Bustān al-‘Ārifīn – Garden of the Aware Lesson 1
Date:
Channel: Omer El-Hamdoon
Series: Omer El-Hamdoon – Bustān al-‘Ārifīn
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For Salatu, Salam Allah
My dear respected for this ceremony for Lahore
some brothers, they asked me to, you know, to start some sort of lessons. And
I thought this was a great idea in many ways I know there's already lots of lessons that have been going on in the masjid and that's great. The more lessons in Charlotte, Allah the more potential for learning. And
when choosing what's the best topic, or indeed, which is the best way to go, I thought that it's very important for us to always realize
you can turn this one off.
If you just had no there will be refreshments after the coma for everyone. So there's refreshments after Mashallah.
So
the best, the best thing for us as as Muslims is to realize
where we are,
where we are and where we are heading. And this is the fundamental of any Muslim in this in this life, there's so many things out there. And indeed, somebody might spend their lifetime, even engaging in one of the most nobelist of Acts, which is to learn about Islam and so on. But how many people study Islam, but there are ignorance of Allah Subhana Allah, or ignorant of what their purpose is. And indeed, we know that there are people who will come on the Day of Judgment, even though they have achieved high status, in what may be seen as achievements in the Islamic realm.
And in fact, they will be the people who will be the first to be thrown in the fire somebody like a car, and somebody like an island or somebody who was more
more wanting of a title and front of the eyes of the people rather than for the purpose itself. And that's why it's always remains important for us to go back and
understand the nature of what we give our success and that is in understanding who we are knowing who we are knowing our purpose in life and that can only happen by knowing Allah subhanho wa Taala and I chose a text which inshallah will be this is not just a one off lecture and surely should be a weekly study circle. And you're not going to be shot along about half an hour every every week or there abouts. And I chose the text of
Imam and Noah v. Rahim online ma'am and no, he is renowned for being a hadith someone who has compiled a lot on Hadith.
He's written lots of great works or compiled a lot of great works and have youth, some of them which are household names. You know, like the other side of him is something that most houses have a copy of
even the book a lot of buying No, we you know, the 14 overhead is something that many people have and also the explanations there.
And he's also compiled an explanation of Sahih Muslim as well.
He's also a puppy is also somebody who has
understood the deen and learned the physical and specialized in the method of nuuma Shafi Rahim Allah although he was well versed in all the methods, and he also compiled books in this and again his his books are considered some of the authorities in the Shafi method. And so we have this side of Iran and knowing which is the Mojave the 40 homes the like the science expert, but in this book was done a lot of healing which is what we'll be studying, he comes out with his the the side, which is more about the spirituality is more about the purification is more about learning and knowing who Allah subhanaw taala is and realizing your path in this life and he chose the words
The name of this book because he obviously has the book, rather silent in which we are all aware of the other side of Harry have also means Gardens is the plural of the word
aroma, which almost means like
a place of have in entertainment and recreation.
And it is the goddess of the sila hain and that is the compilation relating to a hadith he talks about the, you know, he mentioned a hadith and verses from the Quran related to
different disciplines understanding the flap and then he goes into more about the job and the virtues and the cowboy and, and talks about lots of things there. In this one, he's chosen a similar title, which is Bustan Li riffin. And Bustan also means garden of those who are aware now they use the word aware but aware is a very poor translation of the word RF. Because RF is somebody who was not just aware by looked at all the different definitions, it's difficult to find the precise word is somebody who is almost not just aware but is enlightened, somebody who has reached a
realization of knowing
who they are, and that can only happen by obviously realizing their status in this life and then knowing a loss of Hannah what Allah
And whilst we are living in this life, I mean Subhana Allah, one of the nature of of our day to day life is we get engrossed in
the day to day, aspects of, of life running, you know, after this,
the daily chores, you know, work
to earn money and to, you know, to keep alive, staying alive, and to enjoy, and to maybe buy some things that will be beneficial for us. And so and sometimes we lose the whole aspect of coming, and just taking a moment out and this is what the whole nature of Salah is supposed to be about and coming to the masjid for some people it's become, you know, almost like a duty they have they have to come.
