uḥammad b. Ṣaliḥ Al-‗Uthaymin has objected to taking proof from the verse of the Qur‘an [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] as he said in his formal legal opinions (Fatawa) what follows: ―Idh (when) is an adverb [denoting time] that has passed by and not an adverb
[denoting action that will take place] in the future. Allah has not said: ―And had they, when they are unjust‖, rather Allah said ―when (idh) they were unjust‖. Hence this verse is referring to something that took place during the life of the Messenger of God . And the possibility that the Messenger of God asks forgiveness for them after his death is something impossible. This is due to the fact that after the death of a person all of his actions are discontinued - as the Messenger has said - except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge which is being benefited from or a righteous child who prays for him. Hence there is no possibility for a man to ask forgiveness after his death for anyone, or even for himself, because his deeds have been discontinued.‖ (End of quote) (fatawa of uthaymin 1/89) He is a ―Salafi‖ Shaykh and is quoted frequesntly for legal rulings by ―Salafies‖ on networking sites and others. Here he has made a very bold statement about the verse of the holy Qur‘an that the people who say that tawassul is valid assert as a proof for their stance. Going into the grammatical lexicons of the verse Shaykh Ibn uthaymin has tried to convince people that their position is right and our position is wrong. Shaykh Ibn uthaymin is wrong in various ways:
3. We have already seen what the aaemaa of Tafsir and Fiqh have said about the aayat. It is very surprising that inspite of the particular understanding of teh aayat by a tremendously large amount of ulema from the past that you might have found throughout the book the ―salafies‖ and their ulema again are trying to go against all odds to prove their point. It is upto the reader as to who is wrong and who is right.We already know that Imam Ibn katheer has expounded the verse by the hadith of al Utbi‘ and the bedoin, this showing us the contemporary usage he has derived from the verse. We have also seen that Imam Qurtubi mentions another hadith narrated by Abu saadiq about Ali and the bedoin; a tradition similar to that of al Utbi‘ but still different. He, by doing this
M
has again expounded the meaning of the verse of the holy Qur‘an with its sense of usage today.
Then we also saw that when Imam Malik was asked about turning towards the Prophet while making dua near his noble grave by Mansur, Imam Malik said what has been related and then recited this verse and thus showed his ijtihaad regarding the verse. We have also seen that Imam Ibn Quddama maqsidi al hanballi basing his manaasik of hajj on the act of al Utbi‘ has again directed people to read the verse of the holy Qur‘an. This also shows his saying about the aayat.
So Ibn uthaymins saying that it is restricted only to the Prophets time goes against the principles of established Ulemaa of our religion and thus is easily rejected.
4. Let his restriction of idh to the past tense be examined. Idh is used in the past as well as in the future and it has several other meanings that were mentioned by Ibn Hisham in Mughni Al-Labib.
Al-Azhari has [also] stated that idh (when) is used in the future; he said in Tahzib Al-Lugha that Arabs use idh for the future and idha for the past. God, the Great and Almighty said: ―And could you see when (idh) they shall become terrified‖. Qur‘an: Saba‟, 51. We could also mention as an example of using idh in the future what Allah, Exalted is He, said: ―And could you see when (idh) they are made to stand before the fire‖ Qur‘an: Al-An‟am, 27; ―And could you see when (idh) they are made to stand before their Lord.‖ Qur‘an: Al-An‟am, 30 ;―And if you had seen when (idh) the unjust shall be in the agonies of death‖ Qur‘an: Al-An‟am, 93 ; ―And could you but see when (idh) the guilty shall hang down their heads before their Lord‖ Qur‘an: Al-Sajda, 12
And regarding what he said about ―all actions are discontinued‖. Shaykh Mahmud syyed mamduh in his book ―raaf al minaarah‖ again has refuted Shaykh uthaymin quite clearly:
The first one is that it was authentically reported that the Prophet said: ―the Prophets are alive in their graves praying‖ as mentioned by Al-Bayhaqi in Ḥayat Al-Anbiya‘ p. 15 , by Abu Ya‘la in his musnad 147/6,Abu Nu‘aym in akhbar asbahan 44/2, Ibn Adi in Kamil 2/739, Al haytami said in majmua az zawaaid ―the narrators of Abu Yala are trustworthy‖ and there are other chains for the hadith.[Furthermore], the Messenger of ALLAH said ―I came across Moses when he was standing praying in his grave‖ as mentioned by Muslim 4/1845, Aḥmad 3/120, and Baghawi in Sharḥ Al-Sunna 13/351 as well as by others. In addition to that, Ibn al-Qayyim said in his (poem) Nuniyya about the life of the Messengers after their demise Al-Nuniyya with Sharḥ Ibn ‗Isa 2/160,
The Messengers are at a more excellent state than him (the Martyr) and this is clearly demonstrated Because they were even in their lives more accomplished than our martyrs in wisdom and in giving proofs And because the Messenger‟s marriage is not annulled after his death, and his wives remained chaste and protectedIn this is not there evidence that He is alive, for he who has ears to hear?
Ibn Taymiyya in his book Al-Ṣarim al-Maslul „Ala Shatim Al-Rasul, which is one of his best books:.
