The Sweet Voice Takes From Prophet (s)
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
2 October 2009 Montreal, Canada
Suhbat after Salat al-`Isha
Suhbat after Salat al-`Isha
A`udhu billahi min ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajim. Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Rahim.
Nawaytu ‘l-arba`in, nawaytu ‘l-`itikaf, nawaytu ‘l-khalwah, nawaytu ‘l-`uzla,
nawaytu ‘r-riyada, nawaytu ‘s-suluk, lillahi ta`ala fi hadha ‘l-makan.
Ati` Allah wa at`i ar-Rasula wa uli ‘l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
I was going to say "in this masjid" but I said fi hadha ‘l-makan as this is not a mosque. I know after hearing the beautiful recitations of Anwar and Fahd (from Morocco) you are not going to want to hear from me, because what am I going to say? I was also happy with what they have done because, Allahu akbar (Shaykh pauses). Sayyidina Abi Dharr al-Ghifari (r), one of the best companions of Prophet (s) was reciting Holy Qur'an and he didn't know the Prophet (s) was behind him, and he was reciting in a very melodious voice.
Today reciters are not reciting in very melodious way. The minority say it is not correct, as today the tarteel (trained recitation) of Holy Qur'an is now in a normal voice. But I ask you, did any one of you hear the recitation of Prophet (s)? No one. What we heard are the voices of normal people. What kind of voice did Sayyidina Muhammad (s) have? You think Anwar's voice and Fahd's voice and the heavenly music of `Azeez is going to compare to the voice of any Sahaba (r)? No. So what you think about the voice of Prophet (s)? No one heard it except the Sahaba (r). What kind of voice they heard? All of them heard the same voice. For every one, Prophet (s) gave a certain way of hearing his voice, which is like a rainbow that changes with the audience.
The beauty of these reciters' voices comes from the beauty of the voice of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! If we put all the reciters from the Sahaba to the last one on Day of Judgment, the sweetness of their voices doesn't come as a drop against the sweetness of the voice of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). The Prophet received the Holy Qur'an directly because he was in qaaba qawsayn, he was aqrab maa yakoon min qurb lillah `azza wa jall, "the closest nearness a servant can be in the Presence of his Lord." And there he received the heavenly voice of Allah (swt). The Qur'an is not created, it is Allah's (swt) ancient words, kalamullah al-qadeem. That is why Holy Qur'an is in Arabic and the language of Qur'an is Arabic, because Allah (swt) gave to Prophet (s) from that language.
What then do you think of the sweetness of the Qur'an that Prophet (s) heard? Allama 'l-quran khalaq-al-insaan. Mercy is so sweet! When you want mercy for someone you give the best you have. Don't think when we read Qur'an we are carrying the sweetness of it but Allah (swt) is arham ar-rahmineen and He will change our voice from a disgusting voice to a beautiful voice. When I am going to sing like these reciters here tonight, you are going to say, "Aww, shut up! They are the ones, we have to hear from them."
So Prophet (s) heard Sayyidina Abi Dharr al-Ghifari reciting Qur'an in very melodious voice and he said to him:
"By Allah, O Rasulullah! Had I known you were listening, I would have recited even more beautifully (for you)!"
The sweet voice is what we need to make each other happy. When a father or mother speaks to their child, they use a sweet voice and language. What kind voice do we use when we call each other? Very wild language!
So alhamdulillah, Allah (swt) blessed you in this country that you have such lovely voices to recite without stopping. When I used to recite Qur'an, people came from all around to hear me recite and they used to call me the junior Abdul Basit (world-renowned top reciter from Egypt). When I was 16 years old, I was playing with pistachios, throwing them up, catching thenm in my mouth and eating them. One day I took a pistachio with the shell and I opened my mouth to catch it and it went into my chest. For two or three days I could not breathe well and they said I need an operation. They took me to the operating room and opened my mouth as big as that and they went through my vocal cords with a camera and tweezers to catch it. It took eight hours to take it out. After that, my voice was cut (and I could not recite like before). It was lesson for me not to act childish; anyone who acts childishly will harm himself or herself without knowing.
لو أعلم أنك تستمع لقراءتي لحبرته لك تحبيرا
Wallahi ya rasulullah! law arafta annaka tastami` la habbartuhu laka tahbeera, "By Allah, O Rasulullah! Had I known you were listening, I would have recited even more beautifully (for you)!"
The sweet voice is what we need to make each other happy. When a father or mother speaks to their child, they use a sweet voice and language. What kind voice do we use when we call each other? Very wild language!
