Salawaat Makes You a Beacon of Light that
Takes You to Prophet (s)

The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 19

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

28 April 2012     Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

Suhbah Before Salaat adh-Dhuhr

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.

Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah, nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.

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Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.

Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)

Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, madad.

Obey Allah, obey the Prophet (s) and those in authority among you. Obedience is the highest level of `uboodiyya, worship; you cannot find higher than to obey Allah (swt), Who said, Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola, “Obey Allah” means to obey every divine order and to follow His Words and His Constitution. Today people have problems in some Muslim countries and they say, “We need a new constitution,” or, “We have to amend our constitution!” And Allah (swt) says, “My constitution that I sent you from heavens is the Holy Qur'an.”

In the West, we have to respect and follow their constitutions as we are living in their countries, as we don’t want problems for anyone, Muslim or non-Muslim. People must live freely in the West, in Europe where you can believe and do as you like as they don't interfere with you, but just don't break the law. There, did anyone to you, “Don’t go to the masjid,” or, “Don’t gather in groups more than five,” whereas if you do that in some Muslim countries they will arrest and interrogate you. So Allah (swt) gave us freedom and He does not burden you with more than you carry:

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Laa yukallifullaahu nafsan illa wus`ahaa lahaa maa kasabat wa `alayhaa maa ’ktasabat.

On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:286)

Lahaa maa kasabat, “You will get the rewards of what you have done,” wa `alayhaa maa ’ktasabat, “and you will take the punishment of what you have done.” You will be punished or not, according to the Law.

“Ati`oollaaha” is to obey Allah (swt) and whatever He ordered Muslims to do you follow. In the time of the Prophet (s), non-believers lived in Madinatu 'l-Munawwara and he didn't do anything with them except tell them, “You have to pay zakaat just as Muslims also pay, and we will keep you safe from problems.” In Western countries you pay taxes for services and they keep your safe, and no one says, “No.” Most countries in the world charge you a tax, mostly in Western countries. Can you say, “No, I won't pay tax.” That would be breaking the law, and as Muslims we are ordered to keep the law. Everyone is free what in he does, but:

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Fa man ya`mal mithqaala dharratin khayran yarah, wa man ya`mal mithqaala dharratin sharran yarah.

Whosoever has done an atom's weight of good shall see it, and whosoever has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it. (Surat al-Zalzalah, 99:7-8)

So we have to ask the question, are we obeying or not obeying? Here (in the U.S.) if you don’t obey they send you to prison. But with Allah's Mercy, if you disobey and seek for forgiveness, Allah forgives you! Look at the difference: in worldly law, if you disobey you go to prison for however long you are sentenced, but in Allah's Way, if you do good Allah orders the angels on your right to record it immediately and He gives you ten or more rewards, and if you do bad deeds, Allah orders the angels on your left, “Don't write it, wait for 24 hours,” and if you repent by saying istighfaar it is erased and not recorded.

Look at Allah's Mercy! And yet we Muslims forget to say istighfaar. Awliyaullah, the sincere, pious people, know we are not able because we forget quickly that we did something wrong, so we don't do istighfaar. That is why the Prophet (s) said:

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Tu`radu `alayya `amal ummatee, fa maa wajadtu khayran hamadt 'allah wa maa wajadtu ghayra dhaalika astaghfarta lakum.

I observe the deeds of my ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see other than that, bad, I ask forgiveness for you.

So in dunya, if you did something wrong and you want to be saved, you go to the lawyer as he has the way out and knows what to do. Similarly, every nation has its Prophet whom they follow, just as we have our Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), who taught us, “If you want to follow me, then accept all other Prophets, from Sayyidina Adam (a) to Sayyidina Musa (a) to Sayyidina `Isa (a), then I will be your lawyer and represent you.”

When a lawyer in dunya does anything good for you, you give him a gift and you praise him, saying, “This lawyer did this and this.” What about the Prophet (s), who is doing favors for his ummah every moment? So what must we do in return? We have to praise him and say, “O Allah! May You be pleased with him and bring him higher and higher!” That is why Allah (swt) took him to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, the Station of Two Bows' Length or Nearer, and is always taking him higher and higher.

When you want to thank someone you praise him. Allah (swt) ordered the angels and believers to praise the Prophet (s), so what does the one who does that get? From the many ahadith of praising the Prophet (s), some scholars compiled them together, such as Sayyidina Ahmad as-Saawiyy (r), Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi (r) and many Naqshbandi and other shuyookh around the world who ordered their disciples to recite them. These praises are in many different forms and we mentioned some of them. It is said salawaat attracts a lot of anwaar, lights that are the rewards and enlightenment that raises you in levels.

