The issue of seeking blessing from the relics of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whether they are attached, such as his hair, or detached, such as his garments.

The questioner : Another question regarding the issue of seeking blessing, it has come up.

The Shaykh : The matter of what?

The questioner : Seeking blessing from the relics of the Messenger, whether attached, such as his hair, or detached, such as his garments or the pulpit. It is narrated from Ibn 'Umar that he used to seek blessing from the pulpit of the Messenger. Similarly, from Imam Ahmad: Al-Dhahabi mentioned there, in the context of arguing against the Hanbalis, that he used to seek blessing from the hairs of the Messenger, and also from the pulpit of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So I do not know if these chains of narration are authentic, first from Ibn 'Umar, and then from Imam Ahmad? And what is the correct position in this matter?

The Shaykh : As for Imam Ahmad, I do not know; because what is mentioned in the biographies of the imams and the memorizers, there is no doubt that the scholars of hadith do not focus on narrating these biographies as they focus on narrating the hadiths of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with authentic chains of narration. And they, in most cases, mention the biographies without mentioning the chain of narration for these biographies. Therefore, we cannot affirm or deny, so we leave the matter suspended until we are able to come upon a chain of narration to which the rules of hadith science can be applied. Then, no significant legal benefit follows from that. And these biographies mentioned in some biographical works are, in my view, like what is narrated about the Children of Israel. And you know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: , and he said in some other hadiths: ; because we may affirm something that is a lie, or deny something that is the truth. And so I say regarding some of the biographies; let alone the faults; so we do not dwell on them much unless something comes from them with a chain of narration by which we authenticate the hadith or at least grade it as good. At that time, we say: this is established or it is not established.
As for what you pointed out regarding some of what came from some of the Companions, there is no doubt that some of that is established and authentic from them. And the seeking of blessing by some of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with his sweat (peace and blessings be upon him) and their mixing it with their perfume; this is beyond doubt due to its presence in "Sahih Muslim." Therefore, a hadith scholar who has knowledge of the narrations and their transmission, in terms of authenticating and weakening them, cannot deny the occurrence of such seeking of blessing by some of the Companions from some of the relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during his lifetime and after his death. But we see that this ruling should be blocked from the perspective of blocking the means to harm; because those who did that were the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who knew tawhid (the oneness of Allah) with its correct meanings, and it does not occur to the mind that they could fall into any excess regarding the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); unlike these later people who came; for they have exaggerated regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) greatly and in many forms. So we cannot compare the later generations to the earliest generations. If it is established, as we mentioned, from some of the Companions, then the best of its states is to say that it is permissible. And the permissible matter, if it is feared that corruption will follow in the creed or in the hearts, must be stopped from the perspective of blocking the means to harm.
Perhaps 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) had this far-reaching view when he performed Hajj during his caliphate and stopped at one of those stations. He saw some people deviating from the main road and the path. When he asked: Where are these people going? It was said to him: There is a prayer place where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, so they are intending to pray in this prayer place. He said (may Allah be pleased with him): "Whoever catches the prayer in any of these prayer places where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, let him pray. And whoever does not, do not do it; for what destroyed those before you was their following the traces of their prophets." So this following was a cause of corruption and destruction for those before us, the Jews and the Christians. So there is no surprise or blame that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and despite the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) advised his ummah (the Muslim community) with this hadith, some of this ummah have exaggerated in it and said:
Leave what the Christians claimed about their prophet *** And judge as you wish in it, praise and appeal
This is one thing, and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): is another thing. The origin of this excess arises from understanding this hadith with a meaning broader than what the hadith indicates in its entirety; because this hadith can be clarified and interpreted with one of two meanings. The first: : Do not exaggerate in praising me, and its meaning is: praise me, but do not exaggerate. This is the first meaning. And the other meaning - which seems to me - is that he forbids his ummah - also - from the perspective of blocking the means to harm, to praise him (peace and blessings be upon him) with something from their own minds; fearing that the praise may lead them astray from justice and the word of truth. This meaning is what will be preferred by me first, looking at the entirety of the hadith; where he said: . And it seems as if a questioner there is asking: So what and how do we say, and how do we praise? So the Messenger (peace be upon him) answered, as is his custom, and there is no surprise in that, for as He (the Exalted) said: : , do not increase in my praise beyond what my Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) praised me with.
So the meaning is not: do not exaggerate, but rather do not praise except with what came in the Book and the Sunnah. And what made me lean toward this second meaning is that the scholars of hadith mentioned this hadith in the chapter of the humility of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), a chapter: The humility of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or the chapter of the humility of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If the hadith were interpreted with the first meaning, the hadith would not agree with the heading, and the chapter would not have been headed for this hadith; because to say: do not exaggerate in my praise; this is obligatory, while the chapter is the humility of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and what befits this humility is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) says: Do not praise me, and do not say about me except the servant of Allah and His Messenger; because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described him (peace and blessings be upon him) this way.
So from the perspective of blocking the means to harm, as this hadith came, and even if something of seeking blessing occurred from some of the Companions, and even if that is authentic from those who came after them, these are individual cases upon which a general ruling is not built to be spread among the Muslims; because the outcome will be excess regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and this is what he directly forbade. And that was an interpretation of such as His saying (the Exalted): .
This is what I have in answer to this question.