And he is in progress and exaltation till the Day of Judgment. And such matters are known as a necessity from the religion and affirmed in the books of Al-Khaṣa‟iṣ, Dala‟il al-Nubuwwah Al-Shifa and the corresponding commentaries. As he has said that ―Whoever calls to guidance will have the same reward as those who follow it without their reward being reduced in the slightest bit‖ Reported by Muslim and others. , All the deeds which are done by the Community of Muhammad, therefore, revert to the Prophet of Allah‘s preaching (da‘wah) and the reward. (for these good acts) reverts to him. And he certainly takes profit of them (the good actions of the ummah) without the rewards (of the ummah) being reduced the slightest bit. And regarding this, Ibn Taymiyya said in his legal opinions Fatawa: 1/191. It has been proven about the Prophet in the Saḥiḥ that he said: ―Whoever calls to guidance will have the same reward as those who follow it without their reward being reduced in the slightest bit‖. And Muḥammad is the caller (da‘i) to his community‘s good deeds (i.e. he originally called them towards these good deeds), hence he has from what they do the same reward as they do without theirs being reduced the slightest bit. [End of Ibn taymiyyahs words.]
I say: the life of the prophet in his grave has is a fact that has reached to certainity in the Muslim Ummah and the proof for this is many many ahadith.
ma min aHadin yusallimu `alayya illa radda ilayy -Allahu rûHi Hatta arudda `alayhi al-salâm
"No-one greets me except Allah has returned my soul to me so that I can return his salâm".
From Abu Hurayra, in Abu Dawud with a sound (SaHeeH) chain. This hadith has been adduced by the scholars as the legal proof for the validity and modality of visiting and greeting the Prophet , although the hadith does not mention the necessity of physically visiting the Prophet in Madina.
A note about the translation of "has returned": Suyuti said that "radda" means `ala al-dawâm," i.e.
permanently, and not temporarily: in other words, Allah does not return the rûH and take it back, then return it again and then take it back again, but He returned it to the Prophet permanently, and the Prophet is alive permanently.
Sakhawi, Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalâni's student, said: "As for us (Muslims) we believe and we confirm that he is alive and provided for IN HIS GRAVE" (qawl badee` p. 161). Ibn Qayyim said in al-RûH p. 58: "It is obligatory knowledge to know that his body is in the earth tender and humid (i.e.
as in life), and when the Companions asked him: 'How is our greeting presented to you after you have turned to dust' he replied:
'Allah has defended the earth from consuming the flesh of Prophets,' and if his body was not in his grave he would not have given this answer."
Ibn Hajar al-Haythami wrote in al-jawhar al-munazzam (?):
"tawâtarat al-adillatu wa al-nuqûlu bi anna al-MuSTafa Hayyun Tariyyu... wa Sawmun thumma Hajjun kulla `âmin yaTTahhiru li al-Salâti bi mâ'i ghaythi" which means:
"The proofs and the transmitted texts have been established as authentic in the highest degree that the Prophet is alive and tender... that he fasts and performs pilgrimage every year, and that he purifies himself with water which rain s on him."
inn-Allaha qad Harrama `ala al -arDi an ta'kul a aj sâd al-anbiyâ'.
"Allah has defended the earth from consuming the bodies of Prophets".
A sound (sahih) tradition related on the authority of Aws Ibn Aws al-Thaqafi by: Ahmad in his Musnad, Ibn Abi Shaybah in the Musannaf, Abu Dawud in the Sunan, Nisa'i in his Sunan, Ibn Majah in his Sunan, Darimi in his Musnad, Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, Hakim in the Mustadrak, Tabarani in his Kabir, Bayhaqi in Hayat al-anbiya', Suyuti in Anba' al-adkhiya, Dhahabi who confirmed Hâkim's grading, and Nawawi in the Adhkar.
Another version in Ibn Maja has this addition:
fa nabiyyAllahi Hayyun yurzaq
"And the Prophet of Allah is alive and provided for."
Bayhaqi mentions it also in the Sunan al-kubra.
Anas bin Malik narrates : the prophet sallalahu alyhi wasallam said: ―al anbiya ahyaahum fi
quboorihim yusalloon‖ ―The Prophets are alive in their graves , praying.‖ Narrated by Abu yala and many others and haythami in his majma az zawaaid says : ―narrated by abu yala and his men are
trustworthy and reliable‖ and Ibn Adi in Kamil and he said ―wa arju anhu laa basa bihi‖ ― there is no problem with the isnaad‖
Asqalani in fath al baari (6:487) writes: ―Imam Bayhaiqi has compiled a beautiful book on the lives of the prophets in their graves in which he has narrated the hadith from Anas bin Malik that the prophets are alive in their graves and even pray. This hadith he has narrated from Yahya bin Abi Katheer who is the narrator of sahih hadith and from Mustalib bin Saeed and he has been called reliable by Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal and Ibn Hibban has narrated this hadith from Hajjaj Aswad and he is Ibn Abi Ziyyad al Basri and he too has been called reliable by Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal. Ibn Ma‘in has narrated tis hadith from Thabit (al bunaani) and Abu Yala has narrated tis hadith in his musnad from this very route and Imam Bazzartoo has narrated it and Imam has declared it sahih‖.
And in Lisan al Mizan too Asqalani has mentioned this hadith and he quotes Ibn Adis words that have been mentioned above.
There are several more Ahadith and proof texts for this fact but this is not the correct moment to discuss this and the amount that we have mentioned above will suffice for anyone who has a heart that doesnt have any prejudice in it. And ALLAH knows best