(I have chosen these four great aaemaa from all of the aaemaa because they are all authorities from the four schools of thought. Imam Nawawi without any blink of eye is called the second shaafi‘i.
Imam Ibnul Humam Hanafi is also an authority in Hanafi Fiqh and is quoted by both the Hanafis as well as the ―Salafies‖. Imam Ibn al Haaj al Maliki who lived during the 800th century hijree although considered being among the stricter jurists who made many strict rulings etc. is considered to be an authority of high repute over Maliki Fiqh and his book ―Al Madkhall‖ is considered to be an important book. Imam Ibn Quddama Al Hanbali again is an authority in Hanbali Fiqh and is quoted by all. All the Ahlul Ilm knows the virtue and value of these four Ulema. I am trying to point that this evidence that I have reported below only is enough to show the ―Salafies‖ what they believe in and what the legal opinion of the four schools of thought established by authorities is.)
The other reason I am mentioning this here are the misleading words of Sheikh Albaani in his ―at tawassul: types and rulings‖ when he clearly declares as if without any knowledge:
―Neither did any of the scholars write that in the rites of Hajj, nor at any other time, is it
recommended for anyone to make request of the Prophet (sallalahu walyhi wasallam) at his grave, nor that anyone should ask him to intercede for them, nor that they should ask him to supplicate for his Ummah, nor should anyone complain to him of any misfortune afflicting the Muslims in their worldly life or their religion.‖ (page 117 of the English translation).
1) A proof that tawassul through the Prophet after his time is universally recognized and encouraged in the Shari`a is Imam Nawawi's description of the etiquette of visiting the grave of the Prophet after the fulfillment of the Pilgrimage in the Book of Hajj in the Adhkar, under the chapter of visiting the prophets grave where he says:
[After giving Salam to the Prophet, Abu Bakr, and `Umar] Then he [the visitor] returns to his initial station opposite the Prophet's face, and he uses the Prophet as his means in his innermost (fa yatawassalu bihi fi Haqqi nafsihi), and seeks his intercession before his exalted and mighty Lord (wa yatashaffa`u bihi ila rabbihi subhanahu wa ta`ala)... and he avails himself of this noble spot, and glorifies and praises and magnifies ALLAH and invokes blessings on His Messenger. Let him do all that abundantly.80[81]
I have for the benefit of the readers scanned the entire chapter of Imam Nawawi from his book ―al adhkar‖ and not taken even the liberty to translate it as his words are precise and speak for
themselves. This is the chapter under the ―book of Hajj‖ in ―al adhkar‖ named ―chapter on visiting the grave of the prophet alyhi salam‖ that had already been mentioned elsewhere in this book but now this time I hae copied down the entire chapter of Imam Nawawi for the benefit of those whose hearts are open and want to know the truth about the minhaj of the ulema of the past regarding tawassul and tabarruk and other such things. The edition from which I have mentioned this chapter is from ―daar al misriyyah al lubaaniyyah‖ 1988 edition and anyone who has doubt can check it out by buying the book as it is present in all big Islamic libraries because of its great stature in Islamic literature.
80[81]Nawawi, al-Adhkar (Ta'if ed.) p. 262 and al-Adhkar (Cairo ed.) p. 264
Nawawi similarly says in the part devoted to visiting the Prophet in his book on Pilgrimage entitled al-Idah fi manasik al-hajj:
[The visitor stands and greets the Prophet, and then he moves to greet Abu Bakr and `Umar]
Then he returns to his original position, directly in front of ALLAH's Messenger, and he uses the Prophet as his means in his innermost self (fa yatawassalu bihi fi Haqqi nafsihi), and seeks his intercession before his exalted and mighty Lord (wa yatashaffa`u bihi ila rabbihi subhanahu wa ta`ala) and one of the BEST things that he can say is what has been narrated by our colleagues on al-`Utbi‘'s authority, and they admired what he said:
As I was sitting by the grave of the Prophet, a Bedouin Arab came and said: "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of ALLAH! I have heard ALLAH saying: "If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked ALLAH's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgive-ness for them, they would have found ALLAH indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful" (4:64), so I have come to you asking forgiveness for my sin, seeking your intercession with my Lord..."81[82]
After mentioning al this in his much reputed ―al adhkar‖ he in the end of the chapter mentions the story of Al-Utbi and doesn‘t call it deviation rather I say that his mentioning it there is clear proof of his intentions and furthermore this is strengthened by the words he uses for the story in his Idah fi Manasik al-hajj!!
And he also says such in his Majmu` Sharh Muhaddhab:
[The visitor stands and greets the Prophet, and then he moves to greet Abu Bakr and `Umar]
Then he returns to his original position, directly in front of ALLAH's Messenger, and he uses the Prophet as his means in his innermost self (fa yatawassalu bihi fi Haqqi nafsihi), and seeks his intercession before his exalted and mighty Lord (wa yatashaffa`u bihi ila rabbihi subhanahu wa ta`ala) and one of the BEST things that he can say is what has been narrated by our colleagues Al mawardi, Qadi Abu tayyib and an overwhelming majority of our companions (the scholars of the shafi`is) on al-`Utbi‘'s authority, and they admired what he said:
As I was sitting by the grave of the Prophet, a Bedouin Arab came and said: "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of ALLAH! I have heard ALLAH saying: "If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked ALLAH's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgive-ness for them, they would have found ALLAH indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful" (4:64), so I have come to you asking forgiveness for my sin, seeking your intercession with my Lord, and then he said:
(the poetry that has been mentioned elsewhere also)
Then (al utbi says) I fell asleep and I saw the prophet alyhi salatu was salam in my dream and he told me that go and inform that bedoiun that verily ALLAH has forgiven him!
Presented on the next page is the original Arabic text scanned from the book directly:
81[82]Nawawi, al-Idah fi manasik al-hajj (Damascus: Dar Ibn Khaldun, n.d.) p. 144. See also a similar
passage in Nawawi's Majmu` (8:212f.).
2) Similarly the Hanafi faqih and Mujtahid Imam Kamal Din Ibn Humam said in Fath al-qadir (2:337), book of hajj, chapter on visiting the Prophet:
WA yas'alu ALLAHa hajatahu mutawassilan ilALLAH bi hadrati nabiyyihi thumma qala yas'alu al-nabiyya sallALLAHu `alayhi wa sallam al-shafa`ata fa yaqulu ya rasulALLAH as'aluka al-shafa`ata ya rasulALLAH atawassalu bika ilALLAH:
Then let him ask ALLAH for his need, using ALLAH's Prophet as his means to ALLAH;
(then he said): Let him ask the Prophet for his intercession and say: O Messenger of ALLAH, I am asking you for your intercession; O Messenger of ALLAH, I am using you as my means to ALLAH.
3) Imam Ibn al Haaj al Maliki, one of the greatest of the Maliki jurists and whose book ―al madkhal‖ is regarded an authoritative book over Maliki Fiqh says:
After quoting the narration of the tawassul of ‗Umar Ibn Khattab through ‗Abbas , Ibn al-hajj said:
Then he is to perform tawassul through the people of those graves, I mean: through the righteous from among them in fulfilling his needs and forgiving his sins. Then he should supplicate for himself, his parents, his teachers, his relatives, and the inhabitants of those graves, and the dead from among the Muslims and their living and their offspring until the Day of Judgment and those who are not present from his brothers. He should turn to ALLAH the Exalted in supplicating at their place (of burial) and frequently make tawassul through them unto ALLAH the Exalted, because He, the Glorified and Exalted choose them, honored them, and ennobled them. So, just as He caused them to be a source of benefit in this world, so it will be in the hereafter, nay, even more. So, whoever has a need to be fulfilled, and then let him go to them and make tawassul through them, for they are the intermediaries between ALLAH the Exalted and His creation. It has been established in the Sacred Law, and ALLAH the Exalted knows what He has vouchsafed to them of (Divine) care. That is Abundant and well known. The people have not ceased, among the scholars and elders, from elder to elder, both East and West, deriving blessings by way of visitation of their graves, and they find the blessings of that both in the sensory, and spiritual (issan wa ma‘nan). The Shaykh, the Imam, Abu
‗AbdALLAH Ibn Nu‘man (may ALLAH have mercy upon him) mentioned in his book titled: safinat al-naja‘ li ahl al-iltija‘, regarding the miracles of the Shaykh, Abul Naja‘.
