Riyadat an-Nafs

www.you tube.com/watch?v=5C4ByicZhhE
[copy and paste to address bar and remove the space in order to see the video]

Translation:

Muhaddith al-Haramayn,  as-sayyid Muhammad bin Alawi al-Maliki al-Makki al-Hasani, rahimahullah, says,

“If we look at history, we would find that the month of Rabee‘ is one of the months that does not have any great value for the Arabs. It is not one of the sacred months (ash-hur al-hurum), nor is it a month of fasting, nor is it a month of worship, or a month of Hajj, or a month of Umra, or the month of Ramadan. In the month of Ramadan there is fasting, and  there comes Rajab which is one of the sacred months, and there comes Shawwal which is part of the months of Hajj, and there comes Dhul Qi’da which is one of the sacred months, and there comes Dhul Hijja, one of the sacred months, and there comes Muharram, one of the sacred months.

Why was he not born, salawat Allah wa salamuhu alayh, in a day amongst the greatest days of history, the well known day of Ashura. This is a historical day: the day in which Allah saved Moses, and drowned Pharoah.. The day in which – as it is related in the stories- the Ark of Noah came to rest on the mountain.. The day in which, such and such happened, and Allah saved this and that from among the prophets… A historical day whose greatness is well known and witnessed.

But he was not born on the day of Ashura, which is a great day of great merit and glorious history. He was not born on that day. Nor was he born on the day of Arafa, which is a great day: The Arabs knew it (its greatness). Abraham stood in it, on Arafa, and called people in it to Hajj: Proclaim the Pilgrimage to all people. They will come to you on foot…(Q 22:27). So he wasn’t born on the day of Arafa, a great day, or Ashura, a great day.

Nor was he born in the month of Rajab, a sacred month, known to the Arabs. They know its greatness, and know its majesty, and know its sanctity.

Nor was he born in Ramadan, the month of fasting. Yes, fasting is not particular to the Muhammadan ummah, but Ramadan is particular to the ummah. As for fasting, in itself, is one of the forms of worship that were made for previous nations, not particular to the Muhammadan ummah. What is particular to the Muhammadan ummah is to specify for fasting the month of Ramadan.

Nor was he born in the months of Hajj. Nor was he born in Dhul Qi’da, a sacred month. The month in which Allah spoke to Moses. The month about which Allah Most high said:  We appointed thirty nights for Moses, then added ten more: the term set by his Lord was completed in forty nights. (7: 142)

Nor was his birth on the 10th of Dhul Hijja, which is one of the great, blessed days. Nor was it in the month of Muharram.

Instead, it was in the month of Rabee’: a month unknown to the Arabs. They do not know it. They know that it is Rabee’, but it has no great merit, and has no great history. Why?

It appears, and Allah Most High and Transcendent knows best, is that Allah Most High and Transcendent wanted the merit of this prophet to be an independent merit- alone, not following anyone.

If he were to be born in Ashura, then it will be thought that the merit of Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, is because of Ashura. Or if he were to be born on Arafa, then it will be thought that the merit of Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, is because of Arafa. Or if he were born on the 10th of Dhul Hijja, it would be thought that his merit was because of the 10th of Dhul Hijja.

Or if he was born in the month of Dhul Qi’da or the month of  Dhul Hijja or the month of Muharram, or the month of Rajab, then people will imagine that the merit of the time will extend to the Chosen One. But he was born in the month of Rabee’, so that his merit would be independent. So here, the honor would become an independent honor, not dependant or following a previous honor. And that is his birth in the month of Rabee’, for which no great characteristic or rank.

But now, its great characteristic and high rank is Muhammad’s coming to presence in it, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and that is the greatest characteristic. So the Muhammadan Prophetic merit became an independent merit, for his birth, salawat Allah wa salamuhu alayh, in this month, and that way, it is his merit that extend to the time, not time whose merit extends to Muhammad. It is Muhammad whose merit extend to that time period.

As one of the poets said:

ما إن مدحت محمداً بقصيدتي *** لكن مدحت قصيدتي بمحمدِ

I have – in praising Muhammad in my poem – * but praised my poem with Muhammad.

