[Suhbah in progress]…for one day is equal to your earthly days like 1000 years. So it means that Allah gave one and a half days of life, which means 1500 years. Now we are at 1437 Hijri and the century is not calculated on 100 years. This is the Gregorian century. A century in Islam is based on the life of the Prophet (s). This year it is 1437. Add to it the life of the Prophet; how many years is it? Sixty-three years. Add that to it and it is 1500. So we are in an era or a time that is very near to the Signs of the Last Days. That is what we are seeing and unfortunately `ulama don’t touch on that Ahadith. The Prophet used to teach Sahaabah (r) these Ahadith. They thought that the Signs of the Last Days would be in their time, but Allah made it 1500 years. The Prophet said hundreds and hundreds of Ahadith about these Last Days. One of them is, “There will be nothing left from Islam except its name.”
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)
Who can you convince today? Can you convince Trump? Can you convince anyone that Islam is peaceful, Islam is good, Islam is this, Islam is that? No way! So what is left of Islam is the name because Allah trusted us, Allah trusted us to carry the Trust that He gave:
إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَن يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنسَانُ إِنَّهُ
كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا
We did indeed offer the Trust to the Heavens and the Earth and the Mountains, but they refused to undertake it, being afraid, but Man undertook it. Lo! he hath proved a tyrant and a fool.(33:72)
“We have offered Our Trust to the Heavens and Earth.” Allah is saying this in the Holy Qur’an, “offered it.” They said, “No, we cannot carry it, yaa Rabbee!” The Earth and Heavens said, “We cannot carry it.” Fa abayna an yahmilnaahaa, “They refused to carry the Trust that Allah gave to them.” They said, “No, yaa Rabbee, please.” Allah said, wa hamalaha al-insaanu, “Mountains, Heavens and Earth with all its living creatures said, ‘No, we cannot,’ but insaan said, ‘Yes, I can,’” and how did Allah describe him in the Holy Qur’an? Innahu kaana zhalooman jahoola, “He was an oppressor to himself. He oppressed himself by accepting the Trust and he is ignorant.” Today we lost the Trust that Allah entrusted us with. It is from the Signs of the Last Days.
What is left from Islam? The name. Like you see the flower here--these are beautiful flowers, living flowers. If you bring plastic flowers they look the same, but they are worthless. They don’t have a nice smell so you don’t look at them. What people know about Islam today is plastic. It is something that has no taste and it is the mistake of whom? Us. It is not their mistake, it is our mistake. What did he say then? Wa-lan yabqa min al Qur'an ila rasmuhu, as we said yesterday. What you memorized? “And nothing will be left from Qu’ran except its drawing.”
Today they open the Qur’an to draw the ayah, calligraphy they call it. When you speak about calligraphy everyone understands that you are writing nice writing, but what is the meaning of the ayah? They don’t look at the meaning, they don’t see the wisdom behind every ayah in the Holy Qur’an, the greatness, the mercy, the love, that Allah loves His servants: “If you really love Allah, follow Muhammad (s).”
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Say (O Muhammad), "If you (really) love Allah, then follow me! Allah will love you and forgive your sins, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:31)
Based on love, if you really love Allah, love Muhammad (s). The best name you give to a child is Muhammad after `abd, `AbdAllah or `Abdul Kareem or `Abdul Hafeez or `Abdul Raheem and then:
Ma ubid wa ma humid: whenever a name is mentioned as “`Abd” it is accepted and the name “Muhammad” is accepted. These are the best names. Today, what is left from Qur’an? Drawing. Yesterday was the opening of the masjid. I didn’t see it but there were a lot drawings, a lot of calligraphy on the walls, is it not? Dozens. These calligraphies must be in the heart. Not every ayah of the Holy Qur’an is written in calligraphy. There are some Qur’ans from Persia and other countries that have these nice writings, the way they draw the ayah,, but these are antique, very precious Qur’ans. What is left for normal people are some drawings on the walls and we are happy. Alhamdulillah:
عِنْدَ ذِكْرِ الصَّالِحِينَ تَنْزِلُ الرَّحْمَةُ
When the names of the pious are mentioned Allah’s Mercy descends.
(Narrated Sufyan ibn `Uyayana in Imam Ahmad’s Zuhd)
What do you think if you hang a frame that has calligraphy on it? There will be Rahmah, of course, coming every moment on that wall. That is why you should not keep your homes or the masaajid without the Name of Allah, the name of Prophet and Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah or an ayah of the Holy Qur’an. Today they keep it like a warehouse! It is not a warehouse. You don’t keep your home like a warehouse, why do you keep your masjid like one? Once I was driving from Jeddah to Madinah, we lived there, and before Madinah there was security you had to pass and they asked for my I.D. and driver’s license. I showed them, but I didn’t hide my taweez well and they saw it on my neck.
