Halaqah Schedule
Archived Halaqah Notes for Friday March 31, 2006
Speaker: Br. Farhan Tariq
Drawing closer to Allaah (tawassul)Tawassul in Arabic means seeking to draw close. Allaah says: “…[they] desire means of access to their Lord…” [al-Isra’ 17:57], i.e., means of drawing close to Him.
And undoubtedly it is not permissible for anyone to worship Allaah except in the ways that He has prescribed on the lips of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
* tawqeefi (i.e., we must adhere to what is prescribed in the Qur’aan and Sunnah and not worship Allaah in any way except that which has been prescribed).
* Al-Bukhaari (2499) and Muslim (3242) narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours that is not part of it, will have it rejected.” According to the version narrated by Muslim: “Whoever does something that is not part of this matter of ours will have it rejected.”
* 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]
*
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:
1. 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.
2. du’aa’ by a righteous man
* Undoubtedly du’aa’ is one of the greatest acts of worship prescribed in sharee’ah. It brings a person closer to his Lord, may He be glorified.
* It is narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhaari (954) from Anas ibn Maalik that if a drought came, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) would ask al-‘Abbaas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib to pray for rain. He would say:
o “O Allaah, we used to beseech You by means of (the du’aa’ of) Your Prophet for rain and You would give us rain; now we beseech You by means of (the du’aa’ of) the paternal uncle of Your Prophet, so grant us rain.” Then it would rain.
* Thus it is clear that the beseeching meant by ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) is du’aa’ by a righteous man. This is the correct kind of beseeching as prescribed in sharee’ah, and is indicated by a great deal of evidence.
* It was known at the time of the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them). If they were threatened with drought and there was no rain, they would ask the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to pray for them, and he would pray, then it would rain.
3. 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.
o 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.
o They asked Allaah by virtue of their best deeds (to save them).
o So one of them called upon Allaah by virtue of his honouring his parents, and the rock moved a little, but they could not get out… The second one called upon Allaah by virtue of his keeping away from zinaa on an occasion when he was able to indulge in it, and the rock moved a little but they still could not get out… Then the third one called upon Allaah by virtue of his fulfilling a trust, and the rock moved and they were able to escape.
o This hadeeth is reported in al-Saheehayn from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); it is one of the stories of the people who came before us, in which there is a lesson and a reminder for us.
o 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];
o 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.
o 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.
o If du’aa’s or prayers are addressed to anything or anyone 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.
Shirk and its dangers:
* 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) as equals (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]
o 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):
o “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]
o “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].
o “… 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.
Seeking Blessing from the Prophet and others:
It is not permissible to seek blessing from anyone other than the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), not from his wudoo’ or his hair or his sweat or anything else from his body. All of that applies only to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), because of the goodness and blessing that Allaah has put in his body and whatever he touches.
* Hence the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) did not seek blessing from any one of their number during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or after his death, not with the Khulafaa’ al-Raashideen or anyone else. This indicates that they knew that this applied only to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and not to anyone else. And because this is a means that could lead to shirk and worshipping someone other than Allaah.
* Similarly it is not permissible to seek means of drawing closer to Allaah (tawassul) by virtue of the position and status of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or his person, or his attributes, or his blessing, because there is no evidence (daleel) for that, and because these are among the means that may lead to shirk and they are ways of exaggerating about him (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)...
Blind man hadeeth:
The scholars (may Allaah have mercy on them) stated the points mentioned in this answer, such as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, his student Ibn al-Qayyim, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Hasan in Fath al-Majeed Sharh Kitaab al-Tawheed, and others.
* With regard to the hadeeth about the blind man who sought to call upon Allaah (to cure him of his blindness) by virtue of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) during his life time, so the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) interceded for him and prayed for him, and Allaah restored his sight – this was a case of seeking the help of Allaah by means of the du’aa’ and intercession of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), not by means of his status and virtue. This is clear from the hadeeth…
* And similarly, the people will seek his intercession on the Day of Resurrection for Judgement to be passed, and the people of Paradise will seek his intercession on the Day of Resurrection for them to be admitted to Paradise. In all these cases, the help of Allaah is sought through him when he is alive, whether that is in this world or in the Hereafter, and it is seeking the help of Allaah through his du’aa’ and intercession, not by virtue of his person or status, as was clearly stated by the scholars, including those whom we have mentioned above.
*
Call upon Allah:
Also, these things were not done by the Sahaabah, and if they were good then they would have done them before us. And this goes against the evidence of sharee’ah. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allaah, so call on Him by them” [al-A’raaf 7:180]
Allaah did not command us to call upon Him by virtue of the position or status or blessing of anyone.
* Part of that is seeking means of drawing closer to Him by virtue of His attributes, such as His Glory, His Mercy, His Words, etc.
* Also connected to that is the idea of seeking means of drawing closer to Allaah by loving Allaah and loving His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), by believing in Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
* and seeking to draw nearer to Allaah by virtue of one’s righteous deeds, as described in the story of the people in the cave. They came to an agreement that the only way they would be saved from their predicament would be if they called upon righteous Allaah by virtue of their deeds.
* Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: No one has the right to pride himself before Allaah on the righteousness of his forebears, for their righteousness is not part of his deeds for which he may deserve reward, as in the case of the three people in the cave. They did not beseech Allaah by the righteousness of their forebears, rather they beseeched Allaah by virtue of their own righteous deeds.
Conclusion:
Three types of tawassul.
1. Seeking to draw close by His names and attributes
2. Dua of a rightoues
3. Asking Allah by virtue of one’s good deeds.
We should be careful to implement the Quran and the Sunnah in the correct manner and adopt the correct approach, otherwise our deeds will be in vain and not accepted.
* Al-Bukhaari (2499) and Muslim (3242) narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours that is not part of it, will have it rejected.” According to the version narrated by Muslim: “Whoever does something that is not part of this matter of ours will have it rejected.”