Amazing News for the Dhakireen
Alhamdulillah, all praise be to Allah. We are gathered here today for the Dhikr of Allah, and every day Allah gives us the Tawfeeq to have the opportunity of coming to the Masjid, alhamdulillah. Now, this Majlis here today is a gathering of Dhikr, but it has other special aspects as well. One special point is that the Dhikr that we are doing today is taking place on the final Wednesday of Ramadhan. After this, Wednesdays will come for the rest of the year, but we will have lost that virtue of Ramadhan, the Noor of Ramadhan, which is Allah's grace, Allah's generosity, the rain of Allah's mercy - and this will be a great loss. If we look at it in terms of Allah’s rewards and favours and Ni’mahs, Allah subhana wa ta'ala will give so much in this gathering on the final Wednesday. Most definitely, Dhikr will take place afterwards as well, and all the Fadhaa’il will be there, the virtues will be there, but the biggest loss, the very biggest loss, will be that Ramadhan will not be present. And we should be very grateful to Allah that He has allowed us to arrive here at this gathering of Dhikrullah, to obtain this favour of Allah, because not just today, but tomorrow on the Day of Judgement, alhamdulillah, these Majalis will bear witness and testify and present themselves to Allah on our behalf.
In the generation of Fitnah, the biggest sign of Fitnah which is mentioned in the Hadith that the respected scholars share with us and which have come to us is this, that slowly, gradually and inevitably, Iman will become so weak due to love of Dunya, due to being far from the Sunnah of the Merciful Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, due to being far from the Qur’an physically, in terms of Amal, that this great wealth of Iman will end up as no more than a little dot on a person’s heart, and his ability to absorb the realities that are the means for the luggage for his Hereafter will be reduced accordingly. And people will gather together to engage in wasteful talk, mindless talk, and they will waste their time in pointless actions. The more a person wastes his time, the more proud he will be - he'll sit and chat with others and tell them all ‘Last night I did this, yesterday we did this, we went on holiday to this place.’ In other words, wasting time and spending time on wasteful activities will become matters to be proud of, and people will forget what Allah and His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam announced in respect of this.
What did they say? Allah ta’ala has laid down the standard that there should not be any place of gathering in the world - any place of gathering, even where you go to meet somebody for two minutes - where you leave empty-handed. There should not be any Majlis or gathering or assembly, and no group of people should come together, where Allah’s praise and Darood on His Habib sallallahu alayhi wasallam does not take place. Why? What will be the consequence of that tomorrow? We say ‘Oh, we went there to shake his hand and to have a little chat for a few minutes and sit there,’ but what will be the consequence of that meeting tomorrow? Tomorrow there will be immense regret, and a person will think ‘If only, if only, if only I had done that Amal, that action – if I had, then today such rewards of Allah would have come to me.’ This is the point.
So brothers, Ramadhan is passing. These are the moments in which Ramadhan is passing - this Wednesday will not come again. Wednesdays will come, but not the Wednesday of Ramadhan. These gatherings will come again, but they will not have the Noor of Ramadhan. These angels won't be present, these doors of Rahmah will not be open, and elevation of status will not be present. What a great Ni’mah of Allah this is, and especially, alhamdulillah, that we should be doing this in the days of Ramadhan. If a person knew about the rewards for this, then he would run here – he would give up the world for this, just as when a sale is announced in a store, a person gives up the world. Why? He says ‘Oh, that store is shutting down - it is closing down. It's going to close tomorrow and there's a sale!’ People go as far as putting their beds and mattresses and quilts outside in the night, and they take food and drink and sleep there, saying ‘I want to get in first!’ And what are they going to buy? Items of food - and how long is he going to live? Those items will go into the mouth in the evening, and in the morning, they will come out – yet they wait all night long to buy that item cheaply. SubhanAllah.
So what about Allah’s remembrance, where Allah's Name is mentioned? What is that? Allah refers in the Qur’an to {ٱلۡبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ} – Allah is saying ‘You will finish, but the words that come out of your mouth that praise Allah, they stay alive till Qiyamah {ٱلۡبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ}.’ They will adopt a form and become a palace - you'll be amazed! Look, what did Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam say? He said ‘Assalaamu alaykum,’ and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘Wa alaykum Salam’ – Nabi al-Karim sallallahu alayhi wasallam is telling us this. Yes? Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam said ‘Give my message to your Ummah’ – and who was he talking to? To Imam ul-Ambiya, Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, so that we wouldn’t get lazy and negligent. Yes? Don’t think you are just here on earth - he explained that there's a connection between us and the people of the heavens.
What is it that connects us with them? Look at this point. Insan is on the earth, but the connection is with the heavens - and what is that connects us? It is the Dhikr of Allah that connects us to the heavens. At every moment, a person can have a connection with the inhabitants of the heavens – in every second and every moment. We think ‘Oh, he has died – so now he's gone to the heavens’ - no brothers. The Dhakir is always floating in the heavens - who is telling us this? Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam said ‘Give Salam to your Ummah and give them this message, that Paradise is a very fertile land.’ SubhanAllah – he gave a very beautiful example. ‘Paradise is a very fertile land, but you will not be able to plough here in Jannah - you won't be able to farm here.’ What a beautiful statement, because Jannah is the abode above and is the place of reward, and down on earth is the place of working, of effort. In the land above, in Paradise, the fruits will grow, but you have to plough and farm on the earth in order to get those fruits of the Hereafter, SubhanAllah. Say SubhanAllah.
So if you don't farm and plough, and if you don't give water or tend the soil, if you don’t put fertiliser on, then you're sleeping. You're running your business, but you're sleeping! Yes, fine - Allah says do that according to the needs and necessities of the world, but how much time in life do we need to spend in this way? Wa-llahi, very little - the stomach doesn't demand this. The stomach won’t shrink away – it’s just a small stomach. If you drink two glasses of water, the stomach is full, and you don't feel like eating after two glasses of water. MashaAllah, the people who like eating delicacies don’t drink before eating, because they say ‘No, no, if I drink water, then I won’t be able to fit the food in! I'll drink a few glasses afterwards – that way I can fit more food in.’ But you can only fit in as much as the size of that stomach which Allah has made, and that's why Allah tala hasn't made earning and eating a very time-consuming issue in the world.
But this is Hirs – greed. Greed is so vast that the stomach of the human being can never be satisfied. Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘If this whole valley were made of gold, the greedy man would say that I need another valley of gold - and even then, his heart wouldn’t be full; his stomach wouldn’t be full.’ This is the meaning of the Hadith. So all these things around us are due to greed - we don't need them. We don't need all the money that we yearn for. We don't need that much money - we can't even count the amount of money that we collect. We don’t even get to look at the face on the notes! We don't even know the weight of that money that we're gathering and accumulating. All we need for the day is maybe ten pounds, enough to buy some bread, a chapatti and a nice curry. And after that, the biggest thing you need is to be grateful to Allah. That's all we need. And you will see that you have eaten and the stomachs of your family will also be full, alhamdulillah.
My Hadrat Sahib noor ‘ala marqadah was a Faqir, SubhanAllah, and they don’t speak wasteful words. He said ‘Bhai, today alhamdulillah, the food that I ate was a plate with some yoghurt and two Rotis - our whole family ate this and our stomachs are full. Who can tell if we have eaten kebabs or chickens? No one. The stomach has nothing to say, and it does not complain.’ SubhanAllah – what an example. So Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam said ‘Give this message to the people on the earth, that the land in the heavens is fertile, but you need to plant the seeds in the world; and tell them as well that not every seed grows in Paradise’ - say SubhanAllah.
Try to understand what I'm saying and then praise Allah after that, so that it is clear people are listening - and the angels will also know that people are active and are listening, SubhanAllah. If a person doesn’t praise Allah, then how can you tell whether the seed has been planted in that person's heart or not? There are special unique seeds which, if you plant them, then immediately they start to work – within a second, the work starts. Within a second, the work starts, as quick as when the call from Allah comes, and within a second, a person has gone. Someone says ‘Oh, he’s got Covid – we were just talking about him’ – and then within seconds we hear that his Janazah is taking place after Dhuhr. Yes? It takes a long time to come into the world, but it doesn't take long to depart, my brothers. Remember this. It takes a long time to come - you have to wait nine months. So to come takes a long time, but departing doesn't take long - he lies down and by the morning he’s disappeared. This is the case, isn't it? So this is our life.
So it's a special seed that Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam is telling us about. May Allah have mercy on us - this is the message we have been given about the fruits of the Hereafter. What are those seeds? He said ‘Tell your Ummah that those seeds are so great, so don't be lazy; the more seeds you plant in that fertile land, in the soil above that is Allah’s land, Allah says that if you plant one seed here, then seventy different things will grow there.’ Say SubhanAllah. Does anyone plant these seeds? Tell me. Is there anyone who plants the seeds? Nobody plants these seeds. Alhamdulillah, the seeds will bring forth so many the colours there. The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam told us of another effect in the Hadith. The angels are there and they are sitting there not working, because the house is finished and plastered, MashaAllah – those people have very beautiful mansions, and for them, Allah ta’ala has removed their loans and remove their burdens and answered their Duas. What a beautiful place has also been created here for our comfort, this Masjid where we have come to do Dhikr; MashaAllah look at the light that illuminates us, and here too, inshaAllah, the burden will also end, for this is Allah’s land and Allah’s property.
So in the Hereafter, while the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was wandering around in Jannah, he asked ‘Why are these angels sat here not doing any work?’ And Gibreel alayhi salam replied that their salary, you could say, had ended, so the work had stopped. Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘Where has that instruction come from? Where does their payment come from?’ Gibreel alayhi salam said ‘They are working for the person whose house is being made, the person down below, and he's stopped working - he's become lazy. The angels say that they will start work again when the payment comes.’ So in the first Hadith, Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam said ‘Plant those seeds in the earth and don’t be lazy - and what are those seeds? They are the Dhikr of Allah, the remembrance of Allah, and Allah’s Beautiful Names, the Asma al-Husna.’
You remember Allah in all the verses of the Qur’an - they contain the Asma al-Husna, Allah’s Names and qualities; and they are the Tajalliat of Allah and Allah ta’ala has sealed the Qur’an al-Hakim in these verses. In these beautiful verses, you see the light of all the Asma al-Husna, and you see their light and Allah ta’ala’s glory and His power and His Anwaraat and status – you will find all of this in the Qur’an. Say SubhanAllah. So Allah ta’ala has gathered them, collected them and composed them and published them. Allah ta’ala has published His praise in the Qur’an – the whole Qur’an is praise, comprehensive praise of Allah. It is such beautiful praise that in that praise, Allah ta’ala has given us guidance and Hedaya, SubhanAllah. So keep on reading and keep on doing Amal at the same time - don't stop. Keep reading and keep practising, and then this Qur’an will reach Allah subhana wa ta'ala. This is such a fantastic Kitab that Allah ta’ala has given to us.
So Dhikr of Allah, SubhanAllah, is a beautiful seed. Alhamdulillah is a beautiful seed, Allahu Akbar is a beautiful seed, HasbunAllahu wa Ni’mal-Wakeel is a beautiful seed, La Hawla wa la Quwwata illa bi-llah is a great seed - all of these are seeds of Jannah, my brothers. And time is short in Ramadhan now, so try to strengthen yourself. Make yourself solid and plant these seeds in this month of Ramadhan. Don't waste any time. That's what Dhikr is for - what else is Dhikr for? Tell me. So as for the time that has passed, fair enough - Allah is Karim and merciful - it may be that possibly we have been lazy. Fair enough. But Allah ta’ala is so gracious that if we start from today, Allah will say ‘Okay fine - reward them even for what came before; compensate them for that.’ Say SubhanAllah. Allah is merciful - Allah says ‘Okay, he's only learned today - the poor soul. He went to Dhikr and he's understood today. So, no problem, give them seeds for the previous twenty-five days as well on My behalf.’ So the palaces of Jannah are a big mercy of Allah.
Now let’s come back to the second Hadith that we were discussing. So the angels said ‘We were working when the payment was coming from this man when he sat doing the Dhikr of Allah on the earth.’ This is the salary for the angels. SubhanAllahi wa bi-Hamdihi – this great Kalimah is their payment! This is a such a great Kalimah that we cannot imagine its weight - nobody can carry this. So when a person recites this once, the angels know its value and they stand up immediately, those Jamats of angels, the millions of angels who are constructing those palaces and homes. There aren’t just three or four workers there. No, no, SubhanAllah, there are special bricks of musk and saffron, Subhanallah. The very soil of Paradise is unique - say SubhanAllah. How beautiful - and you will be given it fully decorated. You won't need to look for a partner, to look for a wife, and the woman won’t need to look for a man. No, no, no. Allah says ‘When you do Dhikr of Allah here, those beautiful Kalimaats will become your Hoors in the Hereafter, in Paradise; they will become your Ghulams and your workers, and they will become rivers for you.’
Read Surah ar-Rahman and see how much enjoyment you feel. {فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ} What does this mean? Allah says ‘Which of My Ni’mahs will you reject?’ Allah is saying ‘You foolish people, you are sitting in Ramadhan and you have rejected My Ni’mahs. How? If you had done some work in Ramadhan, then you would have received so much in the heavens due to that Ni’mah.’ The Qur’an is telling us that today's laziness is rejection of Allah. ‘Oh servant, you don't do Dhikr of Allah, you don't remember Allah.’ Where have the Muslims gone? What has happened to their hearts? My brothers, leaving Dhikr is the biggest loss of the Hereafter; it is the biggest loss of the Hereafter -remember what I am telling you. One human being can gain so much if his heart is alive. As I said, this the day and age of Fitnah - this is the generation of the Dajjal. Dajjal’s generation is such that he'll come in front of you and make you do Sajdah to him; the Qur’an will be in the hands and in the pockets, but that Iman will have become like a paper blanket. Dajjal will say ‘I know these people. I know they have a beautiful, printed copy of the Qur’an in their pockets, but I have known these people from time - I'll make them do Sajdah right now, because their Qur’ans are just printed but there's no Amal of the Qur’an in their lives. There’s no practice.’ If you say ‘But this is the Ummah of Rasooullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam,’ he will say ‘I know - they say they're Ummatis, but not one of their actions is according to the Sunnah, not in their houses or families or outside or in their earnings. Look, I'll make them do Sajdah to me, and then let's see where his La ilaha illa-llah goes.’
But today, you can protect it - through what action? With which action can you protect yourself? Only Dhikrullah will protect your Iman. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam was going through the gardens of Madinah towards Masjid an-Nabawi, and he was entering the Mosque of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam – Hadhrat Muawiya radhiAllahu anh narrates this Hadith. Look how beautiful this Hadith is. I remembered this because we keep on reading and we hear about this also SubhanAllah. So Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam was coming into the Masjid, Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam was coming out of his home towards the Masjid. As he was walking, he saw that on one side of the Masjid, some noble Companions were sat there - they were just sat there in a corner. So Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam saw them and he went towards them – I am telling you the meaning of the Hadith here.
So, he went up to the noble Companions and he asked them with surprise, ‘Why are you sat here? For what action have you sat here? For which motive are you gathered and assembled?’ SubhanAllah. So, look at this question of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. The respected scholars say that three questions come out of this. He asked one question – ‘For what purpose have you gathered?’ and three questions are being asked in reality. The Sahaba-e-Kiram, the noble Companions, the Ghulams of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, they knew this, and so they gave him three answers. Say SubhanAllah. They gave three answers. People like us don't even understand the first meaning of the question ‘For what purpose are you seated here?’ They were alert when they heard this question, and said ‘This is a question from the Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam speaks, it is very valuable.’ They were shaking, thinking ‘What's happening? Is this going to be good news for us, or is sadness or punishment going to come? Will it be hellfire or Paradise? What's going to come after this?’ They had so much Khawf, fear, but they also had hope inside them.
So they shook and said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, O Prophet of Allah, we are sat here’ – and then they gave three answers, because they understood that they were being asked three things in that one question, namely ‘Why are you sat here, what are you doing, and why are you doing that?’ In one question, there are three enquiries being made - look at this. First - why are you sitting here? And if you are sat here, what are you doing at the same time? And if you're doing it, why are you doing this? SubhanAllah – say SubhanAllah. Look at the Hadith - its colour and effect is different and unique. They understood this message, and that's why they gave three answers. If they had known there was only one question, they would have given only one answer. The Muhaditheen the scholars of Hadith, say that no, three questions were implied and the people who heard were very capable, and that's why three answers came - otherwise they would have given him one answer to the one question. Say SubhanAllah. So because three answers came, then there must certainly have been three questions. Is this not the case? So they said ‘Oh Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam - why are we sat here, what are we doing, and why are we doing it?’ And then they give three answers: ‘Oh, Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, we are sat here because we are doing Dhikr.’ Say SubhanAllah - so one question has been answered. In the next answer, they said ‘Nahmaduhu - we are praising Allah, we are glorifying His Husn, His Asma al-Husna.’ In other words, if you love someone, you will praise Him, SubhanAllah.
The more love you have for somebody, the more you will praise that person. If you have three children, the youngest child is always the most beloved. Whenever you speak, you will mention the youngest. If someone says ‘What are your children doing?’ you will say ‘Oh, Hassan is playing - oh, he's very busy.’ You only mention him although you have two other children as well. Why? Because you have more affection and love for the youngest child, and whenever you speak, you will mention the youngest child. Logically, whoever you love more and have more affection for, you will speak about that person more. And how will you speak about the person? When you are speaking about Hassan, the youngest child, what will you do? First you will laugh, and you will smile with love - happiness will come into you – and then you will mention that person’s name. Say SubhanAllah.
So the Sahaba-e-Kiram were Ashiqs of Allah, and they had love for Allah. They weren't like us - they had love, immense love. And they didn’t just praise for nothing – their praise wasn't hollow or empty. They said ‘We are doing Dhikr. And what Dhikr are we doing? We are remembering Allah, we are sat for Dhikr, and we are only doing this action out of love. Our bodies are on this earth, but we are here for the Radha of our Maula. We spend our days and nights for Allah - we cry for Allah, we sleep for Allah, we eat for Allah, we walk for Allah; our every action is for Allah’s Radha, for His pleasure.’ Say SubhanAllah. If we do everything for Allah’s Radha, then we become so accustomed to this that we are forced to remember Allah because we do all our actions for the sake of Allah.