Some people even come to the masjid and some of the other might even talk about this, some people come to the masjid even it reaches a level to them, that they come to the masjid because it's almost like they are expected to come, you know, so they know that people are expecting to see them in the masjid. And if they don't come, the badness that they feel, is not because they're missing out on the virtual hub, but they're missing out on not being seen in the masjid by people. And that becomes a problem in itself. And so it's coming into a gathering where
we can take time out to you know, to away from this whole materialistic aspects of life, and not just the materialistic because also one of the dangers is
the ego, if you like the ego centric kind of aspect of how we view things, you know, coming to satisfy your ego coming to the masjid. So because if you're not seen in the masjid, people might criticize you. If you're not in the front row, sometimes even then you feel it's a problem because you know, and and some people you know, they fight for the front row, not because of the reward but more for that the status that comes with that and that's a problem in itself. So by going back and realizing this, there's a big painful process. You know, it's almost like the,
the different animals that shed they have to shed their you know, they have to shed their well they say like the eagle after so many years they have has to go through a whole process of shedding all its feathers. And you know, replacing
itself is a painful process but it's necessary. If you really want to be able to continue and it's much like you know the butterfly or the Morph when it wants to become a butterfly. It has to go through that process of
you know, becoming a cocoon and dwelling about about his reality and staying in that position. And and and having the strength of realizing it so that it can emerge. Once again if it doesn't go through that stage it will always remain a caterpillar. And in this life we have that choice of either remaining at Caterpillar
they were always calling in the on the earth on the dounia if you like you know just feeding of them all. We have the option of
taking time out secluding ourselves. And it's almost like an internal looking into ourselves so that we can then emerge into a butterfly which is free to fly, you know, and to reach different levels. So from this perspective comes this book was standing out of him, which is about
the garden, not the garden, in the agenda, but it's a garden here in the dunya. Because people who know Allah Subhana, Allah to Allah, and people who realize their position, they will be living in happiness, much like a garden, much like agenda in this life before they die. Because that is where the real happiness is, the happiness is in knowing a loss of habitat, the happiness is in being associated with a loss of handout with all the good deeds, and realizing your position in this life. And if you do that, you will feel that happiness, you will feel that content, you will feel that joy, if you like, and that is the garden.
Whereas other people are striving to get the the joy and the to realize the happiness through achieving material. And we know from you know, not one or two stories, but repeated stories of people who are wealthy and super rich.
But they have not, they have not achieved happiness, they have not seen the happiness or they not realize that happiness, the famous saying of Ibrahim, if no other him who was a poor man, he didn't have much. And he was living a life of someone who was an ascetic or somebody who had left the dunya as their head, if you like. And
he used to say, words, which until today are, you know, are have been engraved in the stone of history, which is he said, We are in happiness. We are in a state of happiness and content. If the kings and the princes knew what kind of happiness we are in, they would have fought us over this happiness with their swords, they would have wanted to achieve. They're happy, because they're kings in the policies and the princes who are not achieving their happiness. So imagine, no, he has compiled this and just a little bit about email, no email, no, we
rahima Rahim Allah is really a very, very fascinating character. He's someone who, in many ways, sets a very high standard. For people who want to have those stands even for the children, he sets the standard for the elders, and even amongst the scholars,
when he was
young, a young boy, even at the age of 10,
or even before that seven, the children with what you know, they would they would drag him to come and play call on the Boscawen play and he would, he would refuse to go and play with them because he wanted to engage in learning. And at that time, he was learning the Quran, his father put him in, in a shop in his shop, to, you know, to work and sell. And he would just be occupied with learning and the Quran to the extent that, you know, customers would go with him, they would not even know he wouldn't give them attention. So obviously they wouldn't. The shop was losing because of that.
Until his father, one person said to his father,
he said, I know that your son is special, and he has a bigger task ahead of him
than
than what you might think. And his father even said to that man, he said, Well, I use some sort of soothsayer, you know, you some sort of fortune teller trying to tell the future? And he said, No, but I just, it is just something that it's almost been put on my tongue to say these things. And that's when his father realized that, yes, let's push his son towards and give him the ability and, you know, he was born in 631. And, and he only lived for 45 years. So a very short life by all you know, by any hands, even by the standards of the old times. It was a short life. But he spent those 45 years is very dedicated to his, you know, his work, his contribution, his efforts. At one stage,
he was learning in his in on a daily basis, he was taking 18 lessons, 18 lessons learning, you know, in different fields of Islamic sciences, just so that he could learn and study and progress and then obviously, he became a master at what he did, and he, he didn't marry. So he stayed bachelor
dedicated to this and used to every day, he only used to have one meal a day. You know, he and he didn't have time, you know that that was the thing he even with that one meal, he felt that he didn't have time to eat, you know. And maybe the reason why he dies is well, because he didn't he wasn't eating healthily as well, you know, even some people were saying to him, why don't you eat, you know, have some fruit and things I said, I'm afraid the fruit will make me a little bit moist, and that will make me sleepy, and I won't be able to achieve a lot. So because of that, me, he spent and dedicated a lot of the time, even though it was a short life, but he produced so much to the
extent that he's an authority even till today.
So
we're just going to look at what he said in terms of the introduction to this, this book, so that you can understand the positioning from from where he starts.
He obviously starts like any other any other book by starting by praising Allah subhanho
wa Taala. And in praising Allah, He reminds us about, you know who last pantalla is, he is the one who is the mighty allies, he is a lot of far he is allied with all these names that Allah Subhana Allah has described himself with him, he Allah subhanaw taala is the one who alternates the night over the day unfolds the day into the night and, and false, the night and the day. And then more importantly, he mentioned here in praising Allah Subhana Allah, He says that Allah is the one who awakens, whomever he chooses, among his creation. he awakens whoever he chooses, amongst his creation, because and that is the reality if you like, the reality of this life is an even though
this there isn't. There's not a Hadeeth. But it's a saying, and some people say is the saying of earlier of the alarm, which is that a nurse who needs
a nurse when the people are asleep, by either Mr. to interview him, it's only when they die, that they wake up, they realize that they were sleeping. So if you think about the majority of the people, you know, their default position is there, they're asleep, and by asleep, meaning that they are unaware of what's happening, they're not really seeing what it like somebody is is when he's asleep, is having these dreams, and he's seeing and those dreams seem very realistic at the time that you can hear the things you can even smell the smells, you can see everything is happening to you real time, but it's not there.
So, the praise to Allah Subhana Allah is he will choose people and he will make them awake, he will awaken them while they are in this dunya while they are sleeping. And by awaking them, he makes them enter amongst his ranks and amongst the righteous because to have that awakeness to have that awareness, if you like is also an AMA formula. It's a virtue from Allah. When you consider people today's Allah you see, you just have to look outside and see how people are busy with their day to day lives, you know, engaging in in different things trying to achieve different things. And you don't have to even look amongst outside the Muslim realm, even when look at Muslim communities here
amongst the Muslims, how they are behaving, see how, you know, Muslims striving each one is that people who are willing to cheat each other, they're appealing to stealing from each other people are killing each other, they're appealing to, you know, people wanting to make sure that their their chairs are fast, and they're on their thrones, they don't nobody wants to shake them their positions, that the corruption, it's all there happening. Because they're not realizing what their purpose is. So to be awakened by Allah subhanho wa Taala is an indeed an AMA and it's not just about being a Muslim, that is in itself an AMA, but even from amongst the Muslims, to be chosen by Allah
Subhana, Allah to be awakened is great. And that's why he said he gives the grant success to whomever he chooses.
