Do Your Best for Allah and His RasulAllah (saws)

Do Your Best for Allah and His RasulAllah (saws)

Show Your Best!

From the Realities of Mawlana Shaykh Hisham as Taught by Shaykh As Sayed Nurjan Mirahmadi              

 A’udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem      
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

ياأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُواللَّه وَأَطِيعُوٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ…
4:59 – “Ya ayyu hal latheena amanoo Atiu Allaha wa atiur Rasola wa Ulil amre minkum…“ (Surat an-Nisa)
“O You who have believed, Obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you. ” (The Women, 4:59)

Always a reminder for myself to be nothing and to enter into Allah (Azza wa Jal)’s oceans of Rahmah, may Allah (Azza wa Jal) dress us and bless us. Ati-ullah wa ati ar-rasula wa ulul amri minkum.

From Mawlana Shaykh’s teachings always a reminder for myself that alhamdulillah we are in the lands of da’wah.  And that the lands of Islam, where Islam  is the main religion has a different tajalli. In the nations of da’wah, where you are under a different religion, then the coordinance that is coming from Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and from Mawlana Shaykh is going to be different; each region will be different and each understanding will be different.

In the lands of da’wah it is a tremendous responsibility to represent Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) with love. To be ambassadors of love, representing Allah (Azza wa Jal). ati-ullah wa ati ar-rasula wa ulul amri minkum

ياأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُواللَّه وَأَطِيعُوٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ…
4:59 – “Ya ayyu hal latheena amanoo Atiu Allaha wa atiur Rasola wa Ulil amre minkum…“ (Surat an-Nisa)
“O You who have believed, Obey Allah, obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you. ” (The Women, 4:59)

By representing Allah (Azza wa Jal) from the oceans of love, as an ambassador of love and of good manners and respect, representing the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) with the same, representing the ulul amr with the same.

Then they come into our lives and remind us that everything has a test within it and a reality within it. For these schools, there is nothing that is done randomly. You go somewhere where they have an event, they put out food and host people and they send you off. Their focus maybe the event or whatever the focus may be.

You Host the Zikr on Behalf of Allah (AJ)

But in the schools of tarbiya (manners), they are reminding us that we want to achieve a darajat (station) in every action. In every action there must be a hikmah (wisdom), in which a student can achieve a degree and be recognized by Allah (Azza wa Jal), recognized by Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and recognized by Awliyaullah. They come and begin to teach that if you look at the food and the way you serve the food, everything that we display is out of love. Means that how to convey – when you take the responsibility of hosting an event, you are hosting on behalf of Allah (Azza wa Jal). That is not something small.

And they want to destroy hypocrisy which is a dual standard within people’s lives. That they treat themselves the best and everything they do for Allah is the worst, astagfirullah (May Allah forgive us). They may not even see it as that, because we live within the oceans of hypocrisy. For our own personal events we make them huge, ornate, very beautiful because we want people to recognize a status, wealth, an image. But when it comes to Allah (Azza wa Jal) throw it in plastic bowls like troughs for cows that come and give them to eat, who cares. We don’t care who they are; maybe they are not of any status that is important for that person. But that is not the way, that is not going to have a benefit for the people nor for the community and not for any darajat (station) or any understanding.

Host Zikr Better than Your own programs

In the schools of tarbiya they come into our lives and begin to teach: no, no you are Allah’s servant and khadim, you are a servant, and Allah is hosting this Zikr, Prophet (sallalahu alayhi wa sallam) is hosting this Zikr and this mehfil. As you want done for yourself you do for your brother. And you host it better than you host your own dinner at home, put the best of what you have, put the best service of what you have. If you go downstairs it is like a five star hotel. Why? To show that we care for you, you are special for us because Allah sent you. And we are trying to show ourselves as thankful servants, servants of Allah (Azza wa Jal). Yaa Rabbi You are the host, You are the one sending the guests I am merely here to serve them. Qul inna salatee wanusukee wamahyaya wamamatee lillahi rabbial `Aalameen (The Cattle, 6:162)

6:162-3: “Qul inna salati wa nusuki wa mahyaya wa mamati lillahi Rabbil ‘Aalamin. (Surah al An’am)

Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.  (Holy Quran 6:162)”

My whole being, my life, my prayers, my wealth, my family, my possessions are all for You yaa Rabbi, to be of service to You, to do the best that I can do. And that is why then the Turuq (Islamic spiritual paths) come into our lives in different regions. In these regions of da’wah the responsibility is to show the ‘azimat of Allah (Azza wa Jal), Allah’s Greatness, Magnificence, Beauty, the power and the wealth of Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) so that when people come they say, “Wow, that is so beautiful.” Why does it look like that? Because we love Allah (Azza wa Jal). Maybe we are not wealthy but we can put the best of what we have and present it with the best possible presentation. That every guest is important to us, yaa Rabbi You are sending them.

What do you think then Allah (Azza wa Jal) will host you in the presence of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)? Will you be hosted like a cow in a trough where they just throw something and say eat from there and get out. Or Allah (Azza wa Jal) says: `All your life you did your best for me; wait, wait, wait what I have in store for you, what table I am going to put you on and to give you and dress you from, to feed you from.` Means as you are doing in life they want us to understand it shall be done back to you, the standard in which you raise it for Allah (àzza wa jal) is as if you are competing with Allah (Azza wa Jal); astaghfirullah, there is no competition but competition in religion Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) allowed it. Yaa Rabbi I am trying to compete to show my love. He (Subhaana wa ta’ala) says: your love will never match My love but keep going because every action of love will be rewarded.

Put the Best of What You have for the Guests of Allah

You put the best of what you have, you put the best of your carpets for the people to pray on. You perfume your carpets. People come and say, “Why is there a fragrance on your carpets where I make sajda and I go somewhere else and it smells like biryani?” Why? Because they don’t care. It is a house of Allah (Azza wa Jal), it is a musala, and a place where Allah is sending people to gather and to praise His Divinely Names and praise upon Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and Malayika (angels) are coming. You don’t think for that honored association and those honored guests, you should use fragrance and perfume everything? Because it is a heart that can see, these are hearts that can feel, these are hearts that are alive. But they go to other places and they don’t understand and they don’t see that.

But the da’wah is not only for the people who don’t believe but (also) for the believers. These associations are a da’wah for wherever they go and they begin to raise the standard of everything in the community. Don‘t just advertise a mehfil as if it is you are selling cars, because even they advertise their cars in better designs. Put the best of what you have as a design (mehfil zikr). Where Allah (Azza wa Jal) says: wear the best of what you have and come to salah.

يَا بَنِي آدَمَ خُذُوا زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ

7:31 – “Ya bani Adama khudho zeenatakum ‘inda kulli Masjidin wa kuloo washraboo wa la tusrifo, innahu la yuhibbul musrifeen.” (Surah al A’raf)

“O Children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel/ adornment at every Masajid/places of worship: eat and drink: But waste not by being excessive. Indeed He, does not love those who wastes/commit excess.” ( Holy Quran)

Everything is an act of worshipness. Put your best designs out (for the advertisements) to show the love and the greatness because so many people are looking and saying, “Wow, mashallah how beautiful,”. That is the responsibility of the ambassadors of love. That at anytime you host the best of what you have. If you don’t have then do the best of what you have. But these are people who have and they don’t do their best for Allah but they do the best for themselves.

Choose the Best Location for Your Zikr Association

When you have an association hold it at the best possible locations. So that when you want to go and have an event for your family and for personal (events) at least set that (same) standard with Allah (Azza wa Jal). That yaa Rabbi I did the best that I can do, I am showing the best possible of what I have. And you begin to raise the level of respect and love. That the people who come understand that it is not just a simple gathering, this is a very holy association. They respect because you respect it, because you are showing the ihtiraam (respect) and the level of tashreef (honor) and understanding. You hold it to such a high standard that people come and see it and they begin to understand that this must be a holy association.

