MSH.13 NOV 2010.PREPOST.ENG

The Safety and Sanctity of Salaat, Part 2

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
13 November 2010 Burton, Michigan
Suhbah after `Isha at As-Siddiq Mosque

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.

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

لَن تَنَالُواْ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنفِقُواْ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِن شَيْءٍ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ

lan tanaal al-birru hatta tunfiqoo mimma tuhiboona wa tunfiqoo min shayin wa inna Allah bihi `aleem.
By no means shall you attain al-Birr (piety, righteousness), unless you spend (in Allah's Cause) of that which you love; and whatever of good you spend, Allah knows it well. (Surat Aali Imran, 3:92)

Allah (swt) said, "You will not attain piety, sincerity and purity until you tunfiqoo mimma tuhiboon, 'spend of what you love most'." What we love most, we have to give from it. If we don't give, then the ayah is very clear: don't consider yourself as one that loves Me, don't say to yourself, "we are pure", and don't say "we are sincere". What you are saying is not correct; it is only correct when you give of what you love. So what you love here has to coincide with what Allah loves. You cannot do something that Allah doesn't love; if you do it then you are not sincere and pious. You have to give from your time, the time that Allah (swt) loves from you, to find what Allah loves and do it from your own private time. 

How many of you are thinking the meaning of, "You are not going to get purity and sincerity until you give of what you love", means money. That is what people are thinking now. The highest of that might not be money; money might be something that comes later. But to spend from your private time that Allah (swt) gave you each day, to take from that and do something that Allah loves will get you purity and sincerity! Like today, our imaam was pleading us in Salaat al-`Isha and, mashaa-Allah, he was really giving the right of every ruku`, sujood, qiyam its proper time and not rushing quickly; he gave perfect timing for every position he prayed. Allah loves that. Some people pray so quickly, in order to finish. Allah doesn't like that. You have to give from what you love, which is the time that Allah gave you. You are trying to get pleasure 24 hours a day! If you can get 26 hours, you will do it: "No, we need 26 hours for pleasure!" You have to give from that precious time that Allah (swt) gives to you, what you love the most.

And what did the Prophet (s) say? As we were speaking yesterday in the previous session, the Prophet (s) said, "Allah made me to love three things from this world, and one of them is qurratu `aynee fis-salaat, the coolness of my eyes in prayer." It means, "The best time is when I am praying in Allah's Presence."

Allah said in the Holy Qur'an:

يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُزَّمِّلُ .قُمِ اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا .نِصْفَهُ أَوِ انقُصْ مِنْهُ قَلِيلًا .أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا

Yaa ayyuhal muzzammil, qumil-layl illa qaleela, nisfahoo aw unqus minhu qaleela, aw zid `alayhee waratti lil qur'ana tarteela.

O thou wrapped in garments! Stand (in prayer) by night, but not all night, of one-half thereof or less, or add to it (at will), and recite the Qur'an calmly and distinctly, with your mind attuned to its meaning. (Muzzammil, 73:1-4)

Allah Almighty said to him, yaa ayyuhal-muzzammil. We are not going to explain this now, as we had explained it last time and will go with the general meaning, "the one who is covered." Qumil-layl illa qaleela. "Stand up (in prayer) all night except a little portion for you to sleep. But the rest is for Me! Stand up and pray!" What does Allah like more? Prayer. Allah likes his servant to pray to Him. That is why He said, "Wake up all night, except a little bit." Then He reduced it a bit, nisfahoo aw unqus minhu qaleela. He reduced it, not for Prophet (s), in the verse after, "Half the night or a little less than that." Why? That was to be easy on the ummah, not on the Prophet (s). Then, aw zid `alayhi wa rattilil-qur'ana tarteela, "or increase it some and recite the Qur'an with tarteel." 

If Allah kept it as "stand up (in prayer) all night," as mentioned in the beginning of the surah, the whole ummah would have been obliged to stay awake all night! But He reduced it to, "Wake up a little portion of the night; wake up all night except a little." Then He reduced it to, "half of it or less." Increase it a little bit, but half of it you may sleep, no problem. Or else if it was going to stay as in the beginning of the surah (stay awake all night), then it would mean no one can sleep, and don't think that will be difficult; Allah (swt) will send power to do that. The Prophet (s) was up all night praying until his feet were swollen. Sayyida `Ayesha (r) said, "Yaa Rasoolullah! You are praying all night until your feet are swollen and you have no sin on you. You are ma`soom." The Prophet (s) said, `alaa akoonu `abdan shakoora, "You don't want me to be a thankful servant?" 

