Ramadan Series, Vol 4
Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
11 June 2016 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Fajr Suhbah (1)
[Series source text: السنن الواردة في الفتن وغوائلها والساعة وأشراطها As-Sunan al-Waridah Fi ‘l-Fitani wa Ghawaali’ihaa wa ‘s-Saa`ati wa Ashraatihaa, by `Uthman bin Sa`eed al-Muqri ad-Daani; research and Hadith authentication by Dr. Ridaaullah bin Muhammad Idris Mubarakfuri; published by Daar al-`Aasima, Riyadh. Originally published 444 Hijri.]
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaada, nawaytu 's-salook, lillahi ta'ala al-`Azheem fee hadha 'l-masjid.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
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)
`Ilm, knowledge, we were speaking yesterday about the Hadith al-`Ilm, ta`allam al`ilm wa alimuhu ‘n-naas, “To learn knowledge and teach it,” which means it is an obligation on everyone to learn and teach:
تَعَلَّمُوا الْعِلْمَ وَعَلِّمُوهُ النَّاسَ , وَتَعَلَّمُوا الْقُرْآنَ وَعَلِّمُوهُ النَّاسَ , وَتَعَلَّمُوا الْفَرَائِضَ وَعَلِّمُوهَا النَّاسَ , فَإِنِّي امْرُؤٌ مَقْبُوضٌ , وَإِنَّ الْعِلْمَ سَيُقْبَضُ , وَتَظْهَرُ الْفِتَنُ حَتَّى يَخْتَلِفَ الاثْنَانِ فِي الْفَرِيضَةِ لا يَجِدَانِ أَحَدًا يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمَا
Learn knowledge and teach it to people, learn Qur’an and teach it to people, learn the obligations and teach it to people, for indeed I am a person who will be contracted and truly knowledge will be contracted, and chaos will appear to the point that two people will disagree about an obligation and not find anyone to resolve the issue between them. (Bayhaqi; al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim an-Nisapuri)
`Ilm is a derivative of the word `alim, `alimu bi ‘shayy, to know about something, and ma`rifah is knowledge, Ma`rifatullah is to know about Allah (swt) through His Beautiful Names and Attributes. His Essence no one knows except Him, even Prophet (s) was not granted that knowledge from Allah to know His Essence and that is what we can say. The One that has Ninety-nine Names is Allah (swt). Every Name has an essence, a reality, which Prophet (s) was given.
لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Now there has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves: grievous to him is your suffering; he is anxious over you, gentle and merciful to the Believers. (Surat at-Tawbah, 9:128)
Prophet (s) was given from two Beautiful Names, ar-Ra’oof and ar-Raheem. Ra’oof means, ‘Very Caring’ and Raheem is ‘Merciful’. When he is very caring, he is merciful! So Allah (swt) has given to Prophet (s) the knowledge that is required for the benefit of humanity, as Prophet (s) said:
انما بعثت لاتمم مكارم الاخلاق
I have been sent to perfect the best of conduct (your behavior and character). (Bazzaar)
“I have been sent to complete and perfect your human behavior.” So he has been sent to teach, to address, to give the Message and the `ilm about what is good and what is bad; good behaviors and bad behaviors. That is why he (s) said in another Hadith, “I am leaving you, I am not going to stay, but I will leave `ilm for you after I am gone.” That is why, and may Allah (swt) bless our Prophet (s) with endless blessings, no one knows the secrets of the Holy Qur’an, what it means, except a little knowledge given to us, and the rest is with Prophet (s) that he will spread in his Ummah on the Day of Judgement. That is why his Ummah will appear like stars on a dark night on the Day of Judgement, because he sprinkles them with the beautiful understanding of Holy Qur’an!
Today you have so many Tafseers, throughout Islamic history you will find more than a hundred Tafseers of Holy Qur’an, each has a resemblance but it mostly reflects the one who compiled it, but the real Tafseer of Holy Qur’an is one of the Signs of the Last Days, that no one will know the Holy Qur’an except its name and its calligraphy.
يوشك أن يأتي على الناس زمان لا يبقى من الإسلام إلا اسمه ولا يبقى من القرآن إلا رسمه ، مساجدهم عامرة وهي خراب من الهدى ، علماؤهم شر من تحت أديم السماء ، من عندهم تخرج الفتنة ، وفيهم تعود
There will come a time upon a people when nothing remains from Islam except its name, nothing from the Qur’an except the form of its letters, mosques will be built but are empty of guidance, their scholars will be the worst people beneath the sky, and chaos will emerge from them and return to them. (Bayhaqi)
There will be nothing left from Islam except its name, except to say, “I am a Muslim,” which is an honor, so don't be shy when someone asks your religion, say, “I am a Muslim.” Some people are shy and say, ‘I am Sufi,’ which is ‘Muslim.’ Nothing will be left from Islam except its name, which means no one will know about the knowledge that Prophet (s) came with, Fiqh and Sunnah will be forgotten and even a Muslim only knows its name, From Qur’an, nothing will be left except calligraphy, art work. Today people are interested in calligraphy of Holy Qur’an and there are some whose hearts are open to learn about the Holy Qur’an.
