Suhbah at Islamic Cultural Center (ICC)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. Dastoor yaa Sayyidee, madad!
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 Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an, we claim too much, that we know this or we know that and our claim is that our mind is the only one that works and everyone else is nothing compared to us, even a child. So claiming things that we don't have is a problem and our desires always like to claim something that might not benefit you but depress you more and more by claiming it. You claim you know and you appear in front of people and you don’t know what to say, what will happen? You will be humiliated. Knowledge, to know, is not only to know what you studied through universities. For people `ilm, knowledge is necessary. `Ilm is different, ma`rifat is different. In our way, knowledge, to study is necessary, to be able to do dunya work, but in limitations.
A doctor cannot be an engineer and an engineer cannot be a lawyer, so don’t claim what you don’t know that you do know as it will put you in real depression. Let everyone be, don’t bother too much; let everyone claim what he wants to claim. They want to say they are angels? It is between them and Allah (swt), so pull your hands. Why do you want to burn your hands? They claim they know how to make suhbah? No problem, make suhbah. They claim they know how to make qaseedah? Make qaseedah. They claim they know how to make tafseer of hadith or ayah? Let them. Everyone is free. Everyone Allah gave him something.
Don’t look at what people are doing and say, “Why is that one doing this and I am not doing this? I am more knowledgeable than that one.” If Allah writes for you that you are more knowledgeable but you are going to be lower than this one, what can you do? If a king has a son and one day the son replaces his father and doesn’t know anything...What did they used to do? They bring an advisor to the king or to the son to give them advice. Who is more knowledgeable? The advisor. If that advisor is not there the king is worth zero, nothing. The Ottoman Kings that came and conquered a lot of countries, they didn’t have the mind of a Shaykh al-Islam. Every king has a Shaykh al-Islam appointed to advise him or he will do something wrong. Who is higher then? In knowledge, Shaykh al-Islam is higher than the king, but in position, the king is higher than Shaykh al-Islam. The king has the power to kill all Shaykhs al-Islam, but Shaykhs al-Islam cannot kill the king. The king has his own place, Shaykh al-Islam has his own place.
So don’t claim something that is not yours! I am saying this to everyone and to myself also. I am not claiming. Yaa Rabbee! I am not claiming. They are witnesses. I might not even deserve to stand at the shoes and at the door. I am trying to say this to myself to make sure that one day my self will submit, because our selves are like lions: they don’t want to submit, they want to attack. May Allah forgive our weaknesses and keep us on Siraat al-Mustaqeem.
So all the knowledge that scholars study, which is necessary for everyone to study Islamic teachings, for those who are not going to be scholars, for common people who are not going to be scholars, they have to study basics in order to know what is haraam and what is halaal, but for scholars, they can go higher and higher in knowledge. But don't claim in your mind that to say, “This is haraam and this is halaal.” Only Allah says what is halaal and only Allah says what is haraam. Only the Prophet (s) can say what is halaal and what is haraam, no one can state that. If you state something that is haraam is halaal and the Prophet (s) did not say it is halaal, you made a mistake. And if you say something that is halaal is haraam, you made a mistake.
The Prophet (s) said:
الحلال بين والحرام بين وبينهما امور متشابهات الحلال بين والحرام بين
Al-halaalu 'l-bayyinu wa 'l-haraamu bayyin wa baynahuma umoor mutashaabihaat.
The permitted is clear and the forbidden is clear and between them are some unclear issues. (Muslim and Bukhari)
Let us take the halaal. This is halaal here on the right and this is haraam is on the left, it’s clear, and what is in between is a grey area. So you cannot come and base yourself on some weak hadith to make halaal what Prophet (s) made something haraam or to make haraam what Prophet (s) made halaal. You cannot! You have to be very careful. In between here there are lots of explanation that can make everything halaal and can make everything haraam. So we need to take into consideration that between these two halaal and haraam everything is upon ijtihad, to come to verdict or to make fatwa or to give tafseer on different issues that other people cannot do.
So for Sayyidina `Ali (r), the Prophet (s) said about him:
أنا مدينة العلم وعلي بابه
Anaa madinatu 'l-`ilmi wa `Aliyyun baabuha.
