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As-Salaam alaikum,




Ayat 57 of Surat Zariyat of the Holy Qur'an (51:57) reads:--




   "No sustenance do I require of them, nor do I require that




  they should feed Me."




This establishes the fact that Almighty Allah is free of needs and by definition beyond the concerns of whether man worships or serves Him or not. Man, however, for his/her own sake, needs to establish a relationship to Allah. This relationship is that of Abudiyyah (servitude)... as Allah Ta'ala points out in the Qur'an:--




     "I have only created jinns and men, that they may serve Me." (51:56)




Hidden, but discernible in this unique relationship of abject servitude, only to Allah, is the secret of the ultimate freedom of man from all other bondage(s). This servant of Allah, His sincere bondsman, is free of all earthly gods and goddesses... be they of power, wealth, beauty, race or color. We must serve Allah Ta'ala and turn to Him for guidance in all our endeavors..

As-Salaam alaikum,



The most revolutionary statement on earth, 'LA-ILAHA IL-LALLAHU, MUHAMMADUR-RASULULLAH' discerns between the Real and the Unreal, or between the Absolute and the Relative, or between Allah and Everything other than Allah, which is the Universe.


The Kalimat-Shahada is divided into 2 halves, the negation (LA-ILAHA) and the affirmation (ILLALLAHU). The first half denies the inherent reality of the world and the self; while the second half affirms the ultimacy of the Divine Reality. The Shahada means there is no creator but Allah, none Merciful but Allah, none Knowing but Allah.  In sum, it means that there is no reality but Allah Ta'ala..... and that all the so-called realities of our experience are secondary and derivative.


Says the Holy Qur'an: "Everything is perishing but His face." (28:88)   Here, Allah Ta'ala did not say ''will perish'', for He wanted it known that the existence of all things is perishing in His Being today. Only those veiled from the reality of things post pone the observance of this until tomorrow.  Allah's Reality is such that nothing can stand up to it, His Unique possession of all that is real and all that provides reality to others are in fact nonexistent. This is how our teachers interpret the saying of the Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, "Allah was, and nothing was with Him."



And by saying/affirming "MUHAMMAD RASULULLAH''... we say and believe that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah... he is a clear, designated manifestation of the One Real. In other words, he represents Allah Ta'ala more directly than other creatures. He and the Qur'an for which he is the vehicle are guiding lights in the darkness of unreal things.

As-Salaam alaikum,




In ayat 23 of Surat Anbiya of the Holy Qur'an (21:23), Allah Ta'ala says:--




   "La yus'alu anma yaf'alu... He cannot be questioned about what He does."




As observed by Sayyadi Ibn Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, in his Kitab al-Jalal wa-l Jamal, this ayat/verse is connected to irresistible force, the plane of Allah's transcendent power, and the establishment of Divine Sovereignty over the world.




When these attributes become fixed in the servant's heart, it is impossible for him to seek the reason for an occurrence or to raise any objection to it.... the remaining part of the verse reads.. "wa hum yus'aluun... but they will be questioned.."   Yes, we will be questioned for our acts, because as His creatures and servants, we are dependent and responsible to Allah Ta'ala... that basically we must live life on planet earth in accordance with the provisions of His Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah of His Last Messenger sent to the Universe.




 

As-Salaam alaikum,




To be successful in this worldly life and life in the Hereafter, get to know and firmly hold on to these 4 vital things, namely:--




(1) There is nothing that can oppose the Power of Allah, Tabaraka Wa Ta'ala.




(2) Allah Ta'ala has knowledge of everything.




(3) Allah is very tender and the Most Merciful.




(4) Allocations of Allah are good.




Contemplate the meanings of these 4 things/issues... be truthful in your turning to Allah, and do not turn to anything that does not concern you. Holding on to these 4 principles increases our himma (spiritual striving) and establish us in the station of reliance on Allah, yearning, acceptance and love of Allah and His Decrees.

As-Salaam alaikum,




May I have the pleasure of reminding us all that the Noble Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, mentioned that:--




   "The most beloved words to Allah are four:- SUBHAAN-ALLAH;  ALHAMDULILLAH; LA-ILAHA ILLALLAH and ALLAHU AKBAR.




