MSH.18 DEC 2009.POST.ENG

The Essential Creed of Traditional Islam
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
18 December 2009    1 Muharram 1431
Ghauthia Masjid, Nelson, UK
DEC 2009 UK TOUR

 

As-salaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh! Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. Alhamdulillahi rabbi 'l-`alameen was-salaat was-salaamu 'ala ashrafil mursaleen, Sayyidi 'l-nabiyeena Muhammadin wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihee `ajma'een.   

 

O Muslim brothers!I have to correct one thing, it's a small mistake: I am not the chairman of Sufi Muslim Council; there is a chairman I think between you here. But they ask me some questions as an advisor, and I give them ideas, that is the clarification.

 

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

 

We are in a blessed day, today is the second day of Muharram, in some countries it might be the first of Muharram, the first of Islamic Hijri Year, this new year. May Allah (swt) make it a happy year for all of you and a blessed year, that you will see success, and all difficulties to disappear inshaAllah. I was hearing Mawlana Sahib introduce me, and I said to myself, "Is that me or someone else?!" (laughter) Because we are a reflection of our shuyookh. That really is not me, that is my shaykh, the Sultan al-Awliyaa, Sayyidi Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani (q), and Grandshaykh Sayyidi 'AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani, may Allah (swt) bless his soul. They are reflecting the reality of understanding of knowledge from the teachings of Sayyidur-rusool, Sayyidina Muhammad alayhi afdalas salaatu was-salaam, "Stand up for the name of Muhammad (s)." (crowd stands.)
 

As-salaamu 'alaykum ya Sayyidi ya Rasoolullah, as-salaatu was-salaamu `alayka ya HabeebAllah, as-salaatu was-salaamu `alayka ya Shafee 'al-Muznibeen! Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, wa lillahi 'l-hamd! (everyone sits.)

Relatively speaking, we are to those who came before us of awliyaaaullah and different imams and sahabatun-nabee, we are nothing! We must not even open our mouth to say we are something. Sahaaba (r) taught us through their behaviours, adab, and discipline, the respect which we are losing these days. They taught us peacefulness, of which we are not seeing peace today. They taught tranquility, of which we are not seeing tranquility today, but only disturbance. They taught us to extend our love to everyone with flowers. (Mawlana offers his flower garland.) Not with swords or guns, not with bombs and explosives, but they taught us how to present ourselves to the others with different kinds of flower, showing love to everyone. That is how Prophet (s) extended his hand to his community, extended his hands to everyone when he said, la farka bayna Arabiyeen wal `ajmaeen `ala bit-taqwa, "There is no difference between an Arab and non-Arab except through righteousness."

 

You might be someone whom no one knows, or think someone is seeing you as normal person, but it is on the contrary. Don't look at everyone with a disgusting view. Don't look at people humiliating them; they might be better than you by thousands of times. You have to teach yourself to say, "I am nothing," because Allah said, wa fawqa kulli `ilmin dhee `aleem, "Above every knower there is a knower." (Suratu 'l-Kahf)  Above every level there is another one sitting above it, and it never ends! So it means I might be nothing, and there might be billions above me.

  

Today there are six billion people on Earth or more. I have to remind myself to say what Allah (swt) says in Holy Qur'an, wala tuzzaku anfusakum, "Don't give yourself an excuse." Don't give your ego an excuse to say, "I am better than the other." wala tuzzaku anfusakum; Allah (swt) is threatening us, saying, "Don't! That is Shaytan playing with you at that time! Say, wa fawqa kulli `ilmin dhee `aleem, "Above that one there is another one higher, and I might be the lowest!" Then you will be saved and then you will be on the right way. Arrogance and pride will not take you anywhere, but love, happiness and peacefulness will take you everywhere. With his love that Prophet (s) gave to the ummah, Allah (swt) offered him an invitation to reach qaba qawsayni aw adna (within two bows' length). He (s) reached in his mi`raj where no one else reached. So no one is above Sayyidina Muhammad (s): he is the greatest, he is the highest, and Allah said to him in Holy Qur'an, "Yaa Muhammad! Say, qul innamaa ana basharun mithlukum yuhaa ilayh, "Say to them yaa Muhammad, 'I am only a human being like you.(Allah) revealed to me.'"