I am the City of Knowledge and `Ali is its Door (or Gate). (al-Haakim, Tirmidhi)
So the door man...He didn’t say he is the door man, he (s) said he is the door. So the Prophet (s) is the City of Knowledge, which means ma`rifah, because ma`rifatullah is what the Prophet (s) is trying to direct the ummah to, not just to knowledge, but from knowledge to ma`rifatullah. So since Sayyidina `Ali (r) is the door, the door has to open to be able to go inside, but to go inside is not so easy. So Sayyidina `Ali (r) knew that it is not easy to go inside that door to the presence of the Prophet (s).
How can you come to the presence of the Prophet (s)? What do you have to do? He (s) is seeing us. People might say, “O! How?” Don't create in your mind or claim in your mind something that you don't know. You don't know if the Prophet (s) sees us or not. If I say the Prophet (s) is seeing us, I’m responsible of what I’m saying. Don’t say I am wrong, as you did not reach that level. Or if you are seeing the Prophet (s), I have no right to say to you it’s haraam, as I did not reach your level, because the `ulama of this ummah, majority of them, they confirmed that Prophet (s) was seen and he was teaching the ummah through dreams and visions. And there are many evidences on this, which we will not go through them now, but we say the Prophet (s) said:
من رائني في المنام فقد راءني حقا
Man ra'anee fi 'l-manaami faqad ra’anee haqqan (fa sayaraaanee haqqan).
Who saw me in the dream saw me in reality. (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)
“Whoever saw me in a dream he saw me in reality, for real,” means the dream with Prophet (s) is that he is true, real. What he is seeing...he is in the presence of the Prophet (s). Even if you saw the hair of the Prophet (s) in the dream it is as if you saw the Prophet (s), because this is an ocean (Mawlana points to glass of water) and do you see that drop (takes one drop with his finger)? Now it goes inside. Can you see that drop anymore? (No.) But it’s part of the ocean. So any part of Prophet (s) that you see, even if you see his finger, you saw the Prophet (s) and anyone who saw the Prophet (s), Paradise is for him! (Allahu Akbar!) Ask every night to see the Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in order to reach Paradise easily. Ask to see the Prophet (s) and ask with humility, don’t be arrogant in asking and don’t say, “I asked too much and for too long, but I never saw him.” No, keep asking. When Allah (swt) sees you keep asking and asking He will give it. May Allah give us that. So anyone who sees the Prophet (s), that means the Prophet (s) is going to save him in the Day of Resurrection by shafa`at an-Nabi (s) because he saw the Prophet (s).
So our problem today...those who claim things that they know and they want to argue and debate, unfortunately. Do you see this microphone? This is a real microphone and this is another real microphone. If you take the plug out, can you hear anything? No. If you plug it back, you can hear everything. Plug it, you hear. So what is important is not this, it’s not the tongue, but it is the plug when they plug you. If you are plugged by Allah (swt) and by the Prophet (s) and by awliyaullah, you can talk what people cannot talk, you can speak what people cannot speak, you can see what people cannot see and you can hear what people cannot hear. That is the hadith of the Prophet (s), Holy Hadith:
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،
Man `ada lee waliyan aadhantahu bi ’l-harb wa maa taqarraba ilayya `abdee bi-shayyin ahabba ilayya mimmaa aftaradtu `alayhi wa maa yazaalu `abdee yataqarabu ilayya bi’ n-nawaafil hatta uhibbah. Fa idhaa ahbaabtahu kuntu sama`uhulladhee yasma`u bihi wa basarahulladhee yubsiru bihi, wa yadahulladhee yabtishu bihaa wa rijlahullatee yamshee bihaa.
(Allah [swt] said) Whoever comes against My wali, I declare war on him. 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)
So he put man `ada lee waliyan aadhantahu bi ’l-harb, “Whoever comes against a wali of Mine, I will declare war on him.” So immediately after that what did He put? Wa maa yazaalu `abdee yataqarabu ilayya bi’ n-nawaafil hatta uhibbah, “And as long as My Servant,” who is the the wali mentioned in the beginning, “approach Me through voluntary worship, I will love him.” Means, a wali is being loved by Allah (swt). It’s the continuation of the hadith. So some people do not mention the first part, only the second part, which is, “As long as My Servant approaches me through voluntary worshipness, I will love him. When I love him, I will be the eyes that he can see with, the ears that he can hear with,” and until the end. But if you read it from the beginning, He is saying, “Don’t declare war on My Wali! My Wali has already approached me, so you declare war on him, I declare war on you!”
