Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
12 July 2013 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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
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)
As we said in the previous session, whoever has been given wisdom, faqad at`ioo khayran katheera, Allah promises that He is giving him a lot of favors, and “a lot of favors” means He will give him something that...what does Shaytan promise a servant? Allah (swt) says, “Shaytan is giving you something of no value. Don’t listen to your ego, your self, your Shaytan, but listen to Allah (swt),” and that’s why what you give to Allah (swt) is as He said in Holy Qur’an:
مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنبُلَةٍ مِّئَةُ حَبَّةٍ وَاللّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Mathalu alladheena yunfiqoona amwaalahum fee sabeeli ’Llaahi ka-mathali habbatin anbatat sab`a sanaabila fee kulli sunbulatin miatu habbatin w ’Allaahu yudaa`ifu liman yashaau w ’Allaahu waasi`un `aleem.
The likeness of those who spend their wealth in Allah’s Way is as the likeness of a grain which grows seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. Allah gives increase manifold to whom He will for Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:261)
Every one of us has recited this verse of Holy Qur’an and knows about it, because whoever is fundraising puts, “Those who are spending their money in the Way of Allah is like an example of a seed that brings a shoot of a hundred (grains), in every shoot there are a hundred seeds and Allah will increase it as much as He likes and multiply it.” So seven shoots come from every spending of one penny and Allah will give, but there is really another meaning if we look into it. He said, mathalu ‘l-ladheena yunfiqoona amwaalahum fee sabeeli ‘Llaahi, “The example of those people who spend their money in the Way of Allah.” How many forms of jihad are there, how many different kinds of jihad? People today have in their mind that there is one jihad, to fight, but the reality of the word “jihad” has been mentioned in many places of the Holy Hadith of Prophet (s), like in the hadith:
أفضل الجهاد كلمة عدل عند سلطان جائر
Afdal al-jihad kalimatu `adlin `inda sultaanin jaa'ir (in another version, aw kalimat al-haqq).
The best jihad is a word of justice (or a word of truth) before a tyrannical king.
(Related by Abi Sa`eed al-Khudree)
“The best of jihad is to say one word of truth in front of a tyrant leader.” He said, “Best of jihad,” so jihad has too many meanings and too many ways; they counted fourteen different kinds, one of them is holy war and the other thirteen are different types of struggling with your ego, your self. So when Allah says, mathalu ‘l-ladheena yunfiqoona amwaalahum fee sabeeli‘Llaah, “The example of those people who spend their money in the Way of Allah,” what is “your wealth”? What is your money? Money that will stay forever or money that will vanish in a period of a certain time? Which money is the verse mentioning here? Yes, it mentions different types of wealth being given in the Way of Allah, for in the time of Prophet (s) and the Sahaabah (r) and holy war, your wealth was whatever you had, but the most important what you have is hikmah, what we wdiscussed before, as Allah said in Surat Luqman:
وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ وَمَن يَشْكُرْ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ
Wa laqad aataynaa luqmaana al-hikmata ani ‘shkur lillaahi wa man yashkur fa-innamaa yashkuru li-nafsihi wa man kafara fa-inna’Llaaha Ghaniyy un-Hameed.
And indeed we granted this wisdom to Luqman, “Be grateful to Allah.” And he who is grateful (to Him) is but grateful for the good of his own self, whereas he who chooses to be ungrateful (ought to know that) verily Allah is Self-Sufficient, Ever to be Praised! (Surat Luqman, 31:12)
Wa laqad aataynaa luqmaana al-hikmat, “We gave him the Wisdom.” So when you have wisdom you can differentiate between good and evil. A child doesn’t have wisdom; that’s why he grabs anything, might be something that will kill him or poison him, he doesn’t mind it. He will drink it because there is no wisdom, but an adult already has some wisdom that he or she can distinguish between what is good and what is not good, but it is a limited wisdom. Everyone has a limited wisdom and Allah (swt) wants us, if we have a higher Level of Wisdom, as Sayyidina Luqman (a) said to his son:
وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَانُ لِابْنِهِ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ
Wa idh qaala luqmaanu libnihi wa huwa ya`izhuhu yaa bunayya laa tushrik billaahi inna ‘sh-shirka la-zhulmun `azheem.
