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Only by Surrendering We May Occupy the Vessel of Safety

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

25 December 2010 Singapore

Event at Simply Islam

As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Aoodhu Billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen was-salaat was-salaam `ala ashrafi 'l-mursaleen Sayyidina Muhammad wa `alaa aalihi wa saahbihi wa sallim. All thanks are to Allah, Who relieves the Muslims of their burdens, and alhamdulillah, Allah has guided us to Islam, and we would not have been guided if Allah had not guided us. We thank Allah for making us from the last ummah and the best ummah, where Allah said:

كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ

kuntum khayra ummatee ukhrijat li 'n-naas, ta'maroona bi 'l-m`aroofi wa tanhawna ani 'l-munkar.

You were the best ummah sent to humanity; you call for good and prohibit what is bad. (Ali Imraan, 3:110)

O Muslims! Dear brothers and sisters, here in Singapore and around the world and through this hall. Alhamdulillah, Islam is everywhere, and we especially appreciate the Islam of this country, because the people of this country are very hospitable, moderate, and abiding by what Allah said to us in Holy Qur'an:

أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ

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)

We are true citizens, as we are also students of one of the greatest shaykhs in this time, Sultan al-Awliya, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani! Inspite of the noses of all Wahabis and all others who do not agree with that, we say that Mawlana Shaykh Nazim is Sultan al-Awliya! It means he is the one to whom Allah (swt) is giving sincerity and piety. And that sincerity and piety, for example, when you fill a cup the water comes to the top and then spills over. What do you want to do with what spills over? You don't want to waste it, so whoever is near you, you share with him. So that sincerity and piety that is descending on our shuyukh, especially on Grandshaykh (q) and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life, whatever comes out of the cup of their hearts, they share with us. Whatever is spilled out of the cup we receive.

You can even dive in the cup, but you need equipment, like divers in the ocean need oxygen. Without oxygen, people will die. That is why not everyone can dive in the heart of the shaykh, because they are not yet mature. They are still in the egg, but still they receive what spills over with the barakah of the shaykh. But there are the khulafah of the shaykh that can dive in his heart and bring knowledge out; he gave for those special ones authority coming from him to them. Not everyone is special in diving. You can be at the shore, that is okay, to put your feet in the water but not to dive, but still you get traces of those realities. Those who are able to dive can come with knowlege that is not yet given, because you cannot get treasures and pearls without diving. Whatever treasures are in the ocean is valuable and you have to go down to get them.

Similarly, the heart of the shaykh is a mine. You can descend in the mine ten, twenty, or thirty meters, to bring out what is inside. Even if a khalifah dives in a mine, he is not allowed; he will be trapped. Like the miners in Chile were trapped, to show them that Allah (swt) can provide for them through the shaykh with no explanation. They were in a small room, receiving whatever they needed.

There are five qutbs: Qutb, Qutb al-Bilaad, Qutb al-Aqtaab, Qutb al-Irshaad, and Qutb al-Mutasarrif. They are under our shaykh, who is the ghawth, and they can dive where no one can dive, and bring treasures from where no one can bring treasures.

O Muslims! Islam is not a body without a soul; it has a soul like we have a soul! As Muslims, our soul is Islam! If it was not Islam it would have been something else, so we are very lucky to be from ummat an-nabi (s), that Allah (swt) gave us that power to say, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah! Say, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah! Laa ilaaha illa-Llah is the word, afdal adh-dhikr: best of dhikr is to say, laa ilaaha illa-Llah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah, laa ilaaha illa-Llah!

Allah said in Holy Qur'an:

وَآيَةٌ لَّهُمْ أَنَّا حَمَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ فِي الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ

Wa aayatun lahum anna hamalna dhurriy-yatahum fi 'l-fulki 'l-mashhoon.

And a sign to them is that we carry them and their descendants in a loaded ship. (36:41)

It means that Allah (swt), just as He gave Sayyidina Nuh (a) a vessel to carry all animals, male and female, also He gave him to carry from his wives and children and tribes that believed him. "And We have created the heavenly loaded vessel, a similar one for Sayyidina Nuh to save his people." Who is the fulki 'l-mashhoon? If you dive in the heart of the shaykh you can take knowledge; that is "the fully loaded vessel." Going with laa ilaaha illa-Llah is the Muhammadan Heart, the vessel of safety, safeenat an-najaat, the one who holds his message and the religion will be saved!

