Suhbat
Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani
Audhu billah min ash-shaytan ir-rajeem
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
Nawaytu'l-arba`een, nawaytu'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu'l-khalwah, nawaytu'l-riyaada, nawaytu's-salook, nawaytu'l-`uzlah lillahi ta`ala fee hadha'l-masjid
Audhu billah min ash-shaytan ir-rajeem
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem
Nawaytu'l-arba`een, nawaytu'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu'l-khalwah, nawaytu'l-riyaada, nawaytu's-salook, nawaytu'l-`uzlah lillahi ta`ala fee hadha'l-masjid
Ati` Allah wa ati` ar-rasula wa uli 'l-amri minkum
Here we are not teachers, or students, but we are all of us, waiting to get some knowledge in order that to improve ourselves. We are not improving ourselves taking advantage of others, but to improve our identity to be a good identity.
We have to choose between a good passport or a passport that is not valid. If you have a passport that is not valid you cannot go anywhere. They will say, "O no, you cannot travel. Where do you want to go?” Nowhere. “Go and have your passport valid.” So to validate your passport you have to be cleared by all different agencies, else “no, you have a problem.”
If this is what happened to us in this normal life, that we need to be clean in order that we can carry a passport or an id. If you have a criminal record they say, “No way. We catch you now, you are a fugitive. You came by yourself. We are glad we got you here.
Before you can go for passport we put you under house arrest for some time and then we see if you behave.” Then they put you under probation.
If that is for here, then what do you think about a journey, still speaking about this life, cross to a journey of finding the truth and finding reality.
Now all of us are trying to find something. That is why we are coming, sitting and talking with each other.
It is not like a professor in a university. He gives you lessons and says “go memorize the lesson and come back and then repeat it back.” They don’t want from you training. They don’t care. You are what you are, at the university. You go to the university and you are studying. You might be a drug addict but they are not interested.
But this journey to build yourself and to build up your ascension, you have to have a valid passport that can cross you to the other side of the ocean. You might find obstacles. Might be on the ocean your boat hits wind and waves and is being tossed about. Then you might be drowning and they come and save you. So it is not an easy choice. But if you choose it, it will give you are ticket to hereafter and not only ticket to the hereafter to be cleaned. But also in this life a ticket to see and hear what other people cannot se and cannot hear.
So that is why all kinds of masters, gurus and scholars from any kind of religion, sometimes, some of them, not many of them, but a few of them and they reach the finding of truth and they are able to hear what people cannot hear and what people cannot see.
What is your ticket? It is la ilaha illa-Allah muhammadun Rasulullah. The ticket is that Allah is the lord and no creator except him. And everyone else is not a creator. So when you admit, that is your passport, to say la ilaha illa-Allah. Now you acquired the passport, but you still need a visa. For every step you want to step you have to get a stamp to let you in.
First step to let you in is to accept everyone. You cannot say I accept this and I don’t accept that. No, our lord is accepting everyone. If he is not accepting everyone why he created everyone? He created them. He is responsible for them. We are dependent on Him. He takes care of us; that is why He sent messengers. That is why He sent prophets. That is why He sent good people to advise humanity. In order to be able to make sure that you are in good hands. He didn’t create you and left you with nothing. No. He created you and sent you what? Someone to be able to take responsibility for you in order to take you across that big ocean.
When you say la ilaha illa-Allah and you acquire the passport you cannot claim it by tongue only, by saying la ilaha illa-Allah you have do it by action you have to act on it. You cannot just say, “O my Lord! I believe in You but You are there and I am here.”
No, you cannot. You have to act, that you have to show your respect to what you believe you have to show you are responsible to your beliefs and you have to show you love your creator that created you by obeying his orders. What are his orders he asked you to obey? If you don’t obey what is the benefit of saying, “I believe in you” but I am not obeying? Do you obey? Try! We try. He said, "Obey Me” and we are trying. But we are weak servants, what can we do.
He said, “Don’t claim by saying ‘You are my Creator,’ but prove it.” How to prove it? “By listening to what I have ordered you.” Ati` Allah – obey Allah. How you listen to what He ordered you? Very simple – whatever is good you do and whatever is bad you don’t do.
لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا
la yukaliffullahu nafsan illa w`saha…Allah will not burden anyone more than he or she can take, in Holy Qur'an.
You know what is good. It might be what is good for you is not what is good for him. Like people of the village and people of the city. The people of the village are simple. The people of city they are tough. That is why it is better always to live in what? A village, to be simple. The city has too much negative energy. People of the village they do too much because they are simple. They know this is good, they keep doing it.
We think people of the village are so simple, they have no way to know anything. But it is better because their belief is stronger. You need a passport for other life.
People of the city have a lot of negative energy around them and they are polluted by it. They become far from real life; they become affected by the worldly life. They don’t have the innocence of a child. People of the village have the innocence of children.
I was in
We were crossing the mountain. And you can see all these people, very simple, living in tin houses. You believe, tin? The whole house is tin. It is raised on some blocks or some wood and then you go inside and that home it is burning. Hot! They are very hot. It might be inside more hot than outside. You have in
You see these people sitting there and they invite you to come in and they don’t let you to go out - in order to share with you their food. And what is their food? A little bit of rice and some sauce they might have done it and have it in big jars and they spray it over the rice and give it to you. They are living 100, 120 years and very simple people. Whatever you say to them, they believe.
Can you find like that in cities? No.
Prophet Sayyidina Muhammad (s), was invited to a dinner by one of his companions. And that companion, O he is inviting the Prophet so he has to do his best to show his love to Sayyidina Muhammad. He prepared and prepared for weeks and weeks for that moment the Prophet (s) is coming to his house. How much important it is for us today, look how much we are narrow-minded. We don’t invite our prophets to our homes. It means in the spiritual realm. It is better to say, “Ya Rabbee, I am making this food for the Prophet (s) and invite people to eat.”
But we run for fame and we invited some officials and we go and prepare all that we can. And we say, “O the president coming to my home today.” Or the minister. Or the doorkeeper of the president. Even he is famous.
What do you think about the Prophet (s)? What do you think about inviting all the Prophet (s). What do you think about inviting Sayyidina `Isa and Sayyidina Musa and Sayyidina Ibrahim .
So he invited the Prophet (s) he was preparing and preparing. And when the Prophet (s) coming with the Companions and that man, as soon as the Prophet (s) entering the door, he said, “O Rasulullah whatever I have prepared it doesn’t befit you. Don’t look to my shortcomings in what I prepared.” What do you think the Prophet (s) did?
He pulled back. He said, "I cannot enter anymore. I cannot enter anymore.” “Ya Sayyidee, O Prophet what have I done?” He said, “I am happy with what you have done. But I cannot enter. I am seeing all these manifestations and angels coming down on what you have provided. And you said that it doesn’t befit me. As if I am arrogant and need more blessing and more. I cannot enter. But my Sahaba can enter and eat on my behalf, consider I ate with you.”
And he left and doing with Sayyidina Abu Bakr passing thru remote areas of Madina and passing by one house made of palm trees, the branches they put other and make a house and very hot inside. And a lady came out. She said, “Ya Rasulullah! you are here? I wished that because my husband is very old man and very sick, he cannot come to see you and he accepted you as a messenger and believed in you and I wished he could go and see you but since you are here can you come inside and have dinner with us and see my husband?”
What do you think the Prophet (s) said? He said to his right-hand man, Sayyidina Abu Bakr, “Let us go in.” And the old man and the old lady was so happy and they invited him to a dinner. And what do you think that dinner was? And the Prophet (s) said to Sayyidina Abu Bakr , "Fill your stomach as much as you can, for this is blessed food.” Although the Prophet (s) said,
نحن قوم لانأكل حتى نجوع وإذا أكلنا لا نشبع
“We are people who don’t eat until we are hungry and when we eat we don’t fill it up.” Then it will be sickness.
He said to his companion eat as much as you can this time, I am letting you to do that. Because this is blessed food and I am doing that also. What was that food. Dry bread. We put that bread that is like that with mint and zaatar, rosemary, mana`eeysh. They don’t eat it. They send it back. What they want for iftar? Somosas with meat. That is what goes first. That bread with rosemary and olive oil on it they sent it back. We take it back, we send it next day. Now these ladies say we don’t want to serve it. I said today don’t serve except from it.
Is it not? What you say? They don’t eat it. They send it back. They eat meat pie and pie meat and cheese pie. That is it. What they were eating, the Prophet (s) and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq ? It was dry, very dry.
So I didn’t continue. We give bread on the third day and still they don’t eat it. We have to give it to the chickens. It becomes very dry. This time I will serve it with water so they dip it in the water.
So what the Prophet (s) was eating? Dry bread water and salt. It was rock salt even, not salt we have today. Dip the bread in water, rub the salt and then eat it. Then they choke on the bread and they have to drink the water.
In old times there were no mills like today they grind the flour to zero. So he was eating bread, salt, water. And that is how you have to teach your self and teach your ego that you cannot always be nagging for everything. These people in the village they are happy with their life. The people in the Stone Age were happy in their lives. I was giving a presentation in
So when these village people eat rice and sauce they are very happy. They are very simple people. So that ticket for la ilaha illa-Allah to take us to that shore of safety is to be humble accept everything. If Allah gives you, say, “Thank you O my Lord.” If Allah tests you say, “thank you, O my Lord.” Don’t nag and don’t complain. He doesn’t like complaining.
Are you sleeping without food? Then why do we have to complain?
People are coming and complaining, O too much. Look at these people who are dying in
To claim that you say la ilaha illa-Allah you have to show good examples. What are the good examples. It is imtithaal al-amr. To accept the orders that come to you from heavens. You have to accept up to what you know. You can use your mind to evaluate if something is good or bad. If you are a village person your mind is according to a village person. If you are a city person then it is according to city standards. Whatever is good to you, you do it and whatever is bad you stop.
Like drinking and smoking. Do people smoke in western countries they stopped smoking. You go to 3rd world countries they are smoking like chimneys. And if they don’t smoke they think they are out of time, démodé, what is that in English. Civilized. If you some you have to smoke well and if you have to smoke you have to blow out well. There are even lessons for that, you see the smoke comes out in circles.
And everyone know that smoking is bad. So if you say to yourself smoking is bad, why are you smoking. So anything you feel is bad, leave it. And anything that you think is good, go for it. And you have to be patient on whatever afflictions come. Try to solve it slowly. Don’t show yourself that you are so worried when you face an enemy. Not an enemy when you are in war. But when you face an obstacle. You create a big enemy when you say, "O I cannot face that obstacle. When you cannot face it; it will kill you it becomes an enemy. You have to keep your personality strong else they will invade you and finish you and kill you. The ego always afraid from every obstacle .but if you press it and press it and try to overcome that fear within you then that enemy disappears. That obstacles will disappear.
That is why in some patients you teach them to build up their personality to build up a defensive, block or fence and make you to overcome your sickness thru your meditation, that this enemy doesn’t mean anything to me, I will overcome it. Then that will disappear slowly, slowly.
An example is my sister. She had a cancer, she is a doctor. She went to our Grandshaykh in late 70s and early 80s and he said to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, “don’t go ahead with all these medicines, [she has cancer] you can overcome it with meditation. Thru building up your defensive system in yourself and overcome that sickness.” She is a doctor and her husband sis a doctor and she went for operation and she died.
My auntie, who is the same age as my sister, and she had cancer. And she went to Grandshaykh and that was in 70s and she was supposed to go to an operation to take that cancer out. Grandshaykh said, "Don’t go for that operation. If she will follow my prescription and take onion juice and build up her personality I will guarantee her 30 more years.”
So then we were very young and we were very much in love with Grandshaykh and Mawlana Shaykh and we were pushing that for her and we went to hospital and we sneaked her out of the hospital. And she was happy to do that. And she died 30 years later at the age of 80 years.
There are many people who come to Grandshaykh and they follow that system of classical system of cure and they are cured.
So what I want to say is that save yourself by overcoming your shortcomings. Shortcomings that is the word is was waiting for you before. Don't be afraid and don’t let the obstacle become an enemy to you. All that comes thru belief and submission to the passport that takes you to safety shore.
We continue later.
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq, bi hurmatil Fatiha.
Now we come to the part that is the tiring one, the hadrah.