A Scent of Saintliness (32 Sohbats, 144 pages, 4/4)
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could see. Musa (as) was frightened and then he heard another thundering voice. On his left side were enormous cows, millions of them, as far as the eye could see. Again he heard voices of thunder and a thousand huge eagles were above him as far as the eye could see, all saying, “O Musa, you have asked for a very heavy thing. ”
The fourth time he heard an even greater voice from an angel in human form so big his head was not even visible Hesaid, “OMusa, you asked for something much too big. ”
Musa (as) sat on the mountain, to his right roaring lions, to his left bellowing cows, above him screaming eagles, and below him a thundering angel. He was surrounded. Another five times the thunder crashed and lightening flashed. It said, “Look Musa, look at the mountain before you. ”
Allah allowed a pinhole of light to descend on the mountain and that mountain shattered into seven pieces. These pieces became seven mountains between Mecca and Medina.
Mount Nur
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Mount Thawr Mount Uhud
- Haj ja Anne could not remember the three others but we found later that they are: Mt. Thabir in Mecca, and Mt. Warqan and Mt. Radwa in Madina.
}
}
This piece stayed floating between heaven and earth.
From the greatness of the lightening Musa (as) fainted. Jibrail (as) hugged him in his huge wings and his soul returned. He opened his eyes and asked forgiveness of Allah. Allah forgave him.
Musa (as) revived and looked around him. The mountain had become liquid and disappeared. But the light shone from Musa’s (as) face so brightly he could see it reflected in the stones. The light was so bright that normal humans would be blinded if they looked at his face.
“O my Lord,” Musa (as) asked. “How can I
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teach the Bani Israil if they cannot look at me?”
Allah told Musa (as) to get a piece of cloth, either from an alim’s robe or a poor man’s shirt, and shield his face with it.
Musa (as) went back to his wife. She was upset that he should cover himself from her, and begged him to uncover for her even though he warned her she would be blinded. She looked and became blind. He prayed for her and she regained her sight. She asked again to see the light and again she was blinded. She didn’t care. Seven times she asked to see the light and was blinded and then healed. Still she asked until the seventh time she no longer became blind but could look directly at the light on his face.
Allah said, “O Musa (as), your wife is stronger than you. Seven times she kept asking. You only asked once and then begged for forgiveness. ”
For many years Musa (as) covered his face when talking to his people. Finally they begged to see the light of Allah shining from his face. So he chose seventy strong, pure people and took them to Mt. Sinai. The people below heard a huge sound. The seventy people
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on the mountain had died.
Musa (as) asked Allah what to do because his people would never tolerate the deaths of seventy notables. Allah brought them back to life and they came down from the mountain. Musa (as) taught them the Torah.
They were required to pray fifty prayers a day, all the prayers in the temple. They had to pay one quarter of their income in zakat. They had to fast six months of the year from fajr to fajr. For wudu they had to wash everything seven times, like ghusl. Any dirt that got on their clothes could not be washed off but had to be cut out.
The Bani Israil found this all very difficult and heavy, so heavy they could not make sajda. They prayed standing until Jebel Sinai came floating above them. Now they pray with their left side down, their right side up to check that Mt. Sinai will not come down again on top of them.
Because of this S. Musa (as) told S. Muhammad (sas) on the Night Journey to ask Allah to reduce the fifty prayers given to the Muslims. Musa
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(as) kept telling Muhammad (sas) to return until only five prayers were required. Even these five Musa (as) thought were too many. However, every prayer counts as ten, the fast is for one month rather than six, and iftar is at maghrib. Ghusl is only once; clothes can be washed, and zakat is one fortieth, not one fourth. And we can pray anywhere on the earth not just in the temple.
Adepiction of the mount of Musa & of Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sainai by Dauzats
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Suhbat 27
Daud (as) had twelve brothers. They lived in the time of a terrible tyrant whose name
was Jalut. Jalut was very powerful, even one hundred men could not overcome him. He was an unbeliever. Jalut gathered together a huge army just to destroy the Bani Israil, the believers.
The twelve brothers of Daud (as) joined the Israili army to defend their country. Daud (as), being the youngest, stayed home with his parents to watch the sheep. He would milk the sheep and then walk miles to take the milk to his brothers.
One day on the way to the army with the milk, he heard voices coming from the road. The stones were speaking to him. These stones were what was left of the rock hit by Musa (as). They said, “Take us with you,” so he put them in his pocket.
As he approached the army encampment he
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heard their prophet telling the army to move on across the river to confront the army of Jalut. He ordered the army, however, not to drink from the river. “Who does not drink is of us. Who drinks is not of us. ” But it was very hot and the soldiers were thirsty. They went into the river and drank their fill.
The soldiers who did not drink were few and they prayed to Allah to aid them in defeating Jalut. They went to the battlefield and found Jalut’s army huge like an ocean, and the Muslims were very few.
Daud (as) followed behind. He heard the King say, “Whoever kills Jalut will marry my daughter and inherit my kingdom. ”
Jalut stood in the middle of the two armies and challenged themto single combat. Da’ud (as) answered him when everyone else was too afraid. But he was a small child and Jalut scoffed at him “Go away little boy. ” Daud (as) dismounted from his horse and took his sling from his pocket. One stone put out Jalut’s left eye. The second put out his right eye, and Jalut died.
Thearmybecameterrified of this child warrior, and they ran away. The King became jealous of Daud
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(as) and no longer wanted to give either his daughter or his kingdom.
Daud (as) was aware of the King’s hatred. He did not sleep in his bed anymore but put large wine skins in the bed covered with blankets. The king came to kill him. He stabbed the wineskins over and over, shouting, “Da’ud you are so bad, and you smell so bad,” because the wine was spilling out. Because of his jealousy he tried to kill Daud (as) but Daud (as) knew he couldn’t succeed.
S. Daud (as) had a very beautiful voice, especially when reading the Torah. To none other did Allah give such a beautiful voice.S. Daud (as) left the city and its one hundred thousand inhabitants followed him. They went into the desert to listen to him sing the praises of God Almighty. The birds gathered to hear him. There were so many that they made a shade for the people. The mountain also followed him in order to listen. Of the one hundred thousand that went out only forty thousand returned. Sixty thousand died from the beauty of Daud ’s (as) songs.
