Suhbah at As-Siddiq Mosque
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani ‘r-rajim. 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.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
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)
It will be a short association. An advice to me and to you is, when a jeweler offers you jewels, such as sapphires, rubies, diamonds, black diamonds, or blue diamonds, and says to you, “Choose one and take it,” you would choose the diamond as it is the most precious and the other jewels have no value when compared to the diamond. They are valuable in their own way, but the value of a diamond is beyond description.
Likewise, any `ibadah you do is considered worship by Allah (swt); all are jewels. But the best `amal that Allah likes the most from His servant is to show the acceptance and determination to say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah.” It is the first message that Prophet (s) came with. Before prayers, before fasting, or before anything else, he came to his people and said, “Leave the worship of statues and idols and say ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah.’”
Do you think Allah (swt) is not sending His Mercy on those who are saying “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” although there are deficiencies in our `amal, as the Prophet (s) said:
أخوف ما أخاف على أمتي الشرك الخفي
Akhwaf maa akhaafu `ala ummattee ash-shirk al-khafee.
What I fear most for my Ummah is hidden idolatry.
Shirk is to associate someone with Allah (swt), to make him a partner to His Lord, and what Allah doesn't like. Allah (swt) is:
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
lam yalid wa lam yoolad walam yakun lahu kufoowan ahad.
He begets not, nor is He begotten, and there is none like unto Him. (al-Ikhlaas, 112:3-4)
So when we say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” we determine there is no one to be worshipped except for Allah (swt). Unfortunately, our declaration of Oneness to Allah (swt) is not perfect; only the the Prophet’s and Sahaabah’s declarations of Oneness were perfect. Prophet (s) is the only one who, upon saying “La ilaaha illa-Llah,” instantly enters the Divine Presence, but we are imperfect and weak servants. We say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” by tongue, but not perfecting it in our hearts. Sadly, our actions and our beliefs indicate there is no God except our ego! I do not like to say it, but we worship our egos and prefer our desires over what Allah (swt) wants. That is where the problem lies. Our ego wishes to be fulfilled first and if you don’t listen to it, it hits you and puts all kinds of difficulties in front of you, to prevent you from saying “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” because it wants you to only say, “laa ilaaha illa ‘ana, “There is no God but me!”
Allah (swt) is The Most Merciful! He creates angels to say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” in a pure way on our behalf and for our benefit. That is what you will find in the grave and on the Day of Judgment-- not what we have done, as our `amal might take us to Hell--but we will find what angels have done for us and that takes us to Paradise!
There is a big difference between Paradise and punishment. Prophet (s) said:
“Shall I not tell you of the best of your deeds? It is better for you than if you had all the wealth of dunya and spent it in the way of Allah, and even better than any kind of struggle against your enemies.” And they said, “Yes, yaa Rasoolullah!” He said, afdal adh-dhikri laa ilaaha illa-Llah, “The best from all of these is dhikrullah and the best dhikr is ‘laa ilaaha illa-Llah.’”
Recitation of “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” takes you from Maqaam al-Wahdaaniyya to Maqaam al-Ahaadiyya. Everything in Creation points to the Creator, and an easy way see signs of the Creator is to look at ourselves: no two human beings are the same. Six billion people live around the world, and except for identical twins that are very rare, no one looks the same. What kind of DNA, genes and secrets, has Allah (swt) put in that sperm and egg that one does not resemble another? Even if two brothers marry two cousins who are sisters, their children will not look alike. That is the sign of Oneness, that no one can create that uniqueness except Who created us!
No one can perfect that worship except for Prophet (s), as before everything was created, Allah (swt) dressed him with that power in his heavenly nature and presence in Paradise. That is why he (s) was able to move to that Divine Presence in Israa wa 'l-Mi`raaj.
فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَى
fakaana qaaba qawsayni aw adnaa.
And was at a distance within two bow-lengths or (even) nearer. (an-Najm, 53:9)
So dhikrullah is the best kind of worship, better than any type of donation or helping the sick, the needy or homeless. Allah (swt) likes all of these good actions, but to say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” is more important than anything else you do!
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أكثروا ذكر الله حتى يقولوا: مجنون
akthar min dhikrullah hatta yaqoolu majnoon.
Prophet (s) said: Recite dhikr as much as you can, until the people call you crazy. (Imam Ahmad, Ibn Hibban)
When someone is truly crazy--not bi-polar, but one who lost his mind--we say he is crazy. This means make it your speech; as often as possible say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah,” or “Allah, Allah,” or “ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluh,” or read Holy Qur'an. Show your love to that Presence by reciting these praises excessively, until the people around you say, “You are crazy!” Then you will be spiritually certified that you are not abnormal, no longer crazy, and you will leave the dunya mental house and enter the heavenly mental house.
Imam al-Qushayri (q), one of biggest scholars, said, “Dhikrullah is the strongest vehicle in the way of Allah (swt), in the way of righteousness, and the way of justice.” When you fear Allah, you try to perfect your deeds, to do everything as correct as possible. When you have no love, you do everything wrong. Keep everything in your life in the way of love of the Creator, love of His messengers--Sayyidina Muhammad (s), Sayyidina `Isa, Sayyidina Musa, Sayyidina Ibraheem (a)--and the love of people and angels. That is the way to Allah (swt). And we say (the six pillars of Imaan), “I believe in Allah, in His angels, in His prophets, in His books, in the Day of Judgment, and in Destiny, its good and bad.”
May Allah (swt) take us for Hajj this year, to go and come back safe, and to be (spiritually) normal, not abnormal (running after dunya), as love of the Hereafter is a treasure that takes you to heavenly powers and love of dunya is a trap takes you to punishment.
Everyone of us is going to die. Is there anyone who will live forever? They are going to open a grave or a small ditch in the ground and put the deceased in, then throw dirt on them and leave. Don’t think you will not feel it; all of us will feel it! Try to make a box according to your size, go inside it, close it very tight and sit in it for five minutes. What will happen? You will say, “Open it, open it! I can’t take it anymore!” What then do you think when you go in the grave?
Do you know why people cremate themselves? They are trying to be clever, thinking, “It is better to burn ourselves and be ashes than to be in the grave.” So they developed a way to replace burial through cremation; one becomes ashes thrown in a river, as they fear being in the grave. But if you are on the right path, that grave becomes like the entire world, which is not even a dot in comparison to the universe. Imagine how six billion people are living on this planet. If those in the vast universe come to Earth, it might seem so restricted to them, like a graveyard to them. There must be other living creatures in the universe, and why not? Allah is always creating, so if we put a limit on what He creates, then astaghfirullah, we are not acknowledging that He is the Creator!
Sometimes I get claustrophobic. One time a doctor put me in the MRI machine and I said, “Take me out! I’m not taking your MRI.” It was a sign that it is not easy to be in the grave. Those who come on Earth might feel claustrophobic. When we enter the grave we might feel claustrophobic. Go to the cemetery and take lessons!
May Allah (swt) forgive us as we are weak. May He take away that claustrophobic feeling. We ask Allah to forgive our sins and to resurrect us with al-Mustafa (s)!
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.