The Ruling on Seeking Nearness to Allah Through the Status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The second question is from the brother Fakhri Abdulwahab Al-Ja'far from Iraq, Anbar Governorate. He says: If we call upon Allah, the Exalted, and we supplicate to Him with humility, and we mention in our supplication that He should respond to us by the status of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), is this supplication permissible? Because the Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) , when drought struck the Arabian Peninsula, called upon Allah by the status of Muhammad's (peace and blessings be upon him) uncle, al-Abbas, to relieve the community. Is this permissible or not? Please inform us, may Allah reward you.
Answer: Seeking nearness to Allah through status is not prescribed; rather, what is prescribed is seeking nearness to Allah through His names and attributes, as Allah the Exalted said:[al-A'raf:180] meaning: Ask Allah by His names, such as a person saying: O Allah, I ask You by You being the Most Merciful, the Compassionate... by You being the Generous, the Noble, forgive me... have mercy on me... guide me to the straight path, and the like of that; because supplication is worship and a great act of drawing near, as Allah the Exalted said:[Ghafir:60] and He said: [al-Baqarah:186] the verse, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So, when a Muslim supplicates and humbles himself before Allah, he is in a state of great good, receiving reward and recompense. His supplication may be answered immediately or delayed for a profound wisdom, and Allah may avert from him an evil greater than the matter he asked for. However, one should not seek nearness to Allah except through what has been prescribed: by His names (Glorified and Exalted is He) and attributes, or by His oneness (Glorified and Exalted is He), as in the hadith:Bulugh al-Maram 16:125 or by your righteous deeds. You say: "O my Lord! I ask You by my faith in You and my faith in Your Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). O Allah, I ask You by my love for You, or by my love for Your Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Or, O Allah, I ask You by my kindness to my parents, or by my abstention from what You have forbidden me, O my Lord, or the like of that. You ask Him by your righteous deeds which He loves and has prescribed.".
Therefore, when three men from before us entered a cave due to staying overnight, and in another narration it was due to rain, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith:.
This was due to their faith in Allah and their seeking nearness to Him by their righteous deeds. So the lawful means of seeking nearness is: seeking nearness to Allah by His names and attributes, or by His oneness and sincerity to Him, or by righteous deeds. This is the lawful means that the texts have brought.
As for seeking nearness to Allah by the status of so-and-so, or by the right of so-and-so, this has not been established by the Shari'ah. Therefore, the majority of scholars have held that it is not prescribed. It is better to leave it, and for a person to seek nearness to Allah by the lawful means, which are the names of Allah and His attributes, or by His oneness, or by righteous deeds. These are the lawful means that the texts have brought.
As for what 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did, he did not seek nearness to Allah by the status of al-Abbas, but rather he sought nearness to Allah by his supplication. He said, may Allah be pleased with him, when he addressed the people on the day of the prayer for rain, when they were struck by famine, severe drought, and dryness: He prayed the prayer for rain with the people and addressed them, and said:Bulugh al-Maram 2:449. They used to seek nearness to Allah by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during his lifetime, saying: "Pray for us." So he would stand and pray for them. He would address the people on Friday and supplicate, saying: Sunan an-Nasa'i 1518Sahih (Darussalam). And so in the prayer for rain, they would seek nearness to Allah by his supplication, the supplication of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to his Lord, the Glorious and Exalted, and his asking for relief. And so he said to al-Abbas: . So Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, gave them rain. So it was seeking nearness to Allah by the uncle of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) through his supplication and his calling upon his Lord , and his asking Him , due to the virtue of al-Abbas and his closeness to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He is the uncle of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he is among the best of the Companions, and among the most righteous of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all.
So if Muslims seek nearness to Allah by the righteous among those present with them through their supplication, by saying: O so-and-so! The imam or the one who acts on behalf of the imam, such as the one in authority, says: O so-and-so! Stand up and supplicate to Allah. From the good scholars, the righteous and virtuous, or from the good people of the household of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And they said in the prayer for rain: Stand up, O so-and-so, and supplicate to Allah for us, just as 'Umar said to al-Abbas. All of this is good. As for seeking nearness to Allah by the status of so-and-so, this has no basis. So what should be done is to leave it. In fact, it is an innovation. And Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, knows best. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.
Answer: Seeking nearness to Allah through status is not prescribed; rather, what is prescribed is seeking nearness to Allah through His names and attributes, as Allah the Exalted said:
And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them
وَلِلَّهِ الأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَاCall upon Me; I will respond to you.
ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْAnd when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِSupplication is worship
الدعاء هو العبادةThere is no servant who supplicates to Allah with a supplication that contains no sin and no severing of family ties, except that Allah will give him one of three things: either his supplication will be hastened for him in this world, or it will be stored for him in the Hereafter, or he will be averted from evil equal to it. They said: O Messenger of Allah! Then we will supplicate a lot. He said: Allah is more.
