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Do Not Lose Allah’s Heavenly Favors

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

17 June 2011 Tangerang, Indonesia

Jumu`ah Khutbah at Masjid Bani `Umar

Alhamdulillah alhamdulillah nasta`eenahu wa nastaghfirahu wa nastahdih. wa na`udhu billah min shuroori anfusina wa sayyiaati `amaalina. alhamdulillah alladhee hadana lil-islam wa kunna an nahtadee law la an hadanaa-Allah wa amrana bis-salaat ala an-nabi haythu qaala:

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

inna-Llaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabi, yaa ayyuha ’Lladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was sallimoo tasleema. Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him. (al-Ahzaab, 33:56)

By ordering us to make prayers on the Prophet (s), Allah (swt) is teaching us humility, and by that we learn wisdom in dunya.

O Muslims brothers and sisters! Allah ordered us to make salawaat on the Prophet (s) in order to inspire us with what is good and what is bad in our life. wa amarana an naqool: ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa nash-hadu anna Sayyidina wa Mawlana wa qaiduna wa habeebina, Muhammadan rasoolullah... nasaha al-khaleeqa ... fa awdahat-tariqah wa nasaha al-khaliqat...

I asked, “Should I give the khutbah in Arabic or in English?” and they ordered me to address in English as perhaps there are those who understand it better than Arabic.

O Mu’mins! All the Prophet’s teachings and his entire message is based on one word, that Sayyidina `Ali (r) mentioned to the Sahaabah (r):

“All the verses of Qur’an and all ahadeeth point to one direction and one thing, and that direction is very clear.”The Sahaabah wanted to know the answer. He said, raasul-hikmati makhaafatullah, “The head of all wisdom is fear of Allah, both from His punishment and from being far from Him.”

َمَا نُرْسِلُ بِالآيَاتِ إِلاَّ تَخْوِيفًا

wa nursilu bi ’l-ayaati illa takhweefa,

We only send the Signs by way of terror (and warning from evil). (al-Israa, 17:59)

Allah (swt) said “We don't sent the verses except to make people afraid of the Day of Resurrection: what they are going to say and what they are going to answer?” indama yantiqu maalik al-mawt ... “When we encounter the Angel of Death (a),” then what do we need to say? We must say, “ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah.”

We hope our tongue is not frozen and we are able to say shahaadah! ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah.

O Believers! O Muslims! I will tell you this story that will show you how important it is to follow the way of the Prophet (s), which is to be humble. If we are humble we will succeed and if not we will be losers, and we don't want to be losers, we want to reach the highest level we can reach!

عن حارثة بن وهب ألا أخبركم بأهل الجنة كل ضعيف مستضعف لو أقسم على الله لأبره،

`alaa ukhbirukum `an ahli ’l-jannah. qaaloo bala yaa rasoolullah. rajulun da`afan mustada`afan. “Shall I not tell you of the People of Paradise?” said the Prophet (s), and they said, “Yes, yaa Rasoolullah.” (He said,) “The one who is humble.”

Most people today are proud, not humble; they don't accept anyone else and don't accept advice from anyone. If your mother wants to advise you, you say "no;" if your father wants to advise you, you say "no;" you only want to do what is in your mind.

In Kitab al-Minan by Imam ash-Shara`ani (r), there is a story. Sayyidina Musa (a) passed by a man who was in sajdah and who said, “Alhamdulillah! Who has favored me over many of whom You created with great favor! Alhamdulillah, You made me better than anyone else.” And he recited the verse:

لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ

wa lain shakartum la-azeedannakum

If you are grateful, I will add more (favors) unto you. (Surah Ibrahim, 14:7)

Then he sat up and Sayyidina Musa (a) saw he was a man with no hands, no arms, no legs, and no feet; he had only a torso (from the belly up). He said to him, “You are the best of Allah's Creation and yet I am seeing you with no hands, no arms, no feet, and no legs? what makes you better than everyone and they have legs, arms, hands, and you have none of these?” That man said, “Allah has favored me because He created me Muslim.”

You are all Muslim; you have to thank Allah (swt) that He created you Muslim as that is from Allah's great favor on us! That man was missing all his limbs, yet he was saying, “Alhamdulillah! Who has favored me over many of whom You created with great favor!” He was so thankful for that favor, being created Muslim! Anyone created Muslim cannot surpass that favor. Muslims are going to Paradise. Do you think that any Muslim will not go to Paradise? Any Muslim who is praying, fasting, giving charity and doing Hajj will for sure go to Paradise!

That man said, “He created me Muslim, and he didn’t create me kafir. He could have created me kafir, as He created Muslims and He created kafirs!”

And Sayyidina Musa (a) raised his hands to Heavens and said, “O Allah! Give him Paradise!” and Allah (swt) said to Sayyidina Musa (a), “It is as if you are saying to Me, give him more problems, balaa; as if you are telling Me to take his health, take his power.” And then Sayyidina Musa (a) looked at that man and immediately a hyena came and began to eat that man's stomach!

Sayyidina Musa (a) was from Oolu ‘l-Azham, the Five Great Prophets (s), and his du`a was immediately answered. So Allah revealed to him, “It is as if you are asking me to give him too many problems and difficulties!” So don't ask (anything) when a Muslim has a difficulty; Muslims say, ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasoolullah! Muslims are filled with problems. Today the Muslim world is full of problems.

A hyena came and ate him! Sayyidina Musa (a) said, “O Allah! What is this? A hyena is eating him completely! Is this how You do with Your saints?” Allah replied to him, “Yes, this is the way I do with My saints, and that is how I test them if they carry My burden. You asked Paradise for him, and Paradise cannot be given without testing. If you have balaa, good tidings, as you are going to enter Paradise! And if you had asked Me to give him dunya, I would have given him the whole dunya, but you asked Paradise for him, so I had to send someone to eat him!”

This is something we have to be very careful about as Muslims.

Sayyida`Ayesha (r), the wife of the Prophet (s), said, "The Prophet (s) came to the house and saw a piece of bread in the wall of the house.” Then, they didn't have wall like this dunya style where they make it too nice, but imagine a masjid made from stone or mud bricks with cracks and openings. “He found a piece of bread in the wall. He picked it up and kissed it, and put it on his eyes and gave it to me, and then he said, ‘Yaa `Ayesha! Do your best to the favors of Allah. This what Allah has given to us, so keep it near and keep it well, don't put it in the crack of a wall."

Today people don't do that, they waste...300 million. People are hungry because others are throwing food away.

The Prophet (s) said, "Do your best to that favor of Allah, for truly the favor never comes back and you lose it.”

Don't let the favors of Allah (swt) to be taken away from you, from everyone! I will end with this qaseedah:

Ra’aaitu rabbee bi `ayni qalbee

Fa-qultu la shakka Anta Anta

رأيت ربي بعين قلبي

فقلت لا شك أنت أنت

I saw my Lord with the eye of my heart.

I said, “No doubt it’s You! It’s You!”

Anta-ladhee hizta kulla aynin

Bi haythu laa ayna thamma Anta

أنت الذي حزت كل أين

بحيث لا أين ثَمّ أنت

You are the One who encompassed every ‘where’

so that there is no ‘where,’ except You are there!

Fa laysa li ’l-ayni minka aynun

Fa y`alamu al-aynu ayna Anta.

فليس للأين منك أين

فيعلم الأين أين أنت

‘Where’ has no ‘where’ in regards to You,

for ‘where’ to know where You are?

Wa laysa li ’l-wahmi feeka wahmun

Fa y`alamu ’l-wahmu ayna anta

وليس للوهم فيك وهم

فيعلم الوهم أين أنت‎

Nor can imagination imagine You,

for imagination to know where You are.

Ahatta `ilman bi kulli shayin

Fa kullu shayin araahu Anta

أحطت علما بكل شيء

فكل شيء اراه أنت

Your knowledge encompasses everything

so that everything I see is You!

Wa fee fana-ee fanaa fanaa’ee

Wa fee fanaa’ee wajadtu Anta

وفي فنائي فنا فنائي

وفي فنائي وجدت أنت

And in my annihilation is the annihilation of my annihilation, and in my annihilation I found You.

(From The Commentary of the Hikam of Ibn Ataillah as-Sakandari, by Ibn `Ajiba.

`Ikazh al-himmam fee sharhi ’l-hikam li Ahmad bin Muhammad bin `Ajiba al-Hasani)

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