So that is what Allah likes, the prayer, and when we give from that lovely time we like to spend in (worldly) pleasure. When do people like to get pleasure? Day or night? Look, all these discos and bars are open in at night? If you want Allah's pleasure, "Come to Me! If you want Shaytan's pleasure, you go there." May Allah protect us from that.

So Allah likes those who give from their time to the pillar of the religion, as-salaatu `imadud-deen. Without the pillar, the whole building will collapse, if you don't put enough steel bars. Ask a civil engineer. You need iron, steel to it keep from collapsing. So you have to be very careful on the prayers. If you don't pray, your religion collapses. Why do we see people who don't know what they are, although their parents are Muslim? Because their parents didn't build them up on prayer; they left prayer. When you leave prayer, maa bayna al-kufr wal-imaan tarkus-salaat, "What is between imaan and unbelief is leaving the prayer." If you leave the prayer, you move from faith to kufr. He didn't say, "If you don't fast, you'll be kaafir." He said, "If you don't pray, you'll be kaafir," although, if you miss the fast intentionally, you must make up 60 days consecutive fasting for each day missed. And how many people are missing prayers!? And people are missing fasting! Allahu Akbar! 

We have non-Muslim scholars teaching Muslims what Islam is. Then they come and say, "O these scholars are Christians and they are supporting Muslims." Can you believe that? If I am a non-Muslim and you are Muslim, astaghfirullah hasha, and I have to support you in front of people. If I support you, then why don't I become a Muslim like you? 

وَلاَ تُؤْمِنُواْ إِلاَّ لِمَن تَبِعَ دِينَكُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ الْهُدَى هُدَى اللّهِ أَن يُؤْتَى أَحَدٌ مِّثْلَ مَا أُوتِيتُمْ أَوْ يُحَآجُّوكُمْ عِندَ رَبِّكُمْ قُلْ إِنَّ الْفَضْلَ بِيَدِ اللّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

Wa laa tu'minoo illaa liman-tabi`a deenakum. Qul innal hudaa hudalLaahi an yutaaa ahadun mithla maa awteetum aw yuhaajookum `inda Rabbikum. Qul innal fazla bi yadilLaah; yooteehi man yashaa·; walLaahu waasiun `aleem.

Believe none except those who follow your own religion.' Say: 'The true guidance is the Guidance of Allah - that anyone should be given the like of what you have been given, or dispute with you before your Lord.' Say: 'Bounty is in the Hand of Allah.' He gives it to whomsoever He will. Allah is the Embracer, the Knower. (3:73)

Allah said, wa laa tu'minoo, don't trust except those who are of your own belief and religion. Because if they were in the time of the Prophet (s), how much were they against the Prophet (s)'s message? Don't trust. You work, okay. You deal business, you deal business. You work with them, okay. But when it comes to religion, no way. They will never accept your religion and you will never accept their religion. You cannot convince them. Speak to your own people. Are you trying to convince them? They are not going to accept Muhammad (s). (Mawlana Shaykh Hisham stands). So what is the responsibility of today's Muslim scholars? What are their responsibilities? And every time, in every period of time, the responsibilities change. It is not the same. Today scholars' responsibility is one important thing and if they don't do it. Dr. Jamal, they are mistaken. They have to correct their belief, their `aqeedah, to learn how to pray, fast, pay zakaat and make hajj. You can learn that from books. As everyone from Internet considers himself a scholar, you can research and get information. But what is our responsibility as Muslims to do? They are discussing Islam and banking, Islam and haraam food, Islam and polygamy, Islam and psychology, Islam and herbal medicine, Islam and science. Leave that. Now we need one thing. If we focus as a whole ummah on it, then everyone will understand our position.

Look at the Christians. What did they say about Sayyidina `Isa (as)? What did they say? They said, "He is the son of God." Why did they say that? Because they want to give it to the Jews. Sayyidina `Isa (as) came after Sayyidina Musa (a) and he was kaleemullah, speaks with Allah. So they wanted to go higher than that and to say, "O you have kaleemullah? We have the son of God." They are getting back at them, saying, "Now the ball is in your court, go get it." How is the Jewish community going to answer? They cannot. So the Christians were clever. 

And Allah (swt) said:

وَإِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ أَأَنتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقّ ٍ إِنْ كُنتُ قُلْتُه ُُ فَقَدْ عَلِمْتَه ُُ تَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِي وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ مَا فِي نَفْسِكَ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ

wa 'idh qaala allaahu yaa `eesá 'bna maryama a'anta qulta li '-naasi attakhidhoonee wa ummiya ilahayni min doonillahi qaala subĥaanaka maa yakoonu lee an aqoola maa laysa lee biĥaqqin in kuntu qultuhu faqad `alimtahu ta`lamu maa fee nafsee wa laa a`lamu maa fee nafsika innaka anta `allaamu al-ghuyoob.

And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection), "O 'Isa, son of Maryam! Did you say to men, 'Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?'" He will say,"Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right. Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner ­self, though I do not know what is in Yours! Truly only You are the Knower of all that is Hidden and Unseen. (Al-Ma'idah 5:116)

"Did you say to the people take you and your mother as gods besides Me, min doonillah?" He said, "No my Lord, I didn't." Doesn't Allah know what he said? But they wanted to give back to the Jews, to hit them hard. How you can hit them back? So our belief is that we have to shoot higher than the Christians, to show the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). That is our duty, not to leave that topic and go to so many other topics. For what? The important topic to be said today, at least in these conferences, is for one speaker to stand up and describe the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Kun fayakoon! That is our duty today. As much as we praise Sayyidina Muhammad (s), so much is Allah (swt) happy with us. 

That is what we were saying in the beginning: you have to give time to what Allah loves. We said that Allah loves salaat, but Allah put the salaat in Sayyidina Muhammad (s) when He said:

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

inn Allaha wa malaa`ikaatuhu yussalloona `ala 'n-Nabi, yaa ayyuha alladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was-sallimoo tasleemah.

Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet. O you that believe! Send blessings on him, and salute him with all respect. (33:56)

Allah and His angels are praying for the Prophet (s) and praising him and raising him higher and higher. Allah is saying, "I am raising My beloved one!" And you can look at the ayah: Inn Allah wa malaikatahu yusalloon `ala an-nabi, that is one. The second part is, yaa ayyuha alladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was-sallimoo tasleemah, "O you who believe! Praise him." For the first part of the ayah, we don't know from when Allah was praising His Prophet (s). Since when? Allah and His angels are praising Prophet (s), continuously, which means fa`l mudara`, future time. It is in future tense, according to Arabic linguistics. This means, from the time where there is no beginning, Allah (swt) is praising His Holy Prophet (s). And when Allah created His angels, He ordered them to praise the Prophet (s). 

So it means, what does Allah (swt) like the most, in the salaat? The salaat of the Prophet (s). And what did Allah say in the second part of the verse: yaa ayyuha alladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi? Why didn't He say, yaa ayyuhal Muslimeen salloo `alayhi? Why did He say, aamanoo, "those who believe"? It means: "O Muslims! You don't yet know the importance of My beloved one (s). O you Mu'min! You are believers. You are those who know his value. Praise him! As I have ordered My angels to praise him, you praise him. Because there are going to come some Muslims who say that praising the Prophet (s) is too much, that it is shirk." You have to be very careful. Every letter in the Holy Qur'an means something. That is why we have to be very careful in reading the Qur'an. Where you stop and don't stop, makes major changes in the meaning. So we have to be careful.

That's why Allah (swt) said, "O Believers! You will not attain to piety and goodness until you give of what you love," which is time, as you cannot stretch your life. You get money or don't; as long as you are getting pleasure you don't care for money. So what is important to you is your lifetime. You cannot take someone else's lifetime. So you want to spend your beloved time in what you like. But Allah (swt) wants what He likes. 

So our duty today, the duty and obligation of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaat is to explain to the young audience, who don't know, about the importance and greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in our lives. That is what is important - not to make suicide bombing or fight behind cement blocks, shooting with machine guns. No, Allah doesn't need your help. Allah is powerful . You have no right to create fitnah.

The Prophet (s) said:

"Fitnah is going to be coming down like chunks of dark nights falling on Earth."
He also said, "The one sitting will be better than the one standing, and the one standing will be better than one who is walking. At that time, take your sword and break it on stone."

