Mawlid Suhbah at As-Siddiq Mosque
Allahuma salli wa sallim wa baarik `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad (s), wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een. Alhamdulillah alladhee hadaana li ’l-Islami wa ma kunna linahtadeea law laa an hadaanallah. Alhamdulillah hamda ’l-kaamileen wa ‘s-salaatu wa ‘s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi ’l-mursaleen, Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een.
Everyone has to know his limits. Prophet (s) said:
من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه
Man `arafa nafsahu faqad `arafa Rabbah.
Who knows his Self knows his Lord.
Who knows his limits stands by his limits. So first of all, we don't know ourselves, because if we did, for sure we would know about our Lord, through His Beautiful Names and Attributes. Don't ever think that a person can reach knowledge of Dhaat al-Buht, the Hidden Essence from which come all Names and Attributes of Allah (swt)--la shareeka lahu, no one can know the reality of His Essence. Allah raised Prophet (s) so near but He did not bring him to be with Him. There was a very small gap, maybe like the size of a hair, qaaba qawsayni aw adna. It may have been so near, but not all the way inside. This is to show the difference between the Creator and the best of servants, Sayyidina Muhammed (s).
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى
Subhaan al-ladhee asraa bi `abdihi laylan min ‘l-Masjidi ‘l-Haraami ‘lla ‘l-Masjidi ‘l-Aqsaa.
Glorified be He, Who took His servant for a journey by night from al-Masjid al-Haraam (in Mecca) to the farthest mosque (in Jerusalem). (Al-Israa’, 17:1)
He is happy to be `abd, servant. We are not yet servants, we’re still struggling. Are we `abd, or are we thinking we are higher than `abd? As long as we have pride or arrogance in our minds, we are not yet a real `abd, which must be musalliman taslimiyyata mutlaqaa, “in absolute submission.” We are not that, we are mahdoodan, very limited. Man `arafa hadda waqafa `indah, “Who knows his limits stands by his limits.” Our limits are very restricted and narrow.
So according to limitations, my level might be by the threshold of the door. As everyone comes in, they say, “As-salaamu `alaykum” and everyone going out gives me a slap on the face, and I say, “No problem!” I will be happy to be at the threshold of the lovers of Allah and His Prophet (s)! You are lovers of Allah and His Prophet (s)! All of us must know that our pride is in our Prophet (s)! Our happiness is with the greatness of our Prophet (s)! If not, our pride is with our ego. We have to know for sure that our ego is the one bringing us down. Don't listen to what your self is telling you.
Allah (swt) said:
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
Fa-alhamaha fujooraha wa taqwaaha.
And (the self’s) enlightenment as to its wrong and its right. (Ash-Shams, 91:8)
Allah brought “al-fujoor” (wickedness) before “at-taqwa” (piety). Why didn’t He say, Fa- alhamaha taqwaaha wa fujooraha, “And its enlightenment as to its right and its wrong”? No, there must be a meaning there. He said, Fa-alhamaha fujooraha wa taqwaaha. He made every `amal of Iblis as habaa’an manthooraa.
جَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاء مَّنثُورًا
ja`alnaahu habaa’an manthooraa.
Render it as scattered dust. (al-Furqaan, 25:23)
This means, Allah is making Iblis’s efforts in trying to make us fujoor, rebellious to Allah and His Prophet, habaa’an manthooraa, as scattered dust, by bringing “taqwa” after. That’s why He said “fujoor” first. It means, “O Human Beings! Do you think I am not Ghafoor ar-Raheem, Most Forgiving and Most Merciful? I am that One whose Mercy encompassed everything!”
وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَـاةَ وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
wa rahmatee wasi`at kulla shayin fasa’aktubuha lilladheena yattaqoona wa yutoona az-zakaata wa alladheenahum bi ayaatina yu’minoona.
