Chapter: On Drawing Near through Obligatory and Supererogatory Acts

باب فی قرب الفرائض والنوافل — فرائض اور نوافل کے بارے میں

بَابٌ فِي قُرْبِ الْفَرَائِضِ وَالنَّوَافِلِ — On Drawing Near Through Worship

وَاسْجُدْ وَاقْتَرِبْ

"And prostrate and draw near [to Allah]." (al-ʿAlaq 96:19). The author explains: Prostration (sujud) in prayer is the closest a servant comes to Allah in this world. The Nafilah (supererogatory prayers and acts) supplement the obligatory, filling the gaps and elevating the servant to closeness with Allah (maqam al-qurb).

مَا تَحَبَّبَ إِلَيَّ عَبْدِي بِشَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُهُ عَلَيْهِ

"My servant does not draw near to Me through anything more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him." (Hadith Qudsi — narrated by Khatib and Ibn Askar from 'Ali, in Kanz al-'Ummal). The obligatory acts are therefore the first and most essential means of nearness to Allah.

The chapter also discusses the famous Hadith of Qurb al-Nawafil — the hadith in which Allah declares that when a servant draws near through supererogatory acts until He loves him, then Allah becomes his hearing, his sight, his hand, and his foot — meaning that the servant's faculties become entirely oriented toward obedience and the pleasure of Allah, and all his movements are guided by divine grace.

وَفِي حَدِيثِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ

Narrated by Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: 'Be in this world as though you are a stranger or a wayfarer.' (Bukhari, Tirmidhi) The author explains: The wayfarer uses what he needs but does not build his permanent home in transit; the believer treats this world similarly — as a passage to the real and eternal home of the Hereafter.