If a person loves somebody or something in the world - let's say he loves money - then he’ll show you the colours of money, different types of money, and that person will stand at his stall and forget his food and forget his thirst. If you ask ‘Did you eat before you came to work?’ he’ll say ‘Oh, I just grabbed a sandwich in the morning and then came straight to work because I don't want the customers to leave if they find the shop closed.’ Yes? This person has such love for the pounds that he forgets his food or sometimes his tea, and he forgets the issues at home. If for example he brings just a little piece of food from home - a little piece of bread or a bit of roti or a little slice of bread – he will spend ten hours and eat nothing more than that. Why? Just for the sake of temporary notes and the currency that he wants to save. This is the colour of love.
The Sahaba-e-Kiram knew what real love was and they had real love for Allah. So you see this in their lives, in the examples that we have to this day, where they said ‘Leave everything else - a date is enough for us to fill our stomachs.’ SubhanAllah - is this not the case? The noble Companions would be satisfied with just one date. Due to your Barakah, today I am understanding this Hadith of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and I understand reason that for weeks, the stove of the gracious Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would not be lit. Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam would come home and ask whether there was anything to eat, and Hadhrat Aisha Siddiqua radhiAllahu anha would say ‘No, there's nothing to eat.’ He would say, ‘Okay, fine - I'll make the Niyyah for fasting.’ SubhanAllah. Can anyone do this? What was the reason? Because SubhanAllah, everything in their lives was filled with spirituality and with Noor and with spiritual illumination. They would eat the food from this earth that they lived on, but it was not due to this that they were Noorani and spiritually illuminated. What made them like that? Allah’s Radha and Ishq had made them like this - say SubhanAllah.
This is the final Wednesday, so listen attentively - you won't get this gathering again. SubhanAllah. So a person becomes illuminated with Noor, and when he consumes Allah’s Noor, he starts to float in the heavens. So the Sahaba-e-Kiram would eat one date for three days, and look at the difficulties they would face. They went on expeditions and journeys, tying stones and rocks around their stomachs - can anybody do this? No. The reason was this, that they had a different food and a different objective. When a person becomes an Ashiq, just like the person whose hunger disappears when he is stood at his shop, at his stall, because his objective is money, so for the people who love Allah, their desire for material things comes to an end. They only have one objective, which is to acquire the favour of Allah by doing Allah’s Hamd and glorifying Allah and praising Allah. This becomes the objective in their life.
So me and you are sat here in the state of fasting, and I will ask you tomorrow, when Ramadhan has finished, how long you spend on your food. Three or four hours! It will be difficult for you not to eat food in the afternoon, and then you'll be drinking tea, and then comes the evening meal – this cycle pops up in every moment of the day. So why is it that we're not hungry now? Why can I speak in front of you, while you sit listening, different types of people, some elderly, some patients, some diabetic people? Why? Because you have got that food of Ramadhan, the sustenance of Ramadhan, so our form it changes. In Ramadhan, we are totally light and we have no needs because spiritually we have been strengthened; you are stronger because your stomach has changed. Now your Ruh is alive and the body has gone to sleep; the Ruh is alive and the food for the Ruh is Qur’an; the food for the Ruh is SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah.
So that's why we can wander around and work, and how expeditions and so on were undertaken. That's why the Shari’ah has not prohibited work in this month - Allah ta’ala has not done Dhulm. Allah says ‘Stay hungry and also work and labour and go to the office morning and night.’ Look at this point. Has Shari’ah prohibited you? Has Shari’ah said ‘Fast and set aside your Huqooq’? No - you still have to live in the world. There's no order for you to close your shops, to close your stores, or to stop working. No - there's no such Hukm; if anything, do more. Allah says ‘Do more Ibadah!’ SubhanAllah. Allah says ‘The more Ibadah you do, the less you will feel the fast. Experience this for yourselves - say SubhanAllah. The further you go from Allah’s Name, the more you will get headaches and difficulties. Why? Because at that time, your body is dead; Allah ta’ala has closed it down. Allah says ‘Now your Ruh is asking for sustenance and food.’ Say SubhanAllah. So now, those who give food to the Ruh, to the soul, who give the delicacies to the Ruh, they forget the body. After Iftar, when you break the fast with dates and water, then the Ruh retreats and the body opens up – say SubhanAllah - and that's when the hunger comes, alhamdulillah. Yes? It’s a beautiful logic, isn't it? It is a unique logic, an Ajeeb logic.
So the Sahaba-e-Kiram, the noble Companions, said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, we are praising Allah, we're doing His Hamd.’ And then automatically they gave the answer to the third question, which was ‘Why are you doing this? What's the reason for this?’ What an answer they gave, SubhanAllah. They gave the answer for us to hear. How much are we praising? MashaAllah, what do we do? If we have got a shop and a house, people say ‘MashaAllah, he's got a shop and he's got a house – Dhalika Fadhlu-llahi yuteehi man yashaa’ What money is it made from? Where has the money come from? It doesn’t matter - we're grateful to Allah. If Allah has given us a shop or a stall - that's fine. When a man has got money, very quickly he says he is grateful, but when there's no money, we forget Allah. ‘What happened today? My turnover was low’ - we start complaining. Oh Allah – is this Shukr? When money comes, we are grateful, and when money doesn't come, we go against Allah. According to our own desires, we go against Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
This is not the case in the life of a Mu’min. What was the Shukr of the Sahaba, who had no food, no clothes, no bread, no wife, no children, no house, no car, no transport - nothing. Nothing but desert. They were sitting in the desert sand with no camels – they didn’t even have a donkey. SubhanAllah. They didn't even have slippers on their feet or clothes on their body, neither a top nor a bottom - they would have one cloth and would wrap their body in that. The Sahaba-e-Kiram would pray in this attire, Say SubhanAllah. What were they grateful for? For which purpose? They were grateful about the reality of life. They said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, we're praising Allah for this reason, that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us the greatest Ni’mah - the greatest Ni’mah has been given to us.’ This is the Hadith that is running here, and I am sharing it with you. You must have read this at least a few times. They said ‘The greatest and most tremendous Ni’mah that Allah ta’ala has given to us is a huge favour, and for that reason we sat down here and started doing Dhikr. We’re doing Dhikr by doing Hamd – and why are we doing Hamd? We will tell you the reason, Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’ Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam was listening to their answer with ease, listening to the words of the Sahaba. He said ‘Why? Tell me.’ They said ‘We're doing this because Allah ta’ala has given us the greatest Ni’mah.’
So look around - what Ni’mah did the Sahaba-e-Kiram have? Which Ni’mah were they grateful for? Was it visible? What did they have? The real Ni’mah that they were pointing towards was what? The real Ni’mah was that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given Islam; He has given us Islam – SubhanAllah. Has Allah not given Islam to me and you as well? Have you ever thought about this? We don’t have a clue – ‘Have I got this or that? Have I got a car or not? Okay I’ll be grateful to Allah if I get these things. Well, let me give some charity. Okay, let me give this.’ What were the Sahaba-e-Kiram grateful for? Allahu Akbar – Islam! What is Islam brothers? Islam makes a person a Muslim. Islam makes a person a Muslim. And one Muslim, one Mu’min, has three things inside him through which his Islam is made. Number one: in his heart is Allah. In his heart is Allah. Second, in his life, he has obedience to Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. SubhanAllah – say SubhanAllah. Due to Islam, Allah is in his heart, obedience to Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is in his life, and thirdly, his guidance is the Kalam of Allah – these are the three results of Islam.
The person who doesn't have these three things is not a Muslim. Anyone who doesn't have these three things is not a Muslim. Three things make up Iman. Three things make Iman, and due to these, the Sahaba-e-Kiram were doing Shukr - they were grateful for this Ni’mah. They said ‘Oh Allah, you have given us Islam; oh Allah, you have inserted Iman into our hearts. You have come into our hearts, and You have given us Your beloved Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam who we obey and we imitate - we follow him. Oh Allah, and we are also grateful because you have given us the Qur’an in whose shade we make decisions in our lives. Due to these three things, we are grateful.’ If we move away from these three things, if one of these factors is not present in a person's life, then he is not a Muslim. “لاَ يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ” Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, ‘A person cannot be a Muslim if I am not more beloved to him than his life and his children.’ Allahu Akbar. So will he be ashamed of keeping the beard? Will such a person be ashamed of following the Sunnah? Tell me. Will he be ashamed to wear the Imamah? SubhanAllah - his Iman will testify. The Sahaba-e-Kiram have given a message to the Ummah today, saying ‘We are doing Dhikr due to the Deen.’ They explained the reality and the objective of doing Dhikr.
So, you Dhakireen, those who do Dhikr, beautiful, good news is coming to you, SubhanAllah SubhanAllah – there is beautiful, good news that I will give you right now, and you'll be shocked when you listen to the meaning of this Hadith. I'm not saying this, I am just reviving this Hadith, SubhanAllah. Open your hearts - Allah subhana wa ta'ala has instilled Noor into the hearts so that we can also do Amal on the words of this Hadith, SubhanAllah. It's coming. Allah is giving us this message - what a beautiful piece of good news. So, in reality what is Dhikr of Allah? The Sahaba-e-Kiram are explaining what Dhikr is, and who the people who do Dhikr are, and what qualities they will have in their lives.
