The Ahulbayt in Quran [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Tawassul (Resorting to Intermediary)

Some people claim that asking for help to other than god is
polytheism.

Such people should never go to doctor when they becomes sick
because this

is polytheism (shirk)! Their going to doctor is a type of
seeking a help

from a specialist even though they do not say by their tongue
that they are

getting help from the doctor.

Acting shirk is
enough.

Also they should not

ask any question from anyone or request anything from any one
because all

these are shirk.

Furthermore, they shouldn't eat
any food because they

should not help themselves by any other than God!

If they say that we do all these because Allah told us to do
so, then based

on their own doctrine Allah is also polytheist (Mushrik).

Na'udhu
Billah!

Here is what they are missing: If we get help from any body,
we do it with

the understanding that he by his own can not help us.

He
can not benefit us

unless Allah wishes to.

If one calls Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH&HF) or Imam Ali

(AS) for help, he is, in fact, calling Allah for help through
intermediary

of the Prophet or the Imams, and he does that with the
understanding that

the Prophet or the Imams doe not have any independent power,
but rather

what they have (which many others lack) is that they have
CREDIT in front

of Allah and that Allah does not put down their requests if
they pray to

Allah on my behalf.

Imam Ali and all the martyrs
are alive as Quran clearly

testifies, though they are not on the earth.

So
please do not treat them as

dead.

Allah states in Quran:

Think not of those who are martyred
in the way of Allah as dead.

Nay!

They are living, finding their
sustenance in the presence of their

Lord.

" (Quran 3:169)

In fact all of our Imams except Imam Mahdi were martyred
either by sword or

by poison.

Moreover, there are quite strong proofs
in both Shia and Sunni

that the Prophet himself was also poisoned by a Jew in the
battle of

Khaibar, and the poison slowly worked on his body till it
finally killed

him.

I just bring two traditions from Sahih al-Bukhari:

Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 5.

551

Narrated Abu Huraira:

When Khaibar was conquered, a
(cooked) sheep containing poison, was

given as a present to Allah's
Apostle.

Sahih Bukhari Hadith: 5.

713

.

.

.

Narrated 'Aisha:
The Prophet in his ailment in which he died, used

to say, "O 'Aisha! I still feel
the pain caused by the food I ate at

Khaibar, and at this time, I feel as
if my aorta is being cut from

that poison.

"

So they should not be called dead since they are alive
according to Quran.

Thus we can make Tawassul to them the same way that the Shia
of Moses made

Tawassul to Moses:

"And he (Moses) went into the
city at a time when people (of the

city) were not watching, so he found
therein two men fighting, one

being of his Shia and the other
being his enemy, and the one who was

of his Shia cried out to him for
help against the one who was of his

enemy" (Quran 28:15)

Two things which distinguishes Tawassul and Shirk should be
noted here.

First, we do not believe that the Prophet and Imams have any
independent

power from Allah.

Second, Allah is the one who
assigned the intermediate.

The idol worshipers used a wrong intermediate, and that was
another reason

why it was condemned.

Moreover, the idol
worshippers believed that the

idols can cause harm or render a benefit.

Muslims
are monotheists and they

know that only Allah can cause harm or render a benefit.

But
calling the

Prophet and Imams with the understanding that they could only
be an

intermediary to Allah, is not polytheism.

ALL
Muslims agreed on this point

from the time of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) up to the present
day, except

Wahhabis.

They contradict all Muslims with their
new creed and accused

Muslims of blasphemy; they never let any body touch the
blessed grave of

Prophet (PBUH&HF).

The Holy Quran further supports intermediary for approaching
toward Allah

where it states:

"O' you who believe! Be mindful
(of your duties) to Allah, and seek

the means of approaching toward Him.

"
(Quran
5:35)

Quran tells us that there exists a means of approaching
"al-Wasilah" for us

in each era, which is different than Allah and we should seek
him if we

want to approach toward Allah.

In fact, both
Tawassul and Wasilah are from

the same root.

When we make Tawassul, it means that
we seek the Mercy of

Allah by resorting to a connection who was more obedient
toward Allah and,

as a result, Allah answers his/her prayers faster than us.

Allah
may

forgive us for the credit and the honor of that man/woman.

It
is true every

where that doing a job (specially if it is asking for a big
courtesy)

without any connection is difficult or might be impossible.

Approving
such

a courtesy needs credit, and the one without it should resort
to the one

who has the credit and the connection.

This credit
has been acquired by

absolute obedience of Allah.

Nonetheless, approving
any intercession still

depends on Allah:

"Who can intercedes with Him
except the cases that He permits?"

