The Unity of Muslims Under the Guidance of the Prophet
I start with the name of Allah. I praise Allah and humbly ask Him to raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his kind Al and Companions and to protect his nation from that which he fears for it. Thereafter:
Brothers and sisters, I would like to congratulate you and myself with celebrating this great and honorable occasion–the birth of our leader, the best of the creation and the leader of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah,–Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam. The topic of my talk today is: “The Unity of Muslims under the Guidance of the Prophet,” a topic which addresses every genuine true Sufi among you. Those are the ghuraba‘ the Prophet spoke about when he, ^alayhis–salatu was-salam said:
خرج الترمذي من حديث كثير بن عبدالله المُزَني عن أبيه عن جدِّه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلَّم: ((إنَّ الإسلام بدأ غريبًا، ويرجع غريبًا، فطوبى للغرباء، الذين يُصْلِحونَ ما أفْسَد الناس بعدي من سُنَّتي
In this hadith, the Prophet brought the good news and the good tidings for those who advocate the genuine teachings of the Prophet and correct that which was introduced unlawfully by ignorant ill-willed people.
Again, brothers and sisters, I address every genuine Sufi among you, for you are the defenders of the creed Prophet Muhammad came with. The people of Arabia were drowning in ignorance when the Prophet renewed the call to Islam. They were disunited, living in total enmity of one another. Then Prophet came and the people united under the banner of Islam. Their strength of purpose allowed them to expand far beyond the Arabian peninsula, propagating the teachings of Islam and producing victories–all under the guidance of the Prophet. Allah said in the Qur’an:
واذكروا نعمة الله عليكم إذ كنتم أعداء فألف بين قلوبكم فأصبحتم بنعمته إخوانا
In this honorable verse, Allah indicated that the people were disunited and Allah brought their hearts together when the Prophet came to renew the call to Islam.
The Prophet praised the status of knowledge. He said:
قاﻝَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّمَ : طلب العلم فريضة على كل مسلم رواه البيهقي
which means: <<Seeking the Obligatory Knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim.>> The Prophet took a lot of pride in being the most knowledgeable about Allah. He said:
عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال : إني أعلمكم بالله وأشدكم له خشية
which means: <<I am the most knowledgeable about Allah and the most God-fearing among you.>> thereby highlighting that knowledge about Allah is the best of all knowledge and is the basis for the Prophet to praise himself.
The Prophet came first to those people in Arabia to renew the call to Islam. He taught them the basis of the faith. He taught them the meanings of the Testification of Faith: la illaha illallah. The words contained in this statement are not empty of meaning. They are the basis and foundation of Islam, the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah. It is this foundation that united their hearts and brought them together.
La illaha illallah is a statement that we repeat every day. What does it mean? It means that no one deserves to be worshipped except Allah. It means that Allah does not need any of the creation. He does not need any of the creation, because he who is in need is weak, and he who is weak is not God, not a Creator. Allah is One. There is no partner with Him. He exits and His Existence is without a beginning and without ending. He is the only One Whose Existence is without a beginning, contrary to the claim of some ignorant people that this world, by nature and kind, also exists without a beginning. Those people blasphemed because they likened Allah to the creation. Allah is the only One Whose existence is without beginning, i.e., there never was a time Allah did not exist. Allah’s existence does not end. there will never be a time that Allah will cease to exist. Allah’s everlastingness is not like the everlastingness of Heaven and Hellfire. Heaven and Hellfire are everlasting only because Allah willed they be so. However, as far as their selves are concerned, both the state of existence and the state of non-existence are permissible for them. Allah is the only One Who is everlasting as far as His Self is concerned. No one else. Allah does not resemble the creation. Allah said:
ليس كمثله شيء وهو السميع البصير
which means: [There is nothing like Him and He is attributed with Hearing and Sight.] The scholars said that the first part of the ayah came first for you and I to know that Allah hears, not like the way you and I hear, and Allah sees, not like the way you and I see. You and I hear with an instrument, an ear, and a mechanism of the propagation of sound waves. We see with an eye by the reflection of light through a pupil. The eye, the ear, sound, light, reflection of light, movement of sound–all these are creations of Allah, and Allah is different from all His creation. Delving into the rich history of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah, you will find the sayings of the great scholars in conformity with this. Thu Nun al-Misri (Ibrahim Ibn Tawbah) and the great Imam, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said:
قال الإمامان الجليلان الإمام أحمد بن حنبل والإمام ذو النون المصري مهما تصورت ببالك فالله بخلاف ذلك
which means: “Whatever you can imagine in your minds Allah is different from it,” because that which you can imagine in your minds is a creation of Allah. It has a beginning and it has an end. One gets an idea in his mind. this means it began. Then one doesn’t think about it anymore, so it leaves, or stops. What starts and stops is a creation, and Allah is different from the creation.
