Yaaa-’ayyuhallaziina ‘aamanuz kuru-laaha zikran-kasiiraa; Wa sabbihuuhu bukrataww-wa ‘asiilaa.
O you who believe, remember Allah abundantly, and glorify Him morning and evening. (Al-Ahzab 33: 42-43)
In a Hadith found in Sahih Muslim, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “When a group of people assemble for the remembrance of Allah, the angels surround them (with their wings), (Allah’s) mercy envelops them, Sakina, or tranquillity descends upon them and Allah makes a mention of them before those who are near Him.”
Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah, we have entered a new Islamic year, the year 1442 Hijri and today is the 1st Muharram. Alhamdulillah, Summa Alhamdulillah.
As you all know, Muharram is one of the four holy months, along with Rajab, Dhul-Qaddah, and Dhul-Hijjah. For the Muslim, it is the start of our new Islamic year. So, I wish all Muslims all over the world, as well as my followers in different countries of the world, a “Naya Saal Mubarak”.
May Allah make you all Mubarak, and remove all your hardships, and grant you all your duahs which are Halal (licit/ lawful) and which has the imprint of mercy on them, and may Allah have mercy on mankind and protect us all, the human race from all kinds of plagues, such as Coronavirus (COVID-19), drugs, diseases and other deadly viruses. May Allah protect humanity and make them recognize the truthfulness of Islam, Sahih al Islam and recognize the truthfulness of our Nabi Kareem, Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). May Allah punish - or rather shake them off - or change the hearts of all who seek to slander our Nabi Kareem (pbuh).
Allah looks at what is in the hearts. If hearts have the capacity and will to seek and recognize the truth, then Allah will send His light to them, but if they fall into Satan’s trap and do not seek to reform themselves even after receiving Allah’s message, the message of Islam, then it will be very unfortunate for them for the curse of Allah and His punishment are waiting for them. But Allah in His power also has the ability to change hearts just as we will see in today’s Friday Sermon, Part 7 which is devoted to the subject of “duahs”.
So Allah (swt) gave me the Tawfiq to continue my sermon on the “duahs” that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) used to do. I read two verses from the Holy Quran and quoted a Hadith so that all of us ponder and weigh over, and know the value of duahs whereby we must remember Allah (swt) morning and evening (To praise Him and, to receive the mercy of Allah which will cover you and where a Sakina [tranquility] will descend upon you and moreover, Allah (swt) will mention you to those who are with Allah.
Praise Allah, turn to Allah, ask Him, place your problems in front of Him because He is the Most Powerful, He is the One who holds all power and He does not let His servant return empty-handed.
Allah (swt) is there all the time to answer your call, but you must also make efforts, and be patient in what you ask and seek from Him; It is Allah Himself Who will give you all this, but you must also place your complete trust in Allah, and be patient so that you earn a beautiful reward, Insha-Allah.
So, I continue to expound on the duahs of our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and the acceptance of these duahs. In the Hadiths of Bukhari and Muslim there is the mention of the acceptance of the duahs of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) regarding Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra). Al-A’raj reported that he heard Abu Huraira (ra) as saying: “You are under the impression that Abu Huraira transmits so many ahadith from Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) ; (bear in mind) Allah is the great Reckoner. I was a poor man and I served Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) being satisfied with bare subsistence, whereas the immigrants remained busy with transactions in the market; while the Ansar had been engaged in looking after their properties.
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) further said: “He who spreads the cloth would not forget anything that he would hear from me.” Therefore, Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) relates: “I spread my cloth until he narrated something. I then pressed it against my (chest), so I never forgot anything that I heard from him.” (Muslim)
So the fact that Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) reported a lot of the words of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is not an ordinary thing.
It seems impossible that one remembers all of these Hadiths like Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) did. But this is the miraculous result of the duah of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). The latter (pbuh) said that whoever will spread his cloth/ veil/ garment, will not forget anything he hears from the prophet and Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) followed exactly the instruction of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh ), and therefore, he never forgot all that he heard from Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).
Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) also related a duah that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) did and which was fulfilled concerning his mother.In Sahih Muslim, Kitab Faza’il-e-Sahaba, Abu Huraira (ra) reported: I invited my mother, who was a polytheist, to Islam. I invited her one day and she said to me something about Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) which I hated. I came to Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) weeping and said: Allah’s Messenger, I invited my mother to Islam but she did not accept (my invitation). I invited her today but she said to me something which I did not like. (Kindly) supplicate Allah that He may set the mother of Abu Huraira right. Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said: O Allah, set the mother of Abu Huraira on the right path. I came out quite pleased with the supplication of Allah’s Apostle (pbuh) and when I came near the door it was closed from within. My mother heard the noise of my footsteps and she said: Abu Huraira, just wait. And I heard the noise of falling of water. She took a bath and put on the shirt and quickly covered her head with a headdress and opened the door and then said: Abu Huraira, I bear witness to the fact that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His bondsman and His Messenger.
Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) said: I went back to Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) and (this time) I was shedding the tears of joy. I said: Allah’s Messenger, be happy, for Allah has responded to your supplication and He has set on the right path the mother of Abu Huraira. He (the Holy Prophet) praised Allah, and extolled Him and uttered good words. I said: Allah’s Messenger, supplicate to Allah so that He may instill love of mine and that of my mother too in the believing servants and let our hearts be filled with their love, whereupon Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said: O Allah, let there be love of these servants of yours, i.e. Abu Huraira and his mother, in the hearts of the believing servants and let their hearts be filled with the love of the believing servants. (Abu Huraira said: This prayer) was so well granted by Allah that no believer was ever born who heard of me and who saw me but did not love me.
So, it is very important to also mention those anecdotes where Allah accepts the duahs of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) immediately and all of this has increased the Iman (faith) of the Sahaba Karaam. And now I will mention some duahs of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) that we too can benefit and which will bring us closer to Allah, and to seek His acceptance of these duahs through our trust in Him and His ability to fulfil these duahs.
Allahumma zidnaa wa laa tunqisna wa akrimnaa wa laa tahinnaa wa’atinaa wa laa tahrimnaa wa aathirnaa wa laa tuthir alaynaa warda annaa [O Allah! Increase us [in Your Blessings and rewards] and do not decrease us, honour us and do not humiliate us, give us [from Your Gifts] and do not deprive us, be in favour of us and not against us, and be satisfied with us.] (Tirmidhi)
Allahumma laka aslamtu wa bika aamantu wa alaika tawakkaltu wa ilaika anabtu wa bika khaasamtu. [O Allah! to You I submit, in You I affirm my faith, in You I repose my trust, to You I turn in repentance and with Your Help I contend my adversaries (and be victorious)]. (Muslim)
Allahumma innaa nasaluka min khayri maa saalaka minhu nabiyyuka muhammadun wa na’udhu bika min charrimas ata’ aadha minhu nabbiyyuka Muhammadun, wa antal-Mus’ aanu wa aalaikal balaghu wa laa hawla wa laa quwwata illaa bi-ilaahi. [“O Allah, I ask You for the best of what Your Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) asked You for, and I seek refuge with You from the worst of that from which Your Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sought refuge with You, for You are the One Whose help is to be sought, and it is You Who grant it to us, and there is no power and no strength except with Allah.”]. (Tirmidhi)
Allahumma tahhir qalbi mina ni faqi wa amali mina-r-ri-a-i wa lisani minal kadhibi wa ayni minal khiyaanati fa innaka ta’alamu kha-inatal-a’yuni wa ma tukhfi-s-sudur. [O Allah, purify my heart from hypocrisy, my actions from show, my tongue from lies and my eyes from deception. For surely You fully aware of the deception of the eyes and all that the chest conceals.] (Al-Hakim)
There is an interesting anecdote of the immediate fulfillment of the invocation of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). It is about the incident of Suraqa bin Malik about whom we have heard many anecdotes, and this happened at the time of Hijrat (emigration). It is a long Hadith, but I will quote only a part of it.
