DARS 28
What Does Khilafat Mean?
وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬ۖ قَالُوٓاْ أَتَجۡعَلُ فِيہَا مَن يُفۡسِدُ فِيہَا وَيَسۡفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ وَنَحۡنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمۡدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَۖ قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعۡلَمُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ
Surah al-Baqarah v30
Allah subhana wa ta'ala has, as we know, decorated the whole universe. Allah ta’ala adorned the earth, the skies, and the heavens. Allah ta’ala put all sorts of different scenes and beauties and luxuries for us in the world. Allah says in the Qur’an that He created the world for Insan: {هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ جَمِيعً۬ا} – the heavens, the skies, the oceans, the mountains, the rivers, the trees, the beautiful scenes that we see around us. Regarding everything that Allah created in the Universe, Allah says { خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ} – ‘It is for you.’ So after creating the Universe, decorating the Universe, adorning the Universe, and giving you all the resources, Allah addressed the angels, the most beloved creation of Allah at that time, and He announced to them: { وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً}. SubhanAllah. Allah is saying ‘Look, I have created the world and prepared it, and have made places to live, so somebody has to live there. Oh angels, listen, your Rabb, your Creator has decided that everything that I have created in the Universe, which you have seen, has been created for whom? I will populate the earth with different creatures. So many forms of creation will come to this Dunya, such creatures that you cannot imagine.’
We also cannot imagine the range of creatures that Allah ta’ala has made – tiny creatures, poisonous creatures, dangerous animals, so many different forms of species, in the oceans, in the mountains, in the winds, in the jungles, in the forests, in the deserts, in every square inch of the world Allah ta’ala has spread out all of the Makhluq. There are so many different creatures, large and small, that we cannot imagine how all these creations of Allah ta’ala live. So great and vast is the Kingdom of Allah that we cannot even comprehend – think about it. And Allah is referring to the whole kingdom when He says { إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً}. Allah says ‘Amongst all of this, I created Man, and I am sending him.’ The supreme King, the Master of the Universe is saying this, and if we think about a king of the world, his word is law, and his highest-ranking minister is looked up to by everybody. The orders of that deputy must be followed as well because he is the Wazeer, the prime minister of the king. If somebody is a prime minister, he can rule how he chooses. Everyone else has to look to him, and he doesn’t have to ask anyone else because he knows that the king will accept his word and decision since he is the deputy. He is the Wazeer, the minister, the representative of the king, and whatever occurs in the king’s vast kingdom, he will control all the laws and the policies and the amendments. The deputy has been delegated the tasks and the duties, and that is why Allah ta’ala has given the title of Khalifah in this verse.
Khalifah is a very great status. Allah ta’ala says ‘I am sending a viceroy to the earth.’ Imagine! When a Khalifah comes to the earth, Allah gives him physical strength and spiritual strength, and all of the spirituality is transferred. First, his capacity and capability are built. Two qualities are required for a Khalifah, for a deputy, so that he can be a leader. Number one, he has to have the quality and capacity that he can totally implement the orders of the one who has made him his deputy. Otherwise, how can he be the deputy or viceroy? The Khalifah should one hundred percent trust, believe and implement every action of his leader. He needs to be able to implement the way of his leader fully, and only then can the deputy be trusted. Only when the deputy has this quality will he get Khilafah, namely that he will not do any action against the orders, instructions or desires of the leader. Secondly, the Khalifah’s duty is to bring other people onto the path, so he has to influence others in his realm or area where he has been given authority. If the Khalifah himself does not follow the master, then how will he influence others? If the Khalifah is not sincere and trustworthy and honest, and if he doesn’t have one hundred percent confidence and belief in his leader, you can see the consequences.
In the world we can see governors or Peers or Khalifahs, but the friends of Allah are very few and far between. Where there is a friend of Allah, Khilafah is not just handed out on a plate. Deputisation, giving someone responsibility to somebody to represent you, is a massive responsibility. The Khalifah needs to realise that there should be no action that goes against any word or action or direction of his master or the leader who has given him Khilafah. Once he becomes capable, then automatically the Faidh and blessings are transferred to that Khalifah. The blessings and mercies are transferred automatically, whether his Sheikh is alive or not. The deputy must not move one inch away from the guidance of his Sheikh and should be happy with every decision of his Sheikh, following him footstep by footstep, handspan by handspan. If I show you the Maktubat, the letters my Sheikh sent to me, then you would understand. You have to establish yourself on every aspect of his teachings, and only then can you influence others and transfer that knowledge and spirituality to others. Otherwise, the Faidh will not come. You can see today around us today situations where you have a sheikh saying ‘Oh I am a Khalifah of such and such a Sheikh’, but the Faidh is not evident.
So Khilafah is a massive rank and status, and to be a Khalifah you need two qualities, the first of which is total belief and Aqidah in your teacher. You don’t just give this to others for the sake of it, but rather you have to build that capability. A person who is given Khilafah has taken on a very big responsibility from Allah ta’ala. You have to have these two qualities. It is based on doing plenty of Dhikr and different Adhkar. You need these two specific qualities in order to become a Khalifah. Remember, when these two qualities arise, he won’t have Takabbur or pride or be a show-off or be stubborn or arrogant or big-headed. He will have Tawaadhah, humility. When he has this, then he is capable of taking this responsibility from his Sheikh. He should not divert even one inch from his Sheikh’s way and practice. This is very often not the case, however, with Sheikhs and their deputies that we see in the world today. The Khalifah is the deputy of the Sheikh, the representative of the teacher. He transfers the Sheikh’s words and teachings and lifestyle to others, and this gives people confidence in him that he is a proper Khalifah of the Sheikh. If you hear that somebody is a Khalifah, that means that the teachings and knowledge of the Sheikh have been transferred to him. And it cannot be imagined that the person who has attained Khilafah could be greedy or is doing it to earn money, wealth, or Dunya, or he wants fame or a title, or he wants recognition – none of that. The question doesn’t arise. I am talking about proper Khilafah here, which is attained by a Kamil Sheikh. The Khalifah is like the mirror of his Sheikh – everyone should say ‘SubhanAllah’! The Khalifah is the pure reflection of his teacher, of his Sheikh. I am explaining to you here about the spiritual deputy.
A Kamil Sheikh giving Ijazah to his Khalifah is a big responsibility; it is not a game in the Dunya, is it? I myself heard of a brother – his wife spoke to someone about what he said – who told her ‘I am going to attain Khilafah very quickly. We are going to enjoy ourselves! Look how much money I am going to earn – I will get gifts of gold and silver from people, and I will be recognized as a big shot!’ He wanted to use his title as Khalifah to earn Dunya – but it will never occur, my brothers, it will never succeed. This is the concept today that is common in our society, due to people who take over the seat or the cloak of somebody’s Khanqah like an inheritance. This is plundering people, plundering the masses. What a big example Allah ta’ala gives.
We look at the Qur’an in the right way in order to understand the teachings of the Qur’an. We have two concerns when we look at the Qur’an. Number one: {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ}. In every verse, whenever you read the Qur’an, delve into it and ask yourself ‘Is my path the right one or the wrong one?’ If you are not seeking {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ} in every verse, then you are not reading the Qur’an properly. Be alert every second – ‘Am I on the right path?’ The Dhikr and Adhkar that we do morning and evening and the Majalis are all for one reason – ‘Oh Allah, set us on {صِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ}.’ If we don’t know what {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ} is, how are we going to embark on the right path? Wa’llahi, there is nothing else to life apart from this. All the actions that we are doing - Tasawwuf, Khanqah, Dhikr, Majalis, going to the Sheikh, making effort, doing your Dhikr - this is an honest, straightforward, pure path if there is one objective behind it: ‘Oh Allah, put me onto the right path and give me a righteous death.’
As Qiyamah and the final days come nearer, there is a big Hadith that in the morning a person will be a believer, and by the evening he will be a disbeliever. This is a famous Hadith. He will go to sleep with Iman, and within seconds the Dunya will take his Iman away. The Shahawat, the desires, flip a person’s mind and thinking within seconds. A person’s Deen changes, his Iman changes. In this day and age, in this era, in every second shaytan and Nafs are attacking us. That is why, in this day and age, a person can attain a big rank in the Akhirah. The Sahaba-e-Karam were shocked when they heard the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam say ‘There will come a time when there will be Fasaad, mischief and disorder. Fitnah will abound.’ What was the sign of this Fasaad that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam mentioned to the Sahaba and told us? He said that the disorder and mischief of that age will be such that the Deen will be changed. The Sahaba were disturbed because they could not imagine that a new Deen would come, and that even though there would be Muslims and Masjids, they would change and twist the Deen. This is that era. There are masjids, Bayans, lessons, teaching, lectures, but openly and blatantly, the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is criticized. Rejecting would be one thing, but there is criticism, mockery, jesting, and open quarrels and disputes. People laugh at the Sunnah in such a way that even people who are not Muslims do not do.
I have heard people who are not Muslims, who do not have Iman, asking ‘What is this? How come you Muslims are drinking alcohol and eating pork? I have heard that this is not allowed in your religion, so how come you are eating and drinking in this way?’ Wa’llahi! How can we answer, tell me? How can we justify this? So we are in that worst generation that was foretold by the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, when he said that when Qiyamah was approaching, there would be people who Allah ta’ala had prepared for Jannah, and also those heading for punishment. There would be sisters, MashaAllah, who observed Purdah and were Dhakirahs, trying their best to leave Haram and thinking always ‘What should we do? What is right, and what is wrong?’ And there would be menfolk also who would be good and sincere and upright. But in addition, the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam told the Sahaba that, in the midst of this Fasaad and disorder, there would be people who would sit in Masjids in the name of Islam and criticize his Sunnah physically. Their appearance, their dress, their lifestyle and their ideology would be in open and blatant disregard and mockery of the Sunnah. And the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, regarding this age, ‘Whoever implements one Sunnah of mine at the time of Fasaad in my Ummah’ – and this referred not just to the Fasaad having spread around the world, but to the Fasaad being in his Ummah itself. Never mind the people without Iman, for how would they know what Iman entails? However, when they read the books of our Deen, they question us saying ‘How is that you have left such an essential part of your Deen, namely following the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam? You people oppose his way and his lifestyle, openly and blatantly.’ They are shocked when they see us.
Men, women, boys, girls, they all oppose the Sunnah, whether at home or outside. They put forward justifications, saying ‘Oh, I am embarassed to do this.’ The Sahaba said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, will an age come when people will do this?’ And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘There will be Fasaad in the Ummah, within the nation of the believers.’ The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam defined the issue within the believers as Fasaad, so how can we be confident? How can we be confident about our Eid and our Salah? This issue besets us in everything, in every path that we take, because we have forgotten the lesson. That is why I am reading the Qur’an. There is no other objective for reading the Qur’an to us in this Majlis. I am not trying to present anything or prove any ‘Ilm. The Qur’an is the one source, the sole source. The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said “تَرَكْتُ فِيكُمْ أَمْرَيْنِ” – ‘I am leaving you with two things: hold onto the Qur’an with firmness, solidly.’ Whatever you learn and acquire, open the Qur’an and understand the Qur’an with this Niyyah ‘Oh Allah, I need the Straight Path! ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ’. Then Allah ta’ala says ‘Now it is My duty. I will show you the Straight Path and all the knowledge that you require from this Qur’an. I will give you the knowledge from a Dar-ul-Uloom, and that knowledge will give you the right path.’ Not so-called Hikmah, where people say ‘Let’s follow Deen with wisdom’, citing this leeway, using this excuse, that technicality, this scholar says this, and we can leave this and we don’t have to do that, and this Mufti said this.
Don’t waste your time, my brothers, don’t waste your time. Take the pure Deen. Look at your lifestyle. What are we doing, and what is the Deen saying? I swear by Allah, you should analyze yourself in this way in every second of the day. Think about what you are before you read the Qur’an, and then look at what changes come into your life afterwards, after tonight’s gathering and after every gathering. That is when enjoyment is experienced. We must sit with one intention: ‘Oh Allah, we want ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ, the Straight Path.’ A very severe time is to come, my brothers. I assure you, it is not just easy that we will just pass through life and will recite La ilaha illa’llah at our deaths and in the grave we will do the same, with no effort. No way, this is not how it happens. It is our actions that will determine the outcome.
{وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} Allahu Akbar. Allah says ‘Whatever I put into the world, all of the creatures of which I am Rabb-ul-Alameen, the supreme King, the Master of the Universe, of everything it contains, I send you My deputy, My viceroy. And you, oh deputy, I am your Rabb as well, so be careful!’ The human being is the viceroy and deputy of Allah, and Allah has placed all the creatures of the world under him. He is the Ashraf-al-Makhlukaat, the highest form of creation, and every other creature will be underneath him. Allah says ‘I am the Master of the Universe, and I am making the human being My Khalifah and sending him into the world.’ Today, the human being is upset and distressed and worried, because we do not say ‘Oh Allah, every decision of Yours is correct.’
{وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} - Allah said to the angels ‘Behold, I am about to place My Deputy onto the earth, and they said ‘Will You place therein one who will do harm and shed blood?’ Allah ta’ala has created everything, the Universe, the heavens and the earth, and He sent human beings into the world as His deputy.
So who is this Khalifah, the deputy and viceroly who Allah ta’ala sent into this world? It is me. It is you. You are the Khalifah. The taxi driver is the Khalifah, the shopkeeper standing in his shop, the person walking on the pavement, the person driving a Mercedes. The person in a mud shack is the Khalifah, the leader of the whole Universe. Allah ta’ala has given him full power, responsibility, rank and status. The person in a mud shack, the melon seller on a stall, the one who sells vegetables in a marketplace, the rickshaw driver in Bangladesh sweating as he pedals – these are all the Khalifah. A person dancing and drinking all night long in a night club, a person who steals from others – these too are Khalifahs. A person who oppresses others, who oppresses women, an immodest person, a liar, a fraudster, a person who deceives and tricks others, a person who spreads mischief and disorder, who fights and quarrels – these too are Khalifahs of Allah. Allah made the human being His Khalifah and sent him to the earth. Can these people be Khalifahs?
Allah says {وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} – ‘I am your Rabb, your Lord, and the whole Universe belongs to Me. The earth belongs to Me, the plants belong to me, the skies belong to Me, the stars belong to Me. They all move in their orbits according to My orders. The miniscule ant moves around according to My orders. The spider hidden underneath a rock is there according to My order.’ {وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} Allah is saying ‘Everything is established and in existence due to My order. The lions and the snakes are My creation, and they all recognize Me. The spiders recognize Me, the fish swimming in the oceans recognize Me, the mosquitoes flying in the air recognize Me. In the darkness of the night, the tiny firefly knows who its Rabb is. Every particle of the world does the Tasbeeh, the glorification, of Allah. They all do Dhikr of Allah – the spiders, the ants, the leaves of the trees, these all do Dhikr of Allah. There is nothing that doesn’t do Dhikr. The rising sun does Dhikr and the setting sun does Dhikr, and the moon and stars also. The fountains and water and rivers and streams are all Dhakirs of Allah because they recognize their Lord and Creator. If there is one form of creation that doesn’t recognize its Lord, who is that? {فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} – the Khalifah doesn’t recognize his Lord! Allahu Akbar. Allah ta’ala says that he made us His representative and gave us so much power due to this rank of being the representative of Allah. Imagine the strength of the Khalifah of a Sheikh, and then imagine that of the Khalifah of Allah! His strength and power and authority are immense, and so all the creatures of the heavens and the earth recognize Allah and also His Khalifah. The fish doing Dhikr as they swim in the oceans also recognize man, the Khalifah of Allah. The spider doing Dhikr beneath the rock recognizes Allah and also Allah’s deputy. He respects him and says Salam to him and is fearful of him. And the lion that roars in the jungle, when he remembers Allah and recognizes Allah, he also recognizes the deputy of Allah, SubhanAllah. Does he not? Of course he does!
I will share an event that occurred with one Companion. He lost his way in a jungle, in a thick forest, and he came upon a big lion. He said to him ‘Stop! Do you know who I am? I am a follower of the Final Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam; I am his servant.’ It is stated in Hadith that on hearing this, the lion lowered its head and invited him to ride on its back so that he could show him the way out of the forest. How would he not recognize, because mankind is the deputy. Look at the beautiful events of Hadhrat Umar radhiAllahu anh. What was there in the Universe that did not recognize him? Due to the letter that he sent to the river Nile, to this day it is not able to fully flood its banks. On another occasion, an intense fire was raging and he stood in front of it with his staff, saying ‘Do you not recognize who I am? I am Umar! Consider whose Sahabi I am, whose follower I am, whose servant I am! If I am just, then abate, oh fire!’ And the fire receded then and there. When the earth began to shake with an earthquake, he struck his staff onto the ground, saying ‘Why are you shaking? Has Umar been unjust to you, oh earth?’ – and it stopped shaking! Water recognizes, Allahu Akbar, fire recognizes, the winds recognize, the skies recognize – why? Because he is the deputy of Allah and of His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
{وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} Look at how Allah ta’ala addressed and made the announcement to the angels. Allah ta’ala said to the angels ‘Listen, my angels, now that I have created this world, I am sending My assistant, My viceroy, My deputy, with full ability and energy.’ My brothers, what abilities and energy has Allah ta’ala given to us? Allah ta’ala has given two types of energy and ability. There is full power and authority of the sort mentioned when all of creation recognizes such a person as the Khalifah. For example, our Hadhrat rahmatullah alayh, used to go to Madinah at a time when there were no five star hotels nor even any thought of such, and so MashaAllah, Hadhrat Sahib and others Faqirs and guests of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would take their rest in very basic accommodation. It happened that once his Khadim, his assistant, went to his room to prepare his bed and he was shocked to see that in a cavity beneath the mattress there were a nest of dangerous and poisonous scorpions. They, however, recognized that the person on the mattress was a guest of al Mustafa sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and so they had no inclination to harm him, SubhanAllah. I am a Jahil person, but I will recount an event that occurred to me also in Madinat-ul-Munawwarah. I had a room, and some pigeons would alight on the windowsill every morning and disturb me with their noise when I tried to rest after Ishraq. I looked at the pigeons and tried to shoo them away, but my sleep was disturbed for one or two days and this began to be a problem. So one day I spoke to the pigeons and said ‘Listen, I am a guest of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and you have not let me sleep for two days due to the noise you are making, so I am going to do Ziyarah now and I will complain to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam that some pigeons have not let me sleep for two days in the place where I am staying. I am going now to complain about you.’ Wa’llahi, after that, not even the slightest sound was to be heard, nothing at all, because they were afraid that a complaint would be made.
{فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬ۖ} This example that I have given is of an incompetent person, but in the case of Hadhrat Sahib rahmatullah alayh, the assistant went to Hadhrat Sahib and said ‘Your bed is not in a good place because I have seen many scorpions and spiders underneath.’ Hadhrat Sahib was not at all concerned or put out, and he replied in the beautiful Siraiqui dialect ‘Babu, that’s fine. They don’t say anything to us - they won’t pester me. Why should they pester me? I have been sleeping there for two weeks and they haven’t said anything to me. Don’t move them.’ Allahu Akbar, SubhanAllah! Why should they not recognize the Khalifah of Allah on the earth? Why would creatures not recognize?
And what is our situation here? SubhanAllah, if a mouse or an ant or a fly comes into the house, we wet ourselves! Women get depressed at the thought or sight of spiders in the house. Even a small spider can cause upset and screaming. Beetles and spiders and flies make us upset and scared to the point that we shriek in terror! But what capacity should the Khalifah have? Allah ta’ala says of the human being, the Khalifah ‘I gave you this status because you have full capabilities and can control, endure and be patient. When you control your abilities, then everything around you will recognize you.’ How could it not be so? Even the particles recognize – there are so many examples of this. One Wali of Allah in a certain generation once visited a zoo, and whichever animal he visited, whether it was an elephant or a cheetah or a lion or small monkeys, they each called out, left what they were doing and came to the fence or barrier where he was standing and bowed their heads! All the people who were there witnessed this, but this should not be something amazing or shocking. The human being has been given a very big status as the supreme form of creation, so why should the animals not recognize him? Allahu Akbar.
This is the human being, to whom Allah ta’ala has given this status – but look at our scenario today. Greed and passions and unlawful desires and love for material things and Dunya – all this wrongdoing and more is present. Looting, plundering, Fasaad, disorder – what vice is not commonplace in Allah’s Khalifahs today? They rebel against Allah’s Deen, and are greedy and selfish and worship the Dunya; and they are so concerned about their image. Allah ta’ala says that there are two opposite things here. One is a human being who becomes good, so that the whole of creation recognizes his status, and the other is the human being who has becomes so bad that nothing can recognize him at all for what he is. How did this come about, that there should be these two groupings, one whose qualities are so great, and other who have stooped so low? Why is this the case? Allah ta’ala says ‘When you leave My Deen, you become lower than the animals. At least the animals have some level of shame and Haya, but the human being who leaves My instruction becomes worse than those animals. I sent you to this earth as Khalifah, and this is the complete opposite.’
