Minhaj ul-Qur’an Center
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. Alhamdulillah hamd al-kamileen wa ’s-salaat wa ’s-salam `alaa ashraf al-mursaleen, alhamdulillah alladhee ja`alanaa min ummati Muhammad (s). We are seeking the shafa`ah of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). We are beloved to Allah (swt) and beloved to the Prophet (s). You are those who love the Prophet (s) and you are those whom Allah honored, and us, along with you, to be among the ummat of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), who made this a “forgiven ummah.”
First I want to mention that in December I traveled to Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. One day there was a light you could see far from the shore, where buildings of American and European companies had fallen down after they built a little bit; in fact, anything they built there fell down. They tried to open a bar and so on, but there is a maqaam of a wali, Shaykh Isma`il. Whether it is day or night, you can only get there by boat; it is fifteen or twenty minutes from shore. They first came to the island for barakah perhaps 200 years ago, and a lot of Hindus come to Shaykh Isma`il’s tomb, like at Sayyidina Jalaluddin ar-Rumi’s tomb, where diverse people claim, “He is our master.”
The story is that we were in Malacca and we were invited to the house of a person I have known for a long time. He invited us to his house; he expected about seventy or eighty people, but more than 400 people came to his house, which is huge. I saw two pictures on the kitchen wall and thought they looked familiar.
I asked him, “Whose picture is this first one? I know who it is.”
He said, “This is Mawlana Shaykh Nazim,” and he was laughing. I said, “This other picture is familiar to me although I never saw that person, but he is very familiar, as if I know him.”
He said, “O, I think this is someone you know. He is my shaykh, and Shaykh Nazim is also my shaykh.”
I said, “Who is that? I have seen him many times, I know him.”
He said, “Do you know Shaykh Tahir ul-Qadri?”
I said, “Yes, I know him.”
He said, “This is his father.” He took baya` with him a long time ago and his name is Ghulam ar-Rasool. He said, “Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri was here and I hosted him in my home.”
Look at how Allah (swt) has put things together so that people can understand there is no distance for Him! (...) So, after this introduction, I would like to mention that I am a simple person, like you; you might be better than me. I have to say, “Astaghfirullah,” because ( ...video cut...)
… sajda of ihtiraam, respect and praising, they (angels) are ordered to keep their sajda non-stop from the day they have been created until Allah knows when, and not only the angels that were already created, but also those who will be created in the future. Also, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) will make the first sajda on the Day of Judgment, which means as soon as he comes forth he goes into sajda, which means sajda is important. Therefore, whenever you finish your prayers, do one sajda. He goes into sajda and begins to make a du`a that never came to him before; that is a hadeeth.
What kind of du`as are these? These are keys of Paradise. Everyone of us has a special du`a on his head that is a special code, or a key to his place in Paradise. So the Prophet (s) was reading all these du`as that are special codes to let everyone go to Paradise! Out of respect he could not raise his head, and then the Voice came, “Yaa Muhammad! Raise your head and ask, you will be granted.” The Prophet (s) said, “Yaa Rabbee! I need my ummah, I cannot go without them!” Allah said, “Take one third of them, with no account, to Paradise.”
So where is Siraat al-Mustaqeem? With the shafa` ah of the Prophet (s), they will go straight to Paradise; they won’t need to walk. They will say, “Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem,” and they will be in their place in Paradise. Then the Prophet (s) went into sajda again and Allah (swt) opened for him du`as that had never opened before, and said, “Raise your head and ask, for you will be granted!” Then Allah (swt) said, “Take half of the rest.” Who is Siraat al-Mustaqeem? It is the Prophet (s)! It is not shirk; rather, it is shafa`ah, intercession, a divine code by which you reach your goal.
Prophet (s) went into sajda another time, and began to make du`a he never made before, not in the first time nor in the second time. And it might go through your mind, “What kind of du`a?” The Prophet (s), Sahaabah and awliyaullah recite all kinds of du`as which are recorded, and people read them daily. So it means that du`as other than these are being opened to the Prophet (s). It cannot be any du`a that is already found in Arabic, such as hizb al-barr, hizb al-bahr, Muhyideen ibn `Arabi’s du`a, … and thousands of others. But the Prophet (s) said, “Du`a that has never been said before,” which means letters put together in such a way as never said before, like the letters at the beginning of surahs: haa, meem, kaaf; haa, yaa, `ayn, saad, and so on.
