Suhbah at Centre for Spiritual & Cultural Advancement (CSCA)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Madad yaa Sayyidi, yaa Rasoolullah, yaa Rahmatan li ’l-`Alameen. Madad yaa Awliyaullah, jami`an. 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.
Yaa Sayyidi, yaa Rasoolullah (s), anzhur `alaa quloobina bi noorik, Allaahu nooru ‘s-samaawaati wa ‘l-ard.
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. Alhamdulillahi ’Lladhee jama`ana fee hadha ‘l-makaan wa hadha ‘l-masjid li nusabihuhu. Yaa Sayyidi, yaa Rasoolullah (s)! Madad, yaa man Arasalahullahu Ta`ala Rahmatan li ‘l-`Alameen.
What does a sick person need? He needs a cure; the one in pain needs something to make him feel better, and all of us are all in pain, not only physical, but also spiritual pain. The pain for the mu’min and Muslim comes when they sin, but they don't feel it. If Allah opened for them to feel it in dunya, they would run like crazy. Awliyaullah underwent heavy tests because Allah wants them to feel the pain, and in order to be purified from it, Allah gave them the Holy Qur’an and salawaat on Prophet (s). He forgave their sins and gave them what He didn't give to any (other) Ummah:
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ
You were the best of Nations evolved for Mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:110)
Allah said, “You were (not “are”) the best Ummah sent to humanity.” That was on the Day of alastu bi-rabbikum qaaloo balaa`, when in the the Presence of Allah (swt) He asked us, “Who am I and who are you?”
أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ
[Allah asked] “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes!” (Surat al-Araaf, 7:172)
We said, “Yaa Rabbee! You are our Lord, our Creator, and we are Your servants.” On that day Allah breathed the Heavenly Breath on us that pardoned us from our sins. When Allah says, “You were the best Ummah,” it means we were there in His Presence with the Prophet (s), as we are his Ummah. We don't know what happened that Day, but we know we were there as mentioned in many Ahadeeth and Hadith al-Mi`raaj. Allah (swt) gave Prophet (s) from the secret of ‘alastu bi-rabbikum qaaloo balaa`, from which some knowledge emerges, and Awliyaullah swim in that Ocean of Knowledge.
So what tablet did Allah (swt) give that makes us feel good? Today the doctor prescribes tablets for you to feel better, and when you take them, alhamdulillah, you feel okay, but what heavenly tablet did Allah give us? It is ita`atullah, to obey Him. Atee`oollaha, to ‘obey Allah’ is fal `amr, a command.
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)
So on the Day of alastu bi-rabbikum when Allah said, “The Holy Qur’an, every ayah, every letter and every word is alive,” it means it speaks to you and you can understand and hear it if Allah opened it on your heart. “Atee`oollaha” and “atee`oo 'r-Rasool” are commands, and Allah made the obedience of Prophet (s) equal to ita`atullah: if we obey Prophet (s), we are obeying Allah (swt). Allah ordered us “atee`oollaha” and we have to answer, sami`na wa ata`ana, “We hear and we obey.”
Even if you’re not obedient, when you read that ayah it makes ita`at for you; your sins are erased because when Allah says, “Obey Allah, obey Prophet and obey those who are in authority,” all your limbs, organs, and your entire body is always under the ita`ah of your brain. If Allah gives you a heavenly brain you succeed. Awliyaullah recommend to recite this ayah of ita`atullah in any majlis like this one, wherever it is, inside or outside, and if it is for the obedience of Allah (swt), He will forgive all sins: He (s) gave us ita`ah!
وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا
Leave what Prophet forbade and take what he ordered. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)
I remember Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q), may Allah bless his soul, saying this ayah is one of the main ayaat in Holy Qur'an that puts the `abd under continuous ita`ah: if whenever he is walking, driving, sitting, he recites “Ati`oollaaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum” even silently to himself, Allah will create angels from that ayah who read it for him and will give its reward to you on the Day of Judgement. Al-Qur’an ghayru makhlooq, the Qur'an is not created! Qur’an is natiqiyun, qadeem. We cannot make a mistake in this tafseer because it is related to Allah. Qur’an natiqi, the Qur’an is talking, it’s Allah's Ancient Words. He gave the Holy Qur’an to Prophet (s) in Arabic and ordered Sayyidina Jibreel (a) to reveal it to him (s).
Prophet (s) saw Sayyidina Jibreel and heard that ayah and the Sahaabah saw the Prophet (s) and heard him read that ayah for them. They were lucky as they heard and understood the Holy Qur’an from Prophet (s) and none of us can be like them! We learn from `ulama, listening to mukrioon, so our recitation is limited and mixed like a soup. When you begin reciting the Qur’an or enter prayer, all kinds of gossip comes to your mind. When the time of prayer comes and you say, “Allahu Akbar,” everything you have done that day comes, but never mind that as long as you are making istighfaar, which is to make you obey Allah (swt). Through istighfaar you are telling yourself, “Allah is my Creator and I am His servant.” For Allah, that is the meaning of istighfaar. Allah likes when we say, sami`na wa ata`ana, “Yaa Rabbee, we heard and we obey,” and also when we say, “Astaghfirullah” even once, because it erases all our sins of that day.
On Laylat al-Mi`raaj, Prophet (s) asked Allah to forgive his Ummah and Allah gave His blessings. Our mashayikh say when Prophet approached the Divine Presence and saw what Allah wanted him to see, he dove into the Oceans of Happinesses. In that moment, Allah gave him a package: the Ummah. Prophet (s) saw all of the them radiant from their `ibaadah, because we are servants. Don't think angels are not praying for you or not helping you; Allah (swt) created angels for Ummat an-Nabi (s) who are every moment fulfilling what we are not able to fulfill in twenty-four hours. Those angels are ordered not to write your sins until twenty-four hours have passed, and they wait for you to say “Astaghfirullah,” and are ordered to change those sins to hasanaat.
So Allah delivered the Ummah to Prophet (s) and said, “Yaa Habeebi! I give them to you, return them as I have given them to you, clean. Anta ‘l-`Aamin, you are the Trustworthy One.” When Allah (swt) gave him the Ummah, he placed them on his heart so happy, and Prophet (s) said, “Yaa Rabbee! I will bring them to You as You give them to me.” Then Allah (swt) opened the real `amal of Bani Adam and when Prophet (s) saw that he said, “Yaa Rabbee! You gave them to me clean! What is this?” Allah said, “Yaa Muhammad (s)! That’s what they will do in dunya, but I give you shafa`ah to bring them back clean.”
Prophet (s) was worried for his Ummah, and what is our situation today? Killing and backbiting! By our own actions we are barbarians! Allah gave us the five prayers to clean us, so it is important to pray them as they will intercede for you on the Day of Judgement. How many prayers have we missed and forgotten? If you have a safe with a code, if you forget the numbers you can't open it and you lose what is inside. The prayers open the safe to the treasures that Allah has given you, and no one can truly comprehend the treasures Allah prepared for Ummat an-Nabi (s), no Wali, no Nabi except Prophet. He gave us what He didn't give to other Nations, and still we are tyrants! May Allah forgive us.
Allah revealed to Prophet (s), “Yaa Muhammad (s)! Don't worry too much.” Read Surat al-Inshirah, alam nashrah laka sadrak. Why are you worried when I gave you that surah to expand your chest? When We expanded your chest, you were able to intercede for everyone. Wa wada`ana `anka wizrak, We took all your load and you are able to bring them forgiveness. Alladhee anqada dhahrak wa rafa`ana laka dhikrak, We took that heavy load and raised your name.”
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ الَّذِي أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا
Didn't We expand your chest (O Muhammad), and We removed your burden that weighed on your back, and We raised your reputation high. (Surah ash-Sharh, 94:1-4)
If Lovers of Allah and His Prophet (s) are saying that, will Allah not respond with, “Yes, yaa `abdee, I will give you what you want!” When he rejoices by mentioning the name of Prophet (s) and Allah (swt), alladheena yadhkuroonallaaha qiyaaman wa qu`oodan wa `ala junoobihim, those who make dhikrullah, and remember Allah, His Prophet (s) and the Saalihoon. (Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:190)
“We lifted your heavy burden and took you straight to the Divine Presence. Come to Me,” Allah invited Prophet (s). Imagine you are in a lift (elevator), and you press button number five, and it stops at level five. The mechanism pulled the lift up, against the gravity that pulls it down. All of us have a mechanism in our hearts that pulls us up, and Shaytan is pulling us down. When you ask forgiveness and Allah (swt) takes the heavy load from you, you fly in the universe of Heavens, not this universe, but in Heavenly Gardens. The lift can continue going to the tenth floor and some lifts go up one-hundred-fifty floors. Awliyaullah are like that! They begin by reaching the first floor, then the second and third. Some Awliya go up one-hundred or one-thousand floors, if we describe it like that for us to understand. Using the dunya lift takes time, but in a heavenly lift you will be like Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi (q) when he whirled, and the energy in his heart created a force pushing him up. He was rising, flying against Earth’s gravity, which was the secret, not like today when they are only dancing. When he whirled, he was able to physically raise his followers with him and no one could pull him down because the turbine in his heart was so powerful.
There are four chambers in the heart, each of which pushes you up and represents one level. The heart has Five Levels: Qalb, Sirr, Sirr as-Sirr, Khafa, Akhfa. Gossips are at the First Level, the Level of the Heart; the Second Level is as-Sirr, the Level of the Secret, and is for Awliyaullah. Then there is another level for Awliyaullah, Sirr as-Sirr, the Secret of Secrets. Awliyaullah can take you to high levels with the heavenly lift, diving in that Level of the Heart. The Fourth Level is Maqaam an-Nabi (s), Khafa, the Hidden Level, and then the Most Hidden level, Akhfa, is for Allah, `Ilm al-Ghayb. Akhfa means you cannot see it, it is hidden.
Allah gave the power of the Fourth Level to Prophet (s), with the power of wa rafa`ana laka dhikrak. That is why Awliyaullah and `ulama say that Prophet (s) ascended physically in Laylat al-Mi`raaj and saw Allah (swt) with his physical eyes, which is mentioned in tafseer of the Hadith in Sahih Muslim.
So Allah (swt) gave you power to pull yourself up against Earth’s gravity, which is why Sayyidina Jalaluddin Rumi (q) was able to move up, like jet turbine takes off, so why can't we take off? We are Allah’s Creation, stronger than any dunya invention, and airplanes are dunya inventions, but our hearts are Allah’s (swt) Creation that can take us not only to East and West, but anywhere through the Maqaams of Sirr and Sirr as-Sirr.
After wa rafa`ana laka dhikrak, comes fa innama `l-`usri yusra, “With difficulties come immediate ease,” which is for everyone. It means when Allah sees you dying in His remembrance and loving Him so much, He will give you ease from the difficulties of dunya, and lift you to feel happy, and raise you up with Sayyidina Muhammad (s) because we are his Ummah. He (s) was asking for his Ummah, “Yaa Rabbee! Ummati, ummati, my Ummah, my Ummah!” When Allah gave him (s) the Ummah he was happy because we were all clean. As soon as he accepted, Allah showed him the `amal of Bani Adam, and he said, “Yaa Rabbee! What is this?” Allah said, “Yaa Muhammad (s)! You are My Prophet, My servant, My `abd, subhaan-alladhee asraa bi `abdihi, I give you what you want.”
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ
مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ
Glory be to He Who transported His servant by night from the Inviolable House of Worship (at Mecca) to the Remote House of Worship (at Jerusalem), the environs of which We had blessed so that We might show him some of Our symbols, for verily He Alone is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (Surat al-Israa’, 17:1)
Allah gave Prophet (s) the Ummah and he cleaned it immediately. That is why Allah said, kuntum khayra ummatin ukhrijat li’n-naas, “You were the best of Nations,” because of Prophet (s) and Laylat al-Isra wa ‘l-Mi`raaj. O Muslims! Keep the love of Prophet (s) in your hearts! It will save us from everything in dunya and prepare us for Akhirah. Allah (swt) says:
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ
Every soul shall taste death. (Surat Aali ʿImraan, 3:185)
It means every person will die, dhaikatu ‘l-mawt. Death has a taste, is it sweet or sour? It will be sweet, inshaa-Allah. For the mu’min, for Ummat an-Nabi (s), as our Awliyaullah say, “When the `abd is on their deathbed and the Angel of Death comes to take the his soul, he will show him his right hand and the person will see “Allah” written on it.” If you look you see the Arabic numbers “18” and “81” are written on your hands, add them and it is “99”, representing the the Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of Allah (swt). When the dying servant sees Sayyidina Azraeel’s hand, his soul will immediately jump over it. That is for the mu’min! We ask, “Yaa Rabbee! Make us from them.”
Fa innama `l-`usri yusra, “With difficulty comes ease,” and ease comes from istighfaar. Allah likes His servant to call on Him, to forgive them. May Allah forgive and bless us. We are in difficult times when no one is happy, not even the richest person on Earth. Everyone has a complaint; regardless if people have money or not, they still complain. Awliyaullah sit in their seclusions because they know the Angel of Death is coming and they will be questioned. When you take baya`, your shaykh becomes responsible for you and will take you to Prophet (s), who sees and hears us. Know that! If we have heavenly eyes and ears, we can see and hear him.
عن أبي هريرة قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إن الله قال من عادى لي وليا فقد آذنته بالحرب وما تقرب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضت عليه وما يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها وإن سألني لأعطينه ولئن استعاذني لأعيذنه وما ترددت عن شيء أنا فاعله ترددي عن نفس المؤمن يكره الموت وأنا أكره مساءته
ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه، فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره
الذي يبصر به، ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها،
My servant does not cease to approach Me through voluntary worship until I will love him. When I love him, I will become the ears with which he hears, the eyes with which he sees, the hand with which he acts, and the legs with which he walks (and other versions include, “and the tongue with which he speaks.”). (Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari)
Say “Allah” and be happy, rejoice in His Mercy, don't be serious, smile! Allah gave you the ayah, ati`oollaaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum, and if you read it every day morning and evening, you will be written among the people who obey Allah (swt). Even if you sin, every time you read it Allah will create angels who read that ayah and clean you, and then send it to Heavens clean. So say it as much as you can to remind yourself that you must obey Allah, obey Prophet (s), and those who are in authority, namely, Awliyaullah and `ulama.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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