A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem.
Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Alhamdulillah, thank you. I thank everybody, especially Hajjah Soraya, Hajji Sadek, Shaykh Bahauddin, Amir, Dr. Mumin and whoever worked to make this work out. Alhamdulillah, so far it’s good. May Allah (swt) bless you. May Allah (swt) bless those who attend as well, give you what you want, make your finances at ease, make your mortgages at ease, make your studies at ease, make your relationships better. May Allah (swt) remove all the afflictions. May Allah (swt) remove all the diseases and sicknesses, physical, spiritual, mental and otherwise. May Allah (swt) grant you the best here and Hereafter. I made du`a, so don’t ask me anymore. You said, “Ameen.”
Sayyidina Musa (a) made du`a and Sayyidina Harun (a) said, “Ameen.” Allah (swt) said: qad ujeebat dawatukuma.
قَالَ قَدْ أُجِيبَت دَّعْوَتُكُمَا فَٱسْتَقِيمَا وَلَا تَتَّبِعَآنِّ سَبِيلَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
Allah said: "Accepted is your prayer (O Moses and Aaron)! So stand ye straight, and follow not the path of those who know not." (Surah Yunus, 10:89)
Both of your prayers were accepted. Both of them are beloved servants of Allah (swt). I made a brief du`a and you said, “Ameen.” All of us are the beloved servants of Allah (swt). May Allah (swt) accept our prayers. Ameen, ameen, ameen, yaa Rabbi ‘l-`Alameen.
I feel shy again. I always tell the same story. I’m not worthy of speaking. There are always people higher. If you have a certain understanding, somebody else somewhere has a better understanding. Over that one, there is someone with a better understanding, all the way up to Allah (swt). Allah (swt) is Al-`Aleem. Always humble yourself down.
Unfortunately, human beings think they are the number one in everything. That is what Allah (swt) has created inside of you. I’ll say this in Arabic because, mashaa-Allah, Amir is Egyptian. Egyptians are very smart. Allah (swt) created husnu ‘l-istibaad li tala bi ‘l-kamal. He equipped you with the want of perfection. Have you ever seen a Lexus commercial? “The pursuit of perfection.” I used to watch TV in the 90’s. Now I stopped because everything comes on the iPhone. You don’t need to watch anything. Allah (swt) created the potential and readiness in every human being to pursue perfection.
Awliyaullah say if your ego is your teacher, your ego looks down onto dunya. Your eyes, ears and physical senses can only perceive this dunya, so if you are left to your ego, you will pursue perfection in this world. How do you do that? First, you collect money. “After high school I’ll go to college and after college, I’ll go to medical school and after that I’ll make money.” After that, “I will use my money to have fame and prestige.” So you ditch your Honda and you get your Lexus. You ditch your Audi and you get a Mercedes. You ditch your Mercedes and you go after a Bentley. You ditch your little car to get something bigger. If you have an E-Class Mercedes, you get the G-Class Mercedes. If you have the regular engine, you get the AMG engine. For what, for people to see you. Don’t kid me, I was like you and you are like me. We are all the same.
Next, you run for a position and rule. You want to be a mayor or an MP. Maybe you want to be the CEO of your company. There are many ways of pursuing positions and ruling. After you get a position, then you want to be a sultan, an emperor, a king, or a master who controls everything.
That pursuit of perfection that is in the mold of every human being pushes you to collect money, get prestige, run for office and to be on top. This is what we see now. Then what happens? You continue with this pursuit of perfection until you become the master of the world. Some people dream of becoming masters of the universe. They are not content with the earth only. “Shoot for the stars,” they say. Why should we stay on earth? Let’s conquer other territories in space.
