 الحمد لله رب العالمين والسلاة والسلام على رسله الكديم الحمد لله الحمد لله الذي أرسل رسوله بالهداف ودين الحق ليزهره على الدين كله ولو كريه المشركون واشهد ولا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له واشهد وأن محمدا عضه رسوله يا أيها الحدرين إيمان فايت is the greatest treasure and the greatest gift of الله سبحانه وتعالى to humankind for those who can read the secrets of faith الله سبحانه وتعالى has revealed in the Qur'an for those who cannot read الله سبحانه وتعالى reveals his secrets on the horizon and within your own souls within your own nafs in the Qur'an الله سبحانه وتعالى tells us I will show you my science on the horizon and within your own selves until you have certainty of faith and for those who cannot even see الله سبحانه وتعالى gives us the capacity to smell it as it did with Hazrat Yaqub Jacob when the false information was brought to him of the death of Yusuf عليه السلام Joseph that he had been eaten by the wolves his brothers brought the shirt and Yaqub عليه السلام upon hearing that Yusuf had passed away, had died cried, cried so much that his eyes became white meaning that he lost his eyesight but upon smelling the sweat, the shirt of Joseph he knew that Joseph was alive so Allah سبحانه وتعالى gives us the capacity to either read see feel taste faith that is the greatest treasure the secrets of which are hidden all over they're hidden on the horizon they're hidden within ourselves they're hidden in every act that you perform Insha'Allah this is the month of Hajj and today's Khutbah in the next 15 minutes is going to be about Hajj but instead of looking at it as we usually do in terms of what we do when we go for Hajj the rites of Hajj we'll try to understand some of the secrets of Hajj there are secrets everywhere because there was a time before time when we all stood in the presence of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and in there were all of us our forefathers all the people who will ever be born and indeed it included all the Awliya Allah and the Andiyah and the Nabi everyone was in there and Allah سبحانه وتعالى asked us all أرست برد بكوم Am I not your Lord and I am not your Lord Am I not your Lord and we all answered in unison ألو بلا Indeed thou art and by that there was established a covenant a contract between the Creator and the created ones namely we are all under contract to Allah سبحانه وتعالى having given our word that He is indeed our Creator but then something happened we all know what happened we got away from Him through our Father Adam we did something that we should not have done and there was a separation between the Creator and the created but Allah سبحانه وتعالى has infinite mercy He did not leave us alone He provided us guidance so that we would get back to Him but in this process the separation were created secrets many layers of secrets and they are hidden all over the place Our Prophet ﷺ unveiled these secrets He established not just one institution He established five institutions each one of which reveals the secrets the secret the hidden treasure faith that takes us to the presence of Allah سبحانه وتعالى the first institution that He established was the institution of Kalima لا إله إلا الله محمد الرسول الله such a powerful statement has never been spoken by humankind anywhere anyplace لا إله إلا الله it first of all it raises all that is out there and the opacity of creation it makes manifest as if it is transparent it says there is no reality but the reality there is none worthy of worship except Allah سبحانه وتعالى there is none worthy of our honor and respect except the being of Allah سبحانه وتعالى لا إله إلا الله the first institution it is said that أبا يزيل البستامي one of the greatest of Awliya Allah who lived in the 8th century one time had a dream and in the dream the Prophet ﷺ appeared before him and the Prophet ﷺ commanded أبا يزيل البستامي to go up on a mountain where in there were a group of plain worshippers these people used to worship fire and partake participate in their ceremony أبا يزيل البستامي was a little confused how could it be because I have taken my heart لا إله إلا الله and here is this dream that is commanding me to go on the mountain and participate in the rites of these people who are fire worshippers so he doesn't do anything for a day the second day again he has the same dream the Prophet appears before him and commands him to go up there and to participate in the rites of these fire worshippers this repeats three times and the third day he's convinced that yes indeed it was a true dream and it goes up on the mountain when it goes there in the ropes of the fire worshippers he starts to participate in their rituals and after a while they accept him as one of their own and time goes on but then one