“…The previous speaker…spoke about Sayyidna Ali, karam Allaha wajhahualayh afdal as-salaatu wa ’s-salaam, and he mentioned the love of Ahlu ’l-Bayt, “Ahlu ‘l-Abaa,” which is Prophet (s), Sayyidina Ali (r), Sayyida Fatima (r), Sayyidina al-Hasan (r) and Sayyidina al-Husayn (r ). If you add the letters of their names it totals nineteen letters, and “Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Raheem” is comprised of nineteen letters! “Laa ilaha ila Allah Muhammadan Rasoolullah” is a little bit more, but around nineteen letters. Allah (swt) wants to show the nineteen letters of “Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Raheem” are equal to the nineteen letters of Ahlu ’l-Bayt, that “Bismillah” represents “Ahlu ‘l-Aba!” which means any `amal you do, as the Prophet (s) said:
كل عمل لم يبدأ باسم الله فهو أبتر
Kullu `amalim lam yabdaa bismillahi fa huwa abtar.
The Prophet (s) said, “Any `amal which doesn’t begin with Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Raheem is cut off, it has no continuity.” (Ahmad, al-Musnad)
Every amal that does not begin with “Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Raheem” is cut, there is no meaning to it, which means anyamal you do without mentioning the names of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and Ahlu ‘l-Bayt which equal nineteen letters, like Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Raheem equals nineteen letters, your amal is not accepted! It has to be salawaaat on Prophet (s) and Ahlu ’l-Bayt after everyamal you do. After every salaah that you do, your du`a has to be wrapped by salawaat on Prophet (s) and Ahlu ’l-Bayt, because it’s equal to “Bismillahi ‘r-Rahmani ‘r-Raheem.”
Sayyidina `Ali (r) is teaching us and that is what is important. Yes, we love Prophet (s), but no one can love Prophet (s) like Allah (swt) and the angels do! So what do we say? “O Allah! Dress us with the salawaat and love You have for Your Prophet (s)! Dress us with the salawaat and love of Your angels for Prophet (s),” because we cannot do it or come out of it, but from what they do is for Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) we can learn adab, as they don’t do anything for themselves!
Sayyidina Ali (r) had a problem with his eye and they were waged in battle and one of the opponents called him bad names, “You are this, you are that!” It wasn’t like today when you shoot and you don’t know who you are shooting; then you could see your enemy. So he asked Prophet (s), “Yaa Rasoolullah! Let me go to him,” and the Prophet said, “No, you are sick, you cannot go.” However, the wrestler kept throwing insulting remarks and SayyidinaAli (r) said, “Yaa Rasoolullah, for your sake and for Allah’s sake, let me go!” Then Prophet (s) put his saliva in Sayyidina `Ali’s eye and thereafter that eye could not see only in dunya, but also far away, even to heavens, and knowledge that no one else can see! That’s why the Prophet (s) said:
أنا مدينة العلم و علي بابه
Anaa madinatu ‘l-ilmi waAliyyun baabuhaa.
I am the City of Knowledge and `Ali is it’s door. (al-Haakim, Tirmidhi)
Sayyidina Ali (r) faced that big, tough wrestler. Before I continue, in Madinatu ‘l-Munawwara, from adab of the Ahlu ’l-Bayt, if they saw someone elderly in the street, to show respect they did not overtake (pass) them, whereas now we just pass in front of them (thinking they are too slow). One day SayyidinaAli (r) was walking to Masjid an-Nabawi and in front of him he saw a crippled old lady who looked tired, and she was carrying a basket.
He said, “O my mother! Can I help you?”
She said, “Yes, what would you like to do?”
He said, “Can I carry that basket for you?”
Sayyidina Ali (r) could not carry it above his knees as it was very heavy, but he walked until he gave it to the lady and she disappeared. He came to Prophet (s), who said, “Allah tested you today! What you carried, Allah put the whole world inside that basket.” By himself he was able to carry the whole earth and all its inhabitants because Allah (swt) gave “Asadullah,” SayyidinaAli (r) that power. So what about Prophet’s power? Still he said:
اللَّهُمَّ لَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ
Allahumma laa takilnee ila nafsee tarfata `aynin.
O Allah! Don’t leave me to my ego for the blink of an eye (or my ego will take me down)!
If Prophet (s) is saying that, what about us? O Muslims! Be humble as our Prophet (s) was the most humble although Allah gave him everything! …
Wa min Allahi ‘t-tawfeeq, bi hurmati ‘l-habeeb, bi hurmati ‘l-Fatihah.