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Hierarchy of Saints Series, Vol 27

The Secret of the Name "Allah"

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

7 September 2010 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan

Fajr Ramadan Series 2010

Allahuma salli `ala Sayyidina Muhammad, salloo `alayh! Say, laa ilaaha ill-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah!

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.

Today we will end up this series and it is long. We can continue more, and there might be three to four volumes like this. We will end today and tomorrow we will speak about the different levels of awliyaa, inshaa-Allah.

Whatever we have spoken about this month on issues of dhikrullah and the best of characteristics, it is the description of these awliyaullah's lives and how they lived their lives through dhikrullah and Maqaam al-`Ihsaan. These people are not like regular people; they are in a regular life, but Allah gave something special to their hearts, as the Prophet (s) said, "Allah has given to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, shayin waqara fee qalbihi," something that took root in his heart, beyond description. The Sahaabah (r) were wondering about that and later they knew it was dhikrullah. He was always remembering Allah (swt) on his tongue and in his heart.

Once the Prophet (s) made his famous hadith, allahuma laa takilnee ila nafsee tarfata `aynun wa laa aqal min dhaalik, "O Allah! Don't leave me to my ego for the blink of an eye or less." How many blinks of the eye are there? There are around 20 to 30 blinks per minute at least, and there might be more. Prophet (s) was saying, "O Allah! Don't leave me to myself for the blink of an eye." He wants to express in that time, that it is such a short moment, two or three seconds. "If I keep my ego to myself I might fall down." That is the Prophet (s), the Seal of Messengers and ma`soom, infallible, and he is saying, "O Allah! Don't leave me to myself for the blink of an eye or less." What is less? How much less? It might be a lot less. He knew, since Allah (swt) gave him the knowledge, that in a fraction of a second time disappears. Scientists discovered today that if you go to 10 to the 22nd power of a second it becomes energy, and time disappears. It means, "O Allah! Don't ever leave me to myself."

What about us? When he heard this hadith, look how Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq reacted. It is completely different than what we do. For us, we hear hundreds of thousands of hadith. So what will we have? We never change. Can a donkey be changed? Its ears are always long; it might be we are donkeys with long ears. We never change; we hear, we hear, we hear, and it is the same, taba, as what you have been raised on. That is your photocopy, your print. We are a photocopy of ourselves. However we were raised from childhood, that is what we are. So don't spoil your children from childhood. Don't give them what they like, but give them what they don't like. Today everyone gives their children what they like and they are the "chou," the cauliflower ("chou-fleur"). Be "chou" in French, not an English "shoe" or "shoes," and then your level is high as shoes surrender; if you throw them to the left or the right, they don't complain. Just now we were speaking and we jumped up out of anger. This is our character, all of us.

So immediately, Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (q) jumped up and disappeared. He went and took a stone and put it in his mouth. He went inside the Ka`aba and wept. They were looking for him, but not finding him and Prophet (s) knew where he was. He found him and said, "O, where are you? For seven days you are not coming." He was crying and Prophet (s) put his hand between his shoulders and calmed him down. It was like when Allah (swt) made the fire of Sayyidina `Ibraheem (a) to be a cool breeze, around 69 degrees Fahrenheit, and he was very happy inside that boiling fire. When the Prophet (s) put his hand on Abu Bakr, all the fire that was in his heart from crying was extinguished.

Prophet (s) said, "Why are you crying?" and he said, "Yaa Rasoolullah! I know you are the Seal of Messengers and Allah gave you shafa`a to intercede for believers on the Day of Judgment. You are infallible, and still you said, 'O my Lord! Don't leave me to my self for the blink of an eye.' What then will happen to me, if I leave myself to my ego for the blink of an eye?"

Two seconds. Count it. It is so quick. How many times does Shaytan come to our heart in a second or less?

Sayyidina Muhammad (s) said, "Yaa Abu Bakr! Allah mentioned you in Holy Qur'an two times, when He said, wa idha yaqooloo li-sahibhi la tahzan ... `ulyaa wallahu `azeezan hakeem, 'He is the second of two.'" He and the Prophet (s) were together in Ghaari Thawr, when they emigrated from Mecca to Madinah. "He made you my friend. No one took that honor but you." Sayyidina Abu Bakr (q) was older than Prophet (s). "And He called you as-Siddiq al-Akbar, 'the greatest siddiq.' Whatever I said, you would say, 'It is the truth, yaa Rasoolullah.' He made you saadiq and siddiq."

Sayyidina Abu Bakr (q) said, "Yaa Rasoolullah! On Judgment Day, if Allah calls me and says, 'I made you siddiq and I made you saadiq and I made you second in the cave,' and then He says, 'Now I am changing it,' can anyone object or complain? No. So whatever He said about me, on Judgment Day He can change it. Then what will happen?" That also means, "Yaa Rasoolullah! Allah gave you shafa` but if He changes it, He changes it."