day there is the priest the chief priest of the fire worshippers he looks at أبا يزيل البستامي he says well there's something different about this man there's something different and it's not one of us he is a spy that's been sent to find out what we do in here so they catch hold of him and they make him repent and they say well now we are going to burn you we are going to put you in the state we are going to get rid of you أبا يزيل البستامي he says to them sir I will accept your punishment if you answer one question he says okay that's fair enough and what's the question أبا يزيل البستامي asks the chief of the priest what is the secret the key to heaven what is the secret to heaven upon which the leader of the fire worshippers is baffled he doesn't know how to answer أبا يزيل البستامي he's confounded he's silent then أبا يزيل البستامي explains to him the key to heaven is لا إله إلا الله upon hearing that they see the truth of what was decided and all of them accept Islam they come into the fold of Islam such is the power of لا إله إلا الله never in human history have been more powerful words spoken than لا إله إلا الله which is not complete until we recite the latter part of it محمدر رسول الله so many people when they recite لا إله إلا الله even they say even Shaytan says لا إله إلا الله but he does not say محمدر رسول الله so many disbelievers say لا إله إلا الله but they don't say محمدر رسول الله it is not complete until we say محمدر رسول الله and we speak of محمدر رسول الله are we talking about our prophet محمدر رسول الله as he appeared on this earth are we talking about what he was like when he was النور محمد the light of Muhammad at the very inception of creation perhaps even before the creation of Adam محمدر رسول الله thus the secret that is encapsulated in the ayah in the Qur'an wherein Allah and all the angels send the darood all the time إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَلَائِكَةَ تَوْيُوْ سُلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِ يَا أَيُوْ هَلَّا دِينَ عَامَرُوْ سُلُّوا عَلَيْهُ وَسُلِّمَا تَسْلِيمَا how is it possible for all of the angels and Allah سبحانه وتعالى to send the salawat all the time how is it possible because it transcends time it transcends creation it transcends even the creation of Adam مَلَيْسُلَم that's the secret the first institution established by our prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم قلمة لا إله إلا الله محمد الرسول الله it is the cleaner that cleans our heart it is the embalming thing that enables our heart to realize what peace is like it is what enables us to get close to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and to see through creation for what it really is namely that it is transparent it does not even exist بَوْتُسِرُونَ الْحَيَاتَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْأَافِرَةُ خَيْرُونَ وَأَبْقَا but the impressions the distractions the impressions of this world the Akhira is better and it's everlasting the second institution that was established by our prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was the institution of Salat Salat is a beautiful institution because it brings us close to Allah سبحانه وتعالى the only relationship appropriate relationship between man and Allah سبحانه وتعالى is one of Sajdah it is not one of any other relationship the only appropriate proper relationship between man and God is when man is in Sajdah it is in Sajdah that you are close to Allah سبحانه وتعالى the greatest of human beings whoever lived our prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he went up into the presence of Allah سبحانه وتعالى he stood in his presence how far or how close was he عابة حوصان مع اتنى two bows length or less two bows length not measured this way if you're a scientist you would know two bows length you poem a circle around it and if you put a point at the rotation of the circle namely a spear and you pour energy into it you have a singularity and you can imagine a singularity upon which you have energy being poured from every different direction what happens to the zara that atom that atom becomes so powerful that it cannot contain contain within itself and it will explode it cannot contain within itself and hence Allah سبحانه وتعالى it is Allah سبحانه وتعالى like I said there are have I not expanded the diverse because it cannot be contained and it has to be expanded the heart of the Prophet ﷺ had to expand to contain the energy that Allah سبحانه وتعالى and after meeting with him what was it that he brought back what was it that he brought back did he bring back the well of the heavens and the earth did he bring back all the sapphires and the diamonds and the oil and the GNP and the GDP no he brought back sorrow five times prayer Allah سبحانه