Advice for the Muslim

than love for other beings, or unless the heart is cleared of any love
for every being except for Allah. And this is only possible through
fanâ’ al-qalb. Fanâ’ al-qalb was expressed as ‘the piety of the heart’
in the hadîth ash-sharîf. A hadîth sharîf quoted by al-Bukhârî and
Muslim declares, ‘Îmân of a Muslim is not perfect unless he loves
me more than his parents, children and everyone.’ [1] Another one
declares, ‘Three [kinds of] persons relish îmân: he who loves Allah
and His Prophet more than everything; he who loves only those
whom Allah loves; he who, after attaining îmân, is afraid of
becoming a disbeliever more than he is afraid of being burnt in
fire.’ One day, Hadrat Râbi’a [al-’Adwiyya, a great woman walî
among the Tâbi’ûn,] was carrying two dishes in her hands, one full
of water and the other full of fire. When she was asked where she
was going, she said, ‘I am going to extinguish the fire of Hell and
burn Paradise. Thus I want to save Muslims from worshipping
Allâhu ta’âlâ with the fear of Hell and the wish of attaining
Paradise.’ And as such is wilâya.
Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) declared, ‘Show
honour to my companions!’ Allâhu ta’âlâ declared, ‘Those who
deserve to be honoured are those who fear [Allah] much,’ in the
13th âyat al-karîma of Sûrat al-Hujurât. Therefore, the ’ulamâ’ of
Islam unanimously have said that all as-Sahâbat al-kirâm were the
most superior and most muttaqî (fearful of Allah) among this
umma. Because, all as-Sahâbat al-kirâm attained to the highest
stages of wilâya by attending the suhba of Allah’s Rasûl. Allâhu
ta’âlâ praises as-Sahâbat al-kirâm in the 101st âyat al-karîma of
Sûrat at-Tawba: ‘Those who are advanced in belief and those who
were the first to migrate...’ He declares, ‘Those who have
advanced in believing are those who are advanced in approaching
Allah. They all are muqarrabûn,’ in the tenth âyat al-karîma of
Sûrat al-Wâqi’a.
“It is wâjib to try to attain to the perfection of bâtin by joining
a way of tasawwuf. In the 102nd âyat al-karîma of Sûrat Âl
’Imrân, Allâhu ta’âlâ declares, ‘Oh believers! Abstain completely
from the things which Allah has forbidden!’ that is, He wanted
that, in the deeds of the zâhir and in the morals and faith of the
bâtin, there should not be left anything which Allâhu ta’âlâ
dislikes. The order in this âyat karîma shows that the endeavours
on the way of tasawwuf are wâjib. Perfect taqwâ can only be
[1] This hadîth sharîf is quoted also in the Wahhâbite book Fat’h almajîd.
– 246 –