1st - 10th DzulHijjah 1432 Hijri

Bismillah.

A reminder to myself and all, to fast and observe the first ten days of Dzul Hijjah InshAllah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us the tawfik to perform our ibadah to the best of our abilities and sincerely. Our thoughts are with our friends who are performing the hajj. May Allah facilitate their pilgrimage and accept their deeds. Someday, it will be our turn to accept His invite InshAllah.

Labbaik Allah humma labbaik

Labbaik kala shari kala kalabbaik

Innal hamda wal nikmata

lakawal mulk la shari kalak

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Pic credit: Mohammadreza Abdolali

Muhaqqiq vs muqallid

Bismillah.

The path for those who choose to follow a muhaqqiq is not easy. That's the reality I am facing. A muhaqqiq is a realizer who has esoteric knowledge. Upon revisiting an old Lisan al-Din post on the distinction of knowledge according to Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi I learned that "a man who has inward or esoteric knowledge (ilm-i batin) which is Divine ilm and thus comprehend the mysteries of the invisible existence is a muhaqqiq (realizer)."

Their path is clearly very different from a muqallid (imitator). And I am like one imitator who has just embarked on a convoy with the muhaqqiq. The journey is bumpy as it requires lots of hardwork, dedication and patience, that is to state the obvious but when you walk and start to sweat, you'll know what I mean. So this muqallid plan and plan and then suddenly the lesson knocks on the head that her plans would eventually go down the drain. That there is actually a higher planner, those with upper hand, those who may be hidden but are managing this world for real - the Qutub, the awliya...the elitist.

Oh what am I to do? What is a receptacle to do other than wait and receive whatever may be given, if given at all? I am dumbfounded to say the least. And the quest for purification and obedience continues. The quest that will eventually takes us to the Truth so we may in the end realize the Truth and hopefully become a muhaqqiq ourselves bi-iznillah.

I came across a relevant quote this morning:

"Follow Sayyidina Salman (ra) in finding the truth.

He started with pure love towards it."

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Poster credit: Hadi Moeza/www.todayposters.com
Related Lisan al-Din post: "Knowledge according to Rumi School of Thought"

Hajjah | Hairun Nisa'

Bismillah.

Al-Hamdu lillah wa shukru lilah, a very close friend of mine is leaving for Makkatul Mukarramah tonight. She is a very good friend of mine. Without a doubt, if there was only one ticket left between us, I would surely want her to take it. She deserves it. She is just like her name - Hairun Nisa', a good woman. And she has been chosen to be in the Divine Presence, al-Hamdu lillah.

I recalled telling her early this year that a certain mu'aleem said we should try our best to perform hajj this year. She said, 'yes let's just make a niyyat' though neither of us were prepared. But in my heart I knew she was more ready than I.

Glad I encouraged her to appeal to the hajj agency. Thought it was timely for her to go having been married for just over a year, she has her loving muhram to accompany her. Thought it would be beautiful if this newlywed could go for hajj together and yes, they made it al-Hamdu lillah.

She was the one who stood by me with enormous patience during my Jahiliyah days. She endured my ignorance and misbehaviors, not for a month, not for a year but for many years. Allah Hu Allah! She is a friend dunya wal akhirah. May Allah preserve our friendship for His sake alone.

Tonight when she leaves for her pilgrimage, I hope she will take a piece of my heart with her. I pray for hajj mabrurah for her. I pray she will taste the sweetness of being nearest to Allah at Arafah both shari'ah and haqiqah-wise.

She is Hairun Nisa', indeed.

The 300th Haul of Imam Al-Haddad at Masjid Sultan Abdul Aziz, Shah Alam | 8 October 2011

Bismillah.

Tonight
8 October 2011
Masjid Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah
Shah Alam
Malaysia
6.00 pm - 9.40 pm
Qur'an recital | Qasidah | Wirdul Latif |Tazkirah | Salatul Maghrib & Isha | Du'a Khatam
Dinner

Insh'Allah

May Allah favor us with a presence at such auspicious occasion and grant us knowledge and wisdom and obtain plenty of barakah from the Imam who lives on though 300 years have separated us from him.

May Allah grant us the ability and opportunity to share with more people what we'll be hearing tonight Insh'Allah.

Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish on 'ain haqiqah' and 'tarbiyah ruh'

Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Hussaini
KL 1st Oct 2011

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Hussaini was at KL Ba'alawi on 1st and 2nd October 2011. In the presence of Shaykh Yusuf Bakhour Al-Hassani, he began to address the jemaah with words of praise for Shaykh Yusuf, and that proved the degree of humility, respect, affection and sufi chivalry he had towards Shaykh Yusuf who was his junior.

He said:

"Allah having gathered us here with Shaykh Yusuf is indeed a blessing from Him. Shaykh Yusuf is one who is actively involved in dakwah. He is responsible in the management of many madrasah tarbiyah in Mesir and [across the Middle East] which deals with 'tarbiyah ruh'. He has travelled a great deal to many countries including Europe and the US. I have benefited much from him while I was in Mesir. His visit here is clearly a blessing from Allah. The real tarbiyah is in fact from Shaykh Yusuf and not from the kitab, tables, chairs in the classroom. It is the true understanding (tahqiq) as what have been taught and practised during the times of Rasulullah s.a.w. Shaykh Yusuf's manhaj is about al junun ('craziness about Allah'), ma'rifah (gnosis) and ubudiyah (servitude).

Ubudiyah is a high ranking stature, even above a PhD or doctorate qualification. Allah says in the Qur'an regarding the Isra' event - "asra bi abdihi..." The maqam of ubudiyah, of a servant is a high maqam in the sight of Allah.

In the beginning, we were far from Allah, we were heedless until came the inayah (guidance) of Allah. Maqam ubudiyah is undoubtedly a high maqam. There is a story about Bisyirin al-Haqq who used to sit with the noblemen. One day a stranger came knocking on his door. Bisyirin's servant opened the door. The stranger then asked, "Is Bisyirin a servant or is he a sayyid?" Bisyirin's servant was taken aback by this remark. The stranger said further, "If he is a servant then he should not be sitting with evil men." Afterward, upon hearing about the incident from his qadam, Bisyirin nervously went looking for the stranger. Bisyirin was then blessed with Allah's guidance and became a waliullah.

Ahlillah is one who is close to Allah. Ahlul Hubb is one who loves Allah. Ahlul ma'rifah is one who knows Allah. All of these people, they see things with the eyes of the heart, they look at things with 'ain haqiqah.

Bisyirin was one of them. One day while walking in a market, he stopped by a fruit stall and stood there admiring the variety of fruits, looking at all kinds of fruits on display. The fruit seller asked Bisyirin if he wanted anything in particular. Bisyirin said: "I don't want to get any fruits. I am just amazed to see so many types of fruits and I wondered if Allah gave all these wonderful fruits to His disobedient servant, who makes munkar, what would He give to His obedient servant?!"

Bisyirin was one person who viewed things with 'ain haqiqah because his heart was full of lights. Nowadays people understood things differently. One who fears Allah is considered stupid and backward. Whereas, a liar is thought to be clever. In Mesir those who study usul i.e. usuluddin and usul fikh are heavily criticized by the media. By right, we should be condemning people who are ignorant of usul."

Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish then narrated the story of Abdul Rahman Ibn Muhazzab who bought a 'defect' qadam. Abdul Rahman got to purchase the qadam at a bargain because the seller thought he was crazy. When Abdul Rahman took the qadam home, he realized that the qadam was not insane, he was instead crazy about worshipping Allah.

Shaykh  Dr. Saad Ghawish reminded the jemaah on two types of servanthood. One is that of those who seek benefits and heavenly rewards. The other group is those who wanted only Allah. The latter is of higher degree because their intention is solely to gain Allah's mercy.

Concluding his tausiyah, Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish spoke excitedly and animatedly about his experience being in Kedah [a state in the north of Peninsula Malaysia]. "I was at Masjid Al-Bukhari and I saw in front of me a large group of people all wearing white hats and imamah (turban). I thought this was what Al-Azhar must have been like 200 years ago! I thought, is Al-Azhar in Mesir or could it be in Malaysia? Then I heard people reciting the Burdah Al-Busiri. I thought it's amazing that the Burdah was written in Mesir but it's being recited here in Malaysia. Then I heard people doing the mawlid. We need this type of food for our ruh. Enliven your hearts by sitting in majalis where people recite salawat, a majlis that is loved by Rasulullah s.a.w. -majlis zikr - this is essential. I also learned that the Kedah state is known as Darul Aman. I think that is so true because people are free to present themselves at majlis 'ilm, zikr and salawat. Remember that tarbiyah ruh is crucial; tarbiyah jasad is not."

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Wallahu a'lam.

May I be forgiven for any errors or omissions.

My apology for being late in posting these notes.

The majlis was graciously hosted by:

"It is He who creates our actions" - Shaykh Yusuf Bakhour

Shaykh Yusuf Bakhour Al-Hassani & Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Hussaini
1 October 2011

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, we were indeed delighted and grateful for the opportunity to sit before As-Shaykh Yusuf Bakhour Al-Hassani and  Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish Al-Hussaini at KL Ba'alawi tonight. It's amazing to see one Al-Hassani and one Al-Hussaini sitting next to each other and to see one showing much respect and humility toward the other, and one praising the other with much love. MashaAllah what a wonderful display of praiseworthy akhlaq and affection between them. Shaykh Yusuf was the first to speak. In his opening remarks he said:

"I am not worthy to speak in front of my elder, a great ulama, my guru, one who loves people of knowledge, the one before whom I grew up. Therefore, I must mention his special attributes both in his presence and absence. I shall not speak except that he ordered me to, so I speak out of adab.

