FATWA ON TAWASSUL SEEKING MEANS TO ALLAH THROUGH PROPHETS & SAINTS by Sh. G. F. Haddad The following fatwa (legal opinion) on tawassul (seeking means to Allah) was given by Shaykh Salih al-Na`man, the Secretary of the Section of Ifta' and Religious Education at the Ministry of Religious Endowments (wizarat al-awqaf) of the Syrian Arab Republic in the city of Hama, Syria on March 22, 1980. It is reproduced in full in the 1992 Waqf Ikhlas reprint of Sayyid Ahmad Zayni Dahlan's section of his history of Islam "al-Futuhat al-islamiyya" on the Wahhabi sect entitled "fitnatu al-wahhabiyya." |------- text of fatwa ---------| "Praise belongs to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. Blessings and Peace on our Master Muhammad and on his Family and all his Companions.
"From the slave who is poor and in need of Him, the Secretary of Legal Opinions in the city of Hama (Syria) and the Preacher in the Madfan Mosque, to the brother who asked a question, Sayyid `Ashiq al-Rahman in Wilayatullah Abad in India: Warm greetings and blessings. To proceed: You have asked a question on a legal issue, and this answer is given after some delay because I was away in the Hijaz.
"You asked about <<al-tawassul ilallah ta`ala bi al-anbiya' wa al-mursalin>> -- seeking/using means to Allah the Exalted with/through/by means of the Prophets and the Messengers -- and about <<hukmu man tawassal>> the law's position with regard to the person who makes tawassul. This is the answer:
"Praise belongs to Allah the Exalted, "Seeking means (al-tawassul) to Allah through his Prophet or the Prophets or the Righteous (al-salihin) or with the deeds (a`mal) that are done purely for His glorious countenance: There is no legal prohibition against it, because Allah the Exalted said: { Seek ye the means to Him } [fn1] and { Had they but come to thee when they had wronged themselves, and asked Allah forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-Returning, Merciful, } and because the Companions -- may Allah be well pleased with them -- used to seek a means through Allah's Messenger , as narrated concerning the blind man who used Allah's Messenger as a means (to obtain his request) and his eyes were opened.
"The Community has reached consensus on the fact that tawassul is permissible when belief is sound (idha sahhat al-`aqida), and the consensus of the Community is a legal proof (ijma` al-umma hujjatun shar`iyya); as the Prophet said: "My Community shall not agree on an error." As for the claim of some extremists
(ghulat) of the Wahhabiyya whereby the law's position with regard to the person
who makes tawassul is that it is shirk (worshipping other than Allah together with
Him): there is no proof for such a claim either legally or rationally, because the
person who makes tawassul does not contravene the Prophet's order: "If you ask,
ask Allah, and if you seek help, seek help from Allah." Rather, he is asking Him
through one beloved to Him in order that his supplication be answered, and this is
what our Lord Glorious and Majestic likes from us. How then can we judge that he
is committing shirk when he is not a mushrik (one who commits shirk). Such a act
the law considers abominable and our religion declares itself innocent of it, because
it has been said: "Whoever declares a believer to be an disbeliever has committed
disbelief."
"Our master Usama ibn Zayd killed a mushrik after the latter had said: "There is no
god but Allah" (la ilaha illallah). When news of this reached Allah's Messenger he
condemned our master Usama in the strongest terms and he said to him:
"How can you ki ll him after he said La ilaha illallah? "
He replied: "But he said it with the sword hanging over his head?" The
Prophet said again: "How can you kill him after he said La ilaha illallah? "
He replied: "O Messenger of Allah, he said it in dissimulation (taqiyyatan)" The
Prophet said: "Did you spl it his heart open (to see)?" and he did not cease to
reprove him until Usama wished that he had not entered Islam until after he had
killed that man so that he might have been forgiven all his past sins through belief.
"From this and other narrations we conclude that some of the Wahhabis today may
be guilty of hastening to accuse others of disbelief (takfir), as they have done in the
past with hundreds of thousands in the Hijaz whom they massacred even as they
were saying La ilaha illallah, and as the Kharijis have done in the time of our
Master `Ali -- may Allah ennoble his face.
"In short, tawassul is not prohibited, rather it is legally commendable
(mustahsanu shar`an), and it is not permitted (la yajuz) to cast the
label of shirk on the believer. This is what will be found in the
established books of Islamic law. And Allah knows best."
6 Jumada I 1400
22 March 1980
Signature of the Secretary of Fatwas in Hama
Seal of the Ministry of Religious Endowments
District of the Muhafazat of Hama, Syria
|-----end of text------|
Success is from Allah
{ And our duty is but plain conveyance } (36:17)
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions GFH [29 Jan 1996] fn1: a means, a means of approach = wasila [Qur'an, 5: 35] More on Tawassul:
Tawassul (supplicating Allah through a means) through a living or deceased intermediary is not the seeking of assistance from a physical body, or through a life or death; rather, it is to seek assistance through the positive meaning attached to the person in both life and death, and due to their rank with Allah, for the body is but the vehicle that carries that significance. ...
Therefore, there is nothing wrong in using the Prophets, saints and the righteous as intermediaries to Allah, through any of the above mentioned means, as long as one does not believe them to have the power to benefit or harm in of themselves without the granting of Allah.
