Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu alaykum,

Please explain to the many hadiths where the companions asks through the Prophet:

Tirmidhi relates, through his chain of narrators from 'Uthman ibn Hunayf, that a blind man came to the Prophet  (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said, "I've been afflicted in my eyesight, so please pray to Allah for me." The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Go make ablution (wudu), perform two rak'as of prayer, and then say: " 'O Allah, I ask You and turn to You through my Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy; O Muhammad [Ya Muhammad], I seek your intercession with my Lord for the return of my eyesight [and in another version: "for my need, that it may be fulfilled. O Allah, grant him intercession for me"].'" The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) added, "And if there is some need, do the same."

Ahmad ibn Hanbal wrote: "When the death time of Abdullah Ibn Abbas (RA) approached, he said:`O Allah! I seek to approach toward you by means of Wilayah (accepting the mastery) of Ali Ibn Abi Talib.'"

In addition, what is the purpose of sending blessing upon the dead (which the Prophet and Imams constantly did) if they can neither hear nor accept them?  Was it not the grand daughter of Rasullah (Zaynab) who went not only his blessed grave but that of her mother Fatima and explained what happen to their ahlul bayt in Karbala and asked for their help and cried to them?  What was the point?  Why didn't just stay at home and cry to Allah for help and mercy (which she probably also did)?  If these pious people can't hear us from the grave...what is the point of doing any of this?  This is exactly what you keep preaching!

But you see, those in the grave can hear us and do dua and help us towards Allah.  As in life and in the grave...they can do nothing but make dua...and that is all anyone asks of them.  None one ever says you have to do any of this.  But do not say it is wrong and not allowed just because you don't understand it.

PS: we have discuss translations already...they are just that...and not the Quran.  Translations are no different then hadiths in understanding Allah and Prophet....they are books to help us understand....but never totalling grasp or understand their existences or knowledge.  Translations and the translator are your intermediaries to try to understand the Quran. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

ANSWER:

Companions of the Prophet (saws) asked for intercession?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah is my witness, that the hadiths you have quoted above, I have not come across them in the ‘sahih’ or authentic collection in any of the recognized books of ‘ahaadiths’. There are literally hundreds of thousands of ‘hadiths’; some are recognized as authentic or ‘sahih’, some are ‘hasan’, some are ‘marfu’, some are ‘daeef’ (weak), and some are absolutely fabricated. Allah Alone knows best which ones are ‘sahih’ and which ones are fabricated. But if you give me the reference of the hadith numbers and from which books you have related these ahaadiths, I can comment on them.

The reason we almost always quote the Quran in our articles, is because any person who claims to be a muslim believes the Quran to be the very words of Allah Subhanah. No muslim, who fears Allah and the Last Day, can challenge even one aayah of the Glorious Quran as being false or fabricated. Every word, every aayah, every Surah is absolutely authentic and not even a ‘dot’ has been changed from the original Quran which was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (saws). (Although, the Dawoodi Bohra leadership falsely claim that the Quran available today is changed in about four or five places!)

Thus we should always strive to give evidence or ‘daleel’ only from the Quran whenever possible. And especially in the matters of faith or ‘imaan’, guidance, tawheed, shirk, etc. the Quran is absolutely explicit. The authentic hadiths are but an extension to understand the Quran and a recording of the deeds and words of the Messenger of Allah (saws). Thus it is absolutely inconceivable that any word or deed of the Messenger of Allah (saws) could be against the Quran! Thus the first principle of challenging the authenticity of any hadith is that it cannot go against any aayah of the Quran in any way!

The Criterion of right or wrong, especially in the matters of tawheed and shirk, should always be the Holy Quran! Yes, in the matter of ‘shariah’ and jurisprudence, the authentic hadiths are indispensable, because it is only from the Sunnah of the Messenger (saws) that we can learn the things on which the Quran has been silent. Eg. prayers, fasting, hajj, details of how to pay zakat, etc. But in matters of tawheed and shirk, the Quran is absolutely explicit.

And the concept of ‘shafaa’, whereby one believes that the people in the grave can hear us, or present our prayers to Allah, or make dua for us, or help us in any way; are all against the clear aayahs of the Holy Quran. And the one who believes in this concept and invokes the dead and their graves is precisely what Allah has called ‘shirk’ in the Glorious Quran.

Your Comment: But you see, those in the grave can hear us and do dua and help us towards Allah.  As in life and in the grave...they can do nothing but make dua...and that is all anyone asks of them.  None one ever says you have to do any of this.  But do not say it is wrong and not allowed just because you don't understand it.

It is your belief that those whom we invoke in the graves can: hear us, do dua for us, help us.

That is your belief! Lets see what Allah in His Own Beautiful Words says about this in the Holy Quran. I can quote literally hundreds of aayahs of the Holy Quran which will prove the above belief to be absolutely false and a blasphemy against the Quran, but due to the restrictions of space, I will quote only a few of them….

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 46 Surah Ahqaf verses 4-6: Prophet, say to them, "Have you ever seen them with open eyes those whom you invoke instead of Allah? Show me what they have created in the earth? Or have they any share in the creation and control of the heavens? Bring me a Book revealed before this, or produce some remnant of knowledge in support of your beliefs if you are truthful." And who could be further astray than the one who invokes, instead of Allah, those who cannot answer him till the Day of Resurrection. Nay, they are even UNAWARE THAT THEY ARE BEING INVOKED. And when all mankind shall be gathered together (on the Day of Qiyamah), they (the so called leaders and intercessors) will become enemies of those who invoked them and they will DISOWN THEIR WORSHIP!!!

Allah says, they cannot answer you! Allah says they are unaware that they are being invoked (thus they cannot hear you!)! Allah says they will ‘disown their worship’ (thus, they could not make dua for you when you invoked them)!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verse 2-3: So worship Allah Alone, making your religion His exclusively. Beware! Religion is the exclusive Right of Allah. As for those who have taken other ‘auliyas’ (guardians) with Allah (and justify their this conduct by saying): “We serve them only that they may bring us closer to Allah.” Allah will surely judge between them concerning all that in which they differ. Allah does not show guidance to any liar and denier of the Truth.

Allah says that these people who invoke their ‘auliyaas’ besides Allah, and then justify their this conduct by saying, ‘We serve them only that they may bring us closer to Allah’, are in fact liars and deniers of the Truth. You said that you only serve and call on these ‘auliyaas’ in the graves to present your case to Allah, and thus get ‘your duas’ presented to Allah! Allah, in the above clear aayah, absolutely denies this sort of supplication and calls the people who do thus liars and deniers of the Truth!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verse 18: These people serve beside Allah those which can neither harm nor benefit them, and say, “These are our ‘shofa’a’ (intercessors) with Allah!” (O Mohammed), tell them, “Do you wish to inform Allah of that thing which He knows not in the heavens, or in the earth?” He is absolutely free from, and exalted above the shirk that they commit.

You say that if you call on these ‘shofaas’, they can hear you, make dua on your behalf to Allah, and help you! In the above aayah, this is precisely what Allah terms ‘shirk’, and says that He is absolutely free and exalted above this ‘shirk’ that you commit!

Allah says that these ‘shofaa’ that you serve besides Him (please note that Allah says beside or with Allah, not instead of Him!), cannot harm you, nor benefit you! And then Allah tells His Prophet (saws) to ask these people who believe that these ‘shufaa’ can help them in any way, “Do you wish to inform Allah of that which He knows not in the heavens and the earth?” Brother, it is our belief that our Lord knows everything that is in the heavens and the earth and nothing is hidden from him. He knows our condition, He knows our state, and He knows even the hidden deepest secrets of our hearts! Thus Allah is asking you to use commonsense and realize, why would you need to go to any ‘shofaa’ and ask him to present your case to Allah, when Allah already knows everything!

For the people who invoke these ‘auliyaas’ and ‘shufoaas’ and ask them for help or to present their duas to Allah, in fact, do not believe that Allah knows everything! They do not believe that Allah will answer their prayers if they beg from Him directly! They are so desolate and devoid of Allah’s Magnanimity, that they believe, that unless they ask through a ‘pious intermediary’, Allah will never answer their prayers! And this is exactly when they pay all their attention, and serve, and obey, and follow their ‘intermediaries’, rather than obey and follow Allah! Is there any other reason why you make tombs out of the graves of your ‘pious’ holy men? Is there any other reason why you take ‘minnat’ on their graves? Is there any other reason why you celebrate their ‘milaads’ and their ‘urs’! Is there any other reason why you do ‘ziyaarat’, and ‘zari’, and ‘chaadar’, and ‘niyaaz’ and ‘jaman’ on their names! Who are you trying to please?… your ‘shofoas’ or Allah? And this is precisely what Allah has called ‘shirk’ time and again in the Quran!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraf verse 190-196: They associate with Allah partners who do not create anything, but are themselves created! Who cannot help them nor have the power to help themselves! If you invite them to follow the Right Way, they will not follow you! It will be all the same for you whether you call them or keep silent. Those whom you invoke with Allah are MERE SERVANTS OF ALLAH LIKE YOU! Just invoke them, and if what you say of them be true, they will answer your prayers! Have they feet that they should walk with them? Or have they hands that they should hold with them? Or have they eyes that they should see with them? Or have they ears that they should hear with them? Tell them, O Mohammed, “Call up the partners you have set up, and then all of you sit down together and plot against me, and give me no respite. My Protector and Helper is Allah, Who has sent down this Book (Al Quran), and, it is He who protects the righteous people.”

Allah clearly says that these ‘shufoas’ can neither help you, or for that matter, even help themselves! Allah says it is the same if you call them or do not call them… they just simply cannot hear you, thus cannot help you nor present your case anywhere! Allah says you have assumed that these ‘shufoas’ have some power given to them by Allah, but in the eyes of Allah, they are nothing more than ‘mere servants of Allah like you’! Once these ‘shufoas’ are dead and buried, they neither have feet to walk with them so that they can go anywhere with your supplications, neither do they have any hands to hold anything with, neither do they have eyes to see anything with, and neither do they have any ears so that they may listen to your supplications! Thus it is obvious, Allah states, that all your serving and following and supplicating them so that you may get your supplications presented to Allah through them, is fruitless!

Then Allah tell His Prophet (saws) to declare unequivocally.. “My Protector and Helper is Allah” … How much more clear an aayah you require to understand this concept of tawheed and shirk?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 20-21: All the other beings, whom the people invoke with Allah, create nothing! Nay, they are themselves created. They are DEAD, not living, and they do not at all know themselves when they shall again be raised to life!

Here again, Allah says that these people invoke others with Allah, not instead of Him! And these intermediaries, since they are not the creators, do not deserve to be invoked! Only the Creator has the Right to be invoked! And besides, use your commonsense and see that they are dead, not living! And for people who think that these ‘pious auliyaas’ are so close to Allah, that they can present their cases to Him, and help them in some way; are themselves so powerless that they do not at all know themselves when they shall be raised to life again… by Allah!

Then why do people insist on invoking these powerless ‘auliyaas’, when All Power and All Strength is with Allah Alone? Why do they insist on committing this heinous crime of ‘shirk’?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 71-72: They worship besides Allah those for whom Allah has sent down NO AUTHORITY! Nor they themselves have any knowledge about them. Such transgressors have no helper! And when our CLEAR REVELATIONS are recited to them, you perceive signs of disdain on the faces of the disbelievers, as though they were going to ASSUALT those who recite our Revelations to them!

Here Allah exhorts those who invoke other ‘auliyaas’, to examine and determine if Allah has sent down any authority that they should be invoked? Or do they have any knowledge about their powers? Allah then calls all those who invoke other beings besides Him, transgressors; and declares that they have NO HELPER!

And then He states the condition of these same people who insist on invoking these dead ‘shufaas’, that when some believer recites the clear Revelations of Allah to them, they see signs of disdain on the faces of such disbelievers… and they are so upset with the Truth of the aayahs of the Rahmaan, that they are even willing to assault those who are inviting them to the Truth of Tawheed and the Oneness of Allah! Please also note that Allah has called the people who invoke others as ‘disbelievers’. Having invoked someone ‘with’ Allah, is having disbelieved in the Authority and Power and Might of Allah! Glorified is Allah and Far Exalted above the ‘shirk’ that these people insist on committing!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 66-68: On the Day their faces are rolled about on the Fire, they will say, “Would that we had obeyed Allah and His Messenger!” And they will say, “O our Lord, we obeyed our CHIEFS and our GREAT MEN, and they led us astray from the Right Path. O our Lord, give them a double chastisement and curse them severely”.

Every grave or idol or image itself, does not speak, nor gives out a book of instructions, nor does anything to inspire invocation at its grave! These graves always have a group of humans around it, who fabricate fantastic stories of the power (supposedly given to them by Allah) of these ‘auliyaas’ in the graves … how they helped so and so from that calamity, how they came into the dreams of so and so, how they took out the ‘jinn’ from so and so, how they helped this childless couple get a child from Allah when they invoked him, etc! The graves itself do no do, say or instruct anything … it is these self-made leaders and self-proclaimed holy men behind each grave who fabricate these stories and lead people astray from the Right Path of Allah. On the Day of Judgement, when everything will become apparent to the people, and the Fire of Hell is in front of them for denying Allah’s Quran and the Sunnah of His Messenger (saws), they will plead with their Lord and say that they only followed what their self-proclaimed chiefs and self-made great men told them to do, and thus beg Allah to give them a double punishment and curse them severely, for misguiding them from the True Path of Tawheed!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anam verse 94: (And Allah will say), “So, you have come before Us all alone, as We created you at first. Now, you have left behind all that We gave you in the world. Now We do not see with you those ‘shufa’a’(intercessors), who, you believed, had a share in molding your destinies! All the relations between you and them have been cut off, and all those, in whom you trusted, have left you in the lurch.”

The people who do every rite and ‘rasm’ to please their ‘shufaa’, do it because they believe these ‘shufaas’ can help them get their prayers answered by Allah. Also they believe that these ‘auliyaas’ will also act as their intercessors in the Court of Allah on the Day of Judgment! Here Allah refutes their entire beliefs, and says in sarcasm that He cannot see any of those ‘shofaas’, whom these people used to invoke night and day with Allah. And that is because Allah has cut off the relationship between these ‘auliyaas’ and their ‘mureeds’, and those in whom they trusted have apparently left them in the lurch! That is when they will realize the Power and Authority of Allah Subhanah! That is when they will realize that all their deeds of service and obedience to these graves and intermediaries were false, baseless, and fruitless… because now they are standing absolutely alone in the Court of Allah, and there are none of those whom he had invoked all his life for help on this Day, to be found! All those whom he had trusted have left him in the lurch on the Day when he needed them most!

Only those who put all their Trust in Allah, will find all the promises that Allah makes in the Holy Quran to be absolutely True.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 98-100: Then, when you begin to recite the Quran, seek Allah’s refuge against the accursed Shaitaan, for he has no power over those who believe and put their trust in Allah. Shaitaan has power (to inspire) only over those people, who make him their patron, and practice ‘shirk’ by his temptation.

It is evident from the above aayah, that ‘shirk’ is the handi-work of Shaitaan, who makes this deed of ‘shirk fair seeming to those who do not obey Allah and His Messenger (saws).

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verses 28-30: On the Day when We will muster them together, We shall say to those who committed ‘shirk’, “Stay where you are, you and those whom you set up as partners with Us.” The We shall remove the state of strangeness from among them, and the partners they had set up will say, “You did not worship us! Allah suffices as a witness between you and us, and (even if you worshipped us), we were utterly unaware of your worship!” At that time everyone will taste of what he did. All shall be brought back to Allah, their real Lord, and all the lies they had invented will vanish from them!

Allah wants us to imagine the state of the people who invoked their pious holy men with Allah on the Day of Judgment. Allah says He will remove the state of strangeness from the invoked and the invokee .. and all those pious slaves of Allah that were invoked (be it, the Prophet (saws), or Imam Ali, or Hadrat Fatema, etc.) will clearly declare in the Court of Allah, “You did not worship us! And even if you worshipped us, we were utterly unaware of your worship.”

Then Allah states that everyone will get a reward for his deeds as stated in the Quran several times … and all the lies that these self-proclaimed holy men around the graves had invented, will vanish from them. Only the Truth will prevail on that Day .. and there is no bigger Truth in this World, than the very Words of Allah Subhanah! Will you not then believe in them?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 19 Surah Maryam verses 81-82: These people have set up other gods that Allah, so that they may become their supporters! There will be no supporters! They will not only disown your worship, but also become their opponents.

Similar meaning to the above aayah!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter16 Surah Nahl verses 86-87: When the people who had committed shirk in this world will see those whom they had made associates with Allah, they will say, “Our Lord, here are those associate-deities whom we used to invoke besides You.” At this their deities will retort, “You are liars!” At that time, all of them will proffer submission before Allah, and all that they used to forge in this world shall vanish from them.

Similar meaning to the above two aayahs!

Brother, I can go on and on and on and give you aayah upon aayah as evidence from the Holy Quran that these ‘shofaas’ cannot hear your supplications, nor can they respond to them, nor can they present these supplications to Allah, nor can they get your prayers answered by Allah…. They have absolutely no power with Allah, contrary to all the lies that the people who insist on committing ‘shirk’ have invented!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 73: O mankind! A parable is related to you, so listen to it! Those on whom you call besides Allah, cannot create a fly, even though they may all combine together for this purpose! Nay! If a fly snatches away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly! How weak are the those who petition, and how weak are those to whom they supplicate!

The above aayah will give you an example of the power these self-made ‘shofaas’ have with Allah! Even if all these ‘shofaas’ and ‘auliyaas’ get together they cannot even create a fly, and if this insignificant fly snatches away anything from them, they do not have the power to release it from the fly!