In Bukhari, Kitab’ul-Manaqib, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (ra) reports : …So we departed after midday. Suraqa bin Malik followed us and I said, ‘We have been discovered, O Allah’s Messenger (pbuh)!’ He said, “La Tahran Innallaha ma’a na.” [Don’t grieve for Allah is with us.] – Verily Allah was with them.
Then the Prophet (pbuh) invoked evil on him (i.e. Suraqa) and so the legs of his horse sank into the earth up to its belly. (The subnarrator, Zuhair is not sure whether Abu Bakr said, “(It sank) into solid earth.”) Suraqa said, ‘I see that you have invoked evil on me. Please invoke good on me, and by Allah, I will cause those who are seeking after you to return.’ – At that time prior to his conversion to Islam, he was referring to either the Prophet or Abu Bakr for he was not yet aware of the great status of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).
Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) invoked good on him and he was saved. His horse did not stumbled anymore. Then, whenever he met somebody on the way, he would say, ‘I have looked for him here in vain.’ It was not Abu Bakr (ra) who told him to lie, but Suraqa took it upon himself to do it and so he caused whomever he met to return. Thus Suraqa fulfilled his promise.
Before ending, I wish to share two dreams which are interrelated and which were made one after the other. It is a dynamic woman by the name of Anjana who made the dreams. She regularly translate my Friday Sermons and other Jamaat materials in Malayalam. Despite being of Hindu Faith but Allah (twa) gave her great signs and dreams – very important ones, and I pray that Allah bless her and her family to recognize and accept the Signs and Divine Manifestations of this era and to show her the illuminated path of Islam, such Islam (submission) which shall become guidance for her and preserve her heart always in the right path.
So, nearly two weeks ago, she saw in the first dream that it was an Eid Day at our Mathra Masjid, and there were countless numbers of people, and prayer was going on and she could not meet anybody familiar to her, nor get any food, even when she went to the neighbouring house, everybody was observing fasting there.
On the second day, she again saw that it was an Eid Day at the Mosque. So many people were there in the vicinity of the Mosque to offer prayers. The Masjid premises was teeming with so many people offering prayers. My dear disciple Sulfikar Ali Sahib came and enquired to her whether she had her food. And then the wife of the Amir, Jamaluddin Sahib whose name is Sofiya Sahiba came forward, remembering that Ms. Anjana will be hungry by 1.30 pm, and she found that the prayer was still going on at the Masjid!
These are indeed beautiful dreams which Allah showed her and which are interrelated. And I pray that Allah opens her heart to Islam and enable her to get that Eid, the Eid of the blessings of the Divine Manifestation of this age. Insha-Allah, Ameen. There are other of my dear disciples like Sulfikar Ali Sahib in Kerala and our other members in Tamil Nadu who have saw beautiful dreams also.
So, I end here. I pray that Allah (swt) give me the Tawfiq to continue my explanations on the very important subject of “duahs”.
May Allah (swt) cover us with His mercy and send down tranquillity into our hearts, Ameen, Summa Ameen, Yaa Rabbul Aalameen. Once again, I wish you all : NAYA SAAL MUBARAK. May Allah make you Mubarak whereby you recognise the truth of the Divine Manifestation of this era and as for those who have already recognised and accept His signs and Messenger [the Khalifatullah of the age], may Allah enable them to remain firm and sincere in His right path. May Allah make this new Islamic year 1442 Hijri a Mubarak year, filled with His blessings. Ameen, Summa Ameen, Yaa Rabbul Aalameen.
--Friday Sermon of 21 August 2020~01 Muharram 1442 AH delivered by Hadhrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius.