Part One
The creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah in summary
First Issue: The Words Shafāʿah and Tawassul in Language and in the Sharīʿah
Shafāʿah comes from shafʿ, which is the even number, the opposite of witr. The intercessor joins himself to the one who seeks his help, so that the seeker, who was alone, becomes two. In the Sharīʿah intercession is asking for good on behalf of another. It has two conditions that the Qurʾān states: the permission of Allah for the intercessor, “Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?”, and His pleasure with the one interceded for, “and they do not intercede except for one whom He is pleased with”.
Tawassul comes from wasīlah, which in the language is what brings one near to the thing sought. Allah said: “O you who believe, fear Allah and seek the means (al-wasīlah) to Him.” The Salaf explained the means as drawing near to Him by obeying Him. In the Sharīʿah, lawful tawassul is of three kinds: by the names and attributes of Allah, as He said, “To Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call on Him by them”; by one's own righteous deeds, as the three men in the cave did when they called on Allah by their deeds and the rock moved; and by the supplication of a living righteous person, as ʿUmar did in the drought when he asked al-ʿAbbās to pray for rain.
Part Two
The texts of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah
Second Issue: Intercession Belongs to Allah Alone
“Say: to Allah belongs all intercession.” And in Āyat al-Kursī: “Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?” Intercession is His possession. It is asked of Him, He grants it, and He gives it only to those He permits on behalf of those He is pleased with. For this reason the believer asks: O Allah, make Your Prophet ﷺ an intercessor for me.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Say: To Allah belongs all intercession. To Him belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; then to Him you will be returned.
Qurʾān 39:44 (al-Zumar) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Allah — there is no god but He, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills. His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation does not tire Him. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
Qurʾān 2:255 (al-Baqarah, Āyat al-Kursī) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
In the chapter on intercession in Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb brings the verses on intercession and then cites Abū al-ʿAbbās Ibn Taymiyyah. Allah denied everything besides Him every thread the mushrikūn hold on to. He denied that anything else has dominion, or a share in it, or is His helper. Only intercession remained, and He made clear that it benefits only those for whom He gives permission. The intercession the mushrikūn imagine will not exist on the Day of Resurrection. The Prophet ﷺ will come and prostrate to his Lord and praise Him, and will not begin with intercession. Only then will he be told: raise your head, ask and you will be given, intercede and your intercession will be accepted. And the people with the greatest share in his intercession are those who said lā ilāhah illā Allāh sincerely from the heart.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb said in Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, chapter:
فنفى أن يكون لغيره ملك أو قسط منه، أو يكون عونا لله. ولم يبق إلا الشفاعة. فبين أنها لا تنفع إلا لمن أذن له الرب، كما قال: ﴿وَلا يَشْفَعُونَ إِلاَّ لِمَنِ ارْتَضَى﴾ ١ فهذه الشفاعة التي يظنها المشركون، هي منتفية يوم القيامة، كما نفاها القرآن وأخبر النبي ﷺ: "أنه يأتي فيسجد لربه ويحمده" (لا يبدأ بالشفاعة أولا) . ثم يقال له: "ارفع رأسك وقل يُسمع، وسل تُعط، واشفع تُشفَّع" ٢.
وقال له أبو هريرة: "من أسعد الناس بشفاعتك؟ قال: من قال لا إله إلا الله خالصا من قلبه" ٣ فتلك الشفاعة لأهل الإخلاص، بإذن الله، ولا تكون لمن أشرك بالله. وحقيقته: أن الله سبحانه هو الذي يتفضل على أهل الإخلاص فيغفر لهم بواسطة دعاء من أذن له أن يشفع، ليكرمه وينال المقام المحمود.
فالشفاعة التي نفاها القرآن ما كان فيها شرك، ولهذا أثبت الشفاعة بإذنه في مواضع.
وقد بين النبي ﷺ أنها لا تكون إلا لأهل التوحيد والإخلاص.