He made his living by making chain mail with his
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bare hands. The metal became soft like dough for him. Onedaywhilehewasmakingchainmail, S. Khidr (as) came to him. He waited politely until S. Daud (as) had finished. He said, “Alhumdulillah we finished one dress from iron. ” Khidr (as) said, “Alhumdulillah I don’t interfere with a person’s business. ” This was because even though S. Daud (as) had ninety-nine wives he still wanted to steal the one wife of his general.
He was finally forgiven for this and she later became the mother of S. Sulayman (as).
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Suhbat 28
In the old days there was a king whose name was Diglianus who ruled over the land
of Tarsus. He made all his people worship him like pharaoh. He had seven wazirs who looked after his kingdom. They were very hard working and every night they met to discuss the events of the day.
One night one wazir, looking from the window, saw the beautiful night and stars and thought how could it be that this king created all this beauty. He thought that tyrant could neither make it nor keep it.
Heasked the other wazirs to look but they saw only stars. “Could Diglianus have created all this? No, he is like us, a created being. ” They looked and felt relieved that there was a Creator watching over them.
These seven wazirs began to worship Allah, at night in secret. The devil was jealous of them. He went to Diglianus and told him his wazirs were worshipping
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other than him. The king called them in and asked whom they worshipped.
The One Who feeds us, they answered. So Diglianus figured that must be himself and he let them go free.
They went on worshipping Allah. The devil went again to the king and said to him, ask them the name of the one they worship. The eldest, Yamlikha, said, “You are like us. Who created you and all you eat and all around you, that is Who we worship. ”
The king was angry. He imprisoned them and planned to behead them. But the next day was the beginning of a yearly festival where they all went into the wilderness for a month of revelry. So the king planned to keep the wazirs in prison until he returned.
Yamlikha saw in a dream a man with a golden ball which he threw at the lock on the prison door. The lock broke and they escaped.
He began talking with the guards and won their sympathy. He told them that he used to be powerful and he would soon be so again. At that time he would reward them. He convinced the guards to get a golden
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ball and play with it against the lock until it broke.
The seven wazirs escaped and fled to a secret cave. Inside they found a shepherd who was happy to provide them with his tattered clothing in exchange for their rich robes. The shepherd was also a believer. He advised them to hide in the cave and his dog followed them. The shepherd loved that dog and didn’t want to leave him. They threw stones at the dog to try and make it go away. But he stood on his hind legs and made shahada and begged to be allowed to stay and guard them. So the shepherd left him.
When the king and his people finished the festival, they returned to find the prisoners gone. Allah covered their tracks and they were not found.
The seven wazirs fell asleep in the cave. For three hundred years they slept. When they awoke they wondered howlongtheyhad beenasleep.Theythought it had been maybe one day. They were hungry. So they decided one of them should sneak to town and buy food. One of them left the cave and found the nearby lake dry and the old oak broken and dead, so different from the night before he thought.
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He went to the market and there everything was really different. He went to the bakery but the coin he used to pay for the bread attracted a lot of attention. It was an antique and very valuable. The baker thought he must have found buried treasure. He begged the wazir to share it with him. Thewazir did not understand. They began to argue and a crowd gathered. The police came and took him to the king.
On entering the palace the wazir saw written above the throne, La ilaha ila Allah, Isa Rasulullah. The wazir asked if Diglianus had returned from his festival. Then they began to understand. Diglianus was the king three hundred years ago.
When the wazir heard he was dead he told the people the real story. They could not believe him. So they asked if he could think of any proof. He remembered that he had hidden a treasure beneath the floor of his house, but he could no longer recognize where anything was located. It took an angel to guide him to the spot where his house had used to be.
They dug and found the treasure. They remembered an old tale of the seven wazirs who had
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disappeared, and asked to see the others.
He asked them to let him go first and tell the others the news that they had become an ayat min ayatu Allah – a sign among the signs of God - and that Diglianus was long dead.
To prevent them from becoming a tourist attraction Allah closed the rock door of the cave enclosing the seven forever. The people never did see the other six. They ended up building a mosque over the spot.
When they woke all seven were alive except the dog who had been turned to stone.
While on the Night Journey the Prophet (sas) passed by the cave and gave them salams.
The dog is one of the ten animals to go to Paradise.
The ten are:
The Dog of the sleepers
The Hudhud of Sulayman (as) The Camel of Muhammad (sas) The Camel of Saleh (as)
The Fish of Yunus (as) The Sheep of Ismail (as) The Donkey of Uzair (as)
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The Ant of Sulayman (as)
The Yellow cow at the time of Musa (as)
The names of the sleepers were: Yamlikha
Mathlina Marnosh Makthalina Dabaryosh Kafastatyosh Zannosh
And their dog was Qatmir.
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Suhbat 29
One day the Prophet (sas) was sitting in his mosque when two, clean, handsome young
men appeared. They gave salams. “Where are you coming from?” the Prophet (sas) asked.
“We come from long ago,” they answered. “We worshipped Allah long ago and we heard of words more beautiful than any others that ever exosted. From all of Allah’s 124,000 Books these were reported to be the most beautiful, and they would only appear at the end of time, in the last Book of all. So we worshipped one thousand years until Allah asked what gift He could give us. Weasked to please to hear those beautiful words, the surat al-Fatihah. ”
Allah gave them no answer. So they prayed another one thousand years. Then Allah answered them. He said, “This surat is only for My Beloved Muhammad (sas) and his community. ”
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The men prayed another one thousand years until Allah again asked them what gift He could give them. They replied, “Since we cannot be given al-Fatihah then let us live long enough to be part of his community, to greet him, and hear al-Fatihah, even if only once. Then we will be content to die. ”
These two men were Khidr (as) and Ilyas (as).
They made shahada with the Prophet (sas) and with that they were content. They were no longer Prophets but just members of the umma/community of Muhammad (sas). They asked him please to recite al-Fatihah for them. He recited for them and then they recited with him. Then they said together, “Amin,” which means, O Allah please accept our prayer.
They asked, “O Rasulullah, what is the reward of reading al-Fatihah?”
“If Allah gave me life until the end of time it would not be enough to tell you all the benefits, ” answered the Prophet (sas). “So I will tell you the benefits of the Amin.”
“Alif is written on the Throne of Allah (arsh). Mim is on His footstool (kursi).
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Ya is on the preserved Tablet (lawh). Nun is on the pen (qalam).
The four come together in Amin.”
“Tell us more,” said the two men.
“Alif is written on the forehead of Israfil (as). Mim is written on the forhead of Mikail (as). Ya is written on the forhead of Jibrail (as).
Nun is written on the forehead of Azrail (as).
Whoever says Amin takes benefit from these four angels. ’
“Please tell us more,” they said. “Alif is written in the Torah.
Mim is written in the Zabour. Ya is written in the Injil.
Nun is written in the Qur’an.
Whoever says sincerely Amin after al-Fatihah it is as if he had read all four books. ”
Do you want more?” “Oh yes, ” they said.
“Alif is written on the forehead of S. Abu Bakr
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(ra)
Mim is written on S. Omar (ra). Ya is written on S. Uthman (ra).
Nun is written on S. Ali (ra).Whoever says the
Amin takes benefit from these four sahaba. ”
The two men were about to make du’a to ask Allah to take their souls because their wish had been fulfilled when the Prophet (sas) stopped them. He said, “Allah gave you long life and power. My umma is weak and they need you. ”
So Allah gave them long life to serve the umma of S. Muhammad (sas), Ilyas (as) on the sea and Khidr (as) on the land.
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Suhbat 30
In the time of the Bani Israil there was a pregnant lady who was traveling by boat.
In the middle of the sea the boat broke in pieces and all aboard were drowned except the pregnant lady. She found a piece of wood and it carried her to an island. The island was green and covered with trees but there were no people there.
She gave birth and nursed her baby there. For one year she lived on fruit and spring water. Then she died. Her baby boy was left alone on his own on this island.
The woman died lying on her right side. This side rotted but the upper side stayed whole and the baby still nursed from it until his two years were done. Then she disappeared.
The boy drank water and ate fruit until he was big. When he was old enough Allah gave him guidance,
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teaching him to pray and worship from inspiration. He was given long life, five hundred years, and in all that time he never made any sin. After five hundred years Azrail (as) came to take his soul.
“Let me wash and pray and you can take me while in sujud, ” said the man.
S. Jibrail (as) passed by and saw his body still in sujud and he told this story to the Prophet Muhammad (sas). On the Day of Judgment Allah will ask, “Shall I put you in Paradise by My Mercy or shall I judge you by your good works (ibada)?”
That man will say that he spent 500 years in worship and never committed a sin. He will want to earn Paradise by his good deeds.
So Allah will ask him, “Were you grateful for all My gifts?” And He will weigh His gifts against the man’s works. The very first of Allah’s gifts are the eyes and their value will weigh heavier than all the man’s 500 years of worship.
“Now My servant your works are canceled but you have no sin. ”
He was put in Araf, between Heaven and Hell,
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the place for those whose good deeds and sins are equal, or for those with no sins. This place is similar to Dunya. You work and you take care of yourself. It is not like Heaven where you need do no work at all. Here they need to work in order to live and they can see both the people of Heaven and the people of Hell.
That man will begin to repent. He will say “O Allah, I made a big sin please forgive me and put me in Paradise. ”
A voice will answer him, “O My servant, all the people on the boat drowned except you and your mother. You were saved. Even dead your mother stayed to nurse you. ”
“O my Lord, You gave me that!” “Who gave you fresh water?”
“O my Lord, You. ”
“Who showed you True Guidance?” “O my Lord, You. ”
Allah in this way will show him all the gifts he had received. The man will cry, “O my Lord, in Your Great Mercy, let me enter Paradise. ”
So Allah will allow him to enter Paradise but
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only after Judgment and long trials.
“You could have gone directly to Heaven,” he was told, “had you relied on Allah’s Mercy rather than your own good deeds. ”
He will acknowledge his mistake and ask forgiveness. Some people, however, are stubborn. They continue to deny their sins. Allah will tell them what they did and still they will deny. So Allah will bring, for instance, the goat a man stole and it will testify against him: “This man stole me. ”
“What?” the man will say, “I don’t listen to animals. ”
Then Allah will make his eyes testify: “I saw him steal. ”
“What?” the man will say, “You believe a turncoat and a betrayer?”
Then his hands will testify: “We stole. ”
“What?” the man will say, “If they told the truth they wouldn’t give witness. ”
His legs will testify that they walked to the place to steal.
“What?” the man will say, “How can you believe
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a traitor?”
Finally, after all the testimony, the man will admit his guilt and ask forgiveness. Whoever repents quickly is quickly forgiven. Whoever waits is forgiven also but only after a long time.
Men who never finish denying are punished here and hereafter.
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Suhbat 31
When Amr ibn al ‘As (ra) entered Egypt everyone became Muslim but there
was no mosque. He wanted to find a good place near the center of town. They found the perfect piece of land. This land was owned by a Jew who refused to sell for any price because he did not want a mosque built. They offered two times, three times, four times the value. But the Jew declared that even for ten times the value it was not for sale. Finally they gave him ten times the value and took the land by force. They began to build.
The Jew complained that the Muslims had stolen his land. But since it was the governor, Amr ibn al ’As (ra), who had ordered it, the Jew could get no justice in Egypt. He decided to go the Khalif, Omar ibn al- Khattab (ra), in Medina.
So the Jew went to Medina and was looking for the Khalif ’s palace. He was told that the Khalif lived
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in a mud house just like everyone else. He knocked at the door but was told that Omar (ra) was not there. Omar (ra) spent every night guarding the city and during the day he rested in his garden on the ground under a palm tree.
The Jew found Omar (ra) in the garden, lying on the sand covered with his abaya, his sweat pouring into the ground. The Jew wondered how this could be the king, on the ground, with no guards around him. I will kill him, thought the Jew. But just then, in his sleep, Omar (ra) turned towards the Jew.
His dagger in his hand, so much hatred in his face, the Jew began to tremble. The dagger fell from his hand. S. Omar (ra) awoke and said, “Come my brother, whatever your religion, and tell me your problem. ” Slowly the Jew approached. He said, “Your government wants to take my land for a mosque but I don’t want to sell it. Even if the price they offered me is more than fair. ”
S. Omar (ra) turned different colors, like one being whipped, from white to red to black. “I will write a letter for you. They should return your land to you just as it
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was, even if they have to tear down the mosque. ” Omar (ra) gave the Jew a letter with only two lines of writing on it. The Jew thought that he was being made fun of and he left for Egypt still fuming with anger.
He went directly to Amr ibn al ‘As (ra). He found him surrounded by many people. They emptied the place and the Jew gave Amr (ra) the letter from Omar (ra). Amr (ra) read and fainted. For three hours he remained unconscious. When he awoke he said, “I will tell you a story. ”
“There were two young men, very rich and powerful and proud. They decided to tour the world. They bought two fine Arab horses and began their adventure spending every night in a new place. They went all the way to Isfahan in Persia. There they found a hotel with places for the horses below and the people above. They left their horses for the owner to care for and they went upstairs to sleep.
“They woke in the morning and found a crowd of people surrounding the hotel. The hotel owner had two horses and a bag of gold for each of the men. He said to them, ‘You Arabs take these horses and the gold and
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leave for your own country. We will keep your horses in exchange because the king’s son has fallen in love with them. He insists on buying them from you. ’
“But the two young men were proud and they had no intention or desire to trade. They wanted their own horses. The people counseled them to ask for more gold but not to make trouble. But they were angry and hot tempered and they refused all offers of payment. They insisted on getting their horses back.
“The king called them in. They found their horses there covered in gold and beautiful Persian carpets as gifts for them.
“The king’s face was as white as chalk. He offered them each a bag of gold. The king said, ‘Take your horses and your gold and leave here immediately. I don’t ever want to see your faces again. This city has two gates. You must each leave by a different one and meet up later. You must tell each other what you saw and do not ever return. ’
“The two men were happy with the horses and the gold. One went through one gate and saw a severed head hanging and dripping blood. The other went
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through the second gate and there he saw a body without a head hanging and dripping blood.
“It was only when they met up that they figured out that the King, a stern but just ruler, had punished his only son for taking their horses without their consent. The two men felt terrible for causing this tragedy. ”
One of the young men was Omar ibn al Khattab (ra) and the other was Amr ibn al ’As (ra).
In the letter Omar (ra) had written, “O my brother, the King of Isfahan was not even a Muslim. Now as Muslims can we be less just than he?”
So Amr (ra) told the Jew that he was returning his land and pulling down the mosque. And he asked for forgiveness.
The Jew was astonished that this would be done for him. He became Muslim on the spot and gave the land as a sadaqa and even paid for the building of the mosque.
Then he gave all the land he owned and paid for mosques to be built on them.
The mosque of Amr ibn al ’As (ra) still stands near the old synagogue in Cairo.
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When S. Omar (ra) first accepted Islam the Prophet (sas) instructed the Muslims to begin to pray out loud instead of silently because with Omar (ra) they had a powerful champion and protector.
Once when he had removed his shirt to work he felt the sun burning on his back. He gave one glance at the sun and immediately it hid behind some clouds. If S. Omar (ra) had not allowed it to return it would have stayed clouded forever.
When S. Omar (ra) died a shepherd on a far mountain began to wail, “Omar the Khalif (ra) is dead. ”
“How do you know this?” they asked him. “My sheep are used to drinking from the river safe from the wolf but just now I saw the wolves descending to attack them. I knew then that S. Omar (ra) must be dead. ” One day S. Hassan and S. Hussain (ra) saw Omar (ra) writing by the light of a candle. They gave him salams but he did not return them until much later when the whole candle had burned down and he had
lit another.
S. Ali (ra) was very upset at the length of time
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it took for S. Omar (ra) to return greetings and he questioned Omar (ra) about it. S. Omar (ra) said that the first candle belonged to the state and he had no right wasting the peoples’ money in conversation. The second candle was his own property and he could do as he liked by its light.
S. Ali (ra) said no one will be able to follow your example.
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Suhbat 32
There came the order for war but there was no money in the Muslim treasury to outfit
an army. The Prophet (sas) ordered all the Muslims to give what they could afford:
S. Omar (ra) responded immediately with half of all his wealth for the army.
But S. Abu Bakr (ra) came and gave all of his substantial wealth to the Muslim treasury.
S. Omar (ra) said that it was impossible to compete with S. Abu Bakr (ra). He was always far ahead of anyone else.
One day S. Jibrail (as) came to visit the Prophet (sas) dressed only in a straw mat. Muhammad (sas) asked him about this. He said S. Abu Bakr (ra)
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gave all his possessions away and he had only a straw mat to cover himself so Allah ordered all the angels to dress in the same manner.
S. Abu Bakr (ra) gave away everything even his clothes. Hewas sitting inside his house in his underclothes when a beggar came by and knocked. S. Abu Bakr (ra) gave him his undershirt. The beggar asked for more in the names of Allah and the Prophet (sas). From behind the door S. Abu Bakr (ra) handed out his underpants. Then he pulled up the straw floor mat to cover himself. Allah was so pleased that He made all the angels dress in straw mats.
There is a Hadith that if you weighed the faith of Abu Bakr (ra) against the faith of all the rest of the umma/Muslim community, the faith of Abu Bakr (ra) would weigh heavier.
“First the Prophet (sas), then Abu Bakr (ra), then Salman (ra).
Ya Sayeed, ya saheeb, ya siddiq, ya Rasul, ya
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Allah. ”
Whenever you mention the name of a sahaba (ra) or the name of the Prophet (sas) they will surely come to visit you, either in spirit or in body.
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This collection of sohbats of Hajja Aminah Adil was recorded during a
visit to Lefke, Cyprus between June 27th and July 30th of the year 2004. Some of them were told to the group of women who gathered around the large table in the Shaykh’s house every afternoon. Some of them were given after she led the women in
Dhikr on Monday afternoons in the women’s guesthouse.
Hajja Amina was well known for her stories. She gathered them from many sources. These sohbets were given in either Arabic or Turkish. They were a vehicle for giving advice and passing on wis- dom. When she was asked a question she often replied with a story. She told these stories to her four children when they were growing up. Then she began telling them to the murids of the Shaykh who gathered, like her children, around her. Many prominent ladies of the Middle East, Asia and Europe leaned forward at the table, eyes shining, begging her to tell more.
She had a repertoire of stories that she told over and over again. Every time she told them they were a little different. They changed as the people and the situations changed. She had a way of telling them that engaged and captivated everyone. They were a source of entertainment but they also provided subtle guidance and insight and understanding that lasts a lifetime. That is why we feel it is so important to pass them on to those who did not have the opportunity to experience themselves.
This first collection of sohbats is being offered freely by Saltanat, the official site of Shaykh Nazim Al Haqqani, for all to appreciate and use. The only requirement for their use is that the www.saltanat.org website be clearly credited so that anyone wishing to find more informa- tion can easily track the source.