وتعالى come on see him you go back and ask your Oma to pray and there are many stories about that but ultimately it settles that five times there is no proper relationship with man and God except the relationship which exists when mass is in a state of sajda when he surrenders there is no me and him no there is no such thing as a me because it is when the me disappears that the he appears who Allah the third institution that our Prophet ﷺ established was that of fasting in the month of Ramadan which is compulsory obligatory and the secret of fasting is consciousness of the presence of Allah سبحانه وتعالى so that you can learn تخوة تخوة is a very pregnant word beautiful word as all the words of the Qur'an they cannot be described in one lecture or one single standing in here they take volumes then the fourth institution that our Prophet ﷺ established was one of zakat the secret of zakat is purity purification purification of wealth purification of Allah سبحانه وتعالى not wealth is not ours there are so many capable people so many PhDs all over the world who do not have any money and so many people who have no qualifications at all who are very wealthy wealth is not something that you earn it doesn't belong to you it is a gift from Allah سبحانه وتعالى it is a risk so that through it he may test what we do with it so that when we give we are giving back what doesn't belong to us it's not ours nothing is ours the life is not ours what we own is not ours it all belongs to him that was the fourth institution and then the fifth institution that's the institution of Hajj whereas the institution of prayer establishes the relationship between man and Allah سبحانه وتعالى between insan and Allah سبحانه وتعالى the proper relationship whereas that relationship takes us to the secret that is resident within each one of us every one of us is born with a light the light that comes to us through the reflection of Anur Muhammad and the gist of our struggling life is to find that light and we cannot find that light until we efface the other part of it which is our ego when the ego is effaced when we are dead unto ourselves that's when the beauty the brilliance of that light shines upon us so the discovery of that light within ourselves is the first secret that is the secret of the individual that secret comes from the a higher secret the word in Arabic for secret is سر this vocabulary is uncommon these days the vocabulary these days is so facile line with itself has become so facile that mankind has forgotten how to even describe the transcendent and thoughts that used to be described in the old days by the awliya Allah and by the prophets no we don't even have the vocabulary we don't use the vocabulary anymore the first secret is the secret of the self to discover that من عرفة نفسه فحد عرفة ربه so is the hadith of the prophet who knows himself knows his rub it's not that easy that is a journey that only the initiated take but it's a journey that we must all undertake then there is the higher secret the secret of Adam and that's the secret that is hidden in the Hajj and what is the secret the secret is really is really not that much of a secret it is established whether you're a scientist or a Sufi or a sheikh doesn't matter it's established it is common knowledge these days that we are all born from the same parents through the DNAs and the RNs it's been established it's no longer a debatable point all of us the human genera have our origin from the same person the single person for a single couple Adam and Hava we forgotten that Hajj reminds us of our common origin so when the Hajji undertakes his Hajj when he dons the two pieces of unsone cloth the ehram when he duffs everything else when he drops everything else as did Musa A.S. when he was ordered by Allah to draft staff Musa A.S. was asked what do you do with your staff he said well I use my staff to shake the trees so that I can take the leaves and feed the sheep and what else do you do with it I use my staff to tend my sheep and what else do you do with it I use it to lean to support myself comes down the order throw your staff and Musa A.S. throws the staff on the ground and what happens to the staff it becomes a snake you can think about this parable in the Quran so many different ways at multiple levels you can say what happens is that when you drop all of your attachments to the world it shows up as a snake because the world is nothing but a snake it is a deception it is something that ought not to be but it is there so that Allah can test us through it so that we can fulfill His commandments and rise up to the highest potential that we have لخد خلقنا الإنسان في أحسنة تفين that is the reason it is there so Musa A.S. then is ordered pick up the staff once again he picks it up again one can interpret it in many different ways so you see the duffing the removal of the clothes and donning of the ehram is reminiscent of leaving behind all of our attachments to the world leaving it behind the second خليفة أمر فاروك ردي الله عنه at one point he said life is a beautiful thing it is a good thing but it is something to which we hang on by a single thread and people forget that life is but a thread to which we hang on as if life is everything people get engrossed in it and are lost in it so the pilgrim he dons these two pieces of unsung cloth and he says لباك اللهم لباك لباك لا شريك لك لباك حاركم the O Lord I heartened your call O Lord and here I present myself in your presence and I'll be brief because it's only a few minutes that we have إن شاء الله you know the rites and the Hajj the Hajj appears along with all the people who are circumambulating the Ka'ba as if it is by Tulmah Moor he joins the throngs and he recites the Talbiya all the time and then he remembers the favors of Allah SWT bestowed upon humankind and I'm leading up to the secret that will be revealed when we gather in the plane of Arafat very powerful meaning in there every single rite of Hajj has multiple meanings in it the pilgrim remembers how it was that the Ka'ba was constructed now there are many different chronicles of how the Ka'ba came to be constructed one of them when I heard when I went for my first Hajj way back in the 17th was the following he said when the Ka'ba was first constructed the first man who appeared on earth built it to worship and pray to Allah SWT time went by came the great flood it was destroyed and the house of God somehow remained in ruins then came a time in history when Ibrahim AS appeared on the horizon he was a man who was driven who was driven by the law of Allah SWT he was a man who was driven by that faith إني وجحت فجهي اللذي فاتر السماوات ومع أنام المشركين such a beautiful story if you want to really understand the confluence of science and faith read the story of Ibrahim AS because he was at once a scientist because he looked at the science on the horizon up in the skies he looked at the stars he looked at the moon he looked at the sun and he found them all wanting comparing it to the sun that was in his heart and in a moment of illumination he came to realize the oneness of Allah SWT that's why the Quran refers to him as an umma of one so he built the Kaaba along with the sun Ismail to worship Allah SWT and then as he was commanded he leaves his wife Bibi Hajira behind he goes away and the lady has to pen for herself and it's a hot day there is no water and Bibi Hajira looks for water there is no water she goes up on a hill looks this way there is no water then she runs from one hill to the other no water seven times it is related she ran from one hill to the other until she finds that where there was the baby Ismail lying there right next to the house of Allah SWT a spring comes forth from the rock again this is tea the meanings are multiple just as water springs forth from a rock springs sometimes the mercy of Allah SWT from the hardest of the hearts how often do we see people whose hearts are so hard and yet one day they get transformed and they become like as if he is a Wali haven't we seen that in prisons haven't we seen that in people all their lives they do some things and all of a sudden they are completely transformed so Hazrat Hajira looks at the water and she says Zumi Yango Baraka stop O blessed water and the pilgrim drinks on that water and to retrace the steps of Bibi Hajira he goes back and forth does the sayee sayee means struggle the struggle again the struggle the meaning of sayee is struggle so that we struggle throughout lives to find that which we have lost the secret the secret of the pleasure of the name of Allah SWT then on the day that he is moving along with millions of other people he goes to Mina he parks in there he sleeps over there he gets up in the morning and to the price of Allah SWT they all get up and they move towards the plane of Arafat the plane of Arafat is the Hajj and to contemplate as to what Arafat means Arafat consists of three letters I'm Re and Faith the I'm is Ilm the Re is Ruya to witness to see and the Faith is the Fahima to comprehend that is to know the name of Allah SWT to see him as if we see him with our own eyes you don't see him and that is the meaning of the Hadith when Jibril appears before the Prophet asked him what Ihsan is the Prophet is to worship Allah SWT as if you see him and if you don't see him know that he sees you that is the witness to see to witness is to be there to see him to comprehend and to accept the fact that you have witnessed it and then not only that Fahima to comprehend what