He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, also said:

“I shall come to the gate of Paradise and ask that it be opened. The keeper will say, ‘Who are you?’ I will reply, ‘Muhammad.’ He will then say, ‘It is you—I have been commanded not to open it for anyone before you.’”

The virtues of the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and of his nation are countless. From the moment Allah sent him, He made him the decisive criterion between His friends and His foes: no one can be a friend of Allah unless he believes in him, in all that he brought, and follows him both inwardly and outwardly. Anyone who claims to love Allah and to be close to Him yet fails to follow the Prophet is not among Allah’s friends; on the contrary, whoever opposes him belongs to the enemies of Allah and the allies of Satan.

Allah the Exalted says:

Say, “If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you.”

Al-Hasan al-Basri—may Allah have mercy on him—said, “A group of people claimed that they loved Allah, so Allah revealed this verse as a test for them.”

In this verse, Allah makes it clear that whoever follows the Messenger is loved by Allah, whereas whoever claims to love Allah without following the Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him—is not among Allah’s friends. Yet many people imagine, about themselves or about others, that they are friends of Allah, when they are not. The Jews