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| Does Allah give authority? |
Question:
In your Tawassul article you mentioned in the second type to call on the Awliya believing they have been given the authority to help is a branch of shirk. First, can I ask, why would it be shirk to say Allah has given the authority to another, when it is believed that authority is dependent on independent? Second, isn't this second type perhaps a rephraisal of istighathah or calling out to the saints which much of the Ummah have permitted? For example, see Imam al-Ramli's fatwa: Arabic: Translation: http://www.marifah.net/articles1 Also it is well-known Allah does give his pious slave authority, for example the Angels in the following hadith analysis (translated from Shaykh Mamduh's work): http://www.marifah.net/articles/2
Answer:
The answer to the first point is that Allah taala has not given such unilateral power to any of his creation, such that a person may call on him and, because he has been given this authority, he can respond. Such baseless beliefs are found amongst the common people who go to graves and actually think that because they themselves are so sinful they are unable to call upon Allah and just as in a King's court there are people who have been delegated power, so to have these saints and just like their powers are now independent of the King so too are the powers of these saints. Thus in order to get some need fulfilled they ask them. Yet this is against the following texts: These verses tell us emphatically that a servant is only permitted to call upon Allah taala for help or to fulfill his need: [1] "Who is more misled than he who calls upon other than Allah, who cannot answer his call till the Day of Judgement, and who are oblivious of his call." Al-Ahqaf: 5.
The following hadith also shows that the Dua is a form of worship and as such cannot be made to the creation: The above practice can take the form of Istigatha (shouting out for the aid of a saint) and as such it will clearly be impermissible. There is however another reason why Istigatha is not permitted, that is when someone calls on a pious person saying: "Ya Muhammad" or "Ya Abd al-Qadir Jilani." Namely this entails the belief that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and various saints are present everywhere, seeing and hearing, which are the attributes of Allah taala and thus shirk. Thus to say most of the Ummah have permitted this is clearly unfounded. The Hanafi jurists do not allow it. In Fatawa Bazzaziyya (printed on the border of Fatawa Hindiyya), Shaikh Al-Kardari writes: "Whoever holds the souls of the saints as present and cognizant has committed kufr," pg.326, vol.6. In the commentary of Imam Abu Hanifah's Al-Fiqh al-Akbar by Shaikh Ali al-Qari, the latter states: "To surmise, Knowledge of the unseen is a thing He who is glorified alone possesses, there is no means for His servants to it except by Allah's informing them or divine disclosure (Ilham) by way of a miracle….Know that the Prophets, on whom be peace and blessings, did not know the things from the unseen except by Allah taala informing them sometimes thereof. The Hanafi jurists have stated explicitly the apostating of one who holds that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, knew the unseen due to it conflicting with the statement of Allah taala: 'Say: No one in the heavens and the knows the Unseen save Allah,'" (Sura Al-Naml:66). See Minah al-Rawd al-Azhar fi Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar, p422. The evidences cited by those who have tried to permit Istigatha are weak. Some of them are incorrectly interpreted, such as when the people on the Day of Judgment will run in desperation to get the help (Istigatha) of the Prophets, finally finding relief in the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him. In this hadith of Bukhari, because those individuals are present in front of them, obviously asking for help from them is fine, as you will have understood from the preceding explanation. Similarly, the evidence of certain Sahabah shouting: "Ya Muhammad," in various battles, if the narrations are assumed to be sound (as they are not from the main works of hadith), they are again imprecise as an evidence, as here it is clear this was not Istigatha. Rather this battle cry was in actual fact the permitted kind of Tawassul and it will be remembered in the narration in which Uthman ibn Hunayf r.a. taught the blind man how to do Tawassul with the blessed name of the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, after his death, "Ya Muhammad" is also used. The actual narration in the History of Imam Tabari, vol.2 p281, that mentions this has a chain that has an unknown narrator, and as such according to the rules of the science of hadith is clearly weak.
Mufti Mohammed Sajjad Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab Please remember us in your Duas... The answer to this question is the opinion of the scholar and does not reflect the opinion of other scholars of As-Suffa Institute and As-Suffa Institute as an organisation. |
