Abu
Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger
of Allah Sallallahu Alyhi Wa Sallam said, "Allah, the
Exalted, has said: `I will declare war against him who treats
with hostility a pious worshipper of Mine. And the most
beloved thing 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 (voluntary prayers
or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) until I
love him, (so much so that) I become his hearing with which
he hears, and his sight with which he sees, and his hand
with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks;
and if he asks Me something, I will surely give him, and
if he seeks My Protection (refuge), I will surely protect
him". [Al-Bukhari]
Commentary:
This Hadith tell us the status and distinctive signs of
the favoured people of Allah ('Auliya' Allah) The Noble
Qur'an has defined them as:
"Those
who believed (in the Oneness of Allah) and used to fear
Allah much (by abstaining from evil deeds and sins and by
doing righteous deeds)". (10:63)
According to this definition, every believer who really
fears Allah is a favoured of Allah. It means that except
for Faith and piety, favoured of Allah are neither people
of the special kind nor have they any special distinctive
signs, as is generally thought by some people. In this respect,
the ignorance of the general public is shocking because
they regard even such persons as favoured of Allah who not
only neglect the religious obligations and the practice
of the Prophet Sallallahu Alyhi Wa Sallam, but also woefully
lack cleanliness. Sometimes they call even mad or half-mad
persons as favourites of Allah, whereas a Wali in the true
sense is one who is meticulous about observing the obligations
and is fearful of Allah.
This
Hadith brings about the following four points:
Firstly,
the love of those whom Allah loves entail the love of Allah,
and hating them entails the hatred of Allah..
Secondly,
when a true Muslim acquires nearness and love of Allah by
means of performing religious obligations, supererogatory
and voluntary prayers, Allah then becomes his special helper
and protects his limbs and organs and does not let them
work for His disobedience. Then he does not use any part
of his body for things which are disliked by Him. It is
wrong to infer from this Hadith, as men of heretical and
polytheistic trend try to do, that Auliya' become the eyes,
ears, hands, feet, etc. of Allah. That is to say that Almighty
Allah descends in them. Thus, on the basis of this contemptible
reasoning, they conclude that it makes no difference whether
one begs from Allah or Auliya because the two are one being.
For such people supplicating "O Allah! Help us'', "O
Prophet of Allah! Help us'' and "O pious one! Help
us'' etc., are all right. One who says so has certainly
gone astray, rather commits Shirk (polytheism). May Allah
save us from these sins. According to the Hadith, a true
pious man likes and adopts what is liked by Allah, and avoids
all such things which are not liked by Him.
Thirdly,
the performance of the obligatory acts of worshipping has
the first and foremost importance for attaining the pleasure
of Allah because their fulfillment is liked the most by
Allah and also because they furnish the foundation, on which
the edifice of Islam is built. As we cannot think of a building
without foundation, similarly, we cannot think of voluntary
worship without fulfilling the basic obligations. The fact
is that one who neglects them ceases to be a Muslim. This
is the reason for the severe warnings of Allah to those
who default on this account. Those who neglect voluntary
prayers have not been given any warning. It is, however,
true that their performance in addition to the obligatory
ones increases lustre of obligations. Nawafil (voluntary
acts of worship) help one to attain the exalted place of
being loved by Allah by virtue of which one is endowed with
the special Help of Allah.
Fourthly,
Almighty Allah certainly grants the prayers of those whom
He loves. But acceptance of their prayers, however, does
not mean that their results appear at once. Sometime the
results of these prayers appear after a long time. The prayer
of virtuous persons is certainly granted but whether it
takes a long or short time depends solely on the Will of
Allah.