Visiting The  Shrines, Tombs Of Pious, Friends of Allah and Prophet’s Household

Some people nowadays falsely claim by visiting the shrines, tombs of dead saints is a GRAVE WORSHIP, IT’S HARAM, SHIRK, KUFR, IT’S NOT PART OF ISLAM….. because it’s a practice of polytheistic in nature and are derived from pagans.

“According to the Mainstream of 4 Sunni Schools of thoughts, there is consensus of the scholars”

It is permissible and has always been practice of the muslims scholars and general muslims to visit the shrines of Prophets, Awaliya’s and Pious Scholars for the following reasons:

1- It’s a Sunna to visit graves as it reminds us of Akhira

2- Allah has bestowed Blessings at such places

3- Dua’s made to Allah at such places are most likely to be answered from Allah.

4- It encourages us to become more pious just like this person in the shrine, the door of becoming true servant of Allah is opened for any one.

Salafiya Movement Mis-Interpreting

They mis-interpret some hadiths and verses from the Quran:

Example:

The Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وآله وسلّم) repeatedly condemned grave-worshipping in the following authentic Hadith:

“Beware of those who preceded you and used to take the graves of their prophets and righteous men as places of worship, but you must not take graves as mosques; I forbid you to do that.” (Sahih Muslim)

“May Allah’s curse be on the Jews for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets.” (Sahih Bukhari)

“May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets.” (Sahih Bukhari)

True understanding of these hadiths:

‘A`isha’s hadith

‘A`isha narrated that the Prophet said, “Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians fortaking the graves of their prophets as masjids” [Recorded in the Sahih of Bukhari and the Sahih of Muslim].

The word ‘masjids’ here refers to places of worship i.e. they prostrated before the graves in glorification and worship like the disbelievers who worshipped statues and idols.

This is further elucidated in an authentic hadith mentioned by Ibn As’ad in Tabaqat Kubra through Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) who narrated that the Prophet said, “O, Allah do not make my grave an object of worship; Allah cursed those who took the graves of their prophets as masjids.” The words “Allah cursed those…” indicate that taking the grave as an object of worship and therefore the hadith is interpreted as: ‘O Allah! Do not let [people take] my grave as an object of worship before which people prostrate and worship as others did with the graves of their prophets.’

Imam Al-Baidawi said: “Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians because they prostrated in glorification before the shrines of their prophets, took the graves as their qibla towards which they turned for prayer and as objects of worship.

Allah forbade Muslims from imitating them. However, there is no objection to building a mosque around the grave of a righteous person or to praying inside his shrine, by way of seeking blessings and not veneration to its inhabitant. Do you not see that the grave of Ismai’il in the Holy Mosque and the graves at Hatim are the best places in which to pray? The prohibition only concerns exhumed graves containing filth.”

(Qisas al-Anbiya by Ibn Katheer).

In the famous work of Shafi’i Fiqh, Umdat as-Salik, it is clearly stated that what is meant by “making a Qabr a Masjid” is:

“praying to it in honour or praying on it (Reliance of the Traveller p.896).

The Holy Quran (Surah al-Haj Ayah 32) says:

“And those who venerate the Sha’a’ir Allahi (Signs/Symbols of Allah), then that is from the Taqwa in their hearts”. (wa man yuazzim sha’a’ir Allahi fa innaha min Taqwal Qulub)

In the Quran (1:158), the mountains of Safa and Marwah were called Sha’a’ir Allahi, because they are the mountains on which a saida Hajirah (ra) ran seven times.

A person’s love for the righteous is among the signs of Allah’s acceptance and pleasure. ‘Uqba ibn ‘Amer, may Allah have mercy on him, narrated that the Prophet [pbuh] said: “I do not fear for you from shirk [associating partners with Allah] after I die, but I fear that you will compete and fight over worldly interests and thus be destroyed like those who came before you” [Bukhari and Muslim].

(Ibn Hajar Haytami:) Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, and Nasa’i relate that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said,

“May Allah curse the Jews and Christians; they have taken the tombs of their prophets as places of worship,”

and Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, and Nasa’i also relate the hadith,

“They are the ones who, when a righteous man among them died, would build a place of worship upon his grave and paint those icons in it. They will be the wickedest of creation in Allah’s sight on the Day of Judgement.”

The reason for considering it an enormity to take a grave as a place of worship is obvious, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) cursed those who did this with the graves of their prophets, and considered those who did it with the graves of the righteous to be “the wickedest of creation in Allah’s sight on the Day of Judgement.”

Taking a grave as a place of worship means to pray on the grave or towards it. The prohibition, moreover, applies exclusively to the grave of someone venerated, whether a prophet or friend of Allah (wali, def: w33), as is shown by the hadith’s wording “when there was a righteous man among them”; for which reason our colleagues say that it is unlawful to perform the prayer towards the graves of the prophets or friends of Allah “for the blessing of it” (tabarruk, dis: w31) or out of reverence for it, that is, under two conditions:

1. that the grave is of someone who is honored and venerated;
2. and that the prayer is performed towards or on the grave with the intention of gaining the blessing of it, or out of reverence for it.

That such an action is an enormity is clear from the above hadiths (A: though if either condition is lacking, performing the prayer near a grave is unobjectionable) (al-Zawajir ‘an iqtiraf al-kaba’ir (y49), 1.148-49).

Prophetic narrations [ahadith] on visiting graves

Visiting the (tombs of the) righteous [ziyarat al-salihin]—especially that of the Prophets [anbiya], the Prophet’s household [ahl al-bayt] and the Saints [awliya Allah]—is a great Sunnah and a highly meritorious act that benefits one in the physical and spiritual domains.

Visiting the graves (of Muslims) [ziyarat al-qubur] is not only established and recommended in the Islamic tradition, it also appears compulsory and binding in light of some Prophetic traditions [ahadith].

Some of the blessed words of our beloved Prophet ﷺ on this subject include:

Hadith 1

Abu Huraira reported: the Apostle of Allah ﷺ visited the grave of his mother and he wept, and moved others around him to tears, and said: “I sought permission from my Lord to beg forgiveness for her but it was not granted to me, and I sought permission to visit her grave and it was granted to me so visit the graves, for that makes you mindful of death.” [Muslim 976 b – Book 11, Hadith 135]

Hadith 2

It was narrated from Ibn Mas’ud that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I used to forbid you to visit the graves, but now visit them, for they will draw your attention away from this world and remind you of the Hereafter.” [ibn Majah – Book 6, Hadith 1638]

Hadith 3

Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib: the Prophet ﷺ said: “I forbade you three things, and now I command (permit) you for them. I forbade you to visit graves, now you may visit them, for in visiting them there is admonition. I forbade you drinks except from skin vessels, but now you may drink from any kind of vessels, but do not drink an intoxicant. I forbade you to eat the meat of sacrificial animals after three days, but now you may eat and enjoy it during your journeys.” [Sunan Abi Dawud 3698 – Book 27, Hadith 30]

From the above selection of Prophetic narrations [ahadith], we can ascertain that at least 4 benefits can be accrued by visiting graves in general:

1. Mindfulness of death.
2. Admonition to rectify and mend one’s ways.
3. Detachment and an indifference to this world.
4. Attachment and a longing for the Hereafter.

These benefits are attained by visiting the graves of both the common people and the righteous. In the case of the latter, the benefits are far more than what meets the eye, if Allah Most High so wishes.

Intentions & Etiquette’s (Adab) For Visiting The Righteous

(1) To make a Good intention that you are visiting the shrine to please Allah Alone.

(2) Firm Belief that the only reason you’re visiting this shrine is because Allah has bestowed His Blessings at such place therefore Dua’s made at such places are likely to be answered.

(3) Firm Belief that you’re ONLY using this pious servant of Allah as a waseelah in the court of Allah to answer your dua’s, this pious servant of Allah is only creation of Allah and he has No INDEPENDENT Power to Harm or Benefit You, IT’S ALLAH ALONE WHO CAN HARM OR BENEFIT.

(4) Pray 2 rakat nafil at home, ask Allah to accept your dua as you’re visiting the shrine to please Allah alone and recite: 

“La ilaha ill-Allah wahdahu la shareeka lah, lahu’l-mulk wa lahu’l-hamd wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay’in qadeer. Al-hamdu-lillah wa subhaan-Allah wa la ilaha ill-Allah wa Allahu akbar, wa La hawla wa la quwwata illa Billah”

(There is no god but Allah Alone, with no partner or associate. To Him belongs praise and His is the sovereignty, and He is able to do all things. Praise be to Allah, glory be to Allah, there is no god but Allah and Allah is Most Great. There is no power and no strength except with Allah)

3) Go from the foot of the shrine and stand facing the head of the shrine at a distance of about six feet, and [then] greet them respectfully with a voice neither loud nor quiet, saying:

‘assalamu `alaykum ya Sayyidi wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh.’

Then recite durud Shareef,  thrice, al-hamd, once, Ayat al-Kursi once, Surat Ikhlas seven times and if there is enough time [left], recite Surat Mulk and Surat Ya Sin too. And pray to Allah Ta`ala:

‘Oh Lord, Thanks for everything that you have provided me, I have come here (shrine) to seek Your pleasure and reward, this recitation as is worthy to your Grace and not as much that is worthy of my action, and convey it to your favourite slave as an offering.’ After this du`a for your lawful [and] good desires, then say O Allah I ask you by Your Names and Attributes I’m shameful of my actions I don’t have any good deeds therefore I ask you by the (Wasila) of this pious servant of yours, and make me pious just like you have made this servant pious, O Allah please accept my Dua,” 

And then, after offering the greeting, return in the same way. Don’t touch the shrine or kiss it. Circumventing it is unanimously forbidden, and prostration is purely haram. Avoid any kind of un-islamic practices, bidha’s that are carried out by ignorance people.

                                                                         

Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah on visiting graves of the Prophet’s household

The scholars at Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah have said about visiting the graves of the Prophet’s household in the following emphatic terms:

The graves most worthy of visiting—after that of the Prophet ﷺ—are the graves of his noble household. This is because visiting them and having affection for them shows devotion and maintains ties with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Allah, Most High, says: “Say (O Prophet ﷺ): ‘No reward do I ask of you for this except the love of those near of kin.’” [42:23]

Indeed, visiting their graves is better than visiting the graves of one’s deceased relatives. In this regard, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “By Allah in whose Hands is my life, it is more beloved to me to do good to the household of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than it is to do so to my own relatives”. He (may Allah be pleased with him) also said: “Be dutiful to Muhammad ﷺ through his household.” [al-Bukhari].

Propriety of Visiting the Righteous

Many scholars have written on the etiquette that ought to be observed before, during and after visiting shrines and tombs of the righteous. We quote here from some of them.

Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari (d. 1605)

Anyone who builds a mosque near the grave of an righteous person or supplicates in the tomb, or intends to ask for help through the soul [ruh] of that righteous person or intends to seek blessing [barakah] from his relics, if he does all that without the intention of giving him tazim or doing tawajjuh towards him (in prayer) then there is nothing wrong in that.

Do you not see that the grave of [Prophet] Ismail (alaihi-s salam) is inside the Masjid al-Haram, near the Hatim, and to pray there is superior than anything else? However to pray near the graves is only forbidden when the soil becomes dirty because of filth [najasat]. In the Hatim, near Hajr al-Aswad and Mizab, there are the graves of 70 Prophets.

[Mirqat, Sharh al Mishqat, vol. 2, p. 202]

Shaykh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi (d. 1985)

The 19th Grand-Sheikh of the Halveti-Jerrahi order of Dervishes wrote in “The Garden of Dervishes” the following chapter:

How to Conduct Oneself when visiting the Tombs of Saints

• Formulate the intention that the visitation will be for Allah’s sake.
• Do not set out without having performed a ritual ablution.
• On your way there, keep your eyes away from things forbidden by Allah, and protect your heart from bad thoughts.
• Remember and glorify Allah all the way to the tomb.
• Along the way, engage in righteous acts such as giving alms to the poor for Allah’s sake, helping the needy, making charitable donations to worthy causes, feeding stray animals, providing crumbs for the birds in winter, watering flowers and planting trees.
• Repent and pray for forgiveness for the sins and offences you have committed and be sure to utter many Affirmations of Divine Unity. This is the best way to ensure the speedy granting of your request.
• On reaching the sacred tomb, begin with the salutation—“Peace be upon you, O Servant of Allah, son of Allah’s servant, O intimate Friend of Allah!”
• Then recite Surah Ikhlas three times, the Fatiha and Ayat al Kursi once. Recite ten noble benedictions upon the Prophet ﷺ, dedicating the spiritual reward of this to our blessed Master and to all the Prophets, the people of the Prophet’s household, his companions and helpers, and to the souls of all the Saints. Only then should you state your request of Allah in honour of the Saint.
• Then you should enter the mosque to pray with the congregation, if it is the time for one of the five set prayers. Otherwise, perform two cycles as a greeting to the mosque, followed by two cycles of prayer dedicated to the occasion. After the prayers, you should make a supplication that your request be promptly fulfilled.
• You should also mention the vow you intent to carry out, should your wish be granted, to please Allah and as a gift to the soul of the Saint. This might be that you make a sacrificial slaughter, recite the entire Qur’an or have it recited, or make a charitable donation.

Glory to your Lord, the Lord of Glory beyond description.

Peace upon the Messengers. Praise be to Allah,

Lord of all the Worlds.

—Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi, (The Garden of Dervishes), translated by Muhtar Holland, Pir Publications Inc, USA, 1991.

From the above, we can deduce that visiting the righteous is not merely a ritualistic activity with fixed rules outwardly but a lived reality where the Oneness of Allah [tawhid] is established inwardly. The aim is Allah alone while the occupant of the grave is a dignified means to Him Most High.

Imam ‘Abdullah al-Haddad on visiting the graves of the righteous

When he visits the graves of righteous he should pray in abundance, for prayers are answered at many such places, as has often been experienced. The tomb of Imam Musa al-Kazim, the son of Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, is known in Baghdad as the ‘Proven Medicine’, that is, for prayers to be answered and worries to be relieved, and so is the tomb of Ma’ruf al-Karkhi, also in Baghdad.

Some of the noble house of the ‘Alawi Sayyids used to sit at the tomb of our master al-Faqih al-Muqaddam for such long periods, in the heat of the sun, that sweat could have been wrung from their clothes, while they, because of their profound concentration in prayer, were unaware of this. This is reported of Shaykh ‘Abdullah b. ‘Ali and others.

As for rubbing tombs and kissing them, these are distasteful practices which are to be discouraged. Even worse is the custom of circling around them.

Some have said that it is better, if possible, to stand facing the top of the [buried person’s] head. They claim that the dead are more aware of those who are before their faces, but God knows best.

—Imam ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad, Sabil al-iddikar wa’l i’tibar bima yamurru bi’l insan min al-a’mar, (The Lives of Man), translated by Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi, The Quilliam Press, London, England, 1411/1991, p. 45-48

Practices Of Salafs (Early Muslim Scholars)

(1) The great mujadid and hadith scholar, adherent of the shafi school of fiqh and Ashari school of theology, the teacher of Imam al-Bayhaqi (d.458H), Imam Abu Abdallah al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (321-403H), narrates in his book “Tariqh Naysaburi”,

in his biographical entry on Yahya bin Sabih, that dua at the latter’s grave is answered, in other words,  it is a place of tawassul where dua is answered.

Similarly, Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani in his Tahdhib al-Tahdhib relates via Imam al-Hakim al-Nishapuri that:

“Imam al-Hakim heard Imam Abu Ali al-Naysaburi saying, when he had extreme distress he saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his dream who said to go to the grave of Yahya bin Yahya (who is among the teachers of Imam Muslim) and to seek forgiveness and ask for his needs, and that he did so and his needs were obtained”

Imam Ibn al-Jawzi in his book al-Munthazam also narrates that:

Imam al-Hakim said that he heard Abu al-Hassan al-Siraj say that he saw in a dream the Prophet (peace & blessings be upon him) stop at the grave of Yahya bin Yahya, prayed and turned around and said “this tomb is a sanctuary (place of safety/security/refuge) for the people of this city”.

Imam al Hakim al Nisaburi (d. 405H) in his Mustadarak (I p. 377) said:

“I thoroughly examined (the Traditions) urging the visitation of graves, with the result that performing those visitations must be considered a firmly established practice (sunnah masnunah) because of its effect of bringing about the desire (for good actions) and because it makes those who covet (material gain in this world) aware of their sinful behavior”.

(2) AWN AD-DIN IBN HUBAYRA AL-HANBALI (B.499H) AT THE GRAVE OF MARUF AL-KHARKI

Ibn Khallikan in his Biographical Dictionary mentions that  Shaykh Shams ad-Din Abu’l Muzaffar Yusuf Ibn Kizoghli (the grandson of Imam Abu’ Farraj Ibn al-Jawzi ), related in his work “Mirat az-Zaman”  that Ibn Hubayra al-Hanbali had given an account of himself  :

“I was in such straitened circumstances that, for some days, I remained without food. One of my family then advised me to visit the tomb of Maruf al-Kharki, and there ask God’s assistance, because all prayers offered up at that tomb were fulfilled. So I went to the tomb of Maruf, prayed there and invoked (the help of God). I then retired with the intention of returning to the town (Baghdad) and I passed through Katufta (a place near Baghdad) , and there I saw a deserted mosque. I went into it for the sake of saying a prayer of two rakas, and saw there a sick man lying on a mat. I sat down by his head and asked him if he desired anything. He replied: ‘A quince’.  I went to a fruiterer’s and got for him two quince and an apple, for which I left my cloak in pledge. The man ate part of the quince and made me shut the door. When I had done so, he got off the mat and told me to dig there. I dug and found a jar. “Take it’, said he, ‘for you are more deserving of it than any other.’ (…) The jar….contained five hundred dinars…..”

(3) Imam Nawawi in his book [Tahdhib al-asma wal-lughat]

Imam Nawawi mentions of the grave of the famous Shafi jurist Imam Nasr bin Ibrahim al Maqdisi al-Zahid (d.490H) that,

“The Imam’s grave is besides the grave of companions Muawiya and Abu Darda,  رضى الله عنهم , and the people frequently visit and make dua there, and that the Shuyukhs say that Duas/supplications made there on Saturdays are answered”

(4) Allama ibn Abideen Shaami rađiyAllāhu ánhu (d. 1253H) writes that Imam Shâfi’î rađiyAllāhu ánhu said:

“I seek blessings from Abu Hanifa and go near his grave. When I am need of something I perform two raka’ahs of salāh and then I go near his grave and pray to Allah. Thus, my need is fulfilled quickly” (Raddul Muhtār, vol.1 p.38)

(5) Allama Sāwi Maliki rađiyAllāhu ánhu

Commenting on the verse “And seek a means of approach to him” (5:35), Imam Sāwi writes:

“To say that Muslims who visit the graves of the saints are Kafir because you believe they are worshipping other than Allah is a sign of clear heresy.

To visit the saints is not worshipping other than Allah; rather it is a sign of loving those whom Allah loves” (Tafseer Sāwi, vol.1 p.245)

(6) Imam ibn Hajar Makki writes that it has always been the practice of the scholars and those who need to go to the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa rađiyAllāhu ánhu and seek the intermediation of the Imam to remove their difficulties. These people believed this to be a means of success and received great rewards from this practice. Imam Shâfi’î rađiyAllāhu ánhu, whenever he was in Baghdad, would go to the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa rađiyAllāhu ánhu and seek blessings from him. Whenever I am in need, I offer two rak’ahs of salāh and then go near his grave. I pray to Allah at this place, hence, my difficulty is immediately removed. (Al-Khairat al-Hissan, p.166)

(7) Imam Sayyid Ahmad Tahtāwi rađiyAllāhu ánhu (d. 1231H)

Imam Tahtāwi rađiyAllāhu ánhu writes:

“Elderly women are allowed to visit the graves and gather blessings from them as long as they do not commit any act there that is contrary to the Shari’ah. This is impermissible for young ladies the same as it is not allowed for them to attend the mosque for Jama’ah. The conclusion is that women are only allowed to visit the graves if they are sure that no fitna will occur” (Tahtāwi `ala Miraqi, p.341)

(8) Imam ibn Abideen Shaami rađiyAllāhu ánhu (d. 1253H)

Imam Shaami rađiyAllāhu ánhu writes: 

“Saints hold differing ranks in the court of Allah and to those who visit them, they benefit them through their spiritual stations” (Raddul Muhtār, vol.1 p.604)

The Imam also writes: 

“For elderly women, there is not harm for them to seek the blessings from the graves of the pious. However, for young women, it is not allowed like it is not allowed for them to go to the mosque for Jama’ah” (Raddul Muhtār, vol.1 p.604)

(9) The Shafi jurist, Ibn Hajr al-Haytami, was asked:

Question: Is it permitted to visit the tombs of saintly persons (al-awliya) in a cetain period and connected with a journey (rihlah), although around these tombs many abominable things happen, such as the intermingling of women and men, the kindling of many lamps and whatever else there is ?

Response: The visit to tombs of saintly persons is a righteous deed (qurbah) that is desirable. The same holds true of the journey (to them), though the Sheikh Abu Muhammed (i.e. al-Juwayni, d 438H) said that the journey is only desirable if it leads you to the tomb of the Prophet (whereas visiting other tombs or traveling to them was prohibited).

This opinion was rebutted by al-Ghazzali who argued that Abu Muhammed saw here an analogy with the prohibition of visiting mosques other than the three mosques (of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem), yet the case is clearly different, because apart from these three all mosques are of equal standing and thus there is no benefit in visiting any of them especially. Saintly persons, on the contrary, differ in their closeness to God, and the visitors (to their tombs) will benefit according to the open and secret knowledge they possessed. Thus, travelling to them (individually) has its benefit. (…) As to the innovations (bida’) or forbidden acts (…), I say that righteous deeds (such as visiting tombs) should not be given up for that reason. It rather obliges everybody to perform (such deeds) and to combat the innovations, yea to abolish them if one is able to do so.  (…) Therefore, the visit should be undertaken, but staying seperated from the women and condemning everything that seems forbidden, or even doing away with it if possible. (…) Of course, performing the visit during a time when there are no such abominable things happening is preferable”.

