Behold! verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve;[10:62]

 "above every knowledgeable one there is one more knowledgeable," [12:76]:

and that "those whom Allah has particularly graced" are defined as "the Prophets, the Siddiqs, the Shuhada', and the Righteous" in that order:

وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ وَالرَّس 15;ولَ فَأُوْلَ 00;ئِكَ مَعَ

[4:69]

and that some Prophets were exalted above others. So we must all agree that there is a hierarchy of Believers in general, and hierarchies of Awliya and Prophets in particular.

The early scholars of hadith were very interested in the topic of the Awliya' and they gathered not only the hadiths but even non-Prophetic accounts about their states and miraculous gifts, and even dreams. For example, Ibn Abi al-Dunya's al-Awliya and the compilations respectively entitled al-Awliya' and Karaamaat al-Awliya' by the two Hanbalis al-Khallal and al-Lalika'i, as well as Abu Nu`aym's renowned Hilyat al-Awliya.

These books are available to us but ignorance is human and people tend to be the enemies of what they don't know, including "those who believe that Islam is devoid of spiritual ranks of merit... or miracles." The Holy Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said that the only cure for the malady of ignorance is to ask.

The Companion Sufyan ibn `Uyayna said, "The learned scholar does not care for people's positions or feelings when he disseminates the Divine wisdom; if you accept he praises Allah, and if you reject he praises Allah." (As for the term "mysticism," it is best to steer clear of it since it is largely misunderstood to mean something ethereal or purely spiritual and tends to betray the fact that the Awliya are the most practical and act-oriented people of humankind.)

As for a specific terminology for the Awliya' the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, did use certain terms such as Abdal (substitutes), or certain qualifications of intercession such as the hadiths in which he refers to certain arch-intercessors such as our liegelords `Uthman ibn `Affan and Uways al-Qarani. Ibn `Asakir in his Tarikh (51:282) narrates with his chain that when Imam al-Shafi`i finished memorizing the Qur'an he said to himself: "You have obtained the Qutb al-A`zam" i.e. the greatest axis or authority around which the Religion revolves.

However, the terms "ghawth", "qutb" and the like to mean individuals among the Awliya' may have been devised as a convention among later scholars (see, for example, the treatises by al-Suyuti in al-Hawi lil-Fatawi and Ibn `Abidin in his Rasa'il) and are not binding upon the Muslims as terminology. As the scholars say, "la mushahata fil-mustalah," meaning: "Don't nag about how we call things."

Was-Salam,
GF Haddad & staff

I really enjoyed his makeover of these fake Qutb, Qawth and Abdalis.

I got him this Sufi but I wonder who will buy his extensive distortion.  I'm sure non of his painting has anything to do with Quran and authentic sunnah.  

May Allah guide him to right path

Abu Mujahid

[QUOTE=rami] Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem

>According to many salaf'i's [as is also evident by br Abu Mujahid's words above] it is a legal principles in there school of law that any word not used in the time of the prophet is haram to use, period<

When we talk about towheed I would say yes

>regarding the word Qutb,

Allah says people have ranks, rasul allah [sallah llahu alaihi wa sallam] being the best of creation that is his rank, i think we can all agree on this basic point<.

Agree

>So from this we know the prophets have there ranks in Allah's eyes, we also read in the Quran there are people of the left hand, people of the right hand and finaly people of nearness all denoting ranks among the common people. Rasul allah himself said Abu bakr was the best of his ummah followed by Umar then Uthman then Ali by consensus of the ulumah, then we have the 10 granted paradise while still alive....etc, there are many examples i can reference.

I think we can also agree with this simple fact<

Agree

>so now applying this to our current time, we can easily see that all humans on earth today have a rank with Allah some higher than others.

I think we can also agree with this<

We can agree on this too.

>now getting to the labels, the best people alive today by the definition of the word itself as it is used in the Quran and sunnah  are called awliyah, other terms include sidiqin.

no one can dispute this point i think, or have i lost you there br?

That is fine.

>so we can also deduce that among the awliyah while rising up among there ranks we will eventually reach the best human alive on earth by Allah's estimation, you now have two choices you can constantly seek to explain away this matter every single time it is brought up or like anything else in this world label it for the sake of making life easy for everyone.

This is where we differ because we are entering into towheed world

>Well the Uluma in there wisdom chose the later and decided to make life easier for the rest of us and label the rank of this individual as Qutb.

