The Greatness of Salawat on Prophet Series Vol.13

Introduction to Sultan adh-Dhikr
The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 13
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
12 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah after Zhuhr Salaat

We are very happy today that we have with us Mawlana's son, Sidi Shaykh Muhammad Adil.
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.

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Yesterday we completed clarification of a series of different matters, some issues that had recently been a little misunderstood. And we spoke in the previous lectures about the Greatness of the Prophet (s), which we were going to explain further, and we mentioned yesterday that there are thirty-nine different categories of benefits on Muslims from reciting salawaat on the Prophet (s). But first I would like to say that the Holy Qur'an is Allah's (swt) Ancient Words, and that is why Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah and most of the Muslims - other than Imam az-Zamaskhari and some scholars [of other Muslim doctrines] - say that the Holy Qur’an is ghayra makhlooq, not created. Just as Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes describe the Essence of Allah, the Holy Qur'an is Allah's Ancient Words and it is not created as an entity; the Holy Qur'an is Allah's Words revealed to the Prophet (s). Most scholars believe that and it is one of the obligations to be Muslim.

The reason I am bringing this up is to relate a story which happened in the time of Sayyidina Musa (a). Prophets like to travel and awliyaullah inherit from them, so they also travel. That is why we recorded in the book Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Way that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim's, may Allah (swt) give him shifa`ah, whole life has been a journey of traveling by body or by soul, as awliyaullah can also travel by soul. Many people have seen him, although physically he may not have moved, but in spirit he went somewhere and people who know him have seen him and there are a lot of examples of that.

One example that I can mention took place in the early 1980s when the Prime Minister of Lebanon, along with the governor of the city, came to visit Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, who normally stayed with me in Lebanon. They invited Mawlana Shaykh to go to Hajj, and everyone knows this story. Mawlana said, “This year I am busy and cannot go.” Although he made Hajj physically twenty-seven times and I also heard that he made Hajj forty times, that year he said, “I am not going.” He was in our home in Tripoli; after the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982 we moved to Tripoli from Beirut. He didn't agree to go with them to Hajj, so they left. When you are invited by a prime minister or by the government of Hijaz, you will be given special treatment; it will be a very comfortable Hajj and you may even go inside the Ka`aba, pray there and wash the inside of the Ka`aba. But he didn’t go, stayed with us.

When the Hajj finished, the prime minister and the governor of the city returned, and after one week Mawlana Shaykh said, “Let us go and welcome them back and take gifts for them,” because we were very close to that prime minister, whose plane was shot down in the Lebanese war. And he said to Mawlana Shaykh, “Mashaa-Allah, Yaa Sayyidee! You didn't come with us, but you went with the other group!” We looked at each other and wondered what is he saying. There was another group of politicians from Lebanon that went to Hajj separately, and the prime minister and the governor of Tripoli said to us, “Mashaa-Allah you liked their invitation more than our invitation, and we had that beautiful conversation around the Ka`aba and made that du'a behind you.” We were shocked, but a wali is a wali, cannot change. If Allah (swt) wants to give wilayah to someone, He will give, regardless of their actions.

What about Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), someone who spends day and night in da`wah, who all his life is bringing people to Islam and tariqah? So much so that even his sleep is da`wah as he separates from people and goes with his soul to wherever and to whomever Allah (swt) takes him! And we see this a lot today on the Internet: people take baya` and say, “We saw you, Mawlana!” And they are not seeing him just in dreams, but physically.

We were visiting Madinah, it was one o’clock in the morning, and a man came to us. I told Omar to take a picture quickly, and we were outside the Haram al-Madani, visiting relics of the Prophet (s) when one person of Ahlu ’l-Bayt came to us. He was two meters tall and I looked at him and he looked at me, and I thought of the description of Sayyidina al-Mahdi (a) that Grandshaykh `Abdullah ad-Daghestani (q) had given us, that “Sayyidina Mahdi is so tall and his hands extend down to his knees, and his hand is so big that you can place eight beans end-to-end across his wrist.” He looked like that person.

I looked at that man and said, “I know you.”
He said, “Yes, from twenty-five years ago, but I know your shaykh not just from twenty-five years ago but since the Day of Alastu bi-Rabbikum, “Am I not your Lord?”, The Day of Promises.”

I have his picture and it will attract you. His turban is three times bigger and wider than the normal Naqshbandi turban. This was outside the Muwaajaha (Holy Grave of the Prophet [s]) near Jannat al-Baqi`. So awliyaullah are in motion and their every breath is a motion. I explained to you the hadith from Bukhari and Muslim in the book, Baab az-Zakaat about when Allah (swt) created Sayyidina Adam (a) and stroked his back, and drips came. When Allah (swt) created Man, He created him with 360 points, and I explained in detail that we are not Buddhist. If Buddhists are taking from what the Prophet (s) is saying, they are taking because they see it’s perfection. We also mentioned the Prophet (s) said there are 360 mafsal, points, and that Egyptian doctors studied the human skeleton and found it consists of 360 points as the Prophet (s) had said.

Yesterday I was sitting with Mawlana Shaykh (q) and he said to me, “Why don’t you speak to them about the nine walis and the nine points that represent them?” Every point represents a wali, as mentioned in The Naqshband Sufi Way. Every one of these nine walis represent a point in the system of the human body and they are all part of the Golden Chain of whom there are 39 up to today, since you don't count the Prophet (s), but you count from Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r). You may also exclude Sayyidina Abu Muhammad al-Madani (q) if you want, as he was not from the Naqshbandi Tariqah, but because he was Shaykh Sharafuddin’s uncle, for barakah he added him to the silsilah. Mawlana Shaykh said these nine awliyaullah have Sultan adh-Dhikr. What is the best dhikr?

افضل الذكر لا اله الّا الله
Afdalu 'dh-dhikri laa ilaaha illa-Llaah.
The best remembrance of Allah is to say,“There is no god but Allah.” (Tirmidhi)

And then to say, “Allah,” and after that best of dhikr is to recite salawaat on the Prophet (s). And the best of the best is the Holy Qur’an:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
Inna nahnu nazzalna ’dh-dhikr wa inna lahu la-haafizhoon.
Behold! It is We Ourselves Who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder and behold, it is We Who shall truly guard it (from all corruption). (Surat al-Hijr, 15:9)

“We have revealed the dhikr,” means the Holy Qur’an and, “We are the One that protects it.” Now scholars say this means there will be no changes made to the Book, of course Allah (swt) will protect His Book, His Words!

وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ اللّهُ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا
Wa maa ya`lamu taaweelahu ill ’Llah wa’r-raasikhoon fi ’l-`ilmi yaqooloon aamana bihi. kullun min `inda rabbinaa.
No one knows the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an except Allah (swt). And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord: (Aali `Imraan, 3:7)

But awliyaullah say, “We believe,” and that’s why Allah inspires them. That’s why you see there are hundreds of tafseer of the Holy Qur'an, which differs from one scholar to another and similarly, the interpretation differs between different awliyaullah. If Allah (swt) is protecting His Holy Words, what is the Sultan adh-Dhikr? It is the Holy Qur'an, which is the Sultan of all dhikr that Allah Himself is protecting! And it means He is protecting it in the hearts of awliyaullah and giving to them realities and secrets according to their capacity they can carry.

So these nine awliyaullah that Grandshaykh (q) mentioned are nine in number, from Sayyidina Aba Yazid al-Bistami (q), all the way to Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) and to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). And these nine points represent one wali on each point. In Naqshbandi Tariqah and other tariqahs there are seven lataa'if and there are five levels of the heart: qalb, sirr, sirr as-sirr, khafaa, and akhfaa. So Grandshaykh (q) said that Sultan adh-Dhikr is reading all of the Holy Qur'an with its secret. And Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami (q) was able to read the Holy Qur'an with its secrets only once in his life because there are 24,000 oceans of knowledge on every letter, and there are almost 350,000 letters in the Holy Qur'an and 6,666 verses, ayaat al-Qur’an.

Sayyidina Bayazid (q) was able to complete the Holy Qur'an in his life, not reading as we read; rather, you read one juz’ and you finish in thirty days or if you read three then you finish in ten days. When I used to go for taraweeh in Madinat al-Munawarrah, I used to go late because the imam of the mosque used to read one or one-and-a-half juz’ every night and finish Holy Qur'an by Laylat al-Qadr. And there was another group with Shaykh Abbas, who is Bukhari and Grandshaykh’s mureed who died at more than a hundred years of age.

I will tell you one story about Hafizh `Abbas Qaari from Uzbekistan. He used to slaughter lamb and feed so many dervishes, and we ate at his zawiyah. When he reached seventy years of age, he wanted to marry. His helper brought a lady for him to marry, and when she came to his house she was completely covered from head-to-toe; no one could see anything. He had a small apartment with one room, a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, and his dargah was called Madrassat ash-Shoona, Waqf il-Bukhariyya, Trust of the Bukhari People. That lady married him and then she entered her room and never came out until she died twenty-seven years later! There was not even a window in that room. No one saw even one nail of her finger, and she spent twenty-seven years in that room and never came out until the day she died, and we took her to her janaza at Jannat al-Baqi`. Twenty-seven years! This is an example of who Shaykh `Abbas al-Qaari was.

There was one room there in the dargah, in which Grandshaykh (q) made a seclusion for one year, and Mawlana Shaykh (q) made seclusions in the room next to him, one for six months and another for three months, so a total of nine months. After the seclusion, it was the first Hajj we went on in 1967, Grandshaykh (q) said to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, “Let them stay in your room where you made seclusion and teach them (Shaykh Adnan and myself) from the secrets of the Naqshbandi Way.” One secret was about the nine points. I forgot something: I used to pray taraweeh prayers with Shaykh Abbas during Ramadan and we took six hours! Not one-and-a-half hours, but six hours of taraweeh. We would finish the entire Holy Qur'an in three days, and some years we finished in five days. Your feet would become numb, you would be unable to stand anymore, and still Shaykh Abbas would be standing like a bird (light as a feather). He was a wali, a representative of Grandshaykh `AbdAllah ad-Daghestani (q).

If Shaykh Abbas is like that, then what do you think about Sultan al-Awliya, the one to whom we are connected? Are we lucky, or not? We are very lucky that he doesn't ask us to do anything, since he is carrying everything on his shoulders! In Salaat an-Najaat, the responsibility of the Shaykh is to take away all the sins of the mureeds and present them clean to the Prophet (s). Grandshaykh (q) used to say, “All mureeds pass before me one-by-one in five minutes and I take all their difficulties on me, and I present them to the Prophet (s).” This secret was passed to Mawlana Shaykh (q) through his arm when Grandshaykh (q) was in the hospital; he held Shaykh Nazim’s arm and poured everything from his heart into him, after which we were given permission to enter the room.

Whatever we say about awliya, we cannot give them their rights. Whatever we say is like a drop in the ocean. Don’t say, “He is sick.” Physically he is sick, but spiritually they are lions! Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) said he is the only mureed who made khalwah with his Shaykh, because usually they don’t accept that. He said when Grandshaykh (q) made du`a the whole building would shake, much like Sayyidina Yusuf al-Hamadani (q), by whose du’a the angels of the Throne used to tremble! Allah (swt) gave them power that we don’t see. They will never stop; even after death they are stronger and stronger, and in their life they are stronger and stronger!

Shaykh Bayazid al-Bistami (q) completed the Sultan adh-Dhikr once in his lifetime. Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) spoke to Turkish scholars who visited him in Rashadiyya, and they would say, “You are always giving importance to `AbdAllah Effendi.”

He asked, “Do you want me to tell you where he is putting his feet now, or where he will put his feet on Judgment Day (what his rank is now or on the Day of Judgment). Where he is putting his feet now, none of the awliyaullah from all time has entered! And if I tell you what his level will be on Judgment Day, you will not understand what I am saying! `AbdAllah Effendi didn't complete Sultan adh-Dhikr once, like Bayazid and other awliyaullah completed it many more times, but with every breath `AbdAllah Effendi takes he completes Sultan adh-Dhikr! Every time he inhales, he completes Sultan adh-Dhikr and every time he exhales, he completes Sultan adh-Dhikr with that power Allah (swt) gave to him! He completes it with all its secret oceans of Realities and knowledges and new information coming out to him!”

Grandshaykh (q) was like that for his whole life and he said, “I passed that secret to Shaykh Nazim.” So don’t underestimate the power of shuyookh! The power of shuyookh is not on our level. The Prophet (s) said:

إنما الأعمال بالنيات , وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى , فمن كانت هجرته إلى الله ورسوله , فهجرته إلى الله ورسوله , ومن كانت هجرته لدنيا يصيبها أو امرأة ينكحها , فهجرته إلى ما هاجر إليه

Innama al-`amaalu bi ’n-niyyaat wa innamaa li kulli imrin maa nawaa. Man kaana hijratuhu ila ‘Llahi wa rasoolihi, fa hijratahu ila ma haajara ilayh, wa man kaanat hijratuhu ila dunya yuseebuhaa aw imraatan yankihuhaa fa hijratuhu ila maa haajara ilayh.

Verily actions are by intentions, and for every person is what he intended. So the one whose emigration was to Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration was to Allah and His Messenger, and the one whose emigration was for the world to gain from it, or a woman to marry him, then his emigration was to what he made it. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Innama al-`amaalu bi ’n-niyyaat, “Every action is according to intention.” If your intention was good to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s), He knows. If he is coming to this house and to this heavenly, spiritual, angelic maqaam on earth from heaven, his intention has to be clean or else what is the benefit? Man kaana hijratuhu ila ‘Llahi wa rasoolihi, fa hijratahu ila maa haajara ilayh, if your intention is to come here for Mawlana Shaykh and the barakah that he represents, not for any dunya benefit, Allah knows. Faman kaanat hijratuhu ila dunya yuseebuhaa aw imraatan yankihuhaa, “If he is making hijrah for dunya or a desire, or to marry a wife, then he is coming for that purpose.” Allah (swt) knows his intention.

لو وزنت الدنيا عند الله جناح بعوضة لما سقي الكافر منها شربة ماء

Law wazinat ad-dunya `indallahi janaaha ba`ooda lamaa saqaa kaafirun minhaa shurbatu maai.

If this dunya weighed the wing of a mosquito, Allah (swt) would not have given a cup of water to anyone to drink.

If the value of this dunya weighs the wing of mosquito, Allah will not give one cup of water to an unbeliever, so Allah knows. Let us clean our hearts and speak the truth; let us not go and put unspoken words into the ears or the mouths or their eyes! Remember the ayaah in Holy Qur’an:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَأٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ

Yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo in ja’akum faasiqun bi naba'in fa-tabayyinoo an tuseeboo qawman bi-jahaalatin fatusbihoo `alaa maa fa`ltum naadimeen.

O you who believe! If a corrupt person comes to you with something wrong, ascertain the truth unless you harm people unwittingly and afterwards become full of repentance for what you have done. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:6)

This is especially true here, since this place is Jannah, Paradise. It is much like when Iblees tried to come to Sayyidina Adam (a) in Paradise disguised as a snake. Don’t try to come in a different form. Make salawaat on the Prophet (s) and that will change what you did; even if you spoke wrongly about someone and put words into the mouth of someone, istighfaar and salawaat will clean that. Make salawaat and repent; Allah (swt) will take that away.

I am more clever in English but not in Turkish. One time Mawlana Shaykh asked me something and I said, “öldu.” He said, “What are you saying?” He asked me if I had finished a job and I said, “öldu, died” and not “oldu, done” (same word with different pronunciation). So I might have made a mistake in the Turkish language. Therefore, after taking the permission of my uncle, Shaykh Muhammad, khalifah of Mawlana, I would like to clear one important point.

Hajji Muhammad said that Raja Eleena, sister of Raja Ashman Shah, is a good saalihah lady and you said, “This is an inspiration coming to my heart that she is a saalihah lady who can look after the zawiyah in Malaysia.” And I know her; she is very good, she comes weekly to dhikr and can make decisions regarding what needs to be done as administration, and at the end of the suhbah Hajji Muhammad wanted to say the same thing as this, but his English made it sound different. Instead of saying, “I hope that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim will go with my ‘inspiration’ because it is a good way of looking after the place,” he said, “Mawlana Shaykh Nazim ‘appointed’ (Raja Eleena).” So there is a big difference, like I said “öldu” and “oldu” it is a huge difference.

And for sure she is strong enough and capable of doing the things that have to be done there for the benefit for the tariqah as she is the daughter of the Sultan, and this was Hajji Muhammad’s inspiration and recommendation that, “Inshaa-Allah my father will later appoint, will do this.” Is this correct? (Shaykh Muhammad: Of course.) So I am clearing this as I asked Shaykh Muhammad, may Allah give him long life, as it is important to clear it as people are not clear about what is to be done, and they are calling and asking about it. This is to clarify what he said so that we understand that he said, “My inspiration that my father will appoint,” meaning, that appointment comes from his father (Mawlana Shaykh Nazim) and the inspiration came from him.

Now I am happy that Shaykh Muhammad is here! Put the camera on my shaykh, Mawlana’s Khalifah Shaykh, so to clear this will benefit everyone because it is an important issue. Correct?
(Shaykh Muhammad: Of course.)
Do you want to add anything?
(Shaykh Muhammad: No, because I am not familiar with Malaysia or any other place, but it must be that time, like this coming inspiration, because I am not going to Malaysia or any other place and don’t have any benefit with them and I think Raja will be happy.)
May Allah (swt) forgive us and we wish, as my uncle Shaykh Muhammad wishes, that in the future Mawlana Shaykh (q) will say it himself, inshaa-Allah, because up to now Mawlana has not said anything, is this correct?
(Shaykh Muhammad: Yes, yes, of course.)
Until now he didn’t say anything, and today is Thursday, April 12th. I would like to read you this email that came just now from the palace, which must make all of you happy inshaa-Allah:

From The Palace of the King of Perak. Raja Ashman's parents, the King and Queen, are expressing how very happy they are that their son gave the remainder of his life to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). They were joining in the hadrah and the King was doing the dhikr and he opened the palace for the mureeds of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. He is praying that Allah (swt) give Mawlana Shaykh Nazim the best of life and he has asked the mureeds to read Surat al-Fatihah.

This was sent today from the Sultan’s palace in Malaysia. May Allah (swt) give long life and bless Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), his sons, daughters and grandchildren, and to all his followers and mureeds and everyone who loves Mawlana. May Allah give him shifaa quickly in order to come up strong and make everyone happy. May Allah forgive us.

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

I would like to say this to Khalee Shaykh Muhammad, that Bahauddin (Mawlana’s other son) said to me and to his son Memmo, that when he was in Malaysia he spoke with `Amr, the private secretary of Raja Ashman, who said to him that before Raja Ashman left from this world physically, not spiritually, as he is here with us, he asked, “Yaa Rabbee! If my life will give Mawlana long life, take it and give to my Shaykh!” That was said by him two weeks before he left dunya and your brother said it to me and to Muhammad Nazim. So we say that may Allah (swt) give long, long life to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and grant him to be with Mahdi (a), and to take us with him to Mahdi (a) and to give long life to all of us to see Mahdi (a), not just for the people who are here, but also those who are not here.

I ask, would any of you like to eat the raw flesh of his brother, as Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an?

وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ
Wa laa tajasassoo wa laa yaghtab b`adakum b`adan ayyuhibbu ahadukum an yaakulu lahma aakheehi maytan fa-karihtumooh.
And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would abhor it. (al-Hujurat, 49:12)

No, since it would be disgusting to eat the flesh of your dead brother. That is why if someone tells you something about someone else, say, “I don't want to hear it.” I never heard Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) or Grandshaykh (q) mention anything about something that occurred even one hour before! When someone came and spoke bad things about others, they said, “I don’t want to hear it,” because then Shaytan comes.

May Allah (swt) forgive me if I said something wrong and that made them upset, may Allah forgive them if they said something wrong and made people upset, and may Allah forgive all of us if we said something wrong and made others upset.

Fatihah.

Source:
" Video: www.sufilive.com"
" English Suhbah: Introduction to Sultan adh-Dhikr"


© Copyright 2012 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected by international copyright law.
Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it.
JazakAllahu khayr.

The Greatness of Salawat on Prophet Series Vol.12

Evidence of the Shaykh Giving His Life to Others
The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 12
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
11 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah after Zhuhr Salaat

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.

First of all, we ask madad from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim to send us some support, because without his support none of us can get any kind of inspiration. But with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s support, everyone will have different inspirations that respond to his heart.

Now you have electricity that comes from the main line which is 360 volts, but they put a transformer to bring it down to 220 volts because the electric system in the masjid or house cannot take 360 volts and will explode. Energy comes according to the capacity of each person; some take only 110 volts. To everyone Allah (swt) gave a different understanding and way of thinking, and as long as everyone's understanding is in the direction of Islamic Shari`ah, of haqiqah, the Islamic way, then alhamdulillah, that is the best.

It is like driving on Germany’s Autobahn. How fast do you go? Perhaps 120 kph, but there are some signs saying, “Slow Down,” and these are exits. Shaytan has many exits on our Autobahn toward love of Allah (swt), love of the Prophet (s) and love of awliyaullah, and at any moment Shaytan can play with us to make us exit. If he played with Sayyidina Adam (a), can’t he play with you? So he can lead you out of the main way, off the Autobahn of the Gnostic’s way. Gnosticism is ma`arifatullah so any `arif billah, Gnostic, is also on an Autobahn seeking the journey to Allah, and Shaytan can mislead them to an exit. None of you come here for any purpose other than love of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), but here the exits are also too many!

So on the Autobahn, when you travel 30, 50, 70 kilometers, you see a rest house on the right or left side with restaurants, coffee and tea shops, quick marts and petrol stations. You exit there to refuel your vehicle, to eat food and then continue on the Autobahn, but if you exit before the rest house, you lose that piece of Paradise that is on Siraat al-Mustaqeem, where you find a lot of benefit. There are a lot of places with gardens on that Autobahn, but if you exit, thumma amanoo, thumma kafaroo:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ثُمَّ كَفَرُواْ ثُمَّ آمَنُواْ ثُمَّ كَفَرُواًْ
Inna allatheena aamanoo thumma kafaroo thumma aamanoo thumma kafaroo.
Those who believe then reject faith, then believe (again) and (again) reject faith.
(Surat an-Nisa, 4:137)

Grandshaykh (q) explained this, “One day they are in aamanoo, belief, then thumma kafaroo, they make mistakes. To keep on the right way we must show love to Allah (swt), love to the Prophet (s) and love to awliyaullah.

أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Ati`oollaha wa ati`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)

وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا
Maa ataakumu ’r-rasoolu fa-khudhoohu wa maa nahaakum `anhu fantahoo.
Take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)

We have explained this; Allah (swt) is telling us to take whatever the Prophet gave us. Don’t say, “No, later,” as that will benefit us in dunya and Akhirah. Yesterday we spoke about the Greatness of Prophet (s) and the importance of salawaat. Today we will speak on the benefits of making salawaat and how one can give his life for the love of Prophet (s), because it is easy to love a wali but very difficult to love his followers. Here we see how much the wali wants you to love his mureeds and for all mureeds to accept each other. Also, Prophet (s) wants us to benefit as much as we can from his love.

In the book Jawahir al-Ma`ani, Imam ash-Sha`rani (q) wrote that the biggest dhikrullah and the greatest benefit of it is that peacefulness comes to the heart.

QURA’NIC VERSUS ABOUT DHIKRULLAH

الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

Alladheena amanoo wa tatmainna quloobuhum bi dhikri ‘Llaahi alaa bi dhikri ‘Llaahi tatma’inn al-quloob.

Those who believe and whose hearts find tranquility in the remembrance of God! Verily, in the remembrance of God do hearts find tranquility.
(Surat ar-Ra`ad, 13:28)

الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىَ جُنُوبِهِمْ

Alladheena yadhkuroona ‘Llaaha qiyamaan wa qu`oodan wa `ala junoobihim

Those who remember Allah (always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides.
(Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:191)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا
Yaa ayyuhalladheen aamanoo 'dhkurullaah dhikrun katheera.
O you who believe! Celebrate the praises of Allah, and do this often. (Surat al-`Ahzab, 33:41)

There are so many verses of the Holy Qur'an on dhikr, and more than 100 ayaahs emphasize the importance of the heart and how to fix it. Allah (swt) mentioned the heart in particular, as there are so many ayaahs about it. So when the heart is in love, one will mention the name of whom he loves. Nowadays, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) speaks mostly of Sham, because he is so much in love with it, and sometimes he even cries for Sham, because he knows the Prophet (s) said:

أوله شام آخره شام
Awwalahu shaam aakhirahu shaam.
The beginning of it is Sham and the end of it is Sham.

