Sulayman Van Ael – The Divine Names 15 part 2 of 2
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Would I benefit from it?
InshaAllah you will reproduce it now, man.
InshaAllah, we all.
Excuse me?
InshaAllah, we all.
All, no, you.
InshaAllah.
Okay, so as I said, we are between
being nothing and nothing.
And there will be a point in time
where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will take
everything which is on the face of the
earth and will make it vanish.
Everything will vanish.
Every angel, every human being, every jinn, every
flower, every animal, every fish, every star, every
sun.
Everything will vanish.
And only Allah will be there.
When this happens, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
will say, لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمُ To whom belongs
the kingdom today?
But there's nobody to answer.
So he will answer himself and he will
say, لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ To Allah, the One.
You see this?
الواحد Because we don't exist together with Allah,
we exist thanks to Allah.
That's a very big difference.
Our existence is dependent.
You see?
So this is why he is the One.
But we don't say, like people with the
wrong aqeedah, that there is something which is
called وَحْدَةَ الْوُجُودِ for example.
That they say that everything is Allah and
Allah is everything because we exist through Allah
so we are part of Allah.
Some people say that Allah comes in creation
and that creation can become one with Allah.
This is kufr.
So this is not the direction we are
going.
So we are saying we don't exist together
with Allah, meaning Allah's existence is independent and
our existence is dependent on Allah.
Okay.
So now then he will say, لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ
الْقَهَّارِ The dominion is from Allah, the One,
القهار, the One that oppresses everything, rules over
everything, and who submits everything to His will.
Everything.
Allah is such a powerful King.
Like now the kings and queens and presidents
and emirs, they don't decide when a leaf
falls from the tree.
They don't decide which form and shape the
clouds will have flying over their heads, showing
that they are not the true kings and
queens of the universe.
But Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah Jalla
wa Ala says, وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِنْ وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا
يَعْلَمُهَا And there is not a single leaf
that falls from a tree, or He has
knowledge of it.
Why?
Because He is the One that does it.
So when these leaves fall from the trees,
we have the scientific view.
Oh yes, that's the wind, it's compression and
depression, not depression, compression, and so much more,
and now leaves fall.
That's true.
This is what we can unveil because we
can't see the power of Allah.
But this is the manifestation of Allah's power.
وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala moves the winds
and everything.
He says that He does it.
So when the leaves fall, He's actually doing
it.
Don't disconnect what you see from Allah's will
and power, and then you will always be
connected to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It is when we think that nature is
independent and that things happen far away from
Allah's irada and qudra, from His power and
will, that we will look at nature as
something independent.
Now when you know that the clouds above
you are shaped by Allah Al-Musawwir, this
form is not by accident.
Is there something that can happen by accident
in Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala's universe?
Nothing.
So when you look at the shape, and
you look at the colors, it's He Al
-Musawwir, the one that gives shape and form
and color and smell and taste to everything.
Why do we say the bananas?
Yes, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala chose them
to be yellow.
But when we look at the sky, all
of a sudden we don't have this feeling.
Every color, every taste, every smell, every shape,
every form is by and through Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
It has been, أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تَحْرُثُونَ Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala, haven't you looked at that
which you take out of the earth?
أَنْتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ Allah asks us,
are you the ones that created and give
the shape and everything to make it come
and sprout out of the earth?
No, we are the ones.
We are the ones.
So even by just looking at the crop
coming out of the ground and opening and
the flowers blossoming, we are astonished that our
iman increases.
So we are always saying, I feel so
far from Allah.
How can you be far from Allah?
Everything in the universe is calling His name
but we just don't understand it.
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and there's
nothing in the heavens or in the earth
or they are doing tasbih from Allah.
The scholars say tasbih doesn't mean that they
are saying subhanAllah wa alhamdulillah.
Allah says, لَكِ لَّا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسْبِيحَهُمْ but you
don't understand their tasbih.
Tasbih means they are reminding you of Allah.
They are doing tasbih, they are telling you
Allah exists, look at us.
How can you even think that you're far
away from Allah while He is always showing
you that He is near to you?
He has created everything for you not to
forget that you are returning to Him.
Every time a tree dies, there are new
leaves to remind you of resurrection after death.
Every time you sleep and you wake up,
you are reminded that you will die and
you will be revived.
Every time the sun burns above your head,
you are reminded that one day she will
be above your head on the day of
judgment.
Some say so that you would remember her
fire.
Everything.
وَفِي كُلِّ شَيْءٍ آيَةٍ تَدُلُّ عَلَىٰ أَنَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ
In everything there is a sign showing us,
reminding us of the fact that He is
One.
One.
So, the problem is that when you only
find your Lord, when you pray, you only
find your Lord when you read Qur'an
or when you do Siyam, that's not enough
to keep your soul alive.
It is only when you live life and
you look through the correct lenses, the lenses
of the names of Allah SWT, that everything
will eventually strengthen your Iman.
Like one of these Sahaba radhiAllahu anhu, he
drank water and he fell down on the
ground.
He started weeping.
He said, why are you weeping?
He said, I just remembered the verse, حِيلَ
بَيْنَهُمَّ بَيْنَ مَا اشْتَعُونَ And they will be
removed from that which they long for.
People of Hellfire will want water, it will
not be granted to them.
And another one drank water, started crying.
He said, why are you crying?
Because Allah SWT said, in that day you
will be asked about the Na'im.
لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ And he said, which
Na'im, which blessing, is greater than a
glass of water?
Another man from the Sahaba was looking at
someone melting iron in the oven and he
lost consciousness.
He said, why?
He said, I looked at iron and steel,
stronger than me, being able to demolish me,
tear me down, tear me apart, shred me.
He said, and it melted in the fire
of Dunya.
He said, what about flesh in the fire
of Al-Akhirah?
And this is why Imam Al-Ghazali says,
if your hifa, your profession, is being a
man or a woman of the Akhirah, you
won't need to do dhikr, everything will do
dhikr for you.
When you pass a door, you think about
paradise.
When you go under a bridge, you're reminded
of the bridge over Hellfire.
When you see you're at the bus stop,
you think about the day where everybody will
be resembled until the angel will take him
away.
It can be that you're just waiting for
the bus and that you're in awe because
you think about the moment where an angel
will come to take you by the hand
and drag you to your maker.
At the end, you won't be able to
escape from the fact of being remembered by
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through everything you
do, through everything you see, through everything you
live.
And this is the highest degree of Iman.
This is the highest degree of Iman.
And if we are able to do this
by the grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, everything will strengthen us, everything.
But, and that's the last piece of advice
I want to share, don't wait for others
to participate in this way to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala because the minority will do
it.
Your wife or your husband might not follow,
your children might not understand, your neighbors might
think you're crazy, you don't care.
It's about saving your skin, literally and figuratively
speaking.
It's about you will die alone.
ذَرْنِي وَمَنْ خَلَقْتُ وَحِيدًا Leave me alone, says
Allah, with the one I have created, alone
and as an individual.
We will die alone, we will be buried
alone, we will stay in our grave alone,
we will come out of a grave alone,
we will stand in front of the scales
alone, we will have to pass over the
Mizan alone, we will be eventually maybe first
in hellfire alone, until we get into paradise,
we are all alone.
يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ الْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ That
day, everybody will run away from everybody, even
a mother will run away from the newborn
baby.
وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا And every pregnant
mother will lose her child that day, and
will leave her child, she will give birth
to the child that wasn't born in dunya,
she will leave it.
I mean a mother to do this?
فَكَيْفَ تَتَّقُونَ إِنْ كَفَرْتُمْ يَوْمًا يَجْعَلُ الْوِلْدَانَ شَيْبًا
It says Allah, how will you fear if
you deny the existence of a day where
babies will turn grey?
Babies will turn grey.
Like Ibn Al-Jawzi said, هَٰذَ بِلَا ذِنْبٍ
يَخَافُ لِيهَ أُولِيهِ فَكَيْفَ بِالْمُقِيمِ عَلَى ذُنُوبِ دُورَهِ
This is a newborn baby, who is horrified
by the terror of that day.
So what about a person who has been
sinning for all his life?
You see?
So, we will be alone, apart from two
people.
Two people won't be alone that day.
The Prophet ﷺ said, when two people who
love one another for Allah's sake, will come
forward on the Day of Judgment.
One will have 49 hasanat, the other one
will have 51.
And, sorry, they will both have 49 hasanat.
49, one, two, two.
They say, either we go both to *,
or either one of us is saved.
49, 49.
If I give you one, you've got 50.
You are saved.
One says, I can't go without you.
He said, I loved you for Allah.
You loved me for Allah.
This is what it's about.
Let me save you.
So he gives him the hasanat.
