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The Power and Wisdom of Allah

Adab in the Naqshbandi Tariqah, Part 15

Ramadan Series 2015, Vol 22

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

16 July 2015 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

Fajr Suhbah (1)

Partial commentary from Al-Fathu ‘r-Rabbani wa ‘l-Fayd ar-Rahmaanee, The Lordly Openings and the Manifestations of Mercy, by Ghawth al-`Azham Shaykh `Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (qs).

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

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)

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.

Every day has its own Tajalli, Manifestation, and the manifestation of today is different from yesterday and tomorrow’s is different from the next day. The level of Manifestation is different every day depending on who is listening, and their level of belief, imaan, and their `amal is taken into consideration, as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:

وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا

Leave what Prophet (s) forbade and take what he ordered. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)

The Prophet (s) spoke about Israa and Mi`raaj and when he opens his mouth to speak he is giving to his Ummah, as anything that comes from him is his mercy that he is giving to his Ummah, so if he speaks, he generalizes everything. When he spoke about Mi`raaj, it means try to have a mi`raaj and study the Mi`raaj of the Prophet (s), although the manifestation of Mi`raaj differs, so of course it will not be like his. In the explanation of Mi`raaj, all `ulama on Earth from Adam (a) until the Day of Judgement are one drop of the ocean of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), as Grandshaykh (q) said, the `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ‘l-Aakhireen that Allah gave to the Prophet (s) is but a drop of the ocean of the knowledge of Allah (swt); however, that drop is not an ocean, but oceans in which Ummat an-Nabi (s) and all other prophets dive into and receive.

‏ ‏أبي هريرة ‏‏أن النبي ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏قال قال الله عز وجل ‏ ‏أعددت ‏ ‏لعبادي الصالحين ما لا عين رأت ولا أذن سمعت ولا خطر على قلب بشر ...

Allah said, “I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what never came to the heart of a human being. (Bukhari, Muslim)

When`ulama and Awliya see that, they say, “What is that?” A student of Khwaja `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) was worried he was not on the level of complete submission and that he was full of mistakes, although he was not, but he thought, “When I examine my actions on my shaykh's level, I have lost adab and respect too many times.” So Khwaja `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) compensated for him noticing his mistakes by giving him an opening from the Realities of the Six Powers of the Heart: Haqiqat al-Jazbah, Haqiqat al-Fayd, Haqiqat at-Tawajjuh, Haqiqat at-Tawassul, Haqiqat al-Irshad, Haqiqat at-Tayy. These are given to those in the Ummah who want knowledge from the understanding Allah (swt) gave to the Prophet (s). When `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) opened to his mureed from those Six Realities, according to Grandshaykh (q), that mureed said, “O Sayyidee! Is there something like this, so beautiful and so nice in Tariqah? I cannot imagine!”

When he opened for his mureed Haqiqat al-Jazbah, Reality of Attraction, the mureed had not imagined that such knowledge could exist, so what do you think then what the Sahaabah (r) got from Realities? They gave their life because they knew that is where they will be, under the Tajalli of Allah (swt). We are not giving our life. That mureed was surprised to witness those Realities, starting with the first, then second, then third, and finally reaching the sixth, then he floated up to the ceiling and said, “Are there such things in Tariqah?” He floated up then came down, again and again.

Look at us: we are still sitting on the ground, not rising and not being raised. Why? Because there is still the residue of ego in our hearts, and we may say we have no ego just to make ourselves happy, but there are traces of ego preventing us from reaching these Six Realities, which are the basic structure of Tariqah. That means you are not a mureed in the eyes of the shaykh, you are a beginner and some are lovers, muhibb. The shaykh may refer to you as mureeds, but really you are muhibb. We have not reached the Level of Mureed; if a real mureed orders a mountain to move, it will, so don't be arrogant and happy of your station in Tariqah.