So alhamdulillah, Allah (swt) blessed you in this country that you have such lovely voices to recite without stopping. When I used to recite Qur'an, people came from all around to hear me recite and they used to call me the junior Abdul Basit (world-renowned top reciter from Egypt). When I was 16 years old, I was playing with pistachios, throwing them up, catching thenm in my mouth and eating them. One day I took a pistachio with the shell and I opened my mouth to catch it and it went into my chest. For two or three days I could not breathe well and they said I need an operation. They took me to the operating room and opened my mouth as big as that and they went through my vocal cords with a camera and tweezers to catch it. It took eight hours to take it out. After that, my voice was cut (and I could not recite like before). It was lesson for me not to act childish; anyone who acts childishly will harm himself or herself without knowing.
So today people are harming themselves not just by doing bad physical actions, but by doing all kinds of sins. Sins will cut your life down. Allah (swt) doesn't like His servant to do sins. People come to me and say, "Pray for my son; pray for my daughter." Why? They have been lost. First where? In civilization, in the wilderness? These are civilized countries, but not civilized enough to protect you from committing a sin. People are lost, both men and women. So open your eyes and don't be childish. If you are not childish, the presence of Prophet (s) will be with you.
Just now I was standing and then I sat on the floor immediately, as I felt the presence of Mawlana Shaykh and from him to Grandshaykh to Prophet (s) and with his name, we must stand out of respect. For eight-hundred years when the Ottoman sultan sat with all his ministers, when name of Prophet (s) was spoken he stood up, tadheem li-nabi, showing respect to his name. What about to his presence? Don't think the Prophet is away. These recitations immediately bring his attention to us. That is why Prophet (s) loves these melodious voices. The worst of voices is that of donkeys; Allah said in Qur'an and made it to be repeated. That is the worst of voices, like a donkey. When you speak only about dunya and not about akhira that is like the voice of a donkey. When you praise the Prophet (s), even if your voice is not sweet, it will be carried to the presence of Allah (swt) by angels. Don't think our voices are not carried up to presence of Allah (swt). As soon as we open our mouth, these praises are taken up by angels, up to Allah in the most beautiful way. Whenever someone recites the Qur'an, Allah (swt) immediately orders angels to dress that person with the beauty of the Qur'an. That is the way that it was before human beings were created, allam al-quran khalaqal-insan.
O people! As you believe in Jesus (a) and Moses (a), you must believe in Muhammad (s). Jesus (a) is coming. Those who don't believe in Sayyidina Muhammad (s) have problem. We believe in Adam, Nuh, Isa, Musa (a). Do we believe in Musa? (Yes!) Do you believe in Isa? (Yes!) Do you believe in Sayyidina Muhammad (s)? If someone asks him, "Do you believe in Muhammad?" they will answer, "No." Do you believe in Jesus? No. Do you believe in Moses? Okay yes. Then they ask him, do you believe in Muhammad? No. Do you believe in Jesus? Okay yes. So if you believe in Muhammad also then you will triple the rewards. So what is their problem with Muhammad (s)? We have no problem with `Isa (a) and we have no problem with Musa (a), so why dothey have a problem with Muhammad (s)? He brought mercy to you! (All prophets) from Adam (a) to Isa (a) are going to come to Sayyidina Muhammad and ask for his intercession. If you believe, alhamdulillah,and if you don't, let Allah make you to believe. We cannot say more than that.
So I will not keep you long, I will finish as soon as possible. So the most important thing that Abi Dharr al-Ghifari (r) said to Prophet (s) is that if he knew that Rasulullah was behind him, he would have recited Holy Qur'an in the best way he could. Those people reciting here are getting from the beauty of the voice of Prophet (s). Don't think those who have good voices, even if they are not Muslim, are not taking from sweetness of the voice of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) but they are lost. We ask Allah (swt) to return them. If you using for dunya you take from dunya and if you using for Akhirah you take from dunya and Akhirah. Open your hearts and say sami'na wa ataana ghufranaka rabbana wa ilayk al-masseer. We are going back to you and we are going to be asked what we did in this dunya.
So I will not keep you long, I will finish as soon as possible. So the most important thing that Abi Dharr al-Ghifari (r) said to Prophet (s) is that if he knew that Rasulullah was behind him, he would have recited Holy Qur'an in the best way he could. Those people reciting here are getting from the beauty of the voice of Prophet (s). Don't think those who have good voices, even if they are not Muslim, are not taking from sweetness of the voice of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) but they are lost. We ask Allah (swt) to return them. If you using for dunya you take from dunya and if you using for Akhirah you take from dunya and Akhirah. Open your hearts and say sami'na wa ataana ghufranaka rabbana wa ilayk al-masseer. We are going back to you and we are going to be asked what we did in this dunya.
May Allah bless Thomas Friedman and the marriages of his sons, Todd and Elizabeth, and Johnny and Emma. May Allah make them happy and make their grandparents happy with them, and those who are not married may Allah give you someone to marry as that is our way of life. Ameen.
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