Beseeching for Help - Istighathah (English)

8/9/2019 Beseeching for Help - Istighathah (English)

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Beseeching for Help

(Istighthah)

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri


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Beseeching for HelpII

Copyright 2001 by Minhaj-ul-Quran Movement,

Lahore, Pak istan . All r ights reserved. No part of this book

may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever

without prior permission, except in case of brief

quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Entire in come of Prof Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri s books, recorded audio/video cassettes & CD s of his

lect ures/addresses, is dedicate d fo rever on h is behalfto Minhaj-ul-Quran Movement.

Composed by: Abdul Khaliq Baltistani

Un der the aegis of:


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Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1

Preliminaries

Lexical research into the word istigh thah

Kin ds of istighthah

L ink bet ween interm ediat ion an d appeal for helpDifference between appeal for help and

supplication

Use of the word du in the holy Qurn

Self-fabricated division of du

III

1

5

6

8

9

9

13


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Beseeching for HelpII

Chapter 4Smoothing out the Wrinkles

First o bject ion: Appeal for h elp is in it self an act

of worship

Second objection: Appeal for help is a form of

disbelief in sup ernat ural matt ersThird o bject ion: Beseech in g someon e other than

God for h elp sm ack s of his invisible po wer

Fourth objection: There is no helper except

Allh

Fifth objection: Begging and beseeching helpfrom Allh alone is valid

Sixth objection: Negation of beseechin g the holy

Prophet (A) for help

Chapter 5Religious Leaders and Istighthah

Chapter 6

Li f D ti b t B li f d

89

89

92

103

115

118

126

131


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Foreword

For almost t welv e un interrupte d cent ur ies the Muslim s

ruled the world in glory and splendour. Their rule wasembedded in a rare sense of egalitarianism the world had

never witnessed before. The driving force behind the just

dispensation was their oven-warm, unalloyed faith in

divine unity and the inspiration they had drawn from the

life and the teachings of the holy Prophet (A). Therewas abso lutely no chasm bet ween their words an d deeds.What they professed, they implemented. The people they

subjugated and ruled were impressed, even overawed, by

the impregnable consistency of their behaviour. The


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Beseeching for HelpIV

Muslims were humiliated in almost every field of humanactivity. The Muslim community that had asp ired to

o ut dazzle the sta rs an d outsm art the un iverse t urned into a

rolling stone, unanchored and unprotected. Its identity

crum ble d into the dust of uncertainty, the v iolent win ds of

ch an ge upset it s app le-cart an d, unlike the pro gressivenations of the world, well set on the road to growth and

prosperity, it skidded off the track and immersed itself in

peripheral issues the proverbial fate of all decadent

communities.

As a result, we have embroiled ourselves in marginaldisputes, allowing plenty of opportunity to the world to

pooh-pooh o ur dr iftin g condition. Wh ile the wor ld at la rge

is a gain er, the Muslim s are th e loser s an d th e loss i s more

pathetic than tragic: on the one hand, the people of the

wo rld are cashin g in on the f ruit s of o ur intellectualefforts and unparalleled scientific investigations; and on

the other han d, they h ave made I slam an d its follo wer s the

butt of their indiscriminate ridicule. The Muslims are

t k i th i li ht d d th i


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Foreword V

on the plane of equality, but o ur present lack of v ision hasmade us squint-eyed and as a result, we are setting

Muslims against one another. We are embarked upon a

dangerous course as we are measuring Muslims against

un-I slam ic criter ia , and tho se who do not come pat to

these se lf-styled stan dards, we chuck them o ut as non-Muslim s. The reason is th at we ar e locked in a vicio us

circle of menta l slavery , wh ich h as estran ged us from the

real problems of life by shuttering us up in frivolous

issues. An d th is has become o ur secon d nat ure.

The blatant irony is that the western n ations havetaken over the leading role, and the nation that was

supposed to lead is now imprisoned in its own false

egoism. It has sacrificed its unity to self-fabricated

differences authenticated neither by history nor by the

central message of Islamic faith. While the westernnation s, on acco unt of the inherent compatibility bet ween

the Islam ic t each in gs and modern sc ientif ic investigations,

are drawing closer to the religion of nature, the Muslims

d ifti f th i li i th h i


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Beseeching for HelpVI

among h uman beings as the progress an d development ofhuman society depends on this kind of coordination.

Therefore, to e quate this kin d of innocuo us activity with a

breach of faith is nothin g but perver sity, it is to emphasise

the shell at the expense of the kernel; for them the husk

matters more than the grain, the wrapping more than thegift, the skin of the oran ge more than the juice. Thus the ir

attit ude is symptomat ic of a deep er m alaise their

increa sin gly strident disaffiliation from the tr ue sp irit of

their faith.

Man by nature is not a hermit or a recluse. He is asocial anim al and likes to huddle with other h um an bein gs

in small settlement s or large to wn s. A feelin g of security

an d cooperation motivate s th e f act of livin g to gether as no

man is an islan d. He lov es to seek h elp from others an d to

extend help to others. This is ingrained in his nature,which cannot be changed by the petty intellectual

squabbles of some skewered zealots. Even a blunt-headed

st udent of history an d so cio lo gy knows that

i t d d d di ti th b i f t f


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Foreword VII

whose generosity knows no bounds and whosemagn anim ity is l im itless, but in o ur daily ro utine we he lp

people and seek help from them in scores of assorted

matter s. Th us the mut ual h elp we exten d to each other is

not a negation of divine unity but a fulfilment of the

divine command. To seek help from the prophets, ther ighteous an d the sa ints is not a v iolation of I slam ic

principles; on the contrary, it is quite compatible with the

teachings of Islam. We seek help from others on the

assumption that their power is only borrowed, as Allh

alone possesses absolute power. This division of powerinto absolute and relative has prompted some

m ischievous min ds to create unn ecessary an d un warrante d

complication s in basic I slam ic concept s, in cludin g the

concept of istighthah . Such an att itude tends to sp lit the

Muslim community into groups and sects and therefore,needs to be di scouraged in the strongest possible term s.

Historically speaking, the proof of human

gregar io usn ess is foun d in the most pr im itive

iti C t i b f th d f th f


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Foreword IX

for all those Muslims whose minds are a swinging pendulum bet ween clarity an d woolliness on the issue so

pain stakin gly elabo rated in the book.

Dr Qadri has resolv ed the complication relat in g to the

issue of beseeching for help by drawing a clear

distinction bet ween absolute po wer and deriv ativepower. Wh ile Allhs power is abso lute, the po wer of all

other creatures, includin g the prophets, the saints an d the

righteous is derivative as it derives from the power of

Allh. By this distinction Dr Qadri has totally eliminated

the possibility of disbelief, as it is only Allhs prero gativ e to grant or reject an appeal for h elp. His

favourites can only beseech Him for help. Similarly, a

petit ioner can only beseech one of His favourite s for help

but he is convinced that the favourite lacks the power to

grant his petition, it has to be granted by All h alone.Witho ut this conviction, he is a utomati cally exp elled from

the fo ld of I slam.

The act ual po sition is clearly and succin ctly summed

i th d f D M h d T hi l Q d i T


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Beseeching for HelpX

wh ether he i s a proph et or a saint, can arro gate to him selfthe ex clusive divin e prerogative. Therefore, the petitioner

is usin g the words only figuratively an d it is in this sen se

alone that they are gen erally interprete d. The alle gation of

disbelief against these people is quite misplaced; it

r eflects rather the t wisted conscio usness o f those who h ur lsuch malicio us allegation s again st them. T h e pet itioners

are, in fact, immune to disbelief.

Dr Qadri strikes a different note in an environment

that is choked with inte rpretativ e rigm arole. Hi s approach

is both concept ual an d context ual. He does not ex amin e aconcept in isolat ion but r elates it to it s sp ecif ic context.

This is the reason his speeches and books enjoy a hot-

muffin popularity especially among Muslims who like to

arrive at a rational understanding of the fundamentals of

their faith. Istigh thah and its legal aspect, is highlyreadable a s it app eals to one s cr itical as well as ae sthetic

sense; and it should be read by Muslim s of every strip e to

come to grips with a basic issue that is both delicate in

b t d t t li i i l D Q d i d


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Chapter 1

Preliminaries

Allh, to whom all honour belongs, is the Creator of theuniverse. He has unlimited power and His sovereignty

extends over everything, living and non-living, earthly

and ethereal. He is the only true Helper. While all other

aids are bound in the vicious chain of cause-and-effect,

His transcends these limitations. Whatever takes place inthe univ erse, on the earth an d in the heav en s, o wes to the

exercise of His will and power. The world of becoming

an d the world of bein g dance to His t unes. From H im

l t th t l t f i ht d t th H


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Beseeching for Help2

inconceiv able l im its. Each particle in the univ erse carriesthe stamp of His identity. No other o bject or creature has

the po wer to possess anythin g of h is o wn free will beca use

h is wil l is moulded by div ine consent. Whatev er h e own s

or possesses is a divine gift and not a self-created

achievement. An individual has no right of possessioneven ov er his own bo dy. Gain an d loss, lif e and death an d

resur rect ion after death are not in h uman control. Allh

alone is directly responsible for the act of living and the

act of dying because He controls each breath we inhale,

each mov ement we m ake and each step we take.Human act s m ay be justified by p urely h uman motives

in term s of cause-an d-effect an d, on ly to this extent, it is

supported by Islamic regulations and Qurn ic injun ctions.

On this level it is possible to believe that a creature is

himself responsible for his gain and loss and it is throughhis personal efforts that he has attained certain

possessions or achieved a specific degree of excellence.

But to ho ld h im responsible for gain an d lo ss fro m the

i t f i f ti i ti di b l t


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Preliminaries 3

These p eople have e limin ated the differ ence bet ween theliter al and figurative m eanin gs of the Qurn ic v er ses and

discarded the sobering influence of moderation. They

consider it valid to base the ir argument s on the real

meanin gs of these ver ses. Therefore, they are pathetically

allergic to any metaphorical elaboration. This is thereason they hav e t urned their f aces from the explanations

and interpretations offered by our forefathers. They are

trying to create purely opinionative explanations and

giving rise to unpalatable innovations and they are busy

generating beliefs, which run counter to the actualteachings of the Qurn and the sunnah. If we cast an

impartial glance, we come across innumerable

ignoramuses among the masses who are victims of literal

distortion an d blo w o ut of a ll proport ion the f igurative

dimension, throwing the element of moderation to thewinds. Their misplaced enthusiasm is as irritating as the

unwelcome prejudice of the others is unsettling. Though

they are f irmly anchore d to their faith in divin e unity an d

th I l i b li f th t t d t d


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group of people, on the basis of their limitedunderstanding of Islamic beliefs, is offering a self-

concocted version of the teachings of Im m Ibn

Taymiyyah to seek endorsement for their own flawed

views, while others with correct Islamic belief, are

accusin g him of un-Islam ic belief s which is, in fact, only ar eflection of their ignoran ce of f acts. Thus, while the f irst

group is guilty of wilful falsif ication, the second group is

han dicapped by factual limitation. But a co rrect

understanding of Imm Ibn Taymiyyahs views can

st raighten o ut the h ump in their un derstandin g of I slam icbeliefs and draw them clo ser in the process.

Im m Ibn Taymiyyahs view is the view held by all

Muslims: Allh is One; He has no associate; He alone is

to be worshipped. We should pray only to Him and seek

on ly His h elp . Anyone who regards non-Go d as the so urceof help is automatically expelled from the fold of Islam,

as it is a n egation of div ine unity. Allh alone has the

power to reward our good deeds and condone our sins.

B id Hi hi ith bl


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Preliminaries 5

performed in obedience to the Prophetscommands. And the Companions used to

depend on his mediation during his life on

ea rth and a fter h is d eath, they d epended on

the mediation of his uncle, Abb s as they

used to rely on his mediation during hisea rthly li fe.1

Lexical research into the word istighthah

The etymological composition of the word istigh thah is

based on the three letters: ghayn, waw an d th (ghawth),

which means help. Istigh thah means to seek help.

Im m Rghib Asfah n explains its meaning in these

words:

Ghawth means help and ghayth meansrain , and istighthah mean s to call someone

for help o r to request (Allh) for rain.2

The wo rd istigh thah h as been used in th e holy Qur n


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The lexicolo gist s believe that the words istigh thahan d istinat both mean to seek help. Imm Rghib

Asfahn says:

The meaning of ist inat is to seek

help.2

The word istina t is also used in the ho ly Qurn in a

similar sense, that is, to seek help. In s rah al-Ftihah,

the Qurn declares while grooming the followers in the

etiquette of supplication:

We seek h elp only from You .3

Kinds ofistighthah

Accordin g to the interpretations of Arab lex ico lo gist s an d

exegetes, the meaning of the word istighthah is to seekhelp. It expresses itself in t wo forms:

1. Appeal by word ( istighthah bil-qawl)

2. Appeal by deed ( istighthah bil-aml)

If a p erson t rapped in difficult ies appeals for help


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Preliminaries 7

I slam is the religion of n ature (dn-ul-fitrah) an d it i sthe religion of all prophets, from Adam (D) to the lastProphet Muhammad (A). T he concept of div ine unityforms the matrix of their teachings. According to any

sharah , including the sharah of Muhammad (A),

there is no real helper except Allh wh ile in th is v er se, hisfo llo wer s have appealed to Ms (D) for help . I f it were aform of disbelief, the miracle that accompanied it would

not hav e mate rialised, as there is no link bet ween disbelief

and a miracle because miracles have divine sanction

behind them. History is a witness that whenever theprophets were asked to p erform an act in vio lation of the

divine unity, they stamped out the appeal firmly in order

to pre-empt a ll forms of disbelief in future as any

p ussyfootin g on th is co unt could hav e weakened f aith an d

entrenched evil. Therefore, they strictly forbade theirfollowers to indulge in any such activity. On the other

hand, in the verse Allh Himself is empowering Ms

(D) to perform the miracle at the appeal of his follo wer s.It th t th l h l i Allh Hi lf d H i


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the shirt, wh ich wo uld help h im r egain his eyesight. As aresult of the act of touching, Yaqb (D) recovered hisvision. Allh has referred to this incident in the holy

Qurn in these words:

Take this shirt of mine, then place it

over my fa ther s face, (and) he will reco ver

his vision.1

When his brothers touched the eyes of Yaqb (D)with the sh irt, h e regain ed h is eyesight thro ugh the div ine

wil l. The Qurn says:

So when the bearer of the good news

came, he cast the shirt over Yaqbs face

and forthwith he regained clear sight.2

The ausp icious act of Yaqb (D), through wh ich heregained his vision, was practically made possible with

the assistance of Qurnic example of appeal by deed in

which Ysufs sh irt served as a m ean s for the recovery of

eyesight by the divine will


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Preliminaries 9

source than the source of divine assistance. Therefore,wh ile intermediation is lo aded with in direct implications,

appeal for direct help from Allh has a palpitating

immediacy abo ut it an d elic its a more prompt response. In

short, the Qurnic verse clearly establishes the fact that

appeal for help by deed is proved by the practice of the prophets. (A detailed discussion on the concept of

intermediation is avai lable in o ur bookI slamic Con cep t o f

Intermediation .)

Difference between appeal for help andsupplication

To seek he lp in a state of t rouble, gr ief an d pain is called

appeal for help. When someone cries for help

unconditionally, it is called supplication as it precludesthe condition of trouble, grief and pain. The relation

bet ween supp lication (du) and appeal for help

( istighthah) , in fact, bo ils do wn to the relation bet ween

general and particular. While supplication is


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who shou ts a t an (animal) who can listen tono thing bu t calls and cries.1

2. at-Tasmiyyah (naming)

In the Arabic lexicon som etimes the word du is used in

the sense of nam in g o r callin g. Im m Rghib Asfah n hasgiven a very apt ex ample:

I named my son Za yd.2

Similarly, the holy Qurn, stressing the dignity and

reveren ce o f the Prophet (A), says:

(O believers,) d eem no t the summons o f

the Prophet (A) among yourselves likethe summons of one of you (calling)

another.3

In this sacred verse, Allh Himself has laid stress on

the sp ecial respect to be accorded to the ho ly

Prophet(A). He has commanded the believers not todd h h A b h i h d A


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Preliminaries 11

They implored that you should pray toyour Lord for us.1

4. al-Hath al al-qasd(persuasion)

The word du is sometim es used to per suade som eone to

do something or to provoke someone. The Qurnillustrates this meanin g in the v erse given belo w:

Ysu f (on h ea ring wha t th e o thers were

saying) submitted: O my Lord! I love the

p rison far too much over wha t they ca ll me( to do).2

The word du is used in the sense of persuasion in

s rahYnu s also:

And Allh ca lls (people) to the home o f peace (Paradise).3

5. at-Talab (desiring)

Th d d i th f d i i i f tl d


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7. al-Ib

dah (worship)Worship of Allh is also called du as is stated by the

ho ly Prophet (A) :Du is p recisely a fo rm of wo rship .2

8. al-Khitb (address)

In addition to these meanings, the word du sometimes

carries the meanin g of address or speech. At the occasion

of the battle of Uhud, when the Companions seemed to

lose heart an d were f ightin g in scattered group s, an d on lya few of them were concentrated around him, the holy

Prophet (A) called those who had scattered away fromh im. The Qurn has descr ibed his words in these terms:

Wh en you were running awa y (in a sta te

of disarray), and never cast a backward glance, and the Messenger(A) , who(stood steadfast) among the group behind

you, was addressing you.3


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Preliminaries 13

The word yadkum of the verse, that is, he wasaddressin g yo u, cannot be interprete d in the sense of

worship. This interpretation borders on sheer disbelief,

which is simply inconceivable for the true believer.

