Shaykh Hisham Kabbani on hubb, hayyat and baqa

Bismillah.

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani said on a Saturday evening sohbet in Kuala Lumpur:

"Say 'Ya Rabb, I know nothing.' Ask for help, madad, to show humility. Look at the universe and say I am nothing. Ihsa' ya fulan. Shame on me.

Allahuwal aleem. Above every knower, there is a knower. Above every rank, there is someone else in that rank. Yet we are nothing in front of Allah. The only one who can be acknowledged is the Prophet s.a.w. The one who is in the prime position to intercede for all.

Look at yourself in the mirror and say Allahu jamilu khuluki kamal jamalta khalqi. 'As You have perfected my appearance, make perfect my behavior.' Every one to Allah is the best, in the way Allah has created him. You cannot say 'I am the ugliest' because to Allah you are the best. It is haram to say so. You need to look at the mirror and be happy at how Allah has perfected your appearance. Say, 'Ya Rabbi, forgive me, You have perfected me and yet I am making all these sins.' Do you think Allah will not forgive? Allah will forgive. 

A Bedouin came to see the Prophet and asked about the sign of the last days. The Prophet replied, 'What are you doing? What are you doing as a ticket for you to pass to heaven, through the bridge beneath hellfire? What's your passport O Badouin?' We now have so many badges/ID but do we have a badge for the akhira?  

Everything that relates to akhira begins with Alif.

Allah is the Creator. Allah begins with alif.

Our religion is Islam. Islam begins with alif.

Our belief is iman. Iman begins with alif.

The level of perfect excellence is ihsan. Ihsan begins with alif.

Allah gives His mercy to Prophet Muhammad and named him Ahmad. His name in the heavenly realm is Ahmad. It begins with alif. Allah gives to Ahmad, Islam, iman, and ihsan.

Anything that relates to dunya starts with mim. The Prophet's name in dunya is Muhammad.

Islam - Muslim

Iman - Mukmin

Ihsan - Muhsin

The keyword for ubudiyah (servanthood) is mim. It relates to Muhammad.

The Prophet s.a.w asked, 'O Badouin, what have you prepared?' He answered, 'Your love, Rasulullah.' One who has mahabbah for someone is a muhib. But you cannot be a muhib without the power of the Prophet. There is a hadith that says. 'You will be resurrected with those whom you love.'

The badge has to come from the Prophet s.a.w. If you love the Prophet, you will be with him. If you love the ulama, you will be with the ulama. If you love the pious people, you will be with the pious people. If you love the awliya, you will be with the awliya. The word hubb (love) comes from two letters: ha and ba. You say 'Hubbuki ya Rasulullah.' and he says: 'Do your prayers, your obligations and you will be with me.'

Ha stands for hayyat (alive). Ba stands for baqa (everlasting). When you have hayyat, you will have baqa. And the hayyat comes with a secret code, which is mim. That means you have to be a muhhib. You have to have a love for Muhammad. Without mim/Muhammad there is no hayyat and no baqa.

Actually, Allah already give you the authority, the pass. He says in the Qur'an: 'If you love Allah, follow Muhammad.' Therefore, you have to follow Muhammad. Be a sheep. Don't be a shepherd. There is only one shepherd and he is Muhammad s.a.w. Allah makes Muhammad insan kamil, a perfect human being. He didn't say insanun kamilun - a plural, but insan kamil - singular. All the prophets would come to him for intercession. Yet we cannot exalt anyone save Allah - Subhan Allah - glory be to Allah. Allah in his greatness took His servant to Isra Mi'raj. Yet Allah did not call Muhammad khalifah. Allah dressed Muhammad with heavenly dress. Prophet Idris and Isa both were raised to the heavenly realm too but they stayed there. Allah sent Prophet Muhammad back though. 

You have to have hubbun nabi - the love for the Prophet and his family. You should be saying, "that's my way. The love of nabi and his family is my religion." It's your responsibility to have adab for the Prophet and his family. No one can say 'I am a sayyid', unless there is an evidence. Nabi said, 'I left behind for you the Qur'an and my family. I want from my ummah respect for my family.' So follow them. Our duty is to have mahabbah. 'If truly you love Allah, that you have mahabbah to Allah, follow my messenger. Otherwise, don't claim you love Me.' The Prophet's sunnah is not just turban, beard or cane. It is i'tiba. Follow what he has brought. So you have to study and know your religion well.

Everyone must say, 'I am a sinner, forgive me Ya Allah. Support me. Protect me from the devil, the Iblis and its armies.' We have to keep praying until the end of dunya and keep our head on the sajadah. We should not raise our heads. We should not be occupied with eating or drinking but be occupied with sajadah (prostration) and istighfar (repentance). Allah will save the believers. Should you have any love in your heart, let it be first and foremost for the Prophet s.a.w because everything is based on hubb - hayyat and baqa. We all want to live happily in dunya and ever living in akhira. Everyone loves hayyat and baqa. Keep praising Allah and making salawat - for that is our badge/ticket to akhira and paradise.

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Partial transcript of Shaykh Hisham's sohbet in KL on 8th May 2010. For complete recording of his sohbet please visit sufilive.com.