Those
who
consider
Tawassul
to be
permissible
by means
of the
status,
honor
and
right of
Allah’s
Messenger
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)
and
righteous
people,
often
quote
the
Hadeeth
of the
blind
man to
support
their
erroneous
view.
Narrated
Uthmaan
Ibn
Haneef:
‘A blind
man came
to the
Prophet
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)
and
said:
‘Supplicate
to Allah
that He
should
cure
me.” So
he said,
if you
wish I
will
supplicate
for you,
and if
you wish
I will
delay
that for
that is
better
(and in
a
narration,
‘and if
you wish
have
patience
and that
is
better
for you’).
So he
said:
“Supplicate
to Him.”
So he (sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)
ordered
him (the
blind
man) to
make
wudhu
well,
and to
pray two
Raka’ahs
and to
supplicate
with
this
Du’aa:
“O Allah
I ask
You and
turn to
You by
means of
Your
Prophet
Muhammad
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam),
the
Prophet
of
mercy, O
Muhammad
I have
turned
by means
of you
(i.e.
your
Du’aa)
to my
Lord in
this
need of
mine, so
that it
may be
fulfilled
for me,
O Allah
accept
his
Shafaah
on my
behalf,
and
accept
my
Shafaah
for him
(to be
accepted
for
me).”
So, the
man did
it and
he was
cured.’[2]
This
Hadeeth
does not
prove
Tawassul
by means
of the
honor or
the
status,
rather
it
proves
the
third
type of
prescribed
and
lawful
Tawassul;
i.e.
Tawassul
by means
of Du’aa
of a
righteous
person,
because
…
(a) The
intent
of the
blind
man, who
came to
Allah’s
Messenger
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam),
was
Tawassul
by means
of the
Prophet’s
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)
Du’aa
(third
type of
Tawassul)
and
therefore,
he said:
“Supplicate
to Allah
that He
should
cure
me.” If
the
blind
man
wanted
to use
the
status
and
honor of
Allah’s
Messenger
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)
as means
of
nearness
to
Allah,
then he
would
have had
no need
to go to
the
Prophet
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)
and ask
him to
supplicate.
He could
have
stayed
back and
supplicated
directly
to Allah
by
mentioning
the name
of
Allah’s
Messenger,
his
status
and
position.
But he
was an
Arab,
and he
completely
understood
the
meaning
of the
word
‘Tawassul’
in the
Arabic
language
that
Tawassul
is to
ask a
pious
person
to
supplicate
and it
is not
merely a
word
said by
a needy
person
mentioning
the name
of some
person
as an
intermediary!
(b) The
Prophet
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)
made
Du’aa
for the
blind
man and
taught
him to
say, “…O
Allah!
Accept
his
Shafaah
on my
behalf,
and
accept
my
Shafaah
for him
(to be
accepted
for
me)…”
It is
argued
that the
Shafaah
mentioned
in the
supplication
refers
to
intercession.
But, if
Shafaah
here
means
intercession
then
what is
the
blind
man’s
Shafaah
for
Allah’s
Messenger
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)?
Therefore,
Shafaah
means
Du’aa.
So, it
means,
“…O
Allah!
Accept
his
Du’aa on
my
behalf,
and
accept
my Du’aa
for him
(to be
accepted
for
me)…”
This is
also the
meaning
of the
statement,
“O Allah
I ask
You and
turn to
You by
means of
Your
Prophet
Muhammad
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)…”
that is
“O Allah
I ask
You and
turn to
You by
means of
(the
supplication
of) Your
Prophet
Muhammad
(sallallahu
alaihi
wa-sallam)…”
and does
not mean
turning
to Allah
by means
of the
person
of
Allah’s
Messenger.
[1]
Adapted
from
the
book,
‘Tawassul
–
Its
Types
and
Rulings’,
by
Shaikh
Muhammad
Nasiruddeen
al-Albanee.
[2]
Reported
in
al-Musnad
(4/138),
by
at-Timidhee
(4/281-282),
Ibn
Majah
(1/418)
and
others.
