Mawlid Festival 2014 at Suntec Hall
(On video suhbah starts at 3:36:00)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Please be seated. I am very touched by all of you. [Mawlana weeps.] Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. 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.
These days I don't know what’s happening with me. The month of Mawlid is coming; might be from that manifestation of the Mawlid (making me cry). We are all in this situation of this ecstacy, that we are going to see the Milad an-Nabi (s) everywhere around the world.
I thank the organizers and all the sponsors and all the audience, and I don't know where to begin and where to end. First of all, I want to say thank you scholars, businessmen, gentlemen and ladies, that you came here tonight. Forget about the Festival of Mawlid, that festival is already in Heavens every day. That is a copy here; the real celebration of the Mawlid of Prophet (s) is not happening on Earth, Earth is an imitation of the real one in Paradise! The reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), Earth cannot carry it, the universes cannot carry it, Paradises cannot carry it: only his approach to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa can carry that!
We are speaking about love and love is not something that can be described, it is something that is inside [Mawlana weeps], sorry, and inside the hearts of every person there is a different love and it varies, from love of family, to the love of community, to the love of the country. But the reality of the love is al-hubb al-ilahi, the Lordly Love, the Godly Love that cannot be described (by us), it can only be described as what Allah ordered His Angels to remember Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in every moment by doing salawaat on him.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him with a worthy salutation. (Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)
Al-hubb al-ilahi begins with Mahabbat al-Shaykh or al-Ustadh, then moves to Mahabbat an-Nabi (s) and then to Mahabbat Allah. That is the traditional way it goes: first when you are young you love the ones who are around you, you begin with love of the teacher or shaykh, and if you want to expand on it, he will guide you to love of the Prophet (s), which the teacher teaches how to love the Prophet (s) until you get the certificate and then that takes you to love of Allah (swt). When we have love we have hudoor, presence; Hudoorullah, Hudoor al-Habeeb al-Mustafa, Hudoor al-Mashaykh. When that love takes the heart, then you don't think except for the one you love in your heart. If that is al-hubb al-ilahi, the Lordly love, then that love takes over your life and doesn’t show you except the reality of loving the Divine Presence, and that takes you to the reality of understanding the meaning of true love.
The Sahaabah (r), yes, they loved the Prophet (s), but I will mention one person that has shown her love to the Prophet (s), incredible love that we have to be proud of because we are part of that person who was always taking care of the Prophet (s) and every moment in that person's life is Muhammad (s), the name of Muhammad (s) has been engraved in that person's heart! Be happy, you ladies [Mawlana weeps] that your mother is Fatimah az-Zahra (a)! And we all must be happy, also.
She was constantly checking on her father, to see what he needs, although his wives could do that, but she was the pioneer to do that. Her love to her father made her always checking on him, if he needs anything or if he wanted something, whether he needed water or to eat, or if he has a cold or has problems, are his people abusing him or is his tribe torturing him? All that she carried in her heart and she sat in her room in her home with Sayyidina `Ali (r) and she was crying and crying and crying, seeing the people of her father--the tribe of her father coming from al-Quraysh--torturing him, the family itself torturing him and his uncles torturing him, and Heavens were happy with him! That is the picture that Sayyida Fatimah az-Zahra (r) has shown to ladies not only in her time, but in our time and in every time!
Love is something beyond our hands. Allah wants that from His servant and the Prophet (s) wants that from his Ummah and Sayyida Fatimah (a) was the symbol, the role model for that. When her father was sick, Sayyida Fatimah (a) was not sleeping.
When her father was 63 years old, Sayyidina Jibreel (a) came to him and said, “Allah is sending you His salaams and saying if you want to come to Allah you may come, I will take your soul to Him, and if you want to stay, you may stay as long as you like.” He is the only human being given a choice to stay in dunya, that it was to be his decision!
And the Prophet (s) said, “No, I will join ar-Rafeeq al-`Alaa, return to Allah’s Divine Presence.”
When Fatimah (a) felt that, she was crying. Then the Prophet’s temperature was going up and up and he was sweating and sweating in his robe and Sayyida Fatimah (a) squeezed out the sweat from that robe.
And the Prophet (s) said, “O my daughter, why are you crying?”
She said, “O my father! You are Rasoolullah (s) and I am the luckiest girl, the luckiest one! You are Rasoolullah (s) and everyone wants to be with you, and I want to be with you and I am with you, but I am losing you and I don’t want that,” she cried.
And the Prophet (s) said, “Come to me, let me tell you something,” and he whispered in her ear and she laughed and was smiling. Sayyida `Ayesha (r) was looking at Sayyida Fatimah (a) smiling and she wanted to know what was taking place between Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and his daughter, but out of respect she kept quiet and after a short time Sayyidina Muhammad (s) left dunya and left her with that secret for a few months.
