SHAYKH AL-ISLAM AL-HAFIZ TAQI AL-DIN

AL-SUBKI’S INVOCATION OF TAWASSUL

This is Shaykh al-Islam al-hafiz Taqi al-Din al-Subki’s invocation of tawassul through the Prophet. It is taken from his Fatwas, Vol. 1 p. 274, at the beginning of the fatwa entitled “The Descent of Tranquility and Peace on the Nightlights of Madina” (tanazzul al-sakina `ala qanadil al-madina).

Transliteration:

        al-hamdu lillahi al-ladhi as`adana bi nabiyyihi sallallahu

        `alayhi wa sallama sa`adatan la tabid

        wa ashhadu an la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu

        al-wali al-hamid

  wa ashhadu anna muhammadan `abduhu wa rasuluhu al-hadi ila

        kulli amrin rashid

        sallallahu `alayhi wa `ala alihi salatan taliqu bi jalalihi

        la tazalu ta`lu wa tazid

        wa sallama tasliman kathiran ila yawm al-mazid

        wa ba`d fa inna Allaha ya`lamu anna kulla khayrin ana fihi

        wa manna `alayya bihi fa huwa bi sababi al-nabi sallallahu

        `alayhi wa sallam wa iltija’i ilayh

        wa i`timadi fi tawassuli ila Allahi fi kulli umuri `alayh

        fa huwa wasilati ila Allahi fi al-dunya wa al-akhira

        wa kam lahu `alayya min ni`amin batinatin wa zahira.

Translation:

   To Allah belongs all praise, Who has blessed us with his Prophet,

        blessings and peace be upon him, with an endless felicity.

        I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah alone without

        partner, the protecting Friend, the Glorious.

  I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, the

        guide to every upright matter.

May Allah send blessings and peace upon him in a manner befitting

        His majesty, with a blessing rising ever higher and increasing

        And a superabundant greeting of peace until the Day of the

        Increase (Day of Judgment).

        To proceed: Verily Allah knows that every goodness in my life

        which He has bestowed upon me is on account of the Prophet

        and that my recourse is to him

        And my reliance is upon him in seeking a means to Allah in

        every matter of mine.

        Verily he is my means to Allah in this world and the next.

        And the gifts of Allah I owe to him are too many to count,

        both the hidden and the visible.

            This is the language of Ahl al-Sunna. We embrace this language as faultless and accept it. Those in whose hearts there is a disease find fault with it. And praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Following is a short description of Subki’s stature as an Imam in Islam, based on Nuh Keller’s biographical notice in the Reliance of the Traveller:

            Abu al-Hasan Taqi al-Din al-Subki (683-756 / 1284-1355) is the son and father of illustrious scholars and jurists all of the Shafi`i school. He was a hadith master (hafiz), Koranic exegete, and Islamic judge who was described by Ibn Hajar Haythami as “the mujtahid Imam whose imamate, greatness, and having reached the level of ijtihad (competence for independent legal reasoning) are agreed upon,” by Dhahabi as “the most learned, eloquent, and wise in judgment of all the shaykhs of the age,” and by Sakhawi as “one of those who are named Shaykh al-Islam” along with his son Taj al-Din. Suyuti says of him: “He authored more than 150 works, his writings displaying his profound knowledge of hadith and other fields and his magisterial command of the Islamic sciences. He educated the foremost scholars of the time, was a painstaking, accurate, and penetrating researcher, and a brilliant debater in the disciplines. No previous scholar attained to his achievements in Sacred Law, of masterful inferences, subtleties in detail, and carefully worked-out methodological principles.” Salah al-Din Safadi said of him: “People say that no one like him has appeared since Ghazali, though in my opinion they do him an injustice thereby, for to my mind he does not resemble anyone less than Sufyan al-Thawri.” With his vast erudition, he was at the same time a godfearing ascetic in his personal life who was devoted to worship and tasawwuf, though vigilant and uncompromising in matters of religion and ready to assail any innovation or departure from the tenets of the faith of Ahl al-Sunna.

TAWASSUL THROUGH THE AWLIYA’

The evidence for tawassul through the awliya’ or saints is also abundant, and it suffices that Allah strictly warns all believers to keep company with them when He says: “O believers! Be wary of Allah, and keep company with the truthful!” (9:119) and He enjoins us to follow those who have turned to Him in true and complete repentence (31:15). The Prophet said to al-Firasi, concerning asking from people: “If you absolutely must ask from people, then ask from the righteous ones” (in kunta la budda sa’ilan fas’al al-salihin).^[31] There is no doubt that the visit of pious persons is a Sunna in Islam for that very purpose, as shown by the chapters to that effect entitled Bab ziyarat al-salihin in the books of etiquette and invocations.

Some people think that if a du`a from a holy man is answered while he is alive then he cannot help you if he is dead, as if the holy man or shaykh or saint is the origin of the help, but it is always Allah who is the source of the baraka and never a human being; so to think that Allah can only give when that saint is alive, and that when he is dead, Allah does not give anymore, is to say that the source is the person and not Allah in the first place! But in  reality it is Allah who is giving help in both cases: life or death.

            As for the objections of some “Salafis” today that it is not permissible to seek the blessings of saints after their death, they are based on the false belief that Allah’s influence through the saints is in need for the saints’ biological life to be effective, and this is absurd! As we said before, Allah’s gift to the saints is independent from their being alive or dead, since in either case the real power always belongs to Allah, and the saints are only a secondary cause with no effective power in themselves. Moreover, the views of the early and late Imams and scholars quoted below concerning the permissibility of tawassul through the pious, also confirm that the objections of “Salafis” to tawassul through the saints after their passing from this life do not stand up to scrutiny.

            It is obligatory for Muslims to believe that the abdal or Substitute-saints exist — so called because, as the Prophet said (see #3 below), “None of them dies except Allah substitutes another in his place” — and that they are among the religious leaders of the Community concerning whom there is no doubt among Muslims. No less than Ibn Taymiyya writes at the end of his `Aqida wasitiyya:

The true adherents of Islam in its pristine purity are Ahl al-Sunnat wal-Jama`a. In their ranks the truthful saints (siddiqin), the martyrs, and the righteous are to be found. Among them are the great men of guidance and illumination, of recorded integrity and celebrated virtue. The Substitutes (abdal) and the Imams of religion are to be found among them and the Muslims are in full accord concerning their guidance. These are the Victorious Group about whom the Prophet said: “A group within my Community manifestly continues to be in the truth. Neither those who oppose them nor those who abandon them can do them harm, from now on until the Day of Resurrection.”^[32]

            The Prophet emphasized in many authentic narrations the benefits brought to all creation through the intercession of Allah’s saints and their standing with Him. Suyuti in his fatwa on the abdal in his Hawi li al-fatawi provided many examples of this type of universal intercession from which we quote the following:

1. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal says in his Musnad (1:112):

… The people of Syria were mentioned in front of `Ali ibn Abi Talib while he was in Iraq, and they said: “Curse them, O Commander of the Believers.”  He replied: “No, I heard the Messenger of Allah say: “The Substitutes (al-abdal) are in Syria and they are forty men, every time one of them dies, Allah substitutes another in his place. By means of them Allah brings down the rain, gives (Muslims) victory over their enemies, and averts punishment from the people of Syria.“” al-Haythami said: “The men in its chains are all those of the sahih except for Sharih ibn `Ubayd, and he is trustworthy (thiqa).”^[33]

2. al-Hakim narrated the following which he graded sound (sahih), and al-Dhahabi confirmed him:

`Ali said: “Do not curse the people of Syria, for among them are the Substitutes (al-abdal), but curse their injustice.”

            Note that any religious knowledge unattainable through ijtihad and authentically conveyed from one of the Companions is considered a hadith by the experts of that science.

3. Tabarani said in his Mu`jam al-awsat:

Anas said that the Prophet said: “The earth will never lack forty men similar to the Friend of the Merciful [Prophet Ibrahim], and through them people receive rain and are given help. None of them dies except Allah substitutes another in his place.” Qatada said: “We do not doubt that al-Hasan [al-Basri] is one of them.”

            Ibn Hibban narrates it in al-Tarikh through Abu Hurayra as: “The earth will never lack forty men similar to Ibrahim the Friend of the Merciful, and through whom you are helped, receive your sustenance, and receive rain.”

4. Imam Ahmad also narrated in the Musnad (5:322):

The Prophet said: “The Substitutes in this Community are thirty like Ibrahim the Friend of the Merciful.  Every time one of them dies, Allah substitutes another one in his place.”

            Hakim Tirmidhi cites it in Nawadir al-usul and Ahmad’s student al-Khallal in his Karamat al-awliya’. Haythami said its men are those of the sahih except `Abd al-Wahid who was declared trustworthy by al-`Ijli and Abu Zar`a (as well as Yahya ibn Ma`in).

5. Abu Dawud through three different good chains in his Sunan (English #4273), Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (6:316), Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf, Abu Ya`la, al-Hakim, and Bayhaqi narrated:

Umm Salama the wife of the Prophet said: “Disagreement will occur at the death of a Caliph and a man of the people of Madina will come forth flying to Mecca. Some of the people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out against his will and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam. An expeditionary force will then be sent against him from Syria but will be swallowed up in the desert between Mecca and Madina, and when the people see that, the Substitutes (abdal) of Syria and the best people (`asaba) of Iraq will come to him and swear allegiance to him…”

6. Imam Ahmad cited in Kitab al-zuhd, also Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Abu Nu`aym, Bayhaqi, and Ibn `Asakir narrated from Julays:

Wahb ibn Munabbih said: I saw the Prophet in my sleep, so I said: “Ya Rasulallah, where are the Substitutes (budala’) of your Community?” So he gestured with his hand towards Syria. I said: “Ya Rasulallah, aren’t there any in Iraq?” He said: “Yes, Muhammad ibn Wasi`, Hassan ibn Abi Sinan, and Malik ibn Dinar, who walks among the people similarly to Abu Dharr in his time.”

            Nawawi in Bustan al-`arifin (1985 ed. p. 31) mentions that the hadith master Hammad ibn Salama ibn Dinar (d. 167) was considered to be one of the abdal.

Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir Gilani said in the Third Discourse of his masterpiece Futuh al-Ghayb, as slightly adapted from the 1958 translation of M. Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad published in Lahore:

And he said (may Allah be pleased with him):

When the servant of Allah is in a trial, he first tries to escape from it with his own efforts, and when he fails, in this he seeks the help of others from among men such as the kings and men of authority, people of the world, men of wealth, and in the case of illness and physical suffering, from physicians and doctors; but if the escape is not secured by these he then turns towards his Creator and Lord the Great and Mighty and applies to Him with prayer and humility and praise.

So long as he finds the resources in his own self he does not turn towards the people and so long as he finds resources in the people he does not turn towards the Creator. Further, when he does not get any help from Allah he throws himself in His presence and continues in this state, begging and praying humbly entreating and praising and submitting his neediness in fear and hope. Allah, however, tires him out in his prayer and does not accept it until he is completely disappointed in all the means of the world. The decree of Allah and His work then manifest themselves through him and this servant of Allah passes away from all the worldly means and the activities and efforts of the world and retains just his soul.

At this stage he sees nothing but the work of Allah and becomes, of necessity, a believer in the unity of Allah (Tawhid) to the degree of certainty, that in reality there is no doer of anything excepting Allah and no mover and stopper excepting Him and no good and no evil and no loss and no gain and no benefit and no conferring and no withholding and no opening and no closing and no death and no life and no honor and no dishonor and no affluence and no poverty but in the hand of Allah.

He then becomes in the presence of Allah as a nursing baby in the hands of its nurse and a dead corpse in the hands of the person who gives it the funeral bath and a ball is before the stick of the polo-player, as it keeps revolving and rolling and changing position after position and condition after condition, and he feels no strength either in his own self or in others besides himself for any movement. He thus vanishes from his own self out into the work of his Master.

So he sees nothing but his Master and His work, and hears nothing and understands nothing excepting Him. If he sees anything it is His work and if he hears and knows anything, he hears His word and knows through His knowledge and he becomes gifted with His gifts and becomes lucky through His nearness and through his nearness he becomes decorated and honored and becomes pleased and comforted and satisfied with His promise and is drawn towards His word and he feels aversion for and is repelled from those besides Him and he desires and relies on His remembrance and he becomes established in Him, the Great and Mighty, and relies on Him and obtains guidance from, and clothes and dresses himself with, the light of His knowledge and is apprised of the rare points of His knowledge and of the secrets of His power and he hears and remembers only from Him the Great, the Mighty, and then offers thanks and praise therefore and takes to prayer.

     Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami said in his book al-Khayrat al-hisan fi manaqib al-imam Abi Hanifa al-Nu`man, chapter 35:

When Imam al-Shafi`i was in Baghdad, he would visit the grave of Imam Abu Hanifa, give him salam, and then ask Allah for the fulfillment of his need through his means (yatawassal ilallah ta`ala bihi fi qada’ hajatihi).^[34]

            Imam Kawthari mentioned in his Maqalat (p. 412) that the hafiz al-Khatib al-Baghdadi mentions Shafi`i’s tawassul through Abu Hanifa in the beginning of his Tarikh Baghdad (1:123) with a good chain.

     Haytami also said in many places in his book al-Sawa`iq al-muhriqa li ahl al-dalal wa al-zandaqa (cf. p. 180) and al-Khayrat al-hisan (p. 69): “Imam Shafi`i made tawassul through the Family of the Prophet (Ahl al-Bayt) when he said:

            Al al-nabi dhari`ati wa hum ilayhi wasilati

            arju bihim u`ta ghadan bi yadi al-yamini sahifati

            The Family of the Prophet are my means and my

            intermediary to him. Through them I hope to be

            given my record with the right hand tomorrow.

            This is found in Diwan al-Shafi`i as edited by `Umar Faruq al-Dabbagh (Beirut: Dar al-arqam, n.d.) p. 50.

·         The hafiz al-`Iraqi relates with his chain in his Fath al-muta`al: “We narrated that the Imam Ahmad sought blessing from drinking the washing-water of Imam al-Shafi`i’s shirt, and Ibn Taymiyya himself also related it.”

******[this appears to be an error, s/be Imam Shafi`I sought blessing by the washing-water of Imam Ahmad’s shirt.]*******

     al-Khatib relates that the hafiz Abu Nu`aym considered it incumbent upon all Muslims to invoke Allah for Abu Hanifa in their prayer due to his preservation of the Prophet’s Sunan and fiqh for them.^[35] This is explained by the fact that among Abu Hanifa’s merits that are exclusively his is his standing as the first in Islam to have compiled a book of fiqh.^[36]

     al-hafiz Abu `Ali al-Ghassani relates in Ibn al-Subki’s Tabaqat al-shafi`iyya 2:234: Abu al-Fath Nasr ibn al-Hasan al-Sakani al-Samarqandi came to us in 464 and said: “We had a drought in Samarqand some years ago. The people made the istisqa’ (prayer for rain) prayer but they did not get rain. A saintly man named al-Salah came to the judge and said to him: I have an opinion I would like to show you. My opinion is that you come out followed by the people and that you all go to the grave of Imam Muhammad ibn Isma`il al-Bukhari and make istisqa’ there. Perhaps Allah will give us rain. The judge said: What a good opinion you have. He came out and the people followed him, and he prayed for rain in front of them at the grave while people wept and sought the intercession of the one who was in it. Allah sent such heavy rain that those who were in Khartenk (where this took place, 3 miles away from Samarqand) could not reach Samarqand for seven days because of the rain’s abundance.”

     The late mufti of Lebanon al-Shahid al-Shaykh Hasan Khalid said in his fatwa on tawassul on September 16, 1980 (reprinted in the Waqf Ikhlas offset reprint of Sayyid Ahmad ibn Zayni Dahlan’s book Fitnat al-wahhabiyya 1992):

Tawassul was declared permissible in our own time by the mufti of the world, our shaykh the savant Abu al-Yusr `Abidin.  We went with him to Nawa, a place in Hawran wherein is buried the Shaykh Muhyiddin al-Nawawi.  When we arrived at his grave, our Shaykh Abu al-Yusr ordered us to ask Allah the Exalted for our need in front of him and said to us: “The du`a (invocation) at his grave is answered.”

     Ibn al-Jawzi in his biographies of the awliya entitled Sifat al-safwa lists many of those at whose graves tabarruk (seeking blessing) and tawassul is recommended. Among them:

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari: “al-Waqidi said: It has reached us that the Eastern Romans visit his grave and seek rain through his intercession when they suffer from droughts” (1:243). Mujahid said: “People would uncover the space above his grave and it would rain.”

Ma`ruf al-Karkhi (d. 200H): “His grave can be seen in Baghdad, and one seeks blessings with it. al-Hafiz Ibrahim al-Harbi (d. 285H) — Imam Ahmad’s companion —  used to say: Ma`ruf’s grave is proven medicine” (2:214) Ibn al-Jawzi adds: “We ourselves go to Ibrahim al-Harbi’s grave and seek blessings with it” (2:410)

al-hafiz al-Dhahabi also relates Ibrahim al-Harbi’s saying about Ma`ruf al-Karkhi: “Ma`ruf’s grave is proven medicine.” Siyar a`lam al-nubala’ (9:343).

Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni said: “We used to seek blessings from Abu al-Fath al-Qawasi’s grave” (2:471).

Abu al-Qasim al-Wa`iz: “His grave can be seen in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s cemetary and it is sought for blessings.” Related in the notice on `Abd al-Samad ibn `Umar ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq (2:482).

al-Hafiz Abu al-Qasim Ibn `Asakir says in Musnad Abi `Uwana (1:430): “Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn `Umar al-Saffar said to me that the grave of Abu `Uwana in Isfarayin [near Naysabur] is a place of visitation for the whole world (mazar al-`alam) and a place for obtaining blessing for the entire creation (mutabarrak al-khalq).”

al-Hafiz Diya’ al-Din al-Maqdisi al-Hanbali said in his book al-Hikayat al-manthura (Zahiriyya ms. 98, an autograph) that he heard the hafiz `Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi al-Hanbali say that something like an abcess appeared on his upper arm for which there was found no medicine. He came to Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s grave and applied his arm against it, after which he found himself healed. Imam Kawthari said that he read this account in Diya’ al-Din’s own handwriting. See Maqalat al-Kawthari (Riyadh and Beirut: Dar al-ahnaf, 1414/1993) p. 407, 412.

Do those who have left this life know about the affairs of the living?

Ibn Qayyim in Kitab al-ruh narrates with his chain from Ibn al-Mubarak on the authority of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari that the latter said: “The works of the living are clear to the dead. Whenever they see a good deed they rejoice and are pleased; but if they see evil they say: O Allah, return its equivalent in good.”

Ibn Qayyim in the same book, and Ibn Abi al-Dunya in Kitab al-qubur narrated that `Abbad ibn `Abbad called upon Ibrahim ibn Salih while he was ruler of Palestine and said: “Exhort me.” He said: “With what should I exhort you? May Allah set you right! I have heard that the works of the living are clear as day to their dead relatives. So consider what is laid open to the Messenger of Allah of your work.” Ibrahim wept until his beard was wet.

Imam Suyuti in his book Sharh al-sudur (p. 263-266) has an entire chapter devoted to that topic entitled: “The Exhibition of the deeds of the living to the dead.” In it he lists fifteen hadiths and sayings of the Companions to that effect:

1. Ahmad in his Musnad, al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi in Nawadir al-usul, and Ibn Mindah narrated from Anas that the Prophet said: “Your deeds are shown to your relatives and ancestors among the dead. If they consist in good they are happy with it, if otherwise, they say: O Allah! Don’t let them die before you guide them as you have guided us.”

2. al-Tayalisi in his Musnad narrated from Jabir ibn `Abd Allah that the Prophet said: ” Your deeds are shown to your relatives and ancestors in their graves. If they consist in good they are happy with it, if otherwise, they say: O Allah! Inspire them to act in obedience to You.”

3. Ibn al-Mubarak and Ibn Abi al-Dunya in Kitab al-qubur narrated from Abu Ayyub: “Your deeds are shown to the dead, who rejoice if they see any good in them, and if they see evil in them they say: O Allah, give them another opportunity.”

4. Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf, al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Abi al-Dunya narrated from Ibrahim ibn Maysara that when Abu Ayyub campaigned to take Constantinople he passed by a story-teller who was saying: “What a servant does in the morning, before evening is shown to those in the hereafter who know him; and what he does at the end of the day is shown to them by the next morning.” Abu Ayyub said: “Be careful what you say.” He replied: “By Allah it is as I said.” Abu Ayyub said: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You lest You reveal my shame to `Ubada ibn al-Samit and Sa`d ibn `Ubada concerning what I did after them.”

5. al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi cited in Nawadir al-usul the hadith of `Abd al-Ghafur ibn `Abd al-`Aziz from his father, from his grandfather, whereby the Prophet said: “One’s deeds are shown to Allah on Monday and Thursday, and they are shown to Prophets as

well as fathers and mothers on Fridays, at which time they rejoice for the good deeds, and the latter increase the brightness and light of their faces. Therefore be wary of Allah and do not harm your dead.”

