Who are the Awliya?
Awliya are the close friends of Allah. Whoever is a believer and is pious is a close friend of Allah. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“No doubt! Verily, the Awliya of Allah, no fear shall come upon them nor shall they grieve.
Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allah – Islamic Monotheism), and used to fear Allah much (by abstaining from evil deeds and sins and by doing righteous deeds).” [Al Qur’an 10:62-63]
The Awliya are the pious believers who fear Allah, who love Allah and support His Religion, and seek to please Him, who adhere to the limits He has set and support His Shari’ah (law) and His religion. The way in which a person may attain the status of being a Wali (the singular of Awliya) is to perform obligatory duties, then start to perform supererogatory (Naafil) acts of worship until Allah loves him, then when He loves him, he will be a Wali of His. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Allah said, ‘Whoever shows enmity towards a friend (Wali) of Mine, I declare war against him. My slave does not draw close to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties that I have enjoined on him, and My slave continues to draw close to Me with supererogatory (Naafil) acts, so that I will love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it.’” [Narrated by al-Bukhari]
Among the Awliya of Allah are the Prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And whoso obeys Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad), then they will be in the company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace, of the Prophets, the Siddiqûn (those followers of the Prophets who were first and foremost to believe in them), the martyrs, and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are!” [Al Qur’an 4:69]
But it is not possible to be certain that a particular individual is one of the Awliya of Allah, because achieving true faith and piety are matters of the heart that are hidden, and people cannot find out about them. Hence it is possible to think that someone is likely to be a Wali, but it is impossible to be certain. Only Allah knows who is a Wali of Him.
Do the Awliya possess any divine power?
The Awliya are the slaves of Allah, and are not beyond His control and authority, rather they do not even have the power to benefit or harm themselves, and they do not know what Allah has decreed for them. If someone makes Du’a (supplication) to them or makes Du’a to Allah through them, it will not be accepted. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“… Such is Allah, your Lord; His is the kingdom. And those, whom you invoke or call upon instead of Him, own not even a Qitmîr (the thin membrane over the date stone).
If you invoke (or call upon) them, they hear not your call; and if (in case) they were to hear, they could not grant it (your request) to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them.” [Al Qur’an 35:13-14]
Exalting the status of the Awliya leads to Shirk:
Adam (peace be upon him) was the first human being and the first Prophet, so naturally he was upon Tawheed. If Adam (peace be upon him) did not introduce Shirk, then when did it creep into humanity for the first time in history?
It all began with ordinary people going too far in their honoring the pious people who lived before the time of Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him). Referring to this, Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And they (the people of Nuh) have said: ‘You shall not leave your gods, nor shall you leave Wadd, nor Suwâ’, nor Yaghûth, nor Ya’ûq, nor Nasr.’” [Al Qur’an 71:23]
The five names mentioned in this Ayah (verse of the Qur’an) are all names of righteous people before the time of Prophet Nuh (peace be upon him), but people started to worship them besides Allah after their death. ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said concerning them:
“These idols were all named after righteous men from the people of Nuh. Then when these men died, Satan inspired his (Nuh’s) people to erect statues in honor of them at their gathering places where they used to come and sit, and to name these statues after these men (with their names). So they did this (as Satan suggested), but these statues were not worshipped until after those people (the ones who built them) had died and the knowledge was lost. Then, those statues were later worshipped.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari]
Muhammad bin Qays said concerning Yaghûth, Ya’ûq and Nasr:
“They were righteous people between the time of Adam and Nuh, and they had followers who used to adhere to their guidance. Then, when they died, their companions who used to follow them said, ‘If we make images of them, it will increase our desire to perform worship when we remember them.’ So they made images of them. Then, when those people died and other people came after them, Iblis (Satan) approached them and said, ‘They (your predecessors) used to worship these statues and they were granted rain by their worship of them.’ Thus, they (the latter people) worshipped them.” [Narrated by Ibn Jarir at-Tabari]
Thus, the basis of Shirk is veneration of the Awliya.
[Taken from the course materials of “Lord of the Worlds” weekend course by AlKauthar Institute, Tafsir Ibn Kathir and
www.islamqa.com; with some modifications for the sake of clarity for beginners]
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