Wilayat (Saint­hood) is a very spe­cial rank and posi­tion of accep­tance given by Allah (Sub­hanahu wa Ta’ala) to His beloved ser­vants. A Wali is a pious Mus­lim who attains this posi­tion of wilayat. Wilayat is deduced from the root word “Wila”, which means close­ness. Some attain this posi­tion due to their sin­cere devo­tion and wor­ship. Some attain this posi­tion from birth, but ulti­mately, it depends on Allah’s mercy and kind­ness. Wilayat is a shadow of Nabuwat (Prophet­hood). A Wali, no mat­ter how great his sta­tus, can­not reach the sta­tus of a Prophet or a Sahaabi (com­pan­ions of the Beloved Prophet (Salla Allahu ta’ala Alayhi wa Sallam).

The fol­low­ing nar­ra­tion explains the sta­tus of the Awliya:

Hadrat Umar (Radi Allahu ta’ala Anhu) said:

“I heard the Beloved Prophet (Salla Allahu ta’ala Alayhi wa Sal­lam) say­ing that there will be cer­tain wor­ship­pers of Allah who will not be Prophets, nor mar­tyrs, but the Prophets and mar­tyrs will envy them on the Day of Judge­ment.”

The Com­pan­ions then asked, “O Prophet of Allah, who are these peo­ple?”

Then the Most Beloved Prophet (Salla Allahu ta’ala Alayhi wa Sal­lam) explained to them the qual­i­ties of the Awliya. The Prophet (Salla Allahu ta’ala Alayhi wa Sal­lam) read to them the verse:

“Beware, ver­ily on the friends of Allah, there is no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
(Surah Yunus, Verse 62)

There are two types of Wilayat:

1) Wilayat-​e-​Amma (gen­eral close­ness to Allah) – This is the close­ness of Allah to every believer, as Allah declares in the Qur’an al-​Kareem:
“We are closer to him, than his own jugu­lar vein.”
(Surah Al-​Kaaf, Verse 16)


2) Wilayat-​e-​Khaas (spe­cial close­ness to Allah) – This close­ness is exclu­sive to the Awliya. This is a spe­cial­ity of those who have trav­eled on the path of Tasawwuf, and attained near­ness to Allah. This is declared in a Hadith-​e-​Quddsi, where Allah says to the Most Beloved Prophet (Salla Allahu ta’ala Alayhi wa Sal­lam), “Among the things that bring My ser­vant close to Me, the ones I love best, are the things that I have made fard (com­pul­sory). When My ser­vant does nafil ibaa­dat (optional prayer), he gets very close to Me. So much so, that I love him very much. When I love Him, I become his hear­ing ear, see­ing eye, hold­ing hand, and walk­ing foot. I give him what­ever he wishes. When he invokes Me for help, I pro­tect him.”