The objective of Man and the objective for his birth is only so he can attain the nearness to Allah. Allah Himself explained this objective to man after he was born. Allah said, The reason for creating you is for one reason, you can attain my pleasure, my nearness and my love and for this you will need to hard work, you will have to do Mujaahadah and fight against your enemies. The enemies have been mentioned which are nafs and shaytan and then Allah said, when you do this and come back to me then you will be successful and your creator will bestow paradise upon you which He has promised.
So Allah ta'ala has given us this objective for which we are here. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gave us a lot of worship in order to attain the nearness of Allah. Any deed which takes us closer to us becomes a worship and every worship takes a person closer to Allah. So we were given these worships so we could continue becoming closer to Allah. And from those actions, one very great worship Allah ta'ala gave to us and we know about this action, we do it, but we don’t do it the way it should be done. This worship is closely connected to Allah. This worship itself tells us how much a human being has belief and faith in His Lord. When he does this worship, you can see that this person has full faith and complete conviction in Allah.
Its a unique form of worship and regarding this, Allah's Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that when a human being does this worship, immediately at that time, Allah opens the doors of His Mercy, nearness and acceptance. That's what this worship is. If we are lazy and negligent with this worship then how unfortunate. There's only reason why we are lazy and that's because we have a defect within us. A person leaves this worship because his belief and certainty in Allah is very weak. He believes and he will do sajdah. He will do sajdah and tawaaf and everything but if he hasn't made dua, then in reality it is because he doesn’t have certainty. Allah ta'ala says, this worship is such that it is the root and foundation of all other worships.
You're doing a lot of worship but if you don't do this worship, then in reality, you have left it open ended. Whenever you engage in any worship, then this worship should be the conclusion for every other worship you perform. It is a great worship and Allah ta'ala has said with regards to this worship that it is a very valuable worship in His eyes. Do you know which worship this is which Allah ta'ala has given to us? It is the act of supplicating to Allah. The performing of dua. Look at what Allah ta'ala has mentioned regarding making dua and great secretes and hidden knowledge are kept in the act of supplicating. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam didn't just give us one dua, he gave us countless treasures of duas. And if you reflect over every dua that it makes you closer to Allah and a person receives everything from dua. Take any dua and check. There is a dua which Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam recited,
It is a small dua but what a fantastic dua it is of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. We should make it a habit to recite this valuable dua. What did he ask for? And there is a condition that Allah has said, whatever dua you make, I will accept it, you make dua to Allah to make you a Ghauth. That will be accepted. So why don't you ask for that dua? What's the reason? Because you don't have the certainty that Allah will make a you a Ghauth. If you had certainty then Allah is saying ‘ask me’,
ادعوني استجب لكم
Ask from me and I will grant you immediately. You have the desire to become the Ghauth and the Qutub of the time. You desire it right? Everyone does. But why aren't you asking for it? Because you don't think He will accept it. "How will this dua of ours be accepted." Imagine. Allah ta'ala has given a firm warning in regards to this that whoever does not ask me, has pride within him. He is heading for Hellfire and Allah becomes unhappy with such a person. "Why isn't my servant supplicating to me?" Why does he become displeased? Not because the person doesn't make dua, but because that person doesn't have certainty and faith in Allah that He will grant him. This is such a deep thing regarding the reason a person doesn't make dua. Why doesn't a person supplicate to become a Gauth? What was the dua Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said? If it was impossible to make this dua and it was impossible to become a Gauth, then why would Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam recite this dua if we cannot attain such. Tell me. What a great lesson. For example, you are all pious so If I make dua to Allah to make me a Gauth and if I say "how can i become a Gauth. How can I be pious if I dont pray correctly? I have these mistakes and sins. So how can this happen that I will receive this." But on the other hand, Allah ta'ala says, "if I want, I can say كن "Be" and whoever has certainty that if Allah wills He can do anything , then "I have supplicated and "let it be", he has accepted. He has definitely accepted because He has said,
دعوني استجب لكم
And he has said it in the Quran. There's 2 decisions you need to make now. If Allah نعوذ ) باله( is saying wrong to us He is tricking us to supplicate to Him for the sake of it. Is Allah playing games with us and tricking us? Then what is the benefit. Here, we can see how much of a hypocrite we are, that we perform salaah, we perform sajdah, we do everything, but after salaah finishes, we run away. And if we are going to make a dua we recite a rushed one,
ربنا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَة
اللهم أنت السلام ومنك السلام
We don't even know what we have recited and what we actually want, we don't ask from Allah. Whatever we desperately need, we fail to ask from Allah. Example, I wish to become a proper observer of saalah. Yet, I am not supplicating for it. I wish that my children become Qutub. Yet i'm not supplicating for it. Because I don’t have certainty that they will become good isn't it? Allah says that even if a thief was to call out to me, "oh Allah make me a Qutub", knowing that Allah accepts dua's, then it is Allah's promise that He will make the thief a Qutub. It is Allah who delivers the result. Immediately Allah will pick him up and send him to the company of the Wali Allah, then he goes into the company and he knows in which state he is going and there are actually many stories regarding this. Many events occurred with me like this. For example, when the shop is open, then the customers will come. The shop isn't mine, this is the shop of my Sheikh, Hadhrat Ali Murtaza Rahmatullahi alayh and I am just the salesman so how can the customers leave empty. The shop was open in London and I remember an event. Where was it? In London in the khankah. My shop was open and customers were coming in and there was one man who came in. He was wearing jeans and he had his hand here and I liked him and I said, "what’s up, you are here?" He said, "what’s going on here." I said nothing is happening, what’s going to happen here? I have come here and the brothers are here meeting me and we are doing the dhikr of Allah here. We do nice dhikr of Allah." I said, "what is your situation?" He said, "I was passing the street here and I saw people walking inside and I thought let me also come inside. Otherwise I wasn't going to come inside because I have severe pain in my teeth." And he had his hand on that area. So he said, "I’m searching for a dentist and I was walking. I was in pain but I liked what I saw and I thought let me see what is going on inside here. That's it." Today if you see that same man you cannot recognise him. MashaaAllah after that he didn't go anywhere else. It could be that his mother prayed to Allah saying, "oh Allah make my son pious." And you're sat now and I am sat here. These are definitely the effects of duas that we are sat here. My grandfather was a great Wali in India. He had many miracles. What happened was, my grandfather had a great status in society, he was the minister of his state, and it was the time when the kingdom was running . I’m telling you stories of India. He was a strict Muslim amidst the Hindu’s and he had a high post. He was a minister of the Rajah. I'm talking about my grandfather. And this is the example of dua. Everything is about dua. So I didn't even know this story, my grandmother told me this. The people spoke to the Rajah against my grandfather. You know how people come in between. They were Hindu's and the Hindu's and the Muslims would live together. And they went and said to the Rajah that, "he is this," about my grandfather. And he said, "okay we will sort him out properly with a certain method." And that was the time of the kings and rulers who were strict. So they called my grandfather and said that the situation is that, "I want you to tie the elephant and I want to see how you tie it up." My grandfather thought, "how strange." And the next day all the people sat in the court of the ruler. They didn't even give any food or drink to the elephant, I'm telling you a true story. Look at the pious people, those who believe in Allah and how Allah assists. The next day they all sat there looking at the drama, wondering how he would control the elephant. And my grandmother told me that he was in Tahajjud at night and he said to Allah, "I don’t know about my life but please raise the flag of Islam. Please don't let Islam lose out in any way." In his heart he resolved to go reading Surah Yasin and the elephant itself will show you the drama. So that’s what happened. He put his jacket and clothes on and the elephant was stood there and the king said, "go in the field and tie the elephant." They all wanted to see the drama because the King was unhappy. My grandfather said I was reciting surah yasin and when I got there next to the elephant, it lowered its long trunk to the ground. So there were two objectives, either it was going to hit with its tusks and pick up the man or it was going to crush a man under its foot. So it bowed its head and my grandfather was reading surah yasin, whilst the elephant lowered its head. When he put his hands out, then it submitted itself, he understood that there's peace now. And the elephant gave the hint for my grandfather to sit on him. So it lowered itself and my grandfather sat on it and it raised my grandfather. The elephant started to walk slowly where it had to be tied up, then it lowered its head and its tusks and it lowered my grandfather to the ground. Then he put his hand out to take him into the cage and it went inside. All the Muslims present shouted "Naare Takbir. Allahu akbar." So brothers, this is something that I remembered about my grandfather. So my maternal and paternal grandfather kept my name. Shall I tell you another story now? Because you are my friends and my colleagues so I’ll share it with you. I was the first child of my parents. The eldest. Now I’m narrating to you about my history. Remember the purpose of this is what? Dua. If you don't mind shall I tell you or not?
So my father was a magistrate in an Indian state. My family were on a high post but there was simplicity, humbleness and sincerity. I was the first child of my parents. There was a placed in India called Bayana in India, I can't remember the exact name and my father was posted there and it wasn't a big region but the doctors and medicines were far away and I was close to being delivered, close to being born and a pious Wali Allah passed by that region. I'm telling you a unique point here. And when this wali Allah passed by, obviously he came to meet my father and my father sat him down and hosted him, gave him food, drink and water. And Allah gives Wali Allah divine inspiration so he said to my father, "is there a child about to be born in your home?" He said "yes alhamdulillah Allah is about to give us some good news very soon and he's my first child and he's a useless child who will be born." And the Wali Allah said, "oh is it the first child?" He replied, "yes." And the Wali Allah said, "be careful because when this child will be born, a storm will come and you will have everything medially prepared at the time for his delivery, midwife, doctor etc, but at that time you will have nothing. The light and electricity will go and you will not even have oil to put inside the lamp even if you desired it and no matter how much you have prepared from before. Your child will be born in a unique way but I'm telling you all of these things which will definitely happen at the time of his birth." Anyway, my father said, "okay let's see what happens. I will prepare everything." So the Wali Allah did dua and made dua for me that I become pious."
And this is the effect of the dua. A person gets promotion and advancement through duas. Everything that we get in life is due to duas. Someone has made dua for you or you yourself made a dua, or from your mouth it has come out and it is due to the result of the dua that a person goes towards the good. That’s why they say, take the prayers of your parents. What is beneath the mothers feet? Paradise. The greatest treasure of dua for a man is his Sheikh. More than the mother and the father. So Allah has kept these fountains, so you can make dua for yourself and also build the love for someone in such a way that they make dua for you. If I was to show you the letters written by my Sheikh, and the dua that he made for me, you'd be shocked if you were to hear them and every dua of his is accepted. So due to his dua, I’m saved today and this is why I’m saved alhamdulillah. I have never asked my Sheikh to make dua for me. There’s two things, you request for duas and it is not bad to request, but it is more beloved when a person automatically makes dua for you from their heart without asking. This should happen where a person is forced to make dua for you and it is not necessary that you hear that dua. Sometimes he prays for you in the depths of his heart, from his actions, from his words. We don’t do this, we don't earn duas from people, nor do we have certainty in duas. Wallahi you should hold so much certainty in your duas to know that you won't succeed and gain benefit without duas. Allah says, there is no greater power in the world than the power of dua. So going back to the story, when I was born, my father prepared for the time of my birth. The midwives were prepared and present, there were boxes of oil and lantern, everything was there, Allahu Akbar, when Allah ta'ala writes something, He has written it. And the events occurred just like how the Wali Allah mentioned. I was born all of a sudden and at that time there was nothing. A big storm came and due to that they couldn't find doctors, nurses or medical resources. They didn't have anything and it was a unique situation. So my maternal grandfather kept a name, my paternal grandfather kept a name and then my paternal grandfather, who was elder, he said, his name will be Asif. Do you know what the name 'Asif' means in Arabic? A hurricane. Storm. Asif refers to strong and fast winds. It comes in a few places in the Quran, you must've heard it and read it and the translation is this. Now I remember another incident which happened in Bolton, I was talking to someone and he said to me, "you are this and that," and he was saying these things to me. Alhamdulillah. "Who are you? What are you?" So I stayed quiet and didn't reply. Then I said one thing. “My name is Asif and Asif means "storm." And I am a storm just remember that." And that night I saw a dream that there were strong winds and the storm was erupting alhamdulillah. Everything was being taken by the storm. So my grandfather said that in reality his nature will be like a storm, he will create a storm in the world. He will be such a person", and he gave me duas."
So duas have an effect and names have an effect and if I wanted to change my name, I can't because names have a great effect on a person. Khair, so this is a story I have shared with you. So what is the greatest thing in the eyes of Allah? Dua. Supplications. There is power in dua and Allah says the amount of worship and His nearness He has placed in the action of dua, He has not placed in any other worship. And this is one thing we learn because Imaan is the name of certainty. Imaan is the name of belief. And whoever has certainty and belief, حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل , will he be scared of anything tell me ? Will the one who recites لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله be afraid tell me? So if he isn't afraid, will he commit haraam actions? No. Because we have certainty. So why we are so distant from such a great thing regarding which Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has narrated, " raise your hands and I will immediately fulfil your dua." Due to us having a lack of certainty and faith, Allah doesn't enable us to be capable of supplicating to Him. Otherwise, it is such a great thing! We are such that even if we know there is an avenue where our duas may be accepted, like through the service of our parents,we should do such service of our parents that your mother herself puts the hand on her child's head and makes dua. Out of your mothers love for you, she makes dua for you. When you serve her, she makes dua for you, but when you earn her love and then she makes dua for you, then that brings a different colour, a different effect.
Earn duas from your father. What we do is, we earn curses from our parents. We argue and fight with them. Anyway, everyone has their own situation regarding this. This is a fact that the fountains through which we can earn duas are sealed, and the duas that we can make for ourselves, we have also given up doing. Every action is summarised in dua because you have done such a great thing so Allah says, "ask from me. You have done such an a amazing act of worship, so why don't you ask from me?" Remember this point. Regarding Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's dua that I shared with you. Just one dua is enough and it is accepted most definitely, whether you make it yourself or someone made this dua for me, then tell me what else is left after that?
