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Jazak Allah Khair,
Azhar’s great khatib! Unfortunately, the sheikh passed away right before I arrived to Egypt. However, friends and teachers told me wonderful stories about his khutbahs. Please, if you could, provide us with more of these gems akh!
Ma sha Allah!
Abu Zaynab
Asalaam ‘alai-Kum,
Thank you very much for sharing such a wonderful scholar, mashaAllah. I really enjoyed this clip, so decided to – as an armature Arabic student – to hazard an attempt to transcribe it, for the benefit of others, inshaAllah. Please, please can you correct any mistakes, that will help much with my development, inshaAllah.
[Transcribe begins bismIllah…]
When we summarise the Isrā – night journey – and M’irāj – ascension to the heavens – (of the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him) into a single word, It is a word by which Allah honours all of mankind, especially honouring the faithful, the people of the Quran, the people of this religion.
For he (the Prophet, peace be upon him) was the perfection of humanity, its mercy, its character and its example.
So, the greatest pleasure for any nation is that this (man) is its Messenger, peace be upon him; the greatest pleasure for any intellect is that this faith (of Islam) is aiding it.
When we consider the Isrā and M’irāj we notice something, which is an ocean or a surrounding for which there is no coast; all time is not generous enough for us to encompass it – and this is only a drop; a drop from the surrounding of the one whom Allah has favoured.
I have chosen a statement, the statement of ‘Abd (slave). Allah begins and chooses the word ‘Abd because He loves it. This refers to an ‘Abd who is sincere to Him, sincere with his thought, sincere with his heart, sincere with his body, sincere with his wealth, sincere with his obedience and sincere with his all.
“He took His ‘Abd, by night, from Masjid al-Harām (the Sacred Mosque) to Masjid al-Aqsā (The Furthest Mosque (in Jerusalem)), the surroundings of which We have blessed, so that we may show him of our signs; indeed, He is ever hearing and watchful.” [Sūrat al-Isrā]
So, He [the Almighty] described him, peace be upon him, as an ‘Abd (slave); and that his journey began from the Masjid (mosque-place of prostration), from the sacred Masjid, wherein is the place of prostration, the place of honour, and it is the place of proximity (to Allah) and love.
Thus, [the Prophet’s journey] was from the Masjid – He [the Almighty] did not say ‘from Makkah’, nor ‘from a garden’, and nor from a palace. So, He [the Almighty] honoured the ‘Abd (slave) by initiating his journey from the Masjid (the place of prostration) and concluded his journey at the Masjid (place of prostration), Masjid al-Aqsā, “whose surroundings We have blessed”.
Then, He [the Almighty] raised him, peace be upon him, to the highest skies, up until he reached the seventh sky. There he met our master Ibrahim, upon whom be blessings and peace, who was reclining his back on Bait al-M’amūr – as it has been related in the Sahīh. The Angels circumambulate the Bait al-M’amūr; and it is directly above the K’abah; as it is said, ‘if a brick was to fall from Bait al-M’amūr it would fall directly on to the K’abah’.
So, when the place of love [within the heart of the Prophet] continued from the Masjid (in Makkah) to the Masjid (al-Aqsā) to Bait al-M’amūr, then he was given, within this night, the Salāh (Islamic Prayer). So, Allah made the prayer obligatory upon him, then he, peace be upon him, descended from the M’irāj to Makkah and established the afternoon prayer.
This is that [secret] which lies in the M’irāj with respect to sujūd (prostration). The meaning of prostration is submission. The slave submits and is not arrogant; the slave obeys and does not disobey; If he is like that, then he possesses the ‘furqān’ (ability to distinguish right from wrong) from his Lord. Then came the chapter of al-Furqān (the criterion); and within the chapter of al-Furqān, Allah mentions the word ‘Abd (slave): “Blessed be He Who reveals al-Furqān to His slave; so that he may be, for all the worlds, a Warner”.
So, the ‘Abd is the one who possess al-Furqān i.e. the knowledge (which allows him to distinguish between) disbelief and belief, falsehood and truth – then he does not go near falsehood, rather he remains upon the truth; he possess knowledge of the lawful and unlawful – so not (to approach) the unlawful, rather he remains with the lawful; he possess the knowledge of oppression and justice – so he is not an oppressor, rather he is just. [This is only] when al-Furqān – which was given to the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him – is with the slave
[Transcribe is now complete. In my own words, from what I understand the Shaykh to be saying is that, if we create within our hearts a place of prostration and love i.e. that our hearts prostrate to Allah, then Allah will endow us with the gift of al-Furqān i.e. the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. So, if we worship Allah, inwardly and outwardly, Allah will guide our actions; hence why the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “Verily, the Salāh is the M’irāj (ascension) of the believer.”]
JazakAllah khairan, Wasalaam.