Who is a Real `Alim?

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani qs
Saturday, Oct 19, 2002 - Upper Saddle River, NJ US
SufiLive.com

Suhbat, after Salat al-Fajr. The jalal tajalli is dressing everyone from Mahdi Alayhissalam. Mawlana receives envelopes with letters and requests. If they are empty, no du`a. If they contain money, even one dollar, he makes du`a. That is usul a basic principle. Not because the Shaykh needs the money, but because it is adab.

Adab - it comes from that verse “khudh min amwaalihim sadaqa…” – “Of their goods, take alms, that so thou mightest purify and sanctify them; and pray on their behalf. Verily thy prayers are a source of security for them: And Allah is One Who heareth and knoweth.”

That sadaqa is a source of peace for them. That will raise them up.
Each time you meet the Shaykh give something. Some people, each time they meet me give something. That is a hook to hook them. If they give less, then it is not as strong a hook. It might be like a wire, like a hanger.

Ma naqasa maalan min sadaqa - Money never decreases from sadaqa. That chain [of provision] is connected from the Heaven to your head, as much as you cut from, it comes down to touch your head. Did you notice that at Fajr time, such and such always has flu [blows his nose constantly]. Shaytan finds any way to cause disturbance. Attacks them with flu.

There are no children here. If there were children it would be worse. The Mosque is not for children; the house is for children. If you want to bring children, teach them how to eat and drink. Stand at door and take triple from whoever tries to go to Starbucks. Who is planning to go to Starbucks?

Say Allahu Akbar. Mahdi is coming. Haqq is coming, baatil is going.
Tonight awliya are celebrating Nisfi Sha`ban – mid Sha`ban. Tonight we learn what they are saying and tomorrow we say what they said.

But for them on which time do they go? Which time?

Now for us it is morning, now it is night for us. Do they go with the time of the Middle East or with our time? Hijaz time? What time.

There is a time on Lawh al-Mahfouz – the Preserved Tablets. The awliya go with that time. It is not earthly time. They have a time there. What appears there - their days and their nights are there. The time here is a reflection. There are three dimensions here and time is a secret dimension.

In Lawh al-Mahfouz there are no physical dimensions, but time there has a dimension. According to time, things appear. The main element for physical appearances is time. There time has an appearance. Awliya-ullah go according to that time. That time is for which there is no tongue to express. There is no way to express it.

Time, because it has a significance in heavens, when it is reflected on earth it disappears. It is too heavy, it disappears. That is why time cannot be seen in this universe. The others that have no dimensions, they do not exist in heaven. In dunya they appear, because they are go to disappear. They are like reflections in mirrors.

Imam Ghazali said, “reality when someone dies, on earth, at that time his eyes are open, he can see. But while in dunya he is blind.”

Ibn `Arabi said, “Everything you see in dunya is illusion. It is reflected to your mind, as Allah wants it to appear it appears to you, but it is not reality. Reality is what is in Lawh al-Mahfouz.”

That is why “yamhAllahu ma yasha’ wa yuthbit, wa `inddahu `ilm al-kitab” - Allah doth blot out or confirm what He pleaseth: with Him is the Mother of the Book.” [13: 39]

Lawh al Mahfoudh is the real time, dunya is ending. That means it is permanent.

Mahdi when he comes, comes from that time. When Lawh al-Mahfouz time for his appearance that time he will appear.

All awliya are looking at Lawh al-Mahfoudh. Before all Prophets were looking at Lawh al-Mahfoudh. When Sayyidina `Isa looked there and found that reality, “wa mubashiran bi rasulin yati min b`adihi ’ismuhu ahmad” – “giving good tidings of a Prophet coming after him named Ahmad…” - when he realized that there is no chance for the Prophet to come in his own time, he said, good tidings for the Ummah of the Prophet (s). Then he asked to prolong his life to reach the time of the Ummah of the Prophet.

Similarly awliya today are looking for Sayyidina al-Mahdi, grandson of the Prophet (s) at Lawh al-Mahfoudh. That is enough.

Today the followers of Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab showed that Tasawwuf is not from the Sunnah. By this way of labeling Tasawwuf, since most knowledge of Islam came from this school of thought.

