Jumu`ah Khutbah at the Haqqani Priory
(Du`a of khutbah)
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.
وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَى مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَى وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى
Wa ’n-najmi idhaa hawaa maa dalla saahibukum wa maa ghawaa. Wa maa yantiqu `ani 'l-hawaa in huwa illa wahyun yoohaa.
By the star when it goes down, your Companion is neither astray nor being misled, nor does he say (anything) of (his own) desire. It is no less than inspiration sent down to him. (Surat an-Najm, 53:1-4)
(Arabic)
O Mu’mins, Believers! This is the month of the birth of Islam, the month that Islam was born in, the month of Rabi` al-Awwal. It is the month in which Allah (swt) sent nutfatu ’n-nabi (s), the sperm of the Prophet (s), from his father to his mother and the light that his father was carrying went into Amina (a) and she became pregnant with to Prophet (s).
Not like how we do today, we make some celebration and call it “Mawlid an-Nabi,” which is nice alhamdulillah, but Allah (swt) made all Heavens a Paradise that have been decorated for the welcoming of the birth of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! We are happy with some drumming and some praising and some food, which doesn't mean anything as that is mixed with our sins and bad characteristics and bad behaviors, but we are under that order, so although we have sins and bad behaviors we still have to celebrate. But imagine the angels in Paradises that have no sins! They are infallible and they are the ones celebrating and praising Sayyidina Muhammad (s) at every moment, from the time that Allah (swt) created the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) before creating anything else!
The Light of Muhammad (s) was created first in Creation and from it Allah (swt) created Creation. There are many ahadeeth on that issue.
O Muslims! Let us make the Prophet (s) happy with us by celebrating his birth by saying, as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:
وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا
Wa maa ataakumu ’r-rasoolu fakhudhoohu wa maa nahaakum `anhu fantahoo.
Leave what Prophet forbade and take what he ordered. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)
Whatever the Prophet (s) gave you take it, and whatever he forbids you don’t do it. That’s what will make him happy, to improve ourselves in this month and saying, “Yaa Rasoolullah! We will be good, we will try to be better, we will try to listen to your orders,” as it says in the Holy Qur’an:
مَّنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللّهَ
Man yuti`i ’r-rasoola faqad ataa` Allah.
Who obeys Prophet obeys Allah. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:80)
Whoever obeys the Prophet (s) is obeying Allah! The month of the Prophet (s) is not only the celebration, it’s not only to remember his birth, which is an obligation on us, but as the father is always happy with his son or daughter when he or she does not go to discos, when he or she does not go to marijuana and to things that Allah (swt) does not like, that’s what the Prophet (s) will be happy from his ummah, to stop running after the desires of this world and to run toward the desires of Allah (swt) and what He wants from us.
O Muslims! I’m going to mention something to you that will make you frightened and it has frightened me. Many scholars came across this hadith and never paid attention to its deep meaning. It makes everyone to sit in the corner asking forgiveness from Allah day and night! This is an authentic hadith mentioned by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya and authenticated by him in Sahih Muslim. You know who Ibn Qayyim was the student of Ibn Taymiyya and I am quoting from his book.
O Muslims! We have to be very careful of what is waiting for us. Dunya is finishing, going! You don't know if you will live for one moment or less. What did the Prophet (s) say? “O Allah! Don't leave me to myself!”
اللهم لاتكلني الى نفسي طرفة عين ولا أقل من ذلك
Allahumma laa takilnee ila nafsee tarfat `aynin wa laa aqala min dhalika.
O Allah! Don't leave me to my ego for the blink of an eye or less. (al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak, al-Bayhaqi in al-Asmaa wa’s-Siffaat, Sunan al-Kubra of an-Nisaa’ee)
He said, “To my self, don’t leave me!” Are we saying this? No is saying, “O Allah! Don't leave me to my self.” Everyone thinks he is the highest; everyone has a mind and thinks he is intelligent and cannot accept advice. I am 100% sure what Shaykh Muhammad said on the pulpit that no one remembers anything now; all of us forgot everything he just said. That means there is no attention, we are only giving attention to our ego. I am not saying this to frighten you, but I am frightened. I am seeing my shaykh, with whom I spent fifty years of my life, crying in the same way Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q) was crying in the last days of his life, may Allah (swt) bless his soul and give our shaykh long life!