--from sunnipath.com , x L 20120703
texts on tawassul: • < Fatwa On Tawassul, Seeking Means To Allah Through Prophets & Saints > • < Nawawi's greeting of Prophet > • < Hadith of Adam tawassul through the Prophet > • < Poem of Tawassul and Praise > • < Tawassul of `Umar through al-`Abbas > • < Tawassul and Tabarruk of the Salaf > • < Outline Of Misbah Al-Anam; chapter 3, chapter 14 >
"From the slave who is poor and in need of Him, the Secretary of Legal Opinions in the city of Hama (Syria) and the Preacher in the Madfan Mosque, to the brother who asked a question, Sayyid `Ashiq al-Rahman in Wilayatullah Abad in India: Warm greetings and blessings. To proceed: You have asked a question on a legal issue, and this answer is given after some delay because I was away in the Hijaz.
"You asked about <<al-tawassul ilallah ta`ala bi al-anbiya' wa al-mursalin>> -- seeking/using means to Allah the Exalted with/through/by means of the Prophets and the Messengers -- and about <<hukmu man tawassal>> the law's position with regard to the person who makes tawassul. This is the answer:
"Praise belongs to Allah the Exalted, "Seeking means (al-tawassul) to Allah through his Prophet or the Prophets or the Righteous (al-salihin) or with the deeds (a`mal) that are done purely for His glorious countenance: There is no legal prohibition against it, because Allah the Exalted said: { Seek ye the means to Him } [fn1] and { Had they but come to thee when they had wronged themselves, and asked Allah forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-Returning, Merciful, } and because the Companions -- may Allah be well pleased with them -- used to seek a means through Allah's Messenger , as narrated concerning the blind man who used Allah's Messenger as a means (to obtain his request) and his eyes were opened.
"The Community has reached consensus on the fact that tawassul is permissible when belief is sound (idha sahhat al-`aqida), and the consensus of the Community is a legal proof (ijma` al-umma hujjatun shar`iyya); as the Prophet said: "My Community shall not agree on an error." As for the claim of some extremists
(ghulat) of the Wahhabiyya whereby the law's position with regard to the person
who makes tawassul is that it is shirk (worshipping other than Allah together with
Him): there is no proof for such a claim either legally or rationally, because the
person who makes tawassul does not contravene the Prophet's order: "If you ask,
ask Allah, and if you seek help, seek help from Allah." Rather, he is asking Him
through one beloved to Him in order that his supplication be answered, and this is
what our Lord Glorious and Majestic likes from us. How then can we judge that he
is committing shirk when he is not a mushrik (one who commits shirk). Such a act
the law considers abominable and our religion declares itself innocent of it, because
it has been said: "Whoever declares a believer to be an disbeliever has committed
disbelief."
"Our master Usama ibn Zayd killed a mushrik after the latter had said: "There is no
god but Allah" (la ilaha illallah). When news of this reached Allah's Messenger he
condemned our master Usama in the strongest terms and he said to him:
"How can you ki ll him after he said La ilaha illallah? "
He replied: "But he said it with the sword hanging over his head?" The
Prophet said again: "How can you kill him after he said La ilaha illallah? "
He replied: "O Messenger of Allah, he said it in dissimulation (taqiyyatan)" The
Prophet said: "Did you spl it his heart open (to see)?" and he did not cease to
reprove him until Usama wished that he had not entered Islam until after he had
killed that man so that he might have been forgiven all his past sins through belief.
"From this and other narrations we conclude that some of the Wahhabis today may
be guilty of hastening to accuse others of disbelief (takfir), as they have done in the
past with hundreds of thousands in the Hijaz whom they massacred even as they
were saying La ilaha illallah, and as the Kharijis have done in the time of our
Master `Ali -- may Allah ennoble his face.
"In short, tawassul is not prohibited, rather it is legally commendable
(mustahsanu shar`an), and it is not permitted (la yajuz) to cast the
label of shirk on the believer. This is what will be found in the
established books of Islamic law. And Allah knows best."
6 Jumada I 1400
22 March 1980
Signature of the Secretary of Fatwas in Hama
Seal of the Ministry of Religious Endowments
District of the Muhafazat of Hama, Syria
|-----end of text------|
Success is from Allah
{ And our duty is but plain conveyance } (36:17)
Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions GFH [29 Jan 1996] fn1: a means, a means of approach = wasila [Qur'an, 5: 35] More on Tawassul:
Tawassul (supplicating Allah through a means) through a living or deceased intermediary is not the seeking of assistance from a physical body, or through a life or death; rather, it is to seek assistance through the positive meaning attached to the person in both life and death, and due to their rank with Allah, for the body is but the vehicle that carries that significance. ...
Therefore, there is nothing wrong in using the Prophets, saints and the righteous as intermediaries to Allah, through any of the above mentioned means, as long as one does not believe them to have the power to benefit or harm in of themselves without the granting of Allah.
--from sunnipath.com , x L 20120703
texts on tawassul: • < Fatwa On Tawassul, Seeking Means To Allah Through Prophets & Saints > • < Nawawi's greeting of Prophet > • < Hadith of Adam tawassul through the Prophet > • < Poem of Tawassul and Praise > • < Tawassul of `Umar through al-`Abbas > • < Tawassul and Tabarruk of the Salaf > • < Outline Of Misbah Al-Anam; chapter 3, chapter 14 >
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