ما من عبدٍ يدعو الله بدعوة ليس فيها إثم ولا قطيعة رحم إلا أعطاه الله بها إحدى ثلاث: إما أن تعجل له دعوته في الدنيا، وإما أن تدخر له في الآخرة، وإما أن يصرف عنه من الشر مثل ذلك، قالوا: يا رسول الله! إذن نكثر، قال: الله أكثرO Allah! I ask you by virtue that I testify that you are Allah; there is no God but You, the one —· the Self Sufficient Master
اللهم إني أسألك بأني أشهد أنك أنت الله لا إله إلا أنت الأحد الصمدTherefore, when three men from before us entered a cave due to staying overnight, and in another narration it was due to rain, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith:
A rock from the top of the mountain closed in on them, blocking the cave, and they could not move it. So they said among themselves: "None can save you from this calamity except that you supplicate to Allah with your righteous deeds." So they supplicated to Allah, the Exalted. One of them sought nearness to Allah by the fact that he was dutiful to his parents, and he supplicated to his Lord to remove the rock from them because of his dutifulness to his parents. So the rock opened up a little. Then the second one said: "I had a cousin whom I loved very much, and I wanted her for myself, but she did not agree. Then a severe need overtook her, and she came to me asking for my help. I said: No, except that you allow me to have intercourse with you. She agreed to that because of her need, on the condition that I give her one hundred dinars and twenty dinars. When I sat between her legs, she said to me: Fear Allah and do not break the seal except with its right. So I feared Allah and stood up and left the sin, and I left the gold for her. Then I said: O my Lord, O Allah, if You know that I did this seeking Your face, then remove from us what we are in." So the rock opened up for them a little, but they could not get out. Then the third one sought nearness to Allah by his fulfillment of a trust, and that he had a trust for some workers, so he increased it and made it fruitful until he bought from it camels, cows, sheep, and slaves. It was a load of rice, or of sorghum. Then the worker came to ask for his right. He said to him: "All of this is your right. All of this that you see is your right, from camels, cows, sheep, and slaves." The worker said to him: "Fear Allah and do not mock me." He said: "I am not mocking you. It is yours." So he took it all. Then the man said: "O Allah, if You know that I did this seeking Your face, then remove from us what we are in." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "So the rock opened up for them and they came out."
إنها انطبقت عليهم صخرة من أعلى الجبل، فسدت عليهم الغار، لا يستطيعون دفعها، فقالوا فيما بينهم: إنه لن ينجيكم من هذه المصيبة إلا أن تدعوا الله بصالح أعمالكم، فدعوا الله سبحانه وتعالى، فتوسل أحدهم بأنه كان باراً بوالديه، ودعا ربه أن يفرج عنهم الصخرة بسبب بره لوالديه، فانفرجت الصخرة بعض الشيء، ثم قال الثاني: إنه كانت له ابنة عم يحبها كثيراً، وأنه أرادها لنفسه فلم تجب، فألمت بها حاجة شديدة وجاءت إليه تطلبه العون، فقال: لا، إلا بأن تمكنه من نفسها، فوافقت على ذلك بسبب حاجتها على أنه يعطيها مائة جنيه وعشرين جنيه، فلما جلس بين رجليها، قالت له: اتق الله ولا تفض الخاتم إلا بحقه، فخاف من الله وقام وترك الفاحشة، وترك الذهب لها، ثم قال: يا رب، اللهم إن كنت تعلم أني فعلت هذا ابتغاء وجهك فافرج عنا ما نحن فيه، فانفرجت الصخرة عنهم بعض الشيء، لكنهم لا يستطيعون الخروج، ثم توسل الآخر بأدائه الأمانة، وأنه كانت عنده أمانة لبعض الأجراء، فنماها وثمرها حتى اشترى منها إبلاً وبقراً وغنماً ورقيقاً، وكانت أصراً من أرز، أو من ذرة، ثم جاءه الأجير يسأله حقه، فقال له: كل هذا من حقك، كل هذا الذي ترى من حقك، من إبل وبقر وغنم ورقيق، فقال له الأجير: اتق الله ولا تستهزئ بي، قال: إني لا أسخر بك، هو مالك، فأخذه كله، فقال الرجل: اللهم إن كنت تعلم أني فعلت هذا ابتغاء وجهك فافرج عنا ما نحن فيه، قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: فانفرجت عنهم الصخرة وخرجواThis was due to their faith in Allah and their seeking nearness to Him by their righteous deeds. So the lawful means of seeking nearness is: seeking nearness to Allah by His names and attributes, or by His oneness and sincerity to Him, or by righteous deeds. This is the lawful means that the texts have brought.
As for seeking nearness to Allah by the status of so-and-so, or by the right of so-and-so, this has not been established by the Shari'ah. Therefore, the majority of scholars have held that it is not prescribed. It is better to leave it, and for a person to seek nearness to Allah by the lawful means, which are the names of Allah and His attributes, or by His oneness, or by righteous deeds. These are the lawful means that the texts have brought.
As for what 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did, he did not seek nearness to Allah by the status of al-Abbas, but rather he sought nearness to Allah by his supplication. He said, may Allah be pleased with him, when he addressed the people on the day of the prayer for rain, when they were struck by famine, severe drought, and dryness: He prayed the prayer for rain with the people and addressed them, and said:
'O Allah, we used to ask our Prophet (RA) to supplicate to You for rain, and You would give us rain. We are now asking our Prophet's uncle to supplicate to You for rain, so give us rain." They would then be given rain.
اللهم إنا كنا إذا أجدبنا فتوسل إليك بنبينا فتسقينا، وإنا نتوسل إليك بعم نبينا فأسقنا ، فيسقون"O Allah, send us rain."
اللهم أغثنا، اللهم أغثناO al-Abbas! Stand up and call upon our Lord. So al-Abbas stood up and made supplication, raising his hands and making supplication, and the people said, "Ameen."
يا عباس ! قم فادع ربنا، فقام العباس ودعا، ورفع يديه ودعا الناس وأمنواSo if Muslims seek nearness to Allah by the righteous among those present with them through their supplication, by saying: O so-and-so! The imam or the one who acts on behalf of the imam, such as the one in authority, says: O so-and-so! Stand up and supplicate to Allah. From the good scholars, the righteous and virtuous, or from the good people of the household of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And they said in the prayer for rain: Stand up, O so-and-so, and supplicate to Allah for us, just as 'Umar said to al-Abbas. All of this is good. As for seeking nearness to Allah by the status of so-and-so, this has no basis. So what should be done is to leave it. In fact, it is an innovation. And Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, knows best. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.