Saturday 9 May 2015

The 27th of Rajab, and Tawassul

A translation of this fatwa from Naseem al-Sham



قبة الصخرة


Question:

Faḍīlat ash-Sheikh, As-salām ʿalaykum,

Did the Miʿrāj (Ascent) of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, happen on the 27th of Rajab as some people claim? My second question: is it permissible to say “O Messenger of Allah, take my hand!” (Yā Rasūl Allah, khudh bi yadī) as some munshids say, and what is the proof? Please give us a fatwā, and may Allah reward you.
                                 
Answer (Sheikh Muammad Tawfīq Ramaān):

The date of the Miʿrāj is the same as that of the Isrāʾ (Night Journey), and its specified time being the 27th of Rajab is not just what some people claim. Rather, it is the narration that many scholars have relied on. As for tawassul of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, it is a legislated matter. Those who oppose this cite as their evidence the ḥadīth: {When you ask, ask Allah…}, which is a aḥīḥ ḥadīth, but tawassul does not contradict this ḥadīth. Rather, tawassul is nothing but asking for his intercession, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and if seeking his intercession in his lifetime is established by the ḥadīth of the blind man, which is not denied by those who deny tawassul, and it is established in the ḥadīth of al-Bukhārī that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, will intercede on the Day of Resurrection…is tawassul after his death thus not legislated? Thinking like this actually necessitates idolatry (shirk) because it implies that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has some sort of intrinsic benefit that he could bestow whilst alive, but since his death he is no longer able to do so![1] We, on the other hand, do not say that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has any intrinsic ability