The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
Realities of Sufism – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa – 28 February 2012 The Sheikh opened the majlis with a doa and then proceeded. Alhamdhu'lillah, I am happy that we are meeting again in this blessed majlis so we can continue our classes, insha'Allah. We pray that Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, will give all of us the benefits of the knowledge of Islam and the knowledge of 'ahlu sunnuah wa jemma'ah'. And may Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, strengthen our hearts to convert the knowledge which we study always into practice. Because this knowledge is going to either make you closer to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, or push you farther away from Him a'udzu billahi min zalik. I seek protection from Allah from this.So we have to be very sure that through our study, through our majlis ilmu, majlis tahlil that we are going to practice the knowledge and to find that our iman is increasing day insha'Allah. Ameen ya rabbil alameen. Tonight, as we are in the month of Rabiul Akhir, Rabiul'thani, and in each Islamic month there is something in Islamic history that is going to link us with our religion and going to connect us always with a treasure of knowledge. So, the celebrations of the holy dates in Islam is in fact to allow each generation to link with the previous generation. We know the stories of the prophets through the Qur'an. And we are aware of the dates. And we know through their lives what has happened on particular days. And Allah's instruction, Almighty and Glorious is He, to Nabi'Allah Musa, peace be upon him, He said to him: Your duty, ya Musa, is to make them remember the days of Allah Meaning the holy days that have past in order that they may learn the lessons from them. For example, Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, in the Holy Qur'an, Surat Hud, at the end of the Surat, He said to Sayidinnah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Dرى8 وذ'كGع'ظة8 ومو3حق8ذ'ه' الDؤادك ۚ وجاءك ف'ي ه$ ب'ه' ف$ت+'ثب$ل' ما ن$س3 أنباء' الر8ك م'ن8 علي3ص$ا ن@قAل$وك م'ن'ين8ؤ$م8ل'ل [١١:١٢٠] All that we relate to thee of the stories of the messengers,- with it We make firm thy heart: in them there cometh to thee the Truth, as well as an exhortation and a message of remembrance to those who believe. And we strengthen our hearts through their stories and through the most blessed story of Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Twenty three years of struggling until the holy man, with the blessed message, became today a nation of 1.5 (one point five) billions. And all of them they have a firm belief in Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. So praise to Allah, the Lord of all creation, after that, it was not the end. It was the beginning. For practicing the new – last – message. The nectar of all messages which was Al Islam. And Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He has blessed this ummah with Scholars – of the many branches of 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
knowledge – hadith, jurisprudence, historical teaching, and so on, - Scholars who were humble in the face of their immense knowledge. And when we pray we ask Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, to allow us to be the companions of such people, how blessed they are. So we have to learn about such people. Both those that have gone before and those in our lives who have inherited and or learned this wisdom through the guidance of those pious and humble ones who have gone before us. It is not sufficient for you to simply pray. You must learn about these blessed luminaries in our Islamic heritage. You have to know their stories. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, has instructed us to become familiar with their stories. The blessed Prophets and Messengers, Allah's blessings and peace be upon them all. And special attention to Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. His blessed family, the martyrs of Uhud, and Badr. The blessed companions. And the revered Scholars that we have been blessed with since the time of Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Imam Al Shafi'i (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shafi'i ), Imam Ul Nawawi ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Nawawi ), Iman Ghazali (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Ghazali ), plus the many others. Even when you buy a book, fiction, business, whatever, at the front of the book there will be a section giving the Author's profile or biography and it will also often be on the book cover. And in conferences and seminars the speakers will be introduced with a profile of their life and accomplishments and some of these will be included in the conference promotional material. Or if you wish to engage the services of a professional, a medical doctor, and engineer, or so on, you will search for information and testimonials on their work either through personal contacts or through the professional bodies. So too, we have to learn about the blessed and noted members of this ummah. So then, when we gather to celebrate the religion, we are not celebrating the person. We are celebrating Islam through this person. And their knowledge. Who is Ash Shafi'i (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shafi %E2%80%98i ). How did he become like that. Who is Abu Hanifah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab %C5%AB_%E1%B8%A4an%C4%ABfa ), Allah be well pleased with him. Who was Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Hanbal ). Why amongst all of the Scholars, Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, has chosen this scholar for renown? Al Imam Al Ghazali, in his time? All of these scholars. Al Imam an Nawawi. And these scholars are known worldwide. Their reputation is international. So we have to learn about them. We have a responsibility to know about them. And this not simply to be able to say that we know about their lives. We must get to know their lives. Because they are not angels. They are human. And by their lives they are teaching us. And they have spent much time learning the lessons of life to reach to and to share with us this blessed knowledge alhamdhu'lillah. Tonight, as I have mention, as we are in the blessed month of Rabiul Thanee – Rabiul Akhir, in this month, in Islamic history, there is something very important happened for the ummah, through a very famous scholar, alim, faqih, arif bi'llah, and wali min awliya Allah min soliheen. His name is so famous that everybody in this world knows about him. Even the non-muslims. There are many non-muslims who have read the books of this holy man and as a result they converted to Islam. Tonight we are talking about Sayiddinah Al Imam Al Fath ar Rabbani Al Sheikh Abd Al-Qadir Al Jailani may Allah be well pleased with him. The story of Sheikh Abd Al-Qadir Al Jailani is so interesting because he managed successfully as witnessed and attested to by other scholars that he is among the selected people that has reached to the highest level in his knowledge of the law (fiqh) and in his study of etiquette and tasawuf (mystic practices). He was famous as an Imam in the Hanbali school of fiqh. He was equally famous as an Imam in the Shafi'i school of fiqh. He was famous in his knowledge of Hadith (Prophetic Tradition). 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
