Sufism and Tasawwuf - Naqshbandi Sufi Way

To Be Connected is What is Important

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

27 November 2013 Georgetown, Guyana

Suhbah at Peter’s Hall Masjid

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.

I like what he said at the end, of course at the beginning. He said to preserve them with salt or with coffin or with (?). All of us are canned. Everyone has his own can and cannot come out of it. That is why a factory for cans is good. You have to ask `Umar Farooq to make factory of cans and then you put everyone in a can and they come out.

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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.

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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)

Alhamdullahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleen, taqdeeman li haqqihi. Allahumma salli `alay, yaa Sayyidi, yaa Rasoolullah, yaa Rahmatan li ’l-`Alameen.

We are here and I really don't know how I came, it is not in my hands. Sometimes you want to do something and then it changes. I came to Trinidad after Imam Raffiq kept calling me persistently, non-stop for ten years. I cannot understand the english in Trinidad, I hope the english is better here. People in Trinidad said that the dialect of the people here is harder. I said that I will check. So I found out that the dialect here is easy to understand. You have to make people happy by giving them something sweet. I don't know how Allah’s Will changed it, it is not our will. That is why you think to do something and it changes.

For example, you plan to speak about one hadith and you find your tongue moved to another. That is why when you need to speak, you must have a connection, as you cannot come and address people with no connection. You need to have a connection, a plug. We have to observe this and think about it very well. For example, when electricity comes from the main source or main company, as soon as it reaches the city or village, it gets transferred to transformers. The transformers lower the voltage from these huge high voltage electric structures in the fields. They carry 360 and when when they come to the home there is a transformer that reduces them to 110 and from 110 to 240, in order that you can use them. This is an example that this electricity that is coming to us can be used in different ways: you can use it as a microphone so that people can hear, as a light so that you can see, as a camera to help you record. Hence, you can use it in many different ways. So if we really have the right instrument within us, we will be able to see, then hear and then think, because that light is there.

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Maa wasi`anee ardee wa laa samaa'ee wa laakin wasi`anee qalbi `abdee al-mu'min.

Neither My Heavens nor My Earth contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant contains Me.

(Hadith Qudsi, Al-Ihya of Imam al-Ghazali)

That light that Allah (swt) put in us. You might ask how. The Prophet (s) said:

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Yoolidu al-insaanu `ala ‘l-fitra fa imma abawaahu yuhawwidaanihi aw yunasaraanihi aw yumajjisaanih.

Human beings are born on fitrah, innocence; either his parents make him Jewish or Christian or Zoroastrian. (Muslim)

That innocence is Islam. It means he is born on Islam, but the (inaudible) changed him. So this means that everyone has the light of imaan; you can ignite it at anytime you want, but it needs principles and conditions. When you have the instrument, you can ignite that imaan.

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Qalb al-mu'min bayt ar-rabb.

The heart of the believer is the House of the Lord.

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Allaahu nooru 's-samaawaati wa 'l-ardi mathala noorihi kamishkaatin feehaa misbaah.

Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth. (Surat an-Noor, 24:35)

Doesn’t Allah give light to His House? No, but you need to ignite it. How can you ignite it and what is the instrument? By your obligations. You are in this masjid and alhamdulillah, there is light inside. If you draw the curtains, people from the outside will think it is dark, but the light is inside, they just cannot see it, as there are too many veils. We have too many veils, we have veiled our hearts by too many sins. Every sin is a veil, it closes the light of the heart. Why did the Prophet (s) say:

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Al-mu’min mi'rraat akheehi.

The believer is the mirror of his brother (or sister).

He said that because a mu’min has the right truth and light within his heart. That heart of the mu’min begins to have light in it, as it is ignited. So that begins to reflect on everything. It becomes like a shining star. Just as the moon reflects light on us in the night. Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:

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Subhan-alladhee asra bi `abdihi laylan min al-masjid al-haraam il al-masjid al-aqsa.

