88. The expression, AYou are not engaged in an affair, nor reciting any (part) of the Qur'an, aptly reflects the Prophet's way of life. All his time, either he was working to spread his mission, which required extensive Qur'anic recitation, or he was engaged in his personal devotional acts which also required plenty of its recitation (based on Manar).

89. The AWe here is the Majestic We (Asad).

90. With reference to the textual word Awitness@, we might remind ourselves of the hadith in which Jibril defined AIhsan as Ayou should worship Allah as if you are seeing Him. For, if you cannot see Him, He sees you (Ibn Kathir).

91. The textual words Aawliya' Allah often evoke the question, Awho are they? Ibn `Abbas, Sa`id b. Jubayr, Abu al Duha have said that it is those who remind of Allah when you look at them. There are ahadith that define the term in this manner. (One is in Bazzar: Ibn Kathir).

There is another hadith that can be quoted in this connection. Narrated by `Umar ibn al Khattab and Abu Hurayrah, one of them says,

« إِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِ اللَّهِ لأُنَاسًا مَا هُمْ بِأَنْبِيَاءَ وَلاَ شُهَدَاءَ يَغْبِطُهُمُ الأَنْبِيَاءُ وَالشُّهَدَاءُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِمَكَانِهِمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى ». قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ تُخْبِرُنَا مَنْ هُمْ. قَالَ « هُمْ قَوْمٌ تَحَابُّوا بِرُوحِ اللَّهِ عَلَى غَيْرِ أَرْحَامٍ بَيْنَهُمْ وَلاَ أَمْوَالٍ يَتَعَاطَوْنَهَا فَوَاللَّهِ إِنَّ وُجُوهَهُمْ لَنُورٌ وَإِنَّهُمْ عَلَى نُورٍ لاَ يَخَافُونَ إِذَا خَافَ النَّاسُ وَلاَ يَحْزَنُونَ إِذَا حَزِنَ النَّاسُ ». وَقَرَأَ هَذِهِ الآيَةَ (أَلاَ إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ).

AAmong Allah's slaves are some who will be sitting on raised platforms on Judgment day an object of envy for Prophets and martyrs. The Companions asked, ADescribe them to us O Messenger of Allah, so that we might love them. He replied, AThey are a people who love each other for the sake of Allah although not related to each other by blood, or by wealth. Their faces will be bright with Light, not fearing when others will be in fear, not grieving when others will be grieving. And then he recited this verse, ALo! Allah's friends have nothing to fear nor shall they ever grieve. Ibn Jarir traces this hadith through a dozen chains of narrators.

Ibn Kathir points out that reports similar in meaning have been preserved by Bazzar, Abu Da'ud and Ahmad, but all of them suffer some weakness or the other.

Rashid Rida adds that although Hakim has declared one version of the above hadith as trustworthy, it does not seem to be so. In fact, not all the reports that Hakim declared trustworthy are in truth trustworthy. (But Dhahabi has also declared it trustworthy: S. Ibrahim). The problem with this one, Rashid Rida continues, is that it places the awliya' above Anbiya'.

Alusi writes that anyone who thought that the awliya' are higher in status than the Anbiya', is an unbeliever. However, if what is meant is that the wilayah of a Nabiyy is of a greater caliber than the Nubuwwah of a Nabiyy, then that is alright.

92. Imam Razi says that it is impossible for a man to be free of fear and apprehensions in this life, and, further, the awliya' are expected to be at least fearful of the Hereafter, how then should one reconcile these facts with the statement ALo! Allah's friends have nothing to fear nor shall they ever grieve? He himself replies that this is with reference to the Hereafter. It is there that the awliya' will have nothing to fear and will not grieve over anything. As for this world, there is no escape. He quotes an incident involving Ibrahim al Khawwas. It seems he was traveling in the company of a pupil through the deserts. One night he was overwhelmed by kashf (vision of the Unseen). Soon wild animals gathered around him. His pupil climbed a tree in fear of the beasts. But the Sheikh was unmoved. By morning the Sheikh's condition had changed and the animals had dispersed. Next night an insect fell on the Sheikh's hand. He was in a dread. The pupil enquired as to why was it that he dreaded an insect when last night he did not fear the ferocious beasts. He replied, AThat was an entirely different situation that descended on me from the Unknown. When that situation changed, (and I resumed normalcy), I am one of the weakest creations of Allah.

Alusi has a deeper explanation: The term Awaliyy is from the root Awala' of which one connotation is: "to get near." Awliya' are those who are spiritually near to Allah. Another definition is that waliyy is someone who devotes himself to his Lord in such a complete manner that nothing remains of his person. He seems to have no entity of his own, no attributes, no acts - in sum no himself. He is fully occupied in His obedience and completely submerged in His knowledge. Does it mean such people commit not sin? No. They do. When Junayd was asked if the awliya' could commit adultery, he answered, AYes and quoted, 'And Allah's decree was to be accomplished' Al Ahzab, v. 37). But, let there be no confusion about it. They Acan does not mean they Ado. Only the impossibility is denied. If and when one of them falls into a sin, he knows that he was not the safeguarded one, and not the approved one, no matter what the common people think of him: in that specific situation he was not one of the awliya' Allah (until he repents, reworks, and rebuilds the relationship). The preceding characteristics were of the Aal wilayah al kubra. There is another, of the lower order, called the Aal wilayah al sughra. Someone belonging to this category might commit minor sins, though not on a regular basis.

In connection with the second half of the verse, Alusi writes the following: They are not afraid of what might befall them and are not grieved by what misses them. This is because they are in a spiritual bliss all the time. That does not mean that nothing untoward ever happens to them. They do. But they are not afraid and are not grieved by whatever happens. In fact, it does not mean at all that no fear or grief ever touches them. They do. But those are passing winds that ruffle their feathers a bit, but do not disturb their peace to a great degree. Soon the spiritual bliss is back to normal. (As against those at the other end of the spectrum who are always fearful of something distasteful happening to them, and are always fretting over what they missed of the opportunities: Au.). If they are afraid, they are afraid of Allah. He said (35: 28), ALo! It is the knowledgeable who fear Allah. And, the more knowledgeable they become, the more they fear Him. (And the more they fear Him, the less they fear anything else apart from Him: Au.). Further, their concerns are not this worldly. This worldly objectives, low as they are, are disdainful to them. To them this world is filthier than a dead pig's limb, over which a dog had urinated, and is now in the hands of a leper. Apart from the filthiness, this worldly objectives have both the possibilities of failure as well as success. In contrast, the other worldly objectives are bound to come true. So, with such objectives before them, what should disturb their peace?

At all events, Rashid Rida warns against false Sufis and Shuyukh who exploit the concept of wilayah. Discussing the issue over several pages, he points out that false Sufis have created an imaginary figure of a waliyy, entirely irrational, with esoteric powers, with knowledge of the Unseen, and capable of executing what he will, both on the earth as well as in the heavens. They allowed the awliya’ powers that even the pagans did not allow their deities. The concept of a waliyy that they have popularized among the laity, in fact among the educated too, is in complete contradiction to the meaning and concept that the Qur'an and hadith would allow. This they did by first dressing up the imaginary figure with the Shari`ah outfit, and then giving it the name of Tariqah which itself stands in complete contrast to the Shari`ah. Whereas, great scholars like Abu Hanifah and Shafe`i have said, AIf the scholars of Islam are not the awliya' Allah, then there are no awliya' around.