He said, “All tariqats are going to be in the hands of Sayyidina al-Mahdi (a)! No one will have power.”
Now there is only one tap left in dunya, this tap of the Naqshbandi Tariqah. I am not saying other tariqahs are over. No, we have to respect all of them as there are 124,000 awliya, saints. You might say, “from where do you know this?” It is what Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q) used to mention, that there are 124,000 awliya. Later I researched it to make sure how it comes, because you have to analyze everything and take kalaamu ‘l-awliya, the words of saints into consideration and say, “That is 100% correct!” But in order not to let your ego play with you, your duty is to look it up. So I found it in Ibn `Abbas’ explanation of Surat al-`Araaf , where he mentions that when Sayyidina Musa (a) asked, “Yaa Rabbee! Let me see you” and fainted, when he woke up, he saw 124,000 prophets standing behind the Prophet (s) to pray!
Every prophet must carry his message or the tajalli that Allah (swt) gave him and he must have an inheritor as you cannot have prophets without inheritors. That’s why Sahaabat an-Nabi are 124,000 Sahaabah (r), each inheriting from the prophets and the highest of them, although all of them are brothers as the Prophet (s) said, “The prophets are my brothers,” and awliyaullah say, “All of them are my brothers.” We are brothers. Yes, you and I like to say, “My shaykh is the highest!” Is there any problem with that? Say your shaykh is the highest, nevermind! Who is the highest is highest and who is lower is lower, it’s okay, but everyone is a wali. 124,000 walis are inheriting from 124,000 prophets, the highest of them being Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Sultan al-Awliya will be inheriting from Prophet (s) and all other awliya will be inheriting from other prophets, such as Sayyidina `Isa, Sayyidina Musa, Sayyidina Ibrahim, Sayyidina Nuh (a), etc.
With all of what Allah (swt) has given to the Prophet (s), what did Prophet (s) say?
Allahumma laa takilnee ila nafsee tarfat `aynin wa laa aqala min dhalika.
O Allah! Don't leave me to myself for the blink of an eye (or else I will fall down and fail)! Don’t leave me to my ego!
Now, as soon we finish we will hear some people shouting with each other outside, “Who will go first, who will go last?” That is ego. We have to be calm. We have to shout at our ego. Now, look what is coming. O Allah! We are weak servants! Forgive us in this holy month, in this holy day, the first Friday of Rabi` al-Awwal!
O Muslims! I was looking and researching what Grandshaykh (q) said, that there are 124,000 wali, and that 7007 of them are Naqshbandis while the rest are from different tariqahs, so can we say to the Qadiris, “You are wrong.” We have to accept all of them. Can we say to the Chistis,“You are wrong.” No, they have awliya. Where are rest of the awliya? You cannot eliminate anyone, but your duty is to say, “My shaykh is my Sultan; he is Sultan al-Awliya!” It’s up to you, because as much as we praise the Prophet (s) Allah (swt) is happy, as much as we praise the Sahaabah (r) the Prophet (s) is happy, and as much as we praise awliyaullah, Sahaabah (r), Prophet (s) and Allah (swt) will be happy with you. So that is no problem. So the Prophet (s) is saying, “O Allah! Don’t leave me to my ego for the blink of an eye,” but why? He is worried because of this hadith in Sahih Muslim, narrated by Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r). He said, “I heard the Prophet (s) say something he never said before, say something that makes us worried,” and you have to be worried. Don’t say you have innocence from Hellfire; can you show it to us?
Grandshaykh (q) was crying before leaving dunya. He used to speak about Sayyidina Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband (q), the head of the Naqshbandi Tariqah, which all of us are from. When they put him on his bed, he was falling on the floor, crying, “Yaa `Afoow, yaa `Afoow!” He was crawling on his chest, saying, “Yaa `Afoow!” and Grandshaykh (q) used to recite it all the time, mentioning the story and saying, “O my shaykh! O my beloved, Sayyidee Shah Naqshband! Yaa `Afoow, yaa Allah!” and crying. They put him on the bed and he was falling down, saying, “Yaa `Afoow!” For what? For one thing he did in his life without permission. When there was a drought in his country they came to him, saying, “There is drought!” This is what he did to get this, asking Allah (swt) in the last moment of his life, crying and saying, “O Allah! Forgive me because I interfered in Your Will!”
