SEEING IS BELIEVING. Firāsa: The Visionary Sees with the Eye, Ear and Heart

Transcription

1 EID UL FITR KHUTBAH 1 SHAWWĀL 1429 ** 1 OCTOBER 2008 SEEING IS BELIEVING Firāsa: The Visionary Sees with the Eye, Ear and Heart 9 Takbirs Asalaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullah-e wa Barakatuh Allahu Akbar kabira. Wa ÿl hamdu liÿllahi kathira. Wa subhana ÿllahi bukratan wa asila. Asalaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullah-e wa Barakatuh. Allah is Supremely Great, immensely so! And praise be to Allah, abundantly! And Glory be to Allah, both early and late. Asalaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahe wa Barakatuh. Anas ibn Malik (radiy Allahu anhu) said the Prophet (salla-allahu alaihi wa sallam) said,...in the early morning of the day of breaking the fast, Allah Subhanallah wa ta ala will give His angels their instructions. In obedience to His command, they will promptly fly down to the earth, where they will position themselves at the street corners and the crossroads, proclaiming 1

2 in a voice that is audible to all created beings, apart from the jinn and humankind, O community of Mohammed come forth into the presence of your Lord Who accepts the smallest offering, bestows the greatest abundance, and forgives the most terrible sin! Then, once the believers have emerged and presented themselves at their place of prayer (musalla), performed their prayers, and offered their supplications, the Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) will make sure that they are left with no need that He has not satisfied, no request that He has not answered, and no sin that He has not forgiven. They will then return to their homes, knowing that they have been granted forgiveness. Inna fee dhaalika laaa ayaatil-li-l-mutawassimeen Surely! In this are the signs for those who see (15:75) SANA: SUBHANAKA ALLAHUMMA WA BIHUMDIKA WA TABARAKAS MUKA WA TAALA JADDUKA WA LA ILAHA GHAIRUKA I am grateful and honored that Allah swt has given me life for one more year, and given me the idhn, the permission to stand before you at the Eid ul Fitr. It is always a time of reflection and of looking beyond the past and today to, insh allah, another year and a more directed and more profoundly intending future, to reflect on the benefits of our time together, and to think of a future of more service, deeper love and affection between ourselves, and between ourselves and Allah Swt and His noble and righteous Prophet Muhammad (sal). A month of challenges and blessings has passed, and during that time we had the opportunity to strive for 2

3 deeper knowledge through studying the Qur an, sitting in muraqabah, reciting, serving, increasing our prayers, and for repenting before Allah Swt. I pray Allah Swt allows us to gather again, for the Eid al Fitr, all together again, year after year in this community, with our children and our grandchildren, insh allah. I hope that everyone cleansed themselves of all that needed to be cleansed so that Allah Swt received all of our repentance/tawbah. Also at very beginning of this khutbah I ask all of us to keep in our hearts and minds, not only the joys and challenges and blessings that we had from this month of prayer, meditation, and gathering, the suhbat and tarawīh and the retreat, but also I want to you keep in mind the realities of the world we are living in not just the things that are happening in the world, but the people they are happening to. I want you to keep in mind their needs, their ongoing challenges, their suffering and their hopes for a better future, for which we have assumed some modicum of responsibility. After all, we are all the children of Adam. It is hopefully with the new capabilities you have developed that you can keep these things in your mind and in your heart. When I say your mind, I mean also the 50,000 brain cells in your heart. I hope we have developed over this period of time a deeper knowledge and insight/firāsa. The profound firāsa of the believer that will be one of our greatest tools to meet the challenges of this world we are living in today, fī sabil illah and create a place of Peace for the life hereafter. True visionaries have foresight and insight, which in turn become acts of goodness, equity, kindness, equality, humility, love, and peacefulness. True visionaries travel two worlds at least: the dunya, and the unseen world, the ghaib. Each one of us makes this journey periodically daily, insh allah; hopefully in our sleep, for those who sleep; and certainly for those of us in muraqabah. 3

