Humility Is the Key
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
17 October 2009 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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.
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)
This life, Shaykh Salman Yunus (event host), it is one or the other. You are combining two prophets: Sayyidina Sulayman (a) and Sayyidina Yunus (a), combining richness and spirituality. Sayyidina Sulayman (a) was the rich prophet and Sayyidina Yunus (a) was in difficulties. He was abused by his people; Allah (swt) sent 200,000 people against him and that’s why Sayyidina Yunus (a) made a du’a against his people and Allah (swt) made the whale to swallow him. So anyone who has the name Salman and Yunus at the same time, he has richness and he has difficulties. So one side he will face richness, and the other side there is too much struggle. And I am seeing that on Shaykh Salman Yunus. There is one side alhamdulillah Allah (swt) gave him, but on the other side there is a continuous struggle that most of the people can encounter in their lives. And struggles always come from envy and jealousy, because Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur’an:
وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ...wa min sharree haasideen idhaa hasad.
And from the evilness of the one who gets jealous or envies you. (Suratu ‘l-Falaq 113:5)
Some people become successful quickly and their friends and families envy them. That is very problematic for people. But all this can be solved, by keeping one leg in richness, wealth, and one leg in akhira. You cannot take one way and leave the other. So that’s why when Allah (swt) is generous with you, you have to be generous with His servants, which means to help them. A smile is a help, a talk is a help, an advice is a help. Not everything is money, money, money. Anything that makes the other feel happy is a help. And that’s why awliyaaullah’s help is always to make people happy; it is not for any advantage or benefit, no. For them the responsibility is to present their followers to the presence of Prophet (s), that they are content and satisfied in their lives.
And as we said in the Sultan Mosque, the most important thing is humbleness. You can see in people’s reaction how humble they are. They don’t speak about what they have done; they hide it. Because what you do is for Allah (swt), it’s not for your name to be engraved on a plaque, hung on the walls of the mosque where you enter. Or when you go to a hospital you see many names of donors inscribed, “This emergency room was given by this one. Prince this, prince that, president this, president that.” For what? You are give charity for people to see it or for Allah (swt) to be happy with you? You are giving it for Allah (swt) to be happy with you! Doesn’t Allah (swt) know you did that? He knows! So what is the benefit when you put your name there?
When they are on minbar Rasulullahi (s) to give the jumu’ah khutbah, many scholars think they are the most respected ones and that no one is above them. When you go with such an attitude, Allah (swt) will not respect you and He will lower your level in the Heavenly Presence. In the dunya presence people say, “O, this one is high.” But in akhira, this one is the lowest. That’s why Prophet (s) said to be careful from the munafikoon ‘ulama (hypocrite scholars), because their tongues are so eloquent but their hearts are so ignorant. They don’t respect others, and what they say to people, they don’t practice: they do the opposite. Allah (swt) knows that. So that’s why it’s very difficult for us to go on minbar Rasulullahi (s), on his holy pulpit, climbing the stairs and giving advise to people when we are not following that advice! So that arrogance brings to us Allah’s (swt) punishment. Arrogance is when you see yourself as, “I did this, I did that.”
Iblees did a lot of prayers, but he was proud of his prayers, he was arrogant. A lot of sajdah he made to Allah (swt), so many! He was the best worshipper amongst the angels in Paradise. When Allah (swt) said, “Make sajdah to Adam (a),” his arrogance killed him and he said, “No, I’m not doing that.” It means that when someone comes to you and you see yourself as the highest, and you are asked to respect that poor person or bow your head to him, (your reaction is,) “Me? I’m the president, I’m the head of the country. I’m a minister, I’m a businessman; how can I humble myself to that one??? I cannot!” So what will happen? He will be taking the characteristics of Iblees and worse, because in every moment a curse is coming on those characteristics! Do you think that it was only one curse when Allah (swt) cursed Iblees? It’s not one curse: it’s a continuous curse coming every moment on him!!! More curses are coming and accumulating, because he is running after Allah’s (swt) servants! So Allah (swt) cleans His servants and dumps that pollution on Iblees! Muslims who pray the five times prayer and do something wrong, Allah (swt) will clean His servants and dump that sin on Iblees, because we say la ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah. So make your daily word la ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah, and Allah (swt) will save you.
