Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta`ala al-`Azheem fee hadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Atee`oollaha wa atee`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)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
Before I begin I would like to thank Dr. Tariq for coming and for enlightening us with his knowledge We praise his father who raised him well and I hope his wife is happy with him, as every night he teaches her Hadith.
Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een. Alhamdulillahi nasta`eenahu wa nastaghfirahu wa nastadeeh, man yahdillahu fa laa mudilla lahu wa man yudlil fa laa haadiya lah, wa nashadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llaah wahdahu laa shareek lahu laa wa matheela lahu fee `uloowi shaanihi wa `azheemi sultaanih. wa nashadu anna Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadin `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluhu. Ayyuha ’l-mu’minoon al-haadiroon ittaqullah wa at`eeooh. Inna ’Llaha m`a ’Lladheena’ttaqaw w’alladheena hum muhsinoon..
In many places, when they ask me to speak about Mawlid or about the Prophet (s), I said that the most difficult subject to speak about is the Prophet (s), because no one knows the reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) except The One Who Created him, except Allah (swt). So whatever we speak is what has been written in books and for example, what Dr. Tariq mentioned about the Shama'il, his description. It is all the things we have gathered from here and there according to the aHadith and the ayahs of Holy Qur'an that mentioned him and the scholars went into explaining and interpreting all these different descriptions of the Prophet (s) and came up with all these magnificent realities of the Prophet (s), but the reality is that his reality is hidden!
Prophet (s) gave As-haab an-Nabi (s) of this or that group according to his capacity. That is why Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r) said in an authentic Hadith:
حفظت عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وعائين فأما أحدهما فبثثته وأما الآخر فلو بثثته لقطع مني هذا البلعوم (أخرجه السخاوي والعجلوني وصححاه
One knowledge I shared with everyone and the other one I was not able to share it, because if I would have spoken about it they would have executed me and they would have cut my throat. (Bukhari)
Hafizhtu, “I memorized”, but in reality the Prophet (s) poured in his heart what he needs to know, and if he memorized, then there are other Sahaabi that also memorized, but awliyaullah, those whose eyes are open, and we don't want to go into that subject, but it is well established in Holy Qur'an and Hadith that they see and hear what people don't see or hear; so the word is hafizhtu, but sababtuhu fee sadree, “The Prophet (s) poured in my heart and one part I shared with everyone and the other, if I spread it they will cut my neck.”
If we think a little bit, Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r) is relating this to Sahaabah (r), as there is no one but the Sahaabah (r) there. So when he is relating this, it means that although they are Sahaabah (r), some of them might not be able to carry what the Prophet (s) gave to him. So he said, “They might cut my neck if I expose that reality of the Prophet (s),” and that is why we can see that the reality is not established completely: what the Prophet (s) gave is mostly Shari`ah that we learn and teach today, but haqa’iq are hidden in the hearts of those who can carry. Allah said in Holy Qur'an:
لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
Had We sent down this Qur'an on a mountain, verily you would have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of Allah. Such are the similitudes that We propound to men that they may reflect.
(Surat al-Hashr, 59:21)
“Had We revealed this Holy Qur'an on a mountain, it would completely shatter to dust.” But Allah (swt) revealed the Qur’an on the heart of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and his heart did not shatter. That means he revealed to the Sahaabah (r) according to their capacity, how much each can take. But he made them all as stars on dark nights. as related in Hadith:
أصحابي كالنجوم بأيهم اقتديتم اهتديتم
My Companions are like stars (on a dark night); whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.
(`Abd ibn Humayd, ad-Daraqutnee, ibn `Adiyy, ibn `Abd al-Barr,
with unsound chains but the meaning is sound.)
They have the power of guidance but at their levels. That is why the Prophet (s) said to Sayyidina `Umar (r), because Sayyidina `Umar (r) always has questions for us to learn. Although he wants an answer, but this is good for the whole Ummah, as when he asks he gets the answer for the whole Ummah. So when the Prophet (s) asked for help and to give sadaqah, Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) brought, Sayyidina `Umar (r) brought, Sayyidina 'Uthman (r) brought Sayyidina 'Ali (r) brought, all Sahaabah (r) brought something. It is a very famous Hadith that the Prophet (s) asked Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r): “What did you leave for your family?” And he said, “I did not leave anything, I left Allah and you. I brought all I own.” The Prophet (s) asked Sayyidina `Umar (r), “What did you bring?” He said, “I brought half for you and half I left for my family.” The Prophet (s) said, “Your imaan is half that of Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r).” Look how the Prophet (s) showed Sayyidina `Umar (r) that his imaan is half that of Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq’s (r), even though the Prophet (s) said:
لو كان بعدي نبي لكان عمر
If there to be a prophet after me it would have been `Umar. (Tirmidhi)
But the Prophet (s) wants..to know. and many scholars say as mentioned in Musannaf Abdur Razzaq in volume 1, that the Prophet (s) said the first that Allah created is light of the Prophet (s).
