Suhbah at KL Zawiya
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
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.
Kalimataani khafeefatani `ala’l-lisaan thaqeelataan fi ’l-meezaani, Subhaan-Allah wa bi-hamdihi subhanallahi ’l-`azheem astagfirullah.
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)
To obey is to accept and to love; if you don’t accept and love then you don’t obey, so obedience is under these two elements. When we love and fear losing that love, we always keep trying to fix it and this enables us (to be obedient). Also, to obey Allah (swt) is to love whom Allah (swt) loves, and whom does Allah love? Those who are loved by Allah must be happy, because it is not easy for someone to be loved by Allah. In the general meaning, of course Allah loves everyone, but Allah (swt) put tests on us in order to perfect that love. He is waiting for us to improve ourselves to be accepted in His Divine Presence, then for sure we are going to win His love! But if you really love Allah, how can you follow Him?
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
qul 'in kuntum tuhibboona Allaha fa `attabi`oonee yuhbibkumu Allahu wa yaghfir lakum dhunoobakum wa Allahu Ghafooru 'r-Raheem.
Say (O Muhammad), "If you (really) love Allah, then follow me! Allah will love you and forgive your sins, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. ('Ali Imraan, 3:31)
Follow Allah (swt) by following Muhammad (s)! This is a very beautiful gathering today with many decorations and a very nice banner that reads “Allah (swt)” and “Muhammad (s),” which shows that all of you have the respect for The One you love. So, Allah said in the Holy Qur’an, “If you love Me, follow My messenger,” and ati`oollaha, “Obey Me,” meaning, “Show your love to Me by following Muhammad (s).” That is why He says in another ayah:
مَّنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللّهَ
Man yuti`i ar-rasoola faqad ataa`a Allah.
Who obeys the Prophet obeys Allah. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:80)
So when you obey the Prophet (s), immediately you are obeying Allah (swt). “If you love Me, follow Muhammad.” To “follow” means “to obey;” ittiba` is obedience. Do we love Allah (swt) and Prophet (s)? Yes, we do. Then, our duty is to follow what they asked us to do. So the first thing to ask is, “Are we doing the five prayers?” I am checking myself and you check yourself. Are you doing the five prayers? If you are not, then how are you obeying? Then say, “I have to do these.” Then, try to progress in your `ibadaah, do your five prayers. Are you fasting? You know better, and many Muslims say they are. For sure you fast (in this country), but there are Muslims who don't fast. Why do many Muslims fast, but don't pray? There is question mark. Too many Muslims are not praying. So that means our love and our obedience is not perfect yet and we have to complete it.
If we know what the Prophet (s) said to the Sahaabah (r), we will be in sajda day and night. I will quote one hadeeth of the Prophet (s). This is not fiqh teaching or a fiqh session in which we study the principles of praying, fasting, and mu`amalaat of imaan. It is a general advice, as the Prophet (s) said, ad-deenu naseeha, “Religion is advice.”
The Prophet (s) said:
There are people from among Allah's servants who are not prophets nor martyrs. On the Day of Judgment, the prophets and martyrs will be so happy with them that they will hug them due to seeing their nearness to Allah (swt), and He will bring them so near. They aren’t shuhada or anbiyaa, and the shuhadaa and anbiyaa will stand astonished, looking at them, saying, “Who are these people standing in the Divine Presence?” And the Companions will ask the Prophet, “Can you tell us who these people are?" And the Prophet (s) will say, “They are people who came together and loved each other for Allah's sake.” (Ibn Hibban)
Anbiyaa and shuhadaa are in Allah's Presence. Allah (swt) gave them the highest level, they cannot express their love to Allah because of their nearness to Him. And when you read that hadeeth you will be stunned, surprised and astonished; you cannot believe you are reading it, so what about understanding it, or even more, by mushaahada, seeing it? If prophets and martyrs are stunned to see these people and love them, what about us; are we going to love them or not? Of course!
The Sahaabah (r) asked, “Yaa Rasoolullah! Can you tell us who these people are?” Prophet (s) replied, innahum qawmun tahaaboo bi rawhillah, “They are a group of people that connected together for the love of Allah (swt). They came and worked hard. They loved each other without any family connection between them.”
Do you have a website? Yes, everybody has a website today, showing that they are connecting with each other; it is a web. Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
fa alhamahaa fujoorahaa wa taqwaahaa.
He inspired the self of its good and its bad. (Ash-Shams, 91:8)
Everyone will see what is bad because everyone has a web in Allah's Presence.
فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِمَوَاقِعِ النُّجُوم وَإِنَّهُ لَقَسَمٌ لَّوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌِ
Falaa uqsimu bimawaaqi`i an-nujoomi wa innahu laqasamun law ta`lamoona `azheem.
Furthermore, I call to witness the setting of the stars, and that is indeed a mighty adjuration if you but knew! (Surat al-Waqi’a, 56:75,76)
It is an oath that is something `azheem, with no beginning and no end. To give an oath by one star! There are 80 billion stars in our galaxy, thus 80 billion websites. What is the reality of that? Allah (swt) knows. And every star is bigger than this solar system and Allah knows what kind of Creation is there. That is why it is `azheem; we cannot describe it. You see ants moving, although they are so tiny. In Arabic today they are referred to as “namla,” but in ancient Arabic the small ant is “dharr;” “dharrah” is “atom,” the smallest thing. And if you put that small ant on Earth, can you find it? No, it disappears. Our whole solar system in this universe is not bigger than an ant. Look at Allah's Greatness! So if you want to be in the Divine Presence, then Allah is asking one thing from us: ati`oollah wa ati`oor-rasula, “Obey Allah (swt) and obey the Prophet,” then you will be given a nearness that no one has been given!
The Prophet (s), due to his obedience, was raised by Allah (swt) to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adna, passing this whole universe and beyond, what is makhlooq, created. Allah is not in a place or in what is created; you cannot say Allah (swt) is in this place or this direction. Only He knows about Himself, we don’t know. He (swt) raised the Prophet (s) to show His Greatness and to show humanity. And what did the Prophet (s) say? ad-deenu naseeha, “Religion is advice.” If you are a Muslim, you have to accept advice and who doesn't is proud of himself and he never will accept advice as he is stubborn and arrogant.
Allah (swt) said, al-kibr ridaa'ee, “Pride is My cloak,” al-Mutakabbir, “The Proud One,” but not one man on Earth can say, “I am mutakabbir,” only Allah (swt) can claim that! I don't think anyone can say, “I am proud of myself.” They teach children in western countries to be proud of themselves; their parents teach them, “Good job, I am proud of you !” They teach them this word, which is a mistake. Allah said real pride is only for mu’mins, when you reach the level of imaan, then Allah will dress you with a dress that makes people respect you. You can't force people to respect you, that is `ujb, you think everyone is sheep and you are the shepherd. Awliyaullah say, “We are sheep,” and the mureeds are shepherds, “Where ever they go I follow, because he is better.” There is a meaning here, it doesn’t mean the mureed is higher, but perhaps he knows how to reach downtown and the shaykh doesn’t.
Sayyidina `Ali (r) said, “Don’t talk, as-samt! Close your mouth when you are in an audience and listen, `isma.” People attend conferences where they speak and argue, and at the end they come up with a resolution. To reach that point, they argue and move. Sayyidina `Ali (r) said first “don’t speak,” second “listen,” third “observe” what they are doing, then fourth is “al-haraka, to move,” as then your movement (action) will be in the right direction.
So what we learned today is that if we want to love Allah, we have to love and obey His Prophet (s). Obedience is not only shahaadah, the five prayers, fasting, charity and Hajj; these are obligatory, you must do them. But what Allah (swt) likes from us is to improve ourselves and to not to be proud but to be humble.
May Allah (swt) perfect us and make us humble. We are coming together in this association for Allah's love and nothing else. That is what will stun the prophets and martyrs on the Day of Judgment, the nearness of those people who come together for the love of Allah (swt). May Allah bless this association.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
ww.sufilive.com/rnd.cfm?m=3990
© Copyright 2012 Sufilive. This transcript is protected by international copyright law.
Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.