As-Siddiq Mosque after Maghrib
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`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
These are eyeglasses. If I want to read, I need these eyeglasses because I cannot read without them. Anytime I want the eyeglasses I cannot find them and I have to search my left pocket, right pocket, then I find they are on my eyes or in my pocket. Also, when we are doing something for Allah (swt), Shaytan tries to block us, to make us blind. So what do we need? We need eyeglasses, not like these, but like the one the army uses, night vision eyeglasses, so that you can see at night and you can see the enemy coming or not coming. You have to know and take it for granted, no discussion on it, blindly. Nowadays they say don't take things blindly, they try to criticize the author, professor or teacher. They are learning from Shaytan to criticize. Why do you criticize? That poor guy wrote a book, (so tell him), "Whatever you wrote you are right", and then he feels happy.
Shaytan is our enemy, no question about it. To be able to stop him we need night vision eyeglasses, to see how he is running towards us and then we take our precaution, or else he will attack us completely. And no one can say he was not attacked by Shaytan, only Sayyidina Muhammad, may Allah raise his levels higher and higher and keep us with him all the time, said, "Allah gave me power to defeat my Shaytan." Because everyone has the house of Shaytan in the heart, as the Prophet (s) described it, a small black clot in the heart. If you ask doctors, they might see in one of these chambers if they open the heart; with night vision eyeglasses, they might see that black clot there. It is the place where Shaytan can approach you. He cannot control the whole heart, but Allah gave him that part to test us, to see if we listen to the good side, which is most of the heart, or if we will listen to the smallest part of the heart controlled by Shaytan.
Unfortunately, most of the time, and for myself I can say all the time, Shaytan is attacking and controlling me all the time. And for you I cannot say that, but he is attacking you some of the time. And we must know that we need a night vision, as Mawlana Shaykh (q) said today, "Why are they objecting on dhikrullah, to sit and say, Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah?" What is wrong with it? But they are objecting. What is better to say than Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah and spending our time in dhikrullah? Or it is better to say, "Shaytan, Shaytan, Shaytan," wasting our time? So night vision glasses are important and night vision glasses do not come for free! If you want to buy night vision glasses you need money to buy it. Not physical money, but you need spiritual kind of money, which is religious worshipness that builds up your account on the Day of Judgment.
Someone knows someone and they live together and after a while one of them dies, so the other one gets sad. If your mother, father, wife, husband, or child dies, you get sad because you love that person. What do you think about one day, all of us say, "O Allah, we love You, yaa Allah." But we do some things against the love of Allah (swt). When you love Allah (swt) you will give your life for Him. So on the Day of Judgment maybe He will not show Himself to you. You will be away from His door, it means your love will be more difficult there where you can see all your friends enter that door. they are seeing Allah (swt) and you are prohibited to see Him. What do you feel? You feel finished; it is worse than the Hellfire!
For a mu'min, believer, he might go to Paradise, but paradises are different levels. As we explained today, `Alam al-Malakoot, the Heavenly Kingdom, is from the first to the seventh Heaven. After `Alam al-Malakoot the seventh Heaven, there is one Heaven, Jannatu 'l-Firdaws. Prophet (s) said that Allah (swt) will appear in Paradise to certain believers, not to everyone, because Paradise is of different levels. Those who are in the first level cannot see Allah's Divinely Presence, but those on the seventh Heaven, Jannatu 'l-Firdaws, can see Him. And you were living with those people in dunya, and they are higher in ahkirah and you are lower that them, although you are in Paradise. But the one who sees his Lord is far better than the one who cannot see.
How much are we going to regret when we see that our love of dunya was more than love of ahkirah? Awliyaaullah left love of dunya and immersed themselves in love of ocean of the Prophet, that will take them to the presence of Allah (swt). We are running non-stop. They say you retire at age 65, in some countries at 63. Here also, if you don't want to retire you can still work up to 67 years of age. Retire from what? They knew you are fed up from dunya so now you may go retire. You were working for us as slave. As long as dunya is there you will be slave to it. Now you become 65 years old, okay you worked a lot and now we let you go.
Awliyaaullah left dunya not at the age of 65 years, but at the age of maturity. They realized they cannot be in the Divine Presence seeing their Lord in the heavens if they don't leave dunya. They left dunya, they said "Yaa Rabbee! We are after You and Your Prophet, we are not after this dunya that makes our life as slavery." There are some African-Americans, may Allah give them happiness, who they feel that slavery all the time, even though their grandparents were not slaves, but they still feel that from generation-to-generation. Also we when we are running after dunya, we are slaves for dunya. On the Day of Judgment we will understand that we were slaves and we could not get out of it, just as African-Americans feel that. Why do you want to be a slave?
One day the Prophet (s) took the Sahaaba (r) to Jabal (Mt.) Uhud in Madinatu 'l-Munawwarah in the early morning. If you look at that mountain, you will be heavily rewarded. You eyes will never see Hellfire. Mt. Uhud is described by many scholars and awliyaaullah as the heaviest mountain on Earth. When Allah (swt) created Earth, the whole Earth was shaking from the Greatness of Allah (swt). And Allah (swt) created mountains on Earth to settle it down, but still the Earth was shaking. And Allah (swt) created a mountain that weighs the combined weight of all mountains put together in one balance. That mountain is heavier on one side of the scale than all other mountains, and that is Mt. Uhud. Allah (swt) created that mountain on Earth and the Earth became stable. They say to look at Mt. Uhud and make one salawaat, it is heavier than Mt. Uhud and all Allah (swt) will forgive all your sins for that one salawaat on Sayyidina Muhammad (s). (Mawlana stands and makes salawaat.)
We hope these salawaats will be in the presence of the Prophet (s), as we were doing that we were observing Mt. Uhud and the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). (Mawlana stands.) We hope that salawaat will take away our sins and bring happiness to us on the Day of Judgment. And we say, "Yaa Rabbee, You didn't create us as saints, You didn't create us as prophets, You didn't create us as Companions of Prophet (s), and we are weak servants, and with that weakness You have put Shaytan on us. So what can we do? We are helpless! We are seeking Your forgiveness. Don't prevent us to be in Your Presence with Prophet (s) and with our shuyukh on the Day of Judgment."
So awliyaaullah left dunya learning from the Prophet (s) in that story, that he (s) called his Sahaaba on a day in the early morning when the sun was rising. He took his Sahaaba and went from Masjid an-Nabawi to Jabal (Mt.) Uhud, and the sun was rising and the sun was in their back and the Mountain of Uhud was facing them. That means they were looking at their shadows. And Prophet (s) said to them, "Whoever can catch his shadow, I will give him a reward." So if the Prophet (s) is saying, "I am giving a reward," that is a reward that cannot be described because Allah (swt) gave the Prophet (s) greatness that cannot be described. Leave Allah's Greatness, the Prophet's greatness we cannot describe, other prophets' greatness we cannot describe, and the greatness of a wali we cannot describe.
He said, "I will give you a reward if you catch your shadow." If our shaykh will say this, and he is not a prophet but he is a sincere person, if he will say, "O doctor, or lawyer, engineer, electrician, plumber or whatever you are, run and catch your shadow." You will say, "O Shaykh, how can I catch my shadow? Because if I run the shadow runs." But Sahaaba didn't use their minds in front of Prophet (s). You cannot use your mind in front of awliyaaullah, because they have wisdom. They know why they are telling you to do something when it is not reasonable for you. But for them it is. We are shortsighted, we are blind, we cannot see further. They can see behind the wall, and they say "Go there, you can see this." That's why they ask you to do something.
So who can ask a question in front of Prophet (s)? The Sahaaba ran to catch their shadows, and they didn't say, "We can't catch it," they ran and as they were running their shadows were running away from them, until they reached the mountain. Then what happened to the shadow? The shadow appeared onto the mountain. That means, "O my companion you cannot reach to get your reward, (just as the shadow reaches the mountain and they were able to touch it) unless you listen to me." If they would have used their minds and said "We are not able to catch our shadows," then they would never get reward. But with wisdom of Prophet (s) you will catch it at the mountain. But you try to face obstacles and continue. "Listen to what I say." Then he looked at them and said, "Turn your face towards me and run," when they turned their faces their shadows were behind them. And they ran and the shadow ran behind them. Until they reached Prophet (s). Then he told them, "When you run away from me, it is as if your shadow is running away from you. It means that when you run after dunya, dunya will never allow you to reach it. You can never reach anything if you run after dunya. But when you turn your face towards me, and run towards me, dunya will run after you like your shadow ran after you. As Allah (swt) said:
Qul 'in kuntum tuhibboona Allaha fa `attabi`oonee yuhbibkumu Allahu wa yaghfir lakum dhunoobakum wa Allahu Ghafoorun Raheemun.
Say (to them 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.
(3:31)
If we want Allah's love we have to follow Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Very good. The girls are better than us, they are standing up when the name of the Prophet (s) is mentioned. (All stand with salawaat.) Never mind if you stand here, two, three, ten or twenty times, then you will be standing in front of Sayyidina Mohammad (s) on the Day of Judgment. (All stand.) It is a good sign, all Ottoman emperors used to stand up when the name of Prophet (s) was mentioned in their meetings. No problem to stand, we are standing all the day in line for a movie theater. Why are you standing in line? To go to see Shaytan there? And when the name of Prophet (s) is spoken, no one is standing up. We are standing day and night, and we are not thinking.
So anyone who runs after dunya, it will make you slave to it. And anyone who runs to Allah (swt), Allah (swt) will make dunya slave to you. So awliyaaullah know that, they retired early in life. Mawlana Shaykh, may Allah give him long life, retired at 22 or 23 years of age. He was studying Chemical Engineering. He was going to a masjid in Istanbul and met his Arabic teacher. And then he met one of the saints there. It is a long story. But he left and went after akhirah. Not everyone can do that. His journey was in the way of Allah. In our journey we have one leg in dunya, one in akhirah. We jump from here to here. We are bouncing. But we are struggling, we know that we are bouncing. One day we listen, and one day we don't. Thumma amanoo, thumma kafaroo, one day believe, one day disbelieve.