رواه عبد الرزاق بسنده عن جابر بن عبد الله بلفظ قال قلت: يا رسول الله، بأبي أنت وأمي، أخبرني عن أول شيء خلقه الله قبل الأشياء. قال: يا جابر، إن الله تعالى خلق قبل الأشياء نور نبيك من نوره،...
When Jaabir (r) asked, “Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you, oh Prophet of Allah! What is the first thing that Allah (swt) created?” the Prophet (s) said, “The first thing that Allah (swt) created is the Light of your Prophet from His Light, O Jaabir.” (Musannaf `Abdu ’r-Razzaq)
اللَّـهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ
Allah is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth. (Surat al-Nur, 24:35)
What Allah created first is the Light of the Prophet (s) before creating any of the Creation. When Allah wanted to create Creation He put that Noor Muhammadi, which is from His Light, in Bahr al-Qudrah where that Noor is turning as mentioned by Ibn `Asakir (r), turning and turning, generating a huge power and that Light is expanding like an atomic reaction, going bigger and bigger. From that He created the `Arsh and from that He created the Kursi and then He created Creation: angels, prophets and Ummat an-Nabi (s). Dr. Tariq, may Allah bless him, mentioned, “We sent you, O Muhammad, as shaahid.” It means from al-Qidam, when He created His Light.
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًاوَدَاعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُّنِيرًا
O Prophet! Truly We have sent thee as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings and warner, and as one who invites to Allah by His Leave, and as a Lamp spreading Light. (Surat al-Ahzab 33:45-46)
الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ
Ar-Rahman, Allah (swt) taught the Holy Qur'an, then created Creation. (Surat ar-Rahman, 55:1-3)
To whom did Allah (swt) teach the Holy Qur'an? There was nothing, not even angels. He taught it to the Light of Muhammad (s) and the secret of Creation is there!
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
Read in the Name of the One Who created. (Surat al-`Alaq, 96:1)
That was when Sayyidina Jibreel (a) came and said to the Prophet (s), “Read!” The Prophet (s) said, “What do you want me to read?” This is what people understand, that the Prophet (s) was illiterate, but in his zhaahir, Allah called him ‘al-Ummiyy’, meaning that he does not read or write, yet we know the Prophet (s) has `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ’l-Akhireen, Knowledges of Firsts and Lasts (of all Creation)! So how can we understand this ayah? It is beyond our understanding, but here Allah is telling him, “Read from the Realities,” because Prophet (s) is shaahid, Witness to the Creation. Khalaq al-khalq min `adamin thumma `adamahu, He created Creation from non-existence and then after they were created He executed them, made them to disappear. He created Creation from nowhere and as soon as they were created, He dissolved them to say, “There is no one but Allah and I created you in a moment!”
To Allah, there is no time; that moment was enough to get the whole Creation--Heavens, Earth, human beings, jinn, and all things to be created in the future--to cut them down to non-existence. That fitra, that moment is what we see today: Allah stretched it for dunya to appear and He is showing us His `Azhamah, His Greatness, by making Creation appear and then disappear!
Awliyaullah are mutahhayaroon, stunned, that no one can understand these realities. Allah is saying, “We sent you, O Muhammad, as a witness on our Creation,” and that one moment has been stretched to accommodate everyone! Allah can make this whole universe go into the eye of a needle without making the needle bigger or without making the universe smaller by kun fa-yakoon! Who can understand the Reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)? Law laaka law laak maa khalaqta al-aflaak, “If not for you, if not for you (O Muhammad), I would not have created the celestial bodies!”
We see Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth, so what is beyond that? From that Light of the Prophet (s), Allah created universes and Heavens. What is beyond that, does anyone know? Yes, the Prophet (s) knows because he went beyond that in Mi`raaj. Allah (swt) does not appear in dunya--in the universe or Heavens--except on the Day of Judgment when He sends people to Heavens, then He appears for some of Ummat an-Nabi (s) who can see Allah (swt) in the Heavens at that time. The Prophet (s) went beyond the universe and the Heavens to reach a maqaam that no one reached: Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa. What is there? Even Sayyidina Jibreel (a) was not able to reach it, who brought the Prophet (s) to Paradise on Buraaq, but he was not able to go forward, so where is that knowledge?
`Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ’l-Akhireen, Knowledge of the Realities of all Creation and what comes after it, is beyond the hadd ad-dunya because nothing can fit the Creation, not even the `Arsh. They say the `Arsh can contains Allah but no, haasha, that is false; rather, Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah believes that He astawa, “overtook” the `Arsh, not ‘sat’ on it.