This is the lesson that the Qur’an is giving to us, and it is a lesson that we need to pay attention to. Why has the human being, who was given this great status such that all of creation can recognize him, dropped so low that he starts to ascribe partners to Allah, to do Shirk? He worships the world and the items of the world. He worships and even drinks the urine of the creatures who should be afraid of him! Allahu Akbar, why is there this huge discrepancy? Why have human beings become so prone to obeying their passions and desires and whims? The reason that this has happened is the point that the Qur’an is explaining to us. Why have we dropped so much and not taken on this massive responsibility that Allah ta’ala has given to us? What is the reason for this? Let us listen to the reason and analyze ourselves within. This is the biggest lesson of today’s Dars, which is the lesson that the Qur’an is giving to us, SubhanAllah. This is the one clear lesson that the Qur’an is giving to us today.
{وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ مِن قَبۡلِكَ} That’s it. Allah ta’ala revealed these two things, the Qur’an and the Shari'ah and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is the promise that Allah ta’ala took, and this is the lesson that the Qur’an is repeating, SubhanAllah. That verse that I explained to you right at the beginning, when Allah ta’ala said ‘I took a promise from you, from all of the souls, and then I made the earth, and then I sent the human beings to live on the earth. And I didn’t send them empty-handed, but with a big rank as My deputy, as My representative. And I decorated the world for them and gave them all the resources so that, if they want, they can stroke a lion or hold a snake by the neck. I have given them that much power and recognition amongst the creatures. I sent them with all of the qualities and capabilities and techniques to live with ease in the Dunya.’
So why has mankind been split into these two groups? For one reason only: some remained steadfast on the covenant, the pledge, that Allah took from them, and some did not. All the Prophets that Allah ta’ala sent into the world reminded them and came to tell about the Final Prophet. That Kalimah of La ilaha ill’llah, Muhammadur-Rasoolullah was the promise that we gave to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and whoever maintains this pledge by implementing the orders of the Shari'ah and Sunnah and is steadfast on this, he is the Khalifah of Allah ta’ala on earth until death. This is the lesson of today’s Dars that we need to understand. The whole Universe recognizes him, all creatures recognize him, the whole of the Dunya recognizes him as the Khalifah. If he wants something to stop, he can command it. People talk about Karamaat and miracles, but this is nothing. The Wali of Allah is he who implements the Shari'ah and Sunnah. In his life, he is not detached from that for a second. So you know how you hear that this Sheikh did this or that, that they made Dua and then clouds came and rain followed straightaway – why is this? Who are these people? It happens because they are the Khalifahs of Allah, and Allah has given them strength accordingly. They have remained steadfast on the pledge and have grasped the Shari'ah and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam with strength. He accepts the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam as his Rasool, not by lip service, and not through celebrations and functions, but he accepts in reality. Every second of life, in every aspect, he accepts – whether a brother or a sister – that he is following the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He is a Khalifah, and he will live his life as a Khalifah, and he will depart this world as a Khalifah, after which he will be received in the Hereafter in a beautiful manner, just as the Khalifah of Allah is received. It will be said ‘Oh, the Khalifah of Allah has come back from the world.’ But that person who forgets this pledge, and who shuns the Shari'ah and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, living a life devoid of that, then there is no one more wretched than him.
Listen again: there are two qualities that a person needs in order to be worthy of Khilafah. What are those qualities? Firstly, the Khalifah must implement the ways and the commands of his master. This is point number one, the first necessary quality. The Khalifah should himself be a living example of the teachings of his teacher. If he follows the commands of Allah and has been granted Khilafah for this, then his Khilafah is accepted. If he does not follow the guidance of Allah, then the Khilafah has been broken. It has ended and will not be given again, and he becomes an empty box. People laugh at him, and sometimes a fly or a mosquito or mouse or a tiny ant will bite him, and you will see that such a person becomes a massive coward. He will be afraid of everything, and in a minute, he will sell his Iman. Within a second, his Iman will come out of his heart because he is worshipping his desires. Allah ta’ala has taken away the responsibility from him. He is a Khalifah only if he follows the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and the Sheikh’s Khalifah is the same. If for a second, he drops below the levels, then the tap of Faidh is switched off. It doesn’t matter what he says in the Dunya – he can say whatever he wants – but the Faidh, the virtues and the blessings have ended, and he will remain an empty box. By contrast, Khilafah remains intact when a person follows the orders of Allah and of his Sheikh. If he breaks those orders, Allah’s orders or his teacher’s orders, then Khilafah ends there and then. So the first quality of the Khalifah is that he himself has to follow the example of his teacher, his master. And the second quality is that he must explain the teaching of his master so that others can implement and follow that teaching as well.
So, my brothers, understand today’s message, namely that Allah ta’ala has sent us here to this world as His viceroys, all of us. So we need to compare our lives with this status and analyze ourselves. Even a dog doesn’t recognize us today – this is the stark truth. Never mind the fish and the spiders and insects – they will say that we are not Khalifahs. I remember an event here, an example, concerning a non-Muslim who used to come to the Khanqah, and then he became a new Muslim. He came for some time, and his wife was a non-Muslim. MashaAllah, he practiced well, and I was happy with him - he was steadfast. And he had a young son, a few years old at the time. One day he came and told me of an event. He came into my room and seemed a bit shocked, so I asked him what the issue was. He said ‘Hadhrat, a weird thing happened today. We were downstairs and our child was upstairs sleeping. After a while, I heard some knocking sounds coming from upstairs, so I went up quickly to see what was happening, thinking he may have fallen or something. When me and my wife got to the door, we saw that son was playing with a huge snake.’ Allahu Akbar – this is a true event that I am telling you. He said ‘It was such a big snake that we were shocked and stepped back from the doorway. Our child was playing with the snake, hitting it and then the snake would hit him, and he was laughing.’ He was just a few years old and he thought it was a toy! He said ‘We could not think of what to do.’ But he had Yaqeen; he was a new Muslim, and new Muslims’ Yaqeen is strong - better than ours. So he stood back and recited some verses, some Kalimaat from the Dhikr that we do. And when the snake saw that this man had come, it gently glided away. The child continued to try to touch it as it went, but it smoothly glided away and left. He said ‘We were totally silent for ten minutes, in bewilderment. We took our child and he was totally fine, with no cuts or injuries, and we couldn’t think who we should call or what authorities to inform.’ They thought of calling animal rescue or a zoo-keeper, but then thought that perhaps it was from the Jinn, so they left it.
Anyway, the point is that we should look at ourselves and decide whether we are cowards or whether we are Khalifahs of Allah who are living our lives correctly. If we want to spend our lives as Khalifahs of Allah, don’t worry, just do one thing: obey and follow and imitate the Sunnah and Shari’ah of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Grab hold of it robustly, and if a person holds firmly to those orders, the whole of Allah’s creation will accept that he is the Khalifah of Allah, a deputy of Allah. And your Khilafah will be accepted and will spread with Allah’s Fadhl. But if we reject the Ahkams of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the whole world will spit on us, and we will not remain as Khalifahs at that time.
This is the message, so let us pray to Allah that Allah ta’ala gives us the understanding of the Qur’an.
وأخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين
What Does Khilafat Mean?
وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬ۖ قَالُوٓاْ أَتَجۡعَلُ فِيہَا مَن يُفۡسِدُ فِيہَا وَيَسۡفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ وَنَحۡنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمۡدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَۖ قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعۡلَمُ مَا لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ
Surah al-Baqarah v30
Allah subhana wa ta'ala has, as we know, decorated the whole universe. Allah ta’ala adorned the earth, the skies, and the heavens. Allah ta’ala put all sorts of different scenes and beauties and luxuries for us in the world. Allah says in the Qur’an that He created the world for Insan: {هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ جَمِيعً۬ا} – the heavens, the skies, the oceans, the mountains, the rivers, the trees, the beautiful scenes that we see around us. Regarding everything that Allah created in the Universe, Allah says { خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ} – ‘It is for you.’ So after creating the Universe, decorating the Universe, adorning the Universe, and giving you all the resources, Allah addressed the angels, the most beloved creation of Allah at that time, and He announced to them: { وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً}. SubhanAllah. Allah is saying ‘Look, I have created the world and prepared it, and have made places to live, so somebody has to live there. Oh angels, listen, your Rabb, your Creator has decided that everything that I have created in the Universe, which you have seen, has been created for whom? I will populate the earth with different creatures. So many forms of creation will come to this Dunya, such creatures that you cannot imagine.’
We also cannot imagine the range of creatures that Allah ta’ala has made – tiny creatures, poisonous creatures, dangerous animals, so many different forms of species, in the oceans, in the mountains, in the winds, in the jungles, in the forests, in the deserts, in every square inch of the world Allah ta’ala has spread out all of the Makhluq. There are so many different creatures, large and small, that we cannot imagine how all these creations of Allah ta’ala live. So great and vast is the Kingdom of Allah that we cannot even comprehend – think about it. And Allah is referring to the whole kingdom when He says { إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً}. Allah says ‘Amongst all of this, I created Man, and I am sending him.’ The supreme King, the Master of the Universe is saying this, and if we think about a king of the world, his word is law, and his highest-ranking minister is looked up to by everybody. The orders of that deputy must be followed as well because he is the Wazeer, the prime minister of the king. If somebody is a prime minister, he can rule how he chooses. Everyone else has to look to him, and he doesn’t have to ask anyone else because he knows that the king will accept his word and decision since he is the deputy. He is the Wazeer, the minister, the representative of the king, and whatever occurs in the king’s vast kingdom, he will control all the laws and the policies and the amendments. The deputy has been delegated the tasks and the duties, and that is why Allah ta’ala has given the title of Khalifah in this verse.
Khalifah is a very great status. Allah ta’ala says ‘I am sending a viceroy to the earth.’ Imagine! When a Khalifah comes to the earth, Allah gives him physical strength and spiritual strength, and all of the spirituality is transferred. First, his capacity and capability are built. Two qualities are required for a Khalifah, for a deputy, so that he can be a leader. Number one, he has to have the quality and capacity that he can totally implement the orders of the one who has made him his deputy. Otherwise, how can he be the deputy or viceroy? The Khalifah should one hundred percent trust, believe and implement every action of his leader. He needs to be able to implement the way of his leader fully, and only then can the deputy be trusted. Only when the deputy has this quality will he get Khilafah, namely that he will not do any action against the orders, instructions or desires of the leader. Secondly, the Khalifah’s duty is to bring other people onto the path, so he has to influence others in his realm or area where he has been given authority. If the Khalifah himself does not follow the master, then how will he influence others? If the Khalifah is not sincere and trustworthy and honest, and if he doesn’t have one hundred percent confidence and belief in his leader, you can see the consequences.
In the world we can see governors or Peers or Khalifahs, but the friends of Allah are very few and far between. Where there is a friend of Allah, Khilafah is not just handed out on a plate. Deputisation, giving someone responsibility to somebody to represent you, is a massive responsibility. The Khalifah needs to realise that there should be no action that goes against any word or action or direction of his master or the leader who has given him Khilafah. Once he becomes capable, then automatically the Faidh and blessings are transferred to that Khalifah. The blessings and mercies are transferred automatically, whether his Sheikh is alive or not. The deputy must not move one inch away from the guidance of his Sheikh and should be happy with every decision of his Sheikh, following him footstep by footstep, handspan by handspan. If I show you the Maktubat, the letters my Sheikh sent to me, then you would understand. You have to establish yourself on every aspect of his teachings, and only then can you influence others and transfer that knowledge and spirituality to others. Otherwise, the Faidh will not come. You can see today around us today situations where you have a sheikh saying ‘Oh I am a Khalifah of such and such a Sheikh’, but the Faidh is not evident.
So Khilafah is a massive rank and status, and to be a Khalifah you need two qualities, the first of which is total belief and Aqidah in your teacher. You don’t just give this to others for the sake of it, but rather you have to build that capability. A person who is given Khilafah has taken on a very big responsibility from Allah ta’ala. You have to have these two qualities. It is based on doing plenty of Dhikr and different Adhkar. You need these two specific qualities in order to become a Khalifah. Remember, when these two qualities arise, he won’t have Takabbur or pride or be a show-off or be stubborn or arrogant or big-headed. He will have Tawaadhah, humility. When he has this, then he is capable of taking this responsibility from his Sheikh. He should not divert even one inch from his Sheikh’s way and practice. This is very often not the case, however, with Sheikhs and their deputies that we see in the world today. The Khalifah is the deputy of the Sheikh, the representative of the teacher. He transfers the Sheikh’s words and teachings and lifestyle to others, and this gives people confidence in him that he is a proper Khalifah of the Sheikh. If you hear that somebody is a Khalifah, that means that the teachings and knowledge of the Sheikh have been transferred to him. And it cannot be imagined that the person who has attained Khilafah could be greedy or is doing it to earn money, wealth, or Dunya, or he wants fame or a title, or he wants recognition – none of that. The question doesn’t arise. I am talking about proper Khilafah here, which is attained by a Kamil Sheikh. The Khalifah is like the mirror of his Sheikh – everyone should say ‘SubhanAllah’! The Khalifah is the pure reflection of his teacher, of his Sheikh. I am explaining to you here about the spiritual deputy.
A Kamil Sheikh giving Ijazah to his Khalifah is a big responsibility; it is not a game in the Dunya, is it? I myself heard of a brother – his wife spoke to someone about what he said – who told her ‘I am going to attain Khilafah very quickly. We are going to enjoy ourselves! Look how much money I am going to earn – I will get gifts of gold and silver from people, and I will be recognized as a big shot!’ He wanted to use his title as Khalifah to earn Dunya – but it will never occur, my brothers, it will never succeed. This is the concept today that is common in our society, due to people who take over the seat or the cloak of somebody’s Khanqah like an inheritance. This is plundering people, plundering the masses. What a big example Allah ta’ala gives.
