Saints, miracles and the love of a dog

Keeping the company of the Righteous

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Zaid al-Khayal had been riding non-stop throughout the night. A question had struck him which had caused him such restlessness that he spent the last few days and nights wearing out his horse in order to find the answer. Known for his bravery, and daring exploits, Zaid of the horses was a legend in his own time; but his life had radically changed and was now dedicated to prayer and worship. He finally arrived at his destination and stopped his horse before a group of people, dismounted and went straight to the purpose of his journey: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

‘O Messenger of Allah. I have spent my nights awake and days travelling because of a thought that struck me: What is the sign that Allah wants a person and the sign that He does not want a person?’

What is your name? asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

‘Zaid al-Khayal (Zaid of the horses),’ he replied. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ smiled and said, ‘But rather you are Zaid al-Khair (Zaid the good).’

‘What was your state when you woke up this morning?’ asked the Messenger of Allah. Zaid al-Khair, the Companion of the Prophet, immediately answered, ‘I woke up this morning loving good, loving its people and those who perform it. When I perform good, then I am certain of its reward, and when I miss it, then it saddens me.’

The Prophet of Allah said to him, ‘That is the sign that Allah wants a person. As for the other sign. He will prepare you for it and then not care in which of its valleys you are destroyed in. (Abdallah ibn Masud, al-Aqili also mentioned in Ihya)

Zaid al-Khair, may Allah be pleased with him, wanted a sign or a measure by which he could tell if he was on the right track. What greater concern can there be than knowing if Allah wants you or not. Those metrics were already in Zaid that the Prophet of Allah gave him glad tidings of: loving good and loving the righteous. Despite what a person may lack in their own actions and piety, loving those whom Allah loves is a sign of Allah’s love for that person himself.

The Happiest Day for the Companions

Sayyidina Anas recounts the happiest day in the lives of the Companions. It was not the conquest of Makkah, or the victory of Badr but it was triggered by a Bedouin who had the fortune to ask a very simple question.

‘O Messenger of Allah,’ called the Bedouin, ‘What do you say, regarding someone who loves a people but has not caught up with them?’ Meaning he is not like them in their piety, their worship or their closeness to Allah.

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘A man is with the one whom he loves.’

As soon as the Companions heard that, they were over the moon. Sayyidina Anas witnessing their happiness said, ‘I never saw a day which was more joyful to the Companions-other than the day when they became Muslim-then this day. For I love the Prophet ﷺ, and I love Abu Bakr and Umar and hope to be with them even though I may not have the same works as they have.’ (Muslim)

The greatest happiness of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all, were the glad tidings of the Prophet on this day. Despite all their efforts and sacrifices, they never relied on their actions as a hope to enter into Paradise, but if there was one thing that they were sure of, then it was their love of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ which meant one thing: his continual company in the afterlife. Despite this, Sayyidina Anas did not stop here but he went on to mention his love for the Masters of the Righteous: Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq and Umar al-Farouq, may Allah be pleased with them all, hoping to be with them in the hereafter on account of this love.

Love of the Righteous is a metric of divine acceptance

Loving the Righteous of this Ummah is a mercy within which there is an acknowledgment of everything that is a part of Iman: a recognition of Allah’s right to be worshipped and servitude before Him. In the humility of the Righteous, we see the greatness of Allah; in their gratitude, we see the generosity of Allah; in their worship we see the favour of Allah and in their company we find the mercy of Allah.

Love of the Saints is an inspiration by which a person’s heart is drawn in acknowledgement, attraction and admiration to people who are greater than him. It becomes a metric by which a person can measure their own relationship with Allah. Knowledge, good actions or the size of your beard are not reliable metrics to measure your position with Allah. But love of the righteous, is what differentiates a person from Iblis, who may have had angelic actions of worship but had no love for the Father of the Righteous: the Prophet Adam. In complete contrast, Ahl al-Sunnah have always had a tremendous attachment to the Awliya, the friends of Allah.

Who are the Awliya of Allah?

When the verse of the Quran was revealed

Indeed, the Awliya of Allah; there will be no fear upon them nor will they grieve. (Yunus: 62).

the Prophet of Allah was asked, ‘Who are they the Awliya of Allah, O Messenger of Allah?’ He ﷺ replied, ‘They are those whom when they are seen, Allah is remembered.’ (Ibn Abbas, Ibn al-Mubarak, Ibn Abi Haytham, Ibn Mardaweh)

When the disciples of the Prophet Isa asked the same question. He replied, ‘They are those who look at the reality of the world when others look at the glitter of it.’ (Imam Ahmad in Zuhd and Ibn Abi Haytham)

Loving them means an attachment to them, a remembrance of them, which is the reason why the righteous scholars of this Ummah, would be more conscious of their remembrance than their own extended family. They would remember them in their sermons, their supplications, their gatherings in public and when they are alone in private. They would always hold gatherings in which they would recount their virtues, recite poetry in praise of them in emulation of the Sunnah of Allah, who mentions His Saints in the Quran. Knowing the well known axiom ‘When the Righteous are mentioned, mercy descends.’

Miracles of the Saints

Prophets come with miracles as a sign to the truth of their message. Similarly, Allah has shown many miracles and continues to do so at the hands of His Awliya who are the perfect followers of their prophets.

In the Quran, Allah has mentioned the miraculous birth of Maryam al-Sideeqa, the miracle of the People of the Cave who slept for 309 years, the miracle of Asif bin Barkhiya who bested an Ifrit and summoned the the throne of Bilqees in the blink of an eye, the miracles of the boy from the people of the ditch, who could not be killed, which are a few examples of many non-prophets but pious souls whom Allah has mentioned in the Quran.

If those were the Saints, the Awliya of the nation of Bani Israil; then what of the Saints of the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ? A firmament that is filled with glittering stars that shine brightly in every era, some of which can be seen and others who are hidden.

In a well known hadith the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, said ‘Allah said: ‘Whoever shows hostility to a friend (Wali) of Mine, I have declared war upon him. My servant does not draw closer to Me with anything more beloved to Me than that which I have made fard upon him. My servant continues to draw closer to Me with extra good works (nawafil) until I 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 from Me, I would surely give it to him. Were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant it to him. 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 displease him.’ (Bukhari) 

From among those friends of Allah was Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, may Allah be pleased with him.

The story of Abu Muslim al-Khawlani

After the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, departed from this world, many false claimants to prophecy appeared. From among them was Al-Aswad Al-‘Ansi who had amassed a large following in Yemen and who one day came across the great ascetic from the Tabi’een; Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, may Allah be pleased with him.

The false prophet, Al-Aswad needed legitimacy and so under threat of death, he told Abu Muslim to believe in him but Abu Muslim refused. This only infuriated Abu Muslim even more and to show people his power he built a fire and commanded Abu Muslim to believe in him him or else be thrown into the inferno.

Hasbi Allah wa Ni’ma l-Wakeel (Allah is enough for us, and what an excellent guardian He is), was the reply that Abu Muslim gave and a humiliated Al-Aswad threw him into the fire. Expecting to hear the screams of Abu Muslim he was shocked to see that nothing happened. The flames raged and the heat was fiercely burning the wood but Abu Muslim al-Khawlani was completely unharmed. In a panic, that Abu Muslim would be his undoing before his following, the imposter had Abu Muslim sent to Medina. When Umar ibn al-Khattab saw the Tabi’ee, he hugged him and wept saying, ‘Welcome, to the Khalil (Prophet Ibrahim) of this Ummah.’ (Ibn al-Jawzi Sifat ul-Safwa)

Loving them for the sake of Allah is the greatest honour

Abu Muslim al-Khawlani was a Wali of Allah, Allah had shown a miracle at his hands which He may not have shown at the hands of the Companions, even though the Companions are greater in rank. And so it was that Abu Muslim went to visit a Wali far greater than him. He was in the Masjid of Damascus and said, ‘I saw a man with shining white teeth, people gathered around him and whenever they differed on something they referred back to him and took his word. I asked who he was and they told me it was the Companion, Muadh bin Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him.

The following day, I went to the masjid early and found that he was already there praying. I waited until he finished the prayer, I approached him and greeted him. I then said, ‘By Allah, I love you for the sake of Allah.’ He said, ‘By Allah?’ I said, ‘By Allah I do.’ He said again, ‘By Allah?’ I repeated, ‘By Allah, I do.’ He grabbed me by my cloak and pulled me towards him and said, ‘Glad tidings! For I heard the Messenger of Allah say that Allah the Exalted will say ‘My love is a must for those who love one another for My sake, who sit with one another for My sake, who visit one another for My sake and who spend on one another for My sake.’ (Imam Malik and Ahmad)

Loving the Awliya is a short cut to Paradise.

From this hadith and from the hadith of ‘A man is with the one whom he loves,’ we learn that one of the shortest paths to Allah is in loving the Awliya, within which personal actions are overlooked because of the sanctity of this love in the presence of Allah.

‘Guide us to the straight path,’ is what we supplicate for in Surah al-Fatiha, a minimum of 17 times a day but the supplication goes further: ‘Sirat alladhina an’amta alayhim, The path of those whom you have blessed.’ The path of the blessed ones? Who are they?

They are those whom Allah has blessed from among the Prophets, the Champions of Truth, the Martyrs and the Righteous. And what an excellent fellowship they are.’ (Surah Nisa: 69). The path of those whom Allah has blessed is with these individuals: the Prophets, the Siddiqeen, the Shuheda and the Saliheen.

This is such a blessed company that the Prophet Yusuf makes dua to be with them,

Creator of the heavens and the earth, You are my protector in this world and in the Hereafter. Let me die as a Muslim and unite me with the Righteous.’ (Yusuf:101) To be with the Righteous is an aspiration mentioned in the Quran, a desire of a Prophet, but the blessings of such a company are not limited to human beings, for if Allah the Exalted wants, He can grant those blessings to a dog.

The story of the Dog of the People of the Cave.

In Surah al-Kahf, the story of the People of the Cave is recounted: a group of young believing men who fled their king’s decree to worship his idols and took refuge in a cave. In the company of those young men was a dog. None of the men owned this dog but it began to follow them after having lost its master who used to keep company with the young men. With nowhere to go, the dog followed them as they fled the decree of their king and took refuge in a cave. The young men fell asleep as did the dog but this was where the miracle took place. Allah kept them in that state of suspended animation. Time for them fast forwarded to 309 years later until Allah finally woke them up in a time in which they were free to worship Allah. That dog was not excluded from this blessing, but it too was woken up with them. This dog was honoured by Allah because of his companionship with Awliya and as result is with them in Paradise. In fact the scholars have mentioned that there are ten animals which are in Paradise because of their affiliation to the pious: the camel of Salih, the calf of Ibrahim, the ram of Ismail, the whale of Yunus, the donkey of Uzair, the ant of Sulayman, the Hud Hud of Bilqees, the dog of the People of the Cave and the camel of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. (al-Alusi Tafsir)

The legacy of this dog is eternally preserved and recited by the Ummah everyday not because of its heroic feats of bravery but just that it kept the company of a blessed group of youth.

A company in remembrance

Love requires remembrance and the Quran is filled with the mentions and the remembrance of the Awliya to the point that we remember them in our prayers. In the tashahud, after greeting the Prophet we say, ‘Assalamu alayna wa ala Ibadillahi Saliheen, peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of Allah.’ The Prophet of Allah explained, ‘When you say it, it reaches every righteous servant of Allah in the heavens and the earth.’ (Bukhari)

Love requires remembrance and that remembrance creates an inspiration and an inclination that becomes a means of companionship with the Saliheen. This is why one of the greatest of saints who is remembered the most in this Ummah by the believers is Sayyidina Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani.

al-Ghawth al-Azam

There are Imams in every field. When it comes to fiqh; the references are the great Imams such as Imam Abu Hanifa and others. Hadith has its Imams such as Bukhari and Muslim and the recitation of the Quran has its Imams such as Imam Nafi. This was not something new, for even amongst the Companions there were certain companions who were specialists in certain areas such Abd Allah ibn Abbas in the interpretation of the Quran, Muadh bin Jabal in judgements and AbdAllah ibn Masud in fiqh. Likewise spirituality and gnosis has its Imams. Masters who have attained such levels of perfection that their position with Allah becomes so accepted that they become a means of immense blessings for others. The Prophet of Allah singled out Owais al-Qarni and foretold of others who will come every hundred years to revive the deen. Hence the spiritual masters have agreed that the best of them was the Saint of Jilan, the greatest saint, Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Jilani, may Allah be pleased with him. Thousands would attend his discourses in Baghdad, and many thousands repented, were purified and attained guidance through his blessed presence. A powerhouse of Muhammadan spirituality, there are hardly any masters on the spiritual path who came later that do not trace their spiritual inheritance back to him. It is related that Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Jilani was walking out of the main masjid of Baghdad when he saw a weak and feeble man approach him and then greet him. As soon as the Shaykh returned his greeting, the old man began regaining his strength and his youthfulness until he appeared as a beautiful young man. ‘Who are you?’ asked the venerable shaykh. The man replied, ‘I am the deen of Islam, and Allah has revived me through you.’ Hence forth Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani was known as Muhyi Deen - the reviver of the faith.

Remembering the Saints

Allah has filled the Quran recounting and praising His Awliya, the elect from His servants who have such an honour that the Prophet of Allah instructed us to seek their company and their supplications. Remembering them is the Sunnah of Allah, and loving them is a sign of one’s closeness to Allah. This can only be achieved in remembering them often to the extent that their names become part of one’s daily thoughts and conversations, whether they are from the Companions in the form of the Ahl al-Bayt like Sayyida Zahra, Imam Ali, Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn, or Sayyida Khadija and Sayyida Aisha, or Sayyidina Abu Bakr, Sayyidina Umar and Sayyidina Uthman, or from the Tabieen like Owais al-Qarni and Imam Hasan al-Basri, or any of the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, or whether it is the lordly scholars like Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafii, and Imam Ahmad, or whether it is in remembrance of Imam al-Haddad, Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad, Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili or whether it is in the mentions of the falcon of saints: Sayyidina Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah be pleased with them, then that is a love which brings a relationship and a blessing which unites a person, even though they may be separated by actions or even time, with the one whom they love.