Abu Hurayrah (r) said, “If I open from these realities they (Sahaabah) will cut my neck,” because it is only for one; therefore, Allah created Creation and then annihilated it. How can we understand the Reality of someone who went in Ascension?
وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ
And We raised up your remembrance. (Surat al-Inshirah, 94:2)
Allah raised Sayyidina Idrees (a) to the Fourth Paradise and Sayyidina `Isa (a) to the First Paradise, but not to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa; only one reached there! So whatever praise we give Sayyidina Muhammad (s), still we are not giving him his right! Only Allah praised him, as He created him from His Attribute An-Noor. We cannot jump into that ocean! There are obstacles and you must have tickets to pass. You would be asked, “Do you have a pass to go to that Reality? No? Go back home.” Hayyara al-`ulama, made the knowledge of `ulama nothing: all that scholars studied and learned is nothing, it is not even a drop of the knowledge of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! In Arabic, “`alim” means “the one who knows everything”, but Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an:
وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ
Above every knower is a (higher) knower. (Surah Yusuf, 12:76)
If we know, then speak about what the Prophet (s) saw after Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa! If we say, “We are `alim,” but don’t know, then really we are not `alim. (Sorry, Dr. Tariq. We are all in the same pot.) You said, “What I don't know is half of the religion”, and that is correct, very nice. So where is our knowledge that we can say we know about the realities of the Prophet (s)?
Allah (swt) said:
اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ
Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth. (Surat an-Noor, 24:35)
How do they translate “samaawaat”, Heavens? Where did the Prophet (s) go? He went between Earth: Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth. The Prophet (s) moved past all of that to reach the Reality of that Light which belongs to Allah (swt). When he passed the Heavens and Earth, he was dressed with all the knowledges that are in each place. That is why he stopped in each Paradise--First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh--and he took the knowledge of each Paradise. Allah dressed him with that in the First Heaven, then in the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh, then He dressed him in Jannat al-Firdaws. Prophet (s) knew every secret that is in, Allahu nooru ‘s-samaawaati wa ‘l-ard because Allah dressed him and then prepared him to go to further, to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa! That is where Sayyidina Jibreel (a) said, “You go, I cannot.” He was going pass that Reality of Allahu nooru ‘s-samaawaati wa ‘l-ard, so who then is that Light? It is Muhammadun Rasoolullah, that is the Light that Allah created from His Light!
رواه عبد الرزاق بسنده عن جابر بن عبد الله بلفظ قال قلت: يا رسول الله، بأبي أنت وأمي، أخبرني عن أول شيء خلقه الله قبل الأشياء. قال: يا جابر، إن الله تعالى خلق قبل الأشياء نور نبيك من نوره،...
When Jaabir (r) asked, “Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you, oh Prophet of Allah! What is the first thing that Allah (swt) created?” the Prophet (s) said, “The first thing that Allah (swt) created is the Light of your Prophet from His Light, O Jaabir.” (Musannaf `Abdu ’r-Razzaq)
“The first thing Allah created is the Light of your Prophet, O Jaabir, and made it witness on the Creation of Heavens and Earth.” The example of that Light is like mishkaat feehaa misbaah, there are too many meanings here, but the main meaning is “like the lamp inside the wall”, then if we go further here, the example of “His Light” is “a bundle of noor and in that noor there is one misbaah that is always shining”, and al-misbaahu fee zujaaja, “that Light is in a glass.” Is it like the glass on Earth? What kind of glass did Allah use to preserve the Light of Muhammad (s)? We don't know; awliyaullah are trying to dive in that ocean.
Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) is famous for that. One time he went on a boat, a storm came and the captain said, “Allah is punishing us because there is a hypocrite on board.” Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) thought, “How ignorant are these people that they are going to kill someone based on this?” The captain wanted to check everyone to see who is a munaafiq, so they put everyone's name on chits of paper, he choose a name and then threw that person in the ocean! When the captain came to pick a paper, Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) said, “Wait, wait! I am that one you are asking for.” So they wrapped him, weighted his feet and threw him in the ocean. Awliyaullah know!
I will tell a story, not to praise but to make a point. My uncle was behind [mentored] all the big scholars in Lebanon. One time I asked him, “I know that you know: tomorrow I have a big exam and I cannot study the history course. I studied all the scientific studies, chemistry, math, physics, but not history. Can you tell me what is the question I’m going to get tomorrow?”
He said, “Get me that book.” I brought him the book Sayyid al-Haywaan, which has nothing to do with history. After opening it and reading some lines, he said, “Tomorrow you will be questioned about the life of Sulayman al-Qanooni, the Ottoman emperor and lawgiver who opened Syria.”
I said, “Are you sure, because this is a book about animals!”
He said, “Yes, that is the question.”