   It makes no difference with which one you begin." [reciting]. (Sahih Muslim)




And very much related to this is the Prophet's saying:--




"To say 'Subhanallah' and 'Alhamdulillah' and 'Laa-ilaha illallah' and 'Allahu Akbar' is more beloved




to me than that from which the sun rises." (Sahih Muslim).




In otherwords, reciting these Noble phrases/words is more valuable than all this dunya and the universe. Indeed, this dunya does NOT weigh more than a wing of a mosquito in Allah's eyes as we learnt in the Hadith where the Prophet, alaihis-Salaat Was-Salaam, said:--




     "If the value of this dunya weighed the wing of a mosquito, Allah would




     never give a cup of water for the unbelievers to drink." (Tirmidhi)




In view of this, we should include the recital of these words that Allah Ta'ala loves, in our daily Zikr.... mornings and evenings...several times over (may be 100 times each),  when we sit to Remember Allah.




Best Wishes.

As-Salaam alaikum,




From whatever angle you examine it, Tawheed (the Absolute Oneness of Allah) in Islam is contained in 4 phrases as follows:--




Subhanallah (Glory be to Allah)




Alhamdulillah (All Thanks be to Allah)




La ilaha illallah (None is worthy of worship but Allah)




Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) and La hawla wala quwwata illa billah ( we have strength or power to do anything, except with Allah's leave)




Taken together these encompass Tawheed (worshipping Allah alone) and qadr (pre-decree).




Ibn Awfaa said that a man came to the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, and said: "I cannot learn the Qur'an, so teach me something that will suffice me. He said, [recite] Subhanallah, Walhamdulillah, Wa laa ilaha illallah, Wallahu akbar, Wala hawla walaa quwwata illa billah..." (Abu Dawud 832, Nisa'ee 2/143)




Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him reported: "Shall I  inform you of a phrase which is under the throne and from amongst the treasures of Paradise?" Say, 'La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah',  Allah will say: 'My Servant has submitted himself in intention, action and worship'. (Hakim, Darabi, Fath al Baari 11/501)




A servant does not control any of his/her affairs; he does not have the means to repel harm or the ability to attain goodness except by Allah's Will. A servant cannot change disobedience to obedience, sickness to health, weakness to strength, deficiency to perfection except by Allah's Help. What Allah wills happens and what He does not will won't happen. The affairs of creation are tied to His Decree and Pre-Destination, Tabaraka Wa Ta'ala.

As-Salaam alaikum,




In ayat 18 0f Surat Muhammad of the Holy Qur'an (47:18), we have read it where Allah Ta'ala says:--




"Faqad ja'a ashraatuha..."  meaning: "But some of its signs (of the Last Hour) have already come".




When mercy leaves hearts, people begin to fight, destroy and kill. Today we seem to be in that era, everywhere people are fighting among themselves and a whip comes from Heaven with unexpected terrible events like earthquakes, storms, floods and hurricanes. All of these are Signs of the Last Day... the Last Hour, but majority of people still do not go back to Allah, the Lord of Mankind and Jinn. Instead, they say 'It is nature'. As long as they say this, 'nature' will come against them every now and then....   Subhanallah!!

As-Salaam alaikum,




May I have your attention and remind you/us of Sheikh Abu'l Nasr al-Sarraj's advice that we should, at all times, establish ourselves and dedicate our efforts to:--




Distance yourself from "that which is forbidden, the major and the minor of it. Secondly, fulfill all religious obligations, the easy and




the difficult of them. The third is leaving the world (dunya) to the people of the world, the large and the small portions of it; except what




is necessary from it for the believer, which is what is narrated from the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, that he said:




       "Four things are in the dunya but not of it: a portion of food with which you satisfy your hunger; clothing that covers




      your nakedness; a home that you reside in and a wife that you find repose with."




Everything else beside this- from gathering, prohibiting, clinging to, love of increase and boastfulness- all of this is a severing veil that cuts the abd (slave) off from Allah."  So, take heed. Life in this world is rather short!!!




 




For further reading on this, see:




"Kitab al-Luma (The Book of Flashes)", by




Sheikh Abu'l Nasr al-Sarraj (d.378/988)

As-Salaam alaikum,




 Sayyadina Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi Wasallam, said:--




     "I am the city of knowledge, Abu Bakr is its foundation, Umar is its wall,




    Usman is its roof and Ali is its portal [gate]."  [Musnad-ul-Firdau, vol. 1 Hadith No. 105].