 

Look how much Prophet (s) is humbling himself, although he knows everything, although he is more than a human being. This is our belief. Why? Because today if human being wants to go 100 km above the Earth, they need a space shuttle, they need a special vehicle or else they will be get burned from the intensity of that heat, coming back from that place, back to Earth. And you saw what happened to many of these space shuttles? Sayyidina Muhammad (s) went with his body and his soul, and nothing happened to him! He went with the highest speed, not even the speed of light, 300,000 kms per second, he went with the speed of soul, inna lillaahi wa inna ilayhee rajee'oon. That speed of the soul when someone dies immediately reaches its place. Prophet (s) went with a speed no one knows, reached qaba qawsayni aw adna, received what he has to receive from his Lord, and came back.

 EDITED TO THIS POINT - TJ

O Muslims how then you think you know everything? When Sayyidurrusul (s) was humbling himself and sitting on the floor, not even sleeping on a mattress, sleeping on straws, you know straws? We are sleeping on mattresses, and we don't accept except the most expensive mattress 2000 GBP and above. And Sayyidina Muhammad, the best of humanity sleeping on the floor, eating for lunch only seven dates and one cup of milk, and eating for dinner at maghrib time dry bread, vinegar and oil. And us, we are eating and all our hands become oily with the meat and curry in it, and still we fight with our wives and say: "O what you have done today?"

 

O Muslims be happy and content with what Allah gave to you, don't look above you, you will be tired, look below you will feel happiness. When you look at those who are lower than you, you say "Yaa Rabee shukran lillah." When you look above you, you get tired, look at the sky and (you) see the stars and then your eyes will come back down, yarji` u 'l-basr ilayka wa huwa haseer; your sight will come back to you and you will feel that you are nothing with these stars in the skies. The  biggest `ulama of sciences, they are unable to understand these universe. Leave universe, they are  not able to understand themselves, because Prophet (s) said: "man `arifa nafsahu faqad `arifa rabbahu; who knows himself knows his Lord." We don't know ourselves, how are we going to speak about Allah (swt)? Allah (swt), no one can know the reality of that undescribable Essence of His, only through His Beautiful names and Attributes you will have an idea. But who really approached there and he had seen what he has seen is Sayyidina Muhammad `alayhi afdala 's-salaatu wa 's-salaam. Imam Nawawi and most of you know about him, who wrote Riyadu 's-Saaliheen and many other books, what he said in tafseer: qaaba qawsayni is tafseer of Sahih Muslim, that Prophet (s) saw his Lord with the eyes of his head. And Imam Metwalli Sharawi who lived in Egypt, who passed away recently, he explained and elaborated too much on that, that Prophet (s), he has a book on that, that he saw his Lord with the eyes of his head; where many they object on this, they are mistaken !

 

But why are they objecting? Because we are in an era that is full of ignorance, and what Prophet (s) predicted 1400 years ago about the era we are in it today, and I will quote you this which I quoted before but it is important to say it.  An Amr Ibn 'Aas; "qaal same'tu Rasullullah (s) ya kool," I heard Prophet (s) saying: "inna 'Llaha laa yaqbidu 'l-`ilm intizaa`an yantazi`uhu mina 'l-`ibaad wa laakin yaqbidu 'l-ilma bi qabdil-`ulama"  Allah (swt) will not take knowledge from your heart and confiscate it, but He will take the soul of the `ulama. When their death is coming they die, so means they go away with their ilm, so the ilm goes less and less, from the time of Prophet ilm is coming less and less, after Prophet after Sahaba after Imams, four imams knowledge is coming less and less. "Wa `alaykum bi 'l-`amal" in that time there is no more `ilm too much, everyone is trying to shift you where he likes. Muslims are fighting with each other, some organizations are recruiting people for kinds of acts of violence because they want the chair, as if the chair is expensive, take it, sit on it, who cares for the chair, you care for Allah (swt) and His Prophet, we are not after positions and fame. Prophet (s) Allah said to him say; "I am only a human being," means, "Yaa Muhammad, show them humbleness" and these ulema they don't have except arrogance, they want to sit on chair and calling it the Chair of Khilafa. You think there is a Khalifa today for Muslims? Where is the that Khalifah?  the principle of Khalafa is not found, is not here now disappeared. Khilafa means all Muslim countries and all Muslims around the world has to give baya to one person! Can you bring all these countries together to unite and bring all Muslims to say: "that one is Khalifah?" So the principle  is not there anymore. But there are some organizations or movements around the world fighting to make their voice being imposed on every Muslim.

 

O Muslims, we are Ahlu 's-Sunnah wal-Jama`ah, we only want that Allah (is) happy with us, (our) Prophet (s) is happy with us, and raise our children in a safe  haven,  no interruption with anyone. We don't want to have problems, we want to live peacefully. What Prophet continued; Allah (swt) takes the soul of the `ulama; "hata idha yabkaa leeman" until there is no more `alim! There are `ulama today but you cannot say they are `ulama of the  previous time, they are less in knowledge, there are some like previous time but not too many, minorities. So what people will do? Prophet is saying,  "ittakhadan naasu ruoosan juhhaala," people will begin to look for heads, means for someones and they take ignorant ones because today someone has memorized a little bit Qur'an, and little bit memorized hadith, he makes himself a big shaykh, and he becomes so huge (Maulana extends his hands wide) like a balloon been air put in it, only you need one needle to poke it and finished (laughter), he is nothing anymore.  Today we are experiencing such problems. So what he said "ittakhadan naasu ruoosan juh'haala," they take leaders, ignorant leaders. Now everyone going and say: "O I will do 'prevent' act," I don't know what you call it?    Prevent safe. So it means; "I will do something", you cannot do anything to yourself, you want to do something for people? You cannot stop yourself from your ego. This needs professional people that understand `ilm, knowledge of Islam, not someone with a tie and suit. With my respect to the tie and suit no problem, but means he never studied `ilm and he comes and says "I can do it" how you can do it? how you are going to teach people and to put in their someone mind, this is correct and this is wrong? "fasaalu fa aftoow bi ghayri `ilm," these ignorant leaders they answer them with no knowledge, they deviate and they deviate those innocent people who follow them. This is Prophet (s) 1400 years (ago), he predicted. So Muslims be careful, there are too many of these today that are deviating the youth today. The don't care for the elderly people. Like for us they don't care because they are worried from us because we are, our life is alhamdulillah Allah gave us, we are old, but young ones are the ones that carry the message. You have to be very careful of what you are doing and whom you are following. And everyone today is open-eyed to Muslims how they are going to behave, behave as Prophet's (s) sahaba behaved. Behave as Prophet (s) behaved and I will quote you some of a dialogue, that went between Sayyidina Ali (r) and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Sidiq (r), and you will be amazed. Look how Prophet taught them adab. How the elder, the older respected the younger, and the youngest respect the older.

