What is the ruling on seeking nearness to Allah through the prophets and the righteous, and is it true that this is a matter of disagreement and that it is a jurisprudential and secondary disagreement?
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The questioner : I have it, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Last week, one of the Islamic magazines published an article by one of its writers, which appeared under the title "The Issue of Tawassul."
The Shaykh : The issue?
The questioner : The issue of tawassul. He said: As for the issue of seeking nearness to Allah through the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the prophets, the angels, and the righteous among the servants of Allah, Professor al-Banna mentioned that this is one of the matters 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, Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab himself said it, as transmitted in his collected fatwas. He said in the tenth issue: "Their statement that there is no harm in seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous, and Ahmad's statement that one seeks nearness to Allah through the Prophet specifically, along with their statement that one does not call upon a created being for aid, the difference is very clear. And the discussion is not about what we are discussing here. So 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 most scholars prohibit it and consider it disliked, this issue is one of the issues of jurisprudence. Even if the correct opinion in our view is the opinion of the majority that it is disliked, we do not disapprove of one who does it. The Shaykh's statement included that seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous or through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is a matter of disagreement among scholars, and that he approved the opinion of the majority that it is disliked, and that this is an issue of jurisprudence. This is exactly what al-Banna stated, so there is no reason to disapprove of 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. It was included in the Encyclopedia of Jurisprudence as one of the practical secondary issues that fall within the scope of jurisprudential research. And there are many independent scholars who have permitted tawassul, among them Imam al-Shawkani, who is a well-known Salafi, in his book Tuhfat al-Dhakirin, an explanation of al-Hisn al-Haseen. And there are others among the early and modern scholars. Some of them permitted seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet alone and did not permit seeking nearness to Allah through others among the prophets and the righteous, as is the opinion of Imam 'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam. The last paragraph, O Shaykh, states that the disagreement in the issue is clear, and you can review it in the research on tawassul in the Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Jurisprudence, in volume fourteen. And with this, the soundness of what Shaykh al-Banna said becomes clear in terms of knowledge and investigation. And I personally lean toward the position of not seeking 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 comment, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, the seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous mentioned by Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and other jurists, its apparent meaning is seeking nearness to Allah through their persons and through their supplication. And this apparent meaning is not what is intended. What they intend by seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous is through their supplication, as 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did when he said: "O Allah, we seek nearness to You through our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so send us rain. And we seek nearness to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so send us rain. Rise, O 'Abbas, and call upon Allah" If seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) 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? Is it a cause for the acceptance of supplication, or seeking nearness to Allah through their status? And tawassul, in its origin, means reaching, i.e., that we take from that through which we seek nearness to Allah what leads us to our objective. And the person of the Prophet or the status of the Prophet is of no benefit to us. 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), 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, meaning: seeking nearness to Allah through their supplication. This is the correct view. And glory to Allah, how do some people insist on saying that this is permissible and bring up these doubtful matters, when there is a permissible tawassul with no problem that they turn away from? If it were not a fitnah, why would our Lord not say, "We have believed, so forgive us," as the believers say? But some people are obsessed with raising issues of disagreement.
As for whether it is a creedal matter or a secondary ruling, the disagreement in this is verbal. The important thing is its resolution: is it permissible or not permissible? That is it. And what we see is that it is not permissible to seek nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning through his person or his status, but rather we seek nearness to Allah through faith in him and following him. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Last week, one of the Islamic magazines published an article by one of its writers, which appeared under the title "The Issue of Tawassul."
The Shaykh : The issue?
The questioner : The issue of tawassul. He said: As for the issue of seeking nearness to Allah through the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the prophets, the angels, and the righteous among the servants of Allah, Professor al-Banna mentioned that this is one of the matters 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, Imam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab himself said it, as transmitted in his collected fatwas. He said in the tenth issue: "Their statement that there is no harm in seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous, and Ahmad's statement that one seeks nearness to Allah through the Prophet specifically, along with their statement that one does not call upon a created being for aid, the difference is very clear. And the discussion is not about what we are discussing here. So 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 most scholars prohibit it and consider it disliked, this issue is one of the issues of jurisprudence. Even if the correct opinion in our view is the opinion of the majority that it is disliked, we do not disapprove of one who does it. The Shaykh's statement included that seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous or through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is a matter of disagreement among scholars, and that he approved the opinion of the majority that it is disliked, and that this is an issue of jurisprudence. This is exactly what al-Banna stated, so there is no reason to disapprove of 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. It was included in the Encyclopedia of Jurisprudence as one of the practical secondary issues that fall within the scope of jurisprudential research. And there are many independent scholars who have permitted tawassul, among them Imam al-Shawkani, who is a well-known Salafi, in his book Tuhfat al-Dhakirin, an explanation of al-Hisn al-Haseen. And there are others among the early and modern scholars. Some of them permitted seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet alone and did not permit seeking nearness to Allah through others among the prophets and the righteous, as is the opinion of Imam 'Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam. The last paragraph, O Shaykh, states that the disagreement in the issue is clear, and you can review it in the research on tawassul in the Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Jurisprudence, in volume fourteen. And with this, the soundness of what Shaykh al-Banna said becomes clear in terms of knowledge and investigation. And I personally lean toward the position of not seeking 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 comment, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, the seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous mentioned by Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and other jurists, its apparent meaning is seeking nearness to Allah through their persons and through their supplication. And this apparent meaning is not what is intended. What they intend by seeking nearness to Allah through the righteous is through their supplication, as 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did when he said: "O Allah, we seek nearness to You through our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so send us rain. And we seek nearness to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so send us rain. Rise, O 'Abbas, and call upon Allah" If seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) 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? Is it a cause for the acceptance of supplication, or seeking nearness to Allah through their status? And tawassul, in its origin, means reaching, i.e., that we take from that through which we seek nearness to Allah what leads us to our objective. And the person of the Prophet or the status of the Prophet is of no benefit to us. 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), 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, meaning: seeking nearness to Allah through their supplication. This is the correct view. And glory to Allah, how do some people insist on saying that this is permissible and bring up these doubtful matters, when there is a permissible tawassul with no problem that they turn away from? If it were not a fitnah, why would our Lord not say, "We have believed, so forgive us," as the believers say? But some people are obsessed with raising issues of disagreement.
As for whether it is a creedal matter or a secondary ruling, the disagreement in this is verbal. The important thing is its resolution: is it permissible or not permissible? That is it. And what we see is that it is not permissible to seek nearness to Allah through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning through his person or his status, but rather we seek nearness to Allah through faith in him and following him. Yes.