Yahya Rhodus – Acting Upon Knowledge
AI: Summary ©
The importance of realizing high spiritual aspiration and achieving spiritual goals is emphasized in various aspects of life. The physical aspect of Islam is discussed, including the importance of high spiritual aspiration and the natural presence of the creator. The Prophet's teachings and directions on pursuing spiritual goals are also discussed, along with gatherings and events that bring people closer to Him and bless them.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen, wa Sallallahu ala Sayyidina
Muhammadin, Asharaf al-Anbiyai wal-Mursaleen, wa ala
alihi al-Tayyibin al-Tahireen, wa sahabatihi al
-Akrameen, wa tabi'ina lahum bi-Ihsan ila
Yawm al-Deen, Allahumma Salli wa Sallim wa
Barak wa Karim ala Sayyidina Mawlana Muhammadin, wa
ala aadihi wa sahbihi wa sallim wa ajma
'in, Alhamdulillah, I'll praise be to Allah Subhanahu
wa Ta'ala, who has allowed us to
hear these blessed words, and there is a
secret in what is called tazkir, in being
reminded of meanings that many of us know
about, but one of the differences between tazkir
and ta'allum, being reminded in learning is
that tazkir is usually things that you already
know, but by listening to those blessed admonitions,
it stirs up those meanings in your heart
and allows you to relate to them in
a much deeper way, moving more towards what
is called tahqiq, realization of those meanings within
yourself, and this is what we're in need
of as human beings.
The reality is, is that if we have
just a little bit of knowledge, yet we
put that knowledge into practice, it will suffice
us.
What we really want is to have realized
within us the highest and most sublime meanings
of this deen, and this should be not
only what we intend when we come to
a gathering like this, but what it is
that we do, how we conduct our lives,
and what it is that we arrange for
ourselves on a daily, on a weekly, and
a monthly, and yearly basis.
Every single day, ultimately, is an opportunity to
spend that to, in a way, in which
that we can come to fulfill our purpose
in life here on earth, which is none
other than to draw near to Allah Subhanahu
wa Ta'ala, and if everything that Allah
Subhanahu wa Ta'ala created has a purpose,
which it does, is that human beings indeed
have a purpose.
This is what we've been created for, and
as our teachers used to repeat over and
over again, that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala
did not create us so that we could
benefit from Him, and literally, so that we
could profit from Him, li narbah alayh.
He created us Subhanahu wa Ta'ala so
that, He didn't create us so that He
could benefit from us, rather, He created us
so that we could benefit from the outpour
of His bounty, and every single day is
an opportunity.
Every single night is an opportunity.
One of the lines, actually, the matrah, the
opening line of one of the poems, the
last poem that we heard, kullu layla dhiyaafa
min azeema almawahim.
Every single night, you are able to receive
divine hospitality from the One who gives the
greatest of all gifts.
Every single night is an opportunity for aata
to receive the divine gifts of Allah.
Every single day is an opportunity to receive
the divine gifts of Allah, and no one
was a miftah, a key, in order to
open up the door for us to receive
those blessed gifts, like our Prophet Muhammad salallahu
alayhi wa alihi wa sahbihi wa salam.
He is the One that gave us everything
it is that we have, and everything it
is that we need, to be able to
benefit from that every single moment of our
lives, if that we have what it is
that we need to do so.
But one of the great traits of the
people of Allah that you learn is this
trait that is at the very depth of
our being, and it oftentimes is a defining
characteristic, wherein which that you have people between
good and even better and then best.
And this trait is something that relates to
how it is that we do everything that
it is that we do, what motivates us,
what lies deep behind everything that it is
that we undertake.
And this is understanding that we as human
beings have what is called himmah.
We have what is called spiritual aspiration.
There is a varying degrees in which that
you and I are motivated to do everything
that it is that we do.
And if we look at this word linguistically,
this meaning of himmah is one of al
-azm al-qawiyy.
It relates to strong resolution.
But then if you look at how the
scholars define it, they define it in a
way that is similar to sidq, to truthfulness,
and they overlap at a certain point.
But this lies at the depths of our
being, and that's it.
It's where all of your inward and outward
ability comes together where you fully levy it
to in order to achieve your goal.
Everything that it is that you have, all
of your abilities, that mustering up everything that
it is that you can do inwardly and
outwardly to achieve your goal.
And then the scholars have told us is
that there is what is called himmah aliyah,
and there is what is called himmah diniyah.
There is what is called high spiritual aspiration,
and there is low spiritual aspiration.
And no matter what it is that we
exert ourselves for in relation to the things
of this world, it doesn't mean that it's
necessarily unlawful or wrong.
But every worldly pursuit ultimately is considered to
be a manifestation of low spiritual aspiration.
And this is not in any way to
take from any worldly pursuits.
If you do worldly pursuits with the right
intention, you will draw nearer to Allah subhana
wa ta'ala through them.
But it is to differentiate and to make
it clear for human beings that the most
important thing that we should be doing, and
in fact all of our worldly pursuits should
be subjected to this higher purpose of coming
close to Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
Because then when you talk about high spiritual
aspiration, this relates to drawing nearer to Allah
subhana wa ta'ala, preparing for the hereafter,
trying to be someone who truly follows the
Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam, having that
sidqa tadwajuh, that sincere direction of your heart
towards Allah subhana wa ta'ala, trying to
benefit from every single moment of your life,
learning the sacred law of Sayyidina Muhammad salallahu
alayhi wa sallam, and on and on and
on.
There are countless manifestations of these various pursuits,
all of which are considered to be manifestations
of having high spiritual aspiration.
And if you look at the people of
Allah subhana wa ta'ala, their aspirations are
always connected to the best of creation salallahu
alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam.
There is a blessed salawat upon our Prophet
by the great Imam Habib Ali bin Muhammad
al-Habshi radiyallahu ta'ala anhu arda, one
of the great Imams of this religion, who
spent his life learning this deen, putting it
into practice, and then disseminating it throughout the
earth.
He spent his life serving our Prophet Muhammad
salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and was gifted the
very closest of all connections.
And you can glean this from his blessed
words.
In one of his salawat says, Allahumma salli
wa sallim ala Sayyidina Muhammadin wa ala aali
Sayyidina Muhammad.
That oh Allah we ask you to sow
blessings and peace upon Sayyidina Muhammad and upon
the family of Sayyidina Muhammad.
Bil-lisan al-jami'ah, with the comprehensive
tongue, fil-hadrat al-wasi'ah, in the
most expansive of presence, in salatan tamuddu biha,
jismi min jismihi.
A prayer in which I receive provision for
my body from his body.
Wa qalbi min qalbihi.
And for my heart from his heart.
Wa roohi min roohihi.
And for my spirit from his spirit.
Wa sirri min sirrihi.
And from my innermost secret from his innermost
secret.
And then, wa ilmi min ilmihi.
And that I receive provision from my knowledge
through his knowledge.
Wa amali min amalihi.
And for my actions from his actions.
Wa khuluqi min khuluqihi.
And for my character from his character.
And then he goes on.
Wa niyati min niyati.
And I receive provision for my intentions from
his intentions.
Wa wijhati, the direction of my heart.
Min wijhati, from the direction of his heart.
Wa qasdi min qasdi.
And for my aim from his aim.
And then he didn't want this just for
himself.
These are people that have high spiritual aspiration.
This is not an imam that lived 500
years ago or 1,000 years ago.
Habib Eid ibn Muhammad al-Habshi passed away
in the year 1333, which is just a
little over 100 years ago.
Some of those present here would have met,
and we've met, his grandchildren.
This is not someone who lived a long
time ago.
But Allah Ta'ala raised him still to
the highest of degrees.
And then he says, wa ta'udu barakataha.
That I'm praying upon the Prophet ﷺ such
a salah that the blessings of it come
back to benefit alayya, my own self, wa
ala awladi, and upon my children, wa ala
ashabi, and for my companions, those that spend
time with me, wa ala ahli asri.
And that even all people of my time
benefit from this blessed salah upon Sayyidina Muhammad
ﷺ that I'm making.
And then he says, ya nur, ya nur,
ya nur, calling upon the light three times,
ilj'alni nuran bi haqqin nur.
Make me light from the right of the
light.
What a blessing.
But you see here what their spiritual aspiration
is.
It is directly connected to the best of
creation ﷺ.
And what is the state of that individual
where Allah Ta'ala that actually grants him
what it is that he's asking for, where
their physical body is connected to that blessed
physical body of His, the likes of which
that the creation has never seen.
And Allah Ta'ala honored that physical body
of His.
Only His physical body ﷺ was able to
carry that blessed light of His.
Even everything else in the heavens and the
earth wasn't able to fully bear it.
But Allah blessed His physical stature ﷺ to
be the capsule for which that His blessed
light was carried.
What kind of physical body was He given
ﷺ?
And of course we have characteristics that we
will learn about in a day or two.
But what is the reality that is behind
those very same features that we see in
Him that were human-like but not like
other humans?
And then what is it going to be
then if you receive blessings in your own
physical body from His physical body?
And look at how many body parts of
our Prophet ﷺ are mentioned in the Book
of Allah Ta'ala.
In order for us to realize is that
His body parts were not like our body
parts, that they were special.
They were not only luminous, is that they
were the most honored and lofty body parts
of any human being ever.
So what does it mean for us to
receive from that and to receive provision from
His blessed body for our bodies and then
our internal dimension, our heart and our spirit
and our innermost secret and then moving to
our knowledge, all of which is internal to
the human being but then the way that
it affects us outwardly in relation to the
things that we do, also our actions and
our intentions, the direction of our heart, our
aims and our goals.
And if we have even the smallest bit
of relationship to Him insofar as it relates
to our character, is that this is the
greatest thing that a human being could possibly
be gifted.
This is what differentiates us from every other
person on earth and we will learn about
this in the first session tomorrow, how character
is what differentiates us as human beings.
And this is why the epitaph of Sayyidina
Muhammad ﷺ is, وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقًا عَظِيمٌ Is
indeed that you are upon a magnificent character,
O Muhammad.
And the blessed poem of Imam Haddad is
still there to this day.
But these meanings of high aspiration, one of
the greatest ways that we can attain it,
is to be around people of high aspiration.
Through osmosis when you're around them, you're inspired
to live differently.
You're inspired to strive for what you weren't
previously inspired to strive towards.
That being in their presence affects you deeply,
such that you raise your aspiration to attain
what is that from the presence, what is
from the gifts, from the presence of Allah
ﷻ.
And then the scholars say that after recognizing
this is one of the greatest things a
human being can be given, there are two
signs.
One that relates to our state and the
other that relates to the actions that it
is that we do.
As for our state, part of having high
spiritual aspiration is that when you set out
to do something, you place your trust in
Allah and believe wholeheartedly that you will attain
that very thing that it is that you
are seeking.
And Allah wants to see that in your
heart.
And you're not claiming that you're doing anything
to attain that, there's a subtle difference.
But Allah wants to see in your heart
these deep state of, this deep state of
firm resolution where you're doing everything that it
is that you can.
All of those meanings, all of those manifestations
of having high spiritual aspiration, when Allah sees
that in your heart, He will honor you
and He will lift you.
And He will cause the world to mold
around you.
And that He will even cause, as they
say, is that even iron to bend for
you.
Because He is the all-powerful, Subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
But you have to have high spiritual aspiration.
And it is from here that some of
them said, is that it is almost like
the ismullah al-adham, the highest spiritual aspiration.
Why?
Because when you call upon Allah by His
greatest name, your requests are granted.
And when Allah ta'ala sees this high
aspiration in your heart, He gives you what
it is that you are seeking solely from
His bounty, Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But then outwardly in relation to what it
is that you do, we are required to
take the means.
That having high spiritual aspiration doesn't mean that
you sit at home on your couch and
just think that something is going to magically
appear before you.
That Allah ta'ala wants to see us
work hard.
He wants to see dedication from us.
He wants us to see commitment.
And in a time where people are becoming
less resilient and more flimsy, this is one
of the greatest gifts that you and I
can be gifted in this particular time specifically.
And this is one of the greatest protections
from all of the fitna that are around
us in this day and age.
Having high spiritual aspiration will protect you from
the fitna of our time.
Because you won't even turn towards it.
If you have high spiritual aspiration, you will
be focused.
You won't even see it.
And then what is for the vast majority
of people around you, dragging them away from
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and misguiding them
for you, that what is transpiring by lowering
your gaze and turning away from these things
of this world and all of these fitnas,
it will actually draw you closer to Allah.
And then you'll actually move closer to Allah
in a way that even people in previous
times didn't because they weren't tried with the
degree of fitna that you and I have
in our time.
And when we understand this is that we
have to always recognize that Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala's mercy is much greater than anything
that we can possibly imagine.
And our Prophet ﷺ, in closing, I wanted
to share one blessed hadith on this meaning
of high spiritual aspiration.
This is a hadith in Bukhari.
And if we look very carefully, our Prophet
himself is planting the seeds.
He planted the seeds in the hearts of
the blessed companions, this blessed meaning.
And then they imbibed that in a way
that no one else did before them or
after them.
But then the generations after them resembled them
to the extent that they could.
And this is a hadith narrated by Abu
Hurairah where our Prophet ﷺ said, man aamina
billahi wa rasoolih, whoever believes in Allah and
His Messenger, wa aqama as-salat, and establishes
the prayer, wa as-salamu ramadan, and fasts
during the month of Ramadan, kana haqqin ala
Allahi an yudkhiluhu al-jannah, jaahada fee sibilillahi
awjadasa fee ardihi allathee walida feeha, that it
will be incumbent upon Allah and nothing is
incumbent upon Allah.
Out of His bounty, Allah will surely enter
this person into paradise, whether he fought in
the path of Allah or he remained in
his, where he remained in his home where
he was born.
And then they said to the Messenger of
Allah, ala aya rasool Allah, O Messenger of
Allah, afala nubashshir al-naas, should we not
give people glad tidings of what it is
that you said?
And then our Prophet ﷺ wanted to teach
them is that it's not just about entering
into paradise, but there's degrees of paradise.
Inna fil-jannati miyata daraja.
How did he respond?
He didn't even respond directly to their question.
He pointed them to something that was a
greater reality that they should seek.
And he said, indeed in paradise there are
one hundred degrees.
A'dallahu lilmujahideena fee sibilillahi, that Allah Ta'ala
has prepared for those that struggle for His
cause, subhanahu wa ta'ala, ma bayna darajateen,
ma kama bayna al-sama'i wal-ard.
What is between each degree is the distance
between the heavens and the earth.
One hundred degrees, the distance between each degree
is that distance between the heavens and the
earth.
And all different manifestations of preference that we
see here in this world, in tafdeel, that
walal aakhiratu, that in the hereafter, it's even
greater.
And so then our Prophet goes on to
say, fa-idha sa'altum Allah, fa-sa
'aluhul fil-dus.
If you ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for anything, ask Him for the highest level
of paradise, which is fil-dus.
Fennu awsatal jannah, because it is in the
middle of paradise, wa a'lal jannah, and
it is the highest place in paradise.
Fawqahu arshur rahman, above it is the throne
of the all-merciful, wa minhu tatafajjar anharul
jannah, and from it the rivers of paradise
burst forth.
Our Prophet is teaching us, sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, about the importance of this blessed meaning,
having high spiritual aspiration.
And there is no greater way to direct
our hearts than to the Lord of the
heavens and the earth, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He is the one that when we direct
our hearts to Him, He will subjugate for
us that which is in the very heavens
and the earth, and in fact everything around
us was created for the human being so
that it could be used for His sake,
to draw near to Him in this dual
way through which we show our servitude to
Him subhanahu wa ta'ala, but then we
assume the responsibility of being vicegerents here on
earth, doing what it is that He wants
to do, laying down the principles of this
blessed deen, and then, without even having to
speak, people will intuit the blessed light of
this religion.
And when they see Muslims living as they're
supposed to live, that will draw them and
attract them to the higher reality that exists
within the sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, on blessed nights like this,
on the night of Jummah, of us in
gatherings like this in which that we've remembered
our Lord and remembered our Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, that we've repented and that
we've supplicated, we ask Him subhanahu wa ta
'ala to bless us all with high spiritual
aspiration and may we direct our hearts constantly
and continuously to Him, and may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala bestow upon us solely from
His bounty and generosity the greatest of the
blessings of that He disposed, that He bestows
upon the people of our time, Ya Arham
wa Rahmeen, that we ask Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala that these gatherings be connected to
the gatherings of our teachers and the blessings
that they're gifted that we receive our portion
even though that would be thousands of miles
away, may Allah ta'ala raise us to
the highest of degrees and grant us closest
to Him and bless us to follow completely
the sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam, wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa
ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim, walhamdulillahi rabbil
alameen.