What is the ruling on making du'a (supplication) with this phrase: "O Allah, I ask You by the status of Your Prophet Muhammad, so and so"?

Question:
He says: May Allah preserve you, a person makes du'a and says, "O Allah, I ask You by the status of Your Prophet Muhammad, so and so." Is there major shirk (associating partners with Allah) in this statement?

Answer:
This is a bid'ah (religious innovation). Asking by status is a bid'ah. It was not reported, nor established, that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated for his Ummah (Muslim community) to seek nearness to Allah through his status. The hadith they claim, in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Seek nearness to Allah through my status, for my status with Allah is great," is a lie against the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). It does not exist in any of the books of the Sunnah, and praise be to Allah. It is merely a lie. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has status, and the Messengers have status with Allah, but Allah did not legislate for us to ask by their status. Rather, we ask Allah by following them and emulating them.