"Saint" is the English word often used to refer to a wali, pl. awliya', which literally means a friend, i.e. a friend of Allah.

Imam al-Qushayri defined the wali as "One whose obedience attains permanence without interference of sin; whom Allah (swt) preserves and guards, in permanent fashion, from the failures of sin through the power of acts of obedience." In Ibn `Abidin's Rasa'il (2:277).

These are present in the Umma until the end of time, as stated by the Prophet - upon him blessings and peace - in his mass-transmitted (mutawatir) narrations on the Victorious Group.

Some condemn the rendering 'sainthood' and 'saint' for wilaya and wali as Christian imports. This is a specious objection as these are - like 'Religion' (din), 'Believer' (mu'min), 'prayer' (salat), etc. generic terms for holiness and holy persons while there is no confusion, for Muslims, over their specific referents in Islam, namely: the reality of iman with Godwariness and those who possess those qualities ...more