I heard Grandshaykh (q) say many times that on Monday, Thursday and Friday nights all awliyaullah are present with the Prophet (s) on Jabal Qasyoun! Also, Grandshaykh (q) said Allah (swt) has moved the bodies of all prophets except Sayyidina Muhammad (s) to Jabal Qasyoun; they are all there! More than that, he said, “There are only mu’min in the cemeteries of Sham, because mu’min are brought by angels to replace the others.” So therefore Sham is clean. Due to their love, awliyaullah have always had that affection and attraction to Sham.

If you love me, show it, and if I love you, I will show it. We are not making multiple lectures on the topic of love and then you don't show love to anyone (apply this knowledge). Our lectures are not for 'domestic consumption'! Don’t say, “I only will hear it.” No! Awliyaullah say, “I love you!” and they mean it.

In Jawahir al-Ma`ani, Imam ash-Sha`rani said, “The best dhikr you can do as a human being and get benefit from it is salawaat on the Prophet (s), and it must be with the presence of heart.”

We previously explained that he asked the Prophet (s) in the dream, “If I make salawaat on the Prophet (s), is it necessary for my heart to be present?” And the Prophet (s) said, “No, even without presence Allah will reward one salawaat with ten of His Own. And if you do it with presence, Allah will reward you with what no one knows!” And he said the best of dhikr and afdaal faida, rewards and benefit, is to do salawaat on the Prophet (s) with the presence of the heart.

Also, he said the benefit of salawaat on Prophet (s) is that it will take responsibility for you, mutakafilan, it will support you and give you the feeling that you are supported for all your problems in dunya and Akhirah. So why do people come and complain? This one want this, that one wants that, this one is ill, that one needs money: sit and make salawaat! Then you will see Allah (swt) will send people to help you.

I know Mawlana Shaykh Nazim more than everyone, sorry to say. We used to eat together from one plate, and Hajjah Anne (q) used to cook and mashaa-Allah the fifteen of us sat in his house and enjoyed the meal. They made soup every day, which we ate with bread and it was enough to feed any number of guests! Why? Because the love of Prophet (s) is in the heart of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and Hajjah Anne (q) never made food without wudu. Now most people cook without wudu.

Grandshaykh (q) had a small hallway and we sat there. One door led to his bedroom, one to his living room where he sometimes sat with people, and one door led to the kitchen. He put a small plate in that hallway, which fed eight-to-ten people maximum. We sat on our knees, which is adab, and ate from the same plate. Once we sat there eating with him and he said, “Yaa Sayyidee! Yaa Rasoolullah! Yaa Shafi`ee al-Mudhnibeen! undhur ilaynaa! Look at us! See us! Visit us!” Then he turned suddenly to look at the wall just behind him and said, “The wall is gone and the Prophet is there looking at us!” As I was sitting next to Grandshaykh, immediately I kissed the wall and Grandshaykh said, “You kissed the Prophet (s)!”

These are the experiences of awliyaullah, and you don’t know how valuable Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s presence is and how valuable is the presence of awliyaullah among the ummah. You don't know who sits with them and that is why you must keep adab. He said so many times not to approach the Sultan, because that is like approaching fire! Don't think you are familiar with the Shaykh, and speak with him as if you are speaking with an elderly person. No, you have to be with complete adab with the Shaykh and listen to him.

Therefore, if you make salawaat on the Prophet (s), it will give you support for all your problems in dunya and in Akhirah, taking care of them immediately! And whoever uses salawaat on the Prophet (s) excessively, like in khalwah when we are ordered to complete 24,000 salawaat daily, he will be of the highest level of the chosen people! This is in Jawahir al-Ma`anee, page 144, Volume 1. I'm not bringing something unverified.

In this book it also says, daf`an wa jalban `an kulli shay, “They push away anything that might harm you, and anything that will benefit you they bring to you.”
As we read yesterday, Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) was in Istanbul in the Massarat Hotel and Shaykh Zia asked him, “How do you expect to die?”
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “What kind of question is this?”
He answered, “Yaa Shaykh, I want to know how long you are going to live.”
Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “I will die when the Armenians invade; that will be when I take my last breath. Why are you asking that?”
Shaykh Zia said, “I want to give my life to you and I will exchange it for your life.”
Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) said, “Don't say that!” But he insisted, then Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “Allah is accepting this from you.”

Eight years later the Armenians invaded Rashadiyya, which is now Gunekoy, and the first person they shot and killed was Shaykh Zia. Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) said, “He gave me his life and he took my life.” Why? Shaykh Zia was always in salawaat out of love for Prophet (s) and his Shaykh, and dafa`n wa jalban, he prevented the killing of his Shaykh and put it on himself, although his Shaykh was the Sultan-al-Awliya of his time! So don't say there is no such thing in Shari`ah! We have previously explained three examples of this: 1 )Sayyidina Adam (a) and Sayyidina Dawood (a); 2) Shaykh Qassim and his Shaykh, `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q); 3) yesterday we spoke about Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) and Shaykh Zia.

And now we have found the information on Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) of the Naqshbandi Golden Chain. It is well known about the the black plague that spread in Damascus (1348-1351). As you know, Shaykh Khalid (q) went from Baghdad to India and took tariqah from Shaykh Jani-Janan Mazhar and then he brought it to Damascus, where it spread. He resided in Jabal Qasyoun at the mountaintop.

The Prophet (s) said to him, “Yaa Khalid! People will not come to you here so go down to the market every day and ask how much people earn for the day and give it to them and send them up.”

So he went to the market and asked, “How much money do you take for one day of work?”
They answered, “Ten dinars.”
“Alright, I will pay you ten dinars, but you have to go up to the zawiyah, that is your work,” and he collected ten people and sent them to the zawiyah on the mountain.

So awliyaullah inherit from the Prophet (s) and give out whatever they inherit to their followers. After one year people came by themselves to the zawiyah of Sayyidina Khalid (q), although he had stopped giving them money. So what about Mawlana Shaykh, will he not be giving? He is giving and Allah (swt) is giving, so no one leaves here empty-handed!

As written in the book Hadaaiq al-Wardiyya by Muhammad Khani, one night Shaykh Khalid (q) entered his house and called his family so he could advise them. Listen, he “called his family,” and on Monday evening, when Mawlana Shaykh Nazim got sick and I had not arrived yet, didn’t Mawlana Shaykh “call his family” to his room and say to them, “This is my will. I am going!” Did he say that or not, is it correct? (Sultan’s grandson: Yes, it is). So Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) entered his house and called his whole family, just like Mawlana Shaykh did. It is the same and I am not inventing it, it is in Hadaaiq al-Wardiyya. He advised them that he was going to die on Friday, so they stayed with him all night. Before Fajr he got up to pray tahajjud and he was very sick, since the whole city of Damascus was contaminated by the plague. He got up, made ablution and prayed for awhile, then he entered his room and said that no one had permission to enter his room except those that he ordered. Did Mawlana Shaykh Nazim say the same thing or not, specifically, “I don't want anyone to enter my room without permission.” (Sultan’s grandson: Yes, correct.)

And Shaykh Khalid said, “No one may enter my room except by permission,” perhaps because the Prophet (s) or the awliyaullah were spiritually present and it would not be good adab. When Grandshaykh (q) was in Lebanon for his operation forty days before he passed, we collected Mawlana Shaykh Nazim from the airport and brought him to see Grandshaykh (q), who said, “I don't want anyone to be here except Shaykh Nazim.” Shaykh Adnan and I were troublemakers in those days, so we looked through the window and saw Mawlana Shaykh Nazim holding Grandshaykh’s hand; Mawlana Shaykh was trembling and that went on for half-an-hour. When we knew it was over, we knocked on the door and he let us in and said, “That secret is passed.” So they don't want anyone in the room who is not perfect, as in every moment of their life they are perfect and their whole life is perfect.

Shaykh Khalid (q) said, “No one may enter my room except those whom I order to do so,” then he lay on his right side facing the qiblah and said, “I am carrying all the plague which has descended on Damascus.” How many times has Mawlana Shaykh Nazim said, “I am carrying the mureeds,” or, “I am carrying the whole ummah. The Prophet (s) is giving me power to bring baatil down and bring Haqq up.” All awliyaullah are similar.

Shaykh Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) raised his hand and prayed. Allahu Akbar! Look at what he said in his prayer, because he wanted to remove that difficulty from everyone. Although his life was meant to be longer, he prayed, "Whoever the plague touches, let it strike me instead!" It meant that he asked, “Yaa Rabb! I give my life so you may take away death from anyone who would be struck by the plague. I will take that from them and I give my life to them.” This is different from Mawlana Qassim, the mureed who gave his own life to the Shaykh.

In the case of Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q), the mureed gave to the Shaykh, but in the case of Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi (q), the Shaykh is giving to the mureed. He said, “Let it strike me instead and spare everyone in Sham who would die.” He said that and he was praying inside the locked room. On Thursday, all 299 of his khalifahs entered his room including Sayyidina Isma`eel an-Naraanee (q) and Sayyidina Isma`eel ash-Shirwani (q), and they asked him, “How are you feeling?”
He said, “Allah has answered my prayer!”
What was his prayer? That anyone who was to be struck by the plague be given life and for it to strike him. So, can awliyaullah extend life? Yes, when they ask Allah (swt)! What is the du`a of Laylat al-Bara`ah? How many times have we read that du’a; don’t we read the second Surah YaSeen with the intention for Allah to extend our lives? Is that not from the du`a of Laylat al-Bara`ah, asking Allah (swt) to stretch our life? Yes, that is correct, as Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:

وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلٌ فَإِذَا جَاء أَجَلُهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلاَ يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ
Wa li-kulli ummatin ajalun fa idhaa jaa ajaluhum laa yastaakhiroona sa`atan wa laa yastqdimoon.
And for all people a term has been set and when their time has come, they can neither delay it by a single moment nor can they hasten it.
(Surat al-A`raaf, 7:34)

But in another ayah Allah (swt) says:

يَمْحُو اللّهُ مَا يَشَاء وَيُثْبِتُ وَعِندَهُ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ
Yamhullaha maa yashaa wa yuthbitu wa `indahu ummu ‘l-kitaab.
Allah will erase or confirm whatever He likes and with Him is the Mother of Books.
(Surat ar-Ra`d, 13:39)

The du`a of a wali can bring a change, just as the du`a of the Prophet (s) will send the whole ummah to Paradise! Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi (q) said, “Allah (swt) has answered my prayer. I will take all the plague from the people of Sham and I alone will die on Friday and after they can bury me and everything will be okay.” Shaykh Isma`eel an-Naraanee (q), his khalifah who served him, lived only seven days after Shaykh Khalid and died from the plague; because of his love for his Shaykh, he could not live without him!

They offered Shaykh Khalid (q) water, but he refused and said, “I left this world behind to meet my Lord.” He meant, after Allah (swt) accepted his du`a, he did not want anything from dunya, no food or water. “I have accepted to carry the plague and relieve those in Sham who are infected. I will pass on Friday.” His janaza was on Friday and millions of people attended and were cured, which is another story, but in this case the Shaykh spared the lives of mureeds, while in the other case the mureed spared his Shaykh’s life. Also, it is mentioned in the hadith of Sayyidina Adam (a) that he gave forty years of his life to Sayyidina Dawood (a).

BENEFITS OF SALAWAAT ON THE PROPHET (s)

Now we will continue with the explanation of some of fawaa'id salawaat `alaa ar-rasool, the benefits of salawaat on the Prophet (s). I counted 39 of them but we will not discuss all of them now, we will leave that for next time. However, there is one hadith in this book Hadaaiq al-Wardiyya that I will mention. (Also appears in Dala’il al-Khayrat of Imam al-Jazuli, chapter “The Benefit of Requesting Blessings upon the Prophet.”)

وكما ذكر في كشف الغمة كان صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول من صلى على تعظيما لحقي جعل الله عز وجل من تلك الكلمة ملكا له جناحان جناح في المشرق وجناح في المغرب ورجلاه في تخوم الأرض وعنقه ملتوي تحت العرش يقول الله عز وجل صلى على عبدي كما صلى على نبيي فهو يصلى عليه إلى يوم القيامة

Man salla `alayya ta`zheeman li-haqqee ja`ala allahu `azza wa jall min tilka’l-kalamati malakan lahu janaahun fi ’l-mashriq wa janaahun fi ’l-maghrib wa rijlaahu fee takhoom al-ard wa `anaqahu multawiyyan taht al-`arsh. Yaqoolullahu `azza wa jall salli `alaa `abdee kamaa salla `ala nabiyyee fa-huwa yusallee `alayhi ila yawm al-qiyaamat.

