38th Hadith - Attaining Nearness to Allah and His Love (Bukhari: 6502)

الحديث الثامن والثلاثون 

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم : إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى قَالَ : مَنْ عَادَى لِي وَلِيًّا فَقَدْ آذَنْتُهُ بِالْحَرْبِ، وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ عَبْدِي بِشَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُهُ عَلَيْهِ، وَلاَ يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ، فَإِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ الَّذِي يَسْمَعُ بِهِ وَبَصَرَهُ الَّذِي يُبْصِرُ بِهِ، وَيَدَهُ الَّتِي يَبْطِشُ بِهَا، وَرِجْلَهُ الَّتِي يَمْشِي بِهَا، وَلَئِنْ سَأَلَنِي لأُعْطِيَنَّهُ، وَلَئِنِ اسْتَعَاذَنِي لأُعِيْذَنَّهُ

[رواه البخاري]

38th Hadith - Translation

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (R.A.), who said: The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said,

“Verily Allah Has said: ‘Whosoever shows enmity to a wali (friend/close servant) of Mine, then I have declared war against him. And My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more loved to Me than the religious duties I have obligated upon him. And My servant continues to draw near to me with nafil (supererogatory) deeds until I Love him. 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 [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to seek refuge with Me, I would surely grant him refuge.’ ”  (Bukhari: 6502)

Brief Narration

In the first portion of the hadith, Allah classifies His servants (Wali) into two categories:

The first category is of those who get closer to Allah by fulfilling the obligations and avoiding the prohibitions. This is a moderate level that has been described in the Quran as ‘Ashab Alyameen’. This is the minimum level of Wilayah. This level of Wilayah is expected from all believers.

The second category is of those people who are closer to Allah by being competent (Al- Sabiqeen) in their worship and effort and strive to be close to Allah. This people in this category are not satisfied only of performing the obligations and avoiding the prohibitions but they go further by performing the preferable acts. They also avoid the non-preferable acts. Consequently, they will reach the degree of ‘Wara' and ‘Wilayah’ that will make Allah love them. Allah mentions this explicitly and that His love will be granted for these competent people. 

The second portion of this hadith implies that, as Ibn Rajab says, whoever strives, struggles and makes the effort to get closer to Allah by doing the obligations and performing the preferable acts, Allah will get him closer to him, support him, and take him from one level into another until this servant of Allah reaches the degree of ‘Ihsan’. That is he worships Allah as if he sees Him, and his heart will be full with love of Allah. Not only will Allah grant him love of Allah but he will also be helped to glorify Allah and granted with satisfaction.

The third portion of this hadith Implies that the closer servant of Allah has a special status in the sight of Allah. This special status will lead to that whatever he asks of Allah, Allah will give him and his Dua (supplication) will be attended to. If he seeks refuge from anything, he will be given that.

This hadith is a warning to those who may harm believers in general or the closer servants of Allah in particular. Allah declares war against the one who acts with enmity towards His ‘Awliya' (closer servants). This is a message to all Muslims and people not to harm others or to be enemies with Allah by harming the believers. That is how the situation will be, if not in this life, it will be in the Hereafter. Moreover, Allah knows better what is in our favor and what is not in our favor. That's why sometimes the closer servants of Allah may ask for something and Allah does not attend to their Dua because the things they may ask for may cause them some harm. But still because of their dua, there will be the blessings and mercy from Allah in similar situations. The blessings of Dua will be also granted in the Hereafter. 

(Reference: Commentary of Forty Hadiths of An-Nawawi by Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi)