Alhamdhu’lillah, once again we are meeting in this blessed majlis. And, as we promised, we are going to continue with what we have started before which is a very important subject for all of us – The Realities of Sufism.
Al Imam Abd al-Qadir ‘Isa, whose book we are using, is orginally from Syria. He is a renowned Islamic Scholar, Hafiz al Qur’an, Musifdih wa Tasawuf. Such a Scholar knows what he is saying. And in the meantime, they also practice regular zikr – remembrance of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He.
By the will of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, through our lectures, we are going to correct things and confirm some things which have been hidden from the people.
At-tasawuf is like a tree. The roots of at-tasawuf are Ash-Shariah, to follow al Qur’an and the verified life example of our beloved Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, known as as-sunnah. The trunk of the tree is the path to knowledge of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, and the fruits of the tree are the ultimate knowledge – Haqiqah – of Allah.
Although I have explained the origin of the word Sufism before, I will cover this once again so that everyone will understand.
In his book, Sheikh Abd al-Qadir ‘Isa said the meaning of tasawuf in conclusion is “It is purification of the souls, cleansing of the hearts, the rectification of character, and the pursuit of the level of ehsam.”. This is in general.
In the normal life of the Muslim ummah, from the time when Rasulullah (saw) was sent as the last Prophet, Al Khatum al Anbiyah, the seal of the Prophets, Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He has imbued him with purity of purpose and he (saw) has explained to the ummah the meaning of the message of Islam.
First of all, Islam is the religion of peace. If you wish to greet someone in Islam you greet them with ‘Peace be with you’ (asalaamu’alaikum ). And when you reply in a better way your reward will be more. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He encourages us to increase this to ‘Peace be with you and blessings and grace from Allah.’. This is one way in which Islam is intended to be a religion of refined behaviour (akhlak).
And Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, has described Rasulullah (saw), in the Holy Qur’an, and said:
Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem. Wa innaka ala khuluqeen atheem
Rasulullah (saw) was described as being the ‘pinnacle of refined behaviour’.
His refined manners, his excellent personal qualities, his unblemished morality. To understand this better you need to be well acquainted with his (saw) life story and this will also help you to understand better the meaning of Islam. We must seek the greatest and wealth of information concerning Rasulullah (saw) and then pass it on to our children so as to teach them to love our Prophet with the full knowledge of his esteemed nature.
We cannot force our children to study Al Qur’an without first teaching them to know what it is and to develop in them a love for the Qur’an. We do not want them to simply memorize the Qur’an and then, like a parrot, recite it back to us without understanding. If they learn to love Al Qur’an they will excel at reciting it.
Alhamdhulillah, Sayiddinah Rasulullah (saw) throughout his life, in his manner, the way he talked, the way he behaved, the way he acted, the way he advised his ummah, husband and wife, father and mother, friends, a group, tribes, his (saw) advice to all of them, the relationship between Muslim and non-Muslim, everything is contained in the Qur’an.
And, sometimes, if we misinterpret it, it is not a problem with Al Qur’an or Islam, it is a problem with al Muslimin. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He has chosen Al Qur’an for all. All of the Prophets were aware of Rasulullah (saw) and they confirmed that he would be the last Prophet (saw) and all of them advised their people to follow him (saw). Without Laa ilaha il Allah MuhammadurRasulullah, there would be no heaven.
There are five pillars of Islam and the first and most important is Laa ilaha il Allah.
My friends, whatever you have read and whatever you are going to read from books, the millions of books we have, they are all about Laa ilaha il Allah Muhammadur Rasulullah.
So, Al Islam is a great religion if we know how to use it.
And, after the Qur’an, Sayiddinah Rasulullah (saw) has explained to us the meaning of his inspired behaviour (sunnah) as the perfect example of how to live our lives. This perfect example of how to live your life, taken together with Al Qur’an provides us with the perfect recipe for peace and happiness.
I will give you one example of this life example. Today, this morning, we have attended one majlis akikah. Following the example set by Rasulullah (as sunnah Nabawiyyah) on the seventh day after the child is born, the head of the child is shaved and you weigh the hair and give charity in either gold or silver to match the weight of the hair. And you have a gathering and feed the attendees at the gathering – majlis akikah.
But do you realize that now, in the west, if you see any film with a new born, the European baby is bald. In fact they have shaved the baby because scientists have determined that it is good to shave the head of the newborn because the baby will be healthier and it will protect the baby from scalp ailments. Subhanallah, this was the example set by Rasulullah so long ago. This is something very great.
There are so many things about the life example of Rasulullah (saw) but we do not want to exaggerate or become extreme about this. What Sayiddinah Rasulullah (saw) himself has said about this:
Do whatever you can. And, if you cannot, it is no problem
If you can follow fine. If not, the only thing is that you will miss out on the reward for following his (saw) example.
And sometimes people pray according to the Madh’hab Shafi’i, Madh’hab Hanafi, Madh’hab Hanbali or Madh’hab Maliki, all these ways Rasulullah (saw) has prayed to keep it simple for the ummah. Noboday can say this solat is wrong and my solat is right. Your solat is wrong if you have been heedless during your prayer and right if it has made your heart pure. Similarly with fasting (as Saum), this cannot be solely for the purpose of breaking fast and the social engagement therein. Fasting is for worship of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. Also, Hajj. This is not a tourist outing.
And when you come to know these essential pillars of Islam, then only will you understand the true meaning of Islam.
We have received from Rasulullah, as his greatest example for living our life, his refined manners (akhlak). Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, did not say “Your solat is the greatest.” or “Your fasting is the greatest.”. No. He, Almighty and Glorious is He, identified the nectar, the essence of all of the life examples to be his (saw) refined manners. Khuluq – Behaviour. A great moral character – that is the most important.
I someone is praying five times a day at the mosque but outside of prayer you see him and ‘his tongue is long’ – he is always talking about someone, backbiting, finding fault – then what value is the prayer. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, has forbidden all of these things.
This is reality of sufism and the advice to the ummah about their moral behaviour – you must remember it.
What we witness these days is even more clear. Someone will come in and say: “So and so is in hell”. As though Hell were his to dispense or reserve. My friends, I cannot sell my neighbour’s property – it does not belong to me, I have no authority over its’ disposition. So, what about Jennah or Jehannam – Heaven or Hell – this is Allah’s property, Almighty and Glorious is He. Who has the authority to dispose of it? The only authority is your good deeds.
Surat al-Asr
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
وَالْعَصْرِ
إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِIn the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),
Verily Man is in loss,
Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.
This is from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. He commands us to belief and to encourage the performance of good deeds and to encourage the practice of honesty and to encourage patience among the believers. If we practice all of these things in our daily lives our life will be a very happy one subhanallah.
When we visit the sick, either in the hospital or at home, it is the sunnah to sit with him for exactly the period of the sitting of the Imam between the first and second Khutbah during Solat ul Jumaah – Friday prayers – which is less than one minute. So when you visit a patient that is the period of time you should stay. And why? For supplication for his good health and speedy recovery only. Encourage the patient with your prayers for him and then go. Do not sit and seek a long explanation of the problem and then relate stories of similar patients who had difficulties or other problems. You visit the patient to make them feel better, not to add to their worries. This is the sunnah. So, we know what to do but we don’t know how to do it.
وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ [٩٣:١١]
And gratefulness (thankfulness).
These days, if anyone has something, we are afraid of ‘hasad – we are afraid of Satan.
وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ [١١٣:٥]
So when anyone says “How is everything?” we reply “Very bad. By Allah my business is not good and I am always sick.” But, he is lying in fact. And why? He is trying to avoid that person who maybe is interfering or something. But, he suspects everyone these days. But Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, commands us to be patient. As we can see from the examples of the Prophets. To strive to match the level of the ‘patient’. Sayiddinah Ayub (as) was one of the patient, so called by Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. Sayiddinah Ibrahim (as), Sayiddinah Jacob (Yaqub) (as), and most of all Sayiddinah Rasulullah (saw). Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He has said that patience is the highest degree of the Prophets.