`Abdur Rahman ibn `Awf (r) narrated that the Prophet (s) said:

Whenever someone asks for blessings upon me, extolling my right, Allah (swt) creates from his words an angel with wings stretching from the east to the west with feet connected to the nethermost part of the seventh earth and a neck bent beneath the Throne. Allah (swt) says to him, “Bless My slave as he asks for blessings upon My Prophet,” and thereupon the angel will bless him until the Day of Resurrection.

It is not the east we see on this earth, but rather it is the east of the entire universe, which is always moving westward, as verified in physics: the universe is moving west, not just one galaxy but all 6,000 galaxies. Each galaxy has 80 billion stars and all are moving in a vacuum to the west. That is why Allah (swt) mentioned in different verses of Holy Qur'an, “mashriq wa ‘l-maghrib,” or, “mashriqaynee wal-maghribayna,” or, “mashaariq wa maghaarib.” That whole universe is moving from east to west at the speed of light, 300,000 km per second. Where it is going no one knows, but it is moving in a vacuum with no gravity. Subhaan-Allah!

The Prophet (s) said from that salawaat, Allah (swt) will create an angel with one wing in the east that is moving, and one wing in the west that also keeps moving. That means it is reaching both ends of what Allah said:

بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَإِذَا قَضَى أَمْراً فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
Badee`u ‘s-samaawaati waal ‘ardi wa idhaa qadaa amran fainnamaa yaqoolu lahu kun fa-yakoon.
He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth and when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, "Be" and it is.
(Surat al-Baqara, 2:117)

Allah (swt) said,“Kun faya koon,” which means He commands into existence all that is and all that will be, and the angels are in salawaat as they are ordered. Where is that east and that west? It means that wing is moving as well, expanding more and more, like a child whose small arms grow until they are the size of an adult’s. One of the angel’s wings is in the east and one is in the west and his two legs are rooted in the earth. “earth” here is not our earth; there are seven earths within this solar system that are like ours and nearby, but scientists cannot find them. His feet are rooted in the earth and his head is not erect because he is so tall, so it is bowed under the Throne. This is all from salawaat on the Prophet (s)!

Allah (swt) says to that angel, “Make salawaat on My servant who is making salawaat on My Prophet and as he praised My Prophet, O angel, you praise him!” There is a big meaning in this. Allahu Akbar! Can we understand that? No, it is beyond our mind. And that is from just one salawaat! If you make salawaat two times, there are two angels and if you say it 100 times you have 100 angels, and so on. None of the angels recite the same, each one is reciting a different salawaat on Prophet (s) as Allah (swt) does not use copy machines! He creates millions of angels for one person making salawaat on the Prophet (s)! That is why awliyaullah emphasize the reality of making salawaat; for even one salawaat, fa huwa yusalli ilaa Yawm al-Qiyaamah, and that angel will be praying on your behalf until the Day of Judgment!

May Allah (swt) forgive us and may Allah bless us. I am sorry for any mistake in delivering this lecture, but it is about the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and of awliyaullah who inherit from the Prophet (s). We are helpless, we are sinners, we are weak and we ask in every moment that Allah (swt) forgives us and forgives everyone.

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

Source:
" Video: www.sufilive.com"
" English Suhbah: Evidence of the Shaykh Giving His Life to Others"


© Copyright 2012 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected by international copyright law.
Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it.
JazakAllahu khayr.

The Greatness of Salawat on Prophet Series Vol.9

How a Woman Was Saved from Punishment of the Grave
The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 9
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
8 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah after Zhuhr

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem.
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammadan nabiyyi ’l-ummiy wa `alaa aalihi wa Saahbihi wa sallam.
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.

We are speaking about the Greatness of Prophet (s). I recently heard Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) say that he wants to open a school in Famagusta to teach the Greatness of Prophet (s), with the intention that students not only memorize Holy Qur’an and hadith, but also to make people aware of the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), because too many today are not giving importance to that subject. Throughout history you find how much scholars and common people of previous times respected Prophet (s). You see whenever Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) mentions the name of Prophet (s), he puts his hand over his chest to invoke peacefulness or tranquility in his heart, or he stands up to give t`azheemu ‘n-Nabiyy, grandeur to Prophet (s).

There have been many scholars among Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah, by whom I mean the people who accept tasawwuf, and most of them accept tasawwuf up to today. The right name for them is “Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa’l-Jama`ah,” and now other groups use that name although they consider Prophet (s) to be only a man who came and is now gone! Without mentioning their names, we know their names already and they pretend they are Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah, but the authentic Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah are those who love Prophet (s) more than their parents, themselves and their children!

I said today I would mention some of these stories and ahadith of Prophet (s) from the book Manahij as-Sa`adaat, The Ways of Happiness.

Akthiroo min as-salaati `alayya yawmu ‘l-jumu`ati wa laylatu ‘l-jumu`ah.
Try to be excessive in prayers on me on the day and night of Friday.
(Imam Shaafi`i in his Musnad; Ibn Habbaan; Ibn Majah; Abu Dawood)

It means do as much salawaat as possible and don’t sit around being lazy! Why must we do it? We can recite salawaat ten times, a hundred times, and some people a thousand times, but why so many? Why do you have to do one-million times, two-million times? The square-headed people, whose names we don’t want to mention, say if you do too much salawaat, you are committing shirk! We ask, did Allah (swt) make shirk when He ordered His angels to make salawaat on the Prophet (s)? Allah (swt) said:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Inna-Llaaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabiyy, yaa ayyuha’ Lladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was sallimoo tasleema.
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him. (Surat al-Ahzaab, 33:56)

The word “yusalloona” is not past tense or present tense, it is the future tense. Which comes first? Past tense, fa`l al-maadiyy, and then present tense, fa`l al-haadir, then future tense, fa`l al-mustaqbal. Why does past come first, then present, then future? Because the past was the future, then became present, then became past. I “am opening” a book is present tense; I “opened” the book is past tense; I “will open” the book is future tense. But in religion there is no past, present or future, everything is in the present, as the present moment is what matters. So what is Allah saying? “Allah and His angels are praising and praying on the Prophet,” in the future tense, which means they are continuously making salawaat on the Prophet (s).

A question comes here: did Allah (swt) say to the angels, “inna Allah salla `alaa an-Nabi mi’at marrah”? Did Allah (swt) pray on the Prophet (s) a hundred times, or did He order His angels to pray a hundred times on the Prophet (s)? No, He and His angels are continuously praising the Prophet (s), and then it is an order for all humanity, “yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena amanoo salloo `alayh.” “Salloo” is fa`l amr, an imperative verb (command): “O Believers! Praise the Prophet!” It is an order on every Muslim to praise the Prophet (s) continuously, non-stop. So when you stop, you are falling into forgetfulness of this ayah in which Allah (swt) ordered you to continuously recite salawaat on the Prophet (s). This is what distinguishes awliyaullah from normal people, as they are always praising the Prophet (s) because they are executing this ayah, Yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo salloo 'alayhi wa sallimoo tasleema, and they cannot stop because they have to do it.

That is like when Allah (swt) ordered the angels to make sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a):

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ اسْجُدُواْ لآدَمَ فَسَجَدُواْ إِلاَّ إِبْلِيسَ
Wa idh qulnaa li ’l-malaa’ikatu ’sjudoo li aadama fa sajadoo illa iblees.
And when We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam!" they all prostrated themselves, except Iblees. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:34)

Allah (swt) said all of them made sajda except Iblees. How many angels are there? In every moment Allah is creating angels and He is “al-Khaaliq,” The Creator. You cannot say He created the angels and stopped. He (swt) said, “Allah and His angels are praising the Prophet.” (33:56) How many angels are prasing the Prophet (s)? With respect to Allah's Greatness and Grandeur, you cannot count and or know how many angels there are; they are an infinite number! Allah (swt) is creating angels every moment--not a million, a billion, a quadrillion, no! Allah is creating infinite angels in every moment. His Name is “al-Khaaliq,” so if you say khalq stopped, you commit the sin of kufr, because Allah (swt) creates continuously! Therefore, when He ordered the angels to make sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a), how many angels were there at that moment, then more were created and appeared, but how? They appeared already in sajda! They didn't come standing, because they are under that khitaab, address, when Allah (swt) ordered them to make the sajda of ihtiraam, respect, not the sajda of `ibaadah, worship, as worship is exclusively for Allah (swt).

Sayyidina Yusuf (s) came to his father, Sayyidina Yaqoob (a) and said:

إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ

Innee raa'itu ihda `ashar kawkaban wa ’sh-shamsa wa ’l-qamra raaytahum lee saajideen.

I saw eleven planets and the sun and moon making sajda to me. (Surat Yusuf, 12:5)

Such examples are to teach all of us. Sayyidina Yaqoob (a) said, “Don't tell this to your brothers.” Why not; they are all Prophets of Bani Israel, so how could they be jealous, because all Prophets are ma`soomoon, infallible (without sin), although they threw Yusuf in the well. Another lesson for us is when Allah (swt) ordered His angels to make sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a).

Once I asked an `alim who is also a mufti, “Is there any verse in Holy Qur'an that ordered the angels to raise their head from their sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a)?” After you complete sajda you raise your head, but there is no mention of this in Holy Qur’an, because they are still in sajda to the Prophet (s)! That `alim said, “I didn't think of it like that because I am a scholar of Shari`ah, not tasawwuf.” However, this is not from tasawwuf. In Holy Qur'an, Allah (swt) did not order His angels to raise their heads! Also, He (swt) did not order them to make only one or two prostrations. If someone ordered you to make sajda, naturally you would wait to be told to raise your head, is it not?

That is why the Prophet (s) said in the hadith, “Try to be excessive in salawaat on me on the day and night of Jumu`ah,” because Jumu`ah is the day Allah (swt) created Sayyidina Adam (a), and the day he met with Sayyida Hawwa (Eve) (a), and the day Adam was sent to Earth, and the day Allah saved Sayyidina Nuh (a) from the flood, and the day Allah saved Sayyidina Ibraheem (s) from the fire of Nimrod, and the day Allah saved Bani Israel from Pharoah, and it is the day when Allah saved Sayyidina `Isa (a) from his people that came to kill him. Also, Allah (swt) gave Jumu`ah as a holy day to Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! Jumu`ah is a precious day that contains all these benefits! On Jumu`ah, Allah (swt) sent you from Heaven to Earth and will send you from Earth to Heaven. It is the day to be saved by the Boat of Heaven and from Shaytan, and the day to be saved from Fire. Sayyidina `Isa (a) was raised to Paradise on Jumu`ah, the day the Prophet (s) liked most. The Day of Resurrection will be on a Jumu`ah. So every Jumu`ah, make as much praise on the Prophet (s) as you can, as he (s) said in a hadith:

Anyone who praises me on the day and night of Jumu`ah, I will be a witness for him on the Day of Judgment and I will intercede for him. (Jami` as-Sagheer)

We are ordered to send salawaat on the Prophet (s)! From his mercy, he didn’t order us to make a million salawaat; he said to increase it, to recite more salawaat than normal on Jumu`ah. So if you recite a hundred salawaat daily, on Jumu`ah recite two-hundred salawaat; if you normally recite two-hundred salawaat, increase it to four-hundred on Jumu`ah. That is why in the awraad assigned by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), on Jumu`ah beginners increase their daily recitation of salawaat from one-hundred to five-hundred.

It is mentioned that whoever recites salawaat on the Prophet (s) a hundred times will be forgiven the sins of 80 years! Now it is coming out; the easement is granted and they are giving you a way out of the daily responsibility to recite salawaat two-hundred, five-hundred or a thousand times! Now, if today is Jumu`ah and you recite one-hundred salawaat on Prophet (s), eighty years of sins will be erased, then next week again recite one-hundred salawaat and another eighty years of sins will be erased! This is how in previous times people encouraged their followers to do salawaat on the Prophet (s), but today, although many people do it, but the ummah is sleeping and most of us are not remembering this important sunnah.

This is an account of a woman who came to a big wali, Hasan al-Basri (r), whose lineage is connected to Sayyidina `Ali (r) through Sayyidina Ja`far as-Saadiq (r). The title “Naqshbandi Golden Chain” is from the combined lineage of Sayyidina `Ali (r) and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) that came together in their descendant, Sayyidina Ja`far as-Saadiq. So this tariqat is coming from two sides. The Shi`a call themselves “Ja`fari” as they take from Sayyidina Ja`far. Sayyidina Qassim (r), the grandson of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r), gave to Sayyidina Ja`far, who also took from Hasan al-Basri, who is taking from Sayyidina `Ali (r), where the Prophet (s) said:

أنا مدينة العلم و علي بابه
Anaa madinatu 'l-`ilmi wa `Aliyyun baabuha.
I am the City of Knowledge and `Ali is it's door. (al-Haakim, Tirmidhi)

It is also related, what some say is hadith and some say it is not a hadith, that the Prophet (s) said:

Ma sabb-Allahu fee sadree sababatahu fee sadra abi bakr as-siddiq.
Whatever Allah has poured in my heart, I poured in the heart of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq.

So in Sayyidina Ja`far as-Saadiq (r) we are getting the two connections, from Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and from Sayyidina `Ali (r), and that is why it is called the “Golden Chain”. I now quote from the book Manahij as-Sa`adaat, page 5, by al-Hafizh as-Sakhaawi, a very famous scholar in classical, traditional Islam:

A woman came to Hasan al-Basri and said, “One of my daughters died and I very much want to see her in a dream.” (There are books of recitation and numerous awliyaullah wrote what one must recite to see the Prophet (s) in the dream, which we will not discuss now.) He told her, “Pray Salaat al-`Isha; then pray four raka`ats and in every raka`at read Surat al-Fatihah and Surat at-Takaathur. Then go to sleep directly and sleep completely; you will see her in your dream.” She returned and said, “I did that and saw her in my dream. She was in punishment and torture!” (It might be the daughter did something wrong in her life.) She was dressed in a dress of qitraan, burning hot tar, and her arms and legs were bound with chains of fire!”

What kind of extreme punishment is that? Look how we are backbiting and cursing each other! Everyone must be busy auditing himself; make an account of yourself, don't punch this one and that one. Also, don't take words of others out of context; for example, when I recently said, “In 2003, when Mawlana Shaykh retired from traveling...” some accused me of having said, “In 2003, when Mawlana Shaykh ‘retired’...” without completing the statement (and by that they made fitna among mureeds). Don't they remember that Allah (swt) said:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَأٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ
Yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo in ja’akum faasiqun bi naba'in fa-tabayyinoo an tuseeboo qawman bi-jahaalatin fatusbihoo `alaa maa fa`ltum naadimeen.

O you who believe! If a corrupt person comes to you with something wrong, ascertain the truth unless you harm people unwittingly and afterwards become full of repentance for what you have done. (Surat al-Hujuraat, 49:6)

I praised Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and made a point about when he retired from traveling, as the Prophet (s) told Grandshaykh `AbdAllah (q) after his khalwat in Madinat al-Munawwara, “You don't need to go after people now; I will send the mukhlis, the best people will come to you.” After that people from all over the world came to Grandshaykh (a) and then to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). The evidence is that you cannot find two people here from the same country; turn to camera to show who are here.

... تعرض علي أعمالكم فان رأيت خيرا حمدت الله تعالى وإن رأيت شرا استغفرت لكم
... Tu`radu `alayya `amalakum fa in raa’itu khayran hamadta ’Llah wa in raa’itu sharran astaghfarta lahum.

The Prophet (s) said:

I observe the deeds of my ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see bad, I ask forgiveness for them.
So how can a wali “retire”? How can they mention such a thing on Jumu`ah? Was it said or not? They took one word, as if someone said, “laa ilaaha,” but did not say, “illa-Llah,” which is kufr; you cannot say “laa ilaaha” without saying “illa-Llah”. Say now, “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah!”

Today and until the last day of his life at 150 years inshaa-Allah, may Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani give suhbah! ... So how is he retired? The one who repeated that lie was supposed to check it first; that is his mistake. But the one who whispered it in his ear out of context committed the sin of nameema, to spread a false rumor, to say what is not true but make it seem correct, which is worse than gheebat, to backbite!

Continuing the narration:

Hasan al-Basri replied (to the distressed mother), “Give sadaqa on her behalf and inshaa-Allah, Allah (swt) will forgive her.”

The way he said it indicated, “Give sadaqa for her and I will distribute it.” This is an important point. When a shaykh distributes sadaqa, it is not like when a normal person does so, as written in Holy Qur'an that if you do something wrong, go to the Prophet (s):

هِ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا

Wa law annahum idh zhalamoo anfusahum ja’ooka f ’astaghfaroollaaha w ’astaghfara lahumu ‘r-rasoolu la-wajadoo ’Llaaha tawwaaba ‘r-raheema.

If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:64)

If you make a mistake, you have to go to the Prophet (s) or to his inheritors to remedy that situation. Like that lady asked, “What should I do?” and Hasan al-Basri said, “Give sadaqa.” We know the Sahaabah came to the Prophet (s) and asked forgiveness in his presence, but Allah (swt) put another condition, that on your behalf the Prophet (s) will also ask Allah (swt) for His Forgiveness!

That lady made sadaqa, and then Hasan al-Basri said, “May Allah forgive her.” That night, Hasan al-Basri slept and he found himself in one of the Paradises where he saw a bed on which a very beautiful lady sat, and on her head was a crown of light. [This is an account from Hasan al-Basri (r), not from you or me throwing some words around with no origin, or (invented) words from the sky!] He looked at her and was stunned. She said (casually), “Yaa Hasan! Do you know me?” He did not use his spiritual power from the Prophet (s) to get that information. She said, “I am the daughter of that woman whom you ordered to pray on the Prophet (s) in order to see me in the dream!” Sayyidina Hasan (r) said, “But your mother came to me and told me she saw you in a different way than this, so what happened? You were in punishment and just ten hours later, in my dream I am seeing you in Paradise!” Sayyidina Hasan al-Basri (r) came 100 years after the Prophet (s) and through this account he wanted to teach his followers.) She said, “Yes, my mother spoke the truth.” He asked, “How did you reach this level?” She said, “We were 70,000 people in this kind of punishment and I was one among them, it is true. Then a pious man like you, one wali, rajulun min as-saaliheen, passed by our graves in the cemetery and recited praise on the Prophet (s) one time, and we all heard him. And he asked Allah (swt) and the Prophet (s), ‘Grant the reward of this to the bodies in these graves.’ Then Allah (swt) accepted his du`a and released all of us from that punishment!”

That is an account of the power of one recitation of salawaat `ala an-Nabi (s)! Say now, “Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad wa `alaa aali Sayyidina Muhammad!” With that we are now free from Hellfire. That is why salawaat is important and why scholars of Islam teach that when you pass by a cemetery, recite one-hundred times “Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad (Surat al-Ikhlaas),” and one-hundred times salawaat `ala an-Nabi (s).

We will continue later.

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

Source:
" Video: www.sufilive.com"
" English Suhbah: How a Woman Was Saved from Punishment of the Grave"


© Copyright 2012 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected by international copyright law.
Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it.
JazakAllahu khayr.

The Greatness of Salawat on Prophet Series Vol.8

The All-Encompassing Power of the Purest Love
The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 8
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
7 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah after Zhuhr Salaat

(Shaykh Bahauddin insists Shaykh Hisham sit in Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s chair.)

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani ‘r-rajim. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. Don’t think I’m always standing; I always stand to speak in conferences, but since Shaykh Bahauddin asked me to sit, I will sit, I will not stand, but out of respect I will substitute this cushion (on which Mawlana Shaykh normally sits) with this (older one from the floor).

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani ‘r-rajim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi ‘l-Alameen was-salaat was-salaam `alaa ashrafi ‘l-Mursaleen Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa `aali Saahbihi wa ajma`een. Dastoor, yaa Sayyidee Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani, madad. Dastoor, yaa Sayyidee Shaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestani, madad.

They say every salaat with miswaak equals twenty-seven salaat without miswaak. The adab of using the miswak is to sit like this (on knees, covering the mouth) and to recite, Allahumma tahhir qalbee min ash-shirki wa ’n-nifaaq, “O Allah! Purify my heart of idolatry and hypocrisy.” When the enemy was approaching, the Prophet (s) told the Sahaabah (r) to go on their knees and rub their teeth with the miswaak, and as soon as they did that the enemy ran away, thinking the Sahaabah (r) were going to eat them! The tajalli of using the siwaak is to scare Shaytan, and by using siwaak your prayer is 27 times better.

We spoke of the Greatness of the Prophet (s) and of how the one who loves the Prophet (s) will move and speak in his (s) presence, keeping adab. Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:

يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ
Yuhibbuhum wa yuhibboonahum.
People whom He loves and who love Him. (Surat al-Ma’idah, 5:54)

He loves them and they love him! I will tell you one incident that took place after Friday prayers in Damascus. Grandshaykh (q) used to give suhbah after Jumu`ah and lead dhikr, which did not exceed thirty minutes. Usually he sat on a cushion in an area twice as big as this masjid. Some people sat on cushions and some sat in rows on the floor. Me and Shaykh Adnan usually sat directly facing Grandshaykh (q), and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) was on his right, translating, like today Shaykh Bahauddin is sitting on his right. One time, me and my brother thought, “Why is Mawlana sitting on cushions? Let us make nicer cushions for him,” as Baba Tahseen, may Allah bless his soul, made nice cushions for Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. So we made nice cushions and Grandshaykh saw them and sat on them and prayed for those who made that sweet, nice gesture. We didn't say anything and Mawlana didn't say anything. That was in 1968.

In 1973, four months before Grandshaykh (q) had his operation and left dunya, he was sick and laying in bed, but we know that he was not really sick. Then he wanted to show who is the one to be respected after him, to give us a sign. Every wali gives that sign, as the Prophet (s) did with Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) when he was sick and he ordered Abu Bakr to lead the prayers and he closed all windows of the houses of the Sahaabah (r), except the window of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, which is still open up to today.

As I said previously, the letter “haa” in the word “hubb,” love, stands for “hayaat,” life, and the “baa” stands for “baqa’,” eternal existence. So when a person loves someone, from their intense love the remembrance of that someone always exists in his mind and heart. Similarly, the love of the Shaykh stays there eternally, it never goes! On the other hand, the Shaykh’s love to his mureeds stays with him and he will not enter Paradise without taking them with him to Eternal Life, as the Prophet (s) will not enter Paradise without taking whole ummah, and there are many ahadith on this subject.

So Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) was very happy with that gesture of the new cushions. He didn’t say anything, but he prayed, “Those who love me, may Allah (swt) love them!” as Allah (swt) said:

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Qul in kuntum tuhibboona 'Llaaha fattabi`oonee yuhbibkumullaahu wa yaghfir lakum dhunoobakum w 'Allaahu Ghafooru 'r-Raheem.
Say (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. (Surat Aali-'Imraan, 3:31)

You have to love Allah (swt) and the Prophet (s) more than you love yourself, as the Prophet (s) said:

لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى أكون أحب إليه من ولده ووالده والناس أجمعين. وفي رواية (ومن نفسه التي بين جنبيه
La yu'minoo ahadukum hatta akoona ahabba ilayhi min waladihi wa walidihi wa 'n-naasee ajma`een. wa fee riwaaya wa min nafsi ‘l-ladhee bayna jambayhi.
You are not considered a believer until you love me more than you love your son, your father, and all of humanity, (Bukhari) and in one narration: and love me more than yourself.

The Prophet (s) is saying, “None of you is considered a believer until he loves me more than all his family.” That is why Allah (swt) gives to awliyaullah, because they leave even their families for the sake of the Prophet (s)! If you tell me that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) didn’t leave his family, clearly you have no knowledge of him! He often left his family to travel for Grandshaykh (q), entering seclusion for forty days, six months, nine months, one year, and also traveling all around, not waiting in one place for people to come to him.

After his seclusion in Madinatu 'l-Munawwara in 1969, Grandshaykh (q) said, “When I was returning to Sham, the Prophet (s) said to me, ‘Yaa Waladee! Don't run after people; rather, people will come to you. I am sending mukhlisee ummatee, the most sincere of my ummah to you!’” I remember this as if I am seeing it now. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is carrying that secret, because the next Shaykh carries whatever secret his Shaykh has that was given from Prophet (s). So that is why we see Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is like a spotlight, a magnet to whom people from east and west are drawn. Many people contact us through the Internet and although they don't know Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, from only reading his suhbahs they want to see him and they are coming. And it is not simple to come, to pay US $2,000-$3,000 to see the Shaykh, and even you might not even see him! That shows that every one who comes here is a sincere person who will be under the shafa`ah of the Prophet (s)! We cannot say ‘under the wings’, but they are under the protection of Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani (q), Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa`iz ad-Daghestani (q), Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) and Shaykh Abu Ahmad as-Sughuri (q), all the way back to the Prophet (s)!

Before I mention about the chair we made for Mawlana Shaykh, I would like to read the hadith they just sent me. Everyone here believes whatever I say, but there are some people on the Internet that might not, because they are square-headed people who, regarding everything we say, constantly ask, "Where is your evidence?" Imam Shafi`ee (r) said, “If one-hundred scholars come to question me I will win, but if one jaahil, ignorant comes to me, he will win.” Ignorant ones always question, “Where is your proof? Show us the evidence.”

Grandshaykh (q) said that Ummat an-Nabi (s) will consist of 400 billion people on Judgment Day, and I also heard it from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q). Like the salawaat of Grandshaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) that we recently mentioned, I never found it anywhere until I recently found that part of it was related by Sayyidina `Ali (r), in the book Nahj al-Muttaqeen, Peak of the God-Fearing. Grandshaykh (q) said whoever recites that salawaat one time will receive the reward of all human beings from the time of Sayyidina Adam (a) to Judgment Day, reciting it while standing!

As for the ummah of the Prophet (s) being 400 billion people, I didn't find any text on it until recently. Grandshaykh (q) used to tell us to pick up a book, which is to show helplessness and weakness when we deliver suhbahs, and he cautioned us not to say things from east to west that people like to hear but from which they may not understand anything. It is not imaginings, as those who [casually] speak of the Divine Essence, Dhaat al-Buht, where people don't understand such deep topics. So you have to be careful.

When I was young, I often wondered where I could find this, and recently I did. Imam Ghazali (r) mentioned towards the end of his book Faysal at-Tafriqa, translated to English as The Boundaries of Religious Tolerance in Islam: “The Prophet (s) will intercede for the ummah 70,000 times 70,000 times 70,000.” Just like we read in Dala`il al-Khayrat, “allahumma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad alfa alfa marrah,” where “alfa alfa” is one million, “alfa alfa alfa” is one billion, and “alfa alfa alfa alfa” is beyond what we can count! 70,000 times 70,000 times 70,000 is 343 billion people, which is very near 400 billion, which is what Grandshaykh had said [is the number of human beings in the Ummah of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)].

The scholar Mustafa ar-Rafi`ee suggested on page 68 of his book, `Ijaaz al-Qur`an, The Miraculous Nature of the Qur’an, “the number seven has the symbolic meaning of perfection,” and the Prophet (s) [mainly] used the numbers seven and zero. In numerology, zero represents nothing; it is annihilation, that nothing exists except Allah, while the number seven represents the Seven Paradises that Allah (swt) will give everyone on the Day of Judgment. So that shows us that when awliyaullah say something, if you didn't understand it don't object, but rather say, “They know better.”

Everyone loves the Shaykh and so they move according to the love in their heart and sometimes that makes conflict and sometimes it goes easy, because it is not possible that everyone has the same level, just as everyone's fingerprints and irises are different. Therefore, you might like this one and he might like that one; you might like this Shaykh and he likes another Shaykh. Alhamdulillah we are guided to Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q), but that doesn't mean other mureeds don't love their Shaykh.

So coming back to the story, when we put the cushions Grandshaykh (q) was in his room and he told your (Shaykh Bahauddin’s) father, “Go do the dhikr.” Mawlana Shaykh went up the steps slowly and Grandshaykh said, billahi `alayk, “Don't reject by Allah,” meaning, “Go and do the dhikr as I cannot, I have no energy.” So Mawlana Shaykh Nazim went up, and we love him so we arranged the cushions before he came, fluffing and putting them back nicely, and Mawlana looked at it and read Fatihah, and he sat like Shaykh Bahauddin is sitting now, not on the chair. We said, “Mawlana please sit here,” but he said, “No. I am afraid because to be near the Sultan is to be near fire. Any mistake or any unacceptable move can put you in a problem. And Shaykh `AbdAllah didn't say, ‘Sit in my chair.’ Adaban is to behave as if he is sitting now, present here, so I have to sit on the side,” and he sat on the side.

Let us mention another story that we will benefit from. Grandshaykh had five representatives: Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, Shaykh Husayn, Abu Muhammad al-Mi`daami, Shaykh Abu `Esam and Shaykh Farouq. After that incident happened with the chair, we were sitting and Grandshaykh’s place was empty, although he was spiritually present on his chair except for his soul. Someone came from the door all the way and sat in Grandshaykh’s place, and took his miswaak and hit Mawlana Shaykh Nazim on the head, and Shaykh Nazim did not say one word! That person said, “This is not your place, this is my place! I’m a representative (superior to you)!” If a representative of Grandshaykh `AbdAllah acted like that, what behavior do you expect from some representatives today?

And then the story continues, but I will not narrate it here except to say that they escorted him out as if nothing happened. If that happened to any other representative they would feel humiliated. So we learned from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) that the proper adab is to not sit where the Shaykh sits, or to use the same plate he uses, etc., so as not to make yourself familiar with him, because familiarity is only for the Shaykh’s family and mureeds must know their boundaries.

We used to enter Grandshaykh’s house freely, then one day he said to us, “O my son! Don't look at how I interact with my family as I must treat them as normal human beings, but mureeds must be very careful as that does not apply to them. They must be very respectful, know their boundaries and not transgress their limits or they might be in a problem without even knowing it!” After that we were very careful, but undoubtedly he loved us very much. For many years, we came to Damascus from Beirut at two o’clock in the morning and knocked on Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s door, made wudu with him, then went to Grandshaykh `AbdAllah’s house and prayed all the way up to Fajr and Ishraaq, then returned to Beirut. Of course we are not saying that you may not love your Shaykh, no. In fact, one must become annihilated with the Shaykh, giving their life to him, to achieve the states of Fana’un fee ‘Llah, Fana’un fee ‘l-Habeeb, Fana’un fee ‘sh-Shaykh, annihilation in Allah, annihilation in The Beloved, annihilation in the Shaykh.

In 1940, before we knew him, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) left Cyprus completely, although they were a very wealthy family that owned land and homes in Nicosia. Grandshaykh (q) told us that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) sold everything and gave all his money to Grandshaykh (q) without leaving a penny. He said to us, “Look at how big his love is; he gave all that he had.” Grandshaykh (q) used that money to buy two parcels of land in Harasta and Douma. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) didn’t even look back after giving everything to Grandshaykh (q), and when he made his will, Grandshaykh (q) distributed that land among his family, and Mawlana Shaykh didn't say anything. So indeed, people love the Shaykh, but there must be boundaries. The Sahaabah (r) loved Prophet Muhammad (s); also, Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) gave everything in the way of Allah (swt). We do not doubt anyone's love to the Shaykh, as everyone loves according to his level.

يحشر المرء مع من أحب
Yuhshar al-maruw ma` man ahab.

The Prophet (s) said: Each person will be resurrected with the one he loves.

You will be resurrected with the one you love the most. If you love your Shaykh the most, you will be resurrected with your Shaykh; if you love your wife the most, you will be resurrected with your wife; or, if you love your children the most and they are on the right way, you will be resurrected with them. You will also be under the intercession of Prophet (s).

I will relate a story coming from the chain that links to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), who is the main source. It is related by Muhammad Zahid (q), who came after Shaykh `Ubaydullah al- Ahrar (q), who is buried in a cemetery in Samarqand reserved exclusively for scholars. This story is about one of his mureeds, Muhammad Qassim (q). One time Shaykh `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q) was very sick, so he ordered his mureed, Muhammad Zahid, to go to Herat, Iran and bring a doctor, which happened because the Shaykh saw something that was hidden from others and he wanted to expose it. Just as on the Day of Promises when Sayyidina Adam (a) was shown his descendants, he prayed to Allah (swt) to give forty years of his life to Sayyidina Dawud (a), and Allah (swt) accepted his du`a.

So Mawlana Qassim (q) told Muhammad Zahid, “Go quickly because I cannot stand to see my Shaykh sick!” What happened when the Prophet (s) passed away? Sayyidina `Umar (r) said, “Whoever says Muhammad (s) died, I will kill him!” and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) said, “Yaa `Umar, don't say that,” and then recited the following verse from the Holy Qur’an:

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلاَّ رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ أَفَإِن مَّاتَ أَوْ قُتِلَ انقَلَبْتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِكُمْ وَمَن يَنقَلِبْ عَلَىَ عَقِبَيْهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ اللّهَ شَيْئًا وَسَيَجْزِي اللّهُ الشَّاكِرِينَ
Wa maa Muhammadun illaa rasoolun qad khalat min qablihi ’r-rasulu afa’in maata aw qutila inqalabtum `alaa `aqaabikum wa man yanqalib `alaa `aqibayhi falan yadurra ’Llaaha shayan wa sayajzee ’Llaahu ’sh-shaakireen.
Muhammad is no more than a messenger; many messengers passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will you then turn back on your heels (as disbelievers)? And he who turns back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah, and Allah will reward to those who are grateful.
(Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:144)

Then Sayyidina `Umar (r) said, “Yaa Abu Bakr! It is as if I never heard that verse before.”

Mawlana Qassim (q) urged him to go quickly. Muhammad Zahid (q) said, “I left in such a hurry that I didn't even go home, but went straight to my destination. It took me thirty-five days to get the doctor. When I came back, I learned that Shaykh `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q) was completely cured and the mureed, Mawlana Qassim (q) had passed away although he was very strong physically and a wrestler and very good sportsman of archery and fencing. For this reason, I was surprised and wished to inquire about this incident, so I asked Shaykh `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q) about this.

He answered, ‘Muhammad Qassim came to me one day and said, ‘I sacrifice myself to you,’” like how the Sahaabah (r) came to the Prophet (s) and said, “We give our life to you!” Because he knew if a saadiq mureed with real hubb asks Allah (swt) for something, Allah (swt) will accept. “I said to him, ‘Don't say that another time; you have people whom you gather and look after. You take their hands.’” But no way Muhammad Qassim could not do that, because when the love is intense, even if the Shaykh tells him not to do that, the mureed will not accept his advice. “He said to me, ‘O my Shaykh! I am not asking you nor did I come to consult with you on this matter, but in fact I decided this within myself and it is finished. I came to you inform you that Allah has accepted my request.’” This mureed was also a wali. Shaykh `Ubaydullah (q) said, “I repeatedly told him not to do that, but he insisted and did not change his mind.” So the next day, the illness of the Shaykh transferred to Mawlana Qassim and he experienced shortness of breath and passed away, while the Shaykh became completely cured and was no longer in need of the doctor.”

I was completely amazed by this story as it goes beyond the mind! When love is true you cannot think, as that state takes one beyond all boundaries of the mind. I gave daleel yesterday from the hadith of the Prophet (s) and now from the book Al-Hadaiq al-Wardiyya Fee Tariqat an-Naqshbandi. This story is further related in Rashahat `Ayn al-Hayat, a similar book on The Naqshbandi Order:

Without any protest or argument, Qassim left `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar and died shortly after having taken the venerable Khawaja’s illness upon himself. The venerable Khawaja recovered his health and got up from his bed. The physician who had come was no longer needed. While Mawlana Qassim was at the point of death, `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q) stood at his bedside.

The Shaykh can stand near any person, physically or spiritually; it has happened to me. Once I was between life and death, and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim was at my bedside.

Mawlana Qassim lay motionless with his eyes glued at a spot on the ceiling. He suddenly turned his gaze to the venerable Khawaja and took his last breath in that position and died. Sayyidina `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar said, “Why do you think he was looking at that corner on the ceiling and then to me? Because all the Gardens of Paradise with all their richness, glamors, happiness, hoor al-`ayn and wildan, were displayed to Mawlana Qassim at that spot. He had his eyes fixed there, but he preferred to turn his face away from it all. Although it is the best, he turned his face to look at us instead and thus, he died looking at me. I was by his bed.”

Think to yourself, how much love a mureed or a representative can have towards his Shaykh? Where are we and where are they? We are very low, helpless, and mashaa-Allah they are very high. Our shuyookh are not as we see them, they are as they see us!

Prophet (s) said:

شفاعتي لأهل الكبائر من أمتي

Shafa`tee li ahl al-kabaa`ir min ummattee.

My intercession is for big sinners on Judgment Day.
(Imam Ahmad)

I discussed this with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim the other day, that daily people are making millions of salawaat on the Prophet (s), but on the Day of Judgment new prayers will be opened to Prophet (s) that were never opened before, as related in the book Adab al-Mufrad of Imam Bukhari:

The Prophet (s) will go into sajda on the Day of Judgment, and Allah (swt) will open du`as to him that were never opened to him before. Allah (swt) will then tell him to raise his head and ask, and Prophet (s) will raise his head and hands and ask for his ummah. Allah (swt) will say, “Go and take one-third of them.” The Prophet (s) will not be satisfied; he will go into sajda once more and make prayers that were never opened before. Then again Allah (swt) will say, “Ask and you will be given.” Prophet (s) will ask for his ummah and Allah (swt) will give him another third ot the ummah. Then the Prophet (s) will go into sajda and new prayers will be opened to him that were never opened before. Allah (swt) will tell him to raise his head and ask. Prophet (s) will raise his head and hands and ask for his ummah. Allah (swt) will then say, “Take all of them, except for that one!” That person will be the worst of the entire ummah, and everyone must think it may be them, as we are all sinners from the Prophet’s (s) nation. Then Allah will ask, “Who gave My Mercy to Muhammad (s)? I did, as I am Arhama ‘r-Rahimeen! I am The Best, Rahmah on Rahmah! Go with Prophet (s) to Paradise without hisaab, giving any account!”

This is what Prophet (s) said, and therefore, we cannot deny it! So yaa Rasoolullah! We are expecting from you because we love you, we love our Shaykh, we love our Way! Without looking at our bad `amal, with your intercession take us to Paradise!

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

Source:
" Video: www.sufilive.com"
" English Suhbah: The All-Encompassing Power of the Purest Love"


© Copyright 2012 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected by international copyright law.
Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it.
JazakAllahu khayr.

The Greatness of Salawat on Prophet Series Vol.7

The Creation of the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)
The Greatness of Prophet (s) Series, Vol 7
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
6 April 2012 Lefke, Cyprus
Suhbah after Jumu`ah

We spoke the two sessions before and I will summarize what we said so we can follow up. You know there is `Ijaazu ‘l-Qur’an and `Ijaazu ‘l-Hadith, “The miracle of the Holy Qur’an and the Miracle of ahadith.” People are now finding out about many ahadith related by the Prophet (s) 1500 years ago, and one knowledge that is very important to know is from what Allah (swt) mentioned in Holy Qur'an:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاء وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ وَالأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا
Yaa ayyuha ‘n-naasu ‘t-taqoo rabbakumu ‘Lladhee khalaqakum min nafsin waahidatin wa khalaqa minha zawjahaa wa baththa minhumaa rijaalan katheeran wa nisaa w ’attaqullahaa ’Lladhee tasa’aloona bihi wa ‘l-arhaama inna ’Llaha kaana `alaykum raqeeba.

O Mankind! Fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:1)

“Allah (swt) has created you from one soul, wa khalaqa minhaa zawjahaa, and created from its mate.” When Allah (swt) created human beings, He ordered Sayyidina Jibreel (a) to go to the earth and bring a handful of soil from there. When he brought it to Paradise it was one piece and that is why Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an, khalaqakum min nafsin waahida, “He created you from one soul.” So it means what they are saying today in the Theory or Evolution, that everything came from one cell, was mentioned by Allah (swt) in the Holy Qur'an 1500 years ago: Allah (swt) created Sayyidina Adam (a) from one handful of soil that Jibreel (a) brought from Earth to Paradise, which was that “one cell.”

Allah (swt) said:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًاوَدَاعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُّنِيرًا
Yaa ayyuha an-nabiyyu inna arsalnaaka shaahidan wa mubashshiran wa nadheeran wa da`eean ila Allahi bi-idhnihi wa siraajan muneera.

O Prophet! Truly We have sent thee as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings and warner, and as one who invites to Allah by His Leave, and as a Lamp spreading Light.
(Surat al-Ahzab 33:45-46)

He didn't say, “We are going to send you,” but He said it in the past tense, “We sent you as a witness, shaahidan.” A witness on what? It means witnessing the whole creation.

كنت نبيًا وآدم بين الماء والطين
kunutu nabiyyan wa adama bayna ’l-maa’i wa ’t-teen.
The Prophet (s) said: I was a Prophet when Adam was between soil and water.

And in another hadith:

كنت نبيا وآدم بين الروح والجسد
Kuntu nabiyyan wa Adam bayn ar-rooh wa 'l-jasad.
I was a Prophet when Adam was between soul and body.

He was witnessing the soul and body of Sayyidina Adam (a).

رواه عبد الرزاق بسنده عن جابر بن عبد الله بلفظ قال قلت: يا رسول الله، بأبي أنت وأمي، أخبرني عن أول شيء خلقه الله قبل الأشياء. قال: يا جابر، إن الله تعالى خلق قبل الأشياء نور نبيك من نوره،...
`An Jaabir ibn `AbdAllah bi-lafzh qaala: qultu ya Rasoolullah, bi-abee anta wa ummee, akhbarnee `ana awwala shayin khalaqahu’Llaha qabla’l-ashyaa? Qaala: ya Jaabir, inn Allaha ta`ala khalaqa qabla al-ashyaa noora nabiyyika min noorih...

When Jaabir (r) asked, “Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you of Prophet of Allah! What is the first thing that Allah (swt) created?” the Prophet (s) said, “The first thing that Allah (swt) created is the Light of your Prophet from His Light, O Jaabir.” (Musannaf `Abdu ’r-Razzaq)

Imam Tirmidhi is saying that Allah created Sayyidina Muhammad (s) from the Light of the Essence with no intermediary. That is why Grandshaykh (q) said that Allah (swt) first created the Light of the Prophet (s). That is an explanation of the ayah:

اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ
Allaahu nooru 's-samaawaati wa 'l-ardi mathala noorihi kamishkaatin feehaa misbaah.

Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth. The parable of His Light is as if there were a niche and within it a lamp. (Surat an-Noor, 24:35)

That Light is Sayyidina Muhammad (s), kawkabun durriyyun, “a shining planet” or “brilliant star”. Allah (swt), with His Beautiful Names and Attributes--and He has not only Ninety-Nine Names, but Endless Names!--if we can say “looking”, was looking at this Light in the Light for 70,000 years and in every moment of looking, Allah (swt) was dressing Sayyidina Muhammad (s) with dresses that no one can understand and with Lights that come from the Divine Essence, Dhaat al-Buht.

And look at the eloquent description from Grandshaykh (q), from which you can visualize: “There is a Light and it is sweating from shyness of Allah (swt), and that shyness produced heat inside that Lamp, on which there appeared heavenly condensation that we cannot describe, 124,000 drops, and from those drops Allah created 124,000 prophets, and they were still in that Lamp. Then Allah (swt) was looking another 70,000 years and 124,000 more drops came and from these came the 124,000 Sahaabah.”

And that number, 70,000 years, is very important in Shari`ah, as are the numbers “7007” and “70” and “7”. For example, Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an that even if the Prophet (s) seeks forgiveness 70 times for the hypocrites, it will not be accepted, which makes that number very important! After those 124,000 prophets, Allah (swt) created 124,000 awliya, and then after that He created Ummat an-Nabi (s) and they number 400 billion.

Our realities are still inside that Lamp, they haven’t come out, and that is why everyone here is a reflection of his original form! Here in dunya we have a reflection of our realities. That is why when some awliyaullah were born their eyes were open, not veiled, and for others their eyes were veiled and through their worship they progressed and those veils are removed. Grandshaykh (q) said, “When I was born I was not veiled, but my eyes were always open and I was reading from the Preserved Tablet.” This secret was passed to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and he was dressed in it. So some awliyaullah have to progress through many levels for their eyes to open.

The Prophet (s) said that Allah (swt) said:

من عادا لي وليا فقد آذنته بالحرب

Man `adaa lee waliyyan faqad aadhantahu bi 'l-harb.

Whoever comes against a wali of mine, I declare war on him!
(Hadith Qudsi. Bukhari, from Abu Hurayrah)

ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه، فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به، ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها،

Wa laa yazaala `abdee yataqarabu ilayya bi’ n-nawaafil hatta uhibbah. Fa idhaa ahbaabtahu kuntu sama`uhulladhee yasma`u bihi wa basarahulladhee yubsiru bihi, wa yadahulladhee yabtishu bihaa wa rijlahullatee yamshee bihaa.

My servant does not cease to approach Me through voluntary worship until I will love him. When I love him, I will become the ears with which he hears, the eyes with which he sees, the hand with which he acts, and the legs with which he walks (and other versions include, “and the tongue with which he speaks.”).
(Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari)

رب اشعث اغبر لو اقسم على الله لأبره
Rubba ash`ath aghbara law aqsama `ala Allaahi la-abbarah.
There may be a disheveled, dusty person who, if he swears an oath by Allah, Allah will fulfill it.
(Muslim)

Allah (swt) looks at the hearts of people, not at their actions. So that is what we said yesterday, that anyone who makes one salawaat on the Prophet (s) in the way Sayyidina `Ali (r) narrated, Allah (swt) will give you the benefit of that salawaat as if everyone from the day of Sayyidina Adam's creation up to Judgment Day was reading salawaat on the Prophet (s), and all that is written for you! We were taught that salawaat since I was nine years oldand Shaykh Adnan was seven years old, because my father used to invite Shaykh Nazim to our home and we knew Mawlana Shaykh since that time. He taught us that salawaat. Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa`iz ad-Daghestani (q) told us that salawaat was written by Shaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani (q) and he gave it to us and to all mureeds.

Grandshaykh (q) said he saw in seclusion that if all human beings were standing in front of the Prophet (s) and reading salawaat, standing any way they like, from beginning to end, if you read that salawaat that Grandshaykh Sharafuddin (q) recited, Allah (swt) will give them the rewards of all those people standing and doing salawaat from the time of Sayyidina Adam (a) to Judgment Day!

And we have established that awliyaullah see the Prophet (s) in a dream or vision. Also, if you say to me, “The Prophet (s) came to me in a dream and said this and this,” I have to say, “Yes,” because of the hadith, “Whoever saw me in a dream saw me in reality and will see me in the future, and Shaytan cannot appear in my image.”

I explained that Imam Bukhari never wrote a hadith without first travelling from your country, China (and you know Quthum Ibn al-`Abbas (r) is in your country, Uzbekistan), and he travelled one or two months to get one hadith and before writing it he slept and would see the Prophet (s) saying to him if that hadith is correct or not. So awliyaullah don’t need to narrate the isnad, that this hadith is from this one to that one, because they get directly from the Prophet (s)!

I was trying to find any source of that du`a, until I found not the whole du`a but part of it, in the book Nahj al-Muttaqeen, Peak of the God-Fearing, in which Sayyidina `Ali (r) said if someone recites that salawaat once, Allah (swt) will give him or her the benefit of all human beings having recited salawaat. That salawaat is:

Salawaatullaahi wa malaa’ikatihi wa anbiyaaihi wa rusoolihi wa jami`ee khalqihi `alaa Muhammad wa `alaa aali Muhammad `alayhi wa `alayhimu ‘s-salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakatuh.

Both Imam Bukhari and Imam ibn Hajr al-Asqualani narrated that hadith. Imam ibn Hajar said you also have to give sadaqa.

First of all, we are not Buddhists nor do we resemble Buddhists (as some may think) because they say we join index finger and thumb, but all Muslims do that, especially in Turkey and Pakistan. Also, in some Muslims countries, when one hears salawaat on the Prophet (s), they kiss their thumb and forefinger and put them to their eyes and say, qurrati `ayna bika yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, “My eyes are in happiness with you, O Master, O Rasoolullah!” Even my uncle did that.

And why was it these particular fingers? Now science has come up with an explanation: the identity of a person is on the thumb and they say everything written about you is in it and it is all made from small points. That is your passport to Heaven or Hell.

This is the index finger, with which we make shahaadah, bearing witness that there is no God but Allah, and we put them together saying, “Yaa Rabbee! With our heavenly ID/thumbprint, we witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger.” Why do we put those same fingers on our eyes and say, qurrati `aynee bika yaa rasoolullah, “You are the coolness of my eyes, yaa Rasoolullah!” Now in England, when you enter the airport, to identify you they scan your iris, and from that scan every machine is notified about you. Similarly, every angel has been notified that you have witnessed that Allah (swt) is the Creator and Muhammad (s) is His Prophet!

So with that we are not doing something outside of Islam, using the two fingers instead of one. As a reflection of one side to the other, we are using both hands. That is ijtihad. Everyone has a unique connection to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim that is different from the other, so if one got the knowledge and not the other that is okay, but you cannot exclude someone else’s knowledge, such as knowledge of the 360 points! The Prophet (s) is the greatest and the best and he related ahadeeth in which he mentioned the miracle of points, recorded in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim!

I will say those who mentioned that hadith are too many, but the last one is Sayyidatina `Ayesha (r), and the Prophet (s) said, “Every one of Bani Adam are from 360 points or joints,” because every joint is a point. When you go to a physical therapist he presses on points. Why? He moves these joints in a certain way to relax you.

روى الإمام مسلم فى صحيحه قال:حدثنا حسن بن على الحلوانى. حدثنا أبو توبة الربيع بن نافع. حدثنا معاوية (يعنى ابن سلام) عن زيد ، أنه سمع أبا سلام يقول: حدثنى عبد الله بن فروخ ، أنه سمع عائشة تقول: إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: " إنه خلق كل إنسان من بنى آدم على ستين وثلاثمائة مفصل. فمن كبر الله، وحمد الله، وهلل الله، وسبح الله، واستغفر الله، وعزل حجرا عن طريق الناس، أو شوكة أو عظما من طريق الناس، وأمر بمعروف، أو نهى عن منكر، عدد تلك الستين والثلاثمائة السلامى. فإنه يمشى يومئذ وقد زحزح نفسه عن النار". قال أبو توبة: وربما قال"يمسى

The Prophet (s) said: Every one of the children of Adam has been created with 360 joints; so he who declares the Glory of Allah, praises Allah, declares Allah to be One, Glorifies Allah, and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and removes an obstacle from people's path (like we have many obstacles in Cyprus blocking everyone), and enjoins what is good and forbids from evil, to the number of those 360 joints or points, will walk that Day toward Paradise, having removed himself from Hell.
(Sahih Muslim)

wa man hallahallah wa sabaha Allah ... So whoever makes tahleel, takbeer, tahmeed and istighfaar on the number of 360 points will walk as if he had saved himself from Hellfire! And he said, “Perhaps he will come at night and Allah (swt) will waive all his sins,” because he made tahleel, takbeer, tahmeed, istighfar 360 times. We can go more and more in depth in explaining that hadith, as Imam Ahmad said in his Musnad, “In the human beings there are 360 points and it is obligatory for him to give sadaqah on every joint/mafsal, then he will be okay.”

روى الإمام أحمد فى مسنده قال: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ حَدَّثَنِى أَبِى حَدَّثَنَا زَيْدٌ حَدَّثَنِى حُسَيْنٌ حَدَّثَنِى عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ بُرَيْدَةَ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبِى بُرَيْدَةَ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- يَقُولُ « فِى الإِنْسَانِ سِتُّونَ وَثَلاَثُمِائَةِ مَفْصِلٍ فَعَلَيْهِ أَنْ يَتَصَدَّقَ عَنْ كُلِّ مَفْصِلٍ مِنْهَا صَدَقَةً ». قَالُوا فَمَنِ الذي يُطِيقُ ذَلِكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ « النُّخَاعَةُ فِى الْمَسْجِدِ تَدْفِنُهَا أَوِ الشَّىْءُ تُنَحِّيهِ عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَقْدِرْ فَرَكْعَتَا الضُّحَى تُجْزِئُ عَنْكَ

I heard the Prophet say, “There are 360 joints (points) in the human body and for each joint you must give a sadaqah (thanks or charity) every day.
(Bukhari; Imam Ahmad’s Musnad)

Look how merciful the Prophet (s) is! When the Sahaaba (r) said, faman alladhee yudhi dhaalika yaa Rasoolullah? “Who can give that?” They were poor! And the Prophet (s) said, “If you cannot give sadaqah, then if you find dirtiness in the masjid and remove it, or you find something on the road that will harm someone and remove it, that will be considered sadaqah. And the Sahaabah (r) asked for more guidance as they wanted some reduction, because they saw in the Last Days people are not going to do anything, that it might fall on one person to clean the masjid.

And the hadith says if you pray two raka`ats Salaat ad-Duha it will also suffice (to give sadaqah on those 360 points).

So why does anyone say that we take from Buddhists, why can’t it be they are taking from us? Mawlana Shaykh is always saying there are five points in the heart: the qalb, sirr, sirr o sirr, khafa and akhfa points. Also, atoms are points and everything is from atoms, which means everything begins from a point! Fear Allah (swt) that He created everyone from one nafs, one point!

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُواْ رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاء وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءلُونَ بِهِ وَالأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا

Yaa ayyuhaa n-naasu ittaqoo rabbakumu ’Lladhee khalaqakum min nafsin waahidatin wa khalaqa minhaa zawjahaa wa baththa minhumaa rijaalan katheeran wa nisaan wa ‘t-aqoo Allaaha alladhee tasaaloona bihi wa ’l-arhaama inna Allaaha kaana `alaykum raqeeba.

O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a single person, created of like nature his mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women! Revere Allah, through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (revere) the wombs (that bore you) for Allah ever watches over you. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:1)

What is the beginning of every human being? A point: a sperm and an egg. Two points come together to make a human beings. How many sperms come? We have to say from science that every time 50-60 million sperms are released and they all go to one egg, although over time there are only 200 to 300 eggs.

And that is from the greatness of the Prophet (s)! But in the end you do find evidence, and I was surprised when our Egyptian brothers, who are very scientific, wanted to know what happened, how it is 360 points. So four doctors conducted research in a lab, three doctors of medicine and one doctor in Shari`ah. The Shari`ah manager was Dr. Mullah al-Khatir. They read that hadith and said it must be a miracle. So they decided to count the joints in a human being and here it is, so many pages long. I will not go through all of it, but will summarize. In vertebrae and hips there are 76 points. Do you know that? We don't know that, even medical doctors don't know that. They don’t go deep into orthopedic science. When we were studying medicine we didn’t count, we only looked at that skeleton. Mafaasil al-Atraaf al-`Ulwiyya, The Points of the Upper Body, are 64, and the points of lower body are 62 and the total is 360, which is 360 points. Zoom the camera, look at what the Prophet (s) spoke about! Who can do that? You can see this document with names of the researchers and totals of points in the body at http://tl.gd/gk2o61‏.

وفي موته يروي الترمذي: عن أبي هريرة قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : "لما خلق الله آدم مسح ظهره، فسقط من ظهره كل نسمة هو خالقها من ذريته إلى يوم القيامة، وجعل بين عيني كل إنسان منهم وبيصاً من نور، ثم عرضهم على آدم فقال: أي رب من هؤلاء؟ قال: هؤلاء ذريتك، فرأى رجلاً فأعجبه وبيص ما بين عينيه، فقال: أي رب من هذا؟ قال هذا رجل من آخر الأمم من ذريتك يقال له داود، قال: رب وكم جعلت عمره؟ قال ستين سنة، قال: أي رب زده من عمري أربعين سنة. فلما انقضى عمر آدم جاءه ملك الموت، قال: أو لم يبق من عمري أربعون سنة؟ قال: أو لم تعطها ابنك داود؟ قال فجحد فجحدت ذريته، ونسي آدم فنسيت ذريته، وخطىء آدم فخطئت ذريته"

Lama khalaqa allahu adam massaha zhahra. Fasaqata min zhahrihi kullu nasamatin huwa khaaliquhaa min zhurriyatahu ila yawm al-qiyaamat. Wa j`ala bayna `aynay kullu insaanin minhum wabeesan min noor. Thumma `aradahum `ala adam faqaala: ayy Rabb, man haaoolaa’i? Qaala: haa’oolaa’i dhuriyyatik. Fa-ra’a rajulan fa-`ajabahu wabeesa maa bayna `aynayh. Faqaala: ayy Rabb, man hadhaa? Qaala rajulun min aakhir al-umami min dhurriyatik yuqaala lahu daawood. Qaala: rabbi wa kam ja`alta `umrihi? Qaala: sitteena sannah. Qaala: ayy Rabb zidhu min `umree arba`een sannah. Falamaa anqada `amra adam ja’ahu malak al-mawt. Qaal: awa lam yabiq min `umree arba`eena sannah? Qaala: awa lam tu`tahaa ‘bnuka dawood? Qaala fajahada fajahadta dhurriyatah wa nasiya fa nasiya dhurriyatah. Wa khataa adam fa-khata’at dhurriyatah.

Abu Hurayrah (r) has narrated that the Prophet (s) said: "When Allah created Adam, He stroked with His Hand over his back. So all the souls which were due to be born in his progeny until the Day of Judgement, came out of his back. In front of the eyes of every human He made a shining light and placed them all before Adam. Adam said: "O Lord! Who are they?" He replied, "They are your progeny." He saw a man among them whose shining light attracted him. Adam asked: "O Lord! Who is this?" Allah answered him, "He is a man who will come in the last of your progeny, and who will be called Dawood." He asked Him, "O Lord! How much have You granted him of his age?" Allah said, "Sixty years." Adam asked Allah, " O Lord! Grant him from my age forty years more." When the Angel of Death came to take his soul he said, “Does not there remain from my lifespan forty years?” The Angel of Death said, “Did you not give over forty of your years to Dawood?” He said, “He denied, and his descendants denied after him and he forgot and his descendants forgot after him and he made the mistake and his descendants made mistakes.” (hasan hadith related in Sahih at-Tirmidhi)

Every nasma--all that Allah (swt) is going to create of all creation--dripped from his back. I am going to bring from that hadith the reason why human beings are called “insaan,” which comes from the word, “forgetfulness,” and we forget everything, good or bad, which is a mercy from Allah (swt) to human beings that they keep forgetting, “I did this bad and this bad.” And if they remember goodness they are going to be proud, “I did this and I did that!” So Allah made insaan to forget.

When Allah (swt) stroked the back of Sayyidina Adam (a), all his offspring came out and He made between the eyes of every human being a ray of Light coming out, wabeesan min noor, and that is the Light of Muhammad (s):

وإعلموا أن فيكم رسول الله

W`alamoo anna feekum rasoolullaah.

And know Allah's Messenger is in you. (Surat al-Hujurat, 49:7)

The Light of Rasoolullah is in you! It is not what they write in English translations, “the Prophet (s) is between you.” That would be “baynakum” or “ma`akum”, but here it is “in you”! So he saw that Light coming and in each one the Light is different, and then He showed these to Sayyidina Adam (a), as indicated in the verse:

وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاء كُلَّهَا

Wa `allama adama al-asmaa kullahaa.

He taught Adam all the names. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:31)

We will not go into that tafseer now; there might be Names of Allah (swt) or of the Prophet (s), or names Allah (swt) gave him, but he said he saw these Lights coming from them. And then Adam (a) saw one man among them whose Light he liked so much! And we said that was the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), and that the reason Iblees refused to make sajdah to Sayyidina Adam (a) was because the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was in the forehead of Sayyidina Adam (a). He said to Allah (swt), “You created me from fire and You created him from mud!” He was arrogant, so we have to leave arrogance and we have to like that Light.

So he said, “Who is that one?” And Allah (swt) said, “That is a man from the last nations, from your offspring.” Then he asked, “O my Lord! How many years did you make his life?” Allah (swt) said, “I made his life sixty years.” Sayyidina Adam (a) said, “O my Lord! Increase his life from my life by forty years. I accept to give forty years from my life to him.” After some time, the Angel of Death came to him and he said, “What are you coming to do?” The Angel of Death (a) said, “I am coming to take your soul.” “How are you coming now? It is not time to give it yet!” The Angel of Death said, “Did you not give it to your son, Dawood?” But Sayyidina Adam (a) had forgotten that he gave his forty years to Dawood (a)!

So you gave it and now forgot it, and so now Sayyidina Adam (a) didn’t like it! Many people might say to the Prophet (s), “I give the life of my father and mother and myself!” and sometimes Allah accepted it from them so they died! And Sayyidina Adam (a) did hate that. That means he made a sin now! And also his offspring cannot give their soul, it is very difficult, but some might give their life to the Prophet (s) to awliyaullah and many might give their life. And many of you I am sure will say, if their child is sick, “O Allah! Take from my life and give to my child!” so Allah (swt) may accept and take from your life and give to the other.

We will continue next time with accounts of Sayyidina Muhammad Zahid al-Bukhari (r), Sayyidina `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q), and Mawlana Qassim (q) regarding this issue and explaining that hadith.

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

I am not criticizing anyone here, I am only explaining to or educating myself, and if anyone of you want to listen it is up to you. We are only mentioning ahadeeth and the Holy Qur'an. Also, we must not forget things that we do; we must not be arrogant and we must ask pardon from those we harmed, for the sake of the Prophet (s) and for the sake of Mawlana Shaykh, that Allah (swt) will take away from us the fitna of this dunya and remove from us gheeba and nameema, backbiting and slander, to be clean in front of Mawlana Shaykh in this life and the next.

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

Source:
" Video: www.sufilive.com"
" English Suhbah: The Creation of the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)"


© Copyright 2012 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected by international copyright law.
Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it.
JazakAllahu khayr.