Glory be to He who transported His servant by night from the Inviolable House of Worship (at Mecca) to the Remote House of Worship (at Jerusalem). (Surat al-Isra,17:1)

Who is praising who? We are praising Allah, but our praises are not sufficient, they are not perfect. Allah is praising Himself by Himself by saying, Subhanee ma`azhama shaanee, “Glory and Praises to Me, how Glorious I am.” He is praising Himself, because that Israa’ and Mi’raaj is beyond our understanding, it is part of our belief. We know the Sahaabah (r) heard that and that they heard about the trading caravan that came from Sham. Sayyidina `Umar (r) said, “Your friend is saying he went to the Heavens.” Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) said, Sadaqah Rasoolullah, “The Prophet (s) spoke the truth.” So Sayyidina Sayyidina `Umar (r) knew also, but when you know the truth you will become a spotlight, and then you will fill all the masaajid. Who comes to the stadium? The ones who are interested. Masaajid are stadiums for believers.

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Fa laa tuzakoo anfusakum.

Don’t praise yourself. (Surat an-Najm, 53:32)

It might be that there is someone within us, not this night but any night, who has light in his heart and becomes a spotlight for people to learn from. So I want to say something: if we really want our heart to shine, we need to polish it. What do you do with a diamond? You cut the rock to get the heart of the rock, that heart is worth a lot of money. When you clean your heart, what will happen in the cleansing process? Light will begin to open up, it is paradise. Do paradises contain something that is dirty? Yes or no? No. So it means to enter Paradise, you need a cleansing process or else, how are you going to enter? Paradise cannot accept dirtiness. What do we have to do then? Don’t say, “I am praying my prayers and fasting,” you have to pray, fast, make tawheed, give Zakaat and make Hajj. So what to do? Do something that is not obligatory, that will open Paradise for you.

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Man qaala laa ilaaha illa-Llah dakhal al-Jannah.

The Prophet (s) said: Whoever says, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” enters Paradise.

(Narrated from Abu Dharr, Tabarani in Kabir)

What is the key to Paradise? Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah. So if we say “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah,” that is dhikr. There is another hadith that if someone says “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah” 100 times will enter Paradise with no account. So our duty is to say Allah’s Names. When we mention Allah (swt), by what do we mention Him? We mention Him through His Beautiful Names and Attributes. That means Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes are our means to enter Paradise. That is why He said in a holy hadith and the Prophet (s) related that hadith:

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Anaa jaleesu man dhakaranee.

I sit with him who remembers me. (Ahmad, Bayhaqi)

Not “remembered,” but who “mentioned” Him through His Beautiful Names and Attributes. “I will be with him,” and in the hadith it says, “I will be sitting with him.” This is the literal the meaning, but the real meaning is that “I will be with him, I will support him and I will give him what he wants.” Imagine that I am sitting with a very famous `alim, scholar. If I sit with them, then it would be my honor. They would not necessarily be honored to sit with me, as I don’t deserve to be more than sitting at the door, polishing shoes. So I would get the honor to sit with them and if I am sitting with an imam, in the traditional understanding, it would be a great honor for me. If for example, if Allah (swt) gave you that life that you sat with Sayyidina Imam Abu Hanifah (r), would that not be an honor for you? Do you think is it not an honor for the Sahaabah (r) to sit in the presence of the Prophet (s)?

What then about the Prophet (s) who is in the position of Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, is that not an honor? And what then do you think about the one who sits with you when you mention Him? People are honored to sit with the doorman of a king or president. His clothes may not necessarily be nice, but he has access, as he is the doorman. So you have access to sit with Allah when He says, “I sit with the one who remembers Me.”

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Rubba ash`ath aghbara law aqsama `ala ’Llaahi la-abbarah.

That is why the Prophet (s): There may be a disheveled, dusty person who, if he swears an oath by Allah, Allah will fulfill it. (Muslim)

Perhaps someone sitting at the door, comes walking with a stick (Mawlana walks bent over) like this, with dirty and greasy hair, he is smelly and needs a shower. What did the Prophet (s) say? Rubba ash`ath aghbara law aqsama `ala ’Llaahi la-abbarah, “It may be that if that one asks Allah for something, He will give him.” So don’t underestimate that. If you do, then you have underestimated Allah’s Power. Allah can make anyone a jewel.

Look at what Sayyidina Muhammad al-Busayri (r) said:

Muhammad basharun wa laysa ka ‘l-bashari huwa yaaqootatun wa naasu ka ‘l-hajari.

Muhammad is a man, but not like other men! He is a gem and human beings are stones.

(Shaykh Muhammad al-Busayri, Burdat ash-Shareef)

Allah described the Prophet (s) as a gem and the others are only pebbles. What does that mean? It means no consideration of Allah to anyone except the Prophet (s). No one; no imam, no `alim, on one can be like the Prophet (s), Muhammadan basharun! From the `ijaaz meaning it is impossible to understand, but it is said that Muhammad (s) is a bashar, but he is not like us. Why and what is the proof? We will take an example, but where is the proof? It is said in the Holy Qur’an:

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Qul innamaa anaa basharun mithlukum yoohaa ilayya.

Say, "I am but a man like yourselves.” (Surat al-Kahf, 18:110)

That is for sure the case. However, how is he a man like us, but unlike us? That is because he was able to go against all laws of physics, against the laws of this universe. You cannot go 100 or even 10 miles up without being burned. Only airplanes can go that high. Can go you get out of the plane? So how is he like me and you? He is noor. Allah created his noor first. He has been molded with noor, that is what makes him special. And part of that noor is within everyone, as Allah (swt) said:

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W`alamoo anna feekum rasoolullaah.

And know Allah's Messenger is in you. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:7)

Allah is saying, “You have to now O Sahaabah (r) that the Prophet (s) is in you.” You might have one drop or less than a drop, it is enough to make you shine! I cannot go too deep in that matter, as this will give enough to think about where we are and where the Prophet (s). How is he able to see our `amal every day? Are his eyes closed? It is impossible if his eyes are closed. The Prophet (s) said:

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I observe the `amal of my ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see other than that, bad, I ask forgiveness for them. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)

He will not leave 24 hours without making istighfaar on their behalf. So of course, he is a bashar unlike us. He can intercede in the course of one day. Can anyone do that? Can any deceased person do that? They can by Allah’s Permission, but can anyone generally do that? And if he sees bad, he doesn't leave his ummah in the darkness, “If I see bad, I make istighfaar on their behalf.” What do you want better than that? So the heart that Allah gave to children from birth has imaan, but you cover that imaan with many veils as you are growing up. That is why the Prophet (s) said, “Either his parents make him Jewish or Christian or Zoroastrian.” For this reason people say, “Don’t call me a convert, I am a revert; reverting to what I was before.”

O Muslims! Knowledge is not only what we read, but it is what we taste as well. What we read a non-Muslim can also read. What is the benefit? Iblees made sajda, according to some ahadeeth, every handspan shibr, in Paradise to Allah (swt) for 2,000 years. His `amal, his job, his order from Allah (swt) was to make sajda in every handspan. What happened, despite all of that? It was cursed. Why? Because he hesitated, taradad, for less than a second, thinking, “Do I make sajda or not?” That hesitation made him to be cursed. When the order comes, go directly and don't think. If you are going to think, you are losing. When you make istikhara and say, “Yaa Rabbee, show me a sign,” you must act on the first inspiration that comes to your heart, as that is when the inspiration is coming. He hesitated, “Should I make sajda or not?” He knew that the noor in the forehead was that of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), he hesitated out of that envy. Allah (swt) did not give him a chance.

An angel is infallible, he cannot make a mistake, but look at how Allah is merciful with us. Ask anyone, especially adults, as they commit a lot of sins. Allah said, “I will give you one word, if you say it I will forgive you.” Say “astaghfirullah!”

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Qul yaa `ibaadiya alladheena 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)

So Allah will forgive everyone for sake of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). That is why when you make du`a, wrap it with salaat was-salaam on Sayyidina Muhammad (s). May Allah bless us and bless every Muslim around the world.

I would like to thank Shaykh Nazim Baksh. He knew we are coming to Trinidad, he offered with some good pious people to bring us here. Or else, we didn’t expect to come here. He is sahib al-fadl. He did us a big favor for us to come and see you, that will be written in his favor in this life and the next.

Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

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