The Meaning of al-Wasilah in the Verse and the State of the Scholars of the Graves

The questioner:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Among the famous scholars today, who goes beyond this matter and calls people to it?

The Shaykh:
So this is from misguidance. This is from the scholars of evil, the scholars of graves. These are scholars of evil in Egypt, Sham, and elsewhere.

The questioner:
And he cites as evidence for it.

The Shaykh:
Am I walking?

The questioner:
But he cites as evidence for it the verse of the intermediary in Surat al-Ma'idah.

The Shaykh:
The wasilah (means of nearness) to draw close to Him through obedience—what is it, is it shirk (associating partners with Allah)? Glorified and Exalted is He, O Ibrahim, meaning that nearness to Him is through obedience to Him, not through calling upon the polytheists. The wasilah is nearness to Allah through obedience by prayer, fasting, and supplication. This is the wasilah: you call upon Allah, you pray, you fast, you give charity. This is the wasilah. And another purpose is that they call upon Him seeking the wasilah to their Lord, meaning nearness to Him through obedience, as the scholars explained in tafsir (exegesis) and elsewhere. It is not a wasilah of calling upon the dead.

The questioner:
O Shaykh.

Another questioner:
In Sahih Muslim. The viewers, we agree upon it.

The Shaykh:
Yes.