Allah (swt) said:

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Allaahu nooru 's-samaawaati wa 'l-ard.

Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth. 

About the level where Allah's Light inhabits the heart of the believer, Allah (swt) said to Prophet (s) in a Hadith Qudsiyy:

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Maa wasi`anee ardee wa laa samaa'ee wa laakin wasi`anee qalbi `abdee al-mu'min.

Neither My Heavens nor My Earth contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant contains Me. 

(Hadith Qudsi, Al-Ihyaa of Imam al-Ghazali)

We have also previously mentioned the sahih hadith from Sahih Tirmidhi (see Volume 6 of this series), that when Allah (swt) created Sayyidina Adam (a), He stroked on his back and all his offspring's seeds came out, and Allah said to him, "These are all your descendants." Sayyidina Adam looked and he liked them because he saw light coming from between their eyes, and one of them had so much light, and Sayyidina Adam said, "Yaa Rabbee, who is that?" Allah said, "He is Sayyidina Dawud (a) and he will come later than your ummah." That is the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) that Allah put in the forehead of every descendant of Sayyidina Adam (a)!

That is why Allah (swt) said:

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W`alamoo anna feekum rasoolullaah.

And know Allah's Messenger is in you. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:7)

That means Allah’s Light is in your forehead! That Light will spread out more, like a beacon, depending on how many ‘watts’ you have, whether or not it is strong. Every human being has the Light of the Prophet (s) in them because Allah (swt) put him there and made angels to make salawaat on him, dressing him with rainbows of heavenly lights. As much as you go deep into praising the Prophet (s), your light will shine that much! That is why Allah (swt) ordered angels to make prostration to Sayyidina Adam (a):

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Wa idh qulnaa li ’l-malaa’ikatu ’sjudoo li aadama fa sajadoo illa iblees.

And when We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam!" they all prostrated themselves, except Iblees. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:34)

They made sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a), from whom all of us descended, because of the Light of the Prophet (s) on his forehead. So when the light is on many secrets appear. For example, in a dark room when you turn on the lights you can see, but if you use fluorescent lights you can see more details as the light reaches farther. Similarly, when the Light of the Prophet (s) comes to those who praise him, it becomes like a beacon guiding you to see further distances and everything surrounding it, like ships in the ocean. When there is a storm in the middle of the ocean, from the shore you might not see there is a ship caught in it unless you have a strong light or radar. So that light has secrets and the more light you have, the more they will be revealed. Praising the Prophet (s) will give you that light that enables these secrets to appear more and more.

That is why awliyaullah must not be sad, as Allah (swt) said:

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Alaa inna awliyaaullaahi laa khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.

Behold! Verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surat al-Yunus, 10:62)

Allah (swt) gave them more and more secrets because their light is strong and they can see as they are being raised up. Do you want to see? Then praise the Prophet (s) as much as you can, then more secrets will come out due to that light. So praise the Prophet (s), because praising him will connect you more to him through dreams. If you want to see the Prophet (s) by Allah’s Will, make more salawaat, asking that He will connect with you in a dream or a vision, yaqzhatan, while you are awake. That is why some see visions while awake; they smell a nice scent or see the appearance of someone, but it is all from the Light of Prophet (s) on your forehead. Throughout time some have even reached the level of Maqaam al-Qutbaniyya and the five saints: Qutb, Qutb al-Bilaad, Qutb al-Aqtaab, Qutb al-Irshaad, and Qutb al-Mutasarrif, to whom Allah gave power in this dunya to reach whomever Allah (swt), the Prophet (s), and awliyaullah want them to reach.

Praising the Prophet (s) daily has a lot of secrets and can increase your rizq, as Allah (swt) said, “O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him!” Some ask, “How many salawaat should we recite?” You don’t need to ask this question! As long as your tongue and heart is free make salawaat, like while you are driving. But what do we do? We backbite; we don’t feel tired from backbiting, but we feel tired or lazy from making salawaat, because Shaytan is there trying to block us. When you are returning home to your family after a long trip, two hours may seem like a hundred hours because you want to reach as soon as possible, which is how it should be in reaching the love of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! That is what differentiates us from awliyaullah. When you make salawaat, you feel lazy because Shaytan pulls your energy and makes you to think about something else.

Make more salawaat and Allah (swt) will open more provisions. Allah (swt) will never let his Prophet (s) down! By making salawaat, you are following Allah’s order in the Holy Qur’an, “Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him!”Allah’s angels never tire of making salawaat, so why are you tiring? They are doing it non-stop with complete energy, power, and `ishq!

Look at the story of the buraaq, as mentioned in Ibn `Arabi's book. When the order came, Jibreel (r) went to Paradise to select one buraaq to carry the Prophet (s) and welcome him to Paradise. There he found one buraaq from an infinite number, sitting by himself crying. Jibreel (r) asked, “Why are you crying?” and the buraaq said, “Leave me alone!”  He said, “No, I want to know why you are crying.” The buraaq replied, “Ever since we heard Allah’s order that one of us from this Paradise of buraaqs will be a ride for the Prophet (s), I cried non-stop out of love to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) that one of us will be chosen to carry him!” (Explained in the book Angels Unveiled.) Muhyideen ibn `Arabi (q) said the tears coming from his eyes were like rivers, and every drop was moving into paradises of pearls, each of which was bigger than this universe, and all will be given to those who praised the Prophet (s)!

That is from `Azhamatu-Llah, Allah’s Greatness, and yet what we say by tongue is nothing compared to what Allah (swt) will give! Every teardrop is a pearl and every pearl is bigger than this whole universe, which will be given as a Paradise for every mu’min who praises the Prophet (s)!

Alhamdulillah, today many make salawaat and after a long time of not being allowed to openly praise the Prophet (s), people are now making qasaa’id and even CDs on recitation of salawaat, although they once said salawaat is not allowed, and now the majority make salawaat!

Salawaat opens your rizq it if it is closed. It will provide rizq for your soul, which is knowledge, and it will open the way for ma`rifah, gnosticism. If you want to know ma`rifatullah, come through the Prophet (s), who is the City of Knowledge, and Sayyidina `Ali (r) is its door. When you come knocking at the door, if the one inside does not like you, as you come with no gift in your hand, they say, “What kind of a rude person is coming?” When you visit someone whom you love and highly respect, you bring gifts--dates, a book, the Holy Qur'an or anything. This is to give an example that you cannot come to the Prophet (s) without a gift. That is why Allah (swt) said to him in the Holy Qur'an:

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Khudh min amwaalihim sadaqatan tutahhiruhum wa tuzakkeehim bihaa wa salli `alayhim inna salaataka sakanun lahum w’Allahu samee`un `aleem.

Take alms of their wealth, from which you may purify them and make them grow, and pray for them. Verily, your prayer is an assuagement for them. Allah is Hearer, Knower. (Surat at-Tawbah, 9:103)

“Cleanse their dirty dunya and raise them to the level of Tazkiyyatu ‘n-Nafs, Purification of the Self, and pray on them, dressing them with your salawaat, as that gives peacefulness in their hearts.” So when you want to come to the Prophet (s), you cannot come empty-handed, but even if you come with no gift, Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an:

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Wa maa arsalnaa min rasoolin illa liyuta`a bi-idhnillaahi wa law annahum idh zhalamoo anfusahum ja’ooka f ’astaghfaroollaaha w ’astaghfara lahumu ‘r-rasoolu la-wajadoo ’Llaaha tawwaaba ‘r-raheema.

We did not send a Messenger except that he should be obeyed, by the permission of Allah. If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nisaa, 4:64)

It means, “Even if they forget you and made a mistake and disobeyed you, still accept them when they come to you and ask for Allah's forgiveness. They come to you in your presence, yaa Muhammad, saying, ‘Yes, we admit we are sinning, but we are helpless and weak, and we are coming to you, yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, asking forgiveness of Allah (swt) in your presence!” And Allah says to Prophet (s), “Now make istighfaar on their behalf!” The Prophet (s) is making istighfaar for us and Allah (swt) forgives us. So in any way, you want to come to Prophet (s), who is telling us, “If you want ma`rifatullah, come to me as I am the City of Knowledge of ma`rifah; even if you are guilty or an oppressor, come with your sin and ask forgiveness in front of the Prophet (s)!” Come with salawaat and knock at the door.

And the provision of the souls, as souls need provision: they tell you today that they draw different kind of ego, bad desires, no desires, they put things together and they cut and paste and make for you something that attracts you, and the Prophet (s) is saying to you, “Come with salawaat, I open the door for you for ma`rifat.” The soul needs rizq and its rizq is salawaat on the Prophet (s). It will give you science, `ilm, and gnosticism, ma`rifah. Science--Allah will open in your heart as he opened in many who never even opened a book of fiqh. They become `alim of the Islamic Constitution, the Holy Qur'an, and the constitution of hadith.

Through salawaat and dhikrullah you can ride your bad ego and kill Shaytan, and enter deep