Allies of Allah SWT
Allah SWT has mentioned in many places in the Quran the description of His allies. For clarification, the word ally does not mean someone on equal par with Allah SWT. It means the opposite of the enemy of Allah SWT and in this context, His creation can and is referred to as His ally.
In the glorious Quran, Allah SWT speaks of situations that describe their status, their prestige, and reward, from start of Surat AL Baqara, in the middle of it, and start of Surat Al Anfal, Mu’minon and others.
And when you contemplate on these attributes and the rewards waiting for them, two things become apparent:
- That we try our best to be of owners of these descriptions, to win the rewards that come with this.
- To love and support those who are seen to be of this description, at the very least to be enemies to their enemies.
The imam mentioned a hadith in relation to this topic. It’s a hadith Qudsi in other words, it’s something declared by Allah SWT as told to us by the Prophet SAWS but not in the Quran. It is translated to say:
“Surely, Allah, The Exalted, said, “Whoever shows enmity to an ally of Mine, I have waged war upon him. My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have obligated upon him. My servant continues to draw near to Me with the voluntary acts until I love him. Once I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask of Me, I would surely grant it to him. If he were to seek refuge with Me, I would surely protect him.”
Dear brothers and sisters, if we take a moment to ponder this advice and guidance then we can take a number of lessons from it which sum up today’s reminder perfectly. And of course, Allah SWT knows best.
Firstly, the word enmity is the opposite of alliance. An Ally is the opposite of an enemy. Allah SWT’s allies, are the believers and those that fear Him. How do we know that this is the definition of an ally of Allah SWT? The imam reminded us in Sura Younis, ayat 62 and 63 read:
No doubt, surely the allies of Allah, no fear shall befall them nor shall they grieve. Those who believed in Allah and used to fear Allah
Secondly, Allah SWT mentioned the means of becoming an ally. He says “My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have obligated upon him” meaning there is no one that worships Allah SWT with anything more beloved to Him than what He made obligatory.
From this we can learn that for example, two obligatory Units of Prayer are more beloved to Allah SWT than two voluntary Units of Prayer. A Dollar of Zakat is more beloved to Allah than a Dollar of charity. Fasting in Ramadan is more beloved to Allah than voluntary fasts, and so on and so forth.
We need to remind ourselves that if we are forgoing those acts of worship that are mandatory but are convincing ourselves that the voluntary acts will make up for it, this hadith is specifically addressing that point and that such a view is invalid.
Thirdly, “My servant continues to draw near to Me with the voluntary acts until I love him”. From this we can derive a lesson that Allah SWT is stating a goal or possibly a motivation for us. In other words, we continue to strive to improve in our worship. For example, in this month we work on top of the mandatory fasts of Ramadan and try to perform the voluntary 6 of Shawwal. And we all know how difficult this is outside the month of Ramadan and so Allah SWT gives a reason to motivate us to do so.
Fouthly, the lesson we attain from this hadith is in the line “Once I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears”. What this is stating is that Allah SWT directs everything that he hears so that he only hears what is good for him.
The meaning should not be confused with that Allah SWT will become a person’s hearing. This isn’t correct since the hearing of man is an attribute of ours and a blessing given to us by He who created us.
Likewise is said regarding, “his sight with which he sees” means Allah SWT guides the servant of Allah SWT so that what he sees so that he only sees good. Same then for our actions and for the path in which we tread. All then become a means of guidance from Allah SWT such is the reward of attaining His love.
Lastly, it ends with “Were he to ask of Me” i.e. supplicate to Me for something or request something from Me, I would grant it to him. And “If he were to seek refuge of Me, I would surely protect him.” Dear brothers and sisters, if the reward so far in this explanation wasn’t magnificent enough, we are told at the end, not only is our senses, our actions and our path guided and until His watch but we are also blessed with our requests being answered and His protection being there too.
Dear brothers and sisters, to be an ally of Allah SWT ought to be a goal and drive for each and every one of us. However, this hadith Qudsi ought to take it up to another level of motivation. And within this we have both the reward and the method in which we can attain this status.
We need to believe in Allah SWT, be hopeful for His mercy, be fearful for His punishment. We need to protect our mandatory acts of worship and strive for voluntary acts of worship. We can only do so by continuing to work on our relationship with Allah SWT, through connection to His book, the glorious Quran and through practical implementation of the book of Allah SWT, i.e. practical actions in performing worship, namely sunnah acts of worship.
