➡️ CLASS: 6 ⬅️
2 April 2020 • 1.6K views
EXPLANATION OF THE
LĀMIYYAH OF IBN TAYMIYYAH
(https://t.me/madrasatuna)
We continue on from where we left off last lesson...
وَمَـوَدَّةُ الْـقُـرْبَـى بِـهَـا أَتَـوَسَّـلُ
And through loving the nearest ones (Ahlul-Bayt) do I seek nearness (to Allāh)
1. In our last class, we explained that which relates to Ahlul-Bayt, and today, we are going to discuss the other matter of Belief comprised in this line.
BELIEF 3:
ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴍɪssɪʙɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴏғ sᴇᴇᴋɪɴɢ ɴᴇᴀʀɴᴇss ᴛᴏ ᴀʟʟᴀ̄ʜ (ᴀᴛ-ᴛᴀᴡᴀssᴜʟ) ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴏɴᴇ's ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴅᴇᴇᴅs
2. What is At-Tawassul?
At-Tawassul is to draw close to Allāh.
3. There are 2 types of At-Tawassul:
The first: التوسل المشروع
The prescribed form of At-Tawassul
The second: التوسل الممنوع
The prohibited form of At-Tawassul
4. The prescribed form of At-Tawassul is one which is endorsed by the Qur’ān and the Sunnah; and this comes in three forms:
(1) - At-Tawassul through Allāh's beautiful Names and Attributes.
The evidence for this is the saying of Allāh ﷻ:
{وَلِله ٱلۡأَسۡمَاۤءُ ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰ فَٱدۡعُوهُ بِهَا}
"To Allāh belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call on Him by them."
[Sūrat Al-A'rāf 180]
(2) - At-Tawassul through one's own good deeds.
The evidence for this is the saying of Allāh ﷻ:
{رَبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلْإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا ۚ رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَبْرَارِ}
"Our Lord! Verily, we have heard the call of one (Muḥammad ﷺ) calling to Faith: ‘Believe in your Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and expiate from us our evil deeds, and make us die (in the state of righteousness) along with Al-Abrâr (the pious believers of Islamic Monotheism)."
[Sūrat Āli-'Imrān 193]
So they sought nearness to Allāh through their Īmān (belief), saying, Our Lord! We have indeed believed, so forgive us our sins and save us from the punishment of the Fire.
Likewise, another proof is the ḥadīth of ibn 'Umar, reported by Bukhāri, concerning the three trapped in the cave...so they all invoked Allāh, seeking nearness to Him through their (own) good deeds.
Read the full ḥadīth here: ⤵️
https://sunnah.com/bukhari/60/132
(3) - At-Tawassul through the supplication of a righteous individual who is alive and present.
The evidence for this is the ḥadīth of Anas, reported by Bukhāri; that whenever drought threatened them, ‘Umar Ibnul Khaṭṭāb, used to ask Al-Abbās ibn ‘Abdil Muṭṭalib to invoke Allāh for rain. And he used to say:
"اللهم إنا كنا نستسقي إليك بنبينا فتسقينا، وإنا نتوسل إليك بعم نبينا فاسقنا"
“O Allāh! We used to ask our Prophet to invoke You for rain, and You would bless us with rain, and now we ask his uncle to invoke You for rain. O Allāh! Bless us with rain.”
And so it would rain.
NOTE:
It's not permissible to request supplication from the dead, nor from those who are not present.
If you contemplate the ḥadīth above, you will clearly see that the companions made a distinction between the living and the dead; which is why they stopped requesting supplication from the Prophet ﷺ after his death.
So these are the three legislated means of At-Tawassul (seeking nearness to Allāh).
5. As for the prohibited form of At-Tawassul, then this is an act of innovation which has been introduced into the Deen, for which Allāh has sent down no authority.
An example of this is seeking nearness to Allāh through the status of the prophets and the righteous, like one's saying: “O Allāh! I ask you in the name of so and so,” or "...by the right/status of so and so."
This is a very common practice amongst the Sūfiyyah and their likes. Similar to this is their saying:
يا رب بالمصطفى بلغ مقاصدنا -
واغفر لنا ما مضى يا واسع الكرم
"O my Lord! through the chosen one (i.e. Muḥammad ﷺ ), help us realise our goals - and forgive us for what has passed (of sins) O Bounteous One!"