Why is the ummah fighting today? Because they declare war on awliyaullah, they want to destroy the maqaam of Sayyidina al-Husayn (r) in Egypt, to put that maqaam which is 1400 years...they want to demolish it. And they went even farther than that: they want to examine the hair of the Prophet (s). In Sayyidina al-Husayn’s maqaam there is a Hair of Prophet (s), Amanaat ar-Rasool is there, and they are doubting that these are not real and “we want to check them, and every Holy Hair of Prophet (s) around the world has to be checked.” For what? To make the ummah doubt their Prophet (s)?
حديث علي: سألت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن سنته, فقال: المعرفة رأس مالي, والعقل أصل ديني, والحب أساسي, والشوق مركبي, وذكر الله أنيسي, والثقة كنزي, والحزن رفيقي, والعلم سلاحي, والصبر ردائي, والرضا غنيمتي, والفقر فخري, والزهد حرفتي, واليقين قوتي , والصدق شفيعي, والطاعة حسبي , والجهاد خلقي ,وقره عيني في الصلاة
Hadeeth `Ali sa’lta rasoolullahi sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallama `an sunnatihi faqaal: al-ma`rifatu raas maalee w’al-`aqlu aslu deenee wa’l-hubbu asaasee wa’sh-shawqu markabee wa dhikrullahi aneesee w’ath-thiqatu kanzee wa’l-huznu rafeeqee wa’l-`ilmu salaahee wa’s-sabru ridaee wa’-ridaau ghaneematee w’al-faqru fakhree wa’l-yaqeenu quwatee wa’s-sidqu shafee`iyy wa’t-ta`atu hasbee w’al-jihaadu khuluqee wa qurratu `aynee fi’s-salaat.
So Sayyidina `Ali (r) wants to know what he has to do. He asked the Prophet (s), “Yaa Rasoolullah! What is your sunnah? What is your way?” Sa’lta rasoolullahi sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallama `an sunnatihi, “I asked the Prophet about his sunnah, his way, what we have to know.” Qaala al-ma`rifatu raasu maalee. First, “ma`rifah” in English is knowledge, but “ma`rifatullah” is to know about Allah (swt), means the Ocean of Knowledges. Gnosis, knowledge, to know about Allah, is ma`rifah, the Ocean of Knowledge. “Ma`rifah is my capital.” So if you want to acquire capital, it means capital can be today when someone wants to begin a business, capital might be $1000 or 10,000. As much as you build your capital is better, not to come with a poor capital. So the Prophet (s) said, al-ma`rifatu raasu maalee, “Ma`rifah is the capital, my capital,” means, “the head of my money, my wealth.” So what is the wealth of Prophet (s)? He left dunya and didn’t have three dates in his house! So what is his raasu ‘l-maal, his capital? It is the Divine Presence, that this ma`rifah takes him to the Divine Presence. So our duty, in order that we have to build our capital....
People run about how much money or capital they have in the bank. Did anyone audit himself and check how much wealth he has in his Akhirah bank? No one. We only look for dunya, we never ask how much we have for Akhirah. Did we ask? No, as if it doesn't exist, but it is there and everyone must ask. Alhamdulillah, Allah is giving in dunya, but we need to look for Akhirah, and what is the wealth for Akhirah? It is such associations, such meetings that people come together. For what? To remember Allah (swt), dhikrullah, there is nothing else. People come five hours drive, ten hours drive, flying. Coming for what? There is no business here except for some chocolates here. (Laughter.) That is for Akhirah, that is what you ask for Akhirah; you came here for Akhirah, me and you.
And then the Prophet (s), in order to have ma`rifah, you have to have mind, not mind towards dunya, bad desires, but mind towards Akhirah. With the mind you can check what is halaal and what is haraam, you can balance. Allah (swt) said, wa laa tukhsiru ’l-meezan, “Don’t unbalance the Scale.”
وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا فِي الْمِيزَانِ وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ
Wa wada` al-meezan allaa tatghaw fi 'l-meezaan. Wa aqeemu 'l-waznu bi 'l-qisti wa laa tukhsiru ’l-meezan.