دَعَا النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَاطِمَةَ ابْنَتَهُ فِي شَكْوَاهُ الَّذِي قُبِضَ فِيهِ، فَسَارَّهَا بِشَىْءٍ فَبَكَتْ، ثُمَّ دَعَاهَا، فَسَارَّهَا فَضَحِكَتْ، قَالَتْ فَسَأَلْتُهَا عَنْ ذَلِكَ. فَقَالَتْ سَارَّنِي النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَخْبَرَنِي أَنَّهُ يُقْبَضُ فِي وَجَعِهِ الَّذِي تُوُفِّيَ فِيهِ فَبَكَيْتُ، ثُمَّ سَارَّنِي فَأَخْبَرَنِي أَنِّي أَوَّلُ أَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ أَتْبَعُهُ فَضَحِكْتُ.
Sayyida `Ayesha (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) in his fatal illness called his daughter Fatimah(r) and told her a secret, because of which she started weeping. Then he called her and told her another secret and she started laughing. When I asked her about that, she replied, "The Prophet (s) told me that he would die in his fatal illness and so I wept, but then he secretly told me that from among his family I would be the first to join him, and so I laughed." (Bukhari)
Sayyida `Ayesha (r) asked her another time, “Now Sayyidina Muhammad (s) has left dunya, what was he telling you in your ear?”
Sayyida Fatimah (a) said, “Now I can tell you. He said, ‘Yaa Fatimah, don't worry because you are the first one who will follow me and will be coming to Paradise to me in a short time.’”
She was happy. Just now the speaker mentioned ‘al-wahn’, that people don't like death. Sayyida Fatimah (a) was in the springtime of her life and she liked death; she gave up life to be with her father in Paradise although she had many years in front of her! From where can we get such love? This is what we need, to make a “revolution for love”, but this is a dunya matter, although one lover of Allah (swt), one person, one wali, if he asks, Allah gives!
رب اشعث اغبر لو اقسم على الله لأبره
There may be a disheveled, dusty person who, if he swears an oath by Allah, Allah will fulfill it. (Muslim)
But Allah's Wisdom and Allah's Will has to go on Earth and we have to see all these miseries, as the Prophet (s) said in a Holy (Qudsi) Hadith[1]:
يا عبدي اطعني اجعلك ربانيا تقول لشي كن فيكون
O My servant! Obey Me and I will make you Lordly; (if) you say to a thing "Be!” it will be (exist).
“O My servant, obey Me, love Me!” When you obey someone you must first love them. So what about Allah (swt)? You must love Allah first, not just to have love of your family. Yes, Allah gave us that love to our families, but the main target of love is first Allah (swt). So Allah said, ati`anee, “Obey Me,” out of love, obey the One Who gave love. Aj`alooka rabbaniyya, “Obey Me and I will make you Lordly, I will give you everything.”
بَلْ أَحْيَاء عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ
No, they live, finding their sustenance provided in the Presence of their Lord. (Surat Ali ‘Imraan, 3:169)
They (Awliyaullah) are alive and in the Presence of their Lord, provided for! They are alive in dunya and alive in Akhirah! ‘Alive’ means those who are sincere, pious servants of Allah filled their hearts with love of Allah (swt), so Allah is saying to them, “Don't feel sad, don’t fear anything because I gave you something I didn’t give anyone, I gave you My love!”
أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
Behold! Verily on the Friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah Yunus, 10:62)
O Muslims! O brothers and sisters. Look, that one saint, a pious person, another story, about Sayyida Rabi`ah al-Adawiyya, that saint was very, very dedicated and had a husband that abused her. When he came home drunk, he sat on the bed and asked her to give him a cup of water, then he abused her. She went to get him a cup of water--I am giving example by that story--and she wanted to pass it to him but she found him already sleeping, so she waited and waited until he woke up to give him that glass of water.
She helped everyone in her city, she did everything that is possible to be done, and one day the `ulama of her area came to her after her husband died and said, “Yaa Rabi`ah, you have to marry, you cannot be alone like this.”
She said, “Now I am so busy, I have no time for marriage.”
They said, “Why no time?”
She said, “Now I have no time, as before my husband died I was busy with him, now I am [otherwise] busy.” They said, “Marriage is half of religion, you must marry.”
She said, “I have three questions; if you can answer them I will marry.”
With respect to all `ulama, I am not `alim. Tahammalna wa nazharaka yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah! Laa hawla wa laa quwatta illa billahi 'l-`Aliyyu 'l-`Azheem. We are weak servants, we have nothing to offer, only through Prophet (s) as he connects with his Ummah. He is the engine and the train is running with all the caravan, so jump on the caravan and you will be with the Prophet (s)!
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي
Say (O Muhammad), "If you (really) love Allah, then follow me! (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:31)
Run after him! How to run after him? You think he does not let us run after him? He lets us run, but to make salawaat on the Prophet (s) is the key for everything, the key for everything! Because Allah loves the Prophet (s) and wants everyone to love His Prophet (s). So even if you do all your obligations, but they are mixed up with all kinds of sins like a soup, with many bad manners, never mind, still make salawaat on the Prophet (s) and Allah (swt) will dress you with His Love!
كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ
You are the best of Nations evolved for Mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:110)
“O Ummah of the Prophet (s)! You were (kuntum, ‘you were’ from that time), you are the best Ummah that has been sent to humanity!”
