Seeking Nearness to Allah Through the Status of Allah or the Status of the Prophets and the Righteous

This is a message received by the program from As'ad 'Abd al-Jabbar 'Abd al-Qadir from Basra, Iraq. He says in his message: One of the believers heard me making supplication after the prayer, asking Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) , and I said: "O Allah, by Your status, and by the status of Muhammad, and by the status of the noble Companions, I ask You to forgive me and have mercy on me." He informed me that this supplication is not permissible. Please inform us of the correctness of this. May Allah reward you.
Answer: Seeking nearness to Allah through the status of the Prophets or the status of the Companions is a religious innovation (bid'ah) that is not permissible. However, seeking nearness through the status of Allah, meaning by the greatness of Allah, does no harm. But seeking nearness through the status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or the status of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or the status of the Prophets, or the status of the righteous, or by the right of the Prophets, or by the right of the righteous—this is a religious innovation (bid'ah) according to the most correct view held by the majority of scholars. Some scholars have permitted it, but that is a weak and weaker position. The correct view is that it is not permissible. Rather, seeking nearness (tawassul) is done through other matters.
Tawassul (seeking nearness to Allah through a means) is done by the names of Allah and His attributes, as He said: : [Al-A'raf: 180]. So you say: "O Allah, I ask You by Your beautiful names and Your exalted attributes to forgive me, to have mercy on me, to free me from the Fire, to grant me righteous offspring, and so on." Or you say: "O Allah, I ask You that You are the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, that You are the Most Kind, the Most Merciful, that You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, that You are the Generous, the Noble, to have mercy on me, to forgive me, to grant me such and such." There is nothing wrong with this.
Likewise, seeking nearness (tawassul) is done through the oneness of Allah (tawhid) and faith in Him. So you say: "O Allah, I ask You by my testimony that You are Allah, there is no deity but You. O Allah, I ask You by my belief in You, my love for You, my fear of You, and my hope in You, to forgive me and have mercy on me. O Allah, I ask You by Your oneness and my faith in You."
Likewise, through your other righteous deeds. For example, you say: "O Allah, I ask You by my love for You and for Your Prophet. O Allah, I ask You by my distance from what You have forbidden me, by my abstention from unlawful sexual intercourse (zina), by fulfilling the trust, by my dutifulness to my parents." You ask Allah by your deeds, as came in the story of the people of the cave who were trapped in the cave, and they were three, and a great rock blocked the door upon them, and they could not move it. So they said among themselves: "Indeed, nothing will save you from this except that you ask Allah by your righteous deeds." So Allah inspired them with this good, and they supplicated to Allah by their righteous deeds.
So one of them sought nearness (tawassul) by his dutifulness to his parents, and that he did not let his family or wealth go without provision before them when he brought milk at night. So the rock opened a little, but they could not exit with it.
Then the second one sought nearness (tawassul) by his great love for his cousin, and that she was afflicted with a year of need, meaning: a pressing need, so she came to ask for his help. He refused to allow her to be intimate with him unless he could have her, so she allowed him to have her for one hundred and twenty gold dinars. When he sat between her legs, she said: "O servant of Allah! Fear Allah and do not break the seal except with its right." So he feared Allah, stood up, left the sin, and left her the gold out of fear of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) . He said: "O Allah, if You know that I did this seeking Your Face, then relieve us from what we are in." So the rock opened a little, but they could not exit.
Then the third one sought nearness (tawassul) by fulfilling the trust. He had workers, so he gave them their rights except for one whose right remained with him. He increased it for him and made it grow for him until it became camels, sheep, cattle, and slaves. When the man, the owner of the wage, came to ask for his right, he said: "All of this is your right. Everything you see of camels, cattle, sheep, and slaves is all your right." The man said: "O servant of Allah! Fear Allah and do not mock me!" He said: "I am not mocking you. This is all from your wealth, and its increase is for you." So he drove them all away, driving the cattle, camels, sheep, and slaves. Then the man said: "O Allah, if You know that I did this seeking Your Face, then relieve us from what we are in." So the rock opened and they exited.
So this is seeking nearness (tawassul) through their good and righteous deeds. These are the good means. As for seeking nearness through the status of so-and-so, or the right of so-and-so, or the person of so-and-so, this is a religious innovation (bid'ah) and one of the means of associating partners with Allah (shirk). It is obligatory to leave that. This is the correct view among the words of the scholars regarding it. And Allah is the One to be sought for help. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.