The Messenger (saw) who asked for one small thing for himself.

I was warned by someone not to say this lest people become jealous, but I hope to instruct people.

I swear that if I have lied here, then May Allah t'ala curse me...

And I am not a liar.

I have seen the honoured one, the Messenger of Allah (saw) in a dream three times, years ago.

The first time I saw him (saw) in a dream from a small distance and he sent his salaams to me through a third person, who brought them to me.

Months later I saw him (saw) again and this time I was ushered by another person into his presence and he (saw) came towards me, smiling with his arms outstretched to welcome me in an embrace. I could not take the auspiciousness of his presence, and the occasion, and I fled.

I did not regret running, because I believed myself to be unworthy. And with good reason.

The third time. I still could not tolerate a direct encounter. And yet when I entered the dream, we were seated on the floor together and his right shoulder was against my left shoulder and his (saw) body was facing away from me and yet his
face was half turned towards me so that I could tolerate his magnificent presence.

And our hands were raised in supplication and he (saw) bade me to ask of the Most Gracious. I asked for what I wished for, and he (saw) said Ameen.

And there the dream ended.
I will not tell what I asked for, that is for me to know.

I swear once again that if I have lied about these encounters then may Allah t'ala curse be upon me.

I am not a scholar, nor do I have pre tensions of being one.
I do not know Arabic.
And even the supplications that I make are in English.

This does not mean that I do not want to learn Arabic or the supplications in Arabic.

Sometimes I oversleep and then pray my Fajr upon waking.
I err, and I ask for forgiveness.
And I am still learning the religion, trying to be better in it... Slowly.

And I am not a Sufi, and do not think that their fervent poetry and overt love is a necessity for seeing what I have seen.

This last Umrah, that I made, a special occurrence happened to me that I will not relate here.

I am not a fervent worshippers, but I worship. I try to follow the advice of Bilal (ra), when he said that after every ablution he performs two rakah Nafl.

I am not of those who make their religion difficult, nor those self righteous types, nor even of those who fasted the ten of Dhul Hijjah.

But j will tell what I do, do.
Perhaps it may be of benefit to you.

The Messenger of ALLAH on this day, the day of Hajj, gave his farewell sermon to a multitude of people, the like not seen.

And afterwards he asked of them one simple question, and they replied and then he asked them to bear witness to it.

Down through the ages, that question remains there for all of us to respond to it.

He (saw) asked, "Have I not delivered the Message?" And they responded, Yes. And then he asked them to bear witness to it.

For a man who gave everything to us, and withheld nothing for himself, to ask of us just one thing is overwhelming. That that thing is something easy to do is outstanding.

For the past I don't know how long, I have responded to that question.

And in my dua I bear witness.

I say,

I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger.
And I bear witness that Muhammad (saw) has fulfilled the trust laid on him by ALLAH, and I have believed in ALLAH because of Muhammad, so ALLAH reward him with magnificence, for verily I would not have believed but for him.

Ameen.




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Location:Arafat

Who the Messenger Chose..

The Messenger (saw) choose Abu Bakr (as).

Too often we forget how beautiful our religion is, that it is an open religion.

It is quiet unlike the mystical ancient religions where one caste disdains another, or like our Christian and Jewish forbears that have hierarchies of priests.

Ours is an open religion, where the sources are known, and the fundamentals are available and accessible. Just as the Hajj, the pinnacle of our worship, is in essence a walk and a standing and a sacrifice. It's simplicity and accessibility is startling.

And this simplicity and accessibility is present not just in our religion but also in the society it seeks to guide.

It is instructive to remember that our Messenger (saw) choose Abu Bakr (as).

He (saw) did not choose him because they were best friends. Being aware of this some companions held the opinion that Abu Bakr (as) was the one who best knew the Qur'an.

But that was a speculative judgement as our Messenger (saw) did not leave our appreciation of Abu Bakr's talents to chance, he (saw) said of him that he is the best amongst you, because he has the best heart.

Abu Bakr (ra) had a specialist knowledge in a field of study, but it was not in the Qur'an, nor was it in the Hadeeth.

If you have read the Seerah, then many of you will know his specialisation and where his expertise lay, and I ask that those who know then tell it here, so that all can know.

He was known as a specialist in that field by the companions.
And the Messenger choose him.

Because he had heart.
And he is not the one who brought arguments from the Qur'an or Hadeeth, he was better than that.

He knew that the Qur'an and Hadeeth are there to instruct us, and not there so that one man can use them to control other men and then revert us all back to old ways, of a segmented closed society.

Ours is an open society, where we can question without fear of being accused of backbiting, or causing disunity, or even accused of hankering after Power.

The Messenger (saw) choose Abu Bakr (as).

And in that vital moment when the Ansar confirmed that choice, Abu Bakr (as) did not prove his credentials by saying or using the Qur'an or Hadeeth.

Do not trust men who use the Qur'an in such matters, where they want to impress, or where they want to prove their religiosity. It was not done then, it should not be done now.

The Qur'an is there to instruct us, it is there to be studied and applied, but not used like that.
And not used for backward and forward argument, as if it were a sword in your hands.


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Location:Genealogy Tree