22 August 2011 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Suhbah after Fajr
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (an-Nisa, 4:59)
This verse is the head of every suhbah and contains the most important message of Islam. For that reason, you should make a wird of reciting one-hundred times daily, “ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.”
What did the master say to his servant after he bought him to work for him? That servant was of the sincere, pious slaves; in that time it was permissible to buy helpers who stayed with you. Also, the master was good because he was asking his servant, who also answered the master. That shows obedience. If you show obedience to those in authority, you show obedience to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s). You obey the laws of any country, so why not have obedience to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s)? Why do we worry about getting a ticket where parking is not allowed, but we are not worried about getting a ticket from Allah when we do something not allowed? Because our ego is trying to divert us from the main road.
Sometimes you see a diversion or detour on a highway. Similarly, when you are not obeying you are diverting. When you divert, sometimes you are lost if there are no signs to guide you back. Islam is the message of the Prophet (s), and Allah (swt) gave him that message because He knows His servants will get lost. When you divert there are arrows to come back to the highway and likewise, obedience is the sign to come back to the normal Siraatu 'l-Mustaqeem.
That master was a pious person, since a master doesn't need to ask his servant, the master usually orders the servant. But when the servant is so obedient that he is near to the door of the Divine Presence, Allah (swt) will ask His servant what he likes. When Allah (swt) is happy with His servant, He will give him many things without even questioning him.
ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ
Id`oonee astajeeb lakum.
Supplicate to Me and I will give you! (40:60)
Only come and say, “Shukran, yaa Rabbee!” Come and say, “Alhamdulillah!” He will give what you never imagined. When Allah (swt) gives, it is not like when we give; we count when we give, but with Allah (swt) there is no count.
So the master asked the servant, “What food do you want me to offer you?" Allah (swt) is saying, "What do you like? I will give it to you, but ask.” If a normal person asks what you want, then what about Allah (swt) and the Prophet (s), who said:
العلماء ورثة الأنبياء
Al-`ulamaa warathat al-anbiya.
The saints are inheritors of the prophets.
Awliya cannot be Sahaabah (r), who were dressed in that holy light without even being on Sirat al-Mustaqeem; Allah (swt) dressed the Sahaabah in that honor on the Day of Promises. If they do or don't do, still they are Sahaabah. For example, Sayyidina Khalid ibn al-Waleed (r) was the one who caused the Muslims to lose the battle of Uhud (he fought on the opposing side). In that battle they broke the front teeth of the Prophet (s). But what happened to Sayyidina Khalid after that? After Sayyidina `Ali (r), he became the main hero in the time of the Prophet (s), second only to Sayyidina `Ali! Even though in the battle of Uhud he was not yet on the side of the Prophet (s), Allah had already dressed him as a Sahaabi (r). Allah may give anyone, wahban, a grant; He gives you what He wants for you.
Your fasting or praying or any form of worship or good deeds have nothing to do with Allah's generosity! Allah (swt) can make a pebble a gem and make a sinner a wali. Can you deny it? It happened a lot of times. So He will give without asking. In this account, that pious master wants his servant to be happy. He asked, “Whatever you want to eat, I will give it to you.” If the servant says, “I want to eat this,” it means he has his own will. Will between the servant and master will not work. You must not have a will in front of your master! If you surrender, your master will dress you without limits.
When you have no will in front of Allah (swt), He will dress you with anything. Look at Sayyidatina Maryam (r); whenever she needed food, the food was presented. Whenever Sayyidina Zakariyya (a) entered her niche he found food already there. He asked her where it was coming from, even though he is a prophet and she is not. She said, “From where is that? You don't know?” But Allah hid this from Sayyidina Zakariyya to teach us, to bring this story in the Holy Qur'an. So it means when you leave your iradaha, and leave all those whom you love from your heart, at that time you will get that food, ready for you from Allah.
Why did Allah gave a big test to Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a)? He had twelve children, as mentioned in Holy Qur'an. All of them are prophets and one of them is a prophet and a messenger: Sayyidina Yusuf (a) came with a message. The others are prophets with no message and although Allah (swt) had granted them prophethood, He made them jealous of Yusuf and He blocked them (from feeling guilt), although they are prophets, and they threw Yusuf in the well. Why? As a test for Sayyidina Ya`qoob! How many years he didn't see his son and wept for him? Everyone around him said, “Leave your grief! He is dead, gone.” Many narrations say that lasted for 35 years, until Allah (swt) made him suffer blindness; he was unable to see.
