Bismillahi rahmani rahemm, assalamau alaikum,
If you ask a person what is a wali (saint) you will receive many different answers, some will say it is a person who can perform miracles, others will say it is Allah’s friend or a person of high Ihsan (perfection).
These are things that while still correct all talk around the issue, there is one verse in the Quran that answers it exactly but because the verse is not about this subject people don’t know this is the proper answer with Allah;
“O Prophet – behold, We have sent thee as a witness [to the truth], and as a herald of glad tidings and a warner, and as one who summons [all men] to Allah by His leave, and as a light-giving beacon.” (33:45-46)
Other translations have “as a lamp that giveth light”, “ as a lamp spreading light”, this is to show you the literalism in this verse, of spreading light and what it is referring to directly, the human body acting like a lamp illuminating the area around it.
I know some people in their premature understanding will go back to thinking of this verse in metaphor because “the body is not a lamp”, but you could not be further from the truth, in fact Allah is teaching man the science behind prophet hood and subsequently what a wali is in this verse, you just don’t know human physiology properly.
To be brief, the human body is entirely a giant lamp that gives light because of its nervous system, but its light is not in the visible part of the light spectrum, the heart, brain and nervous system all produce a strong electromagnetic field (light) that surrounds the entire body by about 3-4ft, this is the same with all living creatures and it is how they and us sense the world around us, it is the thing that directs and shapes our feelings by what is occurring around us sub atomically. Animals use it to hunt we use it to sense what others are feeling, the mood in a room, while prophets and saints are inspired through it.
This is how we communicate spiritually with each other, in physics it is called the coherence of waves (electromagnetic waves) and this is what the spiritual heart is composed of inside man, his hearts complex nervous system that functions like a mini brain inside the heart.
Angels for example are made from light and so they talk to man and inspire him through His light, one light wave talking to another, this is what mobile phones do and today the scientific name for light is the electromagnetic field.
The heart doesn’t have ears to listen with but it senses the world around it with its electromagnetic field (light), so understand what Allah explains in this verse; “Say (O Muhammad, to mankind): Who is an enemy to Gabriel! For he it is who hath revealed (this Scripture) to thy heart by Allah’s leave, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, and a guidance and glad tidings to believers” (2:97).
Imam Tustari said in his tafsir “Allah does not open the heart of a servant if it still contains three things, loving to remain (in this world), love of wealth, and concern about tomorrow.”
The Imam also said in his Tafsir “the nafs (self) has seven celestial veils (hujub samawiyyah) and seven earthly veils (hujub ardiyyah)”, things that cover it and stop it from sensing clearly, seven veils relating to material things and seven veils relating to spiritual things, these veils make our perception to varying degrees delusional, if we want to be inspired with clarity we have to work at removing them. The Imam then explained “when ever man buries his nafs (self) in earth upon earth (ardan ardan), (lowers his esteem and ego), his heart (qalb) is raised up Heaven upon Heaven (sama’an sama’an). And when he (completely) buries the nafs (ego) under the ground (tahta at tara), the heart reaches the throne” (Arsh).
The Imam just explained the entire Path/Tariqah to Allah, but for this present work what we are interested in is the goal, what occurs when we get there.
The spiritual depth of the heart is the depth of subatomic space, light is a subatomic particle and it is the medium of spirituality, and it ends with the Arsh of Allah which is the boundary of the universe its outer limit called sidrat al muntaha in the Quran. Between man on earth and the Arsh are the seven regions of Jannah, the Kursi, then the Arsh.
When Imam Tustari said the heart reaches the Arsh He meant in its perception and the place it receives its spiritual sustenance/light from. The human body can receive light from different sources, Angels, Jinn, People, Animals, Birds, Jannah, the Kursi, Arsh and then shine it into this world.
This what the prophet Muhammad (saws) meant when He (saws) said; “A Muslim is a mirror to another Muslim.” (Abu Dawud)
As each person’s heart expands with wisdom it gains depth into the spiritual part of the universe, its subatomic part, when you complete this process like the prophets and Awliya your heart reaches the Arsh in the place it receives light from.
The seven levels of Jannah are the seven subatomic depths that inspire people with knowledge and guidance through their light, “his heart (qalb) is raised up Heaven upon Heaven”, the prophet (saws) saw this on the night of Isra wal Miraj when He saw the prophets in charge of each level of Jannah, in other words each type of knowledge that man receives on earth from them. (see our article Reaching The Arsh With Your Heart)
In life people develop to varying degrees of maturity, some will only reach the first, second and third Jannah in the depth of their character and they are usually seen as shallow people, mature people reach the 4th, 5th and 6th depths of Jannah in the place they gain wisdom/light from, while the saints and prophets complete the Journey reaching the 7th and beyond which is the Arsh.
Each person then spreads their light on earth from what they achieved, influencing others, this is what verse 33:46 means except it is talking about prophetic light that shows people the light of Allah most perfectly;
“O Prophet – behold, We have sent thee as a witness [to the truth], and as a herald of glad tidings and a warner, and as one who summons [all men] to Allah by His leave, and as a light-giving beacon.” (33:45-46)
Being a Wali means you have reached the Arsh as Imam Tustari described and now Allah is shining the light of His Arsh, which He established Himself upon (Istawa), through you in this world.
“They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their speech, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it.” (61:8)
This is what this verse means by the light of Allah on earth, remember Allah and His light are perfect and don’t need work but man does, it was the prophet (saws) who was spreading it 1400 years ago and today it is us.
The pagans wanted to end Islam but Allah revealed this verse saying He will spread His light until the end of time, man is the mechanism by which this is done so Allah said to the pagans you can’t stop Islam because He is going to Help them.
The word light in the Quran is first understood literally then meaning is added to it based on its functionality, this is how spirituality is understood.
The role of the Wali is to literally spread the light of Allah on earth so others can see by it things they could not see except in their presence, because of it.
Shaykh Rami Al Rifai.