Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #035 Keys to Obedience The Highest Rank The Pens Have Been Lifted Waiting for Openings
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
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.
We are continuing
in our daily rauha
to look at
some of the beautiful and amazing guidance of
the beloved Messenger and
specifically
in
the hadith that we're looking at,
we're looking
at hadith in praise of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
And
we
looked
in the last hadith that we took, which
is hadith number 27 of this collection of
Sheikh Yusuf and Nebuchadnezz
at we we read 28.
Yeah. Okay. Sorry. Hadith number 28,
which is
of this
of an important sunnah that is neglected in
our time, right, which is
the importance of asking one's questions,
right, that it happens
that sometimes
something is unclear
or something is confusing.
And in this case,
this,
you know, the the narrator of the of
this hadith,
Abu'Abdillah
a a dilemma,
he had some question about
about destiny,
the reality of destiny and what relates to
it,
you know, you know, divine,
decree and human responsibility.
So he sought out the companions. Right? And
this and he sought out the senior most
and most learned of those companions. Right? And
that's an important
sunnah.
So the next hadith,
which is hadith number 29,
It's related by
Ibn Masrud
the Messenger of Allah
taught us
the the sermon of need
that when one has a particular
need,
one feels particularly needy
right, then this is
a way
to begin.
Right?
And the the one can begin this for
a Khutba that one gives oneself,
that's one aspect of Khutba Til Hajjah.
The other is even in dua.
Right? Even in dua because this Khutba Til
Hajjah is an expression of neediness to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So it is
established
and it is
recommended,
but
it is not
the sunnah of every Khutbah,
as is clear from the sunnah of the
prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. The prophet SallAllahu Alaihi
Wasallam gave many Khutbas, did he always begin
with this one? No.
So
yes it's done
particularly when it's connected to
some Hajjah.
Right? One wants
to emphasize something really urgent, something really important.
That's when one would begin,
some urgent reminder,
right,
some particular admonition.
But
it it is not
somehow
a general opening,
which is why if you look in the
works of the greatest scholars, they didn't always
begin their books with this. Actually, they didn't
even usually begin their books with
this. Right? The prophet didn't always nor usually
begin his with this
and there's actually no in the hadith for
that. There's no indication in the hadith of
that nor from the practice of the early
Muslims. We have many of the khutbas of
Sayid Nabu Bakr and Sayid Omar and Sayidna
Uthman and Sayidn Ali. Did they always did
they always or usually use this Khutbatul Hajj?
No?
They call Khutbatul Hajah because it's the servant
or the kitab
or the address for when there is need,
for when there is need.
So the Prophet taught them
Right?
So it begins, truly
all praise is Allah's.
We praise Him
and we rely upon Him
and we seek His forgiveness
and we seek refuge in Allah
from the evil of ourselves.
Whomever
whomever Allah guides there is none to lead
astray.
And whomever Allah leaves astray
there is none to guide.
Because what is guidance?
Guidance is for Allah
to take one
towards
that which is pleasing to Him.
Right? Guidance is created by Allah and
if Allah does not create the guidance within
1, one is lost.
Right?
But if there are
there are means of seeking guidance.
And I bear witness
that there is no God but god but
Allah.
I bear witness that there is none
worthy of worship,
none free of need of any other, whom
all are in absolute need of
except Allah.
And I bear witness.
Bearing witness, one one is absolutely certain without
doubt
that Muhammad
is his servant.
He is his perfect servant,
his most beloved servant, his most chosen servant,
and his messenger,
his final messenger, his greatest
messenger.
And then
he referred to the Quranic verses, Oh you
who believe,
be mindful of Allah with the mindfulness that
he deserves.
And do not die
except
in
a state
of complete submission
or except having attained
complete submission.
O you who believe, be mindful of Allah
and say words
that are
true,
that are rightly
directed.
He will rectify for you your deeds.
And he will forgive for you your sins.
And whoever
obeys Allah and His Messenger has succeeded
with tremendous
success
So of course these two verses
contain a summary
of guidance,
the affirmation of need, why?
Because if you see
they give us the keys to the fulfillment
of need. Praise of Allah
expresses gratitude
and entails
relying upon Him,
recognizing one's shortcoming,
seeking protection from harm,
acknowledgement
of the need for guidance from Allah,
right, affirmation of Tawhid.
