Sufism and Tasawwuf - Naqshbandi Sufi Way

Sufi Stories

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

27 September 2012 Jakarta, Indonesia

(Translated from Arabic)

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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.

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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)

Salaamu `alayka, yaa Rasoolullah!

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Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadini ’l-faatihi limaa ughliqa wa 'l-khaatimi limaa sabaqa naasiri 'l-haqqi bi 'l-haqqi wa 'l-haadi ilaa siraatika 'l-mustaqeema wa `alaa aalihi haqqa qadrihi wa miqdaarihi 'l-`azheem.

O Allah! Bless our Master Muhammad (s), who opened what was closed and who is the Seal of what went before, he who makes the Truth victorious by the Truth, the guide to Your Straight Path, and bless his Household as is the due of his immense position and grandeur.

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh!

Glory to Allah (swt), Who has gathered us and honored us on this blessed honored night,

the night of Jumu`ah, on which all lights descend on our Master, Muhammad (s), and from them all creation benefits, whether in the heavens or the (seven) earths. O Allah! Bless the Prophet (s)! O my Master, O Messenger! Catch us! A blessed night, by which is blessed the heaven, and all the angels are honored by it from Jibril (a) to the last of the angels in the heavens! O Allah! Enter us into that blessing, that light, that gnosis with the Elect One! Keep us on his doorsteps and at his door, here and in the Paradises! O our Lord, O Allah!

The “knowers,” meaning the awliyaullah, are the inheritors of the Prophets (a). Allah is the All-Knowing, but the creatures are but servants. In the Prophet’s Presence all of us are the same, and in Allah’s Presence we are the same:

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Laa farqa bayna `arabiyy wa `ajamiyy illa bi’t-taqwaa.

There is no difference between an Arab and a non-Arab except through God-consciousness.

People are all on the same level except by taqwaa, which is right here in the heart.

O Believers! Have taqwaa and be with the Truthful! He did not say, “Be truthful,” for that is very hard, but it is easy to keep suhbah and be a companion of a Truthful One (Saadiq). “I will be with you if you keep association with a Truthful One.” So what do you think of the Companions who kept company with the Prophet (s) and became Sahaabah? So in our times those who keep company with a Truthful One will become Siddiqeen. In such a night, Allah (swt) will send upon us a manifestation of guidance and light that will make us be with the saadiqeen and reap such a reward!

I will mention here and refer extemporaneously to what one of the Imams of the Muslims said, one who has other views than those of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah, Ibn Taymiyya, but he accepted this view and cited it in in his Fatawa, Vol. 10 on Tasawwuf. In it he mentioned that Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q), whose sainthood he accepted and confirmed, asked Allah, “By what way and means or tariqah can I reach You, O Allah?” This is from a book by Ibn Taymiyya himself, one of their books - the Salafiyya - and by the latter term in the Arab World we mean the Wahhabis, not as you do here in Indonesia when you say, “Salafiyya” (to mean Sunni).

And He said, “O Abu Yazid, leave your nafs behind and come (to Me)! I am the only God, I own you and everyone else in creation, I have no partner, so leave your self behind and come to Me! I will open wide My gates to you!” And we say the same in our [Sunni and Sufi] books and much more.

Abu Yazid said, “My Lord, how can I achieve that? How to leave my nafs behind?”

He said, “Abu Yazid, make your nafs a dumping-ground for My Servants!” meaning bear with the unbearable on their part and on their behalf, and say nothing, ‘Just as Prophet (s) never said, ‘No,’ to anyone but was bearing with all, so do not be angry, do no envy, do not lie nor steal nor commit fornication,’ meaning, “Leave all sins and serve My Servants, make yourself like a dumping-ground for them and come to Me!” That is wilayah, subhaanAllah.

When the servant comes closer to Prophet (s), do saints see him in their dreams? Maybe. Maybe many students here did; ask them. (Five or six raise their hands.) We believe and confirm it. If someone says they had this, we must believe it. Among the Four Righteous Imams, Imam al-Bukhari did not publish a new chapter for his hadiths except he would make wudu, sleep and see the Prophet (s) instructing him to distribute this hadith into that chapter and so forth. So if Imam al-Bukhari has this attribute, awliya also have it. We must believe it, because no Muslim can claim that he saw Prophet (s) but he did not, for that is a huge sin. Look only five or six, or ten out of all of a thousand raised their hand.

Hence, Abu Yazid (q) said he saw his Lord in his dream, and Imam Ghazali (r) also, and he became a Sufi after he had doubts about them at first. Al-Bukhari mentioned the chain of transmission of the hadith, but not only that, he also took it directly from Prophet (s) after making wudu, praying and sleeping, and the he would see Prophet saying, “This is sahih.”

So do awliya also do this when they want to know? They ask the Prophet (s) directly, “Is it authentic or not?” And in this way many hadiths were taken by awliya in Tasawwuf directly from the Prophet (s) himself.

O Allah! Bless Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and his Family (r)!

