15 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah after Zhuhr Salaat
As-salaam `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
First of all, we are honored to have Shaykh Muhammad here today and we are always honored to be in the presence of the visitors and local people in this masjid of Mawlana Shaykh. I will be leaving early tomorrow and the discussion of fadaa'il, rewards, for those who make salawaat on the Prophet (s),will be continued as a series and you can watch it on Sufilive.com or read the transcripts available there. I hope I did the best I can to explain these things.
Yesterday we ended by saying that for those who make salawaat on the Prophet (s), on the Day of Judgment their shoulders will rub or touch the shoulders of the Prophet (s) as they will be walking together with him. This is a great privilege to be with the Prophet (s), who is with everyone in dunya and Akhirah; he is not far from anyone, as Allah (swt) said:
وإعلموا أن فيكم رسول الله
W`alamoo anna feekum rasoolullaah.
And know Allah's Messenger is in you. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:7)
I will mention this email that came to me, wherein the sender says, “Kindly print out this explanation for me.” It is a nice explanation of what we mentioned here, wa minha anna qatif al-musalli `ala an-Nabi (s)... “the shoulder of the one who prays on the Prophet (s) will rub the shoulder of the Prophet (s).” And yesterday we put a question mark: how would billions of people from ummat an-Nabi (s) who made salawaat on him each rub shoulders with him?
This is an explanation in Bahjat al-Nufus by Ibn Abi Jamra (d.699/1300) on his abridgment of Sahih al-Bukhari:
قالت أسماء بنت أبي بكر:أتيت عائشة وهي تصلي ، فقلت : ما شأن الناس . فأشارت إلى السماء ، فإذا الناس قيام ، فقالت : سبحان الله ، قلت : آية ؟ فأشارت برأسها : أي نعم ، فقمت حتى تجلاني الغشي ، فجعلت أصب على رأسي الماء ، فحمد الله عز وجل النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وأثنى عليه ثم قال : ما من شيء لم أكن أريته إلا رأيته في مقامي ، حتى الجنة والنار ، فأوحي إلي : أنكم تفتنون في قبوركم - مثل أو - قريب - لا أدري أي ذلك قالت أسماء - من فتنة المسيح الدجال ، يقال ما علمك بهذا الرجل ؟ فأما المؤمن أو الموقن - لا أدري بأيهما قالت أسماء - فيقول : هو محمد رسول الله ، جاءنا بالبينات والهدى ، فأجبنا واتبعنا ، هو محمد ، ثلاثا ، فيقال : نم صالحا ، قد علمنا إن كنت لموقنا به . أما المنافق أو المرتاب - لا أدري أي ذلك قالت أسماء - فيقول : لا أدري ، سمعت الناس يقولون شيئا فقلته .
The Prophet (s) said:
...It was revealed to me that you will be tested in the graves with a like trial to that of the Anti-Christ. Each of you will be approached and asked, "What do you know of this man?
The believer (or the one who is certain) will say, "He is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, who brought us the clear signs and guidance. So we responded to him, believed and followed him. He is Muhammad (3 times).” He will be told, "Sleep, O virtuous one! We know that you believed in him.” As for the hypocrite (or the doubter), he will say, "I do not know. I heard people saying something and so I said it too." (Sahih Bukhari)
What do you want to say when you see the Prophet (s), who is visible to you in the grave? And the Prophet (s) will not let any believer leave this dunya without saying, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu annaka Rasoolullah!” and the Prophet (s) will not let anyone leave dunya without being with them in their grave. He will say, “This is Muhammad, this is Muhammad, and this is Muhammad!” So if a hundred men died at the same time and they are buried, according to this hadith of the Prophet (s) they will all be with him at the same time and see the Prophet (s) standing there! O Muslims! You have to be very happy with the Mercy that Allah (swt) gave to you, and what is His Mercy? His Mercy is Muhammad (s)!
Look at this tafseer! Also, Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:
فَوَجَدَا عَبْدًا مِّنْ عِبَادِنَا آتَيْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنْ عِندِنَا وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا
Fa-wajadaa `abdan min `ibaadinaa ataynahu rahmatan min `indinaa wa `allamnaahu min ladunnaa `ilma.
And they found a servant from among Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him a (certain) knowledge. (Surat al-Kahf, 18:65)
Sayyidina Musa (a) met with a servant of Allah (swt) and he got special knowledge. When we were in a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, and I asked a big scholar, President of al-Azhar University, “What is the meaning of this verse?” He is a very diplomatic, educated person.
He said, “Yaa Shaykh Hisham! I am head of Azhar but I am not too much into (tasawwuf) interpretations.” He likes tasawwuf and he follows Shadhili Tariqah, but he doesn't want to give an interpretation. Then he asked, “What is your interpretation of that verse?”
I said, “What I say is what I heard from my Shaykh,” and I related the ayah, “We gave him mercy from Ourselves and taught him heavenly knowledge” (18:65), Allah (swt) tells us here He brought mercy before the knowledge; although first He established knowledge and then mercy, because who first studies fiqh will recognize what is mercy. But in the verse it says “rahmat” first then “`ilm,” knowledge. Before Khidr could get that heavenly knowledge, he had to get the rahmat from Sayyidina Muhammad (s), who is the Rahmat, as described in Holy Qur'an, ‘rahmatan li ’l-`alameen.’”
He looked at me and said, “Your shaykh is so deep!”
Also, we went into continuation of why Sayyidina Khidr (a) put a hole in the boat to sink it (for the safety of those involved), whereas Sayyidina Nuh (a) didn't put a hole in the boat (as he built it well so it would save the people from the flood). We will leave that discussion to another time. We will continue this series in America and other countries.
The Prophet (s) will be everywhere with you. From this hadith, I want to make sure we all open our minds and our hearts, to understand and to see how far we are from reality. This applies not just to a wali or a mureed, but to everyone. Awliyaullah understand this hadith the most, and if you want to learn from them we have to watch why they are doing this, as mentioned below. We are seeing this today with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) so many times and I also used to see it with Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) many times. It is a message for everyone who is on the Internet to take care about this, because the Prophet (s) mentioned it many times and that was a very simple word: “buka,” to cry.
عن أبي ريحانة صاحب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ، قال : سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول : لا ترى النار عين بكت من خشية الله ، ولا عين سهرت في سبيل الله
Saahib an-Nabee (s) Abi Rayhana (r) heard the Prophet (s) often mention this one word to his Companions: Laa taraa an-naara `aynun bakat min khashiyati ‘Llah, wa laa `aynun saharat fee sabeelillah.
Two eyes will never be touched by the Fire: an eye that sheds tears out of fear of Allah and a vigilant eye that stayed awake on guard (in struggle) for the sake of Allah . (al-Haakim, Ahmad, an-Nisaa’ee)
Laa taraa an-naara `aynun, “Your eye will not see fire if” bakat min khashiyatillah “the eye cried tears from the Greatness of Allah and was aware of Allah's fear and punishment and who is wary of being away from Allah's Love and tears come from that eye, such an eye will never see Hellfire.”
Wa laa `aynun saharat fee sabeelillah, “and an eye that was awake at night struggling in the way of Allah (swt).” Struggle does not only mean military jihad, as many people think, but Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, the student of Ibn Taymiyya, mentioned fourteen different forms of jihad, and one of them is the holy jihad or military jihad, and that has to be under the Khalifah. I have asked in many conferences, where is “holy jihad” mentioned in the Holy Qur’an? It is simply mentioned as “jihad,” and “struggling in the way of Allah (swt),” which are fourteen different ways; one of them is war and the other thirteen refer to different forms of struggle including a person’s struggle with his lower self.
I have never seen Mawlana Shaykh Nazim asleep before Fajr. Both he and Hajjah Anne, may Allah (swt) bless her soul, woke up one-and-half hours before Fajr, prayed tahajjud, recited the awraad, and prayed Fajr, staying awake up to Ishraaq. This is the meaning of wa laa `aynun saharat fee sabeelillah, “and an eye that was awake at night struggling in the way of Allah (swt) and against Shaytan.”
افضل الجهاد كلمة عدل عند سلطان جائر
`An Abee Sa`eed al-Khudree qaal afdul al-jihad kalimatu `adlin `inda sultaanin jaa’ir.
Abi Sa`eed al-Khudree related from the Prophet (s), “The best jihad (struggle) is a word of truth before a tyrannical king.” (Tirmidhi)
The best form of jihad is “To say a word of truth in front of a tyrant sultan.” Who is that tyrant? Don't look far to see which president it is; it is your ego! Say to yourself, “Be careful” and let tears come from your eyes! When you read the Holy Qur’an, push yourself to cry, to have tears coming from your eyes so you will never see Hellfire!
Hasan al-Basri (r) related that the Prophet (s) said, “What Allah (swt) loves the most is a teardrop coming from the eye of a person at night when he is in tafakkur, contemplation, and rabitah, meditation, reflecting on Allah's Greatness and Love.” One tear from that eye is valued by Allah (swt).
Sayyidina Dawood (a) said, Yaa ilaahee maa jazaau man bakiya min khashiyatika? “What is rewarded to one who cries out of fear or love of You until the tears flow on his cheeks?”
The answer came from Allah (swt) , “It is forbidden for the Fire to reach his cheeks and I will save him!”
Are we crying at night, getting some of these tears? Maybe sometimes, but not all the time. Here I mention something important from Sayyidina al-Hasan (r), son of Sayyidina`Ali (r), “Any tear shed from a person due to the love of Allah, Allah will free someone from Hellfire before that tear even reaches the floor.” Because of that tear that is coming from someone’s eye, Allah (swt) will release one of His servants from Hellfire! If Shaykh Muhammad has a tear, Allah (swt) will release one servant from Hellfire before it reaches the floor, and that applies to anyone. Sayyidina al-Hasan (r) continued, “If one person cried in a group of people (such as this one), then all of them will be saved because of that one person’s crying.”
Allahu Akbar! What Mercy Allah (swt) gives to Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! This is the Rahmah, and when you get from Rahmat an-Nabi (s) you get knowledge, so these are drops of knowledge coming from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), as the ocean is with him, because through their spiritual power the awliyaullah are with Sayyidina Muhammad (s).
I will not be too long because I have to come to the other explanations, but I will quote this:
عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الشَّامِيِّ ، قَالَ : " لَمَّا أَصَابَ دَاوُدُ الْخَطِيئَةَ ، جَعَلَ يَبْكِي إِلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَيَبْكُونَ إِلَيْهِ ، ثُمَّ يَخْرُجُ إِلَى الْبَرِّيَّةِ ، فَيَبْكِي إِلَى الْوحُوشِ وَتَبْكِي إِلَيْهِ ، ثُمَّ يَنُوحُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ ، فَتَعْكُفُ عَلَيْهِ الطَّيْرُ ، فَتَبْكِي لِبُكَائِهِ ثُمَّ تَضِيقُ بِهِ خَطِيئَتُهُ ، فَيَسِيحُ فِي الْجِبَالِ ، فَيُنَادِي : إِلَيْكَ رَهِبْتُ إِلَهِي مِنْ عَظِيمِ جُرْمِي . فَلا يَزَالُ كَذَلِكَ حَتَّى يُمْسِيَ ، فَيَرْجِعَ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ ، فَيَدْخُلَ بَيْتَ عِبَادَتِهِ ، فَلا يَزَالُ مُصَلِّيًا ، بَاكِيًا ، سَاجِدًا . قَالَ : فَأَتَاهُ ابْنٌ لَهُ صَغِيرٌ ، فَنَادَاهُ : يَا أَبَتَاهُ ! هَجَمَ اللَّيْلُ ، وَأَفْطَرَ الصَّائِمُونَ . فَقَالَ : يَا بُنَيَّ ! إِنَّ أَبَاكَ لَيْسَ كَمَا كَانَ يَكُونُ ! إِنَّ أَبَاكَ قَدْ وَقَعَ فِي أَمْرٍ عَظِيمٍ ! إِنَّ أَبَاكَ عَنْكَ وَعَنْ عَشَائِكَ مَشْغُولٌ . قَالَ : فَرَجَعَ الْغُلامُ بَاكِيًا إِلَى أُمِّهِ ، فَجَاءَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ ، فَقَالَتْ : يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ ! بِأَبِي أَنْتَ وَأُمِّي ، قَدْ جَاءَ اللَّيْلُ ، وَحَضَرَ فِطْرُ الصَّائِمِ ، أَلا نَأْتِيكَ بِطَعَامِكَ ؟ قَالَ : فَنَادَاهَا مِنْ وَرَاءِ الْبَابِ : وَمَا يَصْنَعُ دَاوُدُ بِالطَّعَامِ بَعْدَ رُكُوبِ الْخَطِيئَةِ ؟ فَلَمْ يَزَلْ عَلَى هَذَا ، حَتَّى غُفِرَ لَهُ " .
When Sayyidina Dawood (a) committed the mistake (asking to marry the wife of one of his generals, which would have made her his 100th wife in addition to his 99 others, and he knew he had made a mistake, because two angels came to him and asked him about someone who had 99 ewes and sought the sole ewe owned by his brother, upon which he realized he was being tested), the people of Bani Israel were crying because he was crying and they were crying for him. And he went to the forest and cried among the wild animals, and the wild animals cried with him. Then he cried with himself until he lost himself, like someone who is unaware of anything, and he continued to cry. Then the birds came and sat on his shoulders and cried with him. So all of Bani Israel and all birds and animals cried with him.
Then he felt oppressed or dead; as if he was in a box with no place to move.
Then he went to the mountain and said, Fa yunaadee ilayka rahibtu ilaahee min `azheem jurmee. “O my God! I am coming to You asking forgiveness for my great mistake,” and he would cry until midnight. When his family slept, he would not speak to them, he remained crying in sajdah until the time for morning prayer. And one day his young son came and called him, “O my father! Night came and everyone who was fasting broke their fast, and my mother gave them food. Come and eat.”
He said, “O my son! Your father is not as he used to be; verily, your father has made a big mistake. Your father is not interested in you or in your dinner, he is not interested in the food your mother has made, and he is not interested in you or anyone, because he did something that Allah didn't like.” The boy went back to his mother crying! Sayyidina Dawood’s wife came and said, “O Prophet of Allah! I give you my life and the life of my mother and my father. Verily night came and the people who were fasting have broken their fast. Can we get you your food now?” Qaala fa naadahaa min waraa al-baab, wa maa yasna` dawood bi ‘t-ta`m ba`d al-khatiyya, what is Dawood going to do with food? And he continued in this way until Allah (swt) forgave him. (Narrated by Ibn Abi ad-Dunya)
You will ask why I brought this story about tears. Allah (swt) gave everyone a mind and heart, but some people have a mind that is bigger than this universe, and they have a heart bigger than all of creation, because they take from the Prophet (s)! They are not easy to find because they are hidden and therefore, they are not easy to come across. Not many are like those to whom Allah (swt) gave a choice to live their life and they gave their life in service to Him, as Allah (swt) describes:
وِمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
Wa minhum man yaqoolu rabbanaa atinaa fi ’d-dunya hasanatan wa fi ’l-aakhirati hasanatan wa qinaa `adhaaba’n-naar.
And there are men who say, “Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the Fire!” (Surat al-Baqara, 2:201)
But these “men,” the awliyaullah, only look at Akhirah!
لو كانت الدنيا تعدل عند الله جناح بعوضة ما سقى كافراً منها شربة ماء
Law kaanati 'd-dunya t`adila `ind-Allaahi janaaha ba`oodatan maa saqaa kaafirun minhaa shurbatu ma’a.
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. (Ibn Majah, Haakim)
Awliyaullah are in seclusion twenty-four hours a day. You speak with them and they speak with you, but in reality they are in seclusion. Today I was sitting besides Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and since I came here fifteen days ago and also the last time I came here, I am seeing something extraordinary. Every hour or two Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah (swt) give him long life and shifa`a, is making du`a and crying. When he sees someone that he loves and makes du`a for them, he cries. People don't know why he is crying and they say to him, “Stop crying,” because when we ask him to stop crying, we are thinking according to our capacity, not his. He is seeing what no one is seeing; he sees what the Prophet (s) is showing him!
Two days ago we spoke about Sayyidina Uwais al-Qarani (r) and, as Grandshaykh (q) said, the dress of the Prophet (s) was wet with his sweat from the sins of the ummah, as they passed one-by-one in front of him. And he (s) felt shy from their sins and asked forgiveness for them. Each drop of that sweat represented one of his ummah, which he passed on to Sayyidina Uwais al-Qarani.
Sayyidina Adam (a) went into sajda for forty years; why forty? Because he was crying and his tears flowed like rivers on behalf of his offspring that were to come in the future. After forty years Allah (swt) said to him, “Raise your head, they are forgiven.”
It means don't ask Mawlana Shaykh to stop crying! He will continue to cry until he gets the tidings that all his followers will go to Paradise, so don't ask him to stop! These are awliyaullah asking for their mureeds; one tear of a believer, as the Prophet (s) said, is enough to put Hellfire down. What about awliyaullah? Their tears are the exemplar of human beings: each tear represents one mureed. And as the tears are dropping, with the barakah of the Prophet (s) and the Shaykh, Allah (swt) will forgive them.
Therefore, if you see your shaykh crying, cry with him! There is one mureed of Mawlana who starts crying whenever he cries. If Mawlana is crying, she also cries and does not stop and then everyone begins to cry as well. That is his daughter, Hajjah Naziha. It is good to cry, as his crying saves all followers and he presents them clean to the presence of the Prophet (s). Also, our tears save us from punishment and bring us closer to the Prophet (s). May Allah (swt) give Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) long life. Don't think he is sitting in his bed retired, no! Awliyaullah don't retire and whoever thinks this way is mistaken. Is the Prophet (s) retired? No way!
The Prophet (s) said:
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 mitta kaanat wafaatee khayran lakum. Tu`radu `alayya `amalaakum fa in raa’itu khayran hamadta ’Llah wa in raa’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. Your deeds are displayed to me. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see bad, I ask forgiveness for them. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
Which means, “I will not forget you. You are still my ummah, even after my death.” Awliyaullah never retire until the last moment that Allah (swt) is taking them to a higher level of knowledge. They don’t retire, but in fact they go higher and higher in service to the ummah. We never heard that the Prophet (s) or anbiyullah (a), or the Sahaabah (r) or the awliyaullah “retired;” they are doing something to the very last moment of their lives. Social politics do not apply to Shari`ah and tariqah, such as when governments require citizens to retire at the age of 65 and take ma`ash, pocket money (pension) and go, that just applies to us as we are regular people. But are awliyaullah asking for compensation for their lives? There is no retirement in Allah's Way as it is without end and you must keep moving.
We can see this universe is not retired, it is constantly moving at 300,000 kilometers per second, running in that vacuum of space to where there is no beginning and no end. Awliyaullah are moving from pre-Eternal up to Eternal, from one level to the next. In their life, they reach their followers in every moment and in their death they do the same. We are very lucky as we are followers of Sultan al-Awliya. May Allah (swt) give him long life, full shifa`a, and give him more and more power to pull us from the hands of Shaytan and save us from the hands of those who backbite! We must not backbite as it is haraam and Allah (swt) is the Judge.
Mawlana Shaykh Nazim told us a story from Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) that there was once a person in the time of Sayyidina `Umar (r) about whom Prophet (s) said, “This man is going to Paradise.” Sayyidina `Umar (r) was interested and wanted to know the secret to his good tidings, so he followed him to his house. After praying`Isha with the Prophet (s), that man came home, made wudu, prayed two raka`ats and slept. Then he went for Fajr, Zhuhr, `Asr, and Maghrib. He hosted Sayyidina `Umar (r) without asking him any questions, following Islamic tradition, the same way Mawlana Shaykh Nazim hosts all of you here.
After three days he asked Sayyidina `Umar (r), “Can I help you?” And Sayyidina `Umar (r) said, “I am seeing you doing normal life, only you pray with the Prophet (s) and then your normal work. So why did the Prophet (s) say you are going to Paradise?”
That man said, “Before I sleep I say, ‘Ash-hadu laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah’ and I renew my Shahadah. And when I say, ‘Ash-hadu laa ilaaha illa-Llah,’ I am witnessing, and when I say, ‘wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah,’ I witness the Prophet (s) in front of me.” Not like us. “And the second thing is, if I have millions in my hand in the morning and if I lost it at end of day, I don't get happy in morning and I don't get sad in night. I only do anything for love of Allah (swt) and for Akhirah.”
That is why we are coming to Mawlana, because we love our Shaykh! We can participate in dunya anywhere and easily make money out of dunya, but if we want Akhirah, we make our five prayers, our Hajj, our fasting, give our sadaqah, and make Shahadah, then we will enter Paradise. But why are we coming here? We come here for Mawlana's love. So I don't care what I get from dunya as I am happy to love Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s).
Continuing that man’s explanation, “And third is, when I put my head on my pillow to sleep, I say, ‘Yaa Rabbee! Whoever hurt me today and gave me pain, I forgive them from depths of my heart and if I did something wrong to them, then, O Allah, forgive me!’ I have these three characters.”
When Mawlana Shaykh Nazim cries he is dressing us with that, and each dress doesn't resemble the other; from each tear he is giving one dress for each mureed, and don't think that is too much as the power that Sayyidina Muhammad (s) gave to awliyaullah is beyond imagination! May Allah (swt) dress us with these three characters.
Wa min Allah (swt) at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
And I thank you all, especially my uncle Shaykh Muhammad. May Allah (swt) give him power and support him in order that he may be with all of you. Listen to him and learn from him, and what you may learn the most from him is humbleness. He humbly sits with everyone and gives them his time, whether they are young or old. I have known him now for 50 years and know he is very humble and a very quiet person.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
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