Oakland Zawiya
A`udhu 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
A`udhu 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
Allah swt, as we said this is a continuation of the previous two lectures. They are not lectures, but advice and they are realities that awliyaullah have explained to us through their lives.
And still they are through our Sultan al-awliya, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqani and through our Grandshaykh that these knowledges are coming slowly and appearing. It is not… a fountain when you turn it on, and if there is no water in the pipe, there is no water coming to the tap.
Many today, their pipes are coming from the reservoir through pipes, through the tap. Many have no water coming as there is a defect in the pipe. But the water is there, realities are there, heavenly presence is there, divine knowledge is there, but it is in its heavenly place. If you don’t have a system to bring it or the pipe is broken or the heart is not working or your mind is not understanding it doesn’t come.
So what do we need? We need someone whom Allah gave authority in order to extract these knowledges and give us even a drop in the desert which is enough to quench our thirst.
Is it not?
One time there was a king, Haroun ar-Rasheed, king of Baghdad, which is known today as Iraq.He went with his soldiers hunting in the desert where they lost their way. Allah wanted them to lose their way in order to teach them a lesson. They had no more water and were very thirsty, for when they go to the desert they go for days and days. It was not an easy trip. Not like today - you go in one day and arrive. Sometimes they went on horses or camels; sometimes they went on mules, and sometimes, like me, they went on donkeys.
So they lost the way and they didn't have water to drink. His people were very very thirsty. And suddenly they saw a house, made from mud, and bushes - a nice place in this desert. They looked at it and they were very happy. They approached and the man, the soldier knocked at the door. An old lady opened and asked, "what do you want?”
He said, "The king is thirsty and we have no more water. Do you have water for us to drink?” She said, “I have water but not for you to drink. If the king wants water let him come here. He is in need of me, I am not in need of him.”
Today we are not in need of a president. The president needs you. If you don’t elect him can he be president? So who needs who? Does the president need the citizens or do the citizens need the president? The president needs citizens! If he doesn’t have citizens he is alone in the jungle or desert. So he needs the citizens' votes to become president. He has to thank the citizens. Today presidents or leaders or important people think people are in need of them. No - they are breaking the law. They are in need of the citizens.
Prophets are in need of their nations. For what is he a messenger of God? He needs human beings with him. As Grandshaykh said, may Allah bless his soul, “every prophet is in need of his ummah, or else what does he want to do? Sit by himself in the corner? He has a message to deliver so he needs people to come.”
So she said, "the king is in need of me, I am not in need of the king. Let him come here.”
So Haroun ar-Rasheed came and said, "I am in need of water.” Look she brought him from his high level and cut his ego down. Today an important person will never accept to cut his ego down.
Sayyidina `Umar (r), khaliphatu rasulullah, used to hire someone every day to remind him in the morning when he went out and in the evening when he came home, “Ya `Umar! Remember your grave is before you - you are going to die.”
Then after many years Sayyidina `Umar (r) laid that man off. Today they laid many people off.
He asked him, “Ya `Umar (r), did I do something wrong, that you are laying me off?” He said, "No you did your job very well, perfect.” “Then why have you laid me off?” He said, "I now have someone to remind me not once or twice every day, but every moment in my life.” He asked, “What is that, an angel?” He said, "No, I have a white hair in my beard.”
Today you see people running here and there. Each one thinks differently. Look computers - each one works the same; they have the same programs. But no two persons have the same program. Who did that? It must be someone that is great. Allahu Akbar. Al-`azhamat lillahi - Greatness is for Allah. He is the Creator - He can say to something “be!” and it is.
So that Sultan Haroun ar-Rasheed… Today we say to people “Mother Earth.” It is an Islamic symbol because in interpretation the earth is represented by a lady, by a woman, because it carries nature, it carries animals; it carries human beings; it carries birds; it carries fish, everything.
It is a family and a mother. So that lady in the desert symbolized the earth. She said, "Ya Haroun. You are knocking in the desert. You have to know your limits, else you die.” She said, "Ya Haroun! I need to have a price for the water I want to give you.” He said, “Anything you want I will give you for your water.”
She said, "Do you replace this cup of water for your kingdom?” What will he say? Of course. He needs to drink and his people need to drink. So he said, "Of course.” She said, "This cup of water is more valuable then your kingdom.”
So awliyaullah if that pipe is broken they don’t get that water to come through to flow to you. That is why too many people today call for imaginary realities. It is not real. It is a Hollywood reality. What are Hollywood realities? They are zero, they are illusions.
They say something and think it is true. They speak of spiritual realities. They are inventing it and innovating it.
That is why awliyaullah’s words are so strong that you can see the value in it. Like you find a diamond and on the other side you have a pebble.
So which is more important? The diamond. So what do you do wuth the pebble? You step on it.
And what do you do with the diamond? You clean it every day [symbolized spitting on it and polishing it.] Then you put it back.
Who will throw away a diamond? You might throw your wife away but NOT a diamond. Or the wife might throw the husband away but NOT the diamond. But your wife will not throw you out; don’t worry!
So in the midst of that reality, Allah asked, after He dressed His Prophet (s) with all these lights which we have explained in the previous session and He taught him from His Ancient Word, that is why He says,
الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ
“ar-Rahman `allama al-Qur'an – the Merciful One taught the Qur'an.” [ar-Rahman, 55:1-2]
The Merciful out of his mercy taught the Holy Qur'an to the prophet. That means before any creation. Then:
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ
Khalaqa ’l-insaan - He has created man. [55:3]
What Allah taught the Prophet (s) - do you know? Does anyone know? No one knows. Why, were you present? No one was present.
What Allah gave to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) no one knows except Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and what the Prophet (s) gave to the Sahaba and to the Ummah is but a drop of that knowledge. Why? Because this reality will explain to us where we stand. That the Prophet (s) gave a drop but that drop for us is like an ocean.
If you add all books together and everyone what he wrote and what he said from the beginning it will be like an ocean of knowledge and yet it will be but a drop in what the prophet gave to humanity and what we are getting is but a small drop of that huge ocean.
And he asked him, who are you and who am I? He said, SubhanAllah anta al-qahhaar wa an abduk al-`ajiz – Glory be to Allah, You are the Subduer and I am Your weak servant.” He realized the reality. He said, "You are the Subduer, al-`Adheem, al-Kabeer, al-Akbar. You are the Greatest, the Highest and no one is above You and no expression can express Your Divinely Essence. So who am I? Nothing. Compared to that it is zero. Ana `abduk al-`ajiz - I am Your servant who is weak and ...”
The Prophet (s) can say that but we cannot say that. For us the Prophet (s) is the greatest in creation. To us he is the creation. Allah created him and within him creation came. From within him. Then when the Lord answered, “thumma qaala ta`ala `azza wa jall,’ ma ma`an qahhaar wa ma ma`na al-`abd - what do you understand from the meaning of Subduer and what do you understand from the meaning of servant, `abd?’”
So what do you understand? You. Qahhaar. Subduer. Force anything under him, smash everything. Is that Subduer? That means everything becomes shattered when He wants. He asked the Prophet (s) “what do you understand by it?”
He [Grandshaykh] said, "with the power of heavenly vision that has been given to the Prophet (s) he looked first at what came to him, what Allah wants him to see: Every bad characteristic which exists and that will come, the dress that human beings will be dressed in.”
Who will dress these bad characters? Creation, and humans.
So what happened? The creation of course has pollution, what they call today pollution, everything is polluted with bad characteristics. The imam who has a mosque, the priest who has a church or the rabbi who has a synagogue or the Buddhist who has a temple or the Hindu who has a shrine - everyone has to receive from the negative energy that goes from these bad characteristics. No one is clean from that. Don’t tell me someone is clean, not possible.
After this series we will go into the series of bad characteristics. Last time we went into seventeen. Now we will count 105. People can count 10, 15, 20 bad characters. But awliyaullah came up with 105 bad characteristics. And there are in reality 800 bad characteristics.
So everyone has been polluted. So the Prophet (s) when he was asked, “what is the meaning of the Subduer,” he looked immediately at what wrong might come.
You don’t look at what is good, as good is good. Praise Allah - alhamdulillah you don’t look at what is already fixed. Look at what needs to be fixed.
People today they say, “O this one doesn’t lie, this one doesn’t do this, this one doesn’t do that. But no. Look at what he is doing bad and fix that.
Iblees, Satan, what did he say? He said, “You made me to sin” to Allah. What did Sayyidina Adam say? He said, “I did it, O my Lord, forgive me. What is good is coming from You, O My Lord, and what is bad is coming from me.”
So the Prophet (s) is representing creation and he looked at the bad that is going to come out from creation. He saw all the bad that comes out from human beings and even animals. Don’t animals eat each other? So animals are going to be judged on Judgment Day. Every animal is going to be judged and asked, “Why did you eat this and why did you ate that.” Then Allah will make them disappear.
Then He says, “O human beings, come to Me.” What are you going to answer? Did you commit big sins? Yes, did you commit small sins? Yes. We all will say yes. So if you fix these then everything is clean.
So what did the Prophet (s) look at? He looked at the sins that human beings are going to commit and whatever they are going to commit from every creation that is under him. He was looking at them one by one, at every individual, and he was able to see and to see how long he is going to live and what sins he is going to commit. Leave the good, what is good is good. He has to make sure all these sins are all cleared.
Today when they want to put a building down what do they do? They put explosives. The building if it falls, it will bring the other buildings down. So today they have technology to setup the explosions to make the building come down by itself.
So in the case of a small building you cannot use a large explosion which you would use for a large building. Every one is like a building. What brings us down? The bad characteristics and sins.
So the Prophet (s) looked at that and said to Allah, “The meaning of the Subduer, that is what it means to me is the one that will submerge or drown or (yughriq) plunge sinking, make all these …the meaning of Subduer is the One who can erase all these sins and bad characteristics and destroy them completely in the ocean of His mercy.
That means, “Ya Rabbee, you are the One that can with Your oceans of mercy, destroy all kaba’ir and sagha’ir - All big sins and small sins. And all bad characters from anyone you have created from jinn, ins, angels. Though angels are protected, [but] from angels. From everything. Ya Rabbee, You created and You can destroy all these bad characters and sins. Sagha’ir wa kaba’ir – the minor sins and the major ones.
No one gave that answer. How many books I read, I never read that answer. So realities that are given to awliyaullah they can extract them.
Even a tree, you go in a jungle and you see a small tree strangling a big tree and you see the big tree dying. Also it is going to be judged as there is life in it. That small tree will be asked why you strangled the big tree and killed it?
But the Prophet (s) gave the answer. He said, "Ya Rabbee, with your oceans of mercy you can clean everything. So to me the Subduer is the one who can completely demolish the sins and bad characteristics and drown them.”
This is one meaning and we will not go to the other meanings.
The meaning of servant is the one who is in need of the treasures of His Mercy.
`Abd, human being is in need of God’s Mercy.
That is the meaning of `abd. That means he is in need of something. Not in need of one thing, but he is need of everything. He needs health and wealth and moral excellence to progress in his akhira. An `abd is always in ne