[al-Fatawa al-Fiqhiyya II p. 24] (as translated in “The living and the dead in Islam”)

(10) IMAM SHAMS AD-DIN AL-RAMLI ASH-SHAFI (D.1004H)

“It is considered disapproved of (…) to kiss the cenotaph that is set upon the tomb as well as to kiss the grave (itself) or to touch it, nor should the thresholds be kissed when entering for the visit to (the tombs of) saintly persons. Nevertheless, if by kissing their tombs the intention is to gain blessing (tabarruk), it must be not be considered detestable, as my father (Shihab ad-Din ar-Ramli) laid down in a fatwa”.

[Nihayat al-muhtaj ila sharh al-Minhaj III p.33]

(11) TAQI AL-DIN MUHAMMAD IBN AHMAD AL-FASI (775 AH)

Al-Fasi(775 AH – 832 AH) in his magnum opus “Al-ʻIqd al-thamīn fī tārīkh al-Balad al-Amīn” writes:

“Abu l-‘Abbas, the son of the Imam, the eminent mystic Abu l-Hasan as-Shadili – may God have mercy on him! – often related the following: ‘I used to visit the tomb of Sidi Abu Muhammed ‘Abd ar-Razzaq (d. 595H), the companion of Abu Madyan (d. 594H). Every time I was in need of something, I would come to his tomb. Once I was in urgent need of something and thus I went to his tomb, recited a part of the Qur’an and explained the matter to him. Then I turned towards the grave, which was covered by sand(ramal), and I saw written there: Ahmad’s matter has been resolved‘”.

[Al-ʻIqd al-thamīn fī tārīkh al-Balad al-Amīn, II p. 327, as translated in “The Living and the dead in Islam]

Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Fasi  was a Muslim scholar; a Hafith, Faqih, historian, Maliki qadi (judge) in Mecca. He is best known for his works on the history of Mecca and its rulers and notable natives, which reached around 18 works.

(12) Allama Jāmi rađiyAllāhu ánhu (d. 898H)

Allama Jāmi rađiyAllāhu ánhu writes that Shaykh Abul Harith Awlasi rađiyAllāhu ánhu said that he had heard much about Hadrat Dhunnun Misri rađiyAllāhu ánhu. To clarify a few queries (mas’alas), I intended to visit him. When I got to Egypt I was informed that Hadrat Dhunnun had passed away. Hearing this, I went to his grave and sat in muraqabah. A while later, I felt tired and went to sleep. I saw Hadrat Dhunnun Misri in my dream and asked him my questions. He replied to my questions and relieved my burden. (Nafhatul-Uns, p.193)

(12) Shams-ud-Din Ibn al-Jazariyy

In the book “al-Hisn-ul-Hasin” and its summary “^Uddat-ul-Hisn-il-Hasin”, Hafiz, Muhaddith, the Shaykh of the Qurra’ (Reciters of al-Qur’an) Shams-ud-Din Ibn al-Jazariyy mentioned that the graves of the righteous are among the places of having the du^a’ fulfilled.  He came after Ibn Taymiyah and was a study mate of Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-^Asqalaniyy.

(13) Khwaja Ala’uddin al-‘Attar on visiting the graves of the righteous

Khwaja Ala’uddin al-Bukhari al-‘Attar has said on visiting the graves of the righteous:

• The benefit of visiting the graves of your Shaykhs depends on the knowledge you have of them.
• To be near the graves of pious people has a good influence, although to direct yourself to their souls is better and carries with it a higher spiritual influence. The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Send prayers upon me wherever you are.’ This indicates that you can reach the Prophet ﷺ wherever you are, and it applies to His saints as well, because they take their power from the Prophet ﷺ.
• The adab, or propriety, of visiting graves is to direct yourself to Allah and to make these souls your means [wasilah] to Allah Almighty and Exalted, humbling yourself to His Creation. You humble yourself externally to them and internally to Allah. To bow before human beings is not allowed unless you look on them as appearances of God. Then that humbleness will be not directed to them, but it will be directed to the One Who is appearing in them, and that is God.

(14) Maulana Muhammad Yusuf Lebbai (d. 1887)

The Hanafi jurist of Ammapattinam in Tamil Nadu, India, has a section on “Visiting the Saints” in his popular fiqh primer, simt as-sibyan:

VISITING THE SAINTS

Greeting the Saints [awliya’ Allah] at their

Resting Abodes and Supplicating thereat

Peace, mercy and blessings be upon you, O inhabitants of the graves from the believers! Peace be upon you, O possessors of pure spirits; (O possessors of) tranquil souls; (O possessors of) corporeal forms; (O possessors of) precious jewels liberated from the dungeons of the world—and its darkness and confusion—unto resplendent illumination and residence of the devout—together with the prophets, the veracious, the martyrs and the righteous.

Recite Al-Fatihah and others. Then make the following supplication:

O Allah, enrich us from the blessings of their lofty aspirations and gifts of their exalted sainthood; make us from the beneficiaries of their resplendent lights and followers upon their footsteps. O Allah, comfort their souls; sanctify their secrets; perfume their abodes; purify their mausoleums; increase their benefit; multiply their favours; and elevate their ranks.

O Allah, drench them in Your overflowing Benevolence, Your subtle Grace, Your overwhelming Generosity, Your exceeding Munificence and Your bounteous Conferrals; open to them the doors of Your Heavens; descend upon them canopies of Your honour and a palisade of Your sanctity—together with those whom You have blessed of the prophets, the veracious, the martyrs and the righteous. And increase them in reverence, acclaim and honour.

O Allah, verily we stand at the threshold of your Saints and the righteous from Your servants—in reverence, submission, shame and meekness—beseeching for the fulfilment of our needs and aspirations. Therefore do not leave us disappointed; do not leave us empty-handed; fulfil our hopes; grant our requests; make us amongst the protected ones by their blessings and blessed actions; and record us in the Divan of your righteous servants who have “no fear, nor shall they grieve”.

O Allah, forgive us, the believing men and women, the Muslim men and women—those alive and deceased from them. O Hearer of entreaties! O Fulfiller of needs! “Our Lord, perfect our light for us and pardon us; verily you are powerful over all things. Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement of the fire.” May Allah bless and bestow peace upon the paragon of creation, his family and companions.

—Muhammad Yusuf Lebbai, Simtu as-Sibyan, translated by Wan Nadia

( 15) The early Muslims would come to the grave of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari to pray for rain.” – Narrated from Mujahid by Abu Nu`aym in the Hilya, Ibn al-Jawzi in Sifat al-Safwa and al-Dhahabi in Siyar A`lam al-Nubala’. “We used to seek blessing (tabarruk) through the grave of Abu al-Fath al-Qawasi.” Narrated from al-Daraqutni by Abu Nu`aym in the Hilya, Ibn al-Jawzi in Sifat al-Safwa and al-Dhahabi in Siyar A`lam al-Nubala’.

(16) The grave of Imam Ahmad in Baghdad received countless visitors for tawassul and tabarruk among the early Hanbalis. The Hanbali Qadi Muhammad Abu Ali al-Hashimi used to kiss the foot of the grave of Imam Ahmad as narrated by Ibn Abi Ya`ala in Tabaqat al-Hanabila as did many others. Ibrahim al-Harbi saw Imam Ahmad in dream and asked him: “How come people only kiss your grave and no other grave?” Imam Ahmad replied: “Because I have with me some hair of the Prophet (saws).” Ibn al-Jawzi narrated it in Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad. Finally, the Hanbali Hafiz of Hadith al-Diya’ al-Maqdisī in his book al-Hikayat al-Manthura narrated that his teacher the Hafiz Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisī travelled from Damascus to Baghdad and wiped the grave of Imam Ahmad with his face and body seeking a cure from abscesses he was suffering from.

MULLA QARI’S ADVICE ON HOW TO VISIT GRAVES OF AWLIYA AND ASK THEIR INTERCESSION

Mulla Alī al-Qarī said in his commentary on al-Hisn al-Hasin, a collection of supplication and prayers which the Quran specialist Ibn al-Jazarī compiled at the time Damascus was besieged by the Mongol and Crusader armies:

Whenever you visit the grave of a prophet or a wali or a scholar or those below them in status, and you are in great distress, and you wish for the spirit (ruh) of the person in that grave be present with you so that you can complain to them of what is affecting you — meaning you complain through just being there or verbatim, SO THAT THEY WILL INTERCEDE FOR YOU IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SUPREME OWNER OF ALL, then He will suffice you against all that worries you and cure you of your disease: Recite Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad 10 times; and if you first start with the Heart of the Qur’an — I mean Surat Yasīn — it is better and faster, then the last three Suras three times each, then the Fatiha, the beginning and end of Surat al-Baqara, and the Beautiful Names. Then you close your eyes and summon up all your heart to be present and say: La ilaha illa Allah three times, then ALLAH three times lengthening the final A. Then you stay silent for a while and then you say: Salam alaykum and the mercy of Allah and His blessings, O Sayyīdī So-and-so! or: O Shaykh! or: O my teacher! or: O Messenger of Allah (saws)! AND YOU PRESENT YOUR PROBLEMS TO THE ONE YOU ARE VISITING. HE WILL LIFT THEM UP BY THE GIFT OF THE ALMIGHTY CONCEALER OF FAULTS, THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF THE ONE IN THAT GRAVE. This is one of the greatest benefits to know.

This is the end of Mulla Ali al-Qari’s words as quoted by Shaykh Yusuf al-Nabhani in his book Shawahid al-Haqq, as copied from the student of the Knower Shaykh Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi, Shaykh Mustafa Bakri al-Khalwati — Allah have mercy on them all and benefit us with them, Amin!

(17) The martyred Mufti of Lebanon Shaykh Hasan Khalid related from his Shaykh the Mufti of Syria, Shaykh Abu al-Yusr Abidin — Allah have mercy on all of them — that he would always tell them to make dua` at the grave of Imam al-Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) because dua` there was answered. May Allah Almighty have mercy on all those who make tawassul (ask for intercession) and the ones through whom tawassul is made, and may He benefit us and all Muslims through them, except those who refuse. Amin!

(18) Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bārī cited Imām al-Hākim al-Naysabūrī as narrating inTarīkh Naysabūrthat a group of Shuyūkh went out to Tūs (present-day Iran) to visit the grave of our liegelord `Alī al-Ridā, among them the great Imām of Hadīth, Ibn Khuzayma. When they reached the spot, the latter entered into such a state of emotion and plaintive supplication that, the narrator said, “We were extremely puzzled; but when he [Ibn Khuzayma] was asked what was wrong he replied: ‘Leave me alone with what my soul feels toward `Ali al-Ridā.’” Therefore it is apt that the Sufis, in turn, as long as they are doing something blessed and approved by the Law, would ask any would-be questioner to kindly leave them alone with what their souls experience and know of the high station of the Awliyā.

Supplication’s Answered At The Grave Of Al-Bukhari

Source: Siyar A’lam An Nubala. Vol. 12, Pg. # 469

Imam Al-Dhahabi:

Aboo Alee Ghisani said Aboo Al-Fath Nasr bin Al-Hassan Al-Sakti Samarqandi told us in 464 A.H there was a drought in Samarqand. People asked for rain many times, but it did not rain. Then a pious man who was famous for his piety came to the judge of Samarwand and said: “In my opinion, you along with your public should visit the grave of Imam Bukhari. His grave is located in Khartank. We should go near there and ask for rain, Allah (swt) might give us rain then.” The judge said: “What a good idea!” And then he along with the people went towards the grave and then he made a du’a along with the people, and people started to cry near the grave and started to make him a Waseela (i.e. Bukhari). Allah Ta’ala sent a heavy massive rain. All people remained in Khartank for about 7 days because of it, none of them could go back to Samarqand because of the heavy rain and although the distance between Samarqand and Khartank was 3 miles

Supplication’s Answered At The Grave Of  Muhammad ibn Ibraheem Al-Ardistani

Source: Siyar A’lam An Nubala. Vol. 17, Pg. # 428.

Al-Dhahabi:
Shirawaih said: “He was trustworthy, he knew this knowledge (i.e. narrations). I heard a group of people saying: There is no one who has a wish for this world and hereafter and he goes to visit his grave and supplicate unless that Allah (swt) fullfils his wish.” He (Shirawaih) said: “And I have tested it.” And Abdul Ghaffar ibn Tahir has narrated from him in the year 493 A.H the Saheeh Al-Buhkari in Hamazaan.

Supplication’s Answered At The Grave Of  Yahya bin Yahya 

Source: Tahdheeb Al-Tahdheeb. Pg. # 398.

Supplication’s Answered At The Grave Of Ma’ruf ibn Al-Firuz

Source: Siyar A’lam Al-Nu’bala. Vol. 9, Pg. # 339 / 343 – 344.

Supplication’s Answered At The Grave Of Aboo Hanifah

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah have mercy on him), a prominent companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), was present during the first battles for Constantinople. He had fallen severely ill during those battles and personally requested his companions that after his passing away they are to penetrate deep into enemy territory and bury him near the walls of the fort of Constantinople. His companions than buried him as requested.

Ibn Asakir (d. 571H) in his book “Tariqh Dimashq” narrates the events surrounding the death of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari where he also than mentions the details of the mausoleum that was built over the grave, quoting from the salaf, that he:

أبا أيوب الأنصاري وهو خالد بن زيد غزا بلاد الروم فمات بالقسطنطينية فقبر مع سور المدينة وبني عليه
………died in Constantinople and his grave is at the walls of the city and built upon.

and further quotes that :

قال فبنوا عليه قبة بيضاء وأسرجوا عليه قنديلا قال أبو سعيد وأنا دخلت عليه القبة في سنة مائة ورأيت قنديلها فعرفنا أنه لم يزل يسرج حتى نزلنا بهم
built upon (his grave) is a white dome and a lamp is lit over it (i.e., the grave). Abu Said said he visited the dome in year 100H and saw the lamp still hanging …

and in another narration (which is also recorded in al Khatib al Baghdadi’s “Tariqh Baghdad“) quotes:

قال الوليد هذا قبر أبي أيوب الأنصاري صاحب النبي (صلى الله عليه وسلم) فأتيت تلك البنية فرأيت قبره في تلك البنية وعليه قنديل معلق بسلسلة

Al Walid saying that he came to the structure and saw the grave with a lamp hanging in chains over it.

His grave was a infact a famous place of visitation and tawassul. Imam al-Hakim in his “Mustadarak”, Ibn al-Jawzi in “Sifat al Safwa”, Ibn Asakir in “Tariqh Dimashq” and others quote al-Waqidi (d. 204H) saying:

محمد بن عمر قال وتوفي أبو أيوب عام غزا يزيد بن معاوية القسطنطينية في خلافة أبيه معاوية بن أبي سفيان سنة اثنتين وخمسين وصلى عليه يزيد بن معاوية وقبره بأصل حصن القسطنطينية بأرض الروم فلقد بلغني أن الروم يتعاهدون قبره ويرمونه ويستسقون به إذا قحطوا
“………It has reached us that the Eastern Romans visit his grave and seek rain through his intercession when they suffer from droughts.”

And recorded by Ibn ‘Abd-ul-Barr in the book “al-Istiab” is another report [also narrated in Ibn al-Jawzi’s “Sifat al Safwa”; Abu Nu’aym’s Hilya al-Awliya’; al-Dhahabi’s Mizan and Siyar]:

قَالَ مجاهد: كانوا إذا أمحلوا كشفوا عَنْ قبره فمطروا
Mujahid said: “People would uncover the space above his grave and it would rain.”

Ibn ‘Abd-ul-Barr (d. 463H) in “al-Istiab” also narrates a similar saying from Imam Malik:

الَ ابْن القاسم، عَنْ مالك: بلغني عَنْ قبر أبي أيوب أن الروم يستصحون به ويستسقون

And the saying of Imam Malik was also reported by Ibn Rushd al-Jadd (d. 520H) in book “Al Bayan”,

وقال مالك: بلغني أن الروم يستصبحون على قبر أبي أيوب الأنصاري.

Soon after which Ibn Rushd al-Jadd states:

فما أقدموا على ذلك بل تنافسوا في حفظه، وتبركوا بقبره، وذلك كرامة عظيمة من الله عز وجل

the romans “competed to the preserve the grave, and seek blessings (tabaruk) by the grave, and this is a great miracle (Karamah) from Allah the Almighty and Majestic“.

The belief of Allama Sāwi Maliki rađiyAllāhu ánhu

Commenting on the verse “And seek a means of approach to him” (5:35), Imam Sāwi writes:

“To say that Muslims who visit the graves of the saints are Kafir because you believe they are worshipping other than Allah is a sign of clear heresy. To visit the saints is not worshipping other than Allah; rather it is a sign of loving those whom Allah loves” (Tafseer Sāwi, vol.1 p.245)

From this commentary, we learn that according to Imam Sāwi rađiyAllāhu ánhu, visiting the graves of the saints is permissible; it is not worshipping other than Allah, but it is loving those whom Allah loves.

The belief of Allama Jāmi rađiyAllāhu ánhu (d. 898H)

Allama Jāmi rađiyAllāhu ánhu writes that Shaykh Abul Harith Awlasi rađiyAllāhu ánhu said that he had heard much about Hadrat Dhunnun Misri rađiyAllāhu ánhu. To clarify a few queries (mas’alas), I intended to visit him. When I got to Egypt I was informed that Hadrat Dhunnun had passed away. Hearing this, I went to his grave and sat in muraqabah. A while later, I felt tired and went to sleep. I saw Hadrat Dhunnun Misri in my dream and asked him my questions. He replied to my questions and relieved my burden. (Nafhatul-Uns, p.193)

The belief of Imam ibn Hajar Makki ash-Shâfi’î rađiyAllāhu ánhu (d. 973H)

Imam ibn Hajar Makki writes that it has always been the practice of the scholars and those who need to go to the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa rađiyAllāhu ánhu and seek the intermediation of the Imam to remove their difficulties. These people believed this to be a means of success and received great rewards from this practice. Imam Shâfi’î rađiyAllāhu ánhu, whenever he was in Baghdad, would go to the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa rađiyAllāhu ánhu and seek blessings from him. Whenever I am in need, I offer two rak’ahs of salāh and then go near his grave. I pray to Allah at this place, hence, my difficulty is immediately removed. (Al-Khairat al-Hissan, p.166)

From this writing, it is ever clear that Imam ibn Hajar Makki rađiyAllāhu ánhu believed that to go to shrines of the pious people and seek their wasīla (intermediation) is permissible an Imam Shâfi’î rađiyAllāhu ánhu was a practitioner of this method.

The belief of Shah Waliullah Dehlwi rađiyAllāhu ánhu (d. 1176H)

Shah Waliullah rađiyAllāhu ánhu writes that his father, Shah Abdur Raheem, said that he once went to the shrine of Hadrat Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtyar Kaaki rađiyAllāhu ánhu. The soul of Bakhtyar Kaaki rađiyAllāhu ánhu became apparent and told me that I shall have a son and that I should name him Qutbuddin Ahmad. At this time, my wife had become elderly and was beyond child bearing age. On hearing this, I thought to myself that maybe I shall have a grandson. The soul of Bakhtyar Kaaki rađiyAllāhu ánhu got to know of my thinking and removed my doubt and said that it did not give me tidings of a grandson; rather, this child will be my very own. Sometime later, I married again and from this marriage was born (Shah) Waliullah.

At the time of my birth, my father had forgotten about this event and named me Waliullah. When he came to recall this event, he gave a second name of Qutbuddin Ahmad. (Anfaas al-`Arifeen, p.110)

By writing about this incident, the belief of Shah Waliullah Dehlwi is clear. He believed that to go to the shrines of the pious is permissible and even after their demise; the saints are still given the knowledge of the unseen because Qutbuddin Bakhtyar Kaaki rađiyAllāhu ánhu knew about the birth of a son a year before it happened. Also, the inmate of the grave also knew the feelings of his visitor’s heart.

The belief of Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlwi rađiyAllāhu ánhu (d. 1239H)

Shah Abdul Azīz rađiyAllāhu ánhu writes:

“It is in Sharh Maqasid that visiting graves is beneficial and the souls of the pious cause benefit. Indeed, after death the soul has a connection with the body and the grave. Hence, when someone comes to visit this shrine and turns towards the soul of the inmate, then the two souls (of the visitor and the inmate) form a connection. It is a point of contention whether the help of the living is stronger or that of the deceased. Some scholars have said that the deceased can help more and some have proved this from a narration from the dear Prophet şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam that when you need help in a matter, seek it from the people of the grave. The great Shaykh, Shah Abdul Haq Dehlwi rađiyAllāhu ánhu has stated in Sharh Mishkāt that there is nothing in the Qur’an and Sunnah nor the sayings of the Salaf which contradicts this position and forms a proof against it. (Fatawa Azīziya, vol.2 p.108)

From this excerpt from the Fatawa of Shah Abdul Azīz, it is evident that to visit the graves of the pious is a meritorious act and to seek help from the person of the grave is totally permissible in the Shari’ah.

Imam Mustafa ibn Ahmad Ash-Shatti’s (d. 1348 AH

In his book “The Divine Texts: Answering Muhammad ibn `Abdul Wahhab’s Movement”, pp. 65-71 (1st edition):

Imams Muwaffaq ud-Din Ibn Qudamah (d. 620 AH (AD 1223) and Shams ud-Din Ibn Qudamah (d. 682 AH (AD 1285) (who left the citation in place as tacit approval), may Allah have mercy upon both of them, when discussing visiting graves and shrines, added:

“So it is valid for a traveler to shorten his prayers on visitation of the graves and shrines. Imam Ibn `Aqil, may Allah have mercy upon him, said, ‘It is not permissible to shorten the prayers when visiting these places, as he has been forbidden from visiting them. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him said, You should not set out on a journey except to three masjids, as this hadith is agreed upon by Imams Al-Bukhari and Muslim’.

