26/11/2022

Question:

May the peace, blessings and mercy of Allah Almighty be upon you, Honorable Sheikh.

May Allah Almighty reward you and increase His favors upon you and upon those serving you in your journey of renewing the religion for the Muslims.

Sir, what are the traits that exist in a person he is then considered a spiritual guide? And is immunity from committing minor and major sins one of those traits?

May Allah Almighty reward you generously.

 

Name: Abdulla Fuad Al-Mahmood

 

Answer:-

May the peace, blessings and mercy of Allah Almighty be upon you as well.

Thank you for contacting this auspicious website, and for your kind prayers. May Allah – exalted is He – reward you the same and increase you with what he loves for his righteous servants.

Brief answer:-

The spiritual guide is the Sheikh who’s perfect (in his religion) and is protected from sins, he never commits them except in rare occasions or in forgetfulness.

Details:-

To avoid repetition in answers, please check the answer of question number (1654). it’s sufficient, God-willing, and you can also benefit from my book (The Heartily Bond) on this auspicious website, especially pages (49 – 58).

As for the second part of the question:-

Allah Almighty said about our Master Yousef peace be upon him:-

{— thus (did We order) that We might turn away from him (all) evil and shameful deeds: for he was one of Our servants, sincere and purified} [Surah of our Master Yousef peace be upon him: 24].

It is concluded from this noble verse that Allah protects those of His servants, who are sincere, from evil and shameful deeds. He is the one Who protects them from falling to such sins.

Our Master Abdullah Bin Abbas – May Allah be pleased with him – said:-

(I was behind the Prophet – peace and prayers be upon him – one day when he said: ‘O young man, I will teach you a statement: Be mindful of Allah and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find Him before you. When you ask, ask Allah, and when you seek aid, seek Allah’s aid. Know that if the entire creation were to gather together to do something to benefit you- you would never get any benefit except that Allah had written for you. And if they were to gather to do something to harm you- you would never be harmed except that Allah had written for you. The pens are lifted and the pages are dried) Al-Imam Al-Tirmidhi May Allah Almighty have mercy on him.

Thus the spiritual guide is the one who is completely protected, his faith is completed and has reached the state of Al-ihsan (Benevolence), which our Master, the Prophet – peace and prayers be upon him and his family and companions – clarified when he said:-

(Ihsan (Benevolence) is to worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not achieve this state of devotion, then (take it for granted that) Allah sees you) Al-Imam Al-Bukhari may Allah Almighty have mercy on him.

And so whoever reaches this state, it is impossible for him to fall into committing sins, except in rare occasions, even then he hurries in repentance immediately, and that does not contradict the state of being protected. What contradicts it would be a repetition of commiting sins, which is what a spiritual guide is far from and protected of.

Allah All-Gracious said:-

{Indeed, those who fear Allah – when an impulse touches them from Satan, they remember [Him] and at once they have insight} [Surah Al-A’raf: 201].

And my hope is for those who honor me by visiting my website would benefit from the search mechanism, so they’d save themselves time in getting their answers quickly, and to lessen the burden of writing answers on my part.

And Allah Almighty blessed be his name knows best.

And peace and prayers be upon our Master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, the people of utmost goodness and generousness.