(Quran
2:255)

"They (i.

e.

, prophets
and Imams) do not say anything until He orders,

and they act (in all things) by His
command.

He knows what is

before them and what is behind them
and they (i.

e.

, those saints)

offer no intercession except for
anyone whom Allah accepts, and they

are in awe and reverence of His
(glory).

" (Quran 21:27-28)

As you see there are exceptions.

Some specific
people can intercede with

Allah by His permission.

But this is not granted to
every people.

Now, I would like to give also more references from Sunni
Hadith

collections in this regard.

The first reference is
on the Tawassul of Ibn

Abbas (RA) to Imam Ali (AS).

Please note that Ibn
Abbas spoke the following

words after the martyrdom of Imam Ali.

Thus he did
ask for intermediary of

what you called a dead person.

"When the death time of
Abdullah Ibn Abbas (RA) approached, he said:

O Allah! I seek to approach toward
you by means of Wilayah (accepting

the mastery) of Ali Ibn Abi Talib.

'"

Sunni references:

- Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p662, Tradition
#1129

- al-Riyadh al-Nadhirah, by Muhibbuddin al-Tabari, v3, p167

- Manaqib Ahmad

Please note that Ibn Abbas died in 68/687 which was 28 years
after the

martyrdom of Imam Ali (AS).

If resorting (Tawassul)
to a dead was

considered association (shirk), then Ibn Abbas would not dare
to say so,

and Ahmad Ibn Hanbal would not have recorded it.

As for resorting to alive, al-Bukhari reported that Umar used
make Tawassul

to al-Abbas for rain:

Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 5.

59

Narrated Anas:

Whenever there was drought, 'Umar
bin Al-Khattab used to ask Allah for

rain through Al-'Abbas bin 'Abdul
Muttalib, saying, "O Allah! We used

to request our Prophet to ask You
for rain, and You would give us.

Now

we request the uncle of our Prophet
to ask You for rain, so give us

rain.

" And they would be
given rain.

"

Another related question is that: Is kissing the grave of the
Prophet

Shirk (association)? Is honoring the belongings
of Prophet association?

Sahih al-Bukhari tells us it is NOT Shirk:

Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 1.

373

Narrated Abu Juhaifa:

I saw Allah's Apostle in a red
leather tent and I saw Bilal taking the

remaining water with which the
Prophet had performed ablution.

I saw

the people taking the utilized water
impatiently and whoever got some

of it rubbed it on his body and
those who could not get any took the

moisture from the others' hands.

Then
I saw Bilal carrying an 'Anza (a

spear-headed stick) which he planted
in the ground.

The Prophet came

out tucking up his red cloak, and
led the people in prayer and offered

two Rakat (facing the Ka'ba) taking
'Anza as a Sutra for his prayer.

I

saw the people and animals passing
in front of him beyond the 'Anza.

Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith: 7.

750

Narrated Abu Juhaifa:

I came to the Prophet while he was
inside a red leather tent, and I

saw Bilal taking the remaining water
of the ablution of the Prophet,

and the people were taking of that
water and rubbing it on their

faces; and whoever could not get
anything of it, would share the

moisture of the hand of his
companion (and then rub it on his face).

As we see, the great companions were honoring the drop of
water which had

touched the Prophet (PBUH&HF).

Sayyid Sharafuddin, a famous Shia scholar, went on pilgrimage
to the

House of Allah during the reign of King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud.

He
was one of

those who were invited to the King's palace to celebrate the
Eid of al-

Adh'ha.

When his turn came to shake the King's
hand, he presented a leather

bound Quran to the King.

The King took the Quran
and placed it on his

forehead and then kissed it.

Sayyid
Sharafuddin said: "O' King! why do

you kiss and glorify the cover which is made of a goat's
skin?!" The king

answered: "I meant to glorify the Holy Quran, not the
goat's skin.

" Sayyid

Sharafuddin said: "Well said O' King! We do the same
when we kiss the

window or the door of the Prophet's Chamber, we know that it
is made of

iron, and could not harm or render a benefit, but we mean
what is behind

the iron and wood, we mean to respect the Messenger of Allah
in the same

way as you meant with the Quran when you kissed its goat's
skin cover.

"

The audience was impressed by his speech and said: "You
are right.

" The

King was forced to allow the pilgrims to ask for blessings
from the

Prophet's relics, until the order was reversed by the
successor of that

King.

The issue is not that they are afraid of people associating
others with

Allah, rather, it is a political issue based on antagonizing
Muslims in

order to consolidate their own power and authority over
Muslims, and

history is the witness to what they have done.