The way to grow closer to Allah

Praise
be to Allah.

The way to draw closer to Allah has been explained to us in
the clearest terms by Him, may He be glorified and exalted, in His Book,
and He sent to us His Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), who did not omit anything good but he told us about it and he
did not omit anything bad but he warned us against it. We will quote here
just one of the beneficial and comprehensive hadiths in which the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained the way that will
bring us closer to Allah, may He be glorified, in the most concise and
clearest terms. Al-Bukhaari (6502) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah
be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: “Allah says: ‘Whoever takes a close friend of
Mine as an enemy, I declare war on him. My slave does not draw closer to
Me by anything more beloved to Me than that which I have made obligatory
upon him, and My slave continues to draw closer to Me by doing naafil
(supererogatory) deeds until I love him, and if I love him I will be his
hearing with which he hears, his vision with which he sees, his hand with
which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. If he were to ask of
Me, I would surely give to him; if he were to seek refuge with Me, I would
surely grant him refuge. I do not hesitate about anything that I want to
do as I hesitate to take the soul of a believer, for he hates death and I
hate to hurt him.” This hadith clearly and concisely highlights the way to
become a close friend of Allah, may He be exalted, for the one who wants
to be one of His close friends. 

Al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allah have mercy on him)
said in Jaami‘ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hikam (2/335): This hadith mentions
that which will bring us closer to Him. The basic meaning of wilaayah (close
friendship) is nearness or closeness, and the basic meaning of ‘adaawah
(enmity) is distance or being far away. So the close friends of Allah are
those who draw close to Him by means of that which brings them closer to
Him. End quote. 

This hadith highlights the way that brings one closer to
Allah, may He be exalted. All the believer has to do is reflect deeply upon
this hadith and understand it properly, then follow that by acting upon what
it says. After that, by Allah’s leave, he will be on his way to becoming a
close friend of Allah, may He be exalted, and drawing closer to Him,
commensurate with the deeds he does, seeking thereby the Countenance of
Allah, may He be exalted, and following the Sunnah of His Messenger
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Explaining the content of this
hadith, al-Haafiz Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said elsewhere in
his book Jaami‘ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hikam: His close friends who are near
to Him may be divided into two categories, the first of which is those who
draw near to Him by doing that which is enjoined, which includes doing
obligatory duties and avoiding things which are prohibited, because all of
that comes under the heading of what Allah has enjoined upon His slaves. The
second category is those who draw nearer to Him, after doing obligatory
duties, by doing naafil (supererogatory) deeds. End quote. 

So the Muslim must strive hard, first of all, to establish
the obligatory duties that Allah has enjoined upon him, such as the five
daily prayers, which are the most important of the practical obligatory
duties, as well as giving zakaah, fasting Ramadan, performing the pilgrimage
to the Ka‘bah if he is able to do so, and all the other obligatory practical
duties, such as honouring one’s parents, upholding ties of kinship,
fulfilling the rights of one’s wife and children, enjoining what is right
and forbidding what is wrong, to the best of one’s ability, and other
significant acts of worship which only draw one closer to Allah. One must
also do acts of worship of the heart, such as being sincere to Allah, may He
be exalted, alone, and loving Him, loving His Messenger and His law, loving
the believers, putting one’s trust in Allah, fearing Him, and other acts of
worship of the heart that have been enjoined. 

He must also strive hard to fulfil the rights of Allah, may
He be exalted, with regard to the second type of obligatory duty, which is
the obligation to refrain from that which Allah has instructed us to refrain
from. This includes refraining from zina (unlawful sex), riba (usury,
interest), alcohol, stealing, wrongdoing, backbiting, malicious gossip and
other prohibited actions. If he does do any of these things, then he must
hasten to repent and mend his ways. 

With regard to all these matters, one needs to acquire
Islamic knowledge in order to worship Allah with insight and understanding. 

Moreover, after that the believer must do a lot of
supererogatory actions, by means of which he may attain a lofty status
before Allah and attain the love of Allah, may He be exalted, as mentioned
above in the hadith. 

There are many of these supererogatory actions; the Muslim
should start with the most important of them, then the next most important.
The best and most significant of them is acquiring Islamic knowledge and
teaching it to people. 

Another example is the confirmed naafil (supererogatory) acts
of worship, such as the regular Sunnah prayers (as-sunan ar-rawaatib),
qiyaam al-layl (voluntary prayers at night), and Witr prayer. 

That also includes remembering Allah, may He be exalted, a
great deal (dhikr), and doing acts of charity. One of the things that will
help the Muslim to do that is to organise his time by night and day. So he
should allocate time for obligatory duties and time for supererogatory
deeds. He can also help himself to attain that by attending the gatherings
of the righteous and good people. May Allah help us and you to do that which
He loves and is pleased with.

And Allah knows best.