In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
A conversation between Imam Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on them).
Imam Shafi'i said:
احب الصالحين ولست منهم *** لعلي أن انال بهم شفاعة
واكره من تجارته المعاصي *** وإن كنا سواء في البضاعة
I love the righteous, although I'm not of them
Perhaps I shall receive intercession through them
And I hate he who trades in sins (deals in acts of disobedience)
Although we are both dealing in the same trade.
So Imam Ahmad responded:
فرد عليه الامام احمد رحمه الله
تحب الصالحين وانت منهم *** ومنكم سوف يلقون الشفاعة
وتكره من تجارته المعاصي *** وقانا الله من شر البضاعة
You love the righteous and you are of them
And from you shall they receive intercession
And you hate he who trades in sins
May Allah protect us from the evil of such trade
We should love the righteous people and not considered ourselves as one of them.
Who are the righteous?
Sayyidina 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (radhiaAllahu 'anhu) reported the Beloved Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said:
“There are people from the servants of Allah who are neither Prophets nor martyrs; the Prophets and martyrs will envy them on the Day of Resurrection, for their rank from Allah, the Most High.” They (the people) asked: “Tell us, Messenger of Allah, who are they?” He replied: “They are people who love one another for the spirit of Allah (i.e. the Qur'an), without having any mutual kinship and giving property to one. I swear by Allah, their faces will glow and they will be (sitting) in (pulpits of) light. They will have no fear (on the Day) when the people will have fear, and they will not grieve when the people will grieve.” He then recited the following Qur'anic verse,
أَلَآ إِنَّ أَوْلِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿٦٢
Behold! Verily for the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve) (Qur'an, Yunus 10:62)
[Abu Dawud]
Wilayah or sainthood is a special rank with which Allah blesses His righteous servants due to their struggle for His Pleasure.
The Qur’an refers to such people as the Soliheen ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ, meaning the righteous, and ranks them with the most honorable of creation.
وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّـهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ ٱللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ ٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَٱلصِّدِّيقِينَ وَٱلشُّهَدَآءِ وَٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ ۚ وَحَسُنَ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ رَفِيقًا ﴿٦٩[Qur’an An-Nisa 4:69]
And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger - those will be with the ones upon whom Allah has bestowed favor of the prophets (Nabiyyeen), the steadfast affirmers of truth (Siddiqeen), the martyrs (Shuhadaa') and the righteous (Soliheen). And excellent are those as companions. (69)
Knowledge is the key to arriving at following Allah’s command and following the way of His beloved Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wasallam (Sunnah). This knowledge is that knowledge that is acquired with the intention of acting upon it as well as teaching it.
A person is elevated in the following, starting with leaving prohibitions and fulfilling obligations. Then he continues to rise to a point of adhering to the Sunnah and leaving offensive actions (al-makruhaat). They continue to be elevated in following until they adhere to the Prophetic etiquettes and manners (adab) in dealing with permissible things and having pious intention in doing permissible things.
There is a great magnificent station of following and this station is for the one who sincerely endeavor to oppose the lower self (nafs) and force it to follow Allah's command. By doing so, it produce in the heart an affinity or comfort with following which causes the affinity of the self to follow it such that the self takes comfort and following becomes pleasant to the self and the self grows to incline towards following what His beloved Messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam brought forth.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was reported to have said, "None of you is a true believer until his Hawaa (blamable inclination of the self in its love and desires]) is in accordance with what I have brought forth."