Sayyidina Khalid heard of Sayyidina Jan-i-Janan Habibullah, and he went to India. Every order must trace itself back to the Prophet (s). It is as Muhammad al-Busairi said, “kullun min rasulullahi multamisan…” – “Everyone takes from the Prophet. Either in buckets or in cups, depending on their capability.” Sometimes the shaykh has many followers. When he passes away, many of the followers begin to think they are the calipha of the shaykh. The secret can only go with one. Like electricity – you might have branches, but only one has the main line. Others have the name. We see a lot of branches of Qadiri, of Naqshbandi, of Chisti, of Suhrawardi…

But all take from one source. Now in Qadiriyya tariqat there must be one who has the bucket the rest take by their hands. Same in Naqshbandiyya. Now you have hundreds of branches of the Naqshbandiyya. Everyone claims to have the bucket. Now where that bucket is, is not our subject.

When Sayyidina Khalid, went to India, where Sayyidina Jan-i-Janan had the bucket, he had a lot of mureeds and caliphas. But as we know from history, Sayyidina Jan-i-Janan gave an importance to Khalid al-Baghdadi with a different looking than to other mureeds.

So when he came back from India and settled in Damascus, Sham ash-sharif, he carried with him the Naqshbandi secret. So Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi, whom this gentleman knows very well – studied him very well [pointing to Dr. Abdul Ghani] –came back carrying that secret. Now even if you carry the highest secret, if Allah wants to test you He will send you all kinds of difficulties.

Look, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was the perfect man, the exemplar to all humanity, yet he faced tremendous difficulties from his tribe. So awliya faced many difficulties. When Sayyidina Khalid settled in Damascus he took a place at the top of a mountain overlooking the city. On that mountain, where he is buried now, if you go from Sayyidina Ibn `Arabi, where he is buried, to the maqam of Sayyidina Khalid, it is a climb of one and a half hours.

There is a maqam there, which the Abdal of Sham, the Substitute-saints, awliya-ullah mentioned by the Prophet (s) in hadith in Imam Ahmad’s Musnad, saying, “when you are lost in a jungle or desert, call upon rijaalullah – Allah’s unseen servants.” But you know with the school of thought in effect today, they discredited even a lot of his work.

There is a maqam there, where many times these Abdal have been physically seen in that area, those forty saints. Therefore they built a huge maqam there. And until today, there are 40 mihrabs there. These Abdal ash-Sham, if one dies, another takes his place inheriting his position.

Sayyidina Khalid al-Baghdadi was located near that location. His mosque is there until today, and he is buried there; he died about 180 years ago.

He was carrying the secret of Sayyidina Jan-i-Janan Mazharand under direction of his Shaykh, put his zawiya and house there on the mountain and was busy with tariqat. Tariqat means ‘the way’ and the understanding of tariqat is to follow the Prophet (s). When the Prophet (s) was sent as messenger, there must be someone who speaks and acts as listener. One cannot speak to oneself. So Sayyidina Khalid, following that way, had no one to speak to. He was high up on the mountain and no one would come to listen to him. So what did he do? He used to take his turban, place it on his knee and address his turban.

That is history - Sayyidina Khalid used to address his turban. So he would address the turban, and speak for hours and hours. Because the Prophet (s) had Companions. And Shah Naqshband said, “tariqatuna as-suhbat wal khayru feel jam`iyya.” – “Our way is association and the greatest good is with the group.” So that is a Sunnah. To hold association and to speak. So he would speak to his turban.

Now blind people will understand. But an open-eyed person like this lawyer, will not understand this. There must be something wrong. Who was under his turban?

In Isra wal-m`iraj, when the Prophet went to the Divine Presence, he arrived to a place where Jibreel Alayhissalam did not move forward. He said, “If I move beyond my limits, I will be gone. I have no permission. You must go by yourself.” So the Prophet moved on and he was shaking. And Allah made him to hear the voice of Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, to make him feel calm and comfortable.

Grandshaykh says, “When the Prophet reached the maqam of qaaba qawsayni aw adna – two bows-length or nearer, Allah showed him his Ummah. And when the Prophet (s) saw the Ummah, and Allah asked him, “Ya Muhammad! Do you guarantee to give back your Ummah clean as it is being given to you?” The Prophet looked at them and saw them very clean, very pure and he replied, “Yes, my Lord.” So he (s) took them under his trust. When he took them under his trust, Allah swt sent upon them whatever they are going to do of sins in their life. Then the Prophet (s) saw them full of darkness and became afraid of what to do. When he accepted them he took them clean and promised to return them clean. So he asked, “Give me supporters, mu`eeneen.” So Allah gave him the Sahaba. And the inheritors of the Sahaba are the awliya, who continue carrying that message.

So the Prophet (s) assigned different groups to different Sahaba. And from different Sahaba to different awliya, groups were assigned. And after that they were named according to the different important shaykhs in that line. That is whey people are called Qadiri, or Suhrawardi or Shadili. I am only building up the concept for people to understand.

So these awliya-ullah accepted to help their group. So when Sayyidina Khalid was speaking to his turban, he was not speaking to nothing. He was speaking to the one who is under him, spiritually. Those who were coming to him in his time, taking baya` from him and then … to his inheritor to his inheritor… until the Day of Judgment. That is whom he was addressing.

His turban is who – it is himself. So whoever is related to him, he was addressing. He was able to address them even if they were in China. Awliya-ullah have followers who might be in the East and in the West. The wali can reach the mureeds through their hearts even if they don’t know him, guiding them, focusing on them. If there is a chance in his life, they meet. If not that mureed will meet his shaykh when he dies, in the last seven breaths.

When you are giving your last seven breaths, you can see what [ordinary] people cannot see. The whole vision of dunya is given to you at that time. So if you are pious you can see before that. Some can see in grave, but pious can see before passing.

As soon as the Shaykh opens his mouth to speak, that means there is permission coming from the main source, like a radio. When the main station of the radio is not broadcasting, you might sit with him hours and hours and he does not speak. Because there is no connection. So what are you going to hear? When there is connection then he speaks. They are like a box and an instrument. They are empty. The main important thing is the main source from the heart of the Prophet (s), to the inheritor in the line you are coming from that line of grandshaykhs up to today - then you can hear. If that line is not there, then nothing comes, there is no broadcast.

When they broadcast, it is not to just those who are sitting, but to those who are far away, and have baya`, there is a share that must go to their hearts. Even those who have not baya` yet, but are destined for that, they have a share which must come to their hearts.

Sayyidina Khalid was like that. For seven years he was speaking to his turban. Only from the spiritual side. After seven years, when Allah testing his patience the Prophet (s) ordered “Ya Khalid! Now you can go after the Ummah – bring them to you.” Who is going to go up one and a-half hours walking? However he was rich. He had a lot of properties that his parents left to him. Thus he began selling them, then going down the mountain to the square of Muhydin ibn `Arabi, going there, sitting there and saying to people, “I have work for you up on the mountain. Do you want to work?” So for two or three hours he sits and collects people. Then when he takes them up to the top of the mountain. Then he begins to address them and they listen. People were happy. They go, eat and drink; there is no hard work. Then they listen.

That he did for seven years. Then Prophet (s) gave him the instruction, “There is no longer any need to do that.” By then he had become popular and very well known. Thousands of people used to go up and listen to his lectures. That is why in his time the tariqat became known as Tariqat Khalidiyya.

So Sayyidina Khalid was teaching the people and guiding them to the way of Allah swt. So I will end it up and go back to where I was when I started. So one has to speak and the others have to listen. That is the main subject. Anyone can speak and the rest must listen. It is not like where we go to a place where everyone speaks. The meaning of the lecture, and its taste is gone. So awliya-ullah if they have not been given a chance to speak, they don’t care, they keep quiet. If they are in a normal meeting they don’t like to speak, as in a Turkish bath. Like women when they get together they sit together and begin to backbite each other [a lady: what about the men?] That is the problem, you go to a meeting, and everyone is speaking. Not only that, they have question and answers. So a young boy may come and challenge the speaker who is a scholars of 50 of 60 years. They pose a question, give their answer, and if you give an answer different that they
don’t accept ,they attack you.

In al-Azhar, many years ago… a long time ago in my time, when an `alim speaks no one can speak. Is it not like that? [Dr. AG: sohbat is like salaat. No speaking] It is not like a classroom. What an `alim says, you take and you listen. It is not a debate where one comes and you say one thing and the other says something else. That is what we see today. That is why Muslims are going down. Because they are attacking each other. They don’t follow a guide or a teacher. You can’t have a meeting like this, and then they are speaking with each other. It is better to keep quiet.