وَمَن كَانَ فِي هَـذِهِ أَعْمَى فَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ أَعْمَى وَأَضَلُّ سَبِيلاً
wa man kaana fee hadhihi `ama fahuw fil-akhirati `ama.
Who is blind in this life is blind in the next. (al-Israa, 17:72)
Allah doesn't want him to be blind in the Next Life, when you are seeing your heart with your Lord, when eyes open and all you see is dunya. So after crying and crying, Allah (swt) made him blind so he cannot see his children or grandchildren. From that Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a) recognized he had made a mistake, then to make him suffer more Allah (swt) also took his son Bin Yamin from him,
because while Yusuf (a) was gone, all Sayyidina Ya`qoob’s attention went to Bin Yamin. Then both of them were gone, and he was crying!
يَا بَنِيَّ اذْهَبُواْ فَتَحَسَّسُواْ مِن يُوسُفَُ
Ya baniyya ithhaboo fatahassasoo min yoosufa.
O my sons! Go ask about Joseph. (Yusuf, 12:87)
Where to look for Yusuf after he was missing for 35 years? But Allah kept something in Sayyidina Ya`qoob’s heart as he is a messenger. However, Allah made him suffer and suffer and suffer! He (swt) said, “Yaa Yaqub! Did you put a partner with Me in your heart? You cannot have part of your heart to someone else as I am very possessive!”
innAllah ghayoor, Allah (swt) doesn't like anyone to share with him; He is the Creator! Even the Prophet (s) doesn't share what Allah granted him, perfection in servanthood, a status granted to no other! So what happened to Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a)? Allah took all his sons from him because He wants Yaqoob’s heart to be for Him only, just as He took Sayyidina al-Hasan (r) and Sayyidina al-Husayn (r), the ones so dear to Prophet (s), who mentioned they are the masters of the youth of Paradise.
After that, Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a) was blocked. Allah said, “O Ya`qoob! Why are you crying, for your children or for Me? You must not share in your heart with Me! You must be in the Maqaam of Complete Oneness, Maqaam at-Tawheed.” When Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a) reached that level, Allah (swt) reunited him entire family. Further, when Allah (swt) took both of Yusuf and Bin Yamin, Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a) said, “Go and check about Yusuf,” because he knew he was still alive, but then he also knew he must surrender completely and that there is no way to raise his head.
If that test is for prophets, what about us? How we can raise our head and say we have ten mureeds, fifty, or 1one-thousand or ten-thousand. What do you represent? You represent your ego.You don't represent awliyaullah, yet. They might crush you first and make you into powder and then blow you out of their hands, then you disappear. When you disappear, they bring you back to reality, like in a movie, a character is running and they reverse the scene and you see him going backwards, returning to his original position; he might be killed at the end and they replay the scenes in reverse and he comes to life again. How was the dead and they brought him back to life? Allah (swt) can bring anyone to life when they destroy their ego (which limited them)!
الَّذِي خَلَقَنِي فَهُوَ يَهْدِينِ وَالَّذِي هُوَ يُطْعِمُنِي وَيَسْقِينِ وَإِذَا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينِ
al-ladhee khalaqanee fahuwa yahdeen w’alladhee huwa yuta`imanee wa yasqeeni wa idha muridtu fahuwa yashfeen.
Who has created me and is the One who guides me, and is the One who gives me to eat and to drink, and when I fall ill, is the One who restores me to health (al-Hadeed, 26:78-80)
Don't say, “I am a perfect Muslim.” Alhamdulillah that He guided you to Islam! You are hungry and He feeds you. “I didn't create jinn and ins except to worship Me. I don't expect you to give anyone their rizq, I will provide for them.” If it is written for you to eat then you eat, and if it is not written you will not eat. So when you are sick, ego sick, attention sick, Allah (swt) will give you cure. It means if you are physically sick Allah give you a cure and if you are nafs sick, Allah is telling you, “Follow Muhammad (s): that is the way to be cleared from that sickness.”
