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The Sunnah in Responding to Abuse

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

18 January 2012 Feltham, London, UK

Suhbah Before Maghrib at CSCA (1)

As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Every time we meet for Allah’s Sake, it is a majlis salaat `alaa ‘n-Nabi (s), and the angels present here now are different than the angels that were here yesterday, and they were different than angels before that! Allah (swt) has no limits, He opens up the limits for everything! Praise and glory be to Him who created us as human beings, as whatever He liked. No one can ask Him, “Why?” Do you think that an elephant will ask Allah (swt), “Why did you create me as an elephant?” No, he is happy with whatever he was created to be. All animals, big or small, are happy with whatever Allah created them to be and they all praise Alle if they stop, they will show disrespect.

Allah (swt) described this in Holy Qur'an, when he revealed to His Prophet (s):

وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدَهِ وَلَـكِن لاَّ تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ

Wa in min shayin illaa yusabbihu bihamdihi wa laakin laa tafqahoona tasbeehahum.

There is not a thing but that it celebrates His praise and yet you do not understand how they declare His glory! (Surat al-Israa’, 17:44)

It means, “Yaa Muhammad! (Without doubt) everything in this universe is praising!” No doubt! If a person has doubts about this, he falls in the category not of Shaytan, but lower than Shaytan, because although he disobeyed, still Iblees believed Allah (swt) created him. He didn't say, "You are not my Lord," he said, "You are my Lord, but I disobeyed because You created me from fire and You created Adam (a) from mud." He did not disobey because he disbelieved. Those who disbelieve in Allah (ast) are worse than Shaytan! If someone says, “There is no god,” they are secular. Some Muslims say, “We are liberal,” or, “secular.” Also, Muslims and non-Muslims make demonstrations, saying, “We are secular!” There is no secularism in Islam and they are worse than Iblees!

The Hindus believe in idols, and Allah described them in the Holy Qur'an as idol-worshippers and their food is not halaal for us, not even vegetarian food. A Muslim lady cannot show her hair to a Hindu lady. How many people order veggie food on the flight, thinking that it is halaal? How do you know if an idol-worshipper cooked it?

Allah has described in the Holy Qur'an that everything is praising Him, but we don't understand or hear their praises. We think these things are still, but they are not. According to this ayah, they make tasbeeh. For example, this (tape recorder) is not still and the table is not still, it is making tasbeeh. Rocks, mountains, everything created is making tasbeeh. Prophets often heard the tasbeeh and the Prophet (s) heard all the tasbeeh without it being mixed together. We cannot understand or hear it.

On the Day of Judgment, our hands, legs, and everything around us will bear witness about what they saw us do in dunya. That is why, from His Mercy, Allah says, “O My servant! I am as-Sattar.” Through His Beautiful Name, He shows His love to His servants, by veiling us from people and not showing our mistakes, because He doesn't want to expose it. Allah (swt) says, “I don't like to expose My servants,” so do you think on the Day of Judgment that He will expose ummat an-Nabee (s)?

We are from his ummah and we make sins, and others make sins too, but what to do? Can anyone stop making sins? No one can, whoever they are, not even a shaykh or wali, because no one is ma`soom, innocent of sins, except prophets. Since you are not ma`soom you might make a mistake. Allah is as-Sattar, “The One Who Veils.” He doesn't expose His servants; how to expose someone who says, “Allah.” That is why Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:

قُلِ اللهُ ثُمَّ ذَرْهُمْ فِي خَوْضِهِمْ يَلْعَبُونَ

Qul Allah thumma wa dharhum fee khawdihim yal`aboon.

Say "Allah," then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling. (Surat al-An`am, 6:91)

Don't be foolish like them, debating. For what? Iblees knows that Allah (swt) is the Creator, Who also created him. Some biographies say Iblees made sajda in every place in Paradise for two-thousand to seventy-thousand years, contiunuously praising Allah (swt). Despite that, Allah cursed him for committing one sin: he didn't make sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a)!

`Uboodiyyah, the Station of Servanthood, is to be in sajda. There is no servanthood without sajda, as Allah (swt) created His angels to make sajda. They all made sajda to Sayyidina Adam (a) on Allah’s order except Iblees. Allah made his angels to make sajda to the light (Noor Muhammad) on Sayyidina Adam’s (a) forehead. It was “Sajda al-Ihtiraam,” sajda of respect, not sajda of worship. Allah ordered the angels to make sajda and when Iblees refused, he was cursed. There is no verse in the Holy Qur'an in which Allah has told His angels to raise their heads; only Allah orders them, "Make sajda!” That means `uboodiyya is sajda and the angels are in sajda until the Day of Judgment, showing respect to Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!