My mercy extends to all things. That (mercy) I shall ordain for those who do right and practise regular charity, and those who believe in Our Signs. (al-`Araaf, 7:156)
“My Mercy has encompassed everything! I am going to give it to those people, like you, like everyone who has taqwa.” Yattaqoon, which means taqwa, came after rahmah. “Means, My Mercy is going to be for those who have taqwa, who are praying, fasting and giving zakaat.” Are you doing that? Yes. So then good tidings! Good tidings for every Muslim. Man qaala laa ilaaha illa-Llah dakhal al-Jannah, “Whoever says La ilaaha illa-Llah enters Paradise.” Are we saying Laa ilaaha illa-Llah, Muhammadun Rasoolullah(s)? What do you think will happen to someone who says, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah (s)? If Prophet (s), who’s as-Saadiq al-Masdooq,says:
من قال: لا إله إلا الله، دخل الجنة
Man qaala laa ilaaha illa-Llah dakhal al-Jannah.
Whoever says laa ilaaha ill ‘Llah entered Paradise.
It’s finished! No one can interfere!
Shafa`at un-Nabi (s) will take everyone who says, La ilaaha illa-Llah, means muwahhid (those who believe in the Oneness of Allah), to Paradise. So our duty is to say, La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah (s), to keep reminding ourselves.
The Prophet (s) said:
أفضل الذكر لا إله إلا الله وأفضل الدعاء الحمد لله
afdalu ’dh-dhikri laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa afdalu ’d-dua` alhamdulillah.
The best remembrance of Allah is to say, “There is no god but Allah” and the best invocation is alhamdulillah. (Tirmidhi)
Why afdalu ’dh-dhikri laa ilaaha illa-Llah and man qaala laa ilaaha illa-Llah dakhal al-Jannah? It means that when you have a diamond, and you want to shine it, what do you do? You have to keep cleaning and polishing it. And Laa ilaaha illa-Llah polishes our egos, to bring our egos down until we submit to Allah (swt). So Allah knows that we are putting ourselves with Allah (swt) by saying, "I did this, I did that." No, whatever good you do is from Allah (swt). Don't think you are doing Him any favor. No! Allah is doing you favors. Don't say I gave money to this mosque or that mosque, or I helped that person. No! It’s not your money or wealth, because if Allah wants, He may take everything from you. He took everything away from Qaroon. What was Qaroon left with? Nothing!
So to be children of the shaykh is very important. Children of the shaykh means students of the guide. And our rebellious ego doesn't see the importance of the shaykh in our lives. That is why some people may come and say, “Why do you have to follow a shaykh or guide? There’s no need.” If we don't need to follow a guide, then why did the Prophet (s) follow a guide when he was going from Mecca to Medina, when he was migrating? Prophet (s) doesn’t know? The Prophet (s) went from Mecca to Masjid al-Aqsa! He doesn’t know how to go from Mecca to Madina? He is showing us: “O my ummah! Be humble and follow a guide. I followed a guide because I don't want to claim anything to myself, I claim everything for Allah (swt).” And he took Jibreel (a) as his guide and went all the way to the Heavens.
Heavens are beyond this universe. This universe is still within the level of dunya and stretches over billions and billions of light years away! We are in one galaxy, whereas there are 6,000 galaxies, and each one is bigger than the other. The Prophet (s) passed all of that just to reach the first heaven. Today I was driving in a car and a voice kept saying, “Go left, take a U-turn, re-calculating distance.” It was a navigation system telling us where to go and where to come.
O Human Beings! That is just for telling you where the streets are. Then how can you navigate through your life to reach Allah’s Divine Presence and the presence of Prophet (s) without a navigation system? That navigation system is the guide who guides you, because he put that navigation system; he already went through that way. As today, they study navigation software and put them for you. Awliyaaullah studied that and they will tell you where to go and where not to go, or else we are lost.
Allah said in the Holy Qur`an:
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ الَّذِي أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ
Alam nashrah laka sadraq, wa wada`na `anka wizrak, alladhee anqada dhahrak, wa rafa`ana laka dhikrak.
Didn't We expand your chest (O Muhammad), and We removed your burden that weighed on your back, and We raised your reputation high. (Surah ash-Sharh, 94:1-4)
When Allah says, alam, “Am I not the One who expanded for you your chest?” What is the meaning of “expanding your chest”? It means, “We have expanded your chest to make the whole of Allah’s Creation under your control!” Laa ilaaha illa-Llah is the Creator, and Muhammadun Rasoolullah is the Creation. Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is responsible for that power, that shafa`ah, intercession which Allah gave him, not only for Ummat an-Nabiyy (s) but from Adam (a) and all who are under him.
