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HOW DUA IS MEANT TO INSTILL HOPE IN US DURING RAMADAAN

Written by ramadanSaturday, 25 June 2016 09:33 -


EXPLORING EXTRACTS OF DUA ABU HAMZA THUMALI

Jumuah khutbah delivered at the Ahlul Bait (a.s) Islamic Centre, Ottery, Cape Town on 24 June2016

Our reminder in every Jumuah for being conscious of Almighty Allah at all times also extends tobeing conscious of the fact that we are entering the last 10 nights of the Holy Month ofRamadaan which is the Most valuable period in Ramadaan, particularly the nights and morespecifically the 19th, 21st and 23rd nights which are all probable nights of Qadr.

In the Jumuah before the start of this Holy Month, we discussed certain of the verses of SurahBaqarah which speak about the institution of Fasting and this Holy month, particularly Verses183 to 185. And we concluded from this discussion that fasting is meant to be an expression ofgratitude for Almighty Allah having guided us by revealing the Haqiqat of the Quran in this

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Month, and more specifically in the Night of Qadr.

In the nights that lie ahead, we will again, Insha'Allah witness the night of Qadr wherein we areable to gain the value of a lifetime of worship in one single night.

And verse 187 also refers to performing I'tikaaf and remaining in seclusion in the mosque duringthis period. Insha'Allah next year when our mosque project is complete, we should considerimplementing facilities for performing I'tikaaf in our mosque for those wanting to participate.

So what we gather from these verses and the Sunnah of the Prophet (sawa) is that the daysand nights that lie ahead calls for increased exertion in our spiritual endeavors - we are meantto be going spiritually uphill and not downhill after having had our cup of boeber like we have inCapetonian Muslim tradition on the 15th Ramadaan to indicate that we supposedly goingdownhill!

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INSTITUTION OF DUA IS A CRITICAL PART OF WORSHIP IN RAMADAAN

In these verses that were referred to last time, Ramadaan is month in which guidance fromAllah descended upon us through the revelation of the Quran.

And then Verse 186 establishes for us in the most unique manner, an institution that causes usto rise and ascend spiritually to Almighty Allah - and that is the institution of Dua.

I must emphasize - this institution of Dua is nestled in between these verses which speak aboutfasting and shows its centrality to this month.

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Verse 186 says:

"And when MY servants ask you concerning ME, then verily I am near. I answer the prayer ofthe supplicant when he calls on ME, so they should answer MY call, and believe in ME, so thatthey may walk in the right way."

Allamah Tabatabai says regarding this verse that "this is the best expression of the subjectmatter in the most elegant and beautiful style. The whole verse is based on the first personsingular pronoun which shows the great importance which the speaker i.e. Allah attaches to thissubject"!

And this speaking in the first person occurs seven times in this verse - there is no other verse inthe whole Quran wherein Allah speaks using the first person singular pronoun so many times.

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Thus we understand the famous hadith of the Prophet (sawa) wherein he is reported to havesaid that:

"Dua is the essence of worship."

And therefore in this Holy Month of Ramadaan, there are so many, deep and extremelymeaningful Duas which are recorded from the Ahlul Bait (a.s) for the month of Ramadaan aswell as for these last 10 ten days.

DUAS IN QURAN ARE CONCISE, WHILE DUAS FROM AHLUL BAIT (a.s) EXPOSE IT'SDEEPER MEANING

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Some people who are averse to learning anything from the Ahlul Bait (a.s) say that all we needis to read the Duas taught to us in the Quran from various Prophets (a.s).

But this guidance that was sent is not in singular form of Quran only - it is in form of QuranPLUS the Ahlul Bait (a.s) of whom the Prophet (sawa) is the head.

The Duas in the Quran are in concise, concentrated form - without doubt they are words of Allahand the best. But when reading it in this form, because we do not understand their hiddenmeaning, then these Duas simply bounce off our tongues with limited effect.

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For example, one of the first things we do when we make Dua after sending salutations on theProphet (sawa) is that we Praise Almighty Allah.

Now when you try to craft a Dua from the Quran to do this by ourselves, then we might say:

"All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the Worlds."

That is perfectly fine and is extremely meaningful, it is just that OUR comprehension of thatmeaning is so limited. Understand this!

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But when we read, for example, Dua Iftitah every night as taught by our 12th Imam Mahdi (a.s),then we read the expanded version of "All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the Worlds."

And what an expansion in meaning don't we obtain?

