MSH.5 SEP 2010.Vol25.(Asr).PREPOST.ENG

Hierarchy of Saints Series, Vol 25

Shari`ah Is the Shell That Protects the "Fruit of Islam", Tasawwuf

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

5 September 2010    Burton, Michigan

`Asr / ASIM Mosque     Ramadan Series 2010

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.

Kalimataan khafeefataan `ala al-lisaan thaqeelataan lir-rahman, subhaanAllah wa bihamdihi SubhaanAllahi 'l-`Aliyyu 'l-`Adheem astaghfirullah.

 

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)

O Believers! Followers and students of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q)! The Prophet (s) said, kalimataan khafeefataan `ala al-lisaan thaqeelataan li 'r-rahman. A`oodhu Billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.

As Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) says, "O our Attenders!" Students of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q), we are followers of Ahlu ’l-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah, therefore we must behave likewise; we must not behave as people with no discipline. Discipline is what leads you to the love of Allah and of Prophet (s). If Sayyidina Muhammad (s) said something, it is to be followed. He left behind his sunnah, which is to be followed, to guide us not to be careless about how we behave and act. We have to behave well, and to behave well is to follow the footsteps of Prophet (s). If you follow Prophet (s), you will be happy in this life and the Next.

 

Prophet (s) said, "Don't be like roosters and chickens when you pray, as that prayer is not accepted." He saw someone praying, going quickly up and down, and when that person made salaam, he told him to repeat his prayer. Tariqah is not only ma`rifatullah; although that is important, you cannot leave dhaahir ash-shar`ah, the external (practices) of Shari`ah or then it will be as if you didn't pray. Don't say, "My prayer is accepted, I have a shaykh." No! Your shaykh is not going to help you when you come against Shari`ah. Prophet (s) said:

kalimataan khafeefataan `ala al-lisaan thaqeelataan lir-rahmaan.
Two words that are very light on the tongue, but very heavy on the scale.

There are different ahadith on that. One of them says, "These words are subhaanAllah wa bihamdihi," and according to another hadith, it is the shahadah,which Prophet (s) said it is to say, "Ash-hadu an la ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadun Rasoolullah."

 

When you say, "I am muwahid," you have to implement the meaning of tawheed, which is what ? It is sajdah. That is what Allah ordered Iblees to do and he refused. Whether it is a sajdah of worship or of respect to the light of Prophet (s) in Adam (a), when you make sajdah you must keep its requirements. What are they? To say, Subhaana Rabbee al-`ala wa bihamdih, not to say it like a parrot, (very fast). You have to meditate on it, al-`ala. The secret of that Name will reach you when you ponder it. "Allah is High and the rest are slaves to Him!" When you say, Subhaana Rabbee al-`ala wa bi-hamdih, Allah will dress you with that dress, that baraka, when you say it three times in each sajdah. Don't allow Shaytan to exhaust you by pecking the ground like a cock or a chicken.

 

Who says, Subhaana Rabbee al-`ala wa bi-hamdih completely? Some say, Subhaana Rabbee al-`ala, they don't continue saying wa bi-hamdih. So when we are not giving all the rights to our prayers, which is a kind of worship that Allah ordered everyone to do, should we expect we will not have problems? You will have problems in dunya and in akhirah! What is the benefit of tasawwuf when we are dropping Shari`ah? We are Muslim first, Shafi`ee or Hanafi (or following another) school of thought. Then we follow a tariqah, a Way. So we have to learn Shari`ah first, and then enter tasawwuf. If we don't know Shari`ah, we should not attend tasawwuf classes!

In the previous years, students were not allowed to attend tasawwuf classes at all before being checked in Shari`ah completely, as it is not simple. In the time of Sayyidina Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q), one of the shaykhs of the Golden Chain, the grand mufti of that time came to him. He said, "Yaa Abdul-Khaliq, I want to be in that path," because it is the fruit for `ulama. Shari`ah is the shell that saves the fruit. They know the importance of the fruit. I remember when all my uncles studied in Azhar ash-Shareef, you could not graduate except by being in a Sufi Order. Today you can graduate by being an `alim, but previously you had to have Shari`ah (law) and tasawwuf.