And then, the command will be given that
this one goes to *, and the other
one goes to paradise.
And when he comes at the gate of
paradise, he said, Ya Rabbi, I can't enter
paradise without you.
I can't.
And then Allah ﷻ says, what made you
guys do?
What made you do what you just did?
What pushed you?
What moved you?
They said, مَحَبَّةً فِيكَ يَا رَبِّ Out of
love for you, O Lord.
And then Allah ﷻ says, I grant both
of you, because of your mutual love for
me, to enter paradise.
And they entered paradise hand in hand.
These are the only people that won't run
away from one another on the Day of
Judgment.
Those who loved one another for Allah's sake,
who weren't friends for money or to get
something in return.
They were travelers.
Travelers to the Hereafter, seeking companionship to go
through a world unseen and a day which
will take, you know, your 50,000 years.
People who said, we are travelers and we
need to get to our destination.
Please, let us help one another.
This is what they were living for.
This is why they were friends for.
And this is why they are rewarded.
Even Allah ﷻ that day, He says, أَيْنَ
الْمُتَحَابُونَ بِجَلَالِي أَلْيَوْمَ Where are the ones that
loved one another for my sake?
He calls them, you know, on that day.
Because today I will grant them my shadow
and today there is no shadow apart from
my shadow.
These are the ones, they will not even
be frightened on the Day of Judgment.
Prophet ﷺ said, some people will not be
frightened on the Day of Judgment.
Their faces are light, their clothes are light,
their space is light.
They said, Are those the Rasul, the messengers,
whose status is so elevated that nobody can
reach them?
He said, no.
يَغْبِتُهُمُ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ وَالشُّهَدَىٰ SubhanAllah.
The Anbiya, the Prophets and the martyrs will
envy them.
لِمَكَانِهِمْ مِّنَ اللَّهِ Because of their elevated status
with Allah ﷻ.
They said, سِفْهُمْ لَنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ They
said, describe them to us, O Messenger of
God, O Messenger of Allah.
He said, There are people, مِنُّ زَائِرُوا قُبَّةً
There are people from all different tribes.
تَزَاوَهُوا لِلَّهِ They visited one another for the
sake of Allah.
They gave each other gifts for the sake
of Allah.
And they loved one another for Allah.
لَا يَخَافُونَ إِذَا خَافَ الْنَّاسِ They will not
be frightened when everybody else is frightened.
Why?
Love for the sake of Allah ﷻ.
So these are the only ones.
So if you don't want to be alone,
look for friends who just want to be
with you to travel to Allah.
And how do you know whether someone is
a traveler with you to the Hereafter?
By being honest with you.
Someone who travels with you to the Hereafter
will never give you fake impressions.
When you tell him, Brother, what do I
need to change?
He won't say, Brother, everything is good.
You are okay.
You are generous.
You're this.
You're that.
He will say, I'm sorry, I think you
get angry a bit.
You know, you get quite angry.
Sometimes you don't keep your promises.
Sometimes this.
And if you then get angry, then you're
not a traveler to the Hereafter.
Then you are not loving him to Allah.
Umar ibn al-Khattab r.a used to
go through the market and he would say,
رحم الله رجلا أهدى إلي عيوب May Allah
be merciful to a man who shows me
my shortcomings and mistakes.
Why are we so afraid when people tell
us what we do wrong?
Do you want to go back to Allah
with our wrongs?
Or do you want to go back to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala كَيَوْمْ وَلَدَتْنَا أُمُّنَا
Like the day that our mothers gave birth
to us without any sins, shortcomings, flaws or
mistakes, or evil wants or desires or passions.
So if you want to travel to the
Hereafter, hand in hand, say brother, let us
promise together that you will advise me and
I will advise you.
You will help me to wake up for
Fajr and I will help you.
I don't expect anything from you but to
advise me on my path to Allah and
I don't expect anything from you and you're
not from me apart from this.
Someone came to Abu Hurair r.a and
he said, أريد أن أكون أخاك I want
to be your brother.
I want to be your brother.
He said, لا تطيقه He said, you can't
handle it.
He said, why?
He said, if I am your brother then
that which is in your pocket is more
mine than it is yours and that which
is in my pocket is more yours than
it is mine.
The man said, لا أطيقه I can't handle
this.
And he went away.
SubhanAllah, brotherhood for Allah.
Some of the Salaf, you know how irritating
it is when you pray and there's little
zzzz on your nose.
You know the feeling, right?
Even worse, on your lips.
When this would happen, the Salaf who love
their brothers and sisters, they would be as
quiet as possible because they knew that if
they were to move that the fly would
disturb their brother or sister.
This is how far their love for Allah
SWT went.
They wouldn't move.
If you don't do like this, where is
it going?
He said, Alhamdulillah, it's not with me.
No, it's with somebody else.
You see?
Some of the warriors, the Roman warriors, they
sent some spies to the Muslim army of
Khalid ibn al-Walid.
And when they arrived, they went back to
their emperors.
They said, we can't win against these people.
He said, why?
He said, they were around a lake.
And one of them dropped something into the
water and everybody jumped into the water to
be the first one to take it back
out of the water and give it back
to their brother.
He said, and when they fight, they put
themselves as a shield for their brothers while
we, we push our brothers forward.
And when they drop something, we are the
last one to jump.
And he said, yes, you are true.
And then they went again.
And then the Muslims were using the siwak.
But because they were Arabs, they didn't really
know what they were, right?
So when they were using siwak, they said,
they went back to their emperors.
They said, they are cannibals.
They are preparing themselves to eat us.
They are already preparing their teeth.
You know, they were just using siwak, but
they thought that they were preparing themselves to
eat their enemy.
So and then they submitted.
So just because of the uhuwa, of the
brotherhood, subhanAllah, when in the time when there
was a war, in time of the sahaba
radhiyallahu anhu, they went to, you know, to
the people who were injured, and they went
to the first man, and he was in
need of water.
He said, bring me water.
And they went to bring him water.
And then he heard somebody else asking for
water.
He said, go to him first.
And then this one heard somebody else, like
this three, four, five people, until they came
back to the first one, he was dead.
Second one dead, they all died.
And when were they doing this?
When they were dying.
And they were very thirsty.
When you die, you are thirsty.
This is brotherhood.
So all this, yes brother, no brother, alhamdulillah,
you're my brother, you're my brother.
Calm down.
Allah made us brothers, but to say you
are my brother, that's in need of proof.
My first poem I ever wrote in the
Arabic language was about fake brotherhood.
I came back from Sudan, from the desert
of Sudan, after memorization of the Qur'an,
and I was in a mosque, and I
saw how many fakes how are you's.
I detested this.
How are you brother?
Everything alright brother?
Can I do something for you brother?
And one day I said, no I feel
quite sad, maybe you can give me some
advice.
Allah will take care of you brother, and
he went.
SubhanAllah, so many fake how are you's.
And then I wrote, of course it's not
a very beautiful thing, it was just the
beginning of my being a Muslim, but anyway
I still remember it.
I wrote, it's not a poem.
It's لا تسأل عن حالي إلا وأنت مخلص
لأنك إن سألت علمت وإن علمت وما عملت
حسبت وليس بعد الحساب إلا جنة أو نهر
Which means, don't ask how I am doing
unless you are sincere.
Because when you ask me you will know,
and if you know and you don't act
upon your knowledge, you will be responsible.
And after this responsibility, neglecting it or fulfilling
it, there is nothing but Jannah or Nahr.
That was my first thing I wrote in
Arabic.
That was 24 years ago.
In the beginning when I was a Muslim,
you know, my Arabic wasn't strong.
And I read the hadith, المسلم من سلم
المسلمون من لسانه ويده Meaning, the Muslim is
the one against whom tongue and hand of
the Muslims are safeguarded, protected.
Meaning, he doesn't wrong Muslims with words or
with what?
With his hand, physically or verbally.
SubhanAllah, I thought that the hadith meant the
Muslim is the one that gives Salaam to
the Muslims with his hand and his mouth.
And he's saying Salaamu Alaikum and shaking.
When I would walk on the street, I
would see Muslims, I would go Salaamu Alaikum,
Salaamu Alaikum, Salaamu Alaikum.
And I thought that this was practicing the
hadith.
Until somebody told me, you are really wrong.
And I was angry.
I said, look at these Muslims, they don't
give Salaam, you know.
SubhanAllah.
But on the other hand, one of the
signs of the end of day is that
the Prophet ﷺ said, التسليمة الخاصة That Muslims
will start giving Salaam only to those who
they know.
Sometimes when you walk on the street and
a sister would give Salaam to a sister,
she doesn't know, Salaamu Alaikum.
She said, do I know you from somewhere?
She doesn't say this, she looks like.
And this is not normal.
The Salaam, Abdullah ibn Umar, like in Al
-Adab Al-Mufrad of Imam Al-Bukhari رحمه
الله عز و جل Abdullah ibn Umar would
just stand at the باب السوق, the door
of the market, to give Salaam to everybody
who would pass.
That was his worship that day.
He would go, stand in front of the
door, Salaamu Alaikum, رحمه الله، Salaamu Alaikum, رحمه
الله، Why?
Because the Prophet ﷺ said, you will not
enter Paradise until you believe.
And you will not believe until you love
one another.
And should I tell you what you need
to do for you to love one another?
Spread the Salaam amongst you.
This Salaam, Tasneematul Khalsa has happened.
We give Salaam to people we know, or
in the mosque, Salaam, Salaam, Salaam.
But when we see Muslims, imagine you, there,
Muslim, next to you, in the car, Muslim,
say Salaamu Alaikum.
You say, what is he doing?
Salaam.
This unites us.
So anyway, I've spoken a lot today.
Anyway, الحمد لله رب العالمين I think Inshallah,
we spoke about the name, the One, and
I think the meaning of it has become
clear.
What also became clear is how we need
to connect to Allah SWT through nature, through
looking at nature, never forgetting that He's the
King.
There's no shape, no form, no perfume, no
taste, or it was created by Him.
When you eat your food, enjoy it.
Every taste is different.
There's no banana that is exactly the same
taste like another banana.
The one you eat was designed for you.
عجيب The apple you eat, the structure, the
form, the colors was for you.
It was created for you.
This is how much He loves you.
You see?
And the last thing, and then it's finished.
You want to go?
No, no, no.
It's time for Adhan.
Really?
Is it time for Adhan?
It's six minutes.
Okay.
So, I'm going to do it in two
minutes, then I have to leave because I
have another place to attend, Inshallah.
So, when you're going to think, which I
always find incredible, is fish on your plate.
You know?
Everything on your plate, but fish.
I mean, fish has been created.
It swims between the ocas, or the sharks,
and the whales, and you know, it already
survives.
Then there are so many fisher boats.
Some are fishing for Holland, some are fishing
for Italy, some are fishing for Belgium, and
some are fishing for Britain.
These people on that boat, leaving their families
behind for three weeks, four weeks, five weeks,
if we were to pay them to fish
for us, we couldn't.
Fish would be too expensive.
Some of them, their wives are angry with
them.
What for a stupid job do you have?
You leave me, every month you leave me
three weeks alone with the children.
I'm pregnant again.
There you are on the ocean.
You know?
So he has got problems, misery, during the
night, storms, waves, and he's looking for your
fish.
Your fish.
One fish.
And then at the end, when the fish
is caught, they need to transport it.
The driver, you know, how do you call
this?
Truck driver.
He leaves his family behind, three weeks.
His wife calling, where are you?
You know, everybody's about to divorce because of
your fish.
So now, this fish arrives, then the guy
goes to the market early in the morning,
four in the morning, leaving his wife behind.
What for a nasty job do you have,
leaving every morning at four o'clock?
And at the end, you don't buy the
fish, you're invited to eat this fish.
This fish lived all its life, escaped all
the sharks, whales, and other fish that could
eat it.
Escaped all the nets of different boats, that
it was not destined for.
All these people, all of them moved together.
Their movements, their breath, their looking, their wanting,
their sleeping, their energy, was all to get
one free fish on your plate.
This is why Allah says, فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ إِلَى
تَعَامِلٍ Let the human being look at his
food.
Look at your food.
SubhanAllah.
And it is when we forget to think
like this, that we get disconnected from Allah.
And this is why, when we leave the
toilet, we say, اَفْرَانِكَ سَرِيَّ رَبِّ Why?
Because all this process of from the fish,
and the sailors, and the truck drivers, and
market man, and everything.
And then eventually, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala,
of all this process, He leaves the energy,
the vitamins, and everything which is good, in
your body, it strengthens you, while it tired
others, it strengthens you.
He takes out that which is not beneficial
for you, and there we are complaining about
our food.
Sorry Ya Rabbi, اَفْرَانِكَ You see?
So we need to re-establish our Muslim
way of thinking.
And then our hearts will be enlightened, and
our faith will be strengthened, just by eating
fish.
وصلى الله وسلم على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله
وصحبه أجمعين وآخر دعوانا الحمد لله ربنا Thank
you so much.
Wa alaykum