Speaking about this, he said: ‗It has been realized by those who possess insight and consideration, that visiting the graves of the righteous is beloved for the sake of obtaining blessings along with reflection.
The blessings of the righteous flow after their death, just as it did during their life. Supplicating at the graves of the righteous and seeking intercession through them has been acted upon by our verifying scholars from the Imams of the religion.‘ (Al-Madkhal; 1/255)
In the section on the manners of visiting the Prophet , Ibn al-Hajj said:
As for what has been mentioned regarding visiting the grave of the Master of the first and last , then all that has been mentioned should be increased by many folds, meaning, in humility, brokenness, and tranquility, because he is the one who will intercede and have his intercession accepted, the one whose intercession will not be rejected. The one who intends him (in their journey of visitation) will not be let down, nor will the one who disembarks upon his place, nor the one who seeks his aid or refuge (wa la man ista‘ana aw istaghatha bihi ), for he , is the pole of perfection and the crown jewel of the kingdom. ALLAH the Exalted said in His mighty Book: ―He has certainly seen the greater signs from His Lord.‘‘ Our scholars (may ALLAH the Exalted have mercy upon them) have stated:
He saw his image, for he is the crown jewel of the kingdom. So, whoever makes tawassul through him, seeks aid through him (istaghatha bihi), or seeks his needs through him, then he will not be refused or disappointed. (Madkhall 1; 258)
Ibn al-hajj further said:
Our scholars (may ALLAH the Exalted have mercy upon them) said: The visitor should cause himself to feel as if he is standing in front of him just as he would be\ in his life, for there is no difference between his death and life, meaning, in his witnessing of his Ummah, and his knowing of their situations, intentions, resolves, and inner thoughts. That is (all) clear to him without there being any Concealment whatsoever. If someone said (in objection to this): These attributes are particular to the Master (ALLAH) , the response is: All of those who have relocated to the hereafter from among the believers know the situation of the living predominately. That has occurred to no end (found) in accounts that have been (reported) to have occurred. It is possible that their knowledge of that is when the actions of the living are presented to them, and there are other possibilities to it (as well). These
matters are hidden from us. The truthful one informed about the presentation of deeds to them (the dead) so it must occur. The knowledge of how it occurs is not known and ALLAH knows best about it, and it is sufficient as a clarification, the statement of the Prophet : ―The believer sees with the light of ALLAH.‘‘
The light of ALLAH is not veiled by anything. This is regarding the living among the believers, so what about those among them in the other worldly abode? The Imam, Abu ‗AbdALLAH al-Qurtubi said in his Tadhkirah: (It has been narrated that) Ibn Mubarak narrated with his chain to al-Minhal Ibn ‗Amr who narrated that he heard Sa‘id Ibn al-Musayyib say: ‗There is not a day, except that on it, the actions of the Ummah are presented to the Prophet , both in the morning and the evening. So, he knows them by their deeds and appearances, and it is due to that he will bear witness against them. ALLAH the Exalted said: ―So how will it be when We bring every nation with a witness and bring you as a witness over these‘‘ It has proceeded, that the deeds are presented to ALLAH the Blessed and Exalted on Thursday and Monday and (the deeds are presented) to the Prophets and fathers and mothers on Friday and there is no contradiction, for it is possible that it is specific to the Prophet that the deeds are presented to him every day and on Friday with the other Prophets. (End quote from al-Qurtubi) (Madkhall 1: 259)
Further on, Ibn al-Hajj said:
So when he visits him , if he is able to (remain standing) and not sit, then this is better. If he was unable, then he can sit with proper decorum, respect, and honor. When the visitor is seeking the fulfillment of his needs and forgiveness of his sins, he might not need to mention that with his tongue.
Nay, he may bring that to presence in his heart while he is standing in front of him , because he knows his needs and benefits more than him, and is more merciful to him than himself, and more caring towards him than his own relatives. He said : ―The likeness of me and all of you is like moths that are rushing into the fire while I am standing to prevent you from It.‖, or as he said. This applies to the Prophet at all timesmeaning in tawassul through him and seeking the fulfillment of one‘s needs by way of his rank with his Lord . Whoever is unable to undertake a visit to him with his body, then let him intend it at all times with his heart, and let him bring present to his heart that he is there in front of him seeking intercession through him unto the One who bestowed (His) bounty (ALLAH) through him, as was said by the Imam, Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Sayyid al-Batalayusi (may ALLAH have mercy upon him) in his line (of poetry) that he sent to him:
Unto you I flee from my slips and sins,
And when I meet ALLAH you are the one sufficient for me Visiting your grave that is visited by foot
Is my longing and desire if my Lord Wills So if visitation of him is prevented by my body, Then I am not prevented from visiting him with my heart To you oh Messenger of ALLAH I send, from myself, A salutation of a believer and lover. (Madkhall 1: 264)
4) Imam Ibnul Quddama al Hanbali after mentioning the hadith of al Utbi‘ in his voluminious book ―Al Mughni fi Fiqh al Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal‖ has written the following as I quote in Arabic
directly from the book:
Translation: ―Then you visit the grave, you turn your back, face its center and say: May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah be upon you, O Prophet! May the peace of Allah be upon you O Prophet of Allah and the best of His creation. (Till he says after praising and sending blessings upon the Prophet): O Allah! you said, and your saying is truthful: ―and had they, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked forgiveness of ALLAH and the Messenger had (also) asked forgiveness for them, they would have found ALLAH Oft-returning (to mercy), Merciful‖ , and I have come to you seeking forgiveness for my sins, seeking intercession through you (O prophet alyhi salaam)to my Lord, hence I ask you O Lord to obligate forgiveness for me as you have made it an obligation for those who came to him during his lifetime . O ALLAH make him be the first among intercessors, the most successful among seekers and the most generous of the last and first [Prophets], with your mercy, O Most Merciful. Then he invokes Allah in favor of his parents and all his Muslim brothers‖. End of the concise quote.(the last paragraph here in arabice presented above has been omitted from the translation and it speaks about sending salaams over the companions of the Prophet alyhi salaam)(al Mughni volume 3/590)
(Please note that even Imam Ibn Quddama al Hanbali considers the verse ―and had they, when they were unjust...‖ to be contemporary and to be about the visitation to the Prophets grave and seek forgiveness of ALLAH through them, not to mention the words of Imam Malik Ibn anas to al Mansur that we have again and again quoted throughout this book)
5 IMAM BAHUTI AL HANBALI ON THE SAME TOPIC:
Imam Bahuti al Hanbali, was one of the greatest of the hanbali imams, who is relied upon, the fiqh master, and the author if Kashaf al Qina` that is relied upon, and how great this book is, one of the best books on hanbali fiqh. He was the relied upon shaykh of the hanbalis in Egypt and he was unique in his times for reviving the madhabb of the reverent Imam of Ahle sunnah wal jama`ah, the relied upon Imam, Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal.
Amongst his shuyukh were Shaykh Yahya bin Sharaf al hijawi al Dimishqi, Imam Muhammad Ash Shami, Imam Abdul Aldunwishri Shafi`I,Imam Jamal Abdul Qader Dunwishri al Hanbali, Imam Nur Ali Halabi, Imam Ahmed warithial Siddiqi and many many more. Most of the the great scholars of the later scholars of hanbalites took from him like Imam Jamal Yusuf Bahuti, Imam Abdur Rahman Bahuti, Imam Shaykh Muhammad Shami Mardawi,etc. amongst his other students and those who took from him also are Shaykh Muhammad Khulwati, Yasin lubdi, Shaykh Abdul Haqq bin `ummah, Shaykh yusuf al Karmi, and Shaykh Muhammad bin Surwur, etc.
He has written many books, most of them shuroohat (explanations) of books on fiqh, like the sharh of Iqna` (other than Kashaf al qina`), and sharh on muntaha, etc. But Kashaf al Qina` remains his tome and the most popular of his books. In this book of fiqh, under the chapter of Hajj, he also forms a chapter of ―Ziyarat al Mustafa‖ and under that chapter he mentions almost the same words ass those of Ibn Quddama as I have quoted in Arabic above, and even translated, so I wont take the liberty to translate it again while mentioning it again here, except some of it from the ending.
Here I have presented the scan from the original book itself for the readers to see and know what the
Here I have presented the scan from the original book itself for the readers to see and know what the