Musa (a) realized how much Allah loved the ummah of Prophet Muhammad (s), and he heard the declamation of the ayah, “Among them, you were the best of all ummahs ever brought forth for people!” And love for them entered his heart, so he asked, “My Lord, show me one of that ummah!”

Allah showed him a vision of a man with great majesty and dignity, he entered into Musa’s presence with humbleness and said, “O Prophet of Allah, as-salaamu `alaykum, I enter to visit you.”

“What is your name?” Musa (a) asked.

He replied, “My name is Muhammad bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad al-Ghazali.”

Musa (a) said, “I thought your were a great scholar, I asked you a simple question and you could have said Muhammad al-Ghazali, but you answered all this! Bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad, bin Muhammad bin Muhammad!”

He replied, “O Musa, Allah asked you, ‘What is that in your right hand?’ and you replied with such a long-winded answer about what He had not asked, but you wanted to extend the honor of your conversation with Allah, and so I wanted to extend the great honor of conversing with you with my own long answer!”

Musa said, “Truly you are a scholar and a wise one.”

Glory to Allah! One time Sayyidina Musa (a), who loved to roam in Allah’s wide land, reached a desert and a cave from which came a beautiful voice. He approached to hear more of that beautiful voice. How beautiful are the voices of gatherings of salawaat on the Prophet (s)! Similarly this voice was beautiful, and he approached and saw someone prostrating and saying,

“Glory to the One Who preferred me above many of His creatures with a great preferment!”

Musa (a) approached and said, “How did He prefer you?”

But the man was prostrating and did not answer. His devotion was to repeat that phrase, “Glory to Allah, Who preferred me above many of His creatures with a great preferment!”

Musa (a) came nearer and saw that the man was without arms and legs, and yet he was saying that Allah had preferred him over many of His creatures!

He said, “O man, how can you say that in your state?”

The man said, “Musa!” He knew his name! “Do you want to know how?”

Musa (a) drew back and was intimidated.

The man said, “By letting me know Muhammad (s), the Prophet of the end of times, and by making me a Muslim!”

This is one example of the many stories of the awliya over which we will not linger here. O Messenger of Allah, O Prophet (s)! You possess intercession, and that is my request! Sayyidina Sulayman (a) always repeats this verse, “Glory to Allah, Who has preferred me over many of the people He has created with a great preferment!”

That we should be Muslims is a great pride to us, that we are believers is a great honor, and to confirm truth, we confirm the stories of the awliya and we agree with the Truthful, if we do this we will be with him at all times, we will hear everything he imparts even if he is in the West and we are in the East, as mentioned in the Hadith Qudsi:

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Wa laa yazaala `abdee yataqarabu ilayya bi’ n-nawaafil hatta uhibbah. Fa idhaa ahbaabtahu kuntu sama`uhulladhee yasma`u bihi wa basarahulladhee yubsiru bihi, wa yadahulladhee yabtishu bihaa wa rijlahullatee yamshee bihaa.

My servant does not cease to approach Me through voluntary worship until I will love him. When I love him, I will become the ears with which he hears, the eyes with which he sees, the hand with which he acts, and the legs with which he walks (and other versions include, “and the tongue with which he speaks.”) (Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari)

So this hadith asserts that you can hear from East to West, just as Sariya heard Sayyidina `Umar (r) all the way between Sham and Madina, and `Umar (r) could both see and hear. So those who believe in miracles understand the miracles mentioned in the Qur'an and the Sunnah and that is through accompanying the truthful.

The report of `Umar is mentioned in the book Dala'il al-Nubuwwa [e.g. Bayhaqi]. SubhaanAllah! With what letter does Allah’s Name begin? Alif, “A.” And what is the Prophet’s name in the Heavens? “Ahmad,” which begins also with Alif. What is the difference between the two Alifs? Are they the very same? No, never because Allah is the Creator and the Prophet is the Servant, His Creature. So the Alif of “Allah” is the standing letter known as Alif, while the Alif of “Ahmad” is the letter “Ba,” which is a horizontal, prostrating Alif of submission.

Through his name Prophet is saying, “O my Lord, I am always in prostration to you!” So he is prostrating in the Heaven and prostrating on Earth, and the Alif of Prophet’s name is a Ba, and with Ba all creation began, “B” in “Bismillah.” For Allah is described through His Names and Attributes but the absolute Essence can never be described; the Prophet’s name is known and is symbolized by the Ba which points to the Basmala.

The Basmala contains 19 letters and three Names in which are hidden the Greatest Name, and the Name of the Essence is completely hidden. The People of the House of the Prophet, how many are they? Five: Prophet, Ali, Fatima, al-Hasan and al-Husayn, and how many are the letters of their names? Nineteen. And from them are taken the realities the sciences of Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem, which includes all knowledge.

And the Prophet (s) said:

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Anaa madinatu 'l-`ilmi wa `Aliyyun baabuha.