Let me begin by reminding us all of the importance of having taqwa for Allah. We speak with the language of love and not just mere oratory. Muslims now busy themselves with making an eloquent speech (lafaz) yet ignoring the meanings (makna). They occupy themselves with the outer aspect of speech but their hearts are shut toward its beautiful meanings.

We know that people have aqal (intelligence). [To have] aqal actually means to obey Allah's orders. That is what it really means in terms of sharaq. But people nowadays have defined it differently. In today's world, one who has aqal is one who is clever at amassing wealth, who cheats, who robs other people's rights for the sake of obtaining worldly pleasures. We see how a person who is a hypocrite, who speaks lies is thought to be 'clever'. In contrast, one who is honest and sincere is considered as 'stupid'. If we were to ask people, 'Why did you cheat?' He will say, 'Oh it's a business trick.'

In today's world, one who busies himself with the love of Allah and ibadah is considered insane. He is thought to be losing and backward as far as dunya is concerned. While I was traveling from Penang to KL, I realized that I am 'crazy' and I love friends who are also 'crazy'. If I wanted myself to be considered as having aqal, I must lie. Suffice that we know Allah even if people labeled us crazy.

I say the love for Allah is a kind of 'craziness'. It is like one losing his aqal when he is faced with the one he loves. I do not mind that people think I am 'crazy' rather than have aqal but one is distant from Allah. But surely we interact with Allah using aqal. Yet if you were to ask for rewards of heavens then you are not speaking the language of love. Let me ask you, are we servant or are we God? Of course, you will say servant. Indeed we are a servant of Allah in every state (hal). Leave everything to Him. This is majlis aqidah. And I seek help from my Shaykh (madad), that we are talking about af'al [His actions]. He is the one who creates our actions. It is He who causes effects to take place. We don't do anything, we are merely the medium through which He takes actions.

Do you really think people create their own actions? No, it is Allah who creates our actions. If one were to create his own actions, then he might as well prostrate to himself! Allah knows since time immemorial and beyond (since azali) that our aqal is incompetent so He creates our actions. If you understood the verb (fi'il) of the Arabic language you would know the difference between 'to do' and 'to get done'. In ilm haqiqah, the one who does is Allah. His sifat is that of maf'ul.

Love is, in fact, junun (insanity). In today's world, people define cleverness as one who involves crime and all sorts of immoralities. We need to redefine this. We have to admit that we are crazy or else we would be committing crimes like those who are 'clever'. People have lost their way of finding the correct definition. One who is clever at cheating is smart. So can we say one who is trustworthy is smart too?  How can we build a civilization with such a misconception?

We are different from you. In these times when the values of akhlaq are being traded with materialistic judgment, we insist that we are different from you. If we defined having a relationship with Allah as crazy, then I want to be crazy.

The basis of aqal is that one does something with understanding. Let me then ask you, do you know Allah? Know that knowledge ('ilm) is the way/medium (wasilah). And the aim is Allah. Your deeds are wasilah and your destination is Allah.

Imam as-Shadzili once reminded Ibn Abbas that Adam was sent down from Heaven so that he would become complete/perfect and not to trouble him. No doubt heaven is a perfect place but dunya is a place for responsibility and only with responsibility can Adam become complete.

O you lovers, whom I love, know that the door to Allah is being honest with Him. Allah does not interact with us except that He loves us. He loves us before we could even begin to love him. And our love for Him only serves to prove His love for us. How can we claim to love Him first, when it was Him who created us? O friend, when do you reckon He created love? He created love before He created anything else. Allah has created us out of pure bounty. There is a difference between creating something for a purpose and creating something like a bounty. Our ruh were roaming freely before. That which was manifest became hidden. We are now searching for that beauty we had experienced in the realm of spirits (alam arwah). If love is within us, then our physique will follow Love.

Once a sahabi confessed his love to Rasulullah s.a.w, to which the Prophet grimaced. He then said to his companion, 'if that be the case, have a special jubbah to face calamities.' So know that to love something/someone has a price. If the ibadah you make for Allah is merely for the sake of obtaining rewards, then know that it is shirk khafi (hidden polytheism). Allah wants us to worship Him out of pure servitude, we as servants while He is the Lord.

Before I end my speech, I wish to remind everyone that this world is a place for test and not a place to collect wealth. We will be leaving this dunya for a place of eternal happiness. We will work towards that with ibadah and by knowing Allah, and that is the ultimate happiness of this world. Allah mentions in the Qur'an that akhira is the everlasting place. Lastly, I pray that you will be protected by Allah and that Allah will help us dunya wal akhirah." 

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Wallahu a'lam. May I be forgiven for any errors or omissions.
The tazkirah by Shaykh Dr. Saad Ghawish will be posted separately InshaAllah.

The majlis was hosted by: