Abu Hafsat

As-Salaam alaikum, Mu'awiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, once came forth to meet a group of the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them. He said, "What has caused you to congragate here?". They replied : "We have congragated here to remember Allah Ta'ala and to praise Him for guiding us to Islam and blessing us with it. He said : By Allah! Is this the only reason for your gathering? They replied : By Allah! This is the only reason for our gathering. He said : I had not made you swear an oath because I disbelieve you but Jibril came to me and informed me that Allah Ta'ala is boasting about you before the angels. "(Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nisa'i and Ahmad). Mulla Ali Qari, may Allah be Merciful to him, explains that Allah boasts about these people despite having worldly engagements, natural desires, temptations and the Shaytan trying to mislead them, they do not neglect and turn away from Allah's Remembrance... on the other hand angels who are also always engaged in Zikr, are not faced with any of these obstacles.

Imam Jafar Saqed, may Allah be pleased with him, said:- "Allah kept 3 things secret in 3 things: His Pleasure in Divine services, so don't neglect anything of the Divine service.. perhaps there lies His pleasure therein. (2) His wrath in sins,so don't neglect a trifling thing, as there may be His wrath therein. (3) His friendship among His servants. So don't disregard any of them, as he may be Wali.. a friend of Allah. He added another thing - His hidden answer in invocation. So don't give up invocation (Du'a).. often a reply may come therein. " And Abu Hassan Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with him, also says: " Zikr, the basis of which is righteous works, and the fruit of which is illumination is one of the ways to be on course toward Allah Ta'ala... (so) is Love, as the Sheikh observes.. as love is the basis of which is dislike of the world and its people, and the fruit of which is Union with the Beloved. " And Abu Najib-Suhrawardi, may Allah Merciful to him, says that :" Silence is praiseworthy because it is a cover for the ignorant and adornment for the intelligent ".

As-Salaam alaikum, It is related that Jabir Ibn Abdullahi, may Allah be pleased with him, said to the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam:- "O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, tell me of the first thing Allah created before all things. He said," O Jabir, the first thing Allah created was the light of your Prophet, from His light, and that light remained (literally turned) in the midst of His power for as long as He wished, and there was not, at that time, a Tablet or a Pen or an earth. And when Allah wished to create creation, He divided that Light into 4 parts and from the first made the Pen, from the second the Tablet, from the third the Throne, (and from the fourth everything else). " (Alusi: 'Ruh al-Ma' Ani 8:71). Interpretation on this Hadith may vary among scholars, but whatever the variation, we agreed that the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, being a Mercy to all, is linked to the fact that he is the intermediary of the Divine outpouring over all contingencies - ie all created things without exception. Ibn al-Hajj al-Abdari (d. 736) cites Jabir Hadith in his book 'Al-Madkhal'.. citing it from Muhammad ibn Layth's book "Shifa al-Sudur' where he says: " The first thing Allah created is the light of Muhammad, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, and that light came and prostrated before Allah. Allah divided it into 4 parts and created from the first the Throne, from the second the Pen, from the third the Tablet and then similarly He divided the fourth into parts and created the rest of the creation... "

As-Salaam alaikum, The Noble Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, said:- "THERE MAY BE A DISHEVELED, DUSTY PERSON WHO, IF HE SWEARS AN OATH BY ALLAH, ALLAH WILL FULFILL IT." (Sahih Muslim). Someone from a forest or desert may be smelly, dusty with greasy hair, and you look at such a person and think he is homeless, but the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam said : 'There could be someone like that, but if he asks Allah Ta'ala for anything, He will immediately respond to his prayer'. His Du'a is accepted like lightening! So, don't look at anyone with disgust... he might be coming to check you. Islam is purity, discipline and goodness. You may dress as beautifully as you want, but is your character good? Even where we may be good, we still need to improve..

