The Pathways to Drawing Near to Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He)

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Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. Your Eminence, Shaykh Salih asks: What is the path to drawing near to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and to being guided to the straight path? We ask you to guide us. May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
The path to drawing near to Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is through obeying Him and following His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Allah the Exalted said:

⁽³¹⁾ Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." ⁽³²⁾ Say, "Obey Allah and the Messenger." But if they turn away - then indeed, Allah does not like the disbelievers.

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ قُلْ أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْكَافِرِينَ

[Ali 'Imran 3:31-32]

So the path to drawing near to Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is through obeying Him, following His commands, leaving His prohibitions, and obeying His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). There is no path to drawing near to Allah except through that. Likewise, guidance—its cause is obedience, following, submission, loving Allah, loving His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and loving righteous deeds. Also, among the causes of guidance is reflecting on the Qur'an, acting upon it, and reciting it frequently. Allah the Exalted said:

Indeed, this Qur'an guides to that which is most suitable

إِنَّ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ يَهْدِي لِلَّتِي هِيَ أَقْوَمُ

[Al-Isra 17:9]

And Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) has informed that whoever follows His guidance, He will guide him, and whoever seeks guidance from Him, He will guide him. He the Exalted and Majestic said:

⁽¹⁵⁾ O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book. ⁽¹⁶⁾ By which Allah guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path.

يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولُنَا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُمْ كَثِيرًا مِّمَّا كُنتُمْ تُخْفُونَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ قَدْ جَاءَكُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ يَهْدِي بِهِ اللَّهُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضْوَانَهُ سُبُلَ السَّلَامِ وَيُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَيَهْدِيهِمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

[Al-Ma'idah 5:15-16]

Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 4659- سُبل التقرب إلى الله جل وعلا - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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