Some these lines say:

"Praise be to Allah. None can disclose anything hidden by Him;

None can shut the doors kept open by Him;

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No one who makes a request is sent away disappointed by Him;

And no one who looks long and attentively is deluded in his hopes"

DUA ABU HAMZA THUMALI

One great dua that was read before Sehr every morning by the 4th Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s)was recorded by his great student Abu Hamza Thumali and this dua famously became knownas Dua Abu Hamza Thumali.

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This is a long Dua and usually during one of these Qadr nights we also read it communally hereat our Centre. But it is filled with meaning and is the means through which the one whosincerely reads it will ascend spiritually to Almighty Allah.

If I want to share an extremely brief few words on this Dua in my own understanding, then I willsay it is a Dua through which we learn:

- to know our Lord; and

- to know ourselves; and

- to keep our souls spiritually balanced.

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What do I mean?

DETAILS ON TAUHEED

Firstly this Dua has details about Tauheed on different levels. From:

- Tauheed of Allah's Essence;

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- to Tauheed of Allah's Attributes;

- to Tauheed of Allah's Actions;

- to Tauheed of Allah's Lordship;

- to Tauheed of Worshiping Allah

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And close to the beginning of the Dua it introduces the MOST eloquent proof of knowing Allah'sExistence when it says in a very short sentence. First we say:

Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord (you say this asmany times in one breath).

How long can you do that? For 30 or 40 seconds? That in itself already shows us howdependent we are that we can't even survive without oxygen beyond a few seconds before ourorgans will pack up. Once you said “Oh my Lord” so many times, then comes the shortsentence I was referring to:

"I knew of You through You!"

"And you directed me to You!"

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These 2 sentences have 2 methods of Knowing the Existence of Allah summarised in them.

The second sentence refers to the method of knowing Allah through contemplation of the signsin the external Universe and the Universe within our selves.

That is how we reach the Knowledge of Allah through contemplating the existence of everythingother than Allah.

But the first sentence "I knew of You through You!" is best proof of Allah's Existence asdescribed in Mulla Sadra's Burhanul Siddiqeen as Allah can truly only be known through Him

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and not through Us or through His Creation!

Understand this!

That is because Existence is something that is the most commonly recognized Reality whichrequires NO proof.

And Existence in its Absolute sense is Allah whose Existence is Independent.

Our our existence which is deficient (we can't even say “Oh my Lord” for more than a fewseconds without needed more breath) – our existence is a dependent existence.

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But Existence itself is recognized with no Proof and thus "I knew of You through You!", I don'tneed to reach you through myself!

Of course Dua Abu Hamza goes into much more detail on the various aspects of Tauheed.

DETAILS ON KNOWING THE HUMAN STATE

Then this Dua has details about the various aspects of the state of the human being.

Who are we?

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And what are we?

If you want to understand it in its concise form, then we might read in the Quran, by way ofexample, the Dua of Prophet Adam (a.s) in Surah al-A'raf Verse 23 when it says:

"Our Lord, we have wronged our souls, and if You do not forgive us and (not) have Mercy onus, then surely we will be of the losers."

In common language today we use the word "loser" to refer to someone that is defeated andjust gives up and has no hope.

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Dua Abu Hamza Thumali expands our understanding on how we wronged our souls and theimpact it has on making us real losers and defeating ourselves.

Do you want to know how bad losers we are?

To start with Imam Zainul Abideen says:

"I pray to you, Oh my Master with a tongue that has been paralyzed by its sin."

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Paralyzed! That's the reality of most of us spiritually.

And then the Imam goes into detail on how our sins have paralyzed us.

Often we are completely oblivious about our sins and don't even realize how we displease ourLord.

But when we honestly focus, with the help of this Dua Abu Hamza Thumali, then we reach apoint where Imam Zainul Abideen says:

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"If I contemplate my sins, Oh my Lord, I become scared!"

One becomes so scared that you just want to run away somewhere.

But where do you run to?

Nowhere, as there is no escape.

And this leaves us gripped in fear.

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And so Imam Zainul Abideen, after contemplating this situation about himself and showing ushow to contemplate about ourselves, he expresses that fear when he says:

"And why would I not weep for I have no knowledge of my fate and I observe my self deceivingitself, and my days are fading away, and the wings of death have flapped close by, So whywouldn't I cry?!