He was famous for his exegesis of the Qur'an. It is said that with respect to his knowledge of Islam he can speak fluently and with great experience in thirteen different fields of Islamic knowledge. When people heard him speaking about Prophetic Tradition (Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace) they felt that he must have specialized only in this field of study. And the same for jurisprudence (fiqh) – that he specialized only in this. For us, we read one book and we can't remember the contents. Such people, as Sheikh Abd Al Qadir, are blessed with something very important. Sincerity. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, has said “With your humility and reverence, Allah will teach you.”. It is not enough for you to claim that you have knowledge only. Nor can you gather or retain such knowledge without help and gifts from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. Islam is not a religion you can claim knowledge of. Islam is a simple religion but you need to learn how to navigate in this big sea of knowledge. You have to make sure that your boat is seaworthy – it is safe to carry you through the storms knowledge that you will encounter. You need to have skill to navigate the seas and you must know your destination. But, in fact, there is not destination. There is no end point in the knowledge. It is a journey that continues. Because Al Qur'an is Allah's knowledge, Almighty and Glorious is He, and the traditions of Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace (Hadith), is a big sea. And the treasures to be taken from this sea, pearls and gems of knowledge, are endless and inexhaustible. So Sheikh Abd Al-Qadir Al Jailani, in the course of his life, reached to be one of the greatest and holiest saints of Islam. Al Imam An Nawawi, may Allah be well pleased with him, said “Al Sheikh Abd Al-Qadir in his time was the chief mufti of both the Shafi'i and Hanafi schools of jurisprudence (Madhab). And there were so many people who were blessed to study under his guidance and all of them became noted Scholars after that. He started his scholastic life in the knowledge of Shariah Law. He was born in the town of Jilan. His father passed away before he was born. So when he was born he had only his mother, like Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. So his mother cared for him with the support of her father – his maternal grandfather. His name was Abdul as Sauma'i as Zahid, Abdul az Zahid. As Sauma means something like khalwat – seclusion. So as Sauma would be like 'the hermit', or 'the recluse'. Someone who shuns normal social interaction. He chose to be alone to study and read the Qur'an. 'Az Zahid' means he was famous in zuhud – ascetic. Sheikh Abd al Qadir Jailani from his father his lineage leads to Sayyid Al Hasan al Muthanna bin Hasan bin Ali ibn Abi Talib (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_tree_of_Ali ). So from his father's side he is 'Hasani'. From his mother's side 'Husaini'. This means that he is pure from both sides, from father and from mother, related to Ali ibn Abi Talib, and through his wife Fatima, daughter of Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Futhermore, his grandfather, on his fathers side, his wife, Sheikh Abd al-Qadir al Jailani's paternal grandmother, her lineage leads to Abu Bakr as Siddiq (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr ). And as well from his maternal grandfather he has a connection with Sayiddinah Umar al Khattab (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar ) , Allah be well pleased with him. He is blessed to include all of these in his lineage. When biographers and historians write about him they include this information. But this creates an extra burden. We must protect this name. You must protect the good name of your family. You cannot simply ride on the reputation. You must also protect and enhance the reputation. And in addition to protecting his name his descendants have the obligation to set a good example to others. That is what Sheikh Abd al Qadir al Jailani has done in his life. He ensured his life and his example would not tarnish the good names and reputations of his illustrious ancestors. He used to call 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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his home 'baitul ashraf', the home of ashraf. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashraf ). He began his studies under his maternal grandfather. But he eventually discovered that this was not enough. His grandfather was the limit in his home town. The local schools taught him to memorize the Qur'an and taught him the laws of Islam – Usul al Fiqh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usul_al-fiqh ). But he found that he had a thirst for more. He was hungry for knowledge. There is the story of two wise men – ariffin billah – who met. One of them said I have drunk from the juice of love until I felt sated. The other said I have drunk from the sea of love and I am still thirsty. There is no end or limit to the knowledge that can be acquired. So Sheikh Abd al Qadir found that he thirsted for more. So in his life, when you read his biography – there have been many books written about him. There are many 'muhibbin' – devotees who extol his virtues and deeds. Some of these go over board in their claims. They may be exaggerating in some few cases. But this is because of their love for this great man. But we say that with respect to Sheikh Abd al Qadir, there is no need for exaggeration, to add false information or false miracles, because the most important thing is that Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, is aware of his greatness. There is no need for additional words. And when Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, loves some – and this is very important for you to understand – based on a hadith from Muslim – Sahih Muslim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahih_Muslim) – this is Hadith Qudsi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith) If Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, loves one of His servants, He will call upon Jibril, peace be upon him, and will say 'Ya Jibril. I love so and so' mentioning His servant by name. Because of this Jibril will love him. He won't ask why. This is Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, who is speaking. Then Jibril will call throughout the heavens 'Ya ahla sama' – Oh all heavenly hosts – Allah loves so and so. And you must also love him. And they will. No question. And then acceptance will be establish for him on earth. So he will be accepted by all of Allah's creature, Almighty and Glorious is He. So, if Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, loves someone, He will open the way for him – the straight path to Him. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, guides those whom He loves. And, of course there is the opposite. Those who are astray and for whom Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, has no feelings. He will open the way for them to go away from Allah and from those that Allah loves. So with reverential trust and acts of obedience, we can reach to the love of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. But this is not something that you can go out and buy with money from the market. It is a title that you earn. Al anbiyah wa mursalin – the prophets and messengers – struggled to reach to be the servants of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. The minute you achieve the status of a 'servant of Allah' you will get all other titles – Habib Allah (a beloved of Allah), al arif billah (a scholar of Allah), wali'Allah (a friend of Allah). But no one can say to his followers – go and inform others that I am 'wali'Allah'. There is no such thing as that. It wouldn't happen. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, decides when He wants a person to be known to others as His 'friend', or His 'beloved' or whatever. This is all under the control of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, not under the control of mere humans. What happens is that we find within ourselves feelings of love towards certain people and we don't know why. You are attracted to a certain person and you don't know why. Maybe you have heard him speaking or something and you find this feeling growing towards him. It is inexplicable. And that is 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
why we find people loving the blessed teachers, the friends of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. They become famous for some unknown reason. This is because Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, loves this person. And because of that we love them from our heart. So many books have been written about Sheikh Abd al Qadir al Jailani. For example this book about him was published last year by one Yusuf Mohammad Khazidam from Al Azhar University. And in Makkah, in the year 2005, there were 11 PHD and Masters Thesis about Sheikh Abd al Qadir Al Jailani. And one of them that was very popular, although a bit extreme, has written a book about his life story, why he was able to succeed and the lessons we can learn from that. This follows the adage of We won't be prosperous unless we accompany the one who is prosperous. In a number of books it is related that as a youth, he went to toil on the land as a farmer and a bull talked with him and said: “Ya Abd al Qadir, you have not been created for this job.” He was shocked and concealed this from his mother. And another time, when a group of pilgrims were departing to Makkah for Hajj, he saw them off on their trip. Then he mounted a nearby hill to watch their progress. This is normal for someone starting a journey. But in his case it appeared to him that he could see the Ka'ba (Kabatullah) and there were pilgrims performing the tawaf around it. He was shocked. So he returned to his mother to tell of this. With respect to this there is hadith Al Bukhari, Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to some companions: One day a wolf snatched a lamb from the shepherds flock. So the shepherd was chasing the wolf, until he managed to recover the lamb from the wolf. The wolf turned and said to him “One day will come..” - he was talking about the last days - “ when you will be able to do that.” So the companions said “Ya Rasulullah, a wolf can talk?” He said “I believe that and so do Abu Bakr and Umar.” And he mentioned the cow also. In Rasulullah's time, Allah bless him and grant him peace, the animals could and would talk with him. Such as the camel, the deer, and others. In the life story of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, these incidents are mentioned. And everything is in constant remembrance of Allah with zikr. You cannot hear but if your heart is pure, you can feel it all around you. As with companions who heard the weeping of the trunk of the tree when it was replaced with the new mimbar for Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. When the new mimbar was installed, they left the stump of the tree where it was. For a number of years Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to deliver his sermon while standing on the trunk of the tree. Then when the new mimbar was put in place, he climbed the new mimbar instead. The tree trunk started crying just like a mother who just lost her baby. They discovered that the weeping was coming from the tree trunk. All of the companions heard that. And Sayiddinah Ali, Allah be well pleased with him, it is related in Sahih Muslim, said: We used to hear the tasbih of the food in Rasulullah's hand, Allah bless him and grant him peace. So when Sheikh Abd al Qadir told his mother about what happen, it was like he was appealing to her to allow him to continue on his journey to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. She straight away told him two things. She said: You have been taken away from me to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. And this face, I am not going to see it again in this life. Only in the next life. That is, she will not see Abd al Qadir again after that day – until after they are both dead. And the second thing she told him: My advise to you my son, is that in your life you must be a straight forward person and never lie. And keep your word. He said “My mother I promise, to Allah that I will never lie in my life. A believer will never lie.” So he promised her and then he left. On the way to Baghdad – Baghdad at that time was the center of knowledge. It was at its peak in the knowledge of Islam and all sorts of science. Medicine, law, 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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everything. That is why he chose Baghdad. So while he was traveling in the caravan to Baghdad, the caravan was set upon by a band of thieves. They held them up and were taking all of their valuables. He was carrying with him only a small bag of food. Nothing else. One of them said to him “do you have anything with you?” He said “Yes I have.” “What is it?” He said: “I have forty dirhams.” Think about it. If a thief comes to you with that question you would tell him “No. I have nothing.”