THE WISDOM OF NAMAZ

THE WISDOM OF NAMAZ

Allah, In The Name Of, The Most Affectionate, Most Merciful

Assalato Wasallaamo ‘Alaika Yaa Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihi Wasallam
Wa ‘Alaa Aalika Wa As Haabika Yaa Noor Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihi Wasallam

Alhamdo lillahe rabbil aalameen, wal aaqebato lil muttakeen, wassalato wassalamo ala sayyedil ambiya e wal mursaleen, wa ala aalehee wa ashabehit tayyebeenat taahireen, amma baad. Fa aoozibillahe minash shaitaan nir rajeem, Bismillah Hir Rahmaa Nir Raheem, “Aqeemis salata ledhikree” (Surah Ta-Ha, verse 14). Sadaqal laahul azeem.

Honourable scholars, respected attendees of this Sunni Ijtema, Assalamo Alaikum wa Rehmatullahe wa Barakatuhu. My Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam’s beloved devotees!, before I say anything regarding the verse that I recited, let us all together send blessings and salutations upon the best of all creations, the mercy for the worlds, the light of the universe Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam, repeat after me

Assalato Wasallamo Alaika Ya Rasool Allah
Assalato Wasallamo Alaika Ya Habib Allah
Assalato Wasallamo Alaika Ya Nabi Allah
Assalato Wasallamo Alaika Ya Noor Allah
Wa Ala Aaleka Wa Ashabeka Ya Habib Allah, sallalaho ta’ala alaika wasallam.

My Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam’s beloved devotees!, May Allah Ta’ala give me the guidance to speak the truth, and guide you all to hear the truth about the ayah that I recited. Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’an, “Establish Salaah for My remembrance.” Allah Ta’ala could have just said establish Salaah, but he emphasizes and says, “Establish Salaah for My remembrance.” Have you ever attempted to think about this?

We see that Salaah begins with qiyam (standing) according to all four great imams. Oh my Lord, You show us the method of performing ablution, “Oh Believers when you wish to stand for prayer then wash your faces, and your arms up to the elbows, and pass your wet hands over your heads and wash your feet up to the ankles.” (Surah Maidah). However, for Salaah you say that establish it for My remembrance. Oh our Lord show us the method of Salaah as well. The Qur’an has mention of all things in it. We find reference to ants, reference to bees, reference to perform Salaah. O Our Lord, we find reference to Salaah, but we cannot find the method of Salaah. The Almighty will reply, “Whatsoever the Prophet gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you from, abstain from that” (Surah Hashr). Whatever the Prophet gives you take it. In other words, I’ve ordered you to perform Salaah, if I show you the method as well, then how would you go to the court of My Beloved Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. How would you learn the rules of establishing Salaah. Therefore I have given the order for Salaah and shown you the court of My beloved. Only those prostration’s that emulate My beloved will be accepted.

Salaah commences with standing and I sat and pondered this. I thought to myself, why does Salaah not start with prostration, why with bowing, why does it start with standing?
It is true that in the presence of scholars, Allah Ta’ala bestows the blessings of knowledge. Let me make one point regarding scholars. It is reported that fish in the sea pray for scholars. I thought, why did Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam say that fish make dua for scholars. Listen carefully, fish cannot survive without water, and rain falls because of the blessings of scholars.

My Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam’s beloved devotees!, Salaah begins with standing, whether we follow Imam E Azam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi or Imam Ahmed bin Hambal radiallaho ta’ala anhuma. According to all of them Salaah begins with standing, Why?
I came to the conclusion that in the Qur’an the name of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam is quoted as Ahmed in the skies and heavens and Muhammad on the earth. In the Qur’an we have the words of Hazrat Isa alaihis salaam, “And I give you the glad tidings of a Prophet who will come after me whose name shall be Ahmed” (Surah Saaf).

Allah Ta’ala called His beloved up to the Supreme Throne and gave him Salaah. It was not given on the earth. In the heavens, in the worldly skies, my Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam’s name is Ahmed. Now if we look at the name Ahmed, it begins with the letter “Alif”, and Alif is straight, is standing and Salaah also begins with standing.

My Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam’s beloved devotees!, all humans want to be successful, want to be elevated. All people want to be close to important influential people. “If I get close to the influential people, I will have it made. If I get close to a wealthy person, I’ll be able to marry off my daughter. If I get close to a wealthy person, I’ll get a good job, I’ll get a house.” Allah O Akbar, humans try to get close to wealthy people. However, my Mustafa Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam came on the earth to get us close to Allah Ta’ala. If we look at the Qur’an and ahadith, the thing that gets us closest to Allah Ta’ala is prostration (Sajdah). That’s why Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam said, “Whoever beseeches and worships fervently Allah Ta’ala will elevate his status. The question arises, “O Lord, closeness is not attained through standing, not through bowing, what is the unique thing about prostration that enables a person to attain closeness to you?

We find a saying of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam in which he said, “The humbleness of man is most evident in prostration. His whole body is on the earth in prostration and he says “Subhana Rabiyal Azeem” (Glory is to you my Lord, You are the Greatest, The Most High).

Let’s try and understand the wisdom of Salaah from different angles. Today I want to present Salaah from a different perspective. I want to present it in such a way that before you stand, you will decide that we will pray Salaah punctually, because this Salaah will give us closeness to Allah Ta’ala. It will also remove the stains of sin from our hearts. If a youngster is following the wrong lifestyle, the parents try many things to try and turn his life around. May we be sacrificed on Your magnificence O Lord, that you have kept the cure of many evils in Salaah. Just think, take stock, I will present Salaah as the actions and habit of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam as well and those that have love for Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam will not miss Salaah after today.

Listen! What is Salaah? Understand the wisdom of Salaah. Allah Ta’ala says, “Establish Salaah for My remembrance.” When a person sleeps at night after a long, busy hard day, we all know the position of such a person. Sleep and tiredness do not allow him to wake up for Salaah. All of a sudden a caller calls out on the order of Allah Ta’ala and says, “come to Salaah, come to success.” In the morning Salaah there is a specific phrase, “Salaah is better than sleep.” May I be sacrificed on this phrase. It is not in the call to prayer of four of the prayers, but it is in the call to prayer of the morning Salaah. The muezzin calls out from the mosque, “Salaah is better than sleep.” This is because after dawn and before sunrise, Angel’s of Allah Ta’ala come to your door with your sustenance. If you remain sleeping, if you are negligent, then how will you get your sustenance. It is morning and the sun is about to rise in all its splendour and beauty. If you pray Salaah at this time and leave home then listen, the flag of Islam will be in your hand. If, however, you left without praying Fajr Salaah, if you missed Fajr Salaah, you will leave with the flag of shaitaan.

The early morning is a great and beautiful time of the day. We see that no schools, no shops, malls or businesses are open before sunrise. They all open after sunrise. After a person wakes up, before going for business, before going to work, before opening the store, if the person performs ablution and remembers Allah Ta’ala and lowers his head in prostration, then the Mercy of Allah Ta’ala looks at that person with great affection and strength. “O my bondman, when you did not go towards your store as soon as you woke up, did not go to your business, but you are remembering the provider of your sustenance, then how can I forget you my bondman? You have remembered me so listen, Fazkorooni Azkurkum (Remember Me, I will Remember You) (Surah Baqarah verse 152). My bondman you have remembered Me, I have told the angel’s to open the doors of your sustenance for you. Now if you earn even a little, there will be much blessings in that lawful earning.”

Just think, contemplate, and pay attention, Allah’s Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam came as a mercy to all humans, to all animals, to the whole universe. Such a mercy that a child’s uneasiness brings a tear to the blessed eye of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. The Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam can not bear to see anyone restless, can not bear to see anyone in difficulty, if someone teases a child my Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam becomes restless but Allah O Akbar! This same Mustafa Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam is giving us the following order:
“When a child reaches the age of seven order him to pray Salaah, and when he reaches ten, beat them to ensure they pray Salaah.”

Ya Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam, you came as the mercy for all the worlds and you are ordering to beat children? Now after this saying of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam let me draw your attention toward military training, towards military life. The Salaah that we consider insignificant and miss regularly, let us see how much wisdom is hidden in that Salaah. Great blessings have been placed in it by my Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. Do you know upon whom Salaah is compulsory? It is compulsory on sane, mature Muslims. You now understand whom it is compulsory on. But we see that Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam has said that when a child reaches ten years of age, beat them to ensure they pray Salaah. You are aware that when a person wishes to join the army, he is not sent to the battlefield right away. First he is given training, he is put through his paces, and his fitness is assessed. He is told to complete obstacle courses, he is put through punishing exercises and he is tested to his limits. He is trained in such a manner that whenever his commanding officer calls him he rushes to obey the command. If he is told by his commander to stand, he stands, if he is told to sit, he sits. Until he reaches this stage of obedience and discipline he is not sent to the battlefield.