So what he is saying is: I did not praise Muhammad in the poem. Instead, I was only honored that my poem was in praise of sayyidna Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. So it is my poem that is praised, and it is not Muhammad who is praised, salawat Allah wa salamuhu alayh.

…

So from this we know that he, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam,  was only born in the month of Rabee’ al-Awwal, so that his merit and honor would extend to the time, and not time whose merit extends to sayyidna wa mawlana Muhammad, salawat Allah wa salamuhu alayh.

And likewise was his birth on Monday: an unknown day for the Arabs. Friday is known. And I mean in regards to merit. Monday is known, but not in regards to any merit. But what is known to them is Friday. Friday has merit for the Arabs, and they call it “the day of Uruba” (“the day of beauty and adornment”). And Kaab the ancestor of the Messenger used to give speeches in it, as the scholars have mentioned. So Friday is a known day. And Sunday: a known day for the Christians. And Saturday a known day for the Jews.

But he came on a Monday. Again it is the same matter. So that his merit (fadl) and honor extends to Time, and so that Time does not have any  favor (fadl) to him, salawat Allah wa salamuhu alayh.

It is He Who has sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, that he may proclaim it over all religion, even though the Pagans hate it (Q 61:9).

Salawat Allah wa salamuhu alayh.

So in conclusion: is that the merit of this noble prophet in the time period of his birth, in the month of his birth, in the day of his birth, is an independent merit. And so that he has the greatest merit, salawat Allah wa salamuhu alayh.

Then he settled in Medina.. (Previously) Yathrib. And in this is another wisdom: so that the Masjid Nabawi has an independent and unique characteristic, for those who go to it, and visit it, and enter it. So that it is not following the Masjid al-Haram.  These are merits that are unique and independent for the Messenger of Allah, salawat Allah wa salamuhu alayh.

Today, after six years in London, shaykh Abul Harith Abdullah al-Hasani al-Madani will return to his home: al-Madina al-Munawwara على ساكنها أفضل الصلاة والسلام .

Every Thursday I used to go to the gatherings he led, in order to learn more about who is Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. That was the shaykh’s main concern and purpose: to give us a glimpse, an idea, of who is Rasool Allah, and what does it mean to say Muhammadun Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

And it was only on that night, his last night with us, that I got to know a small glimpse of who is shaykh Abul Harith, and what his role was. He told us to continue the gatherings every Thursday as usual, when he’s gone, and inshaAllah I will try my best to go every Thursday, because they are gatherings of dhikr, and of praise of Rasool Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

But it just won’t be the same, without that beautiful man, someone who knew Rasool Allah, and spoke about him out of experience, not theory. It won’t be the same without his beautiful glowing face, his beautiful beard, the kohl on his eyes, green turban on his head, the wooden walking stick, and his three sons in their pure white clothes, like three moons in the gathering.

InshaAllah he intends to return in 5 or 6 weeks for a short stay, and to try and visit London after that whenever he can. And I can’t wait already to see him again.

People keep talking about the economic recession that hit the UK, but only now do I really feel that after today, the UK will have truly lost something.. something big. May Allah, Glorious is He, preserve him, and protect him, and shower him with blessings in return for all that he did for us, the people here, those who knew him and those who didn’t know him. It is enough that when the Angels flew above these lands, they saw some stars shining in the darkness, and one of these stars, shining bright, was the gathering of shaykh Abul Harith.

And may Allah the Most Generous keep sending people like him to this land, and to all lands. Aameen.

وصلى الله على سيدنا ومولانا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وأزواجه وذريته في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله

عن علي قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم:  أوتروا يا أهل القرآن! فإن الله وتر يحب الوتر

Ali (r.a.) said: The Messenger of Allah salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam said:

Make it witr oh people of the Qur’an, for  Allah is witr and loves that which is witr.

 [Reported in five of the six sahih collections]

Witr = odd number, as opposed to even. Allah is one, and that is the first witr number, and He likes us to seal our prayers with a salaat consisting of one rak’a. It is also recommended to eat odd-numbered dates and drink with odd-numbered sips.

