Islam is Perfection
Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
October 18, 2009 | Kualu Lumpur
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Why did the Prophet (s) always ask his Sahaba to be perfect? Because Islam is perfect. Islam is perfection. You cannot be imperfect and give a bad name for Islam. The Prophet (s) did not like that. That’s why Allah (swt) said, innad-deena indalah hil Islam (Holy Qur'an 3:19), religion to Allah is Islam and religion is a heavenly message. Islam brought the 99 Beautiful Names and Attributes. Why do we call them the Beautiful Names and Attributes? Because they describe the Creator. You cannot know Allah (swt) except through His Names and Attributes and what you know are the Names and Attributes. You don’t know the Reality, the Essence. You have a limit. You cannot go beyond your limit. Your limit is limited also - the limited is limited!
Do you think something limited can describe something that is unlimited? Impossible. Your eyes are limited when they look in the skies at the stars. What happens?
ثُمَّ ارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ كَرَّتَيْنِ يَنقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ الْبَصَرُ خَاسِأً وَهُوَ حَسِيرٌ
Thumma 'rji'i 'lbasara karratayni yanqalib ilayka al-basaru khaasiyyan wa huwa haseer. "Then look again and yet again, your sight will return to you in a state of humiliation and worn out." [67:4]
Look, you cannot see anything. Look, you see these stars and you cannot go beyond. What happend? Yanqalib ilayka al-basaru khaasiyyan wa huwa haseer. Your eyes come back down and you are regretting and you know there is a limit for your vision.
What happened? The microphone is working now. It was not working before. Now, it is working. Jinn now. Who is that jinn? Which microphone? Your microphone? No.
So limited cannot describe unlimited. We are limited. The Prophet (s) gave Islam to us unlimited but with limited understanding, with limited vision. You cannot really, anymore, understand what Allah (swt) wants from you in the state of ihsan, maqaam al-ihsaan. You can understand the state of Islam, which is the five principles. So the state of ihsan, it is impossible to reach it up to the highest level of perfection. The five principals of Islam, the five pillars, I know that everyone knows it but do they practice it perfectly? No. But maqaam al-ihsaan, no one pays attention to it and it is far more difficult. It is how to polish yourself. After you pray, you fast, you do your charity, you say shahadah you go to Hajj, how you can polish yourself? Do you have the tools? The Prophet (s) gave us the tools. Are we using the tools? What you are thinking do we use the tools? No. Only what we are using the tools for is how to drink, how to eat, and how to sleep. It’s all our concern in this life, is how to make money in order to live a very comfortable life. It’s no problem, but don’t drop the other side. Don’t drop how you are going to build up your wealth for your akhira? The Prophet (s) encouraged Sahaba to build their dunya and their akhira. That’s why Prophet (s) built his state, the Islamic state. It’s dunya and through that, built the Sahaba for akhira.
You can’t say, “I want only to look into the dunya and leave the akhira.” No. You have two legs. Allah (swt) gave you two legs, two ears. Why two ears, why not one ear? He gave you two shoulders, two hands, two nostrils, two mouths. Two? (Laughter) He gave us two in one. Buy one, take one free. That mouth you have, but at the end of it, is two. One goes to the lungs and one goes to the stomach. So it is two in one. Everything is in pairs. No way that it will not be in pairs, has to be pairs. Husband and wife, male and female, masculine and feminine - everything Allah (swt) gave two. Rabbana 'atina fid-dunya hasana wa fil 'akhirati hasana "Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter." Two. So the Prophet (s) wants everything perfect. He gave his life for perfection. The Sahaba tried their best, because no one can be like the Prophet but they tried their best, to follow the footsteps of Prophet (s) to be perfect. What is our duty? To make ourselves as perfect as possible.
You have a gold watch hanging on your wall and it is working from inside but there are no needles. Worth anything? Not worth anything. Although it’s working from the inside, the battery is working tick, tick, tick, moving but you can’t see anything. There is another one that has needles but no insides. Any benefit? No benefit. The needles cannot move. Is it worth anything? No. But if you have a watch or clock that the inside is working and needles are there so both of them work together in a very systematical way and give you the right time. It means you have to have your inside good and your outside good. Appearance perfect with human beings and appearance with Allah (swt) perfect - both of them have to balance and work together.
You have to make sure that people look at you seriously, that you are something of importance. What does that mean? It means don’t come like gypsies. Do you know gypsies? What is the definition. They live in tents and roaming around deserts and jungles. Bedouins.They go everywhere. Don’t be gypsies from outside. Don’t be gypsies from inside. Try to be presentable. A gypsy is not presentable. Gypsy doesn’t care about his outside appearance and doesn’t care for his inside. Who doesn’t care for outside, for sure inside is completely wrong, false. Today, people look at outside. For example, I go to his office and I am opening my hand asking from him a position, I have to go dressed nicely, or else you will be looking at me saying, “I don’t hire beggars here. I don’t hire gypsies. Go.” Everything has to be perfect. You have to look perfect. Muslims have to look perfect. Outside before and then inside. Don’t say, “I am only looking perfect inside," and the outside doesn’t need to be perfect. Then you drop from the eyes of unbelievers. Because if you want to look to me as not perfect, I still understand you. You are Muslim, I am Muslim, we understand each other. I see him praying so he has a good heart, okay. But if an unbeliever looks at you imperfect from the outside, what will he say? Even if you pray, he won’t understand what you are doing. He will look and say, “O those men, leave them alone. They are dirty people.” This is happening today. Do you see anyone that respects you because of your religion? But Who respects you because of your religion? Allah (swt).
So you have to be perfect and you have to have the highest level of appearance in order that you make those unbelievers to look at you and respect you, force them to respect you with your appearance. You don’t need to show arrogance and pride to your Muslim brother, no need because you and him know you are servants to the same Lord. So you are not going to come and try to compete with him in appearances because both of you know that for Allah it doesn't count, what counts is the inside. But for unbelievers, it counts.
You have a businessman coming from overseas to come to your company and you have to send a car to pick him up from the airport. What do you send? A nice car or a rotten car? You send a Bentley or a Rolls Royce, or a 30-old broken down car? You try to send the best car so you show him seriously that you are able to carry the job with him and you take that project. In learning from our ma'shaykh, shuykh is always show your best to your enemies. Then they say, “Oh.” They cannot anymore find a defect on you. Show the best.
One time, we went visiting Grandshaykh (q), may Allah bless his soul, our great teacher, grand teacher, that was in 1968. We went in a new car that my father bought. So the best place to go with it as a new car was to visit Grandshaykh (q) and Shaykh Nazim. Who was in the car? Me and Shaykh Adnan. I am driving, and it is a very fancy car like a sports car, very fast one, a red one. Long story but we will take this part. We reached Grandshaykh’s (q) and out of the blue he said, “You have car or you came by public transportation?” Because sometimes we take public transportation.
“No Mawlana, we came by car.”
“Ok, I want to go downtown to buy something.”
We said, “Yes.” We were very happy that he is going to sit in our car and we take him downtown. It was an honor for us. So he came down from his house, it is up on the hill, he has to take stairs down. We brought the car to him, and we opened the door for him. He looked at the car and said, “What is this toy? What is this car? Worst car? Cheapest car?” It is one of the expensive cars. He said, “Go change it! Naqshbandis must show in the eyes of people that they are of the highest standard, they must not show they are low standard in the eyes of others. It means show perfection. Although the car was expensive and perfect, but it was a sports car. It means it does not befit a man like me to sit in such a car. You are young but a man like me, it does not fit for me to sit in the car. Give everyone his level, so get a car that is the biggest, and the most prestigious so that when I sit with you, people will understand Muslims are not beggars. Muslims with Islam can make what cannot be done, they can do it.
So we went back home. We have another car, but we didn’t bring it. My father was fond of cars. Every year he buys six or seven cars, new ones. This other car was a Lincoln, American, huge car, from here to there, very fancy at that time. The next day we went in it.
Grandshaykh (q) said, “Oh, you came.”
We said, “Yes, Mawlana we changed the car.” (Laughter)
He said, "Ok, we'll go down."
It was a new car also. He wants to teach a lesson. He looked at the car and said, “Ah, this is a good car.” The other car was more expensive but this one was more fancy. The other car was faster, this one not as fast but a very fancy car. He said, “This is a good one. Now, we go downtown.”
We are very happy. We took him downtown. Where does he want to go? He says he wants to buy coal for winter. (Laughter) It’s a brand new car! He was buying and buying and buying sacks of them, big sacks. We are wondering, “Where is he going to put these? This is a brand new car.” He doesn’t care for the car, he cares for teaching you. And he is buying and buying.
He says, “You have space?” Of course, we have space, it’s a big car. They were putting the coal inside on the seats and filling the trunk. It was now filled and completely black. The whole thing, all dripping in this new Lincoln car. We went back. We didn’t say anything but our hearts are shaking. (Laughter)
We came back and he said, “Look at us.” Look, holding tasbeeh by the thread at the top knot, he said, “You see this top with the nice thread?” He took one thread and held it in between his fingers. “You must hold dunya like I’m holding now these beads.” It means you are holding it with your nail and not with your hand. When order comes, it will fall. Don’t hold dunya with your hand, as much as you keep hitting it, it won’t fall.
