DARS 39
فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ عَنۡهَا فَأَخۡرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِۖ وَقُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُواْ بَعۡضُكُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوّٞۖ وَلَكُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مُسۡتَقَرّٞ وَمَتَٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٖ فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَٰتٖ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡهِۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
Surah Baqarah ayah 36
The enmity of shaytan and opposition to Adam alayhi salam was openly demonstrated. So much so that he was thinking a lot and pondering a lot. He went to Jannah and saw the luxury of Adam alayhi salam. His ease and comforts and his paradise dwelling (alayhi salam). Shaytan saw the freedom and he saw the ease. He saw the beauty everywhere in paradise. When he saw this enjoyment and relaxation, he became angry. He couldn’t accept this, so it became his mission that somehow or other, somehow or other he needed to get them out of paradise. Get them out of paradise. Not just them but remember this point; shaytan knew that his enmity will continue with the children of Adam, in other words us. From the very beginning his enmity was such; that If he couldn’t stay in Jannah, if Jannah had been taken away from him, If he had lost all this relaxation and comfort, then he wouldn’t let Adam alayhi salam and his children come near to paradise either. He would make them lose out forever too. Remember this point.
So the enmity of shaytan is with us, this is his mission or objective that somehow or other, he needs to get us away from paradise. He has seen it himself. He has seen the gardens and the beauty, and he is aware of the fascination. He has the knowledge that whoever from the children of alayhi salam is successful he will permanently go into paradise and that will be his dwelling. So that’s the mission that he started, that whatever happens, and in any way he can, he needs to make them lose out from Jannah. This is the mission of shaytan, and we need to be aware of this mission, remember this. When a person understands the plot of the enemy then it becomes easy to tackle. And this is the style of the Quran, that it has clearly explained the scene to us. This is the game that has been played out. Shaytan wanted to get us out of Jannah. Yes, he wanted to do that.
فَأَخۡرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِۖ
To get them out, and neither should their children dwell there or be happy there. This was his objective and plot. Now this enmity and opposition is still existent until today.
This dunya is not the place of enjoyment. How can it be? Adam alayhi salam and his children have been sent to this world as a punishment. So the place where a person has been sent as a punishment, how can that place be good, tell me? How can that place be good? A person is in prison even if you give him many things; if you give him air-conditioning, a fridge freezer and give him other comforts. A prisoner is a prisoner. He will say; take all of this away from me and get me out of here. Give me my freedom because I want to live in the free world. The prisoner will say that won’t he? So this world is not the place of enjoyment. Shaytan knows this is not the place of enjoyment. Jannah will be the place of enjoyment. That’s the deception that he has created that the world is the place of enjoyment. So what has happened to us, that we consider this world to be a place of enjoyment? It’s like a prisoner who gets all the comforts in jail and then says; this is the best place for me. I am going to stay in this cell and enjoy myself. The prison cell is nothing, the reality is the world outside of the prison. Similarly, this world is nothing, totally zero. But shaytan has decorated it and adorned it, and made it glitter and glow. And he is happy when a person occupies it and becomes worldly and materialistic. It doesn’t matter if he has big houses and mansions. If he has nice cars and fast cars and If he has several businesses and cashflow. It has no importance and he can carry-on because he is the client of shaytan and this is not going to give anybody any benefit at all.
What you think is big and massive compared to the hereafter is not even a dust particle in comparison. Not even a dust particle. We foolish people run after this dunya. But the reality is that this world is not even a dust particle in comparison to where we will eventually go. We cannot compare the hereafter for even a split second. Take all the palaces of the world and amass them, they cannot even compare to a small particle in the breeze of Jannah, subhanAllah. So Shaytan has made us stupid people by making us run after these things. There is a very important point here. Shaytan goes after those people who really desire to go to paradise with their amalus saalihaat, with their righteous deeds. Shaytan runs after those people. Even if they haven’t got a house in this world and even if they don’t have a car to drive. Even if they don’t have 2 or 3 meals a day. If they have less clothes and broken holes in their shoes. Yet shaytan runs after these people because he knows that they are the wealthiest. When their eyes close they will see the beautiful fascination of Jannah. They are opposing him and amassing wealth in this world through their deeds. They don’t care about the dunya and will get the big house in paradise. Shaytan runs after these people. He knows the wealthy people in the dunya are nothing; those who are running after dunya, he doesn’t care about them and he leaves them. But the fakeers and pious people are earning Jannah, and he runs after them. He plays games with them and tries to trap them, deviate them and spoil their amal and their deeds. His full effort is on these people, remember this point, remember this point. That the people who are close to Allah and do righteous deeds, good deeds, who are pious and upright and on the straight path, shaytan is their real enemy and we should be very careful about shaytan. The friends of Allah have a clash with shaytan and the nafs every second of their lives. Because shaytan comes with full force according to his mission to get these people out of paradise. Because these are the people that will go to paradise. These are the people who will get palaces and mansions. They will get hoors and beauty and maidens and servants, and their ranks will be high. Shaytan focusses on them 100%. So this is a very important point to understand that if Allah ta’ala gives the tawfeeq to implement good deeds and righteous deeds, then a person should be careful of shaytan. He should be careful of shaytan.
So shaytan thought; how do I get Adam alayhi salam out of paradise. Which method should I use? Adam alayhi salam was a Nabi, so it was impossible for him to commit a sin. A prophet cannot commit a sin, he is innocent and free from sins. Adam alayhi salam did not commit any sin. That was just a slight forgetfulness you can say. So shaytan thought; what shall I do. Which method shall I use to distract Adam alayhi salam, so he is expelled from heaven? He knew himself and he had the knowledge. He had gone through all the issues. He knew the reason for which he was expelled, and they can only come out of paradise for that reason. Allah ta’ala wouldn’t expel them because of lack of ibaadah because Shaytan himself was a great worshipper. For 100’s of 1000’s of years shaytan had worshipped and prostrated. He had implemented every action of worship. Despite having done so much ibaadah, he was shunned out of paradise. So we see here that in Allah ta’ala’s court, ibaadah has no value if someone disobeys Him. Worship and ibaadah has no value if a person is sinning. Shaytan was aware of this. And this is another point that we need to listen to carefully, that a person cannot please Allah subhana wa ta’ala with ibaadah. Remember this, it does not matter how much worship you implement. Allah will be pleased with a human being when he doesn’t disobey Him. When he doesn’t commit a sin. Whatever Allah ta’ala says, if we don’t obey this, then it is a sin. So Allah’s displeasure is earned when a person disobeys Allah and sins and doesn’t listen to Allah. Allah’s displeasure is earned, and it doesn’t matter how many amal he does. Look at shaytan; look at how much deeds he had and how much he worshipped. Look at how much he prayed. He was the teacher of the angels. Did this benefit him? No because he disobeyed Allah’s order and all his deeds were rejected. His worship was rejected, and no deed had any value compared to his disobedience to Allah.
Shaytan knew that somehow he needed to entrap them and to make them disobey Allah’s decree. He knew that his ibaadah did not come into use. And in comparison all of the rank and honour and status that Adam alayhi salam was given; his ruh, his sujood and prostration, all of this would fail if shaytan made him commit a mistake. This is a very big point my brothers so please understand this. Today a servant of Allah is proud of his worship and his deeds. He emphasises a lot on amal, worshipping and abundance of worship. He will read this much Quran, read this much hadeeth, and perform this much prayer. But that can only come of benefit if a person does not sin. This is a massive lesson and a lesson to note. What did shaytan do? He committed a sin, he disobeyed Allah. For him it was a minor sin but all of his ibaadah was rejected and finished, and he was expelled from paradise and everything finished. What did Adam alayhi salam do? Allah gave him (alayhi salam) respect and honour. But, you could say, he made a small oversight, he forgot something, and everything was taken away. So oh Sufi’s and people sitting here, I am not teaching you masa’il and fiqh and jurisprudence from the Quran. We are not discussing technicalities or having lengthy discussions. We need to learn a lesson from the Quran under the light of rectification. This is our mission for reading the Quran and discussing the Quran. So that we can improve our lives. Not for fiqh and jurisprudence and technicalities. From these verses we need to improve ourselves and rectify ourselves. We need to take the proof and guidance of Islah from the Quran so that we can act. It is proven here that to please Allah, we must not disobey Him and commit a sin. The pious predecessors have said that even if a person doesn’t do any voluntary actions all his life. He doesn’t do nafl, tahajjud, ishraaq or chasht. He doesn’t recite Quran all his life. If he does no voluntary action and just performs the Faraaidh and compulsory deeds. But at the same time, he doesn’t commit any sin. With firmness and strictness, he refrains from sin then nothing can stop him from entering Jannatul Firdous. For him Firdous will be the destination which is the highest grade of Jannah. Because he has attained his objective. Allah doesn’t want ibaadah. Allah wants that we don’t disobey Him and don’t sin. This is todays lesson. This is a massive lesson that the Quran has given to us through this event; do not sin. So take this out of your minds that you are a worshipper and you pray and you do nafl etc. That sins are small and it doesn’t make any difference. That these are only small sins and Allah will accept your deeds. Its only your beard that you trimmed, its only pardah that you didn’t do. You pray salah, you pray tahajjud and you do tasbees. You pray tahajjud in the night and nawafil salah. It pains in my heart when I see someone reciting the Quran in this state. He has a trimmed beard, a small beard and his libaas is totally immodest. In other words, shaytan has bought that person and deviated that person. The whole Quran is telling us this one point. Why do we not understand that sin destroys a human being? Amal (deeds) will not benefit us. Our worship will not benefit us at all.