Once I was with Mawlana Shaykh and we went to visit my uncle. My uncle was the biggest scholar in Lebanon. He has more than 100 scholars in his circle. He kissed me and I kissed his hand. But everyone was speaking with each other and talking. I pushed Mawlana Shaykh to speak. He said, “We are not speakers for these circles. We don’t let the diamonds go between the feet. Leave it - they are not going to listen. They are arrogant in their knowledge. They think they are scholars. When there will be one speaker and all will listen then I will speak. Either they speak and I listen or I speak and they listen.”

[Let me relate a story from] the time of Sayyidina Shaykh Sharafuddin, who was the inheritor of Shaykh Khalid’s secret. At that time there were many `ulama coming to visit him. One famous `alim came. When he arrived, all stood up and greeted him and then sat down. Shaykh Sharafuddin said, “The discipline of the majlis is that one speaks and the others listens. Do you wish to speak or shall I?” The `alim did not answer but they were looking at each other. Then Shaykh Sharafuddin posed a question to determine who would speak. He said, “Sayyidina Adam listened to his wife and ate from the tree. What happened? So the question for both of us, is any one of us listening and obeying what his wife is saying or are we following the verse, ‘ar-rijaalu qawaamun ala an-nisa - men are maintainers of women.’ The inner meaning of this is, ‘If love of dunya still remains in your heart then you cannot speak. ‘And Allah cursed the liars.’” That `alim
said, “You speak.”

You see the difference. The Prophet (s) did not have hubb ad-dunya – love of this world. The Sahaba did not have hubb ad-dunya in their heart. Awliya when they speak have no hubb ad-dunya. When `ulama speak it is not pure. They speak one thing, and then the hubb ad-dunya comes. For example if I tell you, “cover your daughter” and my daughter is not doing it, how can I tell you that? So I go to the Juma` and I say, “women must cover and if they don’t cover Allah will punish them.” That is against your knowledge. First build up yourself, come against your bad character, build your good manners. Then if you give advice that will hit the target I the heart. Why can awliya catch people. They don’t need to speak even. They look at the heart of the listeners and they know the weakest or critical point. Like the car going down the hill. They say the balance point, if you exceed a speed, you will flip the car. So they know the balance center of
gravity. They target that. Awliya see that and go for that point.

`Ulama cannot do that. Awliyaullah can target immediately that weak point. When they fix that weak point, then the person is fixed. `Ulama speak, speak, speak, and when they go from the door they are cursing each other. If hubb ad-dunya in heart then our `ilm will not impact the listener. If we don’t have hubb ad-dunya, then our speaking can hit the center of gravity of the listener, building them up and hitting the target, building them in love of Allah and Prophet (s). That opening is enough from Mawlana Shaykh to drop hubb ad-dunya from our heart.

There was an article that was considered very important. People today think they are qualified to speak about Islam. They write something and they don’t know ‘A’ from ‘B’. I opened it and I was reading it. It was written by Michael Wolfe. He asked 100 people to write but he did not ask us to write. He is doing a movie, “The Messenger of Islam”. I saw the preview of it.

Anyway 100 people wrote two pages each. One of these articles - I opened and read, “Muslims have three groups. One is the Salafi/Wahabi, so extreme with radical views and bringing Islam to a violent extreme - we cannot work with them. Then on the other extreme are the Sufis who are very extreme in views of keeping the Sunnah and the traditions. And the third group who are in between have their women not covered, their centers are social centers and that is why Islam is lost.” So when such people speak for Islam where are we? They say that Salafis make everyone to be kaafir, while Sufis have great love of the Prophet (s) and the third are not practicing because they are so liberal.

So that is why we say as Mawlana Shaykh said, “No changes can be done without heavenly support.” Awliyaullah are waiting for Mahdi Alayhissalam. That is mentioned in many hadith. That he will come from Makkah and people will give him baya`. May Allah give us life to see Sayyidina Mahdi Alayhissalam, following him and following footsteps of Sayyidina Muhammad. sallallahu alayhi wasalam.

Wa min Allah at Tawfiq