.But if you say “Yes I have” he will think that you are joking. This thief was no different. He scolded Abd al Qadir - “Don't play the fool with me.” and he left. Then, when the band of thieves were counting up the things they had stolen so they could divide it up among them, this thief said to the chief of them “These days people are crazy. Sometimes they will say they have something just to appear important.” The chief said: “Why did he speak to you like that. Bring him here.”.So they brought him. He scolded him “Why did you make fun of us? Why did you say you had forty dirhams?” Abd al Qadir said “Yes I do have.”. “Where is it.” “My mother has stitched into the inside breast of my jacket.” She did this as a protection in case they should be robbed along the way. So he opened the hidden pocket and took out the coins in front of him. They looked at him in astonishment. “Why did you tell us? You could have kept this a secret and we would never know. You should have kept quiet or you should have lied.” He said: “I promised to Allah, in front of my mother, that I will never lie in my life. And I have to keep my promise.” The chief of the thieves was moved. He said: “You have kept your promise and you are afraid of breaking it. And this is just one time. And we are breaking Allah's laws every day by robbing people.” He turned to his band of thieves and said: “Stop what you are doing. From this moment I repent in full sincerity to Allah. I will leave this life and never return to it.” All of his band also repented. So when they said that these are the first disciples of Sheikh Abd al Qadir. The thieves who repented their evil ways and returned to the way of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. This is counted as one of his miracles at the beginning of his missionary work. Why. Because he spoke the truth. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He said: “Oh you who believe, try to be the truthful ones.” He proceeded on to Baghdad and entered Baghdad at the age of 18. He was born in the year 470H and he entered Baghdad in the year 488H. And he passed away in the year 561H. About 90 something his age. All of his life he studied and taught – his search for knowledge never stopped. No one said of him that he had reached such a level of knowledge that he stopped seeking new knowledge. He had his foundation of knowledge in Ilmu Shari'ah – the fundamental laws of Islam. What followed after that was Ilmu Rohaniah, Ilmu Akhlaq, Ilmu Ma'rifat. He will be prepared for acquiring such knowledge. These fields of study can be very tricky sometimes. Because who knows, a jinn will talk to you and try to convince you he is an angel. And how to know, unless you have a good foundation. It is very easy to be led astray – Allah protect us from this test. And in his biographies, including the work by Ibn Taymiyyah (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Taymiyyah) . Ibn Taymiyyah was very strict in his rulings and rule. Extreme almost. But he had a great love for Abdul Qadir Al Jailani. He referred to his as 'sheikhula'. And he referred to Sheikh Abdul Qadir as Imani – because Ibn Taymiyyah followed Hanbali school of jurisprudence and Sheikh Abdul Qadir was the top scholar in this school at that time. And he said that he had never heard of anyone like Sheikh Abdul Qadir who had confirmed miracles – confirmed from many sources – to his credit. In one of his books, he related a story about Sheikh Abd al-Qadir. He said, about Sheikh Abdul Qadir: He was walking one day, on his way, at night, when suddenly he saw a very bright light – bright like the sun or a spot light. And in the midst of the light he discerned a figure – not very clear but the definite outline in the light. And it said to him: “Ya Abdul Qadir, I am Allah. Henceforth from this 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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time, you have reached such a level that there is no need for you to pray 5 times. And there are certain things which are forbidden (haram) which have become permitted (halal) for you. You imagine. You see something like this when you are walking alone at night on an unlighted path – dark – you think 'Maybe today when I prayed Isha' at the mosque and my prayer was humble and maybe I have reached to such a degree.' When Sheikh Abdul Qadir saw this, because he had such a strong foundation in Shari'ah Law, and he knows truth from falsehood, he said straight away 'a'udthu bi'llahi mina shaitani rajeem'. “I seek refuge in Allah from the evil doings and promptings of Satan”. And he accused the specter - “You are Satan”. Immediately the bright light was extinguished and the specter fell to the ground. And, of course, it was Satan. He asked “How did you know I was Satan?”. He responded “Because Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, never told Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, 'There is no need for you to pray any more.' And He never made the forbidden, permitted to him. So, who am I for Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, to do this for me?” Taqwa – reverential respect for Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, is based on knowledge and tawathur towards Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. Sheikh Abdul Qadir used to have nice words of wisdom that he would speak to the people. Whenever anyone came to him looking of a ruling or advice, everyone would leave feeling too satisfied with what they had been given. For example: Once a man came to him who was very rich. He said “Ya Sheikh. I want to give charity to people. But, I am not too sure whether this one or that deserves my charity. I don't feel that he deserves it. Maybe he is just fooling me. Maybe he is in reality rich or something. So what should I do?” He said: Give charity to the one who deserves it and also to the one who does not deserve it so that Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He will give you what you deserve and what you don't deserve. Simple. But nice and effective. And the people of his time, the respected scholars of Islam, when they wrote concerning Sheikh Abdul Qadir, they said that people were not surprised by his rulings (fatwa). Rather they were surprised by the speed with which he was able to utter the ruling. Usually, it was immediately. I have