Mentioning the doubt of those who seek nearness to Allah through the persons of the prophets, their status, and the status of the righteous.

The Shaykh : If we want to guide people to this prescribed seeking of nearness, and to have them abandon this non-prescribed seeking of nearness, they rush to say—and here is the wonder of wonders—they say: "My brother, if you have a need with a king, an emir, or a minister, are you able to address him face to face, or do you have to put an intermediary between you and him?" So I say, feigning ignorance: "You have to have this intermediary." So the poor man, due to his ignorance, heedlessness, and lack of knowledge, thinks that the argument has been established against us. Then when we turn back to say to him: "My brother, I am asking you now: if you have two emirs, or two ministers, or any of these great heads, most of whom have placed many barriers between themselves and the people, if... like an emir whom the common people or an individual from among the people cannot address face to face, as the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did with the Messenger (peace be upon him), and as the people in the time of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab addressed him (peace be upon him) face to face as well, until some contemporary person said incorrectly that he was the first democrat in Islam—a foreign expression and incorrect to apply to a Muslim—the point is, do you see this emir whom you address directly without an intermediary, is he better in your view, or is that emir of yours better?" The poor man cannot but say the truth in reality; he says, "This is the emir whom we address in struggle without an intermediary, without a barrier; he is better for us."
So let us return and say: "Oh poor man, you do not accept likening Allah to the just emir whom the subjects and every individual among them address without an intermediary. You refuse to liken Allah to this just emir, and if you were to liken Him to him, you would commit disbelief. Yet you refuse to liken Him to the just emir, and you resort to likening Him to the tyrannical emir."
If such a likeness is associated with seeking nearness, there is no doubt that it is shirk (associating partners with Allah). And now in the Islamic world, there are supplications written in books, some of which are called "Dala'il al-Khayrat" (Guides to Goodness), and some "Afdal al-Dala'il" (The Best Guides), and similar to these are many other names. In them is seeking nearness to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) through Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). What type of seeking of nearness do they intend? Is it the seeking of nearness that Imam al-Shawkani and his like stopped at? The text came, my brother, like this: "We draw near to Allah, and that is all." Or do they intend this seeking of nearness that we constantly and forever hear from them: "It is not possible for a person to speak to the emir except through an intermediary, so the Lord of the worlds, especially since they sometimes add to that false expression: 'We are people of sins and disobedience, we are not able to speak to Allah except we need an intermediary of a righteous man.'" We say to them at that time: "Where are you from the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): ?"
The scholars of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) mentioned in the occasion of the revelation of this verse that a Bedouin came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, is our Lord near so that we whisper to Him, or far so that we call out to Him?" So the answer came: to the end of the verse.
And this nearness was also mentioned in the hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, which al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their "Sahihayn" (authentic collections), that the Companions were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey, and whenever they ascended a high place, they would exalt Allah, and whenever they descended into a valley, they would glorify Allah and raise their voices with that. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to them: , have mercy on yourselves, ; so is one of His servants who is at this nearness in need of the mediation of the intermediary? Far be it from Allah!
So in brief we say: Seeking of nearness is of two types; a type in which there is disagreement, and the correct view is that it is not prescribed, because it is contrary to the Sunnah; and a type which is shirk (associating partners with Allah) itself; and that is the one where the justification for its permissibility is associated with likening the Creator to the sinful creation, and would that it were a likeness to the righteous creation! And all of it is kufr (disbelief); because Allah says: .
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...and the established prayer, grant Muhammad the intercession and the excellence.