Humility Is a Divine Gift
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
10 December 2010 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
`Isha Suhbah in Private Residence
(Beginning of suhbah is in Arabic.)
As-salaam `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakutuh. As-sallamun, to you all kind viewers. as-salaamu `ala `ibaadullah as-saaliheen alladheena yadhkuroona Allah qiyaaman wa qu`oodan wa `ala junoobihim. as-salaam `alaykum ayyuhal hadiroon, .. narjoo minka an najma` ma`k ya sayyidee yaa Rasoolullah, fee maqam al-kashf fee maqam al-ru'ya. We hope that Prophet (s) will allow us to be with him through vision or reality, to see his shining face. We are weak servants. We are hoping for Allah's forgiveness. We are asking forgiveness from Allah (swt) and from Prophet (s). Narju an nara thak al-wajh al-mushriq bi noorillah. wa narju rahamtullah wa maghfiratah.
Allah said:
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
wa law annahum idh dhalamoo anfusahum jaaooka wastaghfirallah, wastaghfara lahum ar-rasoola la-wajadoolaha tawaaban raheema.
If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (an-Nisa, 4:64)
ad-duny jeefatun wa tulabuha kilabuha - this life is a corpse and those who seek it are its dogs.
May Allah take away our sins and let us enter from the Door of Sincerity. This world is nothing; its seekers are dogs. Sultan hadhihi dunya la tazin `indallah janaha ba`ooda. bal bi maghfiratih. wa bi jahi Sayyidina Muhammad (s) wa bi awliyaullah wa khasatan bi Mawlana Shaykh Nazim huwa ghawth al-wilaya wa qutb ... huw a`alamoo bi haalina wa laa na`lam haalihi. We cannot depend on our actions but on the Mercy of Allah. May Allah give us from the honor of our shaykhs, especially from the honor of our shaykh, Shaykh Nazim (q).He knows our states and we do not know his state.
O Believers! O Mu'mins! We are asking Allah to bring us into the presence of the Prophet Muhammad (s)! (Mawlana Shaykh Hisham stands) tawassul du`a. nahnu fee ibtida al-sannah al-mubarak. We are at the beginning of the year, the migration of the Prophet (s) from Mecca to Madinatu 'l-Munawwara with his best friend and companion, Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r). And the best of praises and blessings on you who is the closest to Prophet, his khalifah, and you testified to the truth of his message! May Allah bring us with Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) and with Sayyidina `Umar al-Farooq (r), who divided between truth and falsehood, and who is the father-in-law of the Prophet (s). Salawaat and salaam on Sayyidina `Uthman ibn `Affan (r), the possessor of two lights and the gatherer of the Qu'ran who gave from his money. And as-salaat wa 's-salaam on Sayyidina `Ali, karamAllah wahjahu, may Allah ennoble his face, about whom the Prophet (s), "I am the city of knowledge and `Ali is its door." Prayers and peace upon Sayyidina `Ali (r)! Salawaat and salaam on the two Shabab ahl al-Jannah, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (r)! Prayers and peace to the wives (r) of Prophet.
We ask Allah (swt) to make this year to be of good tidings, providence and spiritual openings. We are at the threshold of the Prophet (s), asking Allah (swt) not to look at our `amal but to forgive us with His mercy. As we were just singing, Rabbee ta`ala silnee, "My Lord is Exalted, Allah, the Most High! Please connect me, time has been long." Ta`ala means, "He is above everything." Above what? Above where there is no above; He is above that "above." Fawqa maa siwaa ta`ala `amma siwaahu means, "He is above any Creation." He created the smallest or the biggest, and He is above them all. How much above no one knows; no mind can comprehend how much above. At the office I can say, "I am above him," as he is the manager and I am the chairman. I am above him, like he is on the moon and I am on the sun. He is above me: he is on the sun and I am on the moon. For everything there is an "above," but not for Allah (swt) as He is above what He created. Rabbee silnee, "O Allah, connect me!" With what? It means, "Because my love for You and my waiting for that connection went for so long and I cannot bear it any longer; silnee, connect me!" He connects anyone who is asking and He disconnects anyone who doesn't like to be connected.
al-`ahdu taal means, "the time became too long." al-`Ahd means, "the promise or time assigned to me to be in the Divine Presence became too long and I cannot bear it anymore, not to be with Him." Although no one can be there, we are referring to being in the Divine Presence.
O Muslims! We are speaking something today and yesterday we spoke of something else. We cannot control ourselves; we repeat it every time. We are a box and in that box are some electronic devices. We receive, we speak. Whatever we receive, we are transmitting because it is needed at that moment. If you complain, you are complaining about the source. I am not the source, I am just a toy in their hands. If they wind me up, I move; they put in the battery, I talk. If there is no battery, then we are worse and lower than anyone. Whatever you need, I need. Don't look at what I said yesterday or before yesterday, because that was for yesterday. You took ibrah, an example, so if you learned a lesson, that is what was meant at that moment.
Allah (swt) said:
كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ
Kulla yawmin huwa fee sha'an.
Every day He is bringing about a new matter. (55:29)
kulla yawmin huwa fee sha'an means that Allah's power to create brings Creations that no one can describe or know. Allah (swt) is not like humans, He created humans! What is the most difficult, most complex Creation in this universe? Angels? Jinns? (Human beings?) He said, human being. You see, is there any higher than you? Of course there is no higher than human beings, but is there a Creation more complex than human beings that we know of?
The creation of Heavens and Earth is indeed greater than the creation of Mankind, yet most of Mankind know not. (40:57)
The creation of Heavens and Earth is greater, more complex, than the creation of Mankind. And yet we don't understand about ourselves; scientists say we only understand 2% of ourselves. Then how can the creation of Heavens and Earth be understood? Whatever you as a lab researcher, scientist or lawyer are reaching is nothing. Look, this is on Earth, and compared to this fan it is so small. The whole Earth and solar system and the first galaxy that we are in, is nothing compared to the universe. So Allah said, "This Earth doesn't even weigh the weight of a mosquito," which also means, don't give importance to something that is zail.They give you a plate of food; you eat, eat, and eat, then after five minutes, it is finished. Or if you have a treasure and you keep taking from it, it will be finished. That is why various movements try to ban the killing whales, fish or animals, because they will become extinct. And there are creations that never stop, Allah's Creation. You last only 70-80 years and then you go. Allah is teaching you a lesson.
When Qabil killed his brother, Habil, Allah taught him through the bird how to dig and bury his brother. That is where we are going. Whether you live 10 or 80 years, you are going back to Allah (swt). Someone asked the shaykh, "Should I do an operation?" He said, "No," and the next that person died. They came to ask the shaykh about it and he said, "He went from this life to His Lord. What is the problem?" Prophet (s)said, "Ask Allah to give you long life in order to do more worship." We do not seek a long life to do less worship!
What we spoke yesterday is for yesterday and it is finished. If you like to take it, you take it; if you don't like it, then don't take. You are still our brother and we still respect you and we raise you on our heads, which is why we say "Your Highness (Raja Ashman)." That is why we don't want to see you run away.
So today it is a different approach, because all humans, yulid al-insanu `ala al-fitra, are born on innocence. That means all of you are innocent when born, which means that we are all equal. And with shafa`a, he brings us back as if we have no sin.What do you want more than that? So be happy!
Tariqah is not easy; if you enter you are going to be beaten up. Don't think tariqah is going to give you candies! No, it's sour, it give you the most difficult time in your life. That is the way of akaabir, they carried heavey burdens. Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said, "The time when I'm in complete joy and complete happiness with my mureed is when I shout at him and give him a hard time in front of people, and his love towards me never changes." That is what awliyaullah like: someone that whatever the shaykh says to him, his heart is still in love with the shaykh, or else it is not true love. Is this correct? For example, some people’s wives give them a hard time.What do they do? They still love them and call them like Romeo calls Juliet: ding, ding, ding, "Juliet! Please come out, I want to see you!” Is it not? “Ay Juliet! Juliet! Juliet, please!” (Shaykh Hisham says this to Hajjah Naziha) (laughter). It means, whatever the shaykh brings against you; he might even bring everyone to attack you, and he will check your heart to see if your love is changing or not. If it does not change, you will take your trust from the Prophet (s)! They crush you! They don't use a grinding machine; that is easy, as that only grinds the meat. But they also have a machine to grind bones, as well. If you are not yet crushed, you are not yet in tariqah; you are only a muhib, lover. So the mashaykh like that character in their mureed. They throw one to the front lines to say "this and that" to people and to throw confusion, and they observe the reaction.
Sayyidina Abu Yazid al-Bistami (q) was ordered by the Prophet (s), through his shaykh, "O Bayazid! You have to test your patience." When he was asking, "Ya Rabb! Open your door," and worshipping day and night, the answer came to him, saying, "O, you want to open the door? Then go make yourself a dump for My servants. Go to where people throw their garbage and carry their burdens." When awliyaullah shout and choose someone to be on the front line, they want someone to throw burdens. And they might choose you or they might choose him; every day a different one. So when he was told to carry the dump, he began to go to different cities and create confusion in order to have stones thrown at him, so people will say he is crazy. Okay, I am crazy; my shaykh sent me to the front lines to be crazy, to test people. So what I said yesterday is something; and what is coming now is that whatever I said yesterday is going to be like a drop of sweetness compared to what we are going to say today! Compared to what we are going to speak, we might say, "No problem, I am forgiving because of the good tidings that Allah is giving to us." And that is the hadeeth of Prophet (s). (Mawlana opens a book.) Yes, from the book; taking from the book is necessary because we don't want to make a mistake. Allah, Allah.
Abu Darda’ (r) said that the Holy Prophet (s) said:
"On the Day of Judgment, Allah Almighty will resurrect some people with shining light on their faces. They will be sitting on pulpits made of pearls and the other people will envy them. They will neither be prophets nor martyrs." (Hearing this) a Bedouin bent down to his knees saying, "O, Holy Prophet of Allah Almighty! Please describe these people so that we may recognize them." The Holy Prophet said, "They are the people who, regardless of their connection to different tribes and countries, love each other for the sake of Allah Almighty and gather together to remember Him." (Tabarani)
On Judgment Day, Allah is going to bring aqwaaman, many groups of people, and fee wujuhim an-noor, they have light in their faces. Is it this light or is it a flashlight, or is it Allahu nurus-samawati wal-ard, "Allah is the Light of Heavens and Earth." (24:35) These people will be carrying the Light of Allah in their faces and they will be able to see Heavens in their faces. These are special groups. If you are from that group, I can look in your face and see my place in Heavens. Laa hawla wa laa quwatta illa billahu nurus-samawaati wal-`ard! They are standing on minbars made from pearls, not wood. Yaghbitahumun-naas, "the people will envy them;" not all of them are going to be like that, so be happy! Good tidings!
What was yesterday is now finished. Your Highness, you are on my head. Yesterday is yesterday and we like to see you!
Laysa bi anbiyaan wa la shuhada, "they are not prophets nor martyrs." At this moment, a Bedouin from the desert, who had an open-heart, said, Yaa Rabbee! Silnee. "O my Lord! Connect me!" The time has been too long now; I want to see you! That `Arabi said to the Prophet (s), yaa Sayyidee, sif hum lana, "Yaa Sayyidee, describe them to us, as we love them now, in order that we know them." What did the Prophet (s) say? Hum al-mutahaaboon min qabail shattan wa biladan shatta, "They are the ones who love one another from different groups and tribes and nations; from different countries." Allahu Akbar! They are of different countries; they are not from the same countries. That means Muslims are going to be scattered over countries. What will they do? They gather on dhikrullah and they remember their Lord. It was narrated by at-Tabarani with a good chain. And this is where you are now. What are you doing? How many countries are represented here now? Go to Europe and you will see hundreds of different ethnicities, or go to Mawlana Shaykh Nazim in Cyprus where you will see 200 countries represented! So this is good tidings that must make everyone happy.
Wa `an umar ibn `ambasa sami`tu rasulullah yaqul `an yameenir-rahmani, and 'Umar ibn `Ambasa (r) said, "I heard the Prophet (s) say, 'From the Right Hand of Allah,'" which means the Prophet (s) is standing on the right of Allah (swt). And you are ummat an-nabi! Where will you be standing? With him! You want to remember our problems? Forget about it, as this is good tidings. This is what we are expecting this year, to be mutahaboon, to be loving each other. And Allah's both hands are right, not one is right and one is left. It is a description to understand, not something to interpret literally; the anthropomorphists make literal interpretations. The people of Allah's Right Hand, `ala yameen ar-rahman, are not prophets and they are not martyrs. From the whiteness of their faces, people will faint, they cannot carry it. Qeela ya rasulullah aw wujuhahum nadhr an-nadhireen, qala yagbitahum an-nabiyyeen wash-shuhada bi qurbatihim lillah, "The prophets and martyrs will envy them for their nearness to Allah."