So we must imbue (inspire) our children with the feeling of patience as well. When my son wants something and I say “Here it is.”. Whatever. Books, clothes, phone, anything. Buy it now. But Akhlak – that takes a longer time. Ask any of your sons, or their friends a question about the history of Islam, or ask him about a verse from the Qur’an – Surat al-Ikhlas for example – he probably will not know which one it is until you tell “Qul huwa Allah..” then he may say “Oh that one!”.
But ask him about football – the teams, the players, the current state of the many many different leagues, he will know all about these things. In great detail. It is like a religion to him. But this knowledge will not prepare him for heaven. It will only give him knowledge of this world.
There must be a balance. We are not saying to completely leave the worldly matters. But we are saying that we cannot completely ignore everything about our religion.. Because there is no doubt that if we not going to advise ourselves through Al Qur’an al Kareem, or the advise of the religious scholars, or the lectures/teachings, there is one piece of advice that is going to come and all of us will be forced to accept it. Rasulullah (saw) has said: “The best advice is death.” There is no avoiding it. When the Angel of Death (Malaikul Maut) comes he will not be deterred by the security at the gate, he will sail in without announcement straight away.
Sayiddinah Hassan Al Basri once advised someone: “If the Angel of Death comes to you, ask him not to take your spirit. And when the two angels come to your grave, ask them to make the questions easy. And when Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, questions you, accept that you will go to Hell.” And to each of these the person ask “Why?” Finally Sayiddinah Hassan Al Basri said: “How are you going to enter heaven and accept everything if you are not prepared for it?”.
So this is ‘al aman’, ‘al amanu soleh’. The blessed deeds. And good deeds you practice in your life with acceptance. It is not sufficient that they be good deeds, they must be accepted by Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. As when we say “Ya Allah accept our good deeds.” (“Takabul Allah minal wa minkum”). For Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, to accept our good deeds they need to sincere (with Ikhlas). And we have three important duties we must fulfill in our life.
Number one is to be a Muslim. Number two to be Mu’min. And number three is Mu’sin – which is ehsan. Al Ehsan is the highest level.
All of your works, whenever you practice any deeds, any worship, you must be fully aware that Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, is watching you. First you must worship as though you were seeing Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. But if you are not able to do this, you must at least be confident that He, Almighty and Glorious is He, is watching you. Anyone who can do this, can have the certainty that Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, is watching him, his life will be a very pure life. And that is the meaning of understanding – the understanding of the Companions, may Allah be well pleased with them all, and the succeeding generations, and all of the blessed since that time, and the Saints, of the reliance upon Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He – the trust in Allah (tawakul) – which is one of the most important subjects of tasawuf.
Read Ni’mah of Allah Almighty and Glorious is He for one example of how to be thankful for His blessings. And Tawakul for and example of true and real trust in Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He.
So, the understanding of tawakul (faith and trust in Allah), the understaning of iman (your firm belief), the understanding of sabr ( your patience in face of difficulties), the understanding of shukr (your thankfulness for His blessings), these are the subjects of Tasawuf (Sufism).
Tasawuf,or Sufism, today sometimes has different names. Sometimes we call it ‘tariqa’ which is an Arabic word which means the path to Allah. Also as-sirat, as-sabil: in the Qur’an these are all names of a path – ash-shariq.
At-tariqa – the path to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, through what? Knowledge. Zikr (remembrance). Ikhlas (sincerity). And these things need to be learned from someone who is competent to guide you.
As with medical treatment, you cannot simply take medicines as you like. The Pharmacist cannot just give you the medicine you ask for. You must first go to a qualified Physician (Medical Doctor) for him to prescribe the appropriate medicine for your sickness. And the Physician will first examine you and perhaps conduct some tests to determine the source of the problem.
The same is true with at-tariq. Sometimes, these days, there are people who do not know the truth of this. They are ignorant of the teaching of tasawuf and tariqa and as soon as they hear someone mention something about at-tariqa they jump to incorrect conclusions.