The security officer said, “What is this?”
I said, “Ruqya.” In Arabic taweez is ‘ruqya,’ which is accepted by Prophet (s).
“Can I see?”
I said, “Okay.”
He looked, it was closed, and he said, “Come to the office. You are a Sufi?”
I said, “I am a Muslim.”
Maqaam al-Ihsaan is the third level of Islam, so if you want to call it “Sufi,” if you want to call it “Maqaam al-Ihsaan,” if you want to call it “Tazkiyyatu ‘n-Nafs,” it’s up to you.
He said, “What is this?” I looked at him. What do I say to him? “Ruqya.” I knew he was going to say there are some Ahadith that do not allow ruqya, because they go with numbers and letters, but I said, “This is ayah from Holy Qur’an to protect you.”
He said, “No, it cannot. You are hanging it on your chest.”
I said, “You are hanging it on your office.”
He said, “What am I hanging?”
I said, “Look, what is there? It is Ayat al-Kursi in calligraphy. Why do you have this Ayat al-Kursi in calligraphy in a frame on your wall in your office? Is it not haraam/bid`a according to you?”
He said, “Yaa shaykh, I cannot compete with you. You go.” [Laughter] So we left.
“You can hang it on your wall and it is not bid`a, but if you hang it on your neck it is bid`a, why? This ruqya is from the Holy Qur’an. It is a verse from the Holy Qur’an, Surat al-Falaq or Surat an-Naas, which Prophet recommended for many difficulties and problems, or Qul hu Allahu Ahad. So why is that haraam on me but not haraam on the wall? I am living. The wall is not living. It is better to have it on me.” He said, “I cannot compete with you. You go.” This happened in the 70’s. Today, what is left is calligraphy; who is reading the Holy Qur’an? To read the Holy Qur’an is to understand the meaning of the verses.
فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَا آتَيْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا
So they found one of Our Servants on whom We had bestowed Mercy from Ourselves and whom We had taught knowledge from Our Own Presence. (Surat al-Kahf, 18:65)
Dive in that ocean of tafseer! When Sayyidina Imam ash-Shafi`i (r) was 7 years old he memorized the Holy Qur’an. He used to enter the grave of Sayyida Nafisa at-Tahira (r) in Egypt, one of the grandchildren of Prophet (s). He passed by her house every morning when going to Fajr prayers at the masjid and he sat there with her along with some other people learning from her. That was Imam ash-Shafi`i, who put in his madhhab Kitaab al-Umm when he was in Baghdad, and when he came to Egypt he found more corruption so he modified his madhhab to accommodate that time of too much corruption; he became stricter in his madhhab.
He used to listen to Nafisa at-Tahira (q), a lady from the grandchildren of Prophet (s), who taught them the meaning of the Holy Qur’an. In her house she dug a grave and said, “When I die bury me in that grave.” Every day there was a grave in her house to remember death, which means to remember that she is a Muslim. Who among us made a grave in their house? If you speak about death in a house everyone will run away, they don’t want to hear it. She entered her grave every day and recited Qur’an and taught Ahadith from it!
There is a big story about Imam ash-Shafi`i. When he was in Baghdad he was very close to the king, Haroon ar-Rashid, and he was young. They loved him because his father was one of the main pillars of Islam. He was very welcome in the house of the king, Haroon ar-Rashid. He was 7 years of age when he memorized Qur’an and studied Hadith. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (r) memorized 300,000 Hadith.
They asked, “Why have you memorized that?”
He said, “I memorized the correct one and the wrong one to know what is wrong and what is correct.” He didn’t say, “This is da`eef, I will not look at it,” no. He memorized it. Where are the scholars like that today? We are trash, not more than trash, meaning we don’t have enough knowledge like they had before.
Imam ash-Shafi`i was very well known when he was 7 years of age. He used to explain dreams in his early stage when he was young, Allah gave him that ability. One day Haroon ar-Rashid got a message from the unbelievers, this is how it was before in those days. A group of unbelievers would come and sit with a group of Muslims, like today what you call interfaith, and they discussed issues about Islam or the unbelievers’ beliefs, Christianity, Bani Israel, Tawrat or whatever. Today we call it an interfaith program thinking we make a huge impact, but they did it then.
