Khalilullah
Definition
Khalilullah — the intimate friend of Allah — is the unique title given to Ibrahim, considered the highest form of the love relationship between Creator and creation. The word khalil comes from a root that suggests permeation: the love of God had so thoroughly penetrated every dimension of Ibrahim's being that no room remained for attachment to anything else. Ibn Kathir distinguishes khalil from habib (beloved) — a title given to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — noting that scholars debated which was higher, but agreeing that both represent an intimacy with the divine that is inaccessible through human effort alone, given only as a divine gift to those whom God chooses for this particular nearness.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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