MSN.23 MAR 2010.PREPOST.ENG

Be Proud of Your Prophet and Your Religion!
Sultan al-Awliya

Mawlana Shaykh Nazim
23 March 2010    Lefke, Cyprus

(Mawlana Shaykh stands.) Dastoor yaa RijaalAllah. Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. La ilaaha illa-Llah, La ilaaha illa-Llah, La ilaaha illa-Llah, La ilaaha illa-Llah Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina wa Mawlana Muhammadan `abduhu wa Habeebuhu wa Rasooluhu. Zidhu yaa Rabbee `izzan wa sharafan noorun wa surooran. (Mawlana Shaykh sits.)

As-salaamu `alaykum, O our precious attenders! Hear, listen and obey, and you must remember always that we are servants of the Lord of Heavens, that is the first lesson to be taught for everyone, from childhood up to the end of their lives. Countless thanks to our most beloved Prophet (s), and we are asking humbly from the Divinely Presence to be granted for our most beloved one that we are proud to be from his nation, the last of nations! Be proud of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! (Mawlana Shaykh stands.) Daily, countless times, for his honor trumpets are sounding and angels are giving their high respects, and from Allah Almighty divinely grants are coming for Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! Be proud! (Mawlana Shaykh sits.)

O People! We must say a`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Without that balance we are not coming on a perfect position. Sometimes heavenly powers (are coming in such a way that) I can't control myself until I am saying, a`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. I never drove a car, but I see that when a person is driving, they are controlling the car with the steering wheel and, if not, the car goes (out of control). Therefore, it is a heavenly order, istaidhubillah min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem. Saying this brings people on their real positions, because always our egos are asking to show themselves as bigger; as much as possible they are trying to be proud ones and they are so small, one-and-a-half meters to two meters.

But our egos are listening to Shaytan, who is saying, "As much as possible you must show yourself as bigger. You may sit on the seat of sultans or ministers, or you may be chairman of a huge company, but sometimes you look in the mirror and a small one is saying, 'Bring that one, bring this one.' (You must know,) 'Yes, I am a very huge, a very important one, ha!'"
Shaytan is always putting his magic mirror in front of people. "Look you are such a big one, from up and down also. Hmmmm."
"Really? I am that one?"
"You are in doubt, O my so big friend, but you are never looking in a magic mirror? I am carrying a magic mirror, showing that you are filling from east to west!"
"I must use this time-by-time."
"No sir! You must use it always, because you are such a majestic one."

That is Shaytan's most important mission: to make people believe that they are gigantic ones with their clothes,  their seats (titles), or their palaces. As much as possible you may build palaces, but you are only like a finger. Once I was taken to the top of the Eiffel Tower and when I was looking down, I saw people were like a finger. But that finger-sized man downstairs was looking up at the Eiffel Tower, saying, "I am higher than this one," because Shaytan is making them drunk! Therefore, it is an order that every time we must use,  fas ista`eedhu billah min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem.

Tonight you are not ready, our Salafi `ulamas? Marhaban! You can't find a limit for `ilm, Earthly knowledge and knowledge for heavenly stages and levels. On which stage are our Salafi `ulamas, or on which station on Earth are you going to be? "O Shaykh, we have doctors from Sorbonne, Cambridge, Boston..." Or from WC (bathroom); not WC, Washington, D.C.! Because I am an old one, sometimes I am forgetting and saying, "WC." Don't ask; in my language I am swearing, don't worry, you are `alims, when you are getting angry you are swearing also. I am hearing; if He makes me to hear, I may hear.

O Salafi `ulamas! You must know for whom Man has been created. For what have they been granted such an honor? Are you knowing this? Say, for all people to know! I am not only asking Salafi `ulamas, I am asking His Holiness the Pope, His Holiness the Chief Rabbi, I am asking also Dalai Lama. (...) Once I was in London and the chief of Buddhist people sent me one person, saying, "O Shaykh Nazim, I am coming on behalf of the Dalai Lama to make an interview with you." I said, "No, I am not speaking to you; I liked the first one and he may come here. Tell him, 'Don't send to me someone from his people to make an interview, that is not my level. The level of Islam is the highest level.'"

O People, O Muslims! You must be proud! Salafi `ulamas, why are you not saying to people morning and evening that Allah (swt) granted the highest honor to Muslims? Others have no honor in the Divinely Presence. Why are you not saying? Say! Don't swear on some people, saying they are making wrong things on Islam, always attacking them, saying, "Don't do this, it is kufr; don't do this, it is bidaa`; don't do this, it is haraam!!" Leave this!! Stand up and say who is the most honored servant on Earth! Why are you not saying? You have so much money to make broadcasting; you can easily do it, you are a famous kingdom now on Earth and you have every ability for making broadcasting, so why are you not doing that?

O Salafu 's-Salih! Why are you not saying to all people that the most honored ones from west to east in the Divinely Presence are Muslims? If there is no money with His Majesty, the King, I may pay you money to make broadcasting! (laughter) Say! Why are you not doing? You are saying, "We are doing `amr bi 'l-ma`roof, ordering the good." This is amr bi 'l-ma`roof from me to you! And you may do an-nahiy `ani 'l-munkar, forbid wrongdoing, because all nations are on munkar and you must try to correct them.

Yes, I know I am nothing, but you are saying, ''We are Salafi `ulamas." I am not accepting such Salafi `ulamas if you are not doing what we are saying! They are not my words, they are words of Holy Qur'an. Bashir `ala an-nas, an-nadhir `ala an-nas. Why are you not warning Europeans? Why are you not giving good tidings for the Muslim nation? What is the reason? I know nothing. I am not preparing something for shouting to you, but I am shouting to your egos, your nafs. You are saying, "We are Salafi." Haatoo burhanakum, "Bring your proofs." Salafu 's-Saliheen were destroying kufr and building imaan for Mankind!

I am sorry I am asking to begin with, a`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem, but no time. If they are making me to speak, up to end of the world I may shout to you for not first saying, bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem is a heavenly sword coming on  unbelievers! (...) Inna ad-deen `indallahi 'l-Islam, "Verily, the religion with Allah is Islam." Why are you not broadcasting this message? I think if they are asking Jalaalatu `l-Malik, is he ready to support for that purpose, or is he fearing from kaffaratu 'l-fajara? Time is over! (Mawlana Shaykh stands.) Allah jala jalalahu is saying, bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ

Iqtarabati 's-sa`atu w 'anshaqqa 'l-qamar.
The Hour (of Judgment) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder. (54:1)

Is this haqq or baatil? Fifteen centuries before, in Holy Qur'an Allah Almighty is ordering Muslims to know, Iqtarabati alssa`atu wainshaqqa al-qamaru. Why are you not saying this and opening your mouths, Salafi `ulamas? Where is your knowledge?

O our Lord, we are sinners! O our Lord, we are heedless! O our Lord, we are poisoned people through shaytanic ways! We are never accepting what they are saying for Muslims. They are working to change the understanding of Muslims from haqq to batil. They have so many universities through Mamlaka and other Muslim territories, but what are they teaching? Are they teaching Holy Qur'an? Why not? Why are you not saying this? Why are you not awakening responsible people that, "We must not follow Christians or Jews, because the Seal of Prophets, (Mawlana Shaykh stands.) Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is saying, man tashabbah bi qawmin fahuwa minhum, "Who imitates a people is from them."

O Salafi `ulamas! You are such young people, like my grandsons, so hear me. Imaan is noor, heavenly light. Use that heavenly light and look at all events going through east and west, and look at which way you are following. Look and try to understand. Don't make yourselves imprisoned through four boundaries; (come out from that) and look through east and west, look at what the Holy Qur'an is saying, what it is bringing. I am not claiming I am knowing something, but they are opening as a hole of a needle something to see, and that is making whole world up and down.

O Salafi `ulamas! As you are claiming, "We are `ulamas, followers of Salaf," the horizon of knowledge is not going to be one horizon; behind the horizon are countless horizons. You are saying, "We are following Salafu 's-Salih," Salafu 's-Salih's horizons were so simple, now they are so complex. Therefore, you must try to use your capacity and ability through lights of Holy Qur'an, for looking and seeing. At the time of Salafu 's-Salih that you are saying, before 200 years ago, is something. There was no microscope, but there is now a microscope. Therefore, you must try to change your understanding methods. If, in earlier times, they were good or bad, they have been carried away, but now you are living in very difficult times for Mankind. People lost which way they can move. Why are you not bringing a light from the Holy Qur'an for people to follow it? Don't say, "We are Salafu 's-Salih;" you may be better, because you are going much wider and your horizon is much more far away.

I am sorry. I am asking forgiveness from Allah Almighty. Innamal `amaalu bin-niyaat, "Actions are according to intentions." Arabic? Ah ha! My intention is to take away batil, falsehood, and to show people what is haqq, truth! Look at your understanding from that point, and say to people. Don't wait for jalalatu 'l-malik's commands or orders to you, "Do this, do that." No, you must know your way because Allah Almighty is looking to you. Wallahu baseerun bi 'l -`ibaad wa huwa 's-Samee`u 'l-`Aleem, seeing, hearing and knowing with His Divinely Attributes, He knows everything and He looks. As you are looking at where an ant is going and moving, He Almighty is looking where our moving is going. Be a taalib (student). Try to know more and more and more. As much as you are asking more, the Lord of Heavens Who created you and everything, me and you, is sending from His divinely lights to make clear everything He sent through the Holy Qur'an!

May Allah forgive me.

Fatihah.

I am singing for jalaalat ul-malik.

Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome

Don't worry jalaalat ul-malik, you may do a dance.

Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome

Shaytan is getting very angry when I am saying, dome dome. Shaytan is saying, "What is dome dome? I am teaching people so many kinds of singing and that one coming and singing."

Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome

Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome

We are only for You, O Allah, and You are our Lord from Azali ila 'l-Abaadi. That is holy music and angels are getting happy when they are hearing that.

Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome

This dome dome is getting like a hammer on the head of Shaytan and its followers! They are getting angry, saying, "What is this shaykh saying?"

Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome
Dome dome dome dome

We are happy with our Lord. O our Lord, O our Lord, O our Lord!

Fatihah.

If they are unhappy, don't listen. Anyone happy may listen. What we shall do? I am speaking freely. They may go to listen to shaytanic words, using money. Come, for free I may sing for you also! Sometimes I may say, oh oh oh oh, eh eh eh eh, and Shaytan is getting very angry when we are saying this! Oh oh, eh eh, oh oh, eh eh. Enough. Read Fatihah three times, because it is going to be 50 minutes! (Laughter)

(45 minutes)

Shaytan is very angry. Who is angry with my words, also they are escaping!

(Mawlana Shaykh Nazim speaks with Shaykh Hisham Effendi and Hajjah Naziha on the phone.)

MSH.25 MAR 2010.PREPOST.ENG

You Must Know that Prophet (s) Is in You!
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
25 March 2010       Jersey City, New Jersey
Private Home

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.

Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,

nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.

Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.

Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)

Alhamdulillah that Allah (swt) blessed us with many favors. Madad yaa Sayyidee, yaa Sultan al-Awliya. Dastoor, yaa Sayyidee Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. As-salaatu wa 's-salaam `alayk yaa Sayyidee, yaa Rasoolullah, yaa Shafee`i 'l-Mudhnibeen! Here we are in a humble gathering of people coming together to know each other, as Allah (swt) mentioned in Holy Qur'an:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

Yaa ayyuhan-naasu inna khalaqnaakum min dhakarin wa untha wa ja`alnakum shu`ooban wa qabaaila li-ta`arafoo inna akramakum `inda-Llahi 'atqaakum, inna-Llaha `aleemun khabeer.
O Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has taqwa. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (49:13)

 "We made you nations and tribes to know each other." So it is Allah's order to come and be with each other, and know each other. And knowing is not by reading. You can read as much as you like, but to know is something else, and knowing by reading is something else, and knowing through company is something else. In reading you might not get the taste of what you are reading; you might pass through it, but in reality, in a real company, you can feel the sufferings or the happiness of each other.

I was skimming yesterday into a book called, Ahlu 'l-Bayt an-Nubuwwah, The Family of the Prophet, and I was reading. You will feel the sadness when I was reading, in one of the chapters about when the Prophet (s) left dunya, died, and how his daughter, Sayyidah Fatimat az-Zahra (a) was taking care of him. And from her love to her father as a father and as the Seal of Messengers (s), it was not a normal behavior or a normal relationship; it is a very high level of feelings to Rasoolullah (s), for Prophet, to him as a father. And when she was crying, the Prophet (s) told her, "Approach towards me. Give me your ear." And he whispered in her ear something that made her happy and at the same time sad. So this kind of feelings in reading is going to be on the surface, but for the one who is living that experience it is not normal, it is going to be a different kind of love and pain, and no one can feel that except the one in such a situation.

You might see someone coming to you as someone to pray for, and they are having a very bad time and then they go, but they have the experience of the bad time; you are only praying for them and you don't feel what they feel. But the wali will not get his wilayah, sainthood, from his shaykh and from Prophet (s) until he feels what they feel; the wali feels their sadness and their happiness. So in wilayah, it is a completely different way of living with the person who has the problem. The wali has to live the experience of that person or else what is the benefit of people coming to him, to pray only? Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. To pray only? No. It is to live that experience.