Prophet (s) said:
دم فمن سواه إلا تحت لوائي يوم القيامة ولا فخر
Adam faman siwaahu illah tahta liwaa'ee Yawma 'l-Qiyaamah wa laa fakhr.
Therefore,Prophet (s) said, “Adam and whoever is other than him will be under my flag on the Day of Judgment, without vanity.” (Ahmad, Musnad)
It means, “Adam and whoever is under him, is in my chest!” (Allah is saying,) “We have expanded your chest yaa Muhammad (s), to cover everyone! Wa wada`ana anka wizrak!” Which wizr? Prophet (s) has wizr? Does Prophet (s) have sins or burdens? “We have lifted from you, yaa Muhammad(s), your wizr,” means his bad `amal, deeds? Now how is that possible? It means: “Yaa Muhammad, sallAllahu `alayhi was-sallam! You are the one who is taking care of all from Adam (a) to the Day of Judgement, saying, ‘Yaa Rabbee! They are on my shoulders and I am taking responsibility,’ and I am, yaa Muhammad, taking that burden and difficulty away from you by forgiving them all!” (Everyone cheers, “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!”)
Wa wada`na `anka wizrak, “I took away all the burden.” How to take away the burden? Prophet (s) wants the ummah, “So take them.” Wa rafa`ana laka dhikrak, “We have raised your remembrance for people to remember you.” When you go to a conference, they say, “These seats are reserved,” which means, “Don’t sit there; these are for special ones.” There might be a huge chair between them, so huge, like a throne. You look at it and you know, “O this might be for the head of the university, don't touch it.” Allah says, “Yaa Muhammad, We have raised you, wa rafa`ana laka dhikrak! That throne I gave you, yaa Muhammad, no one but you can sit on it. You are the one who can be seen from everywhere and every direction.” “I’m Raising your level” means, “On the Day of Judgment, I’m not going to speak to anyone except you. I‘m giving you the shafa`ah.”
When Allah gives shafa`ah, what will be left? Do you think Prophet (s) will accept to be in a Paradise while his ummah is in a different Paradise? That one who will not enter Paradise until the last of his ummah enters, he is going to accept his ummah to be lower? Although, of course we are the lowest, but our pride is in our Prophet (s). He will not accept except to be with him in that level of Paradise. Awliyaaullah say there is a Paradise called al-Muhammadiyoon, for those who are taken under the shafa`ah of Prophet (s), for his ummah.
O Muslims! Believers! When Allah wants to give, don't think He will ask. Allah will grant and He will grant according to His greatness. When He gave what he gave to Prophet (s):
وَالضُّحَى. وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى. مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى. وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الْأُولَى .وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَى
Wa ‘d-duha, wa ‘l-layli itha sajaa, ma wadda`aka rabbuka wa ma qalaa, wa li’l-akhiratu khayrun laka min al-oolaa, wa la sawfa yu`teeka rabbuka fa-tardaa.
By the morning brightness, and by the night when it covers, (O Prophet), your Lord has neither forsaken you, nor is He displeased. The Last shall be better for you than the First. And your Lord will give to you until you are satisfied. (ad-Duha, 93:1-5)
We read wa la sawfa yu`teeka rabbuka fa-tardaa, hundreds of times, “Allah is ready to give you until you are satisfied.” Is that the meaning? No, that is only the literal meaning for people to understand the ayaah. It means, Allah will give you (s) until you say, “enough.” Prophet is going to say “enough”? Than Allah’s giving is limited. There is no limitation on Allah’s Greatness and His giving! Huwa al-Mu`tiyy, He is The Giver! Al-Mu`tiyy is the one who keeps giving non-stop. Is He going to stop on his Prophet (s)? Allah is giving and Prophet (s) is saying, “Yaa Rabbee more! Yaa Rabbee more! Yaa Rabbee more!” Wa la sawfa yu`teeka rabbuka fa-tardaa, and He is giving until you are tardaa, pleased (content). Who is going to be content with a generous one, Akram al-Akrameen, Allah (swt)? There is no description of His generosity, the Most Generous is Allah (swt)! You cannot even say, “The Most Generous” because you can’t compare Him with anyone. So Allah's generosity is never-ending.
That’s why on every letter of Holy Qur’an that you read or look at, for example, when I’m reading Alif Laam Meem, dhaalika l’-kitaabu laa rayba feehi hudan li’l-muttaqeen from Holy Qur’an, do think that, that is it? From every letter, there are oceans of knowledge Allah opens to his Prophet (s) and from him to awliyaaullah.
وَلاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَاب مُّبِينٍٍ
wa laa ratbin wa laa yaabisin illa fee kitaabin mubeen.
Nor (is there) anything fresh or dry (green or withered), but is (inscribed) in a record clear (to those who can read). (al-An`am, 6:59)
Living and non-living. Ratbin, living and (yabis) non-living, is kitaabin mubeen, a manifest Book. Wa ‘l-kitaab al-mubeen huwa ‘l-qur’an, “And the manifest Book is the Qur’an.” Everything has been mentioned. Where are these secrets? As awliyaaullah say, for every letter, Allah (swt) opens oceans. And what He opens now is different than what He will open after one moment, and what He will open after one moment is different than what He will open the second moment; its not going to be the same.
That’s why awliyaaullah say, Prophet (s) is in continuous ascension, fee mi`raaj al-daaim; not one mi`raaj but in every moment there is a mi`raaj for Prophet (s). Also in every moment there is a mi`raaj for his Sahaabah, in every moment there is mi`raaj for awliyaaullah, and in every moment there is mi`raaj for Ummat an-Nabee (s). But to the ummah, it is by uploading; they upload you. They don’t open it yet because you are not ready. They upload, upload, upload until you are ready, and then they give you the password. It opens up for you and you begin seeing yourself entering into a deep ma`rifah. That’s why Ibn `Ajiba said, “Knowledge is of two kinds: `ilm al-awraaq, knowledge of papers, and `ilm al-adhwaaq, knowledge of taste.” You want papers? Yes? Take. You want taste? Take. Which one do you want? Taste. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem (Mawlana Shaykh Hisham drinks from a cup of water.) Now alhamdulillah, I’m saying, thank you yaa Rabbee, that You gave us to drink.
وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاء كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ
wa ja`alna min al-maa'i kulla shayin hayy,
We made from water every living thing. (Al-Anbiya, 21:30)
They say, 97% of DNA has not yet been discovered; they say that it’s a mixture of water. They only discovered 3% of it, which means lots of things are coming. I’m not going to be too long. May Allah forgive us. I’d like to say before we end, that Allah said in Holy Qur’an:
وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ
fawqa kulli dhi `ilmin `aleem.
Above every knower is a (higher) knower. (Yusuf, 12:76)
Above every gnostic there is a gnostic, above every wali there is a wali. I’m not speaking about Sahaabah; no one can touch there. We are only speaking about awliyaaullah and Ummat an-Nabee. Above every professor there is another professor, above every teacher there is a another teacher. It means, “O My servant, know your limits; don't exceed! If you exceed your limit, you’ll get a ticket. There is a red light, so stand by your limits. Fawqa kulli dhil `ilmin `aleem.”
There was a very well known Naqshbandi shaykh who had many students. His students were mostly scholars, because 40 years ago, tariqah was such that, you could not give baya’ until the student reaches knowledge of Shari`ah, knowledge of Qur’an and knowledge of hadeeth. And if he was with the shaykh for a long time, then they give baya’.
So in any case, there was one `alim who spent 23 years with his shaykh. One day, he came to the shaykh and said, “O my shaykh!” I keep repeating this story for us to learn. It’s not against anyone but it is a teaching; it gives us some idea of where we stand. He said, “O my shaykh, I am with you for 23 years.”
He just spoke about adab. Adab is to know your limits. Why, the shaykh doesn’t know when you’re ready to be given authority to teach? He knows, but when he doesn’t say anything, keep quiet, don’t ask. Today they say, “O can I have permission to do dhikr or give suhbah?” You’re asking the shaykh? If the shaykh wants, he would tell you directly. Don’t ask! There is no question in Islam. In the whole of Qur’an, you can’t see Prophet (s) asking one question. But Sayyidina Musa (a), in every surah, too many questions! Never ends.
