'Who is it that answers the distressed when they call upon Him? Who removes their suffering? Who makes you successors in the earth? Is it another god beside God? Little notice you take!' .---(Surah An-Naml; 27: 63).
After having expounded on the ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH – and I hope that you understood the subject well - I begin today a series of sermons [Friday sermons] on invocations [to Allah] - DUAHS.
In the light of the verses that I have just recited before you, I will teach you some invocations (duahs) that Allah (swt) Himself taught me by His grace and His favours. And personally, I think that Allah (swt) had taught in the same way [these invocations] to His chosen servants in the past and I ask you all to listen carefully to these invocations and to say “Ameen” [May it be so] in your hearts.
Allah Himself opened my mind, enlightened my mind, and my heart, and He placed these extraordinary words on my lips [lit. in my mouth], so that I can address Him. As for me, I am just a beggar in front of [my doorstep] my Master’s door. It was by His grace and favours that He taught me how to address Him. Even if these invocations already exist, and I do not know of their existence, then it is a great favour of my Master to have taught them to me; certainly these are extraordinary invocations. So I have to be very grateful to my Allah [God] and I am very fortunate that Allah (swt) Himself taught me all these duahs [invocations]. Alhamdulillah.
O Allah, I am very weak, full of sins; every day by the weaknesses that overwhelm me [that I have], I commit sins. O Allah, I ask You to wash me of all my sins, to cleanse myself of all the faults that I have, to test my heart by the piety of hearts, O You Who effaces the stumbling of sinners.
O my Lord! I only trust in You alone. And I only complain with You alone [with no one else] and I only seek refuge in You alone and there is no shine/ light except in Your signs. So, if You sent me for the reform of people, then rescue me with Your power and grant me Your support as You gave Your support to the truthful. And if You love me and You have love for me, then don’t reject me like the lost ones. If You leave me, but then who can protect me well, because You are the Greatest Protector of all? So take away my difficulties and don’t give my enemies the opportunity to mock and ridicule me, and help me against the unbelieving people.
O Allah! How can I thank You for the favours You give us? You have reduced the hatred of criminals, as well as their arrogance that they have shown towards Your Deen (Islam); they martyred and persecuted our brothers and sisters who believed in Your Oneness, You reduced their [these evildoers’] pride and arrogance to dust. You made them helpless before Your mighty manifestation and we were eyewitnesses to that.
O Allah! The Most Merciful! Our soul testifies that, similar to the time of Noah (as) where You had destroyed many people and then You took pity on them, therefore, similarly grant Your forgiveness to all the people on this earth [in our present era]. If You keep destroying them, then who will remain to recognize You and believe in You? Who will bring faith in Your signs and Your Chosen Servant and Who will pray to You [alone], to seek Your forgiveness?
O Allah spare all of them from the great destruction that will come.
O Allah, the Mighty! Just as ... You had told Your servants that You would be with them in all their trials, in all their lands [places] and You had helped them at every step/ stage, and against each opponent; You helped them with the Holy Spirit.
O Allah, the Mighty! Likewise ... I ask for Your help against all trials and help me at each step/ stage and against each opponent and help me with the Holy Spirit and make every decision I make for Your Jamaat and Your Deen-e-Islam as a whole, as well as humanity, come from You alone, from Your guidance. You alone can guide me in making these decisions.
O my Lord! O my Lord! Listen to my duahs [invocations] about my people - all Mauritians and humanity as a whole - and my supplications about my brothers [Muslims – The Muhammadan Ummah]. I take the name of Your prophet (pbuh), Khataman-Nabiyyine, the one who intercedes, and through him, I ask You: O My Lord! Remove them from darkness and attract them to Your light. And withdraw that distance that separates them [from Your light, from the truth] and make them come close.
O Allah! Have mercy on the people who sent me curses, who have blamed me and save them from this destruction that will come from You [Your destruction to come].
O my Allah [God], put righteousness in the depths of their hearts and ignore their mistakes and sins and forgive them and give them peace and keep them safe. And give them such eyes with which they can see [the truth], and give them such ears with which they can hear, and give them such hearts with which they can understand, and grant them such light with which they will be able to distinguish between the truth [the true] and the lie [the false], and have mercy on them. And whatever they say about me, O Allah, acts flexibly on it, because they are people who do not know, who are ignorant.
O Allah! You taught me the same prayers that your noble prophet Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) used to do: “Rabbe ahde kawmi fa ‘innahum laa yaalamun.” [O my Lord, give guidance to my people, for they do not understand.]
[I’ll give you a little explanation about this invocation. Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) used to beg thus for those who do willful harm, and this invocation of Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) was not in their favour (i.e., those people who did evil deliberately).
For these bad people, Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) made the following supplication: “Allahumma sahikum tashika walaa tazar al ardze minal Kaafiriina Sharira.” That is to say, those who were “Sharir” among them, those who deliberately did evil, so about them, there is this prayer of destruction against them.]
O My Lord! Master of Muhammad Mustapha (pbuh) and of all sincere believers who know about Your Great Rank, concerning those who stay awake in prayer at night and those who do Jihad-e-Nafs during the day, and travelers who prepare their night to repent of all their sins, O Allah! These are my brothers, so forgive them and reform them and open their eyes and light up their hearts and make them understand everything that You have shown me. Make them recognize this humble servant that You sent in this century, as the Reviver, the Mohyuddin, and the Khalifatullah, Your own Representative on this earth to remind [and teach] them what Your beloved prophet (pbuh) had brought and taught; this is certainly the same path, and this same path was damaged, and I have come only to repair this same path, so that they do not fall into the hole of darkness, and in order to direct them towards the path which will lead them all to You with Taqwa and where they will receive a good reward from You, and that You will be pleased with them and that they will be pleased with their meeting with You, on the Day when they will appear before You.
O Master of creatures! You have all the powers, devotions; wherever the truth is reduced to dust, show such a sign so that all creatures take the path of truth. O Allah! Make all the misunderstandings, all the debates, all the differences cease, make them all unite under the Oneness of God [Your Oneness] and under Your Chosen Messengers.
O my Allah! My Beloved! Your beautiful gaze is like a very sharp sword, which eliminates the pain that unbelievers cause us. We have become dust to come to You, so that the pain of separation [from You] has an effect on You. Without You, I don’t even have a moment of peace. Similar to a sick man whose heart is beating, so likewise my life is beating. Take a look at me, O Allah! Look who is making noise near You; don’t let Your lover [beloved] be murdered.
O brothers and sisters! Whoever mixes with the dust, then Allah will join him, otherwise He will not take care of those who are outside [beyond this union]. He belongs to the one who belongs to Him. He who curbs before Him is the very one who will come under His refuge.
Look at the flowers, it is because of them that there is brightness, that there is beauty, and it is with their very light that the sun and the moon light up.
O Allah! Show us Your beauty; How long will your face remain hidden? (I mean to say: Allah also shows them Your face, that Face which made me fall in love with You, show them Your face). Insha-Allah, Ameen.
I’m stopping here for today. May Allah give me the Tawfiq to continue these beautiful duahs [supplications] next week. Insha-Allah.
----Friday Sermon of 10 July 2020~ 18 Dhul-Qaddah 1441 AH delivered by Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (atba) of Mauritius.