We look at the Qur’an in the right way in order to understand the teachings of the Qur’an. We have two concerns when we look at the Qur’an. Number one: {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ}. In every verse, whenever you read the Qur’an, delve into it and ask yourself ‘Is my path the right one or the wrong one?’ If you are not seeking {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ} in every verse, then you are not reading the Qur’an properly. Be alert every second – ‘Am I on the right path?’ The Dhikr and Adhkar that we do morning and evening and the Majalis are all for one reason – ‘Oh Allah, set us on {صِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ}.’ If we don’t know what {ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ} is, how are we going to embark on the right path? Wa’llahi, there is nothing else to life apart from this. All the actions that we are doing - Tasawwuf, Khanqah, Dhikr, Majalis, going to the Sheikh, making effort, doing your Dhikr - this is an honest, straightforward, pure path if there is one objective behind it: ‘Oh Allah, put me onto the right path and give me a righteous death.’
As Qiyamah and the final days come nearer, there is a big Hadith that in the morning a person will be a believer, and by the evening he will be a disbeliever. This is a famous Hadith. He will go to sleep with Iman, and within seconds the Dunya will take his Iman away. The Shahawat, the desires, flip a person’s mind and thinking within seconds. A person’s Deen changes, his Iman changes. In this day and age, in this era, in every second shaytan and Nafs are attacking us. That is why, in this day and age, a person can attain a big rank in the Akhirah. The Sahaba-e-Karam were shocked when they heard the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam say ‘There will come a time when there will be Fasaad, mischief and disorder. Fitnah will abound.’ What was the sign of this Fasaad that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam mentioned to the Sahaba and told us? He said that the disorder and mischief of that age will be such that the Deen will be changed. The Sahaba were disturbed because they could not imagine that a new Deen would come, and that even though there would be Muslims and Masjids, they would change and twist the Deen. This is that era. There are masjids, Bayans, lessons, teaching, lectures, but openly and blatantly, the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is criticized. Rejecting would be one thing, but there is criticism, mockery, jesting, and open quarrels and disputes. People laugh at the Sunnah in such a way that even people who are not Muslims do not do.
I have heard people who are not Muslims, who do not have Iman, asking ‘What is this? How come you Muslims are drinking alcohol and eating pork? I have heard that this is not allowed in your religion, so how come you are eating and drinking in this way?’ Wa’llahi! How can we answer, tell me? How can we justify this? So we are in that worst generation that was foretold by the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, when he said that when Qiyamah was approaching, there would be people who Allah ta’ala had prepared for Jannah, and also those heading for punishment. There would be sisters, MashaAllah, who observed Purdah and were Dhakirahs, trying their best to leave Haram and thinking always ‘What should we do? What is right, and what is wrong?’ And there would be menfolk also who would be good and sincere and upright. But in addition, the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam told the Sahaba that, in the midst of this Fasaad and disorder, there would be people who would sit in Masjids in the name of Islam and criticize his Sunnah physically. Their appearance, their dress, their lifestyle and their ideology would be in open and blatant disregard and mockery of the Sunnah. And the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, regarding this age, ‘Whoever implements one Sunnah of mine at the time of Fasaad in my Ummah’ – and this referred not just to the Fasaad having spread around the world, but to the Fasaad being in his Ummah itself. Never mind the people without Iman, for how would they know what Iman entails? However, when they read the books of our Deen, they question us saying ‘How is that you have left such an essential part of your Deen, namely following the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam? You people oppose his way and his lifestyle, openly and blatantly.’ They are shocked when they see us.
Men, women, boys, girls, they all oppose the Sunnah, whether at home or outside. They put forward justifications, saying ‘Oh, I am embarassed to do this.’ The Sahaba said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, will an age come when people will do this?’ And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘There will be Fasaad in the Ummah, within the nation of the believers.’ The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam defined the issue within the believers as Fasaad, so how can we be confident? How can we be confident about our Eid and our Salah? This issue besets us in everything, in every path that we take, because we have forgotten the lesson. That is why I am reading the Qur’an. There is no other objective for reading the Qur’an to us in this Majlis. I am not trying to present anything or prove any ‘Ilm. The Qur’an is the one source, the sole source. The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said “تَرَكْتُ فِيكُمْ أَمْرَيْنِ” – ‘I am leaving you with two things: hold onto the Qur’an with firmness, solidly.’ Whatever you learn and acquire, open the Qur’an and understand the Qur’an with this Niyyah ‘Oh Allah, I need the Straight Path! ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ’. Then Allah ta’ala says ‘Now it is My duty. I will show you the Straight Path and all the knowledge that you require from this Qur’an. I will give you the knowledge from a Dar-ul-Uloom, and that knowledge will give you the right path.’ Not so-called Hikmah, where people say ‘Let’s follow Deen with wisdom’, citing this leeway, using this excuse, that technicality, this scholar says this, and we can leave this and we don’t have to do that, and this Mufti said this.
Don’t waste your time, my brothers, don’t waste your time. Take the pure Deen. Look at your lifestyle. What are we doing, and what is the Deen saying? I swear by Allah, you should analyze yourself in this way in every second of the day. Think about what you are before you read the Qur’an, and then look at what changes come into your life afterwards, after tonight’s gathering and after every gathering. That is when enjoyment is experienced. We must sit with one intention: ‘Oh Allah, we want ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ, the Straight Path.’ A very severe time is to come, my brothers. I assure you, it is not just easy that we will just pass through life and will recite La ilaha illa’llah at our deaths and in the grave we will do the same, with no effort. No way, this is not how it happens. It is our actions that will determine the outcome.
{وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} Allahu Akbar. Allah says ‘Whatever I put into the world, all of the creatures of which I am Rabb-ul-Alameen, the supreme King, the Master of the Universe, of everything it contains, I send you My deputy, My viceroy. And you, oh deputy, I am your Rabb as well, so be careful!’ The human being is the viceroy and deputy of Allah, and Allah has placed all the creatures of the world under him. He is the Ashraf-al-Makhlukaat, the highest form of creation, and every other creature will be underneath him. Allah says ‘I am the Master of the Universe, and I am making the human being My Khalifah and sending him into the world.’ Today, the human being is upset and distressed and worried, because we do not say ‘Oh Allah, every decision of Yours is correct.’
{وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} - Allah said to the angels ‘Behold, I am about to place My Deputy onto the earth, and they said ‘Will You place therein one who will do harm and shed blood?’ Allah ta’ala has created everything, the Universe, the heavens and the earth, and He sent human beings into the world as His deputy.
So who is this Khalifah, the deputy and viceroly who Allah ta’ala sent into this world? It is me. It is you. You are the Khalifah. The taxi driver is the Khalifah, the shopkeeper standing in his shop, the person walking on the pavement, the person driving a Mercedes. The person in a mud shack is the Khalifah, the leader of the whole Universe. Allah ta’ala has given him full power, responsibility, rank and status. The person in a mud shack, the melon seller on a stall, the one who sells vegetables in a marketplace, the rickshaw driver in Bangladesh sweating as he pedals – these are all the Khalifah. A person dancing and drinking all night long in a night club, a person who steals from others – these too are Khalifahs. A person who oppresses others, who oppresses women, an immodest person, a liar, a fraudster, a person who deceives and tricks others, a person who spreads mischief and disorder, who fights and quarrels – these too are Khalifahs of Allah. Allah made the human being His Khalifah and sent him to the earth. Can these people be Khalifahs?
Allah says {وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} – ‘I am your Rabb, your Lord, and the whole Universe belongs to Me. The earth belongs to Me, the plants belong to me, the skies belong to Me, the stars belong to Me. They all move in their orbits according to My orders. The miniscule ant moves around according to My orders. The spider hidden underneath a rock is there according to My order.’ {وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} Allah is saying ‘Everything is established and in existence due to My order. The lions and the snakes are My creation, and they all recognize Me. The spiders recognize Me, the fish swimming in the oceans recognize Me, the mosquitoes flying in the air recognize Me. In the darkness of the night, the tiny firefly knows who its Rabb is. Every particle of the world does the Tasbeeh, the glorification, of Allah. They all do Dhikr of Allah – the spiders, the ants, the leaves of the trees, these all do Dhikr of Allah. There is nothing that doesn’t do Dhikr. The rising sun does Dhikr and the setting sun does Dhikr, and the moon and stars also. The fountains and water and rivers and streams are all Dhakirs of Allah because they recognize their Lord and Creator. If there is one form of creation that doesn’t recognize its Lord, who is that? {فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} – the Khalifah doesn’t recognize his Lord! Allahu Akbar. Allah ta’ala says that he made us His representative and gave us so much power due to this rank of being the representative of Allah. Imagine the strength of the Khalifah of a Sheikh, and then imagine that of the Khalifah of Allah! His strength and power and authority are immense, and so all the creatures of the heavens and the earth recognize Allah and also His Khalifah. The fish doing Dhikr as they swim in the oceans also recognize man, the Khalifah of Allah. The spider doing Dhikr beneath the rock recognizes Allah and also Allah’s deputy. He respects him and says Salam to him and is fearful of him. And the lion that roars in the jungle, when he remembers Allah and recognizes Allah, he also recognizes the deputy of Allah, SubhanAllah. Does he not? Of course he does!
I will share an event that occurred with one Companion. He lost his way in a jungle, in a thick forest, and he came upon a big lion. He said to him ‘Stop! Do you know who I am? I am a follower of the Final Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam; I am his servant.’ It is stated in Hadith that on hearing this, the lion lowered its head and invited him to ride on its back so that he could show him the way out of the forest. How would he not recognize, because mankind is the deputy. Look at the beautiful events of Hadhrat Umar radhiAllahu anh. What was there in the Universe that did not recognize him? Due to the letter that he sent to the river Nile, to this day it is not able to fully flood its banks. On another occasion, an intense fire was raging and he stood in front of it with his staff, saying ‘Do you not recognize who I am? I am Umar! Consider whose Sahabi I am, whose follower I am, whose servant I am! If I am just, then abate, oh fire!’ And the fire receded then and there. When the earth began to shake with an earthquake, he struck his staff onto the ground, saying ‘Why are you shaking? Has Umar been unjust to you, oh earth?’ – and it stopped shaking! Water recognizes, Allahu Akbar, fire recognizes, the winds recognize, the skies recognize – why? Because he is the deputy of Allah and of His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
{وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَـٰٓٮِٕكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬} Look at how Allah ta’ala addressed and made the announcement to the angels. Allah ta’ala said to the angels ‘Listen, my angels, now that I have created this world, I am sending My assistant, My viceroy, My deputy, with full ability and energy.’ My brothers, what abilities and energy has Allah ta’ala given to us? Allah ta’ala has given two types of energy and ability. There is full power and authority of the sort mentioned when all of creation recognizes such a person as the Khalifah. For example, our Hadhrat rahmatullah alayh, used to go to Madinah at a time when there were no five star hotels nor even any thought of such, and so MashaAllah, Hadhrat Sahib and others Faqirs and guests of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would take their rest in very basic accommodation. It happened that once his Khadim, his assistant, went to his room to prepare his bed and he was shocked to see that in a cavity beneath the mattress there were a nest of dangerous and poisonous scorpions. They, however, recognized that the person on the mattress was a guest of al Mustafa sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and so they had no inclination to harm him, SubhanAllah. I am a Jahil person, but I will recount an event that occurred to me also in Madinat-ul-Munawwarah. I had a room, and some pigeons would alight on the windowsill every morning and disturb me with their noise when I tried to rest after Ishraq. I looked at the pigeons and tried to shoo them away, but my sleep was disturbed for one or two days and this began to be a problem. So one day I spoke to the pigeons and said ‘Listen, I am a guest of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and you have not let me sleep for two days due to the noise you are making, so I am going to do Ziyarah now and I will complain to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam that some pigeons have not let me sleep for two days in the place where I am staying. I am going now to complain about you.’ Wa’llahi, after that, not even the slightest sound was to be heard, nothing at all, because they were afraid that a complaint would be made.
{فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ خَلِيفَةً۬ۖ} This example that I have given is of an incompetent person, but in the case of Hadhrat Sahib rahmatullah alayh, the assistant went to Hadhrat Sahib and said ‘Your bed is not in a good place because I have seen many scorpions and spiders underneath.’ Hadhrat Sahib was not at all concerned or put out, and he replied in the beautiful Siraiqui dialect ‘Babu, that’s fine. They don’t say anything to us - they won’t pester me. Why should they pester me? I have been sleeping there for two weeks and they haven’t said anything to me. Don’t move them.’ Allahu Akbar, SubhanAllah! Why should they not recognize the Khalifah of Allah on the earth? Why would creatures not recognize?
And what is our situation here? SubhanAllah, if a mouse or an ant or a fly comes into the house, we wet ourselves! Women get depressed at the thought or sight of spiders in the house. Even a small spider can cause upset and screaming. Beetles and spiders and flies make us upset and scared to the point that we shriek in terror! But what capacity should the Khalifah have? Allah ta’ala says of the human being, the Khalifah ‘I gave you this status because you have full capabilities and can control, endure and be patient. When you control your abilities, then everything around you will recognize you.’ How could it not be so? Even the particles recognize – there are so many examples of this. One Wali of Allah in a certain generation once visited a zoo, and whichever animal he visited, whether it was an elephant or a cheetah or a lion or small monkeys, they each called out, left what they were doing and came to the fence or barrier where he was standing and bowed their heads! All the people who were there witnessed this, but this should not be something amazing or shocking. The human being has been given a very big status as the supreme form of creation, so why should the animals not recognize him? Allahu Akbar.
This is the human being, to whom Allah ta’ala has given this status – but look at our scenario today. Greed and passions and unlawful desires and love for material things and Dunya – all this wrongdoing and more is present. Looting, plundering, Fasaad, disorder – what vice is not commonplace in Allah’s Khalifahs today? They rebel against Allah’s Deen, and are greedy and selfish and worship the Dunya; and they are so concerned about their image. Allah ta’ala says that there are two opposite things here. One is a human being who becomes good, so that the whole of creation recognizes his status, and the other is the human being who has becomes so bad that nothing can recognize him at all for what he is. How did this come about, that there should be these two groupings, one whose qualities are so great, and other who have stooped so low? Why is this the case? Allah ta’ala says ‘When you leave My Deen, you become lower than the animals. At least the animals have some level of shame and Haya, but the human being who leaves My instruction becomes worse than those animals. I sent you to this earth as Khalifah, and this is the complete opposite.’
This is the lesson that the Qur’an is giving to us, and it is a lesson that we need to pay attention to. Why has the human being, who was given this great status such that all of creation can recognize him, dropped so low that he starts to ascribe partners to Allah, to do Shirk? He worships the world and the items of the world. He worships and even drinks the urine of the creatures who should be afraid of him! Allahu Akbar, why is there this huge discrepancy? Why have human beings become so prone to obeying their passions and desires and whims? The reason that this has happened is the point that the Qur’an is explaining to us. Why have we dropped so much and not taken on this massive responsibility that Allah ta’ala has given to us? What is the reason for this? Let us listen to the reason and analyze ourselves within. This is the biggest lesson of today’s Dars, which is the lesson that the Qur’an is giving to us, SubhanAllah. This is the one clear lesson that the Qur’an is giving to us today.
{وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ مِن قَبۡلِكَ} That’s it. Allah ta’ala revealed these two things, the Qur’an and the Shari'ah and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is the promise that Allah ta’ala took, and this is the lesson that the Qur’an is repeating, SubhanAllah. That verse that I explained to you right at the beginning, when Allah ta’ala said ‘I took a promise from you, from all of the souls, and then I made the earth, and then I sent the human beings to live on the earth. And I didn’t send them empty-handed, but with a big rank as My deputy, as My representative. And I decorated the world for them and gave them all the resources so that, if they want, they can stroke a lion or hold a snake by the neck. I have given them that much power and recognition amongst the creatures. I sent them with all of the qualities and capabilities and techniques to live with ease in the Dunya.’
So why has mankind been split into these two groups? For one reason only: some remained steadfast on the covenant, the pledge, that Allah took from them, and some did not. All the Prophets that Allah ta’ala sent into the world reminded them and came to tell about the Final Prophet. That Kalimah of La ilaha ill’llah, Muhammadur-Rasoolullah was the promise that we gave to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and whoever maintains this pledge by implementing the orders of the Shari'ah and Sunnah and is steadfast on this, he is the Khalifah of Allah ta’ala on earth until death. This is the lesson of today’s Dars that we need to understand. The whole Universe recognizes him, all creatures recognize him, the whole of the Dunya recognizes him as the Khalifah. If he wants something to stop, he can command it. People talk about Karamaat and miracles, but this is nothing. The Wali of Allah is he who implements the Shari'ah and Sunnah. In his life, he is not detached from that for a second. So you know how you hear that this Sheikh did this or that, that they made Dua and then clouds came and rain followed straightaway – why is this? Who are these people? It happens because they are the Khalifahs of Allah, and Allah has given them strength accordingly. They have remained steadfast on the pledge and have grasped the Shari'ah and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam with strength. He accepts the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam as his Rasool, not by lip service, and not through celebrations and functions, but he accepts in reality. Every second of life, in every aspect, he accepts – whether a brother or a sister – that he is following the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He is a Khalifah, and he will live his life as a Khalifah, and he will depart this world as a Khalifah, after which he will be received in the Hereafter in a beautiful manner, just as the Khalifah of Allah is received. It will be said ‘Oh, the Khalifah of Allah has come back from the world.’ But that person who forgets this pledge, and who shuns the Shari'ah and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, living a life devoid of that, then there is no one more wretched than him.
Listen again: there are two qualities that a person needs in order to be worthy of Khilafah. What are those qualities? Firstly, the Khalifah must implement the ways and the commands of his master. This is point number one, the first necessary quality. The Khalifah should himself be a living example of the teachings of his teacher. If he follows the commands of Allah and has been granted Khilafah for this, then his Khilafah is accepted. If he does not follow the guidance of Allah, then the Khilafah has been broken. It has ended and will not be given again, and he becomes an empty box. People laugh at him, and sometimes a fly or a mosquito or mouse or a tiny ant will bite him, and you will see that such a person becomes a massive coward. He will be afraid of everything, and in a minute, he will sell his Iman. Within a second, his Iman will come out of his heart because he is worshipping his desires. Allah ta’ala has taken away the responsibility from him. He is a Khalifah only if he follows the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and the Sheikh’s Khalifah is the same. If for a second, he drops below the levels, then the tap of Faidh is switched off. It doesn’t matter what he says in the Dunya – he can say whatever he wants – but the Faidh, the virtues and the blessings have ended, and he will remain an empty box. By contrast, Khilafah remains intact when a person follows the orders of Allah and of his Sheikh. If he breaks those orders, Allah’s orders or his teacher’s orders, then Khilafah ends there and then. So the first quality of the Khalifah is that he himself has to follow the example of his teacher, his master. And the second quality is that he must explain the teaching of his master so that others can implement and follow that teaching as well.
So, my brothers, understand today’s message, namely that Allah ta’ala has sent us here to this world as His viceroys, all of us. So we need to compare our lives with this status and analyze ourselves. Even a dog doesn’t recognize us today – this is the stark truth. Never mind the fish and the spiders and insects – they will say that we are not Khalifahs. I remember an event here, an example, concerning a non-Muslim who used to come to the Khanqah, and then he became a new Muslim. He came for some time, and his wife was a non-Muslim. MashaAllah, he practiced well, and I was happy with him - he was steadfast. And he had a young son, a few years old at the time. One day he came and told me of an event. He came into my room and seemed a bit shocked, so I asked him what the issue was. He said ‘Hadhrat, a weird thing happened today. We were downstairs and our child was upstairs sleeping. After a while, I heard some knocking sounds coming from upstairs, so I went up quickly to see what was happening, thinking he may have fallen or something. When me and my wife got to the door, we saw that son was playing with a huge snake.’ Allahu Akbar – this is a true event that I am telling you. He said ‘It was such a big snake that we were shocked and stepped back from the doorway. Our child was playing with the snake, hitting it and then the snake would hit him, and he was laughing.’ He was just a few years old and he thought it was a toy! He said ‘We could not think of what to do.’ But he had Yaqeen; he was a new Muslim, and new Muslims’ Yaqeen is strong - better than ours. So he stood back and recited some verses, some Kalimaat from the Dhikr that we do. And when the snake saw that this man had come, it gently glided away. The child continued to try to touch it as it went, but it smoothly glided away and left. He said ‘We were totally silent for ten minutes, in bewilderment. We took our child and he was totally fine, with no cuts or injuries, and we couldn’t think who we should call or what authorities to inform.’ They thought of calling animal rescue or a zoo-keeper, but then thought that perhaps it was from the Jinn, so they left it.
Anyway, the point is that we should look at ourselves and decide whether we are cowards or whether we are Khalifahs of Allah who are living our lives correctly. If we want to spend our lives as Khalifahs of Allah, don’t worry, just do one thing: obey and follow and imitate the Sunnah and Shari’ah of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Grab hold of it robustly, and if a person holds firmly to those orders, the whole of Allah’s creation will accept that he is the Khalifah of Allah, a deputy of Allah. And your Khilafah will be accepted and will spread with Allah’s Fadhl. But if we reject the Ahkams of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the whole world will spit on us, and we will not remain as Khalifahs at that time.
This is the message, so let us pray to Allah that Allah ta’ala gives us the understanding of the Qur’an.
وأخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين