What is Tawassul?

Tawassul Mentioned in the Quran?

In Sura Maaidah 5:35]  Allah says:

“O you who believe! Do your duty to Allaah and fear Him. Seek the means of approach to Him”

Misapplying Quaranic Verses

Idolaters Beliefs Of Divinity:

1- Alongside their beliefs in Allah, they deified idols and took them as Gods, as Allah says: “Did they make their Gods ONE God?

2- They believed that the idols could benefit them and harm them INDEPENDENTLY of Allah.

3- They held Allah in far less esteem than they held their own idols.

Abu Salamah said: Rujz refers to idols. This was narrated by al-Bukhaari in a mu‘allaq report in the chapter on the verse “And uncleanliness [rujz] avoid” [al-Muddaththir 74:5], in Kitaab at-Tafseer in his Saheeh. 

7- { Has he (not) turned all the gods into a single God? It is a very strange thing indeed.” } [38:5] – Imam al-Tabari (d. 310 AH) explained that they regarded it as impossible for one god alone to be able to listen and to know the prayers of all his worshippers. And Imam al-Razi (d. 606 AH) said regarding the same Ayah that they believed that there have to exist many gods for the preservation of this diverse universe, because the knowledge and power of one god does not suffice.

Idolaters Beliefs Of Dua To Ibadah (Worship)

The famous linguist, Imam az-Zajjaj defined it by saying: The ‘ibadah in the language of the Arabs is obedience with subjugation. 

In “Mufradat-ul-Qur’an” the Linguist, Imam Abul-Qasim ar-Raghib al-‘Asbahani said: The ‘ibadah is the ultimate humbleness. 

Imam, Hafiz, Faqih, Linguist, and Mufassir (Explainer of the Qur’an) ‘Ali Ibn ‘Abd-il-Kafi as-Subki in histafsir (explanation) of ayah 5 of al-Fatihah which means: We (Muslims) worship You (Allah) said: That is, we make our ‘ibadah (worship), which is the ultimate fear with subjugation, exclusive to You (Allah). 

The ayah 13 of al-Hajj, which means: They perform du’a’ to (worship) those idols, the harm of which by being worshipped is closer than their benefit by being intercessors, or the ayah 5 of al-‘Ahqaf, which means: Who is more astray than the one who performs du’a’ to (worships) other than Allah, who will not answer his du’a’. 

This is  clearly ‘ibadah which is the ultimate humbleness.  The scholars of Tafsir have agreed that the du’a’ in those ayat is their ‘ibadah (worship) to other than Allah in this manner.  No linguist or scholar of Tafsir explained the du’a’ as the mere calling.

This is also apparent from Allah’s words ‘And if you were to ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they would surely say “Allah!”’ (Surat al-‘Ankabut, 61). If the polytheists had truly believed that Allah the Exalted is the only Creator, and that their idols had not created anything, they would have worshipped Allah instead of their idols, or at the very least their reverence towards Allah would have been greater than their reverence towards their stones and statues. Is this consistent with their utter vilification of Allah, the Mighty, the Magnificent, out of vigilance for their own idols against Him? It is abundantly clear that it is not consistent in the slightest. Furthermore, the Ayah that we are considering is not the only evidence that Allah was lower in the esteem of the polytheists; rather it has many counterparts. Of them is the statement of Allah the Exalted: ‘They assign to Allah a portion of the crops and cattle which He created, and they say “this is for Allah”, in their imagination, “and this for (His) partners in regards to us.” Thus, that which they apportion for His partners in them does not reach Allah, and that which they apportion to Allah goes to their partners. Evil is their ordinance’ (Surat al-An’am, 137.) If they did not hold Allah in lesser esteem than their idols, they would not have weighed against Him this bias, which as related in the Ayah merited the judgment of Allah upon them: ‘Evil is their ordinance.’

Further evidence is the call of Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him), before he entered Islam, ‘Hubal, be though exalted!’ as was related by Bukhari, calling upon the idol named ‘Hubal’, in order that he might, in that moment of conflict[1], overwhelm the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and His army of Believers, who desired to overwhelm their idols. This is a clear measure of the state of the polytheists, and how they viewed their idols in relation to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

It is essential that this be understood with true comprehension, for too many people build their arguments upon it without any understanding.

Do you not see that when Allah ordered the Muslims to face the Ka’aba in their prayers, they turned towards it when they worshipped, and took it as a direction of prayer (Qiblah)? The worship was not directed to the Ka’aba, and nor is the kissing of the Black Stone anything other than the worship of Allah the Exalted, and the imitation of the Prophet (may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him and his family and companions). Were any of the Muslims to intend to worship to either of them, he would be a polytheist, like those who worship idols.

To worship Allah by means of intermediaries is essential, and cannot be termed shirk, and it cannot be said that everyone who takes an intermediary between him and his Lord is a mushrik; if it were otherwise, then every single human being would be a polytheist, for all of our affairs require intermediaries.

Something of great importance which must be stressed here is that this Ayah confirms that the polytheists were not sincere in their attempt to justify their worship of idols by claiming that they used them to draw near to Allah. For had they been truthful in this assertion, Allah would have been greater to them than their idols, and they would not have worshipped other than Him. However, Allah forbade the Muslims from insulting the idols of the polytheists with His words: ‘Do not curse those upon whom they call beside Allah, lest they wrongfully curse and revile Allah through ignorance. Thus to every nation have we made their deeds seem fair. Then to their Lord is their return, when He will inform them of that which they used to do’ (Surat al-An’am, 108).

It is narrated from ‘Abd al-Razzaq, and ‘Abd ibn Hamid, and ibn Jarir, and ibn al-Mundhir, and ibn Abi Hatim, and Abu al-Sheikh, from Qutada (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “The Muslims used to curse and revile the idols of the disbelievers, and so the disbelievers reviled and cursed Allah, the Mighty, the Magnificent. So Allah revealed ‘Do not curse those upon whom they call beside Allah, lest they wrongfully curse and revile Allah through ignorance’.” This is the reason for the revelation (sabab nuzul) of the Ayah, which strongly forbids the believers from uttering insults against the idols that the polytheists used to worship in Makkah, because such insults would inevitably enrage those who believed in their hearts that those statues and idols were gods, with the ability to benefit and harm. This rage would drive them to meet the Believers with similar insults against the One whom they worshipped, the Lord of the Worlds, and so they would ascribe to Him defects, though He is utterly free of all defects. Again, if they were truly sincere in their claim that their idol-worship was only a means of drawing closer to Allah, they would not have dared insult Him to avenge their idols when they were insulted. It is entirely clear from this that the polytheists held Allah in far less esteem than they held their own idols.

Misconceptions Regarding DU’A (Supplication)

The literal meaning of Du’a (supplication) means to call out and to seek someone’s attention. There are 2types of dua’s:

(1) As The Mere Calling:

Whoever says: O Messenger of Allah, or O Abu Bakr, or O ‘Ali, or O Jilani, or the like in the absence of those people while alive or after their death thinking that this calling is an ‘ibadah to other than Allah, this is incorrect understanding.

Example 1:

Hadeeth reported by Al-Bazaar and narrated by Ibn Abbaas, with the wording:

“Allah Almighty has angels on the earth – other than the record-keepers – who keep a record [even] of the leaves that fall on the ground. Therefore, if one of you is afflicted whilst in a deserted land where no-one is in sight, let him call out: Help O servants of Allah.”

(Shaykh al-Albaani classified as Hasan (sound) by Ibn Hajar and As-Sakhaawi.

Example 2:

Al-Bukhari related in “al-‘Adab-ul-Mufrad” about Ibn ‘Umar that his leg was benumbed severly and he was told: Mention the name of the most beloved person to you. Then he said (what means): O Muhammad. The result was as if his leg was untied from a knot. 

(2) Shirk In Dua To Ibada (Worship)

If some one calls out to any prophets, saints LIVING or DEAD with the ABSOLUTE Intention and Believethat such person has same Essence or, Attributes or Actions as Allah. This believe would be the same as mentioned in the:

Ayah 13 of al-Hajj, which means: They perform du’a’ to (worship) those idols, the harm of which by being worshipped is closer than their benefit by being intercessors, or the ayah 5 of al-‘Ahqaf, which means: Who is more astray than the one who performs du’a’ to (worships) other than Allah, who will not answer his du’a’. 

There is no difference among 4 schools in their consensus on the permissibility of four types of supplicating Allah through an intermediary (tawassul):

(1) To make Tawassul to Almighty Allah that He accepts the Du’aa due to one having performed a certain good deed is permissible and unanimously accepted. It is supported by the Hadith of Sahih Bukhari in which three people were trapped in a cave. Each of them made Du’aa to Allah Ta’ala to move the obstructing rock and they requested Allah Ta’ala to accept their du’aas due to some good deed that each of them had done.

(2) To make Tawassul with the names and attributes of Almighty Allah: This is also permissible and is supported by the following verse, ‘And Allah has beautiful names, so call unto Him through them.’ (Surah A’araaf v.180). Example: If someone says, ‘Oh Allah, I ask you through your attributes and beautiful names to grant my specific wish.’

(3) To make Tawassul to Allah Ta’ala through the rank and position of certain individuals, alive and deceased, in the sight of Almighty Allah This includes the Prophets [alayhimus salaam], the martyrs and any other pious servant of Allah. Example: If one says, ‘Oh Allah, I beseech you to accept my du’aa due to the status of Rasulullah [Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam] in Your eyes.

(4) To make Tawassul to Allah Ta’ala through the rank and position of certain individuals, deceased, at the Grave of Prophets [alayhimus salaam], the martyrs and any other pious servant of Allah. Example: If one says, ‘Oh Allah, I beseech you to accept my du’aa due to the status of the inhabitant of this Grave in Your eyes.

The only person who differed (shadhdha) is Ibn Taymiyah (ra) 7th Century, who claimed that there is a distinction between making tawassul through the Prophet during his life and after his passing, but his lone opinion (shudhudh) has no weight.

We call upon the community to hold fast to that upon which its great Imams have agreed.