Dardan’s personal notes after listening to the CD “Seventeen Benefits of Tribulations - by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf”

The speech is based on a booklet written by Sultan ul Ulema or Sultan of the Scholars Izzedin Abdul Aziz Abdus Salaam As Sulaymi (d 660) from Egypt. This scholar mastered two madhabs! [Editor: Arabic/English amalgam - plural for madhab, a school of thought in Islam.] Only one in history to do so. He wrote this book on calamities, tribulations and disasters and their benefits. One of the aspects of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) - the extraordinary aspects of his life is that he never allowed tribulations to disquiet him. In other words, he never allowed any difficulties that he faced to perturb him - to put him in a state of turbulence.

Someone who has forbearance is “halim“. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had more “halim” or forbearance than anyone else. “Hilm” is the word for “intellect”. One of the things they accuse the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is that “he causes us to lose our intellects or to make us look like fools”. The man of intellect is someone who has hilm and the one [without] is safaha. Intellect stabilizes - that is why the halim is someone who does not get disquieted.

What is interesting about [disquietude] - the word for “dream” is “halam“. Someone who doesn’t get perturbed is halim and a dreamer is halam. Connection = hard to dream when agitated. Dreams need a state of [quietude].

“Halema” is the word for “nipple”. Mother gives the child halema. The child goes into a state of complete [quietude]. Milk and knowledge are from the same source. Sayyidina Umar (radi Allah anhu) saw a dream in which milk was coming from [the] Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) fingers and Umar (radi Allah anhu) drinking it and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said “al Ilm al Ilm!” It is knowledge (the dream’s interpretation).

Isn’t it interesting? The word “ghawya” means - to go astray and also is explained as the inability to digest milk. Because our first stage is to get through the first years - the milk years. In developmental [psychology] the milk years are explained as - trust vs mistrust in our “first crises”. There is a reason babies cry and mothers need to realize it. Dr. Spock in the 50s had a theory that moms should ignore cries and regulate according to fixed times and that’s what they did even though this is insanity. So now look [at] society.

The Halim - in the face of tribulations - they do not lose their cool. The Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) hallmark with people and circumstances - whenever people would speak ill to him - he would return with “The Qur’an says give a bad term and return it with a good term.” When he migrated from Mecca to Medina - Abu Bakr was very perturbed. Abu Bakr was worried about the Messenger (an act of ibadah or worship). However the Prophet in the other hand was in a state of tranquility. In the cave when the Quraysh approached for the assassination of the Prophet, he was completely unperturbed yet Abu Bakr (radi Allah anhu) was nervous for the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) safety.

There was a Jew who purposely upset him to get a response. In reaction Umar (radi Allah anhu) got perturbed and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) didn’t. The Jew was looking for hilm and found it. The Jew said he saw all signs of prophethood except this and needed to make sure he had this as well to bear witness to his prophethood.

One of the things about those disconnected from Allah (subhana wa t’ala*) is that they easily get disquieted when bad happens. Today, we find that people are increasingly incapable of just listening to each other. [A] physician in India who treated people with Rukiya had a modern physician criticize him as insane. How can words heal people thought the modernist? The rukiya doctor called the modern physician a donkey and then a pig and this modern physician almost killed him. The rukiya doctor then said look [at] how two words got you to almost kill me. (Basically showing that words can do a lot.)

Removing resentment from the heart is a difficult thing. This book he wrote was written to be used as a way of helping people understand what tribulations really are. We don’t understand the wisdom about the difficulty, that you will derive benefits from the tribulation.

If you do not believe in God, you will live in a world that is godless. This is a proof of God’s existence. If you disbelief, you will [be] constantly reaffirmed. Both atheists and non-atheist see a proof for their belief. Hadith: I am in the opinion of my servant - so if my servant thinks I am nothing - that is what he finds. If you believe He is with you, then He is with you.

In every Abrahamic tradition, despair is forbidden. In the Catholic religion, it is an unpardonable sin (or the worst sin). The problem is in evil - every argument rests upon the problem of evil - ask them what their definition of God is- - we might agree that we might not believe in that same thing as defined by them. We believe good and evil are creations of Allah (subhana wa t’ala). Christians have a dilemma with defining God (Glory be to Him) as He is All Good and at the same time realizing evil is a creation. This is the problem of evil in philosophy.

