`Isha Suhbah at Private Residence
Allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad hatta yardaa Sayyidina Muhammad (s)
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.
Dastoor, yaa Sayyidee madad!
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:59)
The way of Muslims that the Prophet (s) taught everyone is by attending such meetings and associations, not formal ones. Formal associations have too much debate on an issue that might be correct or incorrect. The formal associations don't give the sincerity of an association, which is informal, and informal associations are the ones that Allah (swt) likes and loves. That is why the Prophet (s) was always sitting with Sahaabah (r) in an informal way; had he sat in a formal way, everyone would have run away from seeing majestic power on him and people cannot take that, so they would have been afraid and worried. The Sahaabah (r) were always trying to move between (land) mines in front of the Prophet (s), to see how they came in front of Prophet (s) in order that they will be accepted. That is why the Prophet (s) moved up and took away formalities. When he was with the Sahaabah (r) and there were no outsiders, he used to lay down and joke with them to make them friendly and happy, to make a familiar situation and make them feel relaxed.
There is a story about that. One time he (s) was sitting with Sahaabah alayhim ar-ridwaan, may Allah honor them higher and higher, and make us to stand at their threshold, as Prophet (s) said:
أصحابي كالنجوم بأيهم اقتديتم اهتديتم
As-haabee ka 'n-nujoom bi ayyihim aqtadaytum ahtadaytum.
My Companions are like stars (on a dark night); whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.
(`Abd ibn Humayd, ad-Daraqutnee, ibn `Adiyy, ibn `Abd al-Barr, with unsound chains but the meaning is sound.)
And just now we were speaking about academia, Noor/Light, strings (String Theory) and a star in the sky. We know if we accept what they say of the Big Bang--that everything was blown up and scattered with a speed that is known only to Allah--and if we agree it was an explosion that happened and made all the particles in the universe, we ask, who stopped them in their places? There must be a driving force from three opposite sides, a focus, something that brings them together and is at the same time holding them separate from each other. Who did that? So Prophet (s) described his Sahaabah like that. When the Message came and Prophet (s) gave it to them, it exploded. And because he (a mureed) is a scholar, he understands the meaning and can differentiate what is coming from Mawlana Shaykh (q) and what is coming from awliyaullah, and it is different from what comes from normal sources.
So the light of the Sahaabah (r) was scattered in this universe, which made the Prophet (s) say, “My Sahaabah are like stars.” Wherever the Sahaabi’s power is, that came from his heart, his body, and his soul, it went into a big bang, it exploded with the knowledge and manifestations of Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes on them and made that go everywhere, in every direction. That is why Prophet (s) said, “Anyone you follow from these Sahaabah you will be guided.” Guided to what? To Allah (swt)! Is there any other way?
So the Prophet (s) used to sit with his Sahaabah (r) in an informal way, because if you sit formally people get tired. That is why a lecture must not be more than forty minutes and if it is longer, everyone is sleeping, so not more than thirty or forty minutes as we cannot carry more than that. If you hear a lecturer in an academic conference, after the first five minutes you sleep and if someone is speaking about Islam, you fall asleep in thirty minutes! But someone with spiritual power, who is connected to the source, speaks from forty minutes up to three hours. When anyone came to Grandshaykh (q), may Allah bless his soul, and sometimes I saw children twelve or thirteen years old sitting in front of him, Grandshaykh (q) would give a lecture for three hours and they were not bored! He spoke non-stop and not one lecture was the same as the other, although he never held a pen, never read Arabic except Holy Qur'an and Dalaa’il al-Khayraat, and he spoke like a (flowing) fountain! That’s not in everyone.
So the Prophet (s) used to lay down and the Sahaabah (r) were around him, everyone was doing something, and the Prophet (s) joked with them to make them happy. That is why he (s) said:
إن من أحب الأعمال إلى الله إدخال السرور على قلب المؤمن
Inna min ahabba’l-`amaal ila-Allahi idkhaal as-suroor `alaa qalb al-mu’min.
Verily from one of the most beloved actions to Allah is to give happiness to the heart of the believer.
So then our duty is to make people happy because then it is ishaara, a sign of faith, that people are happy. When people are not happy with the lecture, that is a sign the ego is there from something in the lecture, but if they are happy with what they are hearing, and even one sentence is enough to make them happy, that is a sign of faith. So the Prophet (s) wanted the Sahaabah (r) and his ummah to always be happy and that is why Allah gave him shafaa`: to make his ummah happy and to make them feel they are going to be saved, because everyone is worried.