The authentic position is that such visitations are permissible and it is valid to shorten the prayers on these visits. This is because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he came to Quba’, did so walking as well as riding, and he used to visit the graves.

He said, Visit them, for they remind you of the Hereafter. As far as his words, peace and blessings be upon him, ‘You should not set out on a journey except to three masjids…’ the meaning is referring to negating preferring another masjid to these but the ruling is not that it is impermissible. The virtue of the place is not a condition for the permissibility of shortening prayers on travel, so there is no harm in doing so.”  [Al-Mughni wash-Sharh ul-Kabir, vol.2, pp.104-105, mas’alah #1343]

Imam `Ala’ ud-Din Al-Mardawi (d. 885 AH (AD 1481), may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned:

“It is praiseworthy for men to visit the graves and this is the absolute position in the madhhab as narrated from Imam Ahmad, and the clear majority of the school agree with this point. Imam Muhy ud-Din An-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, has even narrated Consensus on the issue. Imam Sham ud-Din said in his Sharh, ‘We know of no difference of opinion between the people of knowledge in it being praiseworthy for men to visit the graves’.

As for Imam Muwaffaq ud-Din in Al-Mughni, he said, ‘We know of no difference of opinion regarding men visiting the graves being praiseworthy’. The author of Majma` Al-Bahrain stated that this was praiseworthy in the most dominant position of the school. Imam Az-Zarkashi (d. 774 AH (AD 1372) said that there are well known and explicit texts about this given from the scholars of the school. The same has been narrated from Imam Al-Kalwadhani in Al–Hidayah, Al-Madhhab, Imam Muhammad ibn `Abdullah As-Samuri (d. 610 AH (AD 1213) in Al-Mustaw`ib, Imam Muwaffaq ud-Din in Al-Kafi, Imam Muhammad ibn `Abdul Qawi ibn Badran Al-Maqdisi (d. 699 AH (AD 1299) in An-Nazam ul-Mufid, Al-Hasan ibn Yusuf Ad-Dujaili (732 AH (AD 1331) in Al-Wajiz and others besides them.

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal has mentioned, ‘There is no harm in men visiting the graves’. This is the dominant understanding of Imam Al-Khiraqi and other companions in the school. His position of permissibility has been taken as evidence by Imams Abul Mu`ali, Majd ud-Din Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 652 AH (AD 1254), Az-Zarkashi and others. They say that it is reported to be permissible but not praiseworthy and this is the dominant position of Imam Al-Khiraqi. This is due to the fact that the order for visitation had come after its prohibition – but the majority in the school have maintained that it is praiseworthy due to it reminding one of the Hereafter – as that was mentioned in the order.” [Al-Insaf fi Ma`rifat ir-Rajihi min al-Khilafi `ala Madhhab il-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, vol.2, pp.560-561]

Imam Mansur Al-Buhuti (d. 1051 AH (AD 1656), may Allah be pleased with him, said of setting out to travel to shrines and graves:

“There are different types of travel. There is necessary travel, such as for hajj or a specific jihad. There is the travel established by the sunnah, such as for visiting brother and sisters, the ill and infirm as well as parents. Permissible travel includes recreation, visiting, commerce or attending a shrine or grave of a prophet, or even a masjid besides the three.” [Kash-shaf ul-Qina` `an Matn il-Iqna`, vol.1, pp.476-477]

Imam Mansur Al-Buhuti (d. 1051 AH (AD 1656), may Allah be pleased with him, says in conclusion:

“The traveler may take a dispensation when intending to travel to a shrine, or a masjid, even if it is other than the three. He may attend the grave of a prophet or other than a prophet, as in the case of a friend of Allah. As far as the hadith, ‘Do not set out on a journey except to three masjids. They are my masjid, Masjid ul-Haram and Masjid ul-Aqsa’, (1) there are points to it. It means that this should not be sought out. It is not forbidden from setting out on a journey to them, which is the opposite position to those scholars who oppose this view.

This is because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, came to the masjid in Quba’, riding and walking. He also used to visit graves, and said to people, ‘Visit them, for they are a reminder of the Hereafter.’ ” [Kash-shaf ul-Qina` `an Matn il-Iqna`, vol.1, pp.478-480. ]

(1) This hadith is collected by Imams al-Bukhari in his Jami` us-Sahih, Book of Reward of Hunting, under the chapter of the Hajj of the Women; Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj in his Jami` us-Sahih, Book of Hajj, under the chapter of The Virtues of the Three Masjids; at-Tirmidhi in his Sunan, Chapters on the Prayer of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him under the chapter of Which masjid is the most virtuous, and classified by them as authentic.

The late mufti of Lebanon al-Shahid al-Shaykh Hasan Khalid

said in his fatwa on tawassul on September 16, 1980 (reprinted in the Waqf Ikhlas offset reprint of Sayyid Ahmad ibn Zayni Dahlan’s book Fitnat al-wahhabiyya 1992):

Tawassul was declared permissible in our own time by the mufti of the world, our shaykh the savant Abu al-Yusr `Abidin. We went with him to Nawa, a place in Hawran wherein is buried the Shaykh Muhyiddin al-Nawawi. When we arrived at his grave, our Shaykh Abu al-Yusr ordered us to ask Allah the Exalted for our need in front of him and said to us: “The du`a (invocation) at his grave is answered.”

Do those who have left this life know about the affairs of the living?

Ibn Qayyim in Kitab al-ruh narrates with his chain from Ibn al-Mubarak on the authority of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari that the latter said: “The works of the living are clear to the dead. Whenever they see a good deed they rejoice and are pleased; but if they see evil they say: O Allah, return its equivalent in good.”

Ibn Qayyim in the same book, and Ibn Abi al-Dunya in Kitab al-qubur narrated that `Abbad ibn `Abbad called upon Ibrahim ibn Salih while he was ruler of Palestine and said: “Exhort me.” He said: “With what should I exhort you? May Allah set you right! I have heard that the works of the living are clear as day to their dead relatives. So consider what is laid open to the Messenger of Allah of your work.” Ibrahim wept until his beard was wet.

Imam Suyuti in his book Sharh al-sudur (p. 263-266) has an entire chapter devoted to that topic entitled: “The Exhibition of the deeds of the living to the dead.” In it he lists fifteen hadiths and sayings of the Companions to that effect:

1. Ahmad in his Musnad, al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi in Nawadir al-usul, and Ibn Mindah narrated from Anas that the Prophet said: “Your deeds are shown to your relatives and ancestors among the dead. If they consist in good they are happy with it, if otherwise, they say: O Allah! Don’t let them die before you guide them as you have guided us.”

2. al-Tayalisi in his Musnad narrated from Jabir ibn `Abd Allah that the Prophet said: ” Your deeds are shown to your relatives and ancestors in their graves. If they consist in good they are happy with it, if otherwise, they say: O Allah! Inspire them to act in obedience to You.”

3. Ibn al-Mubarak and Ibn Abi al-Dunya in Kitab al-qubur narrated from Abu Ayyub: “Your deeds are shown to the dead, who rejoice if they see any good in them, and if they see evil in them they say: O Allah, give them another opportunity.”

4. Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf, al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Abi al-Dunya narrated from Ibrahim ibn Maysara that when Abu Ayyub campaigned to take Constantinople he passed by a story-teller who was saying: “What a servant does in the morning, before evening is shown to those in the hereafter who know him; and what he does at the end of the day is shown to them by the next morning.” Abu Ayyub said: “Be careful what you say.” He replied: “By Allah it is as I said.” Abu Ayyub said: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You lest You reveal my shame to `Ubada ibn al-Samit and Sa`d ibn `Ubada concerning what I did after them.”

5. al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi cited in Nawadir al-usul the hadith of `Abd al-Ghafur ibn `Abd al-`Aziz from his father, from his grandfather, whereby the Prophet said: “One’s deeds are shown to Allah on Monday and Thursday, and they are shown to Prophets as
well as fathers and mothers on Fridays, at which time they rejoice for the good deeds, and the latter increase the brightness and light of their faces. Therefore be wary of Allah and do not harm your dead.”

6. al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi also cited — as well as Ibn Abi al-Dunya in his Book of Dreams (Kitab al-manamat) and Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-iman from al-Nu`man ibn Bashir: I heard the Prophet say: “Allah, Allah! [Be wary of Him] concerning your brethren among the dwellers of graves, for your deeds are shown to them.”

7. Ibn Abi al-Dunya and al-Asbahani in al-Targhib cited from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet said: “Do not shame your dead with your evil deeds for your deeds are shown to your relatives among the dwellers of the graves.”

8. Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Ibn Mindah, and Ibn `Asakir narrated from Ahmad ibn `Abd Allah ibn Abi al-Hawari: My brother Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah related to me: `Abbad al-Khawass walked in to see Ibrahim ibn Salih al-Hashimi when the latter was governor of Palestine. Ibrahim said: “Admonish me.” He replied: “It has reached me that the deeds of the living are shown to their relatives among the deceased. Therefore beware what is shown to Allah’s Messenger from your deeds.”

9. Ibn Abi al-Dunya cited from Abu al-Darda’ that he used to say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You lest my maternal uncle `Abd Allah ibn Rawaha should loathe me when I meet him.”

10. Ibn al-Mubarak and al-Asbahani cited from Abu al-Darda’ that he said: “Your deeds are shown to the dead, whereupon they rejoice and they are saddened” and he would say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from committing a deed by which `Abd Allah ibn Rawaha should be dishonored.”

This `Abd Allah ibn Rawaha al-Ansari was the great-grandson of the poet Imru’ al-Qays and was himself a great poet among the Companions. He said of the Prophet:

law lam takun fihi ayatun mubina
lakana manzaruhu yunabbi’uka bi al-khabari

“Even if there were not, concerning him, clear and evident
signs, yet the sight of him would have told you the news.”

Ibn Hajar narrated it in al-Isaba (2:299) and said: “This is the most beautiful verse of poetry by which the Prophet was ever praised.”

Ibn Sayyid al-Nas said of Ibn Rawaha in Minah al-madh (p. 166):

He was killed as a martyr on the day of Mu’ta in Jumada 8 before the conquest of Mecca. On that day he was one of the commanders. He was one of the poets who did good and who used to fend off harm from Allah’s Messenger. It was concerning him and his two friends Hassan (ibn Thabit) and Ka`b (ibn Zuhayr) that was revealed the verse: “Except those who believe and do good deeds and remember Allah abundantly.” (The Poets 26:227).

Hisham ibn `Urwa narrated from his father that the latter said: I never saw anyone more aggressive or faster in his poetry than `Abd Allah ibn Rawaha. I heard Allah’s Messenger say to him one day: “Recite some poetry appropriate to the moment, while I look at you.” He rose up then and there and said:

inni tafarrastu fika al-khayra a`rifuhu
wallahu ya`lamu anna ma khanani al-basaru
anta al-nabiyyu wa man yuhramu shafa`atahu
yawma al-hisabi laqad azra bihi al-qadaru
fa thabbat allahu ma ataka min hasanin
tathbita musa wa nasran kalladhi nusiru

I foresee for you immense good, of this I am certain.
Allah knows that my sight never betrayed me.
You are the Prophet, and whoever is deprived of your intercession
On the Day of Reckoning, his destiny is disgrace.
May Allah make firm all the good that He gave you,
With a firmness like Musa’s and the same victory.

Upon hearing this the Prophet said to him: “And you also, may Allah make you firm, O Ibn Rawaha.” Hisham ibn `Urwa continued: Allah indeed made him firm with the staunchest firmness. He died as a martyr, and Paradise was opened for him and he entered it. End of Ibn Sayyid al-Nas’s words. Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions!

11. Ibn al-Mubarak also cited from `Uthman ibn `Abd Allah ibn Aws that Sa`id ibn al-Jubayr said to him: “Give me permission to see my brother’s daughter” — `Uthman’s wife and the daughter of `Amr ibn Aws — so he permitted him. He went and asked her: “How is your husband treating you?” She said: “He does his utmost with me.” Then Sa`id said: “O `Uthman! Treat her well, for there is nothing that you do with her except its news reaches `Amr ibn Aws.” `Uthman said: “The news of the living reaches the dead?” He said: “Yes, there is no one with an intimate friend [among the deceased] except the news of his relatives reaches him. If it is good he rejoices and is cheered by it, and if it is bad he is saddened and distraught.”

12. Ibn Abi al-Dunya cited the following report through Abu Bakr ibn `Iyash, from a grave-digger who was with the Banu Asad and who said: I was among the graves one night when I heard someone in a grave say: “O Abu `Abd Allah!” and another answered: “What, O Jabir?” He said: “Tomorrow our mother will be coming to us.” The other replied: “Of what use will that be for her? Let her not come, for my father became angry with her and swore that he would not pray over her.” The next day a man came to me and said: “Dig a grave for me between these two,” indicating the graves from where I had heard the voices coming. Whereupon I said: “This one’s name is Jabir, and that one is `Abd Allah?” He said: “Yes!” So I told him what I had heard. Then the man said: “Yes, I had sworn that I would not pray over her, but I shall break my oath and pray over her.”

13. Abu Nu`aym cited from Ibn Mas`ud that the latter said: “Keep relations with those your father kept relations with, for that is the way relations are kept on behalf of the dead in their graves.”

14. Ibn Hibban cited from Ibn `Umar that the Prophet said: “Whoever likes to keep relations with his father in his grave, let him keep relations with his father’s brothers after him.”

15. Abu Dawud and Ibn Hibban cited from Abu Usayd al-Sa`idi that a man came to the Prophet and asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Does anything remain of my responsibility to keep piety to my two parents after their death?” He said: “Yes, four aspects of filial piety remain: praying for them, keeping the promises they made, honoring their friends, and keeping relations with those whom you know only because of them.”

SHAYKH SALIH AL-NA`MAN’S FATWA ON TAWASSUL

The following legal opinion on tawassul was given by Shaykh Salih al-Na`man, the Secretary of the Section of Ifta’ and Religious Education at the Ministry of Religious Endowments (wizarat al-awqaf) of the Syrian Arab Republic in the city of Hama on March 22, 1980. It is reproduced in full in the 1992 Waqf Ikhlas reprint of Sayyid Ahmad Zayni Dahlan’s section of his history of Islam al-Futuhat al-islamiyya on the Wahhabi sect entitled Fitnat al-wahhabiyya.

Text of the fatwa:

“Praise belongs to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. Blessings and Peace on our Master Muhammad and on his Family and all his Companions.

“From the slave who is poor and in need of Him, the Secretary of Legal Opinions in the city of Hama (Syria) and the Preacher in the Madfan Mosque, to the brother who asked a question, Sayyid `Ashiq al-Rahman in Wilayatullah Abad in India: Warm greetings and blessings. To proceed: You have asked a question on a legal issue, and this answer is given after some delay because I was away in the Hijaz.

“You asked about al-tawassul ilallah ta`ala bi al-anbiya’ wa al-mursalin — seeking/using means to Allah the Exalted with/through/by means of the Prophets and the Messengers — and about hukmu man tawassal, the law’s position with regard to the person who makes tawassul. This is the answer:

“Praise belongs to Allah the Exalted! Seeking or using means (al-tawassul) to Allah through his Prophet or the Prophets or the Righteous (al-salihin) or with the deeds (a`mal) that are done purely for His glorious countenance: There is no legal prohibition against it, because Allah the Exalted said: “Seek ye the means to Him” (5:35) and “Had they but come to thee when they had wronged themselves, and asked Allah forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-Returning, Merciful” (4:64) and because the Companions — may Allah be well pleased with them — used to seek a means through Allah’s Messenger, as narrated concerning the blind man who used Allah’s Messenger as a means (to obtain his request) and his eyes were opened.

“The Community has reached consensus on the fact that tawassul is permissible as long as one’s belief is sound (idha sahhat al-`aqida), and the consensus of the Community constitutes a legal proof (ijma` al-umma hujjatun shar`iyya); as the Prophet said: “My Community shall not agree on an error.” As for the claim of some extremists (ghulat) of the Wahhabiyya whereby the law’s position with regard to the person who makes tawassul is that it is shirk (worshipping other than Allah together with Him): there is no proof for such a claim either legally or rationally, because the person who makes tawassul does not contravene the Prophet’s order: “If you ask, ask Allah, and if you seek help, seek help from Allah.” Rather, he is asking Him through one beloved to Him in order that his supplication be answered, and this is what our Glorious and Majestic Lord likes from us. How then can we judge that he is committing shirk when he is not a mushrik (one who commits shirk). Such an act the law considers abominable and our religion declares itself innocent of it, since it has been said: “Whoever declares a believer to be an disbeliever has committed disbelief.”

“Our master Usama ibn Zayd killed a mushrik after the latter had said: “There is no god but Allah” (la ilaha illallah). When news of this reached Allah’s Messenger he condemned our master Usama in the strongest terms and he said to him: “How can you kill him after he said la ilaha illallah?” He replied: “But he said it with the sword hanging over his head?” The Prophet said again: “How can you kill him after he said la ilaha illallah?” He replied: “O Messenger of Allah, he said it in dissimulation (taqiyyatan)?” The Prophet said: “Did you split his heart open (to see)?” and he did not cease to reprove him until Usama wished that he had not entered Islam until after he had killed that man so that he might have been forgiven all his past sins through belief.

“From this and other narrations we conclude that some of the Wahhabis today may be guilty of hastening to accuse others of disbelief (takfir), as they have done in the past with hundreds of thousands in the Hijaz whom they massacred even as they were saying la ilaha illallah, and as the Kharijis have done in the time of our Master `Ali — may Allah ennoble his countenance.

“In short, tawassul is not prohibited, rather it is legally commendable (mustahsanu shar`an), and it is not permitted to cast the label of shirk on the believer. This is what will be found in the established books of Islamic law. And Allah knows best.”

6 Jumada I 1400
22 March 1980
Signature of the Secretary of Fatwas in Hama
Seal of the Ministry of Religious Endowments
District of the Muhafazat of Hama, Syria

FATWA OF SHAYKH SUHAYL AL-ZABIBI

The following fatwa on tawassul was given by Shaykh Abu Sulayman Suhayl al-Zabibi the Imam of the Mosque of Najjarin in Damascus. It is reproduced in full in the 1992 Waqf Ikhlas reprint of Sayyid Ahmad Zayni Dahlan’s section of his history of Islam already cited.

Text of fatwa:

“In the Name of Allah the Merciful the Beneficent, and Blessings and Peace upon our Master Muhammad and upon his Excellent and Pure Family and all those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.

“To proceed, you have sent us a letter in which you ask the fatwa concerning belief in tawassul through the Prophets and Messengers, Blessings and Salutations be upon them, and the text of your question is: Is the person who believes in this (tawassul) a mushrik (one who worships other than Allah together with Him) or a kafir (disbeliever), and is his worship — such as salat, zakat, hajj, and sawm — sound or void (sahiha am fasida)? And you have asked for an exposition from the Glorious Book because it is the first source of legislation, and from the True Sunna because it holds the second rank in the derivation of proofs after the Noble Qur’an, and from the Consensus (ijma`) and the sayings of the pious early generations, may Allah be well pleased with them, because they are closer than us to the full understanding of Allah’s Book and the Sunna of His Messenger.

“This is the answer which I give while asking Allah’s help and His power and might:

Belief (i`tiqad) in tawassul through the Prophets and Messengers, Blessings and Peace be upon them, and through the Righteous Friends of Allah (al-awliya’ al-salihin) upon whose goodness, righteousness, uprightness, and friendship with Allah there is general agreement, is true belief, not disbelief, and I consider it permissible, not forbidden; and

The person seeking such as the above as a means to Allah in order that his need be fulfilled is a believer and one who declares the oneness of Allah, not one who worships other than Allah together with Him, and all his acts of worship are sound.

“Among the proofs for this from Qur’an: Allah the Blessed and the Exalted said: “O ye who believe, fear Allah and seek ye the means to Him” (5:35) in surat al-Ma’ida verse 35 juz’ 6. Some of the scholars of Islam have derived from this verse a proof for the legality of seeking help and a means to Allah through the righteous ones among His servants, and of considering them a means between Allah the Almighty and His servants for the fulfillment of needs provided that the person making tawassul believes that the effective doer (al-fa“al) is Allah and none other. If one thinks otherwise, he has committed disbelief, may Allah the Exalted protect us!

“Also among the proofs from Qur’an for tawassul is the saying of Allah the the Blessed and the Exalted: “Had they but come to thee when they had wronged themselves, and asked Allah forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-Returning, Merciful” from sura al-Nisa’ verse 64 juz’ 5. Ibn Kathir said in explanation of this verse: Allah the Exalted advises those who disobey and those who sin, when they commit their mistakes and disobedience, to come to Allah’s Messenger and seek Allah’s forgiveness in his presence and ask him (the Prophet) to forgive them. If they do this, Allah relents towards them, grants them mercy, and forgives them; whence He said: “They would have found Allah Oft-Returning, Merciful.”

“Ibn Kathir continues: A large number of the scholars, among whom is Shaykh Abu Mansur al-Sabbagh in his book al-Shamil, have mentioned the well-known account related by al-`Utbi who said: As I was sitting by the grave of the Prophet, a Bedouin Arab came and said: Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah! I heard that Allah said: “If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah’s forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful,” so I have come to you asking forgiveness for my sin, seeking your intercession with my Lord (mustashfi`an bika ila rabbi). Then he began to recite poetry:

O best of those whose bones are buried in the deep earth,
And from whose fragrance the depth and the height
have become sweet,
May my life be the ransom for a grave which thou inhabit,
And in which are found purity, bounty, and munificence!

“Then he left, and I dozed and saw the Prophet in my sleep. He said to me: O `Utbi, run after the Bedouin and give him glad tidings that Allah has forgiven him. This is the end of Ibn Kathir’s discourse.

“Here now is the proof from the noble hadith. The following hadith was extracted by the following masters of hadith among the Imams: Ibn Khuzayma in his Sahih (the rank of which approximates that of Sahih Muslim), al-Nasa’i in his book `Amal al-yawm wa al-layla, al-Tirmidhi in his Jami` and he said of it hasan sahih gharib, that is, with respect to the fact that only Abu Ja`far `Umayr ibn Yazid al-Khutami al-Madani al-Basri narrates it, and he is thiqa (trustworthy) according to Nasa’i and Ibn Ma`in, therefore the fact that it is gharib does not jeopardize its rank of sahih. Ibn Majah also narrated it and confirmed Abu Ishaq [Ibn Rahawayh] who declared it sahih, and so did al-Hakim in his Mustadrak who said: “It is sound according to the criterion of Bukhari and Muslim,” and Dhahabi confirmed him.

“From `Uthman ibn Hunayf: He was with the Prophet at the time a blind man came to him complaining of his lack of eyesight, etc. This is a sound hadith in which the Prophet explicitly orders those who have a certain need to make tawassul and call him in his absence — both in his life and after his death. This is precisely what the Companions understood from him, as his order to any given person in the Community is directed to all the Community in every time as long as there is no proof that it is specific to an individual. What then if there is proof to the contrary — i.e. that it is not specific to an individual? Tabarani related in his Mu`jam al-kabir and Mu`jam al-saghir that a man in need used to try to visit `Uthman ibn `Affan frequently, etc. Tabarani said the hadith was sound and Bayhaqi narrated it in Dala’il al-nubuwwa with a good chain.”

Abu Sulayman Suhayl al-Zabibi
Imam of Masjid al-Najjarin
(Damascus, Syria)

FATWA OF MUSTAFA IBN AHMAD IBN AL-HASAN
AL-SHATTI AL-HANBALI AL-ATHARI AL-DIMASHQI (1856-1929 C.E.)

From the 1994 Waqf Ikhlas offset reprint of al-Shatti’s al-Nuqul al-shar`iyya fi al-radd `ala al-wahhabiyya (The Legal Proof-Texts Concerning the Reply to the Wahhabi Sect)

Allah said:

1. Fa istaghathahu al-ladhi min shi`atihi (28:15) “The man of his [Musa’s] own people appealed to him [P: asked him for help] against his foe.” [40]

2. Wa law annahum idh zalamu anfusahum ja’uka fa istaghfarullah… (4:64) “If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee [Muhammad] and asked Allah’s forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them [P: and asked forgiveness of the Messenger], they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful.”

If a Wahhabi says: “This is specific to him (the Prophet) being alive,” we say there is unanimity and the clearest evidences about the Prophet being alive in his honored grave. [41]

The rule of this noble verse is applicable now and any time Allah wills. This is why you see that all scholars recommend reading this verse when visiting his honored grave. [42] This fact cannot be hidden from anybody who has studied the sayings of the scholars in this respect. There is no need to detail it again. Anyone who claims a contrary interpretation has to bring evidence to that effect. And how will he get such evidence when many other verses teach the believers to seek shelter with the Prophet?

Among such verses are: al-nabiyyu awla bil mu’minina min anfusihim (33:6) “The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are (as) their mothers,” and wa ma arsalnaka illa rahmatan lil `alamin (21:107) “We did not send you except as a Mercy to the worlds. This is exactly what was understood by the father of humanity, Adam, from the juxtaposition of the name of the Prophet to Almighty Allah’s name. Adam understood that the Prophet is the intermediary and the means to Him, so he sought intercession through him to his Lord in order to be forgiven; and he was forgiven as has been established. [43]

As for the verses and ahadith which have been put forward by the Wahhabis such as the following: ud`uni astajib lakum (40:60) “Call on [P: pray unto] me; I will answer [P: hear] your prayer”; fa firru ila Allah (51:50) “Therefore flee unto Allah”; wa in yamsask Allahu bi durrin fa la kashifa lahu illa hu (6:17, 10:107) “If Allah touch thee with affliction, none can remove it [P: relieve therefrom] but He”, “If Allah do touch thee with hurt, there is none can remove it but He”; wa nahnu aqrabu ilayhi min habl al-warid (50:16) “For We are nearer to him than his jugular vein”; Hadith: idha ista`anta fa ista`in billah “If you ask for help, then ask help from Allah” etc; these verses do not support the Wahhabis’ claim that it is prohibited to use the means of Prophets and the pious. This is very clear. Those who agree among Muslims about the permissibility and recommendability of seeking the Prophets and pious ones as means never meant to suppose any effective power as originating in them. They never believed such a belief at all! Rather, all Muslims believe that Allah Almighty is the doer of His own free deliberation, and He alone is the giver and taker of existence, of benefit, and harm. This is one of the basic beliefs in Islam. The scholars never considered seeking the means of Prophets and the pious ones as consisting in mimman ittakhadha min dunillahi andadan or “taking equals other than Allah” as the Wahhabis have claimed.

How dare they use for evidence to support their school of thought verses like: wa la ya’murukum an tattakhidhu al-mala’ikata wal-nabiyyina arbaban (3:80) “[P:] And He commanded you not that ye should take the angels and the Prophets
for lords” and the like! This is a clear manipulation of the meaning of the verse and a use of something out of its proper place. If you mention the specious argument of those who forbid using an intermediary, namely that they see the common people often requesting from the pious ones, whether living or dead, what should properly be requested only from Allah Almighty: that is open to question in our opinion and not a proven fact as Ibn Taymiyya overtly misrepresents it in many of his books and treatises! For he discusses something to that effect in relation to the hadith of the blind man when he begins with the words: “Concerning this [tawassul] there is the hadith of the blind man…” This is a summation of his opposition to the issue at hand: “And they find that the common people say to the saint (wali): Do such-and-such for me, and these words that they use suggest an influence on their part which properly belongs only to Allah Almighty.”

I answer that these confusing expressions must be interpreted figuratively, and the proof for their having to be taken figuratively is that they originate in the mouth of a pure monotheist (muwahhid). Therefore, if the common person is asked of the soundness of his belief in what he is saying, he will answer that Allah alone is the Most Effective Doer (al-Fa`al) without partner; and that he asks of those great ones who are honored by Allah and brought near Him because they mean by that to use them as their intermediaries to reach their goal which is Allah Almighty. The reason that they have recourse to the pious ones is that the latter have been placed high by Allah Himself and He is the One who holds them in such consideration and they obtain what they desire from Him, as He Himself has said.

We concede that it is good to recommend to the common people that they observe the path of good manners towards Allah Almighty in masking their requests; indeed it is a part of ordering the good and forbidding the reprehensible. However, it is not correct for us to forbid them from seeking means and using help in absolute terms. How can that be done when Allah Almighty said: “The man of his (Musa’s) own people appealed to him against his foe” (28:15)?

REPUDIATION OF THOSE WHO COMPARE TAWASSUL AND ASKING INTERCESSION TO THE CHRISTIAN WORSHIP OF JESUS AND THE SAINTS, AND OF THOSE WHO LIMIT THE QUANTITY OF PERMISSIBLE SALAWAT ON THE PROPHET IN ANY WAY OR FORM

As for the specious comparison by some “Salafis” of Muslims making tawassul through the Prophet to the Christian worship of Jesus, or Muslims making tawassul through awliya to the Christian worship of saints, we ask Allah to reform those who make such comparisons and stray so widely from the right path in their views as to forget, by ignorance or design, that Muslims are strict monotheists who worship Allah alone and use the blessings of particular acts, times, places, and persons to benefit them, not as objects of worship. If they persist in not seeing the difference between taking one as an object of worship on the one hand, and using one as a means to obtain blessings on the other, we ask Allah for protection from such misguidance, for persistence in making analogies between the doctrines of Muslims and Christians in disregard of their fundamental disparity is a characteristic of the enemies of Islam.

One deviant sect in particular among these enemies of tawassul are the bukhala’ or misers who wish to curtail sending “too much blessings and peace” on the Prophet on the pretense that it would foster worship of the Prophet. They claim — and what a detestable claim — that “praising him too much would be like ascribing a partner to Allah.” Subhan Allah! The Prophet explicitly declared their status in the hadith when he said: “The miser (bakhil) is he before whom my name is mentioned and he does not invoke blessings and peace upon me.” [44]

Allah said:

“Verily, Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet. O believers! Invoke blessings upon him, and utmost greetings.” (33:56)

The bukhala’ have declared their opposition to Allah Himself, since Allah Himself is sending his salat on the Prophet. If Allah does something, can anyone compete with Him in that? If not, and if He gives the order nevertheless to do the same, then how can that same thing ever be “too much”? Even one salat of Allah on His Prophet is more than all the salawat jinn and mankind can ever make, even if they made it forever. For that reason, our salat on the Prophet can never be enough, nor does it consist of anything at all on our part, but is only our asking more salat from Allah on him: Allahuma salli `ala Muhammad, i.e. “O Allah, we beg You to send Your salat on Your Prophet.”

It is beyond us how anyone can dare say that there is too much praise for the Prophet when his very name is the Praised One. The scholars have even said that Allah has cut the name of the Prophet from His Own Name, as we shall explain insha Allah in the section on the Prophet’s Names. Suffice it to say here that the names of Muhammad, Ahmad, and Mahmud: “Praised One, Most Praised, and Praiseworthy,” were never given to any one person before or after him; and Allah said, as read by al-Baydawi in his Commentary: [45]

Allah suffices as witness
(that) Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah!
(48:28-29)

What differentiates the Muslims from the Jews? The Jews say la ilaha illallah but they never like to say Musa rasulullah. They are stingy in love for their Prophet. Christians similarly refuse to say `Isa rasulullah although for other reasons. Both groups refuse to say Muhammadun rasulullah and that is where we differ. You cannot be Muslim without the latter, even if you are a believer in God. This makes the second part of the shahada a requirement for entering Islam, and thus belief in the Prophet is a means for salvation from error and punishment. Allah never accepts anyone to come to Him saying “I love You directly”: instead they must obey the order “If you indeed love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will love you” (3:31). Therefore love of Allah can only proceed from love of the Prophet and its sign is to praise him and invoke blessings upon him often, as he requested in the hadith akthiru al-salat `alayya (“Send much blessings upon me”) which we cite below.

The scholars have explained that Allah’s salawat or sending of blessings stands for rahma — mercy– while the believers’ salawat or invocation of blessings stands for du`a — supplication. [46] This verse on the salawat of Allah and His angels is absolute in sense and unrestricted with respect to quantity and time. In other words Allah and His angels send blessings, peace, mercy, honor, gifts, and salutations upon the Prophet at all times and with boundless abundance. Allah orders the believers to invoke blessings upon him similarly, that is: incessantly, as far as they are able.

Furthermore, since the best remembrance is la ilaha illallah, a Muslim does not remember Allah except he also remembers the Prophet since he says directly after it: muhammadun rasulullah. This is established by Allah’s saying: “Remember Me and I shall remember you” (2:152) as elucidated by the hadith: “Whoever invokes blessings upon me once, Allah sends ten blessings upon him.” [47] In this connection al-hafiz Sakhawi said:

Just as in the testimony of faith (shahada) Allah has placed His Messenger’s blessed name next to His own sacred name and has said that he who obeys the Prophet obeys Him and he who loves the Prophet loves Him, in the same manner He has related our invoking blessings upon the Prophet to His own blessings upon us. Therefore just as Allah said about His remembrance: “Remember Me and I will remember you,” likewise is His assurance: “Allah sends ten blessings on the one who invokes a single blessing on the Holy Prophet,” as it is established in the sound hadith. [48]

Sakhawi mentions on the same page al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi’s similar explanation of the verse: “Whoso brings a good deed shall have ten the like of it” (6:160) as referring to the good deed of invoking blessings on the Prophet, in the light of the aforementioned hadith.

Anyone who dares claim that there is a limitation in quantity, quality, timeliness, or in any other aspect of invoking blessings and peace upon the Prophet has erred and strayed from the Qur’an, the Sunna, and the Religion of Islam. Be warned, Muslims who love your Prophet — and every Muslim loves his Prophet — about the dissemination of such false advice in your midst, which typifies the logic of those who cannot differentiate between worship and respect and are remiss in both, and typifies the hatred of non-Muslims for the central symbol of the Religion of Muslims — Blessings and Peace upon him. Diminishing one’s praise of the Prophet on the pretense that “it would foster his worship” is to imitate Iblis, who refused to prostrate to Adam on the claim that he only worships Allah.

Such are those who desire to extinguish Allah’s light, but Allah will perfect His light in spite of them. None but non-Muslims cringe at the enthusiasm of the believers in invoking blessings on their Prophet. Such enthusiasm proceeds directly from the Prophet’s own joy when he received news from Heaven of the immense mercy granted his Community for invoking blessings upon him:

Sahl ibn Sa`d narrates: Allah’s Messenger came out and met Abu Talha. The latter rose and went to him saying: “My father and mother be sacrificed for you, Messenger of Allah! I see joy and delight in your countenance?” The Prophet said: “Yes, for Gabriel has just come to me saying: O Muhammad, whoever among your Community invokes blessings upon you once, Allah records for Him ten meritorious deeds, erases from his register ten evil deeds, and raises him ten degrees because of it.” al-Sakhawi said: “Our shaykh (Ibn Hajar) graded it hasan without doubt.” [49]

Another extremely important reason why one must incessantly invoke blessings on the Prophet is that it is established in the hadith that “the du`a or invocation of the believer is suspended between heaven and earth as long as the invocation of blessings and peace upon your Prophet does not accompany it.” Tirmidhi narrates this hadith from `Umar in the section of his Sunan entitled Sifat al-salat `ala al-nabi, and al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi comments it thus:

The chain of men who narrate this is sound and both Malik and Muslim have cited it though not Bukhari. Such an utterance on the part of `Umar can only be a Prophetic legislation because it is not subject to opinion. It is strengthened by Muslim’s narration of the Prophet’s words: “If you hear the mu’adhdhin, repeat his words after him then invoke blessings upon me… then ask Allah to grant me al-wasila…” [50]

It is established that invoking blessings on the Prophet is especially meritorious on Friday according to the following hadith:

“Invoke blessings upon me abundantly on Friday because it is a day that is (particularly) witnessed and the angels witness it (abundantly). As soon as a person invokes blessings on me his invocation is shown to me until he ends it.” Abu al-Darda’ said: “Even after (your) death?” The Prophet replied: “Verily, Allah has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of Prophets.” [51]

The Prophet explicitly confirmed that the believer gains by invoking blessings and peace upon him without restriction, even if one ceases all other forms of du`a. This is established in the hadith:

Ubayy ibn Ka`b said: “After one third of the night the Prophet used to get up. One such time he said: O People! Remember Allah! The rajifa [first blow of the Trumpet] is upon us! The radifa [second blow of the Trumpet] [52] follows it. Death has come.” Ubayy said: ya rasulallah inni ukthiru al-salata `alayka fa kam aj`al laka min salati “O Messenger of Allah, I make much salawat upon you as a habit. How much of my prayer should I devote to you?” The Prophet said: “As much as you like.” Ubayy said: “A quarter?” The Prophet said: “As you like, but if you add to that it will be better for you.” Ubayy then mentioned a third, then a half, then two thirds, and always the Prophet answered: “As you like, but if you add to that it will be better for you.” Finally Ubayy said: ya rasulallah inni uridu an aj`ala salati kullaha lak “O Messenger of Allah, I want to devote my entire prayer (i.e. du`a) to you.” Whereupon the Prophet said: “Then you will be freed from care and your sins will be forgiven.” (Another version has: “Then Allah will suffice you in the matter of your worldly life and your hereafter.”) [53]

The scholars of Islam have contributed many commentaries on this important hadith, of which we cite the following from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami’s Fatawa hadithiyya and from the hafiz al-Sakhawi’s al-Qawl al-badi`:

(Haytami:) It is understood from the wording of these narrations that the meaning of the word salat in the expression: “I shall devote my salat to you” is du`a’ — invocation… Then the meaning is: “There is a time in which I make du`a on behalf of myself: how much of that should I devote to you?” If this is established firmly, then consider what the Shaykh al-Islam al-hafiz Ibn Hajar said as reported from him by his student al-hafiz al-Sakhawi who particularly commended this saying of his: “This hadith constitutes a tremendous principle of the Religion for whoever makes du`a after his recitation and says: O Allah, grant our Master Allah’s Messenger the reward of this worship.” [54]

(Sakhawi:) Salat in this hadith means invocation (du`a’) and habitual devotion (wird) in the following sense: “There is a time in which I make du`a on behalf of myself: how much of that should I devote to you?” The Prophet did not consider that he should place a limit for him in this respect in order not to close the gate of superabundance for him. Accordingly he persisted in giving Ubayy the choice at the same time as he stressed for him surplus in invocation until Ubayy said: “I shall devote my entire prayer to you.” That is: I shall invoke blessings upon you instead of asking anything for myself. Whereupon the Prophet said: “Then you will be freed from care,” that is: do not worry either for your Religion or for your worldly need, because invoking blessings on me includes both remembrance of Allah and rendering honor to the Prophet; and the sense of this is an indication to Ubayy that he is actually invoking for himself, as confirmed by the Prophet’s report on behalf of his Lord: “Whoever is occupied from beseeching Me because of remembering Me, I shall grant him the best of what I grant those who beseech.” [55] Know then that if you make most of your worship consist in invoking blessings upon your Prophet, Allah will suffice you in the matter of your worldly life and your hereafter. [56]

However, according to the party of the bukhala’ — the mean and miserly — to follow the Prophet’s advice in this matter “would foster his worship”! How far is this “Salafi” opinion from the Qur’an and the Sunna! In 1,400 years of sending salawat on the Prophet far more abundantly than in our age, we have never witnessed what they claim; how then do they want us to fear its occurrence now? Have they forgotten that the Prophet specifically said: “Those closest to me in the hereafter are those who invoked blessings upon me the most (in dunya)” [57] and “No people sit at length without mentioning Allah and invoking blessings on His Prophet except they will incur dissatisfaction from Allah (or: dissatisfaction on the Day of Rising): if He likes He will punish them and if He likes He will forgive them” [58]? Rather, they are intent on hindering Muslims from expressing love for their Prophet through invoking blessings upon him, celebrating his birth, reading his life story, and encouraging each other towards knowing him and loving him more than their own parents and children. This is the great characteristic of this Community which its enemies wish to eradicate: we know our Prophet; we keep his status high; we prefer his Sunna to all other lifestyles; and we cherish his love among us more dearly than our own lives and properties.

The following is a list of the principal benefits obtained by invoking blessings on the Prophet as compiled by the hafiz al-Sakhawi in his book devoted to the topic, entitled al-Qawl al-badi` fi al-salat `ala al-habib al-shafi` (The Radiant Discourse Concerning the Invocation of Blessings on the Beloved Intercessor):

Among the rewards of one who performs salat upon Allah’s Messenger are the following:

The salat — blessing — of Allah, His angels, and His Prophet on that person;
the expiation of his faults;
the purification of his works;
the exaltation of his rank;
the forgiveness of his sins;
the asking of forgiveness for him by his own salat;
the recording of rewards the like of Mount Uhud for him and his repayment in superabundant measure;
the comfort of his world and his hereafter if he devotes his entire salat to invoking blessings upon him;
the obliteration of more faults than that effected by the manumission of a slave;
his deliverance from affliction because of it;
the witnessing of the Prophet himself to it;
the guarantee of the Prophet’s intercession for him;
Allah’s pleasure, mercy, and safety from His anger;
admission under the shade of the Throne for him;
preponderance of his good deeds in the Balance;
his admission to drink from the Prophet’s Pond;
his safety from thirst and deliverance from the Fire;
his ability to cross the Bridge swiftly;
the sight of his seat in Paradise before he dies;
numerous wives in Paradise;
the preponderance of his salat over more than twenty military conquests;
its equivalency to giving alms to the needy;
its being zakat and purification for him;
his wealth will increase because of its blessing;
more than one hundred of his needs will be fulfilled through it;
it constitutes worship;
it is the most beloved of all deeds to Allah;
it beautifies meetings;
it cancels out poverty and material duress;
it lets him expect and find goodness everywhere;
it makes him the most deserving of goodness;
he benefits from it as well as his children and theirs, as well as those to whom its reward is gifted in the register of his good deeds;
it brings him near to Allah and to His Prophet;
it is a light that helps him against his enemies;
it cleans his heart of hypocrisy and rust;
it commands the love of people and the sight of the Prophet in dreams;
it forbids slander (ghiba) against him;

In sum, it is among the most blessed, most meritorious, most useful of deeds in Religion and in the life of the world, and carries desirable rewards other than all this for those who are clever and eager to acquire the deeds which constitute treasures for them, and harvest the most flourishing and glowing of hopes. They do this by focusing on the deed that includes all these tremendous merits, noble qualities, manifold and all-encompassing benefits which are not found together in any other. Nor do they characterize any other human action or speech except this: sallahu `alayhi wa sallama tasliman kathiran — may Allah bless him and greet him abundantly. [59]

DARUD TAJ: INVOCATION OF BLESSINGS
UPON THE PROPHET KNOWN AS
“INVOCATION OF THE CROWN”

The following is a transliteration and translation of a famous invocation of blessings on the Prophet entitled Darud taj or “Invocation of the Crown” which is especially well known in the Indian subcontinent:

Transliteration

allahumma salli `ala sayyidina wa mawlana Muhammad

sahibi al-taji wal-mi`raji wal-buraqi wal-`alam
dafi` al-bala’i wal-waba’i wal-qahti wal-maradi wal-alam

ismuhu maktubun marfu`un mashfu`un manqushun fi al- lawhi wal-qalam
sayyidi al-`arabi wal-`ajam

jismuhu muqaddasun mu`attarun mutahharun munawwarun fil-bayti wal-haram

shams al-duha badr al-duja sadr al`ula nur al-huda
kahf al-wara misbah al-zulam

jamil al-shyam shafi` al-umam sahib al-judi wal-karam

wallahu `asimuhu wa jibrilu khadimuhu wal-buraqu markabuhu
wal-mi`raju safaruhu wa sidratu al-muntaha maqamuhu

wa qaba qawsayni matlubuhu
wal-matlubu maqsuduhu wal-maqsudu mawjuduhu

sayyid al-mursalin khatim al-nabiyyin
shafi` al-mudhnibin anis al-gharibin

rahmatun li al-`alamin
rahat al-`ashiqin murad al-mushtaqin
shams al-`arifin siraj al-salikin misbah al-muqarrabin
muhibb al-fuqara’ wal-masakin

sayyid al-thaqalayn
nabiyy al-haramayn
imam al-qiblatayn
wasilatina fi al-darayn
sahibi qaba qawsayn
mahbub rabbi al-mashriqayni wal-maghribayn

jadd al-hasani wal-husayn
mawlana wa mawla al-thaqalayn
Abi al-Qasimi MUHAMMAD Ibni `Abdillah
nurin min nurillah

ya ayyuha al-mushtaquna bi nuri jamalihi
sallu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallimu taslima

Allahumma salli `ala Muhammadin wa `ala ali Muhammadin wa sallim

Translation

O Allah, send blessings and Peace upon our Master and Patron Muhammad,

The Owner of the Crown and the Ascent and the Buraq and the Standard,
The Repeller of Affliction and Disease and Drought and Illness and Pain.

His name is written on high, served and engraved in the Tablet and the Pen,
The Leader of All, Arabs and non-Arabs,
Whose body is sanctified, fragrant, and pure,
Illumined in the House and the Haram,

The Sun of Brightness, the Full Moon in Darkness,
The Foremost One in the Highest Fields, the Light of Guidance,
The Cave of Refuge for Mortals, the Lamp That Dispels the Night,
The Best-Natured One, The Intercessor of Nations,
The Owner of Munificence and Generosity.

Allah is his Protector, Gabriel is his servant.
The Buraq is his mount, the Ascent is his voyage,
The Lote-Tree of the Furthermost Boundary is his station,
Two Bow-Lengths or Nearer is his desire,
His desire is his goal, and he has found his goal,

The Master of the Messengers, the Seal of the Prophets,
The intercessor of sinners, the friend of the strangers,
The Mercy for the Worlds,
The rest of those who burn with love, the goal of those who yearn,

The sun of knowers, the lamp of travellers,
The light of Those Brought Near,
The friend of the poor and destitute,

The master of Humans and Jinn,
The Prophet of the Two Sanctuaries,
The Imam of the Two Qiblas,

Our Means in the Two Abodes,
The Owner of Qaba Qawsayn,
The Beloved of the Lord of the Two Easts and the Two Wests,

The grandfather of al-Hasan and al-Husayn,
Our patron and the patron of Humans and Jinn:
Abu al-Qasim MUHAMMAD Son of `Abd Allah,
A light from the light of Allah.

O you who yearn for the light of his beauty,
Send blessings and utmost greetings of peace
Upon him and upon his Family.

ANOTHER INVOCATION OF BLESSINGS AND PEACE UPON THE PROPHET

This is another well-known invocation of blessings and peace upon the Prophet. Some of the words in it come from the Ansar who greeted the Prophet with outpourings of joy and acclamation when he entered Madina for his Emigration there. [60] On this chapter the Companion al-Bara’ ibn `Azib narrates:

The first people who came to us (in Medina) were Mus`ab ibn `Umayr and Ibn Umm Maktum who were teaching Qur’an to the people. Then there came Bilal, Sa`d, and `Ammar ibn Yasir. After that `Umar ibn al-Khattab came along with twenty other Companions of the Prophet. Later on the Prophet himself came and I had never seen the people of Medina so joyful as they were on the arrival of Allah’s Apostle, for even the slave girls were saying, “Allah’s Apostle has arrived!” Before his arrival I had already memorized the Sura starting with: “GLORIFY THE NAME OF YOUR LORD, THE MOST HIGH” (87:1) together with other Suras of al-Mufassal. [61]

Blessings and peace on the one who said: “I was sent to all people without exception” [62] and “I was sent only as Mercy. I was not sent as a punishment.” [63]

ya nabi salam `alayka
ya rasul salam `alayka
ya habib salam `alayka
salawatullah `alayka

O Prophet, Peace be upon you.
O Messenger, Peace be upon you.
O Beloved, Peace be upon you.
The Blessings of Allah be upon you.

tala`a al-badru `alayna
min thaniyyat al-wada`
wajaba al-shukru `alayna
ma da`a lillahi da`

The full moon has risen over us
From the mountains of al-Wada`.
We shall ever give thanks for it
As long as there will be callers to Allah.

anta shamsun anta badrun
anta nurun fawqa nur
anta iksiru al-wujud
anta misbah al-sudur

You are a sun, you are a full moon,
You are light upon light,
You are the quintessence of existence,
You are the lamp in every breast

ashraqa al-badru `alayna
fakhtafat minhu al-budur
mithla husnik ma ra’ayna
qattu ya wajh al-surur

The full moon has risen over us
Eclipsing all other moons.
Such as your beauty we have never seen
No, never, O face of delight!

ya habibi ya muhammad
ya `arus al-khafiqayn
ya mu’ayyad ya mumajjad
ya imam al qiblatayn

O My beloved, O Muhammad,
O bridegroom of the East and the West,
The one Allah vindicated and exalted,
O Imam of the Two Directions!

ya nabi salam `alayka
ya rasul salam `alayka
ya habib salam `alayka
salawatullah `alayka

Abundant Blessings and Greetings of Peace upon the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions.

ALBANI’S REWORDING OF THE PROPHET’S
DU`A OF TAWASSUL

Following is a concise refutation of a recent dissertation by the “Salafi” shaykh Albani entitled Tawassul: Its Types and Its Rulings currently distributed in translation among English-speaking Muslims by his supporters in order to replace with “Salafi” ideology the understanding of Ahl al-Sunna regarding tawassul. [64] It will be seen with Allah’s permission that the commentary of Albani is a proof against “Salafis” and all those who follow new teachings instead of clinging to the sawad al-a`zam or massive majority of scholars. Their pretext that “there is disagreement about tawassul” and that “we follow proof not scholars” is a sham. There is no disagreement about tawassul among Ahl al-Sunna except the dissent of some lone voices in the matter, such as Ibn Taymiyya who declared travel undertaken to visit the Prophet an act of disobedience: this is not disagreement but shudhudh or dissent, as classified by Imam Ahmad in speaking of the disagreement of the lone scholar with the consensus. There seems to be little doubt that Albani has achieved the same dubious distinction of dissenting with one and all, as he proudly admits in the following lines of his book, especially the second sentence which we have emphasized:

Imaam Ahmad allowed tawassul by means of the Messenger alone, and others such as Imaam ash-Shawkaanee allowed tawassul by means of him and other Prophets and the Pious. [Note that he omits to mention Imam Malik and Imam Shafi`i as permitting tawassul also.] However we [i.e. Albani and his party], as is the case in all matters where there is disagreement, follow whatever is supported by the proof whatever that is, without blindly sticking to the opinions of men. [65]

The proofs that Albani alone purports to see — against what the majority understand — are characteristic of the “Salafi” method. As the scholars who debate them well know, the “Salafi” method consists in a lack of method in and a non-recognition of any of the established principles of the derivation of rulings from the primary sources other than what fits the purpose of their position at the time. Scholars of Ahl al-Sunna may traditionally familiarize themselves with the fiqh and the usul of other than their own school, but this is impossible to do with the “Salafis,” because they completely lack any type of method and shift constantly from one position to another depending on the purpose at hand. Albani has achieved particular notoriety for his contamination of the field of hadith scholarship with this systematic unaccountability and free-lance style.

As we will see in the section on salat in the present work, Albani had previously suggested altering the prayer by changing the words as-salamu `alayka ayyuha al-nabi to as-salamu `ala al-nabi in the tashahhud whereas the Prophet explicitly said, as related in Bukhari and Muslim: “Pray as you see me pray,” and: “Who innovates something in this matter of ours (meaning religion), it is radd (rejected).” And here is Albani now trying to alter the tawassul through the Prophet which is valid for all and for all times, and reduce it to a one-time du`a of the Prophet valid only for a single man in the Prophet’s time. But, as the Prophet said: “There is no preventing what Allah has given, and there is no avoidance of what He has decreed.” [66]

1. ALBANI’S TAMPERING WITH THE HADITH ITSELF

It is reported by Ahmad and others with an authentic chain of narration from Uthmaan bin Haneef [sic] “that a blind man came to the Prophet (SAW) and said, ‘supplicate to Allaah that He should cure me.’ So he (SAW) said, ‘if you wish I will supplicate for you and if you wish I will delay that for that is better (and in a narration: and if you wish have patience and that is better for you).’ So he said, ‘supplicate to Him.’ So he (SAW) ordered him to make wudoo, and to make wudoo well, and to pray two rak’ahs and to supplicate with this du’aa, ‘O Allaah I ask you and turn to you by means of your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy, O Muhammad I have turned by means of you (i.e. your du`aa) [sic] to my Lord in this need of mine, so that it may be fulfilled for me, O Allaah accept him as supplicant on my behalf, and accept my supplication for him (to be accepted for me) [sic].’ He said, ‘So the man did it and he was cured.'”
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings p. 68

1. Albani or his translator err on the narrator’s name. This is the Companion `Uthman ibn Hunayf, not Haneef, and his full name is Abu `Amr `Uthman ibn Hunayf ibn Wahb of Aws, may Allah be well pleased with him. [67]

2. The wording of the hadith is: “O Muhammad I have turned with you (bika) to my Lord.” It is not “O Muhammad I have turned by means of your du`a (bi du`a’ika) to my Lord.” We shall see that this blatant interpolation of another term in lieu of the explicit wording of the hadith is central to Albani’s attempt to reword this hadith of the Prophet (we have already transcribed the complete and correct translation of this hadith above, in the section entitled SEEKING MEANS THROUGH THE PROPHET).

3. The blind man’s final words are not “and accept my supplication for him” nor could they be, since he is not praying for the Prophet but for himself. He is imploring Allah to help him by means of the Prophet’s intercession, not by means of his own, and he is practicing Islam, not egalitarianism!

The original Arabic is (in one of two versions in Ahmad): wa tashaffa`ni fihi which must be translated: “and join me to him in supplicating You (i.e. join my supplication to his),” as he is well aware that the likelihood of his being heard increases exponentially if it is linked to the Prophet’s audience.

One may excuse the false suggestion that the man not only prays for the Prophet’s intercession for him but also for his own interceding for the Prophet as stemming from a bad translation. However, the poor translation is just as deliberate as the misrendering of “O Muhammad I have turned by means of your du`a to my Lord,” since Albani, as we shall see, tries to adduce the supposed du`a of the blind man on behalf of the Prophet as additional evidence to support his idea that the tawassul in the hadith is by means of du`a and not by means of the person of the Prophet.

Furthermore the words of the blind man’s final request “and join me to him in supplicating You” are not in all versions. They are not found in Ahmad’s first version out of two, nor in Tirmidhi’s version, nor in Ibn Majah’s version, nor in Nasa’i’s version, nor in the version retained by Imam Nawawi in his Adhkar! [68] Why then does Albani cite it as the primary text instead of assigning it parenthetical mention, as he does with the phrase: “(and in a narration: and if you wish have patience and that is better for you)”? Because, as we have said, he wants to make the entire hadith revolve around tawassul through the du`a of the Prophet as opposed to his person, and he wants to adduce the blind man’s own supposed tawassul through his own du`a as additional evidence of his claim, as we see below.

2. ALBANI’S DISSENT AND CONTEMPT FOR THE SCHOLARS

The opponents hold that this hadeeth shows that it is permissible to make tawassul in du’aa by the status of the Prophet (SAW) or other pious people, since the Prophet (SAW) taught the blind man to use him as a means of nearness in his du’aa, and the blind man did that and his sight was restored.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings p. 69

Observe how he says “the opponents,” although it is he who has brought opposition to something established in Islam, and he invented that it is not through the Prophet’s sacred status (hurmat) or person (dhaat) but through his du`a that tawassul is permissible, in open contradiction to the understanding of the Salaf such as Mujahid, Imam Malik, [69] Imam al-Shafi`i, [70] Imam Ahmad, [71] Ibrahim al-Harbi, and al-Shawkani as we have already seen, and that of Ibn al-Jawzi, Nawawi, Ibn al-Humam, and Ibn al-Qayyim as we see below.

As for us, than [sic] we hold that the hadeeth has no proof for them concerning this form of tawassul about which there is disagreement, which is seeking nearness by means of his person. Rather it is a further proof for the third type of lawful and prescribed tawassul which we have spoken of previously [i.e. through the du’aa of another person], since the tawassul of the blind man was through means of his (SAW) du’aa, and the proofs for what we say are many being contained in the hadeeth itself, most importantly:
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings p. 69

Rather, Muslims believe as Ibn al-Jawzi said that it is through the Prophet’s person and status and not only through his du`a that one makes tawassul, as is clear from this excerpt from his chapter concerning the Prophet’s superiority over the other Prophets in his book al-Wafa:

Part of the exposition of his superiority to other Prophets
is the fact that Adam asked his Lord through the sacred status
(hurma) of Muhammad that He relent towards him, as we have
already mentioned. [72]

The importance of this remark does not lie in the veracity of the hadith, which is a separate discussion — and Ibn al-Jawzi clearly considers it authentic — but in the wording of Ibn al-Jawzi whereby tawassul is correct as made through the status of the Prophet. This is enough of an indication that Ibn al-Jawzi’s `aqida or doctrine concerning tawassul fully contradicts that of Albani and his followers. It comes down to deciding who is closer to following the Sunna: the Imams, huffaz and historians on the one hand — or the polemicist and scholar of books? al-hamdu lillah, this is no dilemma at all.

Indeed the position of Albani is not founded upon the explicit words of the hadith, but upon their figurative interpretation. The hadith clearly says: bi nabiyyika i.e. with/by means of/through Your Prophet. Even a child of seven years old can see that this does not mean “through the du`a of your Prophet.” Nor does he provide any justification for his recourse to figurative interpretation in a matter where the literal meaning is clear and true.

1) The reason the blind man came to the Prophet (SAW) was for him to make supplication (du’aa) for him, as he said, ‘Supplicate Allaah that He should cure me.’ So he sought to use his (SAW) du’aa as a means of nearness to Allaah, the Most High, since he knew that his (SAW) supplication was more likely to be accepted by Allaah than the du’aa of others, and if the intention of the blind man was to seek nearness to Allaah by means of the Prophet’s (SAW) person or status or his right, then he would have had no need to go to the Prophet (SAW), or to ask him to make du’aa for him, rather he would have sat in his house, and supplicated to his Lord saying, for example, ‘O Allaah I ask You by the status of your Prophet and his station with You, that You cure me and enable me to see.’
But that is not what he did. Why? because he was an Arab and knew very well the meaning of ‘tawassul’ in the Arabic Language, and knew that it was not a word said by a person with a need, mentioning the name of a person as an intermediary, rather it had to include coming to one whom he believed to be pious and have knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah and ask him to make du’aa for him.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings p. 69

This argument is entirely speculative and the Shari`a is not derived from speculation. The facts are clear. The ruling is not derived only from the fact that the blind man came to the Prophet but from the entirety of the hadith. The blind man came asking for the Prophet’s du`a, and the Prophet subsequently taught him a form of du`a that he should make after performing wudu’ and praying two rak`at. In the latter du`a the Prophet further taught him to make tawassul with certain clear and explicit words. These same words were used by the man in need in the time of sayyidina `Uthman ibn `Affan, after the time of the Prophet. Was the man in need not also an Arab who knew very well the meaning of ‘tawassul’ in the Arabic Language?

About the hadith of the man in need which we have already cited in full earlier, Shaykh Yusuf al-Rifa`i wrote in his rebuttal to a “Salafi” critic entitled “The Evidence of the Sunni Community” (Adilla Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a): “This is an explicit, unequivocal text from a prophetic Companion proving the validity of tawassul through the dead”; and Shaykh Muhammad al-Hamid (1910-1969) has written in his “Rebuttals of Falsehoods” (Rudud `ala abatil): “As for calling upon the righteous (when they are physically absent, as in the words Ya Muhammad in the hadiths of `Uthman Ibn Hunayf), tawassul to Allah Most High through them is permissible, the supplication (du`a) being to Allah Most Glorious, and there is much evidence for its permissibility. Those who call on them intending tawassul cannot be blamed.” [73] Are Shaykh al-Sayyid Yusuf al-Rifa`i, Shaykh Muhammad al-Hamid, and Shaykh `Abd Allah al-Ghumari not also Arabs who know very well the meaning of ‘tawassul’ in the Arabic Language?

Were Imam Ahmad, Shawkani, and Ibn al-Jawzi not also Arabs who knew very well the meaning of ‘tawassul’ in the Arabic Language? What about Imam Nawawi and Ibn al-Humam, who are cited below as instructing every visitor to the Prophet in Madina to seek him as a means in tawassul — are they not Arabs who knew very well the meaning of ‘tawassul’ in the Arabic Language? All these major scholars did not seem to experience the same problem as Albani with the language of tawassul, nor with the fact that tawassul is said by a person in need mentioning the name of another person as intermediary!

2) The Prophet (SAW) promised that he would make du’aa for him, after advising him of what would be better for him, and this was his (SAW) saying, ‘If you wish I will supplicate for you, and if you have patience that is better for you.’ And this second matter is what he (SAW) indicated in the hadeeth which he narrated from His Lord, the blessed and Most High, that He said, ‘when I afflict My servant in his two beloved ones, that is his eyes, and he has patience, then I give him Paradise in place of them.’ [Reported by al-Bukhaaree (transl. 7/377/no.557) from Anas, quoted in as-Saheehah (2010)]

3) The blind man’s insistence that he (SAW) should supplicate for him, as he said, ‘Supplicate to Him.’ Which means that the Messenger (SAW) definitely did make du’aa for him, since he (SAW) was the best at fulfilling a promise and he had already promised to make du’aa for him if he wished as has preceded, and he wanted du’aa from him, and so the point is established. Also the Prophet (SAW), out of his mercy and desire that Allaah, the Most High, should answer his du’aa for him, guided the blind man to using the second type of lawful and prescribed tawassul, which is tawassul by means of righteous actions, in order to combine the different types of good.
So he ordered him to make wudoo, and to pray two rak’ahs, and then to make du’aa for himself…
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings p. 70

… in the words taught to him by the Prophet, which consist verbatim in asking Allah through the Prophet himself and his status. That is the essence of the du`a taught by the Prophet, and of the entire hadith.

 

… and these are acts of obedience to Allaah, the One free of all blemish or defect, and the Most High, which he offered along with the du’aa of the Prophet (SAW) on his behalf, and this falls under Allaah, the Most High’s Saying: ‘Seek means of approach (waseelah) to Him’ (5:35) as has preceded.
The Messenger (SAW) did not suffice with making du’aa for the blind man, as he had promised, he also gave him an action to perform which involved obedience to Allaah, the One free of all blemish and defect, the Most High, and drawing near to Him, so that the affair would be complete from all angles, and nearer to acceptance and being pleasing to Allaah, the One free of all blemish and imperfections, and the Most High, therefore the whole event revolved around du’aa, as is clear and contains nothing of what they mention.
Shaikh al-Ghumaaree [74] is ignorant of this or pretends to be, since he says in ‘al-Misbaah’ ([p.] 24), ‘”… If you wish I will make du’aa for you”, means, “if you wish I will teach you a du’aa which you can make and will repeat it to you,” this explanation is binding so that the start of the hadeeth agrees with its end.’
I say: this explanation is futile due to many reasons, from them that the blind man asked him (SAW) to make du’aa for him, not to teach him a du’aa, and since his (SAW) saying to him, ‘And if you wish I will make du’aa’ was an answer to his request, it was then definitely a request for du’aa, and this has to be, and this is the meaning which agrees with the end of the hadeeth, which is why we find that al-Ghumaaree does not try to explain his saying at the end, ‘O Allaah accept him as a supplicant for me, and accept my supplication for him (to be accepted for me),’ since this clearly shows that his tawassul was through the du’aa of the Prophet (SAW) as we have shown in what has preceded.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings p. 70-71

Rather, the end does confirm that the essence of this du`a revolves around the Prophet’s intercession, and that is what making tawassul through him means. Shaykh al-Ghumari is right when he says that the Prophet taught the du`a of tawassul as an answer to the blind man’s request for du`a, since the du`a of tawassul is the main lesson of this hadith and the means through which Allah fulfills the Prophet’s own du`a and returned the blind man’s sight to him. Nor does the fact that the blind man asked the Prophet to make du`a for him preclude the Prophet in any way or form from teaching him that du`a — and through him all Muslims — in addition to responding to his specific request, for the Prophet is by essence the Teacher and Purifier of the Community:

Truly Allah was gracious to the believers when He raised up among them a Messenger from themselves, to recite to them His signs and to purify them, and to teach them the Book and the Wisdom, though before they were in manifest error. (3:164)

To insist that the Prophet could not have been acting didactically in a general way but only making the du`a for the blind man alone simply because that is all that the blind man wanted, is to act like the man who kept repeating to the Prophet: “Teach me something (about Islam)!” not realizing that the Prophet’s answer: “Do not get angry” [75] constituted a universal Islamic teaching of the highest order. Yet this is what Albani insists, in order to reduce the hadith to a one-time occurrence that bears no significance to the Umma at large, and in order to annihilate its availability to all Muslims as a universal and enduring du`a of tawassul.

The great characteristic of Islam is that the overwhelming part if not all of the Prophet’s guidance, his teachings, and his miracles are enduring for all time, the greatest being the Glorious Qur’an, and not limited to the time of the Companions or to some individuals among them! To believe otherwise is to rob Islam of its primacy as the Religion that pleases Allah and to place it on a par with Christianity and Judaism as an abrogated religion, and we seek refuge in Allah from such aberrant suggestions.

Then he [Ghumari] says, ‘Even if we admit that the Prophet (SAW) made du’aa for the blind man, then that does not prevent those hadeeth from being generalised to include others.’
I say: This is clear error, since no one prevents the hadeeth from applying to other then [sic] the blind man, from those whom the Prophet (SAW) made du’aa for. However since du’aa from him (SAW) after he left to join the highest company is something that those seeking tawassul for all various needs and desires do not know about, and also they themselves do not seek tawassul by his (SAW) du’aa after his death, therefore the ruling is different, and this admission of al-Ghumaaree is a proof against him.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings p. 71-72

Observe the aberration of Albani’s declaration that “du’aa from him (SAW) after he left to join the highest company is something that those seeking tawassul for all various needs and desires do not know about,” when it is established in the authentic hadith that the Prophet continually makes du`a and asks forgiveness for his Umma and makes tahmid (al-hamdu lillah) even in the grave:

My life is a great good for you, you will relate about me and it will be related to you, and my death is a great good for you, your actions will be presented to me (in my grave) and if I see goodness I will praise Allah, and if see other than that I will ask forgiveness of Him for you. [76]

Observe also how Albani boldly claims: “they themselves do not seek tawassul by his (SAW) du’aa after his death” — this is clear and manifest error, and may Allah save us from such. As we have shown in many places already, the Companions sought tawassul, tabarruk, istisqa, and istishfa` both through his person and through his du`a after his death, in which he stands the same as he stands in his life in the world in relation to Allah, i.e. praying and making du`a for his Community.

This is another clear proof against misguidance, and it is confirmed by Malik al-Dar’s narration of the Companion Bilal Ibn al-Harith’s request to the Prophet that he make istisqa’ (prayer and du`a for rain) on behalf of his Community. We have already cited this hadith which Ibn Hajar said “Ibn Abi Shayba related with a sound chain from the narration of Abu Salih al-Saman from Malik al-Dar who was `Umar’s treasurer”:

The people suffered from drought during the successorship of `Umar, whereupon a man came to the grave of the Prophet and said: “O Messenger of Allah, ask for rain for your Community, for verily they have but perished”…

We will note here that in his obstinacy in asserting that the Companions did not seek tawassul by the Prophet’s du`a after his death Albani went far afield trying to disprove the authenticity of this hadith:

We do not accept that this story is authentic since the reliability and precision of Maalik al-Daar is not known, and these are the two principle [sic] conditions necessary for the authenticity of any narration, as is affirmed in the science of hadeeth. Ibn Abee Haatim mentions him in al-Jarh wat-ta’deel (4/1/213) and does not mention anyone who narrates from him except Aboo Saalih. So this indicates that he is unknown, and this is further emphasized by the fact that Ibn Abee Haatim himself, who is well known for his memorisation and wide knowledge, did not quote anyone who declared him reliable, so he remains unknown. Then this does not contradict the saying of al-Haafidh: “… with an authentic chain of narration, from the narration of Aboo Saalih as-Saman…” since we say: It is not declaration that all of the chain of narration is authentic (saheeh), rather only that it is so up to Aboo Saalih. If that were not the case then he would not have started mentioning the chain of narration from Aboo Saalih. Rather he would have begun: “From Malik ad-Daar… and its chain of narration is authentic.” But he said it in the way that he did to draw attention to the fact that there was something requiring investigation in it. The scholars say this for various reasons. From these reasons is that they may not have been able to find a biography for some narrator(s) and therefore they would not permit themselves to pass a ruling on the whole chain of narration…
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings p. 120

 

1. The above is disproved by Ibn Sa`d’s (d. 230) biographical notice on Malik al-Dar in his Tabaqat:

Malik al-Dar: `Umar ibn al-Khattab’s freedman. He narrated from Abu Bakr and `Umar. He was known. [77]

2. It is further disproved by the hafiz al-Khalili’s (d. 445) notice on Malik al-Dar in his Kitab al-irshad fi ma`rifat `ulama’ al-hadith:

Malik al-Dar: muttafaq `alayh athna `alayhi al-tabi`un — He is agreed upon (as trustworthy), the Successors have approved highly of him. [78]

3. It is further disproved by Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani’s biographical notice on Malik al-Dar in his al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-sahaba:

Malik ibn `Iyad: `Umar’s freedman. He is the one named Malik al-Dar. He has seen the Prophet and has heard narrations from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. He has narrated from Abu Bakr and `Umar, Mu`adh, and Abu `Ubayda. From him narrated Abu Salih al-Saman and his (Malik’s) two sons `Awn and `Abd Allah…

Bukhari in his Tarikh narrated through Abu Salih Dhakwan from Malik al-Dar that `Umar said during the period of drought: “O my Lord, I spare no effort except in what escapes my power!” Ibn Abi Khaythama also narrated it in those words but in a longer hadith:

The people suffered a drought during the time of `Umar, whereupon a man came to the grave of the Prophet and said: “O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah for rain for your Community.” The Prophet appeared to him in a dream and told him: “Go, see `Umar and tell him: You will be watered, and: You must put your nose to the grindstone (`alayk al-kaffayn)!” (The man went and told `Umar.) Then `Umar wept and exclaimed: “O my Lord, I spare no effort except in what escapes my power!”

We have also narrated in the Fawa’id of Dawud ibn `Amr and al-Dabbi compiled by al-Baghawi in the narration of `Abd al-Rahman ibn Sa`id ibn Yarbu` al-Makhzumi from Malik al-Dar: he said: “`Umar ibn al-Khattab summoned me one day. He had with him a purse of gold containing four hundred dinars. He said: “Take this to Abu `Ubayda,” and he mentioned the rest of the story.

Ibn Sa`d mentioned him (Malik al-Dar) in the first layer of the Successors among the people of Madina and said: “He narrated from Abu Bakr and `Umar, and he was known.” Abu `Ubayda said of him: “`Umar put him in charge of the dependents in his household. When `Uthman succeeded him, he put him in charge of financial allotments and he was then named Malik of the House.”

Isma`il al-Qadi related from `Ali ibn al-Madini: “Malik al-Dar was `Umar’s treasurer.” [79]

4. It is further disproved by Hasan al-Saqqaf’s rebuttal of Albani’s discourse and entire method on this hadith in Saqqaf’s preface to `Abd Allah al-Ghumari’s refutation of Albani entitled Irgham al-mubtadi` al-ghabi bi jawaz al-tawassul bi al-nabi (The compulsion of the ignorant innovator with the permissibility of seeking means with the Prophet):

Albani has declared this sound hadith weak upon pretexts frailer than a cobweb in his Tawassul. He has claimed that Malik al-Dar is unknown (majhul) and has reproduced only his biographical notice from Ibn Abi Hatim’s Kitab al-jarh wa al-ta`dil in order to give his readers the impression that only one man has narrated from Malik al-Dar, and that is Abu Salih al-Saman. And it has been decided by Albani on the basis of what he reproduces from one of the scholars that a man remains “unknown” until two or more narrate from him. In order to help his cause he mentioned that al-Mundhiri and al-Haythami did not know Malik al-Dar, that he is therefore unknown, and that a chain of transmission containing an unknown is unsound. Then he began to brag saying: “This is a critical piece of information which none will know but those who have practiced this science.” As for us we say to him: Rather this is deliberate concealment (tadlis) and deceit and treachery which none commits except one whose heart is filled with spite and enmity against the Sunna and Tawhid and its people…

Now, if al-Mundhiri and al-Haythami declared that they did not know him, we say to the searcher for truth: This means that they did not declare him either trustworthy or unreliable, because they do not know him. However, there are those who do know him, such as Ibn Sa`d, and Bukhari, and `Ali ibn al-Madini, and Ibn Hibban, and al-hafiz Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani, and others! Which of the two assessments, O Albani, is retained: that of those who know him, or that of those who don’t?!

It is a wonder that Albani approves the statement of those who don’t know Malik al-Dar’s case, selects it, and prefers it to the statements of those who do know it, which he conceals and with which he dislikes that anyone be acquainted.

What I will cite from the sayings of the Imams among the masters of hadith who have recognized Malik al-Dar as reliable is enough to confirm what al-Sayyid `Abd Allah al-Ghumari and other hadith scholars as well as some of those who work with hadith have said: namely, that Albani knows the correct facts in many matters but … is not to be relied upon for (assessing) a single hadith. This is the explicit position of many of the scholars such as the three muhaddiths al-Sayyid Ahmad al-Ghumari, al-Sayyid `Abd Allah al-Ghumari, and al-Sayyid `Abd al-`Aziz; the shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda; the muhaddith of India and Pakistan Habib al-Rahman al-A`zami; Shaykh Isma`il al-Ansari; Shaykh Muhammad `Awwama; Shaykh Mahmud Sa`id; Shaykh Shu`ayb Arna’ut; and tens of others among the experts in this field and those that deal with it. The People of Hadith therefore witness that that man’s word is not relied upon in the authentication and weakening of hadith because he authenticates and weakens according to whim and mood, not scientific rules, and whoever examines his sayings and writings can verify this. [80]

A REFUTATION OF ALBANI
FROM IMAM NAWAWI AND
IMAM IBN AL-HUMAM AL-HANAFI

A further proof that tawassul through the Prophet after his time is universally recognized and encouraged in the Shari`a is Imam Nawawi’s description of the etiquette of visiting the grave of the Prophet after the fulfillment of the Pilgrimage in the Book of Hajj in the Adhkar, where he says:

[After giving salam to the Prophet, Abu Bakr, and `Umar] Then he [the visitor] returns to his initial station opposite the Prophet’s face, and he uses the Prophet as his means in his innermost (fa yatawassalu bihi fi haqqi nafsihi), and seeks his intercession before his exalted and mighty Lord (wa yatashaffa`u bihi ila rabbihi subhanahu wa ta`ala)… and he avails himself of this noble spot, and glorifies and praises and magnifies Allah and invokes blessings on His Messenger. Let him do all that abundantly. [81]

Nawawi similarly says in the part devoted to visiting the Prophet in his book on Pilgrimage entitled al-Idah fi manasik al-hajj:

[The visitor stands and greets the Prophet, then he moves to greet Abu Bakr and `Umar] Then he returns to his original position, directly in front of Allah’s Messenger, and he uses the Prophet as his means in his innermost self (fa yatawassalu bihi fi haqqi nafsihi), and seeks his intercession before his exalted and mighty Lord (wa yatashaffa`u bihi ila rabbihi subhanahu wa ta`ala) and one of the best things that he can say is what has been narrated by our colleagues on al-`Utbi’s authority, and they admired what he said:

As I was sitting by the grave of the Prophet, a Bedouin Arab came and said: “Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah! I have heard Allah saying: “If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah’s forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgive-ness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful” (4:64), so I have come to you asking forgiveness for my sin, seeking your intercession with my Lord…” [82]

Similarly the Hanafi faqih Kamal al-Din ibn al-Humam said in Fath al-qadir (2:337), book of hajj, chapter on visiting the Prophet:

wa yas’alu allaha hajatahu mutawassilan ilallah bi hadrati nabiyyihi thumma qala yas’alu al-nabiyya sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam al-shafa`ata fa yaqulu ya rasulallah as’aluka al-shafa`ata ya rasulallah atawassalu bika ilallah

Then let him ask Allah for his need, using Allah’s Prophet as his means to Allah; (then he said): Let him ask the Prophet for his intercession and say: O Messenger of Allah, I am asking you for your intercession; O Messenger of Allah, I am using you as my means to Allah.

It cannot be clearer that Albani is therefore innovating in:

a) claiming that tawassul is no longer made by asking for the Prophet’s du`a after he left dunya;

b) claiming that tawassul is not made through the Prophet’s person or status.

That in the du’aa which Allaahs Messenger (SAW) taught him to say occurs, ‘O Allaah accept him as a supplicant [intercessor] for me’, and it is impossible to take this to mean tawassul by his (SAW) person, or his status, or his right, since the meaning is, ‘O Allaah accept his (SAW) supplication for You to restore my sight.’
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

The complete words of the du`a are as follows: “O Allah I ask you and turn to you by means of your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad I turn by means of you to my Lord in this need of mine, so that it may be fulfilled for me, O Allah make him my intercessor (shaffi`hu fiyya).”

Therefore the du`a contains the following steps:

– Call and request to Allah stating that one uses the Prophet as means;
– Call to the Prophet stating that one uses him as means to Allah;
– Call and request to Allah to make the Prophet one’s intercessor.

This proves:

– that one may ask for the Prophet’s intercession in this life;
– that one takes for granted that the Prophet’s intercession is accepted;
– that one does not take for granted that his intercession is granted;
– and that such intercession is “by means of him,” period.

And shafaa’ah [the arabic word used in the hadeeth] in the language means: du’aa [supplication], and this is what is meant for the Shafaa’ah which is established for him (SAW) and for the other Prophets and the pious on the Day of Ressurrection.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

Neither is the hadith taking place on the Day of Resurrection, nor is this hadith primarily about the Prophet’s blessed shafa`a, which is explained in countless other ayats and ahadith, but about tawassul through the Prophet, which is the modality and language of asking for his shafa`a here and now. Albani is trying to make one and the same thing of tawassul and shafa`a, and furthermore he is trying to make the language say other than what it states explicitly.

And this shows that shafaa’ah is more particular then du’aa since it will only occur if there are two people seeking a matter, so that one of them is a supplicant for the other, as opposed to a single person seeking something who does not have anyone else to supplicate for him. In Lisaan ul-Arab it says, ‘shafaa’ah [intercession] is the intercessor’s speaking to a king about a need which he is requesting for someone else, and the intercessor is the one seeking something for someone else, through whom he intercedes to attain what is desired…’ So it is established by this means also that the tawassul
of the blind man wa through his (SAW) du’aa and not his person.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

Again: The hadith is about the asking for the intercession, not the intercession itself. Clearly, the one hoping intercession needs to ask, and the reason he is asking is because of the intercessor’s status. Is this not obvious?

That from what the Prophet (SAW) taught the blind man was, ‘And accept my supplication [shafaa’ah] for him’… This sentence is an authentic part of the hadeeth, it is reported by Ahmad and al-Haakim who authenticated it with adh-Dhahabee agreeing. And it alone is a decisive proof that taking the hadeeth to refer to tawassul by his person is futile, that being the position of some recent writers – and it seems that they realise this point and therefore do not mention this sentence at all – which shows how far they can be trusted in reporting narrations. And close to this is their quoting the
previous sentence, ‘O Allaah accept his shafaa’ah for me’, as a proof for tawassul by his person – but as for explaining how it shows that then they do not explain that to the readers, since one not having something cannot give it to others.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

The proof for tawassul through the Prophet’s person does not lie in the particular part of the du`a which says “O Allah accept his shafa`a for me” but in the du`a as a whole, as has been shown above.

Albani’s contempt and mistrust of the scholars whose view invalidates his typifies his tendency to disrespect persons on the basis of his disagreement and that is the general tendency of his admirers also. What can be meant by his phrase “some recent writers”? Are Nawawi and Ibn al-Jawzi, who respectively state that tawassul is through the Prophet’s person and status, “recent writers”? The only “recent writer” here is Albani himself.

‘i.e. accept my shafaa’ah for him, i.e. accept my du’aa that you accept his ‘shafaa’ah’, i.e. his du’aa that You restore my sight.’ And it is not possible to understand anything but this from this sentence.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

The above impossibility seems axiomatic to Albani perhaps, but to others it is clear that the statement quoted also refers to the phrase: “I ask you and turn to you by means of your Prophet” and so the full meaning is: “Accept my du`a and accept the request that I may make this du`a to you by means of him.” As much as Albani tries to conceal this basic meaning he cannot.

This is why you find the opponents feigning ignorance of it and not making mention of it since it demolishes their building from the foundations and tears down it’s walls, and when they hear it you will see them looking at you like one in a swoon. This is because they (think that they) understand the shafaa’ah of the Messenger (SAW) for the blind man, but what can the blind man’s shafaa’ah for the Messenger (SAW) mean? They have no answer for that at all. And the fact that they percieve this nullifies their misinterpretation is that you will not find a single one of them using it in practice, i.e. supplicating, ‘O Allaah accept Your Prophets’ shafaa’ah for me and my shafaa’ah for him.’
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

The blind man was merely blind in the eyes, but Allah spoke of those who are blind-hearted and this is a graver illness.

The shafa`a of the Messenger for the blind man benefits the blind man. The shafa`a of the blind man for the Messenger benefits the blind man also! The former is the Prophet’s request on behalf of the blind man. The latter is the blind’s man request that he be given permission to have the Prophet request for him. It is very clear, but it seems Albani ekes out his argument only in order to confuse the issue, just as he shuffled the lexical meanings of tawassul and shafa`a.

the saying of the blind man in his du’aa, ‘O Allaah I ask You and turn to You by means of your Prophet Muhammad (SAW)’ means, ‘I seek a means of nearness to You by means of the du’aa of your Prophet’, with the governing word [i.e. du’aa] omitted – and this is something well known in the language – as occurs in the saying of Allaah, ‘the town and caravan…’ (12:82), i.e. ‘the PEOPLE of the town, and the COMPANIONS of the caravan..’ [with the governing
words PEOPLE and CARAVAN omitted]. And we and the opponents agree upon that, i.e. that we have to come up with the governing word which has been omitted.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

The above is a good illustration of Albani’s method of narrowing down the outward sense of the du`a, which is: “I am turning to You by means of your Prophet” to a specific sense: “I am turning to You by means of your Prophet’s du`a.” In order to achieve this he comes up with terms that are not in the hadith — “by means of the du`a” — and he dictates that they are the governing terms around which the sole meaning of the hadith revolves — that is: Albani’s meaning.

And in our view it is the same case as with the du’aa of Umar and his tawassul by means of al-Abbaas – either it is taken to be, ‘I turn to You by means of the (status) of Your Prophet’, and ‘O Muhammad I turn by your (person) or your (position) to my Lord’ – as they claim – or to be, ‘I turn to you by means of the (du’aa) of Your Prophet’, and, ‘O Muhammad I Turn to you by your (du’aa) to my Lord’ – which is our saying. And one of these must be preferred due to a proof which shows it. So as for their saying that the missing governing word is (status/position) then they have no proof for it, neither in this or any other hadeeth, since there is nothing mentioned along with it which suggests or states any mention of (status) or indicates it at all.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

This is perhaps the greatest fallacy in his entire argument, since in making it he completely ignores the countless verses and hadiths which show the Prophet’s tremendous status, including his own explicit statements that he is the Master of the children of Adam and the noblest of them in Allah’s sight, and the ijma` of Muslims concerning his praiseworthy station.

Just as they have nothing from the Qur’an and Sunnah, or from the practice of the Companions where there is tawassul by anyone’s status. So this preferred view of theirs has nothing to support it and so is rendered baseless and not taken into any further consideration. As for our view then it is supported by many proofs which have preceded.
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

The lexical “proof” has been rejected as shafa`a is not the same as tawassul. And the “proof” that the wasila is purely the Prophet’s du`a has been rejected, as it was shown that the wasila is the Prophet himself in addition to the du`a which he taught the blind man, and the du`a which he himself made on his behalf.

And I also say: Even if it were correct that the blind man sought to make tawassul by his (SAW) person, then it would be something particular to him, not something shared by the rest of the Prophets and the pious. And joining them in it along with him is something not acceptable, since he (SAW) was the leader and the most noble of them all, so it could have been something which Allaah particularised him like many others reported in authentic narrations, and matters of particularised qualities are not within the scope of analogy. So he who thinks that the blind man’s tawassul to Allaah was by means of his (SAW) person – then he should halt at that and not add others to it, as is reported from Imaam Ahmad and Shaikh al-Izz bin abdis-Salaam (RH).
Albani, Tawassul: Its Types and Rulings

One goes to one’s nearest means among the salihin or saintly people, as is established by `Umar’s tawassul through al-`Abbas the Prophet’s uncle. This is not only permissible but recommended by all Four Schools. As for Imam Ahmad, he made tawassul through the Prophet a part of every du`a as has been reported, nor did he try, unlike Albani, to alter the modality of the tawassul or its meaning.

Note that Albani moved from denying that the tawassul can be made through the Prophet’s person to accepting it, then denying that it be made by other than the blind man, then accepting it, and finally denying that it be made through other than the Prophet!

If it were forbidden to seek the Prophet’s person as a means for obtaining cure and blessings in this life, then why did the Companions and the Followers seek such blessings through the hair of the Prophet, his minbar, his sweat, his saliva, his grave, and other items which we shall not mention? If one cannot deny the benefit derived by a mere particle of the Prophet’s body long after his time, they surely one cannot deny the benefit derived by his noble person — except one whom Allah has deprived of true understanding, such as those who insist on denying even when the proofs are brought right under their nose. And Allah knows best.

REFUTATION OF THOSE WHO QUESTION
TABARRUK BI AL-ATHAR (“SEEKING BLESSINGS
FROM THE PROPHET’S RELICS”)
AS A VALID ISLAMIC PRACTICE

“Tabarruk”: deriving blessing from something
once owned or touched by a holy person.

“Athar”: relics.

As for those who reject the validity of tabarruk or seeking blessings through the relics of the Prophet, we warn them that Allah Himself mentioned the tabarruk of the Prophet Ya`qub with the relic of his son Yusuf as well as the tabarruk of the Banu Isra’il with the relics of the Family of Musa and the Family of Harun; and that the evidence for the tabarruk of the Companions and the Tabi`in through the Prophet and the saints is innumerable.

· · Allah said: “Go with this my shirt, and cast it over the face of my father: he will come to see (clearly)… When the Caravan left (Egypt), their father said: I do indeed scent the presence of Yusuf… Then, when the bearer of glad tidings came, he laid it on his face and he became a seer once more. He said: Said I not unto you that I know from Allah that which ye know not?” (12:93-96).

· · And He said: ” And their Prophet said unto them: Lo! the token of his kingdom is that there shall come unto you the ark wherein is peace of reassurance from your Lord, and a remnant of that which the house of Moses and the house of Aaron left behind, the angels bearing it. Lo! herein shall be a token for you if (in truth) ye are believers.” (2:247)

The Companions’ Seeking of Blessings
With the Prophet’s Person and His Relics

1. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s hair and nails. There are countless hadiths on this.

