ROBERT DAVILA

Bismil Laahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laahi wa barkaatuhu brothers and sisters in Islam. This is an 11 minutes 6 seconds lecture video I watched on Robert Davila by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan that I typed almost word for word in order to spread this inspirational story. May Allah azza wa jal help us to draw great lessons from this and become better servants to Him. Aameen.

Story begins…

The story of Robert Davila. You know who that is? No, you don’t because I do. Three months ago, I gave khutbah in a Fourth Worth (can’t get the name right). I haven’t been to that place for four or five years and they invited me for some reason and I went and I gave khutbah there. My khutbah was about du’a. An Egyptian fellow comes up to me; a young man came up to me afterwards he goes; ‘Allah fulfilled my du’a today.’ I said; ‘What’s your du’a?’ and he said; ‘My du’a was that Nouman Ali Khan should meet Robert Davila.’ I was like…(he made a funny face) ‘Are you Robert Davila?’ He goes; ‘No, I am not Robert Davila. Robert Davila is my friend but I think Allah is fulfilling my du’a. I was like, ‘fire away, I want to know.’ 

Robert Davila is a young man who lives in a town forty minutes pass Fourth Worth. He was a farmer, young guy and he was hit with some form of genetic disorder that kicked in later on in his life and he became paralysed from the neck down and he lives in a nursing home. Most people in that nursing home are 90 years, 100 years; they are really really old people and there is his room where he’s paralysed; he is the only thirty something year old; that is in the nursing home. He’s been in that nursing home for the last ten years. His family got a computer for him that is voice activated so he can give voice commands with the headphone on and google stuff and search stuff, so he can surf the web and find information. In his room; and by the way, staunch Christian family, the minister comes and prays for him every week and things like that and his best friend was in the bed next to him. They became best friends because they met in the nursing home. He is also paralysed and he needed a new liver. A liver transplant and they use to talk about God and things like that all the time. They were good friends.

Finally, his best friend got a call that there is a donor available for the liver. So he is so excited and he says; ‘Robert, I’m going to miss you but I’m going. I’ve got a donor.’ So they take his friend and he died in the course of the operation. The sister of his dead friends gave one of the crucifixes of his friend to him as a gift as a reminder of their friendship. They hanged that on the side of his hospital bed.

Robert Davila lives a pretty decent life and the nurses take care of him; he is a happy guy and one day he goes to sleep then he sees a man in his dream. The man says his name is Muhammad and he says pointing at the crucifix; ‘God did not send messengers so they would worship the messengers. God sent messengers so you could worship God and Jesus was just a man. He walked in the markets and he ate food,’ and the dream stopped.

He only knows that Jesus was just a man and a man named Muhammad said that to him. He said but messengers came so people could worship God and not the messengers. This is all he knows so he starts googling Muhammad. He finds Islam. He takes shahada. When he takes shahada, he wants to learn about the Qur’an so he goes on this chat sessions and he finds ‘somebody needs to teach me Qur’an.’ He finds a brother in Egypt that he gets together with on skype to try to learn Arabic. Learn the Arabic alphabets. Once he learnt the Arabic alphabets, he learnt to recite the Qur’an. He memorized ten surahs on his hospital bed. Then he said; ‘I’m beginning to memorize the Qur’an and learn about this Prophet but I need to understand the Qur’an so he starts googling how to understand the Qur’an and for some reason, he ends up on my videos and he starts watching my stuffs and he watched almost everything. And then, here is the kicker…

In the nursing home, there was an Egyptian fellow that used to come in and do some repair works. The Egyptian fellow has his own awesome story. The guy had basically lost faith. He wasn’t religious. The nearest Masjid to him was 50 miles away so he didn’t really go to Jum’a much anymore but he felt a spiritual void so he started going to the church just to feel closer to Allah. Though he is Muslim, he goes to the church just to feel closer to Allah. 

He is passing by Robert’s room one day and he hears; ‘Wal Asr! Innal insaana lafii husir.’ So he walks into his room and says; ‘Robert, what are you listening to?’ Robert says; ‘Nothing! That was me.’ And the guy was like; ‘You’re Muslim?’ He says; ‘Yes, I became Muslim.’ And now this friend is in shock. How does Allah guide someone in the middle of church town USA and in a nursing home where the crucifix on the side of his bed where he doesn’t even have the physical strength to move and the guy himself says; ‘I want to come back to Allah.’ So he tells him about the friend he found online; Nouman Ali Khan. So the Egyptian fellow starts watching my videos and then he says; ‘I wish I could meet him one day,’ and he says; ‘Ok, I will pray for you.’

And after 5 years, that Egyptian friend shows up in the same Masjid that I haven’t been to in 4 years and after Jum’ah, he says; ‘I think Allah wants to fulfil my friend and I’s du’a.’ So, I said; ‘I think He does. Let’s go.’ So I took a few of us and we went and we met Brother Robert. We had a beautiful conversation with him and in shaa Allah on Eid, we are going to go to his nursing home again. 

The nurses were pretty shocked; ‘You are all here to meet Robert?’ Yes! ‘Why do you want to meet him?’ He is an inspiration. ‘Ok. Let me check if you can see him.’ They had to call the administrator and all the staff and eventually let us in. Robert is in shock and then I meet Bro Robert and we were talking and I was like; ‘Hey Robert! I heard you’ve memorised some Surahs.’ He says; ‘Yes.’ Ok, recite one for me so he recited suratul Asr. Not one of us was not crying. We were just in tears. When somebody turns to Allah, don’t worry about the means, guidance will come, balance will come. 

I want to tell you some more about Robert because young guys are here. Young guys that play basketball. Young guys that are healthy. Young guys that have ambitions. I told you what his paralysis is, from where to where? Neck down. He has a special wheel chair that has to hold pretty much every part of his body in place. He can just sit in a wheel chair. It holds his neck and every other part of his body in place because he has no control over his limbs and he has to have a special van where the wheel chair locks in so that if it goes through a bumper or whatever, he doesn’t receive the shock. So he made a request that he wants to go to the Friday prayer. They didn’t have the special van. They put him in a regular van and so he went in a regular van and a few bumps and his spine got even more hurt. He went to Jum’a. He came back in excruciating pain and they said; ‘I’m sorry Robert but you are no longer able to sit in your wheel chair. You are going to have to stay in your bed for the next six months at least. If we see recovery, then you can get back up again. I met him in that span. He’s already been in bed for three months already and the reason he was in that bed was that he went to Jum’a prayer. 

And he told me about the Jum’a prayer. He said that; ‘I’ve never felt more peace in my life than I was in that Masjid. And you know what I’m going to do brother Nouman, when I can sit on my wheel chair again? I’m going to go to Jum’a. I’m going to go to the Masjid because I have never felt like that before.’ Here is someone who has nothing but control over his mouth and eyes and he says I only find peace in the Masjid and here we are. 

These Masaajid; I don’t care what ideology, what school of thought, what they are talking about in the Masjid, what fitna is there, I don’t care; it is still Allah’s house. Just go to pray. Don’t go there to talk to people, go to talk to Allah. Just go to talk to Allah. You are just going for you and Allah; that is it. Other things will come but you are not going for them. You are just going there to find peace. You will become different people. If Allah can guide Robert Davila, Allah can guide everybody. And then he said; ‘You know sometimes I wonder why Allah put me in this position and then I say to myself; ‘what?’ Am I kidding? Allah has given me so much. I am so grateful for what He gave me and if this is the way He was going to bring me to Islam, it’s all worth it.’ 

You have men (can’t get the right word) that lose a little bit of health and they say; ‘Why is Allah doing this to me?’ And this man; if you were thinking; nowadays the atheist are arguing because of suffering there is no God. If one man was in a position to say; ‘I don’t believe in God. If there was a God why would I be in this position?’ It would be Robert Davila. That guy would say; ‘I don’t believe in God. If there was one, why would I be in this mess?’ And yet he is in this position and I’ve never seen a face with more nur; never. I’ve never seen a face that has more contentment on it. He is so satisfied with life. He is so happy. He is just happy. The last 7 or 8 khutbahs I have given are actually based each on one sentence that he said in his conversation because that is profound. He is a teacher to me. I can’t say I’m his teacher. He is my sheikh. Somebody says; ‘Who’s your sheikh?’ I say; ‘Robert Davila.’

The End…

The guidance is all around us. You don’t have to get worried about what is not there, there is plenty there. You know what Allah did for the people of the cave? You know he even guided them in where to sleep? You know he even guided them on where to turn? As the sun was coming, they turned away from it and as the sun came from the other side they turned the other way. Allah will guide you in your sleep when you make du’a to him. Even guide you in your sleep. Every toss and turn will be guided by Allah. Can you imagine? We shouldn’t be sceptical in Allah’s guidance. We shouldn’t worry about; ‘How am I going to find balance?’ No, that is Allah’s job to guide you. Your job is to talk to him. Your job is to get sincere. That is the message I have for you. That is how we are going to find balance. Honestly! Once you become sincere to Allah, Allah will open doors. Allah will give you friends, Allah will give you teachers, Allah will give you access to resources; all of which are going to bring you closer and closer to Him and to the truth and make life better for the people around you. This is really the gist of what I wanted to share with you.

And this is what I believed was worth typing and sharing with everyone who cannot watch the video on youtube. To the pondering mind…a real life story. This could be our point of change for the better. Don’t read and forget. Thinnnnnnnnnnk and Reflect!!! May Allah azza wa jal accept from me and from you and from all else. Aameen. Love for the solely for His sake always.

Story by: Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan

Check this video and many others on youtube

Check Robert Davila on youtube and facebook

Jazaakumul Laahu khair

RMRS, www.mmahajia.blogspot.com

THAT MOMENT OF QUIET

Bismil Laahir Rahmaanir Raheem

 

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laahi wa barkaatuh brothers and sisters in Islam. Alhamdu lil Laah for the blessing of Islam. Alhamdu lil Laah for the blessing of brotherhood. May Allah azza wa jal sustain us on this path until the end. Aameen.

Our Rubb and our Phones

It is a usual thing; almost a norm now, to hear phones ringing in the Masaajid. We do not care to put them off or on silence in order to interact with His Majesty. Some of us put the phones in front of us with the screen facing us even when we put the phones on silence in order not to miss the one calling us even when we couldn’t pick and I have no idea what advantage we gain from that. First of all, this attitude does not help our khushoo (concentration) in sualaat at all. So, if you are guilty of this; how about you stop that (put the phone off or on silence and away from you in sualaat) from today so that you and I could gain some rewards which we are in dire need of? Jazaakumul Laahu khairan in advance.

Is there a linkage between our phones and what I intend to talk about? Well… Ram Dass says;

‘The quieter you become, the more you can hear.’

We can analyse this saying in various ways and each one of us would probably give it a different meaning. I would look at it in the ‘contemplative sense.’ All of our days seem to be surrounded with so much activity and noise such that we miss that ‘moment of quiet’ which I believe we very much need especially as Muslims. Allah azza wa jal keeps admonishing us in the Qur’an to use our minds: think, ponder, reflect, contemplate, etc. To do this effectively, we need that moment of quiet most of the time. 

Think & Reflect

I guess a lot of people who know me will remember this popular phrase of mine, think & reflect, which I attach to just about everything I post some time ago and sometimes now on social media. As I grow, the importance of thinking and reflection also grows with me. I have always believed that you don’t just hear or see or feel something and brush it off. You need to give it a thought…a deeper thinking. When we read the Qur’an, we realize that everything in it is worth giving a deeper thought. Allah azza wa jal asks us a question;

‘Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon their hearts?’

Surah Muhammad, Chapter 47 ayah 24

From this ayah, we realize that the Qur’an is not just to be read and pushed aside but it is to be pondered upon. Our lack of pondering on the Qur’an goes to liken us with those whose hearts are locked up: blind. This is the more reason why I like to use ‘ayah’ instead of ‘verse’ because ayah conveys the real meaning of what everything in the Qur’an is: ‘signs.’ I do not want to state any specific ayah that demands contemplation because all of the aayaat do. 

Time for yourself

Al-Fudhayl, a scholar said;

‘The speech of the believer is wisdom; his silence is contemplation and his vision is a lesson (for him). If you are like that, then you will not cease being in a state of worship.’ Then he read the verse,

“I have not created Mankind or Jinn except to worship Me.”

Surah al-Dhariyat, the Winnowing Winds, Chapter 51 ayah 56

Let’s see what I derive from this saying.