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

Inna-Llaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabi, yaa ayyuhal-ladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was sallimoo tasleemaa.

Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him. (Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)

Allah (swt) never ordered them to raise their heads: they were ordered to make sajda and they are still in sajda! What distinguishes us from non-Muslims is sajda. No other people from any other religion make sajda; they bow, but only Muslims make sajda to Allah (swt), and in Islam we accept to imitate the sajda the angels made to Sayyidina Adam (a) out of respect for Sayyidina Muhammad (s).

That means you respect him as your prophet, so don't say things that Allah (swt) doesn't like for His Habeeb (s) or try to speak something against him. Like today they say you are showing excessive love for the Prophet (s) (when you recite salawaat or observe Mawlid an-Nabi). Allah showed excessive love for the Prophet (s) by ordering the angels to make sajda to the Light in Sayyidina Adam’s forehead (a), which was the Light Allah (swt) created before any other Creation (i.e. Light of Prophet)! Thereby, is Allah (swt) not showing excessive love to the Prophet (s)?

When Sayyidina Adam (a) made the sin, he went into sajda and cried for forty years, then Allah said, “Raise your head, I forgive you. What were you praying, O Adam (a)?”

Sayyidina Adam (s) said, “I was asking for Your forgiveness for the sake of Sayyidina Muhammad (s)!”

Allah (swt) asked, “How did you know about Muhammad (s)?”

Sayyidina Adam (a) said, “I saw his name written wherever I turned my face in Paradise!”

Do we ask ourselves, was it just a name or does it represents someone? We must ask the scholars. Sayyidina Adam (a) saw the light of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) emitting from everything in Paradise. That is why he said, “I am asking forgiveness for the sake of Muhammad (s)!”

Allah said, “Yaa Adam! If it was not for Muhammad (s), I would not have created anything!”

O Muslims! Allah knows everything!

لَقَدْ أَحْصَاهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدًّا

Laqad ahsaahum wa a`dahum a`dda.

He takes an account of them (all) and has numbered them (all) exactly. (Surat Maryam, 19:94)

Allah (swt) counted them one by one and encircled them; He knows every one of us! Allah created our souls before our bodies and every soul knows its body, just like when a sheep gives birth to a lamb, it recognises its mother from among hundreds of sheep. I was looking at a documentary about animals, and I saw a herd of hundreds of elephants in which every elephant calf recognized and followed its own mother by the smell! Who told it about the smell? (...) When a baby is born, the eyes open and he can see his father and mother, but little by little the darkness of the parents cover the child.

That is why Allah (swt) said in Holy Qur'an:

ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ هُوَ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ اللَّهِ

Ad`oohum li-abaa'ihim huwa aqsatu `inda-Allah.

Call them to their fathers, that is more just with Allah. (al-Ahzaab, 33:5)

Everyone must know their background so there is no mistake. The sperm goes from the father to the mother's womb (...). At the hospital they put a name tag on every newborn, otherwise you wouldn't know which one is your baby. The lady doesn't know her child, but put a child in front of any lady who is not his mother and he will not take milk from her! So every soul knows its representative on Earth; there is no need for tags there as Allah doesn't need tags!

Everything is making tasbeeh and surely we are also included and we are also making tasbeeh. Our wujood, existence, is making tasbeeh. If we don't make tasbeeh, we will be dead. When the body stops making tasbeeh it dies, then they take it to the grave and there, after a while it becomes soil. Even soil is making tasbeeh; every grain makes tasbeeh and the Prophet (s) could hear every tasbeeh without one overlapping the other. From His Mercy, Allah (swt) sends your original body back to soil that makes tasbeeh until the Day of Judgment.

He said, “I am as-Sattar, The One Who veils. I will veil any mistake of yours that you don't want people to see.” (This is why) he (a mureed) doesn't know my mistakes and I don't know his mistakes. Allah (swt) didn't give anyone the right to backbite or to spy on each other. Leave people alone, Allah knows them. If you have been hurt by one of them, Allah (swt) said:

فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِ

Faman `afaa wa aslaha fa-ajruhu `ala ’Llah.

But if a person forgives and makes peace, his reward is due from Allah. (Surat ash-Shura, 42:40)

Not only forgive, as it is easy to forgive, I can say I forgive you, but it means to accept, make peace and become normal and friendly as before. If someone tells you some people are speaking bad about you and even gives you evidence of it, what is your duty? You must tell them they are worse than Shaytan, trying to destroy your relationship with that person only to make fitna! Allah (swt) will be happy you spoke the truth.

I heard of someone who cursed another person's mother. What does one need to do in such a situation? In Muslim culture we do not tolerate cursing our mothers, but Allah (swt) said, “If a person forgives and makes peace, his reward is due from Allah.”

Don't make any unacceptable act. You must be like the good son of Sayyidina Adam (a), Habeel, who said, “If you are extending your hand to kill me, I am not extending my hand to touch you. I fear Allah!” Tell them, “You spoke of my mother, may Allah forgive you.” Then see how happy Allah will be with you and how many doors will He open for you that you never expected. If someone speaks bad about your mother, you would probably want to beat him up or kill him, but don't take revenge with your hand, as Qabeel did to his brother and later became min an-naadimeen, the regretful. Once he killed him, what could he have done? The mistake was made!

In our culture, if people see you are successful, that you love Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s), that you love everyone in your group and your friends, they say bad things about you to split you up from your friends. What should you do in such a situation? Forgive them, and act like they (made a mistake) when they accused your friend of doing something against you.

O Muslims! Islam is very delicate. Islam is not only praying the five prayers, fasting, paying charity or doing Hajj. These are all obligations, it is a must to fulfil them. But besides them is the taste! You have to show good manners and good character to people, especially to those who harm you.

Who has been harmed the most? Is it not the Prophet (s)? Yet how did he enter Mecca? He entered while forgiving everyone! One of the Sahaabah (r) said, "Today is the day of revenge." He was carrying the flag, and the Prophet (s) took it from him and said, "Today is the day of friendship and making peace with the enemy," and they all reconciled. After the Prophet (s), the Sahaabah (r) were the ones most tortured, and the Prophet’s (s) grandchildren, whom he kept on his shoulders when he prayed, Sayyidina al-Hasan (r) and Sayyidina al-Husayn (r). He never raised his head from sajda until they got off his back as he didn't want to bother them or cut their happiness that they were on the back of their grandfather. If our children jump on our back, we say, “Get off!”

Sayyidina al-Husayn (r) promised his help to the people of Kufa, when they came to him and said, “Yazeed is giving us a hard time.” He knew he might be killed, but as he had given his promise he didn't want to break it. How many of us run away when we see gangs? But he was a man and he didn't run away. What happened? He asked for water for his youngest son, Sayyidina `Ali al-Ashgar (r), “the younger `Ali,” who was seven months old, and the “older `Ali” was about nine. They refused to give his baby son water, and he died! Then they killed his son, Sayyidina `Ali al-Akbar ( r), in pieces in front of his eyes. This was the great-grandson of the Prophet (s)! These two children are the masters of the youth of Paradise, which means every Muslim comes under them.

When they took Sayyidina al-Husayn (r ) to Yazeed, Yazeed said, “Now you are condemned to death!”

Sayyidina al-Husayn (r) replied, “Don't you feel ashamed to do this to my family? How will you face my grandfather, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), on the Day of Judgment?”

Yazeed said, “Beg me, and give me baya` as khalifah and I will not kill you.”

Sayyidina al-Husayn (r) replied, “No, I will not.”

Yazeed said, “Then I will kill you!”

Sayyidina al-Husayn (r) said, “Don't forget when you are standing on the Day of Judgment what my grandfather will say to you!”

Look how subtle Islam is. When you appear on the Day of Judgment as the killer of Sayyidina al-Husayn (r) and his grandchildren, the Prophet (s) will say to you, “We have the power to kill you.” Forgiveness is when you have the power to punish others and you don’t. This is when it becomes great; when you are able to punish but you forgive. He will say, “Do you want me to be like you? We forgive you!” and yet they killed Prophet’s (s) family!

O Muslims! Sayyidina al-Husayn (r) is teaching us a lesson. Although the Prophet (s) has the power to punish he does not, and that is rahmah! Keep in your hearts the love of the Prophet (s), of awliyaullah, of Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q), of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim (q) and of each other. Whoever harmed has harmed, and even if we have harmed, Allah (swt) will forgive all of us.

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

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