it is that you have the inner knowledge the knowledge that we are talking about in here is not the knowledge that we read in the books anybody can go to Stanford you can go to Princeton any of the universities take up a book there are great libraries in Princeton Princeton has about 5 million volumes that is not the kind of knowledge we are talking about the knowledge that we are talking about the knowledge in the heart the heart of the believer the heart of faith that opens up and reads Allah's creation as if it is an open book the way Maulana Rumi read it the way the great Awliya Allah read it that is the open book so the pilgrim appears on the plane of Arafa but not as an individual he appears along with millions of other people and there by the foot of Jablur Rahman he remembers that moment when Allah's mercy guided Adam and Hava to find each other to recognize each other and hence in recognition of that there is a pillar on Jablur Rahman where in it is said that the two men it is allegorical do not ask were they actually in Arabia did they really meet there these are the kind of questions that people who are engaged in you cannot find what is in your heart through our argumentation it has its place it has its place in physics and chemistry and mathematics in understanding limited time how things function so that we can use them for our benefit that is technology that is good but you cannot get to the heart through you cannot argue your way because the Pharaoh was a great argumentator you read the Quran he was very good in argumentation but his argumentation did not lead him to find the truth the truth is a moment of illumination is given to us so they found each other and hence we remember the ayah from the Quran when Allah SWT teaches us oh human time we create man there is no black man and a white man there where in this gathering is the Arab and the non-Arab there is no Arab and non-Arab there where in this gathering is the African and the European there is no African and the European there where in this gathering is anyone except the created one standing in supplication before Allah SWT with two unsone pieces of love asking for his beneficence for his mercy we all of us not just the Muslims all of us human beings the Christians and the Jews and the Hindus and the Buddhists the believers and the unbelievers those who lived before and those who come after we are all brothers and sisters that is the secret of them and the secret of Adam and the secret of Adam lies in what he carried namely the light that comes to him from a higher source because there is a secret that's even higher than the secret of the creation of Adam and Islam Insha'Allah we can cover it in this other discourse the Haulu Haulu Aza وستخف الله الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين والسلام والسلام والسلام والرسول very often it is asked of us by people who are not in the fold of Islam to tell them what Islam is all about and I tell them Islam is all about faith because within faith there is love there is compassion there is mercy there is forgiveness there is a presence of the names of الله سبحانه وتعالى which is the basis of all knowledge that is what Islam is and there is no better occasion than the occasion of the Hajj to reveal the inner meaning of Islam because the Quran has an outer meaning and an inner meaning both of them are good الحمد لله we have to understand it according to our capacity just as nature has an outer meaning and an inner meaning المثماتيس has an outer meaning and an inner meaning جيومتري there is a geometry functional and geometry supernal when you look at the Taj Mahal you can marvel at how much marble was used in the construction of the Taj Mahal or you can go into geometry supernal and understand the love that went into its construction the love that comes from trust from belief from faith the faith that animated the king which he borrowed from Ibn al-Arabi that is Islam Islam is faith within faith there is love there is beauty there is goodness there is Allah الحمد لله بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم إن الله ملايكته يسولونه ألا النبي يا أيها الذين آمنه سلو عليه سلو متسلمان الله مال صلي الله وعلى عليها الحمد كما صلى الله عليه الرحيم وعلى آله الرحيم إنك الحميد ومجين لرسبر بسن الله الرحمن الرحيم اللهم انصرنا نسن عذيدة وفتح لنا فتح قريبة اللهم اجلنا من لذنك بالهياء اللهم اجلنا من لذنك سلطون النسيرة وكتبوا الصحتة والسلامة والعفة والعافية والنصرة علينا وعلى الهجاد والزباء والزبوات والوزع والمجاهدين والمقيمين والمسافرين في بركة وبحركة وجملك من أمة مهودة صلى الله عليه وسلم أجمعين وسلعامن أولى المرسلين والحمد لله رب العالمين إن الله يأذي الأذي والإحسان ويتعز القربع وينهى على الفحشاء والملكري والبقي يا إذاكم الله عليكم تذكرون ولا ذكروا الله يكبر والله يقول ما تستغلون