Khutbahs
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Seeing With The Light of Allah | Khutbah
What are the cures to blindness in the heart? And what are the gifts of foresight (Baseera and Firasa) that are given to righteous seekers?
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Dear brothers and sisters, I want to stay a bit with the topic, at least for another two or three khutbas, of this idea of what we can perceive, based upon what is presented to us, and how much we trust the faculties with which we are perceiving the world around us. And so last week we talked about ad-dajjal, and we talked about this idea of the ultimate deception and the ultimate distortion of reality, and where a person can no longer see beyond what is right in front of them, and the tragedy of that being compounded by a person trusting their own faculties to a point that they assign divinity to them. And I want to talk about this, inshallah ta'ala, in an extended sense. I want you to think about two people that are looking at the exact same thing and having the exact opposite reactions to it. Two people go to medical school. One person, as they study the detail of Allah's creation, and they study biology, and they study all of the miracles of birth, and they study all of the miracles of the functioning of the human body, they come out and they say, subhanallah, how amazing is the creation of Allah. How merciful is Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to have allowed us to function in the way that we do. How dependent are we on Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala with every single process in our bodies? Another person goes to medical school and has the exact opposite reaction. Comes away with that and says the human body is incredible. Human beings are amazing. Look at how advanced medicine is. And attributes all of that to the creation as a means of rejecting the creator. Same thing is true when you look around at the universe around you. Some look at it and they see the signs of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala, the signs of God, and that brings them closer to God. Others look at it and
do not realize that they are coming to the most unintelligent conclusion that all of this is from nothing and they use that as a proof against God or the existence of God. Then you look at the signs, the ayat of the Quran, divine revelation. Some read it and are moved by the first few verses that they hear and immediately perceive the divinity of these words, the words of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. Others approach the scripture with the intention to skew and to misinterpret and to debate and to argue. And so they find themselves in constant argumentation while the other person is absorbing the revelation with humility. You know, subhanAllah, think about I remember once coming across this meme where you had a person that's standing and he's standing in the middle of a garden and everything around him in its beauty and he's saying the thought bubble is where is the proof of the existence of God? Where are his miracles? As if he's completely blinded to everything that is around him. Now, is it that Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala has not already put enough out there? As one of the ulama mentioned, when the mushrikeen, when the disbelievers of Mecca demanded that the Prophet salallahu wa'ala alaihi wa sallam split the moon as a proof. They didn't realize that the existence of the moon was already a proof for them and the splitting of the moon was only an added hujjah, an added proof against them. Why was it that they were not able to connect already to the obvious existence of a designer and a creator? And that's why Imam bin Ata'allah says It's not that the truth is veiled. It's not that reality is veiled. It's that you are veiled from being able to see reality. The problem is not the inexistence of these things.
The problem is the veil between you and this reality and this truth and in reality you will see what you are looking for. You will see what you are looking for. One of my favorite statements from Al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz Malcolm X rahimahullah ta'ala was what he wrote in September of 1964 when he decided to go to Umrah. Malcolm made one hajj and he made a Umrah as well in September but there were no cameras and no press and no reporting. And when he was asked why he said I need to go sharpen my spiritual eye. I need to sharpen my spiritual eye. So he went to Umrah in September. What spiritual eye is he talking about and what does this have to do with the entire scope of what prophetic vision is? When a person can see beyond or when a person is blinded in the opposite sense. When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَلْ أَبْصَارٌ It's not that the eyes go blind. There are people that can't see with their eyes but they can see. وَلَكَنْ تَعْمَلْ قُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي السُّدُورِ Rather it is the hearts that go blind. There are people that can fully see with their eyes but their hearts are blind. And there are people that can't see with their eyes but their hearts can see. And that is the eye that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is talking about the vision of the heart which refers to a sense of discernment, wisdom, guidance, the ability to perceive properly what is happening around you. And if that is blinded then nothing makes sense and nothing yields any good. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala of course tells us وَمَن كَانَ فِي هَٰذِهِ أَعْمَىٰ فَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ أَعْمَىٰ وَأَضَلُّوا سَبِيلًا Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and whoever is blind in this life then they will certainly be blind in the hereafter and completely astray. It's referring to a different type of blindness. When a person cannot see, when a person cannot perceive. And you ask, why is that?
How do I get to the point of being blinded to reality where I can't perceive? I hear verses from the Quran and they don't move me. Sitting next to someone in a khutbah or a lecture and that person is crying within three minutes and they're clearly moved by it. I'm already falling asleep in five. One person on their phone cannot focus, the other person. Just the words, اتقوا الله حق توقاته Just the ayat, to be mindful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would move them. What is it about my heart and what is it about their heart and what is it that's not moving me anymore? And there is this verse in the Quran where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes it وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةً وَنَظَرُهُمْ فِي تُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and we will turn away their hearts and their eyes because they refused to believe in it the first time they encountered it. And so we leave them in their transgression wandering blindly. Now pay attention to the ayah, first and foremost the heart is turned away and so the eyes are turned away as well. When the lens is messed up here, then the lens gets messed up here as well. And Allah says something very specific because they refused to believe in it when it was made clear to them the first time. And so as a result of that they're left wandering blindly in their transgression. And what this is referring to is conscious rejection of Allah when you recognize it the first time. Conscious sinning. Now obviously the most conscious rejection is when you realize that the truth is in front of you, of guidance the first time and you turn away from it. But there are other manifestations of that as well that are not as severe but it speaks to the same concept that you're told that something is haram and you keep doing it. Conscious sinning, even if it's a minor sin.
