Suhbah After `Isha at As-Siddiq Mosque
(Mawlana Shaykh Hisham asks his guest, Imam Senad Agic of Chicago, to speak.)
Imam Senad Agic
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
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)
"O you who believe, obey Allah, obey Prophet, and obey those who are in authority." It is not appropriate that I should speak in front of Shaykh Hisham, but to obey those in authority, you must obey when they order you to speak. So this is less problematic for me to speak, because I am trying not to speak from my ego.
These days, O brothers and sisters, it is more and more difficult to find someone to listen to, someone who is not speaking from his own ego. So consider yourselves lucky, privileged, to be able to listen to and obey the `ulama who are not speaking from their own ego, but who are living and acting to please Allah (swt). These kind of `ulama are very rare. And tonight, we spoke at dinner about how Allah (swt) is going to lift knowledge and how Prophet (s) said how knowledge is going to disappear. The Companions asked, "Will it be lifted from their hearts?" And Prophet (s) said, "No, the `ulama will die and they will not be replaced." So there will be no substitutes for us (to learn from). That is why we don't know how blessed we are, and as Americans say, "Use it or lose it." So I am saying to Americans, "Use Shaykh Hisham, so you don’t lose him." That is why we come from Chicago, and I urge you, whenever Shaykh Hisham is here, come to gain knowledge, and I am urging you to use the scholars as after them there is no substitute. This cannot be replaced in any way. You can read hundreds of books, or watch videos or TV, but nothing can replace being in front of a real scholar, to get the blessings from being in his presence.
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham:
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.
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)
May Allah (swt) make Imam Senad happy, and all who came with him and every Bosnian. He said, Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum. Really he is on authority; for those who do not know him, he is head of Bosnian Muslims in America. Allah gave him this title because he is not proud and arrogant, but he is a simple person, and very educated. I cannot count how many degrees he has, but in any case, I would like to say he is one of the best Bosnians. To all those Bosnians who have come with him, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim likes him. He took baya` with Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life, and he always goes to Mawlana Shaykh in Cyprus.
To speak is easy, but to enlighten is difficult. Any person can speak from evening to morning, it is easy, but to give enlightenment is not easy. To be able to give enlightenment, the person who is speaking must get waridaat iradya, "heavenly manifestations" to his heart, through the connection of his shaykh, and from his shaykh to Prophet (s), and from Prophet to Allah (swt).
Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:
إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًا
inna arsalnaaka shaahidan wa mubashshiran wa nadheera.
Verily, We sent you as a witness and a bearer of good tidings and a warner. (al-Ahzaab, 33:45; al-Fath, 48:8)
"O Muhammad! We have sent you shaahidan," as someone who saw something, witnessing. Before that, Allah (swt) said to him, "mubashiran."The message of Islam came in those two words: mubashiran (good tidings) and nadhira (warning). The whole message of Holy Qur'an and hadeeth, fiqh, is contained in these two words. What did Prophet (s) bring? Bushra wa nadhir; he told us about good tidings and about warnings.So the whole message is there, so shaahidan is where? Why it came first? It should come after the two; why it came before? It means Prophet witnessed what no one witnessed, that no one knew about it, and Allah (swt) gave him in abundance!
إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ
Inna aa`taynaaka 'l-kawthar.
(Yaa Muhammad!) We have given you in abundance. (108:1)
We gave you in abundance something that never ends: `Uloom al-Awwaleen, "Knowledge of Beginning." Until where, until jinns and ins were created? No, He said "`Uloom al-Awwaleen," that however far back you go, still there is `uloom, knowledges, that Allah is giving to Prophet (s) until today, until the end of this world, until Eternity! Min al-azaal ila al-abad, it doesn't finish. `Uloom al-Akhireen means "Knowledge of After." Prophet is the entity, if we can say that, and whatever Allah gave him of "Knowledge of Before and After" it is still coming. Which "after;" after our dunya, our disappearance from this Earth, or does "after" continue beyond that? Did Allah only create us and then He was finished? The Divine Name "al-Khaliq" means, "His Creation never ends." In every moment there must be creation or else Azzamat 'l-Llah, the Greatness of Allah, is going to be narrowing down.
There is no beginning of what Allah (swt) gave to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) from the knowledge of what was before; any time you say there is a beginning, there must be something before that beginning, which is never ending! So, what was he witnessing? This means he was witnessing what Allah (swt) created from before us, and what He is creating after us, and whatever He created in between! Because He is al-azal al-abad; azaliyun, abadiyun, (He has) no beginning and no end!
Holy Qur'an is Allah's Word, it is not created; it means Qur'an has no beginning and no end You cannot limit Qur'an to the commands and the meanings of scholars as they cannot give the real meaning, because the Holy Qur'an is Allah's Words and English is human words. So the meaning of Holy Qur'an can be indefinite. No one can restrict the greatness of Holy Qur'an, because Allah's Greatness is described through His Beautiful Names and Attributes in Holy Qur'an. So whatever Allah (swt) has created from when there was no beginning, He raised the name of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) with His Name, which means He raised Sayyidina Muhammad there.
