Surah Yunus (10) — Ayah 63

(Ayah 63){الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا وَ كَانُوْا يَتَّقُوْنَ:} Some people consider the friends of Allah to be a unique kind of supernatural individuals, from whom strange and wondrous miracles and tricks appear. Regarding such people, it is then not even considered necessary to see what their beliefs are: whether they are monotheists or polytheists, whether they even pray or not, whether they are chaste and mindful of what is lawful and unlawful or not. Whereas such things and tricks are also manifested by devils and their followers, such as Hindu yogis. Experts in mesmerism and hypnotism also deceive people, even if they are non-Muslims. Therefore, Allah Himself has described the identification of His friends, that is, {’’ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا ‘‘} meaning those people who have corrected their beliefs according to the Qur’an and Sunnah. {’’ وَ كَانُوْا يَتَّقُوْنَ ‘‘} And always avoided sins and continued to obey Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). The word {’’ كَانَ ‘‘} indicates the continuity and permanence of taqwa (piety). It is clear that every person who corrects his beliefs and actions and adopts taqwa of Allah is a friend (wali) of Allah. But people search for saints in the retreats of forests and mountains or in the cells of monasteries, whereas who can be a greater friend of Allah than those who sacrifice their lives and wealth in the way of Allah? A wali is not one who has a ruddy shelduck's feather attached to him, but according to His own statement, Allah is the friend (wali) of all the believers. He said: «{ اَللّٰهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا }» [ البقرۃ : ۲۵۷] “Allah is the friend (wali) of those who believe.” And see Surah Al-Ma’idah (5:55). And it is obvious that those whom Allah is a friend of, they are Allah’s friends, because friendship is mutual. Allah is only the friend of His friends, never of His enemies. Then, between friendship and enmity, there is no rank; every person will either be a friend of Allah or an enemy. Now you yourself consider whether you are a friend of Allah or an enemy. These friends of Allah are present in every class: scholars, traders, industrialists, laborers, farmers; in short, it is not necessary that only a spiritual guide or a religious scholar be a wali, but in every class, those with faith and taqwa are Allah’s friends. However, a person who tells the unseen, or boasts of having power and authority in the universe, or people describe such qualities in his presence and he remains silent and supports them, he is by no means a friend of the Most Merciful; rather, he is a friend of Satan. Yes, there is no doubt that the ranks of the friends of Allah are certainly different. The closeness, friendship, and intimacy with Allah that Khalilullah Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had, even other messengers did not attain, so how could an ordinary person attain it? Then, even among the prophets, there are ranks. He said: «{ تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلٰى بَعْضٍ }» [ البقرۃ : ۲۵۳ ] “These messengers, We have given some of them superiority over others.” Similarly, among the believers, according to the difference in their faith and taqwa, there will also be a difference in their closeness to Allah. However, no sincere believer is completely deprived of Allah’s friendship, and this friendship, according to its level, will certainly benefit on the Day of Resurrection at some point. Then the disbelievers will also wish that if only we had been Muslims at any level. He said: «{رُبَمَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا لَوْ كَانُوْا مُسْلِمِيْنَ }» [ الحجر : ۲ ] “Many times those who disbelieved will wish that they had been Muslims.” That is, those who have even a particle or less of faith in their hearts will come out of Hell and enter Paradise, so the disbelievers will wish that if only we had become Muslims in the world, at any level, so that we would not remain in Hell forever.