Habib Kazim al-Saqqaf at Masjid Mu'adz bin Jabal - 28 Dec 2012

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah, we were indeed delighted to see Habib Kazim al-Saqqaf again yesterday. He graced the weekly majlis ta'lim at Masjid Mu'adz bin Jabal organized by Darul Murtadza of Kuala Lumpur. Another special guest present last night was Habib Ali's father - Habib Abu Bakar bin Salim Al-Hamid, mashaAllah. To say that Habib Abu Bakar is proud of his son for the works that Habib Ali has been doing for the deen - would be a gross understatement.

Habib Kazim spoke in his usual animated and eloquent style. He reiterated some basic practices we heard him mentioned at Masjid Baitul Aman before, about doing simple and basic practices that could bring forth tremendous benefits.

Beginning his tausiyah he said (as interpreted by Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin bin Abu Bakar al-Hamid): Praise be to Allah for His guidance (hidayah) that we are granted lights (nur) from Allah that we are among the followers of Prophet Muhammad [s.a.w]. It is evident that this majlis is one which Allah favors and that a deed which He favors is one in which you are consistent (istiqamah) even if it is little. And you are doing just that. You come to this majlis every week consistently, so know that your actions are pleasing to Allah. It is never a waste because what you learn or hear ultimately becomes a guide (hidayah) for you to be closer to Allah.

Allah invites us to trade with Him - a trade which guarantees an everlasting reward. Allah makes such an offer with mercy (rahim) and love. He [subhanahu wa ta'ala] said: "O you who believe, would you like me to show you a trade that could save you from severe torments?" We are invited to share a 'trade' with Allah by way of having faith (iman) in Allah and Rasulallah [s.a.w] and to trade with our properties and selves. It is an offer made with much mercy (rahmat). 

Similarly, we could see how Allah is merciful when issuing a commandment for the believers. One example is on the requirement to fast (siyyam). Instead of just giving out tall orders, Allah explains that siyyam has not been instructed to us alone and that it is only for a month and even if one is not able to perform it, one is given some concessions. Allah wants to make things easy for us. 

The same goes for zakat. Allah did not immediately say: 'you must give zakat'. He first explained the states of the recipients i.e. the faqir and all the eight asnaf (the rightful candidates for zakat). And then Allah said, "it's obligatory upon you".

There was an incident as mentioned in the Qur'an where the Prophet did make a mistake but Allah in His mercy did not in the first instant pointed out his mistake, instead, He first mentioned His pardon towards Rasulallah [s.a.w]. This was in relation to an issue on war captives.

We could also see Allah's merciful approach in issuing the commandment on hajj. He, in His boundless mercy, first mentioned the times/months for hajj before saying about it being obligatory and even then, it is only for those who could afford it.

Shayatin, as we know, are always trying to deceive us into doubting Allah's mercy. For example, we sometimes argue why men are given twice more than women on matters of inheritance. In actual fact, there are instances where a woman might end up receiving more. Shayatin is also keen on making us waver in our aqidah. Some people succumb to their evil whispering and say: 'why should I do any righteous works when Allah already knows what my fate is?' The reply to that said Habib Kazim is that, if He knows not about you then He is not God! An analogy to that is how teachers could tell who among his students would do well and who would fail. It's not that the teacher purposely fails any of his students. But some students actually fail because of their lack of efforts and a teacher knows his students well enough to predict their results.

Allah asks us not unless it is something beneficial for us.

The habib then asked the audience: 'How do we worship Allah out of gratitude rather than fear?' How do we perform ibadah out of longing, gratitude, and love as did Prophet Muhammad [s.a.w] and Prophet Daud? They (the anbiya) glorified and had immense love for Allah. An analogy for this is that of a king's attendant. There are three kinds of attendants. One would serve the king for fear of his punishment. The other group would make an effort to serve the king well hoping for some special favors in return. The third kind of attendant offers a good service sincerely and not seeking any rewards from it. 

Those whose faith is weak tend to worship out of fear for Allah's punishment. The second group of people, perform righteous deeds with the objective of attaining the heavens. The third category of believers is those who truly glorify Allah, who truly love Allah and who are truly grateful (shukur). These are the ibadah of the anbiya (the prophets), awliya (the saints) and solehin (the pious). Thus, Habib Kazim encouraged the audience to worship Allah in such a manner.

Habib Kazim then talked about simple practices that could enable us to enjoin those who are specially chosen by Allah. He asked if anyone knew about a practice that takes only 2 seconds but the rewards of which is equivalent to a billion and a half. 

The answer to that is by reciting: Astaghfirullah lil mukminin wal mukminat for 27 times. In reference to a hadith, whoever does that, will receive a reward as much as the number of mukminin and mukminat. At present time, the number of Muslims is about a billion and a half. Whoever practices that religiously once or twice a day will eventually see some good results. He/she will begin to see that his/her amal is accepted by Allah. How will you know if your amal is accepted by Allah? It is when you don't have any traces of pride in you [as a result of doing a particular amal]. 

Habib Kazim went on to ask another interesting question - How to earn the rewards of 100 hajj, freeing 100 slaves and attain jihad rewards equivalent to offering 100 horses - all in 1 minute?

Again, as narrated in a hadith, Habib Kazim said one could do that by:

• Reciting subhanallah 100x  (equals to 100 hajj rewards)
• Reciting la ilahaillAllah 100x (equals to freeing 100 slaves)
• Reciting alhamdulillah 100x (equals to contributing 100 horses for jihad)

All these would only take us 1 minute. It's something we could do while walking to our car for example. There are 60 minutes in an hour and 1440 minutes in a day. We should thus spend a few minutes doing those simple practices. The sahabah were known to make full use of their time and age in doing as much ibadah as they possibly could. 

Habib Kazim also talked about the merit of using siwak. He said we could easily multiply the value of our prayers (solat) 70 times in a few minutes simply by using siwak. If you don't have one, you could use a rough cloth instead. This is another example of the advantages of doing a simple thing but the reward of which is enormous. If you can't wake up two hours early before subuh, then don't ignore the simple but valuable practices as mentioned.

The same thing applies to making salawat. One salawat equals 10 salawat from Allah. Even if we could worship for a million years, that would still not match the value of Allah making salawat to us. In one minute, a person may on average recites 100 salawat or if your tongue is somewhat heavy, you may attempt to do 50 salawat. 

Habib Kazim ended his tausiyah by reminding the audience of the importance of showing/expressing one's gratitude (shukur). We must on each day be grateful to be a Muslim, that we are given hidayah, that we embark on a path that brings us closer to Allah. We pray so that each and every Muslim will become those who are specially chosen by Allah. We pray so that Allah fills the heart of each and every Muslim with love for Rasulallah [s.a.w]. A heart that is filled with love will make shaytan flee. There will be no animosity. And love will not occupy one's heart if one does not have a love for Rasulallah [s.a.w]. And there is no love without the greetings of peace (salam) as it is sunnah.

So I say unto you Assalamualaikum!

Habib Kazim Ja'far Muhammad al-Saqqaf

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The above is a rough transcript of Habib Ali's interpretation of Habib Kazim's tausiyah. May I be forgiven for any omissions and errors. Allahu a'lam. 

Pic credits: http://www.darulmurtadza.com/ and Amer Areef