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Belief in Mahdi / Messiah

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

9 November, 2012 Lefke, Cyprus

Suhbah after Jumu’ah

I didn’t know there would be a suhbah, but since Mawlana Hajji Mastan is here, from the very old khalifahs of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life, in his presence I feel shy to speak. First of all, it is the day of Jumu`ah and it is the time in which du`a is accepted, and now we all ask Allah (swt), “Yaa Rabbee! (You said) Anta qultu id`oonee astajib lakum, “Ask Me and I will respond to you.” (40:60) Our du`a is that Allah gives our Shaykh long life and health, and to his children and grandchildren, and to all his ikhwaan, those around the world who know him physically and/or through the Internet, and to all those who heard about him. May Allah give him shifaa and give him long life to see Mahdi (a)! Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.

This message is for western countries. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) has asked me to express and explain this in a short message. There are people who misunderstand an Islamic concept and it is important to clear that concept. I will challenge all scholars around the world, from Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah

or from Shi`a scholars, that no one, and I say this again, no one can deny what Prophet (s) has mentioned from the signs of Sayyidina Mahdi (a). That is a concept which Western countries do not understand and a concept which some Muslims are not understanding. It is a belief of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah that one day someone from the Prophet's Family will bring peace.

You western countries, where we live, we know you like peace and we also like peace; you are moderate and we are moderate. That is why Prophet (s) said, “One of my grandchilden will come in the ‘Days of Fitna’ and he will fill the Earth with justice and with peace.”

أبشروا بالمهدي رجل من قريش من عترتي يخرج في اختلاف من الناس وزلزال فيملأ الأرض قسطا وعدلا كما ملئت ظلما وجورا ويرضى عنه ساكن السماء وساكن الأرض ويقسم المال صحاحا بالسوية ويملأ قلوب أمة محمد غنى ويسعهم عدله حتى إنه يأمر مناديا فينادى من له حاجة إليّ؟ فما يأتيه إلا رجل واحد يأتيه فيسأله فيقول ائت السادن حتى يعطيك فيأتيه فيقول أنا رسول المهدي إليك لتعطيني مالا فيقول احث. فيحثي ولا يستطيع أن يحمله فيلقي حتى يكون قدر ما يستطيع أن يحمله فيخرج به فيندم فيقول أنا كنت أجشع أمة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم نفسا كلهم دعي إلى هذا المال فتركه غيري فيرد عليه فيقول إنا لا نقبل شيئا أعطيناه فيلبث في ذلك ستا أو سبعا أو ثمانيا أو تسع سنين ولا خير في الحياة بعده.

Good tidings of al-Mahdi, a man from the Quraysh from my descendants, who will appear during a great dissension between the people and earthquakes and he will fill the earth with justice and fairness as much as it had been filled with harm and oppression. And the inhabitants of the sky and the inhabitants of the earth will be pleased with him and he will divide wealth profusely, even-handedly, and he will fill the hearts of the Community of Muhammad (s) with wealth, and his justice will suffice them, until he will order a caller to call out, “Who is there with any need to be fulfilled?” and no one will respond except one man. He will be told to go to the treasurer and tell him that the Mahdi is ordering you to give me some wealth. "Gather and take it," he will be told. He will begin to put it in his lap, but he will not be able to carry it and then he will discard what he gathered until he is able to carry it, and then he will go out but (when he realizes that nobody else has come and he was the only one) he will regret it and say, "I was the greediest from amongst the Community of Muhammad (s). All of them were called to take from this wealth and no one did but me.’' The narrator says, "He will return it but it will not be accepted and it will be said to him that we do not accept what we have given." And he will stay six or seven or eight or nine years. And there will be no good in life after his passing. (al-Haakim)

This is what you are asking and this is what we are asking. Don't deny the concept of Mahdi's (a) appearance! It is not something not mentioned in Islam, but it is even mentioned in Christianity and in Judaism, that one man will come at the end and he is the Messiah. Christians accept that in the Bible and the Jews are accepting that in their Torah, so we are not saying something different. We are saying that one will come, and Prophet (s) is saying rajulun min Quraysh min `itratee, “a man from Quraysh from my descendants” or, yakhruju waladin min awlaadee, “A man from my grandchildren.”

You call him what you like to call him, such as “the Messiah,” and we call him “Mahdi.” It is a real concept of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah and also a concept for the Shi`a. So no one can come and question us about Mahdi (a)! If Muslim scholars have a real understanding of Islam, they have to explore and expose the signs of Mahdi (s) and mention the peacefulness he comes with.

