The ruling on calling for aid (istighathah) to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and to others
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says in his second paragraph: What is the ruling on calling for aid through the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? And does the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) know the unseen?
Answer:
Calling for aid through the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) or through any other created being is not permissible, because calling for aid is a type of worship, and worship is not permissible except for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). If the call for aid is for something that only Allah (Mighty and Majestic) can do, such as the forgiveness of sins, success in repentance, guiding the hearts, entering Paradise, and being saved from the Fire, this is something only Allah can do. Likewise, healing from illness or providing sustenance; all of this is something only Allah (Mighty and Majestic) can do. Therefore, one does not call for aid from a created being to seek these things, because he cannot do them. Similarly, calling for aid from an absent person is not permissible, because he does not hear your supplication and is not able to respond to you.
As for calling for aid to a created being in something he is capable of, there is nothing wrong with that. Allah the Exalted said in the story of Musa (peace be upon him):[Al-Qasas 28:15] So he sought help from Musa to suppress his enemy, and Musa was capable of that. This is a permissible call for aid. However, it is better not to use this specific phrase, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had a hypocrite in his time who used to harm the believers. They said, "Let us go to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and call for his aid against this hypocrite." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This blocks the paths that lead to shirk (associating partners with Allah) and blocks the exaggeration that leads to shirk.
And the further a person stays away from this phrase, even with someone who is alive and capable, the better it is. Yes.
The questioner says in his second paragraph: What is the ruling on calling for aid through the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? And does the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) know the unseen?
Answer:
Calling for aid through the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) or through any other created being is not permissible, because calling for aid is a type of worship, and worship is not permissible except for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). If the call for aid is for something that only Allah (Mighty and Majestic) can do, such as the forgiveness of sins, success in repentance, guiding the hearts, entering Paradise, and being saved from the Fire, this is something only Allah can do. Likewise, healing from illness or providing sustenance; all of this is something only Allah (Mighty and Majestic) can do. Therefore, one does not call for aid from a created being to seek these things, because he cannot do them. Similarly, calling for aid from an absent person is not permissible, because he does not hear your supplication and is not able to respond to you.
As for calling for aid to a created being in something he is capable of, there is nothing wrong with that. Allah the Exalted said in the story of Musa (peace be upon him):
the one from his faction called for help to him against the one from his enemy
فَاسْتَغَاثَهُ الَّذِي مِن شِيعَتِهِ عَلَى الَّذِي مِنْ عَدُوِّهِHe is not to be called upon for aid; rather, aid is sought from Allah (Mighty and Majestic)
إنه لا يستغاث بي وإنما يستغاث بالله عز وجلAnd the further a person stays away from this phrase, even with someone who is alive and capable, the better it is. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/147 — archive.org (5:58)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.