Commentary on Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim-12a

The reader: "And in the two Sahihs, it is narrated from 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Indeed, the family of so-and-so are not my awliya (close friends of Allah)

إن آل فلان ليسوا لي بأولياء

"

The Shaykh : Do you have "Banu"
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Did he point to this?
The student: No, he did not point, he did not point

The Shaykh : Yes
The reader: "He said:

Indeed, the family of so-and-so are not my awliya (close friends of Allah)

إن آل فلان ليسوا لي بأولياء

"

The Shaykh : The family of Banu so-and-so
The student: Should I add it, O Shaykh? Should I add it?

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, that is correct
The reader: "He said:

the posterity of my fathers, that is, so and so, are not my friends. Verily Allah and the pious believers are my friends.

إن آل بني فلان ليسوا لي بأولياء إنما وليي الله وصالح المؤمنين

Sahih Muslim 215

So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) informed about a branch of close kinship that they are not his awliya (close friends of Allah) merely by virtue of kinship; rather, his wali (close friend of Allah) is Allah and the righteous among the believers from all categories "
The student: ... wali ... ?

The Shaykh : Yes
The student: Wali with one ya?

The Shaykh : Wali with two yas
The student: I have one ya?

The Shaykh : Wali with two yas, yes
The reader: "And much like this is clarified in the Book and the Sunnah that the criterion is the names by which Allah has praised and blamed, such as the believer and the disbeliever, the righteous and the wicked, and the knowledgeable and the ignorant. Then the Book and the Sunnah have come with praise for some of the non-Arabs. Allah the Exalted said:

⁽²⁾ It is He who has sent among the unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they were before in clear error - ⁽³⁾ And [to] others of them who have not yet joined them. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

هو الذي بعث في الأميين رسولا منهم يتلو عليهم آياته ويزكيهم ويعلمهم الكتاب والحكمة وإن كانوا من قبل لفي ضلال مبين وآخرين منهم لما يلحقوا بهم وهو العزيز الحكيم

[Al-Jumu'ah 62:2-3]

And in the two Sahihs, from Abu al-Ghayth from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:

We were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when Surah al-Jumu'ah was revealed to him: {And others among them to whom they have not yet joined.} A man said: Who are they, O Messenger of Allah? He did not respond to him until he asked three times. And among us was Salman al-Farisi, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) placed his hand on Salman and then said: If faith were at the Pleiades, men from these would have reached it.

كنا جلوسا عند النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فأنزلت عليه سورة الجمعة وآخرين منهم لما يلحقوا بهم قال قائل من هم يا رسول الله فلم يراجعه حتى سأل ثلاثا وفينا سلمان الفارسي فوضع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يده على سلمان ثم قال لو كان الإيمان عند الثريا لناله رجال من هؤلاء

And in Sahih Muslim, from Yazid ibn al-Asamm from Abu Hurayrah, he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

If the din were at the Pleiades, even then a person from Persia would have taken hold of it, or one amongst the Persian descent

لو كان الدين عند الثريا لذهب به رجل من فارس أو قال من أبناء فارس

Sahih Muslim 2546a

until he reached it. And in a third narration:

If knowledge were at the Pleiades, men from the sons of Persia would have reached it

لو كان العلم عند الثريا لتناوله رجال من أبناء فارس

And al-Tirmidhi narrated from Abu Hurayrah "

The Shaykh : And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) told the truth. Al-Bukhari, where is he from? He is from the sons of Bukhara. And likewise many of the imams are from the sons of Persia, and they attained what they attained of honor, dignity, religion, and leadership. Yes.