Allah is attributed with Power and Allah is attributed with Will. Allah has the power over all things. Whatever Allah willed exists and whatever Allah did not will shall not exist. Isn’t this what Abu Dawud related the Prophet taught one of his daughters to say?
ما شاء الله كان ، وما لم يشأ لم يكن
means: <<Whatever Allah willed shall be and whatever Allah did not will shall not be.>> Everything that enters into existence, whether good or evil, is by the creation of Allah and by the will of Allah. However, the evil that happens is not by the love and order and acceptance of Allah and the good that happens is by the love and the acceptance of Allah.
Allah is attributed with Knowledge and Allah is attributed with Life. However, His Knowledge and His Life are not like your and mine. Your life is a life of a body and a soul and veins which run with blood and a need for nourishment. Allah is clear of all bodily attributes. Allah is not a soul. Allah’s Life is not that of a body, soul, flesh, or bones. Nothing is like Him.
Allah is attributed with Speech and His Speech is not like ours. You and I speak with a language, with a letter, and with a sound, and with the movement of lips. However, the speech of Allah is not that of a language. It is not that of a letter. It is not that of a sound.
This is what the Prophet came to teach the people–the proper belief in Allah and the acceptable worship of the Creator of everything. Through knowledge, their hearts came together to believe properly in Allah and they complied to the hadith of the Prophet related by al-Bukhariyy:
أفضل الأعمال إيمان بالله ورسوله
which means: <<The best of all the deeds is a proper and correct belief in Allah and His Messenger.>> The Prophet taught the meaning of the second part of the Testification of Faith: that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Among its meanings is that Prophet Muhammad is the slave of Allah, the Messenger of Allah, the best of the entire creation, and the guidance to the people. He was truthful in everything he conveyed from Allah. Among what the Prophet conveyed to us is that all the prophets before him were prophets of Islam, starting with Adam and continuing through Shith, Idris, and Nuh, and many others, including Ibrahim, and Musa and ^Isa
All of them came with the basic message of Islam;. the message of la ilaha illallah. The Prophet taught us all the prophets are impeccable from committing blasphemy, major sins, or small, mean sins before and after prophethood. The Prophet taught us that prophets have attributes which befit them; they were all courageous, beautiful, intelligent. Hence it is impossible that a prophet would be dull or stupid. It is impossible that a prophet would be ugly. It is impossible that a prophet would be inflicted with a disease that would cause people to repel away from him. Because all these negate the wisdom. Allah chose His prophets to deliver the Message. If Allah inflicted them with diseases that would cause people to repel from them or attributed them with non-befitting attributes, one might wonder “Where is the wisdom in that?” Allah is all wise.
The Prophet taught the people the belief in the torture of the grave, the belief in the question of the grave, and the belief in the Day of Judgment. He informed us about the angels the books of Allah, and the messengers of Allah. He taught it is an obligation to believe in destiny, that which is good and that which is evil, and that everything occurs by the Will of Allah. He taught about Paradise and Hellfire and about the bridge the believers would Cross on the Day of Judgment from which the blasphemers would drop off into Hellfire. The Prophet told us that the believers in Paradise will see without Allah being in a place or in a direction. They would see Allah not in the way that the creatures are seen, because Allah does not resemble the creation. Allah is clear of places and clear of time. Allah is clear of shapes and clear of directions. These are all creations, and Allah does not resemble the creation. The great scholars of Islam cleared Allah of resemblance to the creation. Imam Abu Ja^far at–Tahawiyy said, “Allah is clear of all instruments. Allah is clear of all limbs. Allah is clear of all directions. He does not have an in front of or a behind, or a right or a left, or a above or a below.” These are attributes of the creatures. I have a ceiling above me and a floor beneath me. I have something to my right and something to my left. Allah is different from the creation. Whatever you can imagine in your minds, Allah is different from it. The great scholar, Ibn ^Asakir, said the same thing‑‑“Allah is clear of directions.” Imam ^Aliyy said, “Allah is clear of places.”
