The Ruling on Seeking Nearness to Allah Through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
May Allah bless you and your knowledge. This is one of the brothers; we begin this session with his message and his question. He asks: What is prescribed regarding seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? And what is not prescribed?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, it is not permissible to seek nearness to Allah through persons, whether prophets or others, by making them intermediaries between people and Allah in fulfilling the needs of those in need. Rather, one should call upon Allah directly, (Glorified and Exalted is He). Your Lord said: “Call upon Me; I will respond to you.” And: “If My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I respond to the call of the caller when he calls upon Me.” It is only permissible to seek nearness through the supplication of righteous, living, present persons. It is permissible to ask a righteous servant who is present with you to make supplication for you. However, after his death, do not ask him for anything, because his deeds have ended. When a person dies, his deeds are cut off except for three things, and supplication is among the deeds. Therefore, the dead person cannot make supplication for himself, so how can he make supplication for others? Rather, supplication is made for him and forgiveness is sought for him, whether for prophets or others. Yes.
The questioner:
Is there a difference between supplication and seeking nearness, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
Seeking nearness is through supplication, specifically the supplication of the righteous, not through their persons, and not through their status. Yes.
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
May Allah bless you and your knowledge. This is one of the brothers; we begin this session with his message and his question. He asks: What is prescribed regarding seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? And what is not prescribed?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, it is not permissible to seek nearness to Allah through persons, whether prophets or others, by making them intermediaries between people and Allah in fulfilling the needs of those in need. Rather, one should call upon Allah directly, (Glorified and Exalted is He). Your Lord said: “Call upon Me; I will respond to you.” And: “If My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I respond to the call of the caller when he calls upon Me.” It is only permissible to seek nearness through the supplication of righteous, living, present persons. It is permissible to ask a righteous servant who is present with you to make supplication for you. However, after his death, do not ask him for anything, because his deeds have ended. When a person dies, his deeds are cut off except for three things, and supplication is among the deeds. Therefore, the dead person cannot make supplication for himself, so how can he make supplication for others? Rather, supplication is made for him and forgiveness is sought for him, whether for prophets or others. Yes.
The questioner:
Is there a difference between supplication and seeking nearness, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh:
Seeking nearness is through supplication, specifically the supplication of the righteous, not through their persons, and not through their status. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/270 — archive.org (0:54)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.