"None is knowledgable except Al-Aleem" - Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

Bismillah.

Nawaitul ar'bain, nawaitul iktikaf, nawaitul suluk. Alhamdulillah Allah has guided us to be Muslims. O Muslims, O believers, Alhamdulillah Allah has created us from ummah Muhammad s.a.w.

No matter how much we worship, we pray, we fast, day and night, from the time of Adam a.s. until the last moment of the world, we cannot give back His right on us. Do not think that I am doing this, I am doing that. You are not doing anything except that you are thanking Him, that He has created you, and made you ummah of Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. Whatever it is that we do to worship him, we should, in fact, be thanking Him.

No one in this dunya is 'aleem (knowledgable). Even if you are knowledgable on all kinds of sciences and all matters of shari'at still does not encompass the knowledge of the name Al-Aleem. It is not even an atom from that knowledge. Aleem is His sifat (attribute). Allah is the name of Essence. No one knows the Essence, none can reach that level. All the Beautiful Names and Attributes describe Allah. Qul huwallahu Ahad. The unknown is Allah. Al-Aleem is the Name that describes one aspect of Allah.

Allah is directing us when He says: Allahu nurus samawati wal ardh Allah is the light of heaven and earth. But nur is not the same as the light you see outside. Nur is the power behind everything alive and not-alive. He creates every species and gives the thing its secret. 

The Prophet s.a.w may have said, Innama ana basharun mithlukum, I am only a mortal like you, but it's not that he is the same as us for none is comparable to him. If anyone dares think that he is the same as Muhammad, try to do the mi'raj. We are nothing in front of the Prophet s.a.w. In fact, we are existing within Rasul in front of Allah. Through the Prophet you exist. Outside of him, you are simply non-existent.

Earlier, we have heard the Qu'ran recital Ya aiyuhal mudatsir, O you who are covered. Why did you think the Prophet was shaking after having seen Jibril? Jibril came with a revelation Iqra'. The Prophet was experiencing haibatul Malik. He was shocked by the experience. Know that he was shivering underneath the blanket on account of the knowledge that he had just received. He was in fact wrapped by the knowledge. Like Allah was saying, I made you ghani, I give you ghina of knowledge that you wrap yourself with it. And he was asked to stand up and warn people. But the warning is not meant in a hard way. He was asked to get people to be in love with Allah and not to be distant from His love, not to be afraid of Him. You should say Allahu Akbar not out of fear but feel happy that He has given you something. So you glorify Him for all that He has given you. 

So knowledge is from Al-Aleem. Where is knowledge? It is in the heart of awliya. Therefore, you have got to extract it out to get it. If you try to get honey, you take the risk of being stung. Get the sting and be happy with it. Not everything is free or simple. You will get stung.

Fill your heart with what Allah likes from you, with La ilaha illAllah. Do zikrullah.  Take note that Allah encourages us to say La ilaha illAllah, yet He orders us to make salawat. Notice the difference. To encourage is not the same as to order. People will be resurrected with the ones they love. If you truly love the Prophet, you should keep remembering him. He will open the door to Allah s.w.t for you.

There is a narration attributed to Shaykh Ahmad Zaini bin Ali Tirmizi. On the day of judgment, you will be called for an accounting. All the amal will be accounted on the mizan/scales but la ilaha illallah was missing. What happened? Then a voice came: 'O my servant, the balance cannot contain la ilaha illAllah. It is beyond creation. And neither the heaven nor the earth can contain it. This is maqam tauhid, la ilaha illAllah is above everything that Allah has created. The proofs are in the words of Prophet Muhammad. If you say subhanallah wabihamdih it would fill between heaven and earth. If you said Alhamdulillah, He will give you more. So what about la ilaha illAllah? Whoever says the kalimah before going to sleep, his soul will be under the throne. When you say it, you will make Allah happy. Whoever says la ilaha illAllah at high noon/zohor time, the power of syaitan within him will diminish. So say la ilaha illAllah from the time you go to sleep until daytime. It will take you to Paradise. If you busy yourself with video games etc. it would take you to syaitan. Whoever says la ilaha illAllah at the time of hilal/new moon, he will not be sick during the entire month. When you enter a city and say la ilaha illAllah, you will be protected from all evils that exist in the city. If someone says it with the intention of seeking higher knowledge, Allah will give it to him.

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Wallahu a'lam. May I be forgiven for any errors in my notes.

Please visit http://islamicsupremecouncil.org/multimedia.html

for complete recording of the sohba.

Naqshbandi Followers (Kedah Qasidah Group)
have started wearing black turbans
this new year 1432 Hijri
as directed by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim

Salam Maal Hijrah 1432

Bismillah.

Wishing all of you Lisan al-Din visitors and friends a very happy new year. We believe in the words of awliya that this new year is going to be a good year for us and our deen. InshaAllah.

May Allah shower us with abundant love, happiness, peace, progress and meaningful success. May we attain all that we have been wanting to achieve. With the barakah of awliya may we live as a better person this year compared to the previous year, better in all aspects zahir and batin. Bi-iznillah.

Yours sincerely,

Ezza

"Happy new hijrah year" - Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

Bismillah.

"Happy new hijrah year. Kullu 'amin wa antum bi khair. May Allah give you happiness and honor for you are ummat of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w."

Alhamdulillah, we have visited Australia, Singapore and now Malaysia. I...but I don't really like to say 'I'. The awliya, they don't like to say I. They use 'we' instead. 'I'  is egotistical. By saying 'we', it means all of us together. It also means you are not by yourself. You are not claiming that you are something without those who are with you. If you say 'I', it means you are on your own, as though you can decide yourself and do something without getting help from other people. 'I' by right, is only meant for Allah. It's better that we say 'we' as it is more afdhal, it shows that you have discipline, that you are nothing without those who are supporting you.

We are all supported differently by different people. Some of us are supported by our parents, our mother, our friends. Some are supported by awliya Allah, be they awliya of the lower level or the highest level. Some are supported by Sultan Awliya directly, those who are ghawth, there are five qutubs, they refer their matters to him. The ghawth are being consulted by 124,000 wali and ultimately all matters are being referred to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

I am speaking what Mawlana Shaykh Nazim is saying. We have been coming to Malaysia for 23 years already. People come and go, some disappear, some new ones come. Still, those who stay, those who left or those who are new, are all supported by awliya Allah through a chain. But you cannot jump the stairs in the way of sainthood or worshipping. We need to go one level at a time, step by step.

The 124,000 wali are responsible for the whole of humanity. Each one of them is assigned to look after a certain number of people. They are in turn managed by five qutub. The leader of qutub is the ghawth or sultan awliya. Some of them were known as the ghawth after their demise, while others such as Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani and Shaykh Bahauddin Naqshabandi were known as ghawth during their lifetime.

May Allah give a long life to Sultan Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Nazim who not only represents the two major tariqah Qadiriah and Naqshbandi but 41 tariqah. He is close to the Prophet s.a.w in sincerity and worship.

The awliya know each other. They know their limits. They don't transgress their limits unlike the pseudo-sufis (the mutamashikin). I want to tell you a story that has been narrated in different ways by Imam Ghazali, Ibn al-Arabi, Imam ar-Razi, and others. There is no tariqah without shari'ah. Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani said, if you see someone, a shaykh flying in the air, know that it is shaytan. That's because real awliya don't go against shari'a, they don't transgress their limits.

If a servant of Allah comes with a mountain of sins but his tongue is occupied with zikrullah from time to time, know that he will be forgiven due to his zikir and remembering Allah. Whether he says Allah...Allah or whether he repeats the Asma'ul Husna, he will find the mountain of sins collapsing, demolished. This shows that shari'at is important. Zikrullah is shari'at. You must know O son, that the customs of shaykh of naqshbandi and other tariqa is to teach you istighfar in order to make your sins vanish and to say salawat, sollu alan nabi.

I am speaking in the capacity of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. I have received ijazah from many tariqah in addition to the Naqshbandi. We are taught to be enthusiastic in managing and administering the affairs of Naqshbandi Tariqah. Notice the two key words - manage and administer. When you have a secret and are given a title -  my title comes from the Prophet, Grand Shaykh and Mawlana Shaykh Nazim; you must manage and administer according to the Preserved Tablet. You must know each and everyone who is sitting in front of you. You must look at them day and night and inspire them to do right. Tariqah is not like playing golf, basketball, etc. We must be fully aware in every moment, aware of ourselves and those we are responsible for. We must be enthusiastic to manage and administer the affairs of tariqah correctly. Especially when there is no one among us who has ijazah tammah (complete authority). When Shaykh Bahauddin Naqshbandi said: Tariqatuna as-suhbah wa'l-khayru fi'l jam`iyyah, 'Our way is fellowship, and the goodness is in the gathering'. What he meant to say is that: 'Our way is to accompany you from the Day of Promise until you enter the Paradise.'

They are those who have full authority to put tariqah on your tongue, to give talqin. Talqin means to instill the teaching until your tongue becomes zakir. This is very rare in our tariqah, the rare of the rare. If one is not given the right ijazah to do this he is mutamashikin (a pseudo shaykh).  Be careful and know the difference.

By the way, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim sends his salam to you. He said, I want you to continue doing what you are doing. You are my ambassador. You are qutubul mutasharif. Qutubul mutasharif is one who is given authority and power. He works with the authority of the one who gave him the power. It's like a shared power with Sultan Awliya in order to fulfill his duties. Nothing moves without the knowledge of qutubul mutasharif, be it living or non-living objects. None receives water or food without his permission. Ijazah is through the heart of the giver to the intended recipient.

Mawlana Shaykh Nazim said, tell them, this year is a 'heavy' year. Change your turban to black turbans. The era of Imam Mahdi begins tomorrow. So make niyyat to be ready for it. When the black flags appear, that is good news!

O Muslim, O Mukmin, we are not claiming anything. Mawlana Shaykh Nazim always says I am nothing. But I have a button, if I push, I am something. This is a new era of full authority from Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. There will be plenty of conversions to Islam this year. We shall receive support spiritually and from the angelic power. Islam is the religion Allah wants for His servants. There is nothing to feel sad about because we are getting heavenly support. We do not have any weapons but we have got angelic power giving inspirations to the heart. Whoever says the shahadah even once will enter Paradise.

O people, step on your ego, open your heart...

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Wallahu a'lam.

May I be forgiven for errors in my choppy note-taking.

Please listen to the entire sohba recording at

http://islamicsupremecouncil.org/multimedia.html 

on 'The Age of Mahdi Has Begun'

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani speaking to daughter Sajedah
at tonight's majlis in Kuala Lumpur,
in conjunction with Maal Hijrah and Sajedah's birthday

Be human for God's sake

Bismillah.

Thanks to a much respected scholar friend from Iran for having left a valuable comment on my post - 'The joy of being'. He was commenting on three kinds of souls. It's my pleasure to quote him here one more time:

"According to the insightful scholars the human being fundamentally encapsulates three kinds of souls:

- the vegetative soul (consumption, growth and production)

- the animal soul (faculty of estimation (al-waahima) and its sub-faculties, faculty of desire (al-shahwa) and faculty of anger (al-ghadhab) and,

- the human soul (the theoretical and practical intellect).

What is so important for us, is to live the life of human soul. Otherwise so many do have this "life" but they do not attain the level of human beings. They are mostly busy in their plant and animal lives, observing what they eat, how they grow, what they produce, how they can satisfy their desires etc. May the Almighty enable all of us attain the human life. Aameen" - Shaykh Muhammad Khalfan

If I may reflect on this valuable point in my own simple language of faith, what am I? Am I a vege, an animal or a real human being? If I were a plant, I would just wait for my master to water me or wait for the rain. If I were an animal, ooh I imagine I would be very sensuous, always hungry and hunting for food and getting angry when feeling famish. If I were truly a human soul I should, as quoted above, I should be using both the theoretical and practical intellect. I think that makes a lot of sense. Obviously, we are smarter than plants or animals. Apart from keeping our physiques nourished with food and energy, and spending time to multiply [not me but many of you] we ought to be using our brain a lot more to justify our existence as a human being - our raison d'etre, a French phrase meaning 'reason for existence'.

And I think if we truly are optimizing our intellectual capabilities, we would not be so selfish, we would genuinely care for other people, we would contribute towards the progress of  mankind, we would give ourselves away, our time, our strength, our youth, our wealth, our ideas, our love. If we have the luxury of time, we could go visit the sick. If we happen to own a luxurious car, why not take some lonely orphans on a joyride. Surely we all have a loving heart, so let's act like we have one. Know what it takes to be human and behave like one, for god's sake!

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p/s People, I'm sorry if I'm beginning to sound blunt and candid, I think it's got something to do with turning 40. Forty is the new 20, they say! I think they are right cos I found myself spending my sunday reading InStyle magazine, Conde Nast Traveller and 'How to get from where you are to where you want to be.' Life begins at 40 perhaps, life as a human, not a plant and definitely not an animal. Na'uzubillah. God forbid cos I don't think a donkey knows that Allah gives us seven parts of the limbs so we could prostrate to Him, that we are here to make sajadah to the Creator, to worship.

“And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)” - Quran Al-Dhaariyaat 51:56

The joy of being

Bismillah.

O people, it's been a wonderful Friday, to be in the company of good friends and share a good laugh together. It's Allah who makes us laugh and cry. - Qur'an Surah An-Najm:43.  It's even more meaningful to have a good laugh with friends who have cried with you before.

Surely, it's one of the joys of being. The Arabic term for it is nikmat ijad, says one of my guides. So be grateful that we are here today, alive, that we are able to laugh when we laugh and cry when it's time to cry.

Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah.

I wish you a great weekend with your loved ones or even if you are by yourself, let's contemplate on the joy of being (nikmat ijad).

I look forward to attending majlis 'ilm with the honorable Shaykh Hisham Kabbani next week. Will share as much as I could, InshaAllah.

Until then,
you are in my heart : )

Way to go

Bismillah.

Jauh berjalan, luas pandangan - that's a Malay saying whose meaning is quite obvious. It means: travelling widens one's perspective.



Pic credit: Haqqani Fellowship

As I reflect on my travels, the paths trodden, I realized an obvious fact, that there were many ways, many route options which could have been taken. But for one who is back stationed at home, which way is left for he who has arrived at his destination? In other words, which 'way' to take now? Despite being stationary, there still remains a path for one to contemplate upon. What's next? Where next? Which way to go?



I think that's the very fabric of our nature, the yearning for travelling towards a destination. So long as we are here in this world, we feel restless unless we keep walking. The Prophet s.a.w had prophesized that intrinsic trait of our life, that we are on a journey. He said: "I am in this world like a rider who stops in the shade of a tree for a short time and after taking some rest, resumes his journey leaving the tree behind."



This world therefore, is a temporary stop, akhirah is the way to go. Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi said, we need Him as our refuge and support on the way. "The Friend is your refuge and support on the Way. If you look, you'll see the Friend is the Way."

Subhanallah, if we read between the lines, He is not waiting at the end of the journey, He is with us along the way. He is the Way.
Billah.
Hu Allah.
La mawjud illAllah.

Blogging on the run

Bismillah.

Salam dear all. Alhamdulillah I am back home in KL. Thanks for all your good wishes. It was fun trying to squeeze in blogging time while traveling.

That's me this morning at Holiday Inn Pattaya, catching up with you in between delicious bites of veggie quiche and tuna salad at breakfast. Lovely, lovely moments with dear ones both physically and virtually. Alhamdulillah. May Allah keep this love warm always.

One of my favorite du'a is one made by Shaykh Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi: "O Allah, nourish me not with love but with the desire for love."