If you go to a friend of Allah, then go with the intention of Islah. I will tell you the sign of a friend of Allah, a kaamil Sheikh, a kaamil wali. As I have mentioned before this bayan and this majlis is for the purpose of islah, rectification and self-improvement. The Quran is giving us this clear point. You are all here for this purpose my brothers and sisters. So listen; if you have come to the friend of Allah with the intention of self-rectification, then the true kaamil wali won’t give you lengthy worship, recitation, and nafl. He won’t give you wazaaif, and he won’t tell you to do lengthy prayers and lengthy isolation. The kaamil Sheikh will never take you to the extreme of worship. His focus will be on those actions that attain Allah’s pleasure. He will emphasise to you to leave the sins. And he will work hard on you, so you don’t disobey Allah. He will work his hardest to take you away from sin. The sheikh will never tell you to do extra worship. But people will still ask; oh, can I keep nafl fast and can I fast on this day. Can I do this nafl? The friend of Allah knows that there is goodness in these actions. But he also knows that nothing will benefit the student, because one sin will destroy him. Today he keeps a fast and then he accumulates 10 fasts, but one sin will burn all these deeds. The sheikh will work hard and struggle and toil with his mureeds. He will work extremely hard on this point. The sign of the kaamil sheikh, the wali Allah is that he stops you from sins. When he warns you about sins and works hard on you towards leaving the sins, consider him to be the true kaamil wali. But today we don’t see this. Instead we are told to recite this wazeefa, do this many tasbees and this much nawaafil prayer. As a result, the student becomes happy that he is praying and doing zikr. The sheikh is not giving the knowledge that you need to be careful with your tongue and with your eating and with your stomach. Nothing at all, just do wazeefas and you will be successful.
Allah ta’ala didn’t send us to the earth for this. Allah ta’ala asks; are there not enough people around Me who are worshipping Me and glorifying Me? Are the angels not doing zikr? Was the shaytan not doing ibaadah? Tell me where did his ibaadah go? All his ibaadah was rejected because of one disobedience. That’s why everything that Allah has given to us in this dunya is disobedience and nothing but disobedience. There is an invitation to do sin at every step. As soon as you leave your house to go to the masjid, you will see thousands of things on the way inviting you towards sin. The massive achievement will be that you tread carefully and save your imaan. That’s what Allah loves, that you have all the glow and luxury of sin around you, yet you tread carefully to save your imaan. When you go to the masjid or you go to the shops; don’t do this and don’t do that. Thousands of restrictions and barriers. Stop this, don’t think this, and don’t look at that. This is deen! This is Jannah! Yet what do we do? We pray salah and we do all the sins under the sun. When we are going to the ka’ba, the baitullah, we will do all the sins on the way. Backbiting and evil glances with the eyes, and then we will do tawaaf around the ka’ba. This is not deen. Allah has given all the losses and negatives of the world so that we can earn paradise. That’s why Allah has given us all these hurdles and barriers. We must save ourselves from this and this is the greatest ibaadah and worship; to leave the sin. Where will we get the training of how to do this? From the kaamil Sheikh, the true teacher and wali of Allah who tries his hardest to explain to his students to leave the sins.
The ulema have the most pain when they hear this point. They have no plan or desire to leave the sins. No desire or plan. Hadeeth, kitabs, knowledge; they have all this under their arms but they have given no thought that they must save themselves from sin. The greatest maqaam and rank in the hereafter will be for who? It will be the ulema and the scholars. And who will be the most wretched? That will also be the ulema and the scholars. Remember the Quran teaches us this. Both extremes; the highest rank for the scholars, and the most wretched for the scholars due their sins. Allah has praised the aalim, scholar who has fear of Allah in his heart. The aalim is he, who has fear of Allah in his heart. He is the aalim, remember this! So what is fear? Fear is defined that when a person is sinning, he is scared. Such a person is in fact the aalim. He will have the maqam, and he is the deputy of the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam. He has the high rank in paradise and the hereafter. But today we have the line of scholars like you have mangos selling in the market. Todays the scholars are also selling. It has become a profession; I tell you this. It is becoming a profession. You have accountants and doctors who are professionals, in the same way this is also a profession where you can make money. I tell you this is the reality. This is reality. So high is the maqaam of the aalim who has kowf in his heart. Who has kashiat, fear, recognition and awareness of Allah. That’s what the Quran says about the high rank of the aalim. The person who has fear of Allah, kashiat and recognition; he is the aalim. Most of all I feel the pain when the respectful scholars, the honourable scholars come, and when they are told that this is the sin sheet, they will never accept this sheet system. They don’t see lying in their lives, they don’t see backbiting in their lives, and they don’t see greed in their lives. They will say; I don’t need to do this. To this day I have not seen an aalim, or very few and far between, who has clutched onto the sheet system. They have no recognition and awareness. One person came to me and I spoke to him about the sheet system. And he replied; what’s this, for me? I explained this is a great system where a person saves himself from sins and lying, backbiting and bad use of the eyes. I said do this sheet and put it into the system. I said this is a great gift that Allah ta’ala has given to us by the sadaqa of the slippers of my sheikh. This is a brilliant miracle where a person can do his tazkiya, do goodness and save himself from sins. Very rarely will you see a sheikh or a teacher who will have a system like this. There are many sheikhs here and you can look around you. No-one gives his mureeds this system. So what did that person do? He took this and went outside and made noise and clamour; the sheikh said to me I have to follow the sheets system, he said he is the greatest sheikh and what he does no-one is doing. The sheikh said has got the ulema underneath him. He puts them underneath him and he thinks he is a great sheikh and no-one is doing what he is doing. He spread wrong rumours The fact is I never said this to him. I explained to him nicely about the sheets system, and in response he spread the falsehood because he couldn’t take it. He couldn’t take it.
So the Quran is telling us, this was shaytan’s objective.
عَنۡهَا فَأَخۡرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهَِّۖ
So what weapon, what method did shaytan use to get Adam alayhi salam out of paradise? The weapon of disobedience. He himself was expelled due to disobedience and all of his deeds were rejected, all his millions of deeds. He conjured a plan and a trap to snare Adam alayhi salam so he could also come out of Jannah. The Quran is telling this event and it is not just a story. Allah says leave the ibaadah, just complete the fardh, because the real action is that you must leave the sins in your whole life from A to Z. Give emphasis to leaving the sins. This is what you have to work on Allah says. Do you understand this point?
We also see another point here about leaving sins. There are 2 ways in which a person does sins. Remember this point as well. One thing is leaving a sin, and when a person leaves a sin, that is temporary. For example, you are working hard on backbiting, or you are working hard on leaving another sin. But there are 2 parts to this journey, listen very carefully because this is a very precious point. That if you work hard on leaving the sin and the sin is left, then in reality the sin is not left forever, and it will come again. The sin will come again. The sin will only be lost, the sin will only be fully detached from you when you hate the sin. When you dislike the sin. If you don’t have dislike for the sin, then consider the sin has not gone and it will come back. And this is what happens, subhanAllah. You work hard on backbiting and for a few days you have not done it. But until you don’t dislike backbiting, until you don’t hate lying, until you don’t hate doing zinah, until you don’t dislike zinah of the eyes, until you don’t dislike nonsense talk, until that time doesn’t come, consider you have not left that sin. Sin will only be left at that time, shunned at that time, rejected at that time; when you dislike the sin. SubhanAllah, our Hazrat Sheikh rahmatullah alayhi stated may Allah elevate his status to the highest, that there should be such dislike for the sin like the dislike of urine, stool, toilet, or a rat or a mouse. You must dislike music, singing, or looking at women. When you dislike the sin then consider you have left the sin. For example, you want to get rid of someone’s company. Somebody is against you or in opposition to you and you want to detach yourself from him. But in your heart if you have a little bit of love for him, if you still have a little bit of love for him you won’t be able to detach yourself from that person. You will have that experience in your life, that love will still pull you back to him and take you back to him. But if in your heart you have dislike for that person and distaste for that person, then you will detach from that person and never go back to that person again. Is this Clear? Agreed? So if you have a little hint of love, then that love will force you back to that person. Ah; but if you have dislike and hatred then consider you will never go back to that person again. And this is exactly the relationship with sin. If you don’t have hatred for the sin and don’t’ dislike the sin, then you cannot leave it.
So how do we create the opposition to sin. That’s what the friend of Allah makes us work on, the kaamil Sheikh. He teaches us how to have dislike for sinning. Leaving sin is one thing, hating the sin is another. We need to create dislike and distaste for sinning. Not leave the sin, rather we need to create dislike for the sin. And how do we create dislike for the sin, tell me how? SubhanAllah how great the wali’s of Allah and their teaching are. Their beautiful noor and points and light that they teach us, subhanAllah. The hatred for the sin will only come when you bring the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam into the heart! Only then will hatred for the sin come. The day that the love of Allah and his Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam comes into the heart then consider that the hatred of the sin will come. These 2 things can never live together in the heart. Either the love of sin will be there, or the love of Allah and his Rasul sallalahu alayhi wa salam. These 2 things cannot be together. Those people who sin, they lie when they claim that they have love for Allah and His Rasul sallalahu alayhi was salam. The question does not even arise. If a person loves Allah and His Rasulullah alayhi wa salam in his heart, he will hate the sin. The question does not arise that he will sin, and these are 2 opposite things. That’s why the friends of Allah work hardest on this point. And the Sunnah and the zikr of Allah is done for this reason to create the love for these 2 things.
Listen to the point of Hazrat rahmatullah alayhi may Allah raise his rank to the highest level. Hazrat sahib used to say that if by doing zikr you are disliking sins and hating the sins. If you are doing zikr and your hate for the sins is increasing, and your dislike for worldly things is increasing, then consider that your zikr is successful, and you are successful because the love of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi was salam has come into your heart to replace that, subhanAllah. The guarantee of the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam is from just one thing. Not that you are seeing dreams, visons, miracles and karamaat. Not that you start to cry and experience jazb and passion. This is not the sign of love. There is only one sign of love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam and that is you have the dislike for sins and dislike for the worldly things. And Alhumdulillah the kaamil sheikh works hard on these points. He brings and develops the love of Allah and His Rasul into the student. When they develop that, they start hating the sins, and when they start hating the sins, they are successful. That’s why Allah has sent the walis of Allah to the world. That they shun the sins and come to Allah. Allah says I don’t need your ibaadah and I don’t need your tahajjud. I don’t need your ibaadah and I don’t need your extra optional nafl. Allah says come to Me without sins. Allah says that’s what I want, subhanAllah. The first lesson of the Quran; lesson number 1 of the Quran; Leave the sins! And shaytan was aware of this. This is a very precious point I am going through today. A very precious point.
Every saalik, mureed and student must understand that whenever the sheikh works on the student, he should act on the sheikhs guidance. Not that the student comes to the lesson for islah and then lies. How can a kaamil sheikh accept that you are lying to the sheikh. That you are playing tricks with the sheikh and being cunning. You are playing games with the teacher and then you are saying that you have come for islah. What kind of game is this, what kind of islah is this? This is like for example, astagfirullah, someone went to Rasulullah sallalahu alayhi wa salam and lied. He is a hypocrite, and at the same time he is saying that I love you and I want to be a believer. What kind of deen is that? The meaning of islah is that you want to leave the sins. How can you continue like that? You are continuing to sin, and you are hiding it and not telling your sheikh. In your heart you have sins, and you are playing tricks with the sheikh. If you are earning the dunya and lying, and you are saying to the sheikh that you have come for islah, then consider that you have made shaytan your solid client. A solid client and permanent client.
So shaytan thought what weapon shall I utilise here. Adam alayhi salam is a nabi and he can’t commit a sin so what shall I do? I will distract him so that he can leave the order of Allah and come out of paradise. This point is very important, and this was a unique plot that he created. Allahu-akbar, Allah’s order came at that time;
وَقُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُو
Fall down Allah said. Adam come down from that life of luxury, come down. So now we see what maqam and high status they had before and how Allah subhana wa ta’ala gave them a new direction. And this is a warning for us. This was Adam alayhi salam who the angels prostrated to and Allah ta’ala allowed the spirit to be breathed into. He had the attire of Jannah and was living in Jannah. And now, Allah was saying; come down from paradise, leave paradise. It comes in the verse that first Adam’s (alayhi salam) and Hawwa’s (alayhi salam) noorani libaas was removed. Their attire of light and noor that they had worn. The Jannah libaas that concealed their bodies. Now all of that libaas and attire came off their bodies. They became totally naked and they came in front of each other without pardah. This was their punishment. Ibn Isaaq has narrated that when Adam alayhi salam was ordered to come out of paradise, Jibraeel and Mikaeel came and first they took the crown off the head. Then they opened the fastening with which the libaas was worn. That fastening was opened with their hands and then they were made to be naked. And in Arabic language it was taken from them. Now Adam alayhi salam’s condition changed, and he started to become afraid and run here and there because they were naked. Hayah was removed, shame was removed.
Allah says they started to cover their bodies with the leaves of paradise. Somehow they wanted to cover their bodies and hide their shame. They couldn’t see anything else apart from the branches and the trees. In ibn haakim it is narrated in hadeeth that the holy Prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam stated that Adam alayhi salam had long hair and he was tall in height. MashAllah he was tall, and when he started to run here and there, his hair became stuck in the trees because of his height. His hair got stuck in the trees and the branches pulled on him. How could the tree dare to pull on Adam alayhi salam. Adam alayhi salam said to the tree; leave me and leave my hair. But the tree was a witness. The tree said; why should I leave you. I will not leave you. Allah is unhappy with you. Allahu akbar, understand the point. When Allah is happy with someone, he will give him high ranks because he is an obedient servant of Allah. He will get a maqaam and high status. Allah elevates a person when he is pious. But when a person becomes disobedient and sins and disobeys Allah then see how Allah treats that person. When he is obedient the whole universe, nature and creation will obey him. The flies will obey him, the spider obeys him, and the lion obeys him. The fish do dua for him in the sea. All the fish in the sea know the obedient servant of Allah. They pray for him and if any difficulty comes, they do astagfaar for him in the heavens. The angels do astagfaar for the human being. But when a person becomes disobedient, then look what happened with the nabi. So what will be our haal and what will be our conclusion. The tree said; I won’t leave you, who are you, you disobeyed Allah. Allahu akbar!
So it is stated that they were running around here and there, hiding their bodies with leaves and trying to protect themselves. Allah ta’ala said; oh Adam, I gave you paradise and I only told you to be careful of one thing, to stay away from this tree. Quite a lot of commentators said this was the tree of figs, of wheat or grapes or apple. But in reality, it was the tree of sin. It was just a sample, example. Yes, it was an example, and every sin is like that tree, every sin in this world is like that tree of paradise. Whenever we go towards a sin it’s just like that tree that Allah ta’ala told Adam alayhi salam to leave and stay away from. In the same way, we are told to not go near the trees of this world. Don’t go near to this tree, or that tree, otherwise the consequences will be severe. And that’s the objective of life. Allah made that tree a sample example of obedience, and every sin has the form of that tree. Every sin is an example of that tree, simple.
So Allah ta’ala said to Adam alayhi salam; I gave you respect, honour and paradise. I said to you just don’t go near to this tree. Don’t go near to it. I told you to refrain from it. Likewise, Allah told us don’t go near alcohol and don’t do zinah. Don’t fornicate and don’t take your clothes off. Dear woman don’t leave the house and run after careers and jobs. Don’t go amongst strange men. But no, we don’t accept these things today. With Adam alayhi salam it was not a rejection, it was just a slight err. One wrong movement and Adam alayhi salam was taken out of paradise. Yet we have mounds and stacks of sins. We commit all the sins from A to Z, and from morning to night. Then what will be the haal of our ibaadah? Tell me will it be accepted? Do we do more ibaadah then the angels? More ibaadah then Adam alayhi salam? Do we have maqam and rank and status? Where will all of our deeds and worship go? So much sin, yet we just say; oh I am just doing a little bit of this, I am just looking at the news on the TV, nothing else. Whatever Allah ta’ala has told us to leave, just leave it, end of story. That’s the standard of life, full stop. Don’t go near to the tree. Allah said don’t go near to the sin. Don’t say this, and don’t see that. Whatever action Allah has forbidden, if we still do it then consider we have gone to the tree, and then Allah says the consequences will happen. All honour will go, all respect will go, and a person will run after money, and he will pass his time like a dog. Allah said I sent you to this world for a temporary time. The person who disobeys Allah has no status, be he a man or a woman. No status and no rank. Dogs and cats are better than him, animals are better than him. Allah ta’ala is telling us the status of the person who sins. Adam alayhi salam was the Nabi and Allah and he was an example of this. Just for one action Adam alayhi salam’s honour was taken away, his clothes were taken away and he was running around naked after leaves. He (alayhi salam) was distressed and worried, nothing in paradise was recognising him.
Adam alayhi salam spoke eventually. Listen to what Adam alayhi salam had to say; oh Rabb I swear by your hour and dignity. You gave me paradise, luxury and comfort. You gave me everything. And you told me to leave and stay away from this tree. Oh Rabb I swear by your honour and dignity, never in my mind could it come to this point, that somebody could swear by Your name and then Lie. That zaalim, wretched and cursed shaytan, what did he do? This was his policy to somehow distract them and make them fall and slip. Shaytan knew that Adam alayhi salam could not sin directly, so he presented a tactic. He presented a plot, that he distracted Adam alayhi salam in the name of Allah. My brothers this is such a unique point. The mu’min has a unique point that whenever he is deceived, he will be deceived in the name of Allah. Allahu akbar. The mu’mins weak point is always Allah and his Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam. The shaytan and nafs have always deceived in this way. They know a person is not going to be trapped, so they claim in the name of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam. This has not happened once but many times in my lifetime. A person came to me and presented himself as a muslim for two and a half years. He had an imaama and a beard. He came to my khanqa and did zikr and recited the name of Allah and deceived me. Khair, this is deception, but he can’t deceive Allah. That person had no imaan, but there are also Muslims who have been coming for 2 or 3 years and deceiving too. They do zikr, they say Allah’s name, and they deceive and sell themselves in the name of Allah. This is the quality of the mu’min, and the rank of the mu’min that whomever you love, you will sell yourself at the hands of that love. So shaytan knew Adam alayhi salam’s weak point was the love of Allah. SubhanAlah. So he swore in the name of Allah and promised in the name of Allah. He lied in the name of Allah and said look this will happen to you if you don’t do this. Personally, in my life whenever someone has deceived me it has been in the name of Allah and I get trapped with ease. I am actually telling you my weak point that people trap me with ease. Various people came and did this with me. People deceived and played the game and changed their appearance. They came to the khanqa and changed their ways. Even now I don’t know if someone is deceiving me. So shaytan did the same, he knew that he could not trap Adam alayhi salam in any other way. So he decided to speak in the name of Allah and lie to him and trap him. That’s why lying is the biggest sin, and the first thing due to which Adam alayhi salam was taken out of Jannah.
So now let us consider what is lying? What is lying. This is islah and rectification and I am speaking to my mureeds and my brothers. Never think that a liar can be successful in the world. The worst sin in the world is lying. It is such a bad sin, that at the start of time shaytan swore by the name of Allah and lied to trap the prophet of Allah Hazrat Adam alayhi salam. Hazrat Adam alayhi salam said, oh Allah I could not even imagine that someone would lie and trick me in your name and commit fraud. And this is exactly what happens; people think that this person can’t be deceiving me in the name of Allah? He is saying wrong? How can it be? It can’t be? Adam alayhi salam said this and it was a big message to his children; beware, beware, never lie, never lie because lying is the worst action.
Hazrat Harith radhyallahu anhu stated that at the time of Hajj I heard the holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam say that the person who lies and makes a false promise, I promise that he has made his abode in Jahannam, and it cannot be that he goes to paradise. Hazrat Abi Bakra radyallahu anha stated this hadeeth, subhanAllah, this hadeeth is in Sahih Bukhari, Muslim and Tarmidhi. The holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam stated that false testimony and false bearing witness is shirk, and lying is shirk. Hazrat khalid bin Malik narrates that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam said this is shirk and is equivalent to shirk. And then Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam recited the Quran about lying and how bad and severe a sin lying is. It is common amongst us today. Common amongst us. The worst sin is lying which is equivalent to shirk. There is a hadeeth in Bayhaqi; Hazrat Abu Huraira RadhyAllahu anhu narrates that whoever speaks a lie, whoever give a false testimony, he has made his abode in Jahannam. The sin of lying is so dangerous that city’s and towns become affected by the person who lies. Hazrat Abu Huraira radyallahu anhu narrated in a hadeeth the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam said if there is a person who reads salah, keeps fasts and calls himself a muslim. If such a person lies, then he is a pure munafiq. Total hypocrisy is in that person and this hadeeth is narrated by a sahaabi. In Ahmed there is a hadeeth; Hazrat Abu Amaamah radhyallahu anhu naarates that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam said that the mu’min and lying are 2 separate things. This is the meaning of this hadeeth, that it is not in the character of a mu’min that he lies. It’s not the quality of a mu’min to lie. The mu’min cannot lie at all. Hazrat Ibn Umar radhyallahu anhu narrates a hadeeth in Ahmed that when a person lies, such a stink comes from his mouth that the angels of mercy run away for miles and the angels don’t go near to that person. There is a ajeeb hadeeth. In haakim Hazrat Ayesha siddiqa radhyallahu anha stated about lying; that Allah’s Nabi sallalahu alayhi wa salam - who is our beloved and our jaan and our life - had a severe distaste for lying. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam hated lying so much so, that when a person lied and it was proven that he lied, then Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam would not meet that person and would end his meetings with that person, until he repented from that lying. So tell me if a person goes to his Sheikh for islah and he lies and he hides the points? He plays games and tricks then what will be the haal of that person? What will be the end point of that person? What will be the conclusion of that person?
So shaytan played the game by lying and Hazrat Adam alayhi salam said; I could not even imagine he would do this. In another narration it is stated that Adam alayhi salam requested; oh Allah Howwa gave me this mashwara and consultation to do this - Allahu Akbar - I wasn’t going to that tree but Howwa alayhi salam gave me this mashwara and I went on her advice. Allah said ok, fair enough, so Allah gave three punishments to the woman. The woman folk are all daughters of Hazrat Howwa alayhi salam. Number one that there will be severe difficulty during pregnancy. Secondly there will be difficulty at the time of birth, and thirdly every month they will have some difficulty which is the menstrual cycle. These are three difficulties due to distracting Hazrat Adam alayhi salam.
Here is another lesson we need to take about women. Allah ta’ala created the woman alongside man, and Allah says that the woman influences the man. Hazrat Adam alayhi salam said; I didn’t want to go, but Hazrat Howwa alayhi salam mentioned that shaytan had advised and maybe he was right. Maybe shaytan was right that we may get lost if we don’t go to this tree. Shaytan said to them that this tree will give them life for ever and ever. If they didn’t go near to it, they would lose forever. So Shaytan made Howwa alayhi salam listen and She made Adam alayhi salam listen. So Allah has given this characteristic to women, so be careful about women and think about the advice that they give. This is the weakness of the ummah that very quickly a man falls into the trap of the woman. Very quickly the woman overwhelms the mind and thoughts of the man. So the man needs to be careful and Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam said be careful in this regard. A woman can convince a man very easily with her voice, her plans and her advice. So here we need to be careful and cautious. The woman folk should be careful with their advice and how they convince the men. They should utilise their convincing power to give advice correctly and they will get reward for this. Our women folk have such convincing power, that they can take the home to the heights if they utilise this convincing power. But if they go down the wrong alley then they can destroy the home, and this is due the influence of shaytan. In the same way, if the man has good thoughts then he can absorb the good advice. So don’t take every advice of the woman if she takes you towards haram and wrong actions. She may say; we need to take interest for the children, what difference will it make. Take the loan and we can repay it tomorrow. We need to get a big house. We need to get shops and businesses. They convince the men to do wrong by buying these things. We need to be careful!
Allah subhana wa ta’ala gave this punishment to Adam alayhi salam. That you will now have to leave this abode of respect and dignity and paradise, so go down from here. Everything has been taken back from you and you are sent to the earth and everyone was given the order to get out of there; Adam alayhi salam, Hazrat Howwa alayhi salam, shaytan, and the snake. Four things were expelled from paradise at that time. In the next verse we will see inshAllah what happens with Hazrat Adam alayhi salam after coming to the world. Today we have got the biggest point and lesson. We started from the sins. Go to the sheikh for your islah and improvement and self-rectification. But unfortunately we go for lengthy wazaaif and worship. Zikr and azkaar is done so that we can hate the sins, not just leave the sins, but hate the sins. And what is the sign of hating the sins that I told you? That the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi salam should be engrained into our hearts. If the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam does not come into our hearts, then we will not hate the sins and we will repeatedly sin. A person brings this love into his heart when he goes to a sheikh and obeys his sheikh and does amal on his advices. Then inshAllah ta’ala the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi will come into the student. May Allah give me and you all the tawfeeq to do amal on this Ameen.
فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ عَنۡهَا فَأَخۡرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِۖ وَقُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُواْ بَعۡضُكُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوّٞۖ وَلَكُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مُسۡتَقَرّٞ وَمَتَٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٖ فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَٰتٖ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡهِۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
Surah Baqarah ayah 36
The enmity of shaytan and opposition to Adam alayhi salam was openly demonstrated. So much so that he was thinking a lot and pondering a lot. He went to Jannah and saw the luxury of Adam alayhi salam. His ease and comforts and his paradise dwelling (alayhi salam). Shaytan saw the freedom and he saw the ease. He saw the beauty everywhere in paradise. When he saw this enjoyment and relaxation, he became angry. He couldn’t accept this, so it became his mission that somehow or other, somehow or other he needed to get them out of paradise. Get them out of paradise. Not just them but remember this point; shaytan knew that his enmity will continue with the children of Adam, in other words us. From the very beginning his enmity was such; that If he couldn’t stay in Jannah, if Jannah had been taken away from him, If he had lost all this relaxation and comfort, then he wouldn’t let Adam alayhi salam and his children come near to paradise either. He would make them lose out forever too. Remember this point.
So the enmity of shaytan is with us, this is his mission or objective that somehow or other, he needs to get us away from paradise. He has seen it himself. He has seen the gardens and the beauty, and he is aware of the fascination. He has the knowledge that whoever from the children of alayhi salam is successful he will permanently go into paradise and that will be his dwelling. So that’s the mission that he started, that whatever happens, and in any way he can, he needs to make them lose out from Jannah. This is the mission of shaytan, and we need to be aware of this mission, remember this. When a person understands the plot of the enemy then it becomes easy to tackle. And this is the style of the Quran, that it has clearly explained the scene to us. This is the game that has been played out. Shaytan wanted to get us out of Jannah. Yes, he wanted to do that.
فَأَخۡرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِۖ
To get them out, and neither should their children dwell there or be happy there. This was his objective and plot. Now this enmity and opposition is still existent until today.
This dunya is not the place of enjoyment. How can it be? Adam alayhi salam and his children have been sent to this world as a punishment. So the place where a person has been sent as a punishment, how can that place be good, tell me? How can that place be good? A person is in prison even if you give him many things; if you give him air-conditioning, a fridge freezer and give him other comforts. A prisoner is a prisoner. He will say; take all of this away from me and get me out of here. Give me my freedom because I want to live in the free world. The prisoner will say that won’t he? So this world is not the place of enjoyment. Shaytan knows this is not the place of enjoyment. Jannah will be the place of enjoyment. That’s the deception that he has created that the world is the place of enjoyment. So what has happened to us, that we consider this world to be a place of enjoyment? It’s like a prisoner who gets all the comforts in jail and then says; this is the best place for me. I am going to stay in this cell and enjoy myself. The prison cell is nothing, the reality is the world outside of the prison. Similarly, this world is nothing, totally zero. But shaytan has decorated it and adorned it, and made it glitter and glow. And he is happy when a person occupies it and becomes worldly and materialistic. It doesn’t matter if he has big houses and mansions. If he has nice cars and fast cars and If he has several businesses and cashflow. It has no importance and he can carry-on because he is the client of shaytan and this is not going to give anybody any benefit at all.
What you think is big and massive compared to the hereafter is not even a dust particle in comparison. Not even a dust particle. We foolish people run after this dunya. But the reality is that this world is not even a dust particle in comparison to where we will eventually go. We cannot compare the hereafter for even a split second. Take all the palaces of the world and amass them, they cannot even compare to a small particle in the breeze of Jannah, subhanAllah. So Shaytan has made us stupid people by making us run after these things. There is a very important point here. Shaytan goes after those people who really desire to go to paradise with their amalus saalihaat, with their righteous deeds. Shaytan runs after those people. Even if they haven’t got a house in this world and even if they don’t have a car to drive. Even if they don’t have 2 or 3 meals a day. If they have less clothes and broken holes in their shoes. Yet shaytan runs after these people because he knows that they are the wealthiest. When their eyes close they will see the beautiful fascination of Jannah. They are opposing him and amassing wealth in this world through their deeds. They don’t care about the dunya and will get the big house in paradise. Shaytan runs after these people. He knows the wealthy people in the dunya are nothing; those who are running after dunya, he doesn’t care about them and he leaves them. But the fakeers and pious people are earning Jannah, and he runs after them. He plays games with them and tries to trap them, deviate them and spoil their amal and their deeds. His full effort is on these people, remember this point, remember this point. That the people who are close to Allah and do righteous deeds, good deeds, who are pious and upright and on the straight path, shaytan is their real enemy and we should be very careful about shaytan. The friends of Allah have a clash with shaytan and the nafs every second of their lives. Because shaytan comes with full force according to his mission to get these people out of paradise. Because these are the people that will go to paradise. These are the people who will get palaces and mansions. They will get hoors and beauty and maidens and servants, and their ranks will be high. Shaytan focusses on them 100%. So this is a very important point to understand that if Allah ta’ala gives the tawfeeq to implement good deeds and righteous deeds, then a person should be careful of shaytan. He should be careful of shaytan.
So shaytan thought; how do I get Adam alayhi salam out of paradise. Which method should I use? Adam alayhi salam was a Nabi, so it was impossible for him to commit a sin. A prophet cannot commit a sin, he is innocent and free from sins. Adam alayhi salam did not commit any sin. That was just a slight forgetfulness you can say. So shaytan thought; what shall I do. Which method shall I use to distract Adam alayhi salam, so he is expelled from heaven? He knew himself and he had the knowledge. He had gone through all the issues. He knew the reason for which he was expelled, and they can only come out of paradise for that reason. Allah ta’ala wouldn’t expel them because of lack of ibaadah because Shaytan himself was a great worshipper. For 100’s of 1000’s of years shaytan had worshipped and prostrated. He had implemented every action of worship. Despite having done so much ibaadah, he was shunned out of paradise. So we see here that in Allah ta’ala’s court, ibaadah has no value if someone disobeys Him. Worship and ibaadah has no value if a person is sinning. Shaytan was aware of this. And this is another point that we need to listen to carefully, that a person cannot please Allah subhana wa ta’ala with ibaadah. Remember this, it does not matter how much worship you implement. Allah will be pleased with a human being when he doesn’t disobey Him. When he doesn’t commit a sin. Whatever Allah ta’ala says, if we don’t obey this, then it is a sin. So Allah’s displeasure is earned when a person disobeys Allah and sins and doesn’t listen to Allah. Allah’s displeasure is earned, and it doesn’t matter how many amal he does. Look at shaytan; look at how much deeds he had and how much he worshipped. Look at how much he prayed. He was the teacher of the angels. Did this benefit him? No because he disobeyed Allah’s order and all his deeds were rejected. His worship was rejected, and no deed had any value compared to his disobedience to Allah.
Shaytan knew that somehow he needed to entrap them and to make them disobey Allah’s decree. He knew that his ibaadah did not come into use. And in comparison all of the rank and honour and status that Adam alayhi salam was given; his ruh, his sujood and prostration, all of this would fail if shaytan made him commit a mistake. This is a very big point my brothers so please understand this. Today a servant of Allah is proud of his worship and his deeds. He emphasises a lot on amal, worshipping and abundance of worship. He will read this much Quran, read this much hadeeth, and perform this much prayer. But that can only come of benefit if a person does not sin. This is a massive lesson and a lesson to note. What did shaytan do? He committed a sin, he disobeyed Allah. For him it was a minor sin but all of his ibaadah was rejected and finished, and he was expelled from paradise and everything finished. What did Adam alayhi salam do? Allah gave him (alayhi salam) respect and honour. But, you could say, he made a small oversight, he forgot something, and everything was taken away. So oh Sufi’s and people sitting here, I am not teaching you masa’il and fiqh and jurisprudence from the Quran. We are not discussing technicalities or having lengthy discussions. We need to learn a lesson from the Quran under the light of rectification. This is our mission for reading the Quran and discussing the Quran. So that we can improve our lives. Not for fiqh and jurisprudence and technicalities. From these verses we need to improve ourselves and rectify ourselves. We need to take the proof and guidance of Islah from the Quran so that we can act. It is proven here that to please Allah, we must not disobey Him and commit a sin. The pious predecessors have said that even if a person doesn’t do any voluntary actions all his life. He doesn’t do nafl, tahajjud, ishraaq or chasht. He doesn’t recite Quran all his life. If he does no voluntary action and just performs the Faraaidh and compulsory deeds. But at the same time, he doesn’t commit any sin. With firmness and strictness, he refrains from sin then nothing can stop him from entering Jannatul Firdous. For him Firdous will be the destination which is the highest grade of Jannah. Because he has attained his objective. Allah doesn’t want ibaadah. Allah wants that we don’t disobey Him and don’t sin. This is todays lesson. This is a massive lesson that the Quran has given to us through this event; do not sin. So take this out of your minds that you are a worshipper and you pray and you do nafl etc. That sins are small and it doesn’t make any difference. That these are only small sins and Allah will accept your deeds. Its only your beard that you trimmed, its only pardah that you didn’t do. You pray salah, you pray tahajjud and you do tasbees. You pray tahajjud in the night and nawafil salah. It pains in my heart when I see someone reciting the Quran in this state. He has a trimmed beard, a small beard and his libaas is totally immodest. In other words, shaytan has bought that person and deviated that person. The whole Quran is telling us this one point. Why do we not understand that sin destroys a human being? Amal (deeds) will not benefit us. Our worship will not benefit us at all.
