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Supererogatory Works
nawāfil


On the authority of Abu Hurayrah  raDiy-Allahu-anhu.gif  may Allah be pleased with him, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Allah - may His Majesty be exalted ! - said:

"Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him.

"My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall 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. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him."

It was related by al-Bukhari.

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In a similar tradition, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

"Allah said, 'I will declare war against him who shows hostility to a friend* (walī) of Mine.

"And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined (frD) upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing nawāfil (praying or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him,

"so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks;

"and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection (Refuge), I will protect him; (i.e. give him My Refuge) and I do not hesitate to do anything as I hesitate to take the soul of the believer, for he hates death, and I hate to disappoint him."

Narrated by Abu Huraira in Bukhari, vol 8, hadith 509
* "Friend of Allah" (walī) is sometimes translated as "pious worshippers of Allah", thus degrading their rank, diminishing their importance for the believers and the whole of the Ummah.


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Comment on the above traditions by Shaykh Ibn Ata` Allah raDiy-Allahu-anhu.gif :

"Lend a close ear, then - may Allah be gracious unto you - to what this tradition conveys about the abundance of the saint's power and eminence of the rank which the Truth (al-Haqq) has granted him.

The Prophet ﷺ declared:
"Whosoever shows enmity to any of My friends, has declared war upon me."

For the friend of Allah has gone from disposing of his own affairs to relying upon Allah's disposal thereof; from defending himself to allowing Allah to defend him; from (trusting in his own) power and strength to (trusting in Allah's) by his sincere reliance on Allah.

As Allah- may His Majesty be exalted ! - declares, "for everyone who places his trust in Allah, He (alone) is enough." Sura 65-3 He likewise declares. "... for We had willed it upon ourselves to succor the believers." Sura 30-47 This (distinction) was theirs because they had made Allah their ultimate concern, as a result of which He drove back from them all that was other than He, fulfilling the obligation which He had set for Himself to come to their defense. KLM30/31

 

 

 

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Kinds of nawāfil presented here:

 

  1. dhikr, remembering Allah
  2. dhikr "ALLAH, ALLAH"
  3. Special Sunna Prayers
  4. Some Words To Praise Allah (dhikr)
  5. 25 Duas from the Holy Quran

 

 

 

 Related texts:

•  tasawwuf - Sufism principles, foundations, opponents, quotes
•  The Awliyā'u-LLāhi On The Friends or Saints of Allah





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latest update: Sat, 10 Jul 2010

2000-05-07





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