6. al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi also cited — as well as Ibn Abi al-Dunya in his Book of Dreams (Kitab al-manamat) and Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-iman from al-Nu`man ibn Bashir: I heard the Prophet say: “Allah, Allah! [Be wary of Him] concerning your brethren among the dwellers of graves, for your deeds are shown to them.”

7. Ibn Abi al-Dunya and al-Asbahani in al-Targhib cited from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet said: “Do not shame your dead with your evil deeds for your deeds are shown to your relatives among the dwellers of the graves.”

8. Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Ibn Mindah, and Ibn `Asakir narrated from Ahmad ibn `Abd Allah ibn Abi al-Hawari: My brother Muhammad ibn `Abd Allah related to me: `Abbad al-Khawass walked in to see Ibrahim ibn Salih al-Hashimi when the latter was governor of Palestine. Ibrahim said: “Admonish me.” He replied: “It has reached me that the deeds of the living are shown to their relatives among the deceased. Therefore beware what is shown to Allah’s Messenger from your deeds.”

9. Ibn Abi al-Dunya cited from Abu al-Darda’ that he used to say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You lest my maternal uncle `Abd Allah ibn Rawaha should loathe me when I meet him.”

10. Ibn al-Mubarak and al-Asbahani cited from Abu al-Darda’ that he said: “Your deeds are shown to the dead, whereupon they rejoice and they are saddened” and he would say: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from committing a deed by which `Abd Allah ibn Rawaha should be dishonored.”

This `Abd Allah ibn Rawaha al-Ansari was the great-grandson of the poet Imru’ al-Qays and was himself a great poet among the Companions. He said of the Prophet:

            law lam takun fihi ayatun mubina

                        lakana manzaruhu yunabbi’uka bi al-khabari

“Even if there were not, concerning him, clear and evident

signs, yet the sight of him would have told you the news.”

            Ibn Hajar narrated it in al-Isaba (2:299) and said: “This is the most beautiful verse of poetry by which the Prophet was ever praised.”

Ibn Sayyid al-Nas said of Ibn Rawaha in Minah al-madh (p. 166):

He was killed as a martyr on the day of Mu’ta in Jumada 8 before the conquest of Mecca. On that day he was one of the commanders. He was one of the poets who did good and who used to fend off harm from Allah’s Messenger. It was concerning him and his two friends Hassan (ibn Thabit) and Ka`b (ibn Zuhayr) that was revealed the verse: “Except those who believe and do good deeds and remember Allah abundantly.” (The Poets 26:227).

Hisham ibn `Urwa narrated from his father that the latter said: I never saw anyone more aggressive or faster in his poetry than `Abd Allah ibn Rawaha. I heard Allah’s Messenger say to him one day: “Recite some poetry appropriate to the moment, while I look at you.” He rose up then and there and said:

inni tafarrastu fika al-khayra a`rifuhu

            wallahu ya`lamu anna ma khanani al-basaru

anta al-nabiyyu wa man yuhramu shafa`atahu

            yawma al-hisabi laqad azra bihi al-qadaru

fa thabbat allahu ma ataka min hasanin

            tathbita musa wa nasran kalladhi nusiru

I foresee for you immense good, of this I am certain.

Allah knows that my sight never betrayed me.

You are the Prophet, and whoever is deprived of your intercession

On the Day of Reckoning, his destiny is disgrace.

May Allah make firm all the good that He gave you,

            With a firmness like Musa’s and the same victory.

Upon hearing this the Prophet said to him: “And you also, may Allah make you firm, O Ibn Rawaha.” Hisham ibn `Urwa continued: Allah indeed made him firm with the staunchest firmness. He died as a martyr, and Paradise was opened for him and he entered it. End of Ibn Sayyid al-Nas’s words. Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions!

11. Ibn al-Mubarak also cited from `Uthman ibn `Abd Allah ibn Aws that Sa`id ibn al-Jubayr said to him: “Give me permission to see my brother’s daughter” — `Uthman’s wife and the daughter of `Amr ibn Aws — so he permitted him. He went and asked her: “How is your husband treating you?” She said: “He does his utmost with me.” Then Sa`id said: “O `Uthman! Treat her well, for there is nothing that you do with her except its news reaches `Amr ibn Aws.” `Uthman said: “The news of the living reaches the dead?” He said: “Yes, there is no one with an intimate friend [among the deceased] except the news of his relatives reaches him. If it is good he rejoices and is cheered by it, and if it is bad he is saddened and distraught.”

12. Ibn Abi al-Dunya cited the following report through Abu Bakr ibn `Iyash, from a grave-digger who was with the Banu Asad and who said: I was among the graves one night when I heard someone in a grave say: “O Abu `Abd Allah!” and another answered: “What, O Jabir?” He said: “Tomorrow our mother will be coming to us.” The other replied: “Of what use will that be for her? Let her not come, for my father became angry with her and swore that he would not pray over her.” The next day a man came to me and said: “Dig a grave for me between these two,” indicating the graves from where I had heard the voices coming. Whereupon I said: “This one’s name is Jabir, and that one is `Abd Allah?” He said: “Yes!” So I told him what I had heard. Then the man said: “Yes, I had sworn that I would not pray over her, but I shall break my oath and pray over her.”

13. Abu Nu`aym cited from Ibn Mas`ud that the latter said: “Keep relations with those your father kept relations with, for that is the way relations are kept on behalf of the dead in their graves.”

14. Ibn Hibban cited from Ibn `Umar that the Prophet said: “Whoever likes to keep relations with his father in his grave, let him keep relations with his father’s brothers after him.”

15. Abu Dawud and Ibn Hibban cited from Abu Usayd al-Sa`idi that a man came to the Prophet and asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Does anything remain of my responsibility to kee  piety to my two parents after their death?” He said: “Yes, four aspects of filial piety remain: praying for them, keeping the promises they made, honoring their friends, and keeping relations with those whom you know only because of them.”

SEEKING MEANS (TAWASSUL)

THROUGH THE PROPHET

The specific tawassul through the Prophet is a request in acknowledgement of his standing as the chief intercessor for the Community before Allah, and it is a request for Allah’s blessing as effected by Allah in the person of His Prophet and His saints — not as effected by the latter without Allah, which is the belief those who oppose tawassul falsely impute to those who maintain it. Allah has said of His Holy Prophet, Peace be upon him:

He is anxious about what you do, and merciful with the believers. (9:128)

If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah’s forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful (4:64)

And if they had had patience till thou camest forth unto them, it had been better for them. And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (49:5)

If only they had been content with what Allah and His Apostle gave them, and had said, “Sufficient unto us is Allah! Allah and His Apostle will soon give us of His bounty: to Allah do we turn our hopes!” (9:59)

They swear by Allah to you (Muslims) in order to please you: But it is more fitting that they should please Allah and His Apostle, if they are Believers. (9:62)

            Allah has mentioned all this about His Prophet because it is through His Prophet that He Himself has shown His greatest mercy and most comprehensive forgiveness, and it is by coming to the Prophet that the believers seek to obtain these from Allah. This is clear evidence, both now as it was then, that the mediation of the Prophet — for that is the meaning of intercession — can be sought to obtain forgiveness from Allah. The first hadith Imam Ahmad related from Anas ibn Malik in his Musnad Anas is: “The whole Community of the people of Madina used to take the hand of the Prophet and rush to obtain their need with it.”^[16]

            The Mufti of Mecca at the time of the spread of the Wahhabi heresy, al-Sayyid Ahmad Ibn Zayni Dahlan (d. 1304) said in Khulasat al-kalam:

Tawassul (using means), tashaffu` (using intercession), and istighatha (asking help) all have the same meaning, and the only meaning they have in the hearts of the believers is that of tabarruk (using blessings) with the mention of Allah’s beloved ones, since it is established that He grants His mercy to all His servants for the sake of His beloved ones, and this is the case whether they are alive or dead, because in either case the actual effecting agent and true executor is Allah Himself, and these beloved ones are only ordinary causes for His mercy. Like any other secondary causes, they have no effective power of influence in themselves.^[17]

            The early and late Imams of the Community have said clearly and unequivocally that tawassul through the Prophet is highly desirable and recommended for every person. Following are some of their words to this effect.

     Imam Malik was asked the following question by the Caliph Abu Ja`far al-Mansur: “Shall I face the Qibla with my back towards the grave of the Messenger of Allah when making du`a (after salams)?” He replied:

      How could you turn your face away from him when he is the means (wasila) of your and your father Adam’s forgiveness to Allah on the Day of Resurrection? Nay, face him and ask for his intercession (istashfi` bihi) so that Allah will grant it to you as He said: “If they had only, when they were wronging themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah’s forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful (4:64).”

      It is cited by al-Qadi `Iyad in al-Shifa (2:92-93) with a sound (sahih) chain, and also cited by Samhudi in Khulasat al-Wafa, Subki in Shifa’ al-siqam, Qastallani in al-Mawahib al-laduniyya, Ibn Jama`a in Hidayat al-salik, and Haytami in al-Jawhar al-munazzam and Tuhfat al-zuwwar. See also Ibn `Abd al-Hadi in al-Sarim al-munki p. 244. Ibn Jama`a says in Hidayat al-salik (3:1381): “It is related by the two hafiz Ibn Bashkuwal and al-Qadi `Iyad in al-Shifa’ after him, and no attention is paid to the words of those who claim that it is forged purely on the basis of his idle desires.”

            The words “he is the means (wasila) of your and your father Adam’s forgiveness to Allah” are confirmed by the verses whereby the Prophet is witness over all communities and people including their Prophets (2:143, 3:81, 4:41, 33:7), as well as the sound hadith of his intercession over all Prophets on behalf of all believers in Sahih al-Bukhari (Kitab al-tawhid). Furthermore, it is also established from the verse “And Adam received words from his Lord and He relented towards him” (2:37) that Adam has been forgiven.

     Imam Ahmad made tawassul through the Prophet a part of every du`a according to the following report: `Ala’ al-Din al-Mardawi said in his book al-Insaf fi ma`rifat al-rajih min al-khilaf `ala madhhab al-Imam al-mubajjal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (3:456):

      The correct position of the [Hanbali] madhhab is that it is permissible in one’s supplication (du`a) to use as one’s means a pious person, and it is said that it is desirable (mustahabb). Imam Ahmad said to Abu Bakr al-Marwazi: yatawassalu bi al-nabi fi du`a’ih — “Let him use the Prophet as a means in his supplication to Allah.”

            The same report is found in Imam Ahmad’s Manasik as narrated by his student Abu Bakr al-Marwazi.

            Similarly the lengthy wording of the tawassul according to the Hanbali madhhab as established by the hafiz Ibn `Aqil in his Tadhkira was cited fully by Imam Kawthari in his appendix to Shaykh al-Islam Taqi al-Din al-Subki’s al-Sayf al-saqil included in Kawthari’s edition of the latter.

     The Prophet said on the authority of `Umar: “When Adam committed his mistake he said: O my Lord, I am asking you to forgive me for the sake of Muhammad. Allah said: O Adam, and how do you know about Muhammad whom I have not yet created? Adam replied, O my Lord, after You created me with your hand and breathed into me of Your Spirit, I raised my head and saw written on the heights of the Throne:

LA ILAHA ILLALLAH MUHAMMADUN RASULULLAH

      I understood that You would not place next to Your Name but the Most Beloved One of Your creation. Allah said: O Adam, I have forgiven you, and were it not for Muhammad I would not have created you.”

It was transmitted through many chains and was cited by Bayhaqi (in Dala’il al-nubuwwa), Abu Nu`aym (in Dala’il al-nubuwwa), al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (2:615), al-Tabarani in his Saghir (2:82, 207) with another chain containing sub-narrators unknown to Haythami as he stated in Majma` al-zawa’id (8:253), and Ibn `Asakir on the authority of `Umar ibn al-Khattab, and most of these narrations were copied in Qastallani’s al-Mawahib al-laduniyya (and al-Zarqani’s Commentary 2:62).

1. This hadith is declared sound (sahih) by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (2:651), although he acknowledges Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, one of its sub-narrators, as weak. However, when he mentions this hadith he says: “Its chain is sound, and it is the first hadith of Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam which I mention in this book”; al-Hakim also declares sound another version through Ibn `Abbas.

2. al-Bulqini declares this hadith sound in his Fatawa.

3. al-Subki confirms al-Hakim’s authentication (in Shifa’ al-siqam fi ziyarat khayr al-anam p. 134-135) although Ibn Taymiyya’s rejection and criticism of this hadith was known to him and he rejects it, as well as saying that Ibn Taymiyya’s extreme weakening of Ibn Zayd is exaggerated.

4. The hadith is also included by Qadi `Iyad among the “sound and famous narrations” in al-Shifa, and he says that Abu Muhammad al-Makki and Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi mention it; Qadi `Iyad says: “It is said that this hadith explains the verse: ‘And Adam received words from his Lord and He relented towards him’ (2:37)”; he continues to cite another very similar version through al-Ajurri (d. 360), about whom al-Qari said: “al-Halabi said: This seems to be the imam and guide Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn `Abd Allah al-Baghdadi, the compiler of the books al-Shari`a devoted to the Sunna, al-Arba`un, and others.'” This is confirmed by Ibn Taymiyya in his Qa`ida fi al-tawassul: “It is related by Shaykh Abu Bakr al-Ajurri, in his book al-Shari`a.“

5. Ibn al-Jawzi also considers it sound (sahih) as he cites it in the first chapter of al-Wafa bi ahwal al-mustafa, in the introduction of which he says: “(In this book) I do not mix the sound hadith with the false,” although he knew of `Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd’s weakness as a narrator; he also mentions the version of Maysarat al-Fajr whereby the Prophet says: “When satan deceived Adam and Eve, they repented and sought intercession to Allah with my name”; Ibn al-Jawzi also says in the chapter concerning the Prophet’s superiority over the other Prophets in the same book: “Part of the exposition of his superiority to other  Prophets is the fact that Adam asked his Lord through the sanctity (hurmat) of Muhammad that He relent towards him, as we have already mentioned.”

6. Suyuti cites it in his Qur’anic commentary al-Durr al-manthur (2:37) and in al-Khasa’is al-kubra (1:12) and in al-Riyad al-aniqa fi sharh asma’ khayr al-khaliqa (p. 49), where he says that Bayhaqi considers it sound; this is due to the fact that Bayhaqi said in the introduction to the Dala’il that he only included sound narrations in his book, although he also knew and explicitly mentions `Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd’s weakness;

7. Ibn Kathir mentions it after Bayhaqi in al-Bidayat wa al-Nihaya (1:75, 1:180).

8. al-Haythami in Majma` al-zawa’id (8:253 #28870), al-Bayhaqi himself, and al-Qari in Sharh al- shifa’ show that its chains have weakness in them. However, the weakness of Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd was known by Ibn al-Jawzi, Subki, Bayhaqi, Hakim, and Abu Nu`aym, yet all these scholars retained this hadith for consideration in their books.

9. Three scholars reject it, such as Ibn Taymiyya (Qa`ida jalila fi al-tawassul p. 89, 168-170) and his two students Ibn `Abd al-Hadi (al-Sarim al-munki p. 61-63) and al-Dhahabi (Mizan al-i`tidal 2:504 and Talkhis al-mustadrak), while `Asqalani reports Ibn Hibban’s saying that `Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd was a forger(Lisan al-mizan 3:360, 3:442).

10. At the same time, Ibn Taymiyya elsewhere quotes it and the version through Maysara and says: “These two are like the elucidation (tafsir) of the authentic ahadith (concerning the same topic)” (Fatawa 2:150). The contemporary Meccan hadith scholar Ibn `Alawi al-Maliki said: “This indicates that Ibn Taymiyya found the hadith sound enough to be considered a witness for other narrations (salih li al-istishhad wa al-i`tibar), because the forged (al-mawdu`) and the false (al-batil) are not taken as witness by the people of hadith”; al-Maliki also quotes (without reference) Dhahabi’s unrestrained endorsement of the ahadith in Bayhaqi’s Dala’il al-nubuwwa with his words: “You must take what is in it (the Dala’il), for it consists entirely of guidance and light.” (Mafahim yajib an tusahhah p. 47).

11. It is furthermore evident that Ibn Taymiyya considers the meaning of the creation of everything for the sake of the Prophet as true and correct, as he declares in his Majmu`at al-fatawa in the volume on tasawwuf (11:95-97):

Muhammad is the Chief of the Children of Adam, the Best of Creation, the noblest of them in the sight of Allah. This is why some have said that “Allah created the Universe due to him,” or that “Were it not for him, He would have neither created a Throne, nor a Footstool, nor a heaven, earth, sun or moon.” However, this is not a hadith on the authority of the Prophet… but it may be explained from a correct aspect…

Since the best of the righteous of the children of Adam is Muhammad, creating him was a desirable end of deep-seated purposeful wisdom, more than for anyone else, and hence the completion of creation and the fulfilment of perfection was attained with Muhammad, may Allah Exalted bless him and grant him peace… The Chief of the Children of Adam is Muhammad, may Allah Exalted bless him and grant him peace, Adam and his children being under his banner. He, may Allah Exalted bless him and grant him peace, said: “Truly, I was written as the Seal of the Prophets with Allah, when Adam was going to-and-fro in his clay,” i.e. that my prophethood was decreed and manifested when Adam was  created but before the breathing of the Spirit into him, just as Allah decrees the livelihood, lifespan, deeds and misery or happiness of the slave when He creates the embryo but before the breathing of the Spirit into it.

Since man is the seal and last of all creation, and its microcosm, and since the best of man is thus the best of all creation absolutely, then Muhammad, being the Pupil of the Eye, the Axis of the Mill, and the Distributor to the Collective, is as it were the Ultimate Purpose from amongst all the purposes of creation. Thus it cannot be denied to say that “Due to him all of this was created”, or that “Were it not for him, all this would not have been created,” so if statements like this are thus explained according to what the Book and the Sunna indicate, it is acceptable.

12. Its latter part is mentioned as a separate hadith in the wording: “Were it not for Muhammad, I would not have created the spheres (al-aflak).” al-`Ajluni said in Kashf al-khafa’ (#2123): “al-Saghani (d.650) said it is forged. I say: but its meaning is correct.” Similarly `Ali al-Qari said in al-Asrar al-marfu`a (#754-755): “al-Saghani (in al-Ahadith al-mawdu`a p. 7) said: “It is forged,” however, its meaning is sound (mi`nahu sahih), as Daylami has narrated on the authority of Ibn `Abbas that the Prophet said: “Gabriel came to me and said: O Muhammad! Were it not for you, Paradise would not have been created, and were it not for you, the Fire would not have been created.” And Ibn `Asakir’s narration has: And were it not for you, the world would not have been created.”

            As for Albani’s rejection of Qari’s use of Daylami in support of the hadith with the words: “I do not hesitate to declare it weak on the basis that Daylami is alone in citing it” (Silsila da`ifa #282), it shows exaggeration and deviation from the practice of the scholars concerning Daylami and his book. Ibn Taymiyya said in Minhaj al-sunna (4:38): “The fact that Daylami alone narrates a hadith does not indicate that the hadith is sound.” Note that he never said: “The fact that Daylami alone narrates a hadith indicates that it is forged,” yet this is what Albani concludes! The reader may compare Albani’s method of apriori rejection in lieu of a discussion of the hadith itself, to Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani’s reliance on a hadith narrated by Daylami, as is shown by hadith #33 of his Arba`un fi rad` al-mujrim `an sabb al-muslim, although Daylami is alone in citing it. Further in Minhaj al-sunna (4:78) Ibn Taymiyya declared of him and his book: “al-Daylami in his book al-Firdaws mentioned many sound (sahih) hadiths, and also fair (hasan) narrations and forged ones…. He was one of the people of knowledge and religion and he was not a liar.”

13. Ibn al-Qayyim in his Bada’i` al-fawa’id went so far as to represent Allah saying to humankind that everything was created for the sake of human beings:

hal `arifat qimata nafsik? innama khalaqtu al-akwana kullaha laka… kullu al-ashiya’i shajaratun wa anta al-thamara

Have you realized your value? I only created all the universes for your sake… All things are trees whose fruit you are.^[18]

If Allah created all the universes for the sake of human beings, then how could all humanity be given what the Prophet is grudged, who is better than mankind and jinn put together?

