up to His words:
“are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving in His cause.”
And He has said:
“Allah took Abraham as an intimate friend.”
And He has said:
“The first forerunners among the Emigrants and the Helpers, and those who followed them in goodness—Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him.”
And He has said:
“He has inscribed faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him. He will admit them into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein. Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him.”
And He has said:
“Those are the best of creation.”
“Their reward with their Lord is gardens of everlasting residence beneath which rivers flow, where they will abide forever. Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him.”
And the Prophet said:
“Indeed, Allah loves the servant who is God-fearing, free of want, and unobtrusive.”
“Indeed, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.”
“Indeed, Allah is clean and loves cleanliness.”
“Indeed, Allah is One and loves what is odd-numbered.”
“Indeed, Allah loves noble character and dislikes base character.”
And he said:
“Indeed, Allah is pleased with three things for you: that you worship Him without associating anything with Him; that you all hold firmly to the rope of Allah and do not become divided; and that you sincerely counsel those whom Allah has placed in charge of your affairs.”
The Quran contains many references to choosing, selecting, bringing near, speaking intimately, calling, intimate friendship, and similar matters. The same is true of the Sunnah. This is among the matters upon which the early generations of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah (the people of the Sunnah and the community), and people of understanding, worship, learning, and faith, agreed.
A group of heretical hypocrites disputed the reality of these matters: those who resemble the Sabians and those who agree with them, and those who resemble the Jews and Christians among the Jahmiyyah, or those influenced by Jahmī doctrines, even if adherence to the Sunnah predominates in them.