- I cry for my soul's departing my body,

- I cry because of the darkness of my grave,

- I cry because of the narrowness of my grave,

- I cry for the questioning of me by Munkar and Nakeer,

- I cry from my leaving of my grave, naked, humiliated, and carrying my book (of deeds) on myback,

- I look once to the right and I look once to the left and I discover that people today have otherconcerns than mine,

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- for every person that day has a concern of his own,

- some faces that day are bright, laughing and joyful,

- while other faces that day are dusty, loaded with submission and humility!"

This knowledge of ourselves causes us to be in a state of fear!

All that is when we focus on our self.

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But this knowledge of ourselves brings knowledge of Allah!

And thus in the same sentence when Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s) looks at himself when he says:

"If I contemplate my sins, Oh my Lord, I become scared!"

Immediately thereafter he follows it up with considering Almighty Allah and says:

"But when I remember your generosity I yearn!"

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By combining the Knowledge of Allah with the Knowledge of the self of the human being, thisamazing Dua teaches us how to keep our souls in a constant state of balance BALANCEbetween hope and fear.

This hope is so important that Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s) speaks to Allah in this dua in amanner that appears quite confident when he says:

"O my Lord! You did say, and all of what you say is true, and what you promise is unconditional,that "Oh Believers, ask Allah of His bounty, for Allah is Merciful towards you".

And after saying this, the Imam invokes the Tauheed of Almighty Allah to create moreconfidence in us that we can beg for all our needs from Allah when he says:

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"And it is not from your Siffat/Attributes, Oh my Master, to order me to ask and prevent theanswer"!

This beautiful instillation of hope in our future in this world and the next is a hallmark of theschool of Ahlul Bait (a.s).

And I thus encourage everyone to take some time out during the remainder of this Holy Monthof Ramadaan (if you have not done so already) to uplift your souls by reading this dua,Insha'Allah.

SECOND KHUTBAH

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Tonight is the 19th Ramadaan. Besides being a probably night of Qadr which makes it a veryauspicious night spiritually, it is also a night wherein we remember the sad assassination of thefirst Imam of the Ahlul Bait (a.s), Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib (a.s).

Imam Ali (a.s) who lived for Islam and died for Islam due to his uncompromising stance onJustice and being principled.

Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s), the Imam from whom were learn much of spirituality and duas fromand who is known as the "Beautiful worshiper" due to his excessive worship and prolongedprostrations, he was once complimented by his son Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s) as worshipingso much that he should consider taking a break due to the signs of exhaustion from exertinghimself so much in worship.

But then Imam Zainul Abideen (a.s) requested the records of how Imam Ali (a.s) used toworship and upon reading it he said that his worship falls far short from that of Imam Ali (a.s)!

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That is the spirituality of Imam Ali (a.s).

And knowledge of this spirituality of Imam Ali (a.s), who is considered to be the Spiritual Masterby both Sunni and Shia alike, causes one to love Imam Ali (a.s) dearly.

But one can philosophize as much as you like - the reality is that the love for Imam Ali (a.s)comes with the ultimate price tag attached to it - no matter what sect you belong to.

So this week, while Ayatullah Isa Qassem was stripped from his citizenship in Bahrain and theWefaq Party was closed down in Bahrain, we also witnessed in Karachi in Pakistan how a world

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famous Sunni Sufi Naat Singer, Amjad Faid Sabri was assassinated.

This Sabri family has close relations with South African Muslims and people of Cape Town.

He was known to sing the praises of Prophet Muhammad (sawa) and his Holy Ahlul Bait (a.s),particularly Imam Ali (a.s). And we saw how thousands of people lined the streets of Karachi inpaying respects to this lover of the Ahlul Bait (a.s).

That is the price tag for the love of Imam Ali (a.s) - willingness to give your life.

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And this incident should be an eye opener to the broader Muslim population - that Sunni andShia should be more close to each other as we are not violent by nature. We should jointlydissociate ourselves from the evil terrorists who are deluded to think that they can be violent inthe name of Allah.

And similarly we saw in our country how injustice was meeted out against foreign Somalibusinessman during the Tshwane protests – the protests are against government, but they areforever the scapegoats and being attacked.

They don't take the jobs of others, but create their own businesses.

And finally with Britain voting to leave the European Union we see something very clear abouttheir values. The EU was created to bring a united, stronger Europe, but this country thatcolonized the world once upon a time will only be in it for their own gain. With certain countries

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dragging down the EU financially, Britain is the first to get out as its against their interests.

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