Abū al-ʿAbbās [Ibn Taymiyyah] said: Allah negated, for all besides Him, everything the mushrikūn cling to. He negated that anyone else has dominion or a share in it, or is a helper to Allah. Only intercession remained, and He made clear that it benefits only those for whom the Lord gives permission, as He said: {And they do not intercede except for one with whom He is pleased} [al-Anbiyāʾ 28]. So this intercession that the mushrikūn imagine is negated on the Day of Resurrection, as the Qurʾān negated it. The Prophet ﷺ informed that he will come and prostrate to his Lord and praise Him — he will not begin with intercession — then it will be said to him: “Raise your head; speak and you will be heard; ask and you will be given; intercede and your intercession will be accepted.” Abū Hurayrah said to him: “Who is the happiest of people with your intercession?” He said: “Whoever said lā ilāhah illā Allāh sincerely from his heart.” So that intercession is for the people of sincerity, by Allah's permission, and it is not for whoever associates partners with Allah. Its reality is that Allah, Glorified is He, is the One who favours the people of sincerity and forgives them through the supplication of the one He permitted to intercede, to honour him and so that he attains the Praised Station. The intercession the Qurʾān negated is the one containing shirk; and for this reason He affirmed intercession by His permission in several places. And the Prophet ﷺ made clear that it is only for the people of tawḥīd and sincerity.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, chapter 16 (al-Shafāʿah), pp. 51–52, quoting Ibn Taymiyyah
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وقول الله: ( ﴿وَأَنْذِرْ بِهِ الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ أَنْ يُحْشَرُوا إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ وَلِيٌّ وَلا شَفِيعٌ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ﴾ ١ وقوله: ﴿قُلْ لِلَّهِ الشَّفَاعَةُ جَمِيعاً﴾ ٢.
وقوله: ﴿مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلاَّ بِإِذْنِهِ﴾ ٣ وقوله: ﴿وَكَمْ مِنْ مَلَكٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لا تُغْنِي شَفَاعَتُهُمْ شَيْئاً إِلاَّ مِنْ بَعْدِ أَنْ يَأْذَنَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَرْضَى﴾ ٤.
وقوله: ﴿قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لا يَمْلِكُونَ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلا فِي الأَرْضِ وَمَا لَهُمْ فِيهِمَا مِنْ شِرْكٍ وَمَا لَهُ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ ظَهِيرٍ وَلا تَنْفَعُ الشَّفَاعَةُ عِنْدَهُ إِلاَّ لِمَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ﴾ ٥.
قال أبو العباس ٦: نفى الله عما سواه كل ما يتعلق به المشركون،
فنفى أن يكون لغيره ملك أو قسط منه، أو يكون عونا لله. ولم يبق إلا الشفاعة. فبين أنها لا تنفع إلا لمن أذن له الرب، كما قال: ﴿وَلا يَشْفَعُونَ إِلاَّ لِمَنِ ارْتَضَى﴾ ١ فهذه الشفاعة التي يظنها المشركون، هي منتفية يوم القيامة، كما نفاها القرآن وأخبر النبي ﷺ: "أنه يأتي فيسجد لربه ويحمده" (لا يبدأ بالشفاعة أولا) . ثم يقال له: "ارفع رأسك وقل يُسمع، وسل تُعط، واشفع تُشفَّع" ٢.
وقال له أبو هريرة: "من أسعد الناس بشفاعتك؟ قال: من قال لا إله إلا الله خالصا من قلبه" ٣ فتلك الشفاعة لأهل الإخلاص، بإذن الله، ولا تكون لمن أشرك بالله. وحقيقته: أن الله سبحانه هو الذي يتفضل على أهل الإخلاص فيغفر لهم بواسطة دعاء من أذن له أن يشفع، ليكرمه وينال المقام المحمود.
فالشفاعة التي نفاها القرآن ما كان فيها شرك، ولهذا أثبت الشفاعة بإذنه في مواضع.
وقد بين النبي ﷺ أنها لا تكون إلا لأهل التوحيد والإخلاص. اهـ كلامه.
فيه مسائل:
الأولى: تفسير الآيات.
الثانية: صفة الشفاعة المنفية.
الثالثة: صفة الشفاعة المثبتة.
Third Issue: The Legislated Tawassul and the Forbidden
Asked whether it is permissible to seek a means through the Prophet ﷺ, Ibn Taymiyyah answered that seeking a means through faith in him, love of him, obedience to him, invoking blessings on him, and through his supplication and intercession, is legislated by the agreement of the Muslims. In the same answer he explains what this meant in practice. The Companions sought a means through him during his life, and after his death they sought a means through al-ʿAbbās, his uncle, as they had done through him.
Ibn Taymiyyah said in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā:
As for seeking a means through faith in him, love of him, obedience to him, invoking blessings and peace upon him, and through his supplication and his intercession, and the like — among his acts and the acts of the servants commanded with regard to him — this is legislated by the agreement of the Muslims. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to seek a means through him in his lifetime, and after his death they sought a means through al-ʿAbbās, his uncle, as they used to seek a means through him.
Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 1/140
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هَلْ يَجُوزُ التَّوَسُّلُ بِالنَّبِيِّ ﷺ أَمْ لَا؟ .
فَأَجَابَ:
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، أَمَّا التَّوَسُّلُ بِالْإِيمَانِ بِهِ وَمَحَبَّتِهِ وَطَاعَتِهِ وَالصَّلَاةِ وَالسَّلَامِ عَلَيْهِ وَبِدُعَائِهِ وَشَفَاعَتِهِ وَنَحْوِ ذَلِكَ مِمَّا هُوَ مِنْ أَفْعَالِهِ وَأَفْعَالِ الْعِبَادِ الْمَأْمُورِ بِهَا فِي حَقِّهِ. فَهُوَ مَشْرُوعٌ بِاتِّفَاقِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَكَانَ الصَّحَابَةُ ﵃ يَتَوَسَّلُونَ بِهِ فِي حَيَاتِهِ وَتَوَسَّلُوا بَعْدَ مَوْتِهِ بِالْعَبَّاسِ عَمِّهِ كَمَا كَانُوا يَتَوَسَّلُونَ بِهِ. وَأَمَّا قَوْلُ الْقَائِلِ: اللَّهُمَّ إنِّي أَتَوَسَّلُ إلَيْك بِهِ. فَلِلْعُلَمَاءِ فِيهِ قَوْلَانِ: كَمَا لَهُمْ فِي الْحَلِفِ بِهِ قَوْلَانِ: وَجُمْهُورُ الْأَئِمَّةِ كَمَالِكِ؛ وَالشَّافِعِيِّ؛ وَأَبِي حَنِيفَةَ: عَلَى أَنَّهُ لَا يَسُوغُ الْحَلِفُ بِغَيْرِهِ مِنْ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَلَا تَنْعَقِدُ الْيَمِينُ بِذَلِكَ بِاتِّفَاقِ الْعُلَمَاءِ وَهَذَا إحْدَى الرِّوَايَتَيْنِ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ، وَالرِّوَايَةُ الْأُخْرَى تَنْعَقِدُ الْيَمِينُ بِهِ خَاصَّةً دُونَ غَيْرِهِ؛ وَلِذَلِكَ قَالَ أَحْمَدُ فِي مَنْسِكِهِ الَّذِي كَتَبَهُ للمروذي صَاحِبِهِ: إنَّهُ يُتَوَسَّلُ بِالنَّبِيِّ ﷺ فِي دُعَائِهِ؛ وَلَكِنْ غَيْرُ أَحْمَدَ قَالَ: إنَّ هَذَا إقْسَامٌ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِهِ وَلَا يُقْسَمُ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِمَخْلُوقِ وَأَحْمَدُ فِي إحْدَى الرِّوَايَتَيْنِ قَدْ جَوَّزَ الْقَسَمَ بِهِ فَلِذَلِكَ جَوَّزَ التَّوَسُّلَ بِهِ. وَلَكِنَّ الرِّوَايَةَ الْأُخْرَى عَنْهُ: هِيَ قَوْلُ جُمْهُورِ الْعُلَمَاءِ أَنَّهُ لَا يُقْسِمُ بِهِ؛
فَلَا يُقْسَمُ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِهِ كَسَائِرِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالْأَنْبِيَاءِ فَإِنَّا لَا نَعْلَمُ أَحَدًا مِنْ السَّلَفِ وَالْأَئِمَّةِ قَالَ إنَّهُ يُقْسَمُ بِهِ عَلَى اللَّهِ؛ كَمَا لَمْ يَقُولُوا إنَّهُ يُقْسَمُ بِهِمْ مُطْلَقًا؛ وَلِهَذَا أَفْتَى أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ ابْنُ عَبْدِ السَّلَامِ: أَنَّهُ لَا يُقْسَمُ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِأَحَدِ مِنْ الْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ؛ لَكِنْ ذُكِرَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ رُوِيَ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ حَدِيثٌ فِي الْإِقْسَامِ بِهِ فَقَالَ: إنْ صَحَّ الْحَدِيثُ كَانَ خَاصًّا بِهِ وَالْحَدِيثُ الْمَذْكُورُ لَا يَدُلُّ عَلَى الْإِقْسَامِ بِهِ وَقَدْ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ ﴿مَنْ كَانَ حَالِفًا فَلْيَحْلِفْ بِاَللَّهِ وَإِلَّا فَلْيَصْمُتْ﴾ وَقَالَ: ﴿مَنْ حَلَفَ بِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ أَشْرَكَ﴾ وَالدُّعَاءُ عِبَادَةٌ وَالْعِبَادَةُ مَبْنَاهَا عَلَى التَّوْقِيفِ وَالِاتِّبَاعِ لَا عَلَى الْهَوَى وَالِابْتِدَاعِ وَاَللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.
