Om_Mohammed
18-02-2001, 04:43
Assalaamu alaikum.
In reference to the question about the dead...as I had mentioned in my previous answers...none of us have yet to experience it, so we cannot say for sure. Perhaps they can hear...and perhaps they cannot. At least, it should be safe to say that...they are on a completely different plain of existence than that which we are in. There is much evidence that they can hear...however, at the same time...there is much evidence that although they can hear, and apparently respond(for they are caused to respond to the questions put to them in the grave...a forceful response of witness...something of which they have no control over, therefore revealing that each responds in total truth...covering up nothing), yet they cannot help themselves, much less any other person alive who may be praying to ask for their help or intercession. This state that they are in, between the life as we know it, and before the judgement and final resurrection and eternal life...is called in arabic 'barzakh'. There have been many reports and studies on this, by many reputed scholars.
That all being aside, it is usually best in all matters of which we are not certain, to say that Allah knows best, and to turn to Allah Alone in all matters.
It is in view of this total question, which eventually led to some mention of 'tawassul'...that I am sharing here with you the following study on 'tawassul'...revealing that which is allowed and even advised in Islam, and that which is not good, leading towards belief in shirk, the worst of all sins. It is sometimes in our endeavors to become even more deep in our religious mannerisms, that we delve into that which is actually shirk, or perhaps bidaa, without actually realizing it. That is why we must take due care of our tongues...for the slightest slip sometime or another, without really intending it, can lead us along this path leading astray from the true and simple deen.
I hope and pray that this will be a source of knowledge and betterment for all.
Om Mohammed.
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WHAT IS MEANT BY TAWASUL AND WASEELAH IS FOUR THINGS:
1) The kind of tawassul without which faith cannot be complete, which is seeking to reach Allaah (tawassul) by believing in Him and His Messengers, and obeying Him and His Messenger, This is what is meant in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe! Do your duty to Allaah and fear Him. Seek the means of approach to Him…”[al-Maa’idah 5:35]
This includes seeking to approach Allaah through His Names and Attributes, or by doing acts of obedience and worship by which one seeks to approach Allaah, and so on.
2) Seeking to approach Allaah by asking His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to make du’a’ for one during his lifetime, and the believers asking one another to make du’aa’ for one another. This follows on from the first type and is encouraged.
3) Seeking to approach Allaah by virtue of the status and virtues of some created being, such as saying, “O Allaah, I ask You by virtue of Your Prophet” and so on. This is allowed by some of the ‘ulama’, but this opinion is da’eef (weak). The correct view is that it is definitely haraam, because there can be no tawassul in du’aa’except by virtue of the Names and
Attributes of Allaah.
4) Tawassul as it is understood by many of the Muslims of later times, which is calling on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and seeking his help (or seeking the help of the dead and so-called awliya’). This is a form of major shirk, because calling on or seeking help from anyone other than Allaah with regard to something that that only Allaah is able to do is a kind of worship, and directing worship to anyone or anything
other than Allaah is major shirk. And Allaah knows best.
KINDS OF TAWASUL
Tawassul in Arabic means seeking to draw close. Allaah says in the Qur’aan (interpretation of the meaning): “…[they] desire means of access to their Lord…” [al-Isra’ 17:57], i.e., means of drawing close to Him. There are two types of Tawassul, correct Islamic tawassul and forbidden tawassul.
Correct Islamic tawassul:
This means seeking to draw close to Allaah through acts of worship which He loves and which please Him; these may be waajib (obligatory) or mustahabb (encouraged), and may take the form of words, actions or beliefs. Some types are as follows:
Seeking to draw close to Allaah by means of His names and attributes. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allaah, so call on Him by them, and leave the company of those who belie or deny (or utter impious speech against) His names. They will be requited for what they used to do.” [al-A’raaf 7:180]. So when a person
makes du’aa’ to Allaah, he begins by calling on Allaah with the name that is most apt, such as “al-Rahmaan” (the Most Merciful) when seeking mercy and al-Ghafoor (the All-Forgiving) when asking for forgiveness, and so on. Seeking to draw close to Allaah by means of faith and Tawheed. Allaah says(interpretation of the meaning): “Our Lord! We believe in what You have sent
down, and we follow the Messenger, so write us down among those who bear witness (to the truth).” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:53]
Seeking to draw close to Allaah through righteous deeds, whereby a person asks Allaah by virtue of the best deeds that he has done, such as salaah, fasting, reading Qur’aan, avoiding haraam things, and so on. An example of this is the saheeh hadeeth narrated in the Saheehayn about the three people who entered a cave, and a rock fell and blocked their way out. They asked
Allaah by virtue of their best deeds (to save them). A person may also ask Allaah by virtue of his total dependency upon Him, as Allaah mentions in the Qur’aan (interpretation of the meaning): “[Ayyoob said:] ‘Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.’ [al-Anbiya’ 21:83]; or by admitting his own wrongdoing and his need for
Allaah, as Yoonus is described as saying (interpretation of the meaning): “ ‘None has the right to be worshipped except You (O Allaah). Glorified (and exalted) are You. Truly I have been of the wrong-doers.’” [al-Anbiya’ 21:87]
The rulings on Islamically correct tawassul vary according to its type. Some types are waajib, such as seeking to draw close to Allaah through His names and attributes and through Tawheed (believing in His absolute Oneness), and some are mustahabb, such as seeking to draw close to Him by virtue of all kinds of righteous deeds.
Tawassul that is bid’ah and therefore forbidden:
This is the attempt to draw close to Allaah by means of things that He does not like and that do not please Him, whether they be words, deeds or beliefs. One example of this is trying to draw close to Allaah by calling on the dead or people who are absent, asking them for help, and so on. This is a form of major shirk (shirk akbar), which goes against Tawheed and means that a person is no longer considered to be a Muslim. Calling upon Allaah, whether it is for a purpose such as asking Him to grant some benefit or to ward off some harm, or as an act of worship to express humility and submission before Him, can only be addressed directly to Allaah. If du’aa’s or prayers are addressed to anything oranyone else, this is shirk. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And your Lord said: ‘Invoke Me (and ask Me for anything), I will respond to your invocation. Verily! Those who scorn My worship [i.e., do not invoke Me
and do not believe in My Oneness], they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!” [Ghaafir 40:60]. In this aayah, Allaah explains the punishment of those who arrogantly refuse to call on Allaah, whether they call on someone other than Allaah or they do not call on Him at all, out of pride and self-admiration, even if they do not call on anyone else.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret…” [al-A’raaf 7:55]. Allaah commands His slaves to call on Him and not anyone else.
Allaah says of the people of Hell (interpretation of the meaning): “[They say:] ‘By Allaah, we were truly in a manifest error when we held you (false gods) asequals (in worship) with the Lord of the Worlds.” [al-Shu’ara’ 26:96-97]
Anything that results in equating something other than Allaah with Allaah in worship or acts of obedience is shirk, the crime of associating partners with Him. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And who is more astray than one who calls (invokes) besides Allaah, such as will not answer him until the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls
(invocations) to them? And when mankind are gathered (one the Day of Resurrection), they (false deities) will become enemies for them and will deny their worshipping.”[al-Ahqaaf 46:5-6]
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “ And whoever invokes (or worships) besides Allaah, any other god, of whom he has no proof, then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely, al-kaafiroon (the disbelievers in Allaah and in the Oneness of Allaah) will not be successful.” [al-Mu’minoon 23:117].
Allaah states that anyone who calls on anything other than him is taking that thing as a god, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “…And those, whom you invoke or call upon instead of Him, own not even a qitmeer (the thin membrane over a date-stone). If you invoke (or call upon) them, they hear not your call, and if (in case) they were to hear, they could not
grant it (your request) to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them. And none can inform you (O Muhammad), like Him Who is the All-Knower (of everything).” [Faatir 35:13-14].
In this aayah, Allaah explains that He is the only One Who deserves to be called upon, because He, and no one else, is the Sovereign who is directing everything. Those things that are worshipped cannot hear du’aa’s, let alone respond to the one who invokes them, and even if they were able to hear, they cannot respond, because they do not have the power to either benefit or
harm.
The mushrik Arabs whom the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was sent to call were disbelievers because of this shirk. They would call upon Allaah sincerely at times of difficulty, but they became disbelievers at times of ease and plenty, when they would call on others besides Him. Allaah says(interpretation of the meanings):
“And when they embark on a ship, they invoke Allaah, making their Faith pure for Him only, but when He brings them safely to land, behold, they give a share of their worship to others.” [al-‘Ankaboot 29:65]
“And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon besides Him vanish from you excpet Him (Allaah Alone). But when He brings you safely to land, you turn away (from Him)…” [al-Isra’ 17:67].
“… till when you are in the ships and they sail with them with a favourable wind, and they are glad therein, then comes a stormy wind and the waves come to them from all sides, and they think that they are encircled therein, they invoke Allaah, making their Faith pure for Him Alone…” [Yoonus 10:33]
The shirk of some people nowadays goes even further than the shirk of people in the past, because they direct some acts of worship to something other than Allaah, calling upon them and asking them for help even at times of distress; laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa Billaah (there is no strength and no help except in Allaah). We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound.
To sum up our response to what your friend mentioned: asking the dead for anything is shirk, and asking the living for anything that no one except Allaah is able to do, is also shirk. And Allaah knows best.
TAWASUL: INTERMEDIATION BETWEEN ALLAH AND THE CREATION
The subject of intermediation between Allaah and the creation is an extremely important one. Unfortunately, many of the Muslims are ignorant of it. A result of this is that we have forbidden ourselves the help of Allaah and being strengthened by Him, something which He promised us, should we seek refuge in Him (alone) and follow his command.
Allaah the Exalted said:
And it is a duty upon Us to help the Believers [Rum 30:47]
If you aid Allaah He will aid you and establish your feet firmly (upon the earth) [Muhammad 47:7]
And to Allaah, His Messenger and the Believers belongs the Honour [Munaafiqoon 63:8]
Mankind can be divided into three groups in terms of their understanding of how intermediation exists between Allaah and His creation.
THE FIRST: Those who reject that Allaah sent the Messenger (sas) as an intermediary to teach the Sharee\\\'ah (Allaah\\\'s right to be worshipped alone, His commands and prohibitions and all the ways and means Allaah has legislated to help mankind achieve their purpose on this earth) and claim that this Sharee\\\'ah is for the common people, naming it the External Knowledge. They depend upon opinions and dotings for their form of worship
and have given it the name Internal Knowledge. They also call it Kashf (sudden enlightenment). In reality however, these are nothing but whisperings of Shaytaan and the
satanic means and ways which are in opposition to the simplest pillar of Islaam! Their well known saying in this regard is: My heart informed me about my Lord.[1]
They ridicule the scholars of the Sharee\\\'ah and criticise them because they claim theytake their knowledge \\\'from the dead\\\'. As for themselves, they claim to take their knowledge (directly) with good tidings (i.e. they receive revelation) from the Ever-Living and Self-Sustaining. As a result of this they have put many to trial and have led them astray. They commit such actions which are in complete opposition to the Sharee\\\'ah and which are can be found in their books, that the scholars have declared them to be disbelievers and also
declared their blood to be lawful due to their apostacy; being ignorant or feigning ignorance of the first pillar principle of the Sharee\\\'ah which is that whoever worships Allaah by something other than what was revealed to Muhammad is a Kaafir without a doubt, due to the saying of Allaah the Exalted:
But no by your Lord! They do not believe until they make you judge in all their disputes and then find no resistance in their souls to what you decide and offer their fullest submission [Nisaa 4:65]
As such, Shaytaan has made their actions alluring to them by corrupting their knowledge and extinguishing its light. As a result they travel in darkness upon darkness and resort to their desires and imaginations worshipping Allaah by them. They are those whom Allaah has described in the Qur\\\'aan:
Say: Shall we tell you of those who lose most in respect of their deeds?-Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works? They are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the fact of their having to meet Him (in the Hereafter): Vain will be their works, nor shall We, on the Day of Judgment, give them any weight. [Kahf 18:103-105]
This group has also been divided into a number of factions each of them disagreeing and fighting with another due to their being far from the Straight Path, the Path of those whom Allaah has favoured, not of those upon whom is His anger nor of those who go astray. All of these groups are in the Fire like the Messenger (sas) mentioned: Ummah will split into 73 groups.
Seventy two will be in the Fire and one in Paradise: (the one) which is upon what I and my companions are upon. Reported by Abu Daawood, Tirmidhee and Nasaa\\\'ee with an authentic chain of narration from Abu Hurairah]
THE SECOND:Then there are others who exaggerate in this intermediation. This particular understanding is one of error.They have made it carry a meaning which, in reality, it does not. They have taken the physical essence of the Messenger (sas) and others from among the prophets and righteous as
intermediaries believing that Allaah the Exalted will not accept any action from His servants unless they approach Him through these intermediaries. Exalted is Allaah from what they say. They have described Allaah - and refuge is sought from Allaah - with something He refuses to be described with. It is the oppressive kings of this world who place barriers at their own doors so that none can enter (and converse with them or request from
them) except he who has some sort of intermediary between himself and the king.
Where is this belief in the speech of Allaah:
When My servants ask You concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way [Baqarah 2:186]
This noble verse indicates that the one and only intermediary for coming closer to Allaah the Exalted is correct and true Eemaan in Him, then worshipping Him by what He has commanded. This verse has placed the righteous action as being above Eemaan so as to make mankind aware of the significance of correct and righteous action and that it is a necessary condition for attaining success with Allaah\\\'s happiness and entering into
His Paradise.
Allaah the Exalted has mentioned Waseelah (the means of getting closer to Him) in the Quran intending by it acts of obedience. This is the one intermediary which will bring you closer to Him, open up for you the doors of His Mercy and enter you into His Paradise.
O you who believe! Fear Allaah and seek the means of approach to Him and strive in His path in order that you may succeed [Maa\\\'ida 5:35]
Allaah has mocked the unmindful ignorants who have taken the righteous servants of Allaah as intermediaries while these servants themselves are in need of the means of approach to Allaah. This the obedience which will bring them closer to Allaah. Their is no other path for attaining closeness to Him
besides it just like Allaah the Exalted has mentioned:
Those whom they call upon do desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord, - even those who are nearest: they hope for His Mercy and fear His Wrath: for the Wrath of thy Lord is something to take heed of. [Israa 17:57]
It is sad that out of neglecting the correct and righteous actions and committing sins, these unmindful people have been enticed into depending upon such intermediaries. This is what has caused the failure of those Muslims who have forgotten or affected ignorance of the speech of Allaah to His Messenger (sas) who is the leader of all the sons of Aadam:
Say: I have no control of benefit or harm over myself [A\\\'raaf 7:188]
and also the saying of the Messenger (sas) to his daughter, the myrtle of his heart: \\\"O Faatimah!... I can avail you nothing from Allaah.\\\" and his (sas) saying: \\\"When a man dies his actions cease except for three: recurring charity, knowledge which he imparted and a son which supplicates for him.\\\"
If there had not been in the Qur\\\'aan and the Sunnah proof of the impermissibility of seeking nearness to Allaah through the prophets and the righteous except that of Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab when he requested his uncle, Al-\\\'Abbaas, to supplicate for the Muslims and abandoned Tawassul through the Messenger (sas), it would be enough as a refutation against this group. How excellent is what Imam am Abu Haneefah said (rh): And I detest that Allaah should be asked (for something) except by Allaah (i.e. directly)ias occurs in Durr ul-Mukhtaar and other books of the Hanafees. If seeking nearness to Allaah by means of the bodies of those whom we have mention were permissible then
we would have found supplications in the Qur\\\'aan and the Hadeeth - and how great is their number - linked to making tawassul through them!
THE THIRD: Amongst the Muslims are those who understand intermediation between Allaah and His creation to be the Messengership, which consists of knowledge, education and training. They have comprehended its great importance and the extent of mankind\\\'s need for it. So they hurry towards
the Messenger (sas) taking him as the greatest intermediary and means of approach for obtaining the Sharee\\\'ah and seeking light (i.e. guidance) with the light of revelation. They study, together, the Messenger\\\' Seerah and his Sunnah just as they study the Qur\\\'aan, their motto being the call of Allaah the Exalted:
There hath come to you from Allaah a (new) light and a perspicuous Book,- by which Allaah guides all who seek His good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leadeth them out of darkness, by His will, unto the light,- guideth them to a path that is straight. [Maaidah 5:17-18]
This group is the saved one which has been mentioned in the previous hadeeth and which has been given the glad tidings of Paradise.
It is unfortunate that the way of this group is full of harm. This is because the correct form of Islaam has become strange and the majority of Muslims have become distant from it and have turned to innovations and opinions.
The Messenger (sas) has informed us that the correct Deen is like a stranger to the people when he said: Indeed Islaam began as a stranger and shall return as a stranger just as it began, so Toobaa (a tree in Paradise) for the strangers. [Reported by Muslim from Abu Hurairah]. And in the narration of Imaam Ahmad and Ibn Maajah: It was then said: O Messenger of Allaah, who
are the strangers? He replied: Those looked down upon in every tribe. And in the narration of Tirmidhee: So Toobaa for the strangers, those who rectify what the people have corrupted of my Sunnah. And also in the authentic narration of Imaam Ahmad the Messenger (sas) after being questioned as to who the strangers were, said: Righteous people amidst a majority of evil
people. Those who disobey them are greater than those who obey them.
This group strives for the ways of correction and reform and carries the torch of revival so that the Muslims awaken and return to the correct form of Islaam. Let us say to those who turn away, to their own ruin, what Allaah has said to their equals:
\\\"No reason have we why we should not put our trust on Allaah. Indeed He Has guided us to the Ways we (follow). We shall certainly bear with patience all the hurt you may cause us. For those who put their trust should put their trust on Allaah\\\" [Ibraaheem 14:12]
Footnotes
1. Ibn al-Qayyim said: He (Shaikhul Islam) said: And as for what many of the people of imaginations and foolishness say: Haddathanee qalbi an Rabbi (My heart informed me of my Lord) then it is correct that his heart informed him. However from whom? His Shaytaan or from His Lord? When he says: My heart informed me about my Lord he is ascribing this informing to someone about whom he does not know whether he actually informed him or not. And this is a lie. He said (Shaikhul- Islam): And the muhaddath of this Ummah (i.e. Umar ibn Al-Khattab) [referring to the hadeeth in Bukhaaree: Indeed in the nations before you there were muhaddathoon (people who were spoken to) and if there was one in this Ummah it would be Umar Ibn al-Khattab] never used to say this and this saying [my heart informed me of my Lord] was never uttered by him on a single day. Allaah protected him from saying that. In fact his scribe wrote one day: This is what Allaah showed to the Ameer ul-Mumineen, Umar ibn al-Khattab. So he (Umar said: No. Erase it and write: This is what Umar ibn al-Khattab saw. If it is correct it is from Allaah and if it is wrong then it is from Umar and Allaah and His Messenger are free from it. And he said: I speak about it with my opinion. If it is correct it is from Allaah and if it is wrong it is from me and Shaytaan. So this the saying of al-Muhaddath (i.e. Umar) who has the testification of the Messenger (sas) and you will see the Ittihaadi (believing in the Divine Union) and the Hulooli (believing in the inclusion
of Allaah in His creation or parts of His creation) and the licentious unrestrained strayer giving rise to forgery saying: My heart has informed me about My Lord.
So look at these two sayings (that of Umar and that of those claiming to receive knowledge of Allaah direct, from their hearts) and these two grades, those who say both these sayings (i.e. Umar and those making this claim) and these two states (that of Umar and of those besides him) and give every owner of a right his due right and do not make the counterfeit/imposter and the sincere the one and the same thing.
Madaarij us-Saalikeen (1/64)
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In reference to the question about the dead...as I had mentioned in my previous answers...none of us have yet to experience it, so we cannot say for sure. Perhaps they can hear...and perhaps they cannot. At least, it should be safe to say that...they are on a completely different plain of existence than that which we are in. There is much evidence that they can hear...however, at the same time...there is much evidence that although they can hear, and apparently respond(for they are caused to respond to the questions put to them in the grave...a forceful response of witness...something of which they have no control over, therefore revealing that each responds in total truth...covering up nothing), yet they cannot help themselves, much less any other person alive who may be praying to ask for their help or intercession. This state that they are in, between the life as we know it, and before the judgement and final resurrection and eternal life...is called in arabic 'barzakh'. There have been many reports and studies on this, by many reputed scholars.
That all being aside, it is usually best in all matters of which we are not certain, to say that Allah knows best, and to turn to Allah Alone in all matters.
It is in view of this total question, which eventually led to some mention of 'tawassul'...that I am sharing here with you the following study on 'tawassul'...revealing that which is allowed and even advised in Islam, and that which is not good, leading towards belief in shirk, the worst of all sins. It is sometimes in our endeavors to become even more deep in our religious mannerisms, that we delve into that which is actually shirk, or perhaps bidaa, without actually realizing it. That is why we must take due care of our tongues...for the slightest slip sometime or another, without really intending it, can lead us along this path leading astray from the true and simple deen.
I hope and pray that this will be a source of knowledge and betterment for all.
Om Mohammed.
************************************************** ****
WHAT IS MEANT BY TAWASUL AND WASEELAH IS FOUR THINGS:
1) The kind of tawassul without which faith cannot be complete, which is seeking to reach Allaah (tawassul) by believing in Him and His Messengers, and obeying Him and His Messenger, This is what is meant in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe! Do your duty to Allaah and fear Him. Seek the means of approach to Him…”[al-Maa’idah 5:35]
This includes seeking to approach Allaah through His Names and Attributes, or by doing acts of obedience and worship by which one seeks to approach Allaah, and so on.
2) Seeking to approach Allaah by asking His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to make du’a’ for one during his lifetime, and the believers asking one another to make du’aa’ for one another. This follows on from the first type and is encouraged.
3) Seeking to approach Allaah by virtue of the status and virtues of some created being, such as saying, “O Allaah, I ask You by virtue of Your Prophet” and so on. This is allowed by some of the ‘ulama’, but this opinion is da’eef (weak). The correct view is that it is definitely haraam, because there can be no tawassul in du’aa’except by virtue of the Names and
Attributes of Allaah.
4) Tawassul as it is understood by many of the Muslims of later times, which is calling on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and seeking his help (or seeking the help of the dead and so-called awliya’). This is a form of major shirk, because calling on or seeking help from anyone other than Allaah with regard to something that that only Allaah is able to do is a kind of worship, and directing worship to anyone or anything
other than Allaah is major shirk. And Allaah knows best.
KINDS OF TAWASUL
Tawassul in Arabic means seeking to draw close. Allaah says in the Qur’aan (interpretation of the meaning): “…[they] desire means of access to their Lord…” [al-Isra’ 17:57], i.e., means of drawing close to Him. There are two types of Tawassul, correct Islamic tawassul and forbidden tawassul.
Correct Islamic tawassul:
This means seeking to draw close to Allaah through acts of worship which He loves and which please Him; these may be waajib (obligatory) or mustahabb (encouraged), and may take the form of words, actions or beliefs. Some types are as follows:
Seeking to draw close to Allaah by means of His names and attributes. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allaah, so call on Him by them, and leave the company of those who belie or deny (or utter impious speech against) His names. They will be requited for what they used to do.” [al-A’raaf 7:180]. So when a person
makes du’aa’ to Allaah, he begins by calling on Allaah with the name that is most apt, such as “al-Rahmaan” (the Most Merciful) when seeking mercy and al-Ghafoor (the All-Forgiving) when asking for forgiveness, and so on. Seeking to draw close to Allaah by means of faith and Tawheed. Allaah says(interpretation of the meaning): “Our Lord! We believe in what You have sent
down, and we follow the Messenger, so write us down among those who bear witness (to the truth).” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:53]
Seeking to draw close to Allaah through righteous deeds, whereby a person asks Allaah by virtue of the best deeds that he has done, such as salaah, fasting, reading Qur’aan, avoiding haraam things, and so on. An example of this is the saheeh hadeeth narrated in the Saheehayn about the three people who entered a cave, and a rock fell and blocked their way out. They asked
Allaah by virtue of their best deeds (to save them). A person may also ask Allaah by virtue of his total dependency upon Him, as Allaah mentions in the Qur’aan (interpretation of the meaning): “[Ayyoob said:] ‘Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.’ [al-Anbiya’ 21:83]; or by admitting his own wrongdoing and his need for
Allaah, as Yoonus is described as saying (interpretation of the meaning): “ ‘None has the right to be worshipped except You (O Allaah). Glorified (and exalted) are You. Truly I have been of the wrong-doers.’” [al-Anbiya’ 21:87]
The rulings on Islamically correct tawassul vary according to its type. Some types are waajib, such as seeking to draw close to Allaah through His names and attributes and through Tawheed (believing in His absolute Oneness), and some are mustahabb, such as seeking to draw close to Him by virtue of all kinds of righteous deeds.
Tawassul that is bid’ah and therefore forbidden:
This is the attempt to draw close to Allaah by means of things that He does not like and that do not please Him, whether they be words, deeds or beliefs. One example of this is trying to draw close to Allaah by calling on the dead or people who are absent, asking them for help, and so on. This is a form of major shirk (shirk akbar), which goes against Tawheed and means that a person is no longer considered to be a Muslim. Calling upon Allaah, whether it is for a purpose such as asking Him to grant some benefit or to ward off some harm, or as an act of worship to express humility and submission before Him, can only be addressed directly to Allaah. If du’aa’s or prayers are addressed to anything oranyone else, this is shirk. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And your Lord said: ‘Invoke Me (and ask Me for anything), I will respond to your invocation. Verily! Those who scorn My worship [i.e., do not invoke Me
and do not believe in My Oneness], they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!” [Ghaafir 40:60]. In this aayah, Allaah explains the punishment of those who arrogantly refuse to call on Allaah, whether they call on someone other than Allaah or they do not call on Him at all, out of pride and self-admiration, even if they do not call on anyone else.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret…” [al-A’raaf 7:55]. Allaah commands His slaves to call on Him and not anyone else.
Allaah says of the people of Hell (interpretation of the meaning): “[They say:] ‘By Allaah, we were truly in a manifest error when we held you (false gods) asequals (in worship) with the Lord of the Worlds.” [al-Shu’ara’ 26:96-97]
Anything that results in equating something other than Allaah with Allaah in worship or acts of obedience is shirk, the crime of associating partners with Him. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And who is more astray than one who calls (invokes) besides Allaah, such as will not answer him until the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls
(invocations) to them? And when mankind are gathered (one the Day of Resurrection), they (false deities) will become enemies for them and will deny their worshipping.”[al-Ahqaaf 46:5-6]
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “ And whoever invokes (or worships) besides Allaah, any other god, of whom he has no proof, then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely, al-kaafiroon (the disbelievers in Allaah and in the Oneness of Allaah) will not be successful.” [al-Mu’minoon 23:117].
Allaah states that anyone who calls on anything other than him is taking that thing as a god, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “…And those, whom you invoke or call upon instead of Him, own not even a qitmeer (the thin membrane over a date-stone). If you invoke (or call upon) them, they hear not your call, and if (in case) they were to hear, they could not
grant it (your request) to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them. And none can inform you (O Muhammad), like Him Who is the All-Knower (of everything).” [Faatir 35:13-14].
In this aayah, Allaah explains that He is the only One Who deserves to be called upon, because He, and no one else, is the Sovereign who is directing everything. Those things that are worshipped cannot hear du’aa’s, let alone respond to the one who invokes them, and even if they were able to hear, they cannot respond, because they do not have the power to either benefit or
harm.
The mushrik Arabs whom the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was sent to call were disbelievers because of this shirk. They would call upon Allaah sincerely at times of difficulty, but they became disbelievers at times of ease and plenty, when they would call on others besides Him. Allaah says(interpretation of the meanings):
“And when they embark on a ship, they invoke Allaah, making their Faith pure for Him only, but when He brings them safely to land, behold, they give a share of their worship to others.” [al-‘Ankaboot 29:65]
“And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon besides Him vanish from you excpet Him (Allaah Alone). But when He brings you safely to land, you turn away (from Him)…” [al-Isra’ 17:67].
“… till when you are in the ships and they sail with them with a favourable wind, and they are glad therein, then comes a stormy wind and the waves come to them from all sides, and they think that they are encircled therein, they invoke Allaah, making their Faith pure for Him Alone…” [Yoonus 10:33]
The shirk of some people nowadays goes even further than the shirk of people in the past, because they direct some acts of worship to something other than Allaah, calling upon them and asking them for help even at times of distress; laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa Billaah (there is no strength and no help except in Allaah). We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound.
To sum up our response to what your friend mentioned: asking the dead for anything is shirk, and asking the living for anything that no one except Allaah is able to do, is also shirk. And Allaah knows best.
TAWASUL: INTERMEDIATION BETWEEN ALLAH AND THE CREATION
The subject of intermediation between Allaah and the creation is an extremely important one. Unfortunately, many of the Muslims are ignorant of it. A result of this is that we have forbidden ourselves the help of Allaah and being strengthened by Him, something which He promised us, should we seek refuge in Him (alone) and follow his command.
Allaah the Exalted said:
And it is a duty upon Us to help the Believers [Rum 30:47]
If you aid Allaah He will aid you and establish your feet firmly (upon the earth) [Muhammad 47:7]
And to Allaah, His Messenger and the Believers belongs the Honour [Munaafiqoon 63:8]
Mankind can be divided into three groups in terms of their understanding of how intermediation exists between Allaah and His creation.
