Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #032 Gods Pleasure Unimaginable Reward Glad Tidings for Believers Six Conditions for Know
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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 Zarrnouji's primer on the etiquette
of seeking knowledge,
and Imam Youssef An Nabhani's beautiful collection of
40 sets of 40 prophetic hadith.
Hadith.
Alhamdulillah, we're continuing to look at
the 40 hadiths in praise
of Allah
which is the second of the 40 sets
of 40 hadiths
compiled
by the great 20th century scholar
Sheikh Alama, Yusuf and Nabihani.
And
we
stopped at hadith number 21, correct?
So Abu Sa'id al Khudi relates
that the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
said that Allah Most High will say to
the people of paradise
once they enter paradise,
oh people of paradise and they will say
at your behest, oh Lord,
and at
you know and at your pleasure
and all good completely
is in your hands.
He will ask them
are you pleased?
Are you content?
And they will say
how can we not be content, oh lord,
when you have given us what you have
not given any of your creation?
Right? Because not all creation enters paradise.
Right?
Only those morally responsible are subject to heaven
and *.
Most of creation
on the day of judgment
there will be an outward reckoning
with respect to rights as the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam said even
the
you know, even animals will have takhasum
on that day, they will
redress their rights,
but creation will just disappear.
This worldly
creation will all disappear, they are also kalpullah,
Right? But
the hereafter is an honor for those
morally responsible. Right?
So you have granted us that which you
did not give any of your creation.
Then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says to them,
should I not give you
better than that?
And they will say, oh lord, what could
be better
than this?
Muslim. So Allah says,
I will
envelope you in my good pleasure.
So I will not be displeased with you
after this
ever.
I will not ever
be displeased with you after this.
This is related by both Bukhari
and Muslim.
Right? So this is
amongst the aspects of the manifestation of the
generosity of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in the
hereafter.
Right?
And
he'll mention more of those. Right? That the
servants get everything that they could have wanted
possibly
and even Allah asked them is there anything
else you could want?
What could we possibly want more than this?
And this is mentioned. Other
aspects
of the iftaal of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
are mentioned of the
favor of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
are mentioned in the subsequent hadith.
Hadith number
22,
So
this
hadith
which
is
a
hadith
Qudsi,
the Messenger of Allah released that Allah says
Allah most high says,
I have prepared
for my righteous
servants
that which no eye has seen
and no ear has heard
and that which has not occurred
to the heart of any human.
The prophet said
recite if you wish.
The prophet said recite if you wish the
words of Allah
No soul
knows what has been
concealed
for them
of
complete joys.
Right?
Is
the the joys that fill the eye. Right?
Complete joys.
Right?
Muslim.
And this is waiting.
It is waiting,
and it is promised.
Right? But there is a condition. If the
condition is not
fulfilled,
then it is
then do not blame
the most generous. Blame your own stinginess.
Right.
We are reading today
as Omar Ibn Fared said
in a
in
a poem, right, what did he say?
He says,
so compete with each other in spending of
your own self
in it,
oh, my brother in passion.
Right?
If it accepts
that spending,
then what a great
expenditure that is.
But if you do not but in the
love of the one you seek, you do
not spend of yourself.
Then even if you spend the whole world,
then you truly
are the absolute
miser.
Right? And that if you seek that love,
then spend.
This is why others refer to this as
being a.
Oh, you who seek
the meaning of our beauty.
Our dowry is high.
For the one who would seek us. But
it's already specified. So if you want it,
then
pay If you seek it, then pay the
price. If you refuse,
then you didn't pay the price.
So as Allah says, do not blame but
yourselves.
Right?
So but this is a tremendous promise of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Allah has prepared for his righteous servants
that which no eye has seen, no ear
has heard,
and no heart has ever
even
imagined.
Right?
It's been prepared for them.
And
the the the best of the righteous servants
of Allah
do not worry about that because it's already
promised.
Right? It's already promised.
But they're Allah's servants,
which is why Sheikh Ahmed Al Aluis says
The very gardens
of are in need of us because Allah
is already prepared.
These are for you.
But if you are seeking Allah,
then the gardens of paradise themselves will be
yearning for you
because because they've been prepared for you. But
if you seeking
Allah, then paradise itself will yearn for you
as the prophet
said about saying Ammar
Jannah yearns for Ammar because Ammar's concern was
Right? And that applies of course, in a
worldly sense in the hikam of
It says you're striving for what's already guaranteed
for you,
and you're falling short of from what is
sought from you is a sure sign
of the extinguishing
of the light of spiritual insight within
you. Because that that applies to this life
in the sense that, you know, we concern
ourselves with a rizq
where Allah Subha Ta'ala has promised that there's
nothing in the heavens or in the earth
except that it is upon us to provide
for it.
But we worry about our risk, we don't
worry about our hereafter,
which is what sought from you.
But also applies to the hereafter itself
because the reward is already promised, but that's
what we're worried about. Will I get there?
What will I get there?
Where was what is sought from you is
to seek Allah Subhana
Wa Ta'la.
Hadith number 23,
So the the prophet Abu Musa Al Shari
radiAllahu ta'ala An Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, who
relates to the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said
that Allah Most High will gather
all communities,
all peoples
on one plane.
Right?
And the is
that which is raised,
that which is raised.
Right?
That's a plane.
Right?
On one plane
on the day of resurrection.
And then,
Allah distinguishes between his creation
and brings forth
for each people what they used to worship.
And
they'll follow
that which they worship until they take them
to the verge of the hellfire.
Then our lord will come, mighty and majestic.
And we are on a raised plain.
And he will ask, who are you?
And this coming of Allah
is a closeness that is not a physical
closeness. Right? Allah will disclose himself
to the believers,
and he will ask them in that state
of disclosure.
So he will other peoples who worshiped idols,
worshiped other than Allah, those
Allah will distinguish between them. So each will
be shown their idols and they'll follow them
to towards the fire.
And then
the believers will be in a raised
part
in a raised place
and he will say to them and he
will
and our Lord will come to us And
this coming of Allah has been mentioned many
hadiths.
Whoever comes to me walking, I rush to
them.
And this is
a metaphysical closeness,
A closeness
of
divine disclosure of Allah making himself known.
Right?
You're reaching Allah
is a reaching of knowledge of him.
For your lord is too exalted for
distances
to be traversed to reach him.
So Allah will ask, who are you?
And we will say
We will say we are the we are
the Muslims, those who submit
And he will ask, what do you await?
Says, do you await your lord?
And
and we will say,
yes, indeed.
And Allah will ask, how will you know
him?
When you did not see him.
Islam. Right?
So Allah will ask, how will you know
him
when you have not seen him? Right?
And we will and we will say,
yes,
meaning we haven't seen him, but
there's no
similar to him.
So Allah will manifest himself
laughing.
Right?
Which
from which
divine contentment is understood.
The reality of it, Allah is exalted beyond
any change.
Right?
Are 2 separate things.
That which is manifest,
the manifestation
and the one manifest are 2 separate are
distinct
realities.
Right.
So, what
the manifestation
of
is one thing, but the reality the unchanging
reality of Allah is another.
What is indicated by that is
obviously the good pleasure of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, the rida. But even the rida, Allah
is not subject to change,
and that is a a manifestation.
As of talk about talukat,
right, of the attachments. Right? These are this
is what is manifest.
Right?
So, so Allah most high says,
It says,
have glad tidings, oh,
people of Islam.
Says, have glad tidings, oh people of Islam,
for there's not one of you except that
I have placed in the fire
a Jew or a Christian
instead of him. Right? Meaning that there are
many people before you who all had the
same opportunity to believe, to submit,
but they chose not to.
So have glad tidings. Be,
at the the favor
and grace of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Right?
That he granted you faith and guidance and
granted you to submit.
This is related by Imam Ahmed.
Right? And with all such texts, right, as
Imam Leqani said, we
re reiterate this because there's a point of.
Any text
that would
give the impression
of affirmation of similitude,
interpret it,
or consign its meaning,
but in all cases,
follow the way of transcendence.
So that's
what we wanted to look
at today. We're going to continue from hadith
number
24. Any questions before we look at Iram
Zanuji's text?
Yes.
How do we reconcile between the fact that
spiritual realization is very difficult and Islam is
easy? I mean, Islam is easy,
but not everyone
like, is it obligatory for everyone
to reach
the highest of paradise?
No.
So obligatory is to submit to Allah Subha
and that's that's beloved to Allah
my servant draws close to me by nothing
more beloved to me than what I made
obligatory upon them, you do that that's
Islam.
My servant continues to draw close to me.
So one is what the the the fardh
is limited
and you do those limited things, that's easy.
The farad is very small.
Right? But the hadith itself makes clear. The
hadith of, hey, what? The farad is very
small. You do that,
that's sufficient.
That's sufficient. And we should not
impose other things. There's a beautiful Khutba given
on Friday by
Sheikh Hamid Slimi
on this. Right?
That we, you know, we have to affirm
the minimal
the minimalism of Islam. Right?
That
Jannah does not require like, you know, when
we talk about
right? That compete
in giving your complete life. Oh,
oh, my brother in passion. That's if you're
seeking the the mountain top.
But let people get to the mountain.
Yeah. The mountain exists,
and that's where
that's the mountain of safety. Let them get
there.
Those who want to seek to to to
reach the top of the mountain,
they'll seek the way.
Right?
But don't expect everyone
to seek.
But at the same time,
people are inspired to go to the mountain
because of the peak.
Right?
Don't deprive people of,
you know, of that either.
Right?
So there's both
aspects to it. Right? There's the the ease.
The prophet says,
Truly this religion is easy.
But he also
said in, truly this religion is deep.
So enter it
gently,
gradually with rifq.
Both realities are true.
It's easy because the base obligations are few.
They're not difficult. Like the the man who
just become a Muslim, he asked, you Rasool
Allah, if I
pray my perform the obligate repairs and I
fast Ramadan
and I deem the halal to be halal
and the prohibited to be prohibited,
do I enter paradise?
And he did not mention Zakat and Hajj.
They say Hajj may not have been legislated
at that time yet as an obligation
and
the guy probably didn't have money.
Right?
And the prophet
indicated that yes.
And he told said regarding him when he
walked, and he swore that by Allah he
wouldn't do any more than that.
And the prophet said,
he's successful if true.
That's it.
But that's very different from what he told.
Be mindful of Allah and he will be
mindful of you.
Remain mindful of Allah and you'll find him
before you.
If you ask, ask only
And if you rely, rely only on Allah,
etcetera.
That's a different level.
Right?
When someone wants to become Muslim, you don't
say
that that's what you have to do. You
inspire them with that,
perhaps, and that require.
That that's a separate
matter.
Right? Because you don't deprive people of there's
people who have the yearning.
Right? And some have the yearning. They're not
gonna do anything about it. But were it
not for the top of the mountain, they
wouldn't seek the mountain out.
And which is why the people love the
righteous. Right? Because they they it's the top
of the mountain that gives meaning to the
mountain.
Even for those who are content to live
just in the shade of the mountain.
Okay?
So we're going to look next at the
just briefly at
Talim al Mutalim by Imam Zernooji.
And we've
in this chapter, he's been telling us about
the choice of knowledge
and teacher and subject
and the importance of
counsel in it and we stopped at the
lines
attributed to
Saydna Ali Binabi Taulib
regarding
the path of knowledge and the author himself
indicates that these are not necessarily authentically established
from Saydna, Saydna Ali
He
says
Truly you will not attain knowledge except with
6 matters.
I will inform you
of them all
clearly.
And if you look at
those who succeed you see that they fulfill
these and those who fail and falter
and flop and flip
and flounder
you'll see that 1 or more of these
often most of them
are lost.
What are the 6
six conditions
for the successful seeking of knowledge? Intelligence.
Wahirsun
avidness.
Wastibar
and istibar is more intense than sabr
it's
resolute and steadfast patience.
Right?
Istibor,
what is the what what wasn't is it?
Iftial,
right, is to
force oneself and to struggle
to maintain patience.
Right?
So it's resolute and determined
adherence to patience.
Right?
And
the means.
And
the right guidance of a teacher.
And
is
for them to show you the way.
Right.
So, it is more specific even than Hidaya
because Hidaya could be general
but
Irshad,
Rushd.
Right?
Guidance but you could say
rushd
is right guidance.
It's a subset of guidance. Right? It is
to be guided right, right, so you are
always within that.
So it's a subset of
the guidance of a teacher.
Is a man
and a and a lengthy time.
So
intelligence,
some of it and intelligence has 2 aspects.
K? People are born with a certain amount
of intelligence,
but intelligence
can be nurtured.
How?
Through
upholding the principles
of intelligent
thinking.
At thinking,
what is thinking?
What is fiqh?
Right?
Thinking
is,
you know, is putting together
thoughts
sound thoughts in a sound manner to come
up with sound
judgments.
Right?
So there's this principle. So some people have
a lot of intuitive intelligence. They can jump
to to sound conclusions
very quickly.
But sometimes that kind of intuitive intelligence is
actually a fitna
at several levels.
Why? 1, because they can make errors in
thinking. They can jump to conclusions, but they
didn't think it through.
They don't have the rigor
in their thinking.
They can also become lazy.
Right? Because the eye can figure it out
so they don't actually work hard. Right?
Whereas the
greatest factor in success is the effort.
Right?
Not the
right? Because it so,
right, one must nurture that through acquiring the
principles
of sound thinking and the application
of principled
thinking.
Right? And that's what the sciences give 1.
Right?
Herson, avidness. So one is keen.
One is keen.
And the one who's avid,
avidness
is manifest in
striving.
Right? So the one who says, I'm missing
Leila.