Al-Bukhārī records it. When drought struck, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb asked for rain through al-ʿAbbās and said: O Allah, we used to seek a means to You through our Prophet and You gave us rain, and now we seek a means to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so give us rain. In his lifetime the Prophet ﷺ supplicated for those who asked him. After he passed to the Highest Companion they turned to a living man's supplication. Had asking him after his death been legislated, the Companions would not have left him for someone less than him.
Al-Bukhārī reported in his Ṣaḥīḥ from Anas:
That ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, when they suffered drought, would ask for rain through al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, saying: “O Allah, we used to seek a means to You through our Prophet and You gave us rain; and we seek a means to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so give us rain.” He said: And they would be given rain.
al-Bukhārī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ (al-Sulṭāniyyah) 2/27, no. 1010, from Anas
Source, chain and authenticity
Authentic. It is in the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī, and the ummah received the two Ṣaḥīḥs with acceptance; its full chain is given in the Arabic above.
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Fourth Issue: What Legislated Intercession Is
To ask for intercession is to ask someone living, present and able to supplicate to Allah for you. This is exactly what the people will do on the Day of Resurrection, when they come to the Prophet ﷺ and ask him to intercede with their Lord to begin the judgement. Asking the dead for intercession, or offering them any act of worship so that they will intercede, is a different matter altogether. Allah condemned it: “They worship besides Allah what neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say: These are our intercessors with Allah.”
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And they worship besides Allah that which neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say: These are our intercessors with Allah. Say: Do you inform Allah of something He does not know in the heavens or on the earth? Glorified is He and exalted above what they associate with Him.
Qurʾān 10:18 (Yūnus) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Fifth Issue: Istighāthah: Seeking Rescue
Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb gave a chapter of Kitāb al-Tawḥīd the title: Of shirk is that one seek rescue from other than Allah or call on other than Him. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qāsim explained the heading. Istighāthah is seeking the removal of hardship. It is narrower than duʿāʾ, because it comes only from one in distress, while duʿāʾ comes from the distressed and from others. Every istighāthah is a duʿāʾ, and not every duʿāʾ is an istighāthah. The chapter shows that seeking rescue from the dead and the absent is major shirk.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb said in Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, with the note of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qāsim, Ḥāshiyat Kitāb al-Tawḥīd:
وقول الله تعالى: ﴿وَلا تَدْعُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَنْفَعُكَ وَلا يَضُرُّكَ فَإِنْ فَعَلْتَ فَإِنَّكَ إِذاً مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ وَإِنْ يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلاَّ هُوَ ... ﴾ (٢)
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(١) الاستغاثة طلب الغوث، وهو إزالة الشدة، كالإستنصار طلب النصرة، والاستعانة طلب العون، والغياث هو المغيث، وأكثر ما يقال غياث المستغيثين، أي مدرك عباده في الشدائد إذا دعوه، ومجيبهم ومخلصهم.
والفرق بين الاستغاثة والدعاء أن الاستغاثة لا تكون إلا من المكروب، وأما الدعاء فهو أعم منها؛ لأنه يكون من المكروب وغيره، فعطف الدعاء كل الاستغاثة من عطف العام على الخاص، فبينهما عموم وخصوص مطلق، فكل استغاثة دعاء، وليس كل دعاء استغاثة، والمراد بيان تحريم الاستغاثة بغير الله، أو دعاء غيره من الأموات والغائبين، وأنه من الشرك الأكبر.
Chapter: Of shirk is that one seek rescue from other than Allah or call on other than Him; and the saying of Allah, Exalted is He: {And do not call, besides Allah, on what neither benefits you nor harms you; for if you did, you would then be among the wrongdoers. And if Allah touches you with harm, there is none to remove it except Him…}. [Note:] Istighāthah is seeking ghawth, which is the removal of hardship, just as istinṣār is seeking support and istiʿānah is seeking aid. Al-Ghiyāth is the One who rescues, and it is mostly said: Ghiyāth al-Mustaghīthīn, the Rescuer of those who seek rescue, meaning the One who reaches His servants in hardships when they call on Him, and answers them and delivers them. The difference between istighāthah and duʿāʾ is that istighāthah is only from one in distress, while duʿāʾ is more general, because it is from the one in distress and from others. So the joining of duʿāʾ to istighāthah is the joining of the general to the particular, and between them is general and particular absolutely: every istighāthah is duʿāʾ, and not every duʿāʾ is istighāthah. What is intended is to show the prohibition of seeking rescue from other than Allah, or calling on other than Him among the dead and the absent, and that it is of the major shirk.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, with the note of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qāsim, Ḥāshiyat Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, p. 113
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وقول الله تعالى: ﴿وَلا تَدْعُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَنْفَعُكَ وَلا يَضُرُّكَ فَإِنْ فَعَلْتَ فَإِنَّكَ إِذاً مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ وَإِنْ يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلاَّ هُوَ ... ﴾ (٢)
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(١) الاستغاثة طلب الغوث، وهو إزالة الشدة، كالإستنصار طلب النصرة، والاستعانة طلب العون، والغياث هو المغيث، وأكثر ما يقال غياث المستغيثين، أي مدرك عباده في الشدائد إذا دعوه، ومجيبهم ومخلصهم.