The wording that Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has used, make me a وَلِيْجَةً and وَلِيْجَةً is a unique word. What is وَلِيْجَةً ? It refers to that person who keeps coming and going to someone's house without formality. In other words, he has open permission to come to your house and that person is very close to you and knows your secrets and listens to you. Tell me what an amazing dua. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is telling us to make dua to Allah saying, "make me your وَلِيْجَةً allow me to keep coming to you, always listen to my words, don't prevent me from you, allow me to get closer to you and allow the love between us to increase." Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made this dua and Allah ta'ala accepted. Whoever says it is not accepted, then they have no certainty and belief. When this dua is accepted, then tell me what a great level of Tasawwuf you will attain through it. But we don't make this dua. Why? Because we don't have certainty that it will happen to us. We say it is impossible to be a وَلِيْجَةً. Dua is such a thing where it makes the impossible, possible and Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said there's nothing which can change destiny. If there is one thing, then dua can change it. Dua can change the destiny. When a person is immersed in a difficulty or calamity or distress and he makes dua to Allah, then his dua is accepted immediately. And Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam drew the sketch of that, saying that the dua goes up to the heavens and the reply comes back down so if he's sick, or in a calamity, and makes a dua then his dua goes up to the heights and catches the situation that was descending, so it cannot go down to the world and afflict that person. You can't reach that man. And he's about to have an accident, look at this, I'll share with you regarding dua which is such a valuable thing. I'll share with you Hadhrat Aarifi Rahmatullahi Alayh's words, "dua is such a valuable thing but we have limited and restricted the action of making dua to after praying, after reciting Quran and after performing nafil." These are the times we have restricted it to. This is what we do isn't it? We've done a big action, do dua. Khatam, do dua. Completed Bukhari Shareef, Ramadan, do dua, after fasting, do dua. He said, "what is this? Is that it? Is this the way to utilise such a great thing Allah has given us? The method in fact should be that you pray for every single action that you are doing. For example, you are outside and about to sit in your car and you say, "oh Allah I’m going into my car, look after me, don’t let an accident happen to me and if it is about to happen then save me ." End of story, that is your dua that has gone up. When you're sat in the car, say, "Allah, take me to my destination. I don’t have reliance upon my car, I have trust in you, don't let me come across any accident and let me arrive safely on time, with wellbeing. End of. Its a dua. In other words, assign every action to Allah and you build such a strong a connection with Allah that one cannot become closer to Allah through any other worship, as he does through dua. Say SubhaanAllah. Do you understand? Yes, do this. Look at this point that I've shared with you. So this is dua. Dont do dua all in one go, in one time, because not even for a second do we know what is going to happen, I don't know if i’ll be able to blink the next eye lid, I don't know ill be able to make it outside, I've come here, I don't know, I might slip here or become disabled, sprain my feet. Anything. Allah ta'ala says the most beloved action to me is to ask Aafiyah. Because you are surrounded with things from all sides, oh foolish one you don't know, there's jinn, shaytan, magicians, jealous people, sicknesses, problems, difficulties and your own sins are a calamity. We can't see them can we? You are surrounded from all 4 sides. Your sins, your wretchedness, the darkness of ours deeds, our lying, our disobedience, how do we know what oppression we are sealed with. We don’t recognise our own condition, hence, Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, the best dua is to ask for Aafiyah and that is sufficient. Then you'll be free from all the darkness around you from these thing. Say SubhaanAllah. Do you understand my point? Ask Allah for this. Make one dua asking for aafiyah and it will be more valuable than all the other duas that you make. When you wake up, make dua to Allah, "oh Allah you have awoken me, please look after me, and allow me to fulfil all my tasks of the day with ease." You're going home go to eat, then make dua, "Allah send me home with goodness. Dont let there be an argument inside the house. May my children not disrespect me, allow me to eat in peace at home, don’t cause anything at home to disturb my peace or give me distress," make this dua and then go home. Everything that you assign to Allah like this and the duas that you make, will be accepted. And all things that were to befall you are being removed. Do you certainty? A man can only do this if he has certainty in his Lord, that there is only one Khaaliq, Maalik, He gives sustenance, He gives illness, He removes the patients from the hospital, He sends people to the hospital, He gives life, He gives death, He gives everything. Wherever you command to utilise our means, we will do so, but we have complete conviction in you. We used our means. Corona comes and we wear the mask so we took the means, but our reliance is upon Allah. "I am wearing the mask Oh Allah you are the only one who will safeguard me, I don’t have trust in this mask, allow me to keep breathing and let these masks and restrictions be removed." Have you made this dua? No. Taking means and utilising resources doesn't mean you have forgotten Allah, Allah says use the means." A man goes hospital, the doctor is going to come, he is a very good doctor, he's going to do my operation. In the morning the doctor said "I did the operation wrong" and the man died. These things happen and I can tell you the case where someone has gone hospital, the operation has gone wrong and he is sat on home. Sleeping on the bed. But we relied on the doctors. We searched all over for him, we spent a lot of money, we paid him private, medical aid and then after all of that what happened? We didn't make dua from our mouths saying, "Allah you grant us the grace, you are the one who gave me the doctor, I am going for an operation, allow the operation to go smoothly." We don't do this. You go to drink water, you pick up the water, Allah make this water beneficial for me, don’t let it give me a disease, place blessings in it for me."
Shaytan is everywhere. He is in water as well. There are diseases and calamities even inside the water. So dua is such that it opens the doors of paradise, acceptance, mercy and nearness to Him.
So Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said وَلِيْجَةً , a small dua that "oh Allah make me a person that continuously comes to you, keeps meeting you, my duas are accepted by you and make my situation such that we know each other so well. Let there be no formality between me and you, let me not be afraid of you, don't let me be someone far in your eyes but someone who frequently comes." When you're down and out you go and meet a person you are comfortable and confident with and you take advice from such a person. "I just want to consult you and Allah make us have such a connection that I become your وَلِيْجَةً." Why did Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam advise us to make this dua. Because maybe it can happen, but from millions of people, only one person will make this dua. There are thousands of people who have heard this dua. If you don't know it in Arabic, then recite it in Urdu and on top of that, say, وّاجْعَل لّيْ عِنْدَكَ زُلْفىٰ and what is زُلْفىٰ? It refers to a deep type of nearness. So, Allah grant me such a nearness and this is the habit of the Gauth and the Qutub. You say, why should I ask for this? But Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, ask for this. Are you going to make the dua for being a Gauth after becoming a Gauth? First you say, Allah make me a Gauth and then when you made me the Gauth and then i'll do the dua. How is this corrector? Or “ohAllah make me pious and then I’ll do the dua for being pious after. You're supposed to make dua for what you don't have so then you receive it, isn't it? " Allah, don’t grant me a small paradise, grant me the highest stage in paradise, Al Firdaus and grant me the nearness to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in paradise." Who is telling us this? Allah's Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is telling us to make dua for such. Why do you make dua for wasteful things? If you ask then you will get. And those who have conviction and continuously call out in supplication to Allah, stranding, walking, morning and evening, they know that the best way to get close to Allah is through dua. And the most successful in the hereafter will be the one who did the most dua because Allah says, he had most certainty in me. He made dua the most. That my Lord is there. He created me. He listens to me and He gives me despite me being a sinful person with defects. Allah grants us without even asking! Do the disbelievers make dua? No. But they get as well. What do they get? A child asks for toys and you give him a balloon which he will play with and then after a little while, it will burst and then he will cry. You must've seen this that when it bursts the child will cry. And then he asks for another balloon and when you give him the second balloon, after a while it bursts too and he will cry. I remember I was coming, these are small examples because I observe things, there was a brother and a sister standing together and the sister was slightly older. She was eating mitai and her brother was asking her for some and she would trick him and she would give him the bitter one and he would scream, "why are you giving me the bitter one, give me the sweet one." And then she would trick him and give him the bitter one again. That is our situation as well. SubhaanAllah. We should ask for Allah and Allah will grant us immediately what we are asking for. There is nothing lacking in Allah's treasure chest that He can make you a Gauth tomorrow and me a Qutub. "Allah make me an Abdaal." Do you think Allah is lacking in these things? So I was saying Allah grants the disbelievers but He grants them and what does He grant them? Bitter things and bitter sweets. Allah gives them balloons so they burst, He gives them houses, shops, big cars, He gives them everything, machinery and planes but all these things are artificial. Just like a dream Allah is giving them. But when a believer asks from Allah, then he receives solid things like paradise. SubhaanAllah. As an example, you make dua to Allah for a pious wife, you make dua and she comes but she is stern and not pious and then you say I made a dua for this but my dua isn't accepted. Allah will say this is the world. I gave you a balloon here so you can practice and your dua is accepted in paradise and in return your Hur is already waiting for you in paradise. She is your wife not this. But still, your dua is accepted. SubhaanAllah. Some people say , I made dua but why did my marriage happen here? Today you understand that your dua was accepted in replacement for the dua that you made and you will get the Hur in the Hereafter. But here in this world, this wife was best for you. She will make you a better human being. She will crush your ego. She will train you and make sure you are good in the world. So don’t leave her, she came as a result of your duas. Say SubhaanAllah. So after this, whoever is given the ability to make dua, is there any lack of certainty after learning this? But we don't do dua. Why? Because we believe in Allah and accept Him but we don’t believe in His words. Allah says, ask from me, plead to me, I'll listen to you and I’ll give to you. Listen to this as well, Allah says I'm most unhappy and angry with that person who doesn't have certainty in me, he didn’t make dua to me, he was arrogant and he will find out in Hellfire. He doesn't believe in me or hold any conviction. He worships and then quickly wipes his hands over his face and runs away. Who did you do this worship for? Who did you do the sajdah for? Who did you bow down to? Who did you do all this dhikr and recitation of Quran for? You recited Quran for reward? Allah says that this all secondary. What we realise is that, had it been for Allah's sake we would've raised our hands first or even just said in our hearts, its not necessary to raise the hands, but in your heart you definitely should have said "Allah I am so grateful that you made me recite Quran. This was all your grace and please grant me all the blessings and rewards for all the things which you have allowed me to do. And then you'll realise what is the Quran that you recited. This Quran will continue to your generations after you and the blessings of this will come into your lives. Look at this, my grandfather made dua for me, and Allah made me an observer of prayer. It was his dua which was, "he will make a storm erupt in the world and he will spread the deen." He is my grandson and this is the love of a grandfather isn't it? That’s why they say, request for your children to be named by pious and elder people because the love comes into that person. This is it. So making dua is a very big thing and it increases the conviction upon Allah. So will Ramadan leave out this topic of Tazkiyah? No. Ramadan has given us such an Asharah so we can dedicate it to making dua and nothing else and it has taught us the etiquette of making dua that the more we seclude ourselves, humble ourselves, the more we plead to Allah, view Him as yours, your assistant, the more you detach yourself from the words and you make dua to Allah, the more Allah will bestow upon you and give to you such rewards like Laylatul Qadr. This is the reward for what? I'm telling you from my own personal knowledge and passion that Laylatul Qadr is the reward of making dua. So in this Asharah we must make abundant supplications to Allah in seclusion. What type of seclusion? Not the isolation we perceive, but such an isolation, that we have no one else in our heart besides Allah. That is the isolation. That is Muraqabah performed in the heart for which you go to a Wali Allah and request to learn it so that you can make correct duas and so that Allah is there and no one else. During Muraqabah, you plead with Allah and present your needs to Allah. Allah is making us practice this in these last 10 days. Allah raised the one who was immersed in the world and made this worship necessary for him, so Allah made him sit in I'itikaaf. Allah says, "you have no intellect, you could've gone to a Sheikh and he would've taught you, you had no need to come here. All year long, you would've been engaged in Muraqabah, all year long you would've been in i'tikaaf. These such people sit amidst the world and perform i'tikaaf. This is the definition of i'tikaaf that you should detach yourself from the world and attach yourself to Allah. SubhaanAllah. You don't detach your body from the dunya, because you're living inside the dunya. It's your heart which you need to detach. A man becomes close through his heart and becomes distant through his heart. You have to train your hearts. The love for the dunya comes in the heart and the detachment of the dunya also comes from the heart. You'll find that many people love you but do they love you from the heart? That is the determining factor. And Allah ta'ala is خبير and بصير Allah knows it is difficult for us to recognise people but He has given us the measurement stick. Allah says if don't look at his face, I look at his heart. Is he crying? The drama? No I look into his heart and see how much love he has for who he is crying for. Or is he deceiving the world so that people see him as a pious person. You cry whilst reciting Quran. You cry whilst praying salaah. If a person is crying whilst he leads the salah, then does he also cry in salaah when he prays in private? Tell me. Why do you cry amongst people, I don't understand this. You're supposed to hide your tears, you shouldn't be showing off. Weeping is a secret between the servant and his Lord that only you witness my tears Oh Allah and nobody else. SubhaanAllah. We recite "Alhamdulillah" and begin crying in salaah, what is this? We cry in Surah Ikhlaas in salaah. I don’t know what this person is crying about. I'm not mocking or criticising anyone but I'm telling you the principle that Allah doesn't look at the faces and the tears, he looks at the heart of that person. Yes a person weeps from Quran recitation, from salaah, from dhikr, a person becomes emotional. Sometimes during dhikr, words and names come out from a person's mouth and this is called حال Haal. It doesn't just happen in public but it also happens to them in private. In fact it happens more in private to the extent that it can't be controlled and you have to control it so the people don't find out. And if it does happen, then control your حال in public. Don't expose yourself in front of people. Why do you expose yourself at that time? Why do you waste it? In controlling, you are saving yourself from hypocrisy and ostentation. If you want to love, get up and remember Allah in isolation, do dhikr in isolation and let the current come out, shriek and call out to Allah and Allah will be happy. We recite Quran and we are dozing off in salah and dhikr and when people come, then we are reciting each verse and crying, and you spoil the salaah of others. Say SubhaanAllah. We are all in great need of rectification. Those who are show off are those people who haven't take Bay'ah with a Sheikh, I’ll tell you the truth here. So this is a big point we need to learn. What did we learn today? Dua. And what has the Asharah given to us? Dua. Allah says come into seclusion. Do Naqshbandi's need this? Alhamdulillah they perform Muraqabah already from their hearts. But we don't have certainty in Allah that Muraqabah can grant us success. Ramadan says by making you sit into seclusion I am making you practice what? Sit with this wali Allah and you will receive i'tikaaf for the entire year and he will make you perform such an i'tikaaf.
Here i'tikaaf has made you leave your wife and children, it has made you sit in the corner, you can't leave the area, you are restricted and can only leave to relieve yourself. But the Wali Allah will teach you such Muraqabah that you can continue to live in the world, do whatever you want and you’ll remain in the state of i'tikaaf at the time SubhaanAllah. Dont be heedless in your heart. Hadhrat Junaid Baghdadi Rahmatullahi Alayh, the leader of Taif, a great Sheikh, he knew the depths of the heart, he read the hearts. He had Kashf-ul-Quloob and Kashf-ul-Qubool. He said there was a business man selling his goods and I stopped there at that time and I saw a weird thing in his heart. Customers are coming to him and he is selling and buying, so many customers and so many things he sold, I looked at his turnover and I looked at the man,
Then I understood this verse at the time. That Allah says that the business, the children and the world doesn't stop a wali Allah from dhikr. They are always immersed in the Dhikrullah. He said his heart was engaged in greater amount of dhikr compared to the customers he was getting. Not for a second did I see that his heart was negligent from the dhikr of Allah. That is Muraqabah. That is the dhikr of Allah. Do you understand now? Did he sit in the corner and leave his children and his shop? No. Allah ta'ala says that Our Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's sunnah is to work and remember Allah at the same time. Hadhrat Aishah Radiyallaha Anha said كل أحيانه in all situations. In every situation, our Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, whether he was with me, away from the house, with his wives, eating his food, but he was in one condition. كل أحيانه every moment he was immersed in the dhikr of Allah. SubhaanAllah
"My husband was like this," says Aishah Radiyallaha Anha. She was proud about her husband. Imaam ul Anbiyaa. She was his wife. Is she a minor individual? SubhaanAllah. So my brothers, this is what we need to learn, but we don't have value for these things. We run away from dhikr, from the gatherings, from the Khankah. Be grateful to Allah a million times that at least he has pushed us to sit here. So brothers, i'tikaaf in Ramadan is making us practice a great action and the essence of that is Tazkiyah. Purification. Allah is pushing us to go and sit with the Wali Allah and improve ourselves. May Allah grant us the ability to implement.
The objective of Man and the objective for his birth is only so he can attain the nearness to Allah. Allah Himself explained this objective to man after he was born. Allah said, The reason for creating you is for one reason, you can attain my pleasure, my nearness and my love and for this you will need to hard work, you will have to do Mujaahadah and fight against your enemies. The enemies have been mentioned which are nafs and shaytan and then Allah said, when you do this and come back to me then you will be successful and your creator will bestow paradise upon you which He has promised.
