WALÎ AND MAKE A SHOW OF KARÂMAT

“It is claimed that awliyâ’, dead or alive, miraculously help whomever they wish. People implore and ask help from them when they are in distress. They go to their graves and want to be relieved of their troubles. They think that the dead will work karâma. They call the dead with such names as abdâl, nuqabâ’, awtâd, nujâbâ’, the seventies, the fourties, the sevens, the fours, qubt and ghawth. Ibn al-Jawzî and Ibn Taimiyya proved that it was false. It means to oppose the Qur’ân. The Qur’ân refutes the idea that awliyâ’, alive or dead, can do anything. Allah is the Maker of everything. Others cannot do anything. Many âyats state that there is no feeling or activity in the dead. The dead cannot do anything for themselves and never for others. Allah informed that souls are near Him. But, as for these zindîqs, they say, ‘Souls do freely whatever they wish.’ Their claim that they work karâma is a lie, too. Allah grants karâma to the walî whom He wills. It is not with the walî’s wish. It is uglier to ask them for help when one is in distress. Prophets, angels or awliyâ’ cannot do anyting bad or good to anybody. It is permissible to ask living people for material things. But no one else but Allah is to be entreated for immaterial, invisible things. It is polytheism for sick people or for those who are in danger of being drowned or the poor to ask prophets, souls, awliya’ or some other creatures for help. Calling these ‘karâmât’ is like idolaters’ naming marvels. Allah’s awliyâ’ are not so.”

If someone says that he is a walî and knows what is hidden, he is the walî of Satan, not of Allah. Karâma is something which Allah produces in the hands of His pious servants who can attain it by praying or ’ibâda. The walî’s power or will does not affect it. Awliyâ’ do not say that they are awliyâ’. They fear Allah. As-Sahâba and Tâbi’ûn were the highest awliyâ’. Yet, they did not say that they knew the ghaib. They used to weep out of fear of Allah. Tamîm ad-Dârî would not sleep because he feared Hell much. The Sûrat ar-Ra’d explains how awliyâ’ are. Such mutasawwifs can be called awliyâ’.”