We must realize the greatness of the Prophet (s), that with these du`as Allah will be pleased with what he is reading and will free the ummah, saying “Go!” and again, “Go!” And then, at the last one, Allah (swt) will ask, “What do you want?” The Prophet (s) will answer, “I want the rest,” and Allah will say, “Take them all except one, the worst one.”
How do many Muslims say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan rasoolullah,” and yet they do the worst things? And Allah will keep the worst of them, and we hope we are not that one, we hope everyone enters Allah's maghfirah and goes to Paradise! Allah (swt) keeps the worst one and says, “Who gave shafa`ah to the Prophet (s)? Who gave him this rahmat on his ummah? I gave it to him, and My rahmat is bigger than his. Take all your people and go to Paradise!”
Regarding the meaning of the name, “al-Mustafa,” you have, for example, two or three cups and you choose one and say, “This is al-Mustafa, the Chosen One,” but to compare him (s) to others is not honoring `Azhaamat an-Nabi (s)! Did Allah (swt) bring the whole ummah and all human beings and choose one from among them? No. That doesn't honor that, laa yaleeq bi-`azhaamat an-Nabi (s); that is not related to Prophet’s (s) greatness! To say, “He is al-Mustafa,” means nothing in all Creation--human beings, angels, universes and all other Creations--cannot be compared to the greatness of that one whom Allah (swt) dressed with His Beautiful Names and Attributes and named him to be different than everyone else! That is why Imam Muhammad al-Busayri (r) said, Muhammad basharun wa laysa kal-bashar, “Muhammad (s) is a human being, but not a human being, Muhammad is a gem and the rest are pebbles.” It means he is not like me and you.
The Prophet (s) has no shadow! If someone has no shadow it means that one is subtle, he has no form, and the power of spirituality is overtaking his body. That is why I was amazed when, here in London, I visited a person who has a Holy Hair of the Prophet (s), and I have seen many but this one is special. Last time I came told him, “Bring the Holy Hair and let us make ziyaarah to it.” Before that, I had asked to him give me half of the Holy Hair and he was so generous, and said, “Take as much as you like.” He shined a flashlight on it and I was so amazed to see that the Holy Hair had grown back to its normal size! It was incredible! So I told Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and he said, “Don't you know that the Holy Hair of the Prophet (s) is alive? Of course it is going to grow back to its normal size when it was with the Prophet (s)!”
So we looked at that Holy Hair supported by a small rock, and when we shined the flashlight on it, the rock has a shadow and the Holy Hair has no shadow! That was so amazing. Whatever we say to describe the Prophet (s), there is no way to truly describe his greatness!! So what is Shaykh Tahir ul-Qadri going to benefit from all this effort (to unite Muslims)?
Why did Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) always put the Prophet (s) in front of him? Because his love to him is so strong. So the Prophet is everything for these awliyaullah and they don’t care what they are called, “doctor” or “shaykh.” Even Mawlana Shaykh writes after his name, “al-khadim al-faqeer al-haqeer,” which means, “servant of the beggar.” They are only trying to open more masaajid here and there around the world, not thinking to put a title, nor to have a big car, because what difference does it make if you drive a big car or a small car? That show of humility will open the door. That is what Islam is: to show humility and humbleness, and to build relationships with different mosques.
So to do Silaat ur-Raheem, to make the relationship (between members of the Muslim community), is preferred because we are brothers in spirit and our father is the Prophet (s), and because we love him. He is the Seal of Messengers (s) and he was before all, even before Sayyidina Adam (a) was created. And so it is important to make relationships between different mosques.
Unfortunately, you see some distribute these flyers about suicide bombing. We never saw that in Holy Qur'an. In Islam there is nothing like that. You are ambassadors of Islam and therefore your job is to bring Muslim youth to love of Allah (swt) and love of the Prophet (s), for them not to be on the streets in gangs making all kinds of problems. Teach them to live a normal kind of life, to study. Our life is going to all different places. I was like you; I studied in Christian schools, then in the American University of Beirut, then in a Belgian university. The benefit is to show that we Muslims are normal people.
That is the message to take to people, and like Shaykh `Abdul Qadir mentioned, and through him to organizers of this event, I am very sorry that when they invited me on 22 September, I tried my best to attend but was unable due to an illness in the family. However, they showed the faith of Islam through greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). It is our duty to do that, and sign these papers for love of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, as it will give a boost to what they are trying to do. If you cannot do it, you help. May Allah bless this meeting, and give long life to Shaykh ul-Islam, Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, and to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, and to those who opened that new mosque. Here is the new president... he is the boss.
Was-salaam 'alaykum wa rahmatullah.
[Du`a]