That will never happen, as Allah will never change His grant! But Prophet (s) heard this and began to cry with him. Grandshaykh (q) always told this story to let us know that if Allah will change something, then what will happen? We will be in a gray area with our `amal, and for sure we will go to Hellfire, but with Allah's mercy we are in Paradise! So they were both crying, and there were rivers of tears coming from their eyes. Why did they cry? Each tear that came from the eye of Prophet (s) represents a human being. and the Prophet cried on all human beings of ummat an-nabi until Sayyidina Jibreel came and said, "Stop!"

Those individual drops represent one human being, and all of them are under the shafa` of Prophet! If we say, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah

مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاء عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاء بَيْنَهُمْ تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا سِيمَاهُمْ فِي وُجُوهِهِم مِّنْ أَثَرِ السُّجُودِ ذَلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَمَثَلُهُمْ فِي الْإِنجِيلِ كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْأَهُ فَآزَرَهُ فَاسْتَغْلَظَ فَاسْتَوَى عَلَى سُوقِهِ يُعْجِبُ الزُّرَّاعَ لِيَغِيظَ بِهِمُ الْكُفَّارَ وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ مِنْهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا.

Muhammadun Rasoolullah. walladheena ma`ahu ashidaau `ala al-kufaar ruhamaau baynahum. taraahum ruka`an sujjadan yabtaghawn fadlan min Allahi wa ridwaanaa. Seemaahum fee wujoohihim min athari 's-sujood. dhaalika mathalahum fi 't-tawraat wa mathalahum fi 'l-injeel ka-zara`in akhraja shatahu fa-aazarahu fastaghlath fastawaa `alaa sooqihi li-yagheetha bihimu'l-kuffaar w`ada-Allahu'Lladheena aamanoo wa `amiloo's-saalihaati minhum maghfiratun wa ajran `azheema.

Muhammad is the apostle of Allah. and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. Thou wilt see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure. On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. This is their similitude in the Taurat; and their similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the Unbelievers with rage at them. Allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness, and a great Reward. (48:29)

Muhammadun Rasoolullah. Allah said it in Holy Qur'an:

walladheena ma`ahu ashidaau `ala al-kufaar ruhamaau baynahum.

strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other.

Here kuffar may mean "the self." You cannot be loose on your ego and tough on others; you must be loose on others and strict on your ego! And Allah gave the same for the People of the Book, those believing in the Injeel (New Testament), and those believing in the Torah of Musa (Old Testament).

So Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) was crying and crying, and by Allah's order he stopped. When he cried, each tear that fell represents one Naqshbandi follower, and each will be under safety! Then Sayyidina Jibreel (a) came and said, "Allah sends His salaam and says, 'As much as my Lordship, I am not changing! They have a certificate of bara`ah, innocence." Do we have something like that? If so, be happy and keep smiling and laughing all your life! If not, we have to remain worried about what will happen to us. So it is not only reading; we read hundreds of hadeeth, and what changed in us? Nothing. How can you change? If you are sick, if your body is infected, you take injection of antibiotics, or you take pills or whatever there is, and the only remedy is an injection from outside you; it is not coming from within you. You cannot swallow tablets without putting your hand on your tongue. You cannot have an injection with holding your hands together. That injection has to come from outside, then it has an effect, but if from inside it has no effect.

Sometimes they give not only antibiotics, but anti-inflammatories and Cortisone, if the illness is severe. So who can prescribe what you need? You need a doctor. So Sayyidina Abdul Qadir al-Jilani said, `alim yukhadh min afwaahir-rijaal laa min as-suhoof. That injection has to "come from the mouth of men who reached manhood (sainthood)." Also ladies reached sainthood; we cannot say no.) So anyone who reached the level of sainthood is able to diagnose your sickness and prescribe what you need, an injection that has to come from outside you, not from within you. That is why he said, al-`ilm yukhadh min afwaahir-rijaal laa min as-suhoof, "It cannot be taken from papers, it has to be taken from their mouth or their eyes, and they send on you `Ilmu 'l-Yaqeen (Knowledge of Certainty), `Aynu 'l-Yaqeen (Eye of Certainty), and Haqqu 'l-Yaqeen (Reality of Certainty). They give you an injection that gives you knowledge and raises you up, first to the level of `ilm, knowledge, then to the level of `ayn, vision. With another deadly injection, they raise you to the level of haqq, the reality, where there is no more question about tawheed. It becomes a certainty in your understanding and in your heart and mind; then you know that everything in this life points to the Creator. there is no more hesitation or doubts, finished! That has many levels, which we might discuss in the future.

So he said, don't take from papers. Awliya can use papers to teach you, but they have to sit with you, diagnose you, and prescribe the unique medicine for you. That is why they came through the awraad. The different tariqahs have different awraad, each shaykh has his way and they might not intersect. Each tariqah has its own awraad and techniques. In the Naqshbandi Way we have to follow from shaykh to shaykh, and in the silsilah, chain, the awraad may change; as time changes, they may change. I mentioned many times that Grandshaykh never gave baya` to anyone and now Mawlana Shaykh gives everyone baya`, even on the phone or through the Internet! It depends on the time. So don't take from papers, but take it from mouth of awliya, as they will guide us.

Who are these "men"? man haa oolaa'i 'r-rijaal. Sayyidina Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (q) is telling his students in the famous work, al-Faid ar-Rabbani, "They are the men of truth; al-muttaqoon, they are sincere, they have taqwah; at-taarikoon, those who left dunya, they let it down; al-waarithoon, inheritors of the Prophet; al-`arifoon, man `arafa nafsahu faqad `araf rabbah, those who reached level of knowing Allah; al-mukhlisoon, the sincere ones; mukhlis, who are straight on the Straight Path; al-`aamiloon, never changing from what Allah made them to be (not like us, sometimes Mawlana says something and we don't act on it);

rijaalun sadaqoo maa `ahad Allahu `alayh, men who are true to their promise, they never changed.

We change all the time, laa hawla wa laa quwatta illa billah il-`Aliyyi-l-`Adheem! We are changing every time and getting older and getting worse! Sayyidina Abu Yazeed (q) said, "I respect the elder and I respect the younger. The young have less sins and the older has more worship." Now it is rare to find someone of the same age in a city; with globalization you find many people born at the same time.

So choose: men who kept their promises with Allah, wa ma badaloo tabdeela, they never changed throughout their lives and they are waiting for the time they will go to Allah; whatever they are on, they are on. Are we changing? (Yes.)

Sayyidina Abdul Qadir (q) continues, "And whatever else we have described is, hawwas (hallucination), and baatil (false)." It is obsession: you want something, you need it and you don't want to let it go. You don't want to let dunya to go. Who wants dunya to go? No one. You want dunya, then you are obsessed by dunya; when you are obsessed by dunya that is baatil. So what he said? al-wilayatu li 'l-mutaqeen,"If it is not obsession and it is true, then it is right." Those who are mutaqeen the God-conscious, or God-fearing, conscious of their Lord. So those who keep their promises are those to whom Allah (swt) gave dunya and akhirah.

Allah said, Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasaanatan wa fi 'l-akhirati hasanatan, to ask good in this life and Next. That is first level of being a true one, then you go higher and you want Akhirah only, then you go higher and you want only Allah (swt). There are people who dropped dunya completely, even non-Muslims, monks in shrines. What will Allah do with them? We leave that judgment to Allah. There are people who left dunya and they want to be truthful to what they believe. We have to keep our truth to them in order to be saved. allahuma salli `ala Muhammad! That is why he said, ab`ad nafsaka `an ash-shubuhaat, wa 'sh-shahawat, "Don't go near gray areas from bad desires," a`wadh nafsaka `ala akal al-halaal "and make your ego to eat from what is halaal."

Sayyidina Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (q) is not speaking of meat; it means, "eat from your sweat, work!" Allah doesn't like people who are lazy. Are you working? (No, I lost my job.) Okay, I have a job for you. Go to the masjid and clean the toilets. Don't sit at home like a chicken; show `amal and work! Like in Europe they grant government aid to those who have children and no work. So what are they doing? They are becoming manufacturers of children; they reproduce child after child and take money! That is a business, keeping themselves busy and not lazy! (laughter) (A baby cries.) That baby is confirming (what we said).

Don't be lazy, waiting for a job to open! Show Allah that you are working, even by selling something at cost (without profit). Show Allah that you want to eat from your sweat! Otherwise, do `ibaadah. Do something instead of sitting all day watching TV, eating steaks and hamburger!

wahfazh baatinaka bil-muraqabah, "Protect your inner self by doing muraqabah." Don't say mediation doesn't exist: Ghawth al-`Adham, Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (q) is mentioning it Keep baatin, your inner self, working. If you have no work, then place a sheet over your head and for eight hours, as you normally work eight hours, then do eight hours of meditation and `ibaadah in addition to the worship you must do. Then make an account of what you did; that is for the inside, that no one sees (internal worship).

For the outside (external) that you can see, follow the sunnah of the Prophet (s), who said, "If you love Allah, follow me (my sunnah), then Allah will love you." If Allah loves you, you will be lucky. Then you get correct inspirations: you will hear and see. Don't say, " I am in tariqah 25 years and not seeing anything." You reached a limit and if you break through it, then it will open for you. Don't want the shaykh to break it for you! They want you to break it, because then you will go up very high, but if shaykh breaks it you only stop at that level. So you have only one chance in life to break it. Take that chance! Then you will have right inspiration and it will hit right on target.

At that time you will be granted mari`fatullah, allowed to reach heavenly divinely knowledge. May Allah guide us! That is why Imam Shadhili (r) said, at-tawheed sirrullah, "(To make dhikr by tawheed) laa ilaaha illa-Llah is the Secret of Allah." Qul Huw Allahu Ahad, "Say,'He is the One, Who is unique and He is known by the Name 'Allah'." That concept is the Secret of Allah! was-sidqu sayfullah, "To say the truth is the sword of Allah," to fight the ego, not to go and fight and blow up people. Kill your self, the ego, first! And the support for the sword is by reciting, Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.

May Allah bless us and support us, and give our shaykh long life to see Sayyidina Mahdi (a) and Sayyidina `Isa (a), and give us long life!

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

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