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You Are Only a Mu’min Once You’ve Perfected Yourself

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

18 November 2016 Feltham, England UK

Centre of Spiritual & Cultural Advancement (CSCA)

Allah (swt) is very kind that He made us from Ummat an-Nabi (s). If we thank Him day and night for the honor of being from Ummat an-Nabi (s), still it is not enough. That is why Awliyaullah required from us to recite “Alhamdulillah” 500 times daily, praising Allah for making us from Ummat an-Nabi (s). Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and Grandshaykh `AbdAllah, may Allah bless their souls, always reminded us that every majlis has to be opened with salawaat on Prophet (s) and to wrap it at the end with salawaat on Prophet (s), then Shaytan cannot steal any rewards granted in between the opening and closing.

كلمتان خفيفتان على اللسان ثقيلتان فى الميزان حبيبتان إلى الرحمن سبحان الله و بحمده سبحان الله العظيم

There are two words that are very easy to say, yet very heavy on the Scale, most beloved to The Merciful, “SubhaanAllah wa bihamdihi subhaanAllahi ’l-`Azheem.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

At the end Allah gave us, SubhaanAllah wa bi hamdih, SubhaanAllahi 'l-`Azheem, “There are two words that are very light on the tongue and very heavy in the Scale.” If we now say, “SubhaanAllah wa bi hamdih, SubhaanAllahi 'l-`Azheem,” we are guaranteedthe people who are here and those who are not here but their intention and their heart is here, will receive the barakah of these words that are very light on the tongue and you can say it easily now, but they will be very heavy for your rewards on the Day of Judgment. I heard from Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani, may Allah bless his soul, that if you say it one time you are guaranteed Paradise! That tasbeeh is glorifying Allah (swt). He likes that and also salawaat on Prophet (s).

Once in ihs suhbah, Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, “I like to make more ta`zheem, glorifying Prophet (s), making special salawaat, but I feel shy because Prophet (s) told Sahaabah (r), ‘When you want to make salawaat on me, don’t say except, Allahumma salli `alaa Muhammadin wa `alaa ali Muhammadin wa sallim, don’t even say, Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadin because I am only like you.’” Look at Prophet’s humbleness: this is to teach us how humble Prophet (s) was. When someone is humble Allah will raise him and when someone is arrogant, Allah will bring him down. Allah brought Iblees down because he was proud and He brought Sayyidina Muhammad (s) up because he was humble.

Humbleness is not something we should ignore as it is very important in our daily lives. Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) said, “I respect the youth and I learn from them because they have less sins than me and I have to respect those older than me because they have more `ibaadah.” So it means, “In the two cases I am in the middle: respecting the young ones who have fewer sins and elders who have more `ibaadah.” Our duty is to always think about it and say to ourselves that we are sinners and everyone else is okay, not to think, “Everyone is a sinner and I am okay.” Allah (swt) said:

فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنفُسَكُمْ

Don’t praise yourself. (Surat an-Najm, 53:32)

Don’t exalt yourself, don’t say you are better, but rather:

قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ

The Arabs declare, “We believe (aamanna).” Say (to them, O Muhammad), “You do not; rather say, ‘We submit (aslamna),’ because belief has not yet found its way into your hearts.” (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:14)

Allah said in Holy Qur’an, “Don’t say, ‘I’m a mu’min,’ say, ‘I am a Muslim. When I perfect myself, when imaan enters my heart, then I am a mu’min.’” We are now in the first grade, kindergarten. We have to build ourselves up, which is not to fight with your husband or wife, who especially must care for each other and not fight. Today there are too many complaints from husbands and wives about this issue. Why? Because one is more stubborn and arrogant than the other, so they fight, male or female.

Prophet (s) gave us something that saves us in dunya and Akhirah—these two words: “SubhaanAllah wa bi hamdih, SubhaanAllahi 'l-`Azheem.” After every `amal, Awliyaullah recite “astagfirullah” because it keeps the `amal clean. When we pray and finish the prayer, the reciter says, “Astaghfirullahi ’l-Azheem wa atubu `ilay” three times to make istighfaar on that `amal to be accepted as pure. Awliyaullah are concerned that Shaytan comes quickly and changes that `amal by inspiring you to sin, so for every `amal, you have to wrap it immediately with istighfaar or salawaat on Prophet (s).

That is why when you read Qur’an or Dalaa’il al-Khayraat or you do your awraad or whatever you do, at the end wrap it with salawaat on Prophet, sallAllahu `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa saahbihi ajma`een, then Shaytan cannot approach. If you cannot do that, say “astaghfirullah” and Shaytan cannot approach.

We are in a time laa nuhsa ilayh; we cannot be envied because it is a time of corruption. We don’t want to envy them because they are corrupted and we don’t want ourselves to be corrupted. Corruption is to let yourself down through the desires of your ego. It means all of us, including me, have to be very careful in how to approach. Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami, may Allah bless his soul, for many, many years was asking, “Yaa Rabbee!” struggling with himself. He was humble, innocent. He was doing his best for Tariqah and he is from the Naqshbandi Tariqah. He tried his best, but still he saw himself not reaching anything. That is why he was calling night and day, Kayfa usul ilayk, “Yaa Rabbee! How can I reach You?” Are we saying that? No, we are saying, “How can I reach Shaykh Abdul Rahman with his beautiful, tasty food?” [Laughter.]

