A Look at Authentic Islamic Wilayah in contrast to prevalent forms of Saint Worship

Written by Iesha Javed | 12 January 2011

As far as the Islamic concept of Wali goes, the term wali has been used in the Quran in the following senses: Protecting friend/ Helper; heir/ successor; Guardian[1]. Further the term has been used for Allah Himself, the Believers or Satan and Evildoers[2].  Allah clearly declares in the Quran in several places that Allah is the wali (protector, guardian, friend) to the believers and pious believers are the walis (allies, friends) of Allah while Satan is the wali (ally) of the Evildoers and evildoers are the walis (allies) of Satan.

As far as our context is concerned we are particularly dealing with category of the wali among Believers. The Quran makes it absolutely clear that the Wali of Allah is the one who possesses a number of Qualities such as first and foremost he must be a Believer[3] and must be Pious[4].

The Islamic concept of wali becomes clear from the Quran and Eman and Taqwa are the two essential criteria for a wali. Sheikh Abdul Qadir Al Jeelani said that to be a wali one must be on the correct aqeedah and that a deviant heretic can not be a wali[5]. He is said to have been questioned regarding the Aqeedah of Ahmad Ibn al Hambal and the condition for authenticity of a wali and is said to have responded "It is not possible for a true wali to be on an Aqeedah opposed to the Aqeedah of Ahmad Ibn Hambal". One needs to understand this in the light of the fact that Imam Ahmad was a mujaddid ie Reviver of the Deen of Allah and he sought to purge the belief of Musllims of all the deviant filth and to bring it back in line with the Aqeedah of the Prophet and His companions, May Allah be pleased with them all.

The statement of Abdul Qadir Al Jeelani reflects his deep understanding of the fundamnetal nature of correct belief as the distinctive feature of a true Wali of Allah. Therefore its only an irony that we find the so called "followers" of Abdul Qadir Jeelani issuing innuendos and abuses against Ahmad Ibn Al Hambal amd his ilk.

In clear conflict with this basic principle accepted by distinguished Ulama of our Ummah, the saint-worshippers ascribe the title of wali to men irrespective of their Eman and Taqwa and instead miraculous feats such as walking on water, flying, playing with fire etc are their criteria for a wali. Consequently many times their so called walis hold deviant beliefs and are well known heretics and innovators. This is the basic point of difference between Islamic concept of wali and saint worship.

 Even today we have such curious mixtures of wilayah, karamah and deviant belief. One such individual who is gaining currency as wali is popularly known as “Bollywood’s most sought after photographer”, described by his followers as “he is a shia mystic... he walks on fire, self flagellates, cuts his forehead each muharram”[6].

 The Deviant Concept of Wilayah, rather “Sainthood”, is clearly traceable to perverted beliefs such as the Christian belief in Saints and Guardian Angels. It originated from the belief of the Christian concept of sainthood and the practice of ascribing various duties and functions to various saints and nominating them to be beseeched at certain occasions or as protectors over groups of people for instance “Cosmas is the patron saint for doctors, Mathew for Accountants, Agnes for Girls etc.”[7]                                                                                                   

 Similarly Christian saints are called for help in various problems, “Erasmus for Appendicitis, Cornelius for Earache, Benedict for Poisoning etc”[8]

One is astonished to find the amount of striking similarities between these beliefs and those held by Muslim saint-worshippers. This deviant trend that has developed from such doctrines of Christian influence and other doctrines is in clear opposing to Islam because “sainthood” is absolutely alien to Islam. Believers are to treat each other on equal footing and it is almost impossible to declare so and so person a wali.

Infact one is shocked to see absolutely foolish comments by people trying to categorise founders of various world religions in the category of waliyullah such as:                                                                    “I would like to let you know that even the Original Buddha was actually a Wali (???) at that time which was during 2000 B.C, the sad case was, after his passing away, there was a black sheep among his followers which spread the wrong messages across the country saying that Buddha is God and to worship him instead”[9].                                                                                                               Such ignorant comments stem from the open-ended definition of wali according to saint worshippers such that it can be twisted to fit it any tom, dick or harry revered as a “holy man”.

As opposed to the clear cut Islamic criteria for being a wali, the deviant sects regard those men as awlia who have demonstrated extraordinary miracles (karaamaat) apart from claiming to be recipients of lhaam (non-scriptural divine inspiration) and the ability to cure illnesses and solve problems furthermore this does not end with his/her death, rather people keep visiting the wali’s grave even after his death in order to supplicate to him, ask his intercession and ask for bestowing favours and removing hardship .

It is at this point the Shirk and Bidah originates, because the wali’s ability to perform karamaat, possession of wilayah, divine support through ilhaam and his or her intrinsic barakah all contribute to a set of practices undertaken to benefit from the wali’s gifts. In this endeavour to seek worldly gains or eternal bliss through the supposed saint instead of striving for the same a person ends up in a vast ocean of Shirk while being befooled that he is attaining Qurb i.e. closeness of Allah.

Some of the Shirk that manifests itself directly or indirectly in consequence of the corrupted, deviant version of belief in a wali can be stated with the following examples:

·      SHIRK INVOLVING ASCRIBING PARTS OF ALLAH’S POWER AND RUBUBIYAH TO THE WALI:

In a manner similar to the Shi’ah concept of Imaamat in which the Ithnaa Asharis attribute the unique qualities of Allah to their twelve Imaams, thus ascribing partners to Him, the deviant way of saint-worship espouses the belief in super natural powers of the walis so much so that they are supposed to control the universe, provide sustenance to people and determine bliss or punishment for an individual. “The Awliya are at some level responsible for governing the universe...In the most commonly accepted hierarchy, the fifth rung is occupied by the abdaal, plural of badal meaning “substitute”. They are believed to preserve the universe and be unknown to their fellow human beings.”[10]

In places like Kashmir patron saints are given various titles such as “Gaus al Azam” i.e. The highest source or refuge and the title “Dastageer” is used for Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani, which means “The hand-holder”. One is amazed to know of the story that has been weaved to state that Allah was actually visiting the Earth when he slipped over (Nauzubillah) and Abdul Qadir Jeelani grabbed  His hand (dastageer), to suggest that the saint actually helped Allah[11]!

·      SHIRK INVOLVING SUPPLICATION AND SEEKING PROTECTION FROM THE WALI:

Based on the belief of saints having the power to hear supplications and to help their devotees even after their death, there have evolved complete systems of codified duas for specific saints and occasions which are found no where in the Sunnah and are in fact filled with Shirk, openly calling upon those saints besides Allah by titles such as “Ya Dastageer!”, “Ya Ali!”, “Ya Gaus al Azam!” etc.

Further, these innovated duas containing shirk are attributed to various pious Muslims to gain currency such as: “...The devotional prayers of zain al abideen, great grandson of the prophet are thought to bestow merit upon those who recite them and in south Asia the sanpanthis consider the writings of their spiritual guides to possess power to heal, protect, convert and enlighten”...[12]

Based on the deviant belief that walis are able to fulfil ones wishes and desires the devotees throng the dargahs and tie various coloured threads, Challas, near the grave of the saint to symbolise their wishes and once their wishes are fulfilled they come and untie the threads and believe that the saint has fulfilled their wishes, such as at Ajmer. “Challas or Spiritual Requests: You tie the colored thread as a request and await the blessings of the Khawajah for the fulfillment of the same"[13].

·      SHIRK INVOLVING BELIEF IN SHAFA’AH (INTERCESSION) OF THE WALI:

One of the major misconceptions among the adherents of saint worship is that they ascribe the saint with the power of waseelah i.e. he becomes an indispensable means to reach out to Allah and they also hold a deviant belief in the wali’s power of Shafaa’ah ie intercession on our behalf before God. This belief is clearly in conflict with what the Quran and Prophetic Hadeeth say regarding Allah being the only one having the power to grant Shafaa’ah and that people shall have no other intercessor in their favour. As Allah states:

“Besides Him they shall find neither a protecting friend nor intercessor” [14]

In conflict to this Islamic belief, numerous Sufi sects hold the belief that the walis possess the power to intercede on ones behalf before Allah. “Pilgrims (at Ajmer) believe that the saint’s spirit will intercede in matters on their behalf”[15] So, no matter how sinful a person maybe, if he devotes himself to a certain saint and calls upon him, he shall intercede on his behalf to Allah and gain forgiveness and salvation for him. This obviously leads to a form of major shirk.

“Hujwiri who belonged to the Junaidia school of Sufism... is also viewed as an important intercessor for many Sufis”[16]  

·      SHIRK BY BELIEF IN PRESENCE OF BARAKAH (BLESSING) IN CERTAIN OBJECTS OF THE WALI:

“The wali’s ability to perform karamaat, possession of wilayah, divine support through ilhaam or non scriptural revelation and his or her intrinsic barakah all contribute to a set of practices undertaken to benefit from the wali’s gifts...”[17]

One of the biggest issues and most wide spread form of Shirk connected to the belief in saints stems from the belief that the saint’s possessions contain an intrinsic blessing or barakah, consequently leading people to believe that such objects can actually influence their luck and bring them good fortune, increase their wealth etc.

A detailed description of such practices can be found here: “Many practices stem from a desire to benefit from the wali’s barakah. Common objects used by the wali such as the prayer mat or rug are endowed with the power of the wali and cherished for their barakah yielding powers...they include the prayer mat, parched mantle, belt, staff, turban, leather bowl, rosary and the robe, each of which is endowed with symbolic significance.”[18]

“Prayer rugs referred to as “carpet of truth” or “carpet of God” are used in initiation ceremonies...to indicate divine presence. In parts of Anatolia and Iran the sheepskin (pust)...is invested by Bektashi order symbolically to suggest the seats of God and the angels...”[19]

SHIRK BY ACCEPTING HEALTH POTIONS, MAGICAL CURES AND NUMEROLOGY FROM THE WALI AND HIS KHALEEFAS:

Beyond a shadow of doubt the wearing of amulets or charms, possession of magical health potions, magic formulae and acts of fortunetelling by means of numerology or astrology are all forms of Shirk[20].

 “A popular form of spiritually derived healing consists of prayers...quranic verses...drawing upon numerological significance of letters that are written by the wali on parchment and then washed in water and drunk in order to cure ailments”[21]

Not only is numerology a form of shirk, but to place ones belief in the ability to cure or cause harm in any thing other than Allah is in itself Shirk. This is manifested in the belief that parchment inscribed with numbers by so called walis are meant to be soaked and the residual water drunk in anticipation of cure.