Worship = Speak (Wisdom) + Quiet (Contemplation (tafakkur)) + Look (Learn)

Since the essence of our lives is worship, everything we do must be directed towards that. When we speak wise things as Muslims, we are worshipping Allah. When we ponder on all that Allah azza wa jal has surrounded us with, we are worshipping Him and when all that we see serve as lessons for us in our worship of Allah, that is also worship. Now we concentrate on ‘contemplation.’

Contemplation

There are so many books on contemplation in Islam and I would recommend one by Sheikh Osman Nuri Tobpas. Contemplation helps us to not take anything we see or hear for granted because Allah azza wa jal created everything for a purpose: to teach man to worship Him solely. We have the land, water, sky, sun, moon, air, diverse nature of humans (their colours, language, stature, etc), the animals, plants; everything, to ponder on. They are signs of Allah azza wa jal that we should not sweep under the carpet. 

To contemplate effectively; we need peace and quiet. It is possible for two or more people to come together and ponder on these things and derive lessons from them. Most of the time however, it is best we contemplate alone as it works on our mind effectively therefore the need for that quiet moment.  

Put off the phone, facebook, whatsapp and all other social media. Put off the TV and the radio and every other noise making gadget. Look for a place where you could be in seclusion and give yourself that moment of bliss without any distractions. Be with only Allah azza wa jal and then talk to Him and study all that He has surrounded you with even if it is for a good ten minutes of your 24 hours a day. You could also intensify your contemplative mind by making everything you see or hear in your day to day activities remind you of Allah azza wa jal which is the purpose any way.

Why contemplate?

I believe that contemplation draws us closer to our Creator, gives us a better understanding of situations and also helps us in accepting everything that happens in our lives; good or bad. As we think and reflect on the creation of Allah azza wa jal, His greatness becomes bare in our hearts, minds and eyes even though we can never comprehend His greatness in totality. We tend to appreciate the things around us with all the natural differences and everything that happens only strengthens our faith and awe in Allah azza wa jal. 

Contemplation provides us with a calm, peaceful and serene heart as we become more aware of Allah azza wa jal and understand issues best. In a hadith qudsi, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa says;

"If someone draws near to me a hand span, I draw near to that person a forearm’s length. If he draws near to Me a forearm’s length, I draw near to him the span of two outstretched arms. If he comes to Me walking, I come to him at speed."

Bukhari and Muslim

What more could we ask for? Let us endeavour to go to Allah, ar-Rahmaan, ar-Raheem, running and hopping at top speed hoping that we would get something a lot better from Him. Ramadaan is almost here, what better time to enhance our contemplative minds if Allah azza wa jal makes us live to see it? Remember me in your du’a always. I hope I was able to tell you something beneficial. May Allah azza wa jal forgive me for my mistakes and accept from us. Aameen. I love you fiisabi lil Laah and may Allah, ash-Shaheed, be a witness to this love. Aameen.

Jazaakumul Laahu khair always!

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laah!

RMRS; www.mmahajia.blogspot.com

A GIFT OF LOVE

Bismil Laahir Rahmaanir Raheem

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laahi wa barkaatuh brothers and sisters in Islam. Allah is the Gafuurur Raheem; the All Forgiving and Merciful. We pray that Allah azza wa jal favours us with the blessing of His forgiveness whiles we live this life, in our death and on the Day that we would stand before Him to give accounts of our lives; which is a surety. Aameen.

On this Day of Accounts which has been given various names worth pondering upon, we are told by the noble Prophet Muhammad suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam that Allah azza wa jal will ask us a question. This is related by Abu Huraira radiyal Laahu anhu who reports that the Prophet said;

‘Allah will ask on the Day of Judgment: ‘Where are those who loved each other for the sake of My glory? Today, a day when there is no shade but mine, I shall shade them with My shade.’

Saheeh Muslim

I need and want so badly to have this favour on this Day and I pray that all of us are blessed with this favour in shaa Allah. There are ahaadith that talk about the favour of Allah azza wa jal upon those who love one another truly and solely for His sake but the one that blows my mind most is found in Sunan Abu Dawood which states;

The Prophet suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam said: “Among Allah’s servants are people who are neither Prophets nor martyrs, but whom the Prophets and martyrs will deem fortunate because of their high status with Allah.”

They asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Inform us of who they are.”

He said: “They are people who loved each other for Allah’s sake, without being related to one another or being tied to one another by the exchange of wealth. By Allah, their faces will be luminous and they will be upon light. They will feel no fear when the people will be feeling fear and they will feel no grief when the people will be grieving.”

Then he read the ayah: “Behold, on the friends of Allah there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Surah Yunus, Chapter 10 ayah 62)

Now, that is just enough motivation for you and I to start loving as much as we could others (without being related to one another or being tied to one another by the exchange of wealth) fiisabi lil Laah. If you are doing so already, then keep the fire burning. If you are not, then this could be the time.

There are a thousand and one ways to show love to a brother or sister fiisabi lil Laah and this show of love should be directed towards one goal: enjoining that which is right and discouraging from that which is wrong. In this article, I want to look at one aspect of ‘love fiisabi lil Laah’ that I believe we should intensify among us.

We are in an era where we are challenged with lots of external (outside of the Muslims) problems and then internal ones (within the Muslims) as well. In this era, it is getting a lot tougher to genuinely show your love for a brother or a sister fiisabi lil Laah because even sometimes those people put question marks to your show of love. Think deeply about that. That should not discourage us anyway since our sole purpose is to attain that status that Allah azza wa jal talks about. The Prophet suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam said:

“A Muslim’s supplication for his brother in secret is answered. At his head an angel is appointed, and whenever he supplicates for his brother with something good, the angel appointed to him says: ‘Amîn, and likewise for you’.”

Saheeh Muslim  

    

So the aspect of loving fiisabi lil Laah that I want to emphasize on is in the hadith above: ‘Supplicating for one another.’ For me, this is one of the best ways for us to show love for one another for Allah’s sake and it is the easiest as well. This type of love could be given to the poor by the rich and the rich to the poor. Du’a is the best form of love for Muslims who know or don’t know one another (and might never know one another until the end).

We face diverse problems in our lives. We have various needs and fears and our greatest weapon in dealing with these things is du’a (seeking Allah’s aid). Allah azza wa jal tells us;

‘And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you...’

Surah Ghafir, the Forgiver, Chapter 40 ayah 60

Allah, al-Mujeeb, has assured us that He is ever ready for ‘our call,’ ‘our du’a.’ He again says beautifully that;

‘And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.’

Surah al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 186

Alhamdu lil Laah! Alhamdu lil Laah! Alhamdu lil Laah! Feel it! Say it! Act it because most definitely we are blessed to be Muslims. May Allah sustain us on this beauty. Aameen. This is how much Allah, al-Mujeeb, is ready to listen to us. It will be unfortunate on our part to let the opportunity of Allah hearing us pass us by. It is even more loving, per my understanding, if we call on Allah azza wa jal to tell Him about the needs of a brother or a sister or simply ask Allah to bless them with His guidance and love and all the goody goodies.

Sometimes we know the specific problems that some of our brothers and sisters face so we can seek specific things for them from our Rubb. Where we don’t know of their challenges in life (and everyone has a challenge unless the person does not know), then we give them general du’a.

We could also cultivate the habit of doing du’a for others just about any time when the need arises and not necessarily after our sualaat or tahajjud prayers. Imagine we made seeking the guidance of Allah our core du’a for people we see doing things that are against the Deen as we try to talk them out of it; that will be awesome. That is not to say that we should think they need the guidance more than us; we all need it. 

The hadith above makes the whole situation of making it a habit to do du’a for others even more rewarding. That is because for every good that you ask Allah to do for a brother or a sister, an angel seeks the same from Allah for you. That is enough motivation to keep it up if we are already doing that or to start if we aren’t.

So I make an appeal to you by this article to remember others in your du’a always (they don’t need to know or ask you for it or thank you for it). Do this with the hope that on that Day, Allah azza wa jal may bless you with His shade and the Prophets and martyrs will deem you fortunate. But of course, please do not forget me in your du’a and I pray that Allah azza wa jal does for you an uncountable number of whatever you ask Him for me. Aameen.

We are still warming up for Ramadaan; you could do this best during this holy month provided you are alive to witness it. Alhamdu lil Laah for everything. I love you fiisabi lil Laah and may Allah, ash-Shaheed, be a witness to this love. Aameen.

Jazaakumul Laahu khair always!

Love fiisabi lil Laah always!

Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatul Laah!

RMRS; www.mmahajia.blogspot.com