The Straight Path

It is obligatory on every human being to call upon none but Allah Alone, must fear Him all the time and keep seeking His forgiveness from sins regularly. One must confess to having committed sins before Him Alone and consider Him Alone to be one's master and supporter. One should seek refuge in none but Allah and must not depend on anyone's support, as our Lord is All-Forgiver and Most Compassionate. Out of His sheer blessing and mercy, He will obviate all our miseries and forgive all our sins. Whomsoever He wishes, shall appoint as your intercessor on His own instruction.

As you entrust Him with the fulfillment of all your needs, so should you entrust Him with the responsibility of assigning anyone as your intercessor whosoever He wishes.

Never depend on anyone's support.

Call upon Him Alone to lend you support. Never forget the Real Master. Appreciate and pay due deference to the rulings of Shari 'ah (Islamic law) and disregard the established social customs and traditions (in case they happen to be in a direct confrontation with the rulings of Shari'ah). Abiding by the social mores by disregarding the injunctions of Shari'ah is an extremely severe crime.

All the Prophets and saints are averse to it.

They never intercede on behalf of someone who adhere to the social customs and defy the injunctions of Shari'ah. On the contrary, they become opposed to such people and become displeased with them, because their piety only rested on the factor that they accorded every preference to the willingness of Allah. They used to abandon their wives, children, followers, disciples, servants and friends for the sake of Allah and whenever those people used to do anything contrary to the Will of Allah, they turned into their enemies.

What goodness of polytheists could attract the people of eminence to be their intercessors with Allah and engage themselves in a heated discussion with Him for their sake? Such a thing is never bound to happen as they (i.e. Prophets and saints) are their enemies. Loving and contradicting people for the sake of Allah only, is the quality they are characterized with. In case Allah does intend to make someone taste the Hell-fire, they shall be only prepared to fall him into the Hell-fire by dealing him a few blows and pushes. They are merely dependent on the Will of Allah and shall irresistibly tilt towards it.

It is reported by Ibn Abbas (May Allah have mercy on him):

"One day I was behind the Prophet (Peace be upon Him).He addressed me and said, 'O boy! Remember Allah and Allah shall remember you. Remember Allah and you shall see Him right before you. Whenever you ask for anything, ask it from Allah and whenever you look for assistance, do it by requesting Allah Alone. Be certain that if all the people collectively agree to do you a benefit, they shall not be able to do more than what Allah has preordained for you and in case they all agree to inflict harm on you, they would not do it more than what Allah has in store for you. The pens have been lifted and the books have gone dry.’" (Reported by Tirmidhi)

It means that Allah the Almighty is truly and justifiably the King of all kings. He is not proud (and haughty) like the kings of the world as they do not pay any heed to the pleadings of any of their subjects due to an empty sense of conceit. It is only due to this reason that if the general people were to ask for anything from the king, they do it through his deputies instead of having a direct audience with the king himself so that their request be granted for their sake, at least.

But Allah is far above this type of categorization. On the contrary, He is Extremely Beneficent and Most Merciful.

In order to attract His attention, no one's mediation is required. He takes care of everyone individually and remembers everyone regardless whether or not someone intercedes for him. He is Pure, Supreme and Far Exalted from the rest.

His Court is unlike the courts of the worldly kings wherein the people in general are unable to have an access to the royal court; only the king's deputies themselves exercise their authority on the public and the subjects having no option but to obey their orders. On the contrary, it is the Divine court and Allah is far nearer to His slaves.

An ordinary man, who turns to Him and focuses his attention onto Him by the depths of his heart, would find Him near himself. There is no veil between a slave and Allah except (the curtain of) his own negligence.[1]

Allah is the Nearest to all:

If someone happens to be away from Allah, it is only due to his own negligence. Otherwise the Rabb is very nearer to all.

Anyone calling upon a Prophet or a saint with the notion that they shall draw him near Allah, do not understand the fact that a distance however, is wedged between him and a saint or a Prophet, whereas Allah is in fact very close to him. We can understand it through this example:

Let us suppose that a slave stands alone in the presence of the king who is all ears to listen to him, but he instead, calls one of the deputies loudly and request him to convey his request to the attention of His Majesty. What do you think of this slave now? Obviously he is either blind or crazy! Everyone must ask Allah Alone and must seek His Help Alone in distress. One must be absolutely certain that whatever has already been written down in one's destiny may not be erased. In case the world to its entirety becomes incumbent on benefiting or harming someone, they can do it no more than what has already been written in his destiny. Thus it becomes abundantly clear that no one has the capability of effecting a change in one's fate. A person who has no children in his destiny, who can bless him with children and the one who has already completed his life-span, who can grant him a lease of life? Therefore, whoever maintains that Allah has empowered His saints to effect a change in someone's destiny is quite incorrect. The fact is that Allah grants His approvals to the invocations of everyone among His slaves sometimes only, whereas He certainly accords His approval to most of the supplications made by the Prophets and saints. He is the One who guides someone to offer supplications to Him and He Himself approves of them. Making a supplication and getting the same approved are both preordained and inscribed in one's fate. Nothing in the world happens outside the sphere and realms of fate and no one, regardless of his big and small status, or whether he is a Prophet or a saint, is capable of doing anything. All one can do is praying to Allah. Now He has the option of either according His approval to it or denying it as a matter of wisdom and precaution.