Grandshaykh (q) said, “I asked you for a fancy car but the car is not making you a good human being. It will make your enemy to look at you seriously but you must not think that the car will make you a man. Enemies will think a huge car makes you a man but your behavior and your moral excellence is what makes you a man in Islam. It is a big lesson. It's not a simple lesson. So you hold your car like the thread. I need charcoal? I can rent a truck for a little bit of money. They bring the whole market up here, but I am teaching you a lesson. You must make your appearance perfect but it will not make you a man. It will make the enemy to take you serious.” You must make your heart a good appearance for Allah (swt) because it will save you in the akhira. Awliyaullah like everything perfect.
Why did I open this subject? Because of this microphone. If it was Grandshaykh’s (q) time, he would take it and throw it but now is Mawlana Shaykh Nazim’s time, so he will not throw it. He is softer. Grandshaykh is not softer. When Grandshaykh need to be soft, very soft, but when time comes for seriousness, he is not soft.
This club, this zawiya, they have a microphone might be a 100 years old. All of them can buy the whole Kuala Lumpur. For Allah (swt), they cannot buy one microphone. They are using a microphone that does not work. Ladies are complaining on the other side, men are complaining from the second side and everyone of them pocketing money from businesses and businesses and businesses, and not one of them can buy a microphone so when you speak, everyone can hear. Is this adab to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s)? There is not one generous one in between them that they spend hundreds of thousands on babies. You call them babies? Who are babies? Not your babies, ladies! (Laughter) Those are their babies. They spend hundreds of thousands for their sexual desires and they can’t spend 100, 200, or 500 dollars for a nice microphone and a decent camera and TV for the ladies side and a decent microphone for the men's side. If we see this and keep quiet, we will be blamed by awliyaullah. Why you are not speaking? Why, when you are seeing the truth, you are not standing for truth, for haqq?
Sayyidina 'Umar (r) asked the Prophet (s), “Are we on haqq or batil?" He said, "We are on haqq." Sayyidina 'Umar said, "Why are we then hiding and calling adhan inside? I’m calling adhan outside.” He went up on the roof and called the adhan. The unbelievers don’t like it.
There are hypocrites are in the zawiya, there are hypocrites in the cities, there are hypocrites everywhere. We are hypocrites to ourselves also. We know the truth and we are running away from it. We know that Allah (swt) has ordered His Prophet (s) to deliver the message and the message carries a lot of responsibility. We are running away from responsibilities although we know that it is haqq. What is that? This is nifaaq (hypocrisy). We say something by tongue, and we don’t practice it.
So Sayyidina 'Umar (r) went up and called the adhan. He is not afraid of the emir, or Abu Safwan, or Abu Jahl, not afraid of anyone. He doesn’t care. When it comes to Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s), you must stand up. Are we standing up? Let us say the truth. Are we standing up for haqq? No. They don’t speak up. They are not learned. Is this how you speak to your general in the army when he says to you an order? “Yes, sir!” Are we standing up for haqq? “No, sir!”
We are not an army here, we are servants of Allah (swt). We have to stand for haqq. When you know there is haqq, face it. Don’t say, “I’m compromising. I am trying to be a chameleon, blend in with whatever comes.” This is nifaaq, this is hypocrisy. To be a chameleon is hypocrisy. When you see haqq and you try to stay quiet and not stop it, that is not accepted, that is hypocrisy. When I see my Muslim brother in difficulty, “Ah who cares?” That is nifaaq because one day there will come a time when I will be in difficulty and my brother will not help me. So I have to help him, he will help me. I have to help him.
Sayyidina 'Umar (r) stood up and was calling adhan. Everyone was shaking because they knew he was going to cut their necks cut.
وَقُلْ جَاء الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا
Wa qul ja’ al-Haqq, wa zahaqal baatilu, innal baatila kaana zahooqa. “Say truth came and falsehood vanished; for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.” [17:81] Haqq is coming for everyone. Everyone is going to take their rights from those who are attacking.
So the children were being sent by these tyrants to throw stones. They don’t know anything, they are children. They came to Sayyidina 'Umar (r) and took stones and began to throw them at him. No problem. Those tyrants sent their children, boys. Today, tyrants are sending their boys to spread rumors. You think Allah (swt) doesn’t know these tyrants and where they are sending their boys? Sayyidina 'Umar (r) knew every child’s parent. He went and beat up every one of them and threatened them. “If you dare to stop one Muslim from calling adhan, I will cut your neck. Finished. This game is over” and the adhan was at the top, loud. No one dared to stand in the face of Sayyidina 'Umar (r). The Prophet (s) said, “If a prophet was to come after me, 'Umar would be prophet.” Because he stood for haqq.
