Habib Muhammad Abdullah As-Saggaf on good etiquettes with Allah and fellow man

Bismillah.

Habib Ali Zainal Abidin Al-Hamid & Habib Muhammad Abdullah As-Saggaf
at Masjid Muadz bin Jabal, Malaysia
23 May 2014

Habib Muhammad Abdullah As-Saggaf said, as interpreted by Habib Ali Zainal Abidin Al-Hamid:

"May Allah grant us His bounties. May Allah grant us the sweetness of praising Him. May He raise us to a high stature. Our Prophet Muhammad salallah alaihi wasalam is one whose attribute is Ahmad [good]. He will be honored with a station of distinction [Maqam Mahmud]. He will be holding the banner of distinction in the hereafter. May Allah gather us under the banner of Prophet Muhammad salallah alaihi wasalam. We might be gathered with him in consideration of our gathering at this majlis. In order to be with him in the hereafter, we must do good deeds and do that which he likes more than that which we prefer, only then can we have a good chance of being with the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam. Nothing could be better than being under his banner."

"At a majlis like this, Allah oversees your heart's contents. He is watching your heart and whatever is inside it will be evaluated and rewarded accordingly. So you must have an intention for it is your intention which He will give due consideration. A majlis like this gets the attention of the angels. They will swing by and be present too."

  

"There is a hadith about three persons who attended the Prophet's majlis. The first of the trio came and there was a space in the front so he sat in the front row. The second of them came but he was shy to go sit in front so he sat in the back rows instead. The third of them came but when he saw how crowded the majlis was and there was no space to sit, he, therefore, decided to leave. Know that not only Allah supervised the event but the Prophet did too."

"The Prophet asked his companions, 'do you want to hear more about the three men?' The Prophet then said: the first of the three men, he went towards Allah and Allah came towards him. Sitting in the first row is like coming to Allah and Allah approaching him. It is not about going to a majlis because of this fulan that fulan. It is about going to Allah. It is like the youth who were hiding in the cave as related in Surah al-Kahf. Allah protected them while they were in the cave. Likewise, the audience of a majlis such as this will be protected by Allah. Allah protects you."

"The Prophet wants us to understand so that we open up our minds. Those who come to this majlis must have yaqin (confidence) that they are indeed coming towards Allah. The Prophet wants us to understand this point. As for the second man, he was bashful, likewise, Allah was also shy towards him. The Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam wants us to understand the ways of interacting with Allah. Allah says, whoever does ehsan (good), He will reciprocate."

"I wish you would pay attention to what I'm saying. There's a secret about the way we interact with Allah, if you can understand the secret, you'd be a person with good adab towards Allah. Open your heart and mind, and try to understand the meaning of that which has just been said. Allah will act towards us in accordance to our interaction with people. If you wish Allah to be with you, then you must do good to people. If you wish Allah to pardon you, then you should be forgiving towards people. There are plenty of examples in the Quran and hadis on this. Whoever hides the wrongs of other people in this dunya, Allah will veil his shortcomings in both dunya and akhirah. In the hereafter, there will be people who are without clothes. There will be people who are fully clothed. Who are they who are not naked on that day? They are those who cover up the shame of other people."

"Even in small matters such as giving space for people to sit, Allah will reciprocate our small gestures and give us space in return. And certainly, His kind gestures towards us are far greater than any good deed that we could ever do to fellow man. Even if you offer a small space for people to sit at a majlis, Allah will give you a space a lot greater. Where? In your grave and in the hereafter when it gets very crowded, yet you will get some space. When you are crossing the sirat, Allah will make it wider for you and when you enter the heavens, Allah will make your heavenly mansion even bigger for you. If you know how sweet it is to be receiving His bounties, you won't feel a burden in making space for people to sit. What you will be getting from Allah is certainly more and better."

"When someone has hurt your feelings, you should be thinking how petty it is compared to the wrongs you have done towards Allah. So forgive people's mistakes. This is the state of he/she who is always with Allah. They do not wish for rewards from people. They only wish for Allah's rewards. Their confidence level would increase. They would be interacting with the existence of Allah. They would be looking at everything surrounding them as risalah, as a sign from Allah. Do you think that everything that is taking place around us is happening without Allah's will? Allah says in the Quran, it is He who creates us and our actions in accordance to His Will. So one should be sensitive about anything and everything around him/her. Do you really understand the risalah of Allah and what His signs are?"

"A majlis like this is for Allah to fulfill your wish. Allah is watching the hearts of the attendees of this majlis. He Himself opens the door of tawba and pardon. All He asks from us is that we earnestly ask from Him as much as possible. Nothing compares to His gifts. Don't you believe in the messages of the Prophet? Or do you have doubts in your heart? Would you want to leave the heavens after having been inside? When we visit a beautiful country or hotel, we are reluctant to leave the place. We heard the Prophet saying about majlis such as this being a heavenly garden. In the garden, we all know that all wishes will be granted. But what about our attitude towards Allah? That's why our teachers in the past who conducted majlis ta'alim such as this would urge their students to give full attention on what Allah has to offer in the majlis. We should heed the lessons of Israk Mikraj. On the Prophet's return from mikraj he was asked about Baitul Maqdis. However, he was not able to answer because he was focused solely on Allah. He was not paying attention to other external things during the Israk Mikraj. The Prophet could only answer the question after Allah showed Baitul Maqdis to him afterwards. When you are in solah and if you are aware of the person standing on your right and left, that essentially means you are not khusyuk. Our guru, if he found a murid being distracted and always looking to his right and left, would ask the murid to cover his head with a cloth. He/she who is focused will be given plenty of secrets of the hidden knowledge. But many of us tend to get distracted by the cameras, by the men serving drinks, we get distracted when someone opens the door or when we hear something around us, we are easily distracted because we are not focused and he/she who is easily distracted cannot learn much."

"There was an incident where a snake fell off the roof in a majlis ta'lim led by Shaykh Abdul Kadir Al-Jailani. The students got nervous but the shaykh remained calm even when the snake went inside his right arm and crept through his left arm."

"Imam Malik when he was teaching ahadith, got bitten by a scorpion not once but ten times, yet out of adab for the Prophet, he refused to stop the lessons. Because of his adab, Imam Malik became a distinguished teacher. And similarly Imam Shafie. Out of adab for Imam Malik, Imam Shafie would carefully turn the pages of his kitab quietly because he didn't want to distract Imam Malik. Because of his adab for his guru and fine etiquette towards Allah, he became a notable guru himself."

"We pray so that Allah will let us have more adab towards Him. And my advice to you is that even if you are unwell, make an effort to attend a majlis like this because there is plenty of healing in it. Habib Kadir bin Hamid As-Saggaf was ill. His father insisted that he attend a majlis ta'lim, so he did and recovered thereafter. I was feeling weak due to high fever before coming here. But now I am feeling very well that I am ready to wrestle anyone. This majlis has a significant barakah. A few weeks ago, we were reading Sahih Bukhari. We studied for 12 hours a day so that we could complete the kitab in one week. One of us couldn't attend the classes in full as he had to man a shop. He said on a normal day he would usually yield 200 riyal but just because he attended the Sahih Bukhari class, though partially, he was able to make 500 riyal. So he suggested we study all the other six kitab on hadith."

"Any one of you who has a hajat, may your presence here become a cause for Allah to grant it to you. May Allah forgive us. Verily Allah may look upon anyone He wishes. And he/she upon whom Allah cast His glance, will get his/her affairs made easy and well. And he/she will not be judged. Focus your heart on Allah. Ask and put your hope on Him. Think well of Him. If Allah were to look at your heart, you shall leave this majlis as a different person. Allah will never deny our pleas. He will give us more than that which we ask for. Put all your wish and needs in front of His door. May Allah accept us. May Allah look upon us. May Allah strengthen our hearts with hidayah and tawfik. May Allah erase all our mistakes and bad deeds. May Allah make us yearn more for the Prophet. May Allah enable our eyes to see the Prophet in a dream and for real - the face of one who had seen the Face of Allah on Israk Mikraj. O Allah, honor us by letting us see the face of our beloved Prophet, for there is no greater honor than that. Honor us with the joy of gazing at Your Countenance, O Allah. Make us among the solehin. Write our name among those who are close to You, O Allah. If we are not eligible, make us eligible. If you find us far, make us near. Should you find us veiled, lift the veil. And make us among those whom You love...."

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Habib Muhammad Abdullah As-Saggaf ended his tausiyah with a lengthy and meaningful du'a. My limited qudrah to transcribe and translate some of his words of wisdom as interpreted by Habib Ali, ends here.

Allahu a'lam.

Credit: Darul Murtadza