This is the example of Nimrood and Fir`awn. They said, “I give life and I take life.” What happened to Fir`awn at the end? He was not only content with being a ruler on earth, he wanted to be the ruler in Heavens. He said: Annaa rabbukumu ‘l-`alaa. “I am not only a human being, I am a god.” Do you see some people say, “I am god”? Not the homeless who are outside. I’m talking about people with real aspirations who want to be god. They depict “god” with the image of somebody famous pretending to be “god.” I don’t want to mention too much on camera because some people might not understand. He doesn’t want to only be “god” because he knows there are others aspiring to be “god,” he says, `alaa, “I am the highest god among all of you.”
Fir`awn was a human being like us but he was given the means. If Allah (swt) gives you the means then you will be like Fir`awn, but He does not. When you are poor, don’t cry. When you are not running for office, don’t cry. See it as Allah (swt) having mercy on you because if He let you loose with every means at your fingertips, you would forget Him and declare yourself as “god.” That is in every human being. Awliyaullah point out our deficiencies and that’s why we come to their majlis. With their wisdom they show us what’s lurking inside.
Do you want to be famous? Don’t lie. No, okay. Do you want to be famous? I want to be famous, look. I’m on Instagram, Facebook. What else is out there? Twitter. YouTube. Whatsapp groups. Everyday you want to make a clip in your closet and get it out to the world to see you. “I am speaking from my closet. I’m making a podcast today. I want to be famous.”
That is the nature of human beings if they are left to their egos. But if you are under the discipline of a Nabi (s) and Wali, instead of running after dunya, the discipline of Awliyaullah is to free you from everything that is dunya. Rather than running for money, prestige, position and rule, they detach you. Don’t aspire to be a president, for example. Don’t aspire to hold a position. Don’t aspire to be prestigious and famous. Don’t aspire to collect the garbage of this world. What do they do with the garbage of this world? Mashaa-Allah, here they don't have them because they don’t have much money left in California but back in Michigan, wherever you look there are storage units. Their homes cannot fit things anymore so they get storage units. I didn’t see any here, but maybe you have them.
Awliyaullah and Anbiyaullah detach you until you don’t have any desire in your heart for this world or whatever it has. That is the perfection if you are left to the discipline of Waliyullah. If you are left to the discipline of your ego, it’s the opposite. What is Tariqah? It is not different from Islam or Shari`ah. Basically, Tariqah is to detach yourself from ruling over people, from claiming position and power, from claiming prestige and fame and from gathering the garbage of this dunya. It is to become a simple person who is content with what Allah (swt) has given you, to be content with worshiping your Lord and to have intimacy with your Lord. If you are in a cell, you are happy.
Where was Sayyidina Yusuf (a)? He was in prison but he was content. He didn’t want to leave. When the king sent the messenger to him, “Come out to the presence of the king,” he said, “Go back to your king and tell him about my case first.” He did not want to go out because the prison was paradise for him because he was with Allah (swt). We don’t have that uns, familiarity anymore. He (swt) doesn’t leave you anyways but we are heedless. The other one who is in a palace, the palace has become a prison for him. Fir`awn was in his palace but it was a prison for him. If Allah (swt) is not with you, even if you are in the highest mansion or the penthouses of New York City, you ]are still a prisoner in yourself. But if you are a simple person, homeless under a bridge in California but you are Waliyullah, you are happy with your little box that you have.
Things have changed, as our teachers have said. Shaytan has changed the signs. If 405 goes to San Diego, Shaytan has changed it to say 405 goes to Sacramento. People are on the freeway thinking they are on the right way but they are going the wrong way. What did Allah (swt) do? He has installed cops under the signs telling you, “This sign is wrong. The way is that way.” These are Anbiyaullah and Awliyaullah. They are guides for humanity. They are standing under the wrong signs, under the traffic lights that are not working correctly and guiding those who want the right way. The right way is to detach from this dunya. The more you detach, the more comfortable you become.
Where is our mango man? How many stores do you have, sir? One, alhamdulillah. How many hours do you spend thinking about your story every day? Three hours. If you have two stores, six hours. If you have four stores, twelve hours. When do you sleep and eat? You think of your stores while eating and drinking and everything. The more you have, the more stress you have. They think the more they have, the more comfortable they will become. Believe me, the more you have, the more stress you will have. Contentment with what Allah (swt) has sent for you is the best way to continue living in this world and the pursuit of perfection to find Allah (swt).
Be absent from your existence and exist by His Existence. How? Sayyidina Khidr (a) came to a village and saw a wall that was collapsing. He fixed it. The wall was made out of mud bricks. It is made out of water and mud. You have to heat it and let it air dry. You need the four elements: water, earth, fire and air. What are you made out of? A human being is made out of four elements. As Sayyidina Khidr (a) fixed the wall, Waliyullah will fix your wall and make you straight. How?
You need to know about the four elements. That’s how you become absent from yourself. The characteristic of earth and water is to hold things together. Is stinginess or miserliness not letting go? Hirs, craving more, asking for more, seeking more is also keeping it together. From your water and earth element was born hirs and bukhul, greediness and craving more and not allowing it to come out. You have to work on these two characteristics. When your desire to have more decreases then you are detaching. How do you detach from dunya? Stop being so greedy and wanting more. If you have one million dollars, you want two million.
Bukhul is stinginess. You want to keep everything with you. You want to hoard. When you start giving and not running after more, you are detaching from yourself. That is the characteristic of your ego. When Sayyidina Khidr (a) fixed that wall that was collapsing, he was showing that, “I am capable of fixing your inner state.” Sayyidina Musa (a) was fixing the outward. He had outward rules and regulations but Khidr (a) had `ilmu ‘l-ladduni, the inner way which is to free you from greediness and miserliness. When fire and air came together, then anger and desire came out.
These elements that you are created from have instilled in your ego these characteristics: anger, desire, greediness and stinginess. When you rid yourself of anger, what happens? You become a calm and peaceful person. You don’t fight with others. You don’t have a bone to pick with others. Your anger is gone by the discipline of Nabiyullah or Waliyullah, not your ego. If you are under the discipline of your ego, what happens to your anger? It accelerates. A human being has to find the message of a Nabi, has to find the company of a Wali to start detaching internally, fixing himself or herself internally so he can be absent from his being and existing by Allah (swt). You get rid of the anger, the desires, the greediness and the stinginess and you have detached yourself from yourself.
What is the sign of that? One student came to a Waliyullah. He said, “Yaa Sayyidee. Teach me Ismu ‘l-Llahu ‘l-`Azham. Teach me Allah’s (swt) Grandest Name.” It is said that angels travel up to Heavens with that Grandest Name. You can perform miracles by that Grandest Name. That is hidden but it is with the three Names in, Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. He asked, “Are you able to carry the secret and power of that Grand Name?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Okay. Go to the door of the village and tell me what happens.”
This mureed came to the door of the city and saw the guards of the city. After a few hours he saw an old lumberjack coming with his donkey. He collected some sticks and branches and put them on the donkey to sell them in the city.
One of the guards looked at the lumberjack. He didn’t like him so he pushed him and took off with the donkey and confiscated his merchandise. He said, “It belongs to me now.”
“How does it belong to you? It belongs to me!” That’s what they do back in our countries. What can you do? Nothing. This mureed was angry but he didn’t do anything. He went back to his shaykh who asked, “What did you see?”
“Yaa Sayyidee. I saw this old man with his donkey and a few sticks that he wanted to sell and this guard did this to him.”
“If you had Allah’s (swt) Grandest Name, what would you have done?”
“I would have made a du`a to get rid of this guard.”
“For your information, the one who taught me Ismu ‘Llahu ‘l-`Azham is that old lumberjack.”
If you were a shaykh, would you allow somebody to slap you on your face? No, your anger and pride will come and you will destroy whoever is in front of you. You may not do it yourself but you would send your people. What kind of shaykh are you?
