Run Towards Prophet (s) and Dunya Will Run After You

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

14 October 2012    Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

We like to say thank you to His Excellency, or it is not necessary to say “Excellency,” rather thank you to our very, very sincere brother, Shaykh Akbar Khan, for inviting us to his house. And I notice again that he has identical wallpaper as the one we have in Michigan, so it is a sister house, like sister cities. And all your house is red and red is a sign of love, so inshaa-Allah all of you will be happy throughout your lives. His nephew, my uncle, I call him my uncle, Muhammad Moiz, mentioned many things in his introduction, but I am not worthy of what he said.

Our movement in this life is like the movement of an ant.... Our Earth is seen as the head of a pin, not more than that, so that shows us Allah’s Greatness! He is the Creator of the universe, and our whole Earth is just like the head of the pin. This is the relationship between the size of the Earth and the size of the universe. How to compare the universe and the Heavens? Let’s say all this universe that we see in front of us...scientists have announced theories that this universe, with all its six-thousand galaxies, each full of stars, planets, moons and suns, is moving in one direction at 300,000 km per second. This whole system, which is more than the stars we see at night, is part of our solar system and galaxy. There are eighty billion stars in our galaxy. These six-thousand  galaxies, most even bigger than our galaxy, are all moving together as a universe. Where is it going? No one knows. It is moving in a vacuum, a no-gravity zone, from where Allah wants to where Allah wants. Allah knows.  

This gives us an idea of the size of Creation and how we are very small within it, but we see how much honor Allah has given us, that He created us. Not only created us, but He said:

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Wa laqad karamnaa Bani Adam.

We have honored the Children of Adam. (Surat al-'Israa, 17:70)

“Honoring” us means that there is no more comparison of an ant to a universe, that everyone of us is in himself a universe! You cannot understand the body system, the system that we have, hayyar al-`ulamaa, confused and makes scientists muhayyareen, astonished, at the greatness that Allah gave to the human beings living on an Earth that looks like the head of a pin in comparison to the universe, and look at what Allah has given us! Our teaching is to destroy the one element that kills us. There is one element that makes us lie, be angry, cheat, deceive or do any bad action. It is the element from which Prophet (s) sought refuge in Allah, to help him not to fall victim to it. What is this element?

Prophet (s) said, by permission of our sincere brother, Shaykh Akbar Khan, that element is described by what Prophet said in his authentic hadith:

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Allahumma laa takilnee ilaa nafsee tarfata `aynin wa laa aqala min dhalika.

O Allah! Don't leave me to my ego for the blink of an eye or less (because if you leave me for the blink of an eye, I lose.)

And this was Prophet (s) saying this. How many times do we blink in a minute? 18-24 times. So Prophet (s) says, “Yaa Rabbee! Don’t leave me to my ego for that moment of blinking and opening,” which is even less than a second. The Prophet (s) is asking for this! What is destroying us? We think of ourselves as being at a high level, that no one is above us, even though Allah (swt) says:

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Wa fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `aleem.

Above every knower is a (higher) knower. (Surah Yusuf, 12:76)

Above every intellectual is an intellectual higher than him; above every professor is another professor above him; above every doctor there is a doctor better than him. So no one can say to himself, “I am the best.” When you prove to yourself that you are not the best, Allah will open your heart and give you hikam, wisdom. Prophet (s) said, Raas ul-hikmati, “All the wisdom of the Holy Qur’an is based on one issue.” And he said to Sayyidina `Ali, “What is that issue?” He asked Sayyidina `Ali (r) because, as mentioned in a hadith:

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Anaa madinatu 'l-`ilmi wa `Aliyyun baabuha.

I am the City of Knowledge and `Ali is its Door (or Gate). (al-Haakim, Tirmidhi)

This means that to get heavenly knowledge, go to the door, to Sayyidina `Ali (r). Sayyidina `Ali (r) said to the Sahaabah, “The entire Qur'an and hadith are based on one issue. If you are keeping this, then you are safe.” They said, “Yaa `Ali! What is that?” He said, “Raasu ’l-Hikmati, the Head of Wisdom, is makhaafatullah.”

The highest level of wisdom is to fear Allah (swt): in your prayers, in your lifetime, when you are sleeping, when you are awake, when you are working. If you have this fear within you, this is the highest level of wisdom, then you will not do anything Allah does not like. Like in a classroom, with a teacher watching students take an exam, will any students cheat? No, because they know if they cheat they will be expelled and lose all their studies. Allah (swt) is observing us, so are you going to cheat? If we said, “Yaa Rabbee! We are Your Servants, but we are weak and struggling. Save us from falling!” When we render everything to Allah (swt), Who is watching us in every moment in our lives, then the situation in every place will settle down and there will be peace.

There was once a great scholar who was a khalifah of Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (q), who addressed thousands of people and all attendees had open eyes, alert minds and ready hearts and listened when the shaykh gave a lecture, and were so attentive that you could have heard a pin drop. This scholar had a son whom he sent to Al-Azhar University, where he studied Shari`ah and became a big scholar. He then returned to his father, where he observed everyone paying attention to whatever his father spoke.

He thought to himself, “My father doesn’t know much, I know more than him.” Most children today say, “My parents know nothing. We know everything and we want to be independent!” as if they know everything by revelation, wahiyy. They don’t want to listen to their parents. But this scholar was from a thousand years ago and he thought, “My father has everyone paying attention, but if I had the opportunity to speak to the people, not only would they pay attention, but the lecture I give would make them dance from joy!” Wajd, when you are overwhelmed with something, you make movement. Like when people read the Qur'an, they begin to move because they become overwhelmed, in a state of wajd. He said, “I will make them move!”

However, he felt shy to tell his father that he wanted to give a lecture, but the father read his son’s heart and one day said to him, “O my son, I am sick today, so would you please give the lecture?” The son was so happy for the opportunity to give a lecture to the people, and he told them his father was sick and had asked him to give the lecture. So he began. It was like in conferences, where everyone wants to give a lecture. He was writing what he was feeling and he thought that no one could speak like he was going to speak. So he sat on the chair. That is why I didn’t sit on that chair as I was worried, because that is what makes wars between countries, that every leader wants to sit on the seat of power and will never leave it!

So he began to speak and everyone fell asleep, no one paid attention. He said to himself, “What have I done wrong? I gave a better lecture than my father! There must be something wrong with them, there’s nothing wrong with me!” He got upset.

He finished his advice and went down to his father, who asked him, “O my son! How was your lecture?” He felt shy to answer his father. “Did they sleep?”

“Yes, all of them slept! Not one of them was paying attention, and I know more than you!”

His father said, “O my son! When I give my lecture I am not there as a person, I am not there, because I don't see myself better than the threshold where they put the shoes. When I give the lecture I know it is first for me, I say to myself, ‘You have to fix yourself according to the inspiration that is coming.’ One must fix himself according to what you are teaching, otherwise that is hypocrisy.”

Today scholars give lectures, they speak and tell people about their research in Islam, finding quotations in so many different books, but they preach what they themselves are not practicing. That is why in conferences you see people sleeping, as they are not interested. You have to prove that your advice is first meant for yourself, then other people will be able to accept your advice.

So he said to his son, “When you speak, you have to know that what you say is first for yourself. You have to improve yourself according to the advice you are giving as it is first meant for you, then it is for them and they can listen. But you are sitting and speaking, seeing yourself better than them and that is haraam. Allah sent the Prophet (s) as His Messenger, and He gave him `Uloom al-Awwaleen wal-Akhireen, the Knowledge of Before and After, and yet he used to say, ‘O my Lord! Don’t leave me to myself for the blink of an eye.’ We cannot compare ourselves to Prophet (s). If he says that, what about us? If you put that between your eyes then you can understand, ‘this lecture is meant for you and also meant for everyone else.’ This will open eyes and people will listen to you happily.”

The father told his son, “Go next week and give the people a lecture with this advice I have told you.”

The son sat on the chair and said, “O People! I am the worst among you. I am in need of the advice I am saying more than you are.” With that, he gave his lecture and everyone was alert, no one was asleep.

He went to his father and his father asked him how it went.

He said, “O my father! I did as you told me. I said, ‘I am the worst.’”

His father responded, “Do you actually believe that you are the worst? Don't lie as Allah (swt) doesn't like anyone to lie.”

The Prophet (s) was asked, “Does a believer steal?” He responded, “Rubamaa, maybe for hunger.” “Can a believer do something wrong by going out with a woman?” He responded, “Maybe.” Then he was asked, “Does a mu’min lie?” To this Prophet (s) responded, “No, he cannot lie. Do not lie in religion.”

So the father asked his son if he really meant what he said about considering himself to be the worst. He confessed, “No, I think I am better than the rest.”

Then the father said, “O my son, when you are sure that you are the worst and truly believe that, then the knowledge of Heavens will be opened for you, not just knowledge of dunya,” as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:

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Alam taraw anna Allah sakhkhara lakum maa fi ‘s-samawaati wa maa fi ‘l-ard

Are you not aware that Allah has made subservient to you all that is in the Heavens and all that is on Earth? (Surah Luqman, 31:20)

He gave it to Muslims, to mu’mins, to those who want to listen. Allah (swt) does not close His Door! At any moment you want to come to Him, His Door is open. So, our duty and responsibility is to make sure that our actions will make Allah happy with us.

One time Prophet (s) invited the Sahaabah (r) to Jabal Uhud, the heaviest mountain in the universe. When Allah (swt) created Earth, it was shaking (was unstable), and He created mountains to make the Earth stable, but it was still shaking, so He sent Jabal Uhud from Heavens. So Prophet (s) said, “Uhud is a mountain. We love it and it loves us.” When Prophet (s) passed by Jabal Uhud, he could hear the whole mountain making tasbeeh! So he took the Sahaabah to Jabal Uhud at Ishraaq time, when the sun begins to rise. He told them to face the mountain with the sun to their backs and asked them, “What are you seeing?”

They said, “Nothing.”

Prophet (s) said, “No, look well! What do you see on the ground?”

Then they said, “We see our shadows.”

Prophet (s) said, “Now I am asking you to run towards Jabal Uhud. Anyone that can catch his shadow, I will give him my jubbah!”

They all ran as they all wanted the jubbah of Prophet (s)! Of course they knew they could not catch their shadow, but they didn't use their minds, they obeyed; Prophet (s) said, “Run!” so they ran. This hadith tells us our problem is that we are always using our minds, when we must do what Allah and the Prophet (s) say without asking questions. In religion, you can use your mind (for example) to analyse a fatwa, but you cannot question orders. Allah said, “Fast!” and you fast; He said, “Pray!” so you pray; He said, “Don't eat pork!” “Eat halaal food!” so eat halaal food. So Prophet (s) said “Run!” you cannot use your mind here. So there is no question, you must obey like in the army, if a general gives an order the soldier must obey, whatever he is told.

Allah (swt) said:

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Wa maa ataakumu ’r-rasoolu fakhudhoohu wa maa nahaakum `anhu fantahoo.

Leave what Prophet (s) forbade and take what he ordered.   (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)

“Whatever Prophet gives you, take it!” And so when he said, “Run!” they ran after their shadows. And as they were moving the shadows were getting longer and longer, as they were moving farther from the sun, and then when they came to mountain the shadow went on the mountain, so that no one was able to catch their shadow. And then Prophet (s) said, “Turn towards me and run towards me and catch your shadow!” So they turned their backs to the mountain and ran towards the Prophet(s) and their shadows were running behind them, until they reached Prophet (s), and he told them, “When you are after dunya it will make you run and you will never catch it, as when you turned your back to me and ran towards your shadow you could not catch it. But when you ran towards me, I will take you to the Divine Presence and the worship of Allah. And your shadow was behind you, trying to catch you!” So when you run away from Prophet (s) dunya makes you a slave to her and when you run towards Prophet (s) dunya becomes a slave to you.

So our message is to pay attention to our life, that life is short. One day you are going to leave dunya, you don’t know when or where.

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Wa maa tadree nafsan bi ayyi ardin tamootu inna’Llaha `aleemun khabeer.

Nor does any one know in what land he is to die. Verily with Allah is full knowledge and He is acquainted (with all things).  (Surah Luqman, 31:34)

You don't know where you will die. I was visiting one student of ours from a very good family in Indonesia; they printed many books for us for free. The student said, “I am going with my family to Italy.”

I said, “No need to go.”

He said, “No, I need to go,” and they bought the tickets and went to enjoy the dunya for the New Year. And for us Muslims generally, instead of enjoying the Islamic New Year of Hijra, they are entertaining and enjoying themselves in the Christian New Year! They went there, went to a restaurant and ate and then he went up to his hotel room and died. Traveling with his wife and two children, he died. They don’t know why, he was only 34 years old. So you don't know when death will come. If you don't prepare for that day, then how are you preparing for Akhirah?

What does Allah want from you? One thing of two letters. “Cinta,” love. In Bahasa, it is more than two letters but in Arabic it is two letters, Haa and Baa, “Hubb.” Because when you have love to Allah and love to the Prophet (s) you don’t disobey:

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Ati`oollaaha wa ati`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)

With hubb you obey Allah and the Prophet (s) in whatever you are doing in your life. When you have hubb you have the first letter, “Haa,” which represents “hayaat”, life; Allah will give you a happy life! When you have hubb, Allah will give you “Baa” which represents baqaa, “Everlasting life.” So He gives you what you don't get except through love of Allah and love of Prophet (s), what you cannot expect. Allah gives to rich people because many of them give in Allah’s Way.

Prophet (s) said, and this is to everyone, because people don’t understand it, they ask, “How is this?” but it is so as the Proph?t (s) said:

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Ghaniyyun shaakir khayrun min faqeer saabir.

The rich thankful one is better than the poor, patient worshipper.

Because the rich one benefits others and the poor worshipper only benefits himself and needs someone to help him. So in this case the rich ones are giving in Allah's Way, and many rich people in the world give a lot in Allah's Way. So Allah has many different kinds of donations: first, Zakaat al-Fitr; second, zakaat; third, Sadaqat al-Jaariyyah, a flowing donation; fourth, hadiya; fifth, hibba. The first ones you know, zakaat and Zakaat al-Fitr and sadaqah. And hadiya is a gift, and the last one is hibba, a grant. There are five different forms of giving in Islam. The first three the Prophet (s) refused to use on his family. If someone gave him zakaat or Zakaat al-Fitr, it was distributed and not kept for the family, he only kept only a hadiya or hibba for his family. So if you give, Allah gives you. “When you give, I am giving you...” The poor worshipper cannot help unless he leaves his corner and goes to make da`wah, and Allah likes that.

So we have to understand that Allah observes everything we are doing and that His Balance is not just digital, it is more sensitive than a digital scale, it detects amounts smaller than you can imagine. He is very generous with us, not looking at what bad we are doing, and He gave Prophet (s) permission in this authentic hadith:

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