With Love to Muhammad (sa) - The Khatam-un-Nabiyyin — Page 325
Appendix I 325 they exhibited such devotion and made such sacrifices as are not possible for anyone until all his doubts have been resolved. They realized that to win His pleasure it was necessary to accept Isl ā m and to obey the Holy Prophet sa with complete sincerity. After this absolute certainty, the kind of obedience they exhibited and the feats they performed and the manner in which they laid down their lives at the feet of their Holy Preceptor, were matters which were not possible for anyone who had not witnessed what the companions had witnessed. Such high qualities cannot be developed and salvation cannot be truly achieved without such means. It is, therefore, necessary that the Beneficent God Who has invited everyone to salvation should make a similar arrangement in every century so that His creatures should not fail in any age to attain the stage of absolute certainty. Need of the Company of the Righteous The affirmation that the Holy Qur’ ā n and the ah ā d ī th alone suffice us and that we do not need the company of the righteous is opposed to the teachings of the Holy Qur’ ā n, as All ā h the Exalted has said: ْ اﻟﺼّٰﺪِﻗِني َ ﻣَﻊ وَﻛُﻮْﻧُﻮْا 322 The truthful are those who have recognized the truth through their spiritual insight and are devoted to it. This high grade of spiritual insight cannot be achieved unless heavenly guidance conveys a seeker to the stage of certainty by experience. In this sense the truly righteous are the prophets, the messengers, the muhaddath ī n and the perfect auliy ā ’ who are guided by heavenly light and who behold God Almighty with the sight of certainty 322 ‘And be with the truthful. ’—S ū rah At-Taubah, 9:119