Monday, September 24, 2012

Shaykh Afeefuddin Al-Jailani at Haul Imam Abdullah Al-Haddad 2012



Bismillah.

The 18th descendant of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Jailani, Shaykh Afeefuddin Al-Jailani gave the main tausiyah at Haul Imam Abdullah bin Alawi Al-Haddad in Shah Alam, Malaysia, last Saturday. 

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, we feel blessed to be present at the special annual event organized by HAK (Amanah Hawi Al-Khairat). We feel blessed to be living in Malaysia where events such as this are being hosted regularly. And of course we feel blessed too that Shaykh Afeefuddin Al-Jailani has made Malaysia his home. He spoke at Masjid Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz about muraqabah being the theme for this year's haul for Imam Al-Haddad. Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin Al-Hamid acted as the eloquent interpreter, as always. 

Below is a brief note of the tausiyah:
Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah for uniting our hearts to assemble at this place to honor Imam Abdullah Al-Haddad, one who's remembered as having exemplary akhlak.

Allah says: even if you give away all your wealth to congregate people, you can't do that for it is Allah who is capable to unite their hearts. This is indeed a blessed gathering for we are here to make zikr of Allah and to recollect the qualities of Imam Abdullah Al-Haddad. May by his blessings, and by our presence at this event, Allah will grant us redha and qabul.

Imam Abdullah Al-Haddad was one whose inner eye was awakened, one who was blessed with miracles, one who was granted much understanding and was beneficial to others. He was granted basirah to know himself and thus know Allah for he who knows himself, knows Allah. He was gifted with being in a state of muraqabah towards Allah. 

Muraqabah comes from Allah's Name Ar-Raqib - meaning the Watcher/Watchful. It is a distinct quality for those who are near to Allah. Our muraqabah is not comparable to his muraqabah. When we commit a transgression, we feel scared that Allah is watching. But for the elitist like Imam Abdullah Al-Haddad, their muraqabah is in their servitude to Allah. They are conscious that Allah is watching if their worship is of good quality, if their akhlak lives up to His expectations. They are, at all times watching their actions, their heart, eyes, ears - always in muraqabah

Imam Al-Ghazali commented on a hadith about Allah not looking at a person's outer (zahir) but at his heart. It is weird that we take the trouble to dress up nicely and perfume ourselves when we go out because people would be watching us. And yet we forgot about our heart which is being continuously watched by Allah. We don't seem to bother to beautify our hearts, to make it smell good. 

Remember when we are sitting all by ourselves, even when we are quiet, Allah could hear the voices in our heart. Allah knows what the intentions of our eyes are and what is in the heart. He knows why we look at something, the reason behind it. He knows when our speech is not the same as what is in the heart. Nothing is hidden from Allah for He is nearer to us than our jugular vein.

Saidina Umar r.a. was known for checking on his community at night. People would go to sleep early so that they would not bump into him. Once during his night walkabout he overheard a milk seller asking her daughter to dilute the milk so that they could make more sales. The daughter refused. The mother then coerced her saying, "Umar doesn't know." Her daughter replied: "O mother, though Umar may not know, the God of Umar is always looking at what we do."

Saidina Umar was pleased and impressed by the woman's daughter that he asked his son 'Asim to marry her. So marry her he did and one renowned figure descended from this lady who understood muraqabah -  one named Saidina Umar Abdul Aziz.

Shaykh Afeefuddin asked the audience to look for muraqaba qualities in themselves "As a parent, where is your muraqabah towards your children? You are responsible for them. Allah is watching if you are fulfilling your duties of looking after your children." 

Shaykh Afeefuddin ended his tausiyah with a lengthy and heartfelt du'a. He prayed so that Allah would include us among those who have muraqabah and muhasabah, knowing that Allah is watching us. That Allah would grant us taubat nasuha. That we belong with the people to whom Allah will say: "O my servant, I have hidden your sins when you were in dunya. I will do the same here."   

Wallahu a'lam. May I be forgiven for any errors and omissions.
Pic credit: Darul Jailani/Darul Murtadza 

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