Sayyidina `Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) called his mureeds, “Yaa ghulam! O child!” He spoke that way to `ulama and until today they all respect Sayyidina `Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) as Allah gave him a certain power that he is respected by everyone. He said, “My foot is on the neck of all Awliya,” and had any other wali said it, he would be thrown out, but from him it was accepted as there was no ego in it. Addressing the `ulama, he said, “Yaa ghulam! You lost your life,” he is speaking to `ulama, da`yaat al-`umur fee kutub al-`ilm. “You wasted your time in reading books of Fiqh or Shari`ah. Wa hifzhahu min ghayri `amal, You study it, memorize it and learn it well, but you did not act according to what is said, so it was a waste of time and did not benefit you.”

Today people say, “I want to study Shari`ah.” Okay, take the course, but you need to act on what the course taught you; it’s not about you got a PhD in Islamic Studies, you must do what Shari`ah asked you to do. Sayyidina `Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) used slang [asked in a mocking way]:

`Aysh yanfa`k? “What did it benefit you?” The Prophet (s) said that Allah (swt) said:

يقول الله يوم القيامة للانبياء انتم كنتم رعاة الخلق فماذا صنعتم في رعاياكم

Allah will address the scholars and Awliya on Judgment Day. You were the shepherds of this world, so what did you with your flock?

So don’t be a scholar, be a sheep and let the scholars be scholars, let the shaykhs be shaykhs, run away from that responsibility because if you are not strong enough to carry it, you don’t need it! Be away and you’ll be safe; don't waste your time running to this and that masjid, which might be a hut versus a huge masjid; hundreds of millions of dollars spent on a masjid, but the Tajalli on the hut might be higher [than that fancy million-dollar masjid in Maryland]. Allah (swt) will address `ulama and Awliya, and that `alim might be under punishment because he let pass something that is wrong because the government wanted him to let it pass, so he did. That is the biggest problem on Judgment Day. We are not considering ourselves `ulama in the level of understanding ma`rifa; rather, we are children.

Allah will say, “You were the shepherds of My Creation and what have you done for them?” You are going to be asked on Judgment Day and if you taught people to benefit them then you will be okay, but if you taught only for money [that is not allowed]. In a vegetable market you bargain and argue about how much to pay; if the price is one dollar you say 50 cents, you bargain, especially in Middle East, Pakistan and India, while here you don’t bargain except in Arab stores. Allah (swt) will say,“O `ulama! What have you done? Show Me.” What will they show?

As Sayyidina Muhammad (s) said to Sayyida `Ayesha (r):

من حوسب عذب

Whoever is judged will for sure be punished. (Bukhari)

ويقول للملوك والأغنياء : أنتم كنتم خزان كنوزي هل وصلتم الفقراء وربيتم الأيتام وأخرجتم منها حقي الذي كتبته إليهم ؟

He will address the kings and the wealthy saying, “You were the stores of My treasures; did you share with the poor, raise orphans, and take My right from those treasures that I decreed for them?”

Allah addresses the kings and rich people; ‘kings’ are those who think they are royalty. There is no royalty in Islam except the Prophet (s) and His Family: Prophet (s), Sayyida Fatima (a), Sayyidina `Ali (a), Sayyidina Hasan (a), Sayyidina Husayn (a) and the wives of the Prophet (r) and the Companions (r). They are the royalty, not those who appointed themselves. “What have you done with all that gold and silver you mined from mountains and made it into jewelry and gold coins? Did you help My poor servants or did you help yourself?”

Today the poorer ones eat on silver or gold-plated plates and the wealthiest eat on plates made of pure gold! The Prophet (s) prohibited eating with gold. Now, these royalty are eating from gold and on Judgment Day they will pour in their mouth to eat from water of melted gold. “Did you look after My orphans, who are also My servants? You did not look after those who lost their father and mother? What have you done for them with the money I gave you: did you pay on it zakaat, My rights on you?” which is 2.5 percent of our annual income. May Allah forgive us. That is why don’t be an `alim as he will be asked, as he knows.

If he tries to save himself by saying, “I did this and that,” and missed one thing, like when Sayyidina `Umar (r) became caliph after Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) left dunya, he came to his house crying and his wife asked, “Why are you crying? You are Ameer al-Mu’mineen, the highest one in charge now.”

He said, “Leave me alone.”

She continued to ask him, “Why are you crying?”

He said, “If an animal is killed in the jungle, I am now responsible and if any family is hungry without food, I am responsible. How do you tell me not to cry? I will cry until Allah gives me innocence from Hellfire!”

That’s why it is not easy to become an `alim, because you will be asked. Although all prophets are infallible, they will be asked, but will run to the Prophet (s) for his Intercession. Alhamdulillah we have the Prophet (s) on our side, so take note and care of what the Prophet (s) advised us to do!

“What kind of hard heart do you have?” Sayyidina `Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) asked in his association in his school in 545 Hijri, a thousand years ago. If that time was like that, what do you think about this time?

Ma aqsa quloobakum, “What kind of hearts you have? SubhaanAllah maa dalanee `alaa maa khas al-khalq. “Alhamdulillah that Allah gave me a tongue that can address on people, especially the `ulama. I am standing on the Door of al-Haqq, Allah, calling people to Him, but you munafiqoon are going to see Allah's Punishment! I made myself to be between the fingers of Allah (swt)! He moves the heart how He likes. I am like the cane of Sayyidina Musa (a), (through which Allah showed His Qudra and all the magicians were surprised to see a snake eating all their ropes, but they were only an imitation as magicians blur your vision, and they began to see snakes but they knew it was not real). I am the cane of Sayyidina Musa (a)! I am the dragon who will eat the sins of my mureeds!”

So he is telling the story of Sayyidina Musa (a), that by Allah’s Power he made his cane become a snake able to eat all the ropes, and with no stomach that snake was running after Fir`awn to eat him, but Allah prevented it for a reason. That is Qudratullah, His Power, when the cane swallowed the hundreds of very large ropes many other things, as well. That was laa hikma: hikma is the wisdom of how to fix something; however, to make a live snake from a cane is Qudratullah. Allah’s (swt) Qudra was with Sayyidina Musa (a), so anyone with Qudratullah will be able to do anything. Sayyidina `Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (q) had Qudratullah so he was granted by Allah to do whatever he wants. How to get that Qudra? That is not for everyone, the Prophet (s) passes it Awliya.

Today there are no Awliya to carry that Qudra after Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) passed on: he was one of Awliyaullah that had Qudra in his hands to change things. Why? As I mentioned in Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition, when he came to the airport in Lebanon and called us to pick him up. Usually he didn’t come in Rajab, Sha`baan and Ramadan, he spent those months in Cyprus. I picked him up and asked him why he came and he said, “Later.” We arrived home and then he said, “I have been ordered by the Prophet (s) to come. Your father is going to pass away today at 7:00pm. They have sent me here by inspirations from the Prophet (s) to Grandshaykh (q), who ordered me to come, recite Surah Yaseen on him, do his ghusl and janaza, and bury him by order of the Prophet (s), because you have done a lot for me and Grandshaykh (q) and they are rewarding him and rewarding you. Call all your relatives and await his passing.”

How did he know that? That is Qudratullah. You need power to do that, it is not simple or easy. At 6:45pm Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) began reciting Surah Yaseen and then at 7:00pm my father fell over, dead! He lay there, then five minutes later he sat up and then fell back down; Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said at that time Rawhaaniyyat an-Nabi (s) came and for that my father sat up. That is from Qudra. Hikma is to have intelligence in Math, Science, Shari`ah, studying, but to change things physically through power in Qudra. This is only in the hands of big Awliya, and today I don't see such Awliya, they are not available anymore.

The Prophet (s) said that Allah will speak to `ulama on Judgment Day when He "sat" on the Throne to judge the people.

يقول الله عز وجل للعلماء يوم القيامة إذا قعد على كرسيه لفصل عباده إني لم أجعل علمي وحلمي فيكم إلا وأنا أريد أن أغفر لكم على ما كان فيكم ولا أبالي

Allah (swt) will say to the scholars on the Day of Judgment as He sits on His Throne to judge His servants, “Truly I did not put My knowledge and wisdom in you except that I want to forgive you for that which is in you and not pay attention to it.” (Tabarani)

“I did not make My knowledge and wisdom in you, but I give to you to forgive you. I do not care what you have done in dunya, I will forgive you.” The first Hadith is to make them fear, the second Hadith, “I made that knowledge in your heart in order to forgive you on Judgment Day.” Lima taqooloona wa tukhaalifoon maa tastahoon, “Why do you address the students in front of you and correct them, yet you don't apply it on yourself? Don't you feel ashamed? Why do you claim to have imaan and you are not mu’min?”

قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ

The Arabs declare, “We believe (amanna).” Say (to them, O Muhammad), “You do not; rather say, ‘We submit (aslamna),’ because belief has not yet found its way into your hearts.” (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:14)

So are we mu’min? Inshaa-Allah, but in reality we have not yet reached that level. The Darajat al-Imaan is one of the highest levels, higher than the First Principle of Islam, when the Prophet (s) answered Jibreel (a) when he asked what is Imaan:

امنت بالله وملائكته، وكتبه، ورسله، واليوم الآخر، والقدر خيره وشره من الله تعالى

To believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His prophets, the Last Day, and Destiny, both its good and bad is from Allah (swt).

The Prophet (s) said, “Make your Shaytan tired by saying, ‘Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah’.” That will make Shaytan tired; like a donkey carrying a heavy load, Shaytan will carry a heavy load when you say, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah.”

May Allah (swt) keep us under His mercy and under the mercy of the Prophet (s) and under the mercy of His Awliyaullah, from 124000 of them, so we are still good [able to access true Awliyaullah]. We will find one of them and follow him, and inshaa-Allah he will take us to our shaykh.

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

Al-Fathu r-Rabbani wa ‘l-Fayd ar-Rahmaanee, The Lordly Openings and the Manifestations of Mercy, [source Mawlana has quoted throughout the Ramadan Series]. Why do we have to open the book from beginning to end and take time to study? Yaa Rabbee, why don't You fold it for us and pour it in our hearts? Then we will be safe, like:

يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ

The day We will fold the sky like the scrolls of books. (Surat al-Anbiya, 21:104)

WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE OUR WILL

We are struggling and struggling, and Allah can say, “kun fayakun!” Awliyaullah say, “kun fayakun!” they don't put this here and this here [bookmarks], they fold it [closes book] and give it to us ready-made, pour it into our hearts! Any book is okay, but for us the best is to open the Holy Qur'an, as that will be enlightenment for us to understand. Even the drop of the drop of the drop of the drop of the 124,000 drops, one of those drops is enough to keep us on the right track! Our `amal is not going to take us anywhere, but as Grandshaykh (q) said, “‘Even if they give you a broken shovel and say, ‘Your Trust is under seven Earths, dig and you will get it,’ and you think, ‘O my shaykh! Okay, I believe you, but give me at least a shovel that is not broken, give me something good,’ you must not put your will and mind there.”

When there was a drought in the village, Shah Bahauddin Naqshband (q) put his will to make a miracle and he had people bring wheat, put in the mill and he turned it around in the millstone to grind it and save the people from famine [so they could at least make bread]. When he was passing away, Allah scolded him for interfering in His Will, saying, “I will save the people, not you!” So Shah Naqshband (q) repeated again and again, “Yaa `Afoow! Yaa `Afoow! Yaa `Afoow! O Forgiver!” How much today are we saying, “Yaa `Afoow!” Awliyaullah are looking at the Preserved Tablets and they can save the people, but how to save us? I don’t know. We ask Allah to save us, to teach us and open for us for the sake of the Prophet (s) and the sake of Awliyaullah, open to our hearts because we are helpless, we cannot do anything. We are stubborn and arrogant, thinking we know everything, and in reality we know nothing. If they want to pull it they pull it, like the mufti of Baghdad: they pulled all of his `ilm out and gave it back when they wanted, so we say, “Yaa Rabbee, give us what you gave them! We are at their threshold, asking for their Intercession.” May Allah (swt) accept.

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

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