When the fitnah comes, sit at home and break your sword or hit the rock to empty your anger, to take your anger out on it. In a short while a big fitnah is coming, as one of the Signs of the Last Days that all people will be fighting over, and what is that fitnah? Now there is going to come on Earth a very big fitnah. Save yourself, if you are clever! That is dormant, as the Prophet (s) said, "Fitnah is sleeping; Allah curses who wakes it." So we have to pull out from fitnah. And what is that? You cannot keep declaring war on each other. You can't keep throwing nuclear weapons from right and left, or you will destroy the whole world. They can't do that. They are going to fight each other with money! They are going to destroy the money by "dumping" lots of currency in the market to bring the value down, then the other currency gets valuable and some countries will not be happy. Gold is now above US $1400 per ounce! All this is coming and slowly you are going to see it. They are threatening to destroy each other by devaluing the other's currency. Listen to the news. Why did President Obama go to South Korea? Because China (which holds US debt in US Treasury bonds) is threatening to sell the US dollar (those bonds) for pennies on the dollar!

So our duty is to back up and be silent. The only thing to stand for is to show the greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s); that will save us! And Allah (swt) said:

 يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ 

yaa ayyuha alladheena aamanoo salloo `alayh,
O you that believe! Send blessings on him.

Praise the Prophet (s)! Now you are not seeing him. You are saying, "allahuma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad" in an unseen, absent, ghayb way. Is that absent way similar to a live way? No. People watch TV today and it is written, "live". Do you like to see it "live" or do you prefer to see a re-run? No, like the live one because the re-run loses its taste. As Muslims, we are saying it in absence; we are not seeing the Prophet (s). But if you can say the salawaat on Prophet live! That is why Allah said, yaa ayyuha alladheena aamanoo, meaning "those who can see it live."

قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَإِن تُطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَا يَلِتْكُم مِّنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ شَيْئًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Qaalati al-a`rabu aamanna qul lam tuminoo wa laakin qooloo aslamna wa alammaa yadkhuli aleemanu fee quloobikum wain tutee`oo Allaha wa rasoolahu laa yalitkum min a`malikum shayan inna Allaha ghafoorun raheem

The desert Arabs say, "We believe." Say, "Ye have no faith; but ye (only)say, 'We have submitted our wills to Allah,' For not yet has Faith entered your hearts. But if ye obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not be little aught of your deeds: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (49:14)

"Don't say, 'We believed'. You are not believers yet! But say you are Muslims." Yes, it's correct. If they say, ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasoolullah, they are Muslim and they enter Paradise. This is not a discussion. All people who accept Allah's Oneness and Prophet's (s) messengerhood enter Paradise, there is no question about that. But if you want higher rewards, don't say, "We are mu'min" say, "We are Muslim." Stand by your limits. When the live broadcast opens to you, then you are a mu'min. The mu'min is the one who can see what people cannot see, hear what people cannot hear, and speak what people cannot speak. That is a mu'min!

Some linguists describe insaan as haywanun naatiq, "the talking animal". This is because you didn't yet reach a higher level than the level of insaan. The level above is more subtle; then ego is gone from you. When the bad desires are gone, then you can be higher than a talking animal and you become a subtle human being, or else you fall. Sayyidina Adam (a) is a prophet. Is he not able to see the realtiy of Iblees? But because he is carrying all Creation in his back, we are all coming from him. So we moved him to eat from the tree, as he is innocent, ma`soom. (He ate because of our sins and wild character.) That is why in Arabic, 'human being' is insaan. Insaan is from nisyaan, forgetfulness, "the one who forgets". Doctor, if you don't forget, you will not be able to live. You do something bad, it bothers you for a while and then it fades and then you cycle down. But Believers cannot forget and that is why they are always in sajdah, remembering their Lord throughout their lives. They know what they have done is not accepted. So there is a big difference between a Muslim and a believer, mu'min. 

So what is our job? It is to speak about the greatness of the Prophet (s); he must be our hero! He is Seal of the Prophets (s) and as Sayyidina Imam al-Busayri (q) said, "Muhammad is a human being but not like us: he is a gem and human beings are pebbles, rocks." That is a big difference. That means one is living and the others have no life. Which one is more important? The one to whom Allah gave life. Allah dressed him with noor and with His Beautiful Names and Attributes. You think he can go to qaaba qawsayn al-adna without having been prepared to go to that station? Allah dressed him with His Beautiful Names and Attributes and then he was able to go to that Divine Presence!

May Allah forgive us and may Allah bless us, and may Allah forgive us again.

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