The first quality they will have is Tawhid – the Oneness of Allah, SubhanAllah; and they will be lovers of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam and will be obedient to him; and they will accept the Qur’an – SubhanAllah. Their standing and their sitting will be Qur’an. No aspect of their lives will be without guidance of the Qur’an. No part of their life will be without the guidance of the Qur’an. When they open the Qur’an, they will say ‘Oh Allah, where should my next footstep go? What should I do? What does the Qur’an say?’ Every footstep of their life will come from the Qur’an - say SubhanAllah. If they have these three things in their life, their Iman will be complete. When such a person goes into the grave, he will be asked ‘Man Rabbuka?’ and he will say ‘Allah!’ ‘Who is your Rasool?’ – he will say ‘Muhammad Rasoolullah.’ And he will be asked ‘What is your Iman? What is your Deen?’ and he will say ‘Islam is my Deen’ - and we are grateful for those Sahaba-e-Kiram in the desert, the noble Companions who demonstrated that they sat down in order to be grateful to Allah.
So two things - listen carefully, my brothers. Number one concerns the human being who sits in a Jamat like you are sat here. I ask you the same question today. Why are you sat around here? You say ‘To do Dhikr!’ SubhanAllah - why are you gathered and why are you sat? You will reply ‘To do Dhikr.’ You will say this, won’t you, and whoever has sat with this Niyyah, then he is reviving the Sunah of the Sahaba-e-Kiram. This is the Sunnah of the Sahaba-e-Kiram – it is not Bid’ah that we are doing, it is not an innovation. Whoever is doing this is reviving the Sunnah of the Sahaba-e-Kiram. He is reviving the Sunnah. So now I'm explaining to you about what is being said. What is the stamp for this Sunnah? It is to sit in the Masjid like they did in Masjid an-Nabawi. Sit in order to do Dhikr of Allah, and any Jamat that does this will be Noorani and illuminated until Qiyamah, because those people will be reviving the Sunnah of the noble Companions.
What good news comes for those who see it this way. Don't be afraid – whatever the generations of this Dunya say to you, it doesn’t matter; be firm. Sit and do the Dhikr of Allah in whatever Masjid you get a chance, right there and then. Say SubhanAllah. Don’t wilt and don’t shake. When the day and age of Fitnah comes, when the era of Fitnah comes, when the padlocks are applied to the Masjids, and the permission to do Dhikr doesn't get given, remember that there are big Hadith about Majalis in the Masjids. In the final day and age, there will be chit chat, discussion and gossip in the Masjids, and the action which is the purpose of the Masjid and for which it was constructed won't be there. That Masjid which is made with Ikhlas, with sincerity and with Taqwa, I swear by Allah and say that for sure, Dhikr will definitely be in that Masjid. It will come automatically. Look at this – today, these people have made a Masjid out of love. How many days did it take? How many days passed? Alhamdulillah, I did Dhikr here 25 years ago and they never called us to do Dhikr here, but as soon as the Masjid was constructed and completed with Ikhlas, then alhamdulillah immediately Allah ta’ala instilled Noor into their hearts, and said ‘Go - go and host the Dhikr of Allah in your Masjid.’ Mubarak and congratulations to the people and administration of this Masjid - this Masjid is accepted. Say SubhanAllah.
Help this Masjid and assist this Masjid, brothers. I do not ask for charity – my colleagues know this – but for this Ni’mah, we should give. Allah has given us a great Ni’mah, and Allah selected you for this action. Tomorrow when this Masjid goes to the heavens, it won't invite anyone, but it will say ‘A Jamat was invited, and they came, and people were called, and they did Dhikr of Allah in this Masjid.’ Say SubhanAllah. Am I right or wrong? Tell me - is this right or wrong? Tell me. Yes? They made this Masjid for themselves - what link does it have to us? Tell me. They made the Masjid for their purpose, but Allah says ‘This is My home! It is My home, and whoever I desire, I will allow those people to come and fill the Masjid.’ Yes?
For example, when builders come to your home, and somebody is putting in a mirror or glass, fitting windows or plastering the rooms, what's happening? Do they take over the home? No, they construct, manufacture, and decorate the building and then they go - and then the owner of the house comes. The person who had to make the house has done his job, but the person who owns the house decides which people he wants to invite into his home. SubhanAllah. So in this house in which we're sitting now there is Taqwa and Ikhlas, and it cannot be that Dhikr of Allah will not take place in that home - impossible. Even if it's a small Masjid in the desert, a broken-down mud hut, if it has Taqwa and sincerity, I swear by Allah that first and foremost, the Dhikr of Allah will take place there. I saw in my Hadhrat Sahib’s life, SubhanAllah, such broken down Masjids in remote village areas, but Dhikr Majalis would take place there and angels would descend to those gatherings of Dhikr - SubhanAllah. This the glory of the Masjid. Don't look at the decorations and say ‘I put this here’ - don't praise the decorations. When you praise this Masjid, praise it for one reason, that in this Masjid, Allah’s Dhikr takes place - that's the decoration of the Masjid. Say SubhanAllah. That's when you realise that the Masjid was constructed and manufactured beautifully.
I will finish off the Hadith and let's do Shukr to Allah. Listen. So they said ‘We are grateful to Allah and are doing Shukr to Allah on which point? On three things - we attained Allah, Allah’s Rasool and Allah’s Kalam, SubhanAllah. For this, we are grateful.’ Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘Acha - is that it? Is this what you are doing? I see. Allahumma dhalik? By Allah, is that so? Is this really the reason you are seated here today? Are you definitely here for this purpose? Do you swear by Allah that you are sat here for this purpose?’ The Sahaba-e-Kiram said ‘Wa-llahi, we are sat here for this reason. We have no other objective and no other purpose’ - they also swore by Allah. Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘Do not fear, my beloved colleagues – don’t fear. You are not doing anything wrong – don’t worry. Gibreel came to me right now. Inna-llaha!’ You have read this Hadith, so you understand the Hadith now. ‘Gibreel just descended, oh my colleagues, so listen - listen to the message. Gibreel just came down right now to explain.’
Who is explaining? Imam-ul-Ambiya, the head of the Prophets; and who came to explain to him? Gibreel alayhi salam from the heavens; and whose instruction did he bring? Allah, Rabb-ul-Alameen. And who was this for? For the Dhakireen, for those who do Dhikr of Allah. So should we do Dhikr or should we not do Dhikr? Tell me. For whom was the Hukm brought? For the Dhakireen, those who today are considered backward people. Yes? ‘Are you a Dhakir? Oh go to the side, go to the back and do your Dhikr. You come to the front and you come to the front and let them go to the back’ - Allahu Akbar. So the Hukm is coming - Gibreel alayhi salam is descending, SubhanAllah. Which order? For the Dhakireen, for those who remember Allah. What good news is being given to them, SubhanAllah! Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, ‘Don't worry, don't be afraid - I'm amazed that for this action, what a great reward is coming from Allah. It is such a massive reward and that's why I swore by Allah. You're doing such a great action that you have made the whole world and the heavens shake. Gibreel said ‘Akhbarni - I'm coming with this news.’ He told me to give them good news - Inna-llaha – that Allah subhana wa ta'ala, due to this action of theirs in this locality, done with this love and with this regard, is so happy! Allah is so happy that He is proud of these people amongst His special angels.’ SubhanAllah.
So even today, this is the same situation. Why are you sat here? For the Dhikr of Allah. Why are you doing Dhikr? To praise Allah. Why are you doing this? Because Allah ta’ala has given us this Masjid and Iman and He has saved us from sins and has given us all the goodness, and He has taken us away from evil in Ramadhan, and He has made us busy in His remembrance. SubhanAllah. So good news, listen to the good news. What is the good news I’m telling you about? It is fantastic good news - SubhanAllah. So what is that reward? This whole reward is the one that was given to the Sahaba-e-Kiram, such a great reward which was given for what reason? Which point were they grateful to Allah for? For Iman! Say SubhanAllah. They were grateful for their Iman. Look at how great Iman is; the greatest wealth in the universe is Iman – Iman. Whether or not you are grateful for other things, you should definitely be grateful for Iman, and the Sahaba-e-Kiram showed that the Tariqa for showing gratitude is Dhikrullah – DhikruAllah! The best way, the highest grade and the most excellent method of being grateful for Iman, in this world and the Hereafter, is Dhikrullah. The men and women who do Dhikr of Allah are being grateful to Allah in the right way.
And the good news is that Allah ta’ala has declared in the Qur’an – { لَٮِٕن شَڪَرۡتُمۡ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمۡ}. Allah says ‘Whoever is grateful, then whichever Ni’mah I give them, I will multiply and increase that Ni’mah.’ So if you do Dhikr today and if you're grateful for the wealth of Iman, then according to this promise of Allah, at every moment and in every second, that Dhakir’s Iman will continue to increase and multiply – SubhanAllah, SubhanAllah. If a person’s Iman multiplies and strengthens and increases, then what will be his Maqam in the Hereafter? Tell me. That's why Rasoolullah, the Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the people who do Dhikr are such a group of people that when people become conscious on the Day of Judgement and come out of their graves - a unique sketch has been drawn - when there will be disorder, calamity and tragedy as people come out of their graves, then at that time a Jamah of people will be waking up and coming out of their graves and their faces will be shining like the moon on the 14th night - and we realise that they will be those Dervaish who, when all you could see in the world were sins and evil and vice and songs and music and immodesty, they were rejoicing in just one action - in the Dhikr of Allah and that's it. SubhanAllah.
The Iman of a person who does Dhikr of Allah will never be fraudulent, and he will be in no danger - even if Dajjal’s father comes, that Qawm of the Dhakireen will be protected; they will not prostrate to Dajjal and they will not submit to him. Why? Because the Qur’an promises that the Protector of the Dhakireen is Allah!
Recite Durood Sharif – let us do a little bit of Dhikr.
Alhamdulillah, all praise be to Allah. We are gathered here today for the Dhikr of Allah, and every day Allah gives us the Tawfeeq to have the opportunity of coming to the Masjid, alhamdulillah. Now, this Majlis here today is a gathering of Dhikr, but it has other special aspects as well. One special point is that the Dhikr that we are doing today is taking place on the final Wednesday of Ramadhan. After this, Wednesdays will come for the rest of the year, but we will have lost that virtue of Ramadhan, the Noor of Ramadhan, which is Allah's grace, Allah's generosity, the rain of Allah's mercy - and this will be a great loss. If we look at it in terms of Allah’s rewards and favours and Ni’mahs, Allah subhana wa ta'ala will give so much in this gathering on the final Wednesday. Most definitely, Dhikr will take place afterwards as well, and all the Fadhaa’il will be there, the virtues will be there, but the biggest loss, the very biggest loss, will be that Ramadhan will not be present. And we should be very grateful to Allah that He has allowed us to arrive here at this gathering of Dhikrullah, to obtain this favour of Allah, because not just today, but tomorrow on the Day of Judgement, alhamdulillah, these Majalis will bear witness and testify and present themselves to Allah on our behalf.
In the generation of Fitnah, the biggest sign of Fitnah which is mentioned in the Hadith that the respected scholars share with us and which have come to us is this, that slowly, gradually and inevitably, Iman will become so weak due to love of Dunya, due to being far from the Sunnah of the Merciful Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, due to being far from the Qur’an physically, in terms of Amal, that this great wealth of Iman will end up as no more than a little dot on a person’s heart, and his ability to absorb the realities that are the means for the luggage for his Hereafter will be reduced accordingly. And people will gather together to engage in wasteful talk, mindless talk, and they will waste their time in pointless actions. The more a person wastes his time, the more proud he will be - he'll sit and chat with others and tell them all ‘Last night I did this, yesterday we did this, we went on holiday to this place.’ In other words, wasting time and spending time on wasteful activities will become matters to be proud of, and people will forget what Allah and His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam announced in respect of this.
What did they say? Allah ta’ala has laid down the standard that there should not be any place of gathering in the world - any place of gathering, even where you go to meet somebody for two minutes - where you leave empty-handed. There should not be any Majlis or gathering or assembly, and no group of people should come together, where Allah’s praise and Darood on His Habib sallallahu alayhi wasallam does not take place. Why? What will be the consequence of that tomorrow? We say ‘Oh, we went there to shake his hand and to have a little chat for a few minutes and sit there,’ but what will be the consequence of that meeting tomorrow? Tomorrow there will be immense regret, and a person will think ‘If only, if only, if only I had done that Amal, that action – if I had, then today such rewards of Allah would have come to me.’ This is the point.
So brothers, Ramadhan is passing. These are the moments in which Ramadhan is passing - this Wednesday will not come again. Wednesdays will come, but not the Wednesday of Ramadhan. These gatherings will come again, but they will not have the Noor of Ramadhan. These angels won't be present, these doors of Rahmah will not be open, and elevation of status will not be present. What a great Ni’mah of Allah this is, and especially, alhamdulillah, that we should be doing this in the days of Ramadhan. If a person knew about the rewards for this, then he would run here – he would give up the world for this, just as when a sale is announced in a store, a person gives up the world. Why? He says ‘Oh, that store is shutting down - it is closing down. It's going to close tomorrow and there's a sale!’ People go as far as putting their beds and mattresses and quilts outside in the night, and they take food and drink and sleep there, saying ‘I want to get in first!’ And what are they going to buy? Items of food - and how long is he going to live? Those items will go into the mouth in the evening, and in the morning, they will come out – yet they wait all night long to buy that item cheaply. SubhanAllah.
So what about Allah’s remembrance, where Allah's Name is mentioned? What is that? Allah refers in the Qur’an to {ٱلۡبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ} – Allah is saying ‘You will finish, but the words that come out of your mouth that praise Allah, they stay alive till Qiyamah {ٱلۡبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ}.’ They will adopt a form and become a palace - you'll be amazed! Look, what did Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam say? He said ‘Assalaamu alaykum,’ and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘Wa alaykum Salam’ – Nabi al-Karim sallallahu alayhi wasallam is telling us this. Yes? Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam said ‘Give my message to your Ummah’ – and who was he talking to? To Imam ul-Ambiya, Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, so that we wouldn’t get lazy and negligent. Yes? Don’t think you are just here on earth - he explained that there's a connection between us and the people of the heavens.
What is it that connects us with them? Look at this point. Insan is on the earth, but the connection is with the heavens - and what is that connects us? It is the Dhikr of Allah that connects us to the heavens. At every moment, a person can have a connection with the inhabitants of the heavens – in every second and every moment. We think ‘Oh, he has died – so now he's gone to the heavens’ - no brothers. The Dhakir is always floating in the heavens - who is telling us this? Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam said ‘Give Salam to your Ummah and give them this message, that Paradise is a very fertile land.’ SubhanAllah – he gave a very beautiful example. ‘Paradise is a very fertile land, but you will not be able to plough here in Jannah - you won't be able to farm here.’ What a beautiful statement, because Jannah is the abode above and is the place of reward, and down on earth is the place of working, of effort. In the land above, in Paradise, the fruits will grow, but you have to plough and farm on the earth in order to get those fruits of the Hereafter, SubhanAllah. Say SubhanAllah.
So if you don't farm and plough, and if you don't give water or tend the soil, if you don’t put fertiliser on, then you're sleeping. You're running your business, but you're sleeping! Yes, fine - Allah says do that according to the needs and necessities of the world, but how much time in life do we need to spend in this way? Wa-llahi, very little - the stomach doesn't demand this. The stomach won’t shrink away – it’s just a small stomach. If you drink two glasses of water, the stomach is full, and you don't feel like eating after two glasses of water. MashaAllah, the people who like eating delicacies don’t drink before eating, because they say ‘No, no, if I drink water, then I won’t be able to fit the food in! I'll drink a few glasses afterwards – that way I can fit more food in.’ But you can only fit in as much as the size of that stomach which Allah has made, and that's why Allah tala hasn't made earning and eating a very time-consuming issue in the world.
But this is Hirs – greed. Greed is so vast that the stomach of the human being can never be satisfied. Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘If this whole valley were made of gold, the greedy man would say that I need another valley of gold - and even then, his heart wouldn’t be full; his stomach wouldn’t be full.’ This is the meaning of the Hadith. So all these things around us are due to greed - we don't need them. We don't need all the money that we yearn for. We don't need that much money - we can't even count the amount of money that we collect. We don’t even get to look at the face on the notes! We don't even know the weight of that money that we're gathering and accumulating. All we need for the day is maybe ten pounds, enough to buy some bread, a chapatti and a nice curry. And after that, the biggest thing you need is to be grateful to Allah. That's all we need. And you will see that you have eaten and the stomachs of your family will also be full, alhamdulillah.
My Hadrat Sahib noor ‘ala marqadah was a Faqir, SubhanAllah, and they don’t speak wasteful words. He said ‘Bhai, today alhamdulillah, the food that I ate was a plate with some yoghurt and two Rotis - our whole family ate this and our stomachs are full. Who can tell if we have eaten kebabs or chickens? No one. The stomach has nothing to say, and it does not complain.’ SubhanAllah – what an example. So Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam said ‘Give this message to the people on the earth, that the land in the heavens is fertile, but you need to plant the seeds in the world; and tell them as well that not every seed grows in Paradise’ - say SubhanAllah.
Try to understand what I'm saying and then praise Allah after that, so that it is clear people are listening - and the angels will also know that people are active and are listening, SubhanAllah. If a person doesn’t praise Allah, then how can you tell whether the seed has been planted in that person's heart or not? There are special unique seeds which, if you plant them, then immediately they start to work – within a second, the work starts. Within a second, the work starts, as quick as when the call from Allah comes, and within a second, a person has gone. Someone says ‘Oh, he’s got Covid – we were just talking about him’ – and then within seconds we hear that his Janazah is taking place after Dhuhr. Yes? It takes a long time to come into the world, but it doesn't take long to depart, my brothers. Remember this. It takes a long time to come - you have to wait nine months. So to come takes a long time, but departing doesn't take long - he lies down and by the morning he’s disappeared. This is the case, isn't it? So this is our life.
So it's a special seed that Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam is telling us about. May Allah have mercy on us - this is the message we have been given about the fruits of the Hereafter. What are those seeds? He said ‘Tell your Ummah that those seeds are so great, so don't be lazy; the more seeds you plant in that fertile land, in the soil above that is Allah’s land, Allah says that if you plant one seed here, then seventy different things will grow there.’ Say SubhanAllah. Does anyone plant these seeds? Tell me. Is there anyone who plants the seeds? Nobody plants these seeds. Alhamdulillah, the seeds will bring forth so many the colours there. The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam told us of another effect in the Hadith. The angels are there and they are sitting there not working, because the house is finished and plastered, MashaAllah – those people have very beautiful mansions, and for them, Allah ta’ala has removed their loans and remove their burdens and answered their Duas. What a beautiful place has also been created here for our comfort, this Masjid where we have come to do Dhikr; MashaAllah look at the light that illuminates us, and here too, inshaAllah, the burden will also end, for this is Allah’s land and Allah’s property.
So in the Hereafter, while the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was wandering around in Jannah, he asked ‘Why are these angels sat here not doing any work?’ And Gibreel alayhi salam replied that their salary, you could say, had ended, so the work had stopped. Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘Where has that instruction come from? Where does their payment come from?’ Gibreel alayhi salam said ‘They are working for the person whose house is being made, the person down below, and he's stopped working - he's become lazy. The angels say that they will start work again when the payment comes.’ So in the first Hadith, Hadhrat Ibrahim alayhi salam said ‘Plant those seeds in the earth and don’t be lazy - and what are those seeds? They are the Dhikr of Allah, the remembrance of Allah, and Allah’s Beautiful Names, the Asma al-Husna.’
You remember Allah in all the verses of the Qur’an - they contain the Asma al-Husna, Allah’s Names and qualities; and they are the Tajalliat of Allah and Allah ta’ala has sealed the Qur’an al-Hakim in these verses. In these beautiful verses, you see the light of all the Asma al-Husna, and you see their light and Allah ta’ala’s glory and His power and His Anwaraat and status – you will find all of this in the Qur’an. Say SubhanAllah. So Allah ta’ala has gathered them, collected them and composed them and published them. Allah ta’ala has published His praise in the Qur’an – the whole Qur’an is praise, comprehensive praise of Allah. It is such beautiful praise that in that praise, Allah ta’ala has given us guidance and Hedaya, SubhanAllah. So keep on reading and keep on doing Amal at the same time - don't stop. Keep reading and keep practising, and then this Qur’an will reach Allah subhana wa ta'ala. This is such a fantastic Kitab that Allah ta’ala has given to us.
So Dhikr of Allah, SubhanAllah, is a beautiful seed. Alhamdulillah is a beautiful seed, Allahu Akbar is a beautiful seed, HasbunAllahu wa Ni’mal-Wakeel is a beautiful seed, La Hawla wa la Quwwata illa bi-llah is a great seed - all of these are seeds of Jannah, my brothers. And time is short in Ramadhan now, so try to strengthen yourself. Make yourself solid and plant these seeds in this month of Ramadhan. Don't waste any time. That's what Dhikr is for - what else is Dhikr for? Tell me. So as for the time that has passed, fair enough - Allah is Karim and merciful - it may be that possibly we have been lazy. Fair enough. But Allah ta’ala is so gracious that if we start from today, Allah will say ‘Okay fine - reward them even for what came before; compensate them for that.’ Say SubhanAllah. Allah is merciful - Allah says ‘Okay, he's only learned today - the poor soul. He went to Dhikr and he's understood today. So, no problem, give them seeds for the previous twenty-five days as well on My behalf.’ So the palaces of Jannah are a big mercy of Allah.
Now let’s come back to the second Hadith that we were discussing. So the angels said ‘We were working when the payment was coming from this man when he sat doing the Dhikr of Allah on the earth.’ This is the salary for the angels. SubhanAllahi wa bi-Hamdihi – this great Kalimah is their payment! This is a such a great Kalimah that we cannot imagine its weight - nobody can carry this. So when a person recites this once, the angels know its value and they stand up immediately, those Jamats of angels, the millions of angels who are constructing those palaces and homes. There aren’t just three or four workers there. No, no, SubhanAllah, there are special bricks of musk and saffron, Subhanallah. The very soil of Paradise is unique - say SubhanAllah. How beautiful - and you will be given it fully decorated. You won't need to look for a partner, to look for a wife, and the woman won’t need to look for a man. No, no, no. Allah says ‘When you do Dhikr of Allah here, those beautiful Kalimaats will become your Hoors in the Hereafter, in Paradise; they will become your Ghulams and your workers, and they will become rivers for you.’
Read Surah ar-Rahman and see how much enjoyment you feel. {فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ} What does this mean? Allah says ‘Which of My Ni’mahs will you reject?’ Allah is saying ‘You foolish people, you are sitting in Ramadhan and you have rejected My Ni’mahs. How? If you had done some work in Ramadhan, then you would have received so much in the heavens due to that Ni’mah.’ The Qur’an is telling us that today's laziness is rejection of Allah. ‘Oh servant, you don't do Dhikr of Allah, you don't remember Allah.’ Where have the Muslims gone? What has happened to their hearts? My brothers, leaving Dhikr is the biggest loss of the Hereafter; it is the biggest loss of the Hereafter -remember what I am telling you. One human being can gain so much if his heart is alive. As I said, this the day and age of Fitnah - this is the generation of the Dajjal. Dajjal’s generation is such that he'll come in front of you and make you do Sajdah to him; the Qur’an will be in the hands and in the pockets, but that Iman will have become like a paper blanket. Dajjal will say ‘I know these people. I know they have a beautiful, printed copy of the Qur’an in their pockets, but I have known these people from time - I'll make them do Sajdah right now, because their Qur’ans are just printed but there's no Amal of the Qur’an in their lives. There’s no practice.’ If you say ‘But this is the Ummah of Rasooullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam,’ he will say ‘I know - they say they're Ummatis, but not one of their actions is according to the Sunnah, not in their houses or families or outside or in their earnings. Look, I'll make them do Sajdah to me, and then let's see where his La ilaha illa-llah goes.’
But today, you can protect it - through what action? With which action can you protect yourself? Only Dhikrullah will protect your Iman. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam was going through the gardens of Madinah towards Masjid an-Nabawi, and he was entering the Mosque of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam – Hadhrat Muawiya radhiAllahu anh narrates this Hadith. Look how beautiful this Hadith is. I remembered this because we keep on reading and we hear about this also SubhanAllah. So Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam was coming into the Masjid, Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam was coming out of his home towards the Masjid. As he was walking, he saw that on one side of the Masjid, some noble Companions were sat there - they were just sat there in a corner. So Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam saw them and he went towards them – I am telling you the meaning of the Hadith here.
So, he went up to the noble Companions and he asked them with surprise, ‘Why are you sat here? For what action have you sat here? For which motive are you gathered and assembled?’ SubhanAllah. So, look at this question of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. The respected scholars say that three questions come out of this. He asked one question – ‘For what purpose have you gathered?’ and three questions are being asked in reality. The Sahaba-e-Kiram, the noble Companions, the Ghulams of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, they knew this, and so they gave him three answers. Say SubhanAllah. They gave three answers. People like us don't even understand the first meaning of the question ‘For what purpose are you seated here?’ They were alert when they heard this question, and said ‘This is a question from the Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam speaks, it is very valuable.’ They were shaking, thinking ‘What's happening? Is this going to be good news for us, or is sadness or punishment going to come? Will it be hellfire or Paradise? What's going to come after this?’ They had so much Khawf, fear, but they also had hope inside them.
So they shook and said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, O Prophet of Allah, we are sat here’ – and then they gave three answers, because they understood that they were being asked three things in that one question, namely ‘Why are you sat here, what are you doing, and why are you doing that?’ In one question, there are three enquiries being made - look at this. First - why are you sitting here? And if you are sat here, what are you doing at the same time? And if you're doing it, why are you doing this? SubhanAllah – say SubhanAllah. Look at the Hadith - its colour and effect is different and unique. They understood this message, and that's why they gave three answers. If they had known there was only one question, they would have given only one answer. The Muhaditheen the scholars of Hadith, say that no, three questions were implied and the people who heard were very capable, and that's why three answers came - otherwise they would have given him one answer to the one question. Say SubhanAllah. So because three answers came, then there must certainly have been three questions. Is this not the case? So they said ‘Oh Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam - why are we sat here, what are we doing, and why are we doing it?’ And then they give three answers: ‘Oh, Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, we are sat here because we are doing Dhikr.’ Say SubhanAllah - so one question has been answered. In the next answer, they said ‘Nahmaduhu - we are praising Allah, we are glorifying His Husn, His Asma al-Husna.’ In other words, if you love someone, you will praise Him, SubhanAllah.
The more love you have for somebody, the more you will praise that person. If you have three children, the youngest child is always the most beloved. Whenever you speak, you will mention the youngest. If someone says ‘What are your children doing?’ you will say ‘Oh, Hassan is playing - oh, he's very busy.’ You only mention him although you have two other children as well. Why? Because you have more affection and love for the youngest child, and whenever you speak, you will mention the youngest child. Logically, whoever you love more and have more affection for, you will speak about that person more. And how will you speak about the person? When you are speaking about Hassan, the youngest child, what will you do? First you will laugh, and you will smile with love - happiness will come into you – and then you will mention that person’s name. Say SubhanAllah.
So the Sahaba-e-Kiram were Ashiqs of Allah, and they had love for Allah. They weren't like us - they had love, immense love. And they didn’t just praise for nothing – their praise wasn't hollow or empty. They said ‘We are doing Dhikr. And what Dhikr are we doing? We are remembering Allah, we are sat for Dhikr, and we are only doing this action out of love. Our bodies are on this earth, but we are here for the Radha of our Maula. We spend our days and nights for Allah - we cry for Allah, we sleep for Allah, we eat for Allah, we walk for Allah; our every action is for Allah’s Radha, for His pleasure.’ Say SubhanAllah. If we do everything for Allah’s Radha, then we become so accustomed to this that we are forced to remember Allah because we do all our actions for the sake of Allah.
If a person loves somebody or something in the world - let's say he loves money - then he’ll show you the colours of money, different types of money, and that person will stand at his stall and forget his food and forget his thirst. If you ask ‘Did you eat before you came to work?’ he’ll say ‘Oh, I just grabbed a sandwich in the morning and then came straight to work because I don't want the customers to leave if they find the shop closed.’ Yes? This person has such love for the pounds that he forgets his food or sometimes his tea, and he forgets the issues at home. If for example he brings just a little piece of food from home - a little piece of bread or a bit of roti or a little slice of bread – he will spend ten hours and eat nothing more than that. Why? Just for the sake of temporary notes and the currency that he wants to save. This is the colour of love.
The Sahaba-e-Kiram knew what real love was and they had real love for Allah. So you see this in their lives, in the examples that we have to this day, where they said ‘Leave everything else - a date is enough for us to fill our stomachs.’ SubhanAllah - is this not the case? The noble Companions would be satisfied with just one date. Due to your Barakah, today I am understanding this Hadith of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and I understand reason that for weeks, the stove of the gracious Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would not be lit. Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam would come home and ask whether there was anything to eat, and Hadhrat Aisha Siddiqua radhiAllahu anha would say ‘No, there's nothing to eat.’ He would say, ‘Okay, fine - I'll make the Niyyah for fasting.’ SubhanAllah. Can anyone do this? What was the reason? Because SubhanAllah, everything in their lives was filled with spirituality and with Noor and with spiritual illumination. They would eat the food from this earth that they lived on, but it was not due to this that they were Noorani and spiritually illuminated. What made them like that? Allah’s Radha and Ishq had made them like this - say SubhanAllah.
This is the final Wednesday, so listen attentively - you won't get this gathering again. SubhanAllah. So a person becomes illuminated with Noor, and when he consumes Allah’s Noor, he starts to float in the heavens. So the Sahaba-e-Kiram would eat one date for three days, and look at the difficulties they would face. They went on expeditions and journeys, tying stones and rocks around their stomachs - can anybody do this? No. The reason was this, that they had a different food and a different objective. When a person becomes an Ashiq, just like the person whose hunger disappears when he is stood at his shop, at his stall, because his objective is money, so for the people who love Allah, their desire for material things comes to an end. They only have one objective, which is to acquire the favour of Allah by doing Allah’s Hamd and glorifying Allah and praising Allah. This becomes the objective in their life.
So me and you are sat here in the state of fasting, and I will ask you tomorrow, when Ramadhan has finished, how long you spend on your food. Three or four hours! It will be difficult for you not to eat food in the afternoon, and then you'll be drinking tea, and then comes the evening meal – this cycle pops up in every moment of the day. So why is it that we're not hungry now? Why can I speak in front of you, while you sit listening, different types of people, some elderly, some patients, some diabetic people? Why? Because you have got that food of Ramadhan, the sustenance of Ramadhan, so our form it changes. In Ramadhan, we are totally light and we have no needs because spiritually we have been strengthened; you are stronger because your stomach has changed. Now your Ruh is alive and the body has gone to sleep; the Ruh is alive and the food for the Ruh is Qur’an; the food for the Ruh is SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah.
So that's why we can wander around and work, and how expeditions and so on were undertaken. That's why the Shari’ah has not prohibited work in this month - Allah ta’ala has not done Dhulm. Allah says ‘Stay hungry and also work and labour and go to the office morning and night.’ Look at this point. Has Shari’ah prohibited you? Has Shari’ah said ‘Fast and set aside your Huqooq’? No - you still have to live in the world. There's no order for you to close your shops, to close your stores, or to stop working. No - there's no such Hukm; if anything, do more. Allah says ‘Do more Ibadah!’ SubhanAllah. Allah says ‘The more Ibadah you do, the less you will feel the fast. Experience this for yourselves - say SubhanAllah. The further you go from Allah’s Name, the more you will get headaches and difficulties. Why? Because at that time, your body is dead; Allah ta’ala has closed it down. Allah says ‘Now your Ruh is asking for sustenance and food.’ Say SubhanAllah. So now, those who give food to the Ruh, to the soul, who give the delicacies to the Ruh, they forget the body. After Iftar, when you break the fast with dates and water, then the Ruh retreats and the body opens up – say SubhanAllah - and that's when the hunger comes, alhamdulillah. Yes? It’s a beautiful logic, isn't it? It is a unique logic, an Ajeeb logic.
So the Sahaba-e-Kiram, the noble Companions, said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, we are praising Allah, we're doing His Hamd.’ And then automatically they gave the answer to the third question, which was ‘Why are you doing this? What's the reason for this?’ What an answer they gave, SubhanAllah. They gave the answer for us to hear. How much are we praising? MashaAllah, what do we do? If we have got a shop and a house, people say ‘MashaAllah, he's got a shop and he's got a house – Dhalika Fadhlu-llahi yuteehi man yashaa’ What money is it made from? Where has the money come from? It doesn’t matter - we're grateful to Allah. If Allah has given us a shop or a stall - that's fine. When a man has got money, very quickly he says he is grateful, but when there's no money, we forget Allah. ‘What happened today? My turnover was low’ - we start complaining. Oh Allah – is this Shukr? When money comes, we are grateful, and when money doesn't come, we go against Allah. According to our own desires, we go against Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
This is not the case in the life of a Mu’min. What was the Shukr of the Sahaba, who had no food, no clothes, no bread, no wife, no children, no house, no car, no transport - nothing. Nothing but desert. They were sitting in the desert sand with no camels – they didn’t even have a donkey. SubhanAllah. They didn't even have slippers on their feet or clothes on their body, neither a top nor a bottom - they would have one cloth and would wrap their body in that. The Sahaba-e-Kiram would pray in this attire, Say SubhanAllah. What were they grateful for? For which purpose? They were grateful about the reality of life. They said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, we're praising Allah for this reason, that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us the greatest Ni’mah - the greatest Ni’mah has been given to us.’ This is the Hadith that is running here, and I am sharing it with you. You must have read this at least a few times. They said ‘The greatest and most tremendous Ni’mah that Allah ta’ala has given to us is a huge favour, and for that reason we sat down here and started doing Dhikr. We’re doing Dhikr by doing Hamd – and why are we doing Hamd? We will tell you the reason, Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’ Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam was listening to their answer with ease, listening to the words of the Sahaba. He said ‘Why? Tell me.’ They said ‘We're doing this because Allah ta’ala has given us the greatest Ni’mah.’
So look around - what Ni’mah did the Sahaba-e-Kiram have? Which Ni’mah were they grateful for? Was it visible? What did they have? The real Ni’mah that they were pointing towards was what? The real Ni’mah was that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given Islam; He has given us Islam – SubhanAllah. Has Allah not given Islam to me and you as well? Have you ever thought about this? We don’t have a clue – ‘Have I got this or that? Have I got a car or not? Okay I’ll be grateful to Allah if I get these things. Well, let me give some charity. Okay, let me give this.’ What were the Sahaba-e-Kiram grateful for? Allahu Akbar – Islam! What is Islam brothers? Islam makes a person a Muslim. Islam makes a person a Muslim. And one Muslim, one Mu’min, has three things inside him through which his Islam is made. Number one: in his heart is Allah. In his heart is Allah. Second, in his life, he has obedience to Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. SubhanAllah – say SubhanAllah. Due to Islam, Allah is in his heart, obedience to Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is in his life, and thirdly, his guidance is the Kalam of Allah – these are the three results of Islam.
The person who doesn't have these three things is not a Muslim. Anyone who doesn't have these three things is not a Muslim. Three things make up Iman. Three things make Iman, and due to these, the Sahaba-e-Kiram were doing Shukr - they were grateful for this Ni’mah. They said ‘Oh Allah, you have given us Islam; oh Allah, you have inserted Iman into our hearts. You have come into our hearts, and You have given us Your beloved Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam who we obey and we imitate - we follow him. Oh Allah, and we are also grateful because you have given us the Qur’an in whose shade we make decisions in our lives. Due to these three things, we are grateful.’ If we move away from these three things, if one of these factors is not present in a person's life, then he is not a Muslim. “لاَ يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ” Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, ‘A person cannot be a Muslim if I am not more beloved to him than his life and his children.’ Allahu Akbar. So will he be ashamed of keeping the beard? Will such a person be ashamed of following the Sunnah? Tell me. Will he be ashamed to wear the Imamah? SubhanAllah - his Iman will testify. The Sahaba-e-Kiram have given a message to the Ummah today, saying ‘We are doing Dhikr due to the Deen.’ They explained the reality and the objective of doing Dhikr.
So, you Dhakireen, those who do Dhikr, beautiful, good news is coming to you, SubhanAllah SubhanAllah – there is beautiful, good news that I will give you right now, and you'll be shocked when you listen to the meaning of this Hadith. I'm not saying this, I am just reviving this Hadith, SubhanAllah. Open your hearts - Allah subhana wa ta'ala has instilled Noor into the hearts so that we can also do Amal on the words of this Hadith, SubhanAllah. It's coming. Allah is giving us this message - what a beautiful piece of good news. So, in reality what is Dhikr of Allah? The Sahaba-e-Kiram are explaining what Dhikr is, and who the people who do Dhikr are, and what qualities they will have in their lives.
