Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu
In my last talk, I spoke to you about the almost unbelievable importance, the tremendous importance of the words “La illaha illallah”. Somebody had asked me in Port Elizabeth why those words are so important, and I want to deal today a little bit about the importance of these Sacred Words. I want to take you back as I always do on so many occasions to the beginning of creation. Allah Almighty, according to a Prophetic Tradition, was a hidden treasure and He wanted to be known. And so, according to the Quran, He said: “Kun faya kun: Be! And everything came into existence.” Allah Almighty brought all of creation, this massive massive creation in which we live, into existence just with the word “Kun”. This does not only demonstrate the immense power of Allah Almighty, because He is All Powerful, but it also demonstrates the immense power of the Sacred Word. The word “Kun” comes from Allah Almighty. When Allah Almighty mentions this word, in whichever way it is mentioned, that word carries with it a tremendous amount of spiritual power and a tremendous amount of spiritual energy. This means that the whole of the Quran has within its words such spiritual power and spiritual energy. When Allah Almighty sent the Revelation, His Sacred Words to Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), He sent those words along a particular route to his heart. The words came from Allah Almighty - we don’t understand that of course - to the Lawhul Mah’fudh, what is called the Preserved Tablet. We don’t understand what that is, but we do know that the Quran was recorded on this tablet. From this tablet, the sacred words went to the Baitul ‘Izza, the Domain of Power. We don’t know what that is either. We just take it as it comes from the traditions of Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) and then from there to Jibril (a.s). Jibril (a.s) was the lat but one to receive the Revelation. From him it went to the heart of of Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s). I think all of you know the story of the cave when Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) during the month of Ramadan saw this massive light in the cave, and the light addressed him. It was Jibril (a.s). Jibril (a.s) had in his hand an embroidered piece of cloth on which were embroidered the words “’Iqra’ bismi Rabbikalladhi khalaq”. Jibril (a.s) showed this to him and told him to read. On each occasion Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) said: “Ma ana bi qari’: I am unable to read.” Each time Jibril (a.s) embraced Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) and allowed him to look at the cloth again and at the end of the third embrace, Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) said “’Iqra’ bismi Rabbikalladhi khalaq” and the Divine Words poured into his heart. So Allah Almighty used these words to open the heart of Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) to allowthe rest of the revelation to enter. We have to understand that, by that time, I’m almost positive, a lot of the spiritual power of the Divine Word must have been decreased. One of the functions of Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) was, not only to receive the Revelation but also to reduce the spiritual power and the spiritual energy of that Revelation. Allah Almighty says in the Quran: “Law anzalna ha dhal quran ala jabalir ra’ayta hu khashi‘am muta saddi’am min khashyatil lah: If We had to reveal these words, this Quran, on a mountain, that mountain would have crumbled and be destroyed through fear of Allah Almighty.” This is the Power of the Quran. If Allah had brought it straight down onto a mountain, that mountain would have been destroyed. In the same way, if Allah Almighty had placed it straight onto our hearts, it would have destroyed us. And so Allah Almighty used the route from Him to the Lawhul Mah’fudh, to the Baitul ‘Izza, to Jibril (a.s.), to the heart of Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) and there its power was decreased further and further, like a transformer, to enable Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) to utter those words to the Sahabahs.
Allah Almighty had also made him “Ummi” that is he was unlettered. In other words his heart and his mind were not polluted by affairs and knowledge of the dunya. Allah Almighty kept him in a pure state to receive revelation, to receive this powerful message. When he received this powerful message, he still perspired and his bodily frame became heavy and he was almost in a semi form of shock because of the impact of the revelation. Allah Almighty used his heart to reduce the energy, the power of the revelation and from his heart he could then put it in the hearts of the Sahabahs with whom he lived. So from this little account we can start to understand the power of the Divine Word. The words “La illaha illallah” of course, are the very foundation of all belief. From the beginning of time Allah Almighty had sent Messengers and with them Messages, He sent as the basic foundation of belief of all these Messages, the words “La illaha illallah”. There is a special power, a special energy in these words. But we never experienced its actual power or its actual energy. We experience a very downgraded power and a very downgraded energy. So when we say “La illaha illallah”, we are not experiencing that energy, but there is still energy in “La illaha illallah”. And one of the reasons Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) said repeat “La illaha illallah” considerably, is for us to draw from that energy onto our hearts. And it is that energy and that power that comes from the sacred word that transforms our hearts. Allah Almighty says in the Quran: “Ala bi dhikrillahi tatma ‘innul qulub: in the remembrance of Allah the hearts come to rest. This is a major transformation that takes place in the hearts of all those believers who say those words. What it in fact means is that those believers, those people who say those words, are drawing from the very special energy that can be found in the words “La illaha illallah”. That is why that statement is so important. But the word “Allah” is equally or much more important, whatever the case might be, I don’t know. There must be a considerable amount of energy in the word “Allah”. I take the word “Allah” for example as perhaps the greatest word in the Quran. That’s why Allah Almighty tells Nabi Muhammad (s.a.w.s) and tells us: “Kul lillah thumma dharhun fi khawdihim yal‘abun: Say Allah, and leave the rest of the people to the games and the nonsense they get up to and the nonsense they talk.” I want to repeat this to you, this is very important for us. Allah Almighty has sent us a message through the Quran, and the message is: “I want you to say My Name, say Allah and those people who don’t want to say this let them continue with their games and the other nonsense they get up to.” People engaged in adhkar, who sit down either on their own or in groups and they mention the word “Allah” or the words “La illaha illallah” or the other phrases that Allah Almighty has sent us to make dhikr with, must continue with that work and leave the other people with the nonsense they get up to, the games that they play with Islam or their religion because we have serious work to do. We are busy, those people who are in tariqah, we are busy with serious religious and spiritual work. We are concerned with our souls to an extreme degree and we consider ourselves focusing on Allah Almighty and striving very hard with the adhkar that He has provided and everything else that He has provided through the Quran or through the Sunnah, striving very hard for spiritual grants from Him. And that is why we are engaged in reciting “La illaha illallah”; we are engaged in reciting “Allah”; we are engaged in reciting all the other adhkar that Allah Almighty had sent us because we desire deep down in our hearts that Allah Almighty must give us major spiritual grants from His Oceans of Spirituality. We ask Allah Almighty for that.
Subhana rabika rabbil izzati amma yassifun wa salamun alal mursalin wal hamdu lillahi rabbil alamin. Wallahu a’lam.
Yours in Islam