told the story of the man who swore that he would divorce his wife unless he could perform an act of worship that no one else in the world could share it with him – perform it at the same time. So what type of worship could he do. Pray at night? There are many people praying. He said I must be the only one on earth performing this act of worship at the time. Very difficult. At the same there are people maybe doing more. So the scholars of Baghdad are in a turmoil – confused. They do not know how to make a ruling on this. So when they finally reached to Sheikh Abdul Qadir, because they did not have an answer and they would not make a ruling without being certain – so they came to him. He listened and then said – this is very simple. He said, write a letter to the governor of Makkah. Ask him to stop the tawaf – circumambulation of the ka'bah by the pilgrims and allow this one to perform this on his own. Since there is no other Ka'bah, and the tawaf is an act of worship – his act of worship will be unique. The solution was simple – once they heard it. But before he made his ruling, they were in a quandary. That was his reputation. These things we call 'al futuh'. In this Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, will open the heart to instill the truth and allow it to receive the information from Him, Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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There is also and example in Sayiddinah Nabi Musa and Sayiddinah Khidr, peace be upon both of them. Sayiddinah Musa, peace be upon him, had his knowledge from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, and he was Allah's Messenger of his time. No one else could be as wise because his wisdom came from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. Then he was told of a person who also had great knowledge. The story is related in the Holy Qur'an – Surat Al Khafi. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, said about him:
م[ا8ن@ا ع'ل$ م'ن @لد$ناه8 ع'ند'نا وعل@م8ن+'مة[ م8 رح$ناه8 ع'باد'نا آتي8ن+'د[ا م8فوجدا عب [١٨:٦٥] So they found one of Our servants, on whom We had bestowed Mercy from Ourselves and whom We had taught knowledge from Our own Presence. Knowledge has two types. Illumm wabiyyah and kasbiyyah. Meaning, there is knowledge that you must study to acquire. And there is knowledge that Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, gives to you straight away. But, to whom does Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, give such knowledge? Anyone can claim to have knowledge from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. But who is this person? What is special about them? Fundamentally, the knowledge given direct by Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, must be within the Laws laid out by the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, came with knowledge from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. As long as the knowledge claimed to be from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, follows this standard, it will be accepted. But if it contradicts that, then there is a problem. In the meantime, there is istihadat, there is fatwa al ulama. No one can contradict these sources of Islamic knowledge. No can call such rulings as 'innovation'. Because the rulings are based on the Holy Qur'an. So, for example, when we celebrate the Maulidur Rasulullah – the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and someone says something like “the companions, Allah be well pleased with them all, never celebrated his birth”, this gives rise to a number of questions. The first and most obvious – on what do they base the observation that the companions never celebrated his birth. They were not there. There are no rulings from that time that prohibit this, therefore there are no stories concerning this. So, in the face of a lack of evidence, it is better to be quiet. Because it hasn't been directly reported does not mean it did not happen. Number two, based on 'ilmu qiyaf' – to understand using the Holy Qur'an and the know reports of the examples from the life of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, - we need to try to reach to a better understanding of the issue. For example, Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to fast every Monday. Every Muslim should be aware of this sunnah. Fasting on Monday's and Thursday's are considered to be praise worthy habits. When he was asked about fasting on Mondays, he replied that it was his birthday. That report alone is enough to cast a stamp of approval on the celebration of his birth – Maulidur Rasulullah. Added to that, Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not prohibit his people from celebrating his birth. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, said, in the Holy Qur'an, Tell them, with Allah's bounty let them celebrate. 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
And there is no better example of Allah's mercy, Almighty and Glorious is He, then when He sent Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. And when Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, entered Madina, he observed that the Jews would fast on the day of Ashura – in remembrance of the day when Allah saved the Jews from the army of Pharaoh by splitting the Red Sea as a path – thus passover (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Ashura ). In the reported narration on this matter, Rasulullah asked why the Jews were fasting on this day. His followers explained that the Jews claimed that this was the day when Allah saved the Prophet Moses, peace be upon him, and his people from Pharaoh's army. Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated the we (Muslims) have the right to celebrate this day. Based on this, the celebration of special days are permitted within Islam. As an example, no one will come in these days and say it is an innovation (bida'a) to celebrate Mother's Day. Or Teachers' Day. Or Student's Day. Who is the one who will try to do this? My friend, this life, our life, has been created for what. For us to serve the life, or the life to serve us? Everything on earth has been made subservient to humans. And if you do something good for others: for example you have passed your college entrance exams, you will make a small majlis and invite your friends to celebrate with you, a kanduri, or whatever, and you think that may be wrong. And you say 'But Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, never did that'. My friend do you think that Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, would object to such a gathering? It is reported by both Bukhari and Muslim that during the time of the companions, once Sayiddinah Abu Bakr entered and saw two slaves from Habasha were celebrating. That day they had Eid. And they were beating the tambourine like drums and they were singing. So, Sayiddinah Abu Bakr demanded of them “What are you doing? In Rasulullah's house?” And Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said “Leave them Ya Abu Bakr. This is a day of Eid for them. Let them rejoice.”