Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #023 The People of Remembrance Intentions Upon Seeking Knowledge
AI: Summary ©
The importance of being a person of rememb receipt is emphasized in Islam, including the completion of multiple hadiths and the importance of seeking happiness and gratitude. The speakers stress the need for clear and committed consultations, seeking guidance and contributions to achieve the desired outcomes. The importance of consulting is emphasized, as it is a key to safety for activism and a clear and committed commitment to pursuing the benefits of the consultation. The speakers also mention a class for those seeking guidance and contribution to achieve the desired outcomes.
AI: Summary ©
The messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be
upon him, encouraged us to strive for uprightness
by seeking assistance in the early mornings, late
afternoons at and something of the depths of
the night. From this tradition, the scholars made
it a habit to briefly read text of
religious guidance in the late afternoon and often
term such readings the daily.
The term refers to the late afternoon, but
also to a time of rest from worldly
toils and reinvigoration of one's spirit.
In this day, Sheikh Harazrabani will be covering
2 texts. Imam Zafar Nuchi's primer on the
etiquette of seeking knowledge,
and Imam Youssef Anabahani's beautiful collection of 40
sets of 40 prophetic hadith.
Yesterday, we completed looking at the 40 Hadith
Qudsi.
That's the first set of 40 Hadith
in Sheikh Youssef and Nabhani's collection on 40
sets of 40 Hadith
of the beloved Messenger of Allah
wasalam.
Sheikh Yusufan Nabhani mentioned at the end
some Hadith on the merits of remembering Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So he added a tatimah, a completion
of a number of Hadith, right, that a
Hadith could see
here in the merits of remembering Allah.
The first of these
The messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam relates
that Sayna Musa
Alaihi Wasallam
addressed his Lord.
I
was hoping
that I could come to know
what did do,
right, which is
wishing to, caring to know, right, from like
that term for love, it's
to I wish that I could know
whom
you love from amongst your servants,
so that I may love them.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala responded, if you see
my servant
make much remembrance of me.
Then it is I
who gave them permission
to be able to do so,
and I love them.
And if you see a servant of mine
who does not remember me, then it is
I who have veiled them from that.
And it is I who dislike them. This
is related by Darah Putni and ibn Asekir
from
ibn Umar
This is why
Imam al Qusaydi in his risala relates that,
that remembrance of Allah is a proclamation
of electhood.
Right?
So whoever has been granted
to remember Allah
has been given this proclamation, and whoever has
it taken away has been cut off.
And this is one of the ways to
to test oneself. Right? Where am I with
respect to the remembrance of Allah?
The sign of the love of Allah
is the love of his remembrance.
So
there's
2 aspects here in this hadith. 1 is
because we know that the reality is that
Allah has granted us
choice.
So we should choose
remembrance,
and choose all that facilitates remembrance, because all
that facilitates remembrance
draws us to the love of Allah
He loves them and they love him.
But we can take that as a criteria
as well. What are the things that we
embrace in life?
Those things that facilitate for us remembrance of
Allah
directly or indirectly.
And how do we engage in anything that
we choose to do
consciously?
We
choose to do those things
in states of remembrance of Allah, not in
states of rafla
from Allah
Right? So this should be
remembrance should be our criteria
with respect to our conduct.
The second thing is here of, you know,
many possible lesson, but just to mention briefly.
A second thing is that we
keep the company of people of remembrance.
Right. Because Sayyidina Musa asked this question
that, I wish to know whom you love
of your servants so I may love them.
So we choose carefully whose company we keep.
We choose carefully
whose company we keep, because not all company
is the same.
And the company
that you keep affects
the state that you're in. Right. So one
should strive
to keep
consistent company
with those who care. Right? And this is,
of course,
something Allah
commands his Messenger himself, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Right? That
make yourself remain patient with those who call
upon their Lord.
By day and by night,
who are seeking
his countenance thereby.
Right.
And do not move your eyes away from
them seeking
the fleeting pleasures of this world.
