Commentary
In the verses cited above, particular merits, definition and identity of the Auliya' of Allah have been mentioned. Also given there is good news for them in the present world as well as in the Hereafter. The text says that they will have no apprehensions of facing some unpleasant or unforeseen happening, nor will they grieve over the non-fulfillment of some objective. These Auliya' of Allah (men of Allah) will be people who believed and remained pious, righteous and God fearing. They are most welcome in this world and in the next world both.
We have to consider three things at this point:
1\. What is the meaning of Auliya' of Allah having no fear and grief?
2\. What is the definition of Auliya' of Allah? How does one identify them?
3\. What does the good news given to them in Dunya and Akhirah mean?
First of all, the Auliya' of Allah have no fear or grief. This could possibly mean when they are admitted to their allocated place in Paradise, after having gone through the accounting of deeds in the Hereafter, they will stand delivered from fear and grief forever. They will have no apprehension of any pain or anxiety nor will they have to grieve for having lost something dear to them. Instead, the blessings of Paradise will be everlasting. Given this sense, there is no difficulty in rationalizing the subject of the verse. But, it does, however, raise a question. If this be the case, it registers no peculiarity of the Auliya' of Allah. In fact, all people of Paradise who stand delivered from Hell will be enjoying that very state of being. Yes, it can, then, be said that those who ultimately reach Paradise will all be known as the Auliya' of Allah invariably. No matter how different their deeds had been in the mortal world but, once they have entered Paradise, all of them will be counted among the Auliya' of Allah.
But, many commentators say that freedom from fear and grief with which the Auliya' of Allah are blessed is common to the present world and the Hereafter both. The thing unique about the Auliya' of Allah is that they remain protected from fear and grief even in the present world, and that they will have no fear and grief in the Hereafter is something everyone knows. So, included therein are all people of Para-dise.
Apart from that, in terms of relevant prevailing conditions, we have yet another difficulty on our hands. Observations in the world of our experience bear out that - not to mention the Auliya' of Allah - even the Prophets of Allah, may peace be on them, are not secure from fear and grief in this mortal world. In fact, their fear of and humbleness before Allah is far more pronounced as compared to others. It was said in the Qur'an: إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّـهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ (Among Our servants only those who have knowledge (really) fear Allah - 35:28). At another place, the emotional state of the righteous and the men of Allah has been de-scribed in the following words: وَالَّذِينَ هُم مِّنْ عَذَابِ رَبِّهِم مُّشْفِقُونَ ﴿27﴾ إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّهِمْ غَيْرُ مَأْمُونٍ ﴿28﴾ (And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord - indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not to be un-fearful of - 70:27) that is, no one can sit home comfortably in the knowledge that it is due to come.
This is borne by facts as well as it appears in a Hadith of Shama'il al-Tirmidhi: ` The Holy Prophet ﷺ would more than often look concerned and pensive'. And he himself said, ` I fear Allah more than all of you.'
There are countless events relating to Sayyidna Abu Bakr, Sayyidna ` Umar and the rest of the Sahabah ؓ ، the Tabi` in and the wide spectrum of the men of Allah which tell us how intensely they grieved and how genuinely they feared what would happen to them in the Hereafter.
Therefore, ` Allamah 'Alusi has said in Ruh al-Ma'ani: That the Auliya' Allah are protected against fear and grief in the mortal world has to be seen in terms of what usually happens here. There are things worldly people generally fear or grieve about most of the time. They are chronically addicted to their mundane agenda of life. They have to have convenience, comfort, wealth and recognition. The slightest shortfall in any of these makes them nervous as if they were going to die without that. The fear of a minor discomfort or anxiety drives them crazy and they will go about finding ways and means to get rid of such irritants. The station of the Auliya', friends or men of Allah is way higher. In their sight, convenience, comfort, wealth and recognition one surrounds himself with in this transitory world are not worth their while that they go about acquiring these. Nor do they care much about the anxieties of the mundane and see no need to beef up their defenses against these. Their life style admits of nothing but the recognition of His greatness and love for Him. So overshadowed they are with the fear of Allah and their humbleness before Him that they just have no use for worldly sorrow and comfort or profit and loss.