Prophet (s) said:
kuntu nabiyyan wa adam bayna 'l-ma'ee wa 't-teen.
I was a prophet before Adam was created.
He was a prophet since when? When Jabir (r) asked Prophet (s), “What did Allah create first?” Prophet said, "What Allah created first was the Light of your Prophet." That Light was witnessing on everything and that is why we say, "ma siwa Allah," which means, "Anything other than Allah belongs to Prophet." Allah is the Creator, and Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is the sincere servant holding these secrets within him.
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ شَاهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًا وَنَذِيرًاوَدَاعِيًا إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجًا مُّنِيرًا
Yaa ayyuha an-nabiyyu inna arsalnaaka shaahidan wa mubashshiran wa nadheeran wa da`eean ila Allahi bi-idhnihi wa siraajan muneera.
O Prophet! Truly We have sent thee as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings,and warner, and as one who invites to Allah by His leave, and as a lamp spreading light. (Al-Ahzab 33:45-46)
So when the Prophet (s) was given power to witness everything, Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:
إِنَّا فَتَحْنَا لَكَ فَتْحًا مُّبِينًالِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِن ذَنبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ وَيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ
Inna fatahna laka fathan mubeena li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbika wa maa ta'akhkhar.
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 am not going to be long, but these points, as time approaches, we have been ordered by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim, may Allah give him long life to see Sayyidina Mahdi (a), to speak about the Prophet. We are ordered to speak about the greatness of Prophet (s). The greatness of the ummah depends on the greatness of Prophet (s), `athama al-umma bi-azamati nabeeyha. When Allah says in Holy Qur'an, inna fatahna laka fathan mubeenan, "We have opened for you a great opening," what is that opening? He related it as, yaghfira, He did not relate it to dunya, a worldly opening; He did not say, "We gave you power over the enemy," because that is nothing. He said, "We have opened for you a great opening; We have opened for you that which has no beginning (of knowledge) and no end."
However much you describe the greatness of Prophet (s), it is still less! "We opened to you knowledge of asrar ul-Qur'an." Ar-Rahman taught Holy Qur'an, then He opened Creation:
الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ
Ar-Rahmaan. `Allama 'l-qur'an. Khalaqa 'l-insaan. `Allamaahu 'l-bayaan.
(God) Most Gracious! It is He Who has taught the Qur'an. He has created Man. He has taught him speech (and intelligence). (Ar-Rahman, 55:1-4)
Ar-Rahmaan taught the Holy Qur'an, then He created Creation. He taught it to whom? To Muhammad (s), and He said, "We have opened for you the secrets of Holy Qur'an." How many pages are in Holy Qur'an? Maybe 400 pages. That is Allah's Words, and Allah said:
لاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ
laa ratbin wa laa yaabis ila fee kitabin mubeen,
there is not a grain in the darkness (or depths) of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry (green or withered), but is (inscribed) in a record clear (to those who can read). (al-An`am, 6:59)
"Everything is in it (Holy Qur'an)," both living and non-living are explained in Holy Qur'an. So where are the meanings of Holy Qur'an? Allah (swt) gave him what He did not give anyone, and what He opened for him made Prophet (s) happy, because He said in the second ayah:
لِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِن ذَنبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ وَيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكَ
li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbika wa maa ta'akhkhara wa yutimma ni`matuhu `alayk.
So that God might show His forgiveness of all your faults, past as well as future, and thus bestow upon you the full measure of His blessings. (al Fath, 48:2)
"For Allah to forgive you your sins, of what are before and after." Prophet (s) has no sins, he is mahsoom (infallible). How then does the Holy Qur'an say, "We have made for you an opening to forgive you your sins." Is that the meaning? One of the meanings is, "Yaa Muhammad! We gave you a huge opening, li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbik, for Allah to forgive you of your past sins." How? When Prophet was born, when his mother gave birth to him some say he went into ruku` and some say he went into sajdah, showing servanthood to Allah (swt). So, li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbik, he went into sajdah, saying, "Yaa Rabbee! Ummatee,ummatee! " This means Prophet is presenting the ummah clean from sins, carrying their sins, and Allah forgave those sins he is carrying on behalf of his ummah. li-yaghfira laka Allahu maa taqaddama min dhanbik, "Whatever has been done before you, yaa Muhammad, from the time of Adam until your time, I have forgiven them for your sake."
That is why Allah (swt) said, inna fatahna laka, "There has opened for you a big opening, to forgive for what is always making you carry that burden." What about the ummah? The ummah is beginning from Adam (a) until the Day of Judgment, ummat an-Nabi (s). Wa maa ta'akhkhar, "and whatever sins that came after, for your sake I forgave them, because you took the responsibility of carrying the ummah on your shoulders." Wa maa ta'akhkhara wa yutimma ni`matuhu `alayk, "in this way He completed His ni`mah,divine favors." Allah (swt) completed and perfected His favors for him; it means He forgave his ummah, the ummah of before and the ummah after, that Prophet (s) was carrying on his shoulders.