And he plays them amongst the people of right conduct. As for those he loves, he gives them insight into the reality so that they become people who understand the reality of this world. And so therefore they are, they don't entertain themselves in this life. That is the real realization, you know, and that's why when you look at the people of the past that people who really achieved great lives, they didn't have that attachment to the dunya. And this is essentially what this book is going to be talking about.
When he says I I testify that there is no God but Allah subhana wa tada and I testified that Mohammed is his slave.
And messenger, chosen again from his creation. And the profit is the most noble of his creations from the first, the last is the most noble of most noble of all creation, the most perfect, the one with the most and greatest awareness of a law most fearing the one who has great knowledge of Allah. And, and that is without doubt, the prophet sighs lm who, because Allah gave him that awareness, he was the most fearing of Allah and the most pious and when you look at the life of the prophet SAW Selim,
even when you see the context in which the Prophet sizer made this claim, and it's not a claim, and it's a supported and justified claim, was in the context where people thought that the prophet SAW Selim was actually not behaving in their ideas, and their mentality was not behaving of that of somebody who is as somebody who is not looking after dunya. So when he in the Hadith, there were three people who came and they were looking at the actions of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam and they they didn't find him they look, they asked his wives and things. So when they looked and considered the actions, can home Taka Aloha, they thought it was little, they didn't think these were big
actions. Do you see? So their their their lack of awareness, their lack of realization is that they couldn't see things for what they are. And so what did they say? They said, one of them said, As for me, I will fast. And I will not break my fast. And the other one said, I will pray throughout the night and not go to sleep. And the third one said, I will not marry the woman thinking by doing these actions, they will be caught there that will bring them that awareness that will give them that taqwa. And the prophet SAW Selim when he heard this, he was quick to correct them. And he said in that famous Hadith, he said at commelina, Anna shaquem de la and I am the most fearing of you
alive, he's not boasting here. But he wants to reiterate that he's the one who knows almost any fears a lot. But when you look at his actions, they don't contradict that. And again, this is an establishing Sharla principle that we will understand because some people today mistakenly
think that being poor, or not owning wealth, that makes them closer to a loss.
Or some people think that they live a hard life that makes them closer to Allah. Whereas the reality is not in how much you own or the clothes that you wear, or whatever. But it's how, whether it's about your heart, whether the dunya is in your heart, or whether it's in your hands. And that is something that you know, is reiterated through the actions of the righteous people, or before.
So, again, he sends the salutation of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And he says, This world is the one that dwindles away, it's not the one that's going to enjoy his abode, which will pass is something that we're just going to pass through, it's not something that's going to be lasting delight, it's the border of annihilation, it's going to end. So definitely, it's not something that's going to last forever, it's not a Hollywood, it's something that will just finish and end.
And then he said you look at the traditions, look at the narrations and look at the sound intellect people who think with their sound intellect, will see that there are proofs there in for anybody who looks at them, who are, will completely agree with this. You know, and, and again,
things like that are things which everybody realizes even those who don't believe in Allah subhanaw taala realize this, everybody realizes, you know, there is no differences, there is a consensus that everybody will die. Nobody has ever lived for eternity. Yeah. So everybody knows that there will come a time when they will die, they will know that this life will not last forever, they will know that their beauty or their strength or whatever, it will not last forever. So they know this already. So it doesn't even need, you know, proof doesn't need the scientific evidence, if you like is it's there for anybody who just to look in front of them, elite, the people who are elite, that
people are common, the rich, the poor, they all possess this knowledge, they all know this. And both minds and eyes focus on it so that they cannot be any clearer. And that's why he uses You know, sometimes some people argue about things but the evidence is is so,
so clear, and that is the basis of any you know, anybody coming closer to online learning who Allah is is to realize that fact you know, to see that there must be a purpose there must because if there's nothing if there's nothing after this life, then this life will have you know, it has no meaning. It has no meaning at all.
Short then justifies people doing, you know, wherever they want to try and achieve whatever they want. But surely something that is not going to last forever warrants that somebody questions. Well, what's after this? Is there something else.