When Jibreel (a) brought wahi from Allah (swt), the Revelation of Surat Maryam, he said, “Kaaf, yaa Muhammad,” for Prophet to repeat after him, and Prophet (s) did not repeat, but said, “`Alimtu, Allah (swt) gave me that knowledge, I knew the meaning of ‘Kaaf.’” These muqata`aat, introductory Arabic letters that preface some surahs, are an ocean of hidden knowledge like codes that, when you use them , more will open for you. If you use the real code of Kaaf, Haa, Yaa, `Ayn, Saad, you will be amazed with the meanings that open, the interpretation that Allah (swt) has given to Sayyidina Muhammad `alayhi ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaam.
When Jibreel (a) came with ‘Kaaf’ he didn't need to say more, Prophet (s) said, “I knew, yaa Jibreel.” Jibreel was stunned, shocked: how he knew? It's an ocean of knowledge. Kaaf means kifaayatunaa, “it's enough,” Allah gives to us until we say, “It's enough,” but no one will say it’s enough. From that Kaaf it is enough for us! Prophet (s) said it is `alimtu, continuously; it is kifaya for blessing: Allah keeps blessing the Ummah until the Day of Judgement with endless knowledge of Kaaf. When he said, “Haa,” Prophet said, “I knew,” another ocean opened for Prophet (s). Yaa, `Ayn, Saad, he said, "I knew." So he (s) knew when Jibreel (a) said one letter, which means every letter of the Holy Qur’an has an ocean behind it, and that is why Prophet (s) said, “First you are living in dunya and you have to learn what is necessary for you, like the principles of Islam, what is halaal and what is haraam, and you have to learn what is hidden in Holy Qur’an.” That's why Ibn Masud (r) said, “Learn knowledge and teach it to people, learn Qur’an and teach it to people.” Inshaa-Allah we have to learn more by reading or listening to scholars, `ulama, or taking a guide that will guide you to the door of Prophet (s).
" إِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِعَبْدٍ خَيْرًا ، جَعَلَ لَهُ وَاعِظًا مِنْ قَلْبِهِ يَأْمُرُهُ وَيَنْهَاهُ "
If Allah (swt) wants goodness for His servant, He will make for him a guide in his heart.
(Abu Na`eem al-Ispahani in Hilyat al-Awliya fom Ahmad bin Hanbal)
If Allah loves someone, and Allah loves His Creation, especially those struggling against their egos to reach what Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami tried to reach, if they struggle like that, Allah (swt) will open for them. “And learn all the obligations and teach it to people.” So if Allah loves someone struggling in his journey to Allah, He will open for him and give him, He will make and arrange for him a guide, a malak, angel, that will inspire him. Whenever he reads something from Prophet (s), he will understand it and whatever he reads from Qur’an he will understand it. Everyone from Ummat an-Nabi (s) has an angel that inspires them regarding what is good and what is bad. Shaytan will play a role there, he will try to pull you away from the hands of Awliya, or from that angel.
"Learn all your obligations that Prophet (s) brought and teach them to people." Not everyone can teach them, there are 500 obligations and 800 forbiddens. You will be clever if you can count 100 forbiddens! When your teacher orders you to make khalwah in order to teach you your bad manners--not the good ones because they are from Allah, but the bad ones as those are from us--they put you in khalwah to teach you what is beneficial for you, about bad manners and bad behaviors. I remember Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, “I ordered Shaykh Nazim to go into seclusion when he was young and asked him to find these 800 bad characteristics, al-akhlaaqu ’dh-dhameemah, and write them. In his seclusion, Allah opened to his heart to know the bad characteristics and he was able to understand 187 of them, but he could not reach all 800.”
It depends on the wali in his ascension: one door opens after another, from knowing one bad characteristic to the next and so on. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, “I ended my nine-month seclusion with the knowledge of only 187 bad characteristics.” Now if you ask people they might be able to count 10, 20, 30, 40, but not more. Awliyaullah can count 800! It means every breath they take in, they know if it has good or bad characteristics and behaviors! Everything, even our breathing, is like soup mixed with bad characteristics from people around us, negative energy comes when you breathe in and out. Awliya know how every breath is coming and with which manners, good or bad. If it is good manners, alhamdulillah. If it is bad, they write it down and struggle and try to throw it away from their lives. That's how they ascend and go from one level to the next. It is not easy, it is a very fine, subtle task.
To know about the 800 bad characteristics is from the verses:
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَاوَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا
Truly he succeeds that purifies it and truly he is lost who buries it [in darkness].
(Surat ash-Shams 91:9-10
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
He inspired the self of its good and its bad. (Surat ash-Shams, 91:8)
Allah (swt) has mentioned what is good and what is bad. We have to know that one day we will lose knowledge, so try to find it and learn knowledge today rather than tomorrow: rather than teasing and backbiting each other, busy yourself with struggling to improve! Awliya are waiting for you to come to them and if you call on them even by name, they respond to you and take you to the presence of the Prophet (s).
Grandshaykh (q) mentioned one characteristic that happened with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) in his seclusion when he was able to write the 187 bad characteristics. Where in the beginning he was ordered to do seclusion was a fifteen minute walk from Prophet’s (s) Masjid, the Holy Grave and his presence at the Mawajah Shareef, where you go and say salaam to him. While walking there and back, Mawlana was ordered to look only at where he put his feet and was not allowed to look up. When we walk, where do we look? We look up to see everything, but when you go in seclusion Awliya teach you to look at your footsteps, you cannot look far because Shaytan is waiting there to attack you.
Grandshaykh (q) said on the last day of Nazim Effendi’s seclusion, after his ziyara he was returning and through his spiritual power Grandshaykh observed him from a higher place to see where Mawlana was looking, far away or at his footsteps? He was looking at his footsteps. Grandshaykh (q) said, “When he finished his seclusion and I wanted to dress him with his amaanah, Trust.” Grandshaykh (q) used to tell this story and laugh. “He was standing between Prophet (s) and Abu Bakr (r) in the spiritual realm, `aalam ar-roohaniyyaat, and I said, ‘Yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, my son has finished his seclusion. With your permission, can we give him his Trust?’ and Prophet (s) said, ‘No, there is still nuqsaaniyya, something not completed, not perfect; therefore, you cannot.’” What was it? Grandshaykh (q) laughed when he told us, “He was proud of himself.”
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) arrived to the place of seclusion and Grandshaykh (q) called him to his room and said, “I wanted to give you your Trust today, but I was stopped. You are proud of yourself.” When the wali wants to give the Trust to his students, he gives him a test to see how he answers; if he answers well he passes, if he does not answer well he does not pass.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, “Yaa Sayyidi, how can I not be proud since I have a shaykh like you?” Grandshaykh (q) said, “That is your key to pass.” So he was dressed with the Trust.
When Prophet (s) said, “He still has that nuqsaaniyya, his struggle is not yet complete,” it means he wanted him to say that he cannot depend on himself, he is proud that he has a lion like Grandshaykh (q) behind him. That was enough to give him the key for his struggle. If the student follows the orders of the shaykh, for sure one day he will be dressed with his Trust, because the shaykh knows he was struggling against his ego and bad characteristics within him. Everyone has some of the 800 bad characteristics in them, so, “Learn what is good and bad and teach it to people.”
Prophet (s) said, “I am a human being who will be taken back to Allah (swt), I am not going to stay with you forever, I will be in my Holy Grave observing what you are doing. If I see good I will praise Allah (swt) and be happy, and if I see bad I will ask forgiveness on your behalf.”
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)
And he said, “Knowledge will be taken away, there will be no more knowledge.” Today Islam says when someone dies, take them immediately to the grave, don't postpone, because the Muslim knows the grave is a Paradise and, therefore, he doesn't want to stay in dunya.
اكرام الميت دفنه
To honor the deceased is to the bury him. (Ibn Abi ad-Dunya, Kitab al-Mawt)
Today people are delaying, for example, to bury the dead until their friends and family come from abroad to see the deceased one last time; however, the deceased is saying, “Take me to my grave! There is Akhirah there, it is Paradise for me, why are you keeping me in dunya?” Look at Muhammad Ali, the poor guy, they are carrying him from one place to another. That is not honor, honor is to bury immediately, make du`a there, read Holy Qur’an and make dhikrullah, not to take him from one place to another with all the politicians and people who want to take selfies to be famous. Wa ‘l-`ilmu sa-yuqbad, “Knowledge will be taken away.” If there was an `alim, scholar there, he would have stopped them. There were `ulama there, scholars by title, but they did not do what Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) ordered them to do in Holy Qur’an. Also, Prophet (s) said:
اقرأوا على موتاكم يس
Read Yaa-Seen over your dead. (Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah)
We didn't see anyone reading anything. They were fighting over who is going to put a cover over the coffin. I heard President Erdogan brought a cover from Ka`bah, but they refused it! It’s from Ka`bah, it's barakah. That's an example of `ilmuhu sa yuqbad, “Knowledge will be taken away.” Where is the respect of the deceased? He is going to complain against them on the Day of Judgement that they delayed his burial. Until today they are still standing by the coffin a taking pictures, which is a fitna, taking selfies with someone deceased! Too much confusions will appear in this universe that no one will understand why. Everywhere you go there is a confusion. May Allah (swt) forgive us.
We will continue that Hadith inshaa- Allah tomorrow, it is still long. May Allah (swt) bless us with knowledge. We are weak servants. We say we don't know anything, but if Allah (swt) wants to send His mercy on us, He sends that knowledge from al-`Alim, al-`Aleem. May Allah (swt) forgive us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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