That is why awliyaullah don’t interfere with their wills, they leave it to Allah. They submit, they submit to anyone. Look today how awliyaullah are submitting! People curse them, they slap them, they beat them from here and there and they keep quiet and cry, then people look at them, saying, “O! Why are you crying? Don’t cry.” Is he under your order to cry or not cry, that you tell him, “Don’t cry.” Do you know why he is crying? He is seeing the fitna going on; he is seeing the disaster coming on this world, how their life is finished from this dunya and connected with Akhirah. They are feeling it. They are seeing that coming soon and they are submitting and they cry. Their cries are du`as! Embedded in their cries, in every drop of their tears, there is a du`a there! There is person there that he is praying and crying for Allah to forgive him, like Sayyidina Adam (a), who made sajda after the sin he committed, was crying and asking Allah’s forgiveness, some say for forty days, some say for forty years. Whatever it is, he was crying and every drop coming from his eyes represents one person from his children until the Day of Judgment. He cried on behalf of everyone until Allah (swt) said to him, “Raise your head, finished! I forgive them, I’m forgiving them even before they came.”
Awliyaullah cry for their ummah! They reach a level, the Ocean of Cries. Did you hear about that ocean? In the spiritual realm of Islam, there is Bahru ‘d-Dumoo`, the Ocean of , highest level of tasawwuf, spirituality, where tears come. Go and see Sultan al-Awliya. He is crying constantly in his room and outside of his room, everywhere! He is crying and crying and crying for something he knows, but for us, he is seeing the fitna growing, the tariqah ending. Tariqah will end, as I heard it many times from Grandshaykh (q) that there will be a time when all tariqahs will be in the hand of Mahdi (a) and this tariqah, the Naqshbandi Tariqah, which is still running with a small tap giving drops of ma`rifah, knowledge, will be until Mahdi (a) takes it!
That is going to be taken in the hand of Mahdi (a), as he is the one that is heading. There will be representatives, there will be khalifahs, there will be deputies, but is it going to continue with its secrets, or are these secrets going to be in the hands of Mahdi (a) like many other tariqahs? That is the question. So if that is the question, and we see Mawlana Shaykh Nazim in tears, crying, we can see what is the meaning of this sahih hadith in Muslim:
He said, “I heard the Prophet (s) saying... ” We don’t look at hadith mawdoo`, da`eef (weak) or whatever, but this is Sahih Muslim, so finished (regarding it’s authenticity); no one can say no to it.
"إن أول الناس يقضي يوم القيامة عليه رجل استشهد، فأتي به فعرفه نعمه فعرفها . قال: فما عملت فيها؟ قال قاتلت فيك حتى استشهدت، قال: كذبت، ولكنك قاتلت لأن يقال: جريء، فقد قيل. ثم أمر به فسحب على وجهه حتى ألقي فى النار ورجل تعلم العلم وعلمه وقرأ القرآن، فأتي به فعرفه فعرفها. قال: فما عملت فيها؟ قال: تعلمت العلم وعلمته، وقرأت فيك القرآن قال: كذبت، ولكنك تعلمت العلم ليقال: عالم، وقرأت القرآن ليقال هو قارىء، فقد قيل، ثم أمر به، فسحب على وجهه، حتى ألقي فى النار، ورجل وسع الله عليه وأعطاه من أصناف المال كله، فاتي به فعرفه نعمه فعرفها، قال: فما عملت فيها؟ قال: ماتركت من سبيل تحب أن ينفق فيها إلا أنفقت فيها لك قال كذبت ولكنك فعلت ليقال هو جواد فقد قيل ثم أمر به فسحب على وجهه ثم ألقي فى النار"
The first of people against whom Judgment will be pronounced on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who died a martyr. He will be brought and Allah will make known to him His favors and he will recognize them. (The Almighty) will say, “And what did you do about them?” He will say, “I fought for you until I died a martyr.” He will say, “You have lied! You did but fight that it might be said (of you), ‘He is courageous,’ and so it was said.” Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hellfire!
