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You Were the Best of Nations Brought Forth to Humanity

Introduction to Ramadan Series 2013, Part 1

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

15 June 2013 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

Pre-Zhuhr Suhbah

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`alaa fee haadha 'l-masjid.

Alhamdulillah Allah (swt) has honored us to be from Ummat an-Nabi (s) and this ummah has been given a description from Allah (swt):

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ

Kuntum khayra ummatin ukhrijat li ’n-naas taamuroona bi ’l-ma`roofi wa tanhawna `ani ’l-munkari wa tu’minoona billaah.

You are the best of nations evolved for Mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah. (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:110)

“You are the best ummah that has been sent of humanity, taamuroona bi ’l-ma`roofi wa tanhawna `ani ’l-munkari, calling for good and prohibiting what is bad.” So when He said, “Calling for good,” first of all, kuntum khayra ummatin ukhrijat li ’n-naas, “You were the best ummah that has been sent to humanity,” it means your behavior, your characters, your moral excellence, the way you behave with people must be the best. When Allah says, “kuntum you were of the best ummah,” it means all these perfect manners Allah has dressed on this ummah. That is why the intention of al-bi`tha al- Muhammadiyya, the Muhammadan Delegation to humanity through his Sahaabah (r) to all people is to show that Muslims must have good manners. So first they must establish tawheed and then they must be good and then further they must be very good, loyal to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) and they must be generous in everything they have.

Allah (swt) has mentioned to us how much He loved this ummah and accepted the du`a of Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a), the grandfather of the Prophet (s), who has established this ummah as its grandfather and the one who built Baytullah, al-Ka`bah. So Allah accepted Sayyidina Ibraaheem's du`a when he asked:

رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولاً مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ العَزِيزُ الحَكِيمُ

Rabbanaa wab`ath feehim rasoolan minhum yatloo `alayhim aayaatika wa yu`allimuhumu ‘l-kitaaba wa ’l-hikmata wa yuzakkeehim innaka anta ‘l-`azeezu ‘l-hakeem.

Our Lord! And send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:129)

In this series, you might see somewhat of a shift in the kind of advice or lecture we are giving, because many people are asking this Ramadan to touch on issues of obligations people must do and further, how to behave according to the ahadith of the Prophet (s) and from a fiqh point of view. So this Ramadan, we will begin describing different conditions and principles that we as Muslims have to carry and to learn. If we don’t build the fiqh structure, we cannot build the spiritual structure. Let us build the foundation, then it will be strong base on which to build the spiritual teaching which will be the walls and roof.

So in that verse of Holy Qur’an, Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) is saying “O Allah, wab`ath feehim rasoolan minhum yatloo `alayhim aayaatika, send a messenger to teach them and to educate them in what You want from them, first to show them Your Way, O Allah, and to teach them, wa yu`allimuhumu ‘l-kitaab, and to teach them Holy Qur'an and the Wisdom and purify them and raise them from the worldly matters to Akhirah matters.”

And so in this verse, Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) is trying, as Allah said in Holy Qur'an:

ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ

Idoo`nee astajib lakum.

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

So Allah wants Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) to fulfill the requirements of du`a, invocation, which we mentioned about two months ago, giving different types of du`as as related in Ibn Qayyim Jawziyya’s book ad-Dawaa ’ish-Shaafee. So Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) wants to make that du`a for Ummat an-Nabi (s), “Yaa Rabbee! Send them a messenger as my people are lost, my people are lost!” And Allah sent a messenger from where? That was the hikmah, wisdom, behind giving Isma`eel (a) to Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) because the messenger, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), came from the children of Sayyidina Isma`eel. So when Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) made that du`a, Allah accepted it and gave him Isma`eel to carry the light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), from one generation to another and that light was moving from one generation to another until it reached his father, Sayyidina `AbdAllah (r), and then to the womb of his mother, Sayyida Amina bint Wahab (r).

And what is the du`a asking? “Send them a messenger revealing Your verses of Holy Qur’an, to teach them the Holy Book, teaching them wisdom and to purify them.” It means that Allah (swt) has made a condition for every Muslim and Muslimah to learn the Holy Qur'an--at least to learn how to read the Holy Qur'an--and when you read the Holy Qur'an Allah (swt) will dress you. So not only reading the Holy Qur'an, but when reading the Qur'an we are getting special satisfaction from Allah (swt) that He is dressing us with rewards that are beyond what we can ever understand. After we start reading the Holy Qur'an and understanding the Holy Qur'an, we need wisdom, so then Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) asked Allah, “teach them the Qur’an, and teach them hikmah, wisdom.”

That is why Sayyidina `Ali (r) said:

راس الحكمة مخافة الله

Raas al-hikmata makhaafatullah.

The head of wisdom is fear of Allah.

If we don't fear, you are not going to fulfill all the requirements that Allah (swt) wants from us, so Allah put fear of Himself in hearts of people, not because Allah (swt) is necessarily going to punish humanity. That is why He said in Holy Qur'an:

وَمَا نُرْسِلُ بِالآيَاتِ إِلاَّ تَخْوِيفًا

Wa maa nursilu bi ’l-ayaati illa takhweefa.

We only send the Signs by way of terror (and warning from evil). (Surat al-Israa’, 17:59)

“We don’t send verses except to warn people and to make them afraid.” But Allah's mercy is big, Allah (swt) will forgive with shafa`ah of the Prophet (s) but ‘to fear Him’ means we have to abide by the teaching of Holy Qur’an and we have to abide with the wisdom of good people. And when we reach the level of hikmah that Sayyidina `Ali said, “Raas al-hikmata makhaafatullah, the head of wisdom is fear of Allah (swt),” then at that time you will not do something that Allah does not like and you begin to purify yourself. And, as Allah said,

فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا

Fa alhamahaa fujoorahaa wa taqwaahaa.

He inspired the self of its bad and its good. (Surat ash-Shams, 91:8)

That is a description of the self that Allah has fixed and balanced, Allah inspired it with what is good and what is bad. So you know you can balance the nafs, the self and you are inspired to balance what is good and what is not.

So Allah accepted the du`a of Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) and gave this ummah, as it is mentioned, “You are the best of nations that have been sent, t`amooroona bi ‘l-ma`roof, calling for the good--calling for good first to yourself, then calling others--and prohibiting what is bad.” So this ayah shows the beginning of the favor that Allah has given to Sayyidina Ibraaheem (a) by accepting his du`a. This favor, that “you were the best ummah”, is going from one century to another and from one generation to another giving an ongoing increase in understanding and a ongoing improvement in lifestyle. We begin with a Stone Age and now we are in the Age of High Technology, and after some time you might see higher than all the technology that you see today. And the Prophet (s) said:

قال رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - : " إن في أصلاب أصلاب أصلاب رجال من أصحابي رجالا ونساء من أمتي يدخلون الجنة بغير حساب " ثم قرأ : ( وآخرين منهم لما يلحقوا بهم )

Inna fee aslaab aslaab aslaab, rijaalan min ashaabee, rijaalan wa nisaa'an min ummatee yadkhuloona ‘l-jannati bi ghayri hisaab, thumma qaraa ‘wa aakhireen min doonihim lamaa yalhaqoo bihim’. (at-Tabarani)

Verily in the loins of the loin of the loins of men from my Companions are men and women of my nation who will enter Paradise with no accounting; then he recited, “As well as (to confer all these benefits upon) others of them, who have not already joined them.” (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:170)

When Allah gave him (s) these aayaats of Holy Qur'an, he said Allah gave him in the core, “in the womb of the womb of the womb,” which means He wants to show so much that inside the ummah there are ‘men,’ aslaab aslaab aslaab rijaalan, “the ‘cream of men’, from my Companions,” he said. “Verily there are among the ummah, in the core of the core of the core of the ummah, the cream of the ummah men from my Companions.” Then he (s) said, rijaalan wa nisaa'an and when he said ‘men’ it means men and women, yadkhuloona al-jannata bi ghayri hisaab, entering Paradise with no question. Why? Because they are of good manners, they abide by the law that Allah (swt) has ordered us to follow and the way that we have to understand things with what Allah gave us as wisdom in our minds.

