Awliya, Abdaal, Awtaad & Qutub

Allah Ta’ala has created mankind solely for His worship. Together with that, Allah Ta’ala has created in man desires which may lead him to his disobedience. When a Muslim restrains himself from these desires which lead him to the disobedience of Allah as well as he combats the whisperings of Shaytaan and devotes himself to the worship of Allah Ta’ala and shuns committing sins, then Allah Ta’ala draws this servant close to Him and after some time, blesses Him with his ‘nisbat’ (close relationship) and make him a Wali (saint or close servant of Allah).

These special servants enjoy a special relationship with Allah Ta’ala which other people do not. Any person may become the Wali of Allah Ta’ala if he threads the right path, carries out the commands of Allah Ta’ala and refrains from those things which Allah has ordained Haraam (forbidden). The Awliyaa (plural of Wali) are of no fixed number and are existant throughout the world. From amongst the Awliyaa, Allah Ta’ala has selected forty special and extremely pious servants who are called the Abdaal. In each time and era, the number of Abdaal will always remain forty. They are called Abdaal because the word Abdaal means ‘replacements’ so, when one of the Abdaal passes away, he is substituted and replaced by another so that at all times they number forty. Their task in this world is to invite people to the oneness of Allah Ta’ala and to ward off hardships from people. No one knows who the Abdaal are except for a few selected individuals from whom Allah Ta’ala wishes to inform. The Abdaal are mostly based in Syria, however, they may be found in any part of the world.

There exists another group of special servants of Allah Ta’ala who are known as the ‘Awtaad’ which can be loosely translated as pegs. There are only four Awtaad in every time and era. The reason why they are called Awtaad (pegs) is because they resemble the pegs of a tent. Just as how a tent needs 4 pegs for it to remain firmly erect, similarly, the earth needs 4 pegs for it to function smoothly and with consistency. Allah Ta’ala allows this world to run smoothly because of these four special individuals who are the Awtaad, and Allah has positioned each of them in the four corners of the world. One is stationed in the east, the other in the west, another in thr north and the other in the south.

The leader and the head of all the above mentioned servants, i.e. the Awliyaa, the Abdaal and the Awtaad is the Qutub. He is an individual who is the most pious and closest servant to Allah Ta’ala existing on earth. There is only one Qutub in each time and era. When the Qutub of the time passes away, the most senior Abdaal becomes the next Qutub and the most pious Wali becomes the next Abdaal. There is no explicit mention of where a Qutub exists. (Majmauz-rasaail ibn Abideen vol.2 pg.264)

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai