Praise be to Allah. I ask Allah humbly to raise the rank of Prophet
Muhammad, his Al and Companions, and to protect his nation from that
which he fears for it. I ask Allah to teach us that which we have
forgotten, to add to our knowledge, and to grant us the sincere
intentions. I humbly ask Allah to facilitate for us the routes of
goodness and to protect us from the routes that lead to Hellfire.
Thereafter:


In Al-Mu^jam Al-Kabir and Al-Mu^jam As­Saghir, Imam at-Tabaraniyy
related the hadith about the Prophet from the route of ^Uthman Ibn
Hunayf who was in a circle with the Prophet when a blind man came to
address Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

The blind man addressed the Prophet by saying, "O Prophet of Allah,
ask Allah for me to cure my blindness." The Prophet replied by saying,
"If you wish, you would be patient with your calamity, and if you
wish, I will ask Allah to cure your blindness."

However, the blind man told the Prophet: "The loss of my sight is a
great hardship for me, and there is no one near to guide me around."

At this moment, the Prophet ordered the man to go to the place where
al-wudu' would be performed, perform al­wudu', pray two rak^ah, end
his salat by saying as-salamu ^alaykum, and then say the following words:

which mean: <<O Allah, I ask You, and I direct myself to You in
supplication by our Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O
Muhammad, I direct myself to Allah by you, so my need [here the
specific need is mentioned] would be fulfilled.>>


The blind man went and did as the Prophet ordered. Shortly thereafter,
he returned to the Prophet's session with his blindness cured.

Then, after the death of the Prophet, and during the time of the
caliphate of ^Uthman Ibn ^Affan, a man came to ^Uthman Ibn Hunayf.
This man complained to ^Uthman Ibn Hunayf about a matter which he
needed to be fulfilled through the caliph, but which was not being
fulfilled. ^Uthman Ibn Hunayf ordered the man to go to the place where
al-wudu' would be performed, perform al-wudu', perform two rak^ah, and
after saying as­salam to say the following words: 'O Allah, I ask You
and I direct myself to You in supplication by our Prophet Muhammad,
the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad, I direct myself to Allah by you, so
my need [specify need] would be fulfilled.

^Uthman Ibn Hunayf told him to return after doing this, and they would
go together to the caliph. This man went and performed what ^Uthman
Ibn Hunayf ordered him to do. However, instead of returning to ^Uthman
Ibn Hunayf, he elected to go on his own to the caliph--which he did.
When he reached the door of the caliph, the gateman took him by the
hand to the caliph. ^Uthman Ibn ^Affans at him on a carpet next to him
and asked him, "What is your need that you wanted fulfilled? I forgot
all about it until just now." The man informed the caliph about his
need, which he fulfilled. The caliph told him, "Whenever you have a
need, come to me and I will satisfy it for you."

It is because of the prayer this man performed, and the du^a' that he
made--asking Allah for his need by the Prophet--that Allah made the
heart of the caliph move towards fulfilling the need of that man. This
prayer and the du^a' afterwards in which one is asking Allah to
fulfill a need is called 'Salat al-Hajah'. Let the one who has a need:
perform al-wudu', pray two rak^ah, and then say that du^a' as
mentioned, and in sha' Allah, his need will be fulfilled.

This hadith was narrated by many scholars of hadith. Some of them
related the part of the hadith which occurred during the lifetime of
the Prophet, and some narrated both parts of the hadith, i.e., the
part which took place during the lifetime of the Prophet and the part
which took place after his death and during the caliphate of Sayyidina
^Uthman Ibn ^Affan. Imam at­Tabaraniyy is among those scholars who
narrated the entire hadith, in both parts--the part that took place
during the life of the Prophet, as well as the part that took place
after the death of the Prophet. After narrating that hadith, he said,
"The classification of this hadith is sahih."

This hadith carries the proof that it is permissible in Islam for one
to ask Allah for things by the Prophet during the lifetime of the
Prophet and after the death of the Prophet. Hence, there is no
difference in the permissibility of asking Allah for things by the
Prophet, whether done during the lifetime of the Prophet or after his
death. The scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jama^ah said that it is
permissible to make that tawassul during the lifetime of the Prophet
and after his death. Knowing that, one concludes that the claim of
some people that it is not permissible to ask Allah for things except
by he who is alive and present, is something which is rejected.

The first person to make this false claim was a man who lived some 600
years ago, by the name of Ahmad Ibn Taymiyah. This man falsely stated
that it is not permissible to ask Allah for things except by he who is
alive and present. This is wrong! It is contrary to what is stated in
the rules of the Religion of Islam. During the time of Ahmad Ibn
Taymiyah, scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah refuted his argument, and as a
result his false claim did not spread at that time. However, some 200
years ago, a man named Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahhab emerged in a place in
the Arabian Peninsula called Najd which the Prophet dispraised.
Al-Bukhariyy related a hadith about the Prophet in which he said:

This means: <<From this spot, [which is called Najd] the tribulations
and the sedition will occur.>>

The Prophet conveyed the truth. Many tribulations and sedition have
occurred from that region. Among the most recent was this man by the
name of Muhammad Ibn ^Abdul-Wahhab. Muhammad Ibn ^Abdul-Wahhab
followed Ahmad Ibn Taymiyah in the aforementioned case and in other
cases as well. He started repeating the false statement of Ibn
Taymiyah that it is not permissible for one to ask Allah for things
except by he who is alive and present. This rule has no foundation
whatsoever in the Religion of Allah. Rather, this rule and this
statement were innovated by Ahmad Ibn Taymiyah­­ an innovation of
misguidance.

