Question: Does imploring for help through the friends of God (Tawassul) apply to polytheism or innovation? ANSWER: Tawassul is the appointing of an intermediate between oneself and God in order to gain proximity to God. Ibn Manzur in Lesan Al-Arabsaid: He made tawassul with so and so, meaning that he gained proximity to Allah by means of according respect to the beloved servants lofty status, of that which was of his concern. The Holy Quran says: O you who believe, be careful of (your duty towards) Allah and seek means of nearness to Him and strive hard in His way so that you may be successful. Jawhari in Sahah Al-Loqah defines Waseelah as such that: Al-Waseelah is the means by which we seek proximity to another. Therefore, that precious being through whom we tend to seek proximity can also sometimes be our own good deeds and sincere worship to the Lord that we can use as a strong means to bring us in close proximity to the Lord of the Worlds, and other times it could also be through a revered person who enjoys exceptional esteem and a high status before the Exalted and Glorious Lord. Different Sections of tawassul. Tawassul can be divided into three sections: Tawassul through the good deeds, as Jalal Al-deen Al-Soyuti narrated the following holy verse that: And seek means of nearness to Him Qutadah said regarding the verse that: By obedience to God and performing a deed that is pleasing to Allah will he then gain proximity with Him. Tawassul through the sincere supplications of the pious slaves of Allah as the Holy Quran speaks about Yusufs brothers: They said: O our father! Ask forgiveness for us for the faults that we have committed for surely we are sinners. He said: I shall ask forgiveness for you from my Lord; surely he is the forgiving the Merciful. When pondering over the aforementioned verse, it becomes clearly evident that the sons of Yaqub made tawassul through their prayers and amnesty; and considered it as their means to attain salvation. Prophet yusuf at this incident, did not object to their tawassul and promised them that he would pray for them and ask for the recompence of their deeds. Tawassul through the highly spiritual and respected personalities, who have a special status of dignity before God, for the purpose of gaining proximity to Him. This kind of tawassul was proficient and accepted right from the early period of Islam by the companions of the prophet. At this point, let us refer to the concept deriving benefit from various traditions that show the practice of the companions of the prophet and the leaders of the Islamic world. Ahmad bin hanbal in his Masnad narrated from uthman bin haneef that: A blind man came to the honorable prophet of Islam and said: Request God to cure me. The prophet hearing this, replied, If you wish, I can make my prayer right now and if you desire, I can even postpone it and make it later which is better. The blind man insisted, Do pray for me. The prophet (p) ordered him to make ablution and do so accurately; then to pray two units, and then make supplication that: O my Lord, I ask from Thee, and through the means of Muhammed, the prophet of mercy, I come towards you. O Muhammed, I attend to my lord through you, that my need be fulfilled. O God, make him my interceder. The authenticity of this narration is accepted by all the narrators such that Hakeem Al-Nishaboori in his Mustadrak after trathis narration, described it as Sahih-sound. Ibn Majah too, narrating from Abu-Ishaq said: This is indeed a correct narration, Tirmidhi in the book of Abwab Al-adeyah approved the soundness of this narration, Muhammed Naseeb Al-Rufaee in his book Al-Tawassul Ela Haqeeqat Al-Tawassul said: There is no doubt that this narration is sound and is unanimously accepted.. and it was proven in this narration that the blind man recovered his eye-sight through the prayer of the messenger. This narration makes it apparent that tawassul by the honorable prophet of Islam for the purpose of fulfillment of a need through his asking, is permissible. Moreover, the Prophet (p) ordered the blind man to pray in that specific way, and stated that by presenting the prophet as a means between him and God, he should make his request from God; and this states the actual meaning of Tawassul through the close friends of Allah and those who are very beloved in His eyes. Abu Abdullah Bukhari in his Sahih said: Whenever there was a draught, Omar bin Al-Khattab would request to God for rain through the prayers of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib-the prophets uncle, and would say: O God, in the life time of the prophet, we used to make Tawassul through him and you would descend the rain of mercy upon us, now we make tawassul through your prophets uncle so that you may satiate us with rain, and they would be satiated! Tawassul by the friends of God was so prevalent that the Muslims, during the early period of Islam, would introduce the prophet as their means for tawassul in their poems. For example, Sawad bin Qareb composed a poem where he said the following: I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and you are the reliant one as regards all the secrets, and I bear witness that you- O son of the pure and the honored- among other prophets are the closest means towards God. Although the Prophet (p) heard this poem being recited from Sawad bin Qareb, he neither stopped him from reciting the verse in praise of him nor did he accuse him of polytheism and innovation. Shafe-ee pointed out regarding this, in the following two verses: The prophets household are my means towards God and I anticipate through them, to receive my book of deeds in my right hand. Although there are many narrations quoting the permissibility of tawassul through Gods chosen servants, however the mentioned narrations are enough for the clarification the matter regarding tawassul and its desirability from the view of the prophets tradition and of course the practice of the companions of the prophet and the great Islamic scholars. Hence, there is no need for further discussion. Thus, the ambiguity of those claiming that tawassul through the beloved ones of God is nothing but polytheism and innovation, is already substantiated. Lisan Al-Arab, vol.11 p. 724 (Maidah: 35) Al-dor Al-Manthoor vol.2, p. 280 printed in Beirut, following the mentioned verse. (Yusuf: 97-98) Masnad Ahmad bin hanbal, vol.4 p. 138, section of narrations othman bin Haneef; Al-Mustadrak for Hakeem, vol.1, Kitab Salat Al-tatawo, ptinted in Beirut, p. 313, Sunan Ibn Majah, vol. 1, p. 441, printed by Dar Ehya Al-Kutub Al-arabiyah; Al-Taj vol. 1, p. 286 Al-Jame-a Al-Sagheer for Soyuti, p. 59; Al-tawassul wal-waseelah, (Ibne-taymeyah) p. 98, printed in Beirut. Al-tawassul Ela Haqeeqat Al-tawassul, p. 158 1st print, Beirut Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 2 Kitab Al-Jumah, Bab Al-Estesqa, p. 27 printed in Egypt. Al-dor Al-Saneyah (Sayyid Ahmad bin Zaini Dahlan) p. 29, depicted from Tabarani. Al-Sawaeq Al-Muhreqah (Ibn Hajar Al-asqalani) p. 178, printed in Cairo.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 11:27:47 +0000
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