The example of that is when the Prophet (s) came to dunya, and as soon as he was delivered, his head went to sajdah as (an older) child. Like Sayyidina `Isa (a) when his mother delivered him, he spoke with her:

وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَرْيَمَ إِذِ انتَبَذَتْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًا شَرْقِيًّا فَاتَّخَذَتْ مِن دُونِهِمْ حِجَابًا فَأَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهَا رُوحَنَا فَتَمَثَّلَ لَهَا بَشَرًا سَوِيًّا  قَالَتْ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِالرَّحْمَن مِنكَ إِن كُنتَ تَقِيًّا قَالَ إِنَّمَا أَنَا رَسُولُ رَبِّكِ لِأَهَبَ لَكِ غُلَامًا زَكِيًّا قَالَتْ أَنَّى يَكُونُ لِي غُلَامٌ وَلَمْ يَمْسَسْنِي بَشَرٌ وَلَمْ أَكُ بَغِيًّا قَالَ كَذَلِكِ قَالَ رَبُّكِ هُوَ عَلَيَّ هَيِّنٌ وَلِنَجْعَلَهُ آيَةً لِلنَّاسِ وَرَحْمَةً مِّنَّا وَكَانَ أَمْرًا مّ َقْضِيًّا فَأَجَاءهَا الْمَخَاضُ إِلَى جِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ قَالَتْ يَا لَيْتَنِي مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَذَا وَكُنتُ نَسْيًا مَّنسِيًّا فَنَادَاهَا مِن تَحْتِهَا أَلَّا تَحْزَنِي قَدْ جَعَلَ رَبُّكِ تَحْتَكِ سَرِيًّا

wadhkur fi 'l-kitaabi Maryam idh antabadhat min ahlihaa makaanan sharqiyya, fattakhadhat min doonihim hijaaban fa arsalna ilayha roohanaa fatamaththala lahaa basharan sawiyyaa, qaalat innee a`oodhu bi 'r-Rahmaani minka in kunta taqiyya, qaala innamaa ana Rasoola Rabbiki li-ahaba laki ghulaaman zakiyya, qaalat anna yakoonu lee ghulaamun wa lam yamsasnee basharun wa lam aku baghiyya, qaala kadhaalika qaala Rabbuki huwa `alayya hayyinun wa li-naj`alahu aayatan li 'n-naasi wa rahmatan minna, fa hamalathu fantabadhat bihi makaanan qasiyya fa-ajaaha al-makhaadu ila jidh`in-nakhlati qaalat yalaytanee mittu qabla haadha wa kuntu nasiyyan mansiyya, fanaadaahaa min tahtihaa allaa tahzanee qad j`ala Rabbuki tahtaki sariyya. (19:16-23)

That is a story of Sayyidah Maryam (a) when she left her family, left her niche by Allah's revelation to her heart, and she went east. There appeared for her Sayyidina Jibreel (a) giving her good tidings that she is going to carry a child without (knowing) a man. And she was wondering, "How can I have a child? It is impossible. it is against all kinds of dunya laws." qaala kadhalikee qaala Rabbuki, it is as Allah (swt) made it, finished! She is living the story at one time with love and at the same time with pain. What is she going to tell her people? And then Allah (swt) made Sayyidina `Isa at that moment to say, "Don't worry."When she came by the date tree, and she put her back on the tree and she was by herself, delivering her child.

As soon as the child appeared the dry date tree became green. With prophets, Allah (swt) made dunya green. What do you think with Sayyidi 'r-Rasool al-Kiraam, Sayyidina Muhammad (s)? Not only where he touched the heavens with his feet the universe was confirmed; in his Isra` and Mi`raj, wherever he passed became green! "Green" means receiving knowledges. Why Sayyidina Khidr (a) is called "Khidr," because he is known as the "Green Prophet." Allah (swt) described him, `abdan min `ibadin alamnaahu min ladunna `ilma. He became the Green Prophet as he is carrying heavenly knowledge.

So now she is in pain and joy. What to tell her people? Some will not believe her and some will make her and her son gods in addition to Allah (swt).

وَإِذْ قَالَ اللّهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ أَأَنتَ قُلتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَـهَيْنِ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ إِن كُنتُ قُلْتُهُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَهُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِكَ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ

wa idh qaala-Llahu yaa`Isa bin Maryama 'a anta qulta li 'n-nasi 'ttakhidhoonee wa ummee ilaahayni min dooni-Llahi qaala subhaanaka ma yakoonu lee an aqoola maa laysa lee bihaqqin in kuntu qultuhoo faqad `alimtuh. t`alamu maa fee nafsee wa laa `aalamu maa fee nafsika innaka anta `allaamu 'l-ghuyoob.

And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah.?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden. (5:116)

Allah (swt) asked, "O `Isa! Did you tell the people to take you as god, you and your mother?" He said, "Yaa Allah! If I said it, You know it and You are the One Who knows the Unseen."

So she is in that suffering. You didn't live that experience. So that means our relationship with each other is fake; we didn't live each other's love or happiness or suffering. And tariqah kullaha adaab, "Tariqah is full of discipline," to teach you to feel the experience of your brother. (There is) annihilation in your shaykh, annihilation in Prophet (s), annihilation in the Divine Presence, annihilation in your brothers and sisters. Maqam al-Fana is (a station of) no will for you except their wills and to annihilate in complete feeling of others. Grandshaykh (q) used to say that if two people really have that relationship, annihilation (heavenly relationship), if one is wounded in his finger, the other will have blood come out of his finger. And this has been described too many ways in the way awliya mentioned it, and even IbnTaymiyya, as Mawlana likes so much to say, "O Salafi `ulama," mentioned this in his book, Majma` Fatawa al-Kubra. If they have an answer, let them come up and he has 37 volumes, each one-thousand pages. And one of them is `Ilm as-Sulook, Knowledge of Seeking the Way and `Ilm at-Tasawwuf, The Science of Knowing the Self. I went one day to a mosque to see this fatawa and I saw all of them were there except these two volumes! And this is from Ibn Taymiyya, their shaykh; he mentioned so much about Maqam al-Fana, to be annihilated in your brothers and sisters and in people.

So we go back. To read is one thing and to live the experience is another. So when living that experience, she was happy to bear Sayyidina `Isa, and sad, what to tell her family. Then nadaha min tahtiha, he called her from underneath her, "Don't be sad! Allah made under you a treasure. I am that treasure of the ummah." That is for Sayyidina `Isa; what about for Sayyidina Muhammad (s)? Fa aatat qawmiha tahmiluh. "She came to her people carrying him." She didn't say anything. He was a baby and he spoke, qaala innee `abdAllah. "I am a servant," finished! That means the most important thing in our life is to be a servant; not to be egoistic, not to be stubborn, not to be seeing yourself as, "I am carpenter, plumber, doctor, I am an engineer, I am a lawyer." They are so proud. "I am CEO of the company, I am president, I am king." No, this is Shaytan's titles that he gave to you. Allah's title for you is not "lawyer." Be the best lawyer who cares. If we see in the street a lawyer and a cleaner, we don't know which is the lawyer and which is the cleaner as both are the same, walking. So the difference is to be `abd, servant.

