The ruling on seeking nearness to Allah through the prophets and the righteous, and the nature of the disagreement on this
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Last week, one of the Islamic magazines published an article by one of its writers. Under the heading "The Issue of Tawassul," they said: As for the issue of seeking nearness to Allah through the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), the prophets, the angels, and the righteous among the servants of Allah, Professor al-Banna mentioned that this is a matter of disagreement among the imams, and that it is a disagreement regarding the manner of supplication, not a matter of creed. And Imam al-Banna is not the first to say this; rather, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab himself said it, as transmitted in his collected fatwas, where he stated in the tenth issue regarding the prayer for rain: There is no harm in seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous,And the statement of Ahmad: seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet specifically, while they say: one does not call upon a created being for aid.
So the difference is very clear, and the discussion is not about what we are discussing here. The fact that some permit seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous, while some restrict it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and that most scholars prohibit it and consider it disliked, means that this issue is one of the matters of Islamic jurisprudence,And if the correct view in our opinion is the opinion of the majority: that it is disliked, so we do not deny the one who does it. The Shaykh's words included that seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous or through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is a point of disagreement among scholars, and that the correct view is the opinion of the majority that it is disliked, and that this issue is one of the matters of Islamic jurisprudence. Al-Banna also approved of this, so there is no reason to deny him. And because the subject of tawassul is jurisprudential, not creedal, all the books of the schools of jurisprudence have discussed it, despite their differing rulings on it, and it has been included in the Jurisprudential Encyclopedia as one of the practical branch issues that fall within the scope of jurisprudential research.
And there are many independent scholars who have said that seeking nearness to Allah is permissible,Among them: such as Imam al-Shawkani, who is a well-known Salafi, in his book Tuhfat al-Dhakirin, a commentary on al-Hisn al-Haseen. And there are others among the early and modern scholars, some of whom permitted seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet alone and did not permit it through other prophets or the righteous, as is the opinion of Imam al-'Izz ibn 'Abd al-Salam.
The disagreement in this issue is clear, and you can review it in the research on tawassul in the Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, in volume fourteen. With this, the soundness of what Shaykh al-Banna said becomes clear to us, and I personally lean toward preferring not to seek nearness to Allah through the person of the Prophet or the righteous, and I adopt the opinion of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in this regard.
What is your opinion, O Shaykh?
The seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous mentioned by Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and other jurists appears on its surface to be seeking nearness to Allah through their persons and through their supplication, and this apparent meaning is not what is intended. What they intend is seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous—Meaning: through their supplication—As 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did when he said: [O Allah, we used to seek nearness to You through our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so You gave us rain. Now we seek nearness to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so give us rain. Rise, O 'Abbas, and call upon Allah] If seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) were permissible, could 'Umar and the Companions with him have turned away from seeking nearness to Allah through the Messenger to seeking nearness to Allah through 'Abbas? It is absolutely impossible.
Then, what is the benefit of seeking nearness to Allah through their persons and their status? It is not a cause for the acceptance of supplication. The origin of tawassul is reaching,Meaning: that we take from that through which we seek nearness to Allah what connects us to our objective. The person of the Prophet or his status is of no benefit to us in this. So everything that has been transmitted from the words of the known scholars regarding seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), their intention is seeking nearness to Allah through faith in him or through his supplication if he is alive,And likewise, seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous means: seeking nearness to Allah through their supplication, this is the correct view.
And Glorified is Allah! How do some people insist on saying: This is permissible, and they bring up these doubtful matters, when they have a permissible tawassul with no doubt, and they turn away from it? If it were not for the fitnah,Why does he not say: our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us, as the believers say. But some people are obsessed with raising disputed issues.
As for whether it is a creedal matter or a branch ruling? The disagreement in this issue is verbal.
The important thing is: is it permissible or not permissible? And what we see is that it is not permissible to seek nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) through his person or his status, but rather we seek nearness to Allah through faith in him and following him.
So the difference is very clear, and the discussion is not about what we are discussing here. The fact that some permit seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous, while some restrict it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and that most scholars prohibit it and consider it disliked, means that this issue is one of the matters of Islamic jurisprudence,And if the correct view in our opinion is the opinion of the majority: that it is disliked, so we do not deny the one who does it. The Shaykh's words included that seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous or through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) is a point of disagreement among scholars, and that the correct view is the opinion of the majority that it is disliked, and that this issue is one of the matters of Islamic jurisprudence. Al-Banna also approved of this, so there is no reason to deny him. And because the subject of tawassul is jurisprudential, not creedal, all the books of the schools of jurisprudence have discussed it, despite their differing rulings on it, and it has been included in the Jurisprudential Encyclopedia as one of the practical branch issues that fall within the scope of jurisprudential research.
And there are many independent scholars who have said that seeking nearness to Allah is permissible,Among them: such as Imam al-Shawkani, who is a well-known Salafi, in his book Tuhfat al-Dhakirin, a commentary on al-Hisn al-Haseen. And there are others among the early and modern scholars, some of whom permitted seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet alone and did not permit it through other prophets or the righteous, as is the opinion of Imam al-'Izz ibn 'Abd al-Salam.
The disagreement in this issue is clear, and you can review it in the research on tawassul in the Kuwaiti Jurisprudential Encyclopedia, in volume fourteen. With this, the soundness of what Shaykh al-Banna said becomes clear to us, and I personally lean toward preferring not to seek nearness to Allah through the person of the Prophet or the righteous, and I adopt the opinion of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in this regard.
What is your opinion, O Shaykh?
The seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous mentioned by Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and other jurists appears on its surface to be seeking nearness to Allah through their persons and through their supplication, and this apparent meaning is not what is intended. What they intend is seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous—Meaning: through their supplication—As 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did when he said: [O Allah, we used to seek nearness to You through our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so You gave us rain. Now we seek nearness to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so give us rain. Rise, O 'Abbas, and call upon Allah] If seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) were permissible, could 'Umar and the Companions with him have turned away from seeking nearness to Allah through the Messenger to seeking nearness to Allah through 'Abbas? It is absolutely impossible.
Then, what is the benefit of seeking nearness to Allah through their persons and their status? It is not a cause for the acceptance of supplication. The origin of tawassul is reaching,Meaning: that we take from that through which we seek nearness to Allah what connects us to our objective. The person of the Prophet or his status is of no benefit to us in this. So everything that has been transmitted from the words of the known scholars regarding seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), their intention is seeking nearness to Allah through faith in him or through his supplication if he is alive,And likewise, seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous means: seeking nearness to Allah through their supplication, this is the correct view.
And Glorified is Allah! How do some people insist on saying: This is permissible, and they bring up these doubtful matters, when they have a permissible tawassul with no doubt, and they turn away from it? If it were not for the fitnah,Why does he not say: our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us, as the believers say. But some people are obsessed with raising disputed issues.
As for whether it is a creedal matter or a branch ruling? The disagreement in this issue is verbal.
The important thing is: is it permissible or not permissible? And what we see is that it is not permissible to seek nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) through his person or his status, but rather we seek nearness to Allah through faith in him and following him.