والفرق بين الاستغاثة والدعاء أن الاستغاثة لا تكون إلا من المكروب، وأما الدعاء فهو أعم منها؛ لأنه يكون من المكروب وغيره، فعطف الدعاء كل الاستغاثة من عطف العام على الخاص، فبينهما عموم وخصوص مطلق، فكل استغاثة دعاء، وليس كل دعاء استغاثة، والمراد بيان تحريم الاستغاثة بغير الله، أو دعاء غيره من الأموات والغائبين، وأنه من الشرك الأكبر.
(٢) نهى الله نبيه ﷺ أن يدعو أحدا من سائر المخلوقين العاجزين عن إيصال النفع ودفع الضر، وأنه لا يجوز إلا ممن يملكه وهو الله وحده، وهذا النهي خرج مخرج الخصوص، والمراد به العموم، فهو عام لجميع الأمة.: ﴿فَإِنْ فَعَلْتَ﴾ ١ أي دعوت أحدا من دون الله: ﴿فَإِنَّكَ إِذاً مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ﴾ ٢ أي من المشركين.
ولها نظائر، يخاطب تعالى نبيه ﷺ بذلك وهو مبرأ منه، لكنه أبلغ في الزجر والتحذير عن دعاء غير الله ﷿، وفي الحديث: " الدعاء مخ العبادة " ٣. وفي لفظ: " هو العبادة ". صححه الترمذي وغيره، وأتى فيه النبي ﷺ بضمير الفصل، والخبر المعرف بالألف واللام؛ ليدل على الحصر وأن العبادة ليست =
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And when they board a ship, they call on Allah, sincere to Him in religion; then when He delivers them to the land, at once they associate others with Him.
Qurʾān 29:65 (al-ʿAnkabūt) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah said: “Or who answers the one in distress when he calls on Him, and removes the evil? Is there a god with Allah?” He made answering the distressed one of the signs of His divinity. The mushrikūn of Quraysh themselves knew it: when they boarded a ship and the waves rose, they called on Allah alone, sincerely, and when He brought them to land they returned to their partners. Whoever calls on a dead man in the hour of distress has done what the mushrikūn did not do in the hour of distress.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Or who answers the one in distress when he calls on Him, and removes the evil, and makes you successors upon the earth? Is there a god with Allah? Little do you remember.
Qurʾān 27:62 (al-Naml) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah said of those called on besides Him: they are dead, not alive, and they do not even know when they will be raised. The one who calls on the dead asks one who neither hears nor is able, and Allah described such a caller as among the wrongdoers, that is, the mushrikūn.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And do not call, besides Allah, on what neither benefits you nor harms you; for if you did, you would then be among the wrongdoers. And if Allah touches you with harm, there is none to remove it except Him; and if He intends good for you, there is none to repel His favour. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants, and He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
Qurʾān 10:106–107 (Yūnus) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And those they call on besides Allah create nothing, and they themselves are created. They are dead, not alive, and they do not perceive when they will be raised.
Qurʾān 16:20–21 (al-Naḥl) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Part Three
Principles drawn from the evidence
Sixth Issue: The Rule That Separates the Lawful from the Forbidden
Every intercession that is sought from Allah, by asking Him to accept the intercession of His prophet or His righteous servants, is lawful. Every intercession that is sought from the dead, or from the absent, by calling on them directly, is the intercession that Allah denied: “Or have they taken intercessors besides Allah? Say: Even though they possess nothing and do not reason? Say: To Allah belongs all intercession.”
The Companions did not go to the grave of the Prophet ﷺ in the drought. They went to al-ʿAbbās, who was alive, and asked him to pray. If calling on the Prophet ﷺ after his death were lawful, they would not have turned from the best of creation to his uncle. Their action is a consensus of the Companions on the difference between the living and the dead in this matter.
Part Four
The claims of the opponents and their refutation
“He was given intercession, so I ask him for it”
The claim
The Prophet ﷺ was given intercession, so I ask him for what Allah gave him.
The response
Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb answers this in Kashf al-Shubuhāt. Allah gave him intercession and forbade you from this request: “Do not call upon anyone along with Allah.” If you ask Allah to make His Prophet your intercessor, then obey Him in this command. Intercession was also given to others besides the Prophet ﷺ: the angels intercede, the awliyāʾ intercede, and children who died young intercede. Will you say that Allah gave them intercession, so you will ask them for it? If you say yes, you have returned to the worship of the righteous that Allah condemned in His Book. If you say no, your own argument falls.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb said in Kashf al-Shubuhāt:
تبين لك أن الشفاعة كلها لله فأطلبها منه فأقول: اللهم لا تحرمني شفاعته، اللهم شفعه في، وأمثال هذا.
فإن قال: النبي ﷺ أعطي الشفاعة وأنا أطلبه مما أعطاه الله.
So if all intercession belongs to Allah, and it is only after His permission, and neither the Prophet ﷺ nor anyone else intercedes for anyone until Allah permits it concerning him — and He permits it only for the people of tawḥīd — it becomes clear to you that all intercession belongs to Allah. So I ask it of Him and say: O Allah, do not deprive me of his intercession; O Allah, make him an intercessor for me; and the like. If he says: The Prophet ﷺ was given intercession, and I ask him for what Allah gave him — the answer is: Allah gave him intercession and forbade you from this, saying: {So do not call upon anyone along with Allah} [al-Jinn 18]. If you call upon Allah to make His Prophet an intercessor for you, then obey Him in His words: {So do not call upon anyone along with Allah}. Also, intercession was given to others besides the Prophet ﷺ: it is authentic that the angels intercede, the awliyāʾ intercede, and the children who died young intercede. Will you say: Allah gave them intercession, so I will ask it of them? If you say this, you have returned to the worship of the righteous that Allah mentioned in His Book. And if you say no, your saying “Allah gave him intercession and I ask him for what Allah gave him” is void.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Kashf al-Shubuhāt (Saudi Ministry of Awqāf ed.), pp. 25–26
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فإذا كانت الشفاعة كلها لله، ولا تكون إلا من بعد إذنه، ولا يشفع النبي ﷺ ولا غيره في أحد حتى يأذن الله فيه، ولا يأذن إلا لأهل التوحيد.
تبين لك أن الشفاعة كلها لله فأطلبها منه فأقول: اللهم لا تحرمني شفاعته، اللهم شفعه في، وأمثال هذا.
فإن قال: النبي ﷺ أعطي الشفاعة وأنا أطلبه مما أعطاه الله.
فالجواب إن الله أعطاه الشفاعة ونهاك عن هذا فقال: ﴿فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا﴾ [الجن: ١٨] فإذا كنت تدعو الله أن يشفع نبيه فيك فأطعه في قوله: ﴿فَلَا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًا﴾ [الجن: ١٨]
وأيضا فإن الشفاعة أعطيها غير النبي ﷺ فصح أن الملائكة يشفعون والأولياء يشفعون والأفراط
يشفعون أتقول: إن الله أعطاهم الشفاعة فأطلبها منهم؟ فإن قلت هذا رجعت إلى عبادة الصالحين التي ذكر الله في كتابه، وإن قلت: لا، بطل قولك: أعطاه الله الشفاعة وأنا أطلبه مما أعطاه الله.
“Ibn Taymiyyah permitted tawassul through the Prophet”
The claim
Ibn Taymiyyah wrote that seeking a means through the Prophet ﷺ, by his supplication and intercession, is legislated by agreement, so it is permitted after his death as well.
The response
Whoever quotes this sentence and stops there has removed the next sentence, which explains it. Ibn Taymiyyah continues: the Companions sought a means through him during his life, and after his death through al-ʿAbbās. His supplication and intercession were sought from him while he was alive among them in the world of obligation. After his death that ended. No text establishes anything beyond it, sound, good or weak. The quotation, read as he wrote it, says the opposite of what it is used for.
Ibn Taymiyyah said in Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā:
As for seeking a means through faith in him, love of him, obedience to him, invoking blessings and peace upon him, and through his supplication and his intercession, and the like — among his acts and the acts of the servants commanded with regard to him — this is legislated by the agreement of the Muslims. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to seek a means through him in his lifetime, and after his death they sought a means through al-ʿAbbās, his uncle, as they used to seek a means through him.
Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 1/140
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هَلْ يَجُوزُ التَّوَسُّلُ بِالنَّبِيِّ ﷺ أَمْ لَا؟ .
فَأَجَابَ:
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، أَمَّا التَّوَسُّلُ بِالْإِيمَانِ بِهِ وَمَحَبَّتِهِ وَطَاعَتِهِ وَالصَّلَاةِ وَالسَّلَامِ عَلَيْهِ وَبِدُعَائِهِ وَشَفَاعَتِهِ وَنَحْوِ ذَلِكَ مِمَّا هُوَ مِنْ أَفْعَالِهِ وَأَفْعَالِ الْعِبَادِ الْمَأْمُورِ بِهَا فِي حَقِّهِ. فَهُوَ مَشْرُوعٌ بِاتِّفَاقِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَكَانَ الصَّحَابَةُ ﵃ يَتَوَسَّلُونَ بِهِ فِي حَيَاتِهِ وَتَوَسَّلُوا بَعْدَ مَوْتِهِ بِالْعَبَّاسِ عَمِّهِ كَمَا كَانُوا يَتَوَسَّلُونَ بِهِ. وَأَمَّا قَوْلُ الْقَائِلِ: اللَّهُمَّ إنِّي أَتَوَسَّلُ إلَيْك بِهِ. فَلِلْعُلَمَاءِ فِيهِ قَوْلَانِ: كَمَا لَهُمْ فِي الْحَلِفِ بِهِ قَوْلَانِ: وَجُمْهُورُ الْأَئِمَّةِ كَمَالِكِ؛ وَالشَّافِعِيِّ؛ وَأَبِي حَنِيفَةَ: عَلَى أَنَّهُ لَا يَسُوغُ الْحَلِفُ بِغَيْرِهِ مِنْ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَلَا تَنْعَقِدُ الْيَمِينُ بِذَلِكَ بِاتِّفَاقِ الْعُلَمَاءِ وَهَذَا إحْدَى الرِّوَايَتَيْنِ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ، وَالرِّوَايَةُ الْأُخْرَى تَنْعَقِدُ الْيَمِينُ بِهِ خَاصَّةً دُونَ غَيْرِهِ؛ وَلِذَلِكَ قَالَ أَحْمَدُ فِي مَنْسِكِهِ الَّذِي كَتَبَهُ للمروذي صَاحِبِهِ: إنَّهُ يُتَوَسَّلُ بِالنَّبِيِّ ﷺ فِي دُعَائِهِ؛ وَلَكِنْ غَيْرُ أَحْمَدَ قَالَ: إنَّ هَذَا إقْسَامٌ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِهِ وَلَا يُقْسَمُ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِمَخْلُوقِ وَأَحْمَدُ فِي إحْدَى الرِّوَايَتَيْنِ قَدْ جَوَّزَ الْقَسَمَ بِهِ فَلِذَلِكَ جَوَّزَ التَّوَسُّلَ بِهِ. وَلَكِنَّ الرِّوَايَةَ الْأُخْرَى عَنْهُ: هِيَ قَوْلُ جُمْهُورِ الْعُلَمَاءِ أَنَّهُ لَا يُقْسِمُ بِهِ؛
فَلَا يُقْسَمُ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِهِ كَسَائِرِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالْأَنْبِيَاءِ فَإِنَّا لَا نَعْلَمُ أَحَدًا مِنْ السَّلَفِ وَالْأَئِمَّةِ قَالَ إنَّهُ يُقْسَمُ بِهِ عَلَى اللَّهِ؛ كَمَا لَمْ يَقُولُوا إنَّهُ يُقْسَمُ بِهِمْ مُطْلَقًا؛ وَلِهَذَا أَفْتَى أَبُو مُحَمَّدٍ ابْنُ عَبْدِ السَّلَامِ: أَنَّهُ لَا يُقْسَمُ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِأَحَدِ مِنْ الْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ؛ لَكِنْ ذُكِرَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ رُوِيَ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ حَدِيثٌ فِي الْإِقْسَامِ بِهِ فَقَالَ: إنْ صَحَّ الْحَدِيثُ كَانَ خَاصًّا بِهِ وَالْحَدِيثُ الْمَذْكُورُ لَا يَدُلُّ عَلَى الْإِقْسَامِ بِهِ وَقَدْ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ ﴿مَنْ كَانَ حَالِفًا فَلْيَحْلِفْ بِاَللَّهِ وَإِلَّا فَلْيَصْمُتْ﴾ وَقَالَ: ﴿مَنْ حَلَفَ بِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ أَشْرَكَ﴾ وَالدُّعَاءُ عِبَادَةٌ وَالْعِبَادَةُ مَبْنَاهَا عَلَى التَّوْقِيفِ وَالِاتِّبَاعِ لَا عَلَى الْهَوَى وَالِابْتِدَاعِ وَاَللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.
“They only mean his supplication”
The claim
Whoever says “I seek a means to You through Your Prophet” only means the Prophet's supplication for his Ummah. That is what is in his heart.
The response
Someone who asks Allah chooses the words he believes nearest to being answered. If these people meant the Prophet's supplication, they would say so, and nothing prevents them. What they actually mean is seeking a means through his person, swearing by him to Allah, and taking him as an intercessor and helper in what only Allah can do. The argument is also a ladder. Whoever begins with tawassul through his person soon permits seeking help from the prophets and asking the dead for intercession.
“Our deeds are shown to him, so he intercedes for us”
The claim
The deeds of the Ummah are presented to the Prophet ﷺ in his grave. He knows of our seeking a means through him, so he intercedes and supplicates for us, and we may ask him to do so.
The response
The presentation of deeds is one thing, and asking him for intercession is something else entirely. If your deeds are shown to him, he will not be pleased with the shirk in them, and asking the dead for intercession is part of that shirk. Nor will he seek forgiveness for a mushrik: “It is not for the Prophet and those who believe to seek forgiveness for the mushrikūn.” His intercession and his asking for forgiveness belong to his life and to the Hereafter, not to the Barzakh. Asserting that “he intercedes for us and supplicates for us” claims for prophethood something Allah never said. Permitting the dead to be asked gives to a creature a right that belongs to Allah alone.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
It is not for the Prophet and those who believe to seek forgiveness for the mushrikūn, even if they are near of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the companions of Hellfire.
Qurʾān 9:113 (al-Tawbah) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
“The mushrikūn believed their idols create”
The claim
The shirk of the first mushrikūn was believing that their idols create and act independently. Whoever calls upon the righteous only as a cause and an intermediary has not done what they did.
The response
The people of the Fire will say: “By Allah, we were in manifest error when we equated you with the Lord of the worlds.” Put this beside “If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say: Allah”, and two conclusions follow with certainty. First, they never equated their idols with Allah in creating. They equated them with Him in love, in exaltation, in turning to them, and in asking them for intercession and mediation. Second, taking intercessors and calling upon the buried to seek their intercession is exactly the shirk of the Jāhiliyyah, whose watchword was “We only worship them so that they bring us near to Allah” and “These are our intercessors with Allah.” The distinction between shirk of independence and shirk of causation was invented by the theologians. The Qurʾān does not know it.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
They will say while they dispute therein: By Allah, we were in manifest error when we equated you with the Lord of the worlds. And none misled us but the criminals. So now we have no intercessors, and no devoted friend.
Qurʾān 26:96–101 (al-Shuʿarāʾ) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say: Allah. Say: Praise be to Allah. But most of them do not know.
Qurʾān 31:25 (Luqmān) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
“Seeking help from the living is allowed, so it is allowed from the dead”
The claim
The man of Mūsā's party sought his help (fa-staghāthahu), and the Qurʾān did not condemn it. So istighāthah with creatures is lawful, and there is no difference between the living and the dead.
The response
The man sought the help of Mūsā, who was alive, present and able, in a matter that a man is able to do: to defend him from his enemy. This is not the istighāthah that is shirk. The shirk is to seek from a creature what only Allah is able to do, or to seek from the dead and the absent what they cannot do because they neither hear nor are present.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And he entered the city at a time when its people were heedless, and found in it two men fighting, one of his own party and the other of his enemy. And the one of his party called to him for help against the one of his enemy, so Mūsā struck him and put an end to him. He said: This is of the work of Satan; indeed he is a clear, misleading enemy.
Qurʾān 28:15 (al-Qaṣaṣ) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
The difference is not between the living and the dead as such, but between what a creature is able to do and what he is not. The living who is present and able can be asked for help in what he can do. The dead are not able to do anything, as Allah said: they are dead, not alive. Asking them is asking something that only Allah gives, and that is worship given to other than Allah.
Sources
- Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
- Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Kashf al-Shubuhāt (Saudi Ministry of Awqāf ed.)
- Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, chapter
- Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, Kitāb al-Tawḥīd, with the note of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qāsim, Ḥāshiyat Kitāb al-Taw
- Qurʾān
- al-Bukhārī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ (al-Sulṭāniyyah)