Allah Most High says,
وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ وَنَهَى ٱلنَّفْسَ عَنِ ٱلْهَوَىٰ ﴿٤٠﴾ فَإِنَّ ٱلْجَنَّةَ هِىَ ٱلْمَأْوَىٰ ﴿٤١[Qur'an, an-Nazi'at 79:40-41]
But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from al-Hawaa (impure evil desires, and lusts.) (40) Verily, Paradise will be his abode. (41)
Imam ibn al-Jawzi said, “The Friends of Allah and the Righteous are the very purpose of all that exists (al-awliya wa al-salihun hum al-maqsud min al-kawn), they are those who learned and practiced with the reality of knowledge... Those who practice what they know, do with little in the world, seek the next world, remaining ready to leave from one to the other with wakeful eyes and good provision, as opposed to those renowned purely for their knowledge.” [Ibn al-Jawzi's Sifat al-Safwa, Beirut edition 1989/1409, pages 13, 17]
We all know many hadiths (some may have read the entire Sahih Bukhari or memorized the entire 40 Hadith of Imam Nawawi) and many verses of Qur'an (some may have memorized the entire Qur'an), and have learned this Deen (some may have a PHD in Islamic studies). In the last few days, have we sat and sincerely taken our self to account for the days which have gone by and the days which are coming? In these days that are coming what kind of aspiration do we have to turn to Allah? Have we asked our self about perfecting fulfillment of obligation and controlling our limbs from doing things which are prohibited (backbiting, lying, talebearing, stealing, cheating, eating/drinking haram, speaking ill of others, spreading evil, seeing/listening to haram ... and so on)? Have we spoken to our self about adhering to supererogatory worship, beginning with prayer before and after obligatory prayers, dhuha prayer and witr prayer? Are we telling ourselves to leave the offensive actions? And encouraging our self to get up and worship at the end of the night and actually stood up and pray?
The real benefit of knowledge manifests in the physical form of action, not in compiling and storing them on bookshelves and in electronic media.
Knowledge demands action. Without action, knowledge will take you nowhere except insanity.
Knowledge without action is insanity, and action without knowledge is vanity. Know that knowledge today will not distance you from sin, nor bring you into obedience, nor distance you from the fire of Hell tomorrow. If you do not act today and do not derive lessons from your past days, you will say on the Last Day: ‘Return us to our previous life, and we will do good deeds,’ and it will be said to you: ‘O Fool, it is from there that you have come.’
[Hujjatul Islam, Imam Ghazali]
There is a subtle secret in acting on knowledge, that we turn seeking the aid of Allah. Indeed the human being if they are not generously given the aid of Allah, they are incapable of acting.
So if you undertook yourself to action, turn urging yourself, blaming yourself for wavering and negligence, encouraging yourself to approach Allah, praying and beseeching Allah, repeatedly asking Him, desiring Him, seeking from Him that He aids you with tawfiq.
Tawfiq is precious and rare for it is not mentioned in the Qur'an except once:
وَمَا تَوْفِيقِىٓ إِلَّا بِٱللَّـهِ ۚ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ ﴿٨٨ ...[Qur'an, Hud 11:88]
... My ability to do any thing comes from none but Allah. In Him alone I have placed my trust and to Him alone I turn in humbleness. (88)
So if we understand this secret, we are not heedless in seeking the aid of Allah such that our travel to Allah is by or through Allah not by or through ourselves. This will be a reason for attaining a felicity which has no end from the love and magnificence of Allah.
Allah Almighty says,
إِنَّ وَلِـِّۧىَ ٱللَّـهُ ٱلَّذِى نَزَّلَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ ۖ وَهُوَ يَتَوَلَّى ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ ﴿١٩٦[Qur’an, Al-A'raf 7:196]
... and He protects (supports and helps) the righteous. (196)
And indeed, Allah Most High says (in a hadith Qudsi):
I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a pious worshipper (Wali) of Mine. And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing Nawafil (supererogatory worship or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him, so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection (refuge), I will protect him; (i.e. give him My Refuge)and I do not hesitate to do anything as I hesitate to take the soul of the believer, for he hates death, and I hate to disappoint him.
[Bukhari]
May Allah Most High grant us righteousness.
We ask Allah to give us tawfiq by creating in us the ability to perform actions that pleases Him and to stay away from those actions that displeases Him and causes His anger and wrath.
O Allah, the One who gave the people of goodness tawfiq to perform goodness and help them, give us tawfiq to perform goodness and help us.
Ameen.
Wassalaam Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.
And Allah knows best and He alone grants success.
Wassalaam
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