What is the ruling on seeking nearness to Allah through the status of the prophets?

Question:
What is the ruling on seeking nearness to Allah through the status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), knowing that my brother says: The Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, the Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, and His Eminence Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Baz say that this is a matter of scholarly disagreement among the scholars, and the stronger position is that it is disliked, a disliked act of avoidance? So what is your opinion on this matter, and may Allah reward you with good?

Answer:
Seeking nearness to Allah through the status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or the status of the prophets, or by the right of the Prophet, or by the right of the prophets; this is a religious innovation in supplication, and it is an abomination that is not permissible. This is what the majority of the scholars said, and it is the position of the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, and the imams of the da'wah, such as Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab and others; because the Messenger did not teach the people this. Allah says: [Al-A'raf: 180]. He did not say: So call upon Him by the status of so-and-so, or by the right of so-and-so. He said: .
And the Messenger used to supplicate to Allah by His names. He said to al-Siddiq when he said: O Messenger of Allah, teach me a supplication I can recite in my prayer. He said: . He did not say: Call upon Allah by my status.
And the hadith that says: is fabricated. The scholars have agreed that it is a fabricated lie attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
And he said to Mu'adh: . He did not say: By the status of your Prophet, or by the right of your Prophet. So supplication is worship, and the means are worship. There must be evidence in them: Allah said, and His Messenger said.
It is narrated from some scholars that they permitted it, and they argued with the hadith of the blind man. They said: The blind man was taught by the Prophet when he complained. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught him and said: . Some of them mentioned that al-'Izz ibn 'Abd al-Salam said that this indicates seeking nearness to Allah through the Prophet specifically.
The scholars said: The answer to this is that this is seeking nearness through his supplication; because he is alive, and he ordered him to supplicate to him. This is seeking nearness through the Prophet's supplication. For this reason, he said: . So his saying: means: By his supplication for me and his intercession for me. Then he said: meaning: O Allah, accept his supplication for me, and my supplication for him. And he did not say to the people: Call upon Allah by my intercession, by my status, or by my right. No, rather the Lord is called upon by His names and attributes and by righteous deeds. As if you say: "O Allah, I ask You by my love for You, or by my love for Your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or by my following Your Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)." This is good. Seeking nearness through deeds or attributes: "O Allah, I ask You by Your knowledge of the unseen, by Your love, by Your generosity, by Your bounty." Seeking nearness by the attributes of Allah, or by His names, all of it is truth.
So seeking nearness to Allah by His names and attributes, and by His oneness, and by righteous deeds, all of it is truth. As He the Exalted said: [Al-A'raf: 180]. And al-Siddiq said: . This is seeking nearness by the names and attributes of Allah. And so in the hadith: . This is seeking nearness by the attributes of Allah and His oneness. All of it is truth.
And so the three men of the cave about whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed in "the two Sahihs" that they sheltered them for the night. And in a wording: . They came to a cave at night because of the night and the rain. So they entered it, and a great rock slid down and blocked the cave. So they were unable to get out or push it away. So they said among themselves: Nothing will save you from this calamity except that you call upon Allah by your righteous deeds. So one of them said: O Allah, indeed I had two old parents, and I used not to give the milk to my family or my wealth before them. Meaning: the fresh milk. The evening drink: milk they drink after the night prayer. So the search for trees took me far one night, and I did not return to them except that they had slept—may Allah have mercy on them—so I stood with the cup in my hand waiting for them to wake up. And I disliked to wake them, and the children were crying under my feet—meaning: they wanted to drink—so I kept waiting for them until the dawn broke. O Allah, if You know that I did that seeking Your face, then relieve us of what we are in. So the rock opened up a little, but they could not get out.
Then the second one said: O Allah, indeed I had a cousin whom I loved as much as men love women. So I sought her for myself, but she excused herself from me. I sought her for unlawful intercourse, so she refused. Then a need overtook her—meaning: poverty—so she came to him saying: O 'Abdullah, give me such and such, I am in need. So he said: No, until you allow me to have yourself. So out of dire necessity, she agreed to give him two hundred and twenty dinars, two hundred pounds and twenty pounds of gold, so that she would allow him to have herself. So he did. When he sat between her legs, she said: O 'Abdullah, fear Allah and do not break the seal except by its right. So the man was afraid and stood up and left her and her money, and did not have intercourse with her. Then he said: O Allah, if You know that I did this seeking Your face, then relieve us of what we are in. So the rock opened up a little, but they could not get out.
So the third one said: O Allah, indeed I had hired workers, and I gave every worker his right, except one worker who left his right with me. So his produce was for him, and I bought from him camels, cows, sheep, and slaves. Then he came seeking his right, and I said: All of this is your right. These camels, and these cows, and these sheep, and these slaves; all of it is your right. And his right was rice or corn, something of food. So he sold it and made it grow. This is your right. So he drove it all and did not leave anything of it. O Allah, if You know that I did this seeking Your face, then relieve us of what we are in. So the rock opened up and they went out.
This is from the signs of Allah. Allah showed them the lesson, and they called upon their Lord with these righteous deeds. So there is nothing wrong with this. Seeking nearness to Allah by your righteous deeds: by the oneness of Allah, by His names and attributes, by your love for Him; because this is a righteous deed. Love for His Prophet and the believers is a righteous deed. This is not a problem. But by the status and the right: by the status of so-and-so, or by the right of so-and-so, this is not a means. Rather, this is a religious innovation. It is not permissible to seek nearness by it, according to the correct position which is that of the majority of the scholars.
And success is from Allah.