What is the validity of this supplication: “O Allah, I seek nearness to You through the supplication of the righteous among Your servants”?
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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the extent of the validity of this supplication?
Answer:
O Allah, I seek nearness to You through the supplication of the righteous among Your servants. No, this is not permissible. Seeking nearness to Allah through the deed of another person—the supplication of the righteous is their deed, not your deed. You do not seek nearness through the deed of another; rather, you seek nearness through your own deed. Seeking nearness to Allah is through deed. Seeking nearness to Allah through the deed of the doer is not the deed of another. What does it have to do with the deeds of others or the righteousness of others? It is not sufficient.[Al-Baqarah 2:134] Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the extent of the validity of this supplication?
Answer:
O Allah, I seek nearness to You through the supplication of the righteous among Your servants. No, this is not permissible. Seeking nearness to Allah through the deed of another person—the supplication of the righteous is their deed, not your deed. You do not seek nearness through the deed of another; rather, you seek nearness through your own deed. Seeking nearness to Allah is through deed. Seeking nearness to Allah through the deed of the doer is not the deed of another. What does it have to do with the deeds of others or the righteousness of others? It is not sufficient.
That was a nation which has passed on. It will have [the consequence of] what it earned, and you will have what you have earned. And you will not be asked about what they used to do.
تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُم مَّا كَسَبْتُمْ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [517 /641] ما صحة هذا الدعاء: "اللهم إني أتوسل إليك بدعاء الصالحين من عبادك؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.