You consciously go to work every day and you know that there's something haram about your work. You consciously delay your prayers. Some conscious type of insistence upon sin and as a result of that the light is being extinguished in your hearts. The sins extinguish the light of the heart. The constant engagement of a sin in regards to your speech. You wake up every morning and maybe it's your dress. The conscious sinning over and over and over again, minor or major. Of course major is worse. Conscious in your transactions. Conscious in the treatment of your family. Conscious in the engagement of a haram relationship, of a forbidden relationship. And the entire time you're doing that. Every time you're doing that, you're closing your eyes to what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has revealed to you and you recognize. And eventually what starts to happen is that the recognition starts to go away as well. So you don't even recognize it anymore. Other people recognize the bad manners of a person who's inherently foul or consistently foul. And that person no longer recognizes it anymore. Because you engage it on a consistent basis. And so Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is saying here that you're unable to see anymore because of your rejection. If you insist upon rejection, then you're going to insist upon blindness of the heart. And so you think of this analogy. If you enter into a dark room and there are no lights in the room. It doesn't matter if you have fully functioning eyes. The layers of darkness are not going to be penetrated without what? Without light. So even if you can see, if you're sitting in a dark room, you can't see anything. Your eyes are working, but the layers of darkness are not allowing you to see anything. And so what do you have to do? Turn on the light. Open the window. See what you've been missing out on.
Now what happens is that some people want to stay in the dark because what happens when you see the light for the first time? Hurts your eyes. Initially it's uncomfortable. The light can be very uncomfortable the first time that you see it. And some people would even have a tendency to do this, right? Turn it off. Close the door. Turn off the light. And that's what Allah speaks about. And I want you to think about two opposing ends of this phenomenon here. One of them is the ayah of the rejecting heart. خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala seals their heart as they insist upon turning away. And they're hearing. They can no longer hear. And there's a veil that is placed on their eyes. That's one extreme. Compare the ayah of the rejecting heart to the hadith of the loving servants. Where the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam says that Allah has said, But whoever takes a beloved chosen servant of mine as an enemy, then I have waged war on that person. And no servant comes closer to me with anything that is more beloved to me than the obligatory deeds. They act upon the obligations. And then after the obligations, they keep on coming close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with what? And nawafil. With the voluntary good deeds as well. They give more charity. They pray more. They fast more. They do more and more and more and more until they gain a special love from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if I love that person, I become the sight with which they see and the hearing with which they hear. Compare the two. Subhanallah on the opposite sides of that spectrum. And this is where you find the very famous narration, It's a weak narration, a weak hadith from the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam, of which the meaning is authentic, that beware of the firasa, the insight of the believer. فَإِنَّهُ يَنظُرُ بِنُورِ اللَّهِ Because he sees with the light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And it's confirmed by another narration which is authentic, that إِنَّ لِلَّهِ عِبَادًا يَعْرِفُونَ النَّاسَ بِالتَّوَسَّمِ The Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam mentioned that there are people that know people around them. Allah has servants of his that can perceive things at a deeper level, because of that deep insight, an insight that is born of righteousness. The opposite of someone that's stubborn upon rejection. An insight that is born out of the willingness to constantly listen and obey and follow and grow and develop and do more and more and more and continue on that journey towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, no matter what obstacles are presenting themselves to you. And what ends up happening is what? They can see with the light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They have بصيرة, they have فراسة, they have insights, they have the ability as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتِ لِلْمُتَوَسِّمِينَ That there are signs for those people who have that insight, that deep ability to perceive and to see by the light of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now it's not some like secret equation, it's not something that you take a course for. It's literally an unrelenting pursuit of truth and the commitment to it when you discover it. That's all it is. An unrelenting pursuit of truth and the commitment to it when you discover it. And what ends up happening? وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُّ لَنَا Those who strive in our way, then we guide them to our paths. And so Allah reveals more to you and more to you and more to you. It's also not when someone seeks to say that I'm seeing things and starts to undermine revelation or makes claims and starts to command something amongst the people. No, because this person is not using that unfolding reality and perception to gain control over people but rather to gain closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by following the way of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam.
So things become clearer. Reality becomes clearer to them. They're able to discern better. They have more wisdom. When they read the Quran, they take more from an ayah than another person takes from a hundred ayahs. Because they're listening deeply and carefully, not extracting new rulings but extracting the deepest form of maw'idah, being admonished and being reminded by those verses. And so the greatest example of that is Umar bin al-Khattab radhiya Allah ta'ala anhu. When you look at Umar radhiya Allah ta'ala anhu and the miracles that unfolded for him, these things that would happen for him. When Umar radhiya Allah ta'ala anhu is standing on the manbar and he sees something happening thousands of miles away from him. يَسَارِيَ الْجَبَلِ Sariya the mountain. That was due to Umar radhiya Allah ta'ala anhu's exerting himself in that pursuit of truth, unrelenting pursuit of truth and then commitment to it when he found it. His deep pondering upon revelation. When the Quran would come down and agree with Umar radhiya Allah ta'ala anhu, it's because when Umar radhiya Allah ta'ala anhu would hear the Quran being revealed, Umar radhiya Allah ta'ala anhu would immediately absorb it and follow. He was in deep connection with that revelation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. His seeing of dreams. Not dreams that you know, I saw something and so the day of judgment is going to happen in 2023. You know a strange star is going to appear in the sky. You know the Prophet ﷺ told me you're the one and you go forth and none of that. But true dreams for the believer. That's an added level of sight, an added level of vision. And the Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith in Sahih Muslim, he said ﷺ, إِذَا اِقْتَرَبَ الزَّمَانُ لَمْ تَكَدْ رُؤْيَ الْمُسْلِمِ تَكْذِبُ وَأَصْدَقُكُمْ رُؤْيَا أَصْدَقُكُمْ حَدِيثًا He said ﷺ that when the end of times come, a believer would hardly see a dream that isn't true.
The righteous believer will see true dreams. Dreams that give them insight. Dreams that further expose that reality around them. True dreams. And the most truthful of you in speech are the most truthful of you in the dreams that you will see. More vision. A heart that can see. A heart that starts to transcend. And so I want to end with two points here. There are three levels of the sight that the ulema mention, with the light of Allah ﷻ. And they're very easy to remember. The first one is seeing through deception. Seeing through deception. And so a believer would see through the deception of the dajjal by their iman. Allah ﷻ would allow them to see that it's written across his forehead. There are things that the believer can see through by virtue of their minimal belief. And so seeing through deception is the first thing. If you're not a deceiver, then Allah ﷻ will give you the siddq, the truthfulness to see through the deception of others. The second level is seeing through distraction. So see through deception and then see through distraction. Zina tul hayat al-dunya. The distraction of the life of this world. The distraction of the material world. From things that are more meaningful. From things that are more righteous. From things that are more real. So you see through distraction. How do you see through distraction? By the remembrance of Allah ﷻ. Dhikr is the medicine to that. You constantly remember Allah ﷻ. So you see through distraction. And the third one is to actually see through dunya. You see through this material world by placing your sight on the hereafter constantly. The akhira is not some unknown abstract world that doesn't have any meaningful consequences to your everyday life in this dunya. Rather you act as if you've already seen jannah and nar. You act as if you've already seen it all. Because it drives you consequentially. And obviously the effect, the impact of seeing with your eyes is not like the impact of knowing it.
But the consequence of it in regards to abiding by the truth of revelation. It's as if you have already seen paradise and hellfire. The longing that you have for Allah is as if you've already seen him. The longing that you have for paradise is as if you've already seen it. So it creates that greater level of longing. And this is where the Prophet ﷺ said that ihsan is what? It's as if you worship Allah as if you can see him. When you start to worship Allah as if you can see him. And if you can't see him, then you know that he sees you. And as Ibn al-Qayyim said, the manifestation of that is what? And you come to Allah with your heart before your body. That before you even get to the prayer, your heart is already there before your body has arrived. And you are focused as if there's no one else around you, nothing else that's around you. And that is something that we all strive for for the entirety of our lives. To have that level of focus in our prayers. May Allah ﷻ grant us that ihsan. May Allah ﷻ grant us that excellence. Allahumma ameen. And dear brothers and sisters, subhanAllah, as you find people that embrace the truth, despite all of its consequences, I want you to think about people that put their families on the line. Because their families might reject them. That put entire lifestyles on the line. Everything that they knew. Because they've seen the light of that guidance on the line. And how Allah ﷻ looks to that person. And alhamdulillah, rabbil ameen, we have another sister that is embracing Islam with us today through very difficult obstacles and circumstances and many barriers. Not necessarily hardship, but barriers that would be there. And that should be an inspiration and a reminder to all of us. That when a person has a commitment to the truth, that the consequences will be put in context of that pursuit. And the reward will be even greater.
May Allah ﷻ grant her and all of us that reward. May Allah ﷻ forgive us for our shortcomings. And may Allah ﷻ grant us vision with our hearts. And the ability to act upon that which He has given to us in the most loving and obedient of ways. Allahumma ameen. Wa min Allah at-tawfiq, al-Fatiha. Wa min Allah at-tawfiq, al-Fatiha. Al-Fatiha. Al-Fatiha.
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