ُTry not to sleep until you pray at least one prayer of two rak’ats followed by one of a single rak’a. You can do four, six, eight or more before, but seal them with a salaat of one rak’a.

May Allah give us support, and make matters easy for us, and make us among the people of the Qur’an.

أستغفر الله العظيم

سبحان الله والحمد لله ولا إله إلا الله والله أكبر

ولا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله العليّ العظيم

والصلاة والسلام على سيدنا ومولانا محمد النبي الأمي وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين

في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله

آمين

With the name of Allah, giving praise to Allah, and invoking blessings of peace and salawat on the Imam of the Messengers sayyidna Muhammad and his family and companions…

Allah took a pledge from the prophets: If, after I have bestowed Scripture and wisdom upon you, a messenger comes confirming what you have been given, you must believe in him and support him. Do you affirm this and accept My pledge as binding on you? They said: we accept. He said: Then bear witness, and I am with you, bearing witness. (Q 3: 81)

Allah, Most High and Exalted, sent to this world 124,000 or 224,000 prophets, as related in the traditions, and maybe more. And Allah made every single one of them give a pledge to Him, that he would only be given his prophethood if he gave this pledge: that if sayyidna Muhammad salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam came during his lifetime, that he would become one of his followers, and support him, and count himself as one of the ummah of Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

And thus our Prophet, the Imam of the Messenger, who led them all in prayer on the Night of the Ascension, said to sayyidna Umar ibn al-Khattab, radi Allahu anhu:

“If my brother Moses were alive, he would have no option but to follow me”.

But subhanAllah, the Wise, the All-Knowing. What is the secret of this pledge: the wisdom behind it? Allah, the Majestic, knew that sayyidna Muhammad would not be sent during the lifetime of any of the previous prophets, so why did He Most High make their prophecy contingent on their accepting this covenant, and giving this pledge?

Alhamdulillah, I heard the answer to this last night from al-sayyid Habib Ali al-Jifri, may Allah preserve him and bless him…

Imagine, he said, that you give someone a task or responsibility and say to him: I want you to be in charge of this task until you meet  so-and-so, then you must hand it over to him. What does that mean? That means that the first person you are entrusting the task to is only a deputy of the second person, who is the real man for the task. It was originally his task, but you gave it to someone else as his deputy until he arrived.

And this is how it was with prophethood: sayyidna Muhammad ibn Abdullah is the original carrier of the message of Allah. Prophecy is originally his, and Messengerhood is originally his. And all the other prophets and messengers were his deputies, who were entrusted with  carrying out his responsibility until he arrived, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. And that is why they were told that they would not be given their rank of prophecy until they pledged to hand the task over to him, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, should he be sent in their lifetime.

Subhan-Allah, wal hamdulillah, wa laa ilaaha illa Allah, w-Allahu akbar!

I say:

You could then say that Prophecy and Messengerhood were created for the Beloved of Allah, sayyidni Muhammad, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. And all the other prophets and messengers, as his deputies, received a share of his prophecy or messengerhood. Their prophecy was a part of his prophecy.

The Messenger of Allah said in authentic hadiths:

1) “I was with Allah as the Seal of the Prophets while Adam was still in his clay.”

and

2) When asked when he was a prophet he said:

“When Adam was (still) between his soul and his body”

Thus prophecy was given to him, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, before it was given to Adam or any other prophet. His prophecy is the first, original prophecy.

In the words of one of the great scholars of Islam, the imam, the qadi, Yusuf an-Nabahani (d. 1932):

نورك الكل والورى أجزاء * يا نبيًّا من جنده الأنبياء

Your light is all and the rest are parts * O Prophet among whose soldiers are the prophets

وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وآله وسلم في كل لمحة ونفس عدد ما وسعه علم الله

{ ظَهَرَ ٱلْفَسَادُ فِي ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي ٱلنَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُمْ بَعْضَ ٱلَّذِي عَمِلُواْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ }

“Corruption has become widespread on land and sea as a result of people’s actions and He will make them taste the consequences of some of their own actions so that they may turn back.” (Q 30:41)

The jurists have different opinions about the meaning of this verse.