Sayyidina Muhammad (s) even dealt with interfaith. When he went to Israa’ wa 'l-Mi`raaj, he met Sayyidina Musa (a) there and discussed interfaith matters! There was a dialogue between two prophets and this is very well known in Ahadith on Israa’ wa 'l-Mi`raaj, that Prophet saw Sayyidina Musa (a) in Paradise, who asked him, “What did Allah order for your Ummah?” He said, “He ordered me to do 50 prayers.” He said, “No, wait a minute. Your Ummah is not going to pray 50 prayers. Ask to reduce it.” It is very well known in the Seerah. “Ask Allah to reduce it. Please, I had that experience with my Ummah, they never listened. I told them, ‘Don’t fish on Saturday,’ and they fished on Saturday! [Laughter] “You cannot trust them. Ask Allah to reduce it.”
So from the place that Prophet (s) was in Paradise with Sayyidina Musa (a), he asked Allah (swt), “Yaa Rabbee! I cannot come back. I left, but reduce it,” and Allah reduced it to 45 prayers. He was so happy and told Sayyidina Musa, “Allah reduced it to 45!”
He said, “No, no, still less and less,” until it became five.
Allah swt said, “I will go with five, but it will be written for them as 50. I will never take away what I offered them as reward, I will keep it for them.
Interfaith began from there and even before. Today people like to do interfaith, it’s okay. When Imam Shafi`i was 7 years of age he was doing interfaith. How? Because Haroon ar-Rashid received the message that these unbelievers were coming to question, to have a debate with the `ulama of Islam at that time, he was totally frightened and concerned. “Which `alim am I going to pick to answer them?” They were very famous like today, secularists. They ask very tough questions like, “Show me Allah!”
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Surat al-Baqara begins with:
الم ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
Alif. Laam. Meem. That is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for those who are God- conscious, those who believe in the Unseen, who establish the prayer and spend from that which We have sustained them. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:1-3)
They want to see, that is why today people are unable to understand because what Allah says is Unseen and what they want is seen. It cannot be. Show me your intelligence, where is it? Is it a bone or a muscle or something? How can you show your intelligence? You cannot. You believe there is intelligence, you have something to think about but you cannot touch it nor see it. It is something heavenly or earthly that comes to your heart:
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
He inspired the self of its good and its bad. (Surat ash-Shams, 91:8)
It is inspiration. Haroon ar-Rashid ran to the biggest masjid in Baghdad to find an `alim after midnight and he didn’t find anyone, he looked and all of them were sleeping. It was not like today, they lived in ribaat as it is called in Arabic; today they call it dargah, khaniqah or zawiya, but in reality it is ribaat, a place where `ulama, scholars, ascetics or Sufis come to sit, teach people and eat. It’s more informal. Now they make Islam very formal and it has no taste as they say, “Don’t do this, don’t do that. Don’t eat this, don’t eat that. Don’t touch this, don’t touch that. This is bid`a. This is shirk. This is haraam. This is kufr.” You cannot move right or left!
Today I just received a fatwa from Egypt. They are asking al-Azhar University about life insurance and interest, and they gave a long fatwa and sent it to me. It said interest and life insurance are permissible in Islam according to al-Azhar. In our country you cannot speak about this. If a Muslim wants life insurance, they say it is haraam, so they made a fatwa on it as it is a big social issue today and one of the main issues people are dealing with, so it is acceptable. If Muslim scholars say anything is acceptable then it is, according to `ijma al-`ulama, consensus of `ulama.
Haroon ar-Rashid went into the biggest masjid in Baghdad, Sayyidina Abdul Qadir Jilani’s mosque, and all of them were sleeping except one boy. He came to him and he said, “Yaa waladee! Oh my son!” The boy looked at him, “Oh Haroon ar-Rashid, yes! What can I do for you?” In front of him was the Holy Qur’an and a candle and he was into it, not like us today. We read y’Allah, quickly to pass the time, fill it for one juz a day. No, he was diving inside. When he pushed him, he didn’t move until he pushed him hard. He looked and saw Haroon ar-Rashid.
He said, “I didn’t find anyone. Tomorrow I have this program. The unbelievers are coming to ask questions and everyone is sleeping.”
He said, “Don’t worry. Tell them someone will be coming to do the work.” Haroon ar-Rashid went and saw a dream with the Prophet (s). He said, “That boy that you met is enough for them.” He was happy.
The next day the unbelievers came and sat on the stage waiting for the `alim or the `ulama to come and answer or debate with them. No one came. There was only one young boy who came and jumped on the stage to sit and face them. They said, “Who are you?” He said, “I am Muhammad Idris ash-Shafi`i.” They said, “Where is your father who is going to speak with us?”