So he (s) would lay down and joke with them, and one day he was lying down and they brought him a bunch of grapes and he was eating them. Where is the best side, the sweetest side in a bunch of grapes? It is on the bottom, and he (s) was eating from the bottom. Suddenly a group of non-Muslims came and the Sahaabah (r) said, “Yaa Rasoolullah! Some people are coming to see you.” Immediately he sat up properly and began to eat from the top of the bunch. They entered and he (s) respected them.
They said, “We came to see you, but we observe something strange. You are a prophet, as you are saying, (allahumma salli `alaa Sayyidina Muhammad) and a prophet knows everything, Allah is sending to him.” They were not mushrikeen, idol worshippers, but from a different religion. “We believe in God, but we saw something that for us is strange. You are a prophet and you know the sweetest part in the bunch of the grapes is on the bottom, so why are you eating from the top, which is sour?”
The Prophet (s) looked at them and all Sahaabah (r) were waiting for the answer, and he said:
لا يؤمن أحدكم حتى يحب لأخيه ما يحب لنفسه
laa yuminu ahadakum hattaa yuhibu li akheehim maa yuhibu li nafsihi,
No one is considered a believer unless he loves for his brother as he loves for himself,
This means, “I am taking responsibility for you on the Day of Judgment! I am taking the sour; I am carrying that and I am presenting you to be sweet in front of Allah (swt). That is why I am eating the grapes from the top, to give you the sweet from the bottom.”
They said, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadu ‘r-rasoolullah wa annaka yaa Muhammad rasoolullah!”
So Islam and the whole Qur’an are based on one word - they are based on obedience, nothing else. If you have obedience it is as if Allah opened your heart to understand the secret of the Holy Qur'an. When you are obedient you have that - there is no veil or obstacle to break through. If we are obedient, everything is open.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ
Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasool,
Obey Allah and obey the Prophet.
Also:
مَّنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللّهَ
Man yuti`i ar-rasoola faqad ataa`a Allah.
Who obeys the Prophet obeys Allah. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:80)
The entire Holy Qur'an is based on obedience and the Sahaabah (r) knew that. There are secrets in the Holy Qur'an that no one knows. If the whole world’s trees were pens and all oceans were ink, still Allah’s words will not finish!
قُل لَّوْ كَانَ الْبَحْرُ مِدَادًا لِّكَلِمَاتِ رَبِّي لَنَفِدَ الْبَحْرُ قَبْلَ أَن تَنفَدَ كَلِمَاتُ رَبِّي وَلَوْ جِئْنَا بِمِثْلِهِ مَدَدًا
Qul law kaana ’l-bahru midaadan li-kalimaati rabbee la-nafida 'l-bahru qabla an tanfada kalimaatu rabbee wa law ji’naa bi-mithlihi madada.
Say (O Muhammad), "And if the oceans were ink and the trees pens, they would be used up before writing the Words of our Lord even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid." (Surat al-Kahf, 18:109)
What are Allah’s Words? It is Holy Qur'an. So who can understand the Holy Qur'an? There is no way to give the Holy Qur'an its rights. We cannot even refer to “it!” here. No one can give the Qur’an, we cannot say “it,” so what do you have to say? “The Qur’an.” No one can give: not a scholar, academician, lecturer, no way! Everyone has hundreds and thousands of books, go to libraries and you will find millions of books have been written. Which books made the most income? Go to universities and check all the books, this one sold one-million copies, this one two-million, this one ten-million, this one only one copy, this one a hundred-million copies, this one sold one-billion copies. Which one has made the most money that you can think of? So which one has sold and made the most income from all books? Harry Potter! (laughter) We are speaking of money. How much did that lady (the author) make? I heard the lady who wrote Harry Potter made four-billion and every child has read that, every father and mother--not every--many have read that . What benefit did they get? There is benefit from their pockets because they gave money to that lady for the book, but do they have any benefit? They gave the lady money for the book. Can any book in this universe pay you back? Does any book in this world pay you back? No, you spend your money and then you put it on the shelf. Who pays you back? The only book that pays you back when you read it, and even after you read it and you put it on the shelf, the presence of Holy Qur'an in the house will give you shifaa’ because it has Allah’s Words! If you are sick, open the Holy Qur'an. What did the Prophet (s) say?
الْفَاتِحَةُ لِمَا قُرِئَتْ لَهُ
Al-Fatihah lima quriyat lahu.