A commonly quoted and much misused hadith on this topic, continues Rashid Rida, is from Bukhari, but it is of a kind with which one does not feel comfortable because none of the others of the six canonical works have recorded it nor is it in Ahmad. It says,

مَنْ عَادَى لِى وَلِيًّا فَقَدْ آذَنْتُهُ بِالْحَرْبِ

“Whoever antagonized My waliyy, I declare war on him.” It originates with Khalid b. Mukhlid. Ibn Rajab has said that the man Khalid was not trusted by Imam Ahmad. It has been reported through other chains of narration but none of them without a defect. Hafiz has said in Tahdhib al Tahdhib that this personality is a disputable one. Abu Hatim has said that his reports may be recorded but not used for evidential purposes. Ibn Sa`d had said about him that he used to report some strange ahadith. In fact, Imam Bukhari himself has no more than a single hadith this one coming via this person. What places a question mark before the hadith is the rest of the text. It says,

وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَىَّ عَبْدِى بِشَىْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَىَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُ عَلَيْهِ ، وَمَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِى يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَىَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ ، فَإِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ الَّذِى يَسْمَعُ بِهِ ، وَبَصَرَهُ الَّذِى يُبْصِرُ بِهِ ، وَيَدَهُ الَّتِى يَبْطُشُ بِهَا وَرِجْلَهُ الَّتِى يَمْشِى بِهَا

“My slave does not gain nearness to Me with anything but with what I have made obligatory on him. And My slave keeps gaining nearness to Me until I begin to love him. And when I love him I become his ear by which he hears, his eyes by which he sees, the hands by which he holds and the feet by which he walks.” This in fact has led some people to the concept of wahdatu al wujud.

(But this is not a good reason for doubting the authenticity of the hadith. Further, the great majority of the scholars have accepted this as a trustworthy report: Au.).

Down the lines, Rashid Rida presents as example some of the words and ways of the false Sufiya as found in some of their biographies. Sha`rani for instance, who was an Az hari, mentions many ranks among the Sufiya. If one were to compare the life and deeds of some of the earliest Sufiya that he presents, he will find that they were no different from the Muhaddithun, the Fuqaha' and others of that order. But as soon as one reads the life of the Sufiya of the Middle Ages, as presented by Sha`rani, he fails to find any difference between them and a pack of crazy guys with disheveled hair, unkempt beards, clothes un-washed for months, and a fearful appearance. He writes highly of Sheikh Rifa`i, but his contemporary scholars rejected him, accusing him of several un Islamic practices, one of them is that he allowed intermingling of men and women in his circles. Sha`rani writes about Dusuqi that he knew the language of the animals and birds. He sent a piece of writing in the language of the beasts to one of his disciples. He even sent a letter to the Prophet through pilgrims which has words and phrases that are nothing more than gibberish. He also reports that the Prophet told him (Dusuqi) that he was created out of the Light of the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad). Books written by the followers of Rifa`i state that once Rifa`i handed over a fish to his disciples to cook. But the fire would not cook it. So they complained to Rifa`i. He told them that the Most Powerful had promised him that anything that he touched would not be burned by fire in this or the next world. It is reported in some of the books written about Sheikh `Abd al Qadir al Jeeli that when one of his disciples died and his mother complained to him, he gave a chase to the angel of death as he was flying to the heavens and asked him to hand back his disciple's soul to him. When the angel refused, he snatched open his bag and all the spirits of the day were dispersed. Sha`rani writes about Muhammad al Hadari that he said, “People's bodies are like glass to me. I can see their inner selves.”

Rashid Rida states in conclusion that if a man like Sha`rani, who was otherwise a reasonably good scholar, and an Az hari, wrote things of the sort presented above, then what should one expect of others in the same line of business? He also tries to clear the smoke around some of the Sufi powers. For instance, it is reported that they could see things or hear voices that others could not. But, this is something which happens with followers of other religions too. For instance, the Christian Rashid Beg (then living in Paris) was often able to see Mary. He purportedly sought explanations to mysteries from her, and she would explain. Shakib Arsalan himself told him (Rashid Rida) that once the man (Rashid Beg) inquired Mary about our Prophet and she spoke highly of him. Obviously, continues Rashid Rida, it is Shaytan that they hear and see. He appears and speaks to them to strengthen them in their error. In fact, Sha`rani himself has reported that once `Abd al Qadir Jeelani saw a nur (Light) that had filled the earth and the heavens. He heard a voice emanating from it saying, “I am your Lord and I declare everything unlawful, lawful to you.” `Abd al Qadir replied, “Get lost, you accursed one.” The Light suddenly turned into darkness. The voice said, “You escaped because of your knowledge.” (`Abd al Qadir replied, “Shut up you cunning one. I did not escape because of my knowledge. I escaped because of Allah's help.”) But, Rashid Rida continues, how many false Sufis have not been misled by voices and appearances of this sort?