Can you imagine the power (which supposedly Allah has given them) you are inventing and attributing to them? That they can hear you, or help you, or even present your case to Allah….. Read the above aayah of Allah and read the conclusion that Allah makes: How weak are the those who petition, and how weak are those to whom they supplicate!

Glorified is Allah, and Far Exalted above the ‘shirk’ the people insist on committing…..

Here is the lesson of Tawheed that the Quran is guiding towards:

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chater 40 Surah Mumin verse 60: And Your Lord says, “Call upon Me. I will answer your prayers. Those who disdain My worship on account of arrogance, shall certainly enter Hell in disgrace!”

This is Tawheed and the Command of Allah. Call upon Him, He will answer your prayers! That is our Merciful Lord, who does not need any intermediary between Himself and His slaves! Where are you being misled?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 13 Surah Raad verse 14: To Him Alone is prayer, in Truth! As regards the other beings whom they call besides Allah, they cannot answer their prayers. It is as if a man were to stretch out his hands towards water and ask it to rise to his mouth, when it cannot reach it! Likewise the prayers of the disbelievers are nothing but aimless efforts!

Allah says, When you pray to Allah Alone, that is the prayer in Truth! Having prayed to Allah through an intermediary, is like not having prayed to Allah at all!!!!!

Then Allah declares in one sentence, that whoever you call besides Allah, they just cannot answer your prayers … either themselves, or get them answered by Allah, or anything of that sort!

And then Allah concludes, that the prayers of these people who commit ‘shirk’ are nothing but aimless efforts….. and Allah has Himself called these people who invoke others as disbelievers…. Where are you being deluded?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 186: And if My servants ask you, O Prophet, concerning Me, tell them that I am quite near to them. I hear and answer the prayer of the suppliant, when he calls on Me. So let them respond to My call and believe in Me. (Convey this to them), perhaps they may be guided aright!

This is Tawheed! Allah Himself states He is quite near to us! He hears and answers our prayers Himself, when we call on Him! Thus, what do we have to do … 1. Respond to His Call and 2. Believe in Him.

That is the only way we can be guided aright, and that is the concept of Tawheed as stated by Allah in His Own Words in the Holy Quran! Will you not then believe?

Blessed and Glorified is Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. In Him we have put all our Trust, in Him we believe, and to Him is our final return.

My beloved brother, all we can do is invite you to read and understand the Quran in this life. And Allah is our witness, we have done that. You are responsible for your deeds, and we shall be responsible for our deeds. On the Day of Judgement, Allah will decide between all His slaves in Truth! You are without doubt, one of our most regular and most intelligent questioners … and that is why we take so much time and effort to reply to your mails immediately. I know sometimes the reading is a lot … but we do this with love and respect to you and your quest for knowledge. We ask absolutely no reward and no thanks from you, our reward is with your and our Creator, the Lord of the Worlds.

Allah has blessed you with intelligence, knowledge and the power of reasoning. Brother, use it for Allah, not against Him. Read the words of wisdom of Allah Subhanah, and then decide what you want to believe. Leave aside for a moment what you were born into… leave aside for a moment what you were taught by your forefathers … leave aside for a moment what the self-made holy men preach for their own benefits … leave aside for a moment the thought of what will happen … and open the Holy Quran and read it with understanding from beginning to end … ONCE … and beg Allah to guide you to the Truth!

Do it now, when your breath still comes out when it goes in! Do it now, when your heart beats every second at the command of your Lord! Do it now, before the Angel of Death comes knocking at our door! Do it now, before it’s too late … and all of us are gathered in the Court of Allah and there is absolutely no way to come to this earth! Do it now, for the Pleasure of Allah Subhanah … and then decide the course of life you want to follow….

I leave you again with these beautiful and powerful words of the All Merciful:

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 66 Surah Tahreem verse 6: O you who have believed, save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel shall be men and stones; over which shall be appointed fierce and stern angels, who never disobey Allah’s Command, and they only do as they are commanded!

Allah is not commanding the above aayah to the disbelievers, but rather to those who have believed!!! And in His Sublime Mercy and Grace, urges us to save ourselves and our families from a Fire whose fuel is nothing but men and stones!

May Allah have mercy on you and your family and guide them and us all to the Truth of Islam. May Allah take the Ummah of Islam out of the invocation of everything, except Him Alone! That is the Path of Tawheed, and that is the Path of the Quran.

The choice is yours……..

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan