Steps to Be Waliyu’Llāh

Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm

“Ṭarīqatunā ṣ-ṣuḥbah wa-l-khayru fi l-jam’iyyah.” Our Naqshbandī Shaykh, Baha’uddin Naqshbandī repeated this every ṣuḥbah. He made twelve thousand ṣuḥbahs. Ṭarīqah is to be together and to make ṣuḥbah, teaching the way of Allāh Azza wa Jalla: what Allāh Azza wa Jalla likes, what He ﷻ loves.

Awliyā’u Llāh means those whom Allāh ﷻ loves. Is it difficult to be Awliyā’u Llāh? No, not difficult. Because Allāh Azza wa Jalla showed us and told us which people He ﷻ loves. He ﷻ said, Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm, “إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ”, “Inna Llāha yuḥibbu l-tawwābīn”, “Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant”. (Qur’ān 02:222). First is this one. Who is the tawwāb? The one who is asking tawbah, asking forgiveness for what he has done. Allāh ﷻ loves them. He ﷻ is happy with them. “If you’ve done anything and you come asking forgiveness from Me ﷻ, I am happy to give you this forgiveness.” This is Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla’s saying. It’s not from ourself, it’s from His ﷻ Holy Book. The only book in the world that came from the Divine Presence of Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla. He ﷻ is saying this for humanity. Who asks for forgiveness is a beloved for Allāh ﷻ. He is Waliyu’Llāh. Which means Allāh ﷻ loves him.

For this, we say to be Awliyā’u Llāh, to be a Wali is easy. People think to be a Wali is to be making miracles, making karāmāt; making this can also be. But if we like to be beloved for Allāh Azza wa Jalla, we must ask for forgiveness. Because Allāh ﷻ is very happy and He ﷻ loves us after that.

Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam has a famous ḥadīth on how Allāh ﷻ is happy with the one who asks for forgiveness. He ﷺ gave an example, a very good example on how the extreme happiness for someone in this world can be. What is this example? He ﷺ says, it is like someone travelling in a desert. And in the desert, you must travel by camel. You cannot go one day without something with you: water, food, a place to stay. All of this, Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam said, one man was on a camel and he made the camel go down. Everything was on this camel. And he slept there. When he woke up, he found no camel around; nothing at all, not one drop of water, nothing. He was only by himself in the desert where he cannot go anywhere. He maybe needs one month or fifteen days or something like this [to reach anywhere]. And he was going, looking around, looking around, here, there. And he was very tired. After that, he fell asleep. When he woke up, he found his camel over his head, waiting for him. Just as he felt extreme happiness for this, he ﷺ says that Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is (more) happy when anybody asks forgiveness from Him ﷻ. Can you imagine how Merciful Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla is!

This is the teaching of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam for ṭarīqah people. Ṭarīqah people are, al-ḥamdu liLlāh, following this and are happy with this. But some people are not happy. We are not looking at them. We are looking at the Qur’ān, looking at the ḥadīth of Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam. This is very important for us.

After this, “إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ”, “Inna Allāh’a yuhibbu t-tawwabin wa yuhibbu l-mutatahhirin”, ‘Indeed, Allah loves those who are constantly repentant and loves those who purify themselves.’ (Qur’ān 02:222). The first thing before tahārah – because tahārah means cleanliness; it is the first thing in Islām. But before this is to ask for forgiveness. This is the beginning. After forgiveness, comes tahārah; cleaning yourself, to make yourself clean to pray, to do ‘ibadah. But the first thing: ask for forgiveness. This is the most important thing. Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla loves these people and He ﷻ loves the clean people.

Islām is a religion for humanity; the religion of Allāh Azza wa-Jalla. The best thing nowadays is that also. They say, clean your hand, put some cream, put soap, put something. You must be clean. But Allāh Azza wa-Jalla, from the beginning, gave an order for human beings to be clean. And he must clean not only the outside. The first thing to clean the outside is to ask for forgiveness. This is first cleansing; tahārah. The second tahārah is with water, to make ablution, to make ghusl, to make everything that we must do for ‘ibadah. This is our religion. This is the most important thing for human beings, for ṭarīqah especially. Ṭarīqah means light for people.

May Allāh ﷻ make us from His ﷻ Beloved ones, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ make us from His ﷻ Awliyā’u Llāh. We are not looking for miracle, for karāmah. We are only looking to be beloved for Allāh ﷻ, pure for Allāh ﷻ. Maybe who asks for karāmah, asks for benefit for himself. For this, we are not looking for karāmah. We are only looking to be a beloved one for Allāh ﷻ, in shā’a Llāh. May Allāh ﷻ bless you. May Allāh ﷻ make all of us from His ﷻ beloved ones, in shā’a Llāh. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq.

Al-Fatiha.

• Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 

11 February 2025/ 12 Sha’ban 1446

Central Oxford Mosque – Oxford, UK