وَيَهْدِيَكَ صِرَاطًا مُّسْتَقِيمًا
...wa yahdiyaka siraatan mustaqeeman.
...And guide you on a Straight Way. (48:2)
What is the meaning of "Siraatu 'l-Mustaqeem"? It means not only guidance, but that is what they say, "guide." "Hadiya" is "gift"; "yahdiyaka" is in the future tense, meaning, "He is going to give you," as a gift as-Siraatul Mustaqeem, the Straight Path. "It is a gift for you that I will make everyone pass on it, because already those after you are forgiven for your sake." That is why Allah (swt) said to him shaahidan, "you are witness." It means, "Go give them glad tidings, mubashshirra. And what is nadheera? "Warn them," that if they are not on the Right Way, they will be far away from Allah's love." Allah is the Creator; with His Rahmah that He gave to Prophet (s), He will forgive everyone, but "warn them about My love, because I want them to love Me."
Why did Allah give a hard time to Sayyidina Ibrahim (a), ordering him to sacrifice his son? Allah does not like His love to be shared with anyone, and Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) shared his heart with his son. Allah wants the heart of His servant to be reserved exclusively for Him. Allah (swt) said in a Holy Hadith (Qudsi), according to Prophet (s):
maa wasi`anee sama'ee wa laa ardi wa laakin wasi`anee qalbi `abdee al-mu'min
Neither My Heavens nor My Earth contain Me, but the heart of a believer contains Me. (Al-Ihya of al-Ghazali)
Why did he give a hard time to Sayyidina Ya`qoob (a) with his son, Yusuf (a)? For 35 years he left him in difficulties and miseries, losing his son and not knowing where he was, whether he was dead or not. This was to tell him, "O Yaqoob! No one can enter your heart. I don't like partners as I am the One Who has no partners! Everyone other than Me has partners, because he is My servant. So don't put two in the heart, it must be One. I must be there." And, "Yaa Muhammad, warn them! Don't put dunya in your heart, but put in it love of Allah!" The problem is that our ego cannot let us do this, all of us--me, you, and everyone. We don't deserve to sit here, but we should sit by the door cleaning shoes and stacking them one-by-one. This is our position, where we need to sit; it is not to sit on the couch. But what can we do? As Imam Senad said, we have been ordered to speak so we are speaking. Whatever Mawlana is sending I am saying, but our egos are so big.
One big `alim, a 25-year mureed of a Naqshbandi shaykh, said, "O my shaykh! I have been with you for 25 years. I request you to teach me more, and authorize me to speak on your behalf to teach people." Is that good, or not? He is an `alim who learned 25 years from his shaykh. He wants to go and teach. Why do you want to make yourself a leader? This is a sickness of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim's representatives today. They ask him for ijazah and go and teach; that is from the ego.
That shaykh said, "O my son! I would like you to do one thing before you go and teach.
سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا
Samina wa `atana.
We hear and we obey. (2:285)
Go to the market and buy a basket and some walnuts. Fill it and go to door of the masjid and sit there. Anyone coming in or going out, sit with your shoes by the door and say, 'If you beat me with these shoes one time on my head, I will give one walnut; if you beat me two times, I will give two walnuts. Then when your walnuts are finished and your head becomes red and swollen, then return to me and I will tell you what you need to do next."
That story is narrated in the book Tabaqaat by Shaykh ash-Sha`arani, in which he explains the importance of "laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah." An Egyptian scholar and wali wrote it 500 years ago; it was one of his students. He was explaining the importance of laa ilaaha illa-Lah in our lives. There is not time to explain that, and I have the book inside. But the story is very important
What did that `alim say in answer to the shaykh? It is very common in Arab countries that when something happens you say angrily, "Laa ilaaha illa-Llah!" or, "SubhaanAllah!" He said that, and the shaykh looked at him and said, "O my son! If a kaafir says it, with all his sins he will be forgiven, but the way you said it, you have committed a sin, because you said (these sacred words) in an angry way. So from that, you see how big your ego is. The first step to change that is to go with your shoes and walnuts, as I told you. When you learn to repent from your ego, then come and I will teach you."
So we learn from this that La ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah has to be said in a respectful way. Today, why is `ilm being taken away, as Imam Senad said, and knowledge is not like before? (A mureed in the group) practiced as a neurologist, with how many years experience? How do you teach `ilm with no experience? The way it comes from you, it is not going to enlighten the hearts, if you think yourself above everyone. It means you did not understand anything about Islam. Islam is humbleness; Prophet (s) was humble, Allah raised him to qaaba qawsayni aw adnaa (two bows' length or nearer). Allah (swt) put Prophet's name with His Name. And some pious `ulama say you cannot put the name without the person's identity. It means Prophet (s) was raised in body and soul in qaaba qawsayni! He is always there and it is never any less than that. From there, he is enlightening the souls of his ummah.
May Allah forgive us and polish our egos, to take the bad desires away, and help you and us in dunya and in Akhirah.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah
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