Saturday, February 14, 2009

I am as My servant thinks I am




On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Allah the Almighty says: I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if draws near to Me a hand’s span, I draw near to him an arm’s length; and if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.

[Related by alBukhari, Muslim, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah]

By The Ultimate Grace of Allah, we were fortunate enough to sit in on a live class with Habib Hussein as-Saqqaaf, whilst he taught from Imam alHaddad’s “The Treatise of Mutual Reminding” in Dubai. The class was broadcasted online via their website: http://www.hemmah.net/

Habib Hussein taught the benefits of undertaking wudhu (ritual ablution) as well as the six compulsory components of it, according to the Shafi’i madhab. Subha’Allah, due to the nature of the first component (the niyaat - intention) being so vast we never got round to the other 5 components but instead learnt about the importance of making intentions to every act, the reasons why our intentions count, and how to draw closer to Allah via our intentions.

This student would love to write down everything that Habib Hussein said but a) we would ideally like to seek ijazat before doing so and b) we’re a firm believer that people who may not have attended the class may fail to get the full jist of what the teacher was saying and thus this student would do a great injustice in relaying the message being taught (unless ones notes were reviewed and ijazat was given). Nonetheless from our small sittings with Shayukh, I’m sure that mentioning the deepest moment of reflection for this student would be permitted…

Habib Hussein (may Allah preserve him with Birr and His Tawfeeq. Allahumma Ameen) mentioned:

When the angels come to us in our grave and ask the first question: ‘Who is your Lord?’ Then we will reply according to what our relationship is with Allah. Thus if you are righteous and are in love with Allah you may start reciting all of His Names (Asmaa ulHusna) out of your deep compassion and love for Him.

As Habib Hussein mentioned this all we could do was pray that we are of the righteous ones who in our graves recite His Beautiful 99 Names, not just for light to enter our graves and ease the process, but more out of knowing that by calling out to Him in devotion we are expressing our love for Him. A love that Allah Knows and reciprocates to a far greater extent than our own imagination. No other love can really compare to The Love of Allah. Subhan’Allah what a reflection.

So, how then do we make our relationship strong with Allah such that we receive these gifts? The answer is in the Hadith Qudsi mentioned in the beginning of this post “I am as My servant thinks I am…“

Through the Remembrance of Him in our heart, tongue and mind; and making sure that when we carry out an everyday task we look at it as a form of ibadat, a means to gain closer to Allah, and a way of showing gratitude to Him, The All Merciful, The All Encompassing, we can truly gain closeness to Him and make ourselves open to receiving His Rahma and His Love. And verily He is The All Loving, The All Forgiving, The All Compassionate, The All Wise.

May Allah bless the one who sent a text message our way to inform us of the class. May Allah shroud him with His Tawfeeq and Mahabba, and grant him a good fruitful life in this world and the next. Allahumma Ameen.

Insha’Allah Next Class:

* Title: “How to call people to Islam” by Habib Hussein
* Date: Friday 18th April 2008 at 7pmDubai Time (4pmUK Time)
* Link: http://www.hemmah.net/ (in Arabic and translated in English)

source:http://asmakarif.wordpress.com/category/habib-hussein-as-saqqaaf/

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