4 Hopefully, throughout the day we make this journey through wuquf-i-qalbi, remembering Allah Swt. Allah says in Qur an, Afalam yaseeruu fi-l- ardi fa-takuuna lahum quluubuñy-ya c qiluuna bihaa aw aadhaanuñy-yasma c uuna bihaa fa innahaa laa ta c maa-l- ab a saaru wa laakiñ ta c maa-l-quluubu-llatee fee as-suduur 22:46 Have they not traveled in the land, and do they not have hearts with which to understand, or ears with which to hear? For surely eyes do not become blind, but it is the hearts in the breasts that grow blind. This is the difference between a person of insight, the visionary, and the person who just lives, and lives their life traveling from here to the office, or from here across the world. They travel with hearts that are blind, often. The person who really sees firāsa sees with eyes that can see, and ears that hear, because the capacity of this insight is always awake in the heart. But understand that this capacity, this gift, this result of personal effort and sincerity, not only deepens ones own iman but creates benefits for Muslims and non- Muslims, humanity as a whole. It is with this special sight that we can begin to understand and experience the truth of the statement, Wheresoever you turn, there is the presence of Allah. It is with this insight we begin to see and understand how this Universe is created; and it is to assist us (madad ul Allah ) in fulfilling our purpose and our responsibilities as real Muslims, as mum in, and as Sufis. It is with this sight we understand our true place in Allah s creation. We begin to grasp the tawhidi Reality. It becomes overwhelming, obvious to us first in moments, then more continuously: our place in this world, our place in creation, and the unity that is Allah Swt. 4

5 The Messenger of Allah (sal) warned, Beware of the insight of the believer, for he sees with the light of Allah Swt. You can take that in two ways: beware, meaning watch out; or you can divide it and say, Be aware. Among those, there are people who see with the light of Allah Swt. One of our primary duties as human beings is to find that light within ourselves and see by that light, because then every decision, every thought, every word reflects that light. There is no reflection without that light. It is this light,which lifts the veil of darkness from before our eyes, the light which emanates from the heart, which is the carrier of the secrets (sirr) of Allah Swt of the unseen realms, which becomes in itself a means through which we see and hear what Allah Swt has created for us. For this to develop, we have to turn our attention toward the unseen in order to see. We have to understand that the unseen is in all that we see, surrounding all that we see. [We have] to be careful with our time (as we spoke previously on waqt and zaman), and to carefully spend quality time attentive to the Divine Essence, and [make] sincere efforts in day to day life, turning our outer life to ibāda and service. If our inner goal is to pursue the Truth then our outer purpose must be founded on truth. Our perceptions and insight of what is truly the condition of our life and the lives of our fellow Muslims and what they face, and the lives of our fellow human beings must be our primary concern. We must mold our actions around that commitment. Then our iman will deepen and our firāsa will be confirmed. All that would distract it or disturb it will be overwhelmed by that light and that insight, as a bright spotlight masks what is standing in front of it. Allah Swt said, 5

6 The ones who are able to discover the truth would know of the matter. (4:83) What we must aim for is to change our default, our perceptive norm, to seeing the ayat ullah, the signs of Allah everywhere; the alam, the symbols. This sight is born of what s happening in the heart, the perceptions of the heart, where the tajalli/irradiation of Allah is received, absorbed and transforms our perceptions and even our confidence in those perceptions. Allah, I remind you, said, Certainly in that are indications for those who read the signs. (15:75) It is through the sincere inner and outer efforts that our ability to read the signs, to understand the meanings develops, that our character changes. Our character traits are shaped in the mold of the Divine characteristics, attributes, the Asmā al Husna. The results can be seen in countless stories. It is related that when one of the Sufis was asked about firāsa. He said, It means that there are spirits that revolve about in the celestial realm and watch over the inner meanings of the unseen matters. They speak of the secrets of creation with words of direct witnessing, not with words of speculation or supposition. (Meaning they are seeing them at that moment.) On one level, one enters into conversation with these spirits, these angels, if you will. On another dimension, it means that we experience that taskhīr, that fine-tuning so that we are able to see with our ruh, our spirit, that is endless, that is here and there. It is our spirit that is being referred to. This insight brings us peace of mind and heart and enables and empowers us to act for the true purpose of intention that Allah Swt created us for. Shaykh Abd-ar Rahman Sulami said: Insight will always be correct for one who lowers his gaze from illicit things, restrains his soul from passionate longings, cultivates his/her 6

7 inner being with constant vigilant awareness and his outer being with conformity to the Sunna and accustoms himself to eating only what is permitted. These are not rules and regulations. These are not threats. These are the results of sincere effort. This is what happens. If you try and try and try to do this, you won t succeed very often. But you do the things that allow this to happen, and then you succeed. Firāsa is a sense of visual acuity, perception and insight; but it also means acumen, discernment, keen eye for traits of character, intuitive knowledge of human nature. Ibn Abbas said that it means those who watch closely. Like we say, I pay attention to my heart. I pay attention to my ruh. I pay attention to all these latā if. You watch closely. Qatadah said that it means those who learn the lessons. And another one of our predecessors said that it means those who reflect. In this sense, I pose to you that it means like a mirror reflects, not just those who contemplate. Allah, Swt says the following with the regards to the hypocrites, Had He willed, We could have shown them to you and you would have known them by their marks, but surely you will know them by the lahn of the speech! (47:30) What is this lahn? The first thing mentioned is the firāsa of the eye and watching; and the second thing noted is the firāsa of the ear and hearing. The lahn is actually a term often used for music. It means the mode or tone of their speech. It is divided into two: consonant and dissonant, given their maqam or dastgah. One is consistent or not consistent with the form. Allah Swt created us in the best of forms. How we speak and how we see is either consistent or not consistent; proper or improper if you want to say it that way. Good adab is proper. Sincerity is proper. It s reflected in the lahn of our speech, the way we interpret what we 7

8 see, the way we reveal what we see to others through our speech. It has a lot to do with this moveable organ inside our very immoveable mouth. The proper lahn may mean eloquence as stated in the hadith of Prophet Mohammed (sal): And perhaps some of you are more eloquent in their claim than others. (Bukhari and Muslim) Or it may mean an indirect reference or indication. The wrong lahn is the speech that has grammatical mistakes, technically. By using it, people tend to change the meaning to something incorrect or to a hidden meaning which may not have been intended. The meaning of the verse is that Allah has confirmed to His Prophet (sal) that he would know them from their tone and the way they spoke. It is more likely that one may know more about the speaker and what is within his mind from his speech and the tone of his voice than from the content of what they are saying or his physical appearance. How many times have you heard stories about a person who looks like a useless human being, or a poor, nothing person who all of a sudden opens his mouth and says something profound. Who would have thought that this beggar on the street could say something profound? The words and the tone of voice can tell much more than the appearance, about the intention of the speaker. Firāsa can be either visual or auditory. The firāsa is a light which Allah Swt deposits in the heart of His servant. In the hands of one who sees, there are words filled with light. When we hear the term enlightenment in any tradition; we are not thinking about that person sees things. We say, that person perceives things and expresses them in a certain way. By this light, His servant distinguishes between truth and falsehood and between right and wrong, what is preferable and not preferable, what is good for others and not good for them, what is good for others and not good for others, what is intended and what 8

9 is not intended, what is ultimately constructive or destructive, which is why I began where I began. The reality of firāsa is a sharp thought that enters the heart and dominates its opinion. It overwhelms the heart just as the lion overwhelms its prey, farīsah. Note the similarity between firāsa and farīsah in Arabic. However, in their linguistic forms, farīsah is an object, whereas firāsa is similar to wilayah. It has an authority and power to it, and it has to be administered. In other words, we have a responsibility if we see, if we hear, and if we speak. It comes by the authority of Allah Swt. In that sense, everyone has the idhn of Allah Swt. If Allah reveals to you something of great truth and great importance, it is your responsibility to administer that truth, to lead others, to administrate in the sense of assuming leadership to what is good and constructive. The strength of this insight is dependent on the strength of your iman. A person with stronger iman has sharper firāsa. Amr bin Nujaid said that Shah al-kermani (may Allah protect them both) had sharp firāsa and was never wrong. He also used to say that whoever lowers his gaze away from prohibitions, restrains himself from vain desires, constructs his interior life according to muraqabah and ihsan (knowledge that Allah is watching over us), and accustoms himself to eat only halal, your insight will never be wrong. It s a formula. Ibn Masoud said, "There are three people with the sharpest firāsa. The Egyptian who bought Yusuf and then said to his wife, 'Make his stay comfortable. Maybe he will profit us or we shall adopt him as a son.' [12:21]. The other was the daughter of Shuaib, who said to her father with regards to Musa, 'Hire him!' [28:26] And Abu Bakr, for he appointed Omar as his successor." Another narration includes the wife of Pharaoh who 9

10 said about Musa, "A comfort of the eye for me and for you. Kill him not, perhaps he may be of benefit to us, or we may adopt him as a son.' [28:9] These are examples of insight; examples of seeing what is before us and sensing and knowing that in the future, this could bring goodness. Abu Bakr as-siddiq is considered to be the one with the greatest firāsa in the Ummah, and Umar was the second. The incidents that prove their insights are numerous. I m not going to go into them. These are people who didn t say, "I think this is so," but in humility, paid attention to what they knew was true. If any of us think we can just start saying, I may be wrong, but I think this is so, don t ride on Abu Bakr s camel unless you own it. The fact [is] that the Qur an approved of their opinions. There are many examples of that. One of which was his opinion regarding the redemption of the captives from the Battle of Badr. Our eye, ear and heart these organs of perception: the eyes that look at the signs; the ears that hear the expressions, the oblique inferences and hints, content, logic and tone of voice; and the heart that analyzes both what is seen and heard to perceive hidden thoughts of others. The heart condenses what is seen and heard and then takes responsibility for our actions for the good. To do that, we have to be very, sensitive. That s why the heart, which can make such difficult decisions and encourage our hands and feet to move in a direction, is also easily pained. It is in the heart that we hear hidden thoughts of others. You walk before someone, and you sense something. They haven t said anything. They don t seem any different to your eyes. But somehow the eyes and ears are perceiving something. Your heart is telling you something, something. It s very important. You are actually hearing their hidden thoughts, not as words but as feelings. 10

11 When we analyze and compare the interior and the exterior, Allah Swt has given us all these means to refine our inner self, all these means to understand what is transpiring and what our responsibilities are, who we are, what we are part of. Yet those same organs of perception are organs of deception. They are also the way in which we keep ourselves turned away from Allah Swt. So they have to be trained; but they also have to be left to be who they are, like a camel or a horse. You can train it, but it never forgets who it is or what it is. One kick or one toss of the head can kill you. It can harm you. There has to be mutual respect between the inner and the outer, mutual respect between the people you are in front of and those whom you are serving, and your nafs. It has tremendous ability, without which we could not refine ourselves or purify ourselves. So, our minds have to be sharp, and our hearts have to be open, and we have to have the confidence that by these practices we do, by this prayer, by the daily hijra to our heart in muraqabah and our latā if, that we will achieve this insight. Again, it doesn t end there. We have responsibility with it. I feel confident in saying that this is really one of the cornerstones of spiritual guidance and a cornerstone of life s success: to see with this light and act, not only for the benefit of oneself, but for the benefit of others, because Allah Swt has placed us here for that. I encourage us all to remember the importance of reflection, of taking the time. Our predecssors guidance helps us to understand that if we are not filled with the yearning to know, with the desire to seize the opportunities to develop our own self and understand our own purpose, then we are dead. Allah Swt says, Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light whereby he can walk amongst men, like him who is in the darkness from which he can never come out? (6:122) 11

12 Awa mañ kaana maytañ fa-ahyaynaahu wa ja c alnaa lahu nuurañy-yamshee bihi feen-naasi kamam-mathaluhu fee adh-dhulumaati laysa bikhaarijim-minhaa kadhaalika zuyyina li-l-kaafireena maa kaanuu ya c maluun Allah gave us life through iman and knowledge, [and] through [the] willingness to reflect upon ourselves. But we have to accept these gifts. We have to accept the gift[s] of the Qur an and faith, of the light which we see our way out of the darkness. As we end this month of Ramadān and begin the Shawwal, we can increase if you will Do you know we are in a financial crisis? Credit crunch; shrinking. We are entering this month of Shawwal with a lot of credit. I should even say it is backed by the gold of our Ramadān. We can increase it. We have an opportunity to double whatever we earned in Ramadān in the precious metal of Ramadān. We can double it by six days of fasting, insh allah. It means in this context that we can focus; take what we have acquired and invest it in 6 days, and watch the return in those few days to be 100%. What can you invest in and get a 100% return on in six days? So we have to keep awake; keep the light of the Prophet Mohammed. Remember that firāsa is linked to those organs: the eye, ear and heart. We have to look closely at what we thought we just heard and verify it. Then what we are feeling in our hearts, and the actions that come from that, will have a surety. This day, the Eid, is a great gift and blessing of Allah Swt. Another year in our lives has passed. Whether or not we were or we are today aware of the Divine Presence in each moment of our lives, somewhere inside of us we have to be confident that Allah Swt and the angels are present. We have to be confident that in this room, the spirit of our shuyukh is here. We have to be confident that all those we love, is with a love that is placed in our hearts by Allah Swt all those we can love, and learn to love more and better. Let s not 12

