels said, “What, yaa Rabbee? Why are You doing that when they are going to shed blood on Earth?”
He (swt) said, “I will show you why", and He sent Sayyidina Jibreel (a) to Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) to test him.
Sayyidina Jibreel Tested Sayyidina Ibraheem with the Sheep
Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) was in the forest among the bushes feeding the animals: sheep, goats, cows. Sayyidina Jibreel (a) came to him and said, “Yaa Sayyidina Ibraheem (a), you have too much and I don’t have anything.” Sayyidina Jibreel (a) was hiding himself from Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) so that he wouldn’t recognize him. He approached him in the form of a human being and said, “Give me some.”
Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) asked, “How much do you want?”
He replied, “I will take whatever you give me.”
“But it has a price,” said Sayyidina Ibraheem (a), “I will give these to you if you give me the price.”
“I will give you any price you want,” answered Sayyidina Jibreel (a), “what do I have to do?”
Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) said, “Say, ‘Subboohun quddoos, Rabbu ‘l-malaa’ikatu wa ‘r-rooh.’ My price is to praise Allah (swt)!”
Sayyidina Jibreel (a) repeated, “Subboohun quddoos, Rabbu ‘l-malaa’ikatu wa ‘r-rooh.”
Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) said, “Take one-third and leave.” He gave him one-third of his property for reciting tasbeeh just one time! Today we say it one million times and no one gives us anything, look at the difference.
Then Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) said, “O my brother, do you want more?”
Sayyidina Jibreel (a) said, “If you give me, I will take.”
He said, “Say, ‘subboohun quddoos, Rabbu 'l-malaa’ikatu wa ‘r-rooh’ another time.” When Sayyidina Jibreel (a) said that, Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) said, “Take another one-third.”
Sayyidina Jibreel (a) said, “Yaa Sayyidina Ibraheem, you still have too much.”
Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) said, “Now say, ‘subboohun quddoos, Rabbuna wa Rabbu 'l-malaa’ikatu wa ‘r-rooh,’” he added “Rabbuna,” because he knew that it is Sayyidina Jibreel (a).
Sayyidina Jibreel (a) said those words and Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) said, “All of this is for you, I don’t want anything. I took my payment, my wealth and my treasures. My wealth is to praise Allah (swt). Yaa Sayyidina Jibreel (a), don’t hide yourself from me! Allah gave me eyes to see you, that is enough for me. And Allah (swt) has rewarded me for what I have given to you.” He gave Sayyidina Jibreel (a) everything for three praises.
What do you think when Allah (swt) says:
فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُواْ لِي وَلاَ تَكْفُرُونِ
Remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful towards Me. (2:152)
He is giving us more than what he gave to Sayyidina Ibraheem (a), because we are from the Ummah of Rasoolullah (s)! He said, “Mention Me, I will mention you. I don’t want a flock of sheep from you, I will give you treasures, I will give you what you don’t know. Mention Me!” To mention Allah (swt) is to praise His Beloved One, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), because it is an order from Heaven that Allah gave to Ummat an-Nabi (s):
من صلى علي مرة صلى الله عليه بها عشرا
Whoever prays on me one time, Allah prays on him ten times. (Sahih Muslim)
“Whoever sends one salawaat on me, Allah will give you ten salawaat.” What is that “ten salawaat?” Is it a flock, are they goats and animals, what are these ten salawaat that Allah will send to us? We know our salawaat: we say “Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad wa `alaa aali Sayyidina Muhammad,” we know what we are reciting, but we don’t know what Allah recites back on us and what He gives! Whoever makes one salawaat, Allah will make for him ten salawaat. So what is the ten salawaat that Allah has given to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) for the Ummah? What is salawaat? It is guidance.
إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ
It is true you (O Muhammad) will not be able to guide every one whom you love, but Allah guides those whom He will and He knows best those who receive guidance. (Surat al-Qasas, 28:56)
“Don’t guide whom you like, I will guide whom I like.” When you make one salawaat, Allah likes you, He loves you. And what does a lover give to his beloved, a priceless gift or a normal one? He gives a priceless gift, whose value cannot be checked, we do not know how much it is worth!
لأن يهدي الله بك رجلاً واحداً خير لك مما طلعت عليه الشمس وخير لك من حمر النعم، وخير لك من الدنيا وما فيها
That Allah guides a man through you is better for you than the whole world and what is in it. (Ahmad)
“If Allah will guide one person through you, it is better for you than the wealth of this whole dunya.” We cannot guide someone to Allah (swt), but we can guide him to the one whom Allah made khalifah on this Earth and in Heavens, to whom Allah gave Maqaam al-Mahmood, for whom Allah ordered all angels to make sajda to Adam (a), as he carried the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in his forehead! That is what Allah wants: to guide you to Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah, to make you from the lovers of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) so you may remember him. That is what’s important! “Remember or mention Me, I will mention you.”
Today the one who brought me here, Shaykh `Arif, I think many of you here know him (cut)...important people running the masjid. I said, “Alhamdulillah wa shukran lillah, As-salaamu `alaykum wa `alaykum as-salaam.” And that is it, I leave and forget the names. I know in general, that he introduced me to some important people, but Allah (swt) mentions your name, He doesn’t forget! You mention Him, He mentions you. You mention Him as an individual in front of some important people, but He mentions you to all the angels in Paradise, because He ordered us and angels to make salawaat on Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!
By this salawaat, Allah wants us to make the connection. We need a connection in every moment of our lives. Don’t think that we don’t need a connection. Allah didn’t say “Mention Me, I will mention you” just one time, but it is continuous, as we are in need for it. We are not those who say it just one time and that is it, or hold a conference just once and that is it. Allah ordered angels and Muslims:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him with a worthy salutation. (Surat al-Ahzaab, 33:56)
Who entered Paradise? Mu’mineen. So Allah wants you to be mu’min and the sign of a mu’min is to make salawaat on the Prophet (s). When you make salawaat, Allah rewards you from heavenly rewards. It is mentioned in many ahadeeth and the Holy Qur’an that Allah (swt) will give us Paradises, houses, rivers, but is this what the Prophet (s) wants? Allah has mentioned this in the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet (s) has mentioned this in ahadeeth in order to encourage the Ummah to act, but do you think Allah wants to give you a villa or a beautiful house? Allah will give you treasures! He gave treasures to the Prophet (s). He didn’t give him villas when he went to Heavens, He gave him Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa. He made him to be Near to the Nearness point possible! And not only that, He gave him an ascension that will never end! He didn’t give him just one ascension, come and go! When someone enters a villa, he doesn’t like to come out of it. If Allah tells you to go out, that is not generosity, it is not `ata-Allah, Allah’s gift. When Allah gives, He gives the best. When He gave the Prophet (s), He gave him Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, He gave him the most important position in Creation. He raised his name with His Name. When someone is being raised by name, it doesn’t mean anything. When you want to raise someone higher, you have to give him something in which he can be seen. Allah (swt) gave the Prophet (s) a maqam as an `abd, but the highest level that Allah (swt) gave to a human being, He gave to the Prophet (s)! And the Prophet (s) shared it with his Ummah.
Like when Sayyidina Ibraheem (a) said to Sayyidina Jibreel (a), “Say, ‘subboohun quddoos, Rabbu 'l-malaa’ikatu wa ‘r-rooh’ I will give you one-third of my flock.” He gave him everything, he gave him the whole dunya and didn’t ask for anything except these three tasbeeh, as it is more precious, it is a treasure. A treasure of what? A treasure of hidaya, guidance, to walk on Siraat al-Mustaqeem. Did we think about how we will walk on Siraat al-Mustaqeem? Is our `amal enough to make us to walk on this path? Let us ask ourselves! I challenge myself and everyone else to say, “Yes, I can walk on Siraat al-Mustaqeem.” No one can say this, except for those who are being called by Allah (swt) as “mu’minoon.” And as we said, to be mu’min is to make salawaat on the Prophet (s).
Sayyidina Musa Meets the True Believer:
“Praise be to Allah, Who has favored me more than anyone.”
Look at how sad Sayyidina Musa (a) was, even though he was one of the Five Highest Prophets, `Oolu ‘l-`Azam, when he was in a desert leading his flocks, as all prophets were shepherds, and the best shepherd is the one who looks after his flock, which means the Prophet (s) is the best of them. So Sayyidina Musa (a) was walking and he began to hear a sound coming from a nearby cave. He began to approach, but was trembling from that nice voice he was hearing. He didn’t know who was inside and he heard recitations that he could not understand, but he continued to approach until he reached the cave and heard someone saying, “Praise be to Allah, Who has favored me over so many, more than anyone.”
الحمد لله اللذي َفَضَّلنْيْ عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِّمَّنْ خَلَق تَفْضِيلاً
Alhamdulillahi ’Lladhee fadalanee `alaa katheerin mimman khalaqa tafdeela.
All praise be to The One that honored me over many of whom He honored.
(Du`a based on Surat al-Israa’, 17:70)
Musa (a) heard him reciting this so beautifully and correctly, and as he came closer and saw a man in sajda. Afterwards he said, “O my brother, how are you making this tasbeeh that Allah has favored you with what He didn’t favor anyone, what have you done? You have no arms and no legs!” He only had a head and torso. “Allah favored you with what?” asked Musa (a). “You are praising Him that He favored you more than He favored anyone.”
The man looked at him and said, “Yaa nabi-Allah,” he knew that it was Musa (a). Look at how the eyes and hearts of Awliyaullah are open! Don’t think that they are blind when you meet someone and you think, “Oh, who cares for that shaykh.” He might come to you as a dervish with a stick, ripped clothes and long hair, and you don’t care for him.
This happened to me here in London. I was meeting one person from Ahlu ’l-Bayt coming from Jeddah, he had lost one of his carry-on luggages at the airport. He was scheduled to see me, so he came and we went in a car to look at a building. I asked him, “You look sad, what are you sad about?” He told me what had happened: his passport, his papers, his watch, his money, everything was in that luggage. We called the airport, asked some of the officers there, but it was no where to be found. As we were driving in the car, someone with a stick and a red cloth on his hat, stopped us. He said, “I’m hungry!” We had some sandwiches in the car, I gave him and he said, “No, no! Give me money!” It was apparent that he was someone different. He tried to snatch the money from my hand, but I didn’t give it to him. I said, “No, I need the carry-on first, then I will give you the money.” He said, “Shaykh Nazim, Shaykh Nazim! Shaykh Hisham, Shaykh Hisham, give me the money!” I said, “I need the carry-on.” He insisted to get the money, so I gave it to him. The moment he got the money, a phone call came saying that they found the luggage. Nothing was missing, except for some money. I told him that you will get half of your money back; he lost half and got half. So they come in different ways.
So the man in the cave knew that it was Sayyidina Musa (a). He said, “Yaa Musa, Allah has favored me with the best favor. I have been in that sajda for 300 years,” they used to have long lives at that time, Allah gave them that. “I have been in sajda for 300 years. A deer comes to me, I drink its milk and live on that. I have been in sajda thanking Allah (swt) that He favored me.”
Musa (a) asked, “What has Allah favored you with?”
The man replied, “Allah has favored me that He made me Muslim.” That was enough for him to be happy. We are Muslim, we must be happy! We must keep the conditions and rules of Islam, to show that our religion is the religion of harmony and peace. Peace to our hearts and ourselves first, and then peace to others.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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