Awliyaullah Guide Us to the Greatest Salawaat

The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 21

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

29 April 2012     Fenton, Michigan

Suhbah Before Salaat azh-Zhuhr

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Ati`oollaaha wa ati`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)

Dastoor, madad yaa Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani.

Dastoor, madad yaa Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani.

Every moment in our life is valuable, like a business deal that you want to close before anyone takes it from you, so you quickly make an offer. Similarly, every moment of our life is valuable because you will be trading dunya for akhirah, and if you lose that moment it doesn't come back, especially if you spent your life doing something that Allah (swt) doesn't like, and we do that a lot. So it is imperative to evaluate our life every moment to see how you are spending it and how you are using it. Are you wasting each moment or are you keeping it so that one day you will find it multiplied as a reward from Allah (swt)? Therefore, our duty is to be careful not to give too many of those moments to dunya and forget akhirah.

Grandshaykh (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said, “Allah gave us twenty-four hours in a day: eight hours to work, eight hours to make `ibaadah, and eight hours to sleep.” The eight hours you work will be written as `ibaadah because you are working in Allah's Way to raise your children in an Islamic way. The eight hours of `ibaadah means eight hours doing your daily awraad, reading Holy Qur'an and hadith, dhikrullah, sitting with your family and children. Don't say, “I am busy and have no time for you,” as that is written in the eight hours  of `ibaadah. And then eight hours for sleep. If you don't want to spend eight hours sleeping, sleep less and do more `ibaadah and spend more time with your family. If you take from the eight hours of sleep and do more `ibaadah or in your business, as long as you do it in the way of Allah it is accepted, if you give in the way of Allah and are generous and not stingy. This is how to open your hands for akhirah.

Every moment in our lives is valuable and counted, but if we do not care, we will lose. Driving from your home to the masjid, to an association, to see a patient or client, to see a relative is all `ibaadah. Make sure wherever you step it is towards `ibaadah. The Prophet (s) taught us different forms of `ibaadah; for example, sitting with your spouse, speaking nicely or holding hands is `ibaadah, but make sure you make wudu after. When we were married, I asked Mawlana, “How am I going to keep my wudu for twenty-four hours?”

He said, “Even when you sleep with your wife it is `ibaadah, as it takes sins away from you and gives you hasanaat.”

The Prophet (s) said, “Marriage is half the religion.” So sitting with your wife and children is considered `ibaadah. But we are not doing that; instead, we are trying to waste our time and Shaytan benefits as he tries to pull us out of these valuable moments to turn them into moments of sin. Therefore, awliyaullah do not like that and they don't want their mureeds to fall into the hands of Shaytan, they want something that will magically happen, if we can say that. Because if it is not happening magically or if you were to count your actions one-by-one, then you might fall into too many sins and have only a small amount of hasanaat, good deeds, so they want to turn this small amount of hasanaat into something bigger. How to do that? By salawat on the Prophet (s)! That is a direct order of Allah (swt) to angels and mu’mineen, which means there is huge benefit in making salawat.

This is what we have mentioned in the previous lectures of this series, the importance of salawaat on the Prophet (s). Awliyaullah are worried about their followers and want them to get more hasanaat than sayyi`aat (sins). So sometimes, just like a bottle of air freshener is compressed so as soon as you spray even a little bit, it fills the place and everyone in the house can smell it, like magic. Allah (swt) taught that technology to humanity. You accept it, but if you told previous people about it, would they have believed you? Do you believe? What about our smell, and why do we use air-fresheners? Because we stink from sayyi`aat that make us stink. The food you eat does not smell bad; it has a perfect taste and a perfect smell, but as soon as it goes into our system it smells bad, because it passes through all these sayyi`aat. There is no way this food would have a bad smell if it went through a wali. They gave their lives for Allah (swt) and the Prophet (s), they are always in the presence of the Prophet (s) and awliyaullah, and always in Allah’s Presence through their hearts.

Grandshaykh mentioned a story about one of the mureeds of Khawaja `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q). It was time for supper, so the Shaykh asked for the food to be put out; he wanted to make a test, so for the following two or three days he ordered the food to not only be doubled, but increased by ten times! As you may know, awliyaullah eat very little, like Mawlana Shaykh Nazim never eats much. Khawaja `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) began to change his habits by eating too much to test and teach them, “Don’t let sayyi`aat overtake you, but let hasanaat overtake you.” They began to doubt.

One time someone brought a child to Dr. X who hadn't used the bathroom for 21 days. The doctor put his hand on him and read Surat al-Fatihah. They are western people who don't know about Fatihah. Soon after he read it, the child had a bowel movement. That was Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s (q) barakah, not Dr. X’s barakah. If I say it was his barakah he will feel proud and we have to keep his ego down.

So one mureed of the Shaykh thought, “Where is he going to relieve himself and what smell is going to come from it?” In those days there was no facility to make it easy and they had to go behind a hill far from the village. We have to thank Allah (swt) for the ease we have today. So Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq took the mureed and asked him to take a pitcher (for water). He took him over to the hill and asked him not to look as he went down. After five minutes he returned. That place was in the desert and it was difficult to smell from a far distance. So as soon as the Shaykh went back to village, the mureeds were curious to see how much came out and its smell, so they went to see and much to their surprise, found three small pieces that were pure and clean and smelled like musk! This is because Allah (swt) cleaned them. Awliyaullah’s system is clean and they are not wasting any valuable moment in their life for the remembrance of Allah (swt). When they pass it out, it was cased like three drips, and I do not wish to mention more or people on the Internet will say, “What are you saying?” But you can imagine what the mureeds did.

Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq showed them Allah (swt) is giving power to awliyaullah to clean themselves. Just as you cannot pray on a prayer rug that is najaasa, filthy or impure, you have to clean its impurity to pray on it. Similrly, awliyaullah cleaned their hearts and systems, so the drips that came were magical because of their nice smell. If a room is filled with a bad smell, you will use the air freshener and it will cover everything, making it clean and smell in the best way. Awliyaullah want that for their mureeds, because they know their followers are lazy and weak. They want to do us a favor, so for that they need to make a request or petition to the Prophet (s), as they cannot do anything miraculously, especially Naqshbandis, because unlike other tariqahs, Naqshbandis are not allowed to show miracles directly to your face. The wali must first take permission through a dream or a vision in order to show a miracle, otherwise he may not do it. This protocol is well established in Islam with many evidences.

For example, Sayyidina Isma`il al-Bukhari (r) verified the authenticity of a hadith by making wudu and istikhaara, asking Prophet (s) through his vision during his sleep, then he saw a vision or dream with the Prophet (s) informing him if it was correct or not. If he did not see a dream he did not record it, and that was his habit for every hadith. He recorded more than 7,000 ahadith, but now in Sahih al-Bukhari they are reduced to 4,000 ahadith. So count, how many times he saw the Prophet (s)? He even asked the Prophet (s) about the heading of chapters and where to place them in the book, and Prophet (s) answered.

Al-Hafizh as-Sakhawi (r), one of the greatest Sufi scholars, related in his book Afdal as-Salawat, on page 77:

There was a person from the Bani Isra`il who was musrifun `ala nafsihi, committing too many sins and wasting too much time, who was not accepted in the time of Sayyidina Musa (a). When he died, instead of praying for him and giving him a proper burial, they threw him in a well. Allah (swt) revealed to Sayyidina Musa (a) to take him out from the well, clean him, pray on him, and said that He had forgiven him. Sayyidina Musa (a) was surprised and said, “Yaa Rabbee, how is this happening? I don't understand it.” Allah responded, “One day he opened the Tawrat and found in it the name of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), and then he praised him. Because of that I forgave him.” He was forgiven for making salawat on Prophet (s) only one time!

Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa`iz ad-Daghestani (q) related a similar story.

In the time of the Prophet (s), there was a man in Madinah who was shaqqi, a gangster. He bothered everyone by robbing them or beating them up. He did everything bad in his life and no one was happy with him, as he was a big disturbance for them. He had no family except for one daughter. When he died, the people of the village threw him in the well.

Then Allah (swt) revealed to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), "Yaa Muhammad! One of My awliya passed away today; he is in the well where they threw him. Go pick him up, wash him, put a kaffan (shroud) on him, pray on him and then bury him.”

And the Prophet (s), may Allah (swt) give him endless prayers from our side to him and keep us under his shafa`ah, went with the Sahaabah (r) and pulled him out of the well. They washed him, put him in a kaffan, prayed on him and took him to Jannat al-Baqi to be buried. Prophet (s) walked on his toes instead of his feet.

Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) said, “You are walking on your toes!”

Prophet (s) answered, “Yaa Abu Bakr! Don’t ask me about it, I am so surprised.” (This was to teach us.) After they buried that man, the Prophet (s) said, “There was no place to put my feet as there were so many angels accompanying that janazah!”

Jibril (a) came to the Prophet (s) and said, “O Prophet! Don’t be astonished by My Rahmah. You are Rahmatali 'l-`Alameen,” and told him to go ask the daughter about him.

The daughter said, “Yaa Rasoolullah! My father was always disturbing and harming people, but when the month of Rajab approached, he would say, ‘As the Prophet (s) said, Rajabun shahrullah, Sha`banu shahree, wa Ramadan shahra ummatee, Rajab is the month of Allah. I cannot do anything wrong.’ He had a box and in it was a prayer that he recited while in seclusion and he missed nothing of worship in that month and he came out only to use the bathroom.”

That du`a was written on deer skin that she showed to the Prophet (s) and it is in Du`a al-Maathoor of Grandshaykh `Abdullah (q). Because of that man’s recitation of that du`a and his salawat on Prophet (s), Allah (swt) saved him, forgave him, made him a wali and made Prophet (s) pray the janaazah prayer for him. Look at how Merciful Allah (swt) is when people love His Prophet (s)!

It is not easy to lose time without doing salawaat on the Prophet (s), so keep your tongue busy with salawaat whenever you are free. Look at what kind of greatness or value Allah (swt) gives to the one who makes salawaat on the Prophet (s), even the one who sins. So if we want forgiveness for our sins that we commit every moment, we must make salawaat often. Our brains sin by thinking of wrong things and it is the central place where we listen to whatever Shaytan whispers, then we leave what Allah (swt) sends us. Now we have Dalaa’il al-Khayraat by Imam al-Jazuli (r), who saw Prophet (s) in his dreams. When you have a large file on the computer you compress it; similarly, he compressed all the salawaat into Dalaa’il al-Khayraat. Alhamdulillah, you may recite one or two chapters daily after reading the Holy Qur’an, or read as much as you like.

Imam as-Sakhawi (r) and many other scholars said these saints brought so many different versions of salawaat with different fresheners and fragrances. Do you like to buy one kind of nice smell or many? When you go to a perfumery in Mecca, you see thousands of bottles of perfume. You don’t know which is the best, only the seller knows. He says, “What do you want, basic, high quality, or the best?” and he directs you to the best. Salawaat `ala an-Nabiyy (s) is the best. There is a top shelf in perfumery shops that has the very best perfume that don’t sell to everyone as it is reserved only for special clients. One time in Madinah a very rich person gave me sticks of wood. I am not an expert in that as I have allergies and don’t use these, so I didn’t know its value. He said, “These sticks weigh two kilograms and are valued at US $30,000; it is the highest quality of `ood, perfumed incense wood.”

So these salawaat that awliyaullah give us are from the highest fragrance. As soon as you recite them, they penetrate through the Seven Heavens, reaches the Throne and stays there. Just as when you sleep on wudu, the soul goes all the way under the `Arsh and makes sajda. So these prayers on the Prophet (s) go all the way under the Throne and are present there. Do you not think Allah (swt) will forgive the one reciting them? Allah (swt) forgives the lovers of Sayyidina Muhammad!

And there is one salaat on the Prophet (s) that is very famous, “The Prayer That Opens What Is Closed.” Mehmet al-Fatih (r), who conquered Istanbul and threw the Romans out of Constantinople, was mentioned by Prophet (s) in a hadith, “One day Constantinople will be opened and the best of princes is that prince and the best of armies is that army.” That happened 500 years after the Prophet (s). That is Salaat al-Faatih, “the Salaat that Conquers.” It conquers everywhere and gives its fragrance everywhere. As we mentioned yesterday, the fragrance of the salawaat is smelled by every creation except jinn and ins, as that is a test for human beings and awliyaullah, but when they reach a certain level they will smell it.

Grandshaykh (q) also said if one Hoor al-`Ayn in Paradise will show one fingernail to dunya, this whole dunya will faint. And how can you compare a hoori to the Prophet (s)? There is no comparison. So that hadith says the smell of salawaat would cause everyone to faint. It is:

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Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadin ‘il-faatihi limaa ughliqa wa 'l-khaatimi limaa sabaqa wa 'n-naasiri 'l-haqqi bi 'l-haqqi wa 'l-haadi ilaa siraatika 'l-mustaqeema sall 'Llahu `alayhi wa `alaa aalihi wa-ashaabihi haqqa qadrihi wa miqdaarihi 'l-`azheem.

O Allah! Bless our Master Muhammad (s), who opened what was closed and who is the Seal of what went before, he who makes the Truth victorious by the Truth, the guide to Thy Straight Path, and bless his household as is the due of his immense position and grandeur.

Anyone who makes that salawat once will not go to Hellfire! And some awliyaullah said that if you say it once it is like you said it 10,000 times, and some said it is like you said it 600,000 times!

It is mentioned also in Wirdat al-Juyoob, which translates as, “The Floral Fragrance You Can Put in Pockets.”

I asked the Prophet (s) in a dream, wa amma as-salat al-faatih... fa akhbaranee bi annahaa sitta mitt alfa salaat. He said, “It is as if you read 600,000 salawaat.” 

I asked him, “Are all these 600,000 reward that Allah will give, only for reading it once?”

The Prophet (s) confirmed it to me, “Na`am, every time you recite it, not each association but everyone in that association that recites will get 600,000 salawat.”

And more than that, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is saying, “You will not get 600,000 times, but you will get on the number of people reciting it.” So let us recite it!

Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadin ‘il-faatihi limaa ughliqa wa 'l-khaatimi limaa sabaqa wa 'n-naasiri 'l-haqqi bi 'l-haqqi wa '