What is the view of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the close friends of Allah and their miracles in this world?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. What is the view of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the close friends of Allah and their miracles in this world? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The people of the Sunnah and the community love the close friends of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and show loyalty to them, but one does not become a close friend of Allah unless he possesses the two attributes that Allah mentioned in His Book, where He said:[Yunus 10:62-63] So whoever is a believer and mindful of Allah, he becomes a close friend of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and his status as a close friend is according to the strength or weakness of his faith and mindfulness. He may be a pure close friend of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
He may also be a close friend of Allah in one aspect and an enemy of Allah in another aspect, if he has some violations of the Shari'ah and commits major sins. In him, the status of close friend and enmity coexist. As for the disbeliever, he is a pure enemy. The disbeliever and the one who associates partners with Allah are a pure enemy. There is no status of close friend for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in them.
So people are in three categories. Among them is the one who is a pure close friend of Allah, such as the messengers, the angels, the messengers, and the followers of the messengers who are believers, those who preserve their religion, the most mindful, and the most faithful. Among them is the one who is a pure enemy of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), such as Iblis, the disbelievers, the devils, and those who associate partners with Allah. Their enmity is pure, and there is no status of close friend for Allah in them.
Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:98]. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Mumtahanah 60:1]. And He, the Exalted and Glorified, said regarding Ibrahim: "When it became clear to him that he was an enemy of Allah, he disavowed him." [At-Tawbah 9:114]
The third category is the one who has a status of close friend in one aspect and enmity in another aspect. This is the believer whose faith is deficient, who has major sins, other than shirk (associating partners with Allah) and other than disbelief. He is a close friend of Allah by virtue of the faith in him, and he has enmity by virtue of the sins and violations in him. Yes. May Allah reward you with good. And yes.
As for the miracles of the close friends of Allah, they are true. The miracles of the close friends, and the meaning of a miracle (karamah) is that which is beyond the ordinary. They are true, and the people of the Sunnah and the community believe in them, unlike the innovators and the misguided sects who deny them. They are established in the Book and the Sunnah. However, they are only considered miracles if they occur through the hands of believers who are mindful of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If these extraordinary events occur through the hands of disbelievers, those who associate partners with Allah, or open sinners, they are not miracles, but rather satanic extraordinary events, a test, a trial, and a luring into sin from Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
Then, the miracles (karamat) that occur through the hands of the awliya (close friends of Allah) who are righteous do not mean that we take these awliya as objects of worship other than Allah, and we exaggerate in their regard, saying that they have miracles and that they benefit and harm and intercede with Allah. Then, we call upon them for aid, slaughter animals for them, make vows to them, and circumambulate their graves, as the worshippers of graves do now with those they believe to be the awliya of Allah, building these shrines over their graves. They may be the awliya of Allah, but this action is wrong and not permissible. It is exaggeration in their regard and the belief that they benefit or harm, or bring sustenance or cause harm. This is shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah the Exalted and Majestic. This is what the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) used to do. Allah the Exalted said:[Yunus 10:18]. He, the Exalted, said: "Indeed, to Allah belongs pure religion." [Az-Zumar 39:3] On the Day of Resurrection, so [Az-Zumar 39:3]. And He named this taking awliya other than Allah, and He ruled that its people are liars and disbelievers, may Allah protect us from that. And although they do not believe that they create, or that they provide sustenance, but rather they believe that they are means, yes.
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. What is the view of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the close friends of Allah and their miracles in this world? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The people of the Sunnah and the community love the close friends of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and show loyalty to them, but one does not become a close friend of Allah unless he possesses the two attributes that Allah mentioned in His Book, where He said:
(62) Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve (63) Those who believed and were fearing Allah
أَلَا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَHe may also be a close friend of Allah in one aspect and an enemy of Allah in another aspect, if he has some violations of the Shari'ah and commits major sins. In him, the status of close friend and enmity coexist. As for the disbeliever, he is a pure enemy. The disbeliever and the one who associates partners with Allah are a pure enemy. There is no status of close friend for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in them.
So people are in three categories. Among them is the one who is a pure close friend of Allah, such as the messengers, the angels, the messengers, and the followers of the messengers who are believers, those who preserve their religion, the most mindful, and the most faithful. Among them is the one who is a pure enemy of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), such as Iblis, the disbelievers, the devils, and those who associate partners with Allah. Their enmity is pure, and there is no status of close friend for Allah in them.
Allah the Exalted said:
Whoever is an enemy to Allah and His angels and His messengers and Gabriel and Michael - then indeed, Allah is an enemy to the disbelievers.
مَن كَانَ عَدُوًّا لِّلَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَجِبْرِيلَ وَمِيكَالَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَدُوٌّ لِّلْكَافِرِينَO you who have believed, do not take My enemies and your enemies as allies
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَAnd the request of forgiveness of Abraham for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became apparent to Abraham that his father was an enemy to Allah
وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لِأَبِيهِ إِلَّا عَن مَّوْعِدَةٍ وَعَدَهَا إِيَّاهُ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ لِّلَّهِThe third category is the one who has a status of close friend in one aspect and enmity in another aspect. This is the believer whose faith is deficient, who has major sins, other than shirk (associating partners with Allah) and other than disbelief. He is a close friend of Allah by virtue of the faith in him, and he has enmity by virtue of the sins and violations in him. Yes. May Allah reward you with good. And yes.
As for the miracles of the close friends of Allah, they are true. The miracles of the close friends, and the meaning of a miracle (karamah) is that which is beyond the ordinary. They are true, and the people of the Sunnah and the community believe in them, unlike the innovators and the misguided sects who deny them. They are established in the Book and the Sunnah. However, they are only considered miracles if they occur through the hands of believers who are mindful of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If these extraordinary events occur through the hands of disbelievers, those who associate partners with Allah, or open sinners, they are not miracles, but rather satanic extraordinary events, a test, a trial, and a luring into sin from Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
Then, the miracles (karamat) that occur through the hands of the awliya (close friends of Allah) who are righteous do not mean that we take these awliya as objects of worship other than Allah, and we exaggerate in their regard, saying that they have miracles and that they benefit and harm and intercede with Allah. Then, we call upon them for aid, slaughter animals for them, make vows to them, and circumambulate their graves, as the worshippers of graves do now with those they believe to be the awliya of Allah, building these shrines over their graves. They may be the awliya of Allah, but this action is wrong and not permissible. It is exaggeration in their regard and the belief that they benefit or harm, or bring sustenance or cause harm. This is shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah the Exalted and Majestic. This is what the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) used to do. Allah the Exalted said:
And they worship other than Allah that which neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say, "These are our intercessors with Allah
وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ هَٰؤُلَاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِندَ اللَّهِAnd those who take protectors besides Him [say], "We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah in position." Indeed, Allah will judge between them
وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَىٰ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَهُمْconcerning that over which they differ. Indeed, Allah does not guide he who is a liar and [confirmed] disbeliever.
مَا هُمْ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ كَاذِبٌ كَفَّارٌ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما هو رأي أهل السنة والجماعة في أولياء الله وكراماتهم في الدنيا؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.