So Allah ta'ala has given us this objective for which we are here. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gave us a lot of worship in order to attain the nearness of Allah. Any deed which takes us closer to us becomes a worship and every worship takes a person closer to Allah. So we were given these worships so we could continue becoming closer to Allah. And from those actions, one very great worship Allah ta'ala gave to us and we know about this action, we do it, but we don’t do it the way it should be done. This worship is closely connected to Allah. This worship itself tells us how much a human being has belief and faith in His Lord. When he does this worship, you can see that this person has full faith and complete conviction in Allah.
Its a unique form of worship and regarding this, Allah's Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that when a human being does this worship, immediately at that time, Allah opens the doors of His Mercy, nearness and acceptance. That's what this worship is. If we are lazy and negligent with this worship then how unfortunate. There's only reason why we are lazy and that's because we have a defect within us. A person leaves this worship because his belief and certainty in Allah is very weak. He believes and he will do sajdah. He will do sajdah and tawaaf and everything but if he hasn't made dua, then in reality it is because he doesn’t have certainty. Allah ta'ala says, this worship is such that it is the root and foundation of all other worships.
You're doing a lot of worship but if you don't do this worship, then in reality, you have left it open ended. Whenever you engage in any worship, then this worship should be the conclusion for every other worship you perform. It is a great worship and Allah ta'ala has said with regards to this worship that it is a very valuable worship in His eyes. Do you know which worship this is which Allah ta'ala has given to us? It is the act of supplicating to Allah. The performing of dua. Look at what Allah ta'ala has mentioned regarding making dua and great secretes and hidden knowledge are kept in the act of supplicating. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam didn't just give us one dua, he gave us countless treasures of duas. And if you reflect over every dua that it makes you closer to Allah and a person receives everything from dua. Take any dua and check. There is a dua which Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam recited,
اَللّٰهُمّ اجْعَل لّيْ عِنْدَكَ وَلِيْجَةً وّاجْعَل لّيْ عِنْدَكَ زُلْفىٰ وَحُسْنَ مآب
[Daylami]
It is a small dua but what a fantastic dua it is of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. We should make it a habit to recite this valuable dua. What did he ask for? And there is a condition that Allah has said, whatever dua you make, I will accept it, you make dua to Allah to make you a Ghauth. That will be accepted. So why don't you ask for that dua? What's the reason? Because you don't have the certainty that Allah will make a you a Ghauth. If you had certainty then Allah is saying ‘ask me’,
ادعوني استجب لكم
Ask from me and I will grant you immediately. You have the desire to become the Ghauth and the Qutub of the time. You desire it right? Everyone does. But why aren't you asking for it? Because you don't think He will accept it. "How will this dua of ours be accepted." Imagine. Allah ta'ala has given a firm warning in regards to this that whoever does not ask me, has pride within him. He is heading for Hellfire and Allah becomes unhappy with such a person. "Why isn't my servant supplicating to me?" Why does he become displeased? Not because the person doesn't make dua, but because that person doesn't have certainty and faith in Allah that He will grant him. This is such a deep thing regarding the reason a person doesn't make dua. Why doesn't a person supplicate to become a Gauth? What was the dua Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said? If it was impossible to make this dua and it was impossible to become a Gauth, then why would Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam recite this dua if we cannot attain such. Tell me. What a great lesson. For example, you are all pious so If I make dua to Allah to make me a Gauth and if I say "how can i become a Gauth. How can I be pious if I dont pray correctly? I have these mistakes and sins. So how can this happen that I will receive this." But on the other hand, Allah ta'ala says, "if I want, I can say كن "Be" and whoever has certainty that if Allah wills He can do anything , then "I have supplicated and "let it be", he has accepted. He has definitely accepted because He has said,
دعوني استجب لكم
And he has said it in the Quran. There's 2 decisions you need to make now. If Allah نعوذ ) باله( is saying wrong to us He is tricking us to supplicate to Him for the sake of it. Is Allah playing games with us and tricking us? Then what is the benefit. Here, we can see how much of a hypocrite we are, that we perform salaah, we perform sajdah, we do everything, but after salaah finishes, we run away. And if we are going to make a dua we recite a rushed one,
ربنا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَة
اللهم أنت السلام ومنك السلام
We don't even know what we have recited and what we actually want, we don't ask from Allah. Whatever we desperately need, we fail to ask from Allah. Example, I wish to become a proper observer of saalah. Yet, I am not supplicating for it. I wish that my children become Qutub. Yet i'm not supplicating for it. Because I don’t have certainty that they will become good isn't it? Allah says that even if a thief was to call out to me, "oh Allah make me a Qutub", knowing that Allah accepts dua's, then it is Allah's promise that He will make the thief a Qutub. It is Allah who delivers the result. Immediately Allah will pick him up and send him to the company of the Wali Allah, then he goes into the company and he knows in which state he is going and there are actually many stories regarding this. Many events occurred with me like this. For example, when the shop is open, then the customers will come. The shop isn't mine, this is the shop of my Sheikh, Hadhrat Ali Murtaza Rahmatullahi alayh and I am just the salesman so how can the customers leave empty. The shop was open in London and I remember an event. Where was it? In London in the khankah. My shop was open and customers were coming in and there was one man who came in. He was wearing jeans and he had his hand here and I liked him and I said, "what’s up, you are here?" He said, "what’s going on here." I said nothing is happening, what’s going to happen here? I have come here and the brothers are here meeting me and we are doing the dhikr of Allah here. We do nice dhikr of Allah." I said, "what is your situation?" He said, "I was passing the street here and I saw people walking inside and I thought let me also come inside. Otherwise I wasn't going to come inside because I have severe pain in my teeth." And he had his hand on that area. So he said, "I’m searching for a dentist and I was walking. I was in pain but I liked what I saw and I thought let me see what is going on inside here. That's it." Today if you see that same man you cannot recognise him. MashaaAllah after that he didn't go anywhere else. It could be that his mother prayed to Allah saying, "oh Allah make my son pious." And you're sat now and I am sat here. These are definitely the effects of duas that we are sat here. My grandfather was a great Wali in India. He had many miracles. What happened was, my grandfather had a great status in society, he was the minister of his state, and it was the time when the kingdom was running . I’m telling you stories of India. He was a strict Muslim amidst the Hindu’s and he had a high post. He was a minister of the Rajah. I'm talking about my grandfather. And this is the example of dua. Everything is about dua. So I didn't even know this story, my grandmother told me this. The people spoke to the Rajah against my grandfather. You know how people come in between. They were Hindu's and the Hindu's and the Muslims would live together. And they went and said to the Rajah that, "he is this," about my grandfather. And he said, "okay we will sort him out properly with a certain method." And that was the time of the kings and rulers who were strict. So they called my grandfather and said that the situation is that, "I want you to tie the elephant and I want to see how you tie it up." My grandfather thought, "how strange." And the next day all the people sat in the court of the ruler. They didn't even give any food or drink to the elephant, I'm telling you a true story. Look at the pious people, those who believe in Allah and how Allah assists. The next day they all sat there looking at the drama, wondering how he would control the elephant. And my grandmother told me that he was in Tahajjud at night and he said to Allah, "I don’t know about my life but please raise the flag of Islam. Please don't let Islam lose out in any way." In his heart he resolved to go reading Surah Yasin and the elephant itself will show you the drama. So that’s what happened. He put his jacket and clothes on and the elephant was stood there and the king said, "go in the field and tie the elephant." They all wanted to see the drama because the King was unhappy. My grandfather said I was reciting surah yasin and when I got there next to the elephant, it lowered its long trunk to the ground. So there were two objectives, either it was going to hit with its tusks and pick up the man or it was going to crush a man under its foot. So it bowed its head and my grandfather was reading surah yasin, whilst the elephant lowered its head. When he put his hands out, then it submitted itself, he understood that there's peace now. And the elephant gave the hint for my grandfather to sit on him. So it lowered itself and my grandfather sat on it and it raised my grandfather. The elephant started to walk slowly where it had to be tied up, then it lowered its head and its tusks and it lowered my grandfather to the ground. Then he put his hand out to take him into the cage and it went inside. All the Muslims present shouted "Naare Takbir. Allahu akbar." So brothers, this is something that I remembered about my grandfather. So my maternal and paternal grandfather kept my name. Shall I tell you another story now? Because you are my friends and my colleagues so I’ll share it with you. I was the first child of my parents. The eldest. Now I’m narrating to you about my history. Remember the purpose of this is what? Dua. If you don't mind shall I tell you or not?
So my father was a magistrate in an Indian state. My family were on a high post but there was simplicity, humbleness and sincerity. I was the first child of my parents. There was a placed in India called Bayana in India, I can't remember the exact name and my father was posted there and it wasn't a big region but the doctors and medicines were far away and I was close to being delivered, close to being born and a pious Wali Allah passed by that region. I'm telling you a unique point here. And when this wali Allah passed by, obviously he came to meet my father and my father sat him down and hosted him, gave him food, drink and water. And Allah gives Wali Allah divine inspiration so he said to my father, "is there a child about to be born in your home?" He said "yes alhamdulillah Allah is about to give us some good news very soon and he's my first child and he's a useless child who will be born." And the Wali Allah said, "oh is it the first child?" He replied, "yes." And the Wali Allah said, "be careful because when this child will be born, a storm will come and you will have everything medially prepared at the time for his delivery, midwife, doctor etc, but at that time you will have nothing. The light and electricity will go and you will not even have oil to put inside the lamp even if you desired it and no matter how much you have prepared from before. Your child will be born in a unique way but I'm telling you all of these things which will definitely happen at the time of his birth." Anyway, my father said, "okay let's see what happens. I will prepare everything." So the Wali Allah did dua and made dua for me that I become pious."
And this is the effect of the dua. A person gets promotion and advancement through duas. Everything that we get in life is due to duas. Someone has made dua for you or you yourself made a dua, or from your mouth it has come out and it is due to the result of the dua that a person goes towards the good. That’s why they say, take the prayers of your parents. What is beneath the mothers feet? Paradise. The greatest treasure of dua for a man is his Sheikh. More than the mother and the father. So Allah has kept these fountains, so you can make dua for yourself and also build the love for someone in such a way that they make dua for you. If I was to show you the letters written by my Sheikh, and the dua that he made for me, you'd be shocked if you were to hear them and every dua of his is accepted. So due to his dua, I’m saved today and this is why I’m saved alhamdulillah. I have never asked my Sheikh to make dua for me. There’s two things, you request for duas and it is not bad to request, but it is more beloved when a person automatically makes dua for you from their heart without asking. This should happen where a person is forced to make dua for you and it is not necessary that you hear that dua. Sometimes he prays for you in the depths of his heart, from his actions, from his words. We don’t do this, we don't earn duas from people, nor do we have certainty in duas. Wallahi you should hold so much certainty in your duas to know that you won't succeed and gain benefit without duas. Allah says, there is no greater power in the world than the power of dua. So going back to the story, when I was born, my father prepared for the time of my birth. The midwives were prepared and present, there were boxes of oil and lantern, everything was there, Allahu Akbar, when Allah ta'ala writes something, He has written it. And the events occurred just like how the Wali Allah mentioned. I was born all of a sudden and at that time there was nothing. A big storm came and due to that they couldn't find doctors, nurses or medical resources. They didn't have anything and it was a unique situation. So my maternal grandfather kept a name, my paternal grandfather kept a name and then my paternal grandfather, who was elder, he said, his name will be Asif. Do you know what the name 'Asif' means in Arabic? A hurricane. Storm. Asif refers to strong and fast winds. It comes in a few places in the Quran, you must've heard it and read it and the translation is this. Now I remember another incident which happened in Bolton, I was talking to someone and he said to me, "you are this and that," and he was saying these things to me. Alhamdulillah. "Who are you? What are you?" So I stayed quiet and didn't reply. Then I said one thing. “My name is Asif and Asif means "storm." And I am a storm just remember that." And that night I saw a dream that there were strong winds and the storm was erupting alhamdulillah. Everything was being taken by the storm. So my grandfather said that in reality his nature will be like a storm, he will create a storm in the world. He will be such a person", and he gave me duas."
So duas have an effect and names have an effect and if I wanted to change my name, I can't because names have a great effect on a person. Khair, so this is a story I have shared with you. So what is the greatest thing in the eyes of Allah? Dua. Supplications. There is power in dua and Allah says the amount of worship and His nearness He has placed in the action of dua, He has not placed in any other worship. And this is one thing we learn because Imaan is the name of certainty. Imaan is the name of belief. And whoever has certainty and belief, حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل , will he be scared of anything tell me ? Will the one who recites لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله be afraid tell me? So if he isn't afraid, will he commit haraam actions? No. Because we have certainty. So why we are so distant from such a great thing regarding which Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has narrated, " raise your hands and I will immediately fulfil your dua." Due to us having a lack of certainty and faith, Allah doesn't enable us to be capable of supplicating to Him. Otherwise, it is such a great thing! We are such that even if we know there is an avenue where our duas may be accepted, like through the service of our parents,we should do such service of our parents that your mother herself puts the hand on her child's head and makes dua. Out of your mothers love for you, she makes dua for you. When you serve her, she makes dua for you, but when you earn her love and then she makes dua for you, then that brings a different colour, a different effect.
Earn duas from your father. What we do is, we earn curses from our parents. We argue and fight with them. Anyway, everyone has their own situation regarding this. This is a fact that the fountains through which we can earn duas are sealed, and the duas that we can make for ourselves, we have also given up doing. Every action is summarised in dua because you have done such a great thing so Allah says, "ask from me. You have done such an a amazing act of worship, so why don't you ask from me?" Remember this point. Regarding Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's dua that I shared with you. Just one dua is enough and it is accepted most definitely, whether you make it yourself or someone made this dua for me, then tell me what else is left after that?
اَللّٰهُمّ اجْعَل لّيْ عِنْدَكَ وَلِيْجَةً وّاجْعَل لّيْ عِنْدَكَ زُلْفىٰ وَحُسْنَ مآب
The wording that Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has used, make me a وَلِيْجَةً and وَلِيْجَةً is a unique word. What is وَلِيْجَةً ? It refers to that person who keeps coming and going to someone's house without formality. In other words, he has open permission to come to your house and that person is very close to you and knows your secrets and listens to you. Tell me what an amazing dua. Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is telling us to make dua to Allah saying, "make me your وَلِيْجَةً allow me to keep coming to you, always listen to my words, don't prevent me from you, allow me to get closer to you and allow the love between us to increase." Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made this dua and Allah ta'ala accepted. Whoever says it is not accepted, then they have no certainty and belief. When this dua is accepted, then tell me what a great level of Tasawwuf you will attain through it. But we don't make this dua. Why? Because we don't have certainty that it will happen to us. We say it is impossible to be a وَلِيْجَةً. Dua is such a thing where it makes the impossible, possible and Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said there's nothing which can change destiny. If there is one thing, then dua can change it. Dua can change the destiny. When a person is immersed in a difficulty or calamity or distress and he makes dua to Allah, then his dua is accepted immediately. And Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam drew the sketch of that, saying that the dua goes up to the heavens and the reply comes back down so if he's sick, or in a calamity, and makes a dua then his dua goes up to the heights and catches the situation that was descending, so it cannot go down to the world and afflict that person. You can't reach that man. And he's about to have an accident, look at this, I'll share with you regarding dua which is such a valuable thing. I'll share with you Hadhrat Aarifi Rahmatullahi Alayh's words, "dua is such a valuable thing but we have limited and restricted the action of making dua to after praying, after reciting Quran and after performing nafil." These are the times we have restricted it to. This is what we do isn't it? We've done a big action, do dua. Khatam, do dua. Completed Bukhari Shareef, Ramadan, do dua, after fasting, do dua. He said, "what is this? Is that it? Is this the way to utilise such a great thing Allah has given us? The method in fact should be that you pray for every single action that you are doing. For example, you are outside and about to sit in your car and you say, "oh Allah I’m going into my car, look after me, don’t let an accident happen to me and if it is about to happen then save me ." End of story, that is your dua that has gone up. When you're sat in the car, say, "Allah, take me to my destination. I don’t have reliance upon my car, I have trust in you, don't let me come across any accident and let me arrive safely on time, with wellbeing. End of. Its a dua. In other words, assign every action to Allah and you build such a strong a connection with Allah that one cannot become closer to Allah through any other worship, as he does through dua. Say SubhaanAllah. Do you understand? Yes, do this. Look at this point that I've shared with you. So this is dua. Dont do dua all in one go, in one time, because not even for a second do we know what is going to happen, I don't know if i’ll be able to blink the next eye lid, I don't know ill be able to make it outside, I've come here, I don't know, I might slip here or become disabled, sprain my feet. Anything. Allah ta'ala says the most beloved action to me is to ask Aafiyah. Because you are surrounded with things from all sides, oh foolish one you don't know, there's jinn, shaytan, magicians, jealous people, sicknesses, problems, difficulties and your own sins are a calamity. We can't see them can we? You are surrounded from all 4 sides. Your sins, your wretchedness, the darkness of ours deeds, our lying, our disobedience, how do we know what oppression we are sealed with. We don’t recognise our own condition, hence, Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, the best dua is to ask for Aafiyah and that is sufficient. Then you'll be free from all the darkness around you from these thing. Say SubhaanAllah. Do you understand my point? Ask Allah for this. Make one dua asking for aafiyah and it will be more valuable than all the other duas that you make. When you wake up, make dua to Allah, "oh Allah you have awoken me, please look after me, and allow me to fulfil all my tasks of the day with ease." You're going home go to eat, then make dua, "Allah send me home with goodness. Dont let there be an argument inside the house. May my children not disrespect me, allow me to eat in peace at home, don’t cause anything at home to disturb my peace or give me distress," make this dua and then go home. Everything that you assign to Allah like this and the duas that you make, will be accepted. And all things that were to befall you are being removed. Do you certainty? A man can only do this if he has certainty in his Lord, that there is only one Khaaliq, Maalik, He gives sustenance, He gives illness, He removes the patients from the hospital, He sends people to the hospital, He gives life, He gives death, He gives everything. Wherever you command to utilise our means, we will do so, but we have complete conviction in you. We used our means. Corona comes and we wear the mask so we took the means, but our reliance is upon Allah. "I am wearing the mask Oh Allah you are the only one who will safeguard me, I don’t have trust in this mask, allow me to keep breathing and let these masks and restrictions be removed." Have you made this dua? No. Taking means and utilising resources doesn't mean you have forgotten Allah, Allah says use the means." A man goes hospital, the doctor is going to come, he is a very good doctor, he's going to do my operation. In the morning the doctor said "I did the operation wrong" and the man died. These things happen and I can tell you the case where someone has gone hospital, the operation has gone wrong and he is sat on home. Sleeping on the bed. But we relied on the doctors. We searched all over for him, we spent a lot of money, we paid him private, medical aid and then after all of that what happened? We didn't make dua from our mouths saying, "Allah you grant us the grace, you are the one who gave me the doctor, I am going for an operation, allow the operation to go smoothly." We don't do this. You go to drink water, you pick up the water, Allah make this water beneficial for me, don’t let it give me a disease, place blessings in it for me."
Shaytan is everywhere. He is in water as well. There are diseases and calamities even inside the water. So dua is such that it opens the doors of paradise, acceptance, mercy and nearness to Him.
So Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said وَلِيْجَةً , a small dua that "oh Allah make me a person that continuously comes to you, keeps meeting you, my duas are accepted by you and make my situation such that we know each other so well. Let there be no formality between me and you, let me not be afraid of you, don't let me be someone far in your eyes but someone who frequently comes." When you're down and out you go and meet a person you are comfortable and confident with and you take advice from such a person. "I just want to consult you and Allah make us have such a connection that I become your وَلِيْجَةً." Why did Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam advise us to make this dua. Because maybe it can happen, but from millions of people, only one person will make this dua. There are thousands of people who have heard this dua. If you don't know it in Arabic, then recite it in Urdu and on top of that, say, وّاجْعَل لّيْ عِنْدَكَ زُلْفىٰ and what is زُلْفىٰ? It refers to a deep type of nearness. So, Allah grant me such a nearness and this is the habit of the Gauth and the Qutub. You say, why should I ask for this? But Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, ask for this. Are you going to make the dua for being a Gauth after becoming a Gauth? First you say, Allah make me a Gauth and then when you made me the Gauth and then i'll do the dua. How is this corrector? Or “ohAllah make me pious and then I’ll do the dua for being pious after. You're supposed to make dua for what you don't have so then you receive it, isn't it? " Allah, don’t grant me a small paradise, grant me the highest stage in paradise, Al Firdaus and grant me the nearness to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in paradise." Who is telling us this? Allah's Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is telling us to make dua for such. Why do you make dua for wasteful things? If you ask then you will get. And those who have conviction and continuously call out in supplication to Allah, stranding, walking, morning and evening, they know that the best way to get close to Allah is through dua. And the most successful in the hereafter will be the one who did the most dua because Allah says, he had most certainty in me. He made dua the most. That my Lord is there. He created me. He listens to me and He gives me despite me being a sinful person with defects. Allah grants us without even asking! Do the disbelievers make dua? No. But they get as well. What do they get? A child asks for toys and you give him a balloon which he will play with and then after a little while, it will burst and then he will cry. You must've seen this that when it bursts the child will cry. And then he asks for another balloon and when you give him the second balloon, after a while it bursts too and he will cry. I remember I was coming, these are small examples because I observe things, there was a brother and a sister standing together and the sister was slightly older. She was eating mitai and her brother was asking her for some and she would trick him and she would give him the bitter one and he would scream, "why are you giving me the bitter one, give me the sweet one." And then she would trick him and give him the bitter one again. That is our situation as well. SubhaanAllah. We should ask for Allah and Allah will grant us immediately what we are asking for. There is nothing lacking in Allah's treasure chest that He can make you a Gauth tomorrow and me a Qutub. "Allah make me an Abdaal." Do you think Allah is lacking in these things? So I was saying Allah grants the disbelievers but He grants them and what does He grant them? Bitter things and bitter sweets. Allah gives them balloons so they burst, He gives them houses, shops, big cars, He gives them everything, machinery and planes but all these things are artificial. Just like a dream Allah is giving them. But when a believer asks from Allah, then he receives solid things like paradise. SubhaanAllah. As an example, you make dua to Allah for a pious wife, you make dua and she comes but she is stern and not pious and then you say I made a dua for this but my dua isn't accepted. Allah will say this is the world. I gave you a balloon here so you can practice and your dua is accepted in paradise and in return your Hur is already waiting for you in paradise. She is your wife not this. But still, your dua is accepted. SubhaanAllah. Some people say , I made dua but why did my marriage happen here? Today you understand that your dua was accepted in replacement for the dua that you made and you will get the Hur in the Hereafter. But here in this world, this wife was best for you. She will make you a better human being. She will crush your ego. She will train you and make sure you are good in the world. So don’t leave her, she came as a result of your duas. Say SubhaanAllah. So after this, whoever is given the ability to make dua, is there any lack of certainty after learning this? But we don't do dua. Why? Because we believe in Allah and accept Him but we don’t believe in His words. Allah says, ask from me, plead to me, I'll listen to you and I’ll give to you. Listen to this as well, Allah says I'm most unhappy and angry with that person who doesn't have certainty in me, he didn’t make dua to me, he was arrogant and he will find out in Hellfire. He doesn't believe in me or hold any conviction. He worships and then quickly wipes his hands over his face and runs away. Who did you do this worship for? Who did you do the sajdah for? Who did you bow down to? Who did you do all this dhikr and recitation of Quran for? You recited Quran for reward? Allah says that this all secondary. What we realise is that, had it been for Allah's sake we would've raised our hands first or even just said in our hearts, its not necessary to raise the hands, but in your heart you definitely should have said "Allah I am so grateful that you made me recite Quran. This was all your grace and please grant me all the blessings and rewards for all the things which you have allowed me to do. And then you'll realise what is the Quran that you recited. This Quran will continue to your generations after you and the blessings of this will come into your lives. Look at this, my grandfather made dua for me, and Allah made me an observer of prayer. It was his dua which was, "he will make a storm erupt in the world and he will spread the deen." He is my grandson and this is the love of a grandfather isn't it? That’s why they say, request for your children to be named by pious and elder people because the love comes into that person. This is it. So making dua is a very big thing and it increases the conviction upon Allah. So will Ramadan leave out this topic of Tazkiyah? No. Ramadan has given us such an Asharah so we can dedicate it to making dua and nothing else and it has taught us the etiquette of making dua that the more we seclude ourselves, humble ourselves, the more we plead to Allah, view Him as yours, your assistant, the more you detach yourself from the words and you make dua to Allah, the more Allah will bestow upon you and give to you such rewards like Laylatul Qadr. This is the reward for what? I'm telling you from my own personal knowledge and passion that Laylatul Qadr is the reward of making dua. So in this Asharah we must make abundant supplications to Allah in seclusion. What type of seclusion? Not the isolation we perceive, but such an isolation, that we have no one else in our heart besides Allah. That is the isolation. That is Muraqabah performed in the heart for which you go to a Wali Allah and request to learn it so that you can make correct duas and so that Allah is there and no one else. During Muraqabah, you plead with Allah and present your needs to Allah. Allah is making us practice this in these last 10 days. Allah raised the one who was immersed in the world and made this worship necessary for him, so Allah made him sit in I'itikaaf. Allah says, "you have no intellect, you could've gone to a Sheikh and he would've taught you, you had no need to come here. All year long, you would've been engaged in Muraqabah, all year long you would've been in i'tikaaf. These such people sit amidst the world and perform i'tikaaf. This is the definition of i'tikaaf that you should detach yourself from the world and attach yourself to Allah. SubhaanAllah. You don't detach your body from the dunya, because you're living inside the dunya. It's your heart which you need to detach. A man becomes close through his heart and becomes distant through his heart. You have to train your hearts. The love for the dunya comes in the heart and the detachment of the dunya also comes from the heart. You'll find that many people love you but do they love you from the heart? That is the determining factor. And Allah ta'ala is خبير and بصير Allah knows it is difficult for us to recognise people but He has given us the measurement stick. Allah says if don't look at his face, I look at his heart. Is he crying? The drama? No I look into his heart and see how much love he has for who he is crying for. Or is he deceiving the world so that people see him as a pious person. You cry whilst reciting Quran. You cry whilst praying salaah. If a person is crying whilst he leads the salah, then does he also cry in salaah when he prays in private? Tell me. Why do you cry amongst people, I don't understand this. You're supposed to hide your tears, you shouldn't be showing off. Weeping is a secret between the servant and his Lord that only you witness my tears Oh Allah and nobody else. SubhaanAllah. We recite "Alhamdulillah" and begin crying in salaah, what is this? We cry in Surah Ikhlaas in salaah. I don’t know what this person is crying about. I'm not mocking or criticising anyone but I'm telling you the principle that Allah doesn't look at the faces and the tears, he looks at the heart of that person. Yes a person weeps from Quran recitation, from salaah, from dhikr, a person becomes emotional. Sometimes during dhikr, words and names come out from a person's mouth and this is called حال Haal. It doesn't just happen in public but it also happens to them in private. In fact it happens more in private to the extent that it can't be controlled and you have to control it so the people don't find out. And if it does happen, then control your حال in public. Don't expose yourself in front of people. Why do you expose yourself at that time? Why do you waste it? In controlling, you are saving yourself from hypocrisy and ostentation. If you want to love, get up and remember Allah in isolation, do dhikr in isolation and let the current come out, shriek and call out to Allah and Allah will be happy. We recite Quran and we are dozing off in salah and dhikr and when people come, then we are reciting each verse and crying, and you spoil the salaah of others. Say SubhaanAllah. We are all in great need of rectification. Those who are show off are those people who haven't take Bay'ah with a Sheikh, I’ll tell you the truth here. So this is a big point we need to learn. What did we learn today? Dua. And what has the Asharah given to us? Dua. Allah says come into seclusion. Do Naqshbandi's need this? Alhamdulillah they perform Muraqabah already from their hearts. But we don't have certainty in Allah that Muraqabah can grant us success. Ramadan says by making you sit into seclusion I am making you practice what? Sit with this wali Allah and you will receive i'tikaaf for the entire year and he will make you perform such an i'tikaaf.
Here i'tikaaf has made you leave your wife and children, it has made you sit in the corner, you can't leave the area, you are restricted and can only leave to relieve yourself. But the Wali Allah will teach you such Muraqabah that you can continue to live in the world, do whatever you want and you’ll remain in the state of i'tikaaf at the time SubhaanAllah. Dont be heedless in your heart. Hadhrat Junaid Baghdadi Rahmatullahi Alayh, the leader of Taif, a great Sheikh, he knew the depths of the heart, he read the hearts. He had Kashf-ul-Quloob and Kashf-ul-Qubool. He said there was a business man selling his goods and I stopped there at that time and I saw a weird thing in his heart. Customers are coming to him and he is selling and buying, so many customers and so many things he sold, I looked at his turnover and I looked at the man,
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَٰلُكُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَٰدُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ
Then I understood this verse at the time. That Allah says that the business, the children and the world doesn't stop a wali Allah from dhikr. They are always immersed in the Dhikrullah. He said his heart was engaged in greater amount of dhikr compared to the customers he was getting. Not for a second did I see that his heart was negligent from the dhikr of Allah. That is Muraqabah. That is the dhikr of Allah. Do you understand now? Did he sit in the corner and leave his children and his shop? No. Allah ta'ala says that Our Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's sunnah is to work and remember Allah at the same time. Hadhrat Aishah Radiyallaha Anha said كل أحيانه in all situations. In every situation, our Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, whether he was with me, away from the house, with his wives, eating his food, but he was in one condition. كل أحيانه every moment he was immersed in the dhikr of Allah. SubhaanAllah
"My husband was like this," says Aishah Radiyallaha Anha. She was proud about her husband. Imaam ul Anbiyaa. She was his wife. Is she a minor individual? SubhaanAllah. So my brothers, this is what we need to learn, but we don't have value for these things. We run away from dhikr, from the gatherings, from the Khankah. Be grateful to Allah a million times that at least he has pushed us to sit here. So brothers, i'tikaaf in Ramadan is making us practice a great action and the essence of that is Tazkiyah. Purification. Allah is pushing us to go and sit with the Wali Allah and improve ourselves. May Allah grant us the ability to implement.