As-Siddiq Mosque
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`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
Kaleemataani khateefataani `ala 'l-lisaan thaqeelataani fi 'l-meezaan. SubhaanAllahi wa bi hamdihi, Subhaanallahi 'l-`Azheem astaghfirullah. Two words that Allah said, through His Prophet (s), a message to us, that there are two words that are very light on the tongue, but they are very heavy on the scale. They are to glorify Allah, to say Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammad ar-Rasoolullah (s), SubhaanAllahi wa bi hamdihi, Subhaanallahi 'l-`Azheem , astaghfirullah. I am not lecturing you and I am believing that we are all making sin and no one is safe from committing a sin and we say altogether, astaghfirullah astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah. We are asking Allah to forgive us. By forgiving we will succeed, by not forgiving we don’t know what will happen to us. But we know that we will be punished; our punishment can be in different ways, and we are saying, "Yaa Rabbee, don't punish us, but send Your mercy on us." I advise myself first, then you if you want to accept or not, it is up to you. We all are at the threshold standing there in the presence asking Allah to forgive us, for the sake of His beloved Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad `alayhi afdala 's-salaatu wa 's-salaam (Mawlana Shaykh Hisham stands) Labbayk yaa Rasoolullah, yaa Rahmatan li 'l-`Alameen, yaa shafi`eei 'l-mudhnibeeen, unzhurunaa bi nazhran min indika yaa habeebullah. Rabbana 'ghfir lana bi jaahi habeebika 'l-Mustafa bi shafa`atihi yaa Rabbana, yaa Allah! (Mawlana Shaykh Hisham sits) Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad (s).
No one is able to raise his head, to say, "I am here," on the Day of Resurrection. It is mentioned even between animals that Allah will question them. Do you know that? Even animals are going to be questioned, if one was attacking the other, as Allah will give every animal its right. When that is over, every animal will know what he did wrong and they will repent, because they know that Allah (swt) created them. We don't say, "They don't know anything, they are animals." No, female and male animals know that Allah (swt) is the Creator! Evidence of this is in Holy Qur'an, when the ant spoke to all ants, as mentioned in Surat-an Naml, "Chapter of the Ants." Every surah has a name, and if that ant's message was not important, there would not be a surah named for it. Is any surah in the Qur'an under your name? Can you find a surah under anyone's name?
So how do we find a big surah in the name of an ant ? Not only that, Suratu 'l-Baqarah, another chapter, is named for the cow; Suratu 'l-Fil is named for the elephant; Suratu 'l-Ana'am is about all animals; Suratu 'n-Nahl is named for the bees. How do all these animals have a surah named for them, and we have no surah named after us? Who is better? Allahu Akbar! Allah honored human beings:
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ
wa laqad karamna Bani Adam.
Truly We have honored the Children of Adam. (al-Israa, 17:70)
Of course, human beings are better, but there is only one surah named for them: Surah al-Insaan. "Insaan" is everyone, all Mankind, but it is a small surah. It means Allah (swt) is giving us examples from the smallest of animals, which is ant, an-naml, and linguists in Old Arabic know it as "ad-dhar," which means the smallest possible thing. That is why in Arabic we call an atom "dharra." Allah gave a surah in the name of ant, and also the biggest animal, the elephant--from the smallest to the biggest or from the biggest to smallest--to tell you, "Look at My wisdom! I am the Creator! Take advice or inspiration from everything around you."
The ant is so small that you cannot see its head from its back, but you know the head is in the front because it is moving. If it goes backwards you don't know; you think the head is in the back. It is small, consisting of two pieces connected with one small, hairline tube. And one ant was speaking to millions of ants, and was knowing about Sayyidina Sulayman (a), saying, "The Prophet of Allah is coming!"
حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَى وَادِي النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَانُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
Hatta idha ataw `ala waadi 'n-namli qaalat namlatun yaa ayyuha 'n-namlu 'dkhulu masaakinakum laa yahtimannakum sulaymaanu wa junooduhu wa hum laa yash`uroon.
Until, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant exclaimed, "O ants! Enter your dwellings unless Solomon and his armies crush you, unknowingly." (an-Naml, 27:18)
"Before Sulayman (a) and his army destroy you." Ants also know what an army is. How do they know it is an army? They even know the army was carrying weapons! The ant told them, "This is an army, not followers." So the smallest of animals know that Allah sent prophets to humanity to make them go on the right way. When it comes to the Creator, animals know, (as we learn from) Suratu 'l-Fil, "Chapter of the Elephant":
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ
Asta`eedhu billah. Alam tara kayfa fa`ala rabbuka bi ashaabi 'l-feel.
See you not (O Muhammad) how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? (105:1)
Allah (swt) said:
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ
Alam tara kayfa fa'ala Rabbuka bi as-haabi'l feel.
Have you seen how your Lord dealt with the possessors of the elephant? (Chapter of the Elephant, 105:1)
He is saying, "Did you not see what Allah did with the People of the Elephant?" What did He do? When Abraha brought elephants to destroy the Ka`aba, they pushed an elephant coming all the way from Yemen, up to Meccatu ‘l-Mukarramah hafizhahullah. When it reached the Ka`aba the elephant stopped, he did not move. Why? Because it knew that is the House of Allah (swt)! It thought, "How am I going to destroy the House of Allah?" They were pushing him to destroy it and those elephants were huge, a specialty of Yemen, and it didn’t move. It means the elephant knows Allah (swt) is the Creator.
So Allah will judge the animals; don't think He won't. That is why if anyone tortures animals Allah will torture them, because on the Day of Judgment animals will accuse any human who harmed them! They will say, "This one tortured and abused us." When I was 24 years old and newly married, we had a big cage on the balcony with at least forty very small, colorful birds. They are nice, waking you in the morning for Fajr, nice ones and that day we put them on balcony. After one week, Mawlana Shaykh came to visit from Sham to Lebanon, and the bedroom was by the balcony, near the birds. So at Fajr time he began to hear them and after we prayed Fajr he called me and said, "Free them." I had bought them a week before! He said, "Allah will imprison you if you imprison them. It is not acceptable. These birds have to fly wherever they like. You cannot cage them, so free them." Aamana wa sadaqna. I opened the cage door, and they flew out quickly one after each other, and flew away. He said, "Free them and Allah will free you from Hellfire." May Allah free us from Hellfire, that is the most important thing!
I am not talking about scorpions, spiders or snakes that harm people; they harm so you have to be careful. If you kill them it is permissible as you are saving others from harm. But you must have mercy on everything. We are ordered to have mercy on animals, so are we not ordered to have mercy for human beings? When people leave their cats without food or water, police arrest them for cruelty. What do you think about those who are cruel to human beings? If you kill an animal on the street they will put you in jail. How many people are killing each other but not going to jail? How many suicide bombers are killing human beings? Is Allah not going to send them to jail, to punish them in Hellfire? No one is allowed to kill anyone else! In Holy Qur'an, Allah (swt) says you have no right to kill anyone.
مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَلَقَدْ جَاء تْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِالبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ فِي الأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ
Min ajli dhalika katabnaa `alaa banee israaeela annahu man qatala nafsan bi-ghayri nafsin aw fasaadin fi 'l-ardi fa-ka-annamaa qatala 'n-naasa jamee`an wa man ahyaahaa fa-ka-annama ahyaa 'n-naasa jamee`an wa laqad jaathum rusooluna bi 'l-bayyinati thumma inna katheeran minhum ba`ada dhalika fi 'l-ardi la-musrifoon.
Because of this did We ordain unto the children of Israel that if anyone slays a human being, unless it be (in punishment) for murder or for spreading corruption on Earth, it shall be as though he had slain all Mankind; whereas if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all Mankind. And, indeed, there came unto them Our apostles with all evidence of the truth, yet, behold, notwithstanding all this, many of them go on committing all manner of excesses on Earth. (Surat al-Ma'ida, 5:32)
Allah (swt) says in the Holy Qur'an that whoever killed one person, it is as if they killed all human beings. How many of these countries have been killing, countries against countries, and bloodshed everywhere? Allah is going to punish anyone who is killing and has no mercy in his heart; He doesn't care if this is a soldier, a civilian, a president or a king. Allah likes people to be straight-forward. If you are not straight-forward Allah will bring someone to punish you. So the best of our Naqshbandi teaching is to be straight-forward, not to cross lines.
So on the Day of Judgment, Allah (swt) is going to judge animals in front of everyone. Allah took away dinosaurs because they were like suicide bombers, killing other Creation with no mercy, like dictators and tyrants of countries who don't care; they want the chair and to get it and keep it they kill everyone. What happened to dinosaurs? They are not extinct. They were once the giants, the biggest, might be ten times bigger than an elephant. What makes you stand? The bones in your spine. When you take away discs of the spine and bones, you shrink. Allah shrank the dinosaurs. Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, "Dinosaurs tortured other animals for many years when Allah created Earth and sent them on Earth, so Allah masakhahum, shrunk them, He made them smaller." He made them miniatures compared to their original size. A certain kind of lizard living today is a miniature dinosaur. Allah is torturing them by saying, "You thought you were the greatest, now you are the smallest under the feet." That is why on TV channels you can see many kinds of lizards on so many different animal channels. So Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said when awliyaullah look at a lizard, they remind them of their origin, saying, "Look how Allah is punishing you!"
Animals do not go to Paradise, so their punishment is to be shrunk under the feet of other animals. They will be questioned, "Why did you abuse that one?" After Allah judges them, He will order one of the angels to blow on them and make them disappear like dust.
Human beings who were abusers, torturers, terrorists, violent, will say, "I wish I could be forgotten and like them, disappeared," not to go to Hellfire for Eternity. Human beings at that moment look at them and say, "Yaa Rabbee! Make us like them as they have no existence!" But Allah (swt) is saying, "No, I must judge them. They must make you pay for those whom you harmed." So if you don't harm anyone you are safe, but if you harmed anyone there will be a big question mark. We have to ask ourselves, did we harm someone? Of course, we may shout at someone, break their heart, be dishonest, backbite, spread rumors, create fitna, kill people, torture someone, beat them up. You see how they torture prisoners. Is this how they show mercy in their hearts? If that is a bad person, what gives you the right to torture him? Burning flesh with cigarettes, pulling out fingernails, hanging, and worse, they don't care.
Allah (swt) will judge, and when we see animals we will say, "Yaa Rabbee! We hope You will make us like them." But Allah is Most Merciful. If you want the key to Paradise, Allah gave us the key, He did not hide the key and say He will not give it. He is the Most Generous and He does not give only one key, but He will give everyone a key! Do you deserve it or not? (Mawlana stands) We say, "Yaa Rabbee, we know we don't deserve it, but send Your mercy on us for the sake of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), for the sake of awliyaa, Holy Qur'an, and angels." (Mawlana sits) He gives us the key if we want Paradise. Do you want Paradise? Raise your hands. If you want Paradise, then you have to obey. Obedience is the key. But obedience in what? What does Allah like the most and hate the most? You can put the same answer, but in different ways. What does Allah hate most? If you avoid it you get the key, even if you have sins, because Allah (swt) says, "I will forgive your sins, kul yaa `ibaadAllahi." Don't lose hope of Allah's mercy: He will forgive everyone! So this means if we avoid what Allah hates most and do what Allah loves most, we are safe by His mercy and Prophet's mercy, shafa`at an-nabi!
