Is it permissible to testify that a person is one of the awliya (close friends of Allah)?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: Is it permissible for us to say that this person is a wali (close friend of Allah), and that he has reached a great deal of knowledge and piety?
Answer:
We do not testify for anyone, nor do we make a definitive ruling for anyone, except for those for whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified. This is one of the principles of the creed: we do not testify for anyone that he is a wali (close friend of Allah) or that he is in Paradise, nor do we make a definitive ruling that anyone is in the Fire, except for those for whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified. However, we hope for the doer of good and fear for the doer of evil. Yes, this is the principle in the creed. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: Is it permissible for us to say that this person is a wali (close friend of Allah), and that he has reached a great deal of knowledge and piety?
Answer:
We do not testify for anyone, nor do we make a definitive ruling for anyone, except for those for whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified. This is one of the principles of the creed: we do not testify for anyone that he is a wali (close friend of Allah) or that he is in Paradise, nor do we make a definitive ruling that anyone is in the Fire, except for those for whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) testified. However, we hope for the doer of good and fear for the doer of evil. Yes, this is the principle in the creed. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [102 -858] هل يجوز أن نشهد لأحد أنه ولي من أولياء الله؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.