Now we can go to the matter of the definition of Auliya' Allah and the marks of their identification. The word: اولیاء (Auliya' ) is the plural form of: ولی (waliyy, commonly rendered as the simpler: wall, which bypasses the need to render the doubling of the y ā sound at the end shown by the addition of a or two, as purists would prefer to do). The word: ولی (waliyy) is used in the Arabic language in the dual sense of ` near' as well as ` friend' or someone held ` dear.' The common degree of nearness and love as related to Allah Ta` ala is such as would not leave any living entity, human or non-human, exempt from it. If this element of nearness were not there, nothing would have come into being in this universe. The real justification for the existence of this entire universe is that particular interrelationship which it has been al-lowed to have by Allah in His absolute majesty. Though, no one has understood the reality of this interrelationship, nor is it possible to do so, but that a non-definable interrelationship does exist is certain. However, this degree is not what is actually meant in the term: Auliya' Allah. In fact, there is yet another degree of friendship, love and nearness that is specific to particular servants of Allah Ta` ala. This is known as nearness in love. Those who are blessed with this nearness are called the Auliya' Allah. This has been succinctly articulated in a Qudsi Hadith where Allah Ta` ala says, ` My servant keeps earning My nearness through voluntary acts of worship (nafl ` ibadat) until I too turn to him in love and when I love him, I become his ear - whatever he hears, he hears through Me. I become his eye - whatever he sees, he sees through Me. I become his hands and feet - whatever he does, he does through Me.' In short, it means that virtually nothing issues forth from such a person against the pleasure of his Lord.
The degrees of this unique Wilayah (station of nearness or friend-ship) are endless. Its highest degree is for the blessed prophets be-cause every prophet has to be, of necessity, a Waliyy of Allah. In this degree, the highest station belongs to the foremost among prophets, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ . Then, the lowest degree of this Wilayah, in the terminology of the noble Sufis, is known as the degree of Fan-a' (self-elimination: I am nothing - He is everything). It makes the heart of man become so engrossed in the thought of Allah Ta` ala that it would not allow any love rooted in this world to overcome it. When such a person loves, he loves for the sake of Allah. When he hates, he hates for the sake of Allah. His own person plays no part in this love and hate cycle, the inevitable outcome of which is that he keeps busy in his quest for the pleasure of Allah Ta` ala both outwardly and inwardly. This style of living makes him avoid everything which is not liked in the sight of Allah Ta` ala. The sign of this state of existence is abundance of Dhikr and constancy in obedience - in other words, to remember Allah Ta` ala abundantly and profusely, and to obey His in-junctions always, and under all conditions and circumstances. When these two attributes are present in a person, he is called a Waliyy of Allah. Whoever does not have any one of the two is not included in that category. Then, whoever has both, there is no limit to his ranks, lower and higher. It is in terms of these degrees that the ranks of Auliya' Allah precede or succeed each other.
On the authority of a narration from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ ، it has been reported in a IIadith that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was asked as to who were the people meant by Auliya' Allah' in this verse? He said, ` those who love each other only for Allah - without having any worldly interest in between.' (Mazhari, quoted from Ibn Marduwayh). It is obvious that this condition can apply only to those who have been mentioned above.
At this stage, we have another question before us: What is the method of acquiring this degree of Wilayah (nearness to Allah)?
Respected commentator, Qadi Thana'ullah Panipati has said in Tafsir Mazhari: Individuals from the Muslim Ummah could acquire this degree of Wilayah only through the company of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . It is from here that the profound relationship with Allah, which was part of the blessed persona of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is partly passed on to the Auliya' of the Ummah, of course, depending on their ambition and capacity for whatever portion from it falls to their lot. Then, we know that this benefit of companionship was available to the Sahabah without anyone being in between. Therefore, the degree of their Wilayah was higher than that of all Auliya' and aqtab (plural of qutb, literally axis, meaning a man of Allah who stays at one place, as in Sufi orders). Later people derive this benefit through one or more intermediaries. The more the intermediaries, the more pro-nounced becomes the difference. Only those who are colored with the color of the word, deed and message of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and follow his Sunnah, in all love and obedience, can become such an intermediary. Going to them, frequenting their company with the added practice of listening to their good counsel, remaining obedient and remembering Allah abundantly - this is the blueprint of attaining the degree of Wilayah. It is made of three parts. One: Being in the company of a Waliyy of Allah. Two: Remaining obedient to his good counsel. Three: Remembering Allah abundantly (Dhikrullah) - with the condition that this abundance (and nature) of Dhikr must be in accordance with the masnun method. The reason is that Dhikr, when frequent and sincere, adds to the luster of the mirror of the heart and it becomes worthy of receiving reflections from the light of Wilayah. It appears in Hadith that everything has a method of furbishing it. Dhikrullah furbishes the heart. The same thing has been reported by al-Baihagi as based on a narration from Sayyidna Ibn ` Umar ؓ . (Mazhari)
Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ عنہما said that a person asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` what would you say about a person who loves someone spiritually noble but is unable to reach up to his level in terms of his own deeds?' He said: اَلمَرَء مَعَ مَن اَحَبَّ that is, ` everyone shall be with one he loves'. This tells us that the love and company of the Auliya' Allah is a source of acquiring Wilayah (nearness to Allah). Al-Baihaqi (in Shu'ab al-'Iman) has reported that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said to Sayyidna Razin ؓ tell you about a principle of Faith. With it you can attain success in Dunya. and Akhirah: Take to the company of ahl adh-Dhikr (people who remember Allah) as indispensable, and When you are alone, move your tongue with the Dhikr of Allah, as much as you can. Whoever you love, do it for Allah. Whoever you hate, do it for Allah. (Mazhari)
But, in order to be beneficial, this ` company' has to be of those who are, in themselves, the Waliyy of Allah and staunch followers of Sunnah. Those who do not observe and follow the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ (and do not demonstrate by their word and deed that they are operating under it) are themselves deprived of the essential degree of Wilayah. It does not matter if many a contrahabitual wonders (kashf and karamat) issue forth from them. They will still be considered deprived. However, if someone is a Waliyy in terms of the stated attributes - even though, nothing of the sort has ever issued forth from him - he is a Waliyy of Allah. (Mazhari)
Now we come to the last point. What are the signs of the Auliya' Allah? How can they be identified? A Qudsi Hadith referred to in Tafsir Mazhari points out in this direction. Allah Ta` ala said: ` From among My servants, My Auliya' are those who are remembered when I am remembered and when they are remembered I am remembered.' According to a narration from Sayyidah Asma' bint Yazid reported in Ibn Majah, the Holy Prophet ﷺ gave the identity of Auliya' Allah by saying: الذین اذا رُؤُا ذُکِرَ اللہُ (those who, when one sees them, remind of Allah).
In short, there is someone by sitting in whose company one gets the taufiq of remembering Allah (Dhikr), and relief from worldly concerns, then, this is a sign of his being a Waliyy of Allah.
It has been said in Tafsir Mazhari: There is a prevailing assumption among masses that things like getting to know what is hidden (kashf), doing some extraordinary things (karamah) or claiming to be aware of what is al-Ghayb (Unseen) are signs of someone being among the Auliya' of Allah. This is nothing but error and self-deception. There are thousands of Auliya' who are not credited with anything like this, that could be termed as authentically proved while, in sharp contrast, reports of things otherwise hidden and unseen are accredited to those whose very basic 'Iman (belief) is not correct!