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We will
postpone our study for the cordiality because of the
due study about sayyduna Imam al-Husain who was
martyred on Ashora';
Master
of the Martyrs
Two weeks ago,
we have celebrated the memory of the master of the martyrs, the
greatest of them to Allah, and the master of the youth of paradise
according to the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah
[PPBUH].
Today we are not going to talk about this serious event, because it
moves the feelings of sorrow and grief. Rather, we will talk about
the visit to Mawlana Imam al-Hussein, what it contain of meanings,
and what it needs from ethics of the cordiality to the kinship of
the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH].
As we learned from Imam Fakhreddin [AAH]
when he talked about this matter in his poem which starts with:
[What would you
say, when you visit his courtyard?
What would you say, when your guts are on fire?]
(24/1)
And
before we start explaining what we understood
from this qasida, we want you to pay attention to something
important that Allah mentioned in Qur'an. HE said: [And
were it not for some believing men and believing women, being
present at Mecca alongside the disbelievers, whom you did not
know, lest you should trample them, and thus incur
sham on account of them without knowing,
so that Allah may admit into His mercy
whom He will. Had they been clearly separated, We would have surely
chastised the disbelievers among them with a painful chastisement]
al-Fath 48:25.
From the interpretations of ibn Kathir, al-Tabary, ibn Ajiba, al-Qushairy,
and others, we understood that Allah, with His kindness, stopped the
Muslims from fighting the disbelievers because [some
believing men and believing women]
present amongst the disbelievers, where they have been hiding their
belief to protect themselves. Muslims were stopped while they were
able to wipe out the disbelievers. On the other hand the
disbelievers stopped out of fear.
So look at how
the disbelievers were saved from the
painful
chastisement because they been mingled
with some believers who did not declare their belief yet. So how
about the really versed saints of Allah, what would Allah do for
their sake?
 Did you hear
the Holy Hadith: [Allah has those angels who go around the roads
looking for the people of Dhikr. When they find some people doing
Dhikr, them call each other: "Hey, come to your need". Then they
gather upon them with their wings up to the sky. Allah, then, while
He knows better than them, asks them: "What do my slaves say"? They
would say: "the say: Sobhan Allah, Allahu-Akbar, al-Hamdu-lel-ah,
and they glorify You". He says: "Did they see me"? They say: "No,
indeed they did not". He says: "So, what if they saw me"? They say:
"If they saw you, they would have been more worshiping, thanking,
glorifying, and embracing for You". He, then, says: "What do they
ask me"? They would say: "They ask you Paradise". He says: "Did they
see it"? They say: "No, O, Lord, indeed they did not". He says:
"What if they saw it"? They would say: "They would have been more
keen about it, more asking for it, and more desiring it". He says:
"What do they seek protection from"? They say: "From Hell". He says:
"Did they see it"? They say: "No, O, Lord, indeed they did not". He
says: "What if they saw it"? They would say: "They would have been
more afraid and more escaping from it. He, then, would say: "Be
witness that I forgave them all". An angel would say: "There is
someone who is not one of them. He only came to get something".
Allah says: "No one sits with this folk and become unhappy"].
al-Bokhary.
So if this is
the case for anyone who sits with the people of Dhikr, even if he is
not one of them, then how about the ones who sit with the greatest
saints of Allah! And we are before the great grandson of the
Messenger of Allah [PPBUH],
His beloved, and the master of the martyrs, about whom Allah said
that they are not dead, rather they are alive and have provisions
from Allah. In another verse, Allah prevented us from saying that
they are dead:
[And do
not speak of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead; nay, they
are alive, but you do not perceive]
al-Baqarah 2:154.
And look at how Allah said [you
do not perceive],
which means that they are present with us but the perception is
absent. So He did not say {you do not know}, because its logic that
they are out of reach for our senses, so we feel as if they were
away, while they are not. And when Allah said that they exist with
their Lord, it was for honoring them not for appointing their place.
Also when someone can hear with the hearing of Allah, then it will
not be hard for him to hear and one in far east or west. And also
when he can see with the light of Allah. As the
One who had the
knowledge of the Book said: [I will
bring it to you in the twinkling of an eye]
al-Naml 27:40,
and that was in Sham (Palestine) while the throne was in Yemen
(Saba'), so how could he bring it if he cannot see it.
After all that,
consider what martyring we are talking about. He is the master of
all martyrs and the son of the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH]
who said: (Hussein is from me and I am from Hussein). The
people of Allah, Sufis, said (Hussein is from me) means he is
the son of my daughter, but how come that (I am from
Hussein)?
They said that it means: if you want me, then seek me through the
door of al-Hussein [AAH],
i.e. no one enters to the Messenger of Allah, except through the
door of Imam al-Hussein [AAH].
For this all and a lot more, Imam Fakhreddin started to teach his
sons how should be the visit to this great one of the greatest Ahl-al-Bait.
If we are to
talk about the greatness, then we have been told about it by Allah,
Almighty, when He said: [and
whoever respects the signs of Allah, this surely is of the piety of
hearts]
al-Hajj 22:32,
[respects]
here means thinks of it as being great. And what was Allah talking
 about in this verse? it is [And
the camels, We have made them of the signs of Allah for you]
al-Hajj 22:36,
so consider, how Allah made something for us to glorify so as to get
to be Allah fearing persons. That is (the camels that is to be
slaughtered as an offering for Allah) became one of the things which
we should glorify to have piety in our hearts. So how about the
greatest slaughtering ... the greatest slaughtered martyr in history
... the greatest sacrifice ... presented to keep the words of the
truth high ... is there a greater offering than that to deserve
glorifying to have the piety in our hearts, so as to be powerful
enough to make the iron soft.
Allah says: [Allah
is the light of the heavens and the earth; a likeness of His light
is as a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, the glass
is as it were a brightly shining star, lit from a blessed
olive-tree, neither eastern nor western, the oil whereof almost
gives light though fire touch it not- light upon light- Allah guides
to His light whom He pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men,
and Allah is Cognizant of all things]
an-Nour 24:35.
Is not he one the greatest branches of this tree, the one which
al-Mustafa [PPBUH]
said about it: (Me and My family are like a tree. I am its origin,
Fatema is its branch, Ali is its vaccine, al-Hasan & al-Hussein are
its fruits, and the rest of the believers are its leaves).
If entering the
sittings of the scholars has its rules and ethics, then entering to
Ahl-al-Bait of the Messenger [PPBUH]
is more deserving for these rules and these ethics. That is why Imam
Fakhreddin [AAH]
wanted to draw out attention with this poem, and introduce us to the
ethics of the visit to Mawlana Imam al-Hussein [AAH].
So he said [What would you
say, when you visit his courtyard?],
a question which he would answer, because we may say something that
is good for us, but he knows what is best and most beneficial for
us. He is letting us know what to say when we aim for Imam
al-Hussein [AAH]'s
courtyard, starting from when we intend to visit him.
The second half
of this verse was another question also: [What would you say, when your guts are on fire?].
The guts are what is in the stomach of liver, spleen, bowels, and
all the likes. Here it is signifying what is inside the human of
love and craving, because the craving is the lit fire and it is the
heat of the longing.
Imam Fakhreddin
explained in another verse talking to the Prophet [PPBUH]:
[A fire was set on the guts of your lover
excellent
the fire, and excellent the fuel]
(81/8)
Excellent this
loving and excellent the fuel which we offer to Allah in order to
walk towards Him: [Say:
"If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you"]
Al-Umran 3:31,
i.e. love me with devotion so as to be able to follow me which will
lead to and insure the love of Allah.
In another
verse he says:
[If you do
not have the fire lit inside you, then
you will be
out of ways to appeal for help]
(1/353)
So the more you
crave and love, the more you get closer to Allah, Almighty.