Self-fabricated division ofduAfter disc ussin g at len gth the e ight recognised forms of

du, we will now focus on some of the irrelevant

encroachments on it s authentic frame of ref eren ce. Some

people, in order to declare appeal for help and

intermediation as invalid acts, have devised a self-

con cocted div ision ofdu as their negation of appeal for

help i s not supported by any argum ent from the Qurn.

Al l o f their assumptions are based on intellect ual ha ir-

splitting, wh ich is in f act a product of their f lawed

reasoning. In order to establish appeal for help as a form

of disbelief , t hey fir st dress it in the ro bes of du an d

then deriv e t wo self-engin eered kin ds ofdu:

1. Duas worship


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Du is p recisely a fo rm of wo rship .

1

Since only worship of Allh is valid, therefore, they

erroneo usly conclude th at, in conform ity to this mean in g,

any du attributed to non-Go d is a form of worsh ip, and

therefore, by virtue of this association, a form of disbelief.

2. Duas begging

To beg someone, to acknowle dge someone as the so lver of

your p roblem an d exten d a beggin g han d to h im is called

du as begging.The o bject ion raised by these peop le i s that, sin ce

Allh Alone has the power to solve problems, therefore,

He Alone should be implored to solve them. Since the

persons act o f beggin g is an acknowledgement of his

creat urely status, therefore, beseech in g non-Go d for helpis an acknowledgement of servit ude to him an d of be in g

h is creat ures an d th us is a form of disbelief. A ccordin g to

them, the per son in dulgin g in this act is a disbeliev er.


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Preliminaries 15

Distinction as the purpose of di vi sion is absentThis div ision, even from the v iewpo int of this group , is

irrelev ant as a proof to justify the inauthenticity o f appeal

for help. It is both extraneous and unnecessary. They, in

f act, hav e dissipate d the ir division by pr esentin g it in a

semantically identical garb as they have merged du as begging into du as worship . What is the point in

creating such a division when according to them, both

k in ds ofdu are forms of disbelief? T he f act is that this

division is absolutely unwarranted. The relevance of the

division is proved only wh en it leads to the formulation of

a dif fer ent set of rules an d regulations. Sin ce th ey lack a

separate i dentity, their division becomes superf luo us. This

can be i llustrated through a simp le examp le.

The act of prostration is div ided into t wo kin ds:

1. Pro stration as an act of wo rsh ip.2. Pro stration as an act of r everence.

These two kinds of prostration are kept in two separate

compartments: prostration as an act of worship and


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Let us take another example. A wo rd has three k in ds:noun, verb and letter. All the three are mutually

incompatible and any attempt at their merger amo unt s to

lin guist ic absur dity.

Duis n ot me rely an act of worshi pThe contention th at the word du is used only in two

senses is not practically ten able because its eight dif ferent

applications have already been discussed. If we interpret

du as simply an act o f worsh ip, an d the act of beggin g

for help is a lso merged into the act of worship , then the

entire society will be pushed down into the quagmire of

disbelief an d (Go d forbid) ev en the p rophets will not be

imm une to this do wn ward slide. Therefore, it should be

clearly recognised th at du (callin g) is not synonymo us

with wo rsh ip in all context s. I f we do not acknowle dge

this differen ce bet ween their contextual mean in gs, it will

amo unt to open in g Pando ra s box of disbelief , as no one

wil l r emain untainted by it s rampant prolifer ation. T he


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Preliminaries 17

ca ll only increa sed th eir flight ( from thereligion).1

3. And Allh ca lls (people) to the home o f

peace (Paradise).2

4. Call (th e adopted sons) by the name s o ftheir fathers: that is just in the sight of

God.3

5. Then, let him call (for help) his

com rades. We shall a lso, call (our) so ldiers

soon.4

6. Then they will call on them, and they

wi ll not listen to them.5

7. Wh en we shall call tog eth er a ll factions

o f human being s with th eir leaders.6

8. And if you call them to guidance.7

Srah al-Ftihah and the c oncepts of istinat


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It is this Qurnic verse that lays the foundation ofapp eal for h elp an d assistan ce wh ere worsh ip an d h elp are

ment ioned one after t he other. T he fir st p art of the ho ly

verse iyyka nabudu consists of the concept of

I slamic worship , and th e second p art iyyka nastanu

explains the concept of help and assistance. It is this

verse whose super ficial un derstan din g has prompted some

in div iduals to level a llegation s of disbelief a gain st the

entire Muslim community.

In f act, a super ficial study o f the v er se has in duced in

them the baseless idea that both of its parts comprisesemantically identical words. T he f ir st p art mentions

worship, which is exclusively reserved for Allh, while

the second part refer s to help an d assistance. T he use of

identical words generally ref lect s an identi cal reality, and

if on e look s at this relationsh ip sup erficially, one i s likelyto be deceived by the surface resemblance and may draw

an incorrect inference. These people are the victims of a

simi lar deception. They ignore the contextual imp lications

f th d d t l f h l d i t


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Preliminaries 19

the ho ly v er se ref lect t wo dif ferent types of r eality. If theywere meant to portray identical reality, the two parts

would not have been delinked by placing waw bet ween

them.

The Qurn is an inimitable model of verbal

condensation and precision and is, therefore, immune tothe fallacies and distortions coined by logicians and

philosophers. Each word in the Qurn carries a precise

and specif ic denotation and none of it s lett ers can be

declared irrelevant and super fluo us as it discards all forms

of waste and superfluity. If God had meant to forge asemantic coalescence bet ween th e t wo parts of th e verse,

He would never have differentiated them semantically

through the addition of the particle of separation. The

Qurn contains scores of examples to endorse this

dissimilar ity. Where the differ ence is not inten ded, therethe distinction i s made consp icuo us by the absence of any

delinking element. S rah al-Ftihah, especially its first

four verses, furnishes a clear proof of distinction:


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and, therefore, deserve different treatment and reception,an d any att empt to exp un ge their sem antic dif ference is an

exp licit v iolation of the inherent p urpo se of t he

Revelation. An exclusive reliance on flawed human

reasoning spawns various forms of disbelief and those

who ar e t rapped in ph ilo sophical n uances an d innuen doesdrift far a way from the ir r eal destiny . T hey not only create

do ubts in the m in ds o f others but also become hostages to

infin ite confusion an d fuzzin ess.


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Chapter 2

The Meaning of Appeal to the

Prophet (A) for Help

According to sound Islamic belief, the ultimate focus of

beseech in g help an d assistance t hro ugh the prophet s an d

saints is Allh Him self because He is the on ly true help er

an d supporter an d has the real po wer to reliev e a difficult

sit uation an d mitigate an intracta ble ex igency. He Him self

has repeatedly stressed upon the people to implore Him

for help and relief whenever they face an ugly


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Qurn stressed upon the believ er s to help one another. Hesays:

And help one another in (acts of)

righteousness and piety, and do not help

one another in (the acts of) sin and

oppression.1

In the Qurnic verse Allh is enjoining upon the

community of Muslims to help and cooperate with one

another . This cooperation is predicate d on t he fact of

discrep ancy bet ween it s member s, as it is inconceivablewithout the presence of inequality among them. T hus it is

po ssible only wh en there are t wo classes among the

believer s: the aff luent an d the non-affluent. The latt er are

supposed to ask for the help of the former who are

expecte d to exten d this help to them . It is o bvio us that this principle applies indiscriminately in material as well as

spirit ua l matter s; it a lso app lies e qually in n atural an d

supernatural conditions because Allh has made it

collectively binding and nobody can claim exception


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T he Meaning of Appeal to t he Prophet (A) 23

Prophet(A) for help as the act of a Qibt

who beseechedMs (D ) for help against the excesses of a tyrant. Inresponse to his appeal, Ms (D) extended help to himan d relieved his m isery . Who co uld be a greater so urce for

the validation of this act than the prophets themselves

who se p rimary mission was to dissem inate the m essage ofdivine un ity throughout the wor ld! Allh has not

pronounced anyone of them, Qibt and the prophet, as a

disbeliev er on acco unt of this act o f beseechin g help from

others. Allh say s:

So the person who was of his very

community sought his help against ano ther

person who was from among his foes.1

The Qurn h as a lso described at v ario us junct ures that

the believers from former communities beseeched theirprophets an d saint s for he lp. It is similar ly applica ble to

the followers of the holy Prophet (A) and is clearlyr eflecte d in the practice of the Companions. A n um ber of

tradition s support the validity of th is act These tr adition s


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greater m ean s of redempt ion than the P rophet (A)h imself who allev iate d the pain of other s an d helped them in the f ulfilment of their n eeds! On the Day of

Judgement, when people will face their greatest calamity

and become self-obsessive, they will rally round the

prophets an d saint s to beseech their help an d intercession, but all will express their inability to help them on that

day , and fin ally they will beseech the ho ly Prophet (A)for h elp an d rely on his mediation for their salvation , an d

Allh will end their torture for the sake of the holy

Prophet (A). Accordin g to th e t radition the Prophet(A)said: people will beseech Adam (D) for help, thenMs(D) and finally himself. If this is permissible onthe Day of Judgement, t his should be equally permissible

during our stay in this world. This reflects the kind-

heartedness and benevolence of the prophets that thebelievers can depend on them as a means of approach to

the inf inite mercy of Allh , whether we are on th e earth or

in the Hereafter.

Th t t f th t diti i f ll


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and all the people present there will singhis praises.1

The tradition has, thus, furnished a justification not

on ly of the word istigh thah but a lso of it s popular usage.

The noteworthy point is that when it is valid to beseech

the prophet s an d the saints for help in the Hereafter andalso to seek the help of the living in this phenomenal

world, it is simply meaningless and absurd to deny its

r elevance dur in g the p urgatorial existence.

A number of traditions attest to the fact that the

Companions beseeched the holy Prophet (A) for helpand assistance and sought the solution of their problems

through his mediation by stressing their penury, disease,

sufferin g, need, debt an d h umility. T his act was based on

their underlying conviction that the holy Prophet (A)served only as an intermediary in their gain and loss and

the real operating force behind all these phenomena is

only Allh Himself. No one, not even His beloved

Prophet(A), can encroach upon His exclusive terrain.


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them. The Prophet (A) said: spread your sheet. So I spread it. Ab Hurayrah says: then the Prophet(A) picked upsometh ing ( from the air) with h is hands and

put it in (the sheet). Then said: join it to

you rself, so I jo ined it, and afterwa rds mymemory neve r slipped. 1

The tradition indicates that the Compan ions beseeched

the ho ly Prophet (A) fo r help in every difficult situation.Who co uld be a greater supporte r o f the concept of div ine

un ity than the Compan ion s themselves! An d who could be

a st auncher claimant of th e onen ess of Allh than the

Prophet (A) himself! But, in spite of it, Ab Hurayrahbeseech ed the ho ly Prophet (A) for help and succo ur an dinste ad o f t urn in g do wn his request he so lved his problem

forever. The reason is that anyone who believes in divine

un ity, knows that the only real help er is Allh, while the

prophets, the saint s an d other p io us peop le whose help is

bein g so ught, act only as intermediaries. Their po wer of


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invisible from the air and put it in his sheet andcommanded to rub it on to his chest. Thus Allh

acknowledged this act of mediation as v alid an d fulf illed

Ab Hurayrahs n eed.

Every sensible person who believes in divine unity

knows that supplication is made only to Allh for thefulfilment of needs whose power spans all the worlds. The

petit ioner believes that the per son h e is beseech in g to

mediate an d intercede on h is behalf is clo ser to Allh Who

responds more sensitively and urgently to his appeal for

help. Therefore, the appeal processed through him standsa greater chance of immediate acceptance. The petitioner

knows that h is po wer to h elp is only der ivative because

the real helper is Allh Himself an d this is what is c lear ly

reflected in Ab Hurayrahs tradition.

Qatdah bin an-Numns appe al for hel p

Qatda bin an-Numn lost his eye dur in g the battle of

Badr. The eyeball was dislocated and dangled from his


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a t its o rigina l pla ce. So Qat

dahs eye wasrestored in a manner tha t it wa s impossib le

to say which eye had been damaged.1

Absces sstri cken Companions appe al for help

It is narrated in the books on tradition that strumaappeared on the hand of a Companion, which made it

impossible for him to hold the bridle of a horse or the

handle of a sword. He called on the holy Prophet (A)and beseeched him to cure his disease. So Allh, Who is

the real Helper, cured him through the Prophets hand.This tradit ion is related in these words:

I called on the holy Messenger (A) . Ihad struma on my hand. I said : O prophet

of Allh! I have a struma (on my hand)which makes it painful for me to hold the

bridle of a horse and the sword. The holy

Prophet(A) said: come c lo se to me. SoI moved closer (to him) Then he opened


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A blind Companions appeal for helpRestoration o f the blin d peoples ey esight was not only a

miracle performed by s (D), it was p erform ed by theholy Prophet (A) as well. It is narrated that a blindCompan ion calle d on the Prophet (A) and beseeched his

help for the r estoration of his eyesight. T he Prophet (A),inste ad of discouraging h im or con demn in g it a s a form of

disbelief, stressed upon him to supplicate through him.

This kind of supplication in itself is a composite of

mediation and appeal for help, an d if it is offered even

today with the same intensity of sincerity, it is a patentmedicine for the ailin g mank in d. Narrated by Uthmn bin

Hunayf:

That a blind man called on the Holy

Prophet (A) and said to him: (OMessenger of Allh,) pray to Allh to giveme so lace. The P rophet (A) sa id: if youwish, I will stall it and this is better (for

you ) and if you wish I pra y He sa id: you


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Ibn M jah, H

kim and Dhahab

have declared it asound (sah h) tradition while Tirmidh graded it hasan

(fair) sahh (sound)gharb (unfamiliar).

You must have noticed that the introductory sentence

of the supplicat ion in the tradition is o ffer in g the ho ly

Prophet (A) as an intermediary before Allh while itssecond sentence, in which the Prophet (A) is beingdirect ly addressed, is f urn ishin g not only a justi fication

for seekin g the h elp of Allhs favourite s but a lso issuin g

it as a form of command. If, seekin g h elp through other

creat ures ex cept Allh were an invalid act, the holyProphet (A) would not have issued it in the form of acommand. Wh en the greate st supporter o f divin e unity

h imself commanded that the believer s should beseech his

help, who are we to mislead the Muslims by calling them

disbelievers when they are following in the Prophetsfoot steps! Those who disacknowledge the v alidity o f this

act in a fit of misplaced enthusiasm to purify Islam are

actually indulging in an un-Islamic act because their

ff t i fli t ith th t I l i b li f d th


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Prophet(A) said: brin g an earthen pot for a blution , then perform the ablution and o ffer t wo cycles of optionalprayer. Then say:

O Allh, I appea l to You, and submit to

You through the mediation of Your merciful

Prophet Muhammad(A). O Muhammad,through your mediation I submit myself to

your Lord that He should give light to my

eyes. O Allh, ackno wledg e h is in tercession

in my favour and accept my supplication

a lso in my favou r.

Uthmn bin Hunayf said:

I swea r by Allh tha t we had neith er left

the company nor had we ca rried on a long

con versation tha t the man ente red (with his

sigh t fully resto red ) and it seemed as if he

had n ever b een b lind.1

In addition a n um ber of other tradition ist s of great


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Mahm

d Sa

d Mamdh has also expressed his viewsin his bookRaf-ul-min rah (p.123):

All th ese cha in s are sound wh ich have

been certified by persons who have

committed th e tradition s to memory. Among

these are also included Imm Tirmidh ,Tabarn , Ibn Khuzaymah, Hkim and

Dhahab .

This sacred tradition clearly indicate s that the creature

is imploring Allh Who alone can help him and providerelief to him. He alone has the power to transform non-

existence into existence, non-entity into entity. But the

po int to be note d here is that the words of th e supplication

are being taught by the Holy Prophet (A) himself in

which Gods attention and help are being invoked for itsacceptance through his own mediation. It may be further

noted that it is not only his person that is being relied

upon for the acknowledgement of the supplication, but

a lso the quality of his mercy that he has been v este d with


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Companions appe al for rain

The books on tradition are riddled with the proofs of

beseeching the holy Prophet (A) for help and itsconfirmation by the practice of the Companions. An

unbroken chain of authentic traditions proves that

wh enev er t he Compan ions faced a problem or a calamity,they came rushing to the holy Prophet (A) to beseechhis help. They supplicated before Allh through his

mediation an d beseech ed his h elp for t he f ulfilment of

their needs. As a result, Allh waived the calamity

danglin g over their heads. Anas bin Mlik has relate d:

1. The holy Prophet (A) was deliveringh is sermon on a Friday that a man went up

to him and said: O Messenger of Allh!

There is extreme scarcity of rain. So prayto Allh tha t He shou ld b less u s with ra in.

The P rophet(A) p rayed fo r it and befo rewe reach ed our homes, th e ra in had sta rted

which continued down to the next Friday


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2. That a person entered the mosquethrough the door in front of the pulpit and

the Holy Prophet (A) was delivering thesermon wh ile stand ing. So that person took

a position right in front of him. Then he

said: O Messenger of Allh, the cattlehave died and the paths are disconnected.

So pray to Allh that He should send rain

on u s. The Messenger of Al lh(A) raisedbo th of his hand s and add ressed (Allh): O

Allh , send u s rain ; O Allh, send us rain;O A llh, send us ra in. Anas sa id: By God!

We could see neith er a cloud in th e sky, no r

even a fragment of a cloud, and there was

neither a house nor any other building

between us and the mounta in. Then a p ieceof cloud, that was the size of a shield,

appea red from beh ind the hill. I t sta rted

floating in the sky and then it spread out,

d it t t d i i B G d! F i d


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I asked Anas: was it the same person whohad come before? He said, I dont know.1

3. Once during the time of the holy

Prophet (A) famine gripped Medina. TheProphet (A) was delivering the Friday sermon to us that a person stood up andsaid , O Messenger of Allh, the horses and

the goats have died. So pray to Allh that

He may send us rain. The holy

Prophet(A) raised his holy hands andprayed. Anas relates that (at that time) the

sky was as (transparent as) cutglass. (But

on account of the Prophets prayer,) the

breeze blew instantly and the clouds came

over. Then they grew quite dense and then

the sky opened its mouth wide (that is, it

started raining in torrents). We came out

from th ere and (drenched in ra in and)

almost drowning in water, we reached our


49/196


Friday. The same day the same person or someone else stood up and said, O

Messenger of Allh, the houses have

collapsed, so pray to Allh that this may

stop . He smiled and then p rayed ( to Allh)

that ra in may fa ll a round u s, and no t on u s.So I saw that the clouds had rolled away

from Med ina (and Medina app ea red) a s if it

was crowned by the sky.

In another tradition, Anas relates that

Allh shows to the people the blessing of His Prophet(A) and the acceptance ofhis supplications.1

The proof of appeal for help by the practice of the

Companions and the Prophets encouragement of their

practice establish es the fact that it is not ta inte d with even

a spot of disbelief. It is impossible that a Compan ion

sho uld commit disbelief, an d it is st ill impossible that the

Prophet (A) should condone his disbelief. In this case


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Am

r Hamzah

the re mover of troublesAbdullh bin Masd say s that the ho ly Prophet (A)cried so bitt erly over the martyrdom of his uncle Ham zah

in the batt le of Uh ud as he h ad n ever cr ied before. He say s

that he p laced h is coff in in the direct ion of qiblah an d

burst into tears until he started hiccupping. Then headdressed Hamzah and said:

O Hamzah! O the uncle of the

Messenger o f A llh ! O All hs lion! O lion

of the Messenger of All

h! O Hamzah! Odoer of good deeds! O remover o f t roub les!

O protector of the radiant face of the

Me ssenger o f A llh!1

The use of the collocation y k shif al-kurub t (O

remover of t rouble s) in this tradit ion for a dead man

deserves our special attention. The articulation of these

wo rds not only val idate s the act of beseechin g the help of

the saints, but it also v alidate s the act of help by th e sa ints


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the batt le-cry of the Muslims. He adds th at durin g the war,Kh lid bin al-Wald picked up the flag, and passing

thro ugh the army po sition s, set o ut to wards the mountain

of Musaylimah , the Liar. He waited there for h im to t urn

up so that he could kill him. Then he returned and,

st andin g bet ween the t wo arm ies, h e sho uted: I am the son of al-Wald. I am th e son

o f mir and Zayd.

Ibn Kathr further adds:

Then he raised the battle-cry currentamong the Muslims, which was y

Muhammadh (O Muhammad, help u s).1

In this tradition the Muslims are relying on the

Prophets means and calling him for help, and theMuslim s who are committ in g this act a re the Compan ion s.

Thus to call the Prophet (A) for help and rely on hismeans was a p ractice o f the Compan ion s.


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Therefore, how can those, who claim to be the humbleservants of the Lord, ever aspire to be His partners or

rivals? Thus they are neither Allhs partners nor His

equals. Allh has no riv al or partner. He is un ique in every

resp ect, both in terms o f His personality an d the attribute s

that define His personality. No prophet or saint, dead ora liv e, can be His partner because He alone has the po wer

to grant or turn down our petitions. Thus in all forms of

appeal for help and intermediation, the intermediary

h imself acts as a h um ble servant of the Lord an d he r elies

on the divine mercy as much as the petitioner do es. In nosense what soev er he tr eat s him self as His equal. As a

matter of fact, h is help is bein g so ught because h is status

as an intermediary owes to the divine favour. Allh says:

(O beloved!) And if they had come to

you, when they had wronged their souls,

and asked forgiveness of Allh, and the

Messenger also had asked forgiveness for

them, they (on the basis of this means and


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should ca ll on the Messenger of All

h (A)and a sk fo rgiveness from Allh. They should also request the Messenger of

Allh (A) to pray for them. When they doso, A llh will tu rn to them and show mercy

to them and He will forgive them. That iswhy He used the words la-wajadullha

tawwb-ar-rahm (they (on the basis of

this means and intercession) would have

surely found Allh the Granter of

repentance, extremely Merciful). Manyhave stated this tradition. One of them is

Ab Mans r as-Sabb gh who writes the

famous narration in his book that,

according to Utb , once he was sitting

beside the Prophet s grave when a bedouincame and he said: Peace be on you, O

Allhs Messenger! I have h ea rd tha t Allh

says, (O belo ved!) And if th ey had come to

h th h d d th i l


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Utb, th e b edouin is righ t, go and g ive himthe good news that Allh has fo rg iven his

sins.1

We come to learn from the words j ka

fastaghfarullha of the Qurnic verse that sinners and

wrong-doers should ask Allhs forgiveness through themeans of the Holy Prophet (A) while the wordswastaghfara lahum-ur-raslu furnish a proof of his

intercession. In lawajadullha tawwb-ar-rah m the

proof of intermediation is embedded in a precondition:

seek forgiveness through the means of the

Messenger(A) an d it is c lear wh en the Messen ger(A)ask ed forgiveness for h is fo llo wer, the act of

intermediation t urned into an act of intercession an d

thro ugh intercession the grant of forgiveness itself

becomes a means of forgiveness.

So me peop le treat mean s and inte rcession as t wo

different things. Therefore, it should be noted that when

the Prophet (A) is elevate d to the off ice of intercession,


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that the v illager v isite d th e tom b of the Messen ger(A)

to ask fo r forgiveness.

In addition, Imm Qurtub in his famous exegesis a l-

Jmi li-ahkm-il-Qurn (5:265-6) has related another

happ enin g sim ilar to Ut bs tradition . He says:

Ab Sdiq has reported i t from Al. Avillager came to see u s th ree days af ter the

burial of the Holy Prophet (A). He p laced him self near the P rophet s g rave,

sp rin kled it s earth o ver h is bod y and sa id:

O Messenger of Allh, you said and wehave h eard from you. You received

commands from Allh and we received

commands from you, and one of these

divine commands is wa law annahum idh

zalam anfusahum. It is true that I have

wronged myself, therefo re, you shou ld p ray

for my forgiveness. (In response to the

villagers act of imploring) he was called


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Ibn Taymiyyah has en dorsed it s authenticity in his

book Iqtid -us-sirt-il-mustaqm mukhlifat ashb-il-

jahm (p.373). I bn Kathr h as confirm ed the so un dness of

it s chain o f tran sm ission in al-Bid yah wan-nihyah

(5:167). Ibn Ab Khaythamah n arrate d it with the same

ch ain of t ran sm ission as quoted by Asqaln

in al-Is

bahf tamy z-is-sahbah (3:484), while the latter writes in

Fath-ul-br (2:495-6): Ibn Ab Shaybah transmitted it

with a sound chain of transmission and Sayf bin Umar

Tamm has recorded it in al-Futh-ul-kab r that the

dreamer was a Companion known a s Bill bin al-Hrith al-Muzan. Qastalln has remarked in al-Mawhib-ul-

laduniyyah (4:276) that Ibn Ab Shaybah has narrated it

with a sound chain of transmission while Zurqn has

supported Qastalln in his Commentary (11:150-1).

It is quite surprising that some people have tried todub even this soundly transmitted tradition as weak and,

therefore, lack in g the sin ews to face a r igorously pro bin g

analysis, though this is far from the truth, they have

h ll d i th i f th f ll i bj ti


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M lik ad-Drs trust worthin ess an d re lia bil ity is

gen erally accepted and th e group of Successo rs has

eulo gised him.1

Besides, the biographical sketch provided by

Asqaln also serves to neutr alise this o bjection:

M

lik bin Iy

d, a slave freed by Umar, wasknown as M lik ad-Dr. He had seen the Holy

Prophet (A) an d heard traditions f rom Ab Bakr.He has taken traditions from Ab Bakr as-Siddq

Umar Frq , Mudh and Ab Ubaydah, and

Ab Samm n and the t wo son s of thi s (Mlik ad-Dr) Awn and Abdullh have taken

traditions from h im.

And Imm Bukhr in at-Trkh-ul-kabr

[7:304-5 (4/1/304-5)], through reference to Ab

S lih, has acknowledged a tr adit ion from him thatUmar is reported to hav e said durin g the p erio d of

f amin e: I do not shirk responsibility but I m ay be

made more humble.

Ib Ab Kh th h h d d l


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Ab Bakr as-Siddq an d Umar, an d he was known.

Ab Ubay dah h as asserted that Umar had

appointed him the guardian of his family. When

Uthmn was elevated to the office of the caliph,

he appointed him as the minister of finance, and

that is ho w he cam e to be kno wn a s M

lik ad-Dr(the master of the ho use).

Isml Qd has reported it from Al bin

Madn that M lik ad-Dr was the treasurer of

Umar.1

Ibn Hibbn h as att este d to the t rust worthinessan d credibility of M lik ad-Dr in Kitb-uth-thiq t

(5:384).2

Now if Mundhir and Haytham in sist that they

do not kno w Mlik ad-Dr, it mean s that they h ave

not asserted anything about his credibility or lackof credibility. Ho wever there are traditionist s of

great rep ute l ike Imm Bukhr, I bn Sa d, Al bin

Madn, I bn Hibbn and Asqaln who know h im.

A l h ti d hi i T hdhb t


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ad-Dr. The following examples support my

contention:

1. He has pronounced Yahy bin Uryn Haraw

as hasan (fair) in Silsilat-ul-ahdth-is-sah hah

(1 :49). His argument is based on the statement

made by Khat b Baghd

d

in T

rkh Baghdad(14:161) in which he declares Yahy bin Uryn

Haraw as a t radition ist of Bagh dad.

This statement is quite t ran sparent. Khatb

Baghdd has argued neither in favour of nor

again st Yahy bin Ury n Haraw. His stance isneutral, as he has not tried to establish the stature

of his narrations. He has not labelled them as

authentic or in authentic. In sp ite of his post ure of

neutrality, it is quite surpr isin g that Albn has

called him fair (hasan).2. Ab Sad Ghifr has also been pronounced a

fair narrator in Silsilat-ul-ahdth-is-sah hah

(2 :298). After stating that h e i s no lon ger unknown

b t t h k l d d


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ut-tahdh b (1:359) and has al so state d that he

belonged to the eighth category of Successors. If

an eighth-grade narrator is being described as

credible , wh at just ification is there to pronounce a

first-grade Successor as incredible? The

discrim inat ion seem s to be rooted more inprejudice than reason.

Therefore, the silence of Ibn Ab Htim Rz is

hardly an argument again st the unknown stature of

Mlik ad-Dr because his silence is based on lack

of ev idence a bo ut the nar rator. Th us the absence ofevidence and reasoning does not reflect the

unknowingness of the narrator, which his silence

neither exp lain s nor in dicate s to wards any def inite

interpretation. On the contrary, it opposes any

attempt to establish the unknowingness of thenarrator. There are a number of narrators about

whom Ibn Ab Htim Rz has remained silent

tho ugh other scho lar s have argued a bo ut them an d

th b k t diti d l t d i


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bin Umar Tamm, he has been named Bil l and

Sayf h as declared h im as a weak narrator.

Reply : This objection is also groundless, because

justification does not depend on Bill but on

Umar bin al-Khatt b s act. He did not prevent

Bil

l from p erform in g h is act; on th e contrary, heacknowledged it. He rather h im self cr ied an d said:

my Creator, I do not sh irk responsibility but I may

be made more humble. Therefore the person

v isiting the grav e, whether h e i s a Compan ion or a

Succ essor , do es not affect the so un dn ess of thetradition.

The gist of the discussion is that the tradit ion relate d

by M lik ad-Dr is sound, as I have stated in the earlier

part of my exposition . Muh ammad bin Alaw al-M lik

writes:

All those people who have made

referen ce to th is trad ition or narra ted it o r

reproduced it in their books have never


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seek help from him because if this act were

invalid, Umar would surely have forbidden that

person to do so .

3. The Prophets appearance in the dream of the

person who v isite d his grave and to giv e him good

tidin gs, argues in f avour of t he fact that it is quitevalid to seek help from non-Allh and the dead

because if it were invalid, it wo uld have been

impossible for the Prophet (A) not to haveforbidden that per son to do so.

4. Validation of the mode of a ddress O Messen ger ofAllh (y rasl All h) ev en after the Messengers

death.

5. Call for help an d th e act of intermediation date s

back to the early ages.

6. The ho ly per sonality of the Prophet (A) is afountain of guidance even after his death.

7. The head of t he state is r esponsible for

adm in istrat ive m atters. The Ho ly Prophet(A), init f b i th h i f f h t did t b k


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13. To seek gui dance f rom Allhs favourites.

14. The acknowledgement of th e Prophet s comman ds

by the Compan ions after h is death as just an d

truthful.

15. Imposition of commands receiv ed in dreams on

others.16. When intermediation was discussed in the presence

of Umar bin al-Khatt b, he did not forbid it;

rather he cried and responded to it acknowledging

it as valid.

17. Umar bin al-Khatt bs love for the HolyProphet(A) that h e in cessantly cried as someonement ioned the Holy Prophet (A).

Appeal to the Prophet (A ) during Uthmns

tenureThe famous tradition narrated by Uthmn bin Hunayf

with r eference to th e Prophet s life was discussed in detail

in which a blind man submitted his petition to the Holy


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An d then m ention your need. T he man went away an d

he did as he was told to do. Later when he arrived at

Uthmn bin Affns door, the porter caught him by his

han d an d took h im to Uthmn bin Affn who m ade h im

sit beside him on the mat and asked him: what is your

need? He m entioned the n eed an d the caliph fulfilled hisnee d an d said to h im: why haven t you ment ioned your

need so far? He told him further: do come to me

wh enev er yo u hav e a p roblem? When the man left his

p lace, he met Uthmn bin Hun ayf an d said to him: May

God bless you! He neither gave any thought to my neednor t urned h is attention to m e until you recommen ded me

to him . Uthmn bin Hun ayf replied:

By God ! I d id no t talk to h im, but once I

was in the company of the Messenger of

Allh (A) tha t a blind man came over to see h im and compla ined to him about the

loss of his eyesight. The Prophet (A)a sked him to b e patien t, but h e said: O


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Uthmn bin Hun ayf taught him the supplication that

had been used as the source of the Prophets help and

succour after his death. The point to be noted is that the

person was under the illusion that his need had been

fulfilled on account of Uthmn bin Hunayfs

recommendation to the caliph. So Uthmn bin Hunayfinstantly sh ed his illusion an d relate d to him the t radition

he had heard from the Prophet (A) an d had him self p utto te st to prove that his n eed was fulf illed because h e had

relied on th e means of the P roph et (A) by calling on h im

an d seek in g h is he lp. He swore by Go d and convin ced h imthat he had not recommen ded him to the caliph but it had

all happened through the blessing of the Prophets

mediation.

Ibn Taymiyyahs endorsementIbn Taymiyyah has related a story in the perspective of

this tradition that Ibn Ab Duny has narrated a tradition

in his book Mujb ad-du that a person came over to


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It is said th at Abd-ul-Malik pr essed h is belly again

and said: you ar e cured, you ar e no lon ger suffering from

any disease. Ibn Taymiyyah after recording the whole

incident in his book, comment s:

I say that this and other forms of

supplica tion ha ve been taken over from ou rpredecessors.1

The noteworthy point is that Ibn Taymiyyah has also

en do rsed it that (1) it is an act of o ur predecesso rs, an d (2)

it is quite valid to recov er from disease through this act.

Proof of ritualistic assignment

The t wo tradit ions al so m ake it clear that the p ractice of

ritualistic assignment by the saintly people to others is a

valid act because this h as been the practi ce of Allhsfavourites in the past. The Prophet (A) had not askedUthmn bin Hunayf, tho ugh, to pass it to other people.

Th P h A i ld h i f


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It is part of the belief of Ahl-us-Sunnah wal-Jam ah

that a dead per son c an h ear, po ssesses awaren ess, benef its

from the v irt uo us deeds of the liv in g and is dist urbed by

their wicked deeds. The point that clamours for attention

is that this belief has been established through the

experience of an ordinary man. When an ordinary personcan exercise such po wer, how can we possibly deny it to

the Prophet (A) who i s the mo st superior p er son amongAllhs creatures? Various authentic traditions testify to

the reality that the Prophet (A) is alive even after his

death. It so un ds like a paradox to p erverse ears but in hiscase it is as true as the daily sunrise. He returns our

greetings, the affairs of the Ummah are reported to him,

he asks forgiveness from Allh over the evil deeds of the

Ummah and praises and glorifies Him over her good

deeds. It is stated in a number of traditions that onceMarwn saw Ab Ayy b al-Ansr lying down over the

Prophets grave and asked him what he was doing. Ab

Ayy b al-Ansr gave a faith-freshening reply. The

t diti i d d b l


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Yes, shed tears over religion when its

gua rdian is incompetent.1

Hkim declared th at it f ulf ils the requir ements of

authentic traditions as demanded by Bukhr and Muslim,

while Dhahabh as also called it sah h (sound).

Appeal to the Prophet (A) on the Day ofJudgement

On the Day of Judgem ent the Ho ly Prophet (A) will act

as a means of forgiveness for the believers. The Qurnst ates:

O our Lord! Bless us with all that you

have p romised u s th rough you r messengers

and do not humiliate us on the Day of

Judgement. Surely You do not go back onYour Word.2

In the light of this verse, the divine promise made to

all the prophet s is here acting as a m ean s A ll the rewards


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The Holy Prophet(A) sa id: wh en it isthe Day of Judgement, people, out of

nervousn ess, will call on on e ano ther. F irst

of all, they will call on Adam (D) andrequest him to interced e on their behalf

before All

h but he will turn down theirrequest by saying tha t today i t is beyond his

power to help them out and he will advise

them to call on Ib rhm (D) b ecause h e isthe Friend of Allh. So p eople will ca ll on

Ibr

hm (D) who will al so excu se him selfby sa ying tha t he is no t in a position to he lp

them, therefore, they should go to

Ms (D) because he is Allhsinterlocu to r. They wil l go to Ms (D) and

he will also express his inability to helpthem and advise them to see s (D)because he is th e sou l c rea ted by A llh and

His word. They will go to s (D) and heil l l t ll th th t h i t bl t


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Umm ah! God shall command: go and ta ke

him out of the Hell, whosoever is left with

faith even a s smal l a s th e g rain of barley.

So I will go and do so (I will take all such

people out of Hell). Then I will return and

p raise and g lo rify Him with tho se p raisesand I will p ro stra te myself b efo re H im. So I

will be commanded: O Muhammad, raise

your radiant head, speak and you will be

hea rd, beg and you will b e b lessed with it,

intercede (on behalf of your people) and your intercession will be granted. I will

implore: O Lord! My Ummah, my

Ummah! I will be commanded: go and

take him out of Hell too, whoso ever is left

with fa ith even a s smal l a s th e tin y g ra in o frye. So I will go and do so. Then I will

re tu rn and p raise and g lorify Him with the

same praises and I will again prostrate

lf b f Hi S I ill b d d


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radian t head, and sp eak, you will b e heard,

beg and you will be blessed with it, and

intercede (on behalf of your people), your

intercession will be gran ted . At that time I

will implore the Lord that I should be

a llo wed to take ou t a person from Hell whohas recited l i lha illallh u (there is no

deity except Allh) even once in his life

(from the core of his heart). The Lord will

reply, I swear by My honour, glory,

g rea tness and sup remity that I will l iberatea person from the fire of Hell who has even

once recited l ilha illallh u (there is no

deity except Allh).1

This tradition h as proved, witho ut any p artic le of

doubt, that on the Day of Resurrection the process of

1. R elat ed through di fferent narrators by Bukhr in his as-Sahh, b.of tawh d (Islamic monotheism) ch.36 (6:2727-

8# 7072) b f (f ith) h 32 (1 24 5#44) b f bi


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judgement an d acco unta bility will be initi ated through the

mediation of the Prophets pr ayer, pr aise an d glorification

of the Lord. And on account of the Prophets mediation,

the process of accountability will start with his Ummah so

that they do not have to stay longer t han necessary in the

scorchin g heat o f the Day of Resur rect ion. The Qurn hasalso exp lained in the context of the Day of Judgement:

(It will be the day) when Allh will

d isg ra ce n either His Prophet nor the peop le

who embraced faith along with him. (On

that day) their light (of faith) will keep sprinting ahead of them and on their right

side.1

The Qurnic verse spells out in unmistakable terms

that Allh will not humiliate the followers of the LastProphet (A) through the means of his blessing; on theother han d, H e wil l a llo w them to enter Paradise, with all

the glory and splendour associated with such an occasion.

A visible proof of the divine concession will be the


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them, they (on the basis of this means and

intercession) would ha ve su rely found Allh

the Granter of repentance, extremely

Merciful.1

This Qurnic verse clearly argues in favour of

intermediation. It m eans when peop le have committe d sin,an d th ey seek the mediat ion of t he holy Prophet (A) intheir supplication to Allh and the Prophet (A) also prays for their forgiveness, then they will find Allh

Compassionate and Merciful. Fastaghfarullh argues for

intercession. When Allh condoned their sin through theintercession of the Messenger (A), it mean s thatintercession is validated by the Qur nic text. And the

third concept of istighthah is in fact a proof of seeking

someones assistance. When a man returns to the holy

Prophet (A) for the forgiveness o f h is sin s, it c learlymeans that he is askin g for h is intercession: O Messen ger

of Allh , I am a sinner . Have mercy on me an d interce de

for me before Allh so that He may condone my sins.


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tran smission that on the Day of Judgement, the process of

acco untabil ity will be in it iated on his r ecommendation.

Lets briefly speculate on the Day of Judgement. The

heat an d warmth will be at its climax . The peop le will face

deep distress. T h e Lord wil l be pr esent in H is chair. The

Ho ly Prophet (A) will also honour the gathering withh is presen ce an d all the prophets wil l accompany h im. Theearlier bel iever s an d the later on es wil l also form part of

the audience. In this scenario, when these people,

presuming Adam (D) as the first ancestor, will c all on

h im an d request him to h elp them o ut of the ir trouble, buthe will sen d them on to Ibrhm (D), who will refer themto Ms (D), who will direct them to see s (D) an dfinally he will send all of them to the Prophet

Muhammad(A), the intercessor of mankind. During the

whole process, none of the honoured prophets will say:what disbelief are you perpetrating and what have you

come to us for ? Allh Himself i s there, why dont you go

to Him? On the other hand, they will despatch them

illi l d t tl t th H l P h t (A)


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It is now tran sparent from th ese examples that the f irst

man in the world of humanity was relieved of his agony

thro ugh the mediation of the Prophet (A) , and the worldis drawin g to a c lo se an d m ankin d i s passin g through the

torture of waiting in a superheated environment, they will

also be relieved of their ordeal through the means of the

Prophet (A) . Fort unate are the p eople who even to dayhold on to this belief and will also witness this scenario

on the Day of Judgement.

Al l t hese traditions an d proofs reinforce the r ea lity of

istigh

thah and intermediation and endorse them as validreligious concepts, and not as figments of the frenzied

imagination. If, in spite of these irrefutable indicators,

someone still tr ies to r efute them, he is liv in g in a world

of fanta sy an d self- fabr icat ion because they remain

unsupported both by argument and precedent.


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Chapter 3

Justification ofIstighthahafter Death

So me p eople, in sp ite of th eir awaren ess of the in junction s

of Qurn and sunnah an d the practice of th e Compan ions,

believe that it is possible to h elp one another in the e arthly

world and therefore, it is valid to seek and extend help,

but after death the cr eat ure has no control ov er h is body,

so how can help be sought from him? Since it is beyond

h is control to help others, seekin g help from him is a form

of disbelief.


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person or a dead person remains disbelief. But to seek

help from someone in his derivative capacity whether he

is dead or a liv e is quite v alid an d does not amount to

disbelief . I slam do es not believe in double standards that

an act is a form of belief if yo u perform it in a mo sque an d

it t urns into disbelief if you perform it in a t emple. I slam ic

injunct ions and the consequences that fo llow f rom them

disp lay a consistent p attern. T hus, if we treat a medical

exp ert as the tr ue h elper an d seek h is assistance , it will be

considered a form of disbelief. On the other hand, if we

regard Allh as the true helper and seek the help of av irtuo us p er son a s a form of treatment, it is quite valid

and is in no way inconsistent with Islamic sharah .

The real purpose of a mans life is to be included

among the favourites of God and to acquire as much

knowledge of t he div ine spr in gs of Po wer as is consistentwith hum an limitations. T herefore, to reali se this p urpose,

human beings rely on the saints and the virtuous people

because they not only themselves have cultivated divine

i b t l d l it i th h l l


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Just i f icat ion of Is t ighthah after Death 67

un fla wed guidance and po litical leadersh ip

to humanity.1

Im m Rz writes:

When acquisition of knowledge as the

meaning o f hukman ha s b een es tablished, it

is equally established a t the same time tha t

he (the Prophet Ibrh m) prayed to Allh

for the kind of knowledge that guaranteed

his total absorption in the divine qualities

and attributes, a knowledge whose purityserves as a self-adju sting f ilter to drive ou t

all impurities.

He further comments :

And this knowledge proves that thedivine knowledge or consciousness

develops in the heart of a creature by

Allhs will and Ibrh ms supplication

and include me among those whom You


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And su rely (even) in the Herea fte r, they

will be in the ranks of the righteous.1

There is irrefutable evidence of reliance on these

r ighteo us peop le for t he fulf ilment of their n eeds an d the

relief of their pains and troubles. In its support, the

Qurnic verse in which Allh is commanding the believers to associate themselves with the righteous is

quite sufficient and conclusive. Allh says:

O believers! Fear Allh, and remain in

(the company of) the truthful.

2

In this v er se, Allh, on the one han d, is in str ucting the

believers in the uniqueness and immutability of His

Power; on the other hand, He is enjoining upon them to

adopt the company of t he t ruthf ul in order to elevate

themselves to a position which the truthful have alreadyattain ed. At another p lace, A llh say s:

And follow the path of the (person) who

turned towards Us 3


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believer can deny the credibility of the supplication by

Ysuf (D) as it is recorded in the holy Qurn which isnothin g but abso lute t r uth. T hus it is esta blished that it has

been the practice of the prophets to mediate their

supplications through the virt uo us an d th e r ighteo us. The

recording of these forms of supplication in the Qurn is

most pro bably inten ded to p er suade th e believer s to fol lo w

the practice of the prophet s.

Ibn-ul-Firs n arrate s that Firs said to the

Prophet(A) : O M essenger of Allh! Sh all I beg you for

something? He replied:No, and if you cant help begging, then

you should beseech the pious and the

righteous ( fo r help).1

So me peop le believe that the supp lication of the pio usan d the v irt uo us is granted durin g the ir lif etime, but after

death they cannot h elp anyone, as t hey them selves a re

helpless. They believe that the righteous are a so urce of

help but only dur in g the ir e arthly existen ce an d it is


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Alone has the power to fulfil the needs of the creatures

thro ugh the mediation of the saints whether they are dead

or alive.

Those who object to making saints and the pious as

means of h elp an d assistance after death are obv io usly in

the wron g groove. They are on ly fum bling in the dark an d

smashing their cluttered heads against the slippery walls

of an un lighted t unnel, wh ich leads into an even darker

dungeon. Their objections are grounded in the

m isconception that r el iance on the saint s an d the pio us for

the acquisit ion o f All

hs blessing is contingent on theirman if est lif e wh ile Allhs dispensing of His blessings to

His cr eat ures through the saints an d the p io us is

absolutely unrelated to the fact of their being dead or

alive. The traditions and the quotes of the Companions

that fo llo w are p urported to elim inate the do ubt s r aised bythese deniers. A wide spectrum of eviden ce is mar sh alled

to prove the fact that it is not only valid to rely on the

saints an d the pio us for h elp after t heir death but it has

l b th ti f th h t d Allh


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patronage to remain (truthful) and it was

about this group tha t th e ho ly Prophet(A)had said: a group of my Community, who

have been divinely guided to stick to the

pa th o f tru th, wil l no t cease to exist ti ll the

Day of Judgement, and those who oppose

them o r deg rade them will n ever b e able to

do them any harm.1

The second point revolves around the objection that

the dead lack the cap acity for help. This conclusion is also

base d on p erver se reason in g. Allh Himself has referred tothe purgatorial life of His favourites at various places in

the Qurn. There is no difference of opinion among the

fo llo wer s of any ideolo gy or r eligion abo ut the life of t he

martyrs. What lux ur ies must grace the p urgatorial l ife of

the Prophet (A) whose most lo wly follower isguaranteed not only life till the Day of Judgement if he

die s a martyr but who also receives all the requisite div ine

blessings! Therefore, by regarding the Prophet (A) as a


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Hereafter, because disbelief is condemned by Allh in

every colour and hue. But the facts point in the opposite

direct ion: I slamic teachin gs unam biguo usly rev eal that the

Companions beseeched the Prophet (A) for help andrelied on his m ediat ion at v ario us occasions in their life

and beso ught h im for h elp an d they will a lso seek h is help

and intercession even on the Day of Judgement, and as a

result of this reliance on his means and appeal for help,

the Prophet (A) wil l re ward h is fo llo wers by intercedin g before Allh for their salvat ion. T hus, wh en it is valid

during the earthly life and after-life of the Prophet (A)ho w can it be declared invalid an d a form of disbeliefdur in g h is p urgatorial l ife?

Proof of purgatorial life

The teachings of Qurn and sunnah prove the reality oflife a fter death or lif e in th e grave as clearly as they depict

the reality of resurrection of the dead on the Day of

Judgem ent. Allh says in the holy Qur n :


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the grave leading either to Paradise or Hell. After the

second life, we will be returned to God Almighty on the

Day of Resur rect ion. Thus the p urgatorial lif e span s the

arriv al of the an gels in the grav e for interrogation an d the

divine breath blown into the dead bodies for their

r esur rect ion. T his relates to the p urgatorial l ife o f an

ordinary human being whether he is a believer or a non-

believer.

No w let us exam ine another verse abo ut the life of the

martyrs:

And say not of those who are slain inthe way of Allh that they are dead, (they

are not dead) but they are living though

you are not con sciou s (o f their l ife).1

The same theme is expressed in different words: And those who are slain in the way of

Allh , do not (even) thin k o f th em a s dead.

But they live in the presence of their Lord,


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At this junct ure Um ar bin a l-Kh att b said to the

Prophet (A): O Prophet! You are addressing bodieswhich have no soul in them. To make it clear, the

Prophet(A) addressed the Companions:

I swear by the Power Who has in His

control the life of Muhammad! The words Iam sp eaking to th ese ( infidels and non-

believers) , they fa r excel you in thei r po wer

to l isten to th em.1

This agree d-upon tradition att est s not only to the

purgatorial life after death of the infidels and non-

believers, but it also attests to their power of listening

which excels even that of the Companions.

Similarly, the Prophet (A) taught every person

passing by a graveyard of the Muslims to address theresident s of the grave by the p artic le y (O) and send

salutations on them. This i s the reason that Muslims te ach

their children to say as-salmu ala ykum y ahl-al-qub r

(O residents of graves peace be on you) whenever they


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the prophets are living and they regularly

receive their sustenance.1

This sah h (sound) tradition conclusively proves that

the absolute and incomparable power of Allh keeps the

prophets alive in their graves. Another tradition records

that the affairs of the Ummah are regularly presented tothe Prophet (A) who expr esses h is grat itude to Allh fortheir good deeds and prays to Allh to forgive their

m isdeeds. The words of the tradition are as fo llo ws:

Your deed s are presented to me . I f th ey

are good, I express my gratitude to Allh,

and if th e deeds are no t good, then I p ray to

Allh fo r your fo rgiveness.2

1. Ibn Mj ah n arrat ed thi s sahh (sound) hadt h in his Sunan,

b. ofjaniz (funerals) ch. 65 (1:524#1636-7), b. ofi qmat-us-sal t was-sunnah fh (establishing prayer and its

sunnahs) ch.79 (1:345#1085); Ab Dwd, Sunan, b . of

8/9/2019 Beseechi

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Beseeching for Help - Istighathah (English)