“If you don’t have his characteristics, you are not worthy of carrying `Ismu ‘Llahu ‘l-`Azham: patience, mercy and compassion to human beings. If you claim to be a saint but you are not patient with the human beings in front of you, if you’re not merciful and compassionate, you have not reached anything. You are still under the discipline of your own ego and your anger.” Sayyidina Khidr (a) came to show you, “I have the secrets to rid you from that.” When you rid yourself from anger and all the things we talked about like that old man, you have detached. You have become absent from your being, existing by Allah (swt).
That’s why he was patient because he knew it was Allah’s (swt) Will. Nothing moves in this world without the Will of Allah (swt). Do you believe that? Do you believe the leaves on the tree move by themselves or by the Order of Allah (swt)? Nothing moves, not even the wind, without Allah (swt) permitting it. When you reach that state where you are absent from your being, existing by Him, you will only notice His Actions. If they hit you or don’t hit you, if they feed you or don’t feed you, if they kick you or don’t kick you, if they give you or don’t give you, it doesn’t matter. Everything is from Him. Mashaa-Allah, all of us know that but we only know by image and we haven’t acted upon it.
It is said that Musa (a) knew the outward knowledge and Khidr (a) was supposed to push it inwardly. Make that knowledge enter your heart and act upon it. Know that everything that happens in this world is by the Permission of Allah (swt). If you say “no,” you might be out of Islam. Inna ’Lllaha yahkumu maa yureed. He does what He Will and He rules as He likes. That is the Qur’an. If you say “no,” you are not believing in the Qur’an.
Waliyullah and Nabiyullah have come to take you away from yourself by detaching you from the characteristics of yourself. When you don’t have greed, desires and anger, there is nothing in this world that attracts you because in this world desires attract you to get what is good and anger repels what is bad. You need them but you have to know how to control them. That’s our Way but astaghfirullah, we never succeed.
We just talk, talk, talk. How many speakers are online? Billions and trillions. Everybody speaks from their closets and everyday they put another hat on. One day it’s a cowboy hat, the next day it’s a Mexican hat. I don’t want to mention his name but he’s here in California. One day I see him with a Moroccan turban, the other day I see him with a Syrian kufi. Another day I see him in another attire. What is this? Is this how it is? Everyday they do something with a different outfit, different ambiance. That is not the way. That is the way of fame and prestige. That is how to get yourself higher to tell people, “I am the one.”
Tariqah, our Way is to detach as much as you can to become absent from your desires, present by your Lord’s Wisdom. Your Lord will use you for the goodness of humanity as He has used prophets and saints to deliver goodness and rahmah to people. That’s your function, O human being. Inshaa-Allah, we can be like that. Inshaa-Allah, we can remember what we have said.
May Allah (swt) keep us on the way of Awliyaullah and Anbiyaullah. Detach yourself from this dunya. This dunya is going to leave you. This dunya is like a woman who goes around and says, “I am for you.” You say, “Oh great, come.” The next day, leaves you, “I am for you. I am for you.” How many people did dunya deceive? How many of us did dunya play with? The first one is me. I am a doctor. “Run, make the money. “I am for you. Get your mansions. Get your cars. Get whatever it is.” What happens? “Goodbye. I am now somebody else’s.”
Dunya is never with you. It seduces you and you are under the seduction of this world and we are not waking up from that. Whether we leave dunya and say, “We are a shaykh this time,” the shaykh is also under the seduction of dunya. They are teaching religion. You’re not teaching religion. You’re teaching how you are seduced under dunya. I’m sorry to say that but sometimes you have to be blunt to get the message across.
Don’t be seduced by dunya. It’s going to leave you as it left others. It’s not for you and it’s not for anybody. In the end, dunya is going to disappear. Earth is not going to exist. Allah (swt) said, Yawma tubadalu ‘l-ardu ghayra ‘l-ardi. The earth will be exchanged.
