Belief in Qutb, Ghawth and Abdal

Q: In defense against those who believe that Islam is

devoid of spiritual ranks of merit, mysticism, or miracles;
what is the basis for belief concerning the awliya and their
hierarchy? What is agreed upon as regards their existence
and the existence of the Qutb?
Wa alaykum as-Salam:
The Holy Qur'an explicitly mentions the Awliya and
describes them as the Believers who fear Allah:

Behold! verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor
shall they grieve;[10:62]
So we must all agree that there are Awliya and that they
exist co-terminally, which means co-everlastingly, with the
Religion.
Next, the Holy Qur'an explicitly mentions that the Believers
have "levels" (darajaat), and that "He raises" (yarfa`u)
some of the Believers above others:

O ye who believe! When ye are told to make room in the
assemblies, (spread out and) make room: (ample) room will
Allah provide for you. And when ye are told to rise up, rise
up. Allah will rise up, to (suitable) ranks (and degrees),
those of you who believe and who have been granted
(mystic) Knowledge. And Allah is well- acquainted with all
ye do. [58:11]
and that:

"above every knowledgeable one there is one more
knowledgeable," [12:76]:
and that "those whom Allah has particularly graced" are
defined as "the Prophets, the Siddiqs, the Shuhada', and
the Righteous" in that order:

[4:69]
and that some Prophets were exalted above others. So we
must all agree that there is a hierarchy of Believers in

general, and hierarchies of Awliya and Prophets in

particular.
The early scholars of hadith were very interested in the
topic of the Awliya' and they gathered not only the hadiths
but even non-Prophetic accounts about their states and
miraculous gifts, and even dreams. For example, Ibn Abi alDunya's al-Awliya and the compilations respectively entitled
al-Awliya' and Karaamaat al-Awliya' by the two Hanbalis alKhallal and al-Lalika'i, as well as Abu Nu`aym's renowned
Hilyat
al-Awliya.
These books are available to us but ignorance is human
and people tend to be the enemies of what they don't know,
including "those who believe that Islam is devoid of spiritual
ranks of merit... or miracles." The Holy Prophet, upon him
blessings and peace, said that the only cure for the malady
of ignorance is to ask.
The Companion Sufyan ibn `Uyayna said, "The learned
scholar does not care for people's positions or feelings
when he disseminates the Divine wisdom; if you accept he
praises Allah, and if you reject he praises Allah." (As for the
term "mysticism," it is best to steer clear of it since it is
largely misunderstood to mean something ethereal or
purely spiritual and tends to betray the fact that the Awliya
are the most practical and act-oriented people of
humankind.)
As for a specific terminology for the Awliya' the Prophet,
upon him blessings and peace, did use certain terms such
as Abdal (substitutes), or certain qualifications of
intercession such as the hadiths in which he refers to
certain arch-intercessors such as our liegelords `Uthman
ibn `Affan and Uways al-Qarani. Ibn `Asakir in his Tarikh
(51:282) narrates with his chain that when Imam al-Shafi`i
finished memorizing the Qur'an he said to himself: "You
have obtained the Qutb al-A`zam" i.e. the greatest axis or
authority around which the Religion revolves.
However, the terms "ghawth", "qutb" and the like to mean
individuals among the Awliya' may have been devised as a
convention among later scholars (see, for example, the
treatises by al-Suyuti in al-Hawi lil-Fatawi and Ibn `Abidin in
his Rasa'il) and are not binding upon the Muslims as
terminology. As the scholars say, "la mushahata filmustalah," meaning: "Don't nag about how we call things."
Was-Salam,
GF Haddad & staff