The Ruling on Seeking Blessing from Scholars, the Righteous, and Their Effects

Question: Some people consider it permissible to seek blessing from scholars, the righteous, and their effects, citing the established fact that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) sought blessing from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). What is the ruling on this? Is this not likening other than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? Is it possible to seek blessing from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) after his death? And what is the ruling on seeking nearness to Allah the Exalted through the blessing of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?

Answer: It is not permissible to seek blessing from anyone other than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), neither from his ablution, nor his hair, nor his sweat, nor any part of his body. Rather, all of this is specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) because of what Allah placed in his body and what touched him of good and blessing.
For this reason, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not seek blessing from any of them, neither in their lifetime nor after their death (peace and blessings be upon him), neither with the Rightly Guided Caliphs nor with anyone else. This indicates that they knew that this is specific to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and not to others, and because this is a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah) and worshipping other than Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Likewise, it is not permissible to seek nearness to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) through the status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or his essence, or his attribute, or his blessing, due to the lack of evidence for this; and because this is among the means to shirk with Him and exaggeration regarding him (peace and blessings be upon him).
And because this was also not done by his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and if it had been good, they would have preceded us to it. And because this is contrary to the evidences of the Shari'ah. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [Al-A'raf: 180], and He did not command supplicating to Him (Glorified and Exalted is He) through the status of anyone, or the right of anyone, or the blessing of anyone.
And attached to His (Glorified and Exalted is He) names is seeking nearness through His attributes, such as His Majesty, His Mercy, His Speech, and others. Among this is what came in the authentic hadiths regarding seeking refuge in the perfect words of Allah, and seeking refuge in the Majesty and Power of Allah.
And attached to this is also: seeking nearness through the love of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and the love of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and through faith in Allah and His Messenger, and seeking nearness through righteous deeds. As in the story of the men of the cave who took shelter in a cave from the night and the rain, and they entered it, and a rock slid down from the mountain and blocked the entrance of the cave, and they were unable to push it away. They discussed among themselves a means of escape from it, and they agreed among themselves that nothing would save them from it except that they call upon Allah with their righteous deeds. So one of them sought nearness to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in that: through his parents... so the rock opened up a little, but they could not get out of it... Then the second sought nearness: through his chastity from zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) after having the ability to commit it, so the rock opened up a bit, but they could not get out of that... Then the third sought nearness through fulfilling a trust, so the rock opened up and they went out.
And this hadith is established in the two Sahihs from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), from the news of those before us, for what it contains of admonition for us and reminder.
And the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) have explicitly stated what I mentioned in this answer... such as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, and his student the scholar Ibn al-Qayyim, and the scholar Shaykh Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan in [Fath al-Majid Sharh Kitab al-Tawhid] and others.
As for the hadith of the blind man seeking nearness through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his lifetime (peace and blessings be upon him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) interceded for him and supplicated for him, so Allah restored his sight to him... So this is seeking nearness through the supplication and intercession of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and it is not through his status and right, as is clear in the hadith... And as people will seek intercession through him on the Day of Resurrection in the judgment between them. And as the people of Paradise will seek intercession through him on the Day of Resurrection in their entering Paradise, and all of this is seeking nearness through him in his worldly and hereafter life... And it is seeking nearness through his supplication and intercession, not through his essence and right, as the people of knowledge have explicitly stated, and among them are those we mentioned earlier.