The Manifestation of Nearness

The Special Status of the Ahl al-Bayt (Household of the Prophet) in Paradise and their Superiority over the Status of the 'Righteous'

If there is any perfection for the 'Righteous' (al-Abrar), that perfection must certainly be present for the 'Those Brought Near' (al-Muqarrabeen) as well; but the reverse is not true, meaning that there may be perfections for the 'Those Brought Near' which are not present for the 'Righteous'. The Surah "al-Insan" (The Human), a large part of which has been applied to the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), does not mean that all their perfections are limited to this extent, but rather that they possess these sorts of perfections. In this Surah, the background [and proof] exists that the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) are higher in rank than the 'Righteous' and have reached the station of the 'Those Brought Near'. In the eighth verse of this Surah, Allah the Almighty says: "وَ يُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَي حُبِّهِ (And feed the needy for the love of Him,)" (76:8); some interpret the pronoun in "عَلَي حُبِّهِ (for the love of Him)" as referring to the food, which is the level of the 'Righteous' - meaning that they give the food while they themselves are hungry and have a desire for it; but some interpret the pronoun as referring to 'الله (Allah)', and this is the station of the 'Those Brought Near', not the 'Righteous'! It says: ﴿وَ يُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَي حُبِّهِ﴾ (And they feed the needy for the love of Him)." That they said we do not worship out of "خَوْفاً مِنَ النَّارِ (fear of the Fire)" or "شَوْقاً إِلَي الْجَنَّة (desire for Paradise)", but we worship out of "حُبّاً (love)"; meaning that our way in feeding the orphan, the poor, and the captive is also out of "حُبّاً لله (love for Allah)", not out of "خَوْفاً مِنَ النَّارِ (fear of the Fire)" or "شَوْقاً إِلَي الْجَنَّة (desire for Paradise)".