The ruling on seeking nearness to Allah through the blessing of the righteous, the ruling on amulets, and praying behind one who does so

Q: The imam of the mosque where we pray says: It is permissible for a person to ask Allah by the blessing of so-and-so, one of the righteous, for example, "Forgive me, O Lord, by the blessing of so-and-so." And my question is: Is this not a type of shirk (associating partners with Allah)? Also, this imam writes amulets and gives erasures to people as a cure. So, do we pray behind him? Is his speech and action permissible? Please inform us, may Allah reward you.

A: Seeking nearness to Allah by the status of so-and-so, or by the blessing of so-and-so, or by the right of so-and-so is a bid'ah (religious innovation) and is not shirk (associating partners with Allah). If one says: "O Allah, I ask You by the status of Your prophets, or by the status of Your wali (close friend of Allah) so-and-so, or by Your servant so-and-so, or by the right of so-and-so, or by the blessing of so-and-so," that is not permissible, and it is among the innovations and among the means to shirk (associating partners with Allah); because it was not transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) nor from the Companions, so it is a bid'ah (religious innovation). And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) says: [Al-A'raf: 180] by the blessing of so-and-so or the status of so-and-so. And it is authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: .
So, seeking nearness to Allah is done by the names of Allah, by His attributes, and by His tawhid (the oneness of Allah), as came in the authentic hadith: . And it is also done by righteous deeds, like the supplication of the people of the cave when the rock closed over them and they could not get out. They asked their Lord; one of them asked by the kindness to his parents, the second asked by his abstention from zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), and the third asked by his fulfillment of a trust. So Allah relieved them. This indicates that seeking nearness to Allah by righteous deeds is valid, such as saying: "O Allah, I ask You by my companionship with Your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or by my following of Your Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law), or by my abstention from what You have forbidden to me, or the like of that. This is a prescribed and valid seeking of nearness to Allah.
As for his other action of writing amulets, this is not permissible; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
And amulets: they are tamimah (amulets), so it is not permissible to write amulets or to hang them. The one who hangs them is to be rebuked, and the one who writes them for people is to be rebuked, even if they are from the Qur'an. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and a group of others from the righteous Salaf (the earliest generations) used to disapprove of that, whether it was from the Qur'an or otherwise; due to the general hadiths mentioned previously regarding that, and due to his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . The intended meaning of "fabricated ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation)" is: unknown ruqyah, or ruqyah that contains shirk (associating partners with Allah). As for what is permissible, it is only the prescribed ruqyah; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , and because he (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ruqyah and was treated with ruqyah.
As for al-tawilah: it is a type of sihr (sorcery), and it is called al-sarf wa al-'atf (diversion and attraction). It is prohibited, and amulets are also prohibited, and they are the amulets, called al-jawami' (compilations) and called al-huruz (amulets); because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against them, and did not exclude anything from them, and called them shirk (associating partners with Allah), and cursed the one who hangs them. And because the claim of the permissibility of what is from the Qur'an or the permissible supplications and the prescribed dhikr (the remembrance of Allah) is an exception without evidence, and a means to hanging other shirk-based amulets. And it is known that adhering to the general ruling is necessary unless there is something that specifies it. Also, it is known from the pure Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) the obligation of sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm) that leads to shirk (associating partners with Allah) or to sins below it. And because if they are hung, they become a means for the hearts to attach to them and rely on them and forget Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). So, from the wisdom of Allah in this is that He (Glorified and Exalted is He) prohibited them so that the hearts would be attached to Him alone and not to others. Hanging the Qur'an is a means to hanging other things, so for this reason, it is obligatory to prohibit all of it, and that nothing be hung on the sick person, or on the child, neither from the Qur'an nor from anything else. Rather, the prescribed supplication is taught, such as seeking refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created, and reciting Ayat al-Kursi (the Verse of the Throne), and reciting Surat al-Ikhlas and the two Mu'awwidhat (the two chapters of seeking refuge) at sleep and after the five daily prayers. So, this imam is to be rebuked, and he is to be taught that this is not permissible. If he rectifies himself, otherwise it is obligatory to strive to remove him from his position.
As for al-mahw (erasure): it is that verses are written with saffron on a clean plate or on paper, then washed and the sick person drinks it. This was the practice of many of the Salaf (the earliest generations) and the Khalaf (the later generations), and there is no harm in it if the one doing it is known for knowledge, virtue, and good 'aqidah (creed).