BismillahirRahmanirRahim

Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin. Wasalatu wa salamu ala rasulina Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain nahmadulllahu ta’ala wa nastaghfiruhu wa nashadu an-lailaha ilallahu wahdahu la sharika lah wa nashadu anna sayyidina Muhammadin abduhu wa habibuhu wa rasuluhu salallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa azwajihi wa ashabihi wa atbaihi.

Khulafail Rashidin mahdin min ba’di wuzerail immeti alal tahkik. Khususan minhum alal amidi khulafai rasulillahi ala tahqeeq. Umara il mu’mineen. Hazreti abu bakr wa umar wa uthman wa ali. Wa ala baqiyati wa sahabai wa tabieen, ridwanallahu ta’ala alayhim ajmain.Ya ayyuhal mu’minun al hadirun, ittaqullaha ta’ala wa ati’uh. Inna allaha ma allathina-ttaqaw wal-lathina hum muhsinun. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa Salatu wa Salamu ala Ashrafil Ambiya’i wa Imam al-Mursaleen, Sayyidina wa Mawlana Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain.

All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the Universes. All praises are due to Allah Who is the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden, the One who has Might and Power over all things. All praises are due to Allah Who is Unique and has no partner. All praises are due to Allah Who has created man to know Him and to worship Him. All praises are due to Allah, Who sent Sayyidina Muhammad (asws), as the Guide to the Path of Truth.

And may all peace and blessings be upon the Piercing Star, the Chosen One, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Justice, the Key of Mercy, Sayyidina Muhammad (asws), and upon his noble family and blessed companions, especially upon the Khulafa-e-Rashideen, that Holy Prophet (asws) is saying about them: The most merciful of my Ummah towards my Ummah is Abu Bakr; the one who adheres most strongly to the religion of Allah is ‘Umar; the most sincere of them in shyness and modesty is ‘Uthman; the best Judge is Ali. (Ibn Majah 1:159).

Ya Ayyuhal Mu’minoon! O Believers! Welcome to you on this Holy Day of Jummah, which is falling in the Month of Zul Qaida. Welcome to you as we are approaching to the Days of Hajj and Kurban. May we make our hearts to be prepared for the coming days, so that we are ready to receive the blessings that are raining down to the earth from the Heavens.

O Believers! Today is the Holy Day of Jummah. The Day of Jummah is a day of gathering, and Rasulallah (asws) has told us that it is holier than both of the Eid days combine. This is the day for the believers to come together as brothers, to sit and listen to the Imam, and to learn something that is going to benefit them and apply it to their lives. For this day to be holy for us, we have to show it the proper respect. Imam al-Ghazali (ks) is saying,’Only that believer is blessed with the blessings and benefits of Friday, who looks forward to it anxiously and eagerly; and wretched is the heedless one who is not interested in it and who does not even know in the morning which day has dawned.’ So insha’Allah ar Rahman let us put our hearts into this Jummah, so that we may find its blessings and benefits. Amin.

Allah (swt) is saying in the Holy Quran, in Surah Aal-e-Imran: BismillahirRahmanirRahim. Say, (O Muhammad, to mankind): If you love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. Sadaqallahul Adzim. And Holy Prophet (asws) is saying in his Hadith Sherif, ‘None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind.’

One time, the Holy Prophet (asws) was sitting with his beloved companion Hz. Umar el-Faruk (ra). Hz. Umar said, ‘Ya Rasulallah, you are more beloved to me than everything else except my own self.’ And the Holy Prophet (asws) replied saying, ‘No, by Him in Whose Hand my soul is, you will not have complete faith until I am more beloved to you than your own self.’ And then Hz. Umar said, ‘Now, I swear by Allah, you are more beloved to me than my own self!’ And Holy Prophet (asws) said, ‘Now, ya Umar, now you are a believer.’

What are these Ayats and Hadith showing to us? They are showing that the foundation of a believer’s faith is the Love and Submission to the Holy Prophet (asws). The foundation and the completion of our faith is a submission and love to the Prophet (asws). And they are showing that the person who does not have love of Rasulallah (asws) in his heart cannot be considered a believer. For us to learn what love is, we have to look at what love means from the Creator of love, Allah Azza wa Jala, and from whom He calls the Holy Prophet (asws) His beloved. From that we are going to get an answer to what it means to love according to Islam.

Allah (swt) is saying in the Ayat we read at the beginning of the Khutba, for Holy Prophet (asws) to say to the people, ‘if you love Allah, then follow me.’ So what is the meaning? The meaning is that Love of Allah is connected to following the Messenger (asws). It is not only connected, it is a condition. It is a condition of obeying and submitting to Allah (swt) that you have to obey and submit to the Holy Prophet (asws). And that is the condition of our Kalimah, to say, ‘Ashadu an-la ilaha il Allah, ve Ashadu anna Muhammadan Abduh ve Rasuluhu.’ And if we want to learn what Love is, what kind of love is acceptable to Allah (swt), if we want to learn what it means to obey and to submit to the Prophet (asws), we need to look at the love of his companions. We are not going to make up what it means to love the Prophet (asws) in these days according to our own philosophy or concept or culture, or according to what society is saying what love is. We need to look to those ones who for twenty-three years they have given up everything for the love and the submission of that Prophet.

They are the most beloved to Allah (swt), the Sahaba e-Kiram after the Prophets. And we find that just like Hz. Umar (ra), they made their Holy Prophet (asws) more beloved to them than their parents, their children, and even their own selves.These are the ones who say, ‘May I be sacrificed for you Ya Rasulullah.’ These are the ones who say, ‘May my parents be sacrificed for you Ya Rasulullah.’ These are the ones who say, ‘May my children be sacrificed for you Ya Rasulullah.’ These words, if any Muslims were to say today for the sake of the Prophet (asws), the Muslims themselves will be the first one to say, ‘don’t say those words, it will lead you to shirk. Your life should only be sacrificed to Allah.’ They will be quick to make takfir to the companions of the Prophet (asws). They didn’t just say these words, they did sacrifice their life for the Prophet, they did sacrifice their parents for the Prophet, they did sacrifice their children for the Prophet (asws). Because Rasulullah (asws), he is showing us only Allah.Their love of the Holy Prophet (asws) was rooted in sacrificing everything in the Way of Allah.

Look at the example of the Master of the Friends of Allah, Hz. Abu Bakr el-Siddiq (ra). Hz. Abu Bakr, before Islam, he was one of the richest people inside of Mecca. He had multiple businesses, and he was well respected not only within the community but he was also known and respected amongst the leaders, amongst the Kings and amongst the Kaisers, living at that time. After Holy Prophet (asws) declared Islam, he gave up everything for Rasulallah. He sacrificed everything. It’s not only his material and what he has, he owns. But he sacrificed his friends, he sacrificed his contacts, he sacrificed his high influential people that have shaped and opened the world for him. And one time he came to the Holy Prophet (asws) with all of his wealth, all of his possessions, everything he had worldly. And he gave it to Prophet (asws) for the sake of Allah, for the sake of Islam. And when Holy Prophet (asws) asked him, ‘Ya Abu Bakr, what did you leave for your family?’ Hz. Abu Bakr replied, ‘Allah and His Messenger.’ But there is an inner meaning to this as well. Hz Abu Bakr is not just finding a nice answer to give. You can only give, when the Prophet asked him, ‘what did you leave for your family?’ You can only leave for your family what is halal and what you possess. And it is showing the high rank of Hz Abu Bakar Siddiq that he already has possessed Allah and His Prophet.That he has Allah, and he has the messenger and he says, ‘because I own this, I bequeathed it to my family.’

But after this incident, Hz. Abu Bakr el-Siddiq he did not come to the Masjid. And Holy Prophet (asws) sent some Sahabis to go find out what had happened him. They came back and told him, Ya Rasulallah, Abu Bakr has given everything he owned in the way of Allah and His Prophet. All that he has left is a piece of cloth that he is sharing with his wife. They trade it with each other when it is time for prayer, and that is all they have. This is from a man whose friends are Kings and Emperors. This was a man who possessed everything that these Arabs at that time had ever wanted. And when he gave it up, he did not give it up with regret or longing. He gave it up with love and with willingness, understanding what a burden this material world is if it is not in the way of Allah. When the Holy Prophet (asws) heard this and sent Hz. Bilal to go to Hz. Fatima’s house to see if she had any extra clothes to send to Hz. Abu Bakr. But all that was in the house was a piece of goat skin. When Hz. Abu Bakr tried to wear it, he found it was too short, so he sewed palm leaves on it and started walking toward the Prophet (asws).

