The Naqshabandiyyah are known that they are strong in saying the truth. Both Imam ar‑Rifa^iyy and Shaykh ^Abdul Qadir al-Jaylaniyy said, “If you hear someone, even if he was a shaykh, contradicting the rules of the Religion, then give him advice. If he accepts, then this is good. If he does not accept, then leave him and follow the rules of the Religion, (shar^-law).
As such, following their advice be warned from a du^a’ mentioned by a speaker at a function. In his du^a’, we heard him saying words to the effect of, ‘the existence of Allah which is in our existence.’ These are dangerous words. None of the true Sufis said words with this meaning, in fact, just the opposite. Shaykh Muhyadin Ibn ^Arabiyy said:
من قال بالحلول فدينه معلول
which means, “the one who says Allah exists in the creation or Allah enters into bodies is not on the true Religion.” In his religion there is a defect. Al-Junayd al‑Baghdadiyy said:
التوحيد إفراد القديم من المحدث
which means: “Tawhid is to differentiate between the Creator and the creation.”
It is not permissiblei to attribute the attributes of Allah to the creation, nor vice-versa. If we want to praise the Prophet we don’t do so by attributing the attributes of Allah to him. If we want to make du^a’-supplication we don’t talk about Allah as we are talking about ourselves or about other creations. The scholars of the Religion said the attributes of Allah are not similar to our attributes. Nothing resembles Allah. Allah said:
ليس كمثله شيء
This is why the scholars said there are some names specific to Allah which are not permissible to be named to the creation. It is not permissible to call another Allah. It is not permissible to call a person Allah because this name has a special meaning exclusively used for Allah only–a meaning not permissible to attribute to other than Allah. Likewise, the names ar-Rahman الرحمن, ar-Razzaqالرزاق , ar-Raziqالرازق , and Thul Jalali wal-Ikram ذو الجلال والإكرام are not permissible to attribute any among the creation.
Al-Junayd said tawhid التوحيد is to differentiate between the Creator and the creation. Don’t mix between them because it is not permissible. So, to the person who made that du^a’, I remind him the Prophet said:
الدين النصيحة
Offering advice is from the religion. I could stay silent and not say anything, but I will face that on the Day of Judgment. So I want to give the advice, for my safety and the safety of others.
Every one of us wants to be successful on the Day of Judgment. To be successful on the Day of Judgment there is a requisite which must be fulfilled. This requisite is to have the love of the Prophet in our hearts. We know, as the people before me said, if someone wants to embrace Islam it is not sufficient to say only ‘la illaha illallah’–one must also say, ‘Muhammad rasul Allah.’
What does it mean, ‘to love the Prophet’? It means to have in your heart the firm conviction, the firm belief that the Prophet Muhammad the slave of Allah, the messenger of Allah, and the seal of all the messengers, and that he is truthful about all what he conveyed from Allah. Being safe in Hereafter is not merely by wishing to be safe. It is by having the love for the Prophet in one’s heart and by following him.
How can we follow the Prophet? Is it just by saying: ‘We love the Prophet, therefore we are following him’? No. We must know the orders the Prophet came with and what things he told us are forbidden for us. How can we know that? It is by acquiring the knowledge of the Religion. We cannot know what the Prophet ordered with and what he forbade without acquiring the knowledge of the Religion. That is why the Prophet said:
طلب العلم فريضة على كل مسلم
Seeking the knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim. It is an obligation upon every Muslim, male and female, to seek the knowledge of the Religion. Because without the knowledge, how can one know what is an obligation on him (wajib)? How can he know what is forbidden (haram), what is disliked (makruh), what is liked (mustahab), what is a sunnah? Without the knowledge, every one of us would be following his own desires‑‑not the orders of the Prophet. Moreover, we can’t know what the Prophet told us is wajib, haram, makruh, or sunnah, etc. without seeking this knowledge from the reliable scholars, may Allah raise their ranks. That is why Allah said:
قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
which means: [Say (O Muhammad) to the people, ‘If you really love Allah, follow me.’ Allah will accept your deeds. you will be acceptable to Allah. where does the meaning end? We can’t follow the Prophet without the knowledge of the Religion. This is not to say everyone must attain the level of a scholar of the Religion. Rather, what is required is for everyone to know about the basics of the belief, as well as the basic rules of Purificaion (Taharah), Prayer, (Salah), Fasting (Siyam), and Zakat, if he has money on which Zakat is due. Also, the one able to perform Hajj must know about the basic rules of Hajj. One must also learn about the sins of the eye, of the ear, of the hand, of the foot, and of the abdomin. Because how can one be sure he is not going against the rules of the Prophet if he doesn’t know what those rules are? How can he be sure he is no falling into haram-unlawful with his eye if he doesn’t know what the sins of the eye are? If he doesn’t know what the sins of the ear, tongue, leg, etc. are, how can he be sure he is not using them in a haram thing?
That is why all the people of the highest ranks among the awliya’-highly pious and all those who established good tariqahs were scholars in the knowledge of the Religion, along with being pious people making dhikir with the tongue and with the heart, and other things that you know. Imam Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy memorized the Qur’an. He memorized the hadith of the Prophet with their chains of narrators. He memorized the book called At-Tanbih in the Shafi^iyy school–and this is a book about 200 pages long printed in little letters, and he memorized many other things. This is how one would acquire the high rank.
Imam Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy once was talking to his students, and told them, “Don’t you want to know what is the halal-lawful, what is the haram-unlawful, what is the makruh-disliked? You who call yourselves Sufis, don’t stand against the scholars of the Religion. O you who call you call yourselves Scholars of the Religion, don’t you want a pious man to be among you who would show the karamah-extraordinary matter and the blasphemers will be defeated when they see it? So don’t stand against the Sufis. The true Sufi and the true scholar are on the same path.
In summary, we can’t be safe on the Day of Judgment without following the Prophet. We have to follow the rules of the Prophet, and we can’t know these rules without acquiring the knowledge of the Religion. As well, one must have a great love in his hearts for the Prophet. I ask Allah that every one among us will have a great love in his heart for the Prophet, because this love for the best of the creation will benefit the person on the Day of Judgment–even if he was a lazy person
روى البخاري ، ومسلم عن عَبْد اللَّهِ بْن مَسْعُودٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قال : ” جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ، كَيْفَ تَقُولُ فِي رَجُلٍ أَحَبَّ قَوْمًا وَلَمْ يَلْحَقْ بِهِمْ ؟ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: (المَرْءُ مَعَ مَنْ أَحَبَّ( ” .
which means: <<. A man once asked the Prophet about a man who loves the people of piety (al-qawm). This means a man can love some people of piety, though he is not among them, meaning he is not like them or in their rank. The Prophet told him:the person will be with the people he loves (on the Day of Judgment.)>>
Even though surely we are not in the rank of the Prophet, our love for him will surely benefit us on the Day of Judgment.
So if you want any good thing, don’t hesitate to ask Allah by the Prophet. Don’t hesitate to say, O Allah, I ask you by Your Prophet. Don’t listen to some people who say doing so is haram, or shirk, or other. Don’t listen because our beloved Prophet himself told us to say that. He told us to ask Allah by the Prophet of Allah.
At–Tabaraniyy related from the route of ^Uthman Ibn Hunayf
فى زيادة صحيحة صححها الحافظ الطبرانى وأخرجها في الدعاء والمعجم الكبير والصغير وأقر تصحيح الطبرانى الحافظ المنذرى في الترغيب والترهيب والحافظ الهيثمى في مجمع الزوائد وغيرهما :
” عن عثمان بن حنيف أن رجلاً كان يختلف إلى عثمان بن عفان في حاجة له فكان عثمان لا يلتفت إليه ولا ينظر في حاجته– أي لنسيانه لها كما يأتي – فلقى عثمان بن حنيف فشكا ذلك إليه فقال له عثمان بن حنيف: ائت الميضأة فتوضأ ثم ائت المسجد فصل فيه ركعتين، ثم قل: اللهم إني أسألك وأتوجه إليك بنبينا محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم نبي الرحمة يا محمد إني أتوجه بك إلى ربي فيقضي لي حاجتي، وتذكر حاجتك، ورح إلي حين أروح معك فانطلق الرجل فصنع ما قال له ثم أتى باب عثمان فجاء البواب حتى أخذ بيده فأدخله على عثمان بن عفان فأجلسه معه على الطنفسة وقال: حاجتك؟ فذكر حاجته فقضاها له ثم قال له: ما ذكرت حاجتك حتى كانت هذه الساعة، وقال: ما كانت لك من حاجة فائتنا، ثم إن الرجل خرج من عنده فلقي عثمان بن حنيف فقال له: جزاك الله خيرًا ما كان ينظر في حاجتي ولا يلتفت إلي حتى كلمته فيّ، فقال عثمان بن حنيف: والله ما كلمته ولكن شهدت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأتاه رجل ضرير فشكا إليه ذهاب بصره فقال له النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: “أو تصبر؟” فقال: يا رسول الله إنه ليس لي قائد وقد شق علي، فقال له النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: “ائت الميضأة فتوضأ ثم صل ركعتين ثم ادع بهذه الدعوات” فقال عثمان بن حنيف: فوالله ما تفرقنا وطال بنا الحديث حتى دخل عليه الرجل كأنه لم يكن به ضرر قط. ” اهـ
that one day he was in the session of the Prophet. A blind man entered that session and asked the Prophet of Allah to make du^a’ for him to cure his blindness. The Prophet told him if he wanted, he could be patient on his blindness, and if he wanted he would make du^a’ for him. By that he was telling the blind man that being patient is better, because he would have reward for his patience. However, that blind many told the Prophet his blindness was too great a hardship for him because he had no one to help him and guide him from one place to the other. So the Prophet told him, <<Go to the place where they make wudu’, make wudu’, pray 2 rak^ahs, and then say:
اللهم إني أسألك، وأتوجه إليك بنبيك محمد نبي الرحمة يا محمد إني توجهت بك إلى ربي في حاجتي هذه، فتقضى لي
which means, <<O Allah, I direct myself to you by Your Prophet, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad, I direct myself to Allah by you, in my need to be fulfilled.>> ^Uthman Ibn Hunayf said, “We were still in the same session when the blind man returned to us with his eyesight restored to him.”
This hadith is a sahih hadith. At-Tirmidhiyy mentioned this was a strong hadith (qawiyy), as did at–Tabaraniyy, al-Bayhaqiyy, al-Hafidh as‑Subkiyy, and al-Hafidh al-^Ala’iyy. About 16 from the highest ranks of the scholars of hadith mentioned this is a sahih hadith. And not one among them said it is weak. So you can see, the Prophet told the blind man to ask Allah by him. l
How can some people dare to say asking Allah by the Prophet is shirk? How dare they claim saying ‘Ya Rasulullah’ is haram, shirk, or bid^ah? ^Abdullah Ibn ^Umar once had a strong cramp in his leg, and one in his session told him, ‘Mention the most beloved person to you (to be cured). ^Abdullah Ibn ^Umar said, “O Muhammad” He was cured immediately! This hadith was related by al-Bukhariyy in his book, Al-Adab al-Mufrad.
Knowing this, what do they call ^Abdullah Ibn ^Umar? Do they call him a mushrik? Do they dare to claim that he was doing something against the true tawhid, or against the true ^aqihdah of the Prophet? No one dares to say that. Even that misguided man called Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned this hadith in his book called “Al‑Kalimah at–Tayyibah”.
It is good to mention these names so people will be aware about the misguided people, and will know who are the People of Truth.
جاء في حديثٍ رواهُ البيهقي :[ حتى متى ترعون عن ذكرِ الفاجر اذكروه بمافيه حتى يحذره الناس]
The Prophet once told a companion, “Why don’t you mention the misguided man, so the people will be aware of him. Mention him so the people will be aware of his misguidance.”
I ask Allah by the Prophet to guide us all to the right path. I ask Allah that we will die as Muslims and be gathered on the Day of Judgment under the banner of the Prophet.