Thread by @IbneKhan01

KARĀMĀT OF AWLIYĀ’A ACCORDING TO THE MĀTURĪDĪS

1. Imām al-Aáżam Abū Ĥanīfah al-Númān ibn al-Thābit al-Kūfī [70-150 AH / 689-767 CE] states in Fiqh al-Akbar:

“And the Karāmāt of the Awliyā’a are true.”

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2. Fakhr al-Islām Abu’l Ĥasan Álī ibn Muĥammad ibn al-Ĥusayn ibn Ábd al-Karīm al-Bazdawī [Pazdawī] al-Nasafī al-Ĥanafī [d. 482 AH / 1089 CE] writes in his Uşūl al-Dīn:

“The Ahl al-Sunnah said: Karāmāt of the Awliyā’a are true.

The Mútazilah and the Qadariyyah said:

Karāmāt of the Awliyā’a are false, not possible. A Karāmah, if Allāh táālā manifests at the hand of a Walī from among the Awliyā’a, is something that goes against the norm. Such as a person going from Bukhārah to Makkah in a single night, or walking upon the surface of the water

without a boat, or there appears for him wealth without working or earning; not from himself or from another person.

Their doubt: If this was possible then it leads to nullifying of Mújizahs; thus it leads to nullifying of Risālah. For the evidence of the truthfulness of the

Messengers is not except Mújizahs, and Mújizahs are what manifest at their hands out of what goes against the norm. Thus, if it were possible for this to manifest at the hands of other than them, there would not be any proof left for their truthfulness, and that is false, thus

it is appropriate that it is not possible just as it is not possible for a Mújizah to manifest at the hands of a false claimant to Prophethood.

The reason for the saying of the general Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l Jamāáh: The manifestation of Karāmāt at the hand the Awliyā’a of Allāh

táālā is witnessed, for indeed Allāh táālā mentioned in His Book the report of Āşif, the Wazīr of Sulaymān عليه السلام, that he came with the Kursī of Bilqīs from many miles in the blink of an eye. Allāh táālā said, Said one who had knowledge of the Book, “I will bring it in

your majesty’s presence before you bat your eyelid”; then when he saw it set in his presence, he said, “This is of the favours of my Lord. The exegetes have agreed that the one who had knowledge of the Book was Āşif ibn Barakhiyya, and similarly there has manifested what goes

against the norm at the hands of many people, from the time Allāh táālā created the world until this time of ours. Indeed, there has manifested similar to this in different ages.”

He further writes:

“In the Hadīth of Úmar رضي الله عنه where he said, ‘O Sāriyah! The mountain!’,

and between him and Sāriyah was many miles, close to fifty parasangs. Sāriyah heard the voice of Úmar, thus whoever rejects this then indeed he has rejected what is witnessed, and so he follows the Sophists.

As for their objection then it is not a [valid] objection, for indeed a

Karāmah manifests without a claim [of Risālah], and a Mújizah manifests following a claim, thus it does not necessitate the nullification of Mújizahs. Also, a Karāmah manifests at the hand of the Walī when he is following the Rasūl, because the Karāmah that manifests for him is

a Mújizah of the Rasūl, and by this Mújizahs are not nullified. As opposed to the false claimant of Prophethood, for if Mújizahs manifested at his hands, then that would lead to nullification of Mújizahs.”

3. Imām Najmuddīn Abū Ĥafş Úmar ibn Muĥammad al-Nasafī al-Ĥanafī [461-537 AH / 1068-1142 CE] writes in Áqīdah al-Nasafiyyah:

“And the Karāmāt of the Awliyā’a are true. Thus, a Karāmah of manifests by going against the norm for the Walī. Among traversing a long distance in a

short span of time, and the appearance of food, drink and clothes when needed, and walking upon water, and flying in the air, and the speech of the inanimate and the beasts, and other things besides that. That is a Mújizah for the Rasūl, the one who manifested this Karāmah for

one among his Ummah, because it is manifested by it that he is a Walī, and he does not become a Walī except if he is correct in his belief, and his belief is an admission by the tongue and an affirmation in the heart of the Messengerhood of His Rasūl.”

4. Imām Sirājuddīn Abu’l Ĥasan Álī ibn Úthmān ibn Muĥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Taymiyy al-Farghānī al-Uūshī al-Ĥanafī [d. 575 AH / 1179 CE] writes in Bad’ al-Amālī:

“Karāmāt of a Walī, in this world
Have a basis, and they are the benevolent folk.”

5. Imām Nūruddīn Abū Muĥammad Aĥmad ibn Maĥmūd al-Şābūnī al-Ĥanafī [d. 580 AH / 1184 CE] writes in Bidāyah fī Uşūl al-Dīn:



“Karāmāt of the Awliyā’a are possible according to us, as opposed to the Mútazilah, and similarly magic and the evil eye are certain according to us as

opposed to them. Our proof in that is from the texts and the intellect.

As for the texts, then it is what Allāh táālā informed regarding the companion of Sulaymān, that he came with the throne of Bilqīs from a far distance in a short amount of time, as Allāh táālā said,

informing about him, “I will bring it in your majesty’s presence before you bat your eyelid”; then when he saw it set in his presence’. Similarly, Sāriyah, whilst he was in Nahāwand, heard the saying of Úmar رضي الله عنه whilst he was in Madīnah, ‘O Sāriyah! The mountain!’,

and between them both was a distance greater than fifty parasangs, and the flowing of the Nile by the letter of Úmar رضي الله عنه, and the drinking of poison by Khālid ibn al-Walīd is famous, and similarly what has been transmitted from the Karāmāt of the Tābiýīn and the

righteous of this Ummah has reached such an extent that if the singular reports were gathered they would reach the level of Tawātur in the possibility of Karāmah.

As for the intellect, then it is an act of Allāh táālā contrary to the flowing of the norm, so that the slave may

recognise the fruit of obedience and increase his insight by the correctness of his Dīn.

If it is said: If the Karāmah manifests at this level then it would resemble the Mújizah, and so a Nabī would not be told apart from a Walī.

We say: It is not like this, for indeed the

Mújizah is coupled with the claim of Prophethood, and if a Walī claimed that he has committed Kufr and he does not remain suitable for Karāmah, rather he is called a Walī due to following the Nabī عليه السلام. Thus, there is no harm in every Karāmah being a Mújizah of the Nabī,

the one whom his follower is called a Walī, and so no similarity occurs.”

6. Şadru’sh Sharīáh Mawlānā Amjad Álī al-Aáżamī al-Ĥanafī [1293-1367 AH / 1876-1948 CE] wrote in Bahār e Sharīát:

“Karāmat-e-Awliyā’a are true, the one who rejects this is misguided.

To bring the dead to life, to heal the one born blind and the leper, to transverse the whole

earth from east to west in one step, in short, all things that go against the norm are possible for the Awliyā’a, except that Mújizah which has been proven impossible for others. Such as bringing a Sūrat similar to the Qur’ān-e-Majīd, or to have Vision of Allāh in this world in a

state of wakefulness, or to be honoured with Kalām-e-Ĥaqīqī, whoever claims this for himself or for a Walī is a Kāfir.”