What is the Karāmah? Who Possesses Karāmah?
Arabic lexicographical sources draw attention to the following meanings of karam, the root of karāmah: dignity, honor, nobility, generosity, and freedom. The same lexicons state that karāmah signifies being adorned with the qualities of karam. It follows, therefore, that the understanding of karāmah as claimed in certain Sufi orders is, first and foremost, linguistically inaccurate.
This semantic framework is further clarified by Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī in his al-Mufradāt, entry Karam:
The word كَرَم (Karam), meaning open-handedness and generosity, when used as an attribute for Allah, signifies His manifest acts of kindness and bestowal of blessings everywhere and at all times. Just as in the verse: فَإِنَّ رَبِّي غَنِيٌّ كَرِيمٌ …My Lord is rich and generous (27:40). When this attribute is used for humans, it refers to the commendable morals and actions/behaviors that are evident in their conduct. It is not enough for this quality to remain hidden in a person; only when it is openly manifested can that person be called كَرِيمٌ (karīm-generous).
Some scholars say that the attribute of generosity (karam) is similar to the attribute of freedom (ḥurriyyah), with the difference that freedom can be used for both small and large acts of kindness. Generosity, however, can only be used for great acts of kindness, such as fully equipping an army to fight in the cause of Allah or undertaking a sacrifice to prevent the bloodshed of an entire community.
Regarding the expression "أَكْرَمَكُمْ" in the verse of Allah: إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ "Indeed, the most honorable among you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most righteous" (49:13), the word "كَرَم"(karam) directly expresses praiseworthy deeds, and the most valuable and superior good deeds are those performed with the intention of gaining the pleasure of Allah. A person who seeks Allah's pleasure through the best of his deeds is a person of piety. Therefore, the most generous of people is the one who is most advanced in piety. For this reason, everything that is valuable in its own right is described with the attribute of generosity كَرَم (karam).
In this sense, Allah says: فَأَنْبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ زَوْجٍ كَرِيمٍ …And We caused to grow therein every kind of beautiful pair of plants (31:10); وَزُرُوعٍ وَمَقَامٍ كَرِيمٍ And crops and high ranks (44:26); Indeed, it is a noble Qur'an (56:77); and speak to them both with kind words (17:23).
The derivatives of karam—a root sharing the same semantic field as karāmah—such as karīm, ikrām, takrīm, and mukrim, occur 47 times in the Quran. The most frequently used of these is karīm. Notably, karīm is an attribute applied to Allah, to Gabriel, and to the Prophet Muḥammad; moreover, it is a characteristic attributed to all prophets. Thus, the prophet sent to enlighten and liberate the people whom Pharaoh had enslaved is also described as a karīm messenger:
And indeed We tried before them Fir'aun's (Pharaoh) people, when there came to them a noble Messenger [i.e. Musa (Moses)],
In its traditional sense—particularly as articulated in Sufi order literature—karāmah emerges as a concept employed to single out certain individuals as privileged and to render them effectively immune, thereby functioning as a means of delegating and exercising prophetic authority through select persons.
Karāmah, as understood and presented in Sufi order literature, has no foundation in either the Quran or the Sunnah. Nevertheless, its proponents assert: “Miracles (muʿjizāt) are granted to prophets, while karāmah is granted to saints(wali-awliya); just as miracles signify prophethood, karāmah signifies sainthood.”
The forms of karāmah described in this framework are not observed even in prophets who were endowed with miracles. If karāmah, as they claim, were a decisive criterion of spiritual rank, then individuals regarded by Sufi circles as possessors of karāmah would necessarily deserve attributes far superior to those of the prophets described in the Qurʾān. To accept such a possibility entails departing from the religion as articulated by the Qurʾān—that is, it constitutes disbelief.
We have previously discussed the characteristics of Allah’s awliyāʾ. The Qurʾān defines the qualities of the walī—that is, one who is close to God—with complete clarity. This definition rests on two elements alone: faith in Allah (īmān) and consciousness (taqwā), not karāmah.
62. No doubt! Verily, the Auliya'(friends) of Allah, and love Allah much.
63. Those who believed, and have Taqwa(Godwary-by abstaining from evil deeds and sins and by doing righteous deeds).
"Karam" is a general term for praiseworthy attributes. The highest degree of honor, the pinnacle of everything, is also expressed with the word "karam" and is used for all beings. The highest degree of bestowing freedom and generous giving belongs to Allah. That is why He introduced Himself as "Akram" in the first five verses of the Quran. Ekrem is the superlative form of the attribute "karīm" (to indicate the best of something). It is used for the power or self that embodies the qualities of "karam" in the most advanced sense.
1. Read in the Name of your Lord who created;
2. Created man from a clinging mass.
3. ORead, and your Lord is the Most Generous(Akram),
4. who taught by the pen,
5. taught man what he did not know.
Among the verses in the Quran that contain words derived from the root "karam," and which are used to describe making a person skillful, are the following:
Said he, ‘Do You see this one whom You have honoured above me? If You respite me until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely lay my yoke on his progeny, [all] except a few.’
The desire to boast of superiority and to possess superior qualities are the thoughts of the devil and those like him.
Certainly We have honoured the Children of Adam, and carried them over land and sea, and provided them with all the good things, and preferred them with a complete preference over many of those We have created.
As can be seen , the Quran uses the term "divine nobility" to express the inherent distinction and exceptional qualities that all people possess from creation; not to express the difference and inviolability of a particular class. Whoever possesses the greatest potential value bestowed upon humanity receives the greatest share of divine nobility. In other words, the divine nobility given to a person is manifested through the beautiful works and values they create in their existence and life.
The miracles that Sufi circles invoke consist of certain virtues that supposedly defy the laws of nature. However, the Quran clearly and repeatedly states that the laws of nature, which it calls sunnatullah (Allah's law) and qadar(divine measure), can not and will never change.
[That is Our] established way for those We had sent before you of Our messengers; and you will not find in Our way(Sunnatullah) any alteration.
That was the Way of Allah((Sunnatullah) in the case of those who passed away of old, and you will not find any change in the Way of Allah(Sunnatullah).
42.And they swore by Allah their strongest oaths that if a warner came to them, they would be more guided than [any] one of the [previous] nations. But when a warner came to them, it did not increase them except in aversion.
43.[Due to] arrogance in the land and plotting of evil; but the evil plot does not encompass except its own people. Then do they await except the way of the former peoples? But you will never find in the way of Allah(Sunnatullah) any change, and you will never find in the way of Allah(Sunnatullah) any alteration.
[This is] the established way of Allah(Sunnatullah) which has occurred before. And never will you find in the way of Allah(Sunnatullah) any change.
Meanwhile, phenomena like clairvoyance, telepathy, and telekinesis, which are present in all humans but can not utilized by the majority, have also been exploited. However, there is no evidence that those who can utilize these abilities are superior in religious terms. Any person capable of using these abilities can do so, and many people from many countries, religions, and beliefs, even atheists, use them. These have nothing to do with religion or faith.