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Shamaa’il an-Nabi (s), The Muhammadan Attributes

Series Introduction

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

14 May 2015 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

Maghrib Suhbah

Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi ta`ala wa barakaatuh.

This month is an important month, Rajab, and Allah will dress us inshaa-Allah from the treasures of this month. It is one of the months in which killing even a flea is unacceptable, al-ashhur al-hurum. Alhamdulillah alladhee fadalanaa bi ‘l-Islam wa ja`alana min ummat al-habeeb al-mustafa.

O Muslims around the world, may Allah (swt) bless you all! Allah gave us something that we have to make sure is planted within our hearts, that without it our `Aqeeda is going to be unacceptable. Now there are too many descriptions of `Aqeeda with everyone is describing it as he likes, but in reality the `Aqeeda of Islam is to know the Reality of the Prophet (s). Without knowing the reality of the Prophet (s) and his teaching and his message our `Aqeeda is false.

And mashaa-Allah big scholars wrote on these issues and this Ramadan inshaa-Allah we will shed some lights on the characteristics that we cannot explain because the tongue is not fluid to explain the Prophet (s), it is impossible, as what Allah gave him and from what Allah created him with no one knows except The One Who created him! Allah (swt) taught him and He raised him (s) and He poured in his heart the Reality of Creation, not the reality only of understanding the ahkaam, rulings, but also to know the Reality of the Creation that Allah created. That is why Allah said to him (s), when Sayyidina Jibril (a) came with the first wahiyy, which is the main point of the description of the Prophet (s), ““Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Iqra!” No other prophet was ordered through Jibril (a) saying to him, “Iqra, read!” except the Prophet (s).

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.

اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَق ٱقۡرَأۡ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلۡأَكۡرَمُ ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلۡقَلَمِ عَلَّمَ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمۡ يَعۡلَمۡ

Read! And your Lord is The Most Bountiful, The One Who taught Man by the Pen, taught Man what we did not know. (Surat al-Alaq, 96:3-5)

“Read in the Name of Your Lord.” Yes, that is what they interpret; in Tafseer of al-Baydawi, what is it, “The Nurturer.” There is a hidden meaning here, “Read in the Name of Your Lord,” so what is in it? Allah (swt) did not say the Name, He said, “Read in the Name of Your Lord.” What is that Name that khasaasa an-Nabi (s), made it specific to the Prophet (s)? That Name was, “in the Name of The Nurturer.” But what is the Name? Alladhee khalaq, from that Name, the whole Absolute Existence that exists is coming from that Name, al-Khaaliq. Allah (swt) hid it as it is only for the Prophet (s). We can say it, “al-Khaaliq”, or ‘khalaqa’, but for the Prophet (s), it is, “Read what I have created of all Creation, whatever appeared in Heavens and Creation I am giving to you, because it comes under that Name ‘al-Khaaliq’.” That Name has been dressed to the Prophet (s) from the first Revelation, Iqraa bismi rabbik alladhee khalaq.

And to the word “Iqraa, Allah (swt) added an Alif to make it an order, meaning, “Yaa Muhammad! I am ordering you to read about them, to know the Creation.” And that is why He said:

فَآمِنُوا بِاللَّـهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالنُّورِ الَّذِي أَنزَلْنَا ۚ وَاللَّـهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

So believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Light that We have revealed, and Allah and is aware of that which you do. (Surat al-Taghabun, 64:8)

“Believe in the Light: in Allah and His Prophet and in the Noor”, and ‘an-Noor’ is different here: it means, “Believe in Allah and believe in His Prophet and believe in the Noor that We have sent with him.” If there is no Noor what is there? Darkness. So he came with the diyaa, Illumination, then everything appeared to the Prophet (s), so believe in that or you are not understanding the Reality of Sayyidina Muhammad (s).

Khalaq al-insaana, He began from the first Creation. When He said, khalaq al-insaana min `alaq, “`alaq” is that small sperm and egg, the most basic Creation to the biggest Creation, to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa. He mentioned to him (s) about the beginning of Creation, “I created from the smallest basic embryo that can be created and I am giving that for you to know about it from that time, from that small Creation up to Qaaba Qawsayni aw adnaa wa maa b`ad, and further more.”

Iqraa wa rabbuka al-akram, then He lowered it for us. The First Iqraa is for the Prophet (s) and the second Iqraa is for the Ummah. The first is Iqraa bismi rabbik alladhee khalaq, “Read in the secrets that have been created.” Iqraa wa rabbuka al-akram, now “read ‘and Allah is The Merciful’.” Alladhee `allama bi ‘l-qalam, here who used the Pen? We are using the pen. So the second Iqraa is for us, to give the Ummah, to disseminate the message of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Allah's servant must know how much Allah has raised His Prophet, wa ja`ala fadlahu `ala ‘l-jamee`, how much He has favored him over everyone. We have to know that and understand that as beginners in knowing his characteristics and description, to know first his greatness and to know what Allah gave to him, and what kind of perfection Allah gave to him when he 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 perfect the characteristics of human beings”, means the one who is sent to perfect them is above the others. That is why Muhammad al-Busayri (r) said, Muhammadun basharun wa laysa kal-bashari, “He is a human being, but not like human beings. He is a gem and mankind are like rocks.” Today you cannot evaluate some gems that have no comparable value, it is so high that you cannot buy it. That is how al-Busayri expressed it: “Prophet (s) is a human being that no one can evaluate and describe, he is above that.” It is said that his face is like a sword for beauty and a sword against the bad characteristics, and when he moves his hand or his face, he is removing the badness in people.