According to the first interpretation, “corruption” refers to the actions of mankind on the land and sea, such as shirk and the committing of sins.

Thus on the land, they gave as an example one human killing another, which began with one of the sons of Adam alayhi assalam killing his brother (Q 5: 30)

And on the sea, they give as an example piracy, such as what is mentioned in the Qur’an, of  “a king who was seizing every boat by force” (Q 18: 79)

The second interpretation understood the word fasaad in its meaning of ruin or decay. Thus what is meant here is that Allah has caused the lands to be dry and infertile. As for the sea, which could be understood as rivers in the Arabic language, they understood it to mean that rivers became low, depriving the cities that lived on rivers of water, again, as punishment from Allah for their sins. Thus fasaad according to this meaning is what the commentators called nuqsaan al baraka: the diminshment of blessings.

As for the inner meaning of the verse, the great imam of the salaf, Sahl ibn Abdullah at-Tustari (d. 283 A.H.) said,

“Allah Most High has symbolized the limbs as land, and symbolized the heart as the sea, which is greater in benefit and more dangerous. This is the inner (meaning) of the aya.  Do you not see that the heart (qalb) was only called a qalb because of its  taqallub (constant turning and moving and flipping upside down) and its great depth. And that is why the Messenger of Allah, sally Allahu alayhi wa sallam, said to Abu al-Dardaa’, radi Allahu anhu: ‘Renew the ship, for the sea is deep!’ (1)

Meaning: renew the intention for Allah Most High from your heart, for the sea is deep. Because when the affair begins to take place in the hearts which are seas from which there is no exit, and the nafs has left the centre, then the limbs will rest, and the person becomes closer every day to the depth of the sea, and further away from his nafs, until he arrives.” (2)

 Then he said: The heart is sensitive, and is effected by everything, so watch over it carefully, and be conscious of Allah with it.

So they asked him, when does the heart get rid of the fasaad? He said: it does not get rid of it until it leaves all zann (uncertainty in regards to actions)  and hiyal (tricks, such as legal tricks that make what is haram halal). And it is as if tricks are seen by Allah in the same way we see the major sins. And the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“A major sin is what slices your heart, and a sin is what moves back and forth in your heart,  even if people give you an opinion (fatwa) (that permits it).”

Then he said: If the heart is agitated (about doing an action), then it is an evidence against you (if you do it).

——

(1) The hadith is related by  Ad-Daylami in his hadith collection and by shaykh Nasr al-Maqdisi, imam of the Shafi’is of his time, as addressed to Abu Dharr, not Abu al-Dardaa’, and goes as follows:

Abu Dharr radi Allahu anhu said, 

  أوصاني حبيبي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بأربع كلمات هن أحب إلي من الدنيا وما فيها ، قال لي : يا أبا ذر جدد السفينة فإن البحر عميق، وخفف الحمل فإن السفر بعيد ، واحمل الزاد فإن العقبة طويلة ، وأخلص العمل فإن الناقد بصير

My beloved the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, advised me with four words that are more beloved to me than the world and all that is in it:

O Abu Dharr! Renew the ship, for the sea is deep, and lighten your load for the journey is far, and carry sustenance for the climb is long, and act sincerely for the Critic is All-Seeing.

(2) What the imam means here is: When you reach the stage when your worship is not just a worship of the limbs, but moves to your heart, and you begin to do the works of the heart, the a’maal al quloob, and you begin the journey of mujahada or struggle in your heart, and at that point the worship of the limbs would have become easy, and so the struggle is now a struggle of the heart. And the journey is to the depth of the sea, as is made clear by the hadith, because it says that it is deep, not that it is wide.

“O Allah, bless for my nation their early risings!”

- Dua of the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam.

The narrator of the hadith, the companion Sakhr al-Ghamidi, adds that the Messenger of Allah, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam,  whenever he sent an expedition or army, did so at the beginning of the day.

The narrator himself applied this saying to his own life. As a merchant, he used to send his merchandise at the beginning of the day, and he became very rich (according to another narration, so rich that he did not know where to put his money).

Taken from the 40-hadith book of Imam Jalaluddin al-Suyuti.

Commenting on another hadith which will be quoted below, Imam Shah Wali Allah ad-Dihlawi says:

“Whoever has a regular devotion, such as reciting the Qur’an or studying  sacred law, or has to work, travel, or fufill a need should do it in the morning.

The Messenger of Allah also prayed to Allah, saying:

“Oh Allah, bless my nation in its early rising on Thursdays!”

Taken from the 40-hadith book of Shah Wali Allah ad-Dihlawi (new translation by Turath Publishing).

Commenting on this hadith he says:

“The first part of the day is a blessed time, particularly the early part of Thursday.”

The rest of it has been quoted above.

Though both hadiths are deemed authentic, I chose to quote not the hadith collections they came in, but the fact that they were placed in the 40-hadith books of two great scholars: Imams Suyuti and Shah Wali Allah, which gives you an idea of how important they were perceived to be for the ummah.

Alhamdulillah, Allah blessed me with a short meeting with a man from Syria, who seemed to be very knowledgeable in matters of religion. We were talking about issues related to the Qur’an and its i’jaz: miraculous inimitability.  He told me that I had to read the works of Sayyid Qutb, especially At-Tasweer al-Fanni Fil Qur’an (Artistic Imagery in the Qur’an), which he wrote in 1945.

He noticed some hesitation on my part to read Qutb, especially his tafseer, which does contain many mistakes since Qutb was not a religious scholar but a famed literary critic. And also because after a heavy dose of Egyptian prison torture, he became radicalized and declared almost the entire Muslim ummah to have reverted to jahiliyya, meaning that they had left Islam altogether.

So he said to me: “I can tell that you have an open mind, so I don’t worry about you reading his works. Read them as a scholar, and benefit from them. Once a famous aalim in Aleppo – a normal aalim, not a Qutbist- said to us: Qutb has caused the springs of the Qur’an to gush forth!”

Meaning: that after the first three generations or so of Muslims, the early philosophers and linguists began looking at the Qur’an from their technical point of view and completely missed the way it should be seen. And so the true greatness, the true miraculousness, the true nature of the Qur’an remained hidden, until a great literary critic looked at it and rediscovered those hidden springs of water, making them gush out and explode!

So I read The Artistic Imagery in the Qur’an and subhan Allah, what a book of marvels. Qutb has discovered the main vehicle that the Qur’an uses to express its message to the reader or listener. He rediscovered, you could say, the original way that we were supposed to see the Qur’an, and to respond to it. I found myself amazed, as he took me from passage to passage, giving examples, never ending examples, because the whole Qur’an from beginning to end was an example. I found myself thinking exactly the phrase he used to begin the first chapter of his book:

I Have Found the Qur’an!

So if you can understand Arabic well, that is the book you need, and you will be left marvelling at the Qur’an, and maybe even crying, as it finally begins to move you the way it always aimed to move you. You begin to see how sayyidna Umar ibn al-Khattab and others would convert to Islam from just hearing short suras. You begin to see the Qur’an.

Next up inshaAllah is the book he wrote after that, called The Scenes of the Day of Rising in the Qur’an.

Qutb does use those brilliant insights of his in his commentary In the Shade of the Qur’an, but I have heard that since he’s not a proper religious scholar, he has made many mistakes in that commentary, so it might be better not to read it until I have finished Ibn Kathir’s commentary at least. The commentary is also used to push his particular social theory and islamism but that should not be such a problem.

I did have two reservations only. The first I have forgotten, and the second was his misunderstanding of the personality of the Prophet Musa alayhi assalam, whom he portrays as a very angry and raging personality type, which is definitely not true. In fact, the story of Moses’ meeting with al-Khadir shows the height of Moses’ humility and gentleness, even though Qutb (mis)understands it in the complete opposite manner.