14. Following are some of the hadiths of the mention of the Prophet’s name together with Allah on the Throne and in the heavens cited by the hadith masters, as related by Suyuti in al-Khasa’is al-kubra (1:12-14):

a) In Ibn `Asakir from Ka`b al-Ahbar: Adam said to his son Sheeth: “O my son, you are my successor, therefore found my successorhip upon godwariness and the Firm Rope, and every time you mention Allah, do mention next to His name the name of Muhammad, for I saw his name written on the leg of the Throne as I was between the spirit and the clay. Then I circumambulated the heavens and I did not see in them a single spot except the name of Muhammad was written upon it, and when my Lord made me inhabit Paradise I saw in it neither palace nor room except the name of Muhammad was written on it. I have seen his name written on the bosom of the wide-eyed maidens of Paradise, on the leaves of the reed-stalks and thickets of the Garden, on the leaves of the Tree of Bliss, on the leaves of the Lote-tree of the Farthermost Boundary, and upon the veils and between the eyes of the angels. Therefore, make frequent remembrance of him, for the angels remember him in every moment.”

b) Ibn `Adi and Ibn `Asakir from Anas: The Prophet said: “When I was taken up to heaven I saw written on the leg of the Throne:

la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah

ayyadtuhu bi `ali.”^[19]

c) Ibn `Asakir from `Ali: The Prophet said: “The night I was enraptured I saw written on the Throne:

la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah

abu bakr al-siddiq `umar al-faruq

`uthman dhu al-nurayn.”^[20]

d) Ibn `Adi, Tabarani in al-Awsat, Ibn `Asakir, and al-Hasan ibn `Arafa in his famous volume from Abu Hurayra: The Prophet said: “The night I was enraptured and taken up to heaven I did not pass a heaven except I saw in it my name written: muhammadun rasulullah with Abu Bakr at my side.”

e) al-Bazzar from Ibn `Umar: The Prophet said: “When I was taken up to heaven I did not pass a heaven except I saw in it my name written: muhammadun rasulullah.”^[21]

f) al-Khatib, Ibn `Asakir, and al-Daraqutni in al-Afrad (Reports from a single narrator), from Abu al-Darda’: The Prophet said: “The night I was enraptured I saw a green garment on the Throne whereupon was written in letters of light:

la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah

abu bakr al-siddiq `umar al-faruq.”

g) Ibn `Asakir from Jabir: The Prophet said: “On the gate of Paradise is written:

la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah.”^[22]

h) Abu Nu`aym in al-Hilya from Ibn `Abbas: The Prophet said: “There is not in all Paradise one tree with a single leaf but inscribed:

la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah.”^[23]

i) al-Hakim from Ibn `Abbas, and he graded it sahih (sound): “Allah revealed to `Isa the following: Believe in Muhammad and order all those of your Community who see him to believe in him, for were it not for Muhammad I would not have created Adam, nor Paradise, nor the Fire. When I created the Throne upon the water it shuddered. So I wrote upon it:

la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah

and it became calm.” al-Dhahabi said: “Its chain contains `Amr ibn Aws and it is not known who he is.”^[24]

j) In Ibn `Asakir from Jabir through Abu al-Zubayr: “Between Adam’s shoulders is written:

muhammadun rasulullah khatam al-nabiyyin.”

     Imam Shawkani said in his commentary on al-Jazari’s (d. 833) `Iddat al-hisn al-hasin entitled Tuhfat al-dhakirin bi `iddat al-hisn al-hasin (Beirut ed. 1970), p. 37: “He [al-Jazari] said: Let him make tawassul to Allah with His Prophets and the salihin or saints (in his du`a). I say: And exemplifying tawassul with the Prophets is the hadith extracted by Tirmidhi et al. (of the blind man saying: O Allah, I ask You and turn to You by means of Muhammad the Prophet of Mercy) [see below]… as for tawassul with the saints, among its examples is the hadith, established as sound, of the Companions’ tawassul asking Allah for rain by means of al-`Abbas the Prophet’s uncle, and `Umar said: “O Allah, we use as means to You the uncle of our Prophet etc. [see below].” We cite further below Shawkani’s complete and detailed stand on tawassul from his treatise al-Durr al-nadir.

     A blind man came to the Prophet and said: “Invoke Allah for me that he help me.” He replied: “If you wish I will delay this, and it would be better for you, and if you wish I will invoke Allah the Exalted (for you).” He said: “Then invoke him.” The Prophet said to him: idhhab fa tawadda’, wa salli rak`atayn thumma qul — “Go and make an ablution, pray two rak`at, then say: “O Allah, I am asking you (as’aluka) and turning to you (atawajjahu ilayka) with your Prophet Muhammad (bi nabiyyika Muhammad), the Prophet of mercy; O Muhammad (ya Muhammad), I am turning with you to my Lord regarding my present need / I am asking my Lord with your intercession concerning the return of my sight (inni atawajjahu bika ila rabbi fi hajati hadhih — another version has: inni astashfi`u bika `ala rabbi fi raddi basari) so that He will fulfill my need; O Allah, allow him to intercede (with you) for me (allahumma shaffi`hu fiyya).”

            It is related by Ahmad (4:138 #17246-17247), Tirmidhi (hasan sahih gharib — Da`awat Ch. 119), Ibn Majah (Book of Iqamat al-salat wa al-sunnat, Ch. on Salat al-hajat #1385), Nasa’i (`Amal al-yawm wa al-laylat p. 417-418 #658-660), al-Hakim (1:313, 1:526), Tabarani in al-Kabir, and rigorously authenticated as sound (sahih) by nearly fifteen hadith masters including Ibn Hajar, Dhahabi, Shawkani, and Ibn Taymiyya.

1. The Prophet’s order, here as elsewhere, carries legislative force for all Muslims and is not limited to a particular person, place or time; it is valid for all generations until the end of time unless proven otherwise by a subsequent indication from the Prophet himself, Peace be upon him.

2. The Prophet was not physically present at the assigned time of the invocation, since he said to the blind man: “Go and make ablution,” without adding: “and then come back in front of me.”  With regard to physical absence, the living and the dead are exactly alike, namely: absent.

3. Despite the Prophet’s physical absence, the wording (sigha) for calling upon his intercession is direct address: “O Muhammad.” Such a wording — “O So-and-So” — is only used with someone present and able to hear. It should also be noted that Allah forbade the Companions from being forward or calling out to the Prophet in the ordinary manner used with one another (49:1-2). The only way, therefore, that the Prophet, Blessings and peace be upon him, could both be absent and at the same be addressed is that the first be understood in the physical sense and the second in the spiritual.

     The above invocation was also used after the Prophet’s lifetime, as is proven by the sound (sahih) hadith authenticated by Bayhaqi, Abu Nu`aym in the Ma`rifa, Mundhiri (Targhib 1:473-474), Haythami, and Tabarani in the Kabir (9:17-18) and the Saghir (1:184/201-202) on the authority of `Uthman ibn Hunayf’s nephew Abu Imama ibn Sahl ibn Hunayf: A man would come to `Uthman ibn `Affan for a certain need, but the latter would not pay him any attention nor look into his need, upon which he complained of his condition to `Uthman ibn Hunayf who told him: “Go and make ablution, then go to the mosque and pray two rak`at, then say (this du`a),” and he mentioned the invocation of the blind man, “then go (to `Uthman again).” The man went, did as he was told, then came to `Uthman’s door, upon which the door-attendant came, took him by the hand, and brought him to `Uthman who sat him with him on top of the carpet, and said: “Tell me what your need is.” After this the man went out, met `Uthman ibn Hunayf again, and said to him: “May Allah reward you!  Previously he would not look into my need nor pay any attention to me, until you spoke to him.” He replied: “I did not speak to him, but I saw the Prophet when a blind man came to him complaining of his failing eyesight,” and he mentioned to him the substance of the previous narration.

     It is narrated that `Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph, would pray to Allah for rain during times of drought through the means, the honor and intercession of the uncle of the Prophet, `Abbas ibn `Abd Muttalib by using this supplication: “O Our Lord! Previously, when we had a drought, we used to come to You by means and intercession of Your Prophet. Now we are requesting intercession through the uncle of the Prophet to grant us rain,” and it was granted. Bukhari relates it. `Umar added, after making this supplication: “He (al-`Abbas), by Allah, is the means to Allah” (hadha wallahi al-wasilatu ilallahi `azza wa jall). Ibn `Abd al-Barr relates it in al-Isti`ab bi ma`rifat al-ashab.

            The scholars say that `Umar sought the means of al-`Abbas rather than the Prophet in order to show and acknowledge the status of the Prophet’s uncle among the people and, more generally, of the Ahl al-Bayt or direct relatives of the Prophet. Kawthari in his Maqalat (p. 411) cites Ibn `Abd al-Barr’s commentary in al-Isti`ab that `Umar used al-`Abbas in response to  Ka`b’s words: “O Commander of the believers, the Bani Isra`il in such circumstances used to pray for rain by means of the relatives of Prophets.” It is not, as some have fancied, because the Prophet’s means is no longer available that `Umar used al-`Abbas as a wasila. The hadith of `Uthman ibn Hunayf and the words of Malik to al-Mansur show that the Prophet continued to be sought by the Companions and Followers as a means of benefit even after he left this life.

The following is more evidence to this effect:

     al-Darimi in the Chapter 15 of the Muqaddima (Introduction) to his Sunan (1:43) entitled: “Allah’s generosity to His Prophet after his death,” relates from Aws ibn `Abd Allah with a good chain: “The people of Madina complained to `A’isha of the severe drought that they were suffering. She said: “Go to the Prophet’s grave and open a window towards the sky so that there will be no roof between him and the sky.” They did so, after which they were watered with such rain that vegetation grew and the camels got fat. That year was named the Year of Plenty.”

It is clear from the above narrations that the position of the Mother of the Believers `A’isha differs from that of modern-day “Salafis,” since she recommended to the people of Madina to use the Prophet in his grave as a means of obtaining blessing and benefit and this remained in use until the Wahhabis took over the Hijaz, while “Salafis” declare this to be unacceptable. Either they know better than the fuqaha’ of the Companions or, most certainly, they are peddling misguidance and innovation.

            Shaykh Albani, in order to reject the hadith of Darimi, raised some objections which are so full of holes that one can not only see the sky through them, but also the sun, the moon, and the stars. He said in his little book translatedunder the name Tawassul: Its Types and Its Rulings (p. 130-131) about Darimi’s chain of transmission for the report (Abu al-Nu`man from Sa`id ibn Zayd from `Amr ibn Malik al-Nukri from Abu al-Jawza’ Aws ibn `Abd Allah from `A’isha):

This chain of narration is weak and cannot be used as a proof due to three reasons:

(i) Sa`id ibn Zayd who is the brother of Hammad ibn Zayd is somewhat weak. al-Hafiz [Ibn Hajar] said about him in al-Taqrib: “Generally acceptable, but he makes mistakes.” Dhahabi said about him in al-Mizan: “Yahya ibn Sa`id said: Weak, and al-Sa`di said: He is not a proof, they declare his ahadith to be weak. Nasa’i and others said: He is not strong; and Ahmad said: He is all right. Yahya ibn Sa`id would not accept him.”

            However, the above documentation is partial and biased, and this is not surprising since “Salafis” only mention what advances their view while  they cover up, rephrase, or declare weak whatever contradicts it. This is especially true of Albani, whose followers claim him as “the leading scholar of hadith of this age”(!) whereas he makes frequent mistakes, innovates in many of his rulings, and is generally unreliable except to those unschooled in the Islamic sciences. It would be more correct for “Salafis” to say: “He is our leading scholar,” for in this we would agree with them completely. However, it is a fact that no one who has actual knowledge in hadith and fiqh uses Albani’s books except that they check and verify anything they take from them against trustworthy scholars.

The present narration is a case in point, since Albani deliberately omits to mention the authentication of the narrators he seeks to declare weak, hiding basic evidence from his readers in order to mislead them, all because he is dead set against the issue at hand, even if it is authentically reported from the Mother of the Believers! Following is a point-by-point refutation of Albani’s claims by the Moroccan hadith scholar `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari in his booklet entitled: Irgham al-mubtadi` al-ghabi bi jawaz al-tawassul bi al-nabi (The coercion of the unintelligent innovator to the effect that using the Prophet as a means is permissible p. 23-25):

Albani’s weakening of Sa`id ibn Zayd is rejected, because Sa`id is one of Muslim’s narrators, and Yahya ibn Ma`in declared him trustworthy (thiqa)!

The editor of Ghumari’s text, Ghumari’s student Hasan `Ali al-Saqqaf says on the same page as the above:

Albani has adduced worthless proofs as is his habit when embellishing falsehood. He cited whatever fit his whim from Ibn Hajar’s Taqrib, leaving out his mention that Sa`id ibn Zayd is one of Muslim’s narrators in his Sahih. Beware, therefore, of this tadlis (concealment) on his part!… He added Dhahabi’s notice on Sa`id ibn Zayd in the Mizan, and this is another deliberate cover-up, for he faithlessly omitted to mention what Ibn Hajar reported in Tahdhib al-tahdhib (4:29) from those who declared Sa`id ibn Zayd trustworthy, in addition to his being one of Muslim’s narrators:

– Bukhari said: “Muslim ibn Ibrahim narrated to us: Sa`id ibn Zayd Abu al-Hasan narrated to us, and he is reliable and a memorizer of hadith (saduq hafiz).”

– al-Duri said on the authority of Ibn Ma`in: “Sa`id ibn Zayd is trustworthy (thiqa).”

– Ibn Sa`d said: “He was trustworthy.”

– al-`Ujli said: “He is from Basra, and he is trustworthy.”

– Abu Zur`a said: “I heard Sulayman ibn Harb say: Sa`id ibn Zayd narrated to us, and he was trustworthy.”

– Abu Ja`far al-Darimi said: “Hibban ibn Hilal narrated to us: Sa`id ibn Zayd narrated to us, and he was a memorizer of hadith and he was reliable.”

– Ibn `Adi said: “There is no denounced narration from him except someone else also narrates it, and I consider him one of those in the reliable category.”

            In addition to the above remarks it is noteworthy to mention that Albani cited Ahmad’s grading of Sa`id ibn Zayd as la ba’sa bihi which his translator rendered as “he is all right,” but neither the author nor the translator seems to know that in Imam Ahmad’s terminology la ba’sa bihi is identical with thiqa, which means “trustworthy” and is among the highest gradings of authentication! Ibn Salah in his Muqaddima (p. 134), Dhahabi in Lisan al-mizan (1:13), Sakhawi in Fath al-mughith, Ibn Hajar in Hadi al-sari, Abu Ghudda in his commentary to Lucknawi’s Raf` (p. 222 n. 3), as well as the editor of Nawawi’s al-Taqrib wa al-taysir (p. 51)  have indicated that the equivalency of saying “There is no harm in him” with the grade of trustworthy (thiqa) obtains for many early authorities of the third century such as Ibn Ma`in, Ibn al-Madini, Imam Ahmad, Duhaym, Abu Zur`a, Abu Hatim al-Razi, Ya`qub ibn Sufyan al-Fasawi, and others.

            Albani continues in his list of reasons for weakening Darimi’s narration:

(ii) It is mawquf (stopping at the Companion), coming only from `A’isha and not from the Prophet, and even if the chain of narration up to `A’isha were authentic then it would not be a proof since it is something open to personal judgment in which even the Companions are sometimes correct and sometimes incorrect, and we are not bound to act upon that (!).

To this claim it is easy to reply that not only is the narration sound and authentic, but also that there is no objection related from any of the Companions to the act recommended by the Mother of the Believers, just as there was no objection on their part to the istisqa’ made by the man who came to the grave of the Prophet in the narration of Malik al-Dar cited below. This shows ijma` on the matter on the part of the Companions, and such ijma` is definitely binding in the sense that no one can declare unlawful or innovative something which they have tacitly declared lawful or desirable. As for the following the opinion of the Companions we say what Imam al-Shafi`i said as related by Ibn Qayyim in A`lam al-muwaqqi`in `an rabb al-`alamin (2:186-187): “Their opinion for us is better than our opinion to ourselves.”

            Albani listed the following as his last reason for weakening Darimi’s narration:

(iii) Abu al-Nu`man… was originally a reliable narrator except that he deteriorated at the end of his life. The hadith master Burhan al-Din al-Halabi mentions him among those who deteriorated in later life in his book al-Muqaddima (p. 391) and he says: “The ruling about these people is that their narrations are accepted if reported from them by people who heard from them before they deteriorated. But narrations reported from them by those who heard from them after they deteriorated, or narrations reported from therm by people about whom we do not know whether they heard from them before they deteriorated or after, then these narrations are to be rejected.”

            I say: We do not know whether this report was heard by Darimi from him before or after his memory deteriorated, it is therefore not acceptable and cannot be used as evidence. [Footnote:] Shaykh al-Ghumari missed this weakness in Misbah al-zujaj (p. 43), just as it was ignored by another in order to give the impression to the people that this report is authentic(!).

            Ghumari said regarding these claims about Abu al-Nu`man:

His weakening of Abu al-Nu`man is invalid, because Abu al-Nu`man’s deterioration did not affect what is narrated from him! al-Daraqutni said [as cited by Dhahabi in Mizan al-i`tidal (4:81)]: “He deteriorated at the end of his life, and no denounced hadith issued from him after his deterioration whatsoever, and he is trustworthy (thiqa).” As for what Ibn Hibban said, that “Many denounced things occurred in his narrations after his deterioration,” then al-Dhahabi refuted it when he said (4:8): “Ibn Hibban was unable to cite a single denounced narration from him, and the truth is just as Daraqutni said.”

            Shaykh Muhammad ibn `Alawi al-Maliki said in his book Shifa’ al-fu’ad bi ziyarat khayr al-`ibad (p. 152):

Abu al-Nu`man’s deterioration neither harms nor is detrimental to his reliability, since Bukhari in his Sahih narrated over one hundred hadiths from him, and no narration was taken from him after his deterioration, as Daraqutni said…. The chain of transmission is all right, in fact I consider it good. The scholars have cited as evidence many chains that are like it or less strong than it.

            Following are Saqqaf’s further comments, beginning with Albani’s charge against Shaykh al-Ghumari:

We know full well that it is Albani who betrays scholarly trust and deliberately misinforms the people, even if he accuses others of disinformation…. In weakening Abu al-Nu`man he has again acted faithlessly. His quotation from al-Burhan al-Halabi’s book al-Ightibat bi man rumiya bi al-ikhtilat (p. 23) is designed to pull the wool over the eyes of his followers and those who only read his works! For it is necessary to also know that those who are branded as suffering from deterioration in the aforementioned book are divided among those whose narrations were unaffected by their deterioration and those whose narrations were affected. Abu al-Nu`man belongs to the first group, and al-Dhahabi made this clear in al-Mizan (4:8). Therefore our reply to Albani is: Shaykh al-Ghumari did not miss anything concerning this matter of deterioration, because he is a hadith scholar and a master memorizer (hafiz), however, it is you who have missed it, O slandering backbiter!

As for Albani’s quotation of Ibn Taymiyya’s claim in his al-Radd `ala al-Bakri (p. 68-74) whereby “a clear proof that it is a lie is the fact that no such opening existed above the house at all in the whole of the life of `A’isha”(!) then it is a weak objection which is no sooner brought up than cast out. Surely Imam al-Darimi and the scholars of the succeeding generations would know of such a detail better than latecomers. As for the authorities among the latter, then the hadith scholar and historian of Madina Imam `Ali al-Samhudi (d. 922) did not so much as look at Ibn Taymiyya’s objection, rather he confirmed the truth of Darimi’s narration by saying, after citing it in his Wafa’ al-wafa’ (2:549): al-Zayn al-Miraghi said: “Know that it is the Sunna of the people of Madina to this day to open a window at the bottom of the dome of the Prophet’s room, that is, of the blessed green dome, on the side of the Qibla.” I say: And in our time, they open the door facing the noble face (the grave) in the space surrounding the room and they gather there.”

So much for the claims of naysayers regarding istisqa’ through the Prophet.

·         The act of the Mother of the Believers `A’isha in the narration of Darimi is explicitly confirmed by Abu Talib’s famous line of poetry concerning istisqa’ through the Prophet as related in the book of istisqa’ in Bukhari’s Sahih:

`Abdullah ibn Dinar said: “I heard Ibn `Umar reciting the poetic verses of Abu Talib:

A fair-skinned one by whose face rainclouds are sought,

A caretaker for the orphans and protector of widows.

`Umar ibn Hamza said: Salim narrated from his father (Ibn `Umar) that the latter said: “The poet’s saying came to my mind as I was looking at the face of the Prophet while he was praying for rain — and he did not get down till the rain water flowed profusely from every roof-gutter:

A fair-skinned one by whose face rainclouds are sought,

A caretaker for the orphans and protector of widows.

One sub-narrator added: “These were the words of Abu Talib.”