The great scholars of Islam stood and defended the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama^ah against those who attribute places to Allah. They debated them time and time again, asking, “Don’t you believe Allah is the Creator of everything?” to which those deviators would reply, “Yes, indeed.” They would continue, asking, “Then you do believe Allah created the places?” They would answer, “Yes, indeed.” So, they told them, Then before He created the places, Allah existed without a place,” and they said, “Yes, indeed.” So they told them, “Then your minds accepts that before Allah created the places, He existed without needing a place, then after creating the places Allah still exists without needing a place. Because you and I are in need of places to exist. We occupy places. But Allah is the Creator of places and the Creator of time, and as He attributed to Himself–Nothing is like Him.
This is the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah. This is what the Prophet taught to his companions. This is what the Prophet taught to the heads and the highest among the Sufis: Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and ^Umar Ibnul Khattab and ^Uthman Ibn ^Affan and ^Aliyy Ibn Abi Albi Talib. On that creed, the great scholars of Islam and the awliya’ held fast: ash-Shafi^iyy, Abu Hanifah, Malik, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, al-Awza^iyy, al-Ash^ariyy, al-Maturudiyy, Abdul-Qadir al-Jaylani, Sayyid Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy al-Kabir, and many others. They were brought up on (held fast to) the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah wa‑Jama^ah. This is how Muhammad al-Fatih and Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi led the Muslims to many victories. Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi ordered a piece of poetry written by Ibn Makiyy containing the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah to be broadcast from the tops of minarets and to be taught to the young children because he realized what unites Muslims and brings them victory is adhering to the teachings of the Prophet. This is why al-Junayd al-Baghdadiyy, ^Abdul Qadir al-Jaylaniyy, Shaykh Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy al-Kabir, and others among the great scholars said success is by following the steps of the Prophet. As Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi obtained. Ahl us-Sunnah hold fast to the creed taught by the Prophet. What is the matter with those people who stand up and negate this creed, and oppose the teachings of Muhammad, and have the audacity to claim they want to unite the Muslims? We tell those people, we do not resemble Allah to the creation. You say Allah sits on the ^Arsh which is the ceiling of Paradise. We say, “You and I sit. Allah is clear of that. Allah subjugated the ^Arsh and it is as Imam ^Aliyy said:
إن الله خلق العرش إظهارا لقدرته
Allah created the ^Arsh, which is the biggest of the creations in size, to give you and me an indication of the might and power of Allah. Allah did not take it as a place for Himself because Allah does not resemble the creation. He does not need places and He is clear of time.” We tell those people to stop injecting poison into the stream of Ahl us-Sunnah wal Jama^ah. We take pride in following the Prophet and we want to be among the ghuraba. We want to defend this creed. We love the Prophet and we want to celebrate his birth.
We are proud to celebrate the birth of the Prophet. The one who dares to label celebrating the birth of the Prophet as an innovation of misguidance doesn’t know what he is talking about. Obviously, he didn’t read or understand the verses in the Qur’an in which Allah praised the Muslim followers of Prophet ^Isa–those who went to the mountains to devote themselves to the worship of Allah, to practice ar-rahbaniyyah, that is to detach their hearts completely from the worldly events, and to devote themselves to the worship of Allah. Allah said in praising them:
وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ رِضْوَانِ اللَّهِ
which means: [They innovated this, and it was not written on them.] Allah praised them for their innovation.
We ask the one who claims celebrating the birth of the Prophet is an innovation of misguidance, “Don’t you know the hadith of the Prophet related by Muslim:
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : ( مَنْ سَنَّ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ سُنَّةً حَسَنَةً فَعُمِلَ بِهَا بَعْدَهُ كُتِبَ لَهُ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ مَنْ عَمِلَ بِهَا ، وَلَا يَنْقُصُ مِنْ أُجُورِهِمْ شَيْءٌ . وَمَنْ سَنَّ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ سُنَّةً سَيِّئَةً فَعُمِلَ بِهَا بَعْدَهُ كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِ مِثْلُ وِزْرِ مَنْ عَمِلَ بِهَا ، وَلَا يَنْقُصُ مِنْ أَوْزَارِهِمْ شَيْءٌ ) .
which means: <<He who innovates a good innovation in Islam, has its reward until the Day of the Judgment without lessening any of their rewards.>> They try to counter by saying, “But the Prophet said:
وَشَرُّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلُّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلُّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلُّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ
which literally means: <<…and every innovation pertains to misguidance.>> We tell them, “Yes, indeed, the Prophet did say this, except you are ignorant because you are not familiar with the terminology of the Qur’an nor the terminology of the hadith . Didn’t you read the verse in the Qur’an talking about the wind that Allah brought on Qawm ^Ad, to punish them for their blasphemy? In the verse, the term, kull, is used. Literally, kul means everything. However, it was used in this verse in the literary style known as al-^am al-makhsus, which means this is a general term which has a specific meaning. So this ayah does not mean that this wind literally destroyed everything–every tree and every mountain. and every house. Rather, it means that most of the things were demolished and destroyed, to reflect the intensity of the punishment. This is in the Qur’an.
Moreover, Ibn Hibban and others related the Prophet said:
ما أخرجه النسائي وابن خزيمة وابن حبان في صحيحيهما : أيما امرأة استعطرت فمرت على قوم ليجدوا ريحها فهي زانية وكل عين زانية . ورواه الحاكم وصححه .
Reading this hadith in it literal meaning, one would conclude that every woman who leaves her house wearing perfumes with the intention to block the way of foreign men to seduce them, then this is an act pertaining to adultery, and every eye commits adultery. That is every eye looks the forbidden look. Again, the word ‘kul’ is used in the literary style of ‘al-^am al-makhsus’ i.e., the general term that has a specific meaning. It means most of the looks people look are in the unlawful, or haram, category. The Prophet did not mean that every single eye, including hte eyes of the prophets commit that unlawful look, because they are clear of that. Also not included are the eyes of the one who was born blind and lived his whole life blind. This hadith is not including these cases, even though the word ‘kul’ or every is used. Rather this hadith revlects that most of hte looks are of the kind which is haram–again a general term used with a specific meaning. sYes, the Prophet said:
وَكُلُّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ
<<Every innovation is that of misguidance,>> however, the one who learns the terminology of hte Qur’an and the aadith would know the correct meaning i.e., most of hte innovations are of the kind that negate the Qur’an, negate the hadith, negate the ijma^a, and negate the athar–hence innovations of misguidance.
The methodology of Ahl us-Sunnah is to conform the meanings of hte hadith so as not to interpret one in a way which will contradict another. Those who interpret the hadiths by their own delusions don’t have an answer whe4n you question the contradiction arisixing between their interpreetation and the hadith related by Muslim:
مَنْ سَنَّ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ سُنَّةً حَسَنَةً فَعُمِلَ بِهَا بَعْدَهُ كُتِبَ لَهُ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ مَنْ عَمِلَ بِهَا وَلَا يَنْقُصُ مِنْ أُجُورِهِمْ شَيْءٌ
whicvh means: <<He who innovated a good innovation in Islam has its reward…>> Because they can’t escape the contradiction in the menaing between the two, their methodology is to say, “We want to ignore that hadith and stick to the other one,”–something not permissilbe to do in the Religion.
We cannot sit back quietly and let ill-willed people spread falsehoods in the name of our Religion. We are going to stand and fight this misguidance because we love the Prohet. Ahl us-sunnah will follow the path of ash-Shaykh ^Abdul Qadir al Jaylaniyy and Shaky Ahmad ar-Rifa^iyy, who stood up to protect the creed of ahl us-Sunnah. Imam ash-Shafi^iyy said: “Innovations are of two kinds, a good innovation and an innovation of misguidance. The innovation of misguidance is that which negates the Qur’an and negates the hadith and negates the ijma^ and negates the athar (the sayings of the companions). The good innovation is that which complies with the Qur’an, hadith, ijma^ and athar.
Celebrating the great occasion of the birth of the Prophet is among the good innovations. I had a debate with one of those who claim it to be an innovation of misguidance. He tol dme, “There is no such thing as a good innovation.” I told him, “Allah said in the Qur’an:
وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ
which means: [ They innovated the good innovation of Rahbaniyyah] ].
He said, “No, I don’t want to take that!” See how daring he is!!!
I told him, “Do you love ^Umar Ibnul-Khattab?” He said, “On the top of my head.” I said, “Do you know Muwata’ Malik? “He said, “Yes.” I told him, Do you know ^Umar innovated gathering the people around one imam to perform the tarawih prayers in Ramadan? Prior to that, people used to pray in small groups, not all in congregation behind one imam. The first one to innovate that was our master ^Umar, and when he saw them gathering behind one imam guess what he said. He said, “What a good innovation this is!”
There are so many examples around us of good innovations. ^Uthman Ibn ^Affan, innovation the second adhan for the Friday prayer. ^Umar Ibn ^Abdul Aziz, the great khalif ar-Rashid, was the first person to innovate the curved mihrabs (the concave structures in the mosques which points into the direction of the Qiblah). Before him, they were flat, not concave. The Honorable Qur’an itself was first written down without the dots on the letters. The letter ya’ did not have two dots underneath, the letter ta’ did not have two dots on top. Yahya Ibn Ya^mar was the first person to innovate this matter, and this is so because, praise be to Allah, Allah revealed to His prophet that it is rewardable for the scholars of the nation of Muhammad to innovate matters which comply with the Qur’an and the hadith and the ijma^ and the athar and that he who follows them and practice with such innovations will have great rewards.
Brother and sisters, hold on tightly and adhere to the principles and the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah and let me warn you and myself that the torture of Allah on the Day of judgment is something no one can bear. Make sure you leave this life as Muslim. Comply with the saying of Allah
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الْإِسْلَامُ
which means: [The religion to Allah is Islam], and comply to the saying of Allah
وَمَنْ يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الإسلام دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
which means: {He who elects a Religion for himself other than Islam, it will be rejected from him and he will be among the losers on the Day of Judgment.] The path of the genuine Sufis is the path the Prophet prescribed for us. For sure, success is in following the footsteps of the Prophet. So do not take those statements and ideas that are poisoning to the creed. Clear Allah of all non befitting attributes. Follow the example of ^Abdul Qadir al Jaylani when the devil came to him to bluff him and tell him, “O ^Abdul Qadir, I relieve you of prayers and other acts of worship.” ^Abdul Qadir knew immediately this was the devil, and he refused him. The devil asked him, “I have bluffed so many people before you, how did you know me?” It is simple. ^Abdul Qadir was a scholar and he adhered to the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah. He taught his students and the companions of al-Mustafa. He told him, “You came from a direction and Allah is clear of directions. You came taking the shape of a big illuminated body, and Allah is the Creator of light. You spoke with a sound and a voice, and Allah’s Speech is not like ours.” In brief, he applied the rules of tawhid and protected himself from the tricks of the devil.
Learn the knowledge. Protect yourselves. Do not surrender to groups who try to inject poison into the stream of Ahl us-Sunnah. Beware of a group which emerged some 50 years ago who revived the teachings of the Khawarij and the Bayhasiyyah, who in the past they objected to the judges that stood between Imam Aliyy and Mu^awiyyah, and they declared both of them to be blasphemous and later on they killed Imam Aliyy. And al bayhaisyyah is a group of Khawarij, who claim that all the rulers are blasphemous if they apply even a single rule which is not an Islamic rule, even if they hate that in their hearts even if they are overpowered, and they claim that even those who call the prayers on the minarets are also blasphemous if they follow them and they do not revolt against them. And those people today, we see them, circling around in countries like Syria and Egypt and Jordan and morocco and Algeria, and they are shedding the blood of Muslims. They are trying to assassinate the leaders of these countries, and they are trying to assassinate the soldiers, the subjects, and the farmers, because they are not revolting against the leaders. And as you know, the rule in Islam, that we do not declare a Muslim as blasphemer for committing a sin, unless he renders that sin lawful, then he would be blasphemous. But the rules in Islam, that if the person committed a sin by applying a rule which is not in the Qur’an, if he hates that in his heart and he rejects it, then he is a sinner, and for that sin we do not claim him as a kafir, and hence it is not lawful to kill him. Be aware of that group because today this is a serious element that threatens the unity of the Muslims.
O Allah I ask you by the Prophet O Allah I direct myself to you by the Prophet
O Allah I ask you by your Prophet, the Prophet of mercy to guide us to the knowledge and to the pious trustworthy Muslims who can teach us the correct obligatory know of Islam.
And to guide us to victory