Serve the Food in the Best Way in the Association of Zikr

Even when you go out you bring all your amazing chafing dishes, A. (one of the mureeds) sets up a complete restaurant at the events. Yeah, to show them, this is all da’wah, it is the da’wah of Tariqa. Not just the shaykh speaking is the only da’wah. Everything the students are doing and the shaykh is doing; we are all at the same level doing da’wah. Every movement you are doing, you are an ambassador of love. (They say) that look how they are doing this. Why do they do that?

They came and asked, “Is Mr. A (working as) a professional catering company? Can we hire him?” We said, “No, he manags the entire computer division for his company. But you see him as a professional because he is doing it out of love and his love makes it seem like it is his business.” Yes, this is our business, this is the business of love for Allah (Azza wa Jal) and love of Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Everyone here is a professional within their field but their training is to do everything out of love for Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) so wherever they go they are ambassadors of love.

If they can serve the food like this and they can bring restaurant style food, five different dishes, a thousand dollars worth of food (was spent) for our events. If you were to bring catering for that many people, how much would they charge us? It was $15 per head for 300 people and we served 300 people in our last mehfil, upstairs and downstairs. Thousands of dollars and you do it for the love of Allah (Azza wa Jal), is that not big in Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)’s eyes? That you are raising the level of respect with people for me? It is not that you just come and recite a few naat`s and go and you give nothing to people. But treat them all like kings and queens because they are guests of Allah (Azza wa Jal) and you will be dressed and blessed. Means everything you do you are being blessed and dressed and there is a hikmah (wisdom) and wisdom within it.

You are Best Billboard for Prophet (saws)

These are the events, now what? We begin to look at ourselves because people come from different regions and different understandings. In these lands of da’wah then you are yourself the best billboard for Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). As a result of that everything you do, the way in which you conduct yourself is being observed. Whether you get the reward of it or you didn’t get the reward. They inspire within our lives get the reward of it, do something that will bring happiness to Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) that when he looks at you, you are an ambassador of love, wherever you go you represent that reality to the best of what you can.

Wear the Best Sunnah Outfit

That is why Mawlana Shaykh was teaching in these areas, if you are going to wear the Sunnah it has to be the best possible Sunnah that you can find. Don’t wear anything that is not correct. Try to represent the Sunnah of Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to the best of your ability.

They taught us, and I have spoken many times about that, in business school they teach you about a job interview and how to pass a job interview for work. When you are getting a business degree and you are coming out to get work. The first thing the person is going to do in the interview is he is going to size you up. Because they understand that this suit and the images you have above, you maybe trying to fool the person, so you have spent money on your suit.

So immediately what do they do? They look at your shoes. They say the suit you  probably tried to fool us by buying a nice suit. But if the person really cares they will be wearing nice clean shoes, clean socks, matching, even nicely designed. Why? because it holds the reality of who you are. The suit maybe you are wearing to fool them but the socks and the shoes, yes that is you, that’s your character. Means i was a big statement in business school. If they want to hire you for a complete package of understanding, they don’t want to be fooled by a facade. But if it is really you and your character cares about that look, you care to the smallest detail that my shoes better be shined, my socks better be super nice and elegant so that the whole package looks like you cared.

What then do you think of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)? Who is inspiring these respects? These are from Allah (Azza wa Jal)’s Divinely respect in these lands, so don’t come back and say “O the ghareeb (poor) of the mountains in Pakistan and India, they didn’t have shoes. That is something different. That was  a different reality for those regions of the faqir and they walked the mountains with no shoes, that is something different. You are in the land of da’wah, people are observing you, people are making judgements based on what they see, and they may not ever talk to you.

But what you do and how you carry yourself is a tremendous da’wah. Da’wah in which they look at you especially the people with beards and turbans, they look and say, “These are the Muhammadan,” not Taliban or crazy people. Especially the Naqshbandi ones they carry themselves very majestically. Their clothes are beautiful and elegant, beautifully pressed nice and clean clothes. If they wear a turban it should be correctly wrapped.

Wear Perfume, it is Dear to Prophet (saws)

They should fragrance themselves with fragrances that are appealing. So people say when you walk by, “Shaykh you smell like a flower garden. We can tell when you walk in this hallway or into this building, that we can smell that you have been passing,” but this is da’wah. These are all the things that Prophet (sallallahu alayhi was sallam) loves. (Prophet said) I love perfume, Allah made it dear for me.

`عن أنس بن مالك رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله ﷺ قال:حُبِّب إليَّ مِنْ دُنْيَاكُمْ : اَلطِّيِبْ؛ وَالنِّسَاءُ؛ وَجُعِلَتْ قُرَّةُ عَيْنِيْ فِي الصَّلَاةْ».

“Hubbi ilaya min dunyakum: Attayib, wan Nisa, wa ju’ilat qurratu ‘ayni fis Salat.”

“Made beloved to me from your world are perfume, and Women, and the coolness of my eyes is in prayer.” (Jami’ al-Saghir, Hadith 5435. Classified as Sahih by Albani)

Why? To represent cleanliness which is close to godliness. That all of that is observed by prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).

If you claim that: no I clean the inside and I don’t care for the outside. Say: if you don’t take time to clean the outside, are you kidding that you are cleaning the inside of you which is a thousand times more difficult! Because everything can be observed by the eyes, doesn’t even need the spiritual firasat (vision), to go into the heart.

Buy Nice Sunnah Outfits

They want us to understand that in this life of ours everything is importance. You didn’t buy one Sunnah suit and wear it for fifteen years, and that is the only thing you will ever spend on the Sunnah of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)? But for your going out and for luxury, you spend on every type of outfit, and ten different jackets and ten different type of  dress shoes for work. No, spend your life on making your Sunnah clothes, spend your money on Sunnah clothes, spend in the way and love of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). “O Sayyidi I don’t have it.” O we all have it, you find a tailor and you have make it, and you make beautiful clothes so that you are carrying the banner and the Sunnah of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) with such high respect and high love.

That they take that for granted back home because everybody has that, but here this is the land of da’wah they don’t have that. So means the shoes, have the nicest, polished, clean shoes so that when they look at you they understand just like in business school, that if you took the time to take care of yourself on the outside they can look to your shoes and ask, “Why are your shoes not clean or not in good order and why they are not top notch?” If you care to that degree, then it is clear that you will be caring for the inside, because these are the ahlul Zikr and the people of Zikrullah.

Means then in our lives everything is a way in which to achieve a recognition from Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Means we were asking for the nazar of Prophet (sallalahu alahi wa sallam), we are asking to be recognized. Then they begin to inspire within our lives yes, as soon as you get a nice paycheck go get some Sunnah clothes and get nice outfits. So you say: yaa Sayyidi yaa Rasulullah you are supreme in my life. Everything is from you, if you give me more rizq I can do more in your way, I can do all these great things. Not just that whatever comes I go and spend only for myself and you have only one Sunnah suit for twenty five years and that is the only suit what you make out of the Sunnah of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). It can’t be like that.

Our Way is to be the Best of Ambassadors of Prophet (saws)

Our love is for Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), our way is to hold the flag of Sayyidina Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to be the best of ambassadors. To have the best wrapped turbans, the best looking clothes, nicest and shiniest shoes, fragranced with attars and perfumes. So that when they see that Muhammadan they have a love and respect for Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and they say, “You look very majestic.”

It means in our bodies is the tashreef (honour), in our associations is the way of tashreef, everything about our life is a way in which to get Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)’s attention.

We pray that in the opening of the holy month o f Ramadan that Allah (Azza wa Jal) opens for us from that love and that reality, that to care about everything and that everything you are doing is a da’wah.  It is a da’wah for other people, for other Muslims, and for ourselves, and that Allah (Azza wa Jal) has rida with that and Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is happy with that and that Awliyaullah’s nazar be upon that and raise and bless us inshaAllah.

Subhaana rabbika rabbil `izzati `amma yasifoon wa salaamun `alal mursaleen wal hamdulilahi rabbil `aalameen.