يَوْمَ تُبَدَّلُ ٱلْأَرْضُ غَيْرَ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتُ وَبَرَزُوا۟ لِلَّهِ ٱلْوَٰحِدِ ٱلْقَهَّارِ
One day the earth will be changed to a different earth, and so will be the heavens, and (men) will be marshalled forth, before Allah, the One, the Irresistible. (Surah Ibrahim, 14:48)
وَإِنَّا لَجَـٰعِلُونَ مَا عَلَيْهَا صَعِيدًا جُرُزًا
Wa inna ‘l-ja’iloona ma `alayha sa’idan juruza.
Verily what is on earth we shall make but as dust and dry soil (without growth or herbage). (Surat al-Kahf, 18:8)
Do you read Surat al-Kahf? Do you understand what that means? We are surely going to make what’s on top of it flat and with no vegetation, no rivers, no trees, nothing. Why don’t you understand what you’re reading? How many of us read Surat al-Kahf every Jumu`ah? Alhamdulillah, we all read it. Alhamdulillah, we all get that Noor. You get the Light from Allah (swt) that shines to Ka`bah, but how many of us understand what it means?
What did As-habu ‘l-Kahf do? They ran away from dunya. To where? To a cave. Is there electricity or WiFi in the cave? How can you live without WiFi? You can’t. You have to carry your phone with you all the time. How can you run to a cave? Is there water or food in the cave? What’s in the cave? Nothing. That’s why they were sleeping for 300 years. What happened when they woke up? They wanted food.
They asked, “How long did we stay here? Maybe a day or half a day. Send somebody to the market to get us some food.” Right away your ego is awake. “I want my pleasures.” We read Surah Kahf but we don’t understand As-habu ‘l-Kahf. Allah (swt) is telling you, “These are My servants who have escaped dunya. They came to the cave, running away from everything else.”
وَإِذِ ٱعْتَزَلْتُمُوهُمْ وَمَا يَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهَ فَأْوُۥٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلْكَهْفِ يَنشُرْ لَكُمْ رَبُّكُم مِّن رَّحْمَتِهِۦ وَيُهَيِّئْ لَكُم مِّنْ أَمْرِكُم مِّرْفَقًا
Wa idhittazaltumoohum wa maa ya`budoona illa ’Llaha fa’oo ila’l-kahfi…
"When ye turn away from them and the things they worship other than Allah, betake yourselves to the Cave: Your Lord will shower His mercies on you and disposes of your affair towards comfort and ease." (Surat al-Kahf, 18:16)
When you leave them and whatever they are desiring and asking for other than Allah (swt), go and take the cave as your shelter. That is khalwah. Who goes to khalwah nowadays? They want to make sure they have WiFi in that cave. Can’t live without Instagram. How many times do you flip Instagram? I don’t have Instagram but I have Whatsapp. Every two minutes, “What message did I get?”
Also the big scholars of this time, every five minutes, “What message did I get?” Can you live without that? It’s very difficult. The way of Awliyaullah is the way of As-habu ‘l-Kahf. Detach. Most of them teach you how to attach to dunya. Why do you go to them? If you want to attach to dunya, find a motivational speaker. “You can do everything you want. You can create your own destiny.” They call them life coaches. Astaghfirullahi ‘l-`Azheem.
Our Way is to leave this dunya before it leaves you. Detach from dunya before you are detached violently from this dunya. When the Angel of Death comes and takes your soul, if you are into this dunya, you will shake when you are getting out of your body. You won’t want to leave it.
May Allah (swt) allow us to follow the way of Awliyaullah. May Allah (swt) allow us to follow the way of Nabiyullah, Anbiyaullah. Even if you cannot follow their ways correctly, be like that dog of As-habu ‘l-Kahf. The dog loved them. At least attach yourself with love to Awliyaullah. If you cannot follow them as they are, at least attach yourself to them with love. That dog is from Ahlu ‘l-Jannah because of the barakah of his company with Awliyaullah. It is one of the ten animals that will enter Jannah.
I think it’s enough. Maybe it’s too much. May Allah (swt) forgive us. Work on your bad characteristics first. Rid yourself of that and then advise others. May Allah (swt) forgive us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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