THE FIRST: Those who reject that Allaah sent the Messenger (sas) as an intermediary to teach the Sharee\\\'ah (Allaah\\\'s right to be worshipped alone, His commands and prohibitions and all the ways and means Allaah has legislated to help mankind achieve their purpose on this earth) and claim that this Sharee\\\'ah is for the common people, naming it the External Knowledge. They depend upon opinions and dotings for their form of worship
and have given it the name Internal Knowledge. They also call it Kashf (sudden enlightenment). In reality however, these are nothing but whisperings of Shaytaan and the
satanic means and ways which are in opposition to the simplest pillar of Islaam! Their well known saying in this regard is: My heart informed me about my Lord.[1]
They ridicule the scholars of the Sharee\\\'ah and criticise them because they claim theytake their knowledge \\\'from the dead\\\'. As for themselves, they claim to take their knowledge (directly) with good tidings (i.e. they receive revelation) from the Ever-Living and Self-Sustaining. As a result of this they have put many to trial and have led them astray. They commit such actions which are in complete opposition to the Sharee\\\'ah and which are can be found in their books, that the scholars have declared them to be disbelievers and also
declared their blood to be lawful due to their apostacy; being ignorant or feigning ignorance of the first pillar principle of the Sharee\\\'ah which is that whoever worships Allaah by something other than what was revealed to Muhammad is a Kaafir without a doubt, due to the saying of Allaah the Exalted:
But no by your Lord! They do not believe until they make you judge in all their disputes and then find no resistance in their souls to what you decide and offer their fullest submission [Nisaa 4:65]
As such, Shaytaan has made their actions alluring to them by corrupting their knowledge and extinguishing its light. As a result they travel in darkness upon darkness and resort to their desires and imaginations worshipping Allaah by them. They are those whom Allaah has described in the Qur\\\'aan:
Say: Shall we tell you of those who lose most in respect of their deeds?-Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works? They are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the fact of their having to meet Him (in the Hereafter): Vain will be their works, nor shall We, on the Day of Judgment, give them any weight. [Kahf 18:103-105]
This group has also been divided into a number of factions each of them disagreeing and fighting with another due to their being far from the Straight Path, the Path of those whom Allaah has favoured, not of those upon whom is His anger nor of those who go astray. All of these groups are in the Fire like the Messenger (sas) mentioned: Ummah will split into 73 groups.
Seventy two will be in the Fire and one in Paradise: (the one) which is upon what I and my companions are upon. Reported by Abu Daawood, Tirmidhee and Nasaa\\\'ee with an authentic chain of narration from Abu Hurairah]
THE SECOND:Then there are others who exaggerate in this intermediation. This particular understanding is one of error.They have made it carry a meaning which, in reality, it does not. They have taken the physical essence of the Messenger (sas) and others from among the prophets and righteous as
intermediaries believing that Allaah the Exalted will not accept any action from His servants unless they approach Him through these intermediaries. Exalted is Allaah from what they say. They have described Allaah - and refuge is sought from Allaah - with something He refuses to be described with. It is the oppressive kings of this world who place barriers at their own doors so that none can enter (and converse with them or request from
them) except he who has some sort of intermediary between himself and the king.
Where is this belief in the speech of Allaah:
When My servants ask You concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way [Baqarah 2:186]
This noble verse indicates that the one and only intermediary for coming closer to Allaah the Exalted is correct and true Eemaan in Him, then worshipping Him by what He has commanded. This verse has placed the righteous action as being above Eemaan so as to make mankind aware of the significance of correct and righteous action and that it is a necessary condition for attaining success with Allaah\\\'s happiness and entering into
His Paradise.
Allaah the Exalted has mentioned Waseelah (the means of getting closer to Him) in the Quran intending by it acts of obedience. This is the one intermediary which will bring you closer to Him, open up for you the doors of His Mercy and enter you into His Paradise.
O you who believe! Fear Allaah and seek the means of approach to Him and strive in His path in order that you may succeed [Maa\\\'ida 5:35]
Allaah has mocked the unmindful ignorants who have taken the righteous servants of Allaah as intermediaries while these servants themselves are in need of the means of approach to Allaah. This the obedience which will bring them closer to Allaah. Their is no other path for attaining closeness to Him
besides it just like Allaah the Exalted has mentioned:
Those whom they call upon do desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord, - even those who are nearest: they hope for His Mercy and fear His Wrath: for the Wrath of thy Lord is something to take heed of. [Israa 17:57]
It is sad that out of neglecting the correct and righteous actions and committing sins, these unmindful people have been enticed into depending upon such intermediaries. This is what has caused the failure of those Muslims who have forgotten or affected ignorance of the speech of Allaah to His Messenger (sas) who is the leader of all the sons of Aadam:
Say: I have no control of benefit or harm over myself [A\\\'raaf 7:188]
and also the saying of the Messenger (sas) to his daughter, the myrtle of his heart: \\\"O Faatimah!... I can avail you nothing from Allaah.\\\" and his (sas) saying: \\\"When a man dies his actions cease except for three: recurring charity, knowledge which he imparted and a son which supplicates for him.\\\"
If there had not been in the Qur\\\'aan and the Sunnah proof of the impermissibility of seeking nearness to Allaah through the prophets and the righteous except that of Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab when he requested his uncle, Al-\\\'Abbaas, to supplicate for the Muslims and abandoned Tawassul through the Messenger (sas), it would be enough as a refutation against this group. How excellent is what Imam am Abu Haneefah said (rh): And I detest that Allaah should be asked (for something) except by Allaah (i.e. directly)ias occurs in Durr ul-Mukhtaar and other books of the Hanafees. If seeking nearness to Allaah by means of the bodies of those whom we have mention were permissible then
we would have found supplications in the Qur\\\'aan and the Hadeeth - and how great is their number - linked to making tawassul through them!
THE THIRD: Amongst the Muslims are those who understand intermediation between Allaah and His creation to be the Messengership, which consists of knowledge, education and training. They have comprehended its great importance and the extent of mankind\\\'s need for it. So they hurry towards
the Messenger (sas) taking him as the greatest intermediary and means of approach for obtaining the Sharee\\\'ah and seeking light (i.e. guidance) with the light of revelation. They study, together, the Messenger\\\' Seerah and his Sunnah just as they study the Qur\\\'aan, their motto being the call of Allaah the Exalted:
There hath come to you from Allaah a (new) light and a perspicuous Book,- by which Allaah guides all who seek His good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leadeth them out of darkness, by His will, unto the light,- guideth them to a path that is straight. [Maaidah 5:17-18]
This group is the saved one which has been mentioned in the previous hadeeth and which has been given the glad tidings of Paradise.
It is unfortunate that the way of this group is full of harm. This is because the correct form of Islaam has become strange and the majority of Muslims have become distant from it and have turned to innovations and opinions.
The Messenger (sas) has informed us that the correct Deen is like a stranger to the people when he said: Indeed Islaam began as a stranger and shall return as a stranger just as it began, so Toobaa (a tree in Paradise) for the strangers. [Reported by Muslim from Abu Hurairah]. And in the narration of Imaam Ahmad and Ibn Maajah: It was then said: O Messenger of Allaah, who
are the strangers? He replied: Those looked down upon in every tribe. And in the narration of Tirmidhee: So Toobaa for the strangers, those who rectify what the people have corrupted of my Sunnah. And also in the authentic narration of Imaam Ahmad the Messenger (sas) after being questioned as to who the strangers were, said: Righteous people amidst a majority of evil
people. Those who disobey them are greater than those who obey them.
This group strives for the ways of correction and reform and carries the torch of revival so that the Muslims awaken and return to the correct form of Islaam. Let us say to those who turn away, to their own ruin, what Allaah has said to their equals:
\\\"No reason have we why we should not put our trust on Allaah. Indeed He Has guided us to the Ways we (follow). We shall certainly bear with patience all the hurt you may cause us. For those who put their trust should put their trust on Allaah\\\" [Ibraaheem 14:12]
Footnotes
1. Ibn al-Qayyim said: He (Shaikhul Islam) said: And as for what many of the people of imaginations and foolishness say: Haddathanee qalbi an Rabbi (My heart informed me of my Lord) then it is correct that his heart informed him. However from whom? His Shaytaan or from His Lord? When he says: My heart informed me about my Lord he is ascribing this informing to someone about whom he does not know whether he actually informed him or not. And this is a lie. He said (Shaikhul- Islam): And the muhaddath of this Ummah (i.e. Umar ibn Al-Khattab) [referring to the hadeeth in Bukhaaree: Indeed in the nations before you there were muhaddathoon (people who were spoken to) and if there was one in this Ummah it would be Umar Ibn al-Khattab] never used to say this and this saying [my heart informed me of my Lord] was never uttered by him on a single day. Allaah protected him from saying that. In fact his scribe wrote one day: This is what Allaah showed to the Ameer ul-Mumineen, Umar ibn al-Khattab. So he (Umar said: No. Erase it and write: This is what Umar ibn al-Khattab saw. If it is correct it is from Allaah and if it is wrong then it is from Umar and Allaah and His Messenger are free from it. And he said: I speak about it with my opinion. If it is correct it is from Allaah and if it is wrong it is from me and Shaytaan. So this the saying of al-Muhaddath (i.e. Umar) who has the testification of the Messenger (sas) and you will see the Ittihaadi (believing in the Divine Union) and the Hulooli (believing in the inclusion
of Allaah in His creation or parts of His creation) and the licentious unrestrained strayer giving rise to forgery saying: My heart has informed me about My Lord.
So look at these two sayings (that of Umar and that of those claiming to receive knowledge of Allaah direct, from their hearts) and these two grades, those who say both these sayings (i.e. Umar and those making this claim) and these two states (that of Umar and of those besides him) and give every owner of a right his due right and do not make the counterfeit/imposter and the sincere the one and the same thing.
Madaarij us-Saalikeen (1/64)
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