This is were innovation in this regard was/is hatched out. Who are these ULIMA? Sahaba, Tabi'in?. NO. With their piety if their time they didn't give these names to these people then why this so called ULIMA want to invent new names.  Without further discussion Qutb is foriegn name to Islamic belief system. 

>I can understand your beliefe that we should not use words that where not used in the prophets time and how you would see this labeling as haram but really you are speaking to me in modern english now so i dont think you actually believe that.

I'm sure you know al-dalil walmadlul alaihi should match. We are talking about ranking people with names that destroy the very Islamic towheed that Islam want to present to world. Its not any other word ya sheikhana!!.

>Also you have no basis for such a principle, no where in the history of islam has anyone ever said we should stop labeling things for the sake of ease,.<

We are not talking about words or terminology related to science or social human developments. We are talking about ranking special group of people with special names because of their pity/closeness of Allah. I'm saying these names are new let alone destroy the very foundation of Islamic towheed. If prophet pbuh refuse to use certian word out of respect of towheed then what do u think about Qutb or Qawth?!! Or those who claim something beyond Islamic teaching?

>Insha allah you understand from this the reasoning behind the labels and the value of having principles in law i.e to ensure consistency and fairness in our judgment<

I understand but you have to understand in clean towhid priciples, the word Qutb which means PILLAR of faith or deen or world or Qawth=Relief Giver has no place in towheedul Islam that prophet of Allah propogated. Beside its lead to a shirk if its not pure shirk. It also give self tazkiya for the claimer.

When couple of Sahaba was harrassed by group of Jewish, they said let was ask Iqathah from prophet pbuh on this. Its a matter of helping hand but the prophet pbuh out of respect of towheed and words said, "For me, I can't give Iqathah on such case (rough translation)" He want to teach his companions the word of Iqathah comes from Allah alone when its things Allah alone can do. . And Qowth is in fact Allah the one who give Iqathah. Moroever, it has a dangerous consequence on Aqeedah.  Hence using it is Haram and could be shirk if believed. 

Abu Mujahid

 I believe that the saints (Aulia Allah) had some special relation with Allah. That relation was spiritual. I wonder if these Aulia Allah (Mystics, Sufis) used to get any communiction, any news, any signal from Allah?? That is very important to decide the present discussion. It is known that these saints used to show Karamat which are analogous to miracles. Please discuss these angles too.

The question is: Does Allah speak to any one of the Ummah now (by any means) ??

Thanks.

 I had asked an important question on 22 September 2007. Everything went quiet after that. Was it a too difficult question? I do not know why all went quiet and ignored the question.

 That was an important question because some of the persons of this Ummah have claimed to have communication from Allah. This subject is related to the Aulia Allah. It should be answered by some one in favor or against it.

 Also there is another question now. Because it is illegal to use words (names) that were not used by the prophet s.a.w.s. The question is: Is it allowed to use the word Maulvi or Shaikh ul Islam?? I know there is not to be any Pundit or Padre system in Islam. So is it alright to use the word Maulvi for any one?? Where will it lead us? I hope it is not harmful to call some one as a Maulvi. What is a Maulvi? or Maulana? or Hazrat?

 The supporters of Hadith who are mostly against the Aulia (Saints) of the Ummah should specially please reply. Thanks.

 Thanks for the reply. It is believed that there will be no revelation now as it used to be to the prophets. But will there be any other kind of revelation (Wahi) in this age to any one?? That is some kind of Wahi which does not alter any word of The Book (Quran). Does Allah give any news to any one now of the unseen (Ghaib)? Thank you for your patience.

A_Azeem is also welcome to discuss this matter as he also knows more than some friends.

As'Salamu Alaikum,

Minuteman, i hope nad wish you to be given a  better answer. Till then bear with mine

After reading your question i got to remember a hadith of Umar RA

Umar ra sent out a military detachment and he appointed a man called Saariyah in charge of them. Whilst �Umar was delivering the khutbah one Friday, he said, �O Saariyah, the mountain! O Saariyah, the mountain!� And they found out that Saariyah had moved towards the mountain at that moment on the Friday even though there was the distance of a month�s journey between them.  Its said that this cud be an inspiration from Allah or kashf.

Does Allah give any news to any one now of the unseen (Ghaib)?

Also refer to this verse (He Alone is) the All‑Knower of the Ghayb (Unseen), and He reveals to none His Ghayb (Unseen) except to a Messenger (from mankind) whom He has chosen. And these people who claim to know like few sufis, or those termed wali, i don't believe them that they get any sort of wahy, you are refering to. It may be kashf. Lets see what the other members say.