In 1980, there was a problem in Mecca, a terrorist at that time who called himself “al-Juhaymi” invaded the mosque. It was in the year 1400 Hijri or 1980, and I was there. He called himself the Mahdi and took over the Haraam of Mecca, and he began shooting people with all kinds of weapons. That was the false Mahdi. That is why the Prophet (s) said there will be thirty liars that claim they are Mahdi and at the end of time they will claim they are Sayyidina `Isaa (a), but in fact they are the Anti-Christ, the anti-Messiah, and they come against Jesus Christ!

And at the time of that incident, the Saudi government with its religious department knew that in Islam they believed in the coming of Mahdi (a), but they don't know when; Allah (swt) knows when that will happen but we follow signs. When you examine reports of an election, you give an analysis. So you scholars of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah understand that there are ahadeeth in Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari (regarding Mahdi). In Sahih Muslim it is mentioned by name and in Sahih Bukhari it is not mentioned by name, but you cannot deny that.

So in Mecca they put a book by Muhammad `Ali Sabouni, a Syrian scholar who lives in Saudi Arabia, titled al-Mahdi muzayy min al-Mahdi al-haqeeqee, “The Real Mahdi from the False Mahdi,” and he included more than one-hundred ahadeeth of Mahdi, who is coming in Last Days. So I am hearing a lot, through emails, sms and telephone calls, that people do not understand the concept. It is not something (unusual). In Arabic, “Mahdi” is a guide and everyone wants a guide. Why are we coming here? Our Shaykh is our guide and there are shuyookh around the world and everyone has his own Shaykh.

لاَ يُكَلِّفُ اللّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ

Laa yukallifullahu nafsan illa wus`ahaa lahaa maa kasabat wa `alayhaa maa ’ktasabat.

On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:286)

Everyone feels okay with his Shaykh, alhamdulillah. And as I said in today’s khutbah, Imam Busayri (r) said, wa kullun min rasoolullaahi multamisun, everyone is taking something from the Prophet (s): wa kullun “everyone,” multamis is “taking something.” So when Imam Busayri understood the reality of guidance that Prophet (s) brought, he then knew the secret that Prophet was carrying and he said, “wa kullun multamisun.” He didn’t say, “al-muslimoon multamisun,” but he said “kullu,” which in Arabic means “everyone.”

Who is everyone? It includes angels, as they need Prophet (s), because Allah (swt) ordered them to make salawaat on him. Why were they in need of Prophet (s)? Because Allah made them to make the Sajda of Ihtiraam to Sayyidina Adam (a) because of the Light in his forehead (not Sajda of `Ibaadah, Servanthood, as that is for Allah [swt].)

The angels were ordered:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

Inna-Llaaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabiyy, yaa ayyuhal-ladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was sallimoo tasleema.

Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him.

(Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)

Who are those angels? It is not one angel; Allah (swt) means all of them: those in the past, the present (and angels don’t die), and the future angels; all are under the order of making salawaat on Prophet (s). Look at the Greatness of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)! That is a guide, and he is guiding everyone to Allah (swt). Why can we say he is the guide? Because his name is being raised with Allah's Name. In the Shahaadah, you cannot say “Allah” without saying “Muhammad” or you are not a Muslim.

وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ

Wa rafa`naa laka dhikrak.

And We have elevated your remembrance! (Surat ash-Sharh, 94:4)

“We have raised your name, yaa Muhammad!”

إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ

Inna shaaniaka huwa ‘l-abtar.

He who hates you will be cut off (from future hope; he has no continuation). (Surat al-Kawthar, 108:3)

“O Muhammad! Your name will continue, from the beginning when I created you, and when you came to Earth and when you leave Earth, and on the Day of Resurrection and on the Day of Paradise, your name will be on everyone's tongue!”

Wa rafa`naa laka dhikrak. There is no level to describe where that is or to where Allah raised his name. You cannot say He raised him only to Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa; this is only for us to understand. But where is Qaaba Qawsayni? What is that level? Where is ‘two bows of an arrow or less’? To where did Allah raise him? When He said, “I raised him,” it means He raised him above any Creation that He created, before and after. It means, “There is no one who can reach you, yaa Muhammad!”

All 124,000 awliyaullah, not only those present now, but there are others, because when one dies they have to be replaced. But at this moment, there are and must always be 124,000 wali, all of them seeking guidance with their Sultan and from Prophet (s). That is why Imam Busayri (r) said, wa kullun min rasulullahi multamisun, “All of them are seeking guidance from Prophet (s).” Angels are also seeking guidance, and their key for that is salawaat on Prophet (s):

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

Inna-Llaaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabiyy, yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi wa sallimoo tasleema.

Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him.

(Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)

What is “yusalloon”? It means “making salawaat,” and we explained this many times. If you are making salawaat on Prophet (s), your salawaat must be different from another person’s salawaat. No two angels can make the same salawaat; everyone's salawaat is different, and the same salawaat you do on Prophet(s) cannot be repeated again. Every time the angels will repeat it for you in a different way, from the first to second to third and so forth, until the Day of Judgment.

One wali, Grandshaykh `AbdAllah, may Allah bless his soul, used to tell us the story of Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q). He said one day Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq was ordered into seclusion by Prophet (s). This is a point that we need to clarify. Many people ask, why do you say “wali,” what is his wilaya? He is a normal person, is it not? People say this (not mureeds, because they love their shuyookh), but other people say it, so we have to establish a base.

Before Sayyidina Imam al-Bukhari (r), there was Sayyidina `Umar (r). Was he a prophet? No, he was a khalifah. However, from his minbar, Sayyidina `Umar (r) was able to see Sariya (r) in Damascus, which is 2,000 km away, where Sariya was fighting unbelievers who came against them in Damascus. Sayyidina `Umar (r) was able to see him and speak with him, “Yaa Sariya! ِِِAl-jabal, be careful, the enemy is coming from the mountain!” And Sariya (r) was looking around because he heard Sayyidina `Umar's voice but he could not see him as he was at a lower level, but Sayyidina `Umar was able to hear and to see 2,000 km away. There were no telephones or long distance communications. That is wilaya, guiding him to be careful that the enemy was coming from the mountain; to secure the mountain. Like today, they have guided missiles, drones and smart bombs. Sayyidina `Umar (r) was sending a “smart guidance;” he was able to see from far way and was guiding. Today they need a computer to guide the bomb. Sayyidina `Umar was looking and seeing where Sariya was and all Damascus in front of him, guiding from the minbar of Prophet (s) on Jumu`ah.

We say Sayyidina `Umar (r) was a khalifah and Imam al-Bukhari (r) was not a khalifah, but he was a sincere, pious person. He never put a hadith without making istikharah and Prophet (s) told him if that hadith was correct or not, and not only that; he asked Prophet (s) in which category to put that hadith, under which chapter, and Prophet (s) told him in the dream, “Yaa Imam! Put it in this or that chapter.” So awliyaullah have this connection with Prophet (s). How would they not have connection when Allah (swt) says:

أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

Alaa inna awliyaaullaahi laa khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.

Behold! Verily on the Friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (Surah Yunus, 10:62)

“There must be no fear or sadness on My Friends.” Sadness on what? Sadness because they want a stronger relation with the Prophet (s)! Like Sayyidina Abayazid al-Bistami (q), during one period of his life he was saying, “Yaa Rabbee! Open Your door for me as I want to come to You,” then he saw Allah (swt) in the dream! Like we pray istikhara, he saw Allah (swt) in his dream. Sayyidina Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (r) saw Allah (swt) in his dream. Prophet (s) mentioned that he saw Allah (swt) in his dream and that Allah (swt) came to him smiling.

Prophet (s) said in a Holy Hadith that Allah (swt) says:

عن ‏ ‏أبي هريرة ‏ ‏قال ‏‏قال رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏إن الله قال ‏ ‏من عادى لي وليا فقد ‏ ‏آذنته ‏ ‏بالحرب وما تقرب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضت عليه وما يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به وبصره الذي يبصر به ويده التي يبطش بها ورجله التي يمشي بها ...

Man `ada lee waliyan faqad aadhantahu bi ’l-harb wa maa taqarraba ilayya `abdee bi-shayyin ahabba ilayya mimmaa aftaradtu `alayhi wa maa yazaalu `abdee yataqarabu ilayya bi’ n-nawaafil hatta uhibbah. Fa idhaa ahbaabtahu kuntu sama`uhulladhee yasma`u bihi wa basarahulladhee yubsiru bihi, wa yadahulladhee yabtishu bihaa wa rijlahullatee yamshee bihaa.

My servant does not cease to approach Me through voluntary worship until I will love him. When I love him, I will become the ears with which he hears, the eyes with which he sees, the hand with which he acts, and the legs with which he walks (and other versions include, “and the tongue with which he speaks.”). (Hadith Qudsi, Bukhari)

So Abayazid al-Bistami (r) was asking, “Yaa Rabbee! Let me enter Your Presence,” and he heard a voice in his vision or dream saying, “Yaa Abayazid! What do you want?”

He said, “Yaa Rabbee! Kayf al-wusoolu ilayk! How can You be reached? How can I come to You? I need to come to You, but how? Show me the Way.”