He said, “Baghdad and Islam is an ocean. There is so much in it that a boy like me is enough to answer you. You don’t need these scholars. These scholars are an ocean of knowledge. They will drown you all. I am enough for you.” He was 7 years of age and was able to convince them that Allah exists. When he was answering their questions about Allah’s Existence, he used what Sayyidina `Ali (r) said and he quoted many Ahadith, and at that moment he addressed the king, “Yaa Haroon, I hear a voice coming to my ear saying someone is selling milk. Get me that milk.” He didn’t see it and no one else heard it, but he said he heard someone was selling milk. Haroon ar-Rashid sent some of his people and they found someone coming carrying a pot of milk to sell. How was he able to see that?
It is like Sayyidina `Umar (r), who was in Madinah and able to see Sariya (r) in Damascus, and he said, “Yaa Sariya, al-jabal! Hold tight to the mountain because the enemy is coming from the back!” How was he able to see?
بَلْ أَحْيَاء عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ
No, they live, finding their sustenance provided in the Presence of their Lord. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:169)
They are alive. Allah provides them with power, those whose hearts are alive. Everyone’s heart is dead. When it is alive it can see what people cannot see, it can hear what people can hear. Prophet (s) has mentioned this in many Ahadith.
The milk came in front of the child and he said to the head of the unbelievers, “This is milk. Is there butter/ghee in this milk?”
He said, “Yes, there is ghee, it comes from the milk.”
“Is there water in it?”
“Yes.”
Imam Shafi`i said, “Show me.”
That one said, “How can I show you? I have to put it in a certain pot and beat the milk well to warm and separate the butter and water from the milk. It’s a process.”
He said, “Are you crazy? You are asking to see Allah (swt) and you cannot show me the ghee in the milk. You are asking to see Allah (swt) without any procedures in order to to see Him in the future by worshipping him? Look at the milk!” Then he said, “Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Wa qul ja al haqqu wa zahakal baatil ila baatila kaana zahooqa.” The ghee moved one way and the water moved the other way and he said, “When you reach that level, you can see. Without reaching that level, you can never see.” At that time they said, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-Rasoolullah.”
He was 7 years of age. Where are these `ulama today? What is left of Islam? The name. What is left of the Qur’an? Drawing, calligraphy, we say in Arabic “rasmuhoo.” People are working hard to improve the name of Islam, but it’s not in their hands, it’s in Allah’s Hands. What Prophet has said must happen! If you don’t believe what he said in his Ahadith then you are an unbeliever. In every Hadith he said his Ummah is going to see in the future or in our days or before our days a Hadith that happened. Some of the signs that he gave have happened and some have not but will happen. We cannot ignore them. He (s) mentioned these killings. There are too many Ahadith about the Last Days, but where are the `ulama? There are no more `ulama and that is why he said one of the Signs of the Last Days is, yurfa al-`ilm, “Knowledge will be lifted up.”
وأخرج أحمد والبخاري ومسلم وابن ماجة عن ابن مسعود رضي الله عنه: سمعت رسول الله يقول: يكون بين يدي الساعة أيام فيرفع فيها العلم وينزل فيها الجهل ويكثر فيها الهرج
The Prophet (s) said,”Among the Signs of the Last Days is there will be days when too much ignorance will come to the hearts of people and knowledge will be lifted up, and in these days there will be too much fear and too much killing.” (`Abdullah ibn Masood; Bukhari and Muslim)
They said, “Yaa Rasoolullah! Will Allah lift up the Qur’an?” He said, “No. The Qur’an will stay there until the Day of Judgement, but Allah will take the souls of `ulama. When they die there will be no substitute.” Now young children are behind computers giving fatwas, Google the word ‘shaykh’. Is that our pride, to to use Google to understand what is a shaykh? Do you believe Google? Yes. You can press any button, any word and it can bring you knowledge from millions and millions of books, is it not? Who created that invention? Was it not technicians and geniuses? Then what do you think about Allah (swt)? If that is Google, is there no heavenly Google in the hearts of awliya and `ulama? Do we depend on Google or do we depend on `ulama? There are `ulama, about whom is said:
أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
Behold! Verily on the Friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah Yunus, 10:62)
“Allah’s saints have nothing to fear or be sad about for Allah will inspire them.” We need to find those `ulama. They can get you anything you ask and bring it in front of you. Today we press a button using technology and get information, so can’t we make a button on the heart of a wali to get information? This is our situation today. Alhamdulillah people are doing a good job teaching the Ummah, but it is not enough. There are certain Ahadith that they have to teach the Ummah in order for them to know what makes them worried in their lives.
Yesterday you had snow here and you were not able to come out of your homes, is it not? You were not prepared, but in Michigan where I am staying, if you have ten feet of snow you can still manage to go out. We need something to help us manage, to go out of this imitation, but they are putting us in a square and not letting us go out to the shining knowledge. We have to come out of our square-mindedness in order to see what cannot be seen, as Allah (swt) said to the Prophet (s):
عن أبي هريرة قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إن الله قال من عادى لي وليا فقد آذنته بالحرب وما تقرب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضت عليه وما يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها وإن سألني لأعطينه ولئن استعاذني لأعيذنه وما ترددت عن شيء أنا فاعله ترددي عن نفس المؤمن يكره الموت وأنا أكره مساءته
ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه، فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره
الذي يبصر به، ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها،
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)
This is a strong Holy Hadith: “When I love Him I will be his ears that he can hear with.” Now it means we don’t have ears. When Allah loves us He gives us ears, He will support our ears to understand spiritual knowledge. “I will be his ears that he can hear with, I will be his eyes that he can see with.” It means, “I will make Him see what people cannot see and I will make him hear what people cannot hear. I will make him speak what people cannot speak. I will make him go in-between fire and it will not affect him,” like Sayyidina Ibraheem (a).
قُلْنَا يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ
O fire! Be cool and peaceful on Ibrahim. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:69)
“O Fire! Be a nice breeze on Ibraheem.” He was inside the fire and didn’t burn. Where is that Hadith, why don’t they teach it? They pass through it, but they don’t stop on kuntu sama`uhulladhee yasma`u bihi, “I will be his ears that he can hear with.” What will he hear then, this is what we need to know. Allah says, “I will support him and support his hearing to hear things that no one can hear.” Look at the dialogue between Sayyidina `Umar (r) and Sayyidina Sariya (r): they were not together, they were separated by 2000 miles from Madinah to Sham. Sayyidina `Umar (r) was able to see and hear; Sariya (r) was only able to hear, he was not able to see, he didn’t reach that level. Sayyidina `Umar (r) saw him and said, “Yaa Sariya! Alzim al-jabal, Keep to the mountain, they are coming from there.” Sariya (r) heard Sayyidina `Umar (r), but could not see him. Sayyidina `Umar (r) saw Sariya (r) and could hear him.
Allah is saying in this very strong Holy Hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, “I will love My servant,” but there is a condition. “When I love him (when he obeys Me and does what I ask from him), I will be his ears.” He will hear by the power of Allah’s Beautiful Name, As-Sami` al-`Aleem, The Absolute Hearer, The One Who Can Hear Anything. “I will be that to him so that he can hear everything that I hear, All-Hearing.”
Where is that? Allah is saying this in a Holy Hadith, which is Revelation, wahi, Allah spoke to Prophet (s). “I will be his ears. I will be his eyes.” It means if you look, there is no obstacle in front of you, like now we see the wall and the doors and all obstacles, but there you will be able to go through all of that and see, but you have to be like Ahmad al-Badawi (q), you know that story. He was looking for a key when Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) was in haal, a trance, and saying, “Yaa Rabbee! Arinee anzur `ilayk, like when Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “I want to see You,” Allah said, lan faraanee, “With what you are bringing with you, you cannot see Me.” There are conditions. So when Aba Yazid al-Bistami (q) asked, “Yaa Rabbee! Let me see You,” he heard an angelic voice saying to his heart, “You cannot see Me. If you want to see Me, itruk nafsaka wa ta`al, leave yourself and come to Me, don’t come with your self, your ego. There is no partnership for Me. You cannot come with your ego and ask Me to see. Come with no ego. If you have a desire, you cannot come.”
He said, Fa-ansalaktu min jildee kama tansalakh al-haya min jildihaa, “My skin shed like the snake,” which means he is no longer Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q), he is someone with no skin, open to anything, coming with no ego, no pride, no thought of, “I did this. I did that.” Then he was able to enter.
Sayyidina Musa (a) said to Allah (swt), Lan taraanee, “But I know the weakness.” Allah didn’t want Sayyidina Musa (a) to get upset, He loves Sayyidina Musa (a) do He spoke with him directly, which means there is closeness. He said, “Look at the mountain; if you see that it stayed in its place, you will see Me.”
لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
We sent down this Qur'an on a mountain, verily you would have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of Allah. Such are the similitudes that We propound to men that they may reflect.
(Surat al-Hashr, 59:21)
When Allah manifested His Beautiful Names and Attributes on the mountain, it shattered completely like powder and Sayyidina Musa (a) fainted, which means he was not ready to enter that ocean: to reach Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa is only for Prophet (s).
Imam Nawawi (r), one of the big scholars whose books a lot of Muslims read, such as Riyaad as-Saaliheen, said in a Hadith in his tafseer of Surat al-Najm in Sahih Muslim, “In the level of Qaaba Qawsayi aw Adnaa, Prophet (s) saw Allah (swt) with the eyes of his forehead.” It is not that he only saw by inspiration, he saw with his eyes, not through his heart, but with his physical eyes. On the Day of Judgement Muslims or mu’mins are going to see Allah (swt) in Paradise, Allah gave permission for that.
Prophet (s) was in Paradise in Qaaba Qawsayi aw Adnaa and he saw, as Imam Nawawi explained. When Allah wants to show him (s) from His Noor or His Beautiful Names and Attributes, He reveals to him and he saw something that no one can see. Sayyidina Musa (a) tried and Awliyaullah and `Ulama are trying, but it depends, are they really trying for dunya or for prestige, to be known or to be famous? Now is the Days of Confusion.
عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى الْأَشْعَرِيِّ ، قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : " إِنَّ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ السَّاعَةِ فِتَنًا كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ يُصْبِحُ الرَّجُلُ فِيهَا مُؤْمِنًا وَيُمْسِي كَافِرًا ، وَيُمْسِي مُؤْمِنًا وَيُصْبِحُ كَافِرًا ، الْقَاعِدُ فِيهَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْقَائِمِ ، وَالْمَاشِي فِيهَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ السَّاعِي ، فَكَسِّرُوا قِسِيَّكُمْ وَقَطِّعُوا أَوْتَارَكُمْ وَاضْرِبُوا سُيُوفَكُمْ بِالْحِجَارَةِ ، فَإِنْ دُخِلَ يَعْنِي عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْكُمْ فَلْيَكُنْ كَخَيْرِ ابْنَيْ آدَمَ " .
Before the Hour comes, there will be a tribulation like patches of dark night. A man will get up a Believer and go to sleep an unbeliever, or will go to sleep a Believer and wake up an unbeliever. The one who sits at that time will be better than one who stands and the one standing will be better than the one walking and the one walking will be better than one running. Break your bows, cut their strings and strike your swords against stones. If someone comes to kill any of you, then be like the better of the two sons of Adam. (Narrated Abu Musa al-Ash`aree, Abu Dawud, ibn Majah.)
Prophet (s) said, “The Signs of the Last Days will be a lot of confusion like a chunk of a dark night.”
Is there no confusion today? No two people can agree on any Islamic issues, everyone has their own opinions and Prophet mentioned it. Hatta fi ’l-fareeda, “Even on the obligations.” There was a killing in Albania when they took their independence from Russia. Most of them follow the Hanafi school of thought. In the Shafi`i school of thought, when the imam recites the Fatihah you listen to it and when he finishes he has to stop a little bit and you proceed reciting the Fatihah. There was bloodshed in the masjid because people said, “Your recitation is wrong!” Hanafi and Shafi`i schools were fighting. “We are correct and you are wrong!” The other one said, “You are wrong, we are correct!” Throughout history, different madhaahib fought and there was bloodshed, until there came a time they stopped. You cannot find two people with the same opinion today, everyone has a different opinion.
ما رآه المسلمون حسناً فهو عند الله حسن
Whatever Muslims consider to be good, to Allah it is good. (Ahmad)
It is a principle in Islam that Ibn Masud (r) said, “Whatever the majority of Muslims see as good, to Allah it is good.” This is good. It is when Sayyidina `Umar (r) prayed twenty raka`ats for Taraweeh, but in the time of Prophet (s) it was eight raka`ats. After Sayyidina `Umar (r), other schools of thought prayed not only twenty raka`ats, they read the whole Qur’an in the Taraweeh! It was not done before, but Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah, the People of the Majority in Islam, found out that it was good, so we follow them. Don’t argue! Today they pray eight raka`ats and go out of the masjid. Another imam comes and continues the twenty raka`ats, is it not? What are you going to lose if you stand for twenty raka`ats?
What Muslims see as good, to Allah it is good. What they see as bad, to Allah it is bad. `Alaykum bi sawadi ’l-`azhan, “Follow the majority.” What the majority follows, we follow! Today what do the majority of Muslims follow? Are we running to be the minority or the majority? The majority is not where they say, “This is bid`a, this is shirk, this is kufr, this is haraam.” No, they go along with it and they are on the moderate way. Those who say about everything, “This is bid`a, this is shirk, this is kufr, this is haraam,” are the minority, so are we going to follow them? No!
Where are Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah `ulama? Yesterday they invited us, you know them, to India for a Sufi conference. I didn’t go because there was controversy about it; they differ in opinions. Some people said “Don’t go,” and some said, “Go.” Now on the Internet they are fighting with each other after the conference is finished, even for a conference they don’t agree. What is left from Islam? It’s name. And what is left from Qur’an? Rasmuhu, it’s drawing, calligraphy. Alhamdulillah, at least something is there. May Allah forgive us. Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
You have these nice flowers here. You can make poetry on it. Very beautiful. They are coming from Heavens. Look at Allah’s Creation, every leaf, every piece of it is making dhikr, “The Seven Heavens extol His Praise and the Earth and all that they contain, and there is not a single thing but extols His Praise!” This is praising Allah (swt). If you bring a plastic one, it looks nice but it has no taste, you cannot smell anything. This has a nice smell, you want more, whereas you play football with the plastic one! May Allah make our lives flowery Gardens of Heavens. They say, “Why are you doing dhikr?” What do we want to do, disco? Is dhikr not correct, when you say “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah”? Why is it haraam? What did the Prophet (s) say?
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إذا مررتم برياض الجنة فارتع. قالو وما رياض الجنة؟ قال "حلق الذكر"
Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (s) said: "When you pass by the Gardens of Paradise, avail yourselves of them." The Companions asked: "What are the Gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of Allah?" He replied: "The circles of dhikr.” (Tirmidhi)
Do we believe Prophet or do we believe those who are saying don’t sit together and make dhikr? Allah (swt) and all His angels are making salawaat on Prophet (s), they are making dhikr. He didn’t say, “Every angel by himself makes salawaat,” He said:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him with a worthy salutation. (Surat al-Ahzaab, 33:56)
“Allah,” as One Creator, “and all His angels (plural) are doing salawaat on Prophet (s), do don’t we have permission to do salawaat on Prophet or dhikrullah? Still they say no!
أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
For without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction. (Surat ar-Ra’d, 13:28)
May Allah forgive us. May Allah bless us, bless this house and bless the owners.Most debates at that time in interfaith were on this subject to show us, because they used to see the statues and say, “This is Allah, our God.” You have to believe in what you don’t see!
Once a man asked Sayyidna `Ali (a) about the universe. He said, “I cannot give you an answer here, I will give you an answer by the ocean.” So they went to Jeddah by the ocean and they sat and he said, “My answer to you about that is you see that boat coming by itself, no one is steering it, there is no sailor.”
He said, “Yaa `Ali! You are a wise man. What is this? Do you really believe there is a boat that can sail by itself?”
He said, “Yes, this boat. Wait until it reaches here.”
The boat arrived to the beach and they saw the captain come out with his crew and said, “Yaa `Ali! See, this is the captain.”
He said, “Oh subhaanAllah! How dare you say this? For a boat you want a captain and crew to run it, but for this universe you are not accepting One Creator to run it? Allah (swt) is running it.”
They said, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-Rasoolullah.”
It’s not like today. Prophet (s) sent Sahaabah (r) to cities and villages, especially in Yemen. They stayed for one, two, three weeks and converted ttribal leader to Islam and all the tribe accepted, not like today where you have to speak to everyone privately to bring him back to his innocence as Prophet (s) mentioned, to his Islam in his heart. No, it was a mass conversion everywhere. Now we lost that because they cannot depend on us, they have doubtful information about Islam.
May Allah forgive us and may Allah guide us to the right way. Prophet said, “I am leaving you.” The Sahaabah didn’t believe that Prophet was leaving, then the ayah was revealed:
وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلاَّ رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ أَفَإِن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمْ وَمَن يَنقَلِبْ عَلَىَ عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ اللّهَ شَيْئًا وَسَيَجْزِي اللّهُ الشَّاكِرِينَ
Muhammad is no more than a messenger; many messengers passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will you then turn back on your heels (as disbelievers)? And he who turns back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah, and Allah will reward to those who are grateful.
(Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:144)
“Muhammad is like other human beings, he is going to die.” Sayyidina `Umar (r) confronted Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) and said, “If anyone says that Rasoolullah is dead, I will kill him!” Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) read that ayah and `Umar said, “W’allaahi, it was as if I had never heard that ayah. I read it many times, but I didn’t believe that Prophet will leave us.”
Prophet (s) said:
قال رسول الله ص حياتي خير لكم تحدثون ويحدث لكم ومماتي خير لكم تعرض علي أعمال لكم فإن وجدت خيراً حمدت الله وما وجدت غير ذلك استغفرت لكم.
My life is a great good for you: you relate from it and narrations are related to you. And my death contains good for you as well, for 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)
“Mamatu khayrun lakum. My death is better for you: I can see you, I can observe you, I can ask Allah on your behalf to forgive you.” What is Islam, is there any definition? Submission. Submission to what? Islam is to know Allah, Ma`rifatullah, that’s what Allah wants from us, to be in Paradise. Islam is a Garden of Paradise, piece of Paradise that Prophet went into that journey. So every one of us were not left behind. We went with Prophet on that journey, Israa’ wa 'l-Mi`raaj is coming soon in Rajab. It is a journey that you have to come, spend a cycle of life on Earth and go back to appreciate what Allah gave you. When you have water in this cup you appreciate it, when it is an empty cup you are thirsty so you don’t appreciate it. Islam is to appreciate what you left in dunya: you lived that cycle of life and you see the difference between it and Paradise, then you appreciate that Allah (swt) put you in Paradise.
Islam is appreciation for the mercy Allah has shown to you. Allah doesn’t like dunya:
لو كانت الدنيا تعدل عند الله جناح بعوضة ما سقى كافراً منها شربة ماء
If the value of this dunya weighed the wing of a mosquito, Allah would never give a cup of water for the unbelievers to drink. (Tirmidhi)
To Allah (swt), the wing of a mosquito is better than the whole dunya, which has no value. We are running after dirtiness and Allah doesn’t look at dirtiness, He looks at Akhirah, the pure. Everything is according to its end. When you end you begin to see, you are awake. Death is waking up, dunya is suffering, but Allah will give you according to what you have suffered and how you did your best for Him and for His Prophet and for the Ummah, then you will appreciate what Allah gives you and you will it because you left what He doesn’t look at.
May Allah (swt) give us Akhirah with Prophet (s) and that is the best for us and for every Muslim! Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
SubhaanAllah. Baya` is to Allah (swt), but we witness on each other that whatever Prophet (s) did of baya` for the Sahaabah (r), yuba`yooonaka taht ash-shajarah, “When they took baya` from you, yaa Rasoolullah, under the tree,” that’s what we do, tashabbuhan, imitate what Sahaabah did with Prophet (s).
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَمَن نَّكَثَ فَإِنَّمَا يَنكُثُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِمَا عَاهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللَّهَ فَسَيُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
Lo! Those who swear allegiance to you (O Muhammad) swear allegiance only to Allah. The Hand of Allah is above their hands, so whosoever breaks his oath breaks it only to his own soul's harm, while whoever keeps his covenant with Allah, on him will He bestow immense reward. (Surat al-Fath, 48:10)
So you can put your hand here. [Baya`] If you look at your hand, you see the thumb and the Shahaadah finger, is it not? Shahaadah is to say: “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-Rasoolullah,” but we need a witness. Our thumb is the witness because it has your unique code (thumb print). No one resembles you, so the thumb is the heavenly social security number that everyone has with their personality, DNA, blueprint. It is witnessing your Shahaadah on your Shahaadah finger, meaning your inner self is witnessing your inner spirit and that is the meaning of baya`: you are connecting yourself to that one that connects you with the other one, with the other one, with the other shaykh, with the other shaykh, to reach to Prophet (s) without cutting the silsila, the Golden Chain. Every human being has a golden chain, but some of them use it and some of them unfortunately are not using it. Allah made it possible for us in our hands to see the reality. Awliyaullah can unfold what is inside and bring it out and people can see.
May Allah show us the reality of the baya` that Sahaabah (r) gave to Prophet (s) and inshaa-Allah we are giving to Prophet (s) through our shuyookh, from one sanad to another sanad, one pillar to another pillar, like the Hadith how it is from one to one to Prophet (s). Also, everything in your life is connected to Prophet (s). I don’t like to use the word “server”, but he is the Heavenly Server that everything goes to him. We know this because he (s) said, “ 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.” May Allah forgive us. Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah. Now your thumbs are witnessing the Shahaadah. May Allah (swt) keep us in dunya and Akhirah on Shahaadah.
Taqabbal-Allah.
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