And then the master is saying to this poor servant, “What you want to dress?” What did he say? “Whatever you decide.” When His servant is on His Way, Allah (swt) doesn't ask him what he wants to dress; He dresses him with all the different knowledge and lights He throws on his heart! He dresses His servant’s heart and the servant will not open his mouth to speak except with Allah's guidance. He doesn't speak from his own self because Allah (swt) is dressing him with all different oceans of knowledge. That is how He dresses His awliyaullah and these notes and explanations are different dresses that Allah (swt) dressed His awliyaullah in the past and present. These advices from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah grant him long life, are guidance and knowledge filled with heavenly light that dresses everyone present and even those who are listening and watching on the Internet.
The servant has no will. Whatever Allah (swt) dresses you in, you must be happy as He is al-Kareem, the Most Generous! His heavenly clothes are not like earthly clothes. He gives from His most precious ones. So say, “Yaa Rabbee! Whatever you dress me in is from Your generosity! I cannot thank you enough, but I say thanks to You, shukran lillah!”
لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ
Wa la in shakartum la-azeedanakum.
If you thank Me, I will give you more. (14:7)
We have to recite that ayah, “Shukran, yaa Rabbee!” If not, it means we are forgetting everything comes from Allahs (swt) and we make ourselves partner with Him. But when you say shukran, it is affirms tawheed as you are saying thanks to Him (swt) and then He dresses you.
That master said, “Wherever you want to sit in my home, which should room I give you?” That means, “Where do I put you in My Divine Presence?”
The servant said, “I have no will; wherever you put me, I will go.” It means the real servant ksubmits to Allah’s will and says, “Yaa Rabbee! If you put me in Hellfire, I go, and if You put me in Paradise, I go.”
There are awliyaullah like Bayazid al-Bistami (q) who say, “O Allah! Make my body as big as Hellfire so that no one else can enter it!” Rabi`ah al-Adawiyya (r) said, “O my Lord! I am not worshipping you so that I may go to Heaven nor to avoid Hellfire, but only out of love for You.”
That is mahabbah, love. The Prophet (s) said, yuhshar al-maru ma` man ahab, what they say with yaqeen, certainty, “O my Lord! I am worshipping you for Your love.” We might say it but not from yaqeen. That is not the case until He has shattered you to pieces and grinds you with a heavenly grinding machine to see if you really love Him or not, as He did with Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a).
Allah (swt) also tested His Beloved (s)! In the Battle of Uhud Allah (swt) sent someone to break his teeth, and the moment blood came out He ordered, “O Jibreel! If one drop of blood from My Prophet falls on the Earth there will be no more nourishment in it as I will take My Power away!” About this Sayyidina Jibril (a) said, “This is the fastest time I moved with any prophet; in no time I held the teeth of the Prophet (s) and his blood in my hands, or nothing on this Earth would have remained.”
When the Sahaabah (r) saw Prophet (s) was injured and became got upset, he raised his hands and said:
اللهم اهدي قومي فإنهم لايعلمون
yaa rabbee ahdee qawmee innahum laa ya`lamoon.
O Allah! Guide my people for they don't know!
Allah (swt) continuously monitors His Prophets (a). When we get upset, immediately our ego stands up, but the sincere pious ones are not like that.
Another example is when Sayyidina `Ali (r) fought the champion wrestler who cursed and taunted him to provoke him to fight. Sayyidina `Ali’s eye was infected and he couldn't see well, so although he was being challenged the Prophet (s) didn't let him fight. That is how it was in wars of previous times: first they had a single challenge between two of their best warriors, then the opposing groups rushed each other in battle. The Prophet (s) prevented `Ali from the fight until the wrestler’s taunts became unbearable, then he read over Sayyidina `Ali and put his holy saliva on the afflicted eye and it was healed. Sayyidina `Ali immediately fought and overpowered the wrestler and pulled his sword to kill him, as was the chivalry of that time (vanquished warriors were honorably put to death). However, when the sword was raised, the wrestler spat in Sayyidina `Ali’s face.
Sayyidina `Ali withdrew his sword, and the shamed wrestler shouted, “Kill me! Kill Me now!” Sayyidina `Ali said, “Now I cannot; before I wanted to kill you for the sake of the Prophet (s) and Islam, but now if I kill you it would be because I am so angry, which is unacceptable in Islam.” That wrestler was so impressed that he recited Kalimah Shahadah: ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammad Rasoolullah, and with that became a supporter of Islam.