And after that, Allah Subhana warns us to
be wary
of those who are
heedless of his remembrance. So remembrance of Allah
is a criteria that those are the people
we should embrace. And we saw the hadith
that the people of remembrance are the people
whom
no one who sits with them will lose
out.
Right? But Allah commands
us
that we need to remain patient with them,
right? Because temperaments differ. We do not expect
perfection
from any.
So people
may have their temperaments and their annoyances and
their flaws and everything, but we seek those
who are seeking Allah and the sign of
seeking Allah is remembrance.
The next hadith
It's related in the hadith Qudsi that Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, oh, child of Adam,
if you remember me,
you have been grateful to me. And if
you forget
me, you have been ungrateful
to me.
Ingratitude.
And oh Child of Adam, if you remember
me, you have been grateful to me.
Because the basis of
gratitude
is
recognition.
Right? It's to recognize
the blessing,
and the true recognition of the blessing is
to recognize its bestower.
And forgetting to recognize
the blessing is because you are heedless of
the bestower, and that's the basis of all
ingratitude. And this is related by Mam Tabarani
and others.
Alright. So the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam
relates
that on the day of judgment Allah Most
High
says,
all the people
of this gathering will know today who are
the people
who are honored.
It'll be said, and who are those the
people who are honored? Uhlul Karam
You Rasulullah, O Messenger of Allah.
And the Messenger
said,
The people who gathered for remembrance
in
the Masjid.
This is related by Imam Ahmed
and Abu'Alla from Abu Sa'id al Khudri. And
this is why Imam
Sha'rani relates, and this is related from him
by
Fuqaha from
it's
Imam Sha'arani mentioned it in his writings,
but the of amongst the Hanafis and the
sheafis
frequently quote this as well as related by
and
Ibn 'Abd Din and others amongst the Hanafis
and quoted from him by commentators on Ibn
Hajar's works
that
the scholars from both the Salaf and the
Khalaf, from the early Muslims and the late
Muslims,
agreed
on the praiseworthiness
and high encouragement of gathering
in the mosques and in other places
to remember Allah
And these are people who are honored, and
we looked at many Hadiths in this collection
related to that. The next Hadith,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will declare on the
day of resurrection,
Take
out
Take out from the fire whoever
remembered me
even a day or feared me even a
day. From
saint Anas
Allah Most High says,
O servant, if you remember me alone, I
remember you
to myself.
And if you remember me in a gathering,
I remember you in a gathering that is
better than them and greater,
right, which is the highest company of the
angels.
And in a similar narration related by Ibn
Shaheen and others from
Uhura. And the prophet also related that Allah
most high said, whoever remembers me to themselves,
I that remember them to myself, and whoever
remembers me in a gathering, I remember them
in a gathering that is better than them
and more pure.
And this is related similarly
by Tabarani from ibn Abbas
with the wording
Whoever remember
that if my if my servant, and this
is an inscription of honor, my servant
remembers me
alone, I remember to themselves, I remember them
to myself. And if they remember me in
a gathering, I remember them in a gathering
that is better than the gathering they remembered
me in.
And another hadith, which is related by Imam
Beyhaqi from Abu Hurair
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
I am as my servant
thinks of me.
And I'm with them
when they remember me.
And if they remember me to themselves, I
remember them to myself. And if they remember
me in a gathering, I remember them in
a gathering better than
than
than them.
And in another narration, Rahu Tabarani,
that's related by Tabarani
in Al Kabir, from Ma'ad ibn
Anas
with the wording
That in this narration Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
relates that my servant does not remember me
to themselves except that I remember them
in a gathering of my angels.
And they don't remember me
in a gathering except that I remember them
with the highest
company, the
That
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala relates and this hadith
is in Abu Dawood and Al Hakim and
many others.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala relates,
I am with my servant when they remember
me.
And their lips move
by my remembrance.
So that's the completion of the 40 hadiths
and
the the completion of those 40 hadiths
of Sheik Yusuf and Nabahani.
And
we ask Allah
that he realize us with these meanings, and
that he make us of the people
who always turn
to Allah and who have always turned to
the Messenger of Allah,
because all that you seek is present with
Allah, as said.
The next set of 40 hadiths
The next
40 is a collection of 40 Hadiths
in praise of Allah,
mighty and majestic.
And we will read the first Hadith so
that,
you know, we
uphold the sunnah that's related to the Quran,
which is
that
we don't stop at the end of the
Quran, but we the Prophet said,
told us that when we reach the end
of the Quran,
we should go back to the beginning and
read a little of it. So that we're
we're like the rider
who remains constant in their journey.
You don't just stop.
And this applies to anything that one does.
Right? One makes a resolve,
when one finishes one thing immediately to begin
another. And we saw the
do this. Sheikh Khadib
if he finished a text
with a student,
they'd agree on what they'd read next, and
says,
you know, let's at least begin in in
it or at the very least to commit,
okay, this is what we're doing next.
Right? But where possible, you know, he he
would begin in it so that we you
know, one remains
constant.
So these are 40 hadiths in praise of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So we'll read the
first one. We'll explain it next session.
So Abu Musa Al Shali Radhaat Anna relates
that they were
on
a
journey.
And
some people began
reciting the Takbir
very loudly.
Right? So
the Messenger
said,
you know, be and
and the commentators explain, because, you know, to
gather between
this and other
texts,
that they were being excessive
in their
raising of their voice, he said,
you
know, be merciful to yourselves.
You are not calling upon one who is
deaf nor absent.
You are calling upon 1 who is hearing
and seeing
and he is with you.
And he is with you.
And the one you are calling upon is
closer
to each of you
than the neck of their mount, than the
neck of their mount. And of course, this
is a metaphor because the closeness here is
not a physical closeness, it is a metaphysical
closeness. It is the closeness
of the Qayumiyyah
of Allah, that he is Qayum Musamawatiwal
Arb. He is the
Sustainer of the heavens and the earth. Huwal
Hayyul Qayyum, the living, the all sustaining.
This is related by Imam Bukhari and Muslim
and others.
So
we will
be continuing
with our look at
the Hadith of the Prophet
and continuing from this spot.
Today, we'll we'll also be looking,
as is our
habit,
at
a section
from
Talim Al Mutalim,
instructing the student on
the
proper manners of seeking knowledge.
And we've
been looking at
what the intention of seeking knowledge should be.
Actually he began
by telling us, right, that above all we
seek
we intend to seek the pleasure of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And all that contains of closeness, of love,
and then
the various intentions
related to oneself, of benefiting oneself by removing
ignorance and bringing the religion to life within
oneself,
and to preserve Islam,
and
to remove ignorance from others, and to bring
the religion to life in them, and to
preserve the religion
in Allah's creation.
Right?
And that all the virtues are only possible
through knowledge. So we looked at that.
And then
the lines of caution
that there are 2 grave harms,
right, in life.
The
scholar who does not uphold
the limits
of guidance,
and the ignorant
devotee,
right? Particularly
are they harmful for the people
who follow them?
And even worse than the ignorant devotee,
is just the ignorant person whom other people
follow. At least the ignorant devotee,
even if you don't listen to what they
say, you may be impressed by the fact
that they appear to be that they're devoted
to Allah. But worse than the ignorant devotee,
that there's some reason to follow him.
Is the one
who is just ignorant.
That's
then you're a complete fool. Because at least
the devotee has something going for them. At
least they seem to be praying and making
zikr, etcetera. You could make some argument that,
well, I followed them because they appeared religious,
this, that, and the other.
And then
he continues, when we
So Imam al Zhanuji says, and through seeking
knowledge, one intends
through seeking knowledge,
Ashook,
gratitude,
thankfulness
for the blessing of the mind.
Because every blessing has a gratitude
that is due to it.
Every
blessing.
And what is gratitude?
Because gratitude is for the servant to direct
what Allah blessed them with, towards what it
was created for.
And there's
the least of gratitude in this sense. Imam
al Junaid was asked what is gratitude? He
said,
The least of gratitude
is that you don't disobey Allah with what
he blessed you with.
Right?
Then that's ingratitude.
Right?
Below that, the least is do not disobey
him with his blessing.
So be in obedience,
then direct
it
to any
good,
then direct it to what is pleasing to
Allah, direct it to what is most pleasing
to Allah. Right? There's degrees of gratitude.
So gratitude, why did Allah create the intellect?
So that we
may know
how to seek him.
So that we are able to seek him,
and we are able to show others how
to seek Allah
Right.
So gratitude for the blessing of the intellect.
And likewise for the soundness of the body,
because you have the capacity,
right? You have the health and the well-being
to be able
to direct
yourself to something of benefit. And if you
were to direct your body to something of
benefit, then the best of benefit is that
which is of eternal benefit.
And one does not intend with it any
meaning of
people turning towards 1, right? To get people
to
develop a following kind of thing, right?
Nor
to amass
the
paltry
gains
of this world,
nor in the Sultan, nor does one intend
to have high standing with the ruler
and with the authorities, right? So
and in that time people sought,
you know status and wealth and prominence
through.
Getting close to the rulers.
And in our times
there's many manifestations of that. There's a whole
industry of Islam Incorporated,
of all kinds of activists, and self appointed
leaders,
and others
who,
you know, they're not governed by principle,
but rather simply
by,
you know,
yeah, looking good in front, whether it be
in front of people, or looking good, like
you know having, well I've made it. I
got to the White House Iftar, I have
made it.
But it's not that you've gone there for
some purpose, for some benefit.
There's nothing wrong
with going to a White House Iftar, if
there's some clear benefit in it. And it's
a matter of judgment. Someone may go
to meet
the president
or the prime minister or someone for a
good
reason. Hope you know, having thought through some
good desired outcomes or simply to minimize harm.
But going there just so you can take
a selfie with
someone,
right? That's about the self, right?
Or that so that you know you can
you can network but again not to network
in order to be able to be a
benefit
to your community, to be a benefit to
your country, to be a benefit to Allah's
creation, but simply
to get ahead.
Okay.
So
these are all,
you know, we may not have sultans, but
we still have power. And though there are
those who cozy up to it just for
worldly gains or personal gains.
Right?
Who said, the great student of Imam Mohanifa,
if all people were my slaves
right? If all of all people just imagine.
Now they're all your your slaves, your servants.
Okay, so well, you can make me coffee,
you can do this, you can And if
they're all my slaves, what would he do?
I would have I would free them all,
and I would
disavow myself
from any
relationship of any wala, any responsibility
towards them.
Because he's not seeking them, right? He's not
seeking them, it's not about them,
right?
And Imam
Zarrnouji explains
And that, Imam Zarrnouji says, is that the
one who finds
the sweetness of knowledge,
the taste,
right? The sweetness
finds that taste of knowledge and of acting
upon it
will rarely be avid for what people have.
Though even the sweetness of knowledge is not
sought in itself, right? It is a
you know, it is
simply a reinforcement from Allah Subha'ala to direct
oneself
to one's purpose.
And he relates some lines of poetry. We'll
read them,
and then we'll stop. He says, and
Hamad Ibn
Ibrahim
Safar Al Ansari.
Right. This great scholar Hamad Ibn Ibrahim
Safar
relates for him Imla'an, and he related to
him in right near. So he wrote it.
That Abu Hanifa,
Rahimahullah,
is
said to have said in poetry,
What does it say,
Right? So it said that Abu Hanifa said
in in rhyming verse,
whoever seeks knowledge
for the next life
attains
divine grace
and attains by divine grace
right guidedness.
Bifadlin,
fadl
is divine grace, divine favor.
Right? Whoever seeks knowledge
for
the next life.
Whoever seeks knowledge for the next life
attains by
by divine grace
to rashed, right guidedness.
And what loss for those who seek it,
for
any
favor
from
Allah's servants.
What a loss. Right?
Imam
Zarrnooji mentions one exception. He says,
He said by Allah unless one sought
prestige
for good intention.
And this is the is that one does
not seek
fame,
prominence,
position,
authority,
rank,
any of these things.
That's not the question that guides
the ones who is sincere.
The question is what will be pleasing to
Allah?
Right.
But
it says unless someone sought that prestige
to be able to command the good and
forbid the wrong,
or to be able to
make the truth
prevail.
So
it can be fulfilled
for religion to be honored.
Right.
Not for oneself and not for one's caprice.
So that's the critical question that people who
are engaged
in activism
and when if you're if you're active, you
will come
upon
the possibilities of prestige with respect to whether
you're given the stage
or you're given media attention
or you're given,
you know,
you're in the spotlight in any way, or
you're
you get close to power.
Right?
That now is it because, well,
I could get a job. I could this.
If it's I could,
then do not,
right?
But if it's genuinely and sincerely
for
the sake of Allah through
the attainment of some clear benefit or the
prevention of some clear harm
without
a greater ensuing harm upon yourself or others,
then you may proceed. But this is, they
say this is
this is a place where feet slip.
So how do you pursue?
One key to safety is to consult.
It's come from
in the prophetic tradition
consult the wise,
the wise and the learned.
Consult.
Right. But true consultation, right, which is consultation
where the consideration is what will be pleasing
to Allah, what will be of true benefit,
right. Consultation
in which you are clear
and committed that you will follow
the consequence of that consultation
if it is pointing you to what is
pleasing to Allah and what is a benefit
to Allah's creation. Right? It's not just a
token consultation.
You go to someone and say,
sheikh,
I'm doing this. Is it okay?
So you say, well,
make dua before you go in. Right. Or
whatever. Like because you're already going. What am
I gonna do? Grab you and say no.
Right.
Although many people need to hear that. Right.
Then he says
In that
circumstance, when there's a clear and manifest benefit,
clearly
greater than the harm entailed, then he says,
it is permitted
to the extent that to the extent of
the benefit,
to the extent that one is able to
command the good and forbid the wrong,
right. Or whatever other
clear benefit, right. So the basis is that
one does not
directly pursue
prestige or power.
If there's a clear interest in its pursuit
then the intent must be clear and the
benefit must be clear, and it must be
pursued only to the extent of the clear
benefit.
And the caution in it is consultation.
Okay.
And then he says and this is particularly
true for a seeker of knowledge. He says
He says, it is incumbent particularly
on the seeker of knowledge
because you know
what life is all about.
To think deeply about that,
for one only attains knowledge,
one only
gains knowledge through great
striving,
it's hard work.
So don't
squander
it by directing it
to this paltry
duniya,
right, to paltry worldliness
that is perishing.
Okay?
So and then he says he quotes these
lines of poetry with which we'll close.
Said, This is worldliness
less
than the least.
Its lover
is more abased
than the abased.
It blinds by its magic some people
and makes them deaf,
so they are bewildered
without guide.
And this is one of the signs of
worldliness, is that one just goes off on
one's own without
Dalil, right, without
guidance, without proper guidance. Right? It's not, I
have decided this. Is it okay?
That's not guidance. Okay. You decided it.
You know, that's one
but, you know, truly,
you know by truly following guidance, right,
we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
to be guided and then he
gives some related counsel, which we'll look at
tomorrow.
So this class, some people online were asking.
We we we have this at the hub
in Toronto from Mondays to Thursdays,
from 6 PM Toronto time till about 6:30
ish.
Someone asked about black black lives matter.
Yes, they do. But
nothing
ultimately
matters
unless
one realizes
that life has a purpose,
that creation has a purpose.
And that's why the ulema, their role is
to make guidance clear.
Right?
Because none of you believes until they wish
for others of the good that they wish
for themselves.
But it is only really belief,
some lasting meaning
that would give us lasting concern for others,
right?
So that is what needs to be rooted
in any
political concern, in any activist concern, in any
social concern, in any economic concern. And the
believer is full of concern,
but that concern is rooted in concern
for Allah
and concern
for the guidance. Right? Because
the the complete
clarity
on what
ails creation
is in
what the Messenger
come with.
It's It is a cure for all that
ails hearts. We ask Allah Subha'ala
for facilitation.
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