I have not been in this mosque (Bellville South) for a long time. It is quite nice to be back here [2006] with all of you again. In any case, all revealed religions have their origins with Allah Almighty. And so, for example, when we talk about Islam, we say that Islam is a Divine Religion because Allah has sent that religion to us. This means that all the practices of Islam and all its teachings are sacred because of their origin. And so, for example, the Jumu’ah, the taking of wudu’, facing the qiblah, the delivering of the khutbah, all these things are sacred because they come from Allah. Thus, if we say that Islam is sacred then all its practices are sacred. When a thing is sacred, one gives it maximum regard, maximum respect, maximum honour.  When anything is sacred, one handles it with great care because

  Muslims must learn to be happy, to smile and laugh and be happy people because Allah has given us this wonderful religion, a wonderful Messenger (ﷺ) and a wonderful Qur’an. Yet we sit with long faces all the time. We must learn to smile and be happy because Allah has given us so many blessings. We must be thankful by showing joy on our faces for the blessings that He has given us. In any case, I think I told you at one time that at the beginning when Allah had decided to create Nabi Adam (a.s.), He made an announcement to the angels to that effect: وَ إِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌ فِى الأَرْضِ خَلِيْفَةً Behold, your Lord said to the angels: “I am creating a vicegerent on earth” (ii:30). When Allah “decided” to create the first man, He took some clay from this world and fashioned

   In our talks in Islam we hear a lot about the concept of love.  Earlier on when we started our dhikr I asked Allah Almighty to please fill our hearts with love for Him.  Now I did not say: “O Allah, I am filling my heart with love for Thee.”  I did not say that.  I said: “O Allah, I ask You to please fill my heart with love for Thee.”  In other words, I am saying that if Allah wants anyone to love Him, He places love in that person’s heart for Him.  We can’t get access to that Love on our own because it is at a very high degree, a very specialized form of love, and it enters our hearts through His Action.     In the Qur’an, Allah speaks of His Love for different groups of intensely pious people.  He speaks, for example, of His Love

 If one examines very closely the verses of the Qur’an, one will see that at different points in the Qur’an Allah Almighty gives us indicators or indications that help us in our spiritual development. Throughout the Qur’an one finds that. Certain matters or certain statements are made and if one examines those statements very carefully one will see that those statements are there specifically to help us in our understanding of Islam, in our practice of Islam and in our attitudes that we have with regard to our large number of matters. One of the statements that has been intriguing me for the last few days is the statement in which Allah says: سَمِعْنَا وَ أَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَ إِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيْرُ We hear and we obey.  We seek Thy forgiveness, and to Thee is the return (ii: 285). This is a very difficult one for us. It’s very difficult for

   We must learn to open our hearts to the celebration of the praises of Allah Almighty. We must open our hearts to those praises of Allah so that the praises can enter our hearts. We must learn that.  It is almost as if we are diving into the ocean of the Oneness of Allah, and allow the ocean waters to carry us, to carry us, and to carry us. And all the time we are saying: “Ya-Rabbi, Ya-Rabbi, Ya-Rabbi.” Our hearts are only busy with our Lord. That is what Islam is all about, to make our hearts always busy with our Lord. And if the drums help or the flutes help, you must use them. Anything we have to help the word “Allah” to reach the hearts. It doesn’t matter where the water carries us. All the time it is always: “Ya-Rabbi, Ya-Rabbi, O my Lord, O my

   Most of us, or all of us, try very hard to carry out the rules and regulations of Islam. I think that all of us pray five times a day, give zakah when it should be given, fast when fasting has to be done, and go on haj and umrah when we are by the means. These things are very normal for us to do. And we do them very consistently and we do them every day.  But somehow it appears that when we do them, it does not feel as if we are experiencing any spiritual development, or any kind of spiritual joy in what we are doing. We are going through the process of doing these things but somehow or other, I don’t know whether you’ve had the kinds of experiences that I’ve had in this regard, somehow or other we feel that we are not attaining

أَلآ إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ لاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُوْنَ الَّذِيْنَ ءَامَنُوا وَ كَانُوا يَتَّقُوْنَ لَهُمُ الْبُشْرٰى فِى الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَ فِى الآخِرَةِ Behold!  Verily on the Friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve; those who believe and have fear.  For them are good news in this life and in the Hereafter (x: 62-64).    This is very well known.  In this house I hear it quite often.  I hear it quite often in the mosques.  Many people say this.  I don’t always know whether we realize the full implication of these words.  Allah Almighty in these verses speaks about a certain very special group of people whom He calls Awliya’.  And He says that there is no fear on them nor need they grieve in this world and in the Hereafter.  There is for them bushra (good news) in this life here on earth

   I have had the good fortune to live in this community for a very long time, and I have become very sensitive to things that go on in the community.  Because of my concern with the Muslims, especially now in my senior years, I have been trying to find out what is going on in the community, and why. I can remember, for example, when I was very young, that the amamah had almost totally disappeared.  I remember the imams of the mosque in Tennyson Street, Salt River wearing amamas, but very few other people did.  The amamah was very common amongst the Muslims at the Cape in previous years.  Later it was replaced by the fez, the red one and the black one.  If one had gone on haj a little tassle was attached to the fez.  The fez was worn for quite a long period.  Later the

   One of the things that we learn in tariqah is that one is not capable of doing things without Allah’s support.  We must remember that.  I am not capable of doing anything, of even delivering this speech, without His support.  Sometimes Allah grants His support through other people, through pious people.  So I say, “O my Lord, let these pious people be present to give me the kind of support I need.”  One might say: “But must support be through others?”    Let me come to what I want to talk about.  In many lectures I have explained the story of Sayyiduna Umar (r.a.).  In this account his eyesight travelled thousands of kilometers.  He also called out and his voice travelled thousands of kilometers.  The question that I always ask, “Could his voice have travelled further than those thousands of kilometers?  Could it have travelled to China?”  Well, Mawlana

   One must always try, when one has the opportunity, to recite the Shahadah, to reaffirm one’s acceptance of the Testimony of Faith.  One says: “O my Lord! I declare to Thee that there is no god other than Thee.  And I declare to Thee that Nabi Muhammad (ﷺ) is Thy Servant and Messenger.”  It’s good to do that.  It’s good at regular intervals to pray أَشْهَدُ أَلاَّ إِلٰهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحِمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَ رَسُولُهُ (Ash-hadu alla ilaha illallah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh).    In any event, during this week [2006] I was looking at the newspapers when I saw not only in one but in two newspapers a photograph of a mother, whose daughter is standing trial for murder, being hounded and screamed at by a number of other women.  What did this woman do?  She is the mother of the accused.  Like