And he says, We are warned about this in the Quran, we are cautioned to be constantly on our guard, to be aware of relying on the dunya, allowing ourselves to be diluted, allowing ourselves to trust in the materialistic aspect, the same dimension in the Quran. The same warning has come through the prophetic Hadith. And the same warnings have come through the wise saying of the people of the righteous. And that's why the most the best of the people in this life are the people who are the slaves of Allah, they have understood their position, and the most intelligent amongst those are those who have
managed to abstain from the this life, not indulging in the luxuries.
And then he just says, you know, he, he just uses the,
the poetry of one of the poets, obviously, this is a translated poetry, but it still has the same beauty. In the poet says, look at the ruins and how they have changed. Now their inhabitants have departed to Bartlett. Look, they are beyond recognition.
A light rain has fallen on their tracks, their stones have tumbled down and shuttled that people have all gone and with them all news of them they are known
and somehow when you think about this today, you know when you will we go to the graves we bury people and sometimes you that time
even the relatives of the deceased very, you know, very emotional, very thing. They're old, but come to them after a few months or even if after a few weeks. And sometimes even after a few days. They're arguing about the inheritance they're arguing about and it's like the person who has died after you know, a few weeks few months. That's it forgotten. He's in his own world until What about you know, when years have passed? He said when I look and reflect on their houses, tears overflow and pull down my face. If I had had more wisdom, when I pulled myself together after weeping, what my eyes saw when it looked would have sufficed, trivial beauty is what this world excels to deceive
us it's treachery never ceases.
Such it such as it that we are not even permitted to taste it without the taste turning bitter. When is ravishing beauty comes forward it deceives and when it suddenly turns back, it vanishes. It is a giver who strips away the gifts it has given out to ruin when it first made flourish. When it constructs something grand for a rich man. It builds it's perfect against him to destroy him.
That's why when hamana Rashid he, he built his palace, and Haruna rasheeda. You all know how Ron Rashid and the famous serif and what the kingdom, if we can call it that, his kingship. That time where it reached and how he brought he built this beautiful palace. And when he finished it, people started to come he invited people to come and inspect. And everybody came and everybody was congratulating him on such a magnificent piece of architecture and such a great palace. I will utter here one of the famous poets of that time. He said it's a very, very great palace, but it has two major defects to really what he said
the owner will die and the palace will come through and it will no longer last.
And that was that shook her on because you know he was obviously happy and he was quite pleased with this. And that is the reality. I mean, if we go to Iraq now you will not see the Palace of Harun al Rashid. And you don't know what it looks looks like. And obviously how to another sheet has also passed away.
And then he said also, he said,
somebody else has said, when someone praises this world for his life of ease by my life, he will blame it. When there's only little when it slips away man grieves when it comes forward to meet him. It brings many issues or problems with it.
So, just lastly, what he says is the purpose of this book. So, as an introduction is to make clear to you how to travel this path or the path to
it will show you how to take on the excellent qualities that I have described a lot willing, I will mention some of the pearls
and some of the realities of this awareness of knowing how long it will be encompassed, composed in such a way so, not to bore you, okay. Because,
you know, unfortunately, I mean, even at his time, and this was like, even a time of compilation, if people had not had as much
enthusiasm in learning and, and refining it, and you look at books like Halle Berry, which is the, the explanation of Sahih Bukhari by hijab and half of
it's a large compiler.
It's about 14 or so volumes, explaining bajada. And when you look at the when you read the book, of visit, when you read that book, you see he goes into details, and he explains this, and he says this all each narrator, he talks about them, and he brings it howdy from other sources and explains everything and he brings into after you're done. And so what you might know, he when he compiled for a Muslim, even then he said, he said that I wanted to make this
very wide, and etc. But then I saw people are not really that bothered, they're not interested. So I just, I thought the best way is just to shorten it, at least some people will benefit. And so I hear you saying the same thing. I don't want to make this book
very hard for you, I'll just make it in a very simple way, there will be some uplifting sayings of the seller, the meaning of certain inspiring stories and some beautiful poems. In most cases, it will be demonstrated whether the Hadees are sound and so he or her son and they are changing transmission, because again, no no, he had this he has to comment on that Hadith. Unlike a number of anxiety, for example, is it when compiled is vocal here.