So the worst thing you get is the characteristics of Iblees which are a curse, although eventually that curse will clean you. But you don’t want to be in that shamed position by saying, “I did this.” We all do it and that’s why we have to keep asking Allah (swt) for forgiveness. So anyone who takes that arrogant position and says they cannot be humble is cursed, and might feel these traces of Allah’s (swt) unhappiness. So when Allah (swt) said to Prophet (s), “Yaa Muhammad (s), you have to take Jibreel (a) to come to Me,” Prophet didn’t say no. He didn’t say, “Sayyidina Musa (a) speaks with you directly and I am better than him; I am the Seal of Prophets (s)! You gave me that title! How can I accept to go with Jibreel (a)? I want to speak to You directly.” He didn’t say like Sayyidina Musa (a).
وَوَاعَدْنَا
مُوسَى ثَلاَثِينَ لَيْلَةً وَأَتْمَمْنَاهَا بِعَشْرٍ فَتَمَّ مِيقَاتُ
رَبِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً وَقَالَ مُوسَى لأَخِيهِ هَارُونَ
اخْلُفْنِي فِي قَوْمِي وَأَصْلِحْ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ سَبِيلَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ وَلَمَّا
جَاء مُوسَى لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي
أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ قَالَ لَن تَرَانِي وَلَـكِنِ انظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ
فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ
لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ موسَى صَعِقًا فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ
سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
And when We appointed for Moses thirty nights (of solitude) and added to them ten, and he completed the whole time appointed by his Lord of forty nights. And Moses said unto his brother, Aaron, “Take my place among the people. Do right, and follow not the way of mischief-makers.” And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst and his Lord had spoken unto him, he said, “My Lord! Show me (Your Self) that I may gaze upon You.” He said, “You will not see Me, but gaze upon the mountain! If it stands still in its place, then you will see Me.” And when his Lord revealed (His) glory to the mountain, He sent it crashing down and Moses fell down senseless and when he awoke, he said, “Glory unto You! I turn to You repentant and I am the first of (true) believers.” (Surata ‘l-Araaf 7:142-143)
Sayyidina Musa (a) worshipped Allah for thirty days in seclusion. Allah called him to Tursina and ordered him into seclusion to prepare to receive the divine message, then he continued with ten more days. After completing the seclusion Sayyidina Musa (a) felt he could ask for something bigger, because he thought the package of extra worship he carried will give him an advantage to see Allah (swt). He said, “Yaa Rabbee, let me see You.” How can you ask Allah (swt) such a question? Allah (swt) said, “No you cannot! With whatever you bring, you cannot see Me.”
Sayyidina Muhammad (s) since childhood not only completed forty days of seclusion; his entire life was a seclusion, and even he didn’t ask, “Yaa Rabbee, let me see You!” He said, Yaa Rabbee, sam’ina wa `at’ana, “We listen and we believe and we obey!” when Allah (swt) said, “Yaa Muhammad (s), take Jibreel (a) as a guide,” Prophet (s) didn’t say, “No.” Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “Yaa Rabbee, I spoke with You directly, so let me see You.” Do you see the difference? Prophet (s) went through the humble way.
That’s why it is recommended to go through humility, to humble yourself, and you loose your hump. Do you know what a hump is? When you are driving on the street you have these speed bumps, humps. In Singapore they write “Hump”. So hump is like humble. Humble yourself means to throw your hump. So everyone has a hump, like a camel. But the camel cannot see his hump. We also cannot see our hump, that is the problem. A lot of dirty humps we have on our backs and we say, “O, we want everything, we have to be a wali.”
Do you think that it is easy to become a wali? Do you think that it is easy to lead a community? You spend your life playing golf and polo. I’m sorry, it’s coming on my mouth; Mawlana Shaykh is sending it and I cannot stop it. Wasting your life, entertaining yourself in every way. And you say about yourself that you are a wali or, “I am the son of a wali,” or “I am this or that.” No, it doesn’t work like that. It works how much you are progressing in the way of Allah (swt). You cannot say, “I am respected in the community, so it means that whatever I say are heavenly words.” No, people know about you! You cannot hide your personality. You cannot hide your self. Your life from childhood was running after entertainment. You cannot come now and declare that you are a wali. Being a wali is not so easy. Becoming a wali happens from lowering the self and humbling yourself. The more you humble yourself, the more Allah (swt) raises you.
When Prophet (s) humbled himself, Allah (swt) raised him during Laylat al-Mir`aj, the Night of Ascension. Sayyidina Jibreel (a) wasn’t able to go as far as Prophet (s), who didn’t need a guide. But Allah (swt) wanted to test him, and can Prophet (s) be tested? Yes, he is a prophet and all prophets were tested. Like Sayyidina Yusuf (a); all his brothers were prophets, and what did they do to him? First they wanted to kill him, then they put him in the well, although they were prophets. So don’t expect that people will not harm you! There is a lot of jealousy and envy! Allah (swt) said:
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ - Qul a’oodhu bi Rabb il-falaq.
Say: I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak. (113:1)
Say I seek refuge in Allah who created Creation. The falaq is the Big Bang, if you can say that; the split. Falaq means, “He splits,” and this universe appeared. Qul a’oodhu bi Rabbil falaq, “I seek refuge in the One Who split.” (Mawlana gestures a split with his hands). They say in the Big Bang it was closed and then expanded (Mawlana puts his hands together and then pushes them apart). So it is mentioned in Surata ‘l-Falaq, falaq ash-shay means, “Split and the fruit came out.” The universe came out after that split.
مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ - Min sharree maa khalaq.
From the evil of what He has created. (113:2)
“I am seeking refuge in Allah (swt), Who created this universe, from the evilness of whom He created,” which means He also created these evil powers.
وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ
وَمِن شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ - Wa min sharree ghaa siqin idha wa qab. Wa min sharreen-naffassaa tee fil `uqad. Wa min sharree haasideen idha hasad.
And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or the moon as it sets or wanes). And from the evil of those who practice witchcraft when they blow on the knots. And from the evil of the envier when he envies. (113:3-5)
In this surah Allah (swt) mentions different levels, until at the end He mentions those who perform black magic. Today, people still perform black magic. Of course they do, although some say, “There is no black magic.” No, there definitely is black magic, they even performed black magic on Prophet (s). That’s why this surah came. When you reach the end, it means the highest. Wa min sharree haasideen idha hasad, “And from the evilness from the one who envies.” So that evilness comes from arrogance. Why should I envy you? Because I cannot have what you have. So my arrogance doesn’t allow me to be happy and content with what I have and I want what you have. And everyone looks at the other has and they want it. If Allah (swt) wants you to have it, you will. Why do you criticize your brother or sister that they have and you don’t have? It might be what Allah (swt) gave you is a hundred times more than what your brother has, but still your eye is always hungry!
I hear people say they married Miss Universe, meaning they married the most beautiful lady. If their eyes are hungry, they might look at the ugliest and consider her more beautiful than Miss Universe. Isn’t it? Does it happen or not? Hunger does not leave you content. You want more, you want more, you want more. Say, “Alhamdulillah, Allah (swt) gave me, I retire, I dedicate my life to Allah (swt) now.” But our mistake and our problem is that our eyes can never accept submission. They are always hungry and there is only one thing that makes them full. Do you know what that is? One food makes our eyes full; all other foods keep our eyes hungry. Only one food that Allah (swt) gave to humanity makes your eyes down and solves the problem. What is that? It is the soil or dirt they put on your eyes when you die! Finish, (when they put you in the grave) you have no more desire! The grave cuts your desires. That’s why Sayyidina Muhammad (s) said to Sayyidina Abu Bakr (q), “If you want to see someone who died before his death, look at Abu Bakr (q).” It means his desires ended in his life. So awliyaaullah follow that procedure. Their desire for dunya is stopped, but their desire for akhira is not stopped. That’s why they keep running after their followers, because they desire to bring their followers with them to akhira.
May Allah (swt) give us satisfaction and make us content with each other. So if you have all the wealth in dunya and you don’t have friends or brothers and sisters around you, you will feel bored. That’s why Allah (swt) mentioned, and in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia you often say silat al-rahm, in many situations, to your friends, etc. Silat al-rahm is the one from the same womb, which means you are expressing the closeness of everyone as brothers and sisters in the community. So if you live alone by yourself, you feel bored. You need people around you. So that is the importance of a khaniqah or dargah, to make a place to foster that relationship, where people can meet. In Western countries they call it “community center”. The masjid is a place devoted to worship, and we need an Islamic community center where people socialize. That is important. Then you can live with each other. As I said, even if you have all the wealth of dunya and you are sitting in a palace, what do you do with the wealth? You need friends around you.
May Allah (swt) keep us together! Keep one hand in order that we will be able to move forward and to be more and more close to our Sultan, Sayyidina Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani (q), may Allah (swt) give him long life! And to Prophet (s) who takes us to the Presence of Allah (swt).
Wa min Allahi ‘t-tawfeeq, bi hurmati ‘l-Faatihah.
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