The Beloved of Allah Ta’ala Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam has ordered that at the age of ten beat a child to take him towards Salaah. The reason for this is that before reaching maturity the child would be disciplined and it would become their habit. If you beat a child and force him to pray Salaah, once he reaches maturity and the muezzin calls out “Come to prayer”, you will not find him sleeping on the bed but he will be running towards the mosque. Think of Salaah as you think of military training. Similarly have you ever pondered about the rows in Salaah. My Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam said, “Stand shoulder to shoulder in the rows for Salaah.” It would not be out of place to say that all the practices and disciplines in place in the army were all granted by Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam.

The enemies are studying all the sayings of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam and are forced to admit that no one has given us what Mustafa Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam has given us and no one will ever be able to give us anything similar.

Look at the order to straighten the rows, if one stands for Salaah, then bows down, and goes into Sajdah, listen to this very carefully and keep in mind the position of soldiers. The soldiers are standing in rows; the commander is walking back and forth and observing them. He is looking at their chests, at their arms, there feet. Are they standing to attention or not? If they are not standing correctly he straightens them with his rifle. If they are not standing to attention he will nudge them in the back with his rifle. The soldiers are told to stand straight. If someone is complacent and standing lazily, he is reprimanded. If someone continues to stand like a dead person then he is not allowed entry into the battlefield or the military.

Now listen, Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam has said about Salaah, “Warka-oo Ma-ar Raake-een” – (bow with those who bow). Regarding standing, regarding bowing, regarding prostration, the method is shown to us. If a person prays Salaah lazily, the Qur’an says this is the sign of a hypocrite, this is not the sign of a believer. “Izaa Kaamoo ilas salatey kaamo kusaala”(and when they stand up for pray, they stand up with a defeated soul (lazily)) (Surah Nisa’a verse 142). When the hypocrites would stand for Salaah, they would stand lazily. Allah O Akbar. Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam’s administration tells us that when you pray Salaah, imagine that your Lord is watching you, or imagine that you are seeing your Lord.

Let’s look at the mosque. The Mosque is paradise on the face of the earth. You will not find any soldier talking about worldly things and useless chatter when he is on duty in the battlefield. He gaze will not wander either, his gaze will be fixed on safeguarding the territory, and his gaze will be on the enemy. When his duty is finished and he is in his quarters then it is a different story. They will swap tales and chat but when they are on duty all play and mischief is put to one side and their full focus is on their mission. The king of Madinah has said that the Mosque is the house of Allah Ta’ala, and Allah Ta’ala has called the Mosque His house. It has been stated that when you enter the Mosque do not talk about worldly things because the market place and the house of Allah Ta’ala are not the same. Now your gaze should not be on worldly matters but should be on safeguarding your faith and on the Benevolence of your Lord.

Look at Salaah from different angles and understand the different aspects of Salaah. When I read the following there was an amazing feeling that came over me. Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam said, “Salaah is the coolness of me eyes.” Salaah gives coolness to the eyes of our Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam, Why? This is because Salaah brings back memories of the meeting with the Lord. This is the Salaah that was given as a present when the meeting took place between the Lord and His beloved. When a person prays Salaah, Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam remembers the Vision of His Lord. Sarkaar Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam says that Salaah is the coolness of my eyes and the eyes get coolness and comfort when it sees his beloved. My Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam saw Allah Ta’ala with his eyes on the night of ascension (Me’raj) and that is why he said Salaah is the coolness of my eyes. O bondman, if you pray Salaah I will be reminded of the Splendour of my Lord and that will give coolness to my eyes.

Now think and contemplate as to how much wisdom is in Salaah but tell me how much do we think about Salaah and how much do we contemplate about Salaah? Allah O Akbar! Before it is completed this Salaah forgives the sins of a person.

