Al-Huda
Foundation, NJ U. S. A
the Message Continues ... 10/189
Newsletter for August 2017
Article 1 - Article 2 - Article 3 - Article 4 - Article 5 - Article 6 - Article 7 - Article 8 - Article 9 - Article 10 - Article 11 - Article 12
TAWASSUL
Allah (s.w.t.) is expressly asking His creatures to find Him through “Waseela” to attain happiness.Surah al-Ma'idah Ayah 35 says, “Believers, have fear of Allah. Find the means to reach Him and strive hard for His cause so that you may have everlasting happiness.” In order to seek Allah (s.w.t.)'s forgiveness. He is directing His creatures to go through the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) as explained in Surah al-Nisa' Ayah 64, “....If they ever do injustice to themselves and come to you (Muhammad) asking for Allah's forgiveness and if the Messenger also were to ask Allah to forgive them, they would certainly find Allah All-Forgiving and All-Merciful.” Similarly, Prophet Yousuf's brothers approached their father to seek forgiveness from Allah for their sins about their brother Prophet Yousuf as mentioned in Surah Yousuf Ayah 97-98, “Father, ask forgiveness for our sins; we have certainly sinned.” He said, “I shall ask my Lord to forgive you; He is All-Forgiving and All-Merciful.” On the same line, Allah in some cases restricts the intercessor that without His permission they will not seek His forgiveness as detailed in the famous “Ayat-al-Kursi” in Surah al-Baqarah Ayah 255, “.....No one can intercede with Him for others except by His permission.” Even the prophets do not dare intercede for anyone without His permission, as stated in Surah al-Anbiya Ayah 27-28.
“These servants do not speak before He speaks . They simply act according
to His orders. He knows all that
is in front of them and all that
is behind them. (These servants
of Allah) will not intercede
with Him for anyone without His
permission and they tremble in
awe (before His greatness).”
Shias, when they seek assistance
from the Noble Messenger
(s.a.w.a.s), Imam Ali (a.s.) and
other Infallible Imams (a.s.) ,
they do it with the full
knowledge that they are alive as
they were martyrs in the path of
Allah and further that they are
not independent of Allah but
because of their status with
Allah they seek them as
“Waseelah” in the hope that if
they recommend our case Allah
may grant our wishes and duas.
In Dua-e-Tawassul, we seek help
from the “Fourteen Infallible”
individually and repeat, “We
turn towards Allah with your
help, seek your intercession and
advocacy before Allah, we call
upon you before our request (to
Allah);O intimate of Allah,
stand by us when Allah sits on
judgment over us.” The Sunni traditionalist Tirmidhi relates through his chain of narrators from Usman ibn Hunayf that a blind man came to the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) and said, “I have been afflicted in my eyesight, so pray to Allah for me.” He (s.a.w.a.s.) told him to pray two rak'at prayer and say, “O Allah, I ask you and turn to you through my Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy; O Muhammad, I seek your intercession with my Lord for the return of my eyesight.”
Even after the death or
martyrdom of the Noble Messenger
(s.a.w.a.s.), Tabrani in his
“al-Mujam al-Saghir” a man came
to Usman ibn Hunayf for help and
Usman once again told him follow
the same supplication advised by
the Messenger.
According to the Glorious
Qur'an, if a Muslim does not
fulfill his obligations and
adherence to the path of the
Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) and
his Progeny (a.s.), he will not
be considered worthy of
intercession, even if the Noble
Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) were to
intercede on his behalf as
stated in
Surah al-Munafiqun Ayah 6, “It
is all the same whether you
sought forgiveness for them or
not; Allah will never forgive
them. Allah does not guide the
evil-doing people.”
It is reported that when Abdullah
ibn Abbas was on death-bed, he
said, “O Allah I seek to
approach toward you by means of
Wilaya of Ali ibn Abi Talib
(Fada'il al-Sahaba by Ahmad ibn
Hambal v2 page 662 #1129 and
al-Riyad al-Nadhira by
Muhibuddin al-Tabari v3 page
167)
Sources: the Glorious Qur'an, A Shi'ite Encyclopedia |
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