. So the message from our Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is very clear. Be gentle. If you are going to the Masjid, prepare yourself. Be clean. Apply perfum. In the same way, when you go to your own house with your brothers and others, you must be merciful also in the way of Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. By doing so you will convey the proper image of Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. So, based on all of these things, we hope to understand the issues concerning the celebration of the birth of the prophet. Then coming back to the lives of those blessed ones who were closest to Allah in their lives. Any one who has studied the knowledge and has received the special knowledge of ladunyi, the special knowledge direct from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, we need to confirm to whom this knowledge was given and that it does not contradict the knowledge passed down from Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is said that this special knowledge can be compared to something like a King or President, he has authority to give you some sort of gift. Like a cheque drawn on any bank or from anywhere and it will be honoured. This sort of thing he may do for many people. But, what if he has a special box with him and he carries it with him everywhere he goes. He is never parted from this special box. And he opens this and gives you, from the box, a diamond. And he says, this is for you from my own belongings. Not from the state but from me. It is a special one. This is 'ilmu ad dunyi'. This is special knowledge from 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. And the special knowledge from Sayiddinah Khidr to Sayiddinah Musa, peace be upon them both, is patience. From the beginning of the tale, in the Holy Qur'an, Sayiddinah Khidr told Sayiddinah Musa, 'If you have no patience you will not be able to follow me.' And Musa replied. “As Allah wills, I will be patient.”. Then, in the first three matters he could not. Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “If Sayiddinah Musa, peace be upon him, could have been patient he would have learned so many things for Sayiddinah Khidr.”. These days there are so many things happening our life it makes the people confused. This is why the extremists start criticizing certain people. This is the conflict that is happening because the real understanding of the religion of Islam is lacking. The scholars and pious believers and the blessed believers, if you examine their lives, they are all well informed on Shariah law first, the foundation, and the trunk, the pathway to Allah, starts growing. In this respect when we speak of the path to Allah, the 'tariqah' it means his way of reaching to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, and he teaches this way to his followers. And this will be based on 'ilmu shariah'. And the fruits of his endeavour after that is the realization of the truth. And if someone wants to eliminate the fundamental law, ilmu shariah, from this, the tree of knowledge will die. Because of this, almost all of the Ulama, Wali Allah, and As Soliheen, will have the best knowledge of the Qur'an and the Hadith which is the foundation and core of ilmu shariah. But they know how to deal with it. They do not use it as club to beat others. They use it to draw others to the understanding of the religion of mercy – Islam. I will give you an example from Sayidinnah Umar, Allah be well pleased with him: One day (night actually) he was patrolling in Madina, walking the roads and lanes, going around, and he overheard some people laughing, and singing and having a good time. Quite noisy. So he climbed up the wall enclosing the house courtyard. This is Sayiddinah Umar. Amir ul mu'mineen. And he spied down into the courtyard and saw that the men inside were drinking liquor. Allah protect us from such disobedience. And this was in Madina – the city of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. So, he jumped into the courtyard into the middle of the partying men. They were shocked. He said: “Ya. I have got you now. Drinking”. And of course these men, when they saw Sayiddinah Umar, Allah be well pleased with him, there minds went blank. Except one of them. He said: “Ya Umar, you come to us with one sin, I come back to you with three.”.The time has come to debate, to save your life. Umar asked “What is that?” He said: “We were drinking, that is one sin. But you, number one you spied on us. Number two you entered our home without permission. And number three you scared us.” And for each, he quoted the Qur'an to support the prohibition from such acts. He continued “So get out of our house now!”. Such a brazen attitude to Sayiddinah Umar. But Umar, may Allah be well pleased with him, left the house. Why? Because they came with evidence of his wrong doing. The next day he related the tale to Sayiddinah Ali, may Allah be well pleased with him. Upon hearing the story, Sayiddinah Ali laughed. Umar asked him why. Ali said: “This drunk, he is faqih also.” Sometimes when you hear the names of the saints of our glorious past you feel a sense of fear. But this is not right. The mother, sometimes when she is counseling her son, “Don't lie. Allah will put you in hell! You 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
know what hell is like. Or satan will come and steal you away from Allah.” Why not try the positive. If you don't lie you will get a special gift from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. An Angel will come to you. Why are we always talking about the punishment and not about the reward? Instead of engaging in a dialogue of retribution, why not change it to a dialogue to include the language of love. Don't be pushing the damnation and hell-fire aspect. Rather push the gardens and pleasant company. Emphasize the mercy of Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He – ar Rahman. Teach the people of His Mercy and they will learn to love Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, and that is what we want. We don't want to get in the habit of only thinking of Allah when we think we need Him “Ya Razaq! I have a problem with my business.” “Ya Allah! I have a health problem. Ya Shafi' Ya Kafi Ya Allah.” What about the other names. Ar Rahman tha All Merciful. Ar Rahim the Benificent. Al Malik – the Absolute Ruler, Al Quddus the Pure One, As Salaam the Source of Peace, A Mu'min the Inspirer of Faith. What about these names. To call upon Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, only when you need something from Him is the religion of traders. Or when you are scared “Ya Allah! I want Allah just to protect me from the fires of hell.” But, what about the paradise that has been promised. Read the Qur'an. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, has described for you the promised paradise in many places. This is the language of love. And that is the language we need to focus on. Sheikh Abdul Qadir al Jailani, may Allah be well please with him, has told the people this. And, when they asked him “What is the best deeds in your life?” He said to them, “The best deeds are to make people happy by feeding them. I wish that Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, give me all of this world in my hand, in order for me to distribute it to the poor people.” It was because of that firm conviction, he made 'waqaf'. This waqaf is in the form a kitchen – a large kitchen at the Maqam in Baghdad. The waqaf states that every day, the kitchen will prepare food and distribute it to the poor. This has been running continuously since his time. This is now almost 1,000 years. The food must be distributed after Asar prayers. It varies. Sometimes a meat porridge, sometimes beriyani rice. There are always many people who show up first for prayer and then the food. Some are poor and need the food, some are taking for the blessings because it is coming from the waqaf of Sheikh Abdul Qadir. And many people contribute to the waqaf for that reason. This is one thousand years of uninterrupted soup kitchen. Once, it was very close to having to miss a feeding. This was in 1991. When the Gulf War started. Everything closed. The people ran away from Baghdad. The city was a virtual ghost town. The situation was extremely depressing. But at the Maqam – where there are places for sleeping and it is a sort of a sanctuary for people. About 5,000 people came to stay to avoid the conflict raging around them. This was because of the firm conviction that they would be safe this close to the maqam of Sheikh Abdul Qadir. Food became an issue. The kitchen manager, Abdul Salam from Egypt (he has now returned to Egypt). He came and said “Today we have cooked the last of the supplies for the food. Everything is finished. We don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.” So now there is no money. We could not buy anything. It was very difficult. So we said that this had been running for hundreds and hundreds of years because of Allah's blessings and for the sake of this saint. And, by the will of Allah, somehow it will continue. Praise to Allah, that same day, or rather in the evening, someone came. A British citizen but originally from Bangladesh. A business man. He came and brought 10 tons of rice and about 200 head of sheep. He related a tale that he had been sick and Allah had facilitated a 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
cure and he had promised that he would come to Baghdad and contribute something to this kitchen and so now, here I am. And that was only the start. Later that night another person came and another until finally, the kitchen manager came and told us he didn't have anywhere to store all of the provisions of food that had arrived. So we had to start renting houses around the Maqam in Baghdad to store the overflowing provisions. Praise be to Allah, Al Ghani, Al Mughni – the Rich, and the Enricher. This is one of the live records of a Saint of Allah. Because for the saints, and the blessed, if Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, gives one them a gift when he is alive, do you think He will take away just because he dies? Once Allah has given something, He won't take it back. Do you think that because a person dies, he is no longer blessed or a Saint. No! It continues my friend. But in a different life that we cannot see. Alamu arham, alamu arwah, alamu hayatal dunia, alam al khubur, alam al abad, alam alhashr, alam al hizr. These are all worlds that we are going to experience. But while we are in this life 'alam al hayatul dunia' we cannot know about the others. We came from alam al arham – the world of wombs – from our mothers. Can anyone remember the day when he was in the womb of his mother? But you know that you came from it and you know you were there. Alam al arwah – the world of spirits. We are moving because we have a living spirit within us. It is not the body. The body will spoil but the spirit is what gives it life. So, through all of these things, we understand that the knowledge will remain. The knowledge of the Saints of Allah. And they have no paid for this in worldly currency. Not a single cent. To become a Saint. When you read about any of them. Their teachings. Their biography. They do not pay for this in a worldly sense. Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, wishes for such people to be around all of the time. And for Sheikh Abdul Qadir, when they asked him what was his greatest miracle, he said: “To be a straight forward person is better than one thousand miracles. Why. Because 'al istiqamah' – to please Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He – to be straight forward. While 'al karamah' – miracles – is to please yourself. I wan to please Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. And for Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, the direct advice from Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, to him, was 'fastaqim kama umirt' - “Ya Rasulullah, you be as Allah wants you to be because you are the greatest example to mankind.” So they have left for us the greatest knowledge. And part of that is that your end, your triumph in this life, depends upon your beginning. You will reach a triumphant end if you have a good beginning. And if you maintain it. There are many people who start their lives in a good way. They are sincere. They are close to each other. But, all of a sudden, something comes in between. When that happens the end is not good because the beginning has changed. So, in order for us to reach to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, we have to maintain our faith. That is His advice to us: Oh you believers. Have faith in Allah. Maintain your faith. Nourish your faith. Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani maintained his faith right up to the end of his life. And he said “One of my greatest miracles was to revive the dead hearts of the people. Their disobedience to Allah.” They were distanced from Allah. But they came to him and when they left they had repented to Allah with a sincere repentance. Almighty and Glorious is He. He led thousands of people to repent their heedless ways. And many more converted to Islam because of his knowledge and his teaching. And they became among the blessed and scholars. And that is the way to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. With sincerity. 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
We have to remember, that if we want to be close to Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Saints of Allah, may Allah be well please with them all, and the blessed, Allah grant them peace, we have to do something to reach to that state. The love of Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, has to be translated into actions. This means we need to study their lives in order to follow their example in order for us to reach to the level of closeness that we seek. At the end of the life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir, his son, was next to him. Sayiddinah Abdul Razaq. And he said to him: “Father. Now you are sakharat. Do you feel any pain?” He replied: “All of my organs are in pain. Except my heart. Because it is connected with Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. My beloved one” So. At the end, the last words came out from him like. In order for what? For everyone to understand that the end of your life you will know your eventual resting place. While you still have one foot in this life and the other in the grave, you will be able to see the result of your life. Whether you have been victorious or you have failed. You will know if you have really connected with Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. In closing, and before I finish, I would like to recite a few of his beautiful sayings and nice advice. The human being is not in control of his feeling but he is in control of his movement. Meaning you may get angry or frustrated with someone – your feeling. But control your movement, your mouth, your limbs – try to be patient. People who miss an opportunity are many. But there is no one who the opportunity misses. Meaning that the opportunity is going to come but we are the ones who are going to misuse it. And finally, one of his most powerful supplications in his majlis (his greatest dua) Ya Allah, our Lord, enter the house of our heart without the slightest hesitation. Because there is nothing in it whatsoever apart from the pain of separation from you Ya Allah. Keep us always connected with you at all times. And he used to pray to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He: Our Lord. Include us among the compassionate and tender hearted servants. And do not include us among those servants of yours who do wrong. Those who break and ruin the heart. And who are rude and bad tempered. You are the one who makes hearts tender. The one who makes temper fine. Closing Dua We pray to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He to bless in dunia and akhirat. And to get the best knowledge for this world and the life to come. And we pray to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, to bless to follow the blessed, to reach for You through the knowledge of the blessed; and at our end to be with them, as You will it. May Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He, bless us to love Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. That this love should be as You want, Glory be to Allah, Almighty and Glorious is He. And the value of this love must be towards Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace. To love the companions of Rasulullah, and the descendants of Rasulullah, the Saints of Allah, the Scholars of Islam, the blessed, and allow us to be among the exemplary people in the hereafter and to keep companionship with those that are still alive because they are the best companions, ya Allah. 28 February 2012 – Masjid Bukit Antarabangsa
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The Blessed life of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jailani – Sheikh Afeefuddin Al Jailani
Ya Allah, bless us with our opportunity which we are not going to miss as You will it, and let that opportunity to be to be with them. And to talk about them. And to study about them. And to behave like them in order for us to be, at the end, physically with them, as Allah wills in jennatul firdaus. Ya Allah, bless our families, bless our children to follow the steps of Sayiddinah Rasulullah, Allah bless him and grant him peace and his companions. Ya Allah, install the mercy and knowledge in their hearts. That they may follow the direct path to You, ya Allah. Ya Allah, we want and we pray for You to guide us as you will to the straight path, to lead us to the straight path and to identify between the wrong and the right. As You will it ya Allah. Ya Allah bless to follow the path of mercy and to eschew those who have been influenced by satan. Ya Allah bless our hearts to be soft hearts, strong in our faith, physically healthy, and our end to be in the bosom of your mercy (husnul khatima). Ya Allah bless us to understand that this life is a temporary life only. And the everlasting life is the life that is near to You. We ask You to accept us as your neighbour in the everlasting life. We do not want to be in paradise without You. Ya Allah the most important thing is to be with You, in paradise. Near to You. Beside Your beloved Prophet, Sayiddinah Rasulullah, bless him and grant him peace. Ya Allah, those names we used to hear about and we have learned to love them because You loved them. Ya Allah, at the end, do not make us lose the opportunity of being with them as You will it. Ya Allah, we want to be with You in paradise but no alone. We want to see our brothers, all of them, to be there with us, to enjoy the pleasures You have promised. And ya Allah, when we meet there in paradise with Rasulullah, bless him and grant him peace, and we will be able to say Ya Rasulullah, we used to talk about you. We talked about your companions, Umar, Uthman, Abu Bakr and may we see them around because Rasulullah has said “You will be with the one whom you love.”. So ya Allah, we love You and we love Your beloved Prophet, Rasulullah, bless him and grant him peace. We love all of the prophets, and messengers, and the family of Rasulullah, and the companions and the blessed. Ya Allah, we don't want to miss the opportunity of being with them. Protect us all from the punishment of the judgment day. And bless us always to be among the blessed. Bless us to have a happy life in this life, and the everlasting happiness in the next life. Bless our children, our wives, our brothers, our sisters, our families, our brothers and sisters in Islam and bless the world with peace. Let us live in peace and to leave this life in peace. And to enter paradise in peace.
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