Before Salaah there is wudhu (ablution) and what is wudhu? It is reported that if a person recites “Bismillah” Shareef before ablution, then performs ablution, Allah Ta’ala forgives the sins of his whole body. You have not started Salaah, you have just done ablution and the Lord has forgiven your sins. Now you have come for Salaah and what is this Salaah? And did you ever wonder why there are five compulsory prayers in a day? There could have been two prayers in a day, three prayers in a day, and why the different times? One of the wisdoms that we can understand is that when a person leaves home in the morning and heads for the market place and becomes busy in earning money. Wealth is calling him from one direction, merchandise and assets are calling from the other direction, “come and obtain me.” When a person becomes engrossed in earning wealth an amazing feeling comes over him. He forgets whose bondman he is. He is busy in earning wealth and has no time and suddenly it is afternoon and a caller calls out, “Allah O Akbar, Allah O Akbar” Just think for a moment and ponder, why are efforts being made to restrict and stop the azaan being called out over a loudspeaker system? The biggest reason for this is that if the sound of the azaan reaches a person’s ears, the person will head towards the Mosque. When he goes towards the Mosque he will lower his head at the time of Salaah. And if the need arises, he will be willing to have his head cut off for his religion. That is why attempts are made to stop the azaan reaching the ears. Tell me, are attempt made to restrict or stop those places where evil deeds are done? No, there are no restrictions there. No restrictions regarding pubs and clubs, no restrictions on music, no restrictions on singing and dancing, so why the restriction on the sound of the azaan? It’s because they know that this sound has power in it, when it reaches the ears a person will hurry towards the mosque.

My Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam’s beloved devotees! Allah Ta’ala reminds us of his Lordship five times a day through a caller who calls out the azaan and is asking us, who gives you wealth? Remember this, do not forget it otherwise you will be at a loss. Establish prayer for my remembrance. You can not say, “O Lord what could I do, I had no one to call me or remind me and so I forgot.” Allah Ta’ala is saying, “My bondman, even before you raise that objection and excuse I will have such an arrangement that a caller will call you and say, “Come to Salaah, Come to success.” Five times a day a caller is calling on you to leave all your business dealings and come to the house of Allah Ta’ala. Now when a person goes for Zuhr Salaah he realises that wealth is not the biggest thing. The Lord is Merciful and is the provider, He is the one that provides sustenance. From another angle the Lord is telling us do not distance yourselves from me, lower your head down in prostration and attain closeness to Me. Stay close to Me at all times. Listen, it is the way of the world that if a person is employed or in school then there is always a case of sometimes being present and sometimes being absent. Now if you go to the Mosque in the morning and have your name entered in the register as saying, "Lord I am your bondman., that’s why I an bowing in front of you My Lord.” Then just after mid-day he appears again and says, “Lord I am Your bondman. I am not so infatuated with the world that I would forget You. Lord I am spending my life as Your bondman.” In the same way he presents himself five times in a day. When he presents himself five times in a day then the Beneficent One blesses him and says, “My bondman, when you give up all your activities and lowered your head five times a day in My court then listen, your prostration’s are accepted and you will be protected from sins. Salaah is a majestic form of worship, it is the best of all worships.

Now look at it from another angle. Allah Ta’ala has said, “Undoubtedly Salaah forbids one from indecency and evil things” (Surah Ankabut verse 45). In other words Salaah stops you from committing sinful acts. Just think, look at the pages of history. All pious people that were born were filled with enthusiasm about lowering their heads and were taught how to worship by their mothers. Who is unaware that Hazrat Imam Hussein Radiallaho Ta’ala ‘Anhu gave his life in Sajdah? Why? The reason for this was that his mother taught him to prostrate from childhood. His mother had told him that this head is only for bowing in His court and his mother instilled in him such love for prostrating that even at the time of death we find his head bowed down in submission to Allah Ta’ala. Similarly, if you read about the lives of all the friends of Allah Ta’ala, you will find an abundance of prostrations. Why is this? The reason is that all people want to be close to people higher up than them and the prostration is a means to get closest to the One who is the Most High, gets us close to Allah Ta’ala. Today Muslims are rejected wherever they turn, today Muslims are living in fear and anguish, today difficulties are placed on Muslims everywhere, why is this happening? The reason is that we remember wealth but we have forgotten the provider of that wealth. We follow our desires and are slaves to sins. My Lord has said that Salaah stops you from indecency and evil deeds. Let us see how it stops us from these things.

When you say Allah O Akbar and fold your hands, you are ordered to keep your gaze lowered towards the place of prostration. In other words the order is given to keep your gaze lowered when standing so that when you are outside your gaze is not on windows or on any non-permissible males/females, but is lowered and fixed on the path. Salaah is teaching you to keep your gaze lowered. When you were in the court of Allah Ta’ala your gaze was lowered in Salaah, now that you are out and about do not let your eyes wander but keep them lowered. This is how Salaah stops you from indecency. Let’s look and see how Salaah creates a fear of Allah Ta’ala in our hearts.

You will not find any person today that does not do wudhu (ablution) before praying Salaah. Whether or not you have wudhu is not known by anyone but yourself. Only you know if you have wudhu or not but even then you do not pray Salaah without ablution. What is this emotion that stops you from praying Salaah without performing ablution? It is the fear of your Lord. You know that even if no human is watching, your Lord is watching you. From here we should create the mindset that He who is watching whether or not we have performed ablution is also watching what we do when we are walking in the streets and alleys. Allah O Akbar! Salaah is giving us the mindset that just as your Lord is watching you He is also watching your actions and this creates fear in the heart. This is the difference between our Salaah and the Salaah of the fiends of Allah Ta’ala. Deliberate upon the difference, as there is a great difference. Look at the state of Hazrat Ali Radiallaho Ta’ala ‘Anhu. He had an arrow in his blessed leg. When he attempted to remove the arrow it caused great pain. He said when I am in the state of Salaah then remove the arrow. O Hazrat Ali, whose beauty is fixed in your eyes that you feel no pain of the arrow being removed when you are praying Salaah? Hazrat Ali, who was trained by the Master of Madinah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam, that training is heard giving the answer. “My beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihi Wasallam has said pray Salaah as though you are looking at your Lord and if one is engrossed in looking at his Lord will feel no pain, he does not even think of pain. That’s why when I pray Salaah I think that I am looking at my Lord and at the least I think that my Lord is watching me.”

Our state is that the whole days accounting is done in Salaah, we remember forgotten things in Salaah. Now any one of you could ask me that you said that Salaah stops you from shamelessness but we see many people that pray Salaah and commit shameful acts. What is the reason for this, why does this happen?

Listen, If you went to a showroom that sells cars, with the intention of buying a car. You see a beautiful car and ask about the details of that car and agree on a price and buy it. You leave with that car and think to yourself that with this car I will reach my destination very quickly. As soon as you leave suddenly the tire punctures. Would you try and drive the car? No. You will stop the car and you would go back to the showroom. “You are an odd person, you told me I would get to my destination very quickly with this car but the tire has punctured and I can not drive it any more. He will reply that if the tire is punctured, you will have to have that repaired first before you can drive the car. You then have the tire fixed. Then the fuel level was low so you pull into a petrol station but instead of petrol you fill the vehicle with diesel. Then you set off but a short distance later the car stops. You return to the showroom and say, “I have spent so much money on this vehicle but it does not work, it has stopped running.” He will ask you what type of fuel you used. You would reply that you used diesel. He would say that this vehicle uses petrol, if you use diesel this vehicle will not work.

This incident is just to try and make you understand because if all things are perfect then the car will work perfectly. Now understand that if the morsel of food taken in the morning is unlawful then how will you see the blessings of Salaah. When the clothes on the body are unlawful you will not see the profit from the Salaah. Now think about the food we have at home and the clothes we have, what is the state of those things. If we do not know then tell me are we going to be born again? Can we reform our ways afterwards? No definitely not. But we should promise that we will never commit the sins that we have previously committed and we will live our lives according to the laws of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. Together with this it is necessary to be familiar with the rules of Salaah. If we do not know the rules then it the effects of Salaah will not be visible upon us. Therefore we should perfect all the orders that are given for Salaah and then we will see the blessings of Salaah. But we should also understand:

Eyk Fard Ibadat Hee Nahi Mard E Mujahid
Aur Bhi to Kuch Shah E Umam Chor Gaye Hain
(O Warrior, Not just one compulsory worship)
(There are other things that The King has left behind)

We do not just teach you to pray Salaah. There may be other organisations that just teach Salaah. If a person is employed by a king, and the king tells him to go and fulfil the rights of his family. He stays by the king and says, “long live the king” and praises the king. The king is telling him to go home, go and open your business, go and fulfil the rights of your family, go and earn lawful wealth, go and arrange for the education of your children. However he is standing there saying, “long live the king.” Tell me, will the king be pleased with him? No he will not. All these examples are just to try and explain and understand our Lord is pure from needing examples. The point is that we just pray Salaah and forget about Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. Allah Ta’ala has said that if we do not have love for Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam in our hearts then our prostration’s will not be accepted.

