Al-'Azim al-Abadi, the author of *Awn al-Ma'bud*, cited the hadith of A'ishah: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to use the miswak, then give it to me to wash it, so I would start with it..."

The questioner : The scholar Al-'Azim al-Haqq al-Abadi, the author of *Al-Awn*, cited the hadith of A'ishah: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to use the miswak, then give it to me to wash it, so I would start with it, use it, then wash it and return it to him." He used this as evidence for the establishment of seeking blessing from the traces of the righteous, taking pleasure in them, and using another person's miswak. Do you have any comment on this? May Allah guide you to the truth and reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Before answering this question, I say that we do not doubt that the Companions used to seek blessing from some of the traces of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), such as his sweat, his hair, and his miswak. There are many hadiths on this that no one, however extreme, can deny or fail to accept their implications, which include seeking blessing. This is a reality we believe in. However, this specific hadith cannot be forced into the category of seeking blessing from the traces of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because this occurred between two spouses, between a husband and his wife. As is well known, such things and more occur between spouses. Therefore, this cannot be extended to another party, such that it would be permissible, for example, for a woman who is a stranger to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to seek blessing from the remnants of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saliva on his miswak. It is well known that a husband may lick his wife's lips or her tongue. These are matters that concern only the spouses and cannot be extended to others. Thus, this text remains specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his wife. The other texts we mentioned are sufficient and adequate, without needing to cite this hadith and force it into their category.
Seeking blessing from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is established. I think I discussed this in my treatise *The Types and Rulings of Tawassul*, in response to this Dr. al-Bouti, who claimed that seeking blessing from his (peace and blessings be upon him) urine and the like is a form of tawassul through him. I stated that seeking blessing from the traces of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that we mentioned earlier is one thing, and seeking nearness to Allah through them is another. Then I moved to a very important issue for the Muslims who came after the Companions: that this seeking of blessing should be restricted to the Companions only, because they knew tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and knew how to stand at the limits set by the Lawgiver, as in the saying of his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his saying . As for those who came after them, they fell into excess in this matter until it reached the point of calling for aid and falling into major shirk (associating partners with Allah). For this reason, we say that I personally, if I were in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), would have done what his Companions did in seeking blessing from him (peace and blessings be upon him). But I do not see this being opened up for the later generations, in order to block the means to harm, which is a great principle in the Shari'ah. This is what I have.

The questioner : So, if we were to find, for example, some of the traces of the Messenger (peace be upon him) now—and this may even be impossible—is it not permissible for us to seek blessing from them?

The Shaykh : Yes, from the perspective of blocking the means to harm.