A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem.
Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Laa hawla wa laa quwatta illa billahi 'l-`Aliyyu 'l-`Azheem.
Dastoor, yaa Sayyidi, yaa Sultanu ‘l-Anbiya. Dastoor yaa Sultanu ‘l-Awliya. Dastoor yaa Sayyidi wa Mawlay. Madad, yaa RijaalAllah.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
We have people that have come from Canada, Montreal, and Chicago. If we can keep the children together with the parents for 10-15 minutes, if they want to play, they can go outside and play. It’s a nice, sunny day outside. If they want to sit and listen, they’re welcome. Inshaa-Allah,we will say a few words that we heard from our masters.
Mashaa-Allah, everybody is an `alim. I sit with people and, mashaa-Allah, they know everything. So, our majlis is not about teaching, as Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and our masters used to say. Our majlis is a reminder. Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an, asta`eedhu billah.
وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَى تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
fa dhakkir fa inna adh-dhikra tanfa` al-mumineen
"Remind people because by reminding believers, people get benefit.” (Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:55)
Remind them. Mashaa-Allah, Muslims know their religion. They know their way. Mu’mins know iman. We’re not going to tell you something you already know. There’s no point repeating what you know. Allah (swt) has said:
كَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا فِيكُمْ رَسُولًا مِّنكُمْ يَتْلُوا۟ عَلَيْكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا وَيُزَكِّيكُمْ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُم مَّا لَمْ تَكُونُوا۟ تَعْلَمُونَ
Kamaa arsalanaa feekum rasoolan minkum yatloo `alaykum ayaatinaa wa yuzakeekum wa yu`allimukumu ‘l-kitaaba wa ‘l-hikmata wa yu`allimukum maa lam takoonu ta`lamoon.
A similar (favor have ye already received) in that We have sent among you an Messenger of your own, rehearsing to you Our Signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in Scripture and Wisdom, and in new knowledge. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:151)
About Rasoolullah (s) it is said, “We have sent a messenger from you among you. He recites Our verses to you.” Okay, everybody can do that. Mashaa-Allah, all of the `ulama are doing that, no problem.
He purifies you from the bad characteristics of the ego. Third, He teaches you the Book. He teaches you wisdom. The fourth, Rasoolullah (s) will teach you what you don’t know.
The true Waliyullah, the true Nabi, Anbiyaullah, have come to tell us something we don’t know. When you sit with somebody and they’re just telling you what you know, there’s no point. You already know all of that. Try to find a majlis, a shaykh, a guide that will tell you what you don’t know. Allah (swt) has said:
عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
Allama ‘l-insaana ma lam ya`lam.
Taught man that which he knew not. (Surat al-`Alaq, 96:5)
Allah (swt) has taught al-insaan, the human. It means al-Insaan al-Kamil, the Perfect Human. That is Rasoolullah (s). Allah (swt) has taught Rasoolullah (s) from knowledge that nobody knew. Rasoolullah (s) was also ordered to teach his followers knowledge, what they don’t know. Mashaa-Allah, everybody can open books and read but there is some knowledge called “Hikmah.”
يُؤْتِى ٱلْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَآءُ وَمَن يُؤْتَ ٱلْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِىَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ
Wa man yu’ta ‘l-hikmata faqad uteeya khayran katheera.
He granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:269)
Whoever is granted hikmah, wisdom, which is basically the cream of knowledge. Like you have the cream of milk, the cream of `ilm is hikmah. You cannot find it. Allah (swt) said, wa man yu’ta, “To the one that is granted wisdom.” He has been granted so much khayr, goodness. That is what I heard our teachers repeat so many times. Hikmah is different. Everybody knows `ilm, knowledge, but they don’t know hikmah, wisdom. Shaytan had knowledge but he didn’t have understanding and he didn’t have wisdom.
Our majlis, our association is an extension of the association of our shuyookh. Astaghfirullah. We are not claiming to be anything. Never claim to be something. If you claim to be `alim then I’ll ask you, “How many leaves are on this tree outside?” Do you know? You say, “I’m a knower.” How many teeth are in your mouth? You’re going to spend some time thinking about how many times you went to the dentist, how many are implants, how many are crowns and what is what.
Don’t claim to be an `alim. Say, “I am asking for `ilm,” as Rasoolullah (s) taught us to say, Rabbee zidni `ilma. Yaa Rabbee. Increase our knowledge. We speak a little bit of the wisdom that we learned from our shuyookh. That is the reminder that we are after.
Inshaa-Allah, in a few days it will be Rasoolullah’s (s) holy month, the holy birth. Inshaa-Allah, we will enter it with khayr, inshaa-Allah, we receive the khayr that is in it and inshaa-Allah, we exit it with khayr. In that month of Rasoolullah (s), try to follow Rasoolullah (s).
It is said that a person came to Sayyidina Ibrahim ibn Adham (q) and said, “They say I am salih, a good one. They say I’m a pious one. They say I’m a righteous one. How do I know I am salih?” He said, “Present your deeds to the saliheen, the good ones, the saints in secret. If they accept it and if they say it is good and they like it then you are a good one, a pious one. Otherwise, no.”
Do you present your `amal to the saliheen in secret? Who are the saliheen? They are Sahaabat al-kiraam (r), Tabi`een, Tabi` Tabi`een, Awliyaullah, rijaalAllah, Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r), Sayyidina Umar (r), Sayyidina Uthman (r), Sayyidina `Ali (r), Ahlu ‘l-Bayt. How do you present your `amal? Compare what you do everyday to what they have done. If they say, “Wow. This is an excellent deed that you have done,” then you are salih, a good one. If you know your `amal and you’re covering it all the time, even from your own self because you feel guilty then you are not salih.
In this month of Rasoolullah (s), if you say, “I’m a good one,” look at Rasoolullah’s (s) model.
لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَ وَذَكَرَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
Laqad kaana lakum fee Rasoolillahi uswatun hasanah.
Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah. (Surat al-Ahzab, 33:21)
You had the best example in Rasoolullah (s). So, compare, if you can compare. You cannot compare. Compare it to the ones who followed him. Say, “Yaa Rabbee. Let me see if my deed is like theirs.” If it’s like their deed and they say, “This is a good one. We accept your `amal,” and it is a good `amal, hasan, then you are salih. Otherwise, you are not.
Sulayman here is 26. I’m 53. How many months are in 50 years? Six hundred. How many days? Eighteen thousand. One Waliyullah said, “Every day I sit and say, ‘If I did one sin a day. I am 50-years-old. I have done 18,000 sins.’” Calculate your life. Calculate your years. If you have done one sin a day, you have done 18,000, 20,000, 10,000 if it’s one a day. If it’s more than one a day, 180,000 if it’s ten, 1,800,000 if it’s 100. There’s a way to go, trillions, quadrillions. We have done so many sins.
What is the way that Rasoolullah (s) taught us? He taught us to do istighfaar. He used to do istighfaar one hundred times a day. The mu’min, the Muslim knows that he falls into mistakes, men or women. We fall into mistakes. When we know that we have done wrong, Rasoolullah (s) taught us to say “astaghfirullah” 70 times, 100 times, 1,000 times. Whenever you remember, say, “Astaghfirullah.” This is the way. The way is to shed the sins. Every sin is a hijab, veil from Allah (swt). Your sins are your hijab. When you clear the disobedience with istighfaar, these veils are being removed. Otherwise:
كَلَّآ إِنَّهُمْ عَن رَّبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَّمَحْجُوبُونَ
Kallaa innahum `an Rabbihim yawmidhin la-mahjooboon.
Verily, from (the Light of) their Lord, that Day, will they be veiled. (Surat al-Mutaffifin, 83:15)
The disobedient ones are veiled from their Lord on that Day. In this month, everyday as much as you can, say, “Astaghfirullah.” It is the way that Rasoolullah (s) taught us and the way that he has taken. Did Rasoolullah (s) make istighfaar everyday? Mashaa-Allah, everybody knows the Hadith. Do you make istighfaar 100 times a day?
You know the `ilm but you don’t do the `amal. That is worse. That means your `ilm did not benefit you. `Ilm is not about showing off that you know. `Ilm is to benefit from what you know. Rasoolullah (s) has taken the way of istighfaar 70 times a day and in another Hadith, 100 times a day. You have to make that istighfaar to shed all of these sins.
We have a cemetery here. One Waliyullah was passing by a cemetery and he saw a man sitting there. He asked, “What are you doing here?” He said, “Whenever I feel the difficulty of this dunya, this world, and all the pressure is on me, I come to this cemetery because nobody bothers me here. I look at the end of people.” If you have a neighbor that bothers, if you have a relative that bothers you, if you bother others, look. “That’s the end.” He said, “I come to recalibrate. I go away from everybody and sit with the ones who don’t talk and don’t bother me. I sit and look to see the end.”
He kept white stones and black stones in his hand. The saint asked him, “What are these stones in your hand?” He said, “When I wake up in the morning, I have white stones in my right hand and black stones in my left hand. Whenever I do something good, I throw one white stone among the black ones. When I do a bad `amal, I throw one black stone with the white ones. At the end of the day, I see which ones are more, the good deeds or the sins. If my good work is more, I eat and allow myself to rest. If my bad work is more, I don’t eat. I punish myself. I don’t allow my ego to rest. I get busy with istighfaar.”
We cannot do that but we can say “astaghfirullah” every day. Follow the way of Rasoolullah (s). Make sure that your deeds are acceptable by the saints, the peeran, by Awliyaullah. Inshaa-Allah, we can do our best.