And (mention, O Muhammad), when Luqman said to his son while he was instructing him, “O my son, do not associate (anything) with Allah. Indeed, association (with Him) is great injustice." (Surat Luqman, 31:13)
It means you have wisdom, so don’t make shirk and don’t say, “Everything to my self,” as Prophet (s) said, “The most I fear for my ummah is hidden shirk,” that they refer attributes and everything to themselves (as if they did it) when it has to be to Allah (swt). So if you have wisdom, don’t make shirk. If you have wisdom don’t say, “Allah has a son!” Why, Allah needs a son? Hashaa, astaghfirullah! Allah doesn’t need anything, everything is in need for Allah (swt)! The whole Creation is in need for Allah. He is not in need of us, we need Him! So if we have wisdom, no shirk! If we have no shirk, then we understand that there is a Creator and that means someone is going to judge you. That is why Sayyidina Luqman (a) said this to his son when he was advising him, and everyone must look into these surahs, such as Surat al-Baqarah, Surat al-Israa`, Surat al-Jumu`ah, Surat al-Luqman and there are too many verses of wisdom, too many verses of hikmah, too many verses of leaving shirk.
So when we leave shirk, it means we have established, we have planted these (verses) in our heart and that is going to be a shoot. This, alladheena yunfiqoonaa amwaalahum, “Those who spend their money, it is like a seed that you plant and it gives you seven shoots,” which means anything that you do in this life you plant. If you have wisdom, you plant seeds into your heart and every seed is giving seven shoots and every shoot is giving a hundred seeds that Allah will multiply. So one of them, Allah is saying in Holy Qur’an that Luqman (a) was saying to his son:
وَاقْصِدْ فِي مَشْيِكَ وَاغْضُضْ مِن صَوْتِكَ إِنَّ أَنكَرَ الْأَصْوَاتِ لَصَوْتُ الْحَمِيرِ
Waqsid fee mashyika waghdud min sawtika inna ankara al-aswaati la-sawtu ‘l-hameer.
And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice (for) verily, the worst of sounds is the braying of the donkey. (Surat Luqman, 31:19)
Allahu Akbar! “Waqsid fee mashyika” means be humble. “Fee mashyika” is when you walk, “waqsid fee mashyika” means be humble and keep your eyes down, keep your ego down and don’t be arrogant when you are walking between crowds. Allah doesn’t look at your image, but He looks at your hearts. Waqsid fee mashyika, “Be humble in your way, how you are walking in your journey in this life.”
So the Wisdom grows up in your heart by planting seeds from the wealth that Allah gave you, not the wealth of money, but the wealth of hikmah, wisdom in your heart. As much as you have wisdom, as much as you have seeds that you are planting on your journeys from dunya to Akhirah, you have to plant different seeds in it so that on the Day of Judgment these seeds will be coming out and Allah is rewarding on every shoot, wa ’Llaahu yudaa`ifu liman yashaa’u,“Will multiply of rewards.”
Waghdud min sawtika, “And when you speak don’t speak with a loud tone.” There are people that speak in a loud (contentious) tone, especially on talk shows. On the Muslim talk shows they speak and fight, throwing chairs on each other, and Allah (swt) is saying, “Speak low, don’t speak loud, speak in a low voice,” because me, you, everyone have to know that as soon as you open your mouth to speak, not a pure voice will come, but a voice that is full of pride, arrogance and shirk. Angels cannot be near you with the bad smell and a loud voice has a bad smell, so (if you do that) angels cannot approach you. Only when you speak the truth and you don’t make a ‘jerk’ (of yourself), making everyone around you like in a Turkish bath, where everyone enters inside shouting, speaking, cursing; they don’t know what they are saying! Don’t be a like people in a Turkish bath, hammam turkiyye! Allah said, waghdud min sawtika, “Keep your voice in a low tone,” which means “be humble,” don’t let your mouth to speak. You see some people always talking, whether or not something makes sense or doesn’t make sense, they remain talking and they cannot stop!
Sayyidina `Ali (r), what he said? “Keep quiet, keep silent.” Zip your mouth, don’t talk, because whenever you talk you are giving a bad smell. The exception is, there is no bad smell when you recite Holy Qur’an, when you read hadith, when you do qaseedah, when you praise Allah (swt), when you praise Prophet (s), when you speak about the Sahaabah (r), when you speak about Islam, when you speak about imaan, when you speak about struggling against your Shaytan, that’s a good voice. Shout as much as you like, raise your voice as much as you like in such discussions, but not for dunya shouting. People today are fighting, Allah says, waghdud min sawtika, “Keep your voice low,” which means don’t fight, don’t act something wrong, don’t say things that you want to convince people of your idea and you don’t accept their ideas, then you are fighting.
Inna ankara al-aswaati la-sawtu ‘l-hameer. He is describing the worst of voices, when they are loud is like the sound of a braying donkey. In the whole Qur’an, Allah mentioned one time the word “donkey.” Inna ankara al-aswaati la-sawtu ‘l-hameer, “The worst and the most disgusting voice is the voice of Shaytan, of hameer, th donkey,” which means ignorance. Why He (swt) said “donkey?” In order to tell us, “Your voice when you are speaking loud and you are not speaking about something that is beneficial, only things that are dunya issues, that is like a donkey,” because the sound of the donkey is disgusting, like a donkey shouting by himself. When you see the donkey...I never saw donkeys here in this country, but in our countries in the Middle East, you see donkeys everywhere, also in Pakistan, for sure. (Laughter.) In all Middle East countries, in Cyprus they have donkeys. You see the donkeys standing there, and suddenly (they bray), “Hee-haw, Hee-haw!”
Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, “You hear the donkey saying this because at that moment Shaytan comes to his ear and says, ‘No more female donkeys on Earth, all of them died, there are only male donkeys now and you are left alone!’” So males have this bad sound, that doesn’t mean that females don’t have a bad sound, also they have. So Allah is saying in Holy Qur’an, “Don’t have a loud voice to be disgusting like a donkey.”
So when we have wisdom, we observe our tongue and what it is going to say; if you have no tongue you cannot say anything, you cannot express yourself except through movement if you have no tongue, but when you have a tongue, you begin backbiting everyone and spreading fitna and rumors for nothing. Shaytan plays with us.
So what did Allah say of Sayyidina Luqman (a)? Wa laqad aataynaa luqmaana al-hikmah, “We gave Luqman the Wisdom.” Read Surat Luqman and get the Wisdom that is written there. Ani ‘shkur lillaahi, “Thank Me, I gave you wisdom.” It means if we are children we have no wisdom; we might drink poison, we might burn ourselves and we die, we might drown in an ocean--no wisdom. But when you have wisdom, when you grow up, slowly, slowly you have to know that Allah gave you wisdom; you have to thank Him. Today they call wisdom “IQ,” how much intelligence you have. Intelligence comes from what? From wisdom. So Allah will give you wisdom and as much as you thank Him, wa man yashkur fa-innamaa yashkuru li-nafsihi, “And whoever thanks Allah (swt) is thanking himself,” which means, wa man yashkur fa-innamaa yashkuru li-nafsihi, “Thanking for himself,” he will find this wealth that we have mentioned about, that Allah says, mathalu ‘l-ladheena yunfiqoona amwaalahum fee sabeeli‘Llaah, “The example of those who spend their wealth.” It means all what Allah gives to you and you thank Him is wealth that you will be saving, not wealth in dunya that we will be leaving, but it will be wealth in Akhirah waiting for you, calling you, “Yaa Shaykh, come, come! Your rewards are here, saved in Akhirah,” in the Heavenly Bank that Shaytan cannot touch, there you will find it!
In Surat al-Baqarah, 2:261, Allah (swt) says, “Mathalu ‘l-ladheena yunfiqoona amwaalahum fee sabeeli’Llaahi,” and in Verse 268, He says:
الشَّيْطَانُ يَعِدُكُمُ الْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُم بِالْفَحْشَاء وَاللّهُ يَعِدُكُم مَّغْفِرَةً مِّنْهُ وَفَضْلاً وَاللّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Ash-shaytaanu ya`idukumu ‘l-faqra wa yaamurukum bi ’l-fahshaai w ’Allaahu ya`idukum maghfiratan minhu wa fadlan w ’Allaahu waasi`un `aleem.
Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
(Surat al-Baqarah, 2:268)
Shaytan’s promises will make you poor, when he says, wa ya`idukumu al-faqra, “O come to me, I will give you everything!” But that is not everything, that is poverty. He is giving you poverty, but showing you it is nice, meaning that he makes you yuzayyir laka, he decorates dunya for you, which is going to be poverty for you if you are not in Allah’s Way. If you listen to Shaytan, you cannot receive these rewards in Akhirah; there is no reward for you. Wa yaamurukum bi ’l-fahshaai, “And he calls you to corruption,” to be corrupted, wa’l-Lahu ya`idukum maghfiratan minhaa, “and on the other hand, Allah is promising you forgiveness.” When you say, “Shukran, yaa Rabbee, astaghfirullah,” Allah gives you wealth, not for dunya, and Shaytan shows you wealth, but that wealth is poverty, “decorated.”Like someone has a cake, he says, “I bring a cake for you,” and inside there is poison and on the outside is cream decorated with sprinkles, and he says, “Eat, eat, it’s nice, eat! I gave you the best cake that has ever been done,” but inside is full of dirty things, poison that will kill you.
Allah (swt) is saying, “Come to Me, I give you forgiveness.” Which way do we prefer, the Way of Allah or the way of the Shaytan? All of this is coming from wisdom. So having wisdom, and the highest Level of Wisdom is the Level of Moral Excellence, Maqaam al-Ihsaan, Prophet (s) said, “Because wisdom gives you akhlaaq, akhlaaq gives you wisdom.” So wisdom gives you to have moral excellence and as much as you have a higher Level of Wisdom, then you have a higher Level of Moral Excellence. So who has the highest Level of Wisdom in this universe? Prophet (s). So then who has the highest Level of Moral Excellence? Prophet (s), where Allah (swt) said:
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِي
Wa innaka la-`alaa khuluqin `azheem.
You are of the most exalted character. (Surat al-Qalam, 68:4)
“You are of the highest level that no one of human being or angel can reach, yaa Muhammad, wa innaka la-`alaa khuluqin `azheem! You are of the highest level of good manners and characters, there is no one above.” He said, “Wa innaka la-`alaa khuluq;” khuluq means “good character,” akhlaaq, and under akhlaaq, subhaanAllah, we used to study in the school when we were young this book, Tahdheeb al-Akhlaaq, about good manners and how to polish your character. When we were young they used to give to us books called Tahdheeb ul-Akhlaaq and they have pictures on how you have to be, to speak with people, how to eat, how to walk, and all these different examples of having good manners. Today, no more we see such a book in English, French, German, Italian, European, American or Arabic, it is not required any more. Before, it was required for us and when we were in elementary and intermediate school we had to study akhlaaq, every week you had two hours. Now? No akhlaaq now. Now no akhlaaq, they are proud of dating and if you don’t date they say, “Oh! What’s this, are you gay?” Or if the lady doesn’t date, “Oh! Are you a lesbian?” (Laughter.) They make you to look bad because you don’t date. Never mind! They make you to look bad, but in Allah’s Eyes you look the best and that’s what you need. Don’t date! Are you dating? (More laughter.) (Eat dates.) Yes, eat dates!
So Allah said, “You have the highest level of character,” wa innaka la-`alaa khuluqin `azheem. He added at the end `azheem, “great,” which means, “There is no limitation of your good manners.” Why is that like that? Because the Prophet (s) said:
ادبني ربي فأحسن تأديبي
Addabanee rabbee fa-ahsana ta'deebee.
Allah taught me and gave me the best manners.
“Allah disciplined me, taught me good manners,” and when Allah taught His Prophet (s) good manners, He taught him from a Heavenly Level, from Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa. Allah perfected him, Addabanee rabbee fa-ahsana taa'deebee, “Allah perfected my character.” He is confirming that, “Yes, for sure He made me of the best character.” That’s why Prophet (s) said:
انما بعثت لاتمم مكارم الاخلاق
Innamaa bu`ithtu li utammimu makaarim al-akhlaaq.
I have been sent to perfect the best of conduct (your behavior and character). (Bazzaar)
“I have been sent hasran, “exclusively,” innamaa, “Exclusively I have been sent to perfect the manners of a human being.” It means Prophet (s) took it as his responsibility and that means on the Day of Judgment we will appear like stars on dark nights, every mu’min will appear like that because Prophet (s) took on his shoulders the responsibility to perfect our manners and to bring us clean to Akhirah in the Presence of Allah!
That’s why in Holy Qur’an, Allah (swt) said:
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَة ٌ لِمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرا
Laqad kaana lakum fee rasoolullahi uswatun hasanatun liman kaana yarjoo’Llaaha wa 'l-yawma 'l-aakhira wa dhakara’Llaaha katheera.
Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and (who) remembers Allah often. (Surat al-Ahzaab, 33:21)
“You have in Prophet an example, a way, `usw, the best example, the best way for those who want Akhirah,” liman kaana yarju ‘l-Llaha, “For those who want Akhirah and Allah,” take an example from Prophet (s). Laqad kana lakum fee rasoolullahi uswatun hasanatun liman kaana yarju ‘Llaaha wa ‘l-yawma alakhira wadhakara ‘Llaaha katheeran is saying, “You have a good example in Prophet (s).” So the other verse, Surat Luqman, 31:13, is confirming:
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Qul in kuntum tuhibboona 'Llaaha fattabi`oonee yuhbibkumullaahu wa yaghfir lakum dhunoobakum w 'Allaahu 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. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:31)
Since in the previous verse in Surat al-Ahzaab, He is saying to you, “You have a best example in Prophet (s),” and in Surat Aali `IImraan He is saying, “Since you have that, follow Muhammad (s); follow his way, don’t follow any other way, there is no other way.” Either you follow Prophet (s) and you will be saved or you don’t follow Prophet (s) and then Allah’s Judgment, He judges and we don’t say anything.
May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us in this early morning and make all your days good all around the world!
Wa min Allahi at-tawfeeq bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.
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