The Chapter of the Opening is for whatever it is read. (Hadith)
Surat al-Fatihah will cure you from any sickness you have, but you must have belief in the Holy Qur'an and you must have belief in what you are reciting and you must have clean breath, not just breath that is clean from brushing your teeth and coming to read, no. You must not have any bad behavior and bad manners in order for that du`a you read through Holy Qur’an to be effective. That is why, where do people go sometimes? They go to see a pious person and say, “Make du`a for me,” and that is not something that is shirk; everyone accepts that, even the Salafi have no problem that to make du`a is okay, but there are conditions for your du`a to be accepted:
وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاء وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلاَ يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إَلاَّ خَسَارًا
Wa nunazzilu mina al-qur’ani ma huwa shifaa’un wa rahmatun li ’l-mu’mineen wa laa yazeedu ‘zhaalimeena illa khasaaraa.
And We sent down in the Qur’an such things that have healing and mercy for the believers, but it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss. (Surat al-’Israa, 17:82)
Who is Allah (swt) addressing in this? Say! For a mu’min He gives a cure from Holy Qur’an, but for a zhaalim he is giving khasara, to be a “loser.” To whom is Allah saying this, to Muslims? Mu’min, Muslim and kufaar? No, He is not addressing a zhaalim or kaafir, He is addressing us! “If you believe in My Verses of Holy Qur'an, in My Word, you are a mu’min and you will get cured. If you are an oppressor to them,” because there are many oppressors from among Muslims, not against the Qur’an, but they are zhaalim to the Holy Qur’an because they are not clean in their manners through their souls and with their cruelty they are opening Holy Qur’an, so Allah (swt) is saying, “Be mu’min, have faith in what you are reading, then you will see the results.” If you don’t have faith, how are you going to see results?
So the only book that is a talking book, al-qur’aanu naatiqun, “The Holy Qur'an utters, speaks,” it is a talking book, and if you really have ears that can hear what cannot be heard, you will hear these ayaat when you are reading and what they are saying; they will answer you. If you come across an ayat of `adhaab, punishment, it will address you, “You have these sins and this is the punishment you will get, so quickly repent!” You will hear that. If you pass by (read) ayaats of Paradise, they will tell you, “You did this, do more and you will have higher Paradises!”
The Holy Qur’an is not akhras, dumb. Astagfirullah, hasha! It is the only book that gives you back. What does it give back to you? Other books, every book what does it give you? Nothing, it gives back dunya work. If you are a professor it gives you higher status and more salary, that is what they give you. But can any book give you what the Qur’an will give you for Akhirah and for dunya? but the Holy Qur’an gives you more status in this life and the next and no other book can do that. No one can and that is why we said today in the Jumu`ah suhbah, that when Allah (swt) ordered the angels to make sajda of respect to Sayyidina Adam (a), not sajda of `ibadaah which is for Allah (swt), He ordered them to make sajda and it was for respect to the Light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) in the forehead of Sayyidina Adam (a). And the first angel to do that sajda was Sayyidina Israafeel (a) who is the angel who will blow the Trumpet on Judgment Day. He was shaking to make that sajda shaking, fearing Allah (swt), in fear that he would not do it well, in fear of what would happen to him. And for that Allah wrote the entire Holy Qur'an between his two eyes, on his forehead. That is Allah’s Greatness! Al-Qurtubi said this was for that sajda of respect.
What do you think of the sajda of someone who is making sajda of `ibaadah to Allah, making many sajdas many times every day? For that respect Allah (swt) gave the entire Holy Qur'an between the eyes, for sajda tahiyya, of respect, He gave the whole Holy Qur’an, but what will Allah give for the sajda of `ibaadah Allah? He will give the Holy Qur'an written on your forehead and will give you more. Every time you do the sajda it will not be the same meaning that He expressed the first time He put the Holy Qur’an on your forehead. And each time you make sajda it will be different meanings coming from these ayaat. It is the same ayaat, the same Qur’an that He put, the words are the same but the meanings are different. In every sajda, because your forehead is your forehead. Allahu akbar! If you do ten sajdas a day, you get ten different interpretations.
وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلاَّ اللّهُ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلاَّ أُوْلُواْ الألْبَابِ
Wa maa ya`lamu ta`weelahu illa-Llahu, wa ‘r-rasikhoona fi ‘l-`ilmi ya`qooloona aamanna bihi kullun min `indi rabbinaa wa maa yadhdhakkaru illa `oloo ’l-baab.
But none except God knows its final meaning. Therefore, those who are deeply rooted in knowledge say, "We believe in it; the whole [of the divine book] is from our Sustainer.” And none will grasp the Message except men of understanding. (Surat Aali `Imraan, 3:7)
No one knows these ta`weel, interpretations of the Holy Qur'an, except Allah (swt) and He will give it to you. He already passed it to the Prophet (s): wa ‘r-rasikhoona fi 'l-`ilmi yaqooloona aamannaa kullun min `indillah, “The Sincere Pious Ones will say, ‘We believed.’” It means these interpretations are for the ummah. Kalaamullah, there is no way we can define them as they are Allah’s Uncreated Words. Allah (swt) created us and in our creations we are limited in our understanding, but Allah’s Understanding is not limited, and He gave that to the Prophet (s), who is an ocean of knowledge! What are these knowledges? As awliyaullah say, all knowledge that all prophets, all Sahaabah and all `ulama took is only a drop from the ocean of Prophet (s). All of them are swimming in a drop! So where can academicians come in? The academicians in this whole world with all that they have written took only a drop of that drop! That drop of awliya and Sahaabah (r), who took from the Prophet (s), became an ocean for them, relatively speaking, compared to the knowledge of academicians.
That is why no one can (completely) understand the Holy Qur'an! Awliyaullah are pulling out and extracting meanings from each verse of the Holy Qur'an; even `ulama keeping extracting meaning from the Holy Qur’an. Leave the verses of Holy Qur'an; there are ahruf, the letters that are at the beginning of some surahs, the muqata`at, an abbreviation. In any case, every letter is an ocean and the knowledge in every letter cannot be limited! It is from pre-Existence as it is Allah’s Words, it has no beginning and no end. The example of that is when Jibreel (a) came to the Prophet (s) revealing Surat Maryam. What do you have to say to begin Surat Maryam? “Kaaf. Haa. Yaa. `Ayn. Saad.” So he said, “Kaaf”, and the Prophet (s) said, `alimtu, “I know about it,” and Jibreel (a) was shocked. He said, “Kaaf” and Prophet (s) said, `alimtu, “I know.” From where did he know? “I’m revealing you the Message just now!” How did he know? He knew it and he knew all interpretations and meanings that Allah wanted him to know!
And where are scholars? There were many previous scholars that wrote books on these acronyms! Today, where are scholars like that? With all that, it is nothing and still in limits. And then Jibreel (a) said, “Haa”, and the Prophet (s) said, “`Alimtu.” Today, when you ask a scholar, “What is ‘Kaaf. Haa. Yaa. `Ayn. Saad,’” he says, “I don’t know, Allah knows,” which is correct. We can ask the professor, can you translate that? Only in limits. If we don’t say “translation,” then “commentary.” Can anyone give a commentary on it? No way.
I heard Grandshaykh say, may Allah bless his soul, that when Jibreel (a) said, “Kaaf” and the Prophet (s) said, “`alimtu,” it means, how many words are there that begin with the letter kaaf in the Arabic dictionary? What are their meanings? Immediately the knowledge and its secrets came to the Prophet (s), and not from the dictionary made by human beings, but from the heavenly dictionary! How many times has the letter Kaaf begun a word, in both the heavenly interpretation and in dunya interpretation? Normally it might be eight-hundred to one-thousand. Alif is mentioned 2800 times. So when Jibreel (s) said, “Kaaf,” the Prophet (s) said, “I know.” When he said, “Haa,” he said, `alimtu, “I know it already!” “Yaa,” “I know!” “`Ayn,” “I know!” “Saad,” “I know!”
Jibreel (a) was finished, he could not say more as he was stuck. What to say? That means the Prophet (s) has received the interpretations through a revelation directly to his heart. Where are we from understanding the Holy Qur’an? Yet with all that greatness, Allah (swt) is still saying to us to read the Holy Qur’an:
وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا
Wa ratti-‘l-qur’aana tarteela.
And recite the Qur'an in slow, measured rhythmic tones. (Surat al-Muzzamil, 73:4)
So you read it. Some Sahaabah (r) used to make one khatm, complete the whole Qur'an every day! It takes about twelve or fifteen hours. How long does it take with you? Twenty minutes per juz and so thirty juz is around sixteen hours. When they were free they were reciting. Why should they be free? They were fighting and their tongues were reciting! Not like us, we can make one-hundred salawaat and get tired and Allah is saying to make non-stop salawaat. If Allah did not love us, He would not tell us to make salawaat.
If you have a boss who has a child, what do you do to make him happy? You give the child everything in order that the boss will say, “O you are good with my child, so I will give to you.” What do you think about a prophet whom Allah sent as a Messenger? He is not a child. When you show himmah, zeal, per order of Allah to do salawaat, what will Allah give back in reward? He will raise you to places that no one can understand. That’s why don’t underestimate people as they might be hiding. Look in this group, there might be a lot of awliyaullah. Why not? But they are hiding, veiling themselves. Some of them know they are awliyaullah and some of them, although they are awliya, they don’t know as they are not yet ripe, they are still sour in their behavior. So they don’t know and Allah will hide it, that is wahban, Allah’s grant. When you give hibbah, a grant, you don’t ask in return, you just give!
So Allah gave wahban, grants to Ummat an-Nabi (s) for some to be awliyaullah and no one can change that, finished. Some He gave them for their struggle, as they have to work in order to achieve it by asbaab, causes: you do this you get this, you do that you get that. So what you do is written for you until you become a wali. There are some that don’t do anything, like Sayyidina Ya`qoob’s (a) children: twelve of them were prophets and ten of them threw Sayyidina Yusuf (a) in the well and they were still prophets, infallible, so it was not written against them as a sin because it was a lesson for Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a), teaching him, “Don’t put other than Me in your heart. You are putting your children in your heart when you have to put Me alone in your heart! I am Ghayoor, possessive of your heart. Don’t throw Me out! No one can take your heart except Me, not your wife or your children or anyone else!”
Today every one of us is so connected to our family. Yes, it is a sunnah that which you have to fulfill as we are not awliya, and there are awliyaullah that have been granted that. Of course they worship and do their obligations, but they are awliya and they might not know in dunya, but some might know, and there are others who are awliyaullah by their work.
May Allah (swt) guide us to understanding the meanings of ayaats of Holy Qur'an in order that Holy Qur'an will intercede for us on the Day of Judgment! The Holy Qur'an will intercede for everyone who read the Holy Qur'an. If you don’t know how to read, then do as many scholars and many awliyaullah said to do: pass your fingers under the ayaats and look at them, beginning from right to left. If you want to read the meaning in English, no problem, but pass your fingers under the Arabic because there are Lights coming from these letters that will come directly to your heart.
Don’t underestimate the power of the Holy Qur'an; every letter is more than the light of the sun! You see this sun, there are 70,000 suns like this sun. [Mureed: Are you speaking about the solar cells that give electricity back from the sun?] I am speaking in a different way. Yes, what you say is correct, but there are 70,000 suns like our sun and our sun is fifty-million degrees Centigrade. And the second sun is not going to be fifty-million degrees Centigrade, but it is doubled and the third is tripled and the fourth is quadrupled; each one’s power is more intense than the first one. The letters of the Holy Qur'an are like suns coming to dress you when you are reading. That’s why, subhaanAllah, to make it easy for people the Prophet (s) said, “Whoever reads, ‘Qul huwa Allahu Ahad’ (Surat al-Ikhlaas) three times, it is as if he has read the whole Qur'an.” So what are we waiting for? (Mawlana reads three times with the group):
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ َ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَد وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌْ
Qul hu Allahu Ahad, Allahu’ s-Samad, lam yalid wa lam yulad wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad.
Say, “He is the One God, God the Eternal, the Uncaused Cause of All Being. He begets not nor is He begotten and there is nothing that could be compared to Him.” (Surat al-Ikhlaas, 112:1-4)
We read in jama`ah so you get the benefit of reading in jama`ah, which means it is multiplied; every one of us made Khatm al-Qur’an. That’s it? No, more than that. How many of us are here? Let us say 150 or 200, and we will know from the plates! [laughter] So on the number of all people here, everyone will get that. If there are 100 people here, each gets 100 khatms; if 200 people, each gets 200 khatms; if 300, 300 khatms! Allah’s Greatness and Generosity has no limits. Therefore, call for such associations and come for these meetings! Whether the shaykh is here or not here, come! Why are you lazy? Why are only thirty people coming on the day of dhikr? If you come and there are only thirty people and if you recite three times “Qul huwa Allahu Ahad,” you get thirty khatms written for you! If a hundred people come, you get one-hundred khatms! Don’t you want to put that in your Akhirah bank? Then you will see how much Allah will give you, more and more!
O Muslims and Believers! May Allah (swt) put in our heart the value of Holy Qur'an. I am not saying I am better than you or you are better than me, but we are all in the same gap or ditch and we want to come out!
Prophet (s) said:
إنما الأعمال بالنيات
Innama ‘l-`amaalu bi ’n-niyyaat.
Every action is according to (its) intention.
So make your niyyah and move inshaa-Allah!
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
http://sufilive.com/Do_Not_Underestimate_the_Holy_Quran-4769.html
© Copyright 2013 Sufilive. All rights reserved. This transcript is protected
by international copyright law. Please attribute Sufilive when sharing it. JazakAllahu khayr.
________________