‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬

Dhikr Dars: 2019-01-12

Allah says in surah at-Tawbah; 9: 72

The men and women of the muminun are friends of one another. They command what is right and
forbid what is wrong, and establish the salah and pay zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger
(sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). They are the people on whom Allah will have mercy. Allah is almighty,
all wise.

In surah al-Maidah; 5: 80

Those amoung the tribe of Isra’il who were kafir were cursed on the tongue of Dawud (‘alayhi salam)
and that of Isa (‘alayhi salam), son of Maryam (‘alayha salam). That is because they rebelled and
overstepped the limits.

The tariqah is made up of three things:

1. Listening
2. Taking counsel
3. Acting on what you know

Giving counsel should be done with intelligence and in consideration of peoples’ variant natures. Many
people do not like to be given counsel, they take it as an attack; I too am like that but when one is alone,
he/she should reflect on what was said and take it that it may be from Allah directly; it may be that
Allah is using this person to give this counsel because Allah uses his creation in myriads of ways.

The essence of brotherhood is that you desire for your brother what you desire for yourself, and
everyone wants good for himself. So if someone counsels you on something wrong that you’re doing
for example, you should take it; do not say things such as ‘oh you’re pious’; no, he is fulfilling an
obligation from Allah to forbid the wrong and command the right. We all commit wrong actions and
when these are brought in the public space people need to be corrected. Counsel has to be given with
knowledge and a good intention. It is not enough to have good intentions alone; good intentions need
to be accompanied with knowledge. A lot of destruction has occurred upon the earth due to good
intentions.

Sayyidina ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) reported that the Rasul (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:
actions/deeds are rewarded according to their intentions, and every person will be rewarded according
to what he’s intended.

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud radhiyallahu ‘anhu said: ‘One of you will do the actions of the people of the
garden until there is but a hand span between him and it, and his destiny will overtake him and he will
do the actions of the people of the fire and thereby enter it. One of you will do the actions of the people
of the fire until there is but a hand span between him and it, and his destiny will overtake him and he
will do the actions of the people of the garden and thereby enter it. Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (radhiyallahu
‘anhu) based this hadith on several ahadith of the Rasul (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) on the subject,
one of which states: ‘One of you will do the actions of the people of the garden as it appears to people.’

▪ There’s a story of two brothers I’d like to relate to you. These brothers lived in a house that had
two floors. The one who lived at the bottom was a major wrong doer, how ironic, whereas his
brother who lived on the top floor was an ‘abid (one who fulfils the obligations of the Deen and
does non obligatory acts of worship). One morning after a night of heavy wrong actions he
woke up to find his trousers soaked with urine. This condition put him in a state of disgust and

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 humiliation so he said to himself, ‘perhaps I should start doing what my brother does and leave
this life I’m living’, meanwhile his brother upstairs was overcome by his lower desires so he
entertained the idea of going against the prohibitions for one day, so he said, ‘perhaps for once
I should do what my brother does and I’ll make tawbah.’

As he was coming down the stairs toward his brother and his brother going upstairs toward
him, he stumbled and fell, colliding with his brother they both fell to their deaths. Sayyidina
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said that Allah forgave the one who went up the
stairs but did not forgive his brother. The knowledge behind this was that the ‘abid was doing
all those acts of worship without sincerity, he did them out of ostentation, so when his destiny
unfolded he was exposed.

▪ The second story is of a man who had killed 99 people who then went into a mosque and found
an ‘abid in prayer. He told the man that he had committed many wrong actions and that he had
killed 99 people so he asked him if Allah will forgive him. The man said no; so he killed him
making it the 100th person. He then went to a scholar who was also a wali of Allah and said the
same things to him. This scholar said, ‘clearly this place is not good for you, you should move
to the neighbouring town, in it are men of Allah, live amoung them and Allah will forgive you
and give you success.’

The man set off immediately for this town. At the midpoint between his departure and
destination he collapsed and died. The angels descended to take take his soul but then a dispute
broke out between the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment. The angels of mercy said
that they should take his soul because he had made tawbah and had already set off on his
journey; the angels of punishment said that he killed 100 people and had not reached his
destination therefore he cannot be forgiven so they need to take his soul. Allah inspired an angel
to measure the distance between where he set off and where he died, and the distance between
where he died and where he was going. It was found that when he fell, his hand lay exactly a
hand span over the halfway mark, so Allah forgave him.

One of the great du’as that one can make which is also a du’a that the Rasul (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa
sallam) frequently made was: ‘Allahumma inniy as-aluka husnul khatimah’ (Allah give me a good seal).
May Allah protect us from su`ul khatimah (a bad seal). We mention these things because they are of
utmost importance, if they were not so, the Messenger (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) of Allah would
not have mentioned them. When all is done what matters is how you leave this world.

The asbab (means) by which a person has su`ul khatimah are:

1. Abandonment of salah and laziness in its establishment. Shaykh Muhammad ibn Yusuf as-
Sanussi said that whoever suffers from this should increase his recitation of the dhikr of La
ilaha illallah because it revives the heart and removes this laziness.

2. ‘Uququl walidayn (disobeying parents). There was a young man who was on his deathbed.
People around him were encouraging him to recite the shahadah but he could not do so. The
Rasul (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said to him what is the matter that you are unable to recite
it; he said that his mother is angry with him. The Rasul (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) summoned
his mother and said to her if they were to kindle a fire and throw him in would she intercede
for him. She replied in the affirmative so the Messenger (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said,
then take him out of the fire of jahannam by forgiving him, which she did and he was able to
recite.

▪ This obedience is regarding things that are not against the shari’ah. Ibn Juzayy in his Qawanin
al-Fiqhiyya says that there is no obedience due a slave of Allah if it involves disobedience to
Allah.

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 3. Drinking alcohol and committing zina. The Rasul (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said that
drinking alcohol is ummul khaba`ith (the mother of repugnant/filthy vices). In surah al-Isra`a;
17: 32, Allah says: And do not go near to fornication. It is an indecent act, an evil way.

4. Harming other Muslims.

5. Harming a wali of Allah. Abu Hurayrah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) reported that the Messenger
(sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) of Allah said: When Allah had completed the creation He wrote
in a book that was with Him on the throne, ‘whoever takes a wali of Mine as an enemy, I will
wage war on him.’

▪ There was once a man in Sanjar who used to ridicule the awliya of Allah (Imam Junaid al-
Baghdadi, Shaykh Abu Yazid al-Bistami, Hadrat Sirri Saqti and Hadhrat Ma’ruf Kharqi
Naqshabandi; may Allah have mercy on them). When he was about to die he was unable to
recite the sahadah. His attendants were worried so they went to Hadhrat Kwawaja Sawaid
Sanjiri (may Allah have mercy on him) to seek his assistance. When he got to the man he found
him able to talk but unable to recite the shahadah. He said to him that this was the result of his
insolence toward the awliya. The Khawaja asked Allah to help this man and Allah revealed to
him that he will be forgiven only on condition that he ask forgiveness from the awliya he used
to slander.

The Khawaja contacted these awliya (through Allah’s permission) and presented to them the
man’s case. They forgave him and so he was able to recite the shahadah. When relating what
was happening to himself, he said that when he tried to recite a black thing would grab his
tongue and say, ‘I am your slander.’ When he was forgiven a bright thing came and removed
the blackness and said, ‘I am the forgiveness of the awliya.’ He saw illuminated horses in the
sky, their riders were also illuminated and they were these four awliya whom he used to slander;
they were bowing their heads in utter humbleness and reciting a certain dhikr.

6. Consuming riba. In surah al-Baqarah; 2: 274, Allah says: Those who practise usury will not
rise from the grave except as someone driven mad by Shaytan’s touch. That is because they
say, ‘trade is the same as usury.’ But Allah has permitted trade and He has forbidden usury.
Whoever is given a warning by His Lord and then desists, may keep what he received in the
past and his affair is Allah’s concern. But all who return to it will be companions of the fire,
remaining in it timelessly, forever.

<Read the spiritual counsel of Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq>

We ask Allah to bless our Shaykh, Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi, we ask Allah to give him good health and
a long life and we ask Allah to elevate him to the highest stations of ma’rifah. We ask Allah to bless all
our shuyukh, our amirs, our hufadh, our imams and all the fuqara and faqirat. We ask Allah to bless
the whole ummah and to give Islam victory over kufr. We ask Allah to make it easy on those who are
dying, to recite the shahadah.

Fatihah.

Hajj Ikramuddin Zwane

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