may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“The merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Show mercy to those on earth, and the One in heaven will show mercy to you.”

Al-Tirmidhī said, “An authentic hadith.” Another authentic hadith recorded in the Sunan collections states:

“Allah Most High says: ‘I am al-Rahmān (the Most Merciful). I created the bond of kinship (al-rahim) and derived its name from My name. Whoever maintains it, I shall maintain ties with him; whoever severs it, I shall cut him off.’”

He also said:

“Whoever maintains it, Allah will maintain ties with him; whoever severs it, Allah will sever ties with him.”

There are many similar examples.

The close friends of Allah Most High are of two kinds: those brought near to Him and the people of the right, as explained earlier. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, described the deeds of both groups in the hadith concerning Allah’s close friends:

“Allah Most High says: ‘Whoever shows enmity to a close friend of Mine has openly declared war against Me. Nothing by which My servant draws near to Me equals his fulfilling what I have made obligatory upon him. My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary acts until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks.’”

The righteous—the people of the right—are those who draw near to Him through obligatory duties. They do what Allah has made obligatory upon them and refrain from what He has forbidden them. They do not oblige themselves to perform recommended acts or to forgo what is superfluous among permissible things. As for the foremost, those brought near to Him, they draw near to Him through voluntary acts after fulfilling the obligatory duties, and thus they perform