13 foreclose that possibility. Again this year as in the past, the community of nations that we all belong to as members of the human community (created by the Will, Mercy and Compassion of Allah) is under great stress. War, poverty, drought, hurricanes, cyclones are all natural sources of strain, and that is accompanied by the non-natural (but coming to be too natural) greed and arrogance and rampant fear with its potential catastrophic result of global conflict and large scale annihilations of communities of people, notwithstanding also the environmental issues. The fact is the community of nations is being torn asunder by the willfulness of man, but not by the will of Allah but by the will of people. We Muslims, I think, always feel and I say this at every Eid some reluctance, because we have had the opportunity to fast, to retreat into the inner recesses of our hearts, minds, and bodies, and we have been blessed maybe, for a few moments, to have glimpses of the dimensions of the meaning we don t usually live in the rest of the year. We know they come from the challenges of the fasting, of the worldly things we have to face. Now, the pattern of daily life s demands, the possibility of subordinating some of our experiences and our spiritually-oriented schedule of the month to other influences are coming back to us. The days will come upon us very quickly. We must resist the tendency toward gafla, and we must suffuse our days and nights with dhikr, and du ā, and discussion on subjects of the soul s interest. We must seek each other out and serve one another, and collectively direct our community, our work toward the fulfillment of our collective mission, the mission as members of the ummah, of peace, understanding, progress. That demands also the confidence to critically inquire into the state of it. During the month of Ramadān, we know that the angels were 13

14 among us. They walked beside us in our procession today. I almost tripped over one I don t know about you. Did you see the one that was photographing for the angel television? We know that they watch over our prayer, and they are listening to our khutbah (I can hear them moaning), and enjoying the joy of our Eid meal. Ramadān tested us, but the successful among us kept our focus and our intention. The successful among us realized when we weren t keeping our focus and intention, and felt bad about it and repented. The successful were distracted for a day or two or three by some event in life, and toward the end of Ramadān said, O my God, I have so much distraction. That person also was successful. We repented (probably not enough) and were forgiven, always; and we were pardoned. We held our tongues from speaking wrongly as best we could (though it took a few days at the beginning I remember), and we remembered our promises to Allah Swt. The challenge remains. The month has passed, but we must maintain our contact with His Mercy and His Compassion and to implement it through our character in our life. Our effectiveness has to increase as serviceful, contributing members to the Muslim community, and to this community, and to the community of our brethren around us. This community is made up of wonderful people, a few beavers, a couple of blue herons, a lot of cats, an occasional dog that runs through, a screech owl, frogs that jump in front of cars, big fat carp in the pond, possums, skunks, groundhogs, birds, lots of ticks, chiggers. I mean, get real. That s what life is about: responding to what Allah Swt has put in our community of people. 14

