Audhu billah min ash-shaytan ir-rajeem
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
Nawaytu'l-arba`een, nawaytu'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu'l-khalwah, nawaytu'l-riyaada, nawaytu's-salook, nawaytu'l-`uzlah lillahi ta`ala fee hadha'l-masjid
So he said that in order to be able to sit on the maqam of irshad you have to have twelve different khislah, different characteristics, the first two are from Allah swt; the second two from the Prophet (s) , the third two are from Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq ; the fourth two are from Sayyidina `Umar ; the fifth two are from Sayyidina `Uthman , and the sixth two are from Sayyidina `Ali .
So what do you think they are, the two characters that are important ones that Allah swt is from His endless knowledge He opened to the heart of awliyaullah. What are these two important characters that Allah likes?
We recite them everyday. Allah has a lot of Beautiful Names and Attributes but the two that He likes His servants to always be under them is to cover the sins of His servants. He said that, “the two that they are from Allah an yakoona dhak al-wali ghaffaaran wa sattaaran - the wali that inherits from those two attributes, al-Ghaffar or al-Ghafoor and al-Sattar. That he is dressed with these two Attributes that he covers the mistakes of servants.”
That means you don’t want to show it. That is Allah’s style. When Allah covers, He takes it away not to be seen anymore, as if it doesn’t exist.
Awliyaullah when they cover for their students, as they have to present you to the Prophet (s) clean every 24 hrs. So they have to take that away from you completely.
So when they dress the wali from the manifestation of as-Sattar they cover and from the manifestation of al-Ghafoor or al-Ghaffar, they take it away as if not existing anymore.
So as Allah is al-Sattar and al-Ghaffar, and that murshid, that guide must be sattaran and ghaffaran.
What is sattar? There are too many representatives for Mawlana Shaykh around the world. Do they have that character? That they cover up and they forgive their students if they harm them?
Shaykhs of course have that power, but representatives do they have that? Representatives, as soon as someone harms them, they get angry. They cannot control their patience. Until you can control your patience you cannot sit on throne of as-Sattar.
What is the meaning of as-Sattar? From the day you took baya` until the day of resurrection he has to make sure that you are clear from that day until you reach safely to
… Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is not exposing everyone. As soon as he went into sajda and Allah inspired to him prayers that never were given to anyone, and Allah said to him sa’l tu`tah – ask and I will give you. He said, “My Ummah. My Ummah!” Don’t think we are created and then left. No, we are connected with Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and with awliyaullah.
You must be happy. You must wash the dishes every moment. You must make everything clean every moment, then Allah makes you clean. Don’t say, “why me?”
The big qutb in time of Sayyidina Ubaydullah al-Ahrar قدس سرّه, what was he doing? He was sitting outside at the door and doing what? Cleaning the shoes. And these scholars are inside with the shaykh, and he is outside, not asking to be inside.
When the shaykh passes away, they expect him to say “my khalifa is this or this or this.” But he chose the one who is polishing the shoes. Shoes symbolize ignorance as in past shoes were made from donkey skin, which symbolizes ignorance. He is polishing the shoes. What does this mean in interpretation.
Filling the qalb, taking away the arrogance, polishing you, cleaning you from where you are sitting. His guide directing him to mureed after mureed, by his heart, to polish them one by one. You cannot polish a diamond by putting saliva on it. You must polish it.
Polishing shoes means cleaning the hearts of the followers and taking away their ignorance. [that is what the mureed must do] in order to sit on the carpet of guidance. Now someone coming from nowhere and puts a big turban and makes a beard and says, “I am murshid.” Yes you are murshid. You are murshid on what? Murshid on your BS. Mashaykh say also like that. That is your irshad. Murshid on what? On your BS. Because you are full of BS you need to be murshid on that first before you try to sit and clean others, [else] what is benefit?
Sayyidina Abdul Qadir had a mureed who is a murshid, giving suhbat and everyone listening to him. But that murshid has a son who is very educated in Islamic law and Shariah. He said, “O my father is giving lectures to thousands. If I teach not only will they not open their eyes, they will be standing and listening out of immense energy I will be passing.”
Arrogance.
So one day,… His father knows what is in his heart, but they cover, they inherit from as-Sattar and al-Ghaffar. They know that if he will speak and speak until Judgment Day, let him speak. So he said, “I am sick today, the people are waiting for my teaching today, can you go and give them?” He said, “O this is my opportunity today and today I will make it.”
He went up and giving the lecture. 10 minutes, and all the students sleeping, snaaa.. Snoring also. It means we are so far away we are not hearing anything. He got upset. He went and said, “O my father! Something strange happened today.” His father said,
”O my son don’t tell me. They didn’t listen to you, they slept.” He said, “O my father how did you know?” He said, “When you throw first arrogance from your heart and say to yourself ‘I am in need of what I am speaking,’ what comes to the heart then that is what you need. Then they will open their eyes. Don’t see yourself better than them. You are not.”
So this a wali, this student is polishing the shoes. Polish shoes. So it is a “PS”. Not the other way around. One less.
So he is giving them a PC. A PC. One day they put their feet in it, it is a clean PC. What is PC. You don’t say to computer, “PC”? He cleans their shoes to give them a clean PC they can travel with. These shoes become a conveyance for traveling in Gnosticism. That is why shaykhs put him in order that when they come they are navigating the whole internet. That means “clean your whole personality.” Then you will navigate the heart of your shaykh and you can pull out of his heart’s treasures. That is why real representatives they know how to navigate the heart of the shaykh and pull out their shaykh’s treasures.
Today we were praying Salat an-Najaat [early morning prayer before Salat al-Fajr]. And I know Sahib was behind me. And between Sahib and Dr. Jamal there is one tall one that was reaching up to the skies. That… you cannot ask “who is that?” But that one is responsible for all the people in this area to clean them. You have to be always prepared. You don’t know who comes.
You think Grandshaykh allows people to sit in their majlis in working clothes. They have to have one dress that they wear only in the association. They wear it and [when they leave] hang it and it has to be clean.
So he polishes their shoes means “he is throwing away ignorance and giving them light in order to use that light to move in that dark nafaq, that dark tunnel that if full of dark wild characters they have to travel there safely.”
So you see what hikmah he appointed him to polish shoes. You know the hikmat. Sometimes the shaykh appoints you to do something. You do it; you know you cannot, but you do it. There must be a secret that happens in the middle of the way that happens to you.
So the two characters that are from the Prophet (s) are bil-mumineena raufun raheem – merciful and kind to the believers. Anyone who says la ilaha illa-Allah the Prophet (s) will reach him with his mercy that Allah gave to him. So when the shaykh has been dressed, and that is why he said you have to take two characters from the Prophet (s) - to be ra’uf, as Allah described in Holy Qur'an, and raheem. Raheem is what? [merciful] merciful and kind. First you have to be kind, ra’uf. Then when you see kindness coming from the other one, dress him with mercy. So the shaykhs inherit these two characters in order to dress their followers.
Then two characters from Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq an yakoonu sadiqan wa mutasaddiqan. That wali has to be sadiq, truthful in whatever he says, he says the truth. Mutasaddiqan means someone who gives in the way of Allah, anything in the nation. They say “that man is mutasaddiq - he is giving donation out of generosity.” You have to be truthful and always giving and not taking. And not only giving and not taking but here it means sadiqan and giving, charitable, that is first meaning. The second one explains that, mutasadiqan from the knowledge that Allah gave to him. It is not his knowledge but he has to give it out.
So when you dress these two character from the Prophet (s) and you come to two characters from Sayyidina Abu Bakr , that means he is truthful person and he takes from sattaran ghaffaran and he is truthful in his taking it in and he is truthful in his giving it out to those who want to be improved, (if we want to be improved).
And those who take two characters from Sayyidina Umar, an yakoon amaaran wa naha’an. To give orders for ma`ruf, for good doings, for good deeds. He is the one who asked the Prophet “are we on haqq or on baatil?” He said, “we are on haqq.” Then he went up, and calling for what is best, calling adhaan. And everyone was afraid, they ran away. Sayyidina Umar was tough and strong. So if you want to be amaaran naha’an you have to first do that for yourself to remind yourself to be good and to do dhikrullah.
جاء رجل إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم و قال {يا رسول الله إن شرائع الإسلام قد كثرت علىّ فدلني على عمل أتشبث به قال لا يزال لسانك رطباً بذكر الله }
As the Prophet (s) said to the man who said to him, “it is too much for me Shariah laws.” Prophet said to him, “ija`al lisanak ratban bi-dhikrullah - Keep your tongue moist with dhikrullah.” Tell your self you have to be doing good things, praying and so on. And forbidding your self what it likes. That is the verse of :
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
fa alhamaha fujooraha wa taqwaaha – And inspired it (with conscience of) what is wrong for it and (what is) right for it. [91:8]
So stop what is bad and do what is good.
And the two characters of Sayyidina Uthman are “an takoonu ta`aman li at-ta`ma - You have to open your house or you have to open kitchen soup. Soup kitchen. You have to give food.” You must have always food. You cannot say to someone who is knocking on your door asking if you have something to eat, “no.” Sayyidina Uthman’s door was never closed to someone who came asking for food. And he had special place that he serves food to people. And he has to give spiritual food, of what Allah has opened to him.
An yakoonu musalliyan wan-naasi niyaam - he gets up to pray at night when people are sleeping. It means there is no one, but there is One. It means that One is there but no one is there. That One is always there but that one must not be there. So you are only with your Lord in His presence.
And finally we explained them in brief. What you inherit from Sayyidina `Ali an yakoonu `aliman shuja`an - to be a courageous scholar that he doesn’t fear anyone and he doesn’t stop like running away but only running forward, never backward, always facing the obstacles and doesn’t run away.
That is why the Prophet (s) said,
قوله صلى الله عليه وسلم " أنا مدينة العلم و علي بابها ، صححه الحاكم
“Ana madinatul ilmi wa `aliyyun baabuha – I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.” Because he was like that courageous, Allah opened to him door of knowledge. Out of his courage to stand for Sayyidina Muhammad when he was in big difficulties.
May Allah bless us and forgive us, bi hurmatil Fatiha.