We are sent to all humanity, and that is why it is our responsibility to stop all kinds of miseries and bloodshed on Earth by bringing peace and harmony to everyone, not like what they are doing in the Middle East. We have to be perfect, moderate people following Prophet (s), where he said:
نَحْنُ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا
We are a nation of the middle way (moderation).
We are ‘ummatan wasatan’ , we are on the middle way, as the Prophet (s) described us, we are not extreme. Those who are doing things not accepted by the law or by the Islamic religion must stop what they are doing! It is not Islam what they are doing, it is against the love of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), it is against the good manners, where Allah (swt) said to the Prophet (s):
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِي
You are of the most exalted character. (Surat al-Qalam, 68:4)
It means, he is of the best character, so, “You will bring religion which is of the best character.”
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُُ
The religion in Allah’s view is Islam (submission to His Will). (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:19)
And that means, “You will bring the best character to show we are Muslim in our country and other countries, to show Muslims want the benefit to live in peace!” May Allah give us the power to understand the reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), where Allah said in Holy Qur'an:
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
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-Nisa, 4:64)
“Yaa Muhammad, when My servants oppress themselves by following al-hawaa, the bad desires, by doing something wrong, in order to repent they have to come to you.” Don’t say, “How do I come to Prophet (s)?” You sit facing the Ka`bah and calling on Prophet (s)...do you think when we mention his name he is not looking at us? When we say “salaam `alayk” from here, do you think the Prophet (s) is not hearing us?
تعرض علي أعمال لكم فإن وجدت خيراً حمدت الله وما وجدت غير ذلك استغفرت لكم.
I observe the `amal of my ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see other than that, bad, I ask forgiveness for you. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
Prophet (s) said, “If I see good I praise Allah (swt), if I see bad I make istighfaar on your behalf,” tu`aradoo `alayy `amal ummatee. Prophet (s) is saying, “This is what I am doing for my ummah in the grave and in dunya.” What more do you want? Sit and ask, and go to Allah (swt) and say, “Yaa Rabbee, for the sake of Prophet (s) accept from us.” But Allah (swt) put a condition, He said, “When Prophet (s) makes istighfaar on your behalf, I am forgiving you.”
And Prophet (s) said in another hadith, “I am making istighfaar on your behalf.” If he sees something wrong he makes istighfaar, he doesn’t ask us (to do anything). I will give you one hint that I always think about. I can speak with Shaykh Hasan and I can, at the same time, listen to Shaykh Jaleel and at the same time I can see Shaykh Ibrahim; by paying attention here and there, maybe three people I can understand, and everyone can do that. What do you think about Prophet (s), where he can see every person of his Ummah individually, he can see everyone in the same time without them overlapping one another? Tu`aradoo `alayy `amal al-ummah, Prophet (s) is saying, “They offer it to me, saying, ‘Here, this is their `amal, this is what is happening to your ummah.’” He (s) said, “I can see them all,” but how? When we say salawaat on the Prophet (s), take the example that has just been mentioned:
من صلى علي مرة صلى الله عليه بها عشرا
Whoever prays on me one time, Allah prays on him ten times. (Sahih)
ما من أحد يسلم عليَّ إلا رد الله عليَّ روحي حتى أسلم عليه
No one prays on me except that Allah will send back my soul to me to return his greeting. (Abu Dawud)
“Whenever someone sends salawaat on me, Allah sends back my soul to my body in order that I may reply to their salawaat.” this is different from what Allah is replying to that salawaat. And Imam Suyuti said in his tafseer, that the soul of Prophet is sent back to his body and does not leave it after as he is getting salawaat every moment thousands, millions. That is why he (s) said:
أنا حيٌّ طرياٌ في قبري
I am alive, fresh in my grave.
“Whoever makes salawaat on me, Allah sends my soul back until I ask forgiveness for him.” How he can speak for everyone and listen to everyone in the same moment? And what kind of power Allah is giving to Sayyidina Muhammad (s)? Hundreds of these Mawlid festivals, millions of them, you get the reward and the mahabbah on your heart, so keep doing it, thousands of them going on, even do it daily in your home by yourself, recite salawaat and read Dalaa’il al-Khayrat, which is full of salawaat!
O brothers and sisters, and especially the ladies! You are under the hand of Sayyida Fatimat az-Zahra (a), she is the head for women, she is the fruit of Paradise, so hold tight and be happy in your life that you are under her and in her hand, as she is the Lady of Paradise! Raise your children well, not teaching them the Islam people are inventing now, but the moderation in Islam, as Islam calls for moderation. And you men, if you help your wife and family when you come home, don't leave them with everything [as only their responsibility], that is the beginning of love in your heart.
May Allah (swt) forgive us, bless us, help us and support us, and take away all our difficulties, and make Singapore a role-model country and make every country peaceful, inshaa-Allah.
Salaam `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
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[1] As agreed by the scholars, Qudsi Hadith is from what Allah (swt) spoke directly to Prophet (s), who reported it to the Sahaabah (r).