If we do not fulfil the rights of our family, do not pay attention to their education. Our father is on the bed sick and is waiting for his son to return with his medicine, but the son has gone for forty days with the Jama’at and thinks that his father will be cured. Just think! Hazrat Owais Qarni (Radiallaho Ta’ala ‘Anhu), was not able to see Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam due to service of his mother. Even so Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam was so pleased with him that he gave his garment to Faruq E Azam Radiallaho Ta’ala ‘Anhu to give to him and told him to ask Owais Qarni Radiallaho Ta’ala ‘Anhu to make dua for the forgiveness of his Ummah. And here it is taught that rosaries are everything!

No doubt, there is a place for rosaries but the Lord is not dependent on the prostrations of his bondman. He has ordered us to pray to obtain discipline and to remember Him.

He has said about Salaah that it stops you from indecency and evil acts. If a child gets addicted to cocaine, becomes addicted to alcohol, the parents are worried and wonder how to get him back on the right track.

However if the child becomes punctual in Salaah, he would not go to the pubs and clubs because the Qur’an says, “approach not prayer while you are intoxicated” (Surah Nis’a verse 43). In other words do not go near Salaah if you are drunk. Now tell me if the importance of Salaah had been instilled in the heart and mind of the child, if the child’s habit was to pray Salaah, then would he go to a pub or club? That’s because he loves Salaah and would save himself from all those things that take him away from Salaah. Establish prayer for my remembrance.

Let me tell you here that the king of Bareilly Imam Ahmed Raza Rehmatullahi Ta’ala ‘Alaih did not only show us how to pray salaam. I swear by Allah that he prayed Salaah in such a way that in recent history we can find no one to match his punctuality and conviction for performing Salaah. Think, it was the last days on this earth for Imam E Ishq O Mohabbat, his soul was close to leaving his body. He was on his sick bed and was deep in sleep. When he heard the words of the azaan being called out, he placed his hands on the shoulders and took the support of two companions and headed for the Mosque. When he had finished people asked him, “What was the need to come to the Mosque in this state of illness?”

May I be sacrificed, from head to toe, the love of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam answers, “I thought I would act upon this action of my beloved Prophet as well. When Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam was ill, there appeared to be no strength in his blessed feet and he took the put his arms on the shoulders and took the support of two companions and went to the Mosque. Ahmed Raza thought that he would copy this act of his beloved and please the Holy Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. Who is it that says that Ahmed Raza only taught salaam, show me if you have anyone who did prostrations with the same care and passion as Ahmed Raza. And Listen, Imam Ahmed Raza did not depend on any of his actions and did not ask Hazrat Jibreel for help that’s why he says

“Pul sey utaro rah guzar ko khabar na ho, Jibreel par bichaye to par ko khabar na ho.”
(Make me cross the bridge (pul sirat) so that the path does not realise I have crossed, If Jibreel puts down his wings, let the wings not even realise).

Ya Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam, we do not want the wings of Hazrat Jibreel, the only thing we want is

Raza pul sey ab wazd kartey guzarye, Key hai rabbe sallim sada’e Muhammad (Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam)
(Raza cross the bridge (pul sirat) in ecstasy, The Call of the Muhammad Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam is O Lord Peace)

Who is saying this? It is being said by him whose heart was full of the love of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. He never forgot his beloved Prophet, not even for a moment during his whole life. That is why he says himself

Jo na bhoola ham gareebo ko Raza, Yaad ooski apni aadat kee jiye
(He who did not forget us wretched ones O Raza, make his remembrance your habit)

O Prophet of Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam, when you did not forget us poor ones, we are not so ungrateful that we would forget you. My Lord also says about Salaah that establish Salaah for my remembrance, but if I was to show you the method of performing prostration, the method of performing Salaah, then how would you go to the court of My beloved? And then try and pray Salaah according to your wishes, in this way that you do prostration first then stand up. Does anyone have the courage to do that? Those that say that the Prophet is not alive, (Ma-azallah min zaalik), I want to ask those people, If the Lord will not allow the actions of His beloved to die, how would he allow that Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam to die? When the ways of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam are alive, and O Imam Shafi, O Imam Malik, O Imam Ahmed Bin Hambal, O Imam E Azam Abu Hanifa, radiallaho ta’ala anhuma, may we be sacrificed on your stature. These four imams took all the actions and ways of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam and preserved the actions of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam in their schools of thought. And the Lord is telling us that when the actions of the beloved is alive then the beloved himself is also alive. The king of Bareilly is also giving us the same message