As-Salaam alaikum, The 'Ulama tell us that fasting and sleeplessness are 2 ways through which one can tame and train himself/herself on the spiritual path. The first generation ascetics have often been described as qa'im al-lail, wa sa'im ad-dahr..' spending their nights upright in prayer and maintaing a perpetual fast by day.' The old Sufi saying that the 3 elements of Sufi conduct are "little food, little sleep, little talk (to which often loneliness, keeping way from men, was added) is still as valid as it was a thousand years ago. The ascetic who spends his nights at prayers, as recommended in the Qur'an, will have the time to enjoy blessed conversation with his Lord through prayers. And eating little is even more important than to avoid sleep. The Sufis would fast frequently if not constantly. Early Sufis praise hunger, which they see as something stored up in Treasure-houses with Allah Ta'ala, and He gives it to none but whom He particularly loves, as observed by Abu Nasr as-Sarraj. And as Jalaluddin Rumi says, just as the host "brings better food when the guest eats little, God brings better, ie, spiritual, food to those who fast." Just as recollection or Zikr is food of the gnostics, so is hunger food of the ascetics.

As-Salaam alaikum, In verse/ayat 28 of the 34th chapter of the Holy Qur'an, we have it stated where Allah Ta'ala says :- "AND WE HAVE NOT SENT YOU, BUT AS A UNIVERSAL (Messenger) TO ALL MEN (mankind) - GIVING THEM GLAD TIDINGS, AND WARNING THEM (against sin)" (34:28) This does not imply that all men.. all mankind should see him, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, for just as in the time of his physical presence, he sent Ali and Mu'adh to Yemen to transmit his call, likewise, he sent the Prophets and Messengers to their respective communities when he was a Prophet and Adam "was between water and clay". He therefore called all men to Allah. The Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, in a certain hadith said : "I will be the master of men on the Day of Resurrection.".. he did not say 'master of my (historical) community'... all the sons of Adam are the community of the Prophet and the Messengers of God are, from the first to the last, his substitutes and lieutenants... Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam.

As-Salaam alaikum, The first chapter of the Holy Qur'an, Surat Al-Fatiha is known as the mother of the Book, Ummul Kitab, among its several names. It contains everything that is in the Holy Qur'an in condensed form. The great Sufi Master, al-Hassan al - Basri, may Allah be pleased with him, in explaining the Ummul Kitab, has said Allah Most High has revealed 104 Heavenly Books for the guidance of the creations. Among them were four-- the Torah, the Injeel (New Testament), the Psalms of David and the Criterion.. the Criterion is also one of the names of the Holy Qur'an. Allah Ta'ala condensed all of the knowledge of the details into the opening chapter of the Holy Qur'an, the Fatiha. Anyone who knows the interpretations thereof will be like the one who has knowledge of all the Divine Books that have been revealed to humanity. Whoever reads Al-Fatiha (Ummul Kitab), it is like he has read the Torah, the New Testament, the Psalms of Dawud and the Criterion. With regards to the fact that Al Fatiha contains everything in the Holy Qur'an, the Ulama explained it this way :- (1) Regarding Divinity, it is the saying of Allah : "BISMILLAHI RAHMANI RAHEEM ALHAMDU LILLAHI RABBIL ALAMEEN- In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate, All Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds." This explains Divinity. (2) With respect to the Hereafter, it is in the saying of Allah :" MALIKI YAUMIDDEN-Master of the Day of Judgement ". (3) Regarding all the exoteric spiritual practices (the Law), this is in the saying of Allah :" IYAKA NA'ABUDU - it is You alone that we worship" and the inward of the self (the esoteric) is contained in "WA IYAKA NAS'TAIN- And it is You alone that we rely upon". (4) Regarding all the prophecies and guidance, it is in "IHDINA SIRADAL MUSTAQEEM." You have to know the way of the Prophets and Messengers. (5) As for the narratives and history and news of those who have gone before us, those who enter a state of bliss and those who have missed the way, it is : "SIRADAL LAZINA AN'AMTA ALAIHIM, GAIRUL MAGRUBI ALAIHIM, WALA LAALEEN- The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your grace, not the path of those who earn Your anger nor those who go astray."

As-Salaam alaikum, Al-Tirmidhi transmitted from Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him: "Someone asked the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, 'When did you become the Prophet?" The Prophet said:- "I was a Prophet while Adam was still in the state between spirit and body." All Prophets became prophets after they were told they were to be a Prophet.. except for the Holy Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, who was always a Prophet. With the Prophets that came before him, it took a long time to prepare them for their Prophethood in this life. The Prophets of Allah are pre-ordained from eternity, and they are the best of creations. The covenant of the Prophets was taken from them in the Heavenly realm. 124,00 Prophets and Messengers all took this covenant as the warners of Allah and to inform the people of the coming of Muhammad :- "Behold! Allah took the covenant of the Prophets, saying : I give you a Book and Wisdom, then comes to you a Messenger, confirming what is with you, do you believe in him and render him help'. Allah said: Do you agree and take this My Covenant as binding on you? ' They said :' We agree '. He said:' Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses. "(3:81)

As-Salaam alaikum, In all intents and purposes, explication of Divine Intention of Revelation was among the functions of the Holy Qur'an assigned to the Noble Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam. He, alaihi Salaat Wassalaam, functioned as the projection of the Divine Message embodied in the Qur'an. The Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, was/is the living commentary of the Holy Qur'an, inextricably related to the revelatory text. Without the Prophet the Qur'an was incomprehensible, just as without the Qur'an the Prophet was no Prophet at all... Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam.

As-Salaam alaikum, "INNA RAHMATALLAHI QARIBUN MINAL-MUHSININ.. Truly, the Mercy of Allah is near those who do good" (7:56) Here, qaribun is not put in the feminine (qaribatun) although 'rahma' is feminine, because in reality that rahma is the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam... as explained in the ayat "WAMA ARSALNAKA ILLA RAHMATAN LIL-ALAMIN.. And We did not send you (O Muhammad) except as a Mercy to the world's" (21:107) "Say: In the bounty of Allah and in His Mercy : therein (alone) let them rejoice. It is better than what they hoard" (10:58) As Sayyadina Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The bounty of Allah is knowledge of Tawheed, and His Mercy is the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam.

As-Salaam alaikum, The Noble Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, said : "That which is lawful is clear, and that which is forbidden is clear, and between them are doubtful matters about which many of the people have no knowledge. So whoever avoids doubtful matters saves his religion and his honor, and whoever falls into doubtful matters falls into what is forbidden. " (Sahih Bukhari) Note this well. Best Wishes.

As-Salaam alaikum, Sayyadina Abdullahi ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, said : "I am the city of knowledge, Abu Bakr is its foundation, Umar is its wall, Usman is its roof and Ali is its portal (gate)". (Musnad - ul-Firdau, vol. 1 hadith No 105).

As-Salaam alaikum, Allahu Tabaraka Wa Ta'ala says:- "EVERY SOUL SHALL HAVE A TASTE OF DEATH" (3:185) But you/we have forgotten the day of your death and drank the goblet of some form of Satanic oblivion. You prefer to fulfill the rights of people ignoring the rights of your Lord. Keep in mind that Allah says : "WHOEVER IS BLIND (to the vision of Allah) HERE WILL REMAIN BLIND IN THE HEREAFTER AS WELL" (17:72) We should not disobey the Creator to obey creation...

As-Salaam alaikum, The solitary state of the obedient servant of Allah who thinks nothing but his Lord, transforms the servant's body in the state of humility. This is why in the Sallat (Islamic prayer), there is an action called Sujud, or prostration. Sayyadi Ibn Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote : "Dust and the earth are the roots of man's configuration, and this verifies his servant-hood and loneliness"(cited in Chittick, 1989, 317/Futuhat Makkiyyah) While preforming prayers, one Sujud to the earth, and recites, 'Subhana rabbi al-a' la wa bihamdihi' (Glory to Allah, the Exalted). With this action, man's body physically extends the geometry between the low (human) and the exalt (God)... where there is gratitude by the bower, and Compassion by the Giver. In Sujud, the more one humiliates and improvishes the solitary body, the nearer one is to Allah. According to Ibn Arabi, the lowly position of the Sujud is is a noble one when he wrote : "There is no state more noble than the state of prostration, since it is the state of attainment of the knowledge of the roots".

