How can we differentiate between the true Wali and the one who claims Wilaayah?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

The Sharee‘ah definition of the expression “Ally of Allaah” is manifest in the words of Allaah The Almighty (which mean): {Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allaah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. Those who believed and were fearing Allaah.} [Quran 10: 62-63]

According to these two verses, every believer who fears Allaah The Almighty is one of His allies. However, the alliance of Allaah The Almighty is not restricted to certain persons, neither is the occurrence of supernatural events at the hands of a certain person a condition to consider him an ally of Allaah The Almighty.

Imaam Al-Qurtubi stated that when Allaah The Almighty supports an ordinary person, who is not one of the prophets, with supernatural events, this does not necessarily mean that he is one of His allies. This is the view of Ahl As-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa`ah (the Sunni mainstream) and it is contrary to the belief of some Sufis and Raafidhis (Shias). He added that the evidence quoted by Ahl As-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa‘ah in this regard is that we cannot judge a certain person as an ally of Allaah The Almighty unless he dies as a believer. As long as we cannot prove that a certain person will die as a believer, then we cannot judge him as one of the allies of Allaah The Almighty.

In a Qudsi (sacred) Hadeeth, it was reported that Allaah The Exalted said that He would be at war with whoever showed enmity towards one of His allies. [Al-Bukhari]

According to the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the road to the alliance of Allaah The Almighty is to regularly perform the obligatory acts of worship, be keen on doing voluntary acts, increase one's faith and fear Allaah The Almighty. Thus, we come to the conclusion that the insane, the immoral and the disobedient cannot be included in this category. The utmost that may happen to the insane person is that Allaah The Almighty will not hold him accountable for his deeds and not that he would make him one of his allies or reveal to him knowledge of the Unseen. Such knowledge is not revealed to anyone in this life and it is only the prophets who receive revelation. If a man flies in the air or walks on water, this does not necessarily mean that he is an ally of Allaah The Almighty, since supernatural events can appear at the hands of disbelievers, polytheists and immoral persons just as they can appear at the hands of believers.

Al-Junayd said that knowledge is to be extracted from the Quran and Sunnah, and thus, it is impermissible to follow a person who neither memorizes the Quran nor learns Hadeeth. He also mentioned that for a believer, there is no other alternative but to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , because it is the only road to success.

The true ally of Allaah The Almighty is not the person who claims and testifies for himself that he is an ally because this represents dispraised self-recommendation. Below are some invalid beliefs about the concept of alliance:

1-      Believing that the ally disposes of the universe and that it is permissible to supplicate to him and seek refuge with him in times of adversity. Such a belief is an act of apostasy and it contradicts the oneness of Lordship and worship of Allaah The Almighty.

2-      Believing, as stated by Al-Qushayri, may Allaah pardon him, that the ally is infallible and that Allaah The Almighty did not create an ability to do acts of disobedience to him.

3-      Believing that the ally of Allaah The Almighty knows the Unseen and that he has authority to save himself and other creatures from the punishment of Allaah The Almighty.

4-      Believing that the ally develops and appears in different shapes, such as that of a lion, an old person or a child, and  that he may appear in many places at the same time. These false beliefs are widespread throughout books that recount the biographies of Sufi allies.

5-      Believing that the ally is permitted to violate the Sharee‘ah, and that one should accept everything from him and not deny any of his deeds even if he abandons the Friday prayers and praying in congregation, because, as claimed by Ash-Sha‘raani, a Sufi figure, and others, he has a special status with Allaah The Almighty.

6-      Believing that alliance is endowed by a senior ally to any of his followers that he chooses. Indeed this deviation does not need evidence to prove its falsity.

7-      Believing that there is a seal of allies (a last ally) as is the case with prophethood. This was transmitted by Al-Hakeem At-Tirmithi who was exiled from Tirmith and judged as a disbeliever because of his book Khatm Al-Wilaayah (the seal of Alliance).  After him, there were those who claimed that they were the seal of the allies. In addition, there were those who were claimed by others to be the seal of the allies such as Ibn ‘Arabi, Ahmad At-Tijaani and others.

8-      Believing that the ally can strip those who oppose him of both knowledge and guidance. This is included in their belief that the ally can dispose of the universe. There is no doubt about the invalidity of such beliefs which starkly contradict the Quran, the Sunnah and the methodology of the Companions and their successors . Rather, this is the methodology of the allies of the accursed Satan, not the allies of Allaah The Almighty; and success is only for he whom Allaah The Almighty has granted success.

Allaah Knows best.