He didn't comment on that Hadith, he just put, you know, all the almost like he gave us a task for people to to come later on, they mostly not mentioned the transitions, or whatever is obscure or hidden, I will make it clear and I will give that necessary definitions to remove any distortion.
Now, he said, This book is meant for people who worship and for people who are not in need of the science of his net don't need to have a look at all the chains. And most of what will be quoted by the praise of Allah will have a nice net, which is already famous in the well known books. So you know, don't worry about in that regards. I will not write lengthy commentary on it. He said because any elucidation of it could just give rise to error concerning its true meaning. This book will contain various sciences of the Sharia some of the subtleties of Hadith, the science of the manners or double the deen. It will also contain some pieces of a hadith science and some finer points of
hidden field. It contains important points concerning belief and some gems of principle. And it will include some subtle Marvels which stimulate the remembrance of Allah, which should be mentioned in gatherings. It deals about the awareness of the hearts, the sicknesses, and the treatment and the cure. So should something arise which would require an explanation? Then he says, I will refer you to it to another book. And obviously, he has other he said, but don't think that when I'm referring you to another book, that I'm trying to just show off here. Thank you. I've got another book on, he said, but rather I need to guide you towards good and to point out and then he says, I have bought
these find the two points to your attention, because I see, there are people who find fault with anyone who acts in this way, is only because of their ignorance, bad opinion, perversity, envy and capacity and over all, stubbornness. I want to establish this meeting and cleanse people of any false opinion and reproach And lastly, he says makes the other I'll ask Allah Subhana Allah for success, by my to give me success in my attention and to help in all manner of obedience, to make actual obedience easy for me and to always guide me to increase in them until I die. I asked Allah for his, for this for all who love him. For those who love me for the sake of Allah and for all the
Muslims, men and women. I asked him to join us together in the abode of his generosity in the highest station and to provide us with His pleasure and aspects of all good. I have come to Allah seeking His protection, and I have sought the help of a live reload on a law there is no power in Australia.
except by law, the high, the immense splendor and allies enough for us and He is the best of Guardians.
And here we also need we say, I mean, obviously to his daughter and also ask Allah Subhana Allah to bless him knowing and to have mercy on him and to raise his status for the wonderful works that he has provided us with in Charlottetown. So what will happen in Sharla, every week, we'll go over some of the this book.
And just to explain some of the matters that need explanation. And hopefully, within a course of
several weeks, we'll be able to it's not a lighter book, it's a very short book, but it contains very important like he says, very important gems, some are hiding some narrations, some stories, and that inshallah will give us a little bit more insight to understanding and being aware of a loss of Hannah Horton.
I'm also, I'm also in two minds whether to do some extra work for your sake to try to allow those people who are interested to make this experience not just one where they just sit and listen. And then forget half of what said, once they leave the doors, maybe even more than half is a conservative estimation, but to maybe put things into a folder, so those people who want to,
you know, take notes and people who want to maybe even ask themselves questions about the learning becomes more guided, so that you are in Sharla established in what you learn, then I might do that in Charlottetown and just get some but obviously, it will be open for anybody who wants to take on the extra learning if you like so that we don't come here we listen and then just go away and forget what but rather, it becomes something for us and Charlotte does not come along and say Will you have any questions?
Obviously, this is just an introduction. So next week, shall we go into the the first chapter and learn more about what you know is saying in this garden of the aware
everyone's in Shell after Southeast Asia. We aim to finish around the quarter tonight. And tonight we have a lot of hunting the shadow lower than the stuff that's going on.