Clarification of Seeking Nearness to Allah Through the Right of the Supplicants

Question:
He says: You mentioned, may Allah preserve you, in the previous lesson regarding supplication, “I ask You by the right of the supplicants,” in response to the one who said it is a figurative interpretation, namely Al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him). Is this a response? He says: You mentioned in the previous lesson regarding supplication, “I ask You by the right of the witnesses,” in response to the one who said it is a figurative interpretation, namely Al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him). Is this a response to what he said?

Answer:
I do not respond to Al-Albani or anyone else; I clarify what I know, I clarify what I know. And this was mentioned by the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in [Tawassul and al-Wasilah]. He cited this hadith and spoke about its chain of narration, saying: Even if it were authentic, its meaning is seeking nearness to Allah by one of His attributes, because the right of the supplicants is that they are answered, and Allah described Himself as answering the call of the one who calls upon Him when he calls upon Him, that He is near and responsive. So this is seeking nearness by one of the attributes of Allah, and it is not seeking nearness by the status of the righteous or by the right of the supplicants.