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This will take us to be as described by this verse:

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ ضَرَبَ اللّهُ مَثَلاً كَلِمَةً طَيِّبَةً كَشَجَرةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌ وَفَرْعُهَا فِي السَّمَاء تُؤْتِي أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهَا وَيَضْرِبُ اللّهُ الأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ

Alam tara kayfa daraba ’Llaahu mathalan kalimatan tayyibatan ka-shajaratin tayyibatin asluhaa thaabitun wa far`uhaa fi ’s-samaa. Too’tee ukulahaa kulla heenin bi-idhni rabbihaa wa yadribu ’Llaahu ’l-amthaala li ’n-naasi la`llahum yatadhakkaroon.

Have you not considered how Allah presents an example, (making) a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches (high) in the sky? It produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Lord. And Allah presents examples for the people that perhaps they will be reminded. (Surat Ibraaheem, 14:24-25)

He is describing, “You are like a good, nice tree, tayyibah, mubarakah, with baraka in it, tasty. Asluhaa thaabit, its trunk is strong and cannot shake; you will be like a tree that cannot shake and its branches are in Heavens, asluhaa thaabit, the root is fixed strong where it is, and far`uhaa fi’s-samaa, its branches are in Heavens and too’tee ukulahaa kulla heenin, every moment it has fruit for you bi idhni rabbihaa, by Allah's order! So if Allah is happy with us, every moment Allah (swt) will give us fruit from that tree, meaning that you, yourself becomes a fruitful tree... A tree symbolizes a person who is always peaceful, always in tranquility, not making a headache to others, not backbiting, not spreading bad rumors, but always his thinking is how to be better. If we better ourselves, that is what Allah likes.

That is why from century to century Allah is giving us more and more and more. Before we didn’t have carpets like these carpets and fluorescent lights like these, we used to have kerosene or oil lamps and you had to work hard to put them together in order to produce light in the lamp. Now you simply push a button and you have light. Also, in the Islamic understanding, as long as you progress you become light upon light, noorun `alaa noor.

وَاللَّهُ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء

W ’Allahu yahdee man yashaa’.

And Allah guides whom He pleases. (Surat an-Noor, 24:46)

What is noor? [light] What you think when I say “noor”? Light is one expression, intelligence is second, knowledge, wisdom, power, guidance, all these meanings come from one word. If you go and zoom inside the meaning of the word you begin to see it is a huge understanding and knowledge in one word, because Noor is one of Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes, “an-Noor.”

قَدْ جَاءكُم مِّنَ اللّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ

Qad jaakum min Allaahi noorun wa kitaabun mubeen.

Indeed, there has come to you from Allah a Light (Prophet Muhammad) and a plain Book (this Qur'an). (Surat al-Maa’idah, 5:15)

Alif-laam added to Noor, that is al at-ta`reefi, the definite article. It signifies there is no one that carries that name, that is why Allah Alone is “an-Noor.” When we say, “Noor” it can be the name of someone, but “al-Noor” is the only One, whereas Noor can be many. That is why Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes are always with alif-laam at the beginning; no one is “ar-Rahmaan” but Allah, no one is ar-Raheem except Allah. Similarly He is “al-Quddoos,” “as-Salaam,” “al-Muhaymin,” “al-`Azeez,” “al-Jabbaar,” “al-Mutakabbir” all begin with the definite article “al”.

So Allah said in Holy Qur'an “Qad jaakum min Allahi nooran,” He didn’t say “al-Noor,” that is for Him Alone. So He is saying to you, “O Muslims, Allah has given to you, He is sending to you someone,” from where is He sending him? “Qad jaakum min Allahi nooran,” that means Allah is sending to you someone with Light, in the past, from the past when there was no time. “I am sending,” sending what? What came from Allah? Noorun. He was able to say, “Kitaabun muneer wa noor,” but He made the Noor before kitaabun muneer because that Noor is who? That means Muhammad (s) wa kitaabun mubeen, I sent you Muhammad and the Clear Book. He brought Noor first, but he brought kitaab after. That Noor is the one to whom Allah taught Holy Qur'an, taught through His Noor as Allah opened for His Prophet to see everything; to see Holy Qur’an, to see the meaning of the Holy Qur’an, and to know the aayaat of the Holy Qur’an and to know everything about the Holy Qur’an! Qad jaakum min Allahi nooran wa kitaabun mubeen, so Noor came and Holy Qur’an came with him.

So now we see noor contains intelligence, knowledge, perception, guidance, light. What else? Prophet (s) brought to you too many things and everything that he brought is by itself an ocean of knowledge. When He says, “Noor,” in some aayaat it refers to guidance.

يَهْدِي اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَاء

Yahdi ’Llaaha li-noorihi man yashaa’.

Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. (Surat an-Noor, 24:35)

By that Noor, He will guide to His Noor whom He wants. So what is the Light Allah is speaking about when He guides someone to that Light and what does that Light consist of?

Every one of Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes contains immense knowledge. When you begin to enter that knowledge you become shajaratun tayyiba, as a tree mubaraka, with baraka on it, with the manifestation of Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes upon it, asluhaa thaabit, its roots are fixed meaning nothing can shake you; shayaateen cannot change you, and worldly desires cannot change you, you possess a strong, firm belief. And, far`uhaa fi ’s-samaa, its branches are in the sky. When you look at a tree from a small plant it becomes a tall tree, why is it standing? Did you see any tree growing crooked, in a curvy way? Rather all are shamikhaat “standing,” and their top is always growing up, up, up? So that is why He said, “Its main branch is going up, always standing, never going down,” even if wind comes it is still standing.

Too’tee ukulahaa kulla heenin and every moment whenever Allah wants He gives you fruit from it, but to achieve that, you must first be guided and follow the Light of the Prophet (s). If you don't follow that Noor you will fall down. So from century to century, from generation to generation, that ni`mat, favor, that Allah gave is going forward increasing and increasing, given by Allah (swt) as a gift to humanity. That is why Allah said in Holy Qur’an:

هُوَ الَّذِي بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ

Huwa alladhee ba`tha fi ’l-ummiyyeena rasoolan minhum yatloo `alayhim aayaatihi wa yuzakkeehim wa yu`allimuhumu ‘l-kitaaba wa ‘l-hikmata wa-in kaanoo min qablu lafee dalaalin mubeen.

It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although they were before in clear error. (Surat al-Jumu`ah, 62:2)

He is The One that sent to those who don't read and write, “a messenger from within themselves.” It means you are ummiyy, you are illiterate; we cannot say that about the Prophet (s), but if you are illiterate, it means your tribe is illiterate, they don't know how to write. Allah sent someone illiterate to you but dresses him with all kinds of knowledge. That is a miracle. Describing the Prophet (s) as someone who doesn't know to read and write, is for us to understand because Allah knows we want to see a something miraculous. He said, “I am sending someone who did not read a book, and giving him a Book that is full of miracles and secrets.” `Azhamatu ’n-nabi, the greatness of the Prophet (s) is that he is not reading or writing and yet in knowledge he is the highest person, the highest human being, higher than all angels, possessing `Uloom al-Awwaleen wa ’l-Akhireen, Knowledge of all that is Before and Knowledge of all that is After, given to him (s) by Allah.

He said, “Do you want more? Know that I have sent a messenger from among, and from within those who do not know how to read and write, yatloo `alayhim aayaatihi mentioning His signs, His aayaat, His verses of Holy Qur’an. Wa yuzakkeehim, and he purifies them wa yu`allimuhumu ’l-kitaaba, and teaches them The Book, and teaches them Wisdom. Wa-in kaana min qablu lafee dalaalin mubeen, and even though before they were in huge darkness, dalaal, they were deviant from reality, they were not straightforward.”

So what was the first command in Islam then? There were four “principles” according to that ayah, that every Muslim and Muslimah must understand. First is at-tilaawah, how to recite Holy Qur’an, to teach them recitation of the Holy Qur’an, its verses. And second to teach them ta`leem al-qur’an, to teach them the knowledge of Holy Qur’an. So first is how to read, tilaawah in Arabic? Allah is saying to Prophet (s), “To teach them recitation and reading,” as through reading you learn. That is why he (s) said:

اطلبوا العلم ولو في الصين

Utlub al-`ilm wa law fi ’s-seen.

Seek knowledge even unto China. (Bayhaqi)

“Seek knowledge even if it is far, run to it!” The first word of Holy Qur’an is iqraa, “read!” So first you have to learn how to read and recite. Second is to teach the meaning of the Holy Qur’an, its principles and conditions. When you learn about Holy Qur’an everything opens to you, you are reaching levels of wisdom.

وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِن لَّدُنَّا عِلْمًا

Wa `allamnaahu min ladunnaa `ilmaa.

whom We had taught knowledge from Our own Presence. (Surat al-Kahf, 18:65)

“We have taught him from Our heavenly knowledge” and heavenly knowledge is full of wisdom. So the third level is wisdom. After this is the fourth level: when you have wisdom you know what is good and what is bad, at that time then you reach “Purification of the Self,” Tazkiyyatu ‘n-Nafs, you know how to purify yourself. These are the first principles that the Prophet (s) has brought to the ummah when he was sent as a messsenger bi`tha, to teach these four: tilaawah, ta`leem al-qur’an, hikmah and tazkiyya, these are the four principles for da`wah. So anyone who wants to do da`wah these are four principles and the basis of fiqh, of religion, its main structure. And this is the meaning of:

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِي

Wa innaka la-`alaa khuluqin `azheem.

You are of the most exalted character. (Surat al-Qalam, 68:4)

It means when you begin with tilaawah and teaching Holy Qur’an, then you open to teach wisdom, and then you open further to purify the self, and Purification of the Self is Maqaam al-Ihsaan, so you go through all these stages. That is how the Prophet (s) introduced himself and introduced Islam to the Sahaabah (r) at the beginning. After that, we began to have a constitution, and it began to have different branches of the judiciary and ahkaam, rulings, and all these follow on these four issues.

That is why he said, “Tahdheeb al-akhlaaq, to polish your manners and character and to purify your self, tashghul makaanan kabeeran fee daa’irat haadhihi da`wat an-nabawiyya, “good manners takes a huge place in the Prophetic call.” So he (s) was building his Sahaabah (r) on this principle first, to build good manners and characters, then he began to give them fiqh and tashree`a and ahkaam. At the beginning the main stress was on how to read the Holy Qur’an and to atain wisdom, and to purify the self. Inshaa-Allah next time we will continue on that and before that, we say these are the ways, “the principles” of the Message of the Prophet (s) in Holy Qur’an. So Islam calls for akhlaaq and akhlaaq is most important in Islamic principles and it is most important in the understanding of wisdom, because in Holy Qur’an the understanding of the word “wisdom” has been associated with the word “akhlaaq” respect in different areas and different places. And in one place it is:

لاَ تَعْبُدُونَ إِلاَّ اللّهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَاناً

Laa ta`budoona illa-Llaaha wa bi ’l-waalidayni ihsaanaa.

Worship none but Allah and treat with kindness your parents. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:83)

Allah wanted from you two things: to worship Him and not to worship anyone else, and to be good with your parents, which means to be good as well with society, community, with school, with the children, with the hospital, with your work and not to cheat and do anything wrong. We will continue later inshaa-Allah. May Allah forgive us.

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

This is the basis of what we are going to speak about in upcoming Ramadan inshaa-Allah this time and these are basics on which to raise up the building of different principles of Islam. So the first chapter will be on Tawheed, inshaa-Allah and then it goes with the proof of Tawheed, then sincerity in worshipness, what we have to do to be sincere in our worship and then to keep always living according to the Holy Qur’an and the sunnah of the Prophet (s). That is followed by the chapter of Love of Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) and the love of the Family of the Prophet (s), and followed by other essential topics, and we will try to go through it all.

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

Because many people are asking why we don't do sessions on fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), and you see fiqh coming later in different chapters. However we must know that Islam stresses and focuses on good manners and behaviours. For that reason Maqaam al-Ihsaan is the highest level but it has to be taught as the first level. So the highest level is “to worship Allah as if you are seeing Him” which is the third level of religion’s fundamentals, “and know that if you are not seeing Him He is seeing you.” The first level you see is the Five Pillars, but consider, if you don't have these good manners, which are the third level, how are these Five Pillars going to work? If you don’t have the Level of Ihsaan, Moral Excellence, in your prayers, in your fasting, in your sadaqa and in your Hajj you are going to blend them all as a soup, all these Five Pillars mixed up with your bad manners. So awliyaullah say the fiqh issue is easy to learn from a book or from a teacher, but Tazkiyyatu ‘n-Nafs, Purification of the Self you cannot learn by yourself. You have to have a murabbee, someone who will raise you up through different experiences that he puts you through, in order to understand how to polish your ego and yourself, and then your prayers improve, your fasting becomes better, then your Hajj becomes better, your charity becomes better, and your Tawheed becomes better.