Well, where is she right now? I don't
know.
Somewhere.
No. The one who's avid for Leila
would always be thinking, where is she? And
if there's any opportunity,
that's where you'd find him.
Right?
Hibs,
avidness.
They're always
seeking it,
every opportunity.
What do they do when they're with a
person of knowledge? They're seeking knowledge. If they
find out an opportunity
of acquiring a book, they find any opportunity,
they they rush to it.
Right? Someone asked
one one of my teachers,
who's eligible? There's a particular scholarship
when when we were studying in Damascus. Who's
eligible for this scholarship? I have no clue
who's eligible, but said said if it's up
to me,
right,
it should be for for someone who's a
lover.
Right?
Said lovers are those
who can't go to sleep because they are
because of the pains of love.
They wake up wondering where is their beloved.
Right?
Right?
Right?
As
right?
Like, one's resting place
proves
unsatisfying.
Why? Because there's that issue
that one's looking up. Right? And a beautiful
example of this, one of the people, and
not accidentally,
he's referred to in the subcontinent
by by some as Imam
Anwar Shah Kashmiri.
He lived outside
the bounds of the madrasah
but the one day he didn't when he
was very elderly, this is some time before
his death,
He didn't show up for Saat al Fajr.
People were shocked. He's not here for Fajr.
Someone asked, is he okay? Someone said, is
he sick? Someone else asked, is he dead?
Then people dead? Oh my god. So all
the senior olema rushed to Imam Kashmiri's house,
and this is still Fajr time.
And they knocked, and he said, come in
to the living room.
And he was very sick.
He was lying on his stomach,
stretched out with a book bent
so he could see the light, the fajr
light.
And some of the greatest scholars of the
20th century, amongst them, one of the founders
of Pakistan,
Lammers Shabir Usmani,
were there and others and the father of
Muftahi Usmani and others.
They said,
Molana, what are you doing? So I'm looking
up an issue in Hashetim and Abrideen.
And I believe it was Sheikh Lassam Shabir
Usman who said, Monana,
what issue is there that you don't know
about?
And what issue is there that if you
don't know about, you could not deduce yourself?
And if,
perchance, you needed to look something up, we
are all
your servants.
Just indicate to us, and we would look
it up for you.
Why would you like, he crawled
from his bedroom because it was dark.
Right?
He he crawled with the book
to be under the light
to look up an issue. He says, oh,
I wasn't looking up anything
big, but there was just something that came
to mind. I wanted to confirm
it. Says, what else could I do?
Right?
Because this is why, yeah, this is why
the the meaning of taleb
taleb,
right, is intense need.
Right?
The basis of talab in the Arabic language
is what do you look for? You look
for water.
Right?
And Allah has sent down from the heavens
water.
This the knowledge of the deen is
water.
It gives you life. Without it, you are
dead.
As for the one who was dead, and
we gave them life. This is how one
conceives of knowledge. Without it, one is dead.
It is
when we granted for we granted for them
light
by which they walk amongst people. Without it,
one feels like one's in the darkness. It's
zulumat.
It's meaningless.
Right? That's
the,
forcing oneself
to be patient. Right? Unwavering doesn't matter what
happens.
Right? Right?
Doesn't matter what happens. Who says what? What?
Whatever happens.
Right?
Right? One standing at the door.
Right?
The one who knocks once or twice and
then walks away is not a seeker.
They're just curious,
which is why the ulama traditionally used
to ignore students for for a long time
until they proved that they were serious.
And the means, and this is part of
this is a collective obligation
that we have to facilitate the means for
those who fulfill the rest of the criteria
to be able to seek, but the one
who's smart
would seek the means to be able to
study.
But also the question arises that if the
means are there and the seeking isn't,
then
as Ibn al Farah says
upon themselves, let cry those who waste their
life.
And who doesn't have
some share or some part
thereof.
And the guidance of a teacher, right, the
primary cause of
failure
is that one just tries to figure things
out on one's own. And most people,
this is what they do and that's why
they don't attain. And he's explained that at
length before.
And knowledge takes time.
And those
who are true seekers, one of the characteristic
you see, what are they doing once they've
completed their formal period of study? They're seeking.
They're seeking.
Right? And that's what their concern is.
Right? Sheikali has never asked me how many
kids I have. I'd be surprised if he
knows. He may, but I'm not sure.
Why? Immediately,
have you seen this this? Have you seen
this that? Right?
Well, different books. Why? Because that's what
right?
Is a man and a long time.
So may Allah
make us of those who fulfill
these criteria,
and then we'll look at how one chooses
one's companion
in
seeking of knowledge.
Thank you for listening to the daily
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