– Bukhari narrates in his Sahih in the Book of Clothing, under the chapter entitled “What is mentioned about gray hair,” that `Usman ibn `Abd Allah ibn Mawhab said: “My family sent me to Umm Salama with a cup of water. Umm Salama brought out a silver bottle which contained one of the hairs of the Prophet, and it used to be that if anyone came under the evil eye or ill health they used to send her a cup of water through which she would pass this hair (for drinking). We used to look into the silver bottle: I saw some reddish hairs.”

– Anas said: “When the Prophet shaved his head (after pilgrimage), Abu Talha was the first one to take of his hair.” Bukhari.

– Anas also said: “The Prophet threw stones at al-Jamra, then sacrificed, then told the barber to shave his head right side first, then began to give the hair away to the people.” Muslim.

– Anas said: “Talha was the one distributing it.” Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud.

– He also said: “When the Prophet shaved his head in Mina, he gave me the hair from the right side and he said: Anas! take it to Umm Sulaym [his mother]. When the Companions saw what the Prophet gave us, they began to compete to take the hair from the left side, and everyone was getting a share from that.” Ahmad narrated it.

– Ibn al-Sakan narrated through Safwan ibn Hubayra from the latter’s father: Thabit al-Bunani said: Anas ibn Malik said to me (on his death-bed): “This is one of the hairs of Allah’s Messenger, Allah’s blessings and peace upon him. I want you to place it under my tongue.” Thabit continued: I placed it under his tongue, and he was buried with it under his tongue.” [83]

– Abu Bakr said: “I saw Khalid [ibn Walid] asking for the Prophet’s forelock and he received it. He used to put it over his eyes and then kiss it.” It is known that he then placed it in his qalansuwa (head cover around which the turban is tied) and never faced battle again except he won. Narrated by Ibn Hajar in his Isaba. Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani relates that Imam Malik said: “Khalid ibn al-Walid owned a qalansiyya which contained some of the Prophet’s hair, and that is the one he wore the day of the battle of Yarmuk. [84]

– Ibn Sirin (one of the Tabi`in) said: “One hair of the Prophet in my possession is more precious to me than silver and gold and everything that is on the earth and everything that is inside it.” Bukhari, Bayhaqi (Sunan kubra), and Ahmad.

– In Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 784: `Uthman bin `Abd Allah ibn Mawhab said, “My people sent me with a bowl of water to Umm Salama.” Isra’il approximated three fingers indicating the small size of the container in which there was some hair of the Prophet. `Uthman added, “If any person suffered from evil eye or some other disease, he would send a vessel (containing water) to Umm Salama (and she would dip the Prophet’s hair into it and it would be drunk). I looked into the container (that held the hair of the Prophet) and saw a few reddish hairs in it.”

Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Fath al-bari, Volume 10, page 353, said: “They used to call the silver bottle in which the hair of the Prophet was kept jiljalan and that bottle was in the home of Umm Salama.” Hafiz al-`Ayni said in `Umdat al-qari, Volume 18, page 79: “Umm Salama had some of the hairs of the Prophet in a silver bottle. When some people got ill, they would go and obtain blessings from these hairs and they would be healed by means of their blessings. If a person were struck by the evil eye or any sickness, he would send his wife to Umm Salama with a mikhdaba or water-pail, and she would pass the hair through that water and then drink the water and he would be healed, after which they would return the hair to the jiljal.”

– Imam Ahmad narrates in his Musnad (4:42) from `Abd Allah ibn Zayd ibn `Abd Rabbih with a sound (sahih) chain as stated by Haythami in Majma` al-zawa’id (3:19) that the Prophet clipped his nails and distributed them among the people.

2. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s sweat.

– Anas said: “The Prophet stayed with us, and as he slept my mother began to collect his sweat in a flask. The Prophet awoke and said: O Umm Sulaym, what are you doing? She said: This is your sweat which we place in our perfume and it is the best perfume.” Muslim, Ahmad.

– When Anas was on his deathbed he instructed that some of this flask be used on his body before his funeral and it was done. Bukhari.

– Ibn Sirin also was given some of Umm Sulaym’s flask. Ibn Sa`d.

3. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s saliva and ablution water. These hadiths are extremely numerous.

– In Bukhari and Muslim: The Companions would compete for whoever would get the remnant of the Prophet’s ablution water in order to put it on their faces. Nawawi in Sharh Sahih Muslim said: “In these narrations is evidence for seeking blessings with the relics of the saints” (fihi al-tabarruk bi athar al-salihin).

– The Prophet used to heal the sick with his saliva mixed with some earth with the words: “Bismillah, the soil of our earth with the saliva of one / some of us shall heal our sick with our Lord’s permission.” Bukhari and Muslim.

Regarding this hadith Ibn Hajar says in Fath al-bari (1989 ed. 10:255-256):

The Prophet’s words “with the saliva of one or some of us” indicate that he would spit at the time of using a protective invocation (ruqya). Nawawi said (in Sharh Sahih Muslim): “The meaning of the hadith is that the Prophet put some of his saliva on his forefinger then placed it on some earth and formed some clot with it with which he wiped the place of the ailment or the wound, pronouncing the words of the hadith at the time of wiping.” Qurtubi said: “The hadith shows the permissibility of using protective invocations against any and all ailments, and it shows that this was an open and widely-known matter among them.” He also said: “The Prophet’s placing of his finger on the earth and of the earth on his finger indicates the desirability of doing this when using a protective invocation…. This falls under none other than the heading of obtaining blessing (tabarruk) through Allah’s Names and through what His Prophet left us.” Ibn Hajar concludes: Protective invocations (ruqa) and those hanged upon oneself (`aza’im) have wondrous effects, the true nature of which boggles the mind.

– The Prophet had everyone in Madina bring their newborn, whom he would read upon and into whose mouth he would do nafth and tifl (breath mixed with saliva). He would instruct their mother not to suckle them that day until nightfall. He did the same later in Mecca. Bukhari, Abu Dawud, Ahmad, Bayhaqi (Dala’il), etc.

– The names of over 100 of the Ansar and Muhajirin who received this particular blessing have been transmitted with isnads, and are found in the main books of biographies.

4. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s cup.

– Hajjaj ibn Hassan said: “We were at Anas’s house and he brought up the Prophet’s cup from a black pouch. He ordered that it be filled with water and we drank from it and poured some of it on our heads and faces and sent blessings on the Prophet. Ahmad, Ibn Kathir.

– `Asim said: “I saw that cup and I drank from it.” Bukhari.

5. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s minbar.

– Ibn `Umar used to touch the seat of the Prophet’s minbar and then wipe his face for blessing. (al-Mughni 3:559; al-Shifa’ 2:54; Ibn Sa`d, Tabaqat 1:13; Mawsu`at Fiqh `Abdullah ibn `Umar p. 52.)

– From Abu Hurayra, Jabir, Abu Imama, and Malik: The Prophet made it a sunna to swear to the truth on top of his minbar. Nisa’i, Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and others. Bukhari confirms it. Ibn Hajar says: and in Mecca, one swears between the Yemeni corner and Maqam Ibrahim. (Fath al-bari)
6. Tabarruk with money the Prophet gave away.

– Jabir sold a camel to the Prophet and the latter gave instructions to Bilal to add a qirat (1/12 dirham) to the agreed sale price. Jabir said: “The Prophet’s addition shall never leave me,” and he kept it with him after that. Bukhari.

7. Tabarruk with the Prophet’ s staffs.

– When `Abdullah ibn Anis came back from one of the battles having killed Khalid ibn Sufyan ibn Nabih, the Prophet gifted him his staff and said to him: “It will be a sign between you and me on the Day of Resurrection.” Thereafter he never parted with it and it was buried with him when he died. Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad (3:496).

– Qadi `Iyad relates in his book al-Shifa’, in the chapter entitled “Esteem for the things and places connected with the Prophet,” that after Jihjah al-Ghifari took the Prophet’s staff from the hands of `Uthman and tried to break it accross his knee, infection seized his knee which led to its amputation, and he died before the end of the year.

8. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s shirt.

– Jabir says: “The Prophet came after `Abdullah ibn Ubay had been placed in his grave. He ordered that he be brought out. He placed his hands on `Abdullah’s knees, breathed (nafth) upon him mixing it with saliva, and dressed him with his shirt. Bukhari and Muslim.

9. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s musallas or places of prayer.

– Many chains of transmission: `Utban ibn Malik was one of the Companions of the battle of Badr. After he became blind he said to the Prophet: “I would like you to pray in my house so that I can pray where you prayed.” The Prophet went to his house and asked where exactly he would like him to pray. He indicated a spot to him and the Prophet prayed there. Bukhari and Muslim. The version in Muslim has: I (`Utban) sent for the Prophet the message: “Come and lay for me a place for worship (khutt li masjidan).” Imam Nawawi in Sharh Sahih Muslim said: “It means: “Mark for me a spot that I can take as a place for worship by obtaining blessing from your having been there (mutabarrikan bi atharika)… In this hadith is evidence for obtaining blessings through the relics of saints (al-tabarruk bi athar al-salihin).”

– `Umar feared that the taking of the tree of the bay`a to the Prophet as a place of prayer might lead to a return to idol-worship and he had it cut. Bukhari, Ibn Sa`d (1:73). It is known, however, that Ibn `Umar derived blessings even from walking in the same spots where the Prophet had walked and praying exactly where he had prayed both at the Ka`ba and on his travels, and that he watered a certain tree under which Prophet had prayed so that it would not die. Bukhari, Bayhaqi (Sunan 5:245).

10. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s grave.

– Dawud ibn Salih says: “[The Caliph] Marwan [ibn al-Hakam] one day saw a man placing his face on top of the grave of the Prophet. He said: “Do you know what you are doing?” When he came near him, he realized it was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The latter said: “Yes; I came to the Prophet, not to a stone.” Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, Ahmad (5:422), Tabarani in his Mu`jam al-kabir (4:189) and his Awsat according to Haythami in al-Zawa’id (5:245), al-Hakim in his Mustadrak (4:515); both the latter and al-Dhahabi said it was sahih. It is also cited by al-Subki in Shifa’ al-siqam (p. 126), Ibn Taymiyya in al-Muntaqa (2:261f.), and Haythami in al-Zawa’id (4:2).

– Mu`adh ibn Jabal and Bilal also came to the grave of the Prophet and sat weeping, and the latter rubbed his face against it. Ibn Majah 2:1320, Ahmad, Tabarani, Subki, and Ibn `Asakir.

– Hafiz al-Dhahabi writes in the compendium of his shaykhs entitled Mu`jam al-shuyukh (1:73) in the entry devoted to his shaykh Ahmad ibn `Abd al-Mun`im al-Qazwini (#58): “Ahmad ibn al-Mun`im related to us… [with his chain of transmission] from Ibn `Umar that the latter disliked to touch the Prophet’s grave. I say: He disliked it because he considered it disrespect. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked about touching the Prophet’s grave and kissing it and he saw nothing wrong with it. His son `Abd Allah related this from him.

Dhahabi continues: If it is said: “Why did the Companions not do this?” It is replied: “Because they saw him with their very eyes when he was alive, enjoyed his presence directly, kissed his very hand, nearly fought each other over the remnants of his ablution water, shared his purified hair on the day of the greater Pilgrimage, and even if he spat it would virtually not fall except in someone’s hand so that he could pass it over his face. Since we have not had the tremendous fortune of sharing in this, we throw ourselves on his grave as a mark of commitment, reverence, and acceptance, even to kiss it. Don’t you see what Thabit al-Bunani did when he kissed the hand of Anas ibn Malik and placed it on his face saying: “This is the hand that touched the hand of Allah’s Messenger”? Muslims are not moved to these matters except by their excessive love for the Prophet, as they are ordered to love Allah and the Prophet more than they love their own lives, their children, all human beings, their property, and Paradise and its maidens. There are even some believers that love Abu Bakr and `Umar more than themselves…

Don’t you see that the Companions, in the excess of their love for the Prophet, asked him: “Should we not prostrate to you?” and he replied no, and if he had allowed them, they would have prostrated to him as a mark of utter veneration and respect, not as a mark of worship, just as the Prophet Yusuf’s brothers prostrated to Yusuf. Similarly the prostration of the Muslim to the grave of the Prophet is for the intention of magnification and reverence. One is not imputed disbelief because of it whatsoever (la yukaffaru aslan), but he is being disobedient [to the Prophet’s injunction to the Companions]. Let him therefore be informed that this is forbidden. Similarly in the case of one who prays towards the grave.”

– Imam Ahmad’s son `Abd Allah said: I asked my father about the man who touches and kisses the pommel of the Prophet’s minbar to obtain blessing, or touches the grave of the Prophet. He responded by saying: “There is nothing wrong with it.” `Abd Allah also asked Imam Ahmad about the man who touches the Prophet’s minbar and kisses it for blessing, and who does the same with the grave, or something to that effect, intending thereby to draw closer to Allah. He replied: “There is nothing wrong with it.” This was narrated by `Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his book entitled al-`Ilal fi ma`rifat al-rijal (2:492).

– We already mentioned the authentic account whereby in the time of `Umar there was a drought during which Bilal ibn Harith came to the grave and said: “O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah for rain on behalf of your Community.”

– We already mentioned `A’isha’s account whereby she instructed that the roof be opened over the Prophet’s grave in times of drought, and it would rain.

– `Umar sent a message to `A’isha saying: “Will you allow me to be buried with my two companions (the Prophet and Abu Bakr)?” She said, “Yes, by Allah,” though it was her habit that if a man from among the Companions asked her that she would always refuse. Bukhari.

11. Tabarruk with the Prophet’s jubba (robe or cloak).

– Imam Muslim relates that `Abd Allah, the freed slave of Asma’ the daughter of Abu Bakr, the maternal uncle of the son of `Ata’, said: “Asma’ sent me to Abdullah ibn `Umar saying: “The news has reached me that you prohibit the use of three things: the striped robe, saddle cloth made of red silk, and fasting the whole month of Rajab.” Abdullah said to me: “So far as what you say about fasting in the month of Rajab, how about one who observes continuous fasting? And so far as what you say about the striped garment, I heard `Umar ibn al-Khattab say that he had heard from Allah’s Messenger: “He who wears a silk garment, has no share for him (in the Hereafter).” And I am afraid that stripes were part of it. And so far as the red saddle cloth is concerned, here is `Abd Allah’s saddle cloth [= his] and it is red.” I went back to Asma’ and informed her, so she said: “Here is the cloak (jubba) of Allah’s Messenger,” and she brought out to me that cloak made of Persian cloth with a hem of (silk) brocade, and its sleeves bordered with (silk) brocade, and said: “This was Allah’s Messenger’s cloak with `A’isha until she died, then I got possession of it. The Apostle of Allah used to wear it, and we washed it for the sick so that they could seek cure thereby.” Muslim relates this in the first chapter of the book of clothing. Nawawi comments in Sharh sahih Muslim (Book 37 Chapter 2 #10): “In this hadith is a proof that it is recommended to seek blessings through the relics of the righteous and their clothes (wa fi hadha al-hadith dalil `ala istihbab al-tabarruk bi aathaar al-salihin wa thiyabihim).”

12. Tabarruk with spots and people the Prophet had touched.

– Suwayd ibn Ghafalah reported: I saw `Umar kissing the Stone and clinging to it, saying: “I saw Allah’s Messenger bearing great love for you.” This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Sufyan with the same chain of transmitters (and the words are): “He (`Umar) said: “I know that you are a stone, nor would I consider you of any worth, except that I saw Abu al-Qasim bearing great love for you.” And he did not mention about clinging to it. [Muslim: 7: 2916]

– Qadi `Iyad relates in his Shifa’, in the chapter entitled “Esteem for the things and places connected with the Prophet,” that Imam Malik would not ride an animal in Madina and he used to say: “I am too shy before Allah to trample with an animal’s hoof on the earth where Allah’s Messenger is buried.” Imam Malik gave a fatwa that whoever said: “The soil of Madina is bad” be given thirty lashes and jailed. Qadi `Iyad mentions the verses of an anonymous visitor to Madina:

The veil is lifted from us and a moon shines out
to those who look on, banishing all illusions.
When our mounts reach Muhammad, it is forbidden
for us to be found in our saddles.
We are drawing near to the best man ever
to walk on the earth,
So we hold this ground in respect and honor.

`Iyad adds: “One must respect the places… whose soil contains the body of the Master of Mankind and from which the din of Allah and the Sunna of the Messenger spread out… and the first earth that the skin of the Prophet touched after death. Its fragrance should be inhaled and its residences and walls should be kissed.” Then he recites:

O Abode of the best of the Messengers…
For you (Madina) I have intense love, passionate love,
and yearning which kindles the embers of my heart.
I have a vow: If I fill my eyes with those walls
and the places where you (O Prophet) walked,
There my turbaned gray hair will be covered with dust
from so much kissing.
Had it not been from obstacles and foes,
I would always visit them,
even if I had to be dragged by my feet. [85]

– al-Tabarani in al-Awsat and al-Kabir (4:16), and Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (5:67-68) with a sound chain as stated by al-Haythami in al-Zawa’id (4:211) narrated through Handhalah Ibn Hudhaym that the latter went with his grandfather, Hudhaym, to the Prophet. Hudhaym said to the Messenger of Allah: “I have sons and grandsons, some of whom are pubescent and others still children.” Motioning to the young child next to him, he said: “This is the youngest.” The Prophet brought this young child whose name was Handhalah next to him, wiped on his head, and told him, “barakallahu fik,” which means: “May Allah bless you.” After that, people started to bring Handhalah a person with a swollen face or a sheep with a swollen udder. Handhalah would place his hand on that part of his head the Prophet wiped, then touch the swollen part and say Bismillah, and the swelling would be cured.

– Ibn Abi Shayba narrated in his Musannaf (4:121), in the chapter entitled: “Touching the grave of the Prophet” with a sahih chain as judged by Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani, and Qadi `Iyad in his book al-Shifa’, in the chapter entitled: “Concerning the visit to the Prophet’s grave, the excellence of those who visit it and how he should be greeted”: Yazid ibn `Abd al-Malik ibn Qusayt and al-`Utbi narrated that it was the practice of the Companions in the masjid of the Prophet to place their hands on the pommel of the hand rail (rummana) of the pulpit (minbar) where the Prophet used to place his hand. There they would face the Qibla and supplicate (make du`a) to Allah hoping He would answer their supplication because they were placing their hands where the Prophet placed his while making their supplication. Abu Mawduda said: “And I saw Yazid ibn `Abd al-Malik do the same.” This practice of the Companions clarifies two matters. The first is the permissibility of asking Allah for things by the Prophet (tawassul) after his death since by their act the Companions were truly making tawassul. Likewise it is permissible to ask Allah for things by other pious Muslims. The second is the permissibility of seeking blessings (baraka) from the objects the Prophet touched.

– The Tabi`i Thabit al-Bunani said he used to go to Anas Ibn Malik, kiss his hands, and say: “These are hands that touched the Prophet.” He would kiss his eyes and say: “These are eyes that saw the Prophet.” Abu Ya`la narrated it in his Musnad (6:211) and Ibn Hajar mentions it in his al-Matalib al-`aliya (4:111). al-Haythami declared it sound in Majma` al-zawa’id (9:325).

– According to Bukhari in his Adab al-mufrad, `Abd al-Rahman ibn Razin related that one of the Companions, Salama ibn al-Aku`, raised his hands before a group of people and said: “With these very hands I pledged allegiance (bay`a) to the Messenger of Allah,” upon hearing which, all who were present got up and went to kiss his hand. Another version of this hadith was also related by Ahmad.

– Abu Malik al-Ashja`i said that he once asked another Companion of the Tree, Ibn Abi Awfa, “Give me the hand that swore bay`at to the Messenger of Allah, Peace be upon him, that I may kiss it.” Ibn al-Muqri related it.

– Bukhari in al-Adab al-mufrad also relates that Suhayb saw Sayyidina `Ali kiss both the hand and feet of the Prophet’s uncle al-`Abbas, and that Thabit kissed the hand of Anas because it had touched the Prophet’s hand.

– al-Shurunbali al-Hanafi in the book of Pilgrimage of his manual of Fiqh entitled Nur al-idah (as translated by Muhammad Abul Quasem under the title Salvation of the soul and Islamic devotions) said (p. 225): “It is praiseworthy to enter into the Holy House [Ka`ba]. The person who enters it should seek the place where the Prophet performed his ritual prayer. This place is in front of him when his back faces the door, so that there is the distance of three cubits between him and the door in front of him. He will perform ritual prayer in it. If he performs it near the wall, he will put his cheek on it, and pray to Allah for forgiveness and praise Him.”

13. Tabarruk with the soil and vegetation of Madina.

The merits of Madina, of prayer in Madina, of visiting the Masjid al-Nabawi, of living in Madina, of not cutting its trees, etc. are all based on the fact that the Prophet is there. The fact that it is a
sanctuary (haram) and a preserve (hima) is well documented in numerous ahadith. It is even strongly recommended not to enter Madina except on foot, and many Companions, Tabi`in, and Tabi` al-Tabi`in never entered it except on foot, in respect for the Holy Presence of the Prophet.

– Narrated Ali ibn Abu Talib: The Prophet said: “Madina’s fresh grass is not to be cut, its game is not to be driven away, and things dropped in it are to be picked up only by one who publicly announces it, and it is not permissible for any man to carry weapons in it for fighting, and it is not advisable that its trees are cut except what a man cuts for the fodder of his camel. [Abu Dawud, 10: 2030]

– Narrated Abu Hurayra: When the people saw the first fruit (of the season or of plantation) they brought it to Allah’s Apostle. When he received it he said: “O Allah, bless us in our fruits; and bless us in our city; and bless us in our sa’s and bless us in our mudd (i.e. in every measure). O Allah, Ibrahim was Thy servant, Thy friend, and Thy apostle; and I am Thy servant and Thy apostle. He (Ibrahim) made supplication to Thee for (the showering of blessings upon) Mecca, and I am making supplication to Thee for Madina just as he made supplication to Thee for Mecca, and the like of it in addition.” He would then call to him the youngest child and give him these fruits. [Muslim, 7: 3170]

As the Prophet asked Allah’s Blessings on the city, its fruits, and in their measures, then it must be full of blessing as his supplication is a du`a’ mustajab or answered prayer. Therefore, it is common practice for pilgrims to purchase the dates of Madina for the blessings, and to bring them back home to share among those who could not make the pilgrimage. And it is said that there yet remain living some of the date palms from those planted by the Holy hand of the Most Noble Messenger himself, blessings and peace be upon him. Wallahu a`lam.

14. Tabarruk with his Blessed Hand and His Feet.

– The first hadith Imam Ahmad related from Anas ibn Malik in his Musnad Anas is: “The whole Community of the people of Madina used to take the hand of the Prophet and rush to obtain their need with it.” [86]

– Narrated `A’isha the Mother of the Believers: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when he had a complaint, would recite the last three suras of Qur’an, over himself and blow.” She said, “When his pain was great, I would recite it over him and wipe him with his right hand hoping for its blessing.” [87]

– Usama ibn Sharik narrates: “I came to see the Prophet while his Companions were with him, and they seemed as still as if birds had alighted on top of their heads. I gave him my salam and I sat down. [Then Bedouins came and asked questions which the Prophet answered.] … The Prophet then stood up and the people stood up. They began to kiss his hand, whereupon I took his hand and placed it on my face. I found it more fragrant than musk and cooler than sweet water.” Narrated by Abu Dawud (#3855), Tirmidhi (2038 — hasan sahih), Ibn Majah (3436), al-Hakim (4:399), and Ahmad (4:278). al-hafiz Imam Bayhaqi cites it in Branch 15 of his Shu`ab al-iman entitled: The Fifteenth Branch of Faith, Namely A Chapter On Rendering Honor To The Prophet, Declaring His High Rank, And Revering Him (al-khamis `ashar min shu`ab al-iman wa huwa babun fi ta`zim al-nabi sallallahu `alayhi wa sallama wa ijlalihi wa tawqirih) Vol. 2 p. 200 (#1528).

– Narrated `Abd Allah ibn `Umar: Ibn `Umar was sent with a detachment by the Apostle of Allah. The people wheeled round in flight. He said: I was one of those who wheeled round in flight. When we stopped, we said: What should we do? We have run away from the battlefield and deserve Allah’s wrath. Then we said: Let us enter Medina, stay there, and go there while no one sees us. So we entered the city and thought: If we present ourselves before Allah’s Apostle, and if there is a change of repentance for us, we shall stay; if there is something else, we shall go away. So we sat down (waiting) for the Apostle of Allah before the dawn prayer. When he came out, we stood up to him and said: We are the ones who have fled. He turned to us and said: No, you are the ones who return to fight after wheeling away. We then approached and kissed his hand, and he said: I am the main body of the Muslims. (Abu Dawud, Book 14 [Jihad], Number 2641.) This hadith is also found in al-Abhari; in the book of al-hafiz Ibn Muqri on standing up and kissing the hand out of respect; in the Adab al-mufrad of Imam Bukhari (Chapter on Kissing the Hand and Chapter on Kissing the Foot), in Ibn Majah (Adab), in Bayhaqi’s Dala’il an-Nubuwwa, and in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

– Ibn `Umar told a story and said: “We then came near the Prophet and kissed his hand.” It is related in Ibn Maja’s Sunan, Book of Adab, Chapter on kissing by a man of another man’s hand; in Abu Dawud’s Sunan, Book of Adab, Chapter on kissing the hand; and in the Musannaf of Ibn Abi Shayba through two different chains.

– Umm Aban, daughter of al-Wazi` ibn Zari` narrated that her grandfather Zari` al-`Abdi, who was a member of the deputation of `Abd al-Qays, said: “When we came to Medina, we raced to be first to dismount and kiss the hand and foot of Allah’s Apostle… (to the end of the hadith)” [Abu Dawud, 41: 5206.] Bukhari relates from her a similar hadith in his Adab al-mufrad: We were walking and someone said, “There is the Messenger of Allah,” so we took his hands and feet and kissed them.

– Burayda narrated that one of the Bedouin Arabs who came to the Prophet, Peace be upon him, asked: “O Messenger of Allah, give me permission to kiss your head and your hands,” and he received it. In another version, he asks permission to kiss the head and the feet. Narrated in Ghazali’s Ihya’ and the version mentioning the feet is in Hakim’s Mustadrak and in Ibn Muqri. Both al-Hakim and al-`Iraqi declared the latter’s chain authentic.

– From Safwan ibn `Asal al-Muradi: “One of two Jews said to his companion: Take us to this Prophet so we can ask him about Musa’s ten signs… [the Prophet replied in full and then] they kissed his hands and feet and said: we witness that you are a Prophet…” Narrated by Ibn Abi Shayba (Book of Adab, Chapter entitled A Man Kissing Another Man’s Hand When He greets Him), Tirmidhi (Book of Adab) who declared it hasan sahih, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah (Book of Adab), and al-Hakim who declared it sahih.

– When we were with Allah’s Messenger on an expedition, a Bedouin came and asked for a miracle. The Prophet pointed at a tree and said to the Bedouin: “Tell that tree, Allah’s Messenger summons you.” The tree swayed and brought itself out, and came to the presence of the Prophet saying: “Peace be upon you O Messenger of Allah!” The Bedouin said, “Now let it return to its place!” When Allah’s Messenger ordered it, the tree went back. The Bedouin said, “let me prostrate to you!” The Messenger answered: “No one is allowed to do that [ie it is Haraam].” The Bedouin said, “Then I will kiss your hands and feet.” The Prophet permitted him that. Narrated by Qadi `Iyad in al-Shifa’ (1:299) and al-Bazzar in his Musnad (3:49).

Remarks on Kissing the Hand from a recent interview of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani

INTERVIEWER. Beside Ikhlas and love, what else do you emphasize in your teachings?

SHAYKH NAZIM. Respect. There must be respect. Without respecting each other, it is impossible to do anything. Allah Almighty ordered His servants to have respect among themselves. Respect brings good understanding. Good understanding brings love. Love brings everything.

INT. As others see you, perhaps they might say that your followers practically worship you.

SN. Those who say that are so foolish. They do not know what is worship and what is respect.

INT. So, you do not encourage your followers…?

SN. This is shaytanic teaching that they are propagating. We are Muslims. We say: La ma`buda illa Allah. That means no one is worthy of worship except Allah Almighty. But they are such square-headed people, and their heads are like footballs, empty! And what if someone respects a person that we have been ordered to respect? Man lam yuwaqqir kabirana wa lam yarham saghirana fa laysa minna. [Whoever does not revere our elders or show mercy to our little ones is not one of us.]* This is tawqir al-nas, giving honor to people, as it has been ordered: anzilu al-nasa manazilahum, “Give everyone their own station.”** This is an order from the Shari`a.

* Hadith of the Prophet narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad (5:323), al-Hakim declared it sahih in al-Mustadrak (1:122) and al-Dhahabi agreed with him.
** Hadith of the Prophet narrated by Muslim without chain in the introduction to his Sahih. Sakhawi said in al-Jawahir wa al-durar this is a fair (hasan) hadith, and al-Hakim said it is sahih in Ma`rifat `ulum al-hadith and he said Ibn Khuzayma narrated it.

But those people want to put everyone on the same level, like communism. No! Allah Almighty ordered: “Preserve one another’s honor”: wa la tansaw al-fadla baynakum (2:237). And He said: inna akramakum `indallahi atqakum [The most honorable of you in Allah’s sight are the most Godwary] (49:13). If we find someone that should be respected because of his taqwa, then we may respect him. We must not hold him as an ordinary person, no.

Those who criticize this are not following Madhhabs [Islamic schools of law]. They are a Fifth Madhhab. We are following the Four madhhabs, and in our madhhabs kissing hands is Okay, but through their madhhab: no. They may kiss their women’s. . . [genitals] according to their madhhab, but not hands. I must say this. It is not haram for them to do such a thing, but kissing the hand of a person is?! How can that be, when all the Sahaba were kissing the Prophet’s hand, and so many hadiths confirm it in their own printed books. They were kissing the Prophet’s hands and feet.

What happens if I kiss my mother’s hands and feet? Is this Haram? With which proof? They are saying this, only because they are trying to break the relationship between believers and their teachers. al `ulama’ warathatu al anbiya’. [Scholars of knowledge are the inheritors of Prophets.]* We must give them our highest respect. I don’t like for a fifteen-year-old or a young person to come in and make this with his hand [handshake gesture] to a shaykh. What is this? That is the American style. No. We, too, have `urf [customs]. We have traditional adab, traditional manners coming from the Prophet, and we know that up to this day kissing hands is a gesture of respect, not worship.

* Hadith of the Prophet narrated by Bukhari in his Sahih in mu`allaq form, Ahmad (5:196), Tirmidhi, Darimi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Hibban, Ibn Majah, Bayhaqi in the Shu`ab and others.

If I kiss my mother’s feet, am I worshipping her? These people are given knowledge but no wisdom. Allah said: yu’ti al-hikmata man yasha’, wa man utiya al-hikmata utiya khayran kathiran [He gives wisdom to whomever He will, and whoever is given wisdom, he has been given an immense goodness] (2:269). Allah Almighty never gave everyone wisdom. So many people, in American universities, are learning Islamic knowledge, but they are not mu’mins [believers]. They haven’t been given wisdom. They are only reading books. Wisdom is the sum of knowledge. Without wisdom knowledge is dead!

INT. I agree, but in terms of the respect that we show, are we carrying it very far… to be perceived… you are perceived as interceding for your followers — making shafa`a — so that in Akhira [hereafter] you will be interceding on their behalf…

SN. Is it prohibited to make du`a? If I am asking for something on behalf of my brother bi zahr al-ghayb [in his absence], is it wrong? There are so many hadiths advising us to make such du`a for each other.* It does not matter if it is going to be intercession. If I say: “Oh my Lord, give my brother a good life” or, if someone kisses my hand, if I say: “Allah bless you”. Is it haram? Is that intercession now? There is no need to call it intercession. Allahu fi awn al-`abd ma kana al-`abdu fi `awni akhihi [Allah helps His servant as long as the servant helps his brother].** That means we must try to help each other in any way we can: by hand, by word, and by praying. What is wrong with that?

* E.g. Sahih Muslim, book of Du`a, chapter on making du`a for a brother in his absence.
** Hadith of the Prophet narrated by Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Ahmad, and others.

I may help someone who cannot help himself or herself. I might go to the Sultan in order to help him. This is intercession, but it is in Shari`a. It is an honorable job because we are helping people who cannot help themselves. It is lawful, and Allah orders us: wa ta`awanu `ala al-birri wa al-taqwa [Help one another in righteousness and piety} (5:2). It is a command that we must help each other for good things. How are they blaming me for making du`a for them and accusing me because of making intercession? Intercession in akhira should be only in the divine presence. If Allah gives me intercession, I may say for these people: O my Lord, those people are no-mind people, send them with the animals!

INT. Nevertheless, is this very clear to those who are following you? That you are not going to intercede on their behalf?…

SN. They are clear. They are not idiots, like those people. They are clever. They may teach them a lesson. My followers are Doctors and Professors. Those people may take lessons from my followers. My followers are not cheated ones. They are all Europeans and Americans. Let those people bring one of the Germans, or one of the English, or one of the Americans to Islam. Our people are all educated people, I cannot cheat them!

INT. Sometimes, in meetings, you are introduced as “the perfect one.” But people believe that there is only one perfect one, and that is the Prophet.

SN. But from him there are so many models coming…

INT. So do you say that that is a right introduction for a human being?

SN. Prophets are the first models. They are ma`sum — innocent. Others, all of them, are not going to be innocent, but through their mujahada [striving], by fighting with their nafs [ego], whoever will be able to control their nafs, that one will become a model to help the others how to control their ego. Because every evil comes from uncontrollable people. I am not saying that I am a perfect model of the Prophet, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam; but I am trying to step in his steps. I am not stepping after shaytan or evil — no.

INT. Then, if you were to tell your followers not to address you the perfect one, not to kiss your hands and feet — and they say that in meetings even women come and kiss your hands, and the Prophet would never allow that… I want your comments on that?

SN. No. They are always untrue people. They are always changing things from their real light. They are liars. They make iftira’ [fabrications] and backbiting, because they are hasud — jealous, envious people. I never say to my followers that I am “a perfect one.” But until they find a perfect one, I am only training them. I never said that I am a 100% perfect trainer but I am a good opportunity; while I am here, I only try to do my best with people. Like a doctor who is not a specialist, but still he must treat his patients. Should he say: I cannot touch you because I am not a specialist?

I never said to anyone: “I am a 100% perfect person and I am training you: Come and kiss my hands!” I am not so foolish as these people. They are thinking that I say to people come and kiss my hand!

INT. They say that it is a necessary part of your training…

SN. No, never. My training is written in my books and the associations I hold, but they are not reading my books because shaytans are so proud. Can they find it anywhere that I say: Kiss my hand, kiss my feet? But I may enter through a crowd and without doing anything, people are completely unable to remain seated, they will stand up. I am not saying to them to do it. It is something granted to me, from the greatness of Allah, called haybat [dignity]. They can’t stop. When I pass, they stand up and rush to me. I am not telling them to.

Once I was in Madina praying, facing Qibla. As I was finishing, one of these people said to me: “O shaykh! Why did you bring all these people behind you!” I was surprised. My eyes were closed and I was making du`a without sound, only what I may hear. But I looked around and I saw 100 people behind me. I said I am no one, I am an ordinary person, a visitor here. I do not know them. Why are you telling me this? Tell those people to go away!

Prophets have a magnetic power called jazba [attraction]. That makes people run to that person. I have some of that which I received through our spiritual way. I am not an empty one, like those people. But they are hussad [enviers], just as there were so many hussad among the Jewish people in front of the Prophet. It doesn’t matter. They can’t do anything.

What happens if my followers kiss my hand? The Prophet kissed the Stone, and all Sahaba kissed the Stone. All the Hujjaj [pilgrims] kiss the Stone, and the Ka`ba. It is not haram to kiss the Ka`ba. Is the Ka`ba more honored than Man? No.

INT. But the Ka`ba has a special place in their hearts.

SN. We have a special place also. We have been granted this specialness to be khalifatullah [Allah’s representatives]. The Ka`ba is baytullah [Allah’s House], we are khalifatullah. Are we less honored than the Ka`ba? Never. We have been honored. Angels asked for this honor but they were not given it. We have been granted it. How can you say not? One man was sitting with his back to the Ka`ba, and another said: What are you doing? He said: What? I am more than this Ka`ba in the Divine presence. The Ka`ba cannot do sajda, but I am making sajda. The Ka`ba was built by Sayyidina Ibrahim, while I was created by Allah.

15. Tabarruk From the Prophet’s Blessed Skin.

– Narrated Usayd ibn Hudayr: `Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, quoting Usayd ibn Hudayr, a man of the Ansar, said that while he was given to jesting and was talking to the people and making them laugh, the Prophet poked him under the ribs with a stick. He said: Let me take retaliation. He said: Take retaliation. He said: You are wearing a shirt but I am not. The Prophet then raised his shirt and the man embraced him and began to kiss his side. Then he said: This is what I wanted, Apostle of Allah! (Abu Dawud, Book 41, Number 5205.)

– Ibn `Abd al-Barr relates, in his Isti`ab fi Ma`rifat al-ashab (p. 673), that the Prophet, after forbidding two or three times the use of khaluq (a kind of perfume mixed with saffron), and finding that Sawad ibn `Amr al-Qari al-Ansari was wearing it, nudged him in the mid-section with a palm-tree stalk (jarida) and scratched him. The latter asked for reparation; when the Prophet bared his own belly to him, he jumped and kissed the Prophet’s belly.

– Ibn Ishaq’s version in the Sira mentions that Sawad was standing in the ranks of the Companions of Badr at the time of this incident. The Prophet was arranging the ranks with his switch (miqra`a) and he nudged Sawad’s belly with it, scratching him inadvertently, with the words: “Align yourself with the others.” Sawad said: “Ya Rasulallah, you hurt me, so give me reparation.” The Prophet handed him the switch and said: “Take reparation.” Sawad approached him and kissed his belly. The Prophet said: “What made you do that, O Sawad?” He replied, “Ya Rasulallah, the time has come for what you see, and I loved for my last action in this dunya to be touching you.”

– Narrated Buhaysa al-Fazariyya: My father sought permission from the Prophet. Then he came near him, lifted his shirt, and began to kiss him and embrace him out of love for him… (Abu Dawud, Book 9, Number 1665.)

16. Tabarruk with places the Prophet visited

– Narrated Abu Burda: When I came to Medina. I met Abdullah bin Salam. He said, “Will you come to me so that I may serve you with sawiq (i.e. powdered barley) and dates, and let you enter a (blessed) house in which the Prophet entered?”… (Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 159)

17. The Prophet’s sandals

– Bukhari and Tirmidhi narrate from Qatada: “I asked Anas to describe the sandals of Allah’s Messenger and he replied: Each sandal had two straps”; and from `Isa ibn Tahman: “Anas took out a pair of shoes and showed them to us. They did not have hair on them.” (The remark refers to the Arabian practice of not removing the hair from the leather from which shoes were made.) Bukhari, Malik, and Abu Dawud relate that `Ubayd ibn Jarih said to `Abd Allah ibn `Umar: “I saw you wear tanned sandals.” He replied: “I saw the Prophet wearing sandals with no hair on them and perform ablution in them, and so I like to wear them.”

al-Qastallani in his Mawahib al-laduniyya said that Ibn Mas`ud was one of the Prophet’s servants and that he used to bring for the Prophet his cushion (wisada), his tooth-stick (siwak), his two sandals (na`layn), and the water for his ablution. When the Prophet rose he would put his sandals on him; when he sat he would carry his sandals in his arms until he rose. [88]

Qastallani mentions the following from one of the greatest Tabi`in:

Abu Ishaq (al-Zuhri) said: al-Qasim ibn Muhammad (ibn Abu Bakr al-Siddiq) said: Of the proven blessing of the likeness of the Prophet’s sandal is that whoever has it in his possession for tabarruk, it will safeguard him from the sedition of rebels and the mastery of enemies, and will be a barrier against every recreant devil and the evil eye of the envious. If the pregnant woman holds it in her right hand at the time of labor, her delivery will be easier by Allah’s change and His might.

al-Qastallani also said that Abu al-Yaman ibn `Asakir wrote a volume on the image of the Prophet’s sandal, and so did Ibn al-Hajj al-Andalusi. He relates the account of a pious shaykh by the name of Abu Ja`far Ahmad ibn `Abd al-Majid:

I cut the pattern of this sandal for one of my students. He came to me one day and said: “I saw a wonder yesterday from the blessing of this sandal. My wife was suffering from a pain which almost took her life. I placed the sandal on the spot of her pain and said: O Allah, show me the blessing of the owner of this sandal. Allah cured her on the spot.” [89]

al-Munawi and al-Qari mentioned in their commentary on Tirmidhi’s al-Shama’il that Ibn al-`Arabi said that the sandals are part of the attire of Prophets, and the people only left them due to the mud in their lands. He also mentioned that one of the names of the Prophet in the ancient books is sahib al-na`layn or “The wearer of the two sandals.”

Shaykh Yusuf al-Nabahani recited about the Prophet’s sandals:

wa na`lun khada`na haybatan li waqariha
fa inna mata nakhda`u li haybatiha na`lu
fa da`ha `ala a`la al-mafariqi innaha
haqiqataha tajun wa surataha na`lu

A sandal to whose majestic nobility we submit
For by submitting to its majesty do we rise:
Therefore place it in the highest spot for it is
In reality a crown, though its image is a sandal.

And when Imam al-Fakhani first saw the Prophet’s sandals he recited:

wa law qila li al-majnuni layla wa wasluha
turidu am al-dunya wa ma fi zawayaha
laqala ghubarun min turabi ni`aliha
ahabbu ila nafsi wa ashfa li balawaha

And if Layla’s Madman were asked: do you prefer
Union with Layla, or the world and its treasures?
He would answer: “Dust from the earth of her sandals
Is dearer to my soul, and its most soothing remedy.”

Shihab al-Din Ahmad al-Muqri wrote a book on this which he named Fath al-muta`al fi madh al-ni`al (The opening of the Most High in the praise of the Prophet’s sandals).

Ashraf `Ali al-Tahanawi the Deobandi shaykh wrote a treatise entitled Nayl al-shifa’ bi na`l al-mustafa (Obtaining remedy through the sandals of the Elect One) found in his book Zad al-sa`id (Provision for the fortunate). [90]

The muhaddith of India Muhammad Zakariyya Kandhalwi said in his translation of Tirmidhi’s Shama’il:

Maulana Ashraf `Ali Thanwi Sahib has written in his book Zaadus Sa`eed a detailed treatise on the barakat and virtues of the shoes of Rasulullah Sallallahu `Alayhi Wasallam. Those interested in this should read that book (which is available in English). In short, it may be said that it [the Prophet’s sandal] has countless qualities. The `ulama have experienced it many a time. One is blessed by seeing Rasulullah Sallallahu `Alayhi Wasallam in one’s dreams; one gains safety from oppressors and every heartfelt desire is attained. Every object is fulfilled by its tawassul (means, petition, request). The method of tawassul is also mentioned therein. [91]

We see by all the above evidence that tawassul and tabarruk are an intimate and integral part of the practice of the Companions, that it is Sunna, and that no one denies it except those who deviate from the Sunna and who harbor the disease of ignorance and suspicion in their heart. May Allah protect us from their designs, and may He keep all Muslims unswervingly on the path of Ahl al-Sunna and that of the true Salaf. We declare ourselves clear and innocent of the innovations of those who have attacked, rejected, or questioned the validity of tawassul. And Allah knows best.