 

From Sayyidina Abu Huraira, from Kitaab: Nurul-Absar fee Manaaqib ahli baytin Nabiyyi 'l-Mukhtar,  from that book, Sayyidina Abu Huraira said, "One day", I will not quote all the quote but a little bit; "one day Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Sidiq and Sayyidina 'Ali abi Talib (r) came one day to visit Prophet (s). They found themselves at the door of the Prophet (s), "fa qaala Ali," Ali is younger, because Sayyidina Abu Bakr is older than Prophet (s) in age, Ali said: "  ya Aba Bakr ta-qaddam wa 'arail baab,you approach and knock the door," "fa qaala Abu Bakr," when Sayyidina Ali insisted  you go 'Ya Abu Bakr' and knock the door, they were worried who will knock the door, they have adab, discipline who goes first, today we don't have adab, if you are sitting on a chair and an elderly person came, you want to say salaam, you keep sitting  we don't stand up to say salaam, we keep sitting and you hand your hand up to him to shake. Adab is to stand up and give him your chair, no adab today. So he said no, you knock the door ya Abu Bakr (q), and Sayyidina Abu Bakr said "No 'Ali you knock the door, "taqaddam anta yaa `Ali; qaala Ali (r) wa kayfa ataqaddamu `alaa rajulin sami`tu Rasulullahi (s) yaqulu  fee haqqihi ta'laa 'aatis shamsu gharabat mim ba`adee `alaa rajulin afdali min Abu Bakr as-Siddiq,"  I cannot, Sayyidina Ali is saying, put myself before you 'Yaa Aba Bakr,' where I heard my Prophet (s) said that: "The best one when the sun rises and when the sun sets, means day and night, we never found in this whole life better than Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Sidiq. How I am going to knock at the door? you knock at the door." See adab, do we have adab like that? We are wild, try to jump in and fight each other, pushing each other especially when you are in a line, queing in a line, there is no que, go back to Middle East countries, my country or go back to your countries, do you see a line? You don't see a line, someone coming with some swords here (right side) and some swords here (left) and he stands in front of the line when you are five hours waiting for the line. This is no adab. What Abu Bakr said, he said to Ali: "Yaa 'Ali (r) wait, I will not knock at the door for someone that Allah before, you knock at the door ya Ali, because Prophet (s) said: " ataytu khairan nisaa li khairir 'rijaal; I give the best of ladies to the best of man." I gave my daughter Fatima (r) to 'Ali (r) not to anyone else." Look the respect, do we have that respect?  If you are the son-in-law of the Prophet, if someone is a son-in-law of Prophet, he will be given respect, but what happened? they killed Sayyidina Ali, they killed Siyyidina Hussain (r), they killed Sayyidina Uthmaan (r), they killed Sayyidina 'Umar (r), Sayyidina Hassan, Sayyidina Hussain, all of them killed. And all of them were in-laws of Prophet. They stabbed them, the in-laws they stabbed them. Today if you are the in-laws of the shaykh, they stab you also, specially Maulana's mureeds, no respect, some of them to Maulana's sons-in-law, they stab them in the back. "Fa qaala Ali, no.. no.. no, I will not go beyond you, before you ya Aba Bakr, even I got the best of the ladies, because I heard Prophet (s), he said: man aradaa ayyanzur ila sadree Ibraheem al-Khaleel fal yanzur eela sadree Abu Bakr nis-Sidiq, if anyone wants to look at Sayyidina Ibraheem (a), look at Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Sidiq." So how I am going in front of you, before you? No way, look adab, discipline, respect. This is the teaching of Islam, it's not teaching of Islam two people fighting with each other or two organizations or three or four, for what? So what do you want? For dunya? or you are wanting akhira? What do you want? Akhira ! "O Allah, ya Rabee ya Allah we are asking You yaa Allah (swt) for the sake of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) we are asking You from here to forgive us for the sake of Muhammadur Rasullulah. (crowd stands)

 

Allahuma salle 'ala Habeebil Mustafa  alayhee afdalas salaatu was-salaam Sayyidi 'rusul, Sayyidul Khalq Saahibul Me'raj. 
 