Spiritual food is important; spiritual food is to struggle against and to win over your ego. Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) was against his ego all his life and struggled to purify himself by different means, until he reached a stage in which he was so much in love with Allah (swt) that he could not see anything other than to make tasbeeh and to glorify Allah (swt), asking, “Yaa Rabbee! How can I come to You?” How can you come to Allah? It is a question. Day and night Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) was calling, Yaa Rabbee! Khayfa al usul ilayk. Are we saying that? Maybe some are saying that, but they forgot. In 24 hours they might remember to do that, but the majority of the time they are forgetting due to work, business, family, everything that delays us from asking, “Yaa Rabbee! How can I reach You?”

It’s better to bring a parrot that makes tasbeeh, du`a, calls adhaan and put it in the house to remind you of salawaat on Prophet (s) or dhikrullah, there are many like that. Or you can program your computer or your iPhone to be halaal because iPhone and Samsung phones and all other phones are haram. People buy halal meat and say, “We only eat halaal meat,” which is good and correct, but they forget that they have iPhones in their pockets on which they watch haraam things all the time. So just like you are looking for halaal food, in the iPhone you have to look for halaal things, not haraam things. Now through technology, Shaytan brought everything in the palm of your hand to bring you to him, but we have to think about struggling like Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) or else what is the benefit of the Tariqah? There is benefit, the mercy of Allah (swt) will cover us and the love of Sayyidina Muhammad and Awliyaullah will be mercy for us. The love of our guide, Sayyidina Shaykh Nazim (q) or Grandshaykh (q), Sayyidi Shaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani will be mercy for us, but we have to show them that we are doing something.

Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) was a big worshipper, a big scholar, and he was calling people to Tariqah, which is at-Tariqat an-Naqshbandiyya al-`Aliyya; hence, our line is in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain. Many other branches have different connections; we are with our connection through Mawlana Shaykh Nazim to Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani to Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), all the way to Prophet (s). There is a way out of that, that’s why our guides are Sultan al-Awliya Sayyidina Shaykh Nazim Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani ar-Rabbani (q) and Sultan al-Awliya Sayyidi Shaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani (q). May Allah keep us with them.

I mentioned yesterday that when Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) passed the Tariqah to Grandshaykh (q), Grandshaykh said, “I don’t want that load on me.”

Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “How can you reject that? It’s not coming from me, it’s coming from the presence of Prophet (s).”

Grandshaykh (q) said, “I can accept it, but on one condition.” There is no condition there but out of love, they allowed that. “Anyone sitting in my association even for five minutes, even if he is not from the Tariqah but he comes and sits during dhikrullah Naqshbandiyya al-`Aliyya for five minutes, that it is enough to bring them to my level, because I don’t depend on if mureeds are doing their awraad or not, I want something that I can control. I want every mureed that is connected to me in dunya and Akhirah to be in my level in Paradise.”

Grandshaykh (q) said that Prophet (s) said to Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) in a vision, a dream, however you want to express it, Ana raadin, ana raadin, ana raadin, “Prophet is happy with that answer. No Wali ever requested this before now.” Alhamdulillah there is a mercy, but in the meantime we have to look at how to improve ourselves like Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) and I will give that message that he gave and then we will wrap it up.

He said, “One day after many, many years,” he didn’t stop asking and asking--at Fajr, Zhuhr, `Asr, Maghrib, `Isha, Qiyaam al-Layl, Tahajjud--every moment in his life he was asking, “Yaa Rabbee! How can I reach You?” He didn’t get tired of asking and asking and asking. That’s why if you have a problem, ask, “Yaa Rabbee! I have this problem. Forgive me.” Allah will help you, but don’t quit, keep asking, be persistent and the du`a will be accepted, because Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur’an:

ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ

Call on Me, I will answer you. (Surah Ghafir, 40:60)

“Ask Me, I will give to you what you want.” So if we quit, it means we are denying that He will give us and that’s bad. So we have to say like Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q), like Rabi’a al-Adawiyya (r), doing istighfaar, istighfaar until she died. She said, “My istighfaar needs istighfaar to be accepted.” Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) said, “How can I reach You, yaa Rabbee, yaa Allah?” After many years Allah inspired an answer in his heart through His angels, itruk nafsaka wa ta`al, “Leave your ego, desires and come. You cannot come with your ego and your desires.”

There are forty-one Tariqahs from which there are thousands of different connections: Qadiriyya, Nashbandiyya, Mureediyya, Tijaniyya, Shadhiliyya. We are, alhamdulillah, from Grandshaykh `AbdAllah and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, Tariqah Naqshbandiyya al-`Aliyya. We have to keep in every du’a, every prayer, that we are in that line of Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q), of whom we are speaking, and what he was requesting from Allah (swt), “Yaa Rabbee! Open for me Your Door.”

This is what we have to keep. He got the inspiration, “Leave yourself and come.” People say, “I have been in Tariqah 30 years, 40 years, 60 years, 100 years, 200 years, and I’m not seeing anything.” You are not seeing anything because you didn’t leave yourself and come, you are still carrying your self (ego) you and worse. Everyone is carrying impurity in his stomach and yet requesting to see the Divine Presence. You have to dump that out; that waste is more dangerous than anything else. Don’t turn your good `amal to waste, we have to turn our good `amal for happiness. Good `amal is to leave our selves as much as we can and struggle against it in order that we will be recommended for acceptance in the Divine Presence by Awliyaullah and Prophet (s), so that you can enter.

May Allah (swt) make for us an easy way to enter His Divine Presence. Allah (swt) told Abu Yazid,“You have to make yourself a dumpster for My servants.” It means, “Come to Me carrying their impurities of Ummat an-Nabi (s) on yourself and I will be happy with you because you will be sacrificing yourself for them.” Allah gave him something.

Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

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