So awliyaaullah left dunya, depending on their levels. Some of them left it in childhood, some as teenagers, some as adults, some as old people. So everyone gets his own level. Do you want your level to be with your lover, yes or no? Then be with Allah (swt). You don't want to feel bad and regret on the Day of Judgment. Our problem is that we don't feel that emotion. It is only the words of the tongue. If you love a girl or a girl loves you, your whole body and spiritual soul feels that love. Is it not doctor? It is, yes. But for Allah (swt) we don't feel this. For the Prophet (s) we don't feel this, but for dunya we feel it. There is wisdom for that also, because Allah (swt) wants this dunya to continue. If a person doesn't love the opposite sex, then there would be no children. Allah (swt) will make it, but if you want to go higher than physical love you have to give some time of your live. He wants some time, Allah (swt) gave us five times to pray, that will be enough you. Teach your children to pray, and teach them to cover from childhood. No excuse, men or women. If you are finding an excuse, it is for yourself. Allah is Ghafoorun Raheem, we are not blaming anyone who does not pray or who does not cover or does not do this or that. No. But we say, if we want to be better, we have to follow the way of Prophet (s).
So people say, "I love this boy, I love this girl." Did you hear a boy or girl say, "I love Allah and His Prophet"? It is not their language; it is not on their tongues. Today our children don't have it on their tongue, "O my father, O my mother, teach me more, I want to love Prophet (s) more, I want to love Allah (swt) more." No, they say, "This is akward! Later (in life) you will find it. You are still young now; go on dates and don't be crazy like others." When I came to America they said to me, "People go for dates." I said, "Okay, let me go for a date." (laughter) I thought it was dates to eat and it turned out to be something else, tricks of Shaytan. And if you don't have a date it means you are mentally disturbed or you are bi-polar or you are gay! That is what they think.
O Believers! Sahaaba (r) left dunya, it doesn't mean they left work. We have to be careful. Allah (swt) gave you eight hours to work. Work for Allah (swt) and make money and give for those in need, raise your family in the nicest way. Don't be lazy!! Work, as not everyone is a wali. One time the Prophet (s) was going with his Sahaaba (r) and he passed by two graves, and this is a story from Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, and it is in the seerah, biography of Prophet (s). The graves didn't have green plants, so he got green plants and put them on the grave; that will attract the mercy of Allah (swt) on the grave. Anything alive, green, will attract that light. So he put that and waited, because he promised some Sahaaba (r) as they said to him, "Yaa Rasoolullah, we are coming to a village and we have something to do quickly; wait for us." They went but didn't come back. So in the meantime, Prophet (s) stayed there waiting one night. Don't break your promise! Did we break our promise with Allah? Yes, we broke it many times, as we are not staying pious. But repent and Allah (swt) will forgive.
And some Sahaaba (r) were with him and from one grave came a very beautiful light in the shape of hand, and Prophet (s) took the hand and kissed it, and then the hand disappeared. Grandshaykh (q) said that was the hand of a wali in that grave. And from the second grave a very dark hand came out, the first one was light, but this hand was dark and had a lot of wounds, and Prophet (s) kissed it twice. His companions were surprised. "Yaa Rasoolullah, the grave of this wali is light and filled with mercy and you kissed one time, but the second one, we might say he is bad person, but you kissed his hand twice. We are surprised." And Prophet (s) said, "If not for the second one, the first one would not be a wali." The second one was a waseelah, vehicle (means), for the first to be a wali. Because the second one was the helper of the first one: he was bringing him food, working, bringing him clothes and firewood, serving and helping the first one. If the second one was not working and giving, the first one would not be a worshipper. So the reward of the second one is more than the reward of the first one. When someone is sitting in a masjid saying, "Allah, Allah," and the second is working and saying at night, "Allah, Allah," don't say the first is better, as the Prophet (s) said, "A thankful rich man is better than a poor worshipper." The one who is rich is thanking and helping those who don't have money. You who have money, help those who don't have; help people and Allah (swt) will help you.
Why is Allah (swt) saving these countries? Look, Allah is Just, al-Adil. They raised one billion dollars for Haiti. They didn't say, "They are Christian, Jewish." No, poor people sent to those earthquake victims. What did Arab countries do? Did you see any Muslim country raise money for them? Very few. Allah created Creation, He didn't say, "This is Muslim and this is non-Muslim." All of them are His servants. May Allah (swt) accept us to be His servants in His Way and guide us to be with Him on the Judgment Day, to be in the presence of the Prophet (s) and be able to see our Lord! You cannot see if you are not in `Alam al-Laahoot. We explained in four previous sessions about the Levels (Realms) of Being.
May Allah (swt) take us all the way up to the fifth level (realm) with our shaykh, Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani (q).
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.