Then what what are the fruits of
right?
Or the keys to to the fruits of
being manifest?
Of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Right?
And asking Allah to realize that within us
and seeking to fulfill that. Okay. So what
the first verse oh you believe
have taqwa of Allah as He deserves.
Of course when the Sahaba heard this
they were
shaken and you can see the related hadiths
in the chapter on taqwa in Re Abu
Salihin.
They said,
oh, you Rasoolah, we can't fulfill this.
So if you consider what Allah deserves, how
can you have taqwa of Allah as he
deserves?
And so this haber coming from a sound
vantage point, so say, we we cannot do
that, like it's
overwhelming us.
Some even said we we cannot sleep.
And the prophet began,
you know, rebuking them
that will you say to me as
the the, you know, the Bani Israel said
to their prophet,
that we hear yet we disobey,
but then Allah revealed the
verses
Be mindful of Allah
to the best of your ability.
To the best of your
ability. Right? Because what Allah deserves is that
you have taqwa of him as he deserves.
And that's what Allah deserves.
But what does he accept
that you do the best that you can
because he's merciful.
But even when you do the best you
can, you realize
even when you do what you're responsible for,
you do the best you can,
Allah deserves
better.
And strive to attain complete taslim,
complete surrender to him.
Right?
Having attained complete submission.
Oh
you
who
believe
be mindful of Allah and say words that
are true. We see from this that a
key, one of the most important keys of
taqwa is committing to upright speech. Whoever believes
in Allah in the last day let them
say
what is good or remain silent.
Say words that are of benefit,
bereft of harm
that are keys to good in this life
and good in the next and nothing besides.
If you if you do that,
and this is
a condition and consequence.
Do this, have taqwa of Allah and say
words that are true. What's the consequence? Commit
to taqwa,
rectify
your speech.
Make it
make it straight without
crookedness. He will
rectify for you your actions.
So this is a condition.
He will rectify for you your works.
And he will forgive for you through that
your sins.
And whoever obeys Allah and his messenger
has indeed
succeeded. Foes is success.
Foes is to win.
Has succeeded
with
Right? What kind of foes?
And those of you who study a little
bit of grammar, you know what kind of
expression this is.
Right?
Right,
has succeeded with tremendous success, not just any
old success,
succeeded. And success is itself, like, what else
do you want but success?
But this is not just you you won.
Right? If life is a race,
if you obey Allah and the messenger, you
won the race.
But there's not just any victory, this is
the
truly tremendous.
Yeah. The manifest success.
Whoever some of the Mufasireen
explained
that
these Allah has Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
mentioned in this verse 2 keys to obeying
Allah and his
messenger. Commit to taqwa and
commit
steadfastly to upright speech.
If you do so, Allah will rectify your
actions, forgive your sins, and this constitutes
obeying Allah and his messenger.
If you're committed to obeying Allah and His
Messenger what what are the keys to it?
Commit the taqwa, rectify your speech which is
why
a standard practice in all spiritual paths
would be
to guard one's tongue.
And I would counsel myself and each of
you to regularly review
the
the fiqh of speech.
Right?
Because it is clear from the sunnah
that
the key to to paradise is your tongue.
As is clear from so many hadiths, amongst
them the hadith of Sayna Mu'ad when he
went asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's messenger
to clarify for him the pathways of good
that would facilitate paradise and distance from the
fire.
And the prophet you've asked about something tremendous,
but it's easy for whomever Allah makes it
easy for him. And the prophet detailed the
ways of good and then what's the pinnacle
of good. But
then
he
asked tell you what all of this
depends upon.
All the ways of good, the prevention of
all harm, the facilitation of paradise, being distanced
from the fire,
the pathways of good,
the pinnacle of good, all of it, what
is it dependent upon? Said
no Ma'al said,
do tell me, he said,
He said, so all I said,
guard this.
Right? Said Uma'al was surprised,
are we taken to task for what we
have to say?
And the prophet
said,
do you not understand Uma'al?
May your mother be bereaved of you which
doesn't mean literally against
him, for him or
it's amazement
that don't you get it,
Our people dragged to * by their forelocks
for other than what
their tongues have harvested.
So
this is why it's such this
this meaning
that committing to taqwa upholding
straight speech is the key to to all
other rectification.
So this is and this is an amazing
reminder as well, but
and it's good to incorporate sometimes in one's
opening khutbas when,
you know, one is when there's a
can a sense of urgency
or,
need being highlighted.
The 30th hadith,
It's related from Ibn Umar, from Abdullah ibn
Umar Radiallahu
Right?
The
So it's related from the Messenger of Allah
by Ibn Umar that the Messenger
said the least of the people of paradise
in rank are those who look at their
gardens, what they have
been granted
of gardens
and spouses
and blessings
and servants,
and
joys
to the extent
of a 1000 years of traveling.
That norm in this dunya, it would have
taken a 1000 years to travel that distance.
That's how expansive
its vastness
is greater than the heavens and the earth.
And that's the least of them.
And the most honored of them to Allah
are those who look to His countenance,
mighty and majestic,
by morning and by night.
So some of them took
by morning and by night meaning once in
the morning once at night that's a sort
of the way
of interpreting
it because you do
you affirm the least.
But
is
by morning and by night,
by morning and by night.
And how much by morning and by night
and how constantly
it depends on?
One state with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Then the prophet recited
faces on that day will be radiant.
To to their lord
gazing.
Right? And here, of course, part of the
the honoring to their lord. And why is
Allah referred to that as their lord? This
is of
is of honoring for the servant
because the the the servant who is gazing
upon their Lord is the one who knew
their Lord in this life
and to what extent will one
gaze upon Allah
in the hereafter which is the greatest joy
to the extent that one knew Allah in
this life.
Right?
This hadith was related by Imam Ahmad and
Imam Atirmali
So
this highlights both the vastness of
divine mercy, this hadith, but also
what one should be striving for,
what one should be striving for,
right? That there's high levels
of striving.
Hadith number 31,
and this is one of the most comprehensive
hadith
and this is hadith number 19
in the 40
and they say it's one of the most
amazing hadiths of the Messenger and
one of the amazing things about it of
course is that the prophet
said
this hadith to Ibn Abbas when he was
a child. And he addresses him in the
hadith
Oh young boy.
And the
is someone around the age of 10.
Maybe a little
more. He was a child
and this tells us a lot about parenting.
The prophet
raised children.
He didn't dumb down children.
He said to him and other narrations that
detail it out mention
that
he was,
or
I was riding behind the messenger.
And he told him
oh child
or may have said
in some narration he said, oh little young
man
in the diminutive.
I'm going to teach you some words so
remember them and Ibn Abbas did.
Be be mindful of Allah and He will
be mindful of you. And literally is
to guard
carefully
and protect and preserve.
Right?
Right?
Or one way to sort of an an
an American way of translating. Watch out for
Allah and he'll watch out
for you. This is how Sheikh Nuh recently
translated
it. Watch out for Allah. That's what is
to watch out for something. That's why memorizing
is called because you watch watch out for
something so carefully that you don't forget it.
Okay?
Be mindful of Allah. He will be mindful
of you.
Remain mindful of Allah
and you will find him before you.
Meaning that you will behold him.
Right? And that's
true iman
is
The reality of faith is for the knowledge
of faith
to become
beheld realities.
So you don't just believe that Allah is
the creator of everything but you behold that.
So you don't see creation
and then say, oh, it has a creator.
True faith
would be you behold the creator first.
If you ask, ask Allah.
Meaning in reality you're only asking Allah. If
you ask any other,
ask Allah first.
See all
others as mere means
granted and facilitated
by
Allah. And if you
seek assistance, if you rely,
rely on Allah.
Everything else
you take,
you pursue
the means of facilitation
but you don't place your heart except upon
Allah.
And know well that if all people,
if they gathered to benefit you in anything,
they could not benefit you except with something
that Allah has written for you.
So don't
rely on them.
And if they all gather to harm you
in anything,
they
would not harm you
They could not harm you except with something
that Allah has written against you.
The pens have dried and the pages have
been lifted.
So don't see
There's none who benefits
and none who harms except Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. So
there's none to
hope,
none to fear, none to rely upon except
Allah.
Right? As
says in,
for he is the creator of the servant
and all that he does,
granting,
granting the facilitation
to whomever he wants
to reach,
right, to reach whatever they're seeking to reach.
So this is an amazing hadith. Entire you
know, I've been I've been Raja Al Hanbali
wrote a complete book in explaining this hadith.
Right?
Because there's so much in this
and in the larger commentaries of the 40.
And every house should have a copy of
Ibn Rajab's commentary, for example,
the
compendium of knowledge and wisdom.
They have dozens of pages in explaining this
because there's so much from the early Muslims
related to this
hadith number 32.
Or actually we'll take hadith 32 and pause
for today.
And Ibn Mas'udin
So Ibn Mas'ud
relates that the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam said
ask Allah from his bounty.
For Allah loves to be asked
to be asked.
For Allah loves to be asked.
And the best of worship is to wait
for opening.
So
ask Allah from his bounty
because
faith would entail 2 separate meanings when it
comes to du'a.
One meaning that faith would entail that if
you have complete certitude in Allah, why would
you ask?
But if you have complete slave hood in
Allah, how couldn't you ask?
These are 2
competing considerations.
Why would you ask if you know
that
he is?
There's nothing in the heavens or in the
earth except that it is upon us to
provide for it, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says.
So why do you have to ask?
This is the eye of certitude to say
I don't need to ask.
But the eye of slave hood would say,
I have nothing
but you.
So you would you would ask.
So there's 2 competing considerations,
the eye of certitude and the eye of
slavehood.
But one can be short sighted,
which is why
one asks
with slavehood
combined with certitude.
So it's it's not the asking
of the uncertain.
And if
one doesn't ask
out of certitude,
it is a certitude
with complete neediness upon Allah.
But the basis is to ask.
The basis is to ask. Sometimes one may
not know what to ask, and it's a
permission
not to ask out of certitude, but that
certitude should have it's not certitude. Oh, he'll
take care of it. I don't no. It's
a certitude with
neediness.
Right? With neediness.
Sayidna Ibrahim didn't ask.
Sayidna Ibrahim
did not ask when he was thrown in
the fire.
It's it's sufficient for him
from my having to ask that he knows
my state.
But that's an exceptional case. And sometimes we
may find ourselves in these moments, but they
say
in those moments, the adab of such a
moment is to busy oneself
with some Ibadah.
That sometimes one feels overwhelmed. You don't know
what to ask or where to begin.
So
the the normal adab in that, if you
don't know what to ask, busy yourself with
some Ibadah,
with Quran,
with with
prayer. And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
relates in the hadith Qudsi from Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala
Whoever is busied
by my remembrance
from asking me, I give them the best
of what I give those who ask.
This particular in those situations, sometimes one feels
restless or overwhelmed, but it doesn't know what
to ask. Some some situations are so complicated
you don't know
even what to begin asking.
So there one with certitude and with slave
hood, one busies oneself with with Quran or
with dhikr or with prayer
and, and that's the adab. But the general
adab
is to ask Allah of His bounty,
of His bounty because Allah loves to be
asked and it's
you know and asking Allah for because He
is the Most Merciful
Right? For Allah loves to be asked
and the best of worship is waiting for
opening,
meaning
to have complete patience,
complete
complete gratitude,
complete reliance and trust
that Allah if you have asked Allah will
give you how and why and when,
you leave that to Allah. You don't question
but you and also to to wait because
one of the adab is sometimes Allah is
answering
but you're not listening to the answer because
you are seeking your answer not his answer.
So, oh, Allah, make my business succeed but
it keeps
hitting a wall and Allah is giving you
an answer. The answer is
consider
another opportunity that he is sending you but
sometimes if we're stuck on that I'd want
this.
Right?
If the door is not opening there's another
door that's open,
right? So the adab there is not to
have overavenit, it's to wait
for His opening.
May Allah grant us insight
This hadith is related by Imam Tirmidhi, so
we'll continue from number 33.
And
those who look ahead a little bit once
we're done with hadith number 40 so this
week
we
may be finishing this section
and then the next
or within the week we'll be finishing the
section the next collection of 40 hadith is
on the virtues of the Quran and its
recitation.
Thank you for listening to the daily
guidance for seekers.
Help us continue to give light to 1,000,000
around the world by becoming a monthly donor
at seekershub.org/donate.
Your donations are tax deductible in the US.