May Allah (swt) forgive us. (crowd sits) What Sayyidina Abu Bakr answered: "How I am going to be before you where I heard Prophet (s) saying: "Whoever wants to; man aradaa yanzur eela Adama wa eela Yusuf wa eela Musa wa salaatihee wa ila Yusuf husnihee wa ila Isa wa zuhdihee wa ila Muhammad (s) wa khulukihee fal yanzur eela Ali; how I am going to be before you when I heard my beloved Prophet (s) saying whoever wants to look at Adam and Yusuf and his beauty and Musa and his prayers and 'Isa and his acesticism and Sayydina Muhammad (s) and his character, and his creation, let him look at 'Ali (r). How we can see ourselves that we are something? "So are something or nothing?" Nothing ! So how nothing can fight, you are nothing, you cannot change anything, so its better then to keep to yourself and try to call people to that understanding,  then everything will settle down, we will be safe. "fa qaala Ali, ana laa ataqqadama ala rajulan qaala haqqihee rasulullahi (s) izashtama'al fee 'alaama fee araasaatil qiy'ama yaumal hasratee wan-nadama yunadee min qibalal haqq ya Aba Bakr idkhulul anta wa muhibukal jannah; how am I going before, where I heard Prophet (s) saying that when human beings in the Day of Judgement, come together in front of Allah (swt) there will come a voice saying: "Where is Abu Bakr? Let him enter first with Prophet with all his lovers," before any questions. Allahu akbar ! 

 

We are a Naqshbandi Order, our origin goes to Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) and  we are connected to Sayyidina 'Ali (r), we are being honored, our background our chain goes to Sayyidina Abu Bakr and to Sayyidina Ali, so we are getting from the two oceans, "marajal bahrayni yaltaqiyaan." He made the two ocean mix, ocean of Sayyidina Abu Bakr taking from Prophet, ocean of  Sayyidina Ali taking from Prophet, or the other meaning. (takbeer from crowd). Or you can say the two oceans, oceans of knowledge and ocean of shari'ah. Or two oceans, Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. Why? because Allah said: "marajal bahraynee yal taqeeyaanee bainahuma barazakhun laa yabgheeyaan"; there is between them a space, a quarantine, there is like a wall from water; and scientists they found today that fish cannot go from one side to another before they go into qurantine forty days, they have to go between any two oceans, there is Allah created a barzakh, means a quarantine area, like the grave we say life in the grave is barzakh between dunya and akhira, is a temporary place, that fish will go from this side, or they will come from the other side, then they can go to different oceans. SubhaanAllah !

 

O Muslims you want me to continue? I continue? (everyone says yes, Maulana smiling). And Sayyidina 'Ali said "I cannot go before someone that Prophet (s) said about him: "anta ya Aba Bakr a`ynay; you ya Abu Bakr are my two eyes." "Fa qaala Aba Bakr; and Abu Bakr said: I will not go before you yaa `Ali," because Prophet (s) said about you that: "Ali will come to Paradise in a special vehicle in the Day of Judgement, vehicles from Paradise," he said "fayunadee munadee ya Muhammad kanaa laka fi 'd-dunya walidun hasanoon, wa akhoon hasanoon, amal walidoon hasan fa abuka Ibraheem, amal akhee la akhfa Ali abee Abnu Talib"; you will hear a voice saying, someone saying: "yaa Muhammad, you had in dunya a father, a good father and was Sayyidina Ibrahim Khaleel ul Kaleem, and you have a good brother is `Ali ibn Abee Taalib radiallahu ta`ala `anhu wa ardaahu." SubhaanAllah ! He said Abu Bakr, I cannot go before you because Prophet (s) said: "When the Day of Judgement comes because; yajeeoo Ridwaan khaazinul jeenan bi-mafateehi 'l-jannah," Sayyidina Ridwaan who looks after Paradises will bring the keys, means he will bring the codes, means the secrets of the doors of Paradise and he brings the keys of Hellfire; "wa yakool ya Aba Bakr", and he will address Abu Bakr Sidiq; "yaqoolu yaa Abaa Bakr ar-rabb jala jalaaluhu yuqriuka as-salaam wa yaqool laka hadhihi mafaatihu 'l-jannah wa mafaatihu 'n-naar, ib`ath man shi'ta ila 'l-jannah wa ba`th man shi'ta ila 'n-naar,"  he will tell you that: "Yaa Abu Bakr take whomever you like to Paradise and these are the keys and take whom ever you like to Hellfire." But adab, Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) will not move forward, because (he is) waiting for Sayyidina Muhammad (s), "bi anna ash-shafa`atu 'l-kubra li 'n-Nabiy (s)," the biggest shafa`a is  for Sayyidina Muhammad (s), and he knows that Sayyidina Muhammad (s) will take all his ummah to Paradise, no one will be left behind. 

 

O Muslims don't worry as long you don't do drugs, as long as you don't drink, as long as you don't cheat, as long as you don't deceive, you make a sin there is a repentence, if you did drug and you will repent, Allah will accept, if you did something else, also Allah will accept and you will enter to Paradise. And I say what Prophet (s) narrated, from what is mentioned in Bukhari, where he said: "In the Day of Judgment, Allah will give me shafa'a and I go for  sajda and say: "ya Rabee" and he is seeing his Lord, the only one who can see his Lord, can see Allah (swt), don't think you are going to see Allah  in dunya (you) cannot! In Paradise yes! some mu'mins some believers will see as Prophet mentioned. He goes into sajda and says: "ya Rabee" and Allah will open his heart, he said Allah will open to my heart du'as that He never opened before. I will make du'as and du'as and du'as; and we know that Prophet (s) mentioned lot of du'as, but this must be in different way because we cannot understand it as human beings what Prophet meant with that, means the words will be different. The letters are the same, the arabic alphabet, but the words will be different. Like the words in Holy Qur'an: alif laam meem, kaaf haa yaa 'aain 'saad, haa meem 'aain seen kaaf, you don't know he will make the words different that he never made it before. He will make du'a that was never heard before. And Allah will say" "raise your head, ask and you will be given." And what do you think? Prophet (s) will ask "Yaa Rabee I need them, I want them, I want my ummah" and Allah (swt) will say take one third to Paradise, he takes one third to Paradise. But Prophet (s) is not yet satisfied,  he goes another time into sajda and he is saying that Allah will open to me du'as that did not open to me in the first sajda, and then He says to me: "ask and I will give you," and I say: "Ya Rabee my ummah, He will say take another third," then third time I go into sajda and I ask: "ya Rabee my ummah, He will say okay take all of them except that one, don't take him, leave him for Me, I want to judge him." That  might be the worst one, so if we say that everyone will go to Paradise by shafa'a tun Nabi (s), who is that worse one? What he did that Allah kept him? And then Allah looks at the worst one and He says: "O I gave rahmatee to My Prophet, I gave Rahma to Prophet, My mercy is bigger than Prophet's mercy, go with them to Paradise I am forgiving you."

 

O Muslims you have good tidings that you are ummatun Nabi (s). And Prophet came to the whole world, thats why we say the people who live on earth after Prophet (s) are all of them ummatun Nabi (s). But they are two kinds, one kind; ummatul eejabaa, one kind the ummah that accepted Prophet (s), the other one; ummatu 'daawa, the other one is the ummah that you can call them for Islam, they didn't come yet to Islam. So Allah said: "wa ma arsalnaaka Rahmaatan lil 'alameen, We have sent you as mercy to humanity." So if Sayyidina Muhammad is teaching us mercy why we are cruel in our actions in our characters? So what we have to do? We have to look at Prophet what he is doing, as Allah said in Holy Qu'ran: " inkuntum tu hiboonallah fat'abeeoonee yuh bib kumullah, if you really love Allah follow me, Allah loves you." Don't follow shaytaan ! People today are following their pleasures. You have to follow the pleasure of Allah and Sayyidina Muhammad (s), when you follow these two pleasures, you will be safe, you and everyone else around you. May Allah (swt) forgive us. May Allah bless us. May Allah support us. 

 

Ashadu an laailaha illal-Lah... (zikr begins).