Explanation of Hadith 38 of Nawawi's Forty: The Hadith of the Wali

He (RH) said:

The thirty-eighth Hadith.

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RA),

who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Indeed, Allah ﷻ the Exalted said:

‘Whoever shows enmity to a Wali of Mine, I declare war against him.

And My servant draws not near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than what I have obligated on him.

And My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory deeds until I love him.

And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees,

and his hand with which he strikes,

and his foot with which he walks.

Were he to ask of Me, I would give to him; and were he to seek refuge in Me, I would grant it.'

Narrated by al-Bukhari.

Yes, this Hadith...

regarding...

whoever shows enmity to a Wali of Allah ﷻ — and Wali here means the believers.

For all believers are Awliya of Allah ﷻ.

However, Wilayah has degrees, just as faith has degrees, and piety has degrees.

So people are in degrees.

Therefore, the lowest of believers is one who performs acts of obedience,

as we have seen in the Hadith of Ibn Abbas and others.

This Hadith points to two matters.

The first is the prescription of seeking love and closeness to Him,

Glorified and Exalted, through voluntary deeds.

for the greatest cause of Allah's ﷻ love is performing voluntary deeds.

Secondly, this hadith is a foundation

of the foundations of Ahl al-Sunnah in affirming the active attributes of Allah ﷻ.

For some people deny the active attributes and say they are not affirmed for Him ﷻ, and this is incorrect.

And whoever attributes this to any of the Imams of the Salaf and the scholars of Hadith is mistaken about them,

attributing to them what they did not say.

That is because some attribute this to Ahmad,

and this is an error.

Rather, it was taken from al-Baqillani in his books.

For some of al-Baqillani's companions among Ahmad's followers transmitted a statement they understood from him and attributed it to Ahmad,

while al-Baqillani took it from Ibn Kullab and others.

The point is that the active attributes of Him, Glorified and Exalted is He,

especially the voluntary ones, are established in the Book and the Sunnah, including love.

“And My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary deeds until I love him,” so it is active.

'When I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, and his sight with which he sees,

and his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks.'

We are left with the question of the meaning of these phrases: "I am his hearing, his sight, his hand, and his foot."

The scholars say it entails three things.

First, that these faculties are protected—

protected, meaning they are preserved from deficiency and harm,

and this is indicated by Hadiths, as we have previously seen.

Second, that they are blessed,

meaning that the person is blessed in their sight.

So he does not look at what is forbidden.

And Allah ﷻ, when He loves a servant, He protects him.

Whoever seeks Allah's love through voluntary deeds, Allah blesses his limbs so that...

...he does not look, strike, or hear anything forbidden,

nor does he walk to what is forbidden, nor does he steal,

nor does he do other such things, as Allah ﷻ turns his heart away from them.

The third matter is that Allah ﷻ blesses them in this world,

making them blessed in this world, and this only occurs with the most perfect of the awliya,

for the Prophet ﷺ was blessed; he would place his hand and it would be blessed,

and it is not permissible to seek blessing (barakah) from any other human besides him ﷺ,

for he is blessed because he is a Prophet; others may have blessing, but we cannot be certain of it,

so it is not permissible to seek blessings from anyone's person after the Prophet ﷺ, even Abu Bakr (RA) or Umar (RA),

Indeed, blessing is only in his physical essence, ﷺ, and not in anyone else.

Yes, of course, these three.

And this hadith, in general, Al-Shawkani explained it in an entire volume,

and it is one of the most extensive explanations of this hadith, may Allah have mercy on him. Yes.