(Another) will be a man who has studied (religious) knowledge and has taught it and who used to recite the Qur’an. He will be brought and Allah will make known his His favors and he will recognize them. (The Almighty) will say, “And what did you do about them?” He will say. “I studied (religious) knowledge and I taught it and I recited the Qur’an for Your sake.” He will say, “You have lied! You did but study (religious) knowledge that it might be said (of you), ‘He is learned,’ and you recited the Qur’an that it might be said (of you), ‘He is a reciter,’ and so it was said.” Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hellfire!
(Another) will be a man whom Allah had made rich and to whom He had given all kinds of wealth. He will be brought and Allah will make known his His favors and he will recognize them. (The Almighty) will say, “And what did you do about them?” He will say, “I left no path (untrodden) in which You like money to be spent without spending in it for Your sake!” He will say, “You have lied! You did so that it might be said (of you), ‘He is open-handed,’ and so it was said.” Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hellfire!"
(Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i)
Inna awwala ‘n-naasu yuqdaa feehee yawm al-qiyaama thalaatha, “The first to be questioned in the Day of Judgment are three people (three titles or groups): rajulun istuhshid, a man that died as a shaheed.” Is that the highest position or not? The highest position in Islam is someone who died in Shahadah; there is nothing above that. We always say, “Allahumma ‘h-shurnaa ma` ‘n-nabiyyeena wa ‘s-siddiqeena wa ‘sh-shuhadaai wa ‘s-saaliheen, O Allah! Make us to be with them!” So one of them fee maq`adi sidq, in this big group the first one Allah (swt) calls is the shaheed. Fa utiya bihi fa `arrafahu ni`amahu, He will call him and He will show him His favors, “These are My Favors! Did you know it? Did you come across it?” He will say, “Yes.” Allah will say, “What did you do with it? What did you do in order to get what you want as a shaheed? What did you do for Me?” He will say, qaataltu feek hattaa qutilt, “I went and I fought until I was killed in Your Way.”
Is there anything better than that? No. Say “no.” (No!)
He said, qaala qaataltu feek, “I fought for You." How does he dare say to Allah, "I fought for You until I died.” Does He need you? Allah said, qaal kadhibt, “You are a liar! You didn’t fight for Me, wa laakin qaatalta li yuqaala huwa jariyyun, you went and fought so people will mention your name and say, ‘O! This one is a shaheed, he fought for Allah,’ in order for your name to be put everywhere, on every website!
Does Allah have websites? Yes, He has heavenly websites. Everywhere, on all websites it’s written, “That person fought for Allah’s Way and he blew himself up.” Is suicide bombing coming here or not? Don't ever think that suicide bombing is going to take you to Paradise! “Kadhibt!” as Allah (swt) said to that one who did not do a suicide bombing, but went and fought in a regular way, in the way that is well-known, one-to-one, not to throw something and kill everyone who are innocent! You cannot say a suicide bomber is good and you must know that you are going to be questioned!
The Prophet (s) said:
اللَّهُمَّ لَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ وَلَا أَقَلَّ مِنْ ذَلِكَ
Allahumma laa takilnee ila nafsee tarfat `aynin wa laa aqala min dhalika.
O Allah! Don't leave me to my ego for the blink of an eye or less.
Allah (swt) is saying to that shaheed here in this position, “You are lying! You didn’t fight for Me, but you fought for some people to say you are courageous, for people to carry your name and say, ‘This is a shaheed, so-and-so.’ So you did it and people said that for you; you did it for them and you got what you needed from them, not from Me! So My decision is now, O My angels, come and take him to Hellfire!” And people say, “O! This is a shaheed,” but they don’t know he went into Hellfire. Wa laakin qaatalta li yuqaala huwa jariyyun, faqad qeel, “You wanted to be courageous? They said about you, ‘He was courageous,’ finished! This is what you wanted.” Thumma umira bihi fa suhiba `alaa wajhihi hatta ulqiya fi ‘n-naar, “They took him and threw him in Hellfire.”
Where are we now? The best of people went into Hellfire, because he gave his ego a level that is not istahaq, that does not fit him. He did not do it for Allah, so he did not deserve it.