            Note that in his translation of Bukhari (2:65), Muhammad Muhsin Khan alters the wording of the hadith to read: “A white person who is requested to pray for rain” in place of “by whose face rain is sought,” and Allah knows best the reason for this grave betrayal of the translator’s trust in the most important Islamic source after the Qur’an.

     al-Bayhaqi relates with a sound (sahih) chain: It is related from Malik al-Dar, `Umar’s treasurer, that the people suffered a drought during the successorship of `Umar, whereupon a man came to the grave of the Prophet and said: “O Messenger of Allah, ask for rain for your Community, for verily they have but perished,” after which the Prophet appeared to him in a dream and told him: “Go to `Umar and give him my greeting, then tell him that they will be watered. Tell him: You must be clever, you must be clever!” The man went and told `Umar. The latter said: “O my Lord, I spare no effort except in what escapes my power!” Ibn Kathir cites it thus from Bayhaqi in al-Bidaya wa al-nihaya and says: isnaduhu sahih;^[25] Ibn Abi Shayba cites it in his Musannaf with a sound (sahih) chain as confirmed by Ibn Hajar who says: rawa Ibn Abi Shayba bi isnadin sahih and cites the hadith in Fath al-bari.^[26] He identifies Malik al-Dar as `Umar’s treasurer (khazin `umar) and says that the man who visited and saw the Prophet in his dream is identified as the Companion Bilal ibn al-Harith, and he counts this hadith among the reasons for Bukhari’s naming of the chapter “The people’s request to their leader for rain if they suffer drought.” He also mentions it in al-Isaba, where he says that Ibn Abi Khaythama cited it.^[27] This hadith is discussed again further below with respect to Albani’s claim: ” We do not accept that this story is authentic…”

            The legal inference here is not from the dream, because although the dream of seeing the Prophet is truthful, a dream cannot be used to establish a ruling (hukm) due to the possibility that the person who saw it makes an error in its wording. Rather, the inference from this hadith is based on the action of the Companion Bilal ibn al-Harith. The fact that Bilal came to the grave of the Prophet, called out to him, and asked him to ask for rain is a proof that these actions are permitted. These actions fall under the rubric of asking the Prophet for help (istighatha), seeking him as a means (tawassul), and using his intermediary (tashaffu`), and none of the Companions reprimanded him, and therefore it was understood that such actions are among the greatest acts of drawing near to Allah.

            In his edition of Ibn Hajar, the Wahhabi scholar Bin Baz rejects the hadith as a valid source for seeking rain through the Prophet, and brazenly condemns the act of the Companion who came to the grave, calling it munkar (aberrant) and wasila ila al-shirk (a means to associating partners to Allah).^[28] We seek protection from Allah from ignorance and error.

     The Prophet said: “My life is a great good for you: you will relate about me and it will be related to you; and my death is a great good for you: your actions will be presented to me (in my grave) and if I see goodness I will praise Allah, and if see other than that I will ask forgiveness of Him for you.”

            Haythami says in Majma` al-zawa’id (9:24 #91): “al-Bazzar relates it and its sub-narrators are all men of sound hadith.” Qadi `Iyad cites it in al-Shifa (1:56 of the Amman edition) and Suyuti said in his Manahil al-safa fi takhrij ahadith al-shifa (Beirut 1988/1408) p. 31 (#8): “Ibn Abi Usama cites it in his Musnad from the hadith of Bakr ibn `Abd Allah al-Muzani, and al-Bazzar from the hadith of Ibn Mas`ud with a sound (sahih) chain.” He says the same in his al-Khasa’is al-kubra. It is confirmed by al-Khafagi’s and al-Qari’s respective commentaries on al-Shifa’. al-`Iraqi said in Tarh al-tathrib: “Its chain is good” (isnaduhu jayyid).

It is cited in Shaykh al-Islam al-Taqi al-Subki’s Shifa’ al-siqam fi ziyarat khayr al-anam (The healing of the sick concerning the visit of the Best of Creation), where he mentions that Bakr ibn Abd Allah al-Muzani reported it, and Ibn al-Jawzi mentions it through Bakr and then again through Anas ibn Malik in the penultimate chapter of the penultimate section of al-Wafa, both huffaz without giving the isnad. However, Ibn al-Jawzi specifies in the introduction of his book that he only included sound traditions in it. He also mentions the version through Aws ibn Aws: “The actions of human beings are shown to me every Thursday night preceding Friday.” See also Fath al-bari 10:415 and 11:385, al-Mundhiri’s al-Targhib wa al-tarhib 3:343, and Musnad Ahmad 4:484.

            The former Grand Mufti of Egypt Shaykh Hasanayn Muhammad Makhluf wrote in his Fatawa shar`iyya (Cairo: Dar al-i`tisam, 1405/1985, 1:91-92):

The hadith means that the Prophet is a great good for his Community during his life, because Allah the Exalted has preserved the Community through the secret of the Prophet’s presence from misguidance and confusion and disagreement, and He has guided the prople through the Prophet to the manifest truth; and that after Allah took back the Prophet, our connection to the latter’s goodness continues uncut and the extension of his goodness endures, overshadowing us. The deeds of the Community are shown to him every day, and he glorifies Allah for the goodness that he finds, while he asks for His forgiveness for the small sins, and the alleviation of His punishment for the grave ones: and this is a tremendous good for us. There is therefore “goodness for the Community in his life, and in his death, goodness for the Community.”

            Moreover, as has been established in the hadith, the Prophet is alive in his grave with a special “isthmus-life” (hayat barzakhiyya khassa) stronger than the lives of the martyrs which the Qur’an spoke about in more than one verse. The nature of these two kinds of life cannot be known except by their Bestower, the Glorious, the Exalted. He is able to do all things. His showing the Community’s deeds to the Prophet as an honorific gift for him and his Community is entirely possible rationally and documented in the reports. There is no leeway for its denial; and Allah guides to His light whomever He pleases; and Allah knows best.

We cite more hadiths on tawassul in section c) below.

     al-`Utbi 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 forgiveness 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. Then he began to recite poetry:

            O best of those whose bones are buried in the deep earth,

            And from whose fragrance the depth

            and the height have become sweet,

            May I be the ransom for a grave which thou inhabit,

            And in which are found purity, bounty and munificence!

      Then he left, and I dozed and saw the Prophet in my sleep. He said to me: O `Utbi, run after the Bedouin and give him glad tidings that Allah has forgiven him.”

The report is mashhur (well-known) and related by Nawawi, Adhkar, Mecca ed. p. 253-254, al-Majmu` 8:217, and al-Idah fi manasik al-hajj, chapters on visiting the grave of the Prophet; Ibn Jama`a, Hidayat al-salik 3:1384; Ibn `Aqil, al-Tadhkira; Ibn Qudama, al-Mughni 3:556-557; al-Qurtubi, Tafsir of 4:64 in Ahkam al-Qur’an 5:265; Samhudi, Khulasat al-Wafa p. 121 (from Nawawi); Dahlan, Khulasat al-Kalam 2:247; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir 2:306, and al-Bidayat wa al-nihayat 1:180; Abu al-Faraj ibn Qudama, al-Sharh al-kabir 3:495; al-Bahuti al-Hanbali, Kashshaf al-qina` 5:30; Taqi al-Din al-Subki, Shifa’ al-siqam p. 52; Ibn al-Jawzi, Muthir al-gharam al-sakin ila ashraf al-amakin p. 490; al-Bayhaqi, Shu`ab al-iman #4178; Ibn `Asakir, Mukhtasar tarikh Dimashq 2:408; Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, al-Jawhar al-munazzam [commentary on Nawawi’s Idah]; Ibn al-Najjar, Akhbar al-Madina p. 147. A similar report is cited through Sufyan ibn `Uyayna (Shafi`i’s shaykh), and through Abu Sa`id al-Sam`ani on the authority of `Ali.

            Evidently, al-`Utbi’s account of the Arab’s tawassul for forgiveness at the Prophet’s grave is found in many books on the subject of ziyara (visiting the Prophet’s grave in Madina) or manasik (rites of pilgrimage) by the many scholars of the Four Schools, none of whom have rejected it or declared it weak. See, for example, the translations of Ibn al-Jawzi, Nawawi, and Ibn Jama`a in the last section of this book. Those of the contemporary “Salafi” scholars who choose to contest this report of its established grade of mashhur, do not measure up to the reliability of a single one of the sources named above. As for the “Salafis'” recourse to the isolated opinions of Ibn Taymiyya or Ibn `Abd al-Hadi who have cast aspersions on the authenticity of the report, in the words of Ibn Jama`a: no attention is paid to it.

     The sources also relate the report of Ibn Abi Fudayk, one of the early scholars of Madina and one of Shafi`i’s shaykhs, who said: “I heard one of the authorities whom I have met say: “It has reached us that whoever stands at the Prophet’s grave and recites: “Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet…” (33:56) and then says: “May Allah bless you, O Muhammad” (sallallahu `alayka ya Muhammad) seventy times, an angel will call him saying: May Allah bless you, O So-and-so; none of your needs will be left unfulfilled.”” Ibn Jama`a related it in Hidayat al-salik 3:1382-1383, Ibn al-Jawzi in Muthir al-gharam p. 487, Qadi `Iyad in al-Shifa’, and Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-iman (#4169).

     The muhaddith al-Samhudi and others also relate the account of the Arab who sought the Prophet’s means at his grave:

al-Asma`i said: I saw a Bedouin stand at the Prophet’s grave and say: “O Allah, here is Your Beloved, and I am Your servant, and Satan is Your enemy. If You forgive me, Your Beloved will be happy, Your servant will attain victory, and Your enemy will be angry. If You do not forgive me, Your Beloved will be sad, Your enemy will be satisfied, and Your servant will be destroyed. But You are more noble, O my Lord, than to allow Your Beloved to be sad, Your enemy to be satisfied, and Your servant to be destroyed. O Allah, the highborn Arabs, if one of their leaders die, release one of their slaves over his grave in his honor, and this is the leader of the worlds: therefore release me over his grave, O Most Merciful of the Merciful!” al-Asma`i said: “I said to him: O brother of the Arabs! Allah has surely forgiven you and released you for the beauty of this request.”^[29]

     al-Hafiz Ibn al-Jawzi relates in Kitab al-Wafa (p. 818 #1536): (al-hafiz) Abu Bakr al-Minqari said: I was with (al-hafiz) al-Tabarani and (al-hafiz) Abu al-Shaykh in the Prophet’s Mosque, in some difficulty. We became very hungry. That day and the next we didn’t eat. When it was time for `isha, I came to the Prophet’s grave and I said: “O Messenger of Allah, we are hungry, we are hungry” (ya rasullallah al-ju` al-ju`)! Then I left. Abu al-Shaykh said to me: Sit. Either there will be food for us, or death. I slept and Abu al-Shaykh slept. al-Tabarani stayed awake, researching something. Then an `Alawi (a descendant of `Ali) came knocking at the door with two boys, each one carrying a palm-leaf basket filled with food. We sat up and ate. We thought that the children would take back the remainder but they left everything behind. When we finished, the `Alawi said: O people, did you complain to the Prophet?  I saw him in my sleep and he ordered me to bring something to you.

     Imam Bukhari said that he wrote his biographical book on the subnarrators of authentic hadith al-Tarikh al-kabir by the Prophet’s graveside, under the light of the moon.  It is related by Ibn al-Jawzi in Sifat al-safwa (4:147) and al-Subki in Tabaqat al-shafi`iyya al-kubra (2:216).

     Musnad Ahmad, Imam Ahmad’s compilation of 30,000 mostly sound narrations from the Prophet, was held in such high reverence that it was read in the sixth century by a society of devout hadith scholars from cover to cover in fifty-six sittings before the grave of the Prophet in Madina.^[30] Where is such devotion to the Prophet found today?

     Ibn Hajar said in Sulayman ibn Sunayd ibn Nashwan’s biographical notice in his al-Durar al-kamina that he performed forty pilgrimages.  On the fortieth he was seized by fatigue and fell asleep by the side of the Noble Grave.  Thereupon he saw the Prophet who told him: “O So-and-so, how many times have you come, and you have received nothing from me?  Give me your hand.”  He gave him his hand, and the Prophet wrote upon it something against fever after which, if ever he suffered from it, he would be cured by Allah’s permission.  This invocation is: “I have sought refuge with a Master who never judges unjustly nor leads to other than victory. Go out, O fever, from this body, nor does pain of any sort follow this.” Ajluni mentions it in Kashf al-khafa (#1175).

The following has been taken from Distortion committed by Bukhari whilst copying down a tradition in his ‘Sahih’ pertaining to the legitimacy of sodomy.

Distortion committed by Bukhari whilst copying down a tradition in his ‘Sahih’ pertaining to the legitimacy of sodomy

We read in the Holy Quran:

 Your wives are as a tilth unto you; so approach your tilth when or how ye will (Yusufali, 2:223).

In various Sunni works we read that testimony of Abdullah Ibn Umar regarding the reason for the revelation of the said verse qua legitimacy of performing buggery on one’s wife. Hafiz Jalaluddin Suyuuti for example recorded in Tafseer Durre Manthur, Volume 1 page 638:

وأخرج الحسن بن سفيان في مسنده والطبراني في الأوسط والحاكم وأبو نعيم في المستخرج بسند حسن عن ابن عمر قال‏:‏ إنما نزلت على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏{‏نساؤكم حرث لكم‏.‏‏.‏‏.‏‏}‏ الآية‏.‏ رخصة في إتيان الدبر‏.‏

Hasan bin Sufiyan in his Musnad, Tabarani in Al-Awsat, Hakim and Abu Naeem in Al-Mastakhraj with a ‘Hasan’ chain of narration narrated from Ibn Umar who said: ‘This verse was revealed upon the Holy Prophet (s) in respect of the permissibility of performing sex in the anus of a woman’

Curiously, when it came to the great Imam Bukhari, he felt compelled to record the statement of Abdullah Ibn Umar in an incomplete manner. We read in Sahih Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Number 50:

Narrated Nafi’: Whenever Ibn ‘Umar recited the Qur’an, he would not speak to anyone till he had finished his recitation. Once I held the Qur’an and he recited Surat-al-Baqara from his memory and then stopped at a certain Verse and said, “Do you know in what connection this Verse was revealed? ” I replied, “No.” He said, “It was revealed in such-and-such connection.” Ibn ‘Umar then resumed his recitation. Nafi added regarding the Verse:–”So go to your tilth when or how you will” Ibn ‘Umar said, “It means one should approach his wife in ..”

‘In’ what? Of course In her anus and whilst Hafiz Jalaluddin Suyuti and other famed Sunni scholars recorded this fact, itwas Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani who filled in the blanks whilst commenting on the cited tradition of Bukhari:

في إتيان المرأة في دبرها

“Approach the woman in her anus”
Fatah ul Bari Sharah Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8 page 190 

Imam Bukhari has recorded this tradition in his ‘Sahih’ with the following chain of narration:

Ishaq (bin Rehwiya) – Nadar – Ibn Aun – Nnaf’i

Now the most interesting part is that Bukhari actually copied down the above statement of Abdullah Ibn Umar from his Shaykh, namely Ishaq bin Rehwiya as mentioned by Ibn Hajar Asqalani:

فقد أخرجها إسحاق ابن راهويه في مسنده وفي تفسيره بالإسناد المذكور ، وقال بدل قوله حتى انتهى إلى مكان ” حتى انتهى إلى قوله نساؤكم حرث لكم فأتوا حرثكم أنى شئتم فقال : أتدرون فيما أنزلت هذه الآية ؟ قلت لا . قال : نزلت في إتيان النساء في أدبارهن

 Ishaq bin Raheweh recorded it in his Musnad and his Tafsir with the same chain, when it reached the part “your wives are tilth to you, so go to your tilth anyhow you will” he said: ‘Do you know what for this verse has been revealed about?’ They said: ‘No’. He replied: ‘It has been revealed in regards to approaching women in their anuses’    

Interestingly whilst citing the said tradition verbatim Bukhari committed deception and did not quote the words of his Shaykh opting to leave a blank, in the hope that the attention plan of his readers would be short enough to confuse them and direct them to the next narration.

Muslim tradition teaches that Muhammad starting working for a very wealthy merchant woman named Khadija bint Khuwaylid who was fifteen years his senior. Muhammad eventually married her at the age of twenty-five when she was forty years old.

The Islamic sources unashamedly admit that Khadija financed Muhammad until she died, enabling him to pursue his religious fantasies and delusions of grandeur:

And he also said: (Did He not find thee) O Muhammad (destitute) poor (and enrich (thee)) with the wealth of Khadijah; and it is also said this means: and made you content with that which He gave you? The Prophet said: ” Yes, O Gabriel! ” (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs https://www.altafsir.com/tafasir.asp?tmadhno=0&ttafsirno=73&tsorano=93&tayahno=8&tdisplay=yes&userprofile=0&languageid=2; bold emphasis mine)

What makes this marriage rather embarrassing is that the Muslim narrations state that Khadija’s father married her off to Muhammad in a drunken state, when he was inebriated!

After sobering the next day, he was shocked to discover that he had actually given his daughter in marriage to Muhammad:

Al-Waqidi: They also say that Khadijah sent a message to the Messenger of God inviting him to take her, meaning that they should marry. She was a highly respected woman, and the whole of Quraysh would have been eager to marry her and would have spent much money to that end had they aspired to it. She called her father to her house, plied him with wine until he was drunk, slaughtered a cow, anointed him with perfume and clothed him in a striped robe; then she sent for the Messenger of God and his uncles and, when they came in, her father married him to her. When her father recovered from his intoxication, he said, “What is this meat, this perfume, and this garment?” She replied, “You have married me to Muhammad b. ‘Abdallah.” “I have not done so,” he said. “Would I do this, when the greatest men of Mecca have asked for you and I have not agreed?” (The History of al-Tabari: Muhammad at Mecca, translated and annotated by W. Montgomery Watt and M.V. McDonald [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany, NY 1988], Volume VI (6), p. 49; bold emphasis mine)

And:

Al-Bayhaqi related, through Hammad b. Salama, from ‘Ali b. Zayd, from ‘Ammar b. Abu ‘Ammar, from Ibn ‘Abbas who said, “Khadija’s father married the Messenger of God to her at a time when he (her father) was – and I think this is what he said – drunk!”

Then al-Bayhaqi stated that Abu al-Husayn b. al-Fadl al-Qattan related to him, as did ‘Abd Allah b. Ja’far, as did Ya’qub b. Sufyan, who said that he was told by Ibrahim b. al-Mundhir, and by Umar b. Abu Bakr al-Mu’ammili and by ‘Abd Allah b. Abu Ubayd b. Muhammad b. ‘Ammar b. Yasir, from his father from Muqsim b. Abu al-Qasim, the mawla of ‘Abd Allah b. al-Harith b. Nawfal, that ‘Abd Allah b. al-Harith related to him that ‘Ammar b. Yasir, whenever he heard people discussing the marriage of the Messenger of God to Khadija and embellishing it as they did, would tell them, “I know better than anyone else about his marriage to her. I was his companion and his close friend. One day I was out with the Messenger of God and when we came to al-Hazura we passed by Khadija’s sister who was seated on a fine-coloured camel she had for sale. She called to me and I went over to her, while the Messenger of God stood there waiting for me. She said, ‘Would that friend of yours like to marry Khadija?’

“So I went back to him and told him and he responded, ‘Indeed I certainly would!’

“I then reported to her what the Messenger of God had said and she suggested, ‘Come and visit us tomorrow.’ When we did so next day we found that they had slaughtered a cow and dressed Khadija’s father in ceremonial clothes; and his beard had been dyed yellow. I spoke with her brother and he with his father, who had been drinking wine. The brother told him of the Messenger of God and of his reputation and asked him if he would conduct his marriage. And so he did marry him to Khadija. They cooked the cow and we ate from it, after which her father went to sleep. When he woke up he was sober and he said, ‘What’s this I’m wearing, what’s this yellow and why this food?‘ His daughter who had spoken to ‘Ammar replied, ‘It was your son-in-law Muhammad son of ‘Abd Allah who gave you the ceremonial outfit and he who presented the cow to you, and we slaughtered it when you married him to Khadija.’

“He denied having concluded this marriage with him and stormed off, shouting, to al-Hijr. Banu Hashim brought out the Messenger of God and they all went off to talk to him. Khadija’s father demanded, ‘Where’s this man of yours you claim I married to Khadija?’ The Messenger of God made his presence known to him. Having looked at him, her father then said, ‘If I already performed his marriage, then so be it. If I didn’t before, I do so now!’”

Al-Zuhri stated in his works of biography that her father married her to him when he was drunk. His account is similar to the foregoing. Al-Suhayli (similarly) related it. (Ibn Kathir, The Life of the Prophet (Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya), Translated by Professor Trevor Le Gassick, Reviewed by Dr Ahmed Fareed [Garnet Publishing, 1998], Volume 1, pp. 192-193; bold emphasis mine)

You can’t make this stuff up even if you tried!

As I have said before, the really miracle of Islam is that there are people who actually believe Muhammad was a prophet, the Quran is God’s word, and Muhammad’s Allah is truly God. Now that truly is a miracle, yet not from God but from the evil one whose aim it is to deceive people away from the true God (Cf. Deuteronomy 13:1-10; Matthew 24:23-25; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4, 13-15; Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; 1 John 2:18; 4:1-6; Revelation 13:1-18).