The first quality they will have is Tawhid – the Oneness of Allah, SubhanAllah; and they will be lovers of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam and will be obedient to him; and they will accept the Qur’an – SubhanAllah. Their standing and their sitting will be Qur’an. No aspect of their lives will be without guidance of the Qur’an. No part of their life will be without the guidance of the Qur’an. When they open the Qur’an, they will say ‘Oh Allah, where should my next footstep go? What should I do? What does the Qur’an say?’ Every footstep of their life will come from the Qur’an - say SubhanAllah. If they have these three things in their life, their Iman will be complete. When such a person goes into the grave, he will be asked ‘Man Rabbuka?’ and he will say ‘Allah!’ ‘Who is your Rasool?’ – he will say ‘Muhammad Rasoolullah.’ And he will be asked ‘What is your Iman? What is your Deen?’ and he will say ‘Islam is my Deen’ - and we are grateful for those Sahaba-e-Kiram in the desert, the noble Companions who demonstrated that they sat down in order to be grateful to Allah.
So two things - listen carefully, my brothers. Number one concerns the human being who sits in a Jamat like you are sat here. I ask you the same question today. Why are you sat around here? You say ‘To do Dhikr!’ SubhanAllah - why are you gathered and why are you sat? You will reply ‘To do Dhikr.’ You will say this, won’t you, and whoever has sat with this Niyyah, then he is reviving the Sunah of the Sahaba-e-Kiram. This is the Sunnah of the Sahaba-e-Kiram – it is not Bid’ah that we are doing, it is not an innovation. Whoever is doing this is reviving the Sunnah of the Sahaba-e-Kiram. He is reviving the Sunnah. So now I'm explaining to you about what is being said. What is the stamp for this Sunnah? It is to sit in the Masjid like they did in Masjid an-Nabawi. Sit in order to do Dhikr of Allah, and any Jamat that does this will be Noorani and illuminated until Qiyamah, because those people will be reviving the Sunnah of the noble Companions.
What good news comes for those who see it this way. Don't be afraid – whatever the generations of this Dunya say to you, it doesn’t matter; be firm. Sit and do the Dhikr of Allah in whatever Masjid you get a chance, right there and then. Say SubhanAllah. Don’t wilt and don’t shake. When the day and age of Fitnah comes, when the era of Fitnah comes, when the padlocks are applied to the Masjids, and the permission to do Dhikr doesn't get given, remember that there are big Hadith about Majalis in the Masjids. In the final day and age, there will be chit chat, discussion and gossip in the Masjids, and the action which is the purpose of the Masjid and for which it was constructed won't be there. That Masjid which is made with Ikhlas, with sincerity and with Taqwa, I swear by Allah and say that for sure, Dhikr will definitely be in that Masjid. It will come automatically. Look at this – today, these people have made a Masjid out of love. How many days did it take? How many days passed? Alhamdulillah, I did Dhikr here 25 years ago and they never called us to do Dhikr here, but as soon as the Masjid was constructed and completed with Ikhlas, then alhamdulillah immediately Allah ta’ala instilled Noor into their hearts, and said ‘Go - go and host the Dhikr of Allah in your Masjid.’ Mubarak and congratulations to the people and administration of this Masjid - this Masjid is accepted. Say SubhanAllah.
Help this Masjid and assist this Masjid, brothers. I do not ask for charity – my colleagues know this – but for this Ni’mah, we should give. Allah has given us a great Ni’mah, and Allah selected you for this action. Tomorrow when this Masjid goes to the heavens, it won't invite anyone, but it will say ‘A Jamat was invited, and they came, and people were called, and they did Dhikr of Allah in this Masjid.’ Say SubhanAllah. Am I right or wrong? Tell me - is this right or wrong? Tell me. Yes? They made this Masjid for themselves - what link does it have to us? Tell me. They made the Masjid for their purpose, but Allah says ‘This is My home! It is My home, and whoever I desire, I will allow those people to come and fill the Masjid.’ Yes?
For example, when builders come to your home, and somebody is putting in a mirror or glass, fitting windows or plastering the rooms, what's happening? Do they take over the home? No, they construct, manufacture, and decorate the building and then they go - and then the owner of the house comes. The person who had to make the house has done his job, but the person who owns the house decides which people he wants to invite into his home. SubhanAllah. So in this house in which we're sitting now there is Taqwa and Ikhlas, and it cannot be that Dhikr of Allah will not take place in that home - impossible. Even if it's a small Masjid in the desert, a broken-down mud hut, if it has Taqwa and sincerity, I swear by Allah that first and foremost, the Dhikr of Allah will take place there. I saw in my Hadhrat Sahib’s life, SubhanAllah, such broken down Masjids in remote village areas, but Dhikr Majalis would take place there and angels would descend to those gatherings of Dhikr - SubhanAllah. This the glory of the Masjid. Don't look at the decorations and say ‘I put this here’ - don't praise the decorations. When you praise this Masjid, praise it for one reason, that in this Masjid, Allah’s Dhikr takes place - that's the decoration of the Masjid. Say SubhanAllah. That's when you realise that the Masjid was constructed and manufactured beautifully.
I will finish off the Hadith and let's do Shukr to Allah. Listen. So they said ‘We are grateful to Allah and are doing Shukr to Allah on which point? On three things - we attained Allah, Allah’s Rasool and Allah’s Kalam, SubhanAllah. For this, we are grateful.’ Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘Acha - is that it? Is this what you are doing? I see. Allahumma dhalik? By Allah, is that so? Is this really the reason you are seated here today? Are you definitely here for this purpose? Do you swear by Allah that you are sat here for this purpose?’ The Sahaba-e-Kiram said ‘Wa-llahi, we are sat here for this reason. We have no other objective and no other purpose’ - they also swore by Allah. Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘Do not fear, my beloved colleagues – don’t fear. You are not doing anything wrong – don’t worry. Gibreel came to me right now. Inna-llaha!’ You have read this Hadith, so you understand the Hadith now. ‘Gibreel just descended, oh my colleagues, so listen - listen to the message. Gibreel just came down right now to explain.’
Who is explaining? Imam-ul-Ambiya, the head of the Prophets; and who came to explain to him? Gibreel alayhi salam from the heavens; and whose instruction did he bring? Allah, Rabb-ul-Alameen. And who was this for? For the Dhakireen, for those who do Dhikr of Allah. So should we do Dhikr or should we not do Dhikr? Tell me. For whom was the Hukm brought? For the Dhakireen, those who today are considered backward people. Yes? ‘Are you a Dhakir? Oh go to the side, go to the back and do your Dhikr. You come to the front and you come to the front and let them go to the back’ - Allahu Akbar. So the Hukm is coming - Gibreel alayhi salam is descending, SubhanAllah. Which order? For the Dhakireen, for those who remember Allah. What good news is being given to them, SubhanAllah! Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, ‘Don't worry, don't be afraid - I'm amazed that for this action, what a great reward is coming from Allah. It is such a massive reward and that's why I swore by Allah. You're doing such a great action that you have made the whole world and the heavens shake. Gibreel said ‘Akhbarni - I'm coming with this news.’ He told me to give them good news - Inna-llaha – that Allah subhana wa ta'ala, due to this action of theirs in this locality, done with this love and with this regard, is so happy! Allah is so happy that He is proud of these people amongst His special angels.’ SubhanAllah.
So even today, this is the same situation. Why are you sat here? For the Dhikr of Allah. Why are you doing Dhikr? To praise Allah. Why are you doing this? Because Allah ta’ala has given us this Masjid and Iman and He has saved us from sins and has given us all the goodness, and He has taken us away from evil in Ramadhan, and He has made us busy in His remembrance. SubhanAllah. So good news, listen to the good news. What is the good news I’m telling you about? It is fantastic good news - SubhanAllah. So what is that reward? This whole reward is the one that was given to the Sahaba-e-Kiram, such a great reward which was given for what reason? Which point were they grateful to Allah for? For Iman! Say SubhanAllah. They were grateful for their Iman. Look at how great Iman is; the greatest wealth in the universe is Iman – Iman. Whether or not you are grateful for other things, you should definitely be grateful for Iman, and the Sahaba-e-Kiram showed that the Tariqa for showing gratitude is Dhikrullah – DhikruAllah! The best way, the highest grade and the most excellent method of being grateful for Iman, in this world and the Hereafter, is Dhikrullah. The men and women who do Dhikr of Allah are being grateful to Allah in the right way.
And the good news is that Allah ta’ala has declared in the Qur’an – { لَٮِٕن شَڪَرۡتُمۡ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمۡ}. Allah says ‘Whoever is grateful, then whichever Ni’mah I give them, I will multiply and increase that Ni’mah.’ So if you do Dhikr today and if you're grateful for the wealth of Iman, then according to this promise of Allah, at every moment and in every second, that Dhakir’s Iman will continue to increase and multiply – SubhanAllah, SubhanAllah. If a person’s Iman multiplies and strengthens and increases, then what will be his Maqam in the Hereafter? Tell me. That's why Rasoolullah, the Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the people who do Dhikr are such a group of people that when people become conscious on the Day of Judgement and come out of their graves - a unique sketch has been drawn - when there will be disorder, calamity and tragedy as people come out of their graves, then at that time a Jamah of people will be waking up and coming out of their graves and their faces will be shining like the moon on the 14th night - and we realise that they will be those Dervaish who, when all you could see in the world were sins and evil and vice and songs and music and immodesty, they were rejoicing in just one action - in the Dhikr of Allah and that's it. SubhanAllah.
The Iman of a person who does Dhikr of Allah will never be fraudulent, and he will be in no danger - even if Dajjal’s father comes, that Qawm of the Dhakireen will be protected; they will not prostrate to Dajjal and they will not submit to him. Why? Because the Qur’an promises that the Protector of the Dhakireen is Allah!
Recite Durood Sharif – let us do a little bit of Dhikr.