The second one, and this applies to many today because martyrs are very few, but this one is everywhere. I am not addressing to anyone (in particular), but I’m speaking the hadith of the Prophet (s), which includes me, includes him, includes everyone; it includes any scholar in this world, any `alim, any wali, any whatever you want to say you say, but it concerns everyone under this category. The second one to be called in the Day of Judgment in front of Allah (swt) is wa rajulun ta`allama ‘l-`ilma wa `allama, someone who learned, who became a scholar: he learned knowledge, taught it to people, read the Holy Qur'an, memorized it, taught people how to read it and its meanings. He will be questioned. So a good `alim, who is a very qualified `alim who studied the Holy Qur'an, studied hadith, studied Islam and taught it, will be called. Fa utiya bihi fa `arrafahu ni`amah, Allah will show him His Favors and say, “What did you do to deserve these favors?” and
he will say, “Yaa Rabbee! I studied knowledge for You in order to teach to people, to learn it and to go everywhere to spread it. Wa qara’tu ‘l-qur’aana feek, and I memorized the Holy Qur’an for You.” Fa qaala kadhibt, “You are a liar!” Allahu Akbar! Where is the `alim going to run? And people will point to him, “O! That is a big `alim who made a big fatwa.”
Today, even behind the computer you find thousands of fatwas on Google, everyone giving a fatwa. `Ulama of today have this (attitude of) wa laa haraj, they speak and don’t bother with it, and there are too many of them filling this dunya. You ask everyone, “What are you studying?” and they say, “Islam.”
“What are you studying?”
“I did my Masters in this and this, and I got my PhD and I learned Islam.”
It’s good, but did you learn it for Allah (swt) or for yourself? Fa qaala kadhibt, “You are a liar!” Wa laakinnaka ta`allamta li-yuqaal huwa `aalim, “You learned, you went to satisfy your ego for people to say you are a scholar,” like how today they say, “These are academic scholars, don’t touch them, they know footnotes.” Every sentence has ten footnotes! If your book has no footnotes, (to them) it’s garbage. Awliyaullah are not in need of footnotes because they take from the heart of Prophet (s), which is a big difference!
I’m keeping you too long here. (Please continue Sayyidee, we are happy!)
You know Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (q) had an elder brother called Ahmad. Whenever prayer time came, his brother Ahmad would lead the prayer and Abu Hamid would pray behind him, until one day Abu Hamid stopped praying behind his brother.
People began to speak, “What’s going on? What’s going on?” Fitna growing now, “O! This one is this, this one is that.” For what? They are brothers, don’t interfere! Don’t put your hand or your finger in or you will burn it. It is Allah’s Will: either you accept or what is it?
Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, “If awliyaullah tell you to follow the stone, you must follow the stone,” but they will not say that. This means whatever comes from the sultan is an order and you have to take it; do your duty and don’t jump and make fitna! So people began to make fitna in the masjid and Ahmad ran away because he is wise, he is a scholar and he is clever. He went and said to his mother (he didn't speak to his brother), “My brother is not praying behind me anymore. Did I do something wrong? Why did he stop? People are making fitna. What is going on?” like too many fitnas today, and they never come out of fitna.
She went to Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (q) and said, “Why are you not praying behind your brother? Why are you making fitna?”
Websites are filled with fitna now: documents, papers, everything is about this one did this, this one did that. Allah (swt) knows what kind of Shaytan comes and throws (such things), but what you have to do? To keep quiet is better. We learned that after fifty years! (Laughter.) It took time. So what did he do?
He said, “Why is my brother not praying behind me? Does he have anything wrong?”
She went to Abu Hamid and said, “Why are you not praying behind your brother?”
He said, “Mom, leave me alone please, don’t ask me that question.”
She said, “No, I have to know! Your brother said the masjid is in fitna, the place is in fitna, the students outside are in fitna, there is fitna in everything today!”
He said, “Whenever I pray (behind my brother), I cannot pray according to Shari`ah because I have blood on me! Can you pray when you have blood on you? So how am I going to pray behind him when he is already (immersed) in blood?”
She said, “What is that?” She did not understand.
That’s why there is fitna today, because people don’t understand: they don’t understand that there are 124,000 wali, they don’t understand that there are 7007 Naqshbandi awliya, they don’t understand that there are 313 Naqshbandi shaykhs inheriting from 313 Sahaabah (r) and 313 prophets, Nabiyyu ‘l-Mursal wa Sahaabatu ‘n-Nabi, As-haabu ‘l-Badr. They don’t know! They don’t know that there are forty awliya in the chain and that it will stop at that fortieth, whoever is the fortieth, whom we believe is Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life! And whoever he appoints, he appoints, sami`na wa ata`na. If he comes and says, “Shaykh Muhammad! Come, you are the one,” it’s okay. If he says that to Shaykh Muhammad, whom I have raised (he was raised in my home, both him and Bahauddin, we raised him), (it is) on my head! Whoever it is, it is the order of the shaykh, so of course it is no problem. We are not working for ourselves, we are working for him. I was studying chemistry and medicine and left that for him!
In any case, (the mother said), “So why are you not praying behind your brother?”
Abu Hamid said, “O my mother! In Shari`ah you cannot pray behind someone who has blood on him.”
So she went and told her other son, Ahmad, who said, “How can that happen? I have complete wudu!”
When the imam who prays with jama`ah showers, it is even better.
Ahmad said, “I take a shower before coming to pray, so where is the blood? I have no blood!” This is what he said. So he went to his brother and said, “Although you are younger than me, I still respect you for the knowledge that Allah has given to you, but where is the blood? I don’t have any blood on me!”
Abu Hamid said, “No, think about it, if you have blood on you or not.”
So he was thinking, thinking and thinking for one day, two days, three days...
تفكر ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة
Tafakkarru sa`atin khayrun min `ibaadati saba`een sannah.
To remember Allah (swt) (contemplate or meditate) for one hour is better than seventy years of worship.
Someone who makes tafakkur, thinks about matters, for example, “Why is it happening like that? What is wrong with us? Why do we fight with each other? Why is every group with itself?” For what? We are under one father, our shaykh, so why do we have to make hundreds of branches and every branch fights with the other? All representatives are on our heads, but don’t fight! Do what you want, it is not our responsibility, but it is the responsibility of the shaykh, of the sultan. Do what you want!
So Ahmad told Abu Hamid, “You are my younger brother. The fitna is running up, so what do I have to tell the people?”
Abu Hamid said, “O my brother! You are in a well of blood. It is not that you have wounded yourself, but you are falling in a well of blood. Think about it.”
He said, “O, now I know! You are right, I am wrong. Now I remember. One lady and one man had given me a paper to make fatwa for them, a fatwa that has blood in it, asking me about the period of ladies, what to do when they have their period, and the question was put together in a certain difficult way, so every time I say ‘Allahu Akbar,’ the period of women comes in front of me,” although Allah (swt) gave that for blessing women, for knowing if they have children or not, or to reproduce. Allah (swt) honored ladies, so you cannot say they are not clean, but it is only a requirement in Islam that they need to take a shower when they stop bleeding.
So he said, “Anytime I speak or say ‘Allahu Akbar’ to pray, that fatwa and the period of ladies come in front of me, which is blood, so you are right.”
That one is an `alim and that one is a wali. Look at how the wali see things: he can see things that an `alim cannot see. How did Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (q) see what his brother was not seeing when he said, “Allahu Akbar.” So don’t touch awliyaullah, leave them alone; if they have problems, they solve the problems by themselves. So don’t make groups! And this is part of the question when Allah (swt) calls the `alim and asks, “What have you done for Me to deserve My favors?
He will say, “I taught in Your Way, I taught Qur’an in Your Way.”
Allah will say, “No, you did it for people to say you are an `alim, to get respect from people, not respect from Me! You did it to get respect and to make money out of the name ‘`alim’ or ‘wali,’ so you are not doing it for Me, but you are running after money, after the wealth of dunya in order for people to be cheated by you! You cheated people by asking them for this and that and you are an `alim, a scholar? If you are not an `alim or a scholar and you took money from people, I forgive you, but if you are an `alim, I’m not forgiving!”
Allahu Akbar! This means good tidings that we are not `alim. We confess here in front of everyone that me and you are not `alim! (Two here) are `alim, but these will go to Paradise. The one in the hadith is different: wa qara’ta ‘l-qur’aan li yuqaala huwa qaariyy, “You read Qur’an for people to say you are a hafizh or you are a qaariyy. O! Bring him in front!”
I will tell you one story and you will be surprised. I took Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) to Singapore and we went into one of the biggest masjids as we were invited to by the imam. The group there arranged for us to pray and for Mawlana to pray as the imam and give the khutbah. So we went there and at the same time there was someone who came from Iraq; I will not mention his name, but he was a young imam or `alim in his 30s and Mawlana was in his 70s at that time. We came together, and that imam was sitting by the mihrab and the imam of the masjid was speaking with him. When Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) came, everyone greeted him and that imam also kissed Mawlana’s hand. So they called for adhaan. Who will be the imam? Normally it must be the shaykh, forget about tariqah, but the eldest and the one with a longer beard! Yes, you don’t know that? If there are two deceased Muslims who have to be buried, they have to bury the one with the longest beard first, even if he is younger in age, because he kept what Allah (swt) wants. So that’s why Mawlana told me to never cut it. He said, “Don’t cut it!” so I’m not cutting. Perhaps I will go quick!
So what happened? Subhaan-Allah! I seldom saw Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) upset, very few times, but he was so upset from the one responsible for the masjid, who said, “O Shaykh, nevermind! You will not lead the prayer, he will do it, the one who came from Iraq.” He was 30 years of age and Mawlana was 75 years of age! He pushed.
I spoke with the masjid representatives and said, “How can you do that?”
He said, “Because this boy is a Sayyid.”
I said, “Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is a Sayyid from both sides, whereas he is a Sayyid from only one side. Mawlana is a Sayyid from both sides!”
He said, “No, no, no, no, we want him to pray!” And what did Mawlana do? He prayed behind him, and Mawlana was supposed to give a suhbah after, but he didn’t give suhbah and he left the masjid. Why? Due to disrespect, because in the head of that responsible for the masjid, that young one is an academician, he studied Islamic Law, so he thought, “He is much better than this old man dressed in shalwar. The other one is in western dress, in western shirt with one jubbah on top and this one is wearing shalwar, so what does he know?”
He studied knowledge, but Prophet (s) is saying in the hadith, “They study in order to say, ‘We are `alim, we have to be the imam, we have to do the jumu`ah, we have to do this and that!’” No, don’t be the imam, because then you will carry the responsibility of the people behind you. Let them carry the responsibility, let them be the imam! To keep quiet is better. I’m trying (to not be the imam), but it doesn’t work.
So in the continuation of the hadith of Prophet (s), Allah (swt) will say, “He is a liar, take him!” and they take him to Hellfire. O Allah! Don’t leave us to ourselves for the blink of an eye.
Then the third one will come, and I will finish this up quickly. That is someone who is very rich and to whom everyone comes, saying, “I have this association, can we have money from you?”
He says, “Yes, of course,” and he writes a check.
“This one?”
“Yes.”
“And this one?
“Yes.”
So he gives to schools, hospitals and masaajid; he gives everywhere and people run after him and become like a slave to him, is it not? Everywhere they are running for money and the people and `ulama run after him to collect, to milk him, thinking, “Y’Allah! He is giving.”
And Prophet (s) said Allah (swt) will ask him, “Do you know these ni`am? What did you do to deserve My Favors?”
He will say, “Yaa Rabbee! I gave in Your Way: I did this, I did this, I did this, I did this...”
Allah will say, “No, you did all of that for your name to be written there.”
Do you see on the Ka`bah any name written except Allah’s Name and Sayyidina Muhammad’s (s) name (if they put Sayyidina Muhammad’s name)? What is written there? Verses of Holy Qur’an. So there are rich people (who give) in order to have their names written in the newspaper; instead of Allah’s Names and Sayyidina Muhammad’s names, they put the names of these people. (So Allah will say,) “You did that for that, you didn’t do it for me. Take him to Hellfire!” and the angels will take him to Hellfire. That is scary! The people whom we think are the best--the shaheed, the `alim and the al-kareem, the generous one--if these are doing for themselves, it means we are doing for ourselves also.
May Allah (swt) forgive us. May Allah (swt) bless us in this Friday.
(Someone passes around a sadaqah box for the masjid.) This month is the month of Prophet, Rabi` al-Awwal, so give generously and Allah (swt) will give to you, inshaa-Allah.
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