Fa ja`ala jawharahu ‘l-kareem al-`aaliyan fawqa saa'ir al-afraadi wa ‘l-ajnaas. As we said, He made him to be the highest in every perfection, there is no perfection equal to him. Whatever you can describe people, even if you gathered all people together in describing them, adding all the good characteristics, if you add them all in dunya they will not be a drop of the good characteristics of Prophet (s), not a drop of an ocean of the Prophet (s). And everyone of us thinks he is something but we are not that kind of something.

That's why when he said to Gibril (a) maa anaa bi qaariyy, he is an-Nabi al-Ummiyy, he did not open a book. Allah wants to show us His Prophet was not concerned for this dunya at all, he never opened a book and never held a pen, in order he will open the Book on the Day of Judgment, the reality of the Holy Qur’an, the secret of Holy Qur'an and he is going to open the reality of the Pen.

`Allam al-insaana maa lam ya`lam, He taught mankind what he did not know, by the Pen. The Prophet did not carry a pen, Allah will give him the heavenly pen. Do you know that heavenly pen? That is the heavenly pen that Allah ordered to write laa ilaaha illa-Llah and then ordered it to write Muhammad rasoolullah. It wrote Muhammad rasoolullah. That is Qalam al-Qudrah, the Pen of Power. On that Day Allah will give that Pen to the Prophet (s) and say:

فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَه ُُ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَ

Whosoever has done an atom's weight of good shall see it and whosoever has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it. (Surat al-Zalzalah, 99:7-8)

Then Allah will say, yaa Muhammad ana hakamtu bayna `ibaadee, “I judged between My servants: for the one who did good, Paradise; for the one who did bad, punishment.” And then at that time as Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, Allah will open the Intercession and give the Qalam al-Qudrah, the Pen, it is not a pen, but rather something we don’t know; ee call it Qalam al-Qudrah, then Prophet moves whom he likes to Paradise and whom he doesn’t like to punishment. And do you think the Prophet (s) will leave anyone from his Ummah out of Paradise? Those who did well and those who did not do well will go to Paradise, but they are at different levels.

وَالْمَلَكُ عَلَى أَرْجَائِهَا وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ

And the angels will be on its sides and that Day eight will bear the Throne of your Lord above them.

(Surat al-Haqqah, 69:17)

At that time eight big angels carry the Throne of Allah (swt) and they carry the `Arsh from every side; we cannot express it in physical terms, but it is carried by eight angels in a heavenly way. And the eight angels are happy that they are carrying the `Arsh, which is beyond description, but the Prophet (s) knows because Allah taught him. They try to carry it and Allah (swt) makes the `Arsh heavy so they are not able to carry it, and they begin to move down. Then Allah (swt) will order the `Arsh to carry them and the `Arsh will carry the angels. Whom is carrying who now, angels carrying the `Arsh or the `Arsh carrying the angels from under the `Arsh? The `Arsh is madhkoor fi ‘l-qur'an, mentioned in the Qur’an, and anything mentioned in the Holy Qur'an is alive because the Holy Qur'an is alive, it is not created, it is from Allah's Ancient Words, and therefore, anything mentioned in it is alive, and something that is alive can talk, so the `Arsh is talking, it is making tasbeeh, and what kind of tasbeeh is the `Arsh making, who knows?

Sayyid Muhammad `Alawi al-Maliki (r) mentioned in his book Mafaaheem Yajib an Tusahhaha that Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (r) mentioned in his book that Allah will order the Prophet (s) to sit on the `Arsh. What can we say here? That is `aqeeda, belief. We have to say aamanna wa saddaqna!

Sayyid Muhammad `Alawi al-Maliki (r) said:

He (s) will stand on the `Arsh with his feet and the `Arsh is naatiqee, speaking. Wa ‘Llahu `alaa al-`arsh istiwaa, Allah does not sit on the `Arsh, but he bestowed himself on `Arsh, He contained it. Who is there sitting? We don't know.

الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى

The Most Gracious is firmly established on the Throne (of authority). (Surah TaHa, 20:5)

And the Prophet (s) will sit on the `Arsh, that is our `aqeeda.

And some scholars say yes and some do not go into this deep subject. What kind of tasbeeh is the `Arsh making, as it is naatiqee, speaking? Does the Prophet (s) know? Allah created Creation and the `Arsh is part of Creation; in your book [Shaykh Gibril Haddad] it is mentioned from Noor of the Prophet (s) the `Arsh is created and you verified that. What about the Kursiyy? [Recites Ayat al-Kursiyy.] Wasi`a kursiyyuhu 's-samaawaati wa ‘l-ard, it is alive, so it can speak or not? It is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an, so it is alive and all that is in Heavens and Earth is contained in the Kursiyy. These galaxies and all are within scope of the Kursiyy, it contained them completely, which means every time you are reciting wasi`a kursiyyuhu 's-samawaati wa ‘l-ard, Allah will make your Jannah in Heaven to be wider than that Kursiyy that contained Heavens and Earth! That is for the sake of the Beloved, Sayyidina Muhammad (s).

The word jawhar is the highest description you of a gem, of all kinds of jewelries of precious stones, from diamonds all the way to whatever. Who is that one whom Allah made the jawhar of Heavens and Earth? He is Sayyidina Muhammad that He made him to reach qaaba qawsayni aw adnaa.

Allah has said to His Prophet, “Iqraa!” Iqraa. If you, a scholar, say to your student "read", they will pick up the book and read, is it not? Either online or by having it in front of him. So Allah is saying to the Prophet (s), "Read! Not from the books they wrote, not from any teaching you learned, not from any dunya knowledge you got. Read ‘in the Name of Your Lord’ directly.”

Today you read in universities, while here you read from hidden knowledge directly. Awliyaullah take from these knowledges in order to teach their students. There is no book except the Living Book, the Holy Qur'an. They take from the heart of the Prophet (s): Yaseen is the heart of the Holy Qur'an and Yaseen is the Name of the Prophet (s), so he is the heart of Holy Qur'an. It was revealed to him, and had it been revealed to anyone else that one would have been destroyed!

لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

Had 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. (59:21)

“If We had sent down this Holy Qur'an on a mountain, it would have been demolished, shattered into powder, but not for Prophet (s)!” Allah (swt) revealed it to Prophet and he (s) was immediately able to take it, so there is no resemblance between human beings and Prophet (s), finished. This is our `Aqeeda: we have to understand it that no one can put himself next to Prophet (s), finished! Allah's Order, amrullah is to raise the Prophet (s):

ورفعنا لك ذكرك

And (have We not) raised you high in dignity? (Surat ash-Sharh, 94:3)

“We have raised you.” To ‘raise his name’ means to raise that person. Do you raise the name but not the person himself? Allah raised him, wa rafa`na laka dhikrak. To the Sahaabah, it is 100% obligation on every Muslim to follow Prophet (s) without questioning! The Quraysh didn’t want to believe Prophet (s) went on Mir`aj, when Prophet said to Sayyidina `Umar (r), “He went for Israa and Mi`raj, come and hear your friend [narrate his experience],” and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) said, na`m sadaqta yaa Rasoolullah, “Yes! You have spoken, O Rasoolullah [and I am not questioning what you say]!” We need to say “sadaqa rasoolullah” for everything Prophet (s) says!

If Allah taught human beings by the Pen knowledge that no one knows, what do you think that Allah taught the Prophet (s) by the Holy Qur'an? Iqraa bismi rabbik alladhee khalaqa khalaqa al-insaana min `alaq, Iqraa wa rabbuk al-akram, alladhee `allama bi ‘l-qalam. He taught by the Pen, He taught the human beings what they don’t know, not from Qur’an. The Pen is for human beings, but Allah taught the Prophet (s), “Don’t touch the Pen, you touch it in Akhirah.” Fa-man ya`mal mithqaala dharratin khayran yaraah wa man ya`mal mithqaala dharratin sharran yarah. “I judged between My servants; now you write for My servants, you carry the Pen,” and at that time Prophet (s) carries the pen!

We will stop here, we will speak more in Ramadan inshaa-Allah from Shamaa’il an-Nabi (s). This is only half a page, but with additions from here and there. Inshaa-Allah Allah will open on everyone’s heart min `uloom an-Nabi (s) wa `uloom al-awliya, from Knowledges of Prophet (s) and Knowledges of Awliyaullah.

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

I will mention this. Ittiba` an-Nabi (s) waajib `ala kulli muslim wa muslimah, following the Prophet (s) is required on every Muslim and Muslimah.

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)

So when the Prophet (s) took off his shoes, all Sahaabah (r) took their shoes and when the Prophet (s) took off the golden ring, all Sahaabah (r) took it off. And Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and Sayyidina `Umar (r) in the story that we will explain later in detail, when the Prophet (s) sat on the well and all the Sahaabah (r) were running to sit on the same well with the Prophet (s), people were like during Hajj time, how people are trying to kiss the Ka`bah, and the people were pushing each other like that to sit with the Prophet (s) on the well. And when the Prophet (s) shaved his head on the advice of Umm Salamah, all the Sahaabah (r) shaved their heads, even to that extent they followed Prophet (s) [without questioning]. May Allah (swt) make us all to follow the Prophet (s) in the way we should.

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