“Tu zindah hai wallah, Tu zindah hai wallah, Merey chasmey aalam sey chup jaaney waaley”
(By Allah You are alive, By Allah you are alive You are hidden from my eyes)

Listen, Sunni Dawat E Islami’s spiritual gathering gives you this lesson that be faithful to Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam and never ever have any thought of being unfaithful to him. Never let any thoughts of ungratefulness enter your mind. The Lord wants to see the actions of His beloved in his worship even though Salaah is for Allah alone. But think for a moment Allah Ta’ala is saying that O My bondmen I have created you but I want to see you copying the actions of My beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. Bow down so that the action of My beloved is preserved, prostrate so that the action of My beloved is preserved.

My Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam’s beloved devotees!, the king of Bareilly did not give us a new faith or beliefs but he has fed us love of the Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. The way of the mind and the way of love are different things. The mind tells us one thing but love tells us something different. Hazrat Ibrahim alaihis salaam’s mind was saying you are throwing yourself into the fire? But love said what is the reality of the fire, the Lord is telling you so listen and his love jumped into the fire and the fire became a garden.

People say that do not give Imam Ahmed Raza such a high rank. I say that I do not care what your mind says, because love has given him such a status and brought him to life in such a manner that his salutation (salaam) has reached places that he could not reach himself in his life. There is also weakness in us, all we have done is made the claim of love. If we can present his writings to the world and preserve his teachings to some extent, I swear if we adopt the character and way of Imam Ahmed Raza, the whole world would become lovers of Ahmed Raza. It is essential for us to adopt that character in this day and age. Can anyone tell me if A’ala Hazrat missed even a single Salaah or prayed it late? Did Imam Ahmed Raza ever do anything against the wishes of his parents? Did he ever do anything to satisfy his bodily desires? I swear by Allah, whatever he did, he did for the pleasure of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam.

Kaam woh ley lee jiye, tum ko jo raazi karey,
Theek ho naam e Raza, tum pey karoron durood
(Take that service from me that pleases you, May the name of Raza be well, a million blessings on you)

Sunni Dawat e Islami is giving you this same message and Alhamdo Lillah this is the alms of Ghaus e Paak and Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz, this is the alms of A’ala Hazrat that the world is trying to stop it but this flood is increasing. Those that have come here have not come to obtain dollars. When you invite you rely on wealth, when we invite we rely on the king of Madinah. We have not tempted anyone with the promise of a job, we have not promised to take anyone abroad, and we have not promised to give anyone a car. We have tempted them to become lovers of the beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. Become crazy in the love of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. There is no shortage in Allah Ta’ala giving, and there is no shortage in the distribution of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. That day is not far Allah willing that all will be under the flag of Ahle Sunnah Wa’l Jama’at.

You may be thinking why is there this kind of a speech? Think of the injustice and cruelty that is being inflicted on the people of Palestine and no one is willing to go and help them. I want to ask the Tableeghi Jama’at, why do you not take your group to Palestine? The children their will crush your heads with rocks and stones because you have destroyed the desire for jihad and our religion teaches us to bow our heads at the time of Salaah and also teaches us to sacrifice our heads at the necessary time. Listen O Muslims; I want to give you a message. I am filled with joy and happiness at seeing this sea of people here at this spiritual Sunni gathering. I feel that finally your minds and hearts have woken up. You have turned your attention towards the king of Madinah and it is obvious that when the beggar turns towards this king then what else needs to be said, he is such that

Khud bheek dey aur khud kahain mangta ka bhala ho
(He gives alms himself and himself says may you prosper)

That is why A’ala Hazrat says

Chamak tujh sey paatey hain sab paaney waaley, Mera dil bhi chamkadey chamkaaney waaley
(All those who attain brightness attain it from you, Brighten my heart also, O You who brightens)

This spiritual Sunni Ijtema is telling me that you have turned your direction towards Madinah. Now you need to make the mindset and promise that Allah willing you will not go near those things that are roadblocks to getting to Madinah and you will always attempt to avoid them.
What is that thing that stops us from getting closeness to Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam? It is love of dance, songs, and music. Look at the Qur’an, “And some people buy words for mere playing that they may mislead from the path of Allah without knowledge and make fun of it. For them is the humiliating torments.” (Surah Luqman, verse 6). What is meant by “buy words for mere playing?” When a believer goes towards the house of Allah Ta’ala, people are present along the way singing and dancing to try and divert this person’s attention away from Mosque. Nowadays there are televisions in each home; there are movies in each home. How then will our attention be towards earning rewards? How will our hearts be attracted towards love of our Creator? From this day on, whether you are in your drawing room, in your bedroom or in your office, you have to ensure that you will have no music cassettes or film magazines in them. Wherever one looks, one should find educational reading materials (worldly and religious), one should fine cassettes of the naats of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. One should find tapes of the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, and speeches of the scholars of Ahle Sunnat Wa’l Jama’at. When you go in your cars, there should be the sound of the remembrance of Allah Ta’ala, not the sound of music. Try your utmost because it is necessary to have this revolution. And I am saying with full confidence, yesterday Muslims did not have apparent worldly weapons but success came towards them and welcomed them each step of the way.

Look at the first war of Islam. At the battle of Badr, out of 313 companions, only nine had weapons and the rest had sticks and branches.

“Woh teen so teyra they to larajta tha zamana, Aaj ham karoron hai to kartey hain gulaami”
(They were 313 and the world trembled, today we are millions and living in slavery)

What is it that they had? They had the strength of love of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. Whatever the Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam order then they would obey. Whatever he would forbid them from they would stay away from that. They would be bestowed with success by the Lord because of this. We have not been created to commit atrocities. We have not been given orders to do injustice or cruelty. We have definitely been told to defend ourselves. If a young child is slapped by someone, he will also attempt to fight back. If you say that defence of ourselves is terrorism then that is unjust. Remember it is necessary for us to create a peaceful society. We need to respect the rights of our neighbours. We need to obey Allah Ta’ala and his Beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. You should be a mercy to others, not a burden.

My Beloved has taught us to show good manners to infidels also. What kind of lesson are we given? If you want to see details of that look at the life of any pious person or friend of Allah Ta’ala. You will not find any example or incident that they ever caused pain or inflicted cruelty on the follower of any other religion.

Hazrat Umar Faruq Radiallaho Ta’ala ‘Anhu is sleeping under the shade of a tree. An envoy (ambassador) came and asked about the whereabouts of the leader of the Muslims. He was told that he would be grazing goats somewhere in the fields. He set off and asked some other people. He was told that the person resting under the tree is our leader. He saw that Hazrat Faruq E Azam was deep in sleep he thought I will not get a better opportunity and took out his sword to assassinate Ameer-Ul-Mo’mineen. Suddenly Hazrat Faruq E Azam opened his eyes. Whose eyes were these? These were the eyes that had seen the beauty of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. As soon as his eyes opened the envoy began to shake and the sword fell to the ground. Hazrat Faruq E Azam asked him the reason for his visit. He replied that he had come to meet him but when he saw him deep in sleep he thought he would kill him because people fear your name all over the world.

Ameer Ul Mo’mineen Hazrat Faruq E Azam Radiallaho Ta’ala ‘Anhu asked him if that was the reason for his attendance, to kill him. The envoy replied that it was.

He then said, “O leader of the Muslims tell me, our kings can not sleep on soft beds. They live amongst great security but still cannot sleep. However you were sleeping alone under a tree, are you not afraid?”

Listen to the answer that was given, he said, “Whoever rules over people is afraid, and he who is serving the people is never afraid. I do not rule over the people, I am here to serve the people.” This same leader of the Muslims says that if during my rule a goat dies due to hunger what answer will I give to my Lord?

Remember that you should not be a burden or a cause of grief for a weaker person. You should be a mercy towards all people. Treat the non-believers with good manners and tell them about good things. Live your life on the right path. Copy the manners of Rasool Allah Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam and emulate then in your life. If you see an old lady who is a non-believer, and she is carrying something heavy in her arms, do not look at her infidelity. Look at her old age and remove the burden from her hands and help her and show the world that this is what our beloved Prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam has taught us.

It is very important that we start with ourselves, Insha Allah we will see that all Muslims will be visible in the colours of the religion, up to the point that non-believers will adhere to and accept Islam. I pray that Allah Ta’ala guides us all to emulate the beautiful habits of His Beloved prophet Sallallaho ‘Alaihe Wasallam. Aameen

Wama Alaina Illal Balaag Ul Mubeen