We make istighfaar, but why does Rasoolullah (s) make istighfaar? He is ma`soom. He has no sins. Our shuyookh have explained that we make istighfaar for our sins but Allah (swt) is continuously increasing Rasoolullah (s) in levels. Rasoolullah (s) does not stop approaching the Divine Presence. There is no end to approaching the Divine Presence. There is no end to the levels of `ilm. There is no end for the levels of hikmah, wisdom. Rasoolullah (s) is continuously ascending. His ascension did not stop.
When he comes to a certain level and Allah (swt) opens to him from `ilm, from Noor, from beauty, Rasoolullah (s) worships his Lord according to that level. When he sees Adhamatu ‘Llah, the Greatness of Allah (swt), he praises Him and worships Him, remembers Him and worships Him according to what he is seeing. When Allah (swt) elevates him to a higher level, he says, “Yaa Rabbee! Forgive me. I should have praised You more because You are Adham, You are Akbar, You are more than what I knew.” Every level he goes through, he understands that Allah (swt) is Greater than the level he was in. He says, “Yaa Rabbee. I worshiped You at a lower level because my knowledge was less. Now my knowledge is higher, so I worship you according to my knowledge at a higher level.” Then he goes to a higher level still.
Rasoolullah’s istighfaar is to ask forgiveness from the worship he has done at a lower level of knowledge rather than at the higher level of knowledge that he is in now. Do you get it? Understand. WHen you go more, you know more about your Lord. When you know more about your Lord, what happens? You love Him more, you fear Him more, you appreciate Him more.
If you meet somebody in the street but don’t know who he is, you don’t care. But once you start to know that he is in the government, then you know he is in a high position in the government, then you know he is in the cabinet of the president and then you know he is the president himself. The more you know about him, the more respect you have.
Shaykh Ali Hussain is a professor. Not anymore. He got demoted. Astaghfirullah. If you look at him, alhamdulillah, “As-salamu `alaykum, yaa akhi.” When you learn he is a professor, you say, “As-salamu `alaykum, sir. How are you, sir?” The respect increases.
When you Allah (swt) more, your respect increases. When you know Allah (swt) more, your love increases. That is one of the reasons Rasoolullah (s) makes istighfaar. “Yaa Rabbee! I know You more and more and more. The more I know You, the more I appreciate You, the more I respect You, the more I love You, the more I worship You.” That is why he says, “Astaghfirullah for the lower level of worship I have done. Now I’m doing it at a higher level.”
We won’t reach there. Don’t worry about that. But we can start istighfaar. Follow the way of Rasoolullah (s) as much as you can in this month. Make istighfaar for the sins. Get the black stones and white stones or whatever you want and make sure you don’t do too many sins. If you do, Allah (swt) will forgive.
I read this Hadith today and I was very happy to read it. It’s glad tidings. It says, kitabu ‘l-mu’min, when Allah (swt) gives you your book on the Day of Judgment, your good deeds are on the top and the bad deeds are on the bottom. He says, “Read your book.” Iqraa kitaabika. The mu’min starts reading his book. He reads the good deeds and then he comes to the bad deeds. When he finishes reading the bad deeds it says, qad ghafartu, “I forgive you.”
When you read about your good deeds and then finish reading the bad deeds, it says, qad ghafartu faqlib. “I have forgiven you. Turn.” When you turn, you look at the good deeds and it says, qad qabiltu minka, “I accept your good deeds. I have forgiven your bad deeds that nobody sees at the bottom and I have accepted your good deeds.” That is for the mu’min. Alhamdulillah. Look at Rahmatullah, the Mercy of Allah (swt).
It means that you’re going to have good deeds and bad deeds. You are not ma`soom. We are human beings. Human beings make mistakes. Wa khayru tawaaboon al mustaghfoon. I heard that from Mawlana Shaykh Hisham.
كُلُّكُمْ خَطَّاءُونَ وَخَيْرُ الْخَطَّائِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ
The Prophet (s) said:
“All of you will make mistakes knowingly or unknowingly. But the best of the mistake-makers are the ones who repent. (Ibn Majah, at-Tirmidhi, ad-Darimi)
“Khattaa’” means “knowingly.” Allah (swt) has opened the door of tawbah, so go through that door. If you don’t go through that door, on the Day of Judgement, Allah (swt) has prepared something good for you. He will say, “I have forgiven your sins and have accepted your good deeds. Go with the saaliheen, the ones you love. Go with the Awliyaullah.” Inshaa-Allah, all of us will be there.
Increase your salawaat on Rasoolullah (s). Increase your istighfaar this month. Increase your good deeds this month. Try to avoid the bad deeds. May Allah (swt) always keep on the footsteps and at the door of Awliyaullah.
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
https://sufilive.com/We-Relate-What-We-Heard-from-Our-Masters-8306.html
© Copyright 2024 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected. by international copyright law. Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.