O Muslims! Allah (swt) gave secrets in Holy Qur'an that have no beginning and no end, and all these secrets have been given to the Holy Prophet (s), to whom Allah gave Knowledge of Before and After, Usool al-Awwaleen wal-`Akhireen, unlimited knowledge of before (Creation), and unlimited knowledge of what is after! It has no time and is without limits. Awliyaullah go there and take traces from those knowledges, and they pass traces of what they have to their followers.

In Indonesia I explained some meanings from these verses of Holy Qur'an. A`oodhu Billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.

إِنَّا فَتَحْنَا لَكَ فَتْحًا مُّبِينًايَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِن ذَنبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ

Inna fatahna laka fathan mubeena li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbika wa maa taakhkhar.

Verily (O Muhammad), We have laid open before you a manifest victory that Allah may forgive you your faults of the past, and those to follow. (al-Fath, 48:1,2)

I will ask someone who stayed in Syria many years (Shaykk Gibril Haddad) to transkate the meaning of this verse? ("Verily we opened for you a manifest opening.")

Allah is saying, "We opened for you, yaa Muhammad, an opening that is so clear." When Allah (swt) wants to give, does He give in small portions? When He says, "fathan mubeena," it is vast opening; it means that Allah is opening according to His Greatness! Can Allah's Greatness be limited? That means what He opened from the realities of His Creation, that no one created except Him, He showed His beloeved one what He created, and made him shahidan, a witness:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا

Ya ayyuha 'n-nabiyyu inna arsalnaaka shaahidan.

O Prophet! Truly We have sent you as a witness. (33:45)

“Witness” means someone who can see. So it means, "We are opening for you your eyes, yaa Muhammad, so that you can see from the beginning of Creation to its end. We have opened for you an immense opening, to be witness on whatever I have created and you are a prophet for them. I am sending you as a messenger for them and for Adam."

So when the Pen was ordered to write "laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah," it asked, "Who is that Muhammad whose name You put with Your Name?" And Allah replied, "If not for Muhammad, I would never have created any Creation."

Allah said:

لَخَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

La-khalqu 's-samawaati wa 'l-ardi akbaru min khalqi 'n-naas wa laakina aktharahum laa ya`lamoon.

The creation of Heavens and Earth is indeed greater than the creation of Mankind, yet most of Mankind know not. (Ghafir 40:57)

Doctors and scientists know that the creation of human beings is so great that no one knows more than two or three percent of its functions. Take for example the kidney, that small organ. If your kidney fails, they will connect you to a large dialysis machine that will clean your blood in five or six hours, and then they have to give you vitamins and essential minerals (that were depleted). What is that secret in the kidney, which is smaller than a cup yet contains millions of pores? During dialysis, they can analyze the blood and filter out what is bad for the body and keep what is good.

That is what the Prophet (s) knew: inna fatahna laka fathan mubeena, "We have laid open before you a manifest victory." So you dive in the heart of the shaykh and you bring out treasures. You don't need summaries (referring to a rogue mureed who compiles summaries of the suhbahs), summaries are for kindergarten! If you want to be in kindergarten, you go for a summary. If you are a little bit higher... do kindergarten students have diapers or not? So summaries are for nursery school. You are in nursery school, and above that they don't have, and they are very far from the PhD program. To enter the heart of the shaykh is what is important!

li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbika wa maa taakhkhar. Is the Prophet (s) ma`soom, infallible, or not? The Prophet (s) and all prophets are ma`soomoon, infallible, without sin. Yet Allah (swt) is saying, li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbika wa maa taakhkhar, "to forgive you of sins you sent forward and what came later." Allah (swt) opened that big opening for the Prophet (s), to forgive Prophet his sins? Did the Prophet commit any sin? Allah’s uncreated ancient words, kalaamullah al-qadeemi, have no limits in carrying secrets. If you limit any interpretation or understanding, you are making a mistake. This does not refer to some scholars who malke English or Turkish or Russian translations. No, what is that language? It must be in Arabic; a light emits from every letter of Holy Qur'an and you will not see it until you reach "maturity", which is the ability to differentiate between jewels and stones.

Muhammad (s) is a human being, but not like you and me. He is a jewel and everyone else is a rock. Big difference. You throw away a pebble and keep a diamond. So what is the meaning of the ayah, li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbika wa maa taakhkhar, "to forgive you of sins you sent forward and what came later." We were reading the Mawlid in Indonesia and this verse came, Inna fatahna laka fathan mubeena. I am seeing that Indonesia is a country of mercy and piety among the habaib (the Ahlu'l-Bayt of Indonesia), who are always praising the Prophet (s) and always that light is coming on them. In the recitation of Seerat an-Nabi (biography of Prophet [s]), they recite, "As soon as Prophet came from his mother's womb, he went into sajdah." Grandshaykh said that Prophet immediately went into sujood at the moment of his birth, immediately caring for his ummah, saying, "Yaa Rabb! Ummatee, ummattee. O my Lord! My nation, my nation! (I want them and they are full of sins!)"

When Allah (swt) said, Inna fatahna laka fathan mubeena, then, li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbika wa maa taakhkhar, it means, "Whoever came before you with sins, and whatever sins Children of Adam committed, We know you are carrying that on your shoulders, asking Allah to forgive them, and We forgive them." So it is not implying Prophet's sins, but it refers to the sins of not only human beings, but every creature in this universe: trees, animals, birds, fish, stars, everything is going to be asked! And Prophet (s) is the messenger for all of them. Allah (swt) is saying, li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbika wa maa taakhkhar, "Whatever sins came before and by saying, 'Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem. alam nashrah laka sadrak wa wad`ana `anka wizrak [94:1,2],' we took the load that you put on your shoulders for everyone; we are taking it and forgiving everyone of them."

O Muslims! Love your Prophet (s)! There is no safety if we don't enter his vessel, safeenat an-najaat, the "vessel of safety."

Then Allah (swt) said, wa maa taakhkhar, which means, "Yaa Muhammad! Whatever human beings and others that commit sins, I am forgiving them also (whatever came from your sin and whatever came after.)." And Prophet (s) never sinned, not before nor after, as he is ma`soom. So it means, "I (Allah) created them and before I created them I forgave them, yaa Muhammad."

The greatness of the Prophet (s) as servant of Allah (swt) cannot be described. If we say, "the greatness of Prophet," some say that is shirk, but when we say, "as servant of Allah (swt)," then they cannot say it is shirk. Prophet is kull al-`ibaad, "a servant not like everyone else," a special one. Allah created him in the way He likes. Allah created him in the way that the Prophet liked to be created, not like us. We have no iradah, will or choice, but the Prophet (s) has been given a choice. How do you want yourself? You have been created in a way that there is no faults in it, as if you have been created in the way you like (bayt sha`r, a line of poetry by Sayyidina Hasan bin Thabit [r]), and therefore, there is a Paradise of the Muhammadiyoon, anyone who loves the Prophet (s). They will take the characteristics of the Prophet (s) in their faces.

To recite, laa ilaaha illa-Llah is very important. One mureed came to his shaykh. When you use it in the right way, you have to be very careful how you speak and how you recite al-Qur'an. Imam ash-Sha`raani mentioned in his book, "Tabaqat," a mureed who said, "O my shaykh. I have been with you for 25 years. Can you appoint me something, that I will summarize the knowledge I learned from you and spread it?" (Mawlana asks the attendees:) Why whenever I say "summarize" you laugh? What is going on? Is it a mysterious word or a traditional, classical word?) He asked the shaykh, "That I can summarize for people and teach them." That one was an `alim, as shuyukh don't want anyone around them except scholars. Only Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, from his mercy and humbleness to people, accepts. But go to Syria and see, ask Abdul Shakoor; they don't accept common people and only `ulama are at the front of the shaykh. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim doesn't care; whoever comes from east, west, north, south, or Antarctica's penguins, he accepts. How many penguins come? There are people who like to make lecutures and summarize. They move like penguins and peacocks. Hajjah Naziha (seated next to Mawlana) just said that peacocks and penguins are both animals. So choose which you want to be.

To continue, the shaykh said, "Who gave you permission to speak in front of me?"

He said, "O my shaykh! I will make it very well-done (like barbeque) and offer to people."

Thr shaykh said, "Okay, that is a good idea. Now what do we have to do? I want you to take a basket and fill it with walnuts. Take a big basket, not a small basket that can only hold ten walnuts; take one with a thousand walnuts in it. Fill it with walnuts. Go to the masjid (like this masjid) where people come in and go out. Put a small wood chair there, and put the basket, remove your shoes, and sit by door. Say to anyone who enters, "Take my shoes hit me on one side of the head, and I will give you a walnut."

This is tarbiyyah, how they discipline the mureed. "If you want to follow me, this is the test I am giving you." If you want to be a representative, I will show you how to be representatives of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. Okay, all mureeds in Singapore are representatives of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim! What do you want better than that? Take his flag and go; this is barakah. Mawlana Shaykh's daughter, Hajjah Naziha, is saying "yes." (laughter)

The shaykh's instructions continue, "Tell them, 'Beat me on my head and take one walnut; if you beat me two times, take two walnuts; if you beat me three times, take three walnuts.' Up to ten walnuts, let them beat you on your head until it swells, and when the basket finished return to me."

So that mureed who was an `alim, said, "O, you are saying this to me? laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah!" Sometimes when people are angry, they say "laa ilaaha illa-Llah" to show their anger, meaning, "go away from my face!"

The shaykh said, "We didn't begin yet with the basket and you are already angry! What if you were beaten up until your head was swollen? Is your ten, fifteen, twenty-five years of love to me so cheap? If even a non-Muslim says, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadan Rasoolullah, he enters Paradise. You said it in an angry way, which is not proper to Allah and his Prophet! You ave sinned; go and repent!"

Awliyaullah do not easily give their jewels. The Chilean miners suffered thirty-three days in order to get some gold, but they offered their lives! Don't think you are something! Why did the shaykh say, "When they come in and go out, hit him on his head." It is to polish his ego. How do you get cream out of milk? You beat it or pasteurize it. The shaykh wanted him to be beaten so that his bad thinking will go out and his good thinking will come.

فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاها

fa-alhamahaa fujoorahaa wa taqwaahaa.

And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right. (ash-Shams, 91:8)

O People of Islam! Islam is a taste and not a joke. Tariqah is a taste, not a joke. Shari`ah is a highway. They spend millions of dollars to build a highway, but if there is no rest area it has no value. It must provide rest areas where people relax, use the bathroom, make wudu, view nice scenery, eat and drink in restaurants and take food and all kinds nice things. Shari`ah is the highway, and as you advance in Shari`ah you see better and better rest areas. Don't exit, for if you exit you go with Shaytan! Don't divide, or then you are following Shaytan. Remain on the highway and don't exit, people of Singapore, Australia, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Cape Town, Europe, especially the mureeds of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim! And Adam was on the highway, the Straight Path of Paradise, when Shaytan took him to an exit. What must you do if you exit? go all the way back and come around again. So remain united

O Muslims! When Adam (a) and his wife Hawa were united, Shaytan came and divided them, and when that happened Allah (swt) threw Adam in Sri Lanka and sent Hawa to Jeddah, as they say. They were divided. Don't let Shaytan come and divide you! He will appear to be pious and sincere, just as he came to Adam, pretending to be pious and he was only cheating them. I am speaking to myself also, as I don't want to be cheated. We are trying our best to serve Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, and my advice to me and to you is, be sure not to let the rotten apple come between you or all will become rotten!

May Allah (swt) bring peace to this world, and make everyone happy, Muslims and non-Muslims.We must ask ourselves, are we good and bad? I must ask myself, and I am struggling as all are sturggling. We must not fall into badness! Say, laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah!

On Judgment Day, one servant will be called by Allah (swt), and he is the worst one. When Allah calls him to His Presence to judge him, He orders the angels to bring his ninety-nine records, and each one is beyond the east to west, full.

وَلاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

wa laa ratbin laa yaabisin illa fee kitaabin mubeen,

"no wet and no dry except in a clear book." (al-An`am, 6:59)

And each record is heavier than the previous one. Allah will order the angels to put the records on the left side of the Heavenly Scale and that `abd will be shaking, thinking for sure he is going to Hell. And at that moment a paper comes, and written on it is, "laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah," as he was Muslim. That record of one sentence, "laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah," will be put on the other side of the Scale and immediately it will outweigh the records on the other side, and immediately Allah will send that person to Paradise!

O Muslims! If you are in difficulty say, "laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah." May Allah (swt) bless us and forgive us, and may Allah keep us together to not be divided. Pray for those who run away to come back, even you don't like them. How many of you are present here tonight, 100, 200, 300? I say to you, all of you are representatives of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, you are khalifah! It doesn't mean anything, because when authority comes, it comes from Heaven, not from the tongue of someone who is not authorized to give authorization! We say as Allah (swt) said:

إِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

Laa tahdee man ahbabta inn'Allaha yahdee man yashaa'u wa huwa a`lamu bi 'l-muhtadeena.

Surely you cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He pleases, and He knows best the followers of the right way. (28:56)

"Don't guide whom you like, Allah will guide whom He likes." Allah guided you, finished! Leave those who are fugitives, until they surrender. When they surrender they will be forgiven, of course. May Allah make everyone on this Earth Muslim.

Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

By order of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, I am renewing the baya` of everyone here, so put hands on shoulders.

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