Prophet (s) has adab. Even for Sayyidah `Ayesha (a), when they falsely accused her, he did not say anything, although it was hurting him because he knows her innocence. He didn’t say until wahiy, revelation came, which took nearly one month. Adab ma` Allah.
So he came to his shaykh and said, “O my shaykh, I’ve spent 23 years with you. I would like...”--you see, he’s saying “I like”; that’s the problem. “I’d like to go and spread your teachings.” That’s a normal question but since he put "I like" there, that is an ego issue. That’s why tariqah doesn’t like these ego things. He said, “O my son, yes you spent 23 years with me, but first, before that, I like you to do some more before I give you permission.” He said, “Yes, I am ready!” He said, “Get a basket, fill it with walnuts and stand by the door of the masjid.” Now some people here from high class might say, “O what is this!?” No, this is a teaching. That is why when Allah ordered Shaytan to make sajdah to Adam, he refused because his ego was big: “I am better than him. You created me from fire and You created him from mud.” Iblis cannot accept.
So he said, “Sit by door. Take the basket, fill it with walnuts and sit there. Anyone coming in, tell him, ‘O my brother, I’ll give you one walnut for free if you hit me with your shoes on my head. These are my shoes; if you take one walnut, take my shoe and hit me on the head. If you hit two times, you will get two walnuts.’” He was an `alim. Who can do that? “Sit by the door, no, by the snow outside and have the shoes ready. Anyone going out, say, ‘Take and beat me up on my head and I’ll give you’ until your head becomes red and all the walnuts are finished. Then come back to me.”
He looked at the shaykh and said, “SubhaanAllah! This is for me? Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah! This is for me?” In Arabic, when you are saying it like this, it means you are swearing, because he wasn’t happy. And the shaykh turned and said, “Allahu Akbar! Since when did you start answering me back? You know when a non-Muslim says Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah, he becomes Muslim and all his sins are waived. But because you said it with anger, in a way of swearing, Allah is giving you a sin. So the 23 years was as if nothing, go away!” One test from the shaykh, and 23 years gone.
Sayyidina `Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q), one of the big shaykhs of the Naqshbandi Order, had a mureed. He said to him, “Go to the graveyard and visit those who died from scholars; spend a day there and come back to me.” So he went and one person came behind him; wherever he is going, that person was following. He went to the first grave of one big scholar who died at 85 years of age and he was standing there, reading his name. And that man who entered behind him was saying, “SubhaanAllah, this child died three years of age.” That mureed was saying, “What is he saying? He must be crazy! This scholar was 85 years of age.What three years?” Then he left him and went to another grave. That shaykh had died 75 years of age, and the man was saying, “SubhaanAllah, that one died one year of age; he was a baby, still in diapers.” Same with the other one and the other one; no one reached maturity according to that one who was following: all of these scholars died before maturity, when in fact all had died around the ages 70, 80, 90, etc.
He went back to his shaykh and said, “Yaa Sayyidee! I visited but there was a crazy one behind me. Whichever grave I went to read Fatihah, he was coming and saying, ‘No, this one died at age three; this one died at age five; this one at two years, this one at seven years.’” And that man entered. He said, “This was the one!” His shaykh said, “Yaa waladee, I sent him to teach you that maturity is not by scholarship, to be a scholar, but maturity is how much your heart is open.” Al-qalb, “heart” in Holy Qur’an is mentioned around 94 times, which means the heart is the main center, as Prophet (s) mentioned in the hadeeth:
الا وان في الجسد مضغة اذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله، واذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله، الا وهي القلب.
alaa wa inna fi '-l jasadi mutdgha idhaa saluhat saluha 'l-jasad kullah wa idhaa fusidat fasada'l-jasad kulluh. Alaa innaha hiya 'l-qalb.
For sure, there is a small organ, small flesh in the body. If that flesh is healthy, the whole body is healthy. If that flesh is not healthy, the whole body is not healthy.
O Brothers and Sisters! Focus on your heart. Be humble, as Prophet (s) was humble. It means, listen to anyone and to everyone. You are listening to me, but I am nothing; I’m trying to be nothing. May Allah (swt) forgive me, forgive you, and keep us at the threshold of Prophet (s).
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq.
Fatihah.