A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.
Some people might ask, why are we sitting here, wondering? Everyone in his country, community, or within his family thinks of what he is doing in this life, what wonders he will achieve. Everything is to us not existing, because if we exist we would live forever, but we are in Allah's Hands and if He wants us to exist He will bring us and destroy our form, our body.
About the soul, Allah (swt) said:
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّن الْعِلْمِ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً
They ask you concerning the spirit. Say, ‘The spirit (comes) by command of my Lord: of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to you." (Surat al-Israa’, 17:85)
“Yaa Muhammad (s)! Say that ruh, the soul that no one can understand, is under Allah's command.” Imagine, in Hiroshima one explosion killed 200,000 people, in one instant their ruh was taken. What kind of wonder is that? It’s a wonderland! They call it ‘wonderland’ because they don't understand. We are in a mystery world, we don’t understand: you come and go, walk, sleep, wake up, eat, it is a routine. Why are we here? To explore this wonder, to understand The One that takes our soul and brings it back, The One Who put our soul in our mother's womb gave birth to a huge Creation! From one man and one woman, Allah created all these creations.
He gave everyone a ruh, a soul we cannot see. The body you can see, but also you cannot control the body. One day you are going to leave the body, the friendship between soul and body disappear, the body and soul separate. The soul is eternal and the body is temporary. The soul is eternal either in Paradise or in punishment, it depends on how we have achieved and explored our wonderness in dunya. What are we doing here? To explore that wonder and to be in a situation, kun ma` Allah wa laa tubaalee, “Be with Allah and don't worry.” It is not ‘unite’ as some say because there is no unity between Allah and His servant: Allah is The Creator and creations are His slaves. But to “be with Allah” means to understand the reality of Heaven on Earth, to realize what Allah can do, that He either gives Paradise or punishment. We wonder why we are here: undoubtedly it is to be with Allah (swt) and don’t worry.
Here we want to sit together in a circle and remember Allah (swt) through His Beautiful Names and Attributes, to be in the Paradise of anaa jaleesu man dhakaranee, what Allah (swt)told Prophet (s), “I am sitting with the one who remembers Me.”
أَنَا جَلِيْسُ مَنْ ذَكَرَنِي
I sit with him who remembers Me. (Hadith Qudsi. Ahmad, Bayhaqi)
That is why we are here. What kind of remembrance? In the moment you say “Allah,” in that fraction of a second it will create within you a purified, tasty soul. When you say, “Yaa Allah,” Allah says, “Yaa `abdee, O My servant! What do you want?”
“Yaa Rabbee!”
“Yaa `abdee.”
“Yaa Rabbee, You are the Creator, we are the servants.”
“Yaa `abdee, say what you want, I will give you.”
What did Sayyidina Sulayman (a) say?
قَالَ رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي وَهَبْ لِي مُلْكًا لَّا يَنبَغِي لِأَحَدٍ مِّنْ بَعْدِي إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ
He said, “O my Lord! Forgive me, and grant me a kingdom which, (it may be), suits not another after me: for Thou art the Grantor of Bounties (without measure).” (Surat Sad, 38:35)
He said, “O Allah! Give me a kingdom, give me treasures, give me dunya that you will never give to anyone after me,” mulkan laa yanbaghee li ahadin mim ba`dee. Allah did not say “No,” He could have, but He did not. Sayyidina Sulayman (a) asked, “Grant me a kingdom no tgiven to anyone else after me, that I will be the only one to receive,” because he entered the Mercy of Allah (swt) and saw His Eternal Treasures. There, Allah placed the wind and jinn under his command and granted Sulayman to understand the language of birds and animals. He gave him something that He has not given anyone, because He wants to show the difference between Sayyidina Sulayman, Sayyidina `Isa, Sayyidina Musa, Sayyidina Dawud, Sayyidina Nuh (`alayhimu ‘s-salaam) and Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!
Jibreel (a) came and said, “I will turn Jabal Uhud into gold for you, yaa Muhammad (s)! Allah is sending you salaam and saying, ‘Do whatever you want with it.’”
The Prophet (s) said, “Yaa Rabbee! No, I don’t want it, I want Wajhahu ‘l-Kareem, His Holy Face, and to see Him smiling!”
In Paradise, the mu’min, Muslim, will see the Lord's Face smiling at them, which is from the Prophet’s desire that Allah will be seen in Paradise! We are coming here to explore what we have to do in dunya in order to achieve Allah's Happiness with us. Sayyidina Sulayman (a) asked and Allah gave without account, which means if anyone asks Allah will give because Allah is The Merciful and The Just. He gave to Sayyidina Sulayman (a) and He can give to anyone! But do you want it in dunya or in Akhirah? You want it in Akhirah. With all that Allah said, “No, it is not enough. I will give you in dunya, also.”
رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
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)
“Say, ‘O Allah! We want hasanat in dunya and in Akhirah and to be prohibited from entering Hellfire. Forgive us, stop us, in order that Hellfire will not swallow us.”
Hellfire will swallow people crossing the Siraatu ‘l-Mustaqeem. The mu’min will move towards Paradise and won’t fall; anyone other than mu’min and Muslim will depend on their own nations. It is Allah’s Judgement, we don’t know what it will be, we leave it to Allah (swt), but there will be people who will fall down and the flame will pull that person who was bad in dunya towards Hellfire. We are coming here to explore what is in this circle, as Prophet (s) said:
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إذا مررتم برياض الجنة فارتع. قالو وما رياض الجنة؟ قال "حلق الذكر"
Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (s) said, "When you pass by the Gardens of Paradise, avail yourselves of them." The Companions asked, "What are the Gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "The circles of dhikr.” (Tirmidhi)
These beautiful gardens, hilaq adh-dhikr, circles of dhikrullah will not be everywhere, they are only with certain people, so, “When you pass by the Gardens of Paradise, sit there,” is one halaqa of dhikr; how many are there like that around the world? When people sit with shuyookh, when you read Qur’an or Hadith it is hilaq adh-dhikr; when you make salawaat on Prophet (s) or dhikrullah it’s hilaq adh-dhikr. Any association, anywhere you sit remembering Allah with recitation of Qur’an or memorizing Hadith, speaking about Fiqh or Tafseer, is hilaq adh-dhikr, which Prophet (s) described as Paradise.
Although we are not trustworthy, Allah is The Most Generous, so may He give us what He gave Sayyidina Sulayman (a). Yaa Rabbee! We want whatever You give us in dunya and are thankful, and in Akhirah we would like to be with Your Prophet (s).
مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاء وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـئِكَ رَفِيقًا
Those on whom is the Grace of Allah: the Prophets, the Sincere (lovers of Truth), the Witnesses (who testify), and the Righteous (who do good). Ah! What a beautiful fellowship! (Surat an-Nisa, 4:69)
“To be with those You favored, an`amta `alayhim, Prophets, from Siddiqeen, the Trustworthy Ones, from the Martyrs, Shuhadaa, wa ‘s-Saaliheen, the Sincere Ones, wa hasuna oolaa’ika rafeeqa, and their company is very well acknowledged and happy.” We want to be with them!
Shaytan is prohibited from entering this hilaq adh-dhikr, only angels circumambulate all the way to tahta ‘l-`Arsh, under the Throne.
مَا اجْتَمَعَ قَوْمٌ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى ، إِلا حَفَّتْهُمُ الْمَلائِكَةُ ، وَتَغَشَّتْهُمُ الرَّحْمَةُ ، وَنَزَلَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّكِينَةُ ، وَذَكَرَهُمُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِيمَنْ عِنْدَهُ
No group of people gather together to remember Allah (swt) except the angels surround them, mercy envelopes them, serenity descends upon them, and Allah (swt) mentions them to those around Him. (Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)
In that Rawdatun min Riyaada ‘l-Jannah, farta`oo, angels encompass them all the way up to the Divine Presence and do non-stop dhikr on their behalf, and that is written in everyone's notebook of good deeds on his right shoulder until the Day of Judgement, when it will be shown as if they did all of it, not the angels! We get the credit, and Allah assigns angels to do that for us as long as we are sitting, even for five minutes, but it is not written as five minutes, it is written as continuous. How many sets of five minutes do you sit in an association? If you sit once, twice, three or four times a day, as much as you sit you will be rewarded and all the dhikr of angels on the Day of Judgement will be offered to you free of charge. It is your ticket to Paradise!
That’s what we are exploring and getting from such associations. You can get it anywhere around the world; if you don’t find anyone, sit by yourself and do it. Where you are sitting becomes a Paradise from Heavens. When you enter prayer, saying, “Allahu Akbar,” facing Ka`bah, Baytullah, that is hilaq adh-dhikr and it is as if you are entering the Reality of Allah’s House in Makkatu 'l-Mukarrama, Ka`bat al-Musharrafah, and you will be rewarded as if you are seeing it. In our prayers we look at our sajda when we are reading al-Fatihah, but the Ka`bah you don’t look down, you look at the Ka`bah because it is the House of Allah, Who says in Holy Qur’an:
قَدْ نَرَى تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِي السَّمَاء فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَاهَا فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّواْ وُجُوِهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوْتُواْ الْكِتَابَ لَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ وَمَا اللّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ
Turn your face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:144)
That Reality will be written for you when you form the line from where you are all the way to Ka`bah and say, “Allahu Akbar.” However far away is how big Allah will grant your Paradise every time you enter the prayer! Allah’s treasures cannot be counted! Be happy for what Allah has given you, don’t complain and Allah will give you more, but if you complain, Allah will give you less.
قَالَ إِنَّمَا أَشْكُو بَثِّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللّهِ
“He said, ‘I turn my problem and complaint to Allah.’” (Surah Yusuf, 12:86)
Don’t complain to people. If something is bothering you, innama askhu baththi wa huzni illa ‘Llah, I ask Allah (swt), The Only One Who can help me! He is my Lord, I speak whatever is in my heart and make du`a, as He said:
ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ
Call on Me, I will answer you. (Surah Ghaafir, 40:60)
May Allah forgive us, may Allah bless us.
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
This is something small compared to what Awliyaullah teach us, less than a drop in their ocean. When they send inspiration it is like a trickle from a faucet, small drops of water come and that’s what we are swimming in. If Allah opened His oceans, we could not swim in it; it would be too dangerous and turbulent, we would drown. Similarly, we cannot enter Awliyaullah oceans. We have to know our limits, the drops, and we must be happy with that.
Don’t be upset, don’t be angry at your wife for not cooking food for you. If you didn’t find food at home, cook for yourself and eat, it is so simple. Don’t listen to Shaytan at that moment. If your wife comes home tired, don’t shout at her, don't create a reason for her to shout at you, keep the house friendly and peaceful. Unfortunately, our homes in dunya are full of bad energy due to the oppression and darkness coming down on us, caused by bloodshed everywhere, then that fight between husband and wife never ends. Be happy with what Allah gave you! [Adhaan sounds.] Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Be happy with what Allah gave you and you will feel good, don’t be like a fish struggling outside the ocean, be like a whale in the ocean.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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