Imam Fakhreddin
emphasizes that the absent here is the perception as Allah cleared
in al-Baqarah verse 154, so he says:
[What could
you say while you are you, and who is he?
how could
you see him while he is veiled]
(24/2)
As long as the
insight is not present, you will not be able to see him. Because he
has the cover of Shari'a which cannot be unveiled except with
witnessing. This witnessing needs the insight, which cannot be
attained except with striving. As the people with insights say:
"Strive, then you witness". This all is a motivation and
encouragement for us from Imam Fakhreddin [AAH]
to keep up Dhikr until we get to the witnessing with the hearts and
the souls, not with the eyes: [Truly
it is not the eyes that are blind, but the
hearts which are in the breasts]
al-Hajj 22:46.
Imam Fakhreddin also says:
[As long as
you are in "you" which is the "other"
then being
the ''other" is the origin of your conviction]
(1/355)
 He is
explaining to us the "you are you" that he said. Its meaning
is: you still see yourself, your selfishness, and your own qualities
that did not change because you are not doing Dhikr. Because if you
do Dhikr Allah would have gotten you out of your darkness to His
light: [He
it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may
bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full
of Mercy to the Believers]
al-Ahzab 33:43,
i.e. to His light. He also said: [There
has come to you from Allah a light and a
clear Book
* Wherewith Allah guides all who
seek His good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leads
them out of darkness, by His will, unto the light,
and guides them
to a path that is straight]
al-Ma'ida 5:15-16.
Then Allah, Almighty, says: [Allah
is the light of the heavens and the earth; a likeness of His light
is as a niche in which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, the glass
is as it were a brightly shining star, lit from a blessed
olive-tree, neither eastern nor western, the oil whereof almost
gives light though fire touch it not- light upon light- Allah guides
to His light whom He pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men,
and Allah is Cognizant of all things]
an-Nour 24:35,
and this is a parable from Allah, Almighty, to show that the hearts
are lamps which is lit by the Dhikr with the light of the name
"Allah", then the light covers the earth of the body, so it becomes
His hearing, His sighting, and His tongue, exalted He be of what
they describe. At that time you will not be "you" the "other",
rather you will be true because have be trued with the light of the
Truth. For the people of Allah, the "other" is dispraised.
Imam Fakhreddin says:
[I am always
fasting of the others
in my light
there is a fire, and the devils are tied up]
(1/263)
He also says:
[He
migrates [makes Hijra] to me,
he who aims his face to Allah
and he
is dead without Hijra, whoever seeks others]
(1/282)
So the origin
of convection in verse (1/355)
is the "other", i.e. the false which is against the truth. We have
been ordered to follow the truth, and whoever does not follow the
truth, will be in the state of the "other" which is in "you
are you", and his state will not permit him the the insight or
the witnessing. As the state of the seeker, before the purification
and the advancement in the states of Dhikr and witnessing, is very
difficult and pitiful; being fought by Satan, worldly life,
selfness, and objectivity. That is why Imam Fakhreddin says next:
[Say: O,
master of generosity! here is my state,
and you are
the hoped wish, you are Imam]
(24/3)
And talking to
him is build on the fact that he is alive in accordance with the
Qur'anic verse: [And
say not of those who are slain in the way of Allah: "They are dead."
Nay, they are living, though ye perceive (it) not]
al-Baqarah 2:154,
"you are the hoped wish, you are Imam": this means that you
intercede with sayyduna al-Hussein for Allah to change this state to
a state that pleases Allah and His Messenger, so that you get the
insight and be guided to what Allah loves and be pleased with. You
are our wish and hope to reach this state, You are Imam, so let us
take you as our Imam and guide. O, master of the martyrs! O, Allah's
beloved! O, Imam of Imams. [On
the day when We shall call every people with their Imam: those who
are given their record in their right hand will read it,
and they will not be dealt with unjustly in the least]
al-Isra' 17:71.
We ask Allah by
His beloved al-Mustafa, the generous Ahl-al-Bait, and all the
companions, to increase our love to them, Love over love and
cordiality over cordiality, until we meet you, o, Generous God! And
Allah's prayers and peace be upon sayyduna Mohammad and His kinfolk
and companions.
Written
by Mohamed Makbool
Translated
by
Mohamed
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