Another concept exploited is that of kashf, although, there is no difference in opinion among the Sufiya themselves, that they can be experienced by just anyone: believer and unbeliever alike. Yes, there is the true type of kashf in which one sees the (inner or spiritual) realities. But, as the Sufis have pointed out, there is no way to differentiate between the real and the false kashf, and hence it is safe to disregard all kinds of them. They have no religious value. When they are experienced, they must be checked against the Shari`ah and only those could be accepted as trustworthy which do not contradict it.

As regards the thaumaturgies (karamat), many of them are of the order of supernatural acts performed by the followers of every religion. They are karamat only when they appear at the hands of practicing Muslims. When they appear at the hands of the unbelievers or corrupt Muslims, they are known as “istidraj.” However, whatever the origin, they are again of no religious value. Great Sufis have said, “If you see a man walking on water and flying in the air, pay him no attention unless he is a close follower of the Qur'an and Sunnah.” After all, will not Dajjal perform such miracles as raising the dead? Hence, as Sha`rani himself notes, Junayd said, “Whoever acted against the Qur'an and Sunnah, lost the Straight Path.”

Abridged quotation from Rashid Rida ends here.

93. What good tiding is it that the awliya'-Allah receive in this world? Ibn Jarir has more than a dozen reports with different chains as explanations from the Prophet (saws). `Ubadah b. Samit preceded everyone in asking the Prophet about this issue. He replied,

لَقَدْ سَأَلْتَنِي عَنْ شَيْءٍ مَا سَأَلَنِي عَنْهُ أَحَدٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي أَوْ أَحَدٌ قَبْلَكَ قَالَ تِلْكَ الرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةُ يَرَاهَا الرَّجُلُ الصَّالِحُ أَوْ تُرَى لَهُ

“You have asked me about a thing that no one ever of my followers preceded you in asking.” Then he explained, “It is true dreams that a man sees, or those that are shown to him.”

On other occasions, Abu Hurayrah and Abu al Darda' also asked the same question and received the same answer. `Abdullah ibn `Amr's version has the additional words,

الرُّؤْيَا الصَّالِحَةُ جُزْءٌ مِنْ سِتَّةٍ وَأَرْبَعِينَ جُزْءًا مِنْ النُّبُوَّةِ

“And true dreams are one forty sixth part of Prophethood.”

(The reports are in Bukhari: Au.).

And, Umm Kurz al Ka`biyyah reported the Prophet,

ذَهَبَتْ النُّبُوَّةُ وَبَقِيَتْ الْمُبَشِّرَاتُ

“Prophethood has ceased, but good tidings (mubashshirat) remain” (Zamakhshari, Razi, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

Imam Razi adds: Of dreams there are three kinds:

(i) What one sees or does during the day, which the mind replays in sleep,

ii) The result of Satan's play on the mind and,

iii) True dreams.

Ibn Kathir adds a relevant hadith. Found in Muslim it says that Abu Dharr asked about those deeds that win people's praise. (How to treat such praises?) The Prophet answered,

تِلْكَ عَاجِلُ بُشْرَى الْمُؤْمِنِ

“That is the believer's immediate good tiding.”

It might be noted however that the textual expression “they have nothing to fear nor shall they ever grieve,” has been quite often promised for true believers, the God conscious and the righteous. For example see, 2: 62, 5: 73, 6: 48, 7: 43 and 49 (Rashid Rida).

94. What good tidings of the Hereafter are referred to? Zamakhshari says, “They are the comforting words the awliya'-Allah will receive from the angels as they rise from the grave, the Light they will carry on their faces thereafter to the Field of Judgment, the receiving of the Book of Deeds by the right hand, etc.”

Much of the above is supported by the Qur'an. Accordingly, Rashid Rida and others quote e.g., (21: 103),

لَا يَحْزُنُهُمُ الْفَزَعُ الْأَكْبَرُ [الأنبياء : 103]

“The Great Terror will not grieve them.”

95. Asad comments: “The noun `izzah comprises the concept of superior might as well as of honor and glory. Its rendering into another language depends upon the context, and sometimes as in this case necessitates a combination of two terms.”

96. When Allah closed all avenues of argument, the unbelievers began to threaten and abuse the Prophet. So Allah said, “So, let not their uttering grieve you. Surely, all (power and) glory is Allah's. He is the Hearer, the Knowing” (Razi).

97. That is, those who are devoted to other than Allah, are not devoted to something tangible. Their objects of worship are lifeless beings. Their devotion is to some imaginary figures of imaginary qualities. They do not truly worship those they worship.

98. The textual word “kharasa” is used for guess work. For instance, for estimating the number of fruits there are on a tree, one would use the word “kharasa” (Manar).

99. Thanwi writes that following the rationale behind the creation of night, one would be simply falling in the scheme of things, if he devoted a part of the night for resting himself.

100. Sayyid comments: “When all that there is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah, what pressing need was there for Him to take a son? .. At this point the Qur'an does not enter into the polemics concerning the Divine essence, or metaphysical questions dealing with His Being: topics that happen to be the favorite issues of the dialecticians and philosophers. That is because the Qur'an deals with the problem from a realistic and natural point of view. It deals directly with the main question and not with its hypothetical offshoots that threaten to acquire the status of the main issue.

“Here it restricts itself to discussing the question of the ‘son’ that they (the Christians) thought the Divinity was in need of... to deny it from the point of redundancy; pointing out that He is Self Sufficient who owns the whole of the universe. The Qur'an avoided discussing the side issue to remain close to the main topic and not allow itself to be weakened by such diversion.”

101. The textual word ASub hanah is both an exclamatory remark (as one would say, Anow, come on, or Areally?!@) as well an extolling and exonerating term, declaring Allah free of defects or wants (Qurtubi, Rashid Rida).

102. In this kind of usage, the textual Ain carries a negative sense. That is, in present context it is equivalent of Ama meaning, Ano or Anot.

103. This is to discourage men from uttering anything about Allah's Being, His essence, or His Attributes which can only come from conjectures. Many scholars seem to have also fallen into the error of resorting to guess work in these matters (Thanwi).

104. Mawdudi sums up the arguments that Muslims often use while trying to convince the Christians. We reproduce it at length although similar arguments by others may be found elsewhere in this work: ATo be a son can have only two meanings: either he has sprung from his father's loins, that is, he is his father's son in the true sense of the term, and thus of his father's loins, or that he is not a son in the literal sense of the word but has merely been adopted as such. Now, if someone is considered to be a son of God in its true, literal sense that would obviously amount to considering God akin to a mortal. Like any other mortal, God is conceived to belong to one gender or the other, and to stand in need of a spouse, and of some sort of conjugal relationship to enable the birth of offspring, and thus to ensure the continuity of his progeny. Alternatively, God is believed to have adopted someone as His son. Such a statement could either mean that God is akin to that issueless human who resorts to adoption in order that the adopted son might inherit Him and thus secure Him against the loss that would ensure from his being issueless, or at least partially offset that loss. The other possibility is that God also has certain emotional predilections and it is for this reason that He has fallen in love with one of His creatures to the extent of adopting him as His son. In each of the above mentioned cases, the concept of God is marred by investing Him with several flaws, defects and weaknesses, and He is conceived as One lacking self sufficiency, as One Who perforce must depend on others.