As a result of their stubbornness and arrogance, the leaders of the
Wahhabiyyah movement rejected the part of the hadith which signifies
the man asking Allah for things by the Prophet, after the Prophet's
death. The great scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah told these people that the
scholars classified that entire hadith as sahih, i.e., the part that
took place during the lifetime of the Prophet and the part that took
place after his death. Hence, one must reject the false claim of Ibn
Taymiyah and Muhammad Ibn ^Abdul-Wahhab, because it stands against the
sayings of those reliable and dependable scholars of hadith.
Al­Hafidhat­Tabaraniyy narrated that hadith, among others, including
al-Hafidh al-Bayhaqiyy and al-Hafidh as­Subkiyy and al­Hafidh
al-^Ala'iyy; they all classified it as sahih. The status of those
huffadh, i.e., their high knowledge and high level in the Science of
Hadith, is a case of unanimous agreement among the scholars of Islam.

However, those Wahhabis, in an attempt to back their stubbornness and
their false claim, rejected the sahih hadith of the Prophet; may Allah
protect us from such misguidance. They refuted and rejected that which
was proved to be mentioned by the Companions. It is obvious they are
not following a correct methodology on their part. What is correct is
for one to follow the path of the Prophet and the path of his
Companions. One must adhere to that which the Prophet prescribed, and
that which was put forth by the Companions, and one does not adhere to
the example of someone deluded about things.

There are other ahadith that stand as a proof to the validity and the
correctness of the statements of Ahl as­Sunnah. Among of which is the
hadith narrated by Imam al-Bukhariyy and others about three people
from a previous nation who went inside a cave seeking protection from
a heavy rain they encountered in their travels. A big rock rolled down
from the top of the mountain shutting off the mouth of the cave and
blocking their exit. One of the three men suggested they all make
du^a' to Allah by virtue of their good deeds. The first one stood up
and made a du^a' to Allah asking Him by one of the good deeds that he
had done. He said, 'O Allah, if that good deed I did previously was
done in sincerity to You, then I ask You to relieve us of this
calamity we are facing.' Once he finished his du^a', the rock moved
slightly; however, it did not move enough for them to come out of the
cave. The second man stood up and asked Allah to relieve them of their
calamity by virtue of a good deed which he had done in the past. Again
the rock moved a little bit more; however, it was still not enough for
them to be able to leave the cave. The third man did the same as the
first two, and the rock was moved completely out of the way, and the
men were able to leave the cave. This hadith is very famous. It is
confirmed and is classified as sahih. It was narrated by Imam
al-Bukhariyy and others and confirms those three people asked Allah
for something, i.e., to relieve them of their calamity, by their good
deeds.

If asking Allah for things by the good deeds of a person, is something
permissible in the Religion, then asking Allah for things by the
Prophet takes precedence--since the good deed is a creation of Allah,
and the best of all the creations is the Prophet. Moreover, one should
note that the good deeds of those people are not categorized as
'alive' or 'present,' as Ibn Taymiyah made a condition. From where did
Ibn Taymiyah bring this condition? It is only a delusion on his part.
He deduced that from his own delusions, and it is not founded on sound
religious proofs.

The Prophet, his Companions, the followers of those Companions, and
the followers of those followers of the Companions are all in
unanimous agreement that it is permissible to ask Allah for things by
the Prophet and by the good and pious Muslims, whether during their
life or after their death. All the scholars from among the four
reputable schools, i.e., the school of Imam ash-Shafi^iyy, the school
of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, the school of Imam AbuHanifah, and the
school of Imam Malik, concur on this issue.

Ahmad Ibn Taymiyah and his followers among the Wahhabis claim that he
who asks Allah for things by the Prophet after his death or during his
absence is doing an act of shirk, i.e., associating partners with
Allah. Again, this is contrary to what is founded in the Religion of
Allah.

The hadith of the blind man previously mentioned indicates that this
blind man left the session of the Prophet, i.e., he went away and was
no longer in the presence of the Prophet when he made his wudu',
performed his salat, and made his du^a'. How could this be classified
as a shirk? If it had been a shirk, then the Prophet would not have
ordered the blind man to do as he did. The Prophet is more
knowledgeable than Ibn Taymiyah and all the others like him.

The scholars of Islam opposed those who claimed that the one who asks
Allah for things by the Prophet after his death or during his absence
is doing an act of shirk. The Wahhabis claim they are following the
school of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. However, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and
the scholars who belong to his school all agree that it is permissible
to ask Allah for things by the Prophet--during his lifetime and after
his death. Even the grandfather of Ahmad Ibn Taymiyah, himself, who
was among the great scholars following the school of Imam Ahmad, used
to say it is permissible to ask Allah for things by the Prophet during
his lifetime and after his death. This was narrated by one of the
greatest students of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, Abu Bakr.