You are spending your days and nights on the Internet; don't tell me you are not. Here in this mosque or any other place, Muslims and non-Muslims everywhere, if they want a job, they apply day and night and all their thinking is 'how can I get a job?' So, you are spending days and nights, weeks and months, years and years to find a job; as soon as you find a job you jump on it. Allah says, "If you want a job, I will give, but show Me ghirah, care," be dedicated, like when you sit at a computer to solve your problem. Today people even check for diseases, what kind of medicine they have to take: organic, herbal, homeopathy, physical therapy. Allah is saying one thing: "Leave what I hate most, and recite what I love most!" Show dedication, focus on that for one day up to forty days; whenever you have free time, if you are not sleeping or eating, or worshipping. You will find by the fortieth day your problem will be solved. But no wali can help in a way that is kun fayakun. Awliyaa don't do that. Prophet (s) intercedes on our behalf and it is up to Allah (swt) to resolve the matter with kun fayakun, but at least knock at the door! Look at what Allah hates most, shirk billah, associating someone with Him. Allah doesn't like you to give your heart to anyone as it is for Allah and no one else.
Yes, you treat family well, but now our family and children come first, then our job, then eating, then maybe later we might remember Allah. Allah comes first! What He hates is for someone to associate anyone with Him, or to love something more than Him. Love must be for Him, then He will give you the key! What does Allah like most? For us to say, "laa ilaaha illa-Llah, Muhammadur Rasoolullah!" Say, "laa ilaaha illa-Llah!" To sit and say that is so simple, like the machine in the bank that counts money; if you keep feeding it currency it will burn, no more counting. (Allah is saying to us), "Come, you don't need to count anymore, the doors are open." Laa ilaaha illa-Llah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah. (recites continuously for minutes) La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah! (du`a) al-Fatihah. Sitting like that, we completed 300. Sit like that, reciting continuously, "laa ilaaha illa-Llah." Cover yourself with a sheet and then you will experience a very nice feeling and will have goosebumps, and slowly you will feel that Prophet (s) is dressing you, taking over, and awliyaa taking over depending on the level in Divine Presence. Allah loves that! If you have water or tea in front of you, it will become blessed water, then you can drink it with the barakah. It will become Paradise water, not normal water; all you have read makes the water blessed, because when "laa ilaaha illa-Llah" comes on the tongue it goes everywhere.
That is the key of Paradise, miftahu 'l-jannah: qaal an-Nabi man qaala laa ilaaha illa-Llah [and also with it Muhammadun Rasoolullah] dakhala 'l-jannah, "Say, 'laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah.'" So if you have a problem, when you have empty time sit and recite this. It is what Allah (swt) likes, but all of us, me, you, and everyone have brought Shaytan into our homes, proud of the technology they brought--TV, satellites, video boxes. One time I said, "Let's open a box and see how many shaytans are inside it!" Satellite companies will be responsible and they are carrying the blame of the whole world. On the Day of Judgment everyone will accuse them, and they will carry the burdens of all. If you are president of a country, let's see how happy your people are. You say you will give democracy, so okay, let us vote now! Do they support him on the Day of Judgment? Not one hand will be raised. (Qur'an recitation)
On the Day when everyone will run from his brother, father, mother, wife, children, saying, "Yaa Rabbee! Who cares for them? Let me be safe!" We are running to Prophet (s) as every nation goes to its prophet. (Mawlana Shaykh Hisham stands) Call on Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! (Mawlana Shaykh Hisham sits) We run there and everyone is running. You are going to say, "This is my president?" Which president? What kind of president? Which king? Sayyidina `Umar (r) disguised himself so he would not be known as he searched for those who were hungry. He walked the streets of Madinah, carrying on his shoulder the food for needy people, that is what a true khalifah does. Where are they today? They have security, body guards. Allah will give you security, which you don't need if you are like Sayyidina `Umar (r) and people will love you; (on the other hand) they will shoot and kill you from hatred, so don't make people hate you!
That word will save us from Hellfire, from shirk, not to associate anyone with Allah, to say, "la ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah." It will open for you the key to Paradise. Laa ilaaha illa-Llah! (Mawlana makes du`a on shuyukh and blessed ones) atahireen, mutahareen, mutahirah.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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