So I mentioned to my friends the question will be about the emperor of Turkey, Sulayman al-Qanooni and some of them told the teacher, who really was going to ask that question! He thought I stole the questions from the examiner and wanted to cancel the exam, but couldn’t. So he said, “I’m going to write different questions on small chits of paper and I want everyone to choose one question and write about it. This way he (me) will not know it in advance.” So he put the chits of paper in a box and everyone took one, and when I picked he was watching me so I showed it to him, and the question was about Sulayman al-Qanooni!
From questioning my uncle about that small matter, he wanted to show me that we are haywaanun naatiq, talking animals. For sure I studied that topic, but he wanted to show me, “You are an animal, you have to get rid of bad characters and bad manners.” How are we going to understand the Prophet (s) when we are not yet ready? Allah said in the Holy Qur'an, “Yaa Muhammad! Read, in the Name of Allah Who created Creation. You know the creation of Creation, and that Man is created from a clot. I am techining you, yaa Muhammad, as you are the first!”
There is a clot in the mother’s womb, but how did he know that 1500 years ago? “Read, in the name of Your Lord who is Generous with you, Who taught by means of the Pen,” but Allah did not want the Prophet (s) to touch the pen, so when you don't touch the pen you are ummiyy, what some wrongly translate as “illiterate”, which I cannot say that about for the Prophet (s). Why did Allah not want the Prophet (s) to touch the pen? Although the Prophet (s) was ummiyy, he knows `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ’l-Akhireen. So what is the secret of that? It is, Allah does not want the Prophet (s) to touch pen of dunya, He wants him to touch the Pen of Akhirah!
We know from Hadiths that Allah said to the Pen, “Write ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah!’” and the Pen wrote for 70,000 years. Then He said, “Write ‘Muhammadur rasoolullah!’” and the Pen asked, “Who is that ‘Muhammad’ whose name You wrote next to Your Name?” Allah said to the Pen, “If not for Muhammad, I would not have created Creation!”
The Prophet (s) is the Heavenly Pen of Qudrah, and don't think that is claiming too much as we are not yet giving the Prophet (s) his due right! May Allah give us the benefit and the right of that Pen! Allah (swt) said:
ٱقۡرَأۡ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلۡأَكۡرَمُ ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلۡقَلَمِ عَلَّمَ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمۡ يَعۡلَمۡ
Read! And your Lord is The Most Bountiful, The One Who taught Man by the Pen, taught Man what we did not know. (Surat al-Alaq, 96:3-5)
How do they claim that people spoke like monkeys in the Stone Age? How did Allah (swt) speak with Sayyidina Adam (a) and how did Adam respond if there was no language then? Either Allah (swt) spoke to him through the heart or through Revelation, and Sayyidina Adam (a) replied to Allah!
O Muslims! There are so many issues we don't understand and awliyaullah are standing at the shore of that ocean, making salawaat on the Prophet (s). What do we need to do to show our love to the Prophet (s)? Even if we do Mawlid for the Prophet (s) daily, it is not enough to fulfill his rights on us! We thank all the `ulama and especially Dr. Tariq, who mentioned that this year began with Mawlid an-Nabi (s), and it was unprecedented that they offered Mawlid in Muwaajaha ash-Shareefa in Masjid an-Nabi in Madinah, from Baab as-Salaam up to Baab Sayyidina Jibril, where he (a) brought Wahiyy to Prophet s)! All around the holy house of the Prophet (s) they recited salawaat and Mawlid! That is sign that rabi`a al-Islam, the glory of Islam is coming, the Islam of peace and harmony, tolerance and acceptance, the Islam of love!
There are many Ahadeeth about love. We are asking Allah (swt) to dress us with that harmonious, peaceful, loving Islam, not with what is happening today. May Allah guide all Muslims to the true Reality of Islam!
So they threw Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) in the ocean and he said, “Yaa Rabbee! I will not come out even on the Day of Judgment, I will keep myself in that ocean until I reach Reality.”
Allah gave him authority and said, “Dive!”
Sayyidina Bayazid said, “I began to dive for what seemed like an infinite number of years, I could not count how many years,” because Allah can stretch and shrink time. He shrank time, in our eyes it might be one hour, but for Sayyidina Bayazid maybe it was hundreds of years. Then he heard a voice saying, “Huuuuuuu!” Allah made him live in the ocean and as he went deeper the voice became stronger, then it came to his heart, “Why are you entering My territory? Don’t you know that you entered My territory without permission? You will be thrown out!” Bayazid trembled in fear and wanted to go back, and he is one of the great awliyaullah!
May Allah keep us with awliyaullah as they enlighten the Way! I respect the ex-mufti Ali Gomaa [Dr. Tariq’s teacher], and say to him from here, “I supported you in India in front of `ulama.” Something happened and things were said about him that I don't like! Dr. Ali Gomaa is one of the awliyaullah, and may Allah bless him and open his heart more and more, to bring more students and youth to Islam.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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