Please give us an idea regarding the permissibility of seeking blessing from the relics of the prophets, and whether it has been established that it was abrogated, what is the abrogating text, where it is located, and who held it to be valid?

The questioner : Please give us an idea about the permissibility of seeking blessing from the relics of the prophets. Has it been established that it was abrogated? What is the abrogating text? Where is it? And who validated it or held it to be valid?

The Shaykh : What we see in this issue is what we wrote in the book "Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings", which was recently published. It states that seeking blessing from the relics of the Messenger (peace be upon him) was a known practice among the Companions during his lifetime (peace and blessings be upon him) and after his death among some of them. This is a fact that cannot be denied. However, we found a hadith that is established for us through the totality of its chains, which came as a mursal report and as a connected report through one path and more than one path. It states that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw the Companions one day rushing to seek blessing from his ablution water, as was their custom, he did not leave them as was his custom (peace and blessings be upon him). Instead, he began to move them to a new position different from their previous position, which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had previously approved. He said to them: They said: "Love of Allah and His Messenger." He said (peace and blessings be upon him): or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. From this hadith, we take that the Prophet (peace be upon him) drew the Companions' attention to the fact that the matter of seeking blessing from his relics (peace and blessings be upon him) is a matter related to the emotions of the Companions and their love for the Messenger (peace be upon him). Therefore, from the perspective of Shari'ah policy, he approved them for as long as Allah willed. Then, finally, in this incident, he drew their attention to the fact that what truly indicates the love of a lover for his beloved is following his command. This is the explicit statement of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in His Book when He said: So the Messenger (peace be upon him) drew their attention to the fact that following him (peace be upon him) and what he brought, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: So among the love for the Messenger (peace be upon him) is holding fast to his character, such as truthfulness in speech, fulfilling trusts, and similar noble morals. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) drew their attention to the fact that this is the decisive proof of the sincerity of their love for the Messenger (peace be upon him). However, I believe that the Messenger (peace be upon him) used the utmost wisdom in diverting them from what he had previously approved, because the matter is related to the inner emotions in people's hearts. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not want and did not wish to stop them explicitly from that custom, but rather in a very soft and gentle manner, where he said to them: They said: "Love of Allah and His Messenger." He said (peace be upon him): This is what we see. And for that reason, we find that the early Muslims did not continue to seek blessing from the relics of the Messenger (peace be upon him), unlike the later ones among them, who reversed the matter and made seeking blessing from his relics a proof of his love. And among the foremost of the Salaf who did not consider seeking blessing from the relics of the Messenger (peace be upon him) a proof of sincere love was 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). It is authentic from him that he once went out for Hajj and stopped at a lodging. He saw the people turning to one side and taking a path far from the main road. He asked about these people: "Where are you going?" They said: "There is a place where the Messenger (peace be upon him) prayed." He said (may Allah be pleased with him): "O people, whoever among you catches up with prayer in one of these places, let him pray, and whoever does not, do not follow these places, for only the following of the relics of their prophets destroyed those before you." So 'Umar ibn al-Khattab considered not only that following the relics of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and seeking blessing from them is not a legitimate cause that brings one closer to Allah, but he considered it a cause that leads those who seek blessing from his relics (peace be upon him) to deviate from the straight path and the middle way. He clarified that one of the causes of the deviation of the earlier people from the Shari'ah of the Lord of the Worlds was their following of the relics of their prophets. And I think that 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would not say this unless the Messenger (peace be upon him) had informed him of this meaning, because it is a matter of the unseen. He said: "For only the following of the relics of their prophets destroyed those before you." This is on the same level as the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when he came to Mina to throw the pebbles at the large pillar and ordered 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas or his brother al-Fadl to pick up for him pebbles like the pebbles of throwing. He said to him: "Like these." So the saying of 'Umar is on the same level as the saying of the Messenger. It appears that he received it from the Messenger (peace be upon him). "Whoever among you catches up with prayer in one of these places, let him pray—by chance, I mean—and whoever does not, do not follow them, for only the following of the relics of their prophets destroyed those before you." This is what I have in answer to the question.