MSH.12 SEP 2010.PREPOST.ENG

The Humble Are Most Beloved and Reach Higher Stations
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
12 September 2010     Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Suhbah before Dhuhr

As-salaam `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh. Eid Mubarak to all of you! This is not a formal suhbat; it is informal for just ten-to-fifteen minutes. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, masha-Allah, may Allah give him a long life, is a fountain; whenever he sits he can speak. But when we sit and speak, if there is no connection, then we speak from our ego, which is useless. Like Mawlana was speaking today about servants and serpents, that everyone listens to a serpent except Prophet (s), and messengers, Allah protected them on earth and in Paradise. 

Although Adam (a) listened to Iblees and what he said to him, may Allah curse Iblees and take away his power from us! But Sayyidina Adam's (a) listening to Iblees had wisdom in it, as Grandshaykh and Mawlana shaykh said, "It was not Adam (a) that listened and ate from the tree, but it was us inside him that instigated that movement and action." When Adam (a) ate and after that he knew the truth, he went into sajdah asking for forgiveness. And Grandshaykh (q) said, "Those tears were like rivers running from his eyes; each tear drop represents one human being, and he did not raise his head until every single human being was counted and forgiven by Allah (swt)! Then Allah asked him to raise his head and Allah said, 'Ya Adam! You asked and received forgiveness for the sake of Muhammad (s)! How did you know him? (Mawlana stands and sits)' To this Adam (a) said, 'I saw Your Heavens filled with indescribable lights with the name "Muhammad," so I knew he is the most beloved to You!'"

 

For the sake of Prophet (s), Allah forgave Adam (a) and all his descendants, but when they came to dunya they forgot they were forgiven and they began to look for that serpent. You were servants, but now you come to dunya and start listening to serpents. Allah has wisdom that He wants Adam (a) to come to dunya for the continuity of human life. So the problem is not only the serpent, but it is also the ego and desire. There are halaal, permitted desires, and haraam, forbidden desires. Many people look at haraam desires. There are others who are struggling between halaal and haraam; they are in between, one day with halaal, one day with haraam.

 

Awliya's speeches are not like our speeches. No one else can be like like the shaykh. Our plug must be in the right socket and connected with the right voltage, because the shaykh may speak from a very high voltage, above 360, like the voltage of industrial electric plants. So if someone puts a normal electrical plug where electricity is coming from very high voltage, it will blow it. Remember, anyone who wants to speak and says, "I am speaking," speaks only from his ego; that is why we cannot jump into a chair at any moment we like and begin to speak. Sometimes we feel the presence of the shaykh there, and our plug is plugged into the right voltage; then the flow of information will come and you may address people. If you are not capable, it is better not to speak; keep quiet. If anyone else likes to speak, let them speak. Who cares?

For example, when Sayyidina `Ubaydullah al-Ahrar (q) was leaving dunya, he called all his mureeds to hear a last suhbah. They loved their shaykh and were crying, and said to him, "Who is your successor?" It is ego to ask such a thing. He may have two, three, four or five successors; it is solely up to the shaykh. So he said, "Why are you asking? It is not your duty; it is my duty to have a successor or not. I know when I have to leave a successor, not you. It is more safe remain quiet!"

 

When Allah asked Bani Israel to slaughter a cow, they asked many questions, such as what kind of cow, how old, what color, etc. By questioning, they made their search so specific and narrow, and difficult. Why ask questions? Just slaughter a cow, any cow! But then they asked more, because they didn't want to do it. So more details came, and it became more difficult to find. And then they asked about any `ayb, defect, in it. So the answer was no. Then they asked about what it does? The answer was that it shouldn't plow or work. So it became more difficult to find such a cow. And then they inquired about what color should the cow be. So the answer was that it should be of yellowish color and when you look at it, it gives you peace. Now where to find such a cow? They were looking and looking, but couldn't find.

Grandshaykh (q) continues the story. In the Holy Qur'an it is mentioned that they found such a cow at last and slaughtered it, but it was difficult. But in stories of Bani Israel with Sayyidina Musa (a), they say that they were looking and looking but they could not find such a cow until they went to Mount Ararat, where they say that the ship of Nuh (a) landed. They found an old lady there. They had to slaughter, as when they had worshipped the golden cow, Allah made them to slaughter.

So they came to that lady and said in astonishment, "You are here?"
She said, "Yes."
"Since when are you living here?" She didn't know how old she was. Then they asked, " how are you eating here?"
She said, "I am taking milk from a cow." They thought, how there was milk in the cow if there is no other male cow there, as a cow needs to be pregnant to produce milk. So they asked her, "Since when are you doing this?" And she said, "I remember that there was a flood near my home, and it reached the knees of the cow."
That means that Allah saved her from the flood that came at that time. When Allah wants to save someone, He can save them from the middle of a flood even. And so they honored her, bought the cow at a very expensive price, and slaughtered it.

So they asked Sayyidina `Ubaydullah (q), "Who is going to be your successor?" A successor is not just anyone who inserts his plug; he will blow his wires!
So he said, "Don't ask about the successor!"
You may ask the shaykh how he is, may Allah give him long life; ask normal things. Don't ask the shaykh who will be his successor, because that means you want him to pass away. Our duty is to pray for the shaykh to have long life.
So he said, "When I pass away, take my turban and throw it in the air, it will turn and turn, and whatever head it lands on, that one will be my successor."