O Muslims! Stand for haqq. When you stand for haqq, it means your watch is working from outside and from inside. When you stand up for batil and try to be chameleon, covering haqq….you can cover your brother’s mistakes, no problem. You can cover your brother’s wrong doings and try to save him, no problem. But you cannot cover up when there is haqq and batil or say, “I am supporting batil and leaving haqq.” Or, "I’m not interfering." No. Allah will ask you: why you did not interfere? So haqq is coming. That is why Mahdi (a) is coming with haqq. That is why awliyaullah are standing up and speaking.
Go and listen to Mawlana Shaykh speaking every morning, 10:30 at night your time, and saying haqq, exposing everyone, and bringing flower to your home with his appearance. Sorry to say, you are not listening and not watching and you declare that you love Mawlana and you don’t care for his appearance every night. Correct? “Correct.” We are seeing, we are watching. Five people from Malaysia total watching the live broadcast. Who ordered you not to watch? Someone must have given you an order not to watch. I am speaking to those wearing turbans. If you are watching, safe. Those who are not watching, someone inside yourself, ego, is ordering you, not letting you to watch, “Who cares to watch tonight? I am eating, I am watching football, etc.” You were complaining that you don’t have the money to visit Mawlana Shaykh and now he is coming to you and you are not watching. You think that if you call on Sayyidina Muhammad (s), he will not answer you? For sure. “Whoever sends to me salutations and greetings, Allah sends my soul back to my body to greet him back: wa 'alayka salam.” The Prophet (s) is sending you salaam back. Are you sending salaam to Prophet (s)? One person, in a 100, alhamdulillah, still one percent. (Laughter) We have to be like him, sending salaam always. That is why they ordered you, as much as you do salaam on the Prophet, as much as it is a benefit for you. It means that as much as you follow the sunnah of the Prophet, Allah will be happy with you. Allah (swt) said, “If you really love Allah, follow Muhammad (s).” Following Sayyidina Muhammad (s) means learning about your religion. So now your Shaykh, every night, is trying to give you advice. Why are we not trying to listen? If you are busy, OK, no problem, you can watch it later. The next day it is there, on demand in the archive, you can watch it later but watch it. Give 45 minutes of your time to watch and make salawaat. Better than watching football on TV and making salawaat. OK, you are watching a movie and making salawaat.
O Muslims! Let us wake up. There are many issues we are missing. Tell those people who are running the place, if they don’t have money to buy a microphone, let us know. We will go down to masjid and we put a towel on the floor and open our hand and say, "We are beggars and want to buy a microphone. Please give me a dollar." Is this what they want? Someone in audience, “We will replace the microphone.” I don’t want you to replace the microphone. I want them to replace the microphone. They have to take responsibility. Anyone of us can buy one but this message has to reach their ears. They have to know they are not doing what is asked of them to do. It is not a zawiya for only eating, drinking, and drumming. It is best for zawiya otherwise people cannot hear. We are not saints that our voice can be heard.
Sayyidina Imam Bukhari who collected the ahadith of the Prophet (s), if you visit his masjid in Bukhara, takes 5,000 people. When he gives his suhbah or lecture, 25,000 people come, filling the whole surrounding. In his time, there were no microphones. Everyone was able to hear his voice. It was a miracle. We are not Imam Bukhari. We are Imam hemari. Do you know what is hemari? Donkey. We are donkeys. Not you shaykh.
Nevermind, you solve this problem, alhamdulillah. You will get the reward, whoever solves it. Let the others be lazy, they will be in the back even they think they are the highest because they are the richest but they are in the back collecting the drippings. You know the drippings of the wagon? When you clean the train, they will be by the engine, in the end. They can’t buy a microphone? How are you going to hear the advice without a microphone? May Allah (swt) forgive us and forgive them. They are our brothers, we are their brothers. May Allah forgive them and forgive us. We have shortcomings. They have shortcomings. But Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an,
وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَى تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
dhakkir fa inna ad-dhikra tanfa` al-mumineen. "Remind, for verily the reminder benefits the believers." [51:55]
You make a masjid very nicely built and you go for jumu’ah and 5000 people there and no microphone. What is the benefit if people cannot hear what is the suhbah or khutbah? In today’s situation, you need the technology to make everyone hear. What is the benefit if the people cannot hear?
May Allah forgive us. May Allah bless us. In the old times, angels were bringing to everyone’s ears so they can hear. Allah was sending a heavenly hearing. Today we have a system that you can hear so use it because we are not pious like those who went before us. We are simple sinners. May Allah forgive our sins.
wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq bi-hurmati 'l-Faatihah.
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