How is seeking nearness to Allah through the supplication of some righteous people, and what is the seeking of nearness that is prohibited?
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The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Shaykh, we move on to the questions that have come to the program. This questioner says: How is seeking nearness to Allah through the supplication of some righteous people?
The Shaykh:
You ask him to supplicate to Allah for you. You ask the righteous man and your Muslim brother to supplicate to Allah for you to fulfill your need. This is seeking nearness to Allah through the supplication of the righteous. Just as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) sought nearness to Allah through the supplication of al-Abbas. He said, "O Allah, we used to seek nearness to You through our Prophet, so You gave us rain," meaning in the prayer for rain, meaning through his supplication. And we said, "We seek nearness to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so give us rain. Rise, O Abbas, and supplicate." This is seeking nearness to Allah through the supplication of the living. It is a condition for the righteous person that he be alive, present, able to hear your words, and able to respond. Yes.
The questioner:
Good, Shaykh, may Allah bless you. What is the seeking of nearness that is prohibited?
The Shaykh:
The prohibited seeking of nearness is seeking nearness through the persons of the righteous, or through their status, or through their deeds. You do not seek nearness through the deeds of others; you only seek nearness through your own deeds. As for asking your righteous brother to supplicate to Allah for you, there is nothing wrong with that, and it is not seeking nearness through his deeds; it is seeking nearness through his supplication. Yes.
May Allah reward you. Shaykh, we move on to the questions that have come to the program. This questioner says: How is seeking nearness to Allah through the supplication of some righteous people?
The Shaykh:
You ask him to supplicate to Allah for you. You ask the righteous man and your Muslim brother to supplicate to Allah for you to fulfill your need. This is seeking nearness to Allah through the supplication of the righteous. Just as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) sought nearness to Allah through the supplication of al-Abbas. He said, "O Allah, we used to seek nearness to You through our Prophet, so You gave us rain," meaning in the prayer for rain, meaning through his supplication. And we said, "We seek nearness to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so give us rain. Rise, O Abbas, and supplicate." This is seeking nearness to Allah through the supplication of the living. It is a condition for the righteous person that he be alive, present, able to hear your words, and able to respond. Yes.
The questioner:
Good, Shaykh, may Allah bless you. What is the seeking of nearness that is prohibited?
The Shaykh:
The prohibited seeking of nearness is seeking nearness through the persons of the righteous, or through their status, or through their deeds. You do not seek nearness through the deeds of others; you only seek nearness through your own deeds. As for asking your righteous brother to supplicate to Allah for you, there is nothing wrong with that, and it is not seeking nearness through his deeds; it is seeking nearness through his supplication. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، كيف يكون التوسل بدعاء بعض الناس الصالحين، وما هو التوسل المنهي عنه؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.