I was confused because we had studied that the permissible form of seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) is saying to a man: "O so-and-so, call upon Allah to forgive me."

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: You mentioned, may Allah preserve you, the second form of seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul), and the matter became confused for me, since we had studied with you, in the book on tawassul, that seeking nearness to Allah through a righteous person by saying, for example, "O so-and-so, call upon Allah to forgive me," is...

Answer:
...this is in his lifetime, my brother. This is correct in his lifetime: you say to the righteous person, "Call upon Allah to forgive me." But if you go to the grave and claim that he is righteous—Allah knows best—and say, "O so-and-so, the deceased, call upon Allah for me," then that is not permissible. Yes, there is a difference between the living and the dead, and there is a difference between the present and the absent as well. Even if the person is alive, if he is absent, you do not ask him for anything; you ask the one who is present and alive. And there is a third condition as well: that he must be able to fulfill what you ask of him. There are three conditions: first, that he is alive and present; second, that he is present; and third, that he is capable of achieving your request. Yes.