We have laws - many of them are congruous - shared with Muslims and non-Muslims. Certain [laws] are brought by certain prophets though. We can transact with non Muslims [because] we share views on justice. Many non-Muslims will agree with us on many basic points.

The book begins with In the name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Most Beneficent. The author began [with] this [because] a hadith says anyone who doesn’t start with Bismilah is cut off. [Editor: this could refer to being cut off from blessings, and Allah knows best.]

“Shaykh” here is used in reference to somebody who has wisdom, “Imam” is a paragon, “Ummah” is a group of people moving towards same object and “Hujjatul Islam” - a proof of Islam’s [truth] - like Imam al Ghazzali. Ulema are the defenders of the creatures. Abu Muhammad Abdul Aziz Abdus Salaam. He was Shafi’i and he mastered Maliki. He said may all of us benefit from this book. We do, look [at] us in California (US) today. [Editor: this may be in reference to the benefits received from studying the text many years after the text was written, in a western land. And Allah knows best.]

Calamities have different benefits according to the different ranks of people. “Rutbah” (means “military rank”) and “rutab” which refers to “ranks of people in relation to Allah (subhana wa t’ala).” Nobody knows the armies of your Lord except Allah (subhana wa t’ala). People of the dhahir wear uniforms to let you know which ranks [they belong to]. In Islam, ranks are hidden - you do not know the stations of people with Allah (subhana wa t’ala). He hid three things - he hid his contentment in his obedience.

Allah (subhana wa t’ala) may not accept a big thing and maybe he’ll accept a small thing. A woman went to hell for locking up a cat. An indication of her state. If you do not have compassion with animals, this is a sign of cruelty. Children who abuse animals when young become evil when old. There is a link. Every prophet (peace and blessings be upon them) was a shepherd. If you are kind to animals - you would certainly be kind to humans. We are the highest on the chain. Remember the saying “You would not treat a dog like that.”
Benefits of tribulations vary and are based on the differences of the ranks of people. For some people, wrongs are removed by tribulations. Imam Ghazali said depression removes wrong.

People have trouble in their souls - you can numb it, you can preoccupy yourself, but you cannot remove the anguish of the soul. It is not possible ([without] our obedience to God).

Karl Marx: Religion is the opium of the masses.
Abdul Hakim Winter: Opium is the religion of the masses.

The existence is painful [because] you are not fulfilling the function. First sign to let you know to go to the doctor: PAIN. Suddenly a pain in the liver - you’ve got hepatitis. The same is true for the soul - which is to worship Allah (subhana wa t’ala). You will be in pain or suffering then you will come to accordance. Science and symptoms are also a mercy to help us fight all these pains. Pain in the soul is there but people will do things - kufr (disbelief) is essentially covering up. If you have headache and you take aspirin - you are suppressing the symptom not healing it. You are just covering the pain. Darkness covering darkness. MORE COVERING UP. More and more and more until that person is so diseased, they become a hopeless case unless Allah (subhana wa t’ala) intervenes.

The Prophets (upon them all be peace) - [had] tribulations not to remove their wrongs - but to raise them in degrees. The people of the greatest tribulations are the Prophets and then those closest to them and then those closest to them and then those closest to them.

Sayyidina Umar (radi Allah anhu) - when [he] entered Islam and did wrong then they right away saw the effect and this was not seen - in the Jahilliyah - It was their [maqam]. Their sins’ effects were shown immediately. A companion asked for purification of sins - don’t ask for that - ask for removal (mercy) [because] you can’t handle that.

Salaheen [righteous people] - they get to a point because they are content with what is happening - no longer painful. A woman was walking with the Salahat and hurt her leg and someone thought she is crazy because she was pleased. She was pleased because this suffering would remove wrongdoings. The sweetness of the removal of her sins is sweeter than the pain.

They have spiritual opium. One of the Sahaba had an arrow [that had wounded him] and he waited till he [went] into prayer to remove [it]. You think these are stories or things people made up. These are not made up stories. Witnessed with [their] own eyes. (Strong spirituality gave him his opium for the removal of the arrow.)

I (Shaykh Hamza Yusuf) broke my arm and the drug overwhelmed my pain so much I wouldn’t care. The Phetenil. Complete bliss from a drug. Chemical reaction happening in the brain. People go into those states with Allah (subhana wa t’ala) where they do not feel pain - they actually feel delight. You should ask Allah for afiya. When calamities come - they come for a deep wisdom.

* The First Benefit is that you realize the power of Lordship over you - you realize Allah (subhana wa t’ala) is Rabb (Lord) and you are marbu (slave). When tribulations come over you “La Hawla wa Quwwatta [illa billah]…” I can control certain things in [my] environment - Allah (subhana wa t’ala) has given me that but He can take that away. People see the reality - illusion - I am free, I can do whatever I want. Delusion. When the calamity comes -suddenly that delusion is taken away.

There was a Republican Head of Election Committee who destroyed Dukakis who ran for Democratic Party. Wrote a confessional before he died young handsome wealthy - Machiavellian politician who basically destroyed people’s l[lives]. Based his life on Machiavellian’s “The Prince”. At 39, he got a tumor and wanted to ask forgiveness from all the people he destroyed. That is what it takes for some people to learn that lesson. Learning that Allah (subhana wa t’ala) is Lord.

* The Second Benefit
You realize your abject servanthood and your complete state of resignation and brokenness in front of Allah (subhana wa t’ala). Those who went into infliction, they say “surely to God we belong, and to Him we return” (from Qur’an). If I take something, I take it and I owned it and I throw it out - I can do that - property means the one who owns it does what he wills with it. Dunya (the world or this life) is not our property so we cannot do everything we want with it. God can do whatever He wants with it. I burn a book - [you say: I] can’t do that - maybe I shouldn’t but I can and you can’t stop me. [You ask:] Why did you burn the book? - [because] there [are] mistakes in it. You cannot make a judgement on a thing unless you know the entirety of that thing. A principle in logic. A judge has to know all the facts. If you prejudge - it is called prejudice. We cannot prejudge Allah (subhana wa t’ala)!!!

I was talking to a physician in the car and they were talking to another anatomy professor and they do not really understand why they urinate. I responded by telling him that Imam al Ghazzali was asked where is God and he responded by a poem that says you do not even know how you drink water….

Arrogant people are often completely oblivious to their own arrogance. To see themselves as better is a delusion itself because they do not know. Maybe they are but they do not know. He has hidden his Awliya (close friends [of Allah]) amongst his servants. The frightening thing might be that they are hidden amongst the non-Muslims. Because Imam Al Qurtubi said Sayyidina Umar was beloved to God when he was prostrating to idols. What he said was “you now know the truth and no excuse for any ignorance”. We believe people with no [prophetic] message will be forgiven.

* The Third Benefit
Sincerity to Allah (subhana wa t’ala). No place of return - in defense - except to Him. If you realize you have no other place of refuge except to Him. One of the Ulema (scholars) said, “A moment of ikhlas (sincerity) in this world is enough to save a person.” There is no source to remove that calamity except Allah (subhana wa t’ala). When they get on a boat and turbulence and they call on Allah (subhana wa t’ala) they call on Allah (subhana wa t’ala) sincerely. How many times has a calamity afflicted you and it has led you to that state.

* The Fourth Benefit
Returns to Allah (subhana wa t’ala) and suddenly is fervent with desire for his Lord.

* The Fifth Benefit
It leads to humble state before God and prayers. Dentist operation analogy. Dunya (this life or world) is [like] getting [a] tooth pulled out. If you [compare] it to infinity, it is canceled out, so stop complaining. They go into a state of complete panic and then when they come back they are good. You came from God and you are going back to God. A moment where you are in a complete panic.

The Moroccans says “relax the mind and learn to swim”! We are all drowning out there. If you would just relax - you wouldn’t drown. The panic wouldn’t cause you to drown. Human beings are created in a state of anxiety. When any harm afflicts them, they panic. When good comes to them, they withhold. That trust in Allah (subhana wa t’ala) is what saves you. Who will save you from the darkness of the land and the sea?

* The Sixth Benefit
You are forbearing towards the one who has afflicted you. [Prophet] Ibrahim was somebody who had compassion for other people - halim. The Prophet [Muhammad] (peace and blessings be upon him) said “You have two qualities that Allah loves, forbearance and deliberation.” There is a difference in the rankings of forbearance based on the calamities. A forbearance shown in calamities is greater than any other.

* The Seventh Benefit
You can actually forgive them. You get one of the greatest rewards in forgiving those who have actually done wrong [to you]. Allah loves those people who forgive [others]. The one who pardons and rectifies - his reward is with Allah (subhana wa t’ala). If you have family members who cause you problems, you have to forgive them for the sake of Allah (subhana wa t’ala). The more delayed the rift, the harder. If you immediately go, you can heal it. I myself, immediately took a shower and asked forgiveness to one who HAD WRONGED ME. Pride enters the heart “Oh, I deserve an apology.” Asking forgiveness of people is a great blessing of Allah (subhana wa t’ala). Allah (subhana wa t’ala) is with patient ones. To actually just wait for an opening from Allah is actually an act of ibadah.

* The Eighth Benefit
Patience is based on understanding. You cannot call a donkey patient. They can bear things but not patience. This brings on the love of Allah (subhana wa t’ala) and also the abundant reward of Allah. He loves the patient ones. The sabeeroon [patient ones] are given their rewards without reckoning. No one was given a blessing better than or more vast than patience.

* The Ninth Benefit is to actually be happy about those benefits. Imam Ahmad relates a hadith: “They used to be as happy during tribulations as you are during times of abundance.” How wondrous those two distasteful things “death and poverty”. Imam Ali (radi Allah anhu) said, “What is halal from it is a reckoning and prohibited from it is a punishment.” People of zuhud [ascetism]  - they give up [worldly] things [because] they don’t want the problems of it. The bitter cure will remove the disease - he thinks not of the bitterness in his happiness but about the benefit.

* The Tenth Benefit
To be grateful for it. Thank you so much doctor. HE JUST CUT YOUR HAND OFF. HE did you a benefit though even though he harmed you outwardly. Those with tribulations - know that Allah (subhana wa t’ala) only does stuff to benefit them.

* The Eleventh Benefit
The purification these calamities have towards their wrongs and their sins. Anything that afflicts you is from what your own hands have wrought. What you are afflicted with is much less than what you deserve. Imam an Nasafi in his tafsir [exegesis] - if you reflect on the meaning of that, then you will show gratitude. Allah (subhana wa t’ala) has pardoned so much.

* The Twelfth Benefit
The compassion Allah shows in tribulations. A scholar said: you have well being in your family but you get problems from other people (Allah will give you those problems if you do not help those). Tribulations of others is actually a blessing “DON’T COMPLAIN!” - it could get worse. One of the poets said, “the only people that really feel sorry for passionate love are those who have been in passionate love.”

* The Fourteenth Benefit
Tribulations give you knowledge of what well-being is. Allah (subhana wa t’ala) has prepared [us] for calamities with contentment based on different ranks. Patience and contentment are [different]. Patience is the lowest maqam. I missed a flight and I was relaxed. I don’t want to rush into a plane about to crash. No real delay. God’s choice is in every delay.

* The Sixteenth Benefit is tribulations prevent you from arrogance and pride and tyranny. Had Nimrod been a sickly, deaf or dumb person he would have never done that.

* The Seventeenth One
Whoever who is pleased with it is [because] he knows Paradise is better than anything in this world.

These are some of the blessings - there are many more. I want to end [on] this [note] and say these are not the worst [of] times. Read history and see how many times it has been worse. In terms of dunya - calamity is nothing. The real calamities of our day [are] spiritual and knowledge calamities. Loss of iman [faith] and lack of knowledge and spirituality. We should not be weeping about this stuff out there - I’m sorry but this is not that bad.

May Allah (subhana wa t’ala) put us in a state of gratitude and make us from the shakireen [grateful]. Even complainers don’t like complainers. Insha’Allah, we all stop whining. No one likes a whiner. May Allah make us mature insha’Allah.

* = Exalted is He.

Notes taken by Dardan B. [Edited by Mikael Pittam on behalf of IslamCrunch.]

Dardan’s disclaimer: these notes are imperfect.

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