Allah (swt) said, itruk nafsak wa ta`al. “Leave your self (ego) and come.”

It means awliyaullah have this relationship of seeing Prophet (s) and that he guides them. So Sayyidina Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) was older and in his vision he heard a voice saying to him, “Yaa Abdul-Khaliq! Go to that area in Merv.” Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) visited that in 1981, where still there is a well full of water, and it is a very difficult to dig a well. Sayyidina Abdul-Khaliq (q) saw Prophet (s) in his dream, telling him, “Dig this well in this place,” and from that time the well has remained full. Grandshaykh (q) said since that time Sayyidina Abdul-Khaliq (q) always did his dhikr in that well daily; he dove into the water, and when his breath was finishing he went back up, took a breath and went back down in the well again, continuing dhikr there, both in the summer and winter, and you know how cold it is there in winter!

They asked him, “Yaa Imaam! Why do you do your dhikr there?”

He said, “Because Shaytan cannot approach water, so he cannot come to me when I am doing my dhikr.”

Allah (swt) gave each awliyaullah a specialty. So Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) saw Prophet (s) in his dream telling him go to a certain area, where he would see a big stone and to take his stick and hit it. So Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq went there, and this account is from the stories of his miracles. He went to that stone and hit it with his stick. Grandshaykh, may Allah bless his soul, said water was gushing from it like a waterfall and until the Day of Judgment that water will not stop! That is the water of the well.

Sayyidina `Abdul-Khaliq al-Ghujdawani (q) is the imaam of Khatm al-Khawajagan and the first one to do khatm by Allah’s and Prophet's orders!

Allah (swt) said to him in a vision, “Yaa Abdul-Khaliq, yaa Imaam! From every drop of water I am creating an angel praising Prophet (s), and that will be written for Ummat an-Nabi (s). Your job is to name every angel that I create from these drops with no repetition in their names.”

Look what power Allah (swt) gave to Sayyidina Abdul- Khaliq Ghujdawani (q)! So awliyaullah are able to see far away. When they say to us, “I saw a vision,” or “I saw Prophet (s),” means they saw in reality. Anyone who sees has really seen, as mentioned in the hadith:

من رائني في المنام فقد راءني حقا

Man ra'aanee fi 'l-manaami faqad raanee haqqan.

Who saw me in the dream saw me in reality. (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah)

Because, as Prophet (s) said, in another hadith:

أن أبا هريرة قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول من رآني في المنام فسيراني في اليقظة أو فكأنما رآني في اليقظة لا يتمثل الشيطان بي

Man ra’aanee fi ’l-manaam fa sayaraanee fi ’l-yaqazhata (fa-ka-annamaa ra’aanee fi’l-yaqazhata) laa yatamathal ash-shaytaanu bee.

“Who sees me in the dream will see me in reality; Shaytan cannot come in my shape/image.” (Imam Ahmad)

Imam Suyuti (r) says that hadith means he will see Prophet (s) in dunya because in Akhirah everyone will see Prophet (s), but in dunya not everyone will see him. So awliyaullah are able to guide you and when they speak about Sayyidina Mahdi (a), they are able to speak about something they are seeing.

O People! Of the ahadith on al-Mahdi, go and check in the eight different sihah, the real books of Islam in which Prophet (s) has mentioned all these. Go and check! And it is your responsibility to teach that Mahdi (a) exists and he is coming in the future to bring genuine peace. He is not going to use weapons; Mahdi does not need them, because in the Name of Allah (swt), he will bring peace to the whole world and he will bring miracles! That is our belief. Our belief is what Prophet (s) said: to have makarim al-akhlaaq and Maqaam al-Ihsaan, to carry the best of manners.

We are Muslims, and particularly, the Muslims of moderation, as Prophet (s) said:

وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا

Wa kadhaalika ja`alnaakum ummatun wasata.

Thus, have We made of you a Nation justly balanced. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:103)

Our nation is on the middle way, not liberal and not extremists; rather, we are in the middle and we want harmony for everyone on this Earth, and for everyone to live in peace! That is why we say, intizhaar al faraj `ibaadah, “to wait for an opening in Islam is worshipness.” To wait for an ease is worshipness, waiting for peace is worshipness, and this means if we are waiting for all this it is worshipness of Allah (swt). And we are asking Allah (swt) to bring peace on Earth quickly, to give every person on this Earth a chance to live happily in this world and in the Hereafter!

May Allah (swt) bless you all and may Allah (swt) give health to our Shaykh, Sultan al-Awliya, Sayyidee Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (q), and to all shuyookh of different tariqas, may Allah (swt) bless them all.

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

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