15 Life causes us to respond and react. Oh, look at that beautiful fox! Oh, my God, all these seed ticks are driving me crazy. Allah placed them among us, and us among them (which is more correct). How we respond to all this that we are a part of depends on how well we can resist the tendencies to undermine the gains we have made, even if we do not recognize those gains, even if we doubt that we have made any gains. We must affirm and renew our reliance on Allah Swt throughout our days and throughout our nights. It is in this light of the lights and insights that we need assistance and guidance. We need the rehber, the one who assists. In the Alawi tradition that Zeynap and her family come from, it is said that the rehber (a dede) assists the murshid. He provides information for the newcomers who come to the khanaqah and prepares them for the tariqat. Each one of us has to prepare. Not only those who come from outside, but for each other. So let s remember: It is not the eyes that are blind, but the hearts in the breasts are blind. For those of us who seek the inner understanding of Islam, walking the path of tariqah of Tasawwuf, have to not only plumb the depths of muhasabat, but we have to plumb the depths of mushahadah, basīra and firāsa. And in doing so keep our eyes on the splendors and beauties, and the awesome nature of creation, and the favors that Allah Swt has bestowed upon us. What of these favors do we deny? My dear brothers and sisters, we have to reflect on this Jalali and Jamali, the reality called Allah Swt. Allah has made it in our hearts that we can delight in it. We can delight in the beauty of nature and the sounds. We can delight in the rhythms, and the words of one another; in the love and the light. For those people who think light is only reserved for Jannah, I have news for them. You are on the wrong train. You are on a bridge to nowhere. And you know who they re going to meet there. 15

16 So let s fulfill our potential. Shaykh Abul Hasan as Shadhili said: The blindness of the inner eyes lies in three: allowing the limbs to disobey Allah, desire for the creation of Allah and the artifice of obeying Allah. Not only will the achievement of firāsa allow us to see the faults and needs around us (which is a little hard to bear sometimes, I grant you) and give us trust in our insight, furqān and tadbīrillah, but it will allow us to see the defects within us, which when they are corrected by inner practice and outer behavior, will reveal the hidden worlds and timelessness of true life. As a community of believers or at least strivers this path opens wider and wider if we balance our lives, control our tongues, give love and compassion to those whom we love and who love us and to those in need. Ramadān revisited daily. I guess I could say [try] to taste a bit of Ramadān each day; to savor each moment. Strive to stop the incessant and repetitive chatter in our minds and remember our Islam. Our taslīm lies in our sincere trust in what has been commanded from the ālam al amr and made real in the ālam al khalq. So, it is time; we must turn our attention back to ourselves and to our relationship to Allah Swt, through others and through our work, fully. We must especially turn our attention to ourselves as a community devoted to Allah Swt, and I always take time on this Eid to talk about the community a little. My dear brothers and sisters here, we all try with all of our hearts and souls and minds to absorb the reality of our journey in life. After a month of fasting, we each have a unique ability to do that. In using the term suluk, we must understand that it comes from the word salaka, which mean to travel or follow a road, to enter upon a course. But this term also refers to the behavior of an individual who travels. It means behave, to comport oneself. In addition the root also means the eye of a needle, the 16

17 journey of a camel passing through the eye of a needle. Not only does it help us to understand ourselves, but what our attitudes should be, our demeanor, our etiquette; especially for the children. Nothing is more important than those who have good adab. It will save us a hundred times in a day, the sweetness in the voice, the lahn. This person has good adab. This child is being brought up right. When we use word suluk in this journey, it implies there is an open road, a clear road, a meaningful road. Where does this journey begin and where does it lead? There are a lot of answers in Ramadān. One thing is clear: Allah Subhanallah wa ta ala has created us as a community ummah, and charged us to live as a community, to work, serve, and love, and worship with each other. It leads to each other. For those who do not understand it, they can gain understanding by our examples. The Prophet (sal) said: "Every good deed is a charity, and it is a good deed that you meet your fellow-men with a cheerful countenance and you pour water from your bucket into the vessel of your fellow. Answering a questioner with mildness is charity. Removing that which is an inconvenience to wayfarers such as thorns and stones is charity." (Tirmidhi). Our Prophet (sal) also said when asked what fanaticism was, replied: "That you help your people in wrongdoing. (Abu Dawud) If we respect one another, if we truly have faith as individuals and as a community, and if we extend our work throughout the world, as this community tries to do, we must help people to do what is good and remember where it comes from. Our Prophet (sal) during his night prayer, used to say: "O God, I bear witness that all human beings are brothers." (An Nasa'i) 17

18 Eid Khutba This being so, then, we should live proudly by that truth. The Prophet (sal) said, "He who eases the hardship of another will have ease bestowed upon him by Allah in this world and the next. Allah goes on helping a servant so long as he goes on helping his fellow-man." (Muslim). After 40 years of trying to educate youth and adults, I have learned some small thing: that our only hope for humanity lies in educating for the future; the search of Truth (mutalib). How ironic such a good word has been so distorted and misused (talib). The assumed freedom our youth is what we strive for internally. But now as adults, helping our children become adults, we have to understand that real freedom lies through constructive dialogue and action, through respectful listening and kindness in speech, good acts for the sake of Allah, and deep reflection. Allah Swt said, Ud a - c u ilaa sabeeli Rabbika bi-l-hikmati wa-l-maw c idhati-l-hasanati wa jaadilhum bi-llatee hiya ahsanu inna Rabbaka huwa a c lamu bimañ dalla c añ sabeelihi wa huwa a c lamu bi-l-muhtadeen "Call (people) to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and with beautiful words and argue with them in ways that are best. (16:125) Islam to us cannot be a name. It cannot just mean peace. It cannot be said it is just a way of life. It has to be something that makes us internally abhor fasād/violence, corruption, wickedness, viciousness and wrongdoing. Allah Swt said, 18

19 Eid Khutba "Wa ' izaa tawallaa sa-'aa fil-'ardi li-yufsida fiihaa wa yuh-likal-harsa wan-nasl. Wallaahu laa yuhibbul -fasaad." And when he turns away (from you) his effort in the land is to make corruption therein and to destroy the crops and the cattle; and Allah loves not viciousness (or corruption, or wrong doing, or wickedness)." (2:205) That s a factual statement, but it s an attitude also. So let us continue to study Islam this year. Let us try to live it, to speak it, to understand what it means to be in tariqat, what it means to have clear sight, basīra. The knower of Allah knows through basār (eyesight) what others know through insight. In other words, let us see clearly what Allah Swt has intended for us. Let us truly try to be humble in the face of what has been presented to us, and bring our knowledge and skills, and continue to develop them, to all of humanity. Let us not forget the lesson of Hudabaiya where the Prophet (sal) did not find justice but achieved peace by 'delinking' it from justice. Then he received opportunities, which he used fully for what we now see as dawa. In just a few years he (sal) not only guaranteed the achievement of real justice, but Islam was firmly founded. Let us all work for a clear victory ourselves and measure it by the good work we do in this world. Bismillah. Let us remember Allah Swt as Allah Swt remembers us. Let us seek for Allah s love and pray that the Nur-i-Mohammed flows upon us all. I pray it flows upon all of you by your own sincere niyyat, and that light suffuses your life, that you develop the firāsa, and that it emanates from the core of your heart, and that you shed its light, revealing the power and the might, and the beauty and the justice that is Allah Swt, and the care and the concern. I pray that Allah Swt gives you the insight to be abased by knowledge, humbled by that 19

20 Eid Khutba knowledge, and uplifted by service. Amin. Second Khutbah (takbirs) Bismillah ir Rahman ir Raheem (du ā) I try not to belabor the meaning of this day. Let us take a moment and ask Allah Swt to forgive us our sins, the sin of forgetfulness. I began without the five takbīr. The doors opened, and it didn t take anytime. I ask Allah to forgive me and to forgive all of us. I ask Allah Swt to give you all great power and great knowledge over yourselves. I ask Allah Swt that on this Eid we remember a beautiful story. A man once entered the presence of Sidna Ali (ra) and found him eating coarse bread. Today is the day of the Eid, the man said, Yet you are here eating coarse brown bread! Imam Ali (raa) replied, Today is the day of the Eid for someone whose fast has been accepted, whose effort is deemed worthy, and whose sin has been forgiven. Would that we could all be like Sidna Ali (ra). Today is an Eid for us, and tomorrow is an Eid for us. Every day in which we do not disobey Allah is certainly something to celebrate as an Eid. If we want to really understand this day, then we have to understand that it is like a time pause when we can move to moments of awareness and acceptance of our daily efforts and intentions, [and have] the ability to stop, to focus on the dhāhir, and to return to the bātin. We should remember and regard that this day is comparable to Yawma Qiyama, the Day of Judgment, because it is a new beginning for us. Eid ul Adha and Eid ul Fitr are linked in that. It is an ending and a beginning, and a celebration. Eid Mubarak! 20