They asked about the successor, and all of them were big scholars, senior mureeds, muqaddam, yet each one had a big tattoo on his heart saying, "I am successor", and on his back, "I am successor." Why do you want to carry that responsibility? Pray for the long life of your shaykh and pray that after him it directly goes to Sayyidina Mahdi (a)!

So who was his successor? The one who sat by the door and never spoke one word, never asked to be in front of the shaykh or beside him. So don't look at those who think they are something, and are sitting in front of the shaykh. Don't look at me or my brother or Mawlana's sons; we are like his sons, it is family. You sit with your father wherever he is. Grandshaykh said, "Don't behave with me as my children do. I have to live with them a normal life. I have a time with my family, and I have a time for my mureeds." So mureeds must not take their example of protocol by looking at the shaykh's family, but they must be in respect all the time.

The one by the door cleaned the shoes of the mureeds. They used to come, take off their shoes, and he cleaned them. He recognised everyone from their shoes. Whenever a man came for his shoes, he knew that this is for "X," this is for "Y," and this is for "Z," and he gave them their shoes without looking at them, he kept his head down! That is kashf, he knew about all of them from top to bottom! So they threw the turban and it went up, turned round and round, and landed on the one keeping the shoes.

They said, "What is that turning turban? It must be wrong." They could not accept the decision as each one thought he would be the successor, like today so many think, "When is my turn?" May Allah give Mawlana Shaykh long life! So they threw it a second time, and it still landed on the head of the same one. Then again a third time, and it still went on his head, so they had to agree. Then from the back of the room they heard a voice from Sayyidina `Ubaydullah (q), who was not yet buried, "Are you not ashamed of yourselves?! Do you think you are something? I told you to send my turban, that is enough! That one is my successor!"

Everyone became silent as there was no way to say anything to the contrary. Awliyaullah have that power to guide their followers. That man became the successor, the humble one, about which we spoke throughout Ramadan. He was their shoe valet! Allah gave him what he did not give the others. So as humble as you become, Allah raises you higher and as much as you go higher, you will be bitten by Iblees and his serpent, and receive venom. So when you plug, don't plug with Iblees and you think you are plugging with the shaykh!

In Shari`ah there is a principle, "like things with like things." Jinn with jinn, water with water, everything with its nature. You cannot mix. Halaal is with halaal and haraam is with haraam. That is why we say, "All of halaal is with our shaykh." But we are blending halaal and haraam together. So when you are halaal, on that day you plug and you get a connection, but when you are not halaal, on that day when you plug your fuse is blown! So they give you the daily awraad, practices,because it cleans you, takes all haraam away from inside. When you do something haraam it will be against you, and the only thing to clear it up is prayers and voluntary worship. So that is why I said in the beginning that when there is a line, Mawlana is sending, plug it in, it will work. If you have right actions that day, halaal, it will work. Sometimes even if you are on halaal, the shaykh is not opening. Then he is in a higher state that day and you might not get anything.

 

So we don't say that we are perfect, no; only Prophet (s) is perfect, then his Sahabah (r), then the awliya. We are only normal people who are following, tabi`een. We are following the real one, which is fresh fruit, but followers may be fresh, half-fresh, and not fresh! Might be one atom fresh and the rest not fresh. It means that you might be dressed with something, but it is not enough to give that light to others, like a windmill is enough to bring water to one field, but not enough for two, three, five or ten fields. Then you don't get perfect fields. We are like broken windmills. We try our best.

 

You must be like a diplomat, speaking about your shaykh wherever you go, but that doesn't make you of a high calibre. Ego cheats us to think we are big and good. No! We are not big and not good. We are still on the first station, as we mentioned a few days ago. It is good to be lovers, because lovers are like a child. Spoiled brats! But when you become a beginner, then you begin to get the whip! No more diapers now, as you are a beginner. When you are a child, a lover, you are in diapers. They change you, powder you, then send you until you do it another time Then they change you, powder you, put a diaper and send you again. Why be a beginner? If you want, then you come in the station of men, rijaal, alhamdulillah. But then you cannot say you want to be a beginner and have no discipline.

 

Like the story of a wrestler who came to Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) asking for his amanaat. He sent that man to three mureeds: a beginner, a musta`id (prepared), and a mureed. So you know the story, and then at the end Shaykh Sharafuddin brought him back after showing him these three levels. Then he said, "Take that stone and come to that tree outside." That was an apple tree. So the wrestler hit the tree with that stone and broke a branch with ten apples on it.

Shaykh Sharafuddin said, "What do you understand?"
He said, "Now I understand. Whenever someone hit me, I must give him ten rewards."

He broke the tree's branch and it gave him ten fruits. This is what you have to learn. When someone gives you isa`ah, harm, you give him hasanaat. That is a true mureed, not to give your shaykh harm! (laughter) And the shaykh knows better than you and Allah knows best. So we must try to give our shaykh hasanaat, although he is not in need, but it means to follow his orders. When he says something, try to struggle for it. When he says Iblees is a snake, then try to struggle against Iblees.

May Allah (swt) forgive us and may Allah bless us. We are sorry this was not broadcast on our normal camera but rather on the webcam. They pushed me to speak and my plug was not there. If I spoke from my ego then forgive me, and if it was from Mawlana Shaykh, then May Allah give him long life.

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