Shaykh Hisham Kabbani - 'Longing for the Divine'

Bismillah.

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani spoke at a gathering in Singapore on 'Longing for the Divine' where he cited Rabia Adawiya as a prime example of one who longs for the Divine.

Rabia said:

"I am busy. I am not alone. I am busy with the Divine. I am longing for the Divine. I am repenting day and night. My astaghfirullah needs another astaghfirullah to purify it. I am approaching nearer and nearer. The first astaghfirullah is not purified so I have to purify it. I have to keep making istighfar. When you move forward, you need to be more sincere in your istighfar."

Allah asks us to pray:

Robbana atina fiddunya hasanah

wa fil akhirati hasanah wa ghina aza bannar

Shaykh Hisham asked the audience 'what does hasanah mean?' One person responded 'goodness' and another said 'mercy'. So who is that hasanah? What is that rahmah (mercy)? What the du'a means is:

O Allah, give us in dunya, Muhammad. Let him look at us. Let us have his shafaat. Let him intercede for us. Allah has entrusted in Muhammad this privilege. And the Prophet has said: 'Whoever sees me in his dream will see me in reality. Reality means in dunya before akhirat. In akhirat everyone is going to see him.

Muhammad is the door to Allah. The Divine is longing for us. Allah is longing for His servants to come to Him. That is why He sent Muhammad. How to long for Him? Longing is to have that nice presence in your heart at any moment. Nurture that feeling of longing through voluntary worship and by going through the Prophet s.a.w. As such, salawat must be done continuously.

The Prophet s.a.w said to sahabah: "You are the lovers of Muhammad because you see me. They are my lovers because they don't see me yet they love me!" Therefore, Shaykh Hisham said, know your worth!

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Photo credit: Brother Rifat Ali of Haqqani Fellowship
Click here for Lisan al-Din post on the need to have high aspirations in wanting to see the Prophet in one's dreams and eventually see him in person.