2014-10-17 - Friday Prayer - Hafiz Asil Khan

The Eight Lessons of Ḥātim al-Aṣamm

All praise is due to Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light. Then those who disbelieve in their Lord will be just. He is the One who created you from clay and then set a time — and a time is appointed for Him — then you doubt. Allah is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. He knows your secrets and what you do.

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. There is no partner for Him. I bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger. He is the One who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to show it above the whole of religion.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

Allah has spoken the truth.

The Great Sheikh of the 8th Century

The great sheikh of the 8th century — he lived in the time of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He was also a great theologian and was deep in spirituality. His name is Sheikh Shafiq al-Balkhi. Hundreds and thousands of students, or rather people, benefited from him.

He had a special student, and his name was Ḥātim al-Aṣamm. He stayed with him approximately 33 years under his supervision — a precious time he spent, a long period of time. He acquired knowledge from Sheikh Shafiq al-Balkhi.

One day, the teacher called his student and asked him: "Ḥātim, how long did you stay with me?" He replied: "Sir, I stayed approximately 33 years." The teacher said: "OK, 33 years — a long period of time, a precious time of your life. What did you learn in 33 years?" He replied: "Sir, I learned only 8 things."

Apparently the teacher was expressing his frustration — that within 33 years he learned only 8 things? He said: "OK, tell me, what did you learn? Share with me."

The Eight Lessons

The First Lesson: Love Your Good Deeds

"Sir, the first thing that I have learned — this is my experience and I have observed — the people in this world, they love someone or something. They are not without love. They love their parents or their children, or a husband or a wife, or their friends, or they love things. Maybe they love their car, they love their houses, they love their transportation — just name it — or they love anything else. Each and every single person loves someone or something."

"And I observed this, and I found their love goes only for a certain time or to a certain place. They love these things only while the person they love is alive — up until he takes his last breath. Then they carry him to a graveyard and bury him. Then I checked — who goes with him into his grave? I found no one goes into his grave with him. They bury him, maybe they are sad, they return back, and life must go on. They live their life."

"When I found that no one goes with him into his grave, I realized — they are loving, but I give priority to loving my virtues. I start loving my good deeds. They are going to be with me in this world, and my good deeds, my virtues, will be in my grave — they are not going to leave me alone. And my virtues and good deeds will be with me in the life after. I give priority to loving my virtues, my deeds."

The teacher was happy. He said, "SubhanAllah, you learned something good, great." He appreciated him. "Something amazing — what is next?"

The Second Lesson: Remove Jealousy and Hatred

"The next thing that I have learned — I have found that people are hating each other. They have jealousy, and because of their jealousy, because of their hatred, they become enemies to each other, and they try to race with one another. The person who has a good house or maybe a good business — the second one will try to beat him. He will think, 'I should have better than him, a good position.' And because of all these things, they become jealous, and then they create hatred in their hearts."

"And when I recited this ayah —"

"It is We who portion out between them their livelihood in this world."

"So it is We who portion out — We divide — We make someone higher and someone lower. After learning this, I do not carry any more hatred toward anyone. The hatred and jealousy that was in my heart, I took it out. I am no more jealous of anyone. If I see that someone is blessed, I make du'a for him: 'May Allah bless you more, may Allah bless you more.' I am not jealous. SubhanAllah."

The sheikh said: "Yes, this is very good. You are learning something good. What is next?"

The Third Lesson: True Honor Is Through Taqwa

"Sheikh, I have learned — the people in this world, they seek their honor through their positions, they seek honor through their wealth, or maybe they are very proud of their language, or their nationality, or their color, their creed, their family, and they feel very proud of that, and they seek their honor."

"And when I found all these things do not have any lasting weight — they do not live longer — and when I checked this Quranic ayah —"

"O mankind, We created you from a single male and female, and then We made you into different tribes and peoples so that you may recognize one another. The most honored in the sight of Allah is the one who is most pious."

"When I learned this ayah — that the most honored in the sight of Allah is the one who is more pious — I tried my best to get closer to Allah, not because of other things, but through my virtues. And I do not rely on, or feel myself honored because of, other things."

Alhamdulillah. "This is something excellent. What is next?"

The Fourth Lesson: Guard Against Evil Desires

"So when I recited this ayah —"

"And as for he who feared standing before his Lord and restrained himself from all kinds of impure and evil desires — Jannah will be his abode."

"When I learned this ayah, I tried my best to stay away from all kinds of impure and evil desires. If I would like to go to Jannah, I have to stay away. And after learning this ayah, I am trying my best every day to increase my level of taqwa, and each and every single step that I take, I think first: will this step make me more closer to Allah, or will it take me away from Allah?"

"SubhanAllah, it's great. What is next?"

The Fifth Lesson: Spend in the Way of Allah

"Then I learned one more thing. I have found and observed that people — if they have something valuable, something precious — they will preserve it, they will save it. Just like that, if we have gold, or silver, or money, or something valuable, we are going to preserve it, we are going to keep it in lockers. If we have money, we are going to deposit it in the banks. If something is valuable, we are going to keep it in our house — shelves, cupboards, whatever. They are preserving it, they are saving it."

"So when I learned this ayah —"

"Whatever is with you is going to be destroyed, but whatever is with Allah will remain forever."

"It is just like our experience — if someone is hit by a natural disaster, maybe he has everything, but because of the natural disaster, suddenly he loses everything. So, sir, after learning this, anything valuable that comes into my hand I spend in Allah's way, because it will be forever. If I hold it, maybe it is not going to stay longer — I have no guarantee, I am not sure how long this thing will be with me or how much benefit I can take from it. But what is with Allah is permanent, is forever."

"Yes, SubhanAllah, it's very important. What is next?"

The Sixth Lesson: Trust Allah for Your Sustenance

"Sheikh, I have learned — the people in this world, they worry about their food, their sustenance, their rizq. And they are restless, they are always worried about: 'What am I going to do next year, next month, within five years?' They make plans, they are worried, they accumulate as much as possible, and finally they do not care what is ḥarām or ḥalāl in terms of sources — they just want to become rich, and they worry about their sustenance."

"When I learned this ayah —"

"Whatever Allah created on this earth, Allah took responsibility for its sustenance. Allah is responsible."

"But it does not mean that you just sit aside and become an unproductive member of society — don't do anything and just say, 'OK, Allah will provide me.' Yes, Allah created everything for you, but it does not mean don't work. Work. Adopt your professions. But at the same time, do not worry too much — 'What will happen next?' After doing your activities, after doing your job, leave it on Allah, because ultimately Allah is the One who provides your sustenance, your rizq. He is responsible."

"After learning this, I will not worry — although I am working, I am carrying on my life as a normal life — but I am not worried, because Allah is the responsible One."

"Allah is great. What else?"

The Seventh Lesson: Your Only Enemy Is Shaytan

"I have learned another thing. People are enemies to each other — they hate each other, they kill each other. As you have observed, killing is so frequent. The time will come when the one who is killing will not be able to know why he is killing, and the one who is killed will not be able to know why he was killed. Killing is so frequent — that is because of the wars, because they are enemies to each other."

"So when I learned this ayah —"

"Indeed, Shaytan is your enemy — take him as your enemy."

"After learning this, no one is my enemy, and I am not an enemy to anyone else. I don't carry grudges, or a malicious heart, or hatred, or jealousy, or any kind of animosity in my heart. No one is my enemy — Shaytan is my enemy. And I am going to disobey Shaytan."

SubhanAllah. "I increased my love — I increased love in my heart for the people, for Allah's creation. I start loving them."

"Yes, great. What else?"

The Eighth Lesson: Put Your Trust in Allah Alone

"Another thing that I have learned — people trust their intellectual power, they rely on their position, they rely on their wealth, they rely on the things that belong to them. And ultimately they think: 'These are the things that will save me. Because of these things I am more powerful, I am intellectual, I am smart.' They put their tawakkul on them."

"So when I learned this ayah —"

"And whoever trusts in Allah — He is enough for him."

"I built my trust in Allah. I increased trust in my heart in Allah. Although I am aware of these worldly things, I trust in Allah more than anything else. The ultimate trust is in Allah."

The Teacher's Conclusion

After hearing all that Ḥātim al-Aṣamm had learned from his teacher, he was saying that he had learned only 8 things. Because Sheikh Shafiq al-Balkhi had read the Tawrāh, the Zabūr, the Injīl, and of course the Quran — and he had deep knowledge — he said: "You know, I checked the Tawrāh, the Zabūr, the Injīl, and the Quran. The ultimate understanding and ultimate teaching of all four books are within these 8 things. These are the extract and the conclusion of all these revelations."

Reflection for the Muslim Ummah

Brothers and sisters, when I studied this conversation between the student and the teacher, it struck my heart. Right now, the disturbance in the Muslim Ummah — whether individual or collective — if we reflect on or implement these things in our life, our life could change. Believe me, our life could change.

Right from the beginning, if we stay away from evil desires and evil deeds, of course we will be closer to Allah. And within these 8 things, you could say that you are fulfilling Ḥuqūq Allāh — the rights of Allah — and at the same time Ḥuqūq al-ʿIbād — the rights of His creation. What else is left? These are the major things.

And sometimes we ignore, we don't pay attention. Just one or two things is not enough in our life. Islam is a way of life — it's not only a few things. For each and every single step that we take, if we think: does this step make me closer to Allah? Does this step take away someone's rights? We have to be thankful. If we have any lacking or shortcomings, think about how we can rectify ourselves. And finally, Allah will bless us all.

And whoever Allah misguides, there is no guide for him. And we bear witness that there is no god except Allah alone — there is no partner for Him. And we bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, His beloved and His friend.

Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and salute him with all respect.