The People of Harmony

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 11 March 2016 - 21 mins 26 secs

'And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.' 

(Surah Al-Kahf, Verse 28)

In this sermon the Shaykh talks about the qualities of the people who desire only to please the Almighty. The Shaykh mentions the ‘wool wearers’ amongst the sahaba (ra) who were the best examples of those who submitted fully to Allah. He goes on to mention how the modern material world gives us a delusional notion of status, pushing us to fantasise about being with those who have nothing to offer our spiritual soul, seeking for role models amongst celebrities and the elite of society; thus going directly against the prophetic tradition of seeking the company of the people who are in remembrance of their Lord.   

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The Seven Dragons

Jum'ah khutba - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - 12 Feb 2016 - 24 mins 15 secs

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'And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good. ' 

(Surah Al-'Ankabut, Verse 69)

The Shaykh describes the seven deadly vices that can destroy the inner soul and which inhibit happiness. He describes the the importance of the inward struggle that is paramount to overcome these vices. Taking lessons from the great story of Surah Yusuf which lays out the method that one must embrace to earn the help of the Almighty against all the vices.  

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Come Dine with Me

Talk - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - London - 10th May 2011 -  50mins 45secs

You were a prized falcon, trapped by an old woman.

Then you heard the Drummer's call,

and flew beyond space and time...

Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi (may God be pleased with him)

Earlier this year Sheikh Abdal Hakim gave an address at an event hosted by Ulfa Aid. He began by outlining the homogenous monoculture bequeathed to us by globalisation, with its lack of family values but perhaps more importantly lack of a belief in the unseen, the magical. This age that we find ourselves in is not modern or post-modern but rather "post-everything"; an age in which the sarcastic quip and the cynical put-down is king. 

Despite this the Sheikh reminds us that within all humans is a capacity for wide-eyed amazement that cannot be entirely blunted. As a respected astrophysicist would have it, 'the strangest thing in existence is that existence itself can be perceived', and answers to the inevitable questions that arise can be found within Islam's cosmological narrative. In this age the truth is posited precisely where the power structures of the day would say it is not; God is not to be found with the well-fed investment bankers but with the seemingly impoverished taxi drivers that drive them around. These are the inheritors to the Ishmaelite tradition, for God is with the outcast, the downtrodden, the despised.

As Mevlana Rumi notes our task in this life is to respond to the calling of the drum. Humanity is not inherently sinful; rather we have forgotten our origins and the incessant beating of the drum led by the Prophets urges us to waken from our slumber, for as Mevlana says 'an-nawmu 'ala-l-ashiqi haram': 'sleep for the lovers is forbidden'. At its start this path can seem exacting. However this is a small effort to be made for us to become falcons, spread our wings and fly to that Court that lies 'beyond space and time'.

Talk published with kind permission of Ulfa Aid. Please visit the Ulfa Aid website, we can't recommend highly enough the work that they have been doing for countless around the world, may Allah bless their efforts and accept it from them.  They will be holding a 'Night Walk' along Southbank, London on 29th October to raise money for victims of the recent Japan earthquake, some more details to be found here. Another exciting development is the opening of the Ulfa Aid shop in Willesden Green next week. Called 'Rumi's Cave' it will be a versatile space that will - insha-Allah - be used as a cafe, antique shop, exhibition area and community centre. Please check the website and mailing list for more details.

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Photograph and videos taken from the Ulfa Aid website, 'Come Dine with Me' event.

 

Come Dine With Me - Abdul Hakim Murad ( Timothy Winter ) from Ulfa Aid on Vimeo.

Come Dine With Me - Abdul Hakim Murad ( Timothy Winter ) Q&A from Ulfa Aid on Vimeo.

Forgetfulness & Remembrance

Friday sermon (jum'ah khutba) - Sheikh Abdal Hakim Murad - Cambridge - date unknown - 24 mins 04 secs

In this sermon, the sheikh discusses forgetfulness (nisyan), an inherent characteristic of mankind. Although forgetfulness is not itself sinful, it is a fundamental test for mankind becase it is the first barrier to the remembrance and worship of God that is our primary purpose as His creation. This remembrance (dhikr) is the direct opposite of forgetfulness or heedlessness (ghafla). All of us have the capacity for this remembrance because we all carry the echo within us of the great day before time when all creation bore witness to God's sovereignty. So although we are tested by Him through our tendency to forget, in His Mercy he constantly calls us and helps us to remember through the signs that surround us. Although the manifestations of our forgetfulness and the degradation that results from it are all around us, there have been and remain countless examples also of heroism, self-sacrifice and other beautiful deeds resulting from those men and women who have perceived the Reality of their condition and striven to return to it: in the words of a poet the sheikh mentions here, 'we were once friends of the angels, so let us return to that place'.

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