 

Imam Malik (q) had 300 teachers of Shari`ah and 600 of tasawwuf. Do you think they taught him to pray like a chicken? We don't understand! Islam accomodates every century, time, culture, and moment in the lives of human beings. We cannot say we have to "Arabinize, Pakistanize, or Americanize " Islam. Anyone who is saying that is considered kaafir (unbeliever)! Did Allah say that whenever someone comes, they can change Islam? No! But He said:

 لْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلاَمَ دِينًا

Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem, al-yawma akmaltu lakum deenakum wa atmamtu `alaykum ni`matee wa radeetum lakum al-Islamu deena.

This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen Islam as your religion. (Surat al-Ma'idah, 5:3)

 

"Today I have perfected and completed," meaning, "There are no additions after I have completed, and I have given you with My satisfaction of my religion." So we can say we want reform Muslims, but we cannot say Islam needs reform; you cannot reform what Allah made perfect! Muslims are mistaken, not following Shari`atullah, and not understanding the taste that Allah gave in His Shari`ah! When they don't have taste they think, "We have to change Islam," and that is not true. Islam cannot be but what it is. No addition, no subtraction, no multiplication, and no division. Shari`ah is clear, al-halaalu bayyin wa 'l-haraamu bayyin. But extremists are doing different things, coming with verses of Holy Qur'an (which they misinterpret). Why blame Islam for the wrong understanding of one person? Blame that person, not the religion!

 

Imam Malik (q) said, man tafaqaha wa lam yatasawwafa faqad tafassaq, "The one who studied Shari`ah without learning the spiritual side will become corrupt." Shari`ah is the trunk and inside is the lubb of the tree. When deer come in the winter and can't find anything to eat, they scrape the bark of the tree and eat the sap. The bark is Shari`ah and the sap is tasawwuf. So they take Shari`ah and hold it, then they reach the inside; that means you need both. That is why he said, "Who studied Shari`ah and left tasawwuf is corrupt, and whoever studied tasawwwuf without Shari`ah, is a heretic." You cannot be a sufi and not pray, but you can pray and not be a sufi. So the first one is, to follow Shari`ah without tasawwuf. There is no taste; therefore, you are cheating and deceiving, you do what you like. But whoever studied tasawwuf without Shari`ah is also dangerous as it leads you to be a heretic. Today they say, "We are sufis." No! You are only hiding behind the name of Sufism, but in reality doing all things that are wrong! Have you seen these big conferences? They speak on tasawwuf and never on Islam.

 

When we came in 1991 and spoke about tasawwuf, they acted like they never heard of it. How is it possible that Pakistanis, Indians, or Arabs never heard of tasawwuf? Where did you throw Maqaam al-
Ihsaan? There are tons of books by thousands of scholars! Imam Malik (q) said that you have to study both, the shell and the fruit: the shell saves the fruit, just as the cup saves the water. If there is no cup, there is no water. Where will you put it, in your pocket? No, it will run off and leak. The cup preserves the water.

 

So the shaykh came to Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) and said, "I want to be your student."
He said, "I have too many students."
The shaykh said, "I have Shari`ah, but I need to taste the sweetness of the fruit."

It is not like dunya fruits; can you have more than 100 kinds of fruits? Every moment you will be offered different heavenly fruits with a different taste. And each heavenly fruit is different from the other. So there is an infinite number of different types of fruit. As when Sayyidina Zakariyya (a) entered the mihrab of Sayyidah Maryam (a), he found there provisions of fruit and each time the fruits were new and different. Heavenly fruit never repeats.

 

The shaykh said, "I don't want knowledge of papers, I want the real taste, dhawq."
So Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) said, "Since you are insisting, I will give you the taste of tasawwuf, some sweet fruit."
The shaykh said, "Yes, that is what I want!" He thought that Sayyidina Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) will open a book and explain to him some secrets, because he is an `alim (scholar) and that is how he learned. So he waited and saw the shaykh bringing a donkey, an axe, and a rope.

Abdul-Khaliq said, "Shaykh al-Islam, you want to learn tasawwuf?"

"Yes, I want to sit with you and learn from you"

He said, "No, you sit with my donkey."

People come to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and say, "We want to sit with you." What do you mean? You are nothing; you need to fight with your ego first and then come! These are sultans; come to them as such!

 

So he said, "Go, cut wood, and bring it. That is your job." They were in Merv, where it is very cold in the winter. And he added, "Go up to that mountain and use this road to get there." So how will Shaykh ul-Islam take the donkey up the mountain and bring back wood, as someone might see him. Abdul Khaliq al-Gujdawani (q) wants to teach him humbleness. "Go and get yourself straightened out." At one street, people saw him in the village. Children began to throw stones at him. People leave their children, especially in the West. If the children break the whole mosque, it is no problem. Now they made the child the shaykh and adults are their mureeds! If children are not disciplined in childhood, you cannot later control them when they are older. It is better to give a little bit of discipline when the child is still young, because they will forget you disciplined them. If not, they will grow up and become gangsters and join gangs. How many children around the world are joining gangs? You cannot bring them back.

 

So the children were running behind him throwing stones, saying, "Shaykh ul-Islam has a donkey!"
He came back and asked Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q), "Can I change the route and go through the back roads?"

Abdul-Khaliq said, "You are changing something. How dare even you come and ask me!"
Today Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) is very soft. He doesn't say anything to people.You should have seen him 20 or 30 years ago!

Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) said, "Since you asked, now you have to go through the main roads of the city."

He wants to give him shawaariq al-anwaar, manifestations of Heavens. One comes, the other goes, and each is different in color. But first, you have to get the key. As Sayyidina Musa (a) objected to Sayyidina Khidr's (a) actions, likewise, Shaykh ul-Islam complained. At the first level, he said, "Can I go through the road where no one see me?" and Abdul Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) said, "No, you go through the main roads now." And as he was going, more children and many people behind him were saying, "Shaykh ul-Islam is crazy."

So he came back, complaining, "O! That original road was better. Can you put me back on that road? They are bothering me on this one too much." 

Sayyidina Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) said, "You are saying this, so give me back my donkey, my rope, and my axe. Now go and clean the toilets of the city." 

 

Tariqah is not easy. They bring all difficulties to your nose. "Go and clean what people don't." That is why the khadim (servant) of the masjid is the first to enter Paradise, not the imaam or the mu`azzin. Even if the imaam memorized the entire Qur'an and hadith, the one cleaning the restrooms will be sent to Paradise first. Allah looks at sweet people, ones who don't raise their heads, especially who are cleaning the masjid; they don't complain that someone asked them to clean the masjid. The person who is cleaning is carrying the waste of those who are arrogant. They don't care. They don't say "We have to volunteer and come to clean the masjid." No, they are not caring.

 

Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al-Ghudawani (q) said, "You go and clean the city restrooms." Shaykh ul-Islam knew that he is not giving difficulty to him, but to his ego. So he did as the shaykh said. Forty days later, he came back and the shaykh said, "Now you can receive your trust." Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al-Ghudawani gave him his amaanah. So Shari`ah is first, but you have to combine it with tariqah. Or else, you will feel arrogant. Therefore, you need to say, "Yaa Rabbee, I don't know and they don't know. Whatever you inspire to my heart, that is what I need and they need." May Allah keep us on the track of Ahl as-sunnah wal-Jama`ah, or else we will be falling on the ways of Shaytan and never coming out.
 

Today, unfortunately we are falling into this problem; we don't accept advice. If someone tells you something, don't say, "Who are you?" Listen, you may benefit. When Shaykh Sharafuddin (q) was asked, "Why are you giving so much attention to that young one (Grandshaykh `AbdAllah)?" he said, "My nephew? If a child now will go to his house and say, 'Your shaykh is telling you to go to Madina or to Mecca,' he will not yatarajaa, hesitate. Without any doubt and without asking anything, without even saying farewell to his wife and children, he will open the door and start walking to Mecca or Madina. He will not question or say,  'I need a ticket or a camel or a donkey, or provisions.' He will go forward, not backward!" Not even say salaam to his wife. Who can do that now? Tasawwuf is belief in what the shaykh says, or you believe, "When someone says something to me I do it, knowing my shaykh might be making that person speak."

May Allah (swt) forgive us!

 

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