As-Salaam alaikum, He who seeks Allah Ta'ala must endeavor and be ready to wear the crown of sincerity on his/her head, band of Divine Presence on your waist and mount the horse of slave hood. Holding the reins of that horse, you will make that horse run in the field of love and reach the station of Transcendent Unity. Allah says: Proclaim! "He is Allah, who is the One" (112:1) Oh friend, A Seeker of Allah should nourish his inward with the water of Oneness and enlighten his soul with the Divine Light. The seeker of Allah should think of his existence as a system and should stay with Allah in all conditions like speech, action, movements, eating, drinking, sleeping or walking as Allah says : "WHEREVER YOU ARE, HE IS WITH YOU AND ALLAH MONITORS BEST WHAT YOU DO" (57:4) The seeker of Allah should keep himself engaged in the invocation of Allah perpetually, rather to the extent that he annihilates himself as Allah orders: "O BELIEVERS! KEEP REMEMBERING ALLAH ABUNDANTLY, AND GLORIFY HIM MORNING AND EVENING" (33:41/42).

Amidst the fiercest persecution and abuse that Muslims faced in the earliest Makkan period, the Noble Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, would stand, without wavering, to convey to his followers Allah's promise of Islam spreading all over the world. Tamim ad-Dari, may Allah be pleased with him, reports that the Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, said : "This matter will certainly reach every placed touched by the night and day. Allah will not leave a house of mud or (even) fur except that Allah will cause this religion to enter it, by which the honorable will be honored and the disgraceful will be disgraced. Allah will honor the hourable with Islam and He will disgrace the disgraceful with unbelief. "(Sunan Ahmad, No. 16,998, 23,865 and al-Haythami said these narrators are those of Sahih Bukhari, al-Hakim 8,326). The fact that this Prophetic prediction was made at a time when Muslims were a powerless handful, and Islam was expected to be buried in its cradle, is indeed miraculous... to predict that Islam would not just survive, but grow to strive globally, was at that point inconceivable. For us today, witnessing a quarter of the planet's population subscribing to Islam makes it clear that this was no presumption but another prophecy inspired by the Divine...

In his Ihya Ulum-din, Imam Ghazali, may Allah be Merciful to him, said that Bayhaqi related on the authority of Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, that on coming back from one of his military campaigns, the Noble Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam said to his companions :- "You have come forth in the best way of coming forth, you have come from the smaller Jihad to the greater Jihad." They said : "And what is the greater Jihad?" He replied : "The (mujahadat) striving of Allah's servants against their idle desires".

As-Salaam alaikum, A flood of Allah's unlimited forgiveness is contained in this Noble verse/ayat which reads : "Our Lord, let not our hearts go astray after You have guided us, and give us mercy from You". (3:8) The Du'a in this ayat is saying : "O Allah, keep our hearts far from confusion and straying, make us firm on the carpet of service with the stipulation of Sunnah-Nabiy, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam. " And give us mercy from You"- give us what you give, O Lord, as Your bounty and mercy, not as the recompense for our works or the compensation for our acts of obedience. Our acts of obedience are not worthy for the Presence of Your Majesty, so the only thing to do is to efface them and ignore them.

"The person who reaches the spiritual station of Islam (outward submission) never tires from performing good actions, while the person who reaches the spiritual station of Imaan (inner surrender) no longer sees his actions, and the person who reaches the spiritual station of Ihsan (beauty of soul) no longer sees himself "--Sheikh Ibn Ajiba

As-Salaam alaikum, The Salaat or Salaah... the 5 daily prayers is the second of the known 5 pillars upon which Islam is built. Prayer (Salaah) is the place for the slave (abd) to confide (munajah) in his Lord, by reciting His words and praising Him. It is the element of cordiality where he totally and completely faces and directs himself towards the Lord. As much as you approach Allah Ta'ala during the prayer(s), He approaches you. This results, if performed to perfection, in expanding the fields of secrets, or expanding the hearts by the shining of lights so that they delight in the arrival of knowledge. Observing the prayer with full attention results in one being submissive to his Lord... The Lord Almighty says in His guarded Book "So woe to them who pray, those who are heedless of their prayers" (107:4-5). He knew your weakness, so He decreased their numbers by decreasing the initial 50 to only 5, and He knew your need for His Grace and generosity, so He increased their rewards, and made them 5 to actually perform but 50 in reward. So magnify and praise Him for what He graced, and thank Him for what He bestowed and granted.

As-Salaam alaikum, We must try to know Allah, our Lord and Creator, before we try to worship Him. Our youth, and in fact, all of us, must strive to be in one of 3 categories of people :- (1) An aleem - a person with knowledge or (2) One who seeks knowledge (a student) or (3) One who listens. Do not be one who has no knowledge, and neither studies nor listens. By all means, go attend majlis ilm. Worship and do good deeds once you have attained knowledge of Allah Ta'ala. And when you do your Ibadah, be sure to perform it with Ikhlas (sincetity). Any act of worship that is devoid of sincerity is akin to a body without ruh (spirit). It becomes worthless, as Allah will not accept it or reward it. Sheikh ibn Ata'illah as-Sankandari said : "Your amal has ruh only when there is Ikhlas in it". The Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, in a Hadith-Qudsi reported that Allah says Sincerity is one secret of His secrets. Allah keeps the secret of Ikhlas in the hearts of His chosen Servants.

As-Salaam alaikum, According to the Holy Qur'an, the divine power to create by language manifests through the Command KUN (Be!). Allah Ta'ala says : "Our Command to a thing when We will it, is to say to it Kun and it is" (16:40) Several verses attest to this mode of creation :(2:117, 3:47, 3:59, 6:73).. A Prophet may also be endowed, with Allah's permission, with the miraculous power to bestow life as seen in Qur'anic reports concerning Ibrahim and Isa (alaihim us-Salaat Was-Salaam) : both were able, the one calling out (2:260) and the other through breathing (3:49, 5:110), to bring dead and inanimate birds into life. ABD al-Wahab Sha'arani, a 16th century Egyptian Sufi master, in his hagiographical Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, ascribes to al-Rufa'i a citation of a divine tradition (Hadith-Qudsi) in which Allah says: 'O sons of Adam, obey Me and I shall obey you, observe Me and I shall observe you, and I shall make you say to a thing' Be'! and it will be".. even with this privilege Allah gives to some of His Servants, it is still approached with the reservation demanded of good manners towards Allah. The courteous among the Ahlullah, who may have the power to dispose, or some other supernatural ability to operate upon something, do so by means of their religious deed, not by means of KUN. They do this largely by means of BISMILLAHI RAHMANI RAHEEM (In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate). For such men full of Adaab (courtesy), and respect to the Divine Court, with regard to bringing something into existence, the formula of BASMALA is like KUN for Allah, by its means certain men bring forth what they will into existence, says Ibn Arabi in his Futuhat Makkiyyah.

As-Salaam alaikum, The Noble Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, said : "When Allah desires good for someone, He gives him understanding of the Deen" (Bukhari and Muslim) He also said : "Allah makes the way to the Garden (Jannah) easy for whoever treads a path in search of knowledge" (Muslim). Travelling on the path of/to knowledge refers both to walking along an actual pathway, such as going on foot to assemblies of the Ulama or following a metaphysical road, like studying and/or memorizing. Knowledge is a short path to Allah.. Whoever travels the road of knowledge reaches Allah and Jannah by the shortest route. Knowledge also clears the way out of darkness, ignorance, doubt and skepticism. That is why Allah called His Book, "Light".

As-Salaam alaikum, Says Allah Ta'ala in verse/ayat 27 of chapter 30 of the Holy Qur'an : "AND HE IS THE ONE WHO BEGINS CREATION AND THEN RENEWS IT." (30:27) Allah Ta'ala is the One who begins creation either from dust or from pure non existence. He is the one who originated the creation without a primordial pattern. He thus originated it and then brought it into existence after it had been nothing. The words "... and then renews it", means as Imam Mujahid said: "That He originates creation then causes it to perish and then He will revive it for the Resurrection".

As-Salaam alaikum, Just take a moment and consider it, the earth cannot contain 'LA ILAHA ILLALLAH'.. Everything in creation disappears in it. So, say it, recite it! All secrets that Allah Ta'ala created will enter it and all the Divine Attributes are in it, and that is why Allah likes us to say this Beautiful Kalima. He says nothing can contain 'LA ILAHA ILLALLAH' because it comes from Noorullah, and Noor-an-Nabi comes from Noorullah, that is why you follow the Noor. The Prophet's Light is from Allah's Light, so the Noor follows the Noor as it cannot be separated, and it will to its origin..