Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu
I must first of all, of course, ask Allah Almighty for forgiveness, if in any of my talks or in future talks I commit any error. I always try my best to remember that. I ask Allah Almighty for repentance if I have made a mistake in my interpretation of things or in the things that I have said.
In any case, three of the dhikrs that I have spoken about so far were the dhikr of “Salawat”, the dhikr of “La illaha illallah” and the dhikr of “Allah”. I want to come to another very important dhikr and that is the words “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”. These words are the crown words of the Qur’an. We find them at the head of every surah except Surah Tawbah. Allah Almighty revealed to Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) that the phrase “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim” must be placed at the crown of, at the head of, every surah except Surah Tawbah.
At the beginning, when Allah Almighty created, He had with him His own Book - whatever that might mean - and He registered certain things in that book with regard to our destination, the destination of the dunya, the destination of all of creation and the destination of human beings. The words “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim” were of the first words to be written in the Book. I will come to some of the other matters later. This phrase says: “Bismilla: In the Name of Allah”, “Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim” “The Most Merciful, The Most Good”. So the first things that we learn when we look at the words “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”, is that the Almighty’s Name is “Allah”. He says further in the Qur’an: “An Allah: I am Allah”. And so, the first name that we come across is Allah’s Name when we say “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”. That’s why in other places of the Qur’an Allah Almighty for example says: “Fadh kurus ma Rabbik: Say the Name of your Lord”, the Name is “Allah”. So here we get a very special instruction that that Name “Allah” must be repeated by us and in the previous programme I also mentioned to you that Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an, “A’uthu billahi… He says: “Kullillah thumma dharhun fil hawdhihim yal‘abun” “say “Allah” and leave the rest to their games and nonsense talks and all the things they get up to. And so there are very clear indications in the Qur’an that we must say Allah’s Name and this occurs in the very beginning in the words “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”. Now what is very very interesting is that in the very beginning of the Qur’an, where we have the words “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”, Allah Almighty introduces to us two of His Names, the name “Ar-Rahman and the name Ar-Rahim”. We come to learn about that. Lets say we go to the Qur’an for the first time, and we know very little about this Qur’an, and we know very little about Islam, when we read the first words: “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”, what is it that we learn? We learn first of all that our Creator’s Name is “Allah” and we also learn that two of Allah’s Names describe Allah Almighty, certain of His Qualities, the one “Ar-Rahman and the one Ar-Rahim”. Now both those two names have a special relationship to each other but they have to do with the quality of Mercy. And so we learn at the very beginning of the Qur’an, that Allah Almighty gives Mercy, gives an immense amount of Mercy. In a Hadith-ul-Qudsi, a hadith in which Allah Almighty speaks to Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) and He says: “My Mercy precedes My Anger”, first My Mercy, then My Anger”. Now what does that mean to me as a human being? If I come across the words: “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”, what does it mean to me? I learn for the first time, at the very beginning of the Qur’an, that my Lord is Most Merciful, my Lord is Most Good. I learn that! And I also come to understand these are two very special qualities that my Lord has, He is Most Merciful, He is Most Good or Most Beneficent. So as a person in my senior years, what does that mean to me? To me, I hang on to those words. Because Allah Almighty had also said in Hadith-ul-Qudsi to Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s), “I Am as My servant thinks Me to be”. So I, when I think of Allah Almighty, I don’t think that my Creator has rules. I know He has rules. I don’t think that my Creator punishes. I know that He punishes. But my focus, my concentration is not there, my focus is on the fact that my Lord is Most Merciful, I think of Him like that, so if I think of Him like that, He will be like that for me. I think that my Lord is Most Good, He is Most Beneficent, I think of Him like that. So because I think of Him like that, I know He will be like that for me because He promises that. He promises that, He says: “I Am as My servant thinks Me to be”. Now I don’t think of Allah Almighty as being wrathful or the One who is going to punish or the One who is going to throw me into the Jahannam, or the One who is going to humiliate me on the day of Yawmul Qiyamah, or the One who is going to have me trambled on on the day of Yawmul Qiyamah. I don’t want to think about that. I think other things about Allah Almighty because I depend on the statement of His: “I Am as my servant thinks Me to be”. I depend on that statement. And therefore I depend on His two Names that He talks about Himself in “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”. I depend totally on that. That Allah Almighty, Yawmul Qiyamah be Merciful to me. He will not punish me, I believe that to the very depths of my soul. Allah Almighty will be good to me Yawmul Qiyamah. I believe that also to the very depths of my being. I don’t want to get involved into the other things. Is enough for me already as a Muslim to focus just on that. I know all the other things. I know there’s a Jahannam. I know people are going to be punished. I know people are going to be dragged on their faces. I know people are going to be branded. I know people are going to suffer unbelievable humiliation and punishment on that day. I know all that but those things are not in the forefront of my brain, the forefront of my thinking, the forefront of my desires and my will, not like that at all. I can’t at my age, sorry I’m speaking to you personally about this but it is the only way I can explain it, I can’t at my age think of those other things because my dependence, the depth of my dependence, is on the fact that Allah Almighty is Most Merciful and Most Good. And so I depend on those words and I hang onto that and I look at all His other Names throughout the Qur’an and I look at all those Names that are of major benefit to me, that bring me towards Him, like Al-Wadud for example, Allah is the One that gives love and so I depend on that and say: “Ya Wadud, Ya Wadud, Ya Wadud”, wanting Allah Almighty to grant me His Love because I know a grant of Love from Allah Almighty will raise my status immensely amongst all human beings, I know that. That if that Name of Allah Almighty Al-Wadud, if that functions for me, if Allah Almighty informs the angels I’ve granted that servant of mine love, what more do we want? Surely this must be the greatest achievement when because of what one does as a human being, Allah Almighty informs Jibril (a.s.): “I love that servant of Mine, I’ve granted that servant of Mine Friendship. I’ve made that servant of Mine a Wali, a kramat, Yawmul Qiyamah I will place that special servant of Mine on a special mimbar of light and the Ambiyah, the prophets and the martyrs will envy that servant because of his status by Me.” Surely, isn’t that what we want? Isn’t that from the depths of our hearts what we desire? Why is it that we mess around in the dust; mess around in the dirt when Allah Almighty has that for us? I want us, just as we say “La illaha illallah”, and we say “Allah” we must say “Bismilla hirrahman nirrahim”, we must say: “Ya Wadud, O my Lord grant to me of Your Love”.
Subhana rabika rabbil izzati amma yassifun wa salamun alal mursalin wal hamdu lillahi rabil alamin. Wallahu a’lam. Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatu.
Yours in Islam