I am the City of Knowledge and `Ali is its Door (or Gate). (Al-Haakim, Tirmidhi)

In the “bismi” of the “Basmalah,” the Alif that follows the Baa is the Alif of the Prophet (s), and it is invisible, to symbolize the humility of the Prophet (s) before his Lord, leaving only the prostrating Baa followed directly by Seen in the word “bism,” without writing the intervening Alif.

We finish with this noble and lofty verse which expresses the letters, and which Jibreel (a) brought to the Prophet (s) at the beginning of Surat Maryam, “Kaaf. Haa. Yaa. `Ayn. Saad,”

but Prophet (s) did not let him finish and he replied, Alimtu. “I already know,” and Jibreel (a) found that mind-bogglling as asked, “How did he already know?”

Each of these letters is an ocean of sciences and their meanings are endless! Today in ATM machines you insert a card, enter the code and you get your cash. These letters have secrets and they are symbols that open the doors for you. “Kaaf” is Kahf, the Lordly Cave; “Haa” is Huwa (“He.” i.e. Allah)” “Yaa” is Yuhyi wa Yumeet, He gives life and He gives death; “`Ayn” is The `Alim, The All-Knowing; “Saad” is As-Saboor, The Ever-Patient. The Awliya said, “Those who know the secrets of these letters will see Prophet (s) in dream and in reality!”

Now let us recite:

Salaat al-Faatih

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Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadin ‘il-faatihi limaa ughliqa wa 'l-khaatimi limaa sabaqa naasiri 'l-haqqi bi 'l-haqqi wa 'l-haadi ilaa siraatika 'l-mustaqeema wa `alaa aalihi haqqa qadrihi wa miqdaarihi 'l-`azheem.

O Allah! Bless our Master Muhammad (s), who opened what was closed and who is the Seal of what went before, he who makes the Truth victorious by the Truth, the guide to Thy Straight Path, and bless his Household as is the due of his immense position and grandeur.

We will explain it next time inshaa-Allah. As-salaam `alaykum.

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Faaoow ila ‘l-kahfi yanshur lakum rabbukum min rahmaatihi wa yuhayyi lakum min amrikum mirfaqa.

Betake yourselves to the cave. Your Lord will shower His mercies on you and dispose of your affair towards comfort and ease. (Surat al-Kahf, 18:16)

Whoever reads Salaat al-Faatih will see Prophet (s) and you are all given ijaazah to read it, at least ten times daily, five times in the morning and five times in the evening:

Long ago one wali, Shaykh Muhammad Talmaysani (q), read Dala’il al-Khayrat 100,000 times and then he saw the Prophet (s) in the dream telling him, “Yaa Muhammad! If you read this salawaat, it will be as if you read Dalaa’il al-Khayraat 800,000 times!” It is the recitation of Sayyidina Ahmad al-Badawi (r):

Salawaat Nooraaniyyah / Salawaat al-Badawi al-Kubra

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Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baarik `alaa Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadin shajarati ‘l-asli ’n-nooraaniyyati wa lam`ati ’l-qabdati ‘r-rahmaaniyyati wa afdali ‘l-khaleeqati ‘l-insaaniyyati wa ashrafi ‘s-soorati ‘l-jismaaniyyati wa m`adini ‘l-asraari ‘r-rabbaniyyati wa khazaaini ‘l-`uloomi ’l-istifaaiyyati, saahibi ‘l-qabdati ‘l-asliyya wa ‘l-bahjati ‘s-saniyya wa ‘r-rutbati ’l-`aliyya, manin darajati ‘n-nabiyyoona tahta liwaaihi, fahum minhu wa ilayhi, wa salli wa sallim wa baarik `alayhi wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi `adada maa khalaqta wa razaqta wa amatta wa ahyayta ilaa yawmi tab`athu man afnayta wa sallim tasleeman katheera wa ‘l-hamdulillahi rabbi 'l-`alameen.

This does not mean you should stop reading Dalaa’il al-Khayraat; continue reading it.

Sayyid ad-Du`a of Grandshaykh:

Allahumma aja`l awwal liqaaina (or shahrina) haadha salaahan, wa awsatahu falaahan wa aakhirahu najaahan. Allahumma ’ja`l awwalahu rahmatan wa awsatahu ni`matan wa aakhirahu takreematan wa maghfirah. Alhamdulillahi ’Lladhee tawada` kulla shayin li `azhamatihi, wa dalla kull shayin li `izzatihi, wa khada` kulli shayin li-mulkihi, w 'astaslama kulla shayin li qudratihi, w 'alhamdulillahi 'Lladhee sakana kulli shayin li-haybatihi wa azh-hara kulli shay’in li-hikmatihi wa tasaaghara kulli shay’in li-kibriyaaih. Allahumma ayqizhna fee ahabbi 's-sa`at ilayka yaa Wadud. Yaa dha'l-`arshi ’l-majeed fa`alun limaa yureed hal ataaka hadithyou ’l-junooda fira`awna wa thamood bal-illadheena kafaroo fee takdheebin w'allahu min waraaihim muheet. bal huwa qur’anun majeedun fee lawhin mahfoozh.

Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

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