He was asked about matters concerning seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul), such as their saying, “O Allah, support this community out of respect for Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The telephone is ringing.
The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. If you live through Rajab, you will see wonders.
The questioner : I heard one of the Sufis making a supplication yesterday, and before I refute him, I wanted to be cautious.
The Shaykh : You have done well.
The questioner : He says: “O Allah, support this community out of respect for Muhammad.” And we know that the prescribed seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) may be through righteous deeds.
The Shaykh : And it is so.
The questioner : So I said, let me be sure; I heard it recently. Is it in line with what is permissible, or with the innovations we know from them?
The Shaykh : No, this, even if it is not transmitted, does not fall under the category of seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) by means of a created being; rather, it falls under the topic of seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) by one of the attributes of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And this is the meaning that was mentioned in the hadith.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Assuming its authenticity, and perhaps you are aware of its weakness?
The questioner : Do you mean if it is the prayer?
The Shaykh : Yes, “By the rightThe questioner : You have over me, and by the right of this walk of mine.” Some of the innovators used this as evidence for the permissibility of the innovated seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul).
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So the response to them is from two angles or two aspects.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The first is that the hadith is weak and not authentic. The second is that even if it were authentic, it is only seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) by Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) response, and in that case, the hadith reverts to being seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) by one of the attributes of Allah.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So it is said the same about this phrase, even if it is not transmitted.
The questioner : Yes, meaning if someone says, “O Allah, support this community out of respect for Muhammad,” we do not refute him.
The Shaykh : We do not refute him, just as if we said, “By Your love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him),” or the like. However, the refutation may come from another aspect, which is that such seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) may not be beneficial if the one seeking nearness is slow in action.
The questioner: Yes. Yes.
The Shaykh : From this aspect only, attention can be drawn. But as for the phrase itself, there is no fault with it.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy and blessings. Oh Allah, Oh the Generous.
The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. If you live through Rajab, you will see wonders.
The questioner : I heard one of the Sufis making a supplication yesterday, and before I refute him, I wanted to be cautious.
The Shaykh : You have done well.
The questioner : He says: “O Allah, support this community out of respect for Muhammad.” And we know that the prescribed seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) may be through righteous deeds.
The Shaykh : And it is so.
The questioner : So I said, let me be sure; I heard it recently. Is it in line with what is permissible, or with the innovations we know from them?
The Shaykh : No, this, even if it is not transmitted, does not fall under the category of seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) by means of a created being; rather, it falls under the topic of seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) by one of the attributes of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : And this is the meaning that was mentioned in the hadith.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Assuming its authenticity, and perhaps you are aware of its weakness?
The questioner : Do you mean if it is the prayer?
The Shaykh : Yes, “By the rightThe questioner : You have over me, and by the right of this walk of mine.” Some of the innovators used this as evidence for the permissibility of the innovated seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul).
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So the response to them is from two angles or two aspects.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The first is that the hadith is weak and not authentic. The second is that even if it were authentic, it is only seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) by Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) response, and in that case, the hadith reverts to being seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) by one of the attributes of Allah.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : So it is said the same about this phrase, even if it is not transmitted.
The questioner : Yes, meaning if someone says, “O Allah, support this community out of respect for Muhammad,” we do not refute him.
The Shaykh : We do not refute him, just as if we said, “By Your love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him),” or the like. However, the refutation may come from another aspect, which is that such seeking nearness to Allah through a means (tawassul) may not be beneficial if the one seeking nearness is slow in action.
The questioner: Yes. Yes.
The Shaykh : From this aspect only, attention can be drawn. But as for the phrase itself, there is no fault with it.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The questioner : Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy and blessings. Oh Allah, Oh the Generous.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.