And He has set up the Balance, that you may not transgress (due) balance, but observe the measure with equity and do not fall short of it. (Surat ar-Rahmaan, 55:7-9)
“Keep the Balance balanced!” meaning, how to balance everything that He gave? Through `aql, through the mind. So he (s) said, “Yaa `Ali! Wa ‘l-`aqlu aslu deenee, the origin of my religion is `aql,” not only looking for theories, but `aql always implements within you the Shari`ah. So the Prophet (s) wants to tell you that ma`rifah, which is Shari`ah, and `aql, both of them, and ma`rifah means Shari`ah, spirituality and Tazkiyyatu ‘n-nafs.... He put “al-m`arifah” first when he said, “Al-m`arifatu raasu maalee,” and `aql, mind, second. So ma`rifah is first. Why? Because when he (s) was young, he was showing the good manners, the Maqaam al-Ihsaan, the good manners to the Quraysh tribe and so everyone was understanding and believing that he is Muhammad al-Ameen, everyone was in love with him. So first he showed them love, he showed them ma`rifah, to trust him, and when they trusted him he brought for them Shari`ah, “Come now, you were violent, you were wild, there was adultery, there was drinking and you were doing all kinds of sins. Now you have to use your `aql, your mind and try to fix yourself.” Then he said, “When you establish ma`rifah, means your capital, when you establish the mind, which is the origin of religion, then comes something that is the foundation.”
What is the foundation? It’s al-hubb, love. So he said, wa ‘l-hubbu asaasee, “My foundation or fundamental issues are based on love. If you don’t have love to me and to Allah (swt) and to the people, you are going to face lots of problems. Wa ‘sh-shawqu markabee, “Yearning is my boat, my vessel, my buraaq. I yearned to Allah and Allah sent me a buraaq, a markab, something that you ride on. Wa ‘sh-shawqu markabee, my boat, now something that I ride on, is the yearning to Allah. When I used that as my way and means to Allah, Allah sent to me Jibreel (a) with the buraaq. Wa ‘dh-dhikru aneesee, “And dhikr is my intimate companion. When I do dhikr, as Allah said in the Holy Hadith:
أَنَا جَلِيْسُ مَنْ ذَكَرَنِي
Anaa jaleesu man dhakaranee.
I sit with him who remembers me. (Ahmad, Bayhaqi)
“I am sitting with the one who remembers Me, I am his intimate companion.” So Prophet (s) says, wa ‘dh-dhikru aneesee, “And dhikr is my intimate companion.” Intimate companion, what does that mean? It means “will give you everything” or “will show you everything that you cannot see”. He will trust you, you will be trusted completely! Who do you want to trust you more than anyone? It is Allah, because He said, “I am sitting with the one who remembered Me.” And the Prophet (s) said, wa ‘dh-dhikru aneesee, “And dhikr is my intimate companion." So dhikrullah, you have to base yourself on dhikrullah, and dhikrullah can come through dhikr, through qasidas, through poetry, it can come through remembering Allah (swt) with His Beautiful Names and Attributes, through reading the Holy Qur'an, through reading hadith, anything.
Wa ‘th-thiqatu kanzee, “And trust is my treasure.” Wa ‘th-thiqatu, for someone to trust you, to make someone to trust you. How to make someone to trust you, to show him that you are trustworthy? When you show him you are trustworthy, he will trust you. So who is best to trust you? It’s Allah. That’s why he (s) said, wa ‘th-thiqatu kanzee, “To trust, to be trusted, for people to say about me ‘the trustworthy person’ or Allah to say ‘he is a trustworthy person’ is my treasure.”
The Prophet (s) is teaching us good manners, where he said:
انما بعثت لاتمم مكارم الاخلاق
Innamaa bu`ithtu li utammimu makaarim al-akhlaaq.
I have been sent to perfect the best of conduct (your behavior and character). (Bazzaar)
“I have been sent to complete the good manners.” So he is telling Sayyidina `Ali (r) the good manners that he has to follow in order that he will be.... He (s) is the City of Knowledge and `Ali can open the door and see. Wa ‘l-huznu rafeeqee, “My companion is al-huzn, to be sad for the ummah,” al-huzn `ala ‘l-ummah.
Always he is showing Allah, “Yaa Rabbee! I am sad!”
“What do you want?”
“I want ummatee, I want my ummah, my nation!”
He is showing sadness for Allah to forgive his ummah. Wa’ l-huznu rafeeqee. Wa ‘l-`ilmu...Look where the `ilm comes now after so many descriptions. Then al-`ilmu silaahee, “Knowledge is my weapon.” He didn't say, “The sword is my weapon.” He didn’t say, “Suicide bombing is my weapon.” He didn’t say, “Killing innocent people is my weapon.” He said, al-`ilmu silaahee, “Knowledge is my weapon,” because I can fight you with knowledge. Try to fight me with knowledge and I fight you with knowledge and win on you because I have more knowledge. He said, “Try to learn, education yourself.” When you educate yourself, not to be dumb and not to be ignorant.... Educate yourself, learn, try to teach your children, try to teach the youth, then you give them a weapon of knowledge that they can conquer the mind of people. How did communists and socialists, with their ideas, change the minds of people? With knowledge of Islam you can bring it as a light for humanity to show them the moderation of Islam and the love of Islam, as the Prophet (s) mentioned:
نَحْنُ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا
Nahnu ummatan wasatan.
We are a nation of the middle way (moderation).
Wa ‘s-sabru ridaaee, “And patience is my clothing, to be patient.” If you are not patient, you will suffer and suffer and suffer by Shaytan playing in your mind and giving you wrong ideas, and then you begin to fight and depress yourself for nothing. So as-sabru ridaaee, be patient. What Allah wants for you, accept. Submit. When you are patient, submit. Allah (swt) gave us not only a choice but a long way from beginning of His Asmaa’ullah al-Husnaa all the way to the last Name, as-Saboor, The Most Patient, Absolute Patient. He is patient on us. And what happens? He is patient and patient and patient, and then He says, “Okay, no problem, anytime you want come and repent, I forgive you.”
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
Qul yaa `ibadiya ’Lladheena asrafoo `alaa anfusihim laa taqnatoo min rahmatillaahi inna Allaaha yaghfiru ’dh-dhunooba jamee`an innahu huwa ’l-ghafooru ‘r-raheem.
Say, "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, for Allah forgives all sins for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Surat al-Zumar, 39:53)
Say, yaa Muhammad, to them: don’t lose hope of Allah’s Mercy. Allah will forgive all the sins, but come! You need to come, to make an effort to come.
Wa ‘r-ridaa ghaneematee, “And to be satisfied with what Allah has given to me. Ghaneemah is “my wealth,” “what I earn,” “my gain.” My gain is to be happy, to be satisfied with what Allah gave to me, not to complain and complain. How is complaining going to benefit you? They complain and complain, men and women; they are complaining on each other. For what? Be happy with what Allah (swt) gave you, satisfy yourself. Say, “This is what Allah gave me, finished! I don’t complain, I submit. ” It might be a gain for you in Akhirah, so why do you want to lose it? Your patience on your home, on your husband or on your wife or on your children will take you to gain in Akhirah, not to jidaal yudfi`u noorul-qalb, “Argument will put out the light of the heart!” So don’t argue; don’t jidaal, don’t argue.
Then he said, wa ‘l-faqru fakhree, “To be poor is my pride.” Not to say like today, "I am proud of you, mashaa-Allah!" Proud of what? They tell each other, “I’m proud of you,” especially to children. Proud of what? You are building them on arrogance! The Prophet (s) said, wa ‘l-faqru fakhree, “Poverty is my honor. I am honored to be poor, because I go....” He is teaching for us: you are going to go and if you are poor on the Day of Judgment then there will be no asking questions: how you made your money, how you made your wealth? If you want to be asked, then be rich; then they will ask you for everything!
There was a rich man in a village, very famous, like today’s mayors. A mayor in the village said to his son, “When I die and you put me in the grave...”--in that time there were big rooms in which they put the deceased--“On the first night I feel afraid of Ankar and Nakeer, the two angels, that they are going to ask me questions. So this is a pouch of gold. Anyone who stays with me that night, give him this pouch of gold in the morning.”
When the father died the son looked and looked and looked, he didn’t find anyone except one poor guy who has an axe and a rope. He is hattaab, who cuts wood in the forest.
He said to him, “Can you stay with my father in the grave until Fajr time? I will give you this pouch of gold.”
The poor guy was happy. He said, “Yes. Okay, I go there.”
So he opened and he went in there and the man was waiting for him up (above ground) until Fajr time. So he went down and as soon as all the people left, because they don’t pour soil on top of the deceased. It’s rooms. They put them in rooms, it’s different. So after a while he began to hear noises. Look, two angels, Ankar and Nakeer coming.
They looked at the deceased one and they said to each other, “This one is dead already. Why we have to ask him now? He is not going to run away. Let’s ask the one who is alive. We’ll see what he is going to say.” So they began to ask him, “From where is the axe? What you did with the axe? Who bought for you the axe? From where you got the money? Is it halaal or haraam?” And the poor guy doesn’t know what to say. And they were interrogating and interrogating and interrogating, and yet they didn't reach to the rope and to his clothes and what to he is carrying with him! So asking about the axe took until morning (when the) adhaan was calling, “Allahu Akbar....”
The man opened the door, took the marble up and the man came out and he said, “Alhamdulillah, take! This is your pouch of gold.”
He said, “I don’t want it! If for the axe I was interrogated all night, for this gold what they are going to ask me? I don’t want!”
We have to put this in our mind, it’s not a story only, but there is wisdom with it; if you want wisdom, there is wisdom in it.
So the Prophet (s) said, wa ‘l-faqru fakhree, “To be poor is my honor.” How many poor people complain! They don’t say, “It’s my honor,” they curse: why am I poor? Why I am this? They complain. Leave it to Allah (swt). Allah knows best! Wa ‘z-zuhdu hirfatee, “And to be ascetic is my profession, to ignore dunya and to look only to Akhirah is my way, it’s my profession, my job. I am not going to look for dunya, I am going looking for Akhirah.” Wa ‘l-yaqeen quwwatee, “And to be certain to take decision is my power, it is the force that I will be given when I keep certain!”
Yaqeeen is to be certain of what Allah (swt) mentioned that that death is coming, because in the Holy Qur’an, al-yaqeen is death. So that death will be coming one day, so that I know that reality and will keep it between my eyes, like Sayyidina `Umar (r). When he was young, not too young but after he became Muslim and khalifah of the Muslims, he put someone at the door of his house and whenever Sayyidina `Umar came out to look after the Muslims, the ummah, that man will tell him, “Yaa `Umar (r)! You are going to die one day.” This was what his job was. In the evening when Sayyidina `Umar came back home, “Yaa `Umar! You are going to die one day,” to remind him of death. Then one day Sayyidina `Umar (r) said to that person, “I am laying you off. I don’t want you anymore.
He said, “Why? Did I do something wrong?
He said, “No, you were very honest, but now I don’t need you anymore.”
He said, “Why?”
He said, “Because I have one white hair in my beard now, it will remind me that I am approaching death.”
When you have a white hair it means you are going, (you are) on the way. What about all white, like him (a mureed)? Why you are smiling? He has white also, but still (has some black), it is dark. So we have to be careful.
Wa ‘s-sidqu shaqeeqee, “And truth is my brother. I cannot let truth down. Something connected with me. So I keep sidq, truth near me all the time, glued to me. I cannot lie.” Today everyone is lying. People lie, young ones and adult ones. Wa ‘t-ta`atu hasbee, “And to obey Allah (swt) is my calculation, I depend on that. Obedience to Allah is my way to Allah (swt).” Wa ‘l-jihaadu khuluqee, “And to make jihad in Allah's Way is my character.” And the jihad we heard (mentioned) before is ma`rifah, means to struggle in knowledge, not jihad that is telling you to carry sword. No, it’s `ilm, it’s knowledge: al-jihaadu khuluqee, my character is knowledge, struggling in Allah’s Way.
Wa qurratu `aynee fi 's-salaat, “And the best of my time is when I am praying.” Wa thamaratu fooaadee fee dhikri Rabbee, And the fruit of my chest, of my heart is to remember my Lord and to mention Him and to remember Him in every moment.” Wa ghammee li ummatee, “My sadness is for my ummah; I’m always in sadness for them. I’m sad, I see them,” as the Prophet (s) said (in a hadith), tu`radu `alayya `amal ummatee, “I observe the `amal of my ummah.” I am sad! What I am going to say to Allah (swt), that this is my ummah? I am happy to see them i in good manners, but no way, I am sad. So what I have to do? Then the continuation of the hadith, “If I see good, I thank Allah (swt), if I see they are doing bad, I ask on their behalf forgiveness to clean them, not to be shy on the Day of Judgment.”
حياتي خير لكم تحدثون ويحدث لكم ، فإذا أنا مت كانت وفاتي خيرا لكم ، تعرض علي أعمالكم فان رأيت خيرا حمدت الله تعالى وإن رأيت شرا استغفرت لكم
Hayaatee khayrun lakum tuhadithoona wa yuhdatha lakum fa idhaa anaa mitt kaanat wafaatee khayran lakum. Tu`radu `alayya `amalakum fa in ra’aitu khayran hamadt 'allah ta`ala wa in ra’itu sharran astaghfarta lakum.
My life is good for you as you will relate from me and it will be related to you, and when I die my passing will be better for you. (Meaning, “My death is better for you than my life, because then I can pray for you.”) I observe your deeds. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see bad, I ask forgiveness for you. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
On the Day of Judgment everyone is coming up, dressing in all his bad `amal, his wild characters, like wild animals. We will be looking like lions, snakes, scorpions, dragons--our characters. So Prophet (s), in order not to have this dress in the Day of Judgment, Allah gave him the power to check on his ummah from his grave and to clean them.
May Allah (swt) forgive us. I will mention this to make you feel happy. In short, the Prophet (s) said, “Yaa Abu Hurayrah! You have to have good manners, `alayka bi ahsan al-khuluq.” Abu Hurayrah said, “Yaa Rasoolullah! What is the best of good manners?” What do you think Prophet said to him?
وأوصى النبي صلى اللّه عليه وسلم أبا هريرة بوصية عظيمة فقال: يا أبا هريرة! عليك بحسن الخلق. قال أبو هريرة رضي اللّه عنه: وما حسن الخلق يا رسول اللّه؟ قال: تصل مَنْ قطعك، وتعفو عمن ظلمك، وتُعطي من حرمك
Awsaa ‘n-nabiyyu sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallim Aba Hurayrah bi-waseeyyati `azheematin fa-qaala: yaa Aba Hurayrah radiAllahu `anhu, `alayka bi-husnu ‘l-khuluq. Qaala Abu Hurayrah: wa maa hasana ‘l-khulqi yaa Rasoolullah. Qaala: tasila man qata`k, wa ta`foo `amman zhalamak, wa tu`tee man haramak.
As the Prophet (s) said to Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r): “You must keep good character,” and he asked, “What is the good character?” And the Prophet (s) said:
1. “to connect with the one who disconnected with you.”
2. “To forgive the one who oppressed you,”
3. “to give to the one who blocked you from getting what you like.” (Bayhaqi)
“The first three elements, principles is tasila man qata`k, to build bridges back with the one that broke it or disconnected, broke relationship with you.” You have to reach out to him, don’t break it more and then everyone goes east and west. Try to build it back. Even though, as people today say, “Karaamatee, my honor, my dignity is down because I’m begging him to build bridges,” but Prophet said, “Build bridges, tasila man qata`k.”
Wa ta`foo `amman zhalamak, “And to forgive the one who oppressed you, the one who gave you hard time, forgive him.” It’s not my, it’s not what...because Sufi people, spiritual people say that people say to them, “O! Why I have to forgive him? He harmed me!” but Prophet (s) is saying this: ta`foo `amman zhalamak, you have to forgive the one who oppressed you.
And finally, wa tu`tee man haramak, “To give to the one who prohibited you to reach what you need.” If he doesn’t give you, you give him. Wa tu`tee man haramak. What is “tu`tee man haramak”? For example, between brothers and sisters in inheritance, some of the brothers eat the right of the sisters, denying their rights. That is not accepted, you have to give back! And in general, wa tu`tee man haramak is (the one) who boycott you, you try to give him, to extend your hand to him.
May Allah (swt) forgive us. May Allah bless us. It’s good to listen to this advice again on the Internet, me and you because it carries lots of good manners and good characters, because when we don’t take notes, like in universities all of you take notes, is it not? You don’t want to fail, you want to take A+ or B or somthing, but here, “Ah, who cares!” It comes from here and goes from here, no one caring. But this is for Akhirah: you care or you don’t care, it is not necessary, because the light of these is written on your heart. When you speak about the Prophet (s), that light will enter the heart. When you speak about the ayah of Holy Qur'an, the light of aayaat al-Qu’ran will enter in your heart, it will be written there.
So like this camera is not better than the heart. It is videotaping everything, but the heart is videotaping and it stays there for your Akhirah. That’s why such association...what is the reward for one person? If we say the rewards is ten hasanah, it will not give him ten hasanah but on the number of the people here, it will be multiplied by the number of people. If you get ten hasanah, multiplied by two-hundred people, then it’s two-thousand hasanah.
So the Prophet (s) said in a hadith that such associations can erase alfa alfa majlisi soow, 1000 x 1000 bad associations. This is a good association. That one good association is able to erase 1000 x 1000, which is one million bad associations. So this is the benefit of such associations.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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