Learn about the Creator, not about the creation

Summary of Maulana Shaykh Nazim’s Daily Suhbah

12th March 2010, Friday

Learn about the Creator, not about the creation

A’uzubillah himinsh shaitan nirrajeem

Bismillahir Rahman-nir Raheem

Assalamu’alaikum wrh wbkt

• Maulana send his salams on attendees upon this final Friday of Rabi’ul Awal, and began with recitation of A’uzubillah and Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem, the protocol/sign/adab of believers. Maulana reminded us to give time for our spiritual development, and that such was only possible, if we listened and obeyed.

• Prophet Muhammad (saw) was the first of all creation, and he was raised as prophet before any other creation existed. Rasulullah (saw) was created from the Light of Allah, and he is the Most Honoured of all creation, of all that was or will be ever created. We often picture Allah Almighty awaiting for the blowing of the Trumpet to signal Qiyamat, yet Maulana says, it is we who are waiting, Allah is never waiting, for Allah is not bound by time and space, as these are themselves creations of Allah.

• Maulana tells us not to limit Allah’s powers, for He creates incessantly, الأزليّ الأبديّ Azaliyyun abadiyyun, creating from pre-eternity to eternity, and He and His Attributes are eternal. His creation is not limited only to this Universe that we know of, there are countless Universes that Allah has, and is, creating. To illustrate this, Maulana tells us of an incident that took place during the Mikraj, the Prophet’s (saw) Heavenly Ascension. Arch-Angel Jibrail (as) brought Rasulullah (saw) to the Maqam of Honour, a special Maqam solely for him, no other makhloq had ever been allowed there, and there were special soldiers, fully armoured, made of light, that paraded past Rasulullah (saw), paying their respects to, and saluting him. When Rasulullah (saw) asked Jibrail (as), who these soldiers were, where they came from and where were they headed, Jibrail (as) replied, “I have stood here for 50000 years, and these soldiers have been appearing continuously, I do not know where they come from and what is their mission, you may keep standing here until you faint (but these soldiers are not going to stop appearing).” These soldiers of light who are paying respects to Rasulullah (saw) have been continuously created for the past 50000 years, and are still being created, see how great Allah is, it is so easy for Him.

• Some scholars are so quick to throw the word shirik (blasphemy) at their fellow Muslims, Maulana says. It is their limited undestanding that causes them to do so, for no Muslim has ever placed Rasulullah (saw) on equal standing with Allah Azza wa Jalla. How can there be a partner to Allah, lasharikalah, He was Alone at the beginning, and at the end, none can stand on par with Him. Just the act of standing at the Maqam of Rasulullah (saw), and raising our hands longingly, sends these Salafi Scholars into a frenzy of accusations of shirik! So why is the act of facing the Ka’abah in doa, not considered as shirik then? Maulana says that even ants laugh at the idiocy of such Scholars, that forbid the showing of respect to the Prophet (saw).

• Maulana says, instead of bringing such divisive, controversial and accusatory words, wouldn’t it be better for one to bring words that build faith and realization? Such hurtful words are not words of knowledge, and when spewed out, they do not do any good to their recipients. Do not study knowledge that does not bring benefits! What is beneficial knowledge? Knowledge that teaches you how to clean your life, to clean your body, to clean your heart and to clean your minds. Only then will Divine knowledge take root in you, Man is wasting this golden chance he has in this world, he is letting it pass without reaping any benefits from it, and in the end, he returns to dust as he came from dust, having learnt nothing about himself or his Lord!

• Scientists spend all their lives studying space, studying the creation. They spend years staring through the Hubble Telescope, labeling newly discovered stars with exotic names like Alpha 6 and Alpha 9. In reality, they know nothing more about that star, besides its apparent position. They only know it as a dot of light in the sky. Is that the purpose of Man’s creation, to map out distant stars? Is such knowledge of benefit to anyone, even themselves? Man has never been asked to do all this, it is a complete waste of time! Has it never crossed their minds to seek to know the Creator of these stars, how fantastic and incredible He must be? And instead of exploring far away lands, it would have been sufficient for humans to explore the Holy Qur’an, for all that Man seeks to know, is contained within.

• So Maulana says again, study about Allah’s greatness, and teach that to others, do not seek meaningless knowledge nor teach that sort of knowledge to others. Teach people of Allah’s incredible abilities, His Greatness and His Attributes. Teach Man, so that he will awaken and realize the true nature of dunia, of how dirty our worldly lives are. Man lives in dirtiness, if he is not taught about it, he will continue to live in dirtiness, and he will die in extreme dirtiness, bringing back thousands of sins to face Allah.

• Leave the study of the Universe and its creatures/contents, you can never study all of the creation, it is impossible, for He is creating incessantly! Some scientists create their own theories, based on utter nonsense, and teach these so-called modern theories in Universities, even in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia. Some are hawking the idea that the Universe began with one atom that expanded and multiplied by itself. We must speak out against the spread of such unfounded theories and ideas, we mustn’t condone or allow such baseless knowledge to spread within our community.

• Instead study the Creator of the Universe, the Creator of its contents, the Creator of the creatures. Know Thy Lord! To Know Him, study the Holy Qur’an. Channel the abilities of your mind to discover Him, and He will open the way to understanding for you. Scholars must take note of this advice, they must teach what brings satisfaction to the hearts of listeners, they must seek to raise the stations of their listeners in the Divine presence.

• Maulana concludes by saying that, there is one hour each Friday night, that is so blessed, in that doas/prayers, made during this time, are not rejected and are brought to the Arash. All creatures on earth lift their hands in prayer in this period, except for Man, who is heedless, or asleep during this time. Such secret knowledge must be propagated, says Maulana, for they bring untold benefits to their recipients!

Fatihah.