That is why we emphasize on Tasawwuf, not as something that is innovated in Islam or deviant. Why do they say it is deviant? They pray, and like them we pray. It is the same prayer; it doesn’t change. They say, “Laa ilaaha illallah,” we say “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-Rasoolullah.” Is it not good to have good characteristics and good qualifications? They don’t like that? They want us to have bad qualifications and bad character to be accepted by them? Is it not good to respect the elders? In the Sub-Continent how do you show respect to elders in Pakistan, in India and Bangladesh? With what? You stand up from respect and kiss their hands in the morning. Is it not? Ask the Pakistanis and Bengalis. They come to you today and say, “Don't do that.” Why won’t you do that? You take the ridaa, satisfaction of your parents and go to work. That is adab. No, they say, “Don't, be rude.” So that is why when they say you are doing your five obligations, Five Pillars and you bring the Ihsan, Moral Excellence with it, then your prayer might be accepted.

But who can guarantee their Five Pillars are going to be accepted? Who can guarantee that? But if you have a good character and Moral Excellence, you try to work it out in order to make things work. Like for example, you have a watch, it has needles (to point at the numbers) but no battery, so what's the benefit? No benefit. It has needles but no battery, it is not moving. And vice versa, if you have the battery but no needles what is the benefit? So if you have Moral Excellence, you have good character, you have purified yourself but you don't keep prayers? Some people say, “No need to pray, just do spirituality,” but what's the benefit? It is like a watch with no needles! You have the battery, the charger is there but the needles are not there, so what is the benefit? Nothing. Now if you have fiqh, you know how to pray and how to fast and so on, it means you have the needles but then you don't have good manners, so again what is benefit? When you blend them together as Imam Malik (r) said, man tasawwafa wa tafaqqaha faqad tahaqqaqa, “Whoever has balanced and brought these two together, the Five Pillars of Islam and the Moral Excellence, Purification of the Self, (as in the verse wa innaka la-`alaa khuluqin `azheem, “Verily you are of the highest level of conduct” and what Prophet said, Adabanee rabbee fa’ahsana taa'deebee, “My Lord perfected my good manners and conduct”) that one has proven himself true.” When you put these two together the watch is working, the battery is working and the needles are working, so then you know the time. And so may Allah (swt) teach us how to be good, although it is not easy, but we ask, we request, we beg.

Bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

One group of Muslmsin Singapore, in order to stop us giving lectures in different places, posted a fatwa showing a girl kissing my hand and on the other side a girl kissing my hand and I am kissing her head, this is what they said in the second picture. The first picture is my daughter kissing my hand. What did they say? “Deviant Naqshbandis who allow women to kiss their hands.” And on the other side, the other picture was Shaykh Nurjan and they put my name instead, and in it he is kissing his daughter’s head. So they put both pictures as me; one she is kissing my hand and one I am kissing her head. Look, and they were distributing that everywhere, but: al Haqqu ya`loo wa la yu`laa `alayh, Haqq is always above everything.

وَقُلْ جَاء الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا

Wa qul: ja'a al-haqq wa zahaq al-batil inna 'l-baatila kaana zahooqa.

Say (O Muhammad), "Haqq (Truth) has come and baatil (falsehood) has perished.”

(Surat al-'Israa, 17:81)

What do you want to say to them?

Al-Fatihah.

Jealousy is everywhere and not only that people don't see these things as they don't travel, they don't go abroad, they are not exposed to where there are a majority of Muslims to see how is the reaction towards you. So I say when you want to pray in your house, put a turban and jubba, not in public as now Mawlana Shaykh Nazim is saying to people don't dress in turban and don't dress in jubba, be normal because too many problems are coming.

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