When Allah (swt) dresses you from knowledge, no one can take from you anymore. For this reason, Prophet (s) never showed any will. He said, “O Allah! Guide my people as they don't know.” Four of his teeth were broken and Jibreel (a) was ordered to stop blood from falling on Earth; even with that, Prophet (s) prayed for them. Although Khalid bin Waleed killed so many Sahaabah (r) in the Battle of Uhud, when he came to the Prophet (s) to embrace Islam, Prophet accepted him wholeheartedly! Allah's doors are very wide for you to enter, but enter! Don't be among those who merely talk; you must act!
That is why Rabi`ah al-Adawiyya (q) said, “Put me where you like, either in Heaven or in Hell, it is up to you, my Lord!” We ask, “O Allah! Put us in Paradise,” which shows you are not a wali.
The master said, “What work do you prefer?”
The Servant answered, “As you like, my master. I can cut wood, clean house, care for your animals and take them on journeys.”
Sayyidina Salman al-Farsi (r) sold himself into slavery in order to meet the Prophet (s). He served many priests until eventually he was sold to people going to Madinah. When he came to the Prophet (s), he was neither from the Ansar or the Muhajireen, and Prophet (s) chose him as Ahl al-Bayt, a member of Prophet’s beloved Family! To be Ahl al-Bayti means wherever you are Prophet (s) brings you to his presence; you experience dunya life with difficulties, but he takes you to Akhirah life! May Allah always take us to Paradise and forgive our sins.
The Prophet (s) said, “Don't run after dunya as it will make you tired, like when you try to catch your shadow. Let it run after you and it will become your servant.”
When the master saw the humility of the servant, he realized, “He is a hundred times better than me, therefore, how can I use him as a servant? Truly, I must serve him.” Dunya became servant to that one and the master began to cry, saying, “It would be very great and good tidings had I been with My Lord as you are with me. I would be so thrilled if I had been to my Lord as you are to me now, submitting completely. Now I am your servant and you are my master.”
The servant said, “Can a servant have a will in front of his master? I have no will in front of you.”
The master said, “Then stay with me and I will give you all my wealth.”
When Allah loves someone, He will give him the whole dunya as in the story of Sayyidina Musa (a), who journeyed up a mountain to a cave where he heard a beautiful recitation of this verse:
وَفَضَّلْنَاهُمْ عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلاً
Wafaddalnahum `ala katheerin mimman khalaqnaa tafdeela.
And have preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment.
(Surat al-Isra, 17:70)
Sayyidina Musa (a) saw someone in sajda repeating that verse over and over, and when that person sat up, Sayyidina Musa noticed he had no arms and no legs. He was a wali who knew the coming of Prophet (s). Musa said, “How are you “preferred” when you are disabled?”
That one said, “O Sayyidina Musa (a)! Allah (swt) preferred me by making me Muslim, not a kafir!”
Sayyidina Musa (a) raised his hands and said, “O Allah! Send him to Paradise!” Then Allah (sent) sent a hyena to eat that man who, miraculously, did not feel anything and continued his recitation and praise.
Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “O my Lord! What is this? I ask You to give him Paradise and You sent a hyena to eat him?”
Allah (swt) replied, “O Musa! You think My Paradise is cheap! If you had asked dunya for him, I would have given him an entire kingdom and returned his arms and legs! I am not giving My Paradise to those who use drugs, who drink alcohol, smoke and kill others. If they leave that bad character and obey Me and My Prophet, then I give them Paradise.”
It means when you surrender to Allah (swt) there is no will; you take the test and whatever the outcome you are happy. No one will sleep hungry as Allah covers everyone! Currently in Somalia there is widespread famine and millions of people are dying, but don’t think Allah (swt) has forgotten them! That horrible situation is the result of bloodshed and the anti-social policies of the Salafi group al-Shabab, who come against the Prophet (s). There, the good ones and bad ones are together under Allah's punishment, llike when Sayyidina Musa (a) asked, “O my Lord! When you want to punish bad ones, why do you take the whole city with both good ones and bad ones?”
Allah (swt) said, “Go to that place and I will send the answer.”
Sayyidina Musa (a) went there and waited; ants covered his legs and Allah (swt) ordered one ant to bite him very hard and he jumped up in anger and crushed many of them. Then Allah (swt) said, “O Musa! One ant bit you and you killed all of them?”
Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “It was painful!”
Allah (swt) replied, “It also pains Me when My servants disobey.”
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.