Before Hz. Abu Bakr reached, Jibril (as) the arc angel, came in front of Holy Prophet (asws) wearing the same clothes that Hz. Abu Bakr was wearing. When the Holy Prophet (asws) asked Jibril (as) what he was wearing, Jibril said,’Ya Rasulallah! Today all the angels in the heavens are dressed like this to honor Hz. Abu Bakr, the loyal one, the generous one, the faithful one. And today Allah (swt) is sending his blessings and greetings to Abu Bakr. And Allah has sent him a message saying: Tell him His Lord is pleased with Him if he is pleased with his Lord.’ When Hz. Abu Bakr came inside, Holy Prophet (asws) was smiling and gave him this Divine Message from the Lord of the Worlds. And when Hz. Abu Bakr heard this message he got up and said, ‘Indeed I am pleased with my Lord!’ and in his joy he started whirling three times. This is just one example from thousands of Sahabis. This is just one example from tens and thousands of Tabi’in and friends of Allah and the Saliheen and what they felt when they gave and what Allah swt gave in return.

With that sacrifice, it pulls the Love of Allah and His Prophet, and when you have the love of Allah and His Prophet, everything in creation will love you except for those who do not love Allah.Because Hz. Abu Bakr gave up everything for Holy Prophet (asws), he was given the Greetings of his Lord. This is the spirit of Islam. This is sacrifice. And as long as the Muslims had that spirit, we had honor and we had majesty. As long as the Muslims were ready to give up from their dunya, from their families, from their own lives, in the Way of Allah and His Prophet, Allah (swt) raised this Nation. But for the last one hundred years, this nation has found itself in the worst situation. Because we have been taught that we must love this world. We have been taught to keep this world close in our hands and close in our heart. We have been taught that if we run to this world, the world will run to us. We have forgotten about the Creator of this world and we have forgotten about the Prophet and about Hz Abu Bakr el-Siddiq. We fell in love with this dunya and we became afraid of death. We traded the Love of Allah and His Prophet with the love of this temporary, lying dunya. And for that reason, this nation is falling lower and lower every day.

O Believers! We need to wake up. The Ummat-i-Muhammed (asws) needs to wake up. We need to return to the Love of Allah and His Prophet. We need to return to the Way of the Sahaba-e-Kiram. We need to wake up that spirit of sacrifice inside of our hearts again. If we do that, then insha’AllahurRahman, the Mercy and Help of Allah (swt) will come back to us.

Our Sheykh, Sahib el-Sayf Sheykh Abdul Kerim el-Kibrisi el-Rabbani (ks) is saying to us, ‘The first people who came and accepted the Prophet (asws), they didn’t come accepting the laws and the rules. They came accepting the Prophet (asws) and they started loving the Prophet (asws). That love moved them, it dragged them to do what the Prophet (asws) was doing and they were running to do what Prophet (asws) was saying. They showed so many signs that they were loving the Prophet (asws). They immigrated, they left Mecca, everyone, with one word of the Prophet (asws). They left. They immigrated to Medina. They left everything. So many people left their parents. So many parents left their children. So many left their belongings. They had everything, they left them behind and they went with the Prophet (asws) with nothing. That love moved them. If we are not moving then something is wrong with our love. Something is not letting us move. Love, it moves the mountains.

We are asking our Lord, Allah (swt), to give us that kind of Love that is going to move mountains. We are asking for that kind of Love that comes from obedience and sacrifice. We are asking to have that Love that is going to pull the Love of Allah and His Prophet. We are asking to be counted from those ones who, in this End of Times, are written as the Servants of Allah and His Prophet. Amin. Wa minAllahu Taufiq.

Sheykh Lokman Efendi Hz
Khalifah of SahibulSaif Shaykh Abdulkerim el Kibrisi (qs),
OSMANLI DERGAHI- New York
24 Zul Qaida 1437
August 27, 2016.