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could see. Musa (as) was frightened and then he heard another thundering voice. On his left side were enormous cows, millions of them, as far as the eye could see. Again he heard voices of thunder and a thousand huge eagles were above him as far as the eye could see, all saying, “O Musa, you have asked for a very heavy thing. ”
The fourth time he heard an even greater voice from an angel in human form so big his head was not even visible Hesaid, “OMusa, you asked for something much too big. ”
Musa (as) sat on the mountain, to his right roaring lions, to his left bellowing cows, above him screaming eagles, and below him a thundering angel. He was surrounded. Another five times the thunder crashed and lightening flashed. It said, “Look Musa, look at the mountain before you. ”
Allah allowed a pinhole of light to descend on the mountain and that mountain shattered into seven pieces. These pieces became seven mountains between Mecca and Medina.
Mount Nur
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Mount Thawr Mount Uhud
- Haj ja Anne could not remember the three others but we found later that they are: Mt. Thabir in Mecca, and Mt. Warqan and Mt. Radwa in Madina.
}
}
This piece stayed floating between heaven and earth.
From the greatness of the lightening Musa (as) fainted. Jibrail (as) hugged him in his huge wings and his soul returned. He opened his eyes and asked forgiveness of Allah. Allah forgave him.
Musa (as) revived and looked around him. The mountain had become liquid and disappeared. But the light shone from Musa’s (as) face so brightly he could see it reflected in the stones. The light was so bright that normal humans would be blinded if they looked at his face.
“O my Lord,” Musa (as) asked. “How can I
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teach the Bani Israil if they cannot look at me?”
Allah told Musa (as) to get a piece of cloth, either from an alim’s robe or a poor man’s shirt, and shield his face with it.
Musa (as) went back to his wife. She was upset that he should cover himself from her, and begged him to uncover for her even though he warned her she would be blinded. She looked and became blind. He prayed for her and she regained her sight. She asked again to see the light and again she was blinded. She didn’t care. Seven times she asked to see the light and was blinded and then healed. Still she asked until the seventh time she no longer became blind but could look directly at the light on his face.
Allah said, “O Musa (as), your wife is stronger than you. Seven times she kept asking. You only asked once and then begged for forgiveness. ”
For many years Musa (as) covered his face when talking to his people. Finally they begged to see the light of Allah shining from his face. So he chose seventy strong, pure people and took them to Mt. Sinai. The people below heard a huge sound. The seventy people
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on the mountain had died.
Musa (as) asked Allah what to do because his people would never tolerate the deaths of seventy notables. Allah brought them back to life and they came down from the mountain. Musa (as) taught them the Torah.
They were required to pray fifty prayers a day, all the prayers in the temple. They had to pay one quarter of their income in zakat. They had to fast six months of the year from fajr to fajr. For wudu they had to wash everything seven times, like ghusl. Any dirt that got on their clothes could not be washed off but had to be cut out.
The Bani Israil found this all very difficult and heavy, so heavy they could not make sajda. They prayed standing until Jebel Sinai came floating above them. Now they pray with their left side down, their right side up to check that Mt. Sinai will not come down again on top of them.
Because of this S. Musa (as) told S. Muhammad (sas) on the Night Journey to ask Allah to reduce the fifty prayers given to the Muslims. Musa
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(as) kept telling Muhammad (sas) to return until only five prayers were required. Even these five Musa (as) thought were too many. However, every prayer counts as ten, the fast is for one month rather than six, and iftar is at maghrib. Ghusl is only once; clothes can be washed, and zakat is one fortieth, not one fourth. And we can pray anywhere on the earth not just in the temple.
Adepiction of the mount of Musa & of Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sainai by Dauzats
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Suhbat 27
Daud (as) had twelve brothers. They lived in the time of a terrible tyrant whose name
was Jalut. Jalut was very powerful, even one hundred men could not overcome him. He was an unbeliever. Jalut gathered together a huge army just to destroy the Bani Israil, the believers.
The twelve brothers of Daud (as) joined the Israili army to defend their country. Daud (as), being the youngest, stayed home with his parents to watch the sheep. He would milk the sheep and then walk miles to take the milk to his brothers.
One day on the way to the army with the milk, he heard voices coming from the road. The stones were speaking to him. These stones were what was left of the rock hit by Musa (as). They said, “Take us with you,” so he put them in his pocket.
As he approached the army encampment he
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heard their prophet telling the army to move on across the river to confront the army of Jalut. He ordered the army, however, not to drink from the river. “Who does not drink is of us. Who drinks is not of us. ” But it was very hot and the soldiers were thirsty. They went into the river and drank their fill.
The soldiers who did not drink were few and they prayed to Allah to aid them in defeating Jalut. They went to the battlefield and found Jalut’s army huge like an ocean, and the Muslims were very few.
Daud (as) followed behind. He heard the King say, “Whoever kills Jalut will marry my daughter and inherit my kingdom. ”
Jalut stood in the middle of the two armies and challenged themto single combat. Da’ud (as) answered him when everyone else was too afraid. But he was a small child and Jalut scoffed at him “Go away little boy. ” Daud (as) dismounted from his horse and took his sling from his pocket. One stone put out Jalut’s left eye. The second put out his right eye, and Jalut died.
Thearmybecameterrified of this child warrior, and they ran away. The King became jealous of Daud
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(as) and no longer wanted to give either his daughter or his kingdom.
Daud (as) was aware of the King’s hatred. He did not sleep in his bed anymore but put large wine skins in the bed covered with blankets. The king came to kill him. He stabbed the wineskins over and over, shouting, “Da’ud you are so bad, and you smell so bad,” because the wine was spilling out. Because of his jealousy he tried to kill Daud (as) but Daud (as) knew he couldn’t succeed.
S. Daud (as) had a very beautiful voice, especially when reading the Torah. To none other did Allah give such a beautiful voice.S. Daud (as) left the city and its one hundred thousand inhabitants followed him. They went into the desert to listen to him sing the praises of God Almighty. The birds gathered to hear him. There were so many that they made a shade for the people. The mountain also followed him in order to listen. Of the one hundred thousand that went out only forty thousand returned. Sixty thousand died from the beauty of Daud ’s (as) songs.
He made his living by making chain mail with his
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bare hands. The metal became soft like dough for him. Onedaywhilehewasmakingchainmail, S. Khidr (as) came to him. He waited politely until S. Daud (as) had finished. He said, “Alhumdulillah we finished one dress from iron. ” Khidr (as) said, “Alhumdulillah I don’t interfere with a person’s business. ” This was because even though S. Daud (as) had ninety-nine wives he still wanted to steal the one wife of his general.
He was finally forgiven for this and she later became the mother of S. Sulayman (as).
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Suhbat 28
In the old days there was a king whose name was Diglianus who ruled over the land
of Tarsus. He made all his people worship him like pharaoh. He had seven wazirs who looked after his kingdom. They were very hard working and every night they met to discuss the events of the day.
One night one wazir, looking from the window, saw the beautiful night and stars and thought how could it be that this king created all this beauty. He thought that tyrant could neither make it nor keep it.
Heasked the other wazirs to look but they saw only stars. “Could Diglianus have created all this? No, he is like us, a created being. ” They looked and felt relieved that there was a Creator watching over them.
These seven wazirs began to worship Allah, at night in secret. The devil was jealous of them. He went to Diglianus and told him his wazirs were worshipping
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other than him. The king called them in and asked whom they worshipped.
The One Who feeds us, they answered. So Diglianus figured that must be himself and he let them go free.
They went on worshipping Allah. The devil went again to the king and said to him, ask them the name of the one they worship. The eldest, Yamlikha, said, “You are like us. Who created you and all you eat and all around you, that is Who we worship. ”
The king was angry. He imprisoned them and planned to behead them. But the next day was the beginning of a yearly festival where they all went into the wilderness for a month of revelry. So the king planned to keep the wazirs in prison until he returned.
Yamlikha saw in a dream a man with a golden ball which he threw at the lock on the prison door. The lock broke and they escaped.
He began talking with the guards and won their sympathy. He told them that he used to be powerful and he would soon be so again. At that time he would reward them. He convinced the guards to get a golden
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ball and play with it against the lock until it broke.
The seven wazirs escaped and fled to a secret cave. Inside they found a shepherd who was happy to provide them with his tattered clothing in exchange for their rich robes. The shepherd was also a believer. He advised them to hide in the cave and his dog followed them. The shepherd loved that dog and didn’t want to leave him. They threw stones at the dog to try and make it go away. But he stood on his hind legs and made shahada and begged to be allowed to stay and guard them. So the shepherd left him.
When the king and his people finished the festival, they returned to find the prisoners gone. Allah covered their tracks and they were not found.
The seven wazirs fell asleep in the cave. For three hundred years they slept. When they awoke they wondered howlongtheyhad beenasleep.Theythought it had been maybe one day. They were hungry. So they decided one of them should sneak to town and buy food. One of them left the cave and found the nearby lake dry and the old oak broken and dead, so different from the night before he thought.
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He went to the market and there everything was really different. He went to the bakery but the coin he used to pay for the bread attracted a lot of attention. It was an antique and very valuable. The baker thought he must have found buried treasure. He begged the wazir to share it with him. Thewazir did not understand. They began to argue and a crowd gathered. The police came and took him to the king.
On entering the palace the wazir saw written above the throne, La ilaha ila Allah, Isa Rasulullah. The wazir asked if Diglianus had returned from his festival. Then they began to understand. Diglianus was the king three hundred years ago.
When the wazir heard he was dead he told the people the real story. They could not believe him. So they asked if he could think of any proof. He remembered that he had hidden a treasure beneath the floor of his house, but he could no longer recognize where anything was located. It took an angel to guide him to the spot where his house had used to be.
They dug and found the treasure. They remembered an old tale of the seven wazirs who had
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disappeared, and asked to see the others.
He asked them to let him go first and tell the others the news that they had become an ayat min ayatu Allah – a sign among the signs of God - and that Diglianus was long dead.
To prevent them from becoming a tourist attraction Allah closed the rock door of the cave enclosing the seven forever. The people never did see the other six. They ended up building a mosque over the spot.
When they woke all seven were alive except the dog who had been turned to stone.
While on the Night Journey the Prophet (sas) passed by the cave and gave them salams.
The dog is one of the ten animals to go to Paradise.
The ten are:
The Dog of the sleepers
The Hudhud of Sulayman (as) The Camel of Muhammad (sas) The Camel of Saleh (as)
The Fish of Yunus (as) The Sheep of Ismail (as) The Donkey of Uzair (as)
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The Ant of Sulayman (as)
The Yellow cow at the time of Musa (as)
The names of the sleepers were: Yamlikha
Mathlina Marnosh Makthalina Dabaryosh Kafastatyosh Zannosh
And their dog was Qatmir.
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Suhbat 29
One day the Prophet (sas) was sitting in his mosque when two, clean, handsome young
men appeared. They gave salams. “Where are you coming from?” the Prophet (sas) asked.
“We come from long ago,” they answered. “We worshipped Allah long ago and we heard of words more beautiful than any others that ever exosted. From all of Allah’s 124,000 Books these were reported to be the most beautiful, and they would only appear at the end of time, in the last Book of all. So we worshipped one thousand years until Allah asked what gift He could give us. Weasked to please to hear those beautiful words, the surat al-Fatihah. ”
Allah gave them no answer. So they prayed another one thousand years. Then Allah answered them. He said, “This surat is only for My Beloved Muhammad (sas) and his community. ”
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The men prayed another one thousand years until Allah again asked them what gift He could give them. They replied, “Since we cannot be given al-Fatihah then let us live long enough to be part of his community, to greet him, and hear al-Fatihah, even if only once. Then we will be content to die. ”
These two men were Khidr (as) and Ilyas (as).
They made shahada with the Prophet (sas) and with that they were content. They were no longer Prophets but just members of the umma/community of Muhammad (sas). They asked him please to recite al-Fatihah for them. He recited for them and then they recited with him. Then they said together, “Amin,” which means, O Allah please accept our prayer.
They asked, “O Rasulullah, what is the reward of reading al-Fatihah?”
“If Allah gave me life until the end of time it would not be enough to tell you all the benefits, ” answered the Prophet (sas). “So I will tell you the benefits of the Amin.”
“Alif is written on the Throne of Allah (arsh). Mim is on His footstool (kursi).
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Ya is on the preserved Tablet (lawh). Nun is on the pen (qalam).
The four come together in Amin.”
“Tell us more,” said the two men.
“Alif is written on the forehead of Israfil (as). Mim is written on the forhead of Mikail (as). Ya is written on the forhead of Jibrail (as).
Nun is written on the forehead of Azrail (as).
Whoever says Amin takes benefit from these four angels. ’
“Please tell us more,” they said. “Alif is written in the Torah.
Mim is written in the Zabour. Ya is written in the Injil.
Nun is written in the Qur’an.
Whoever says sincerely Amin after al-Fatihah it is as if he had read all four books. ”
Do you want more?” “Oh yes, ” they said.
“Alif is written on the forehead of S. Abu Bakr
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(ra)
Mim is written on S. Omar (ra). Ya is written on S. Uthman (ra).
Nun is written on S. Ali (ra).Whoever says the
Amin takes benefit from these four sahaba. ”
The two men were about to make du’a to ask Allah to take their souls because their wish had been fulfilled when the Prophet (sas) stopped them. He said, “Allah gave you long life and power. My umma is weak and they need you. ”
So Allah gave them long life to serve the umma of S. Muhammad (sas), Ilyas (as) on the sea and Khidr (as) on the land.
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Suhbat 30
In the time of the Bani Israil there was a pregnant lady who was traveling by boat.
In the middle of the sea the boat broke in pieces and all aboard were drowned except the pregnant lady. She found a piece of wood and it carried her to an island. The island was green and covered with trees but there were no people there.
She gave birth and nursed her baby there. For one year she lived on fruit and spring water. Then she died. Her baby boy was left alone on his own on this island.
The woman died lying on her right side. This side rotted but the upper side stayed whole and the baby still nursed from it until his two years were done. Then she disappeared.
The boy drank water and ate fruit until he was big. When he was old enough Allah gave him guidance,
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teaching him to pray and worship from inspiration. He was given long life, five hundred years, and in all that time he never made any sin. After five hundred years Azrail (as) came to take his soul.
“Let me wash and pray and you can take me while in sujud, ” said the man.
S. Jibrail (as) passed by and saw his body still in sujud and he told this story to the Prophet Muhammad (sas). On the Day of Judgment Allah will ask, “Shall I put you in Paradise by My Mercy or shall I judge you by your good works (ibada)?”
That man will say that he spent 500 years in worship and never committed a sin. He will want to earn Paradise by his good deeds.
So Allah will ask him, “Were you grateful for all My gifts?” And He will weigh His gifts against the man’s works. The very first of Allah’s gifts are the eyes and their value will weigh heavier than all the man’s 500 years of worship.
“Now My servant your works are canceled but you have no sin. ”
He was put in Araf, between Heaven and Hell,
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the place for those whose good deeds and sins are equal, or for those with no sins. This place is similar to Dunya. You work and you take care of yourself. It is not like Heaven where you need do no work at all. Here they need to work in order to live and they can see both the people of Heaven and the people of Hell.
That man will begin to repent. He will say “O Allah, I made a big sin please forgive me and put me in Paradise. ”
A voice will answer him, “O My servant, all the people on the boat drowned except you and your mother. You were saved. Even dead your mother stayed to nurse you. ”
“O my Lord, You gave me that!” “Who gave you fresh water?”
“O my Lord, You. ”
“Who showed you True Guidance?” “O my Lord, You. ”
Allah in this way will show him all the gifts he had received. The man will cry, “O my Lord, in Your Great Mercy, let me enter Paradise. ”
So Allah will allow him to enter Paradise but
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only after Judgment and long trials.
“You could have gone directly to Heaven,” he was told, “had you relied on Allah’s Mercy rather than your own good deeds. ”
He will acknowledge his mistake and ask forgiveness. Some people, however, are stubborn. They continue to deny their sins. Allah will tell them what they did and still they will deny. So Allah will bring, for instance, the goat a man stole and it will testify against him: “This man stole me. ”
“What?” the man will say, “I don’t listen to animals. ”
Then Allah will make his eyes testify: “I saw him steal. ”
“What?” the man will say, “You believe a turncoat and a betrayer?”
Then his hands will testify: “We stole. ”
“What?” the man will say, “If they told the truth they wouldn’t give witness. ”
His legs will testify that they walked to the place to steal.
“What?” the man will say, “How can you believe
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a traitor?”
Finally, after all the testimony, the man will admit his guilt and ask forgiveness. Whoever repents quickly is quickly forgiven. Whoever waits is forgiven also but only after a long time.
Men who never finish denying are punished here and hereafter.
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Suhbat 31
When Amr ibn al ‘As (ra) entered Egypt everyone became Muslim but there
was no mosque. He wanted to find a good place near the center of town. They found the perfect piece of land. This land was owned by a Jew who refused to sell for any price because he did not want a mosque built. They offered two times, three times, four times the value. But the Jew declared that even for ten times the value it was not for sale. Finally they gave him ten times the value and took the land by force. They began to build.
The Jew complained that the Muslims had stolen his land. But since it was the governor, Amr ibn al ’As (ra), who had ordered it, the Jew could get no justice in Egypt. He decided to go the Khalif, Omar ibn al- Khattab (ra), in Medina.
So the Jew went to Medina and was looking for the Khalif ’s palace. He was told that the Khalif lived
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in a mud house just like everyone else. He knocked at the door but was told that Omar (ra) was not there. Omar (ra) spent every night guarding the city and during the day he rested in his garden on the ground under a palm tree.
The Jew found Omar (ra) in the garden, lying on the sand covered with his abaya, his sweat pouring into the ground. The Jew wondered how this could be the king, on the ground, with no guards around him. I will kill him, thought the Jew. But just then, in his sleep, Omar (ra) turned towards the Jew.
His dagger in his hand, so much hatred in his face, the Jew began to tremble. The dagger fell from his hand. S. Omar (ra) awoke and said, “Come my brother, whatever your religion, and tell me your problem. ” Slowly the Jew approached. He said, “Your government wants to take my land for a mosque but I don’t want to sell it. Even if the price they offered me is more than fair. ”
S. Omar (ra) turned different colors, like one being whipped, from white to red to black. “I will write a letter for you. They should return your land to you just as it
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was, even if they have to tear down the mosque. ” Omar (ra) gave the Jew a letter with only two lines of writing on it. The Jew thought that he was being made fun of and he left for Egypt still fuming with anger.
He went directly to Amr ibn al ‘As (ra). He found him surrounded by many people. They emptied the place and the Jew gave Amr (ra) the letter from Omar (ra). Amr (ra) read and fainted. For three hours he remained unconscious. When he awoke he said, “I will tell you a story. ”
“There were two young men, very rich and powerful and proud. They decided to tour the world. They bought two fine Arab horses and began their adventure spending every night in a new place. They went all the way to Isfahan in Persia. There they found a hotel with places for the horses below and the people above. They left their horses for the owner to care for and they went upstairs to sleep.
“They woke in the morning and found a crowd of people surrounding the hotel. The hotel owner had two horses and a bag of gold for each of the men. He said to them, ‘You Arabs take these horses and the gold and
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leave for your own country. We will keep your horses in exchange because the king’s son has fallen in love with them. He insists on buying them from you. ’
“But the two young men were proud and they had no intention or desire to trade. They wanted their own horses. The people counseled them to ask for more gold but not to make trouble. But they were angry and hot tempered and they refused all offers of payment. They insisted on getting their horses back.
“The king called them in. They found their horses there covered in gold and beautiful Persian carpets as gifts for them.
“The king’s face was as white as chalk. He offered them each a bag of gold. The king said, ‘Take your horses and your gold and leave here immediately. I don’t ever want to see your faces again. This city has two gates. You must each leave by a different one and meet up later. You must tell each other what you saw and do not ever return. ’
“The two men were happy with the horses and the gold. One went through one gate and saw a severed head hanging and dripping blood. The other went
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through the second gate and there he saw a body without a head hanging and dripping blood.
“It was only when they met up that they figured out that the King, a stern but just ruler, had punished his only son for taking their horses without their consent. The two men felt terrible for causing this tragedy. ”
One of the young men was Omar ibn al Khattab (ra) and the other was Amr ibn al ’As (ra).
In the letter Omar (ra) had written, “O my brother, the King of Isfahan was not even a Muslim. Now as Muslims can we be less just than he?”
So Amr (ra) told the Jew that he was returning his land and pulling down the mosque. And he asked for forgiveness.
The Jew was astonished that this would be done for him. He became Muslim on the spot and gave the land as a sadaqa and even paid for the building of the mosque.
Then he gave all the land he owned and paid for mosques to be built on them.
The mosque of Amr ibn al ’As (ra) still stands near the old synagogue in Cairo.
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When S. Omar (ra) first accepted Islam the Prophet (sas) instructed the Muslims to begin to pray out loud instead of silently because with Omar (ra) they had a powerful champion and protector.
Once when he had removed his shirt to work he felt the sun burning on his back. He gave one glance at the sun and immediately it hid behind some clouds. If S. Omar (ra) had not allowed it to return it would have stayed clouded forever.
When S. Omar (ra) died a shepherd on a far mountain began to wail, “Omar the Khalif (ra) is dead. ”
“How do you know this?” they asked him. “My sheep are used to drinking from the river safe from the wolf but just now I saw the wolves descending to attack them. I knew then that S. Omar (ra) must be dead. ” One day S. Hassan and S. Hussain (ra) saw Omar (ra) writing by the light of a candle. They gave him salams but he did not return them until much later when the whole candle had burned down and he had
lit another.
S. Ali (ra) was very upset at the length of time
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it took for S. Omar (ra) to return greetings and he questioned Omar (ra) about it. S. Omar (ra) said that the first candle belonged to the state and he had no right wasting the peoples’ money in conversation. The second candle was his own property and he could do as he liked by its light.
S. Ali (ra) said no one will be able to follow your example.
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Suhbat 32
There came the order for war but there was no money in the Muslim treasury to outfit
an army. The Prophet (sas) ordered all the Muslims to give what they could afford:
S. Omar (ra) responded immediately with half of all his wealth for the army.
But S. Abu Bakr (ra) came and gave all of his substantial wealth to the Muslim treasury.
S. Omar (ra) said that it was impossible to compete with S. Abu Bakr (ra). He was always far ahead of anyone else.
One day S. Jibrail (as) came to visit the Prophet (sas) dressed only in a straw mat. Muhammad (sas) asked him about this. He said S. Abu Bakr (ra)
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gave all his possessions away and he had only a straw mat to cover himself so Allah ordered all the angels to dress in the same manner.
S. Abu Bakr (ra) gave away everything even his clothes. Hewas sitting inside his house in his underclothes when a beggar came by and knocked. S. Abu Bakr (ra) gave him his undershirt. The beggar asked for more in the names of Allah and the Prophet (sas). From behind the door S. Abu Bakr (ra) handed out his underpants. Then he pulled up the straw floor mat to cover himself. Allah was so pleased that He made all the angels dress in straw mats.
There is a Hadith that if you weighed the faith of Abu Bakr (ra) against the faith of all the rest of the umma/Muslim community, the faith of Abu Bakr (ra) would weigh heavier.
“First the Prophet (sas), then Abu Bakr (ra), then Salman (ra).
Ya Sayeed, ya saheeb, ya siddiq, ya Rasul, ya
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Allah. ”
Whenever you mention the name of a sahaba (ra) or the name of the Prophet (sas) they will surely come to visit you, either in spirit or in body.
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This collection of sohbats of Hajja Aminah Adil was recorded during a
visit to Lefke, Cyprus between June 27th and July 30th of the year 2004. Some of them were told to the group of women who gathered around the large table in the Shaykh’s house every afternoon. Some of them were given after she led the women in
Dhikr on Monday afternoons in the women’s guesthouse.
Hajja Amina was well known for her stories. She gathered them from many sources. These sohbets were given in either Arabic or Turkish. They were a vehicle for giving advice and passing on wis- dom. When she was asked a question she often replied with a story. She told these stories to her four children when they were growing up. Then she began telling them to the murids of the Shaykh who gathered, like her children, around her. Many prominent ladies of the Middle East, Asia and Europe leaned forward at the table, eyes shining, begging her to tell more.
She had a repertoire of stories that she told over and over again. Every time she told them they were a little different. They changed as the people and the situations changed. She had a way of telling them that engaged and captivated everyone. They were a source of entertainment but they also provided subtle guidance and insight and understanding that lasts a lifetime. That is why we feel it is so important to pass them on to those who did not have the opportunity to experience themselves.
This first collection of sohbats is being offered freely by Saltanat, the official site of Shaykh Nazim Al Haqqani, for all to appreciate and use. The only requirement for their use is that the www.saltanat.org website be clearly credited so that anyone wishing to find more informa- tion can easily track the source.
www.saltanat.org
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=5749