Sayyidina `Isa (a) said, "I am Allah's servant. Allah (swt) gave me the Book and He made me a prophet and He advised me to pray. Be happy, O my mother! Allah (swt) made me `abd all for your barakah, and He gave me the Book and made me prophet, and made me blessed wherever I go, and not only advised me but ordered me to pray and to fast as long as I am living."

So when he said that, do you think he said it like we read a text? He made his mother to reach the reality of servanthood with him! He made his mother able to understand the Injeel (New Testament). He made his mother to know the reality of his prophecy, and the reality of fasting and praying! He raised her immediately, not keeping her down and he is up! That is not from the tradition of Arabs or Muslims. The tradition is to take by the hand to bring him up to where you sit. Today there is no more respect to the elderly. They come to sit and don't see any place as the young people are filling all the seats, so they sit on the floor and young people don't even stand up to give them a place! So he made her to feel the reality of that experience, of this kind of annihilation, to feel what he is feeling.

So when Prophet (s) was leaving dunya ... today when someone's mother or father, brother, sister, cousin or uncle is leaving dunya, what do you do? You cry or not? Those with soft hearts will cry, but those without soft hearts will cry as everyone is sad, but they don't show tears. (Mawlana looks at someone present.) Your mother was sick a little bit and you were calling and asking for hundreds of prayers! So what do you think that Prophet (s) said to Sayyidah Fatimah (a) in her ear? She is sad; her father is leaving dunya and he is the Seal of Messengers (s) leaving dunya! That is not easy, that is very difficult! He (s) said to her, "Bring me your ear," and he was on the bed sweating from sickness, supposed to be in one of his wives' houses but he asked them to move him to Sayyidah Ayesha's (r) house, to be there, as he knows he will die and be buried there.

So Sayyidah Fatimah (a) was taking care of her father and sitting, crying, and he said in her ear, "Why are you crying, O Fatimah?"
She answered, "Why I am not going to cry? You are my father and my Beloved One, and you are the Seal of Messengers!"
Prophet (s) said, "I am going to ar-Rafeeq al-`ala, don't cry."
She tried her best not to bring the tears down, but she we was not able. She was crying and crying. Now I am narrating the story, but you are not really living the experience; the experience is not easy.
Prophet (s) told her, Fatimah, don't cry, you are going to be with me soon."
At that time she was sad and happy: sad to leave Sayyidina Hasan (r) and Sayyidina Husayn (r) and they are young. And she knows they are going to be killed and she knows her husband is going to be killed (martyred). So from one side she is sad that she is going to leave her family, and from one side she is happy that she is going to be with her father.

O Believers! I am not saying this to make you sad, but I am bringing this to say reality is something and imitation is the opposite of reality, illusion, falsehood. Reality is that awliyaullah are carrying the suffering of their students. If they cannot carry that, they will not get their trust, their amaanat from Prophet (s).

As soon as Prophet (s) came from the womb of his mother, he went into sajdah, saying, "Ummati, Ummati!" He didn't say, "I am Allah's servant." He knows he is `abdAllah. His first word was worry for his ummah. Look at the difference between Sayyidina `Isa (s) and the Prophet (s)! Sayyidina `Isa wants to give an excuse for his mother (to comfort her) and to say his job and that he is not to be worshipped. Prophet (s) said, "Ummati, Ummati!" Do you think when he said, "Ummati, Ummati!" that it was like reading book or that he experienced it? No, don't think it is too much!

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ

innaa a`ataynaka 'l-kawthar.
We have given you abundance without limits. (108:1)

When Prophet said, "Ummatee, Ummatee!" at that moment in his appearance in dunya, everyone was living that moment and anyone who is going to be created after that moment, whoever is his ummah, up to the Day of Judgment, he knew them one-by-one. وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاء كُلَّهَا  wa `allama Adam al-`asma kullahaa, "He taught Adam all the names." Will Allah (swt) not teach Sayyidina Muhammad (s) all his ummah? Of course He gave him the names, and their passwords and codes to change anything he likes! Today you go on the computer and if you know the password, you do what you like. So Allah (swt) gave Prophet (s) the password and told Him, "Do with your ummah what you like." Prophet (s) said, "Send them to Paradise!" At that moment he lived all their lives, from that moment to the Day of Judgment. That is why Allah (swt) said:

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ فِيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ

w`alamoo anna feekum Rasoolullah,
You must know that Prophet is in you.

So Prophet (s) knew everything and he raised them immediately to a level that no one knows except Allah (swt) and Prophet (s). (Mawlana stands.) If you mention his name a hundred times, we will stand a hundred times! (Mawlana sits.) Awliyaullah inherit that secret from Prophet (s) and they live their followers' experiences and give them solutions to come out, and that is why you have to accept the outcome. A wali cannot be wali if he thinks only about himself; he must think about everyone. And as much as he is high in levels of knowledge, he can reach too many in one moment.

O Muslims! Don't be cheated by charlatans. There are a lot of muzayyaf, fake shaykhs today filling the Earth and they are deceiving and cheating people. Open your eyes in order that you will not be deceived and cheated. Our shaykh, with all his high levels that I know from being with him fifty years, every day he comes at nine o'clock at night Cyprus time and he says, "I am nothing. I am nothing. I am an ant." An ant spoke to all ants:

وَحُشِرَ لِسُلَيْمَانَ جُنُودُهُ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ وَالطَّيْرِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ حَتَّى إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَى وَادِي النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَانُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

qaalat namlatan. wa hushira li Sulaymaana junooduho min al-jinni wa 'l-insi wa 't-tayri fahum yuz`aoon, hattaa idhaa ataw `alaa wadi 'n-namli qaalat namlatun yaa ayyuha 'n-namlu 'dkhuloo masaakinakum laa yahtimannakum Sulaymaanu wa junooduhoo wa hum la yash`uroon.
And before Solomon were marshalled his hosts,- of Jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks.  At length, when they came to a (lowly) valley of ants, one of the ants said: "O ye ants, get into your habitations, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you (under foot) without knowing it. (27:17-18)

 Allah (swt) made them under the order of Sayyidina Sulayman (s) everything in al-jaw, air, on the Earth, and under the Earth. Like you have today airplanes, Allah (swt) gave him power over all birds flying. tayran abaabeel, like when Abraha came to destroy the Kaa`ba and Allah (swt) sent birds from the Red Sea throwing stones on the unbelievers that killed them.

And to Sayyidina Sulayman, Allah (swt) gave an infinite number of birds all flying over like planes with missiles, and jinn and humans, and they were passing over the Valley of Ants. What ants have a valley? A small ditch is a valley for them, and they live in millions and one ant spoke to millions. Did they use a satellite, a microphone, computers? One ant said to all the ants, qaala yaa namlatun idkholooo masakinakum, "Enter into safety before Sulayman and his troops crush you!" Where is safety? Safinatun-najaat is Muhammadun Rasoolullah. To enter safety, enter the reality of the one who can save you in dunya and akhirah: he is the Prophet, the Seal of Messengers (s).

Qaalat namlatun. Everyone is able to hear without a server. A server can carry how many emails? Millions; all of them pass through that server. The whole world today has to pass through a huge server and that is how they trace everyone and that is how they are reaching us. And through this camera and computer they can hear us, and hear us say, "So know that Prophet is in you!" That means that ant was in that server, in that heavenly connection to Prophet (s), in order that all ants can hear at the same time. They were able to hear, all of them, millions, from one ant. Mawlana Shaykh says, "I am an ant," but you have to know, to understand the meaning. The meaning is, "Yes, to myself I am an ant, but when I am plugged with the power of Prophet (s), I am not an ant. I can reach all of you at the same time."

As the Prophet is always asking, "Ummati, Ummati!" Allah (swt) gave him whatever he wants. "We gave you kawthar, abundance." "Ask and you will be given," according to the hadith in Bukhari. So that connection, min al-qalbi `ila al-qalib sabeela, from heart-to-heart there is a way, as in from computer to computer you have to pass through a server. It means from heart-to-heart you have to pass through Prophet (s); there is no other way, don't bother yourself!

Spirituality is an ocean; when they open, they open, and when they close, they close. Now they opened and now they are closing!

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

(Khatm al-Khawajagan begins.)

MSH.26 MAR 2010.MAGHRIB.PREPOST.ENG

To Get Heavenly Helium, Throw Away Your Ego
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
26 March 2010  |  Jersey City, New Jersey
Private Home after Maghrib

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. Madad yaa Rasoolullah, madad yaa Sayyidee, yaa Sultan al-Awliya. (Mawlana stands.) Alfu salaat was-salaam `alayk yaa Rasoolullah! Yaa Shafi`ee al-Mudhnibeen alfus-salaat was-salaam `alayk ya Sayyidina Muhammad! Madad yaa Sayyidu 'r-Rasool, madad yaa Sayyid Sultanu 'l-Awliya.

People in this life are so happy the moment someone important says, "I like to receive you on that date." We try to be dressed well and to smell well, taking a shower, putting perfumes, not normal perfumes but designer perfumes, especially when we want to go for an important person. When you go for prayer you put this cheap perfume and after one minute it becomes a stinky smell, a mosquito (spray) smell. But you try to get the best designer perfume to spray yourself because you are going to meet that important person. He might be important and might be he is even stinky, but still you are happy to shower yourself with perfumes even if that one does not have that nice smell, but has a name, a label, a title. You are running after that title; that title attracts us. What do you think about someone who has a title spiritually and has a holy, physical body? What you do? How you prepare yourself?

O Muslims! O Mu'mins! We are all here on the same level; we cannot say this one is better than this one. We are, all of us, on the same level; Allah (swt) is looking at us as equal and the Prophet (s) is looking at us as equal. Prophet (s) said:

الناس سواسية كأسنان المشط

an-naasu sawaasiyatan ka asnan al-masht.
People are equal like the teeth of the comb are equal.

So how we have to prepare ourselves to be in presence of the one to who from Adam (a) to `Isa (a) are running to him on Judgment Day asking for his intercession?

وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِن بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ فَلَمَّا جَاءهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ

Wa mubashshiran bi rasoolin yaatee min ba`dihi ismuhu ahmad fa-lammaa jaahum bi 'l-bayyinaati qaloo haadha sihrun mubeen
and giving Glad Tidings of an Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, "this is evident sorcery!" (61:6)

Sayyidina `Isa (a) is giving good tidings to the whole universe, saying "After me there is coming someone named 'Ahmad' in Heaven and 'Muhammad' on Earth,and he is blessed in dunya and akhirah."

Sayyidina `Isa (a) is preparing the people and himself for the coming of a prophet after him named "Ahmad" (Mawlana stands and sits), and how was he preparing? He was asking, and Allah (swt) accepted, yaa Rabbee ij`alnee min ummati l-Mustafa, "O my Lord! Make me from the nation of Mustafa!" He was ready to give up his prophecy to be from ummat an-Nabi (s). So what do you think? You are from ummat an-Nabi already! Sayyidina `Isa (a) was asking, "Yaa Rabbee, make me from his nation!" because he knows

افضل الامة اخر الامة اخير الامة

afdal al-ummat akhir al-ummah akhyar al-ummah.
"The preferred of the Community, is the last of the Community, the best of the community."

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ

kuntum khayra ummatin ukhrijat li'n-naas

Ye are the best of peoples, sent to mankind, (3:110)

Don't be shy of being Muslim, don't be shy of wearing hijab, don't be shy of wearing turbans and caps!

وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

wa lillahi 'l-`izzatu wa li-rasoolihi wa li 'l-mumineen.
But honour belongs to Allah and His Messenger, and to the Believers (63:8)

Allah (swt) is giving that respect and honor to you for free. Sayyidina `Isa was trying to petition to be from ummat an-Nabi (s) and Allah (swt) accepted, saying, "I am making you as you wish! I am sending you back to be one of his ummah!"

We, without asking, have been honored by Allah (swt) and still we are arrogant, still we are seeing ourselves as something and we are stubborn! Everyone is happy with his brain, his mind, that small flesh. Without it you are worth nothing. Any defect in it and you are in a coma. We have doctors here. You are finished, is that right, Doctor? (Yes.) So you are finished. This whole body is dependent on two things: the heart and the brain. Don't be stubborn with your brain. If Allah (swt) wants, yaslib, he extracts everything in your brain in a split second and leaves you not knowing how to read one letter! There are many examples of this, but we arr not going to open those now.

Look at the story of Sayyidina Musa (a) and Sayyidina Khidr (a). Allah made one of five great prophets, ulul-a`dham, to be in need of a another prophet, Sayyidina Khidr, to see what kind of different knowledge he has.

 وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرَدُّ إِلَى أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُرِ لِكَيْ لاَ يَعْلَمَ بَعْدَ عِلْمٍ شَيْئًا

Wa minkum man yaruddu ila ardhal al-`umari likay la ya`lamoo ba`d `ilmin shayin inn Allah `ala kullis shayin qadeer.
and of you there are some who are sent back to a feeble age, so that they know nothing after having known (much): for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Powerful . (60:70)
Allah brought you to dunya with no knowledge and has the power to take you with no knowledge at any time He likes. (what about) the sickness, Alzheimer's disease?  Allahu akbar.

What Allah (swt) did with Nimrood when he threw Sayyidina `Ibrahim (a) in the Fire? He was proud of his knowledge; "Nimrood" in Arabic means "stubborn and arrogant." He believes only in himself and not in anyone else. He put Sayyidina `Ibrahim in the Fire. Nevermind, Allah will always protect His prophet! But what happened to Nimrood? What is the value of dunya? Inna ad-dunya la tazina `indallahi janaah ba`odah. Can anyone give an answer to Allah (swt) that what is the value of this world? Allah gave the answer to the Prophet (s): this dunya doesn't have the value of a wing of a mosquito. The mosquito has four wings, abdomen, head, legs, stomach, does the mosquito have a stomach? How Allah gave eyes also? Allahu akbar.

Forget a mosquito, look at an ant: they have eyes, ears, they can hear and they can speak, they have a stomach and they can eat. Can you create one? In Suraat an-Naml, "The Ant," it says, qaalat namlatun, one ant spoke to all ants. How that ant was able to speak, and in Arabic also, because Qur'an has specified that ant said to all ants, "Run for safety before Sulayman comes!" qaalat namlatun Yaa ayyuhan-namlatun idkhuloos masaakinakum. One ant (spoke) and all ants were listening, not like today, everyone wants to speak. You go to school and everyone wants to speak, teachers and students. Everyone wants to show he knows better than the other. They don't keep quiet because the ego is big. One ant was speaking and all were quiet, not speaking.

Prophet (s) said, "If you are three, put one as amir to take the decision." How many we have today to take decision? Everyone is amir today, no one accepts to be lower than amir! That is a sickness. The ants don't have that sickness; they accept one ant to speak and with the language of Qur'an! And how they are able to hear, there were no microphones. When that ant spoke, millions of ants heard it. How? Tell me, you are a scientist, can you give me a definition of how? Bring the biggest scientist now in this world, Darwin. Let him say from his grave how that ant was speaking and all ants were listening to him. We are mu'min and Qur'an says all ants were hearing him; we believe in that. What kind heavenly equipment that ant was using? You don't know what he was using? You need a connection. Now I am speaking here and they are hearing it around the world; I am using this computer to connect to the Internet. Doesn't Allah (swt) have a heavenly Internet to give to someone when it is needed? Can Allah (swt) not make an ant to speak and all ants to hear? Yes, He can. Why then we cannot hear? Sahaaba (r) were hearing from Prophet (s); of all 124,000 Sahaabi, when the Prophet spoke, everyone can hear. When he gives khutbah on Friday, imagine 124,000 sitting and all can hear at the same time! What bigger miracle, mu`jizat, you want than this?

Imam Muhammad Isma`il Bukhari (r) collected the most authentic, correct ahadith of Prophet. I visited the mosque where he was teaching and it cannot hold more than 5000 people, and when he spoke at least 25,000 people are there listening, sitting in the courtyard of the masjid, and everyone can hear. and no mic, speaking 700 years ago. How they were hearing it? It means the Prophet (s) gives to them and they give to the ummah, but we are deaf. So don't be stubborn with your mind; Allah can take it at any moment! Be humble, be normal. Don't look at yourself as being better than others.
17
So how, when we have been granted honor to be from ummat an-nabi, how do we come to him? Many people go for `Umrah and Hajj; what they do there? Many
(stay the same); as they went, they came back. There are principles of visiting Mecca and Madinatu 'l-Munawwarah. Don't think that Kaa`ba and Haraman Nabawi are empty from awliyaullah and spiritual beings there. Those sacred places must be respected, and that is why it is always more advisable to perform the ziyarat an-nabi after the `Umrah or after the Hajj, as you clean yourself there and come to Prophet (s) clean. It is recommended first to perform Hajj, then if you are doing Umrah, to make ziyarah then. It is not just taking a shower and going to the masjid; there are principles of visiting the Prophet (s) and how you need to be clean to visit baytullah. Today people fight outside and go inside! Cleanliness is to polish the Self to take away the ego. When you take away the ego you become light, but when ego is there you are heavy and the gravity pulls you down.

(Mawlana asks someone present.) Professor, why do these balloons go up? (They have helium in them.) There is gas in them, which makes them lighter and gravity cannot pull them down, as that gas it is pushing them up. If they were empty, they would come down. So what we need is something that pulls us up against gravity, not for gravity to pull us down. No, we want to fly, so what do we need? Heavenly helium. You have it, and you have it. Allah (swt) gave to everyone heavenly helium; He gave to them a soul, ruh.

 وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الرُّوحِ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُم مِّن الْعِلْمِ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً قَلِيلاً

wa yasa'loonak `ani'r-rooh quli 'r-roohu min amri rabbee wa maa uteetum min al-`ilmi illa qaleelan.
Say: "The soul, (O Muhammad), is from the affair of your Lord, but what you have been given of knowledge very little (O men)." (17:85)

That qaleela is less than even a little bit. That means not even as much as the wing of a mosquito!" Since the whole dunya doesn't weigh the wing of a mosquito to Allah (swt), and if you compare the wing to the whole body and the rest of wings, that is insignificant.

As Allah (swt) is saying, Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! (Mawlana stands and sits.) Don't be tired of standing for Prophet (s)!! If you visit an important person he doesn't offer you a chair even! What you have been given of knowledge and what you understand of the heavenly soul given to Man is so little, and scientists are trying to understand that but they cannot. wa kulla shay'in indahu bil-miqdar. You know the eye doctor uses an "eyedropper," like they use to give medicine to children. What has been given to you is like a drop from the dropper, but Prophet (s) has the whole ocean. (Mawlana stands.) La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah! (Mawlana sits.) That knowledge coming to Prophet is non-stopping. Prophet left dunya and is on the other side in akhirah, and he is still receiving. "Tell them what they have been given is but a little bit." And if it is a little bit with all these books, that means if it is too much, this whole dunya will be full of books.

Who is Darwin to tell us what is that heavenly order through the soul? Say to them, the ruh is from the order of Allah (swt) from His Light that created all Creation! Darwin touched on that? Never! He touched on something else; because he was blind he was not seeing the reality, and they made him a big hero till today. What they are teaching in universities, they really want to tell you don't be religious, that there is no god. Haasha (impossible)! (Mawlana stands.) La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah!!! (Mawlana sits). They don't want you to accept religion as then you have heavenly discipline. They want you to be monkeys in the street, jumping on each other! That is 21st century teaching, that you are animals, go back to animality. Why do you want to be religious? Enjoy, you are living a very short life of 80 or 90 years and after that passing away. Enjoy life!

What is there to enjoy? You enjoy 80-90 years and you are in punishment all your Eternal Life? You don't believe, don't believe. If it is true, you are in a problem. The chance (probability) is 50/50, no? He looked at that professor, that `alim, and asked, "Is there a day when we will be equal?" He thought and said, "Yes." What is that day? The day of death, when we are all equal as we are all going to the grave; there was no cremation at that time. But now they came with another crazy idea, as it is cheap, now they are making money from deceased people when before it was free. Now they are selling one grave in Beverly Hills for $200,000 near actors and actresses graves. You want to be with them? Three-feet by six-feet graves are sold now for $200,000 or $300,000. They are going to say you are beside Marilyn Monroe, and who else? Clark Gable, Michael Jackson. The price depends on which actor or actress that grave is near, next to them or farther down the line. They are really very expensive!

So where is Darwin to come and tell us? And they want us all to live like monkeys! The Prophet (s) predicted:

لا تقوم الساعة حتى يتسافد في الطريق تسافد الحمير

 laa taqoom as-sa`at hatta yatasaafad fit-tareeq tasaafadu 'l-hameer.
The Hour will not come until there are men and women in the streets having sexual relations with each other like donkeys do.

"They will sleep with each other like donkeys, and the best one among them at that time are mu'mins who say, "O! I wish to be with her behind the wall!" Even that time is coming. We have problem with all they are bringing to us on the Internet and TV; all of us are falling into that sin, and if Allah (swt) doesn't forgive us we are lost! So where is Darwin clever, to explain to us where rooh came? No, he is clever to explain from where we all came from monkeys! Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an that He created the first one from one soul, and created his wife from that one soul. So that means from one cell, from the first one to be created.

Allah said in Holy Qur'an:

وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاء كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلاَئِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاء هَـؤُلاء إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ

wa `allama Adam al-asmaa kullahathumma `aradahum `ala'l-malaaika faqaalanbioonee bi-asmaai haa-oolaa'i in kuntum saadiqeen.

And He taught Adam the nature of all things; then He placed them before the angels, and said: "Tell me the nature of these if ye are right." (2:31)

"We taught Adam all the names."  Do we believe in Holy Qur'an or in Darwin? If we believe in Qur'an then we know He taught Sayyidina Adam (s) all the names of all Creation, and he is not deaf and dumb like they show on TV, the Stone Age people speaking like monkeys, "uh, uhhu, uh" and making stone knives or hammers. And how they walk? (Mawlana tells someone,) yalla, walk like that! How Allah (swt) taught Adam (a)? He taught him by Arabic language, as many scholars say, He sent a special angel to teach Sayyidina Adam. That means we had language even before we came to Earth. We were not mammals or fish, and came from those animals. I don't know which fish I am from! (laughter) But I know which fish he is from, (Mawlana points to a mureed), the one that keeps eating people: not a shark, but the very aggressive one, the piranha! It doesn't stop, it is always hungry, eating all fish in the ocean. You know that fish?

So heavenly helium makes you light. To get heavenly helium you have to throw away your ego, and if you don't throw away your ego you are in a problem. The most difficult issue on human beings is the ego. Sayyidina Adam (was faced with that problem), because his ego pushed him to live eternally, and Iblees said to him, "If you want to live forever, eat from that tree."

If you really want to be light and be in presence of Prophet (s), you have to clean and perfect yourself from desires of the ego. There are good desires, no problem; and there are bad ones - cut them down, then polish yourself, and Allah (swt) will polish you and give you the Divine Presence and the presence of Prophet (s). Or else we are losers!

Such meetings as this one are associations of love. You don't discriminate, saying,"This is Muslim," or, "This is not Muslim;" no problem. Come and sit and listen. Because when these blessings are coming, the manifestations of the Beautiful Names and Attributes of Allah, ar-Rahman ar-Raheem. When that reaches it will heal and take away all kinds of illness from us. Prophet (s) said:

 شهدا على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : ما جلس قوم يذكرون الله إلا حفت  بهم الملائكة ، وتنزلت عليهم السكينة، وغشيتهم   الرحمة ، وذكرهم الله فيمن عنده

maa jalasa qawman yadhkurooona Allah illa hafat bihim u'l-malaaikat wa nazalat `alayhimu's-sakeenah wa ghashiyattahumu'r-rahman wa dhakarahumullahu feeman `indah.
"Those who sit and make dhikrullah, He (swt) will bless them and surround them with angels, and send tranquility on them and cover them with mercy and remember them with those who are in His Presence."

So this kind of meeting is blessed with the Presence of Allah (swt) and the presence of Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad (s). (Mawlana stands and sits.)

In the time of Sayyidina Nuh (a), Allah (swt) gave love to the people who believed in him. And in the time of Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), Allah gave love to his people, and when Sayyidina Musa (a) came, Allah (swt) gave his people to love him and love Allah. And when Sayyidina `Isa (a) came, Allah (swt) gave love to that group at that time. When Sayyidina Muhammad (s) came, he also gave the people love. So choose the kind of love you want. Aamantu billahi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi. "I believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His prophets." You take which you like, choose. If you like Sayyidina Musa, follow him. If you like Sayyidina `Isa, you go with him. If you want Prophet (s), you go with him (follow). It is up to you which one you like to go with.

If you open a tap (water faucet) and put a pot under it and that tap is dripping drop-after-drop, what will happen? It will fill up and overflow, is it not? So what is better? If you believe in all prophets and from every prophet you are getting a drop, coming to the Seal of Messengers, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), your pot will be full and overflow from all of them. You can choose one and follow, and your pot will be full with one only. Or do you like a rainbow of love? You can have different colors, like generals who wear medals on their chest on Independence Day parades; they have all different colored medallions. Do you like a black one or a white one? No, a colored one is better. That is why Muslims have to accept all prophets who came before Prophet Muhammad (s) and you have a medallion for each: Adam medallion, Nuh medallion, Musa medallion, `Isa medallion, Sayyidina Muhammad medallion. How many you have now, and going to Allah's Divine Presence on the Day of Judgment.

Going back to the story of Sayyidina `Ali (q) and the unbelievers, who asked him, "Is there day when we are equal?"
He answered, "Yes, on the day of death. There is 50/50 chance, is it not? You are in the grave and I am in the grave. If there is another life, I am 100% correct (in my belief) and I am saved. I will have everlasting pleasure, and you will have everlasting punishment."
Correct? (Yes, sir!) The unbeliever is the head of forty tribes, so he would have spoken using discipline; everything has to be discipline in this life. Today we lost discipline and protocols, no adab and no respect.
"So if there is another life," Sayyidina `Ali said, "I am saved. I will have everlasting pleasure and you will have everlasting punishment. If there is nothing, we are equal. I lost 70 years of my life and didn't have pleasure, but also you lost it now."

