Virtues of the righteous

Virtues of the righteous

Abu Idris al-Khawlani told Mu`adh , «I love you for Allah’s sake.» Then Mu`adh added, “Rejoice and rejoice again! Truly, I heard the Messenger of Allah say, ‘On the Day of Judgment, special places will be allocated around the `Arsh (Throne) for a particular group of people. Their faces will emit radiance like a full moon. Other people will seek help but they will not. Others will experience fear but they will not. These are the beloved servants (awliya) of Allah. They will not be afraid and will not be sorrowful.’ One of us asked, ‘Who are these people, O Messenger of Allah e?’ The Prophet replied, ‘These are those who loved one another for the sake of Allah.’»

This is why friendship among followers of the tariqah is so strongly felt. In this sense, the companionship of the followers of the tariqah was often influential. This is because when they love each other for Allah’s sake, they counsel each other and show good qualities of their character. And because of love, they accept and embrace this reciprocal friendship. This is how a murid benefits from a sheikhmentor just as brothers in faith benefit from each other.

That is why Almighty Allah ordered people to gather five times a day in mosques on every street and in every quarter. And He ordered the inhabitants of every settlement to gather once a week in the main mosque. And on both Muslim holidays (i.e. of sacrifice and of the breaking of the fast) the Creator ordered people to gather in the cities from all around them. And people from all countries gather together at least once in their lives at the time of the observance of the Hajj. In all this there is great wisdom, including the strengthening of friendship, concord and love between believers.

This is why the Messenger of Allah noted, “For one of faith a believer is like a building, one part of which is supported by the others.” A hadith also says, “Understand that, verily, in their love, affection and mercy to each other, believers are like a single body: if one part of it complains (from an illness), the rest of the body responds with sleeplessness and fever.” Manifesting mutual goodwill, love and warmth strengthens companionship]. Friendship with good people has a positive impact.

CHAPTER 10

Jealousy

Know that jealousy is hatred of sharing with others. The renowned righteous ash-Shibli f said, «Jealousy is of two kinds: human jealousy over the nafs and divine jealousy over hearts.» Ash-Shibli also said, “Divine jealousy over souls is to be lost in anything but God Almighty. They say, “Jealousy is of two kinds: Almighty Allah’s jealousy over a servant which is the Lord’s not wanting His beloved servant to turn to people and a servant’s jealousy of Allah which is that he does not commit any of his states and his breath to anything rather than the Almighty. Jealousy of Allah necessitates maximizing His rights and purifying actions for Him.”

Know that the rule of Almighty Allah in regard to His beloved ones (awliya) is as follows: if anything other than the Creator occupies a place in their hearts - or if they direct attention to anything other than the Creator - Allah will obstruct them from doing this. The Almighty is jealous over their hearts - that they be wholly and sincerely addressed to Him, free from anything they accommodated or observed.

This is similar to the situation with the prophet Adam . When Adam prepared to reside eternally in Paradise, Allah expelled him. A similar thing happened with the prophet Ibrahim u when he began to admire his son Ismail . Allah ordered him to sacrifice his son so that the feeling of admiration left his heart and his soul was cleansed of it: after this the Creator ordered the sacrifice of a ram instead of his son, redeeming him on his behalf.

The Messenger of Allah said, “No one is more jealous than Allah Almighty and from His jealousy He prohibited immoralities, what is apparent of them and what is hidden.” The Prophet also said, “Truly, Allah is jealous and, truly, the believer is jealous. God’s jealousy is that the believing servant comes to what God has forbidden him.” Scholars noted, “The jealousy mentioned in these hadiths describing the Almighty is not the same as that which is intrinsic to people.

This is because it is not permissible for Him to have the attributes of inferiority. The attributes of Allah are not similar to those of His creations. Jealousy amongst the Creator’s attributes means reprimanding immoralities, prohibiting and preventing from them.

This is because the jealous is the one who reprimands what he is jealous of. This is illustrated by the following words of the Prophet , “Because of this jealousy, the Creator forbade all indecencies”; that is, He rebukes them and prevents them]. Almighty Allah said (meaning), “Say, O Prophet: truly, my Lord has forbidden indecent acts, whether they be overt or secret.” (Sura AlA`raf, ayah 33)

They say of the righteous as-Sari as-Saqati that once in his presence they read the words of the Almighty (meaning), “When you, O Prophet, recite the Quran, We place a hidden veil between you and those who do not believe in the eternal life.” (Sura Al-Isra, ayah 45) Then asSari asked his companions, “Do you know what this veil is? It is a veil of jealousy. There is no one more jealous than Almighty Allah.» The meaning of the words of asSari “It is a veil of jealousy” is that Almighty Allah did not make unbelievers worthy of knowing the truth of religion. [1]

Almighty Allah is very Jealous

Almighty Allah, the Exalted, is jealous and from His jealousy He has not made to Him a path other than Him. And it was said that Almighty Allah revealed to some of His prophets, “Someone has a need of Me and I have a need of him. If he fulfills My need, then I will fulfill his need.» This prophet addressed Allah, “O Almighty Allah, how can You have need of anyone?”

The Almighty then responded (meaning), “The heart of such a person is occupied by other than Me. Let him liberate his heart from this and I will fulfill his need.” One of the pious said, “When I was walking around the area of Mount Lubnan, a young man suddenly appeared, weather-beaten from sun and wind. As soon as his eyes fell on me, he began to run away, wanting to be alone. I said to him, “Oh my brother, say at least a word of admonition so that I may benefit from it.” Then he quickly turned to me as if he were a fugitive and said, “Be careful, Allah is very jealous. He does not like to see anything other than Himself in the heart of His servant.”

The spiritual mentor Abu `Ali ad-Daqqaq said, “When a certain Bedouin entered the mosque of the Messenger of God and urinated there, the companions hastened to expel him. The Prophet said, «The Bedouin did something indecent.» The companions were embarrassed], as it bore heavily on them when they saw a man who lost his shame. Likewise, if the servant knows the majesty of the Almighty’s power, it is difficult for him to hear the remembrance of God (dhikr) performed inattentively and to obey those who do not worship Him with due sacredness.

[1] The Almighty did not make unbelievers understand the truth of religion.

FROM THE BOOK “VIRTUES OF THE RIGHTEOUS” BY SHEIKH AHMAD-AFANDI MUFTI DAGESTAN