If you go to a friend of Allah, then go with the intention of Islah. I will tell you the sign of a friend of Allah, a kaamil Sheikh, a kaamil wali. As I have mentioned before this bayan and this majlis is for the purpose of islah, rectification and self-improvement. The Quran is giving us this clear point. You are all here for this purpose my brothers and sisters. So listen; if you have come to the friend of Allah with the intention of self-rectification, then the true kaamil wali won’t give you lengthy worship, recitation, and nafl. He won’t give you wazaaif, and he won’t tell you to do lengthy prayers and lengthy isolation. The kaamil Sheikh will never take you to the extreme of worship. His focus will be on those actions that attain Allah’s pleasure. He will emphasise to you to leave the sins. And he will work hard on you, so you don’t disobey Allah. He will work his hardest to take you away from sin. The sheikh will never tell you to do extra worship. But people will still ask; oh, can I keep nafl fast and can I fast on this day. Can I do this nafl? The friend of Allah knows that there is goodness in these actions. But he also knows that nothing will benefit the student, because one sin will destroy him. Today he keeps a fast and then he accumulates 10 fasts, but one sin will burn all these deeds. The sheikh will work hard and struggle and toil with his mureeds. He will work extremely hard on this point. The sign of the kaamil sheikh, the wali Allah is that he stops you from sins. When he warns you about sins and works hard on you towards leaving the sins, consider him to be the true kaamil wali. But today we don’t see this. Instead we are told to recite this wazeefa, do this many tasbees and this much nawaafil prayer. As a result, the student becomes happy that he is praying and doing zikr. The sheikh is not giving the knowledge that you need to be careful with your tongue and with your eating and with your stomach. Nothing at all, just do wazeefas and you will be successful.
Allah ta’ala didn’t send us to the earth for this. Allah ta’ala asks; are there not enough people around Me who are worshipping Me and glorifying Me? Are the angels not doing zikr? Was the shaytan not doing ibaadah? Tell me where did his ibaadah go? All his ibaadah was rejected because of one disobedience. That’s why everything that Allah has given to us in this dunya is disobedience and nothing but disobedience. There is an invitation to do sin at every step. As soon as you leave your house to go to the masjid, you will see thousands of things on the way inviting you towards sin. The massive achievement will be that you tread carefully and save your imaan. That’s what Allah loves, that you have all the glow and luxury of sin around you, yet you tread carefully to save your imaan. When you go to the masjid or you go to the shops; don’t do this and don’t do that. Thousands of restrictions and barriers. Stop this, don’t think this, and don’t look at that. This is deen! This is Jannah! Yet what do we do? We pray salah and we do all the sins under the sun. When we are going to the ka’ba, the baitullah, we will do all the sins on the way. Backbiting and evil glances with the eyes, and then we will do tawaaf around the ka’ba. This is not deen. Allah has given all the losses and negatives of the world so that we can earn paradise. That’s why Allah has given us all these hurdles and barriers. We must save ourselves from this and this is the greatest ibaadah and worship; to leave the sin. Where will we get the training of how to do this? From the kaamil Sheikh, the true teacher and wali of Allah who tries his hardest to explain to his students to leave the sins.
The ulema have the most pain when they hear this point. They have no plan or desire to leave the sins. No desire or plan. Hadeeth, kitabs, knowledge; they have all this under their arms but they have given no thought that they must save themselves from sin. The greatest maqaam and rank in the hereafter will be for who? It will be the ulema and the scholars. And who will be the most wretched? That will also be the ulema and the scholars. Remember the Quran teaches us this. Both extremes; the highest rank for the scholars, and the most wretched for the scholars due their sins. Allah has praised the aalim, scholar who has fear of Allah in his heart. The aalim is he, who has fear of Allah in his heart. He is the aalim, remember this! So what is fear? Fear is defined that when a person is sinning, he is scared. Such a person is in fact the aalim. He will have the maqam, and he is the deputy of the Prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam. He has the high rank in paradise and the hereafter. But today we have the line of scholars like you have mangos selling in the market. Todays the scholars are also selling. It has become a profession; I tell you this. It is becoming a profession. You have accountants and doctors who are professionals, in the same way this is also a profession where you can make money. I tell you this is the reality. This is reality. So high is the maqaam of the aalim who has kowf in his heart. Who has kashiat, fear, recognition and awareness of Allah. That’s what the Quran says about the high rank of the aalim. The person who has fear of Allah, kashiat and recognition; he is the aalim. Most of all I feel the pain when the respectful scholars, the honourable scholars come, and when they are told that this is the sin sheet, they will never accept this sheet system. They don’t see lying in their lives, they don’t see backbiting in their lives, and they don’t see greed in their lives. They will say; I don’t need to do this. To this day I have not seen an aalim, or very few and far between, who has clutched onto the sheet system. They have no recognition and awareness. One person came to me and I spoke to him about the sheet system. And he replied; what’s this, for me? I explained this is a great system where a person saves himself from sins and lying, backbiting and bad use of the eyes. I said do this sheet and put it into the system. I said this is a great gift that Allah ta’ala has given to us by the sadaqa of the slippers of my sheikh. This is a brilliant miracle where a person can do his tazkiya, do goodness and save himself from sins. Very rarely will you see a sheikh or a teacher who will have a system like this. There are many sheikhs here and you can look around you. No-one gives his mureeds this system. So what did that person do? He took this and went outside and made noise and clamour; the sheikh said to me I have to follow the sheets system, he said he is the greatest sheikh and what he does no-one is doing. The sheikh said has got the ulema underneath him. He puts them underneath him and he thinks he is a great sheikh and no-one is doing what he is doing. He spread wrong rumours The fact is I never said this to him. I explained to him nicely about the sheets system, and in response he spread the falsehood because he couldn’t take it. He couldn’t take it.
So the Quran is telling us, this was shaytan’s objective.
عَنۡهَا فَأَخۡرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهَِّۖ
So what weapon, what method did shaytan use to get Adam alayhi salam out of paradise? The weapon of disobedience. He himself was expelled due to disobedience and all of his deeds were rejected, all his millions of deeds. He conjured a plan and a trap to snare Adam alayhi salam so he could also come out of Jannah. The Quran is telling this event and it is not just a story. Allah says leave the ibaadah, just complete the fardh, because the real action is that you must leave the sins in your whole life from A to Z. Give emphasis to leaving the sins. This is what you have to work on Allah says. Do you understand this point?
We also see another point here about leaving sins. There are 2 ways in which a person does sins. Remember this point as well. One thing is leaving a sin, and when a person leaves a sin, that is temporary. For example, you are working hard on backbiting, or you are working hard on leaving another sin. But there are 2 parts to this journey, listen very carefully because this is a very precious point. That if you work hard on leaving the sin and the sin is left, then in reality the sin is not left forever, and it will come again. The sin will come again. The sin will only be lost, the sin will only be fully detached from you when you hate the sin. When you dislike the sin. If you don’t have dislike for the sin, then consider the sin has not gone and it will come back. And this is what happens, subhanAllah. You work hard on backbiting and for a few days you have not done it. But until you don’t dislike backbiting, until you don’t hate lying, until you don’t hate doing zinah, until you don’t dislike zinah of the eyes, until you don’t dislike nonsense talk, until that time doesn’t come, consider you have not left that sin. Sin will only be left at that time, shunned at that time, rejected at that time; when you dislike the sin. SubhanAllah, our Hazrat Sheikh rahmatullah alayhi stated may Allah elevate his status to the highest, that there should be such dislike for the sin like the dislike of urine, stool, toilet, or a rat or a mouse. You must dislike music, singing, or looking at women. When you dislike the sin then consider you have left the sin. For example, you want to get rid of someone’s company. Somebody is against you or in opposition to you and you want to detach yourself from him. But in your heart if you have a little bit of love for him, if you still have a little bit of love for him you won’t be able to detach yourself from that person. You will have that experience in your life, that love will still pull you back to him and take you back to him. But if in your heart you have dislike for that person and distaste for that person, then you will detach from that person and never go back to that person again. Is this Clear? Agreed? So if you have a little hint of love, then that love will force you back to that person. Ah; but if you have dislike and hatred then consider you will never go back to that person again. And this is exactly the relationship with sin. If you don’t have hatred for the sin and don’t’ dislike the sin, then you cannot leave it.
So how do we create the opposition to sin. That’s what the friend of Allah makes us work on, the kaamil Sheikh. He teaches us how to have dislike for sinning. Leaving sin is one thing, hating the sin is another. We need to create dislike and distaste for sinning. Not leave the sin, rather we need to create dislike for the sin. And how do we create dislike for the sin, tell me how? SubhanAllah how great the wali’s of Allah and their teaching are. Their beautiful noor and points and light that they teach us, subhanAllah. The hatred for the sin will only come when you bring the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam into the heart! Only then will hatred for the sin come. The day that the love of Allah and his Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam comes into the heart then consider that the hatred of the sin will come. These 2 things can never live together in the heart. Either the love of sin will be there, or the love of Allah and his Rasul sallalahu alayhi wa salam. These 2 things cannot be together. Those people who sin, they lie when they claim that they have love for Allah and His Rasul sallalahu alayhi was salam. The question does not even arise. If a person loves Allah and His Rasulullah alayhi wa salam in his heart, he will hate the sin. The question does not arise that he will sin, and these are 2 opposite things. That’s why the friends of Allah work hardest on this point. And the Sunnah and the zikr of Allah is done for this reason to create the love for these 2 things.
Listen to the point of Hazrat rahmatullah alayhi may Allah raise his rank to the highest level. Hazrat sahib used to say that if by doing zikr you are disliking sins and hating the sins. If you are doing zikr and your hate for the sins is increasing, and your dislike for worldly things is increasing, then consider that your zikr is successful, and you are successful because the love of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi was salam has come into your heart to replace that, subhanAllah. The guarantee of the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam is from just one thing. Not that you are seeing dreams, visons, miracles and karamaat. Not that you start to cry and experience jazb and passion. This is not the sign of love. There is only one sign of love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam and that is you have the dislike for sins and dislike for the worldly things. And Alhumdulillah the kaamil sheikh works hard on these points. He brings and develops the love of Allah and His Rasul into the student. When they develop that, they start hating the sins, and when they start hating the sins, they are successful. That’s why Allah has sent the walis of Allah to the world. That they shun the sins and come to Allah. Allah says I don’t need your ibaadah and I don’t need your tahajjud. I don’t need your ibaadah and I don’t need your extra optional nafl. Allah says come to Me without sins. Allah says that’s what I want, subhanAllah. The first lesson of the Quran; lesson number 1 of the Quran; Leave the sins! And shaytan was aware of this. This is a very precious point I am going through today. A very precious point.
Every saalik, mureed and student must understand that whenever the sheikh works on the student, he should act on the sheikhs guidance. Not that the student comes to the lesson for islah and then lies. How can a kaamil sheikh accept that you are lying to the sheikh. That you are playing tricks with the sheikh and being cunning. You are playing games with the teacher and then you are saying that you have come for islah. What kind of game is this, what kind of islah is this? This is like for example, astagfirullah, someone went to Rasulullah sallalahu alayhi wa salam and lied. He is a hypocrite, and at the same time he is saying that I love you and I want to be a believer. What kind of deen is that? The meaning of islah is that you want to leave the sins. How can you continue like that? You are continuing to sin, and you are hiding it and not telling your sheikh. In your heart you have sins, and you are playing tricks with the sheikh. If you are earning the dunya and lying, and you are saying to the sheikh that you have come for islah, then consider that you have made shaytan your solid client. A solid client and permanent client.
So shaytan thought what weapon shall I utilise here. Adam alayhi salam is a nabi and he can’t commit a sin so what shall I do? I will distract him so that he can leave the order of Allah and come out of paradise. This point is very important, and this was a unique plot that he created. Allahu-akbar, Allah’s order came at that time;
وَقُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُو
Fall down Allah said. Adam come down from that life of luxury, come down. So now we see what maqam and high status they had before and how Allah subhana wa ta’ala gave them a new direction. And this is a warning for us. This was Adam alayhi salam who the angels prostrated to and Allah ta’ala allowed the spirit to be breathed into. He had the attire of Jannah and was living in Jannah. And now, Allah was saying; come down from paradise, leave paradise. It comes in the verse that first Adam’s (alayhi salam) and Hawwa’s (alayhi salam) noorani libaas was removed. Their attire of light and noor that they had worn. The Jannah libaas that concealed their bodies. Now all of that libaas and attire came off their bodies. They became totally naked and they came in front of each other without pardah. This was their punishment. Ibn Isaaq has narrated that when Adam alayhi salam was ordered to come out of paradise, Jibraeel and Mikaeel came and first they took the crown off the head. Then they opened the fastening with which the libaas was worn. That fastening was opened with their hands and then they were made to be naked. And in Arabic language it was taken from them. Now Adam alayhi salam’s condition changed, and he started to become afraid and run here and there because they were naked. Hayah was removed, shame was removed.
Allah says they started to cover their bodies with the leaves of paradise. Somehow they wanted to cover their bodies and hide their shame. They couldn’t see anything else apart from the branches and the trees. In ibn haakim it is narrated in hadeeth that the holy Prophet sallalahu alayhi wa salam stated that Adam alayhi salam had long hair and he was tall in height. MashAllah he was tall, and when he started to run here and there, his hair became stuck in the trees because of his height. His hair got stuck in the trees and the branches pulled on him. How could the tree dare to pull on Adam alayhi salam. Adam alayhi salam said to the tree; leave me and leave my hair. But the tree was a witness. The tree said; why should I leave you. I will not leave you. Allah is unhappy with you. Allahu akbar, understand the point. When Allah is happy with someone, he will give him high ranks because he is an obedient servant of Allah. He will get a maqaam and high status. Allah elevates a person when he is pious. But when a person becomes disobedient and sins and disobeys Allah then see how Allah treats that person. When he is obedient the whole universe, nature and creation will obey him. The flies will obey him, the spider obeys him, and the lion obeys him. The fish do dua for him in the sea. All the fish in the sea know the obedient servant of Allah. They pray for him and if any difficulty comes, they do astagfaar for him in the heavens. The angels do astagfaar for the human being. But when a person becomes disobedient, then look what happened with the nabi. So what will be our haal and what will be our conclusion. The tree said; I won’t leave you, who are you, you disobeyed Allah. Allahu akbar!
So it is stated that they were running around here and there, hiding their bodies with leaves and trying to protect themselves. Allah ta’ala said; oh Adam, I gave you paradise and I only told you to be careful of one thing, to stay away from this tree. Quite a lot of commentators said this was the tree of figs, of wheat or grapes or apple. But in reality, it was the tree of sin. It was just a sample, example. Yes, it was an example, and every sin is like that tree, every sin in this world is like that tree of paradise. Whenever we go towards a sin it’s just like that tree that Allah ta’ala told Adam alayhi salam to leave and stay away from. In the same way, we are told to not go near the trees of this world. Don’t go near to this tree, or that tree, otherwise the consequences will be severe. And that’s the objective of life. Allah made that tree a sample example of obedience, and every sin has the form of that tree. Every sin is an example of that tree, simple.
So Allah ta’ala said to Adam alayhi salam; I gave you respect, honour and paradise. I said to you just don’t go near to this tree. Don’t go near to it. I told you to refrain from it. Likewise, Allah told us don’t go near alcohol and don’t do zinah. Don’t fornicate and don’t take your clothes off. Dear woman don’t leave the house and run after careers and jobs. Don’t go amongst strange men. But no, we don’t accept these things today. With Adam alayhi salam it was not a rejection, it was just a slight err. One wrong movement and Adam alayhi salam was taken out of paradise. Yet we have mounds and stacks of sins. We commit all the sins from A to Z, and from morning to night. Then what will be the haal of our ibaadah? Tell me will it be accepted? Do we do more ibaadah then the angels? More ibaadah then Adam alayhi salam? Do we have maqam and rank and status? Where will all of our deeds and worship go? So much sin, yet we just say; oh I am just doing a little bit of this, I am just looking at the news on the TV, nothing else. Whatever Allah ta’ala has told us to leave, just leave it, end of story. That’s the standard of life, full stop. Don’t go near to the tree. Allah said don’t go near to the sin. Don’t say this, and don’t see that. Whatever action Allah has forbidden, if we still do it then consider we have gone to the tree, and then Allah says the consequences will happen. All honour will go, all respect will go, and a person will run after money, and he will pass his time like a dog. Allah said I sent you to this world for a temporary time. The person who disobeys Allah has no status, be he a man or a woman. No status and no rank. Dogs and cats are better than him, animals are better than him. Allah ta’ala is telling us the status of the person who sins. Adam alayhi salam was the Nabi and Allah and he was an example of this. Just for one action Adam alayhi salam’s honour was taken away, his clothes were taken away and he was running around naked after leaves. He (alayhi salam) was distressed and worried, nothing in paradise was recognising him.
Adam alayhi salam spoke eventually. Listen to what Adam alayhi salam had to say; oh Rabb I swear by your hour and dignity. You gave me paradise, luxury and comfort. You gave me everything. And you told me to leave and stay away from this tree. Oh Rabb I swear by your honour and dignity, never in my mind could it come to this point, that somebody could swear by Your name and then Lie. That zaalim, wretched and cursed shaytan, what did he do? This was his policy to somehow distract them and make them fall and slip. Shaytan knew that Adam alayhi salam could not sin directly, so he presented a tactic. He presented a plot, that he distracted Adam alayhi salam in the name of Allah. My brothers this is such a unique point. The mu’min has a unique point that whenever he is deceived, he will be deceived in the name of Allah. Allahu akbar. The mu’mins weak point is always Allah and his Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam. The shaytan and nafs have always deceived in this way. They know a person is not going to be trapped, so they claim in the name of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam. This has not happened once but many times in my lifetime. A person came to me and presented himself as a muslim for two and a half years. He had an imaama and a beard. He came to my khanqa and did zikr and recited the name of Allah and deceived me. Khair, this is deception, but he can’t deceive Allah. That person had no imaan, but there are also Muslims who have been coming for 2 or 3 years and deceiving too. They do zikr, they say Allah’s name, and they deceive and sell themselves in the name of Allah. This is the quality of the mu’min, and the rank of the mu’min that whomever you love, you will sell yourself at the hands of that love. So shaytan knew Adam alayhi salam’s weak point was the love of Allah. SubhanAlah. So he swore in the name of Allah and promised in the name of Allah. He lied in the name of Allah and said look this will happen to you if you don’t do this. Personally, in my life whenever someone has deceived me it has been in the name of Allah and I get trapped with ease. I am actually telling you my weak point that people trap me with ease. Various people came and did this with me. People deceived and played the game and changed their appearance. They came to the khanqa and changed their ways. Even now I don’t know if someone is deceiving me. So shaytan did the same, he knew that he could not trap Adam alayhi salam in any other way. So he decided to speak in the name of Allah and lie to him and trap him. That’s why lying is the biggest sin, and the first thing due to which Adam alayhi salam was taken out of Jannah.
So now let us consider what is lying? What is lying. This is islah and rectification and I am speaking to my mureeds and my brothers. Never think that a liar can be successful in the world. The worst sin in the world is lying. It is such a bad sin, that at the start of time shaytan swore by the name of Allah and lied to trap the prophet of Allah Hazrat Adam alayhi salam. Hazrat Adam alayhi salam said, oh Allah I could not even imagine that someone would lie and trick me in your name and commit fraud. And this is exactly what happens; people think that this person can’t be deceiving me in the name of Allah? He is saying wrong? How can it be? It can’t be? Adam alayhi salam said this and it was a big message to his children; beware, beware, never lie, never lie because lying is the worst action.
Hazrat Harith radhyallahu anhu stated that at the time of Hajj I heard the holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam say that the person who lies and makes a false promise, I promise that he has made his abode in Jahannam, and it cannot be that he goes to paradise. Hazrat Abi Bakra radyallahu anha stated this hadeeth, subhanAllah, this hadeeth is in Sahih Bukhari, Muslim and Tarmidhi. The holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam stated that false testimony and false bearing witness is shirk, and lying is shirk. Hazrat khalid bin Malik narrates that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam said this is shirk and is equivalent to shirk. And then Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam recited the Quran about lying and how bad and severe a sin lying is. It is common amongst us today. Common amongst us. The worst sin is lying which is equivalent to shirk. There is a hadeeth in Bayhaqi; Hazrat Abu Huraira RadhyAllahu anhu narrates that whoever speaks a lie, whoever give a false testimony, he has made his abode in Jahannam. The sin of lying is so dangerous that city’s and towns become affected by the person who lies. Hazrat Abu Huraira radyallahu anhu narrated in a hadeeth the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam said if there is a person who reads salah, keeps fasts and calls himself a muslim. If such a person lies, then he is a pure munafiq. Total hypocrisy is in that person and this hadeeth is narrated by a sahaabi. In Ahmed there is a hadeeth; Hazrat Abu Amaamah radhyallahu anhu naarates that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam said that the mu’min and lying are 2 separate things. This is the meaning of this hadeeth, that it is not in the character of a mu’min that he lies. It’s not the quality of a mu’min to lie. The mu’min cannot lie at all. Hazrat Ibn Umar radhyallahu anhu narrates a hadeeth in Ahmed that when a person lies, such a stink comes from his mouth that the angels of mercy run away for miles and the angels don’t go near to that person. There is a ajeeb hadeeth. In haakim Hazrat Ayesha siddiqa radhyallahu anha stated about lying; that Allah’s Nabi sallalahu alayhi wa salam - who is our beloved and our jaan and our life - had a severe distaste for lying. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam hated lying so much so, that when a person lied and it was proven that he lied, then Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam would not meet that person and would end his meetings with that person, until he repented from that lying. So tell me if a person goes to his Sheikh for islah and he lies and he hides the points? He plays games and tricks then what will be the haal of that person? What will be the end point of that person? What will be the conclusion of that person?
So shaytan played the game by lying and Hazrat Adam alayhi salam said; I could not even imagine he would do this. In another narration it is stated that Adam alayhi salam requested; oh Allah Howwa gave me this mashwara and consultation to do this - Allahu Akbar - I wasn’t going to that tree but Howwa alayhi salam gave me this mashwara and I went on her advice. Allah said ok, fair enough, so Allah gave three punishments to the woman. The woman folk are all daughters of Hazrat Howwa alayhi salam. Number one that there will be severe difficulty during pregnancy. Secondly there will be difficulty at the time of birth, and thirdly every month they will have some difficulty which is the menstrual cycle. These are three difficulties due to distracting Hazrat Adam alayhi salam.
Here is another lesson we need to take about women. Allah ta’ala created the woman alongside man, and Allah says that the woman influences the man. Hazrat Adam alayhi salam said; I didn’t want to go, but Hazrat Howwa alayhi salam mentioned that shaytan had advised and maybe he was right. Maybe shaytan was right that we may get lost if we don’t go to this tree. Shaytan said to them that this tree will give them life for ever and ever. If they didn’t go near to it, they would lose forever. So Shaytan made Howwa alayhi salam listen and She made Adam alayhi salam listen. So Allah has given this characteristic to women, so be careful about women and think about the advice that they give. This is the weakness of the ummah that very quickly a man falls into the trap of the woman. Very quickly the woman overwhelms the mind and thoughts of the man. So the man needs to be careful and Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa salam said be careful in this regard. A woman can convince a man very easily with her voice, her plans and her advice. So here we need to be careful and cautious. The woman folk should be careful with their advice and how they convince the men. They should utilise their convincing power to give advice correctly and they will get reward for this. Our women folk have such convincing power, that they can take the home to the heights if they utilise this convincing power. But if they go down the wrong alley then they can destroy the home, and this is due the influence of shaytan. In the same way, if the man has good thoughts then he can absorb the good advice. So don’t take every advice of the woman if she takes you towards haram and wrong actions. She may say; we need to take interest for the children, what difference will it make. Take the loan and we can repay it tomorrow. We need to get a big house. We need to get shops and businesses. They convince the men to do wrong by buying these things. We need to be careful!
Allah subhana wa ta’ala gave this punishment to Adam alayhi salam. That you will now have to leave this abode of respect and dignity and paradise, so go down from here. Everything has been taken back from you and you are sent to the earth and everyone was given the order to get out of there; Adam alayhi salam, Hazrat Howwa alayhi salam, shaytan, and the snake. Four things were expelled from paradise at that time. In the next verse we will see inshAllah what happens with Hazrat Adam alayhi salam after coming to the world. Today we have got the biggest point and lesson. We started from the sins. Go to the sheikh for your islah and improvement and self-rectification. But unfortunately we go for lengthy wazaaif and worship. Zikr and azkaar is done so that we can hate the sins, not just leave the sins, but hate the sins. And what is the sign of hating the sins that I told you? That the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi salam should be engrained into our hearts. If the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa salam does not come into our hearts, then we will not hate the sins and we will repeatedly sin. A person brings this love into his heart when he goes to a sheikh and obeys his sheikh and does amal on his advices. Then inshAllah ta’ala the love of Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi will come into the student. May Allah give me and you all the tawfeeq to do amal on this Ameen.