It is as if all of life is the present moment, and your pleasures are gone; you can count them but can you taste them anymore? There is nice food coming up and you are thinking about it now, but after you eat and fill your stomach you cannot take more, that pleasure is gone. So if you ate rice alone and filled your stomach or ate ten different foods and filled the stomach, the taste is gone.

So Sayyidina `Ali (q) said to him, "We are equal now. So if I find what my god promised me I am safe, and if there is no god, as you are saying, then we are equal."
And that person said, Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah. "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger."

So we now renew our shahadah, we say altogether, ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah. This is the heavenly helium to repeat it morning and evening, noon and afternoon, sunrise and sunset, awake and asleep, asleep and awake, eating and drinking, in every moment you have to remember your Prophet (s), where Allah said:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

inna Allah wa mala`ikatahu yusallooon `ala an-nabi. yaa ayyuhalladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi wa sallimoo tasleema.
Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect. (33:56)

Allahuma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa `ala aali Sayyidina Muhammad!

That is our support!  That shahadah will pull you from gravity and towards lightness and climbing in any direction that Allah wants you to move. He brought Prophet on Buraaq (a), passing through the whole universe to Heaven. How was that? Prophet didn't go in a space shuttle pressurized to the atmosphere or to make an environment that you can live in! No, he was riding it and going with his body. Who believes, believes, and who doesn't believe, who cares??! We believe! Those who don't believe, it is up to them and those who believe it is up to them, as the probability, as Sayyidina `Ali said, is 50/50. We go on this side, the side of winners; why we have to be on side of losers? Whatever chance comes, we are winning, not losing!

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ

subhaan alladhee asra bi `bdihi laylan min al-masjid al-haraam ila al-masjid al-aqsa li nuriyi min ayaatina.

Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Inviolable Place of Worship to the Far Distant Place of Worship the neighborhood whereof We have blessed, that We might show him of Our tokens! Lo! He, only He, is the Hearer, the Seer. (17:1)

Allah is saying, "Praise be to Myself!" He is praising himself by himself. As no one is able to praise the Lord as He deserves. He is praising from himself to himself and by himself. He is saying, "Praise be to Me that made it possible." That is beyond the mind that someone can do that. It is beyond the physics and chemistry, no physics, not even quantum physics can explain how this happened. The body cannot resist the change of pressure and it is very cold . What kind of body Allah gave to Prophet (s) that is a question. That is as al-Busayri (r) said:

Muhammadun basharun

wa laysa ka 'l-bashri

huwa yaqootatun '

wa naasu ka 'l-hajari,

Muhammad is a man,

but not like other men;

Muhammad is a gem

and human beings are stones."

You kick stone, but gems you can bite even. You grab them as soon as you can; if there are five or six people you might fight with (over gems), shoot them and get it! Shoot your ego! Kill your ego in yourself and you will get presence of Prophet (s)! He is the gem, the diamond, and everything else has no value. Love of Prophet (s) is what saves you!

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ

wa ma arsalnaaka illa rahmatan lil-alameen.

Verily, We have sent you not but as mercy to human beings. (21:107)

So if you attach yourself to that mercy you are saved, and Allah (swt) gives that mercy to those who are asking for it, and about those who are not I cannot say anything. It is not our job to judge people. Our job is to say, "Yaa Rabbee, we want to go to Paradise! Make all people go to Paradise!"

As the Salafi `ulama say... Sorry to bring them against us, but what can we do? (Phone rings.) That is a sign from Salafi `ulama! (laughter) They say, "You don't follow us, you are not Muslim. Either you believe as we believe or you are out of Islam!" Don’t pay attention; their speeches are worthless, no value. If Allah wants to send everyone to Paradise can they stop Him? So we say that judgment is for Allah (swt), not for them. Prophet (s) said

من كفر مسلماُ فقد كفر

man kaffara Muslim faqad kaffar.

"Who said about a Muslim that he is kaafir (unbeliever) is kaafir."

You cannot say about anyone, "You are kaafir," as Allah knows best.

I will tell you a story from 1994. I was living in California, not here, and we had a place ten times bigger than this and full of people coming for dhikr and meditation and lectures, Muslims and non-Muslims mixed. We welcomes everyone, we tell them to pray; they had the option to sit and watch us, or join us. One day a person came who looks very old in our eyes, because everyone sees himself younger and others are old; that is how brain works. So I looked at that person thinking him old and me young, but might be he is younger than me in power. There people 80 or 90 years old that feel stronger than someone 25 years of age; age has no value, but what you do has value. So in any case, that person came and sat on a chair doing dhikr. I asked his name and he said a non-Muslim name. They told me he is 95 years of age. He was happy; he said, "I feel so great," and left. The next week he came and made dhikr with us and left. The third week he came and said,"I like that. I want to be like you." I said, "What?" He said, "I know you are Muslim. I want to be Muslim." So he said, ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluh. What happens to anyone who gives shahadah? As Prophet (s) said, "All his sins will be washed out as if he is newly born."

If you look at him before that and want to judge him, what will you judge? If you say he is kaafir, actually you are kaafir, as you don't know aqibat al-amr, what is the end of his affair. The only One Who knows all unknowns is Allah, `alaamu 'l-ghuyoob, and the only One Who can give judgment. If you saw him before his shahadah and you said he is non-Muslim, that means you made mistake; you didn't see two weeks later what is going to happen. That old man took shahadah, then the next week he didn't come, second week after that he didn't come, and the third week after that he didn't come. I sent someone to find out what happened; they said after he took shahadah he died two days later! What is your judgment on him? There is no sin on him and he went to Paradise, as he has been washed! Thursday he took shahadah and on Sunday he died! So we don't know (about anyone).

Leave judgment of people, because your ego will make people kaafir and you the best. Men and women, don't try to be a teacher, try to be student. Put this in your mind! Be taalib (student), not mentor. Say, "Yaa Rabbee, I want to learn." Then learn from people, don't argue. Sayyidina `Ali (q) said zip your mouth; what causes you to go into problems is your mouth. (Mawlana addresses a mureed.) Can you, O professor? No, in the university you must speak, but other than that, at home don't speak too much. Allah (swt) gave you mashaa-Allah a very good wife and very good children, so every night when you come home jump and dance!

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

That will be enough now, I think. What is the time, nine o'clock? So now we will pray `Isha and then have the pleasure of the food, with everyone counting the bites they will eat tonight, as with our hosts Dr. Qaysar and Dr. Tasneem you eat non-stopping as it is so delicious!

(Adhaan)