O Attenders! Viewers! Mawlana told us to read. And Allah said in the first verse of the Holy Qur'an, iqra bismi rabbik alladhee khalaq, "Read in the Name of thy Lord, Who created." (96:1) That means, read the hadeeth of Prophet (s) and extract meanings that no one else extracted before! You are extracting from the sultan of awliya, who's knowledge is fresh. His knowledge comes to him fresh, although he also has old knowledge, but he also has fresh knowledge that he gives to his followers who represent him east and west, especially those three khulafah that I mentioned: Shaykh Muhammad, Shaykh Adnan, and I forgot my name! (laughter)
And they said, "Yaa Rasoolullah, who are these people?" He said, "They are groups of different tribes; they gather together on dhikrullah." What are we doing here? Fa yantaqoon atayyab al-kalaam, "They search for the best words to speak." The best words after Holy Qur'an are the words of Prophet (s). As you select the best fruit when you have guests, when these people sit for dhikrullah, that is the best they can do in their lives. And that is narrated by at-Tabarani, also.
I think that is enough, 45 minutes; we will continue tomorrow. This is what we are really in and that is why awliyaullah insist on dhikrullah. Dhikr is maha adh-dhunoob, "the eraser of sins." I would like to add on this one more thing, excuse me. I mentioned it in the Jumu`ah khutbah today and I would like to mention it another time so we may understand the importance of humbleness, to be humble, not to say to ourselves we are doing dhikr, we are doing something big. Allah is giving us His rahmat. We must do more. Don't say, "I am the leader of dhikr," or, "I am khalifah." Be normal. Be humble. We are sitting on a couch. If there is a mattress, we both go sit on a mattress, as that is a sign of humbleness. But it is still not humbleness because the mattress is above the floor and you are telling yourself, "O, I left the couch and sat on the mattress." No, from the beginning your place is on the floor, not on the mattress and not on the couch. Look how delicate tariqah is!
One person stayed with al-Junayd (q), one of the biggest scholar and wali during the Abbasi time, and that person was of a very high level. He was a very important person in the community, and he was the student of the shaykh for 20 years. Those who serve the shaykh say, "O we are serving the shaykh, taking people up and down." Ah, we were not going to talk about that today. They think, people who are serving the shaykh, they are something. No, this man who was the foremost person in his community, was helping his shaykh and his community. And he said, "O my shaykh! I didn't benefit in any way in this tariqah." As some people like to say, "We see jinn and we are ghost-busters and angels and ghost awliya," (laughter) and they begin to give titles to themselves as soon as they enter the tariqah. And that person was confessing to his shaykh: "For 20 years I didn't get anything from you." As soon as he said that, al-Junayd knew he had kibr, arrogance in his heart.
If you go to the shaykh and say, "I didn't get anything," whether you get or not, the shaykh is not in need for your favor. If he accepts your invitation, your dinner, it is for you, not for him, as you will get the reward. We are eating, yes, but you are getting the rewards. Many come to tariqah and ask for kashf; what al-Junayd taught his student will teach him kashf ("unveiling;" when the heart is illumined and you see what is Unseen). Does anyone here want kashf? Raise your hand. (One person raises hand.) She wants to see what you don't see.
So al-Junayd (q) said, "Take a basket and fill it with walnuts."
He said, "Okay, yes, that is an easy test. I will fill hundreds of baskets, of course I will do that."
"Then sit by the door of the khaniqah," or ribat, dergah, siraawa. In Arabic we say ribat, or in Malay, pesantren. "Sit at the door and tell the people who are coming to see the shaykh, 'Whoever hits me on my head one time with his shoes, I will give him one walnut. And whoever hits me two times with his shoes, I will give him two walnuts.' If you do that, then you are okay, when people hit you or beat you with their shoes on your head until you finish all the walnuts, then we will see another story for you."
And the man, who was the head of his community, said, "Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammad Rasoolullah!" in an angry way.
You know, when Muslims become angry they say, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammad Rasoolullah, or, la hawla wa la quwatta illa billah. That means, "I am angry from everything!"
So he said, "Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammad Rasoolullah! I cannot do that. I got angry."
Then al-Junayd (q) said, "If this blessed word is said by a kaafir who reached 70 years of age, accepting it from a good heart, he will become Muslim and all his sins will be gone. But because you said it now in this way, with anger, you became a kaafir in the eyes of awliyaullah, not in the eyes of Shari`ah but in the eyes of tariqah, and you didn't pass your test." It means, "Because you said it in this way, it shows you have arrogance in your heart. You were not able to bring down your ego and step on it."
That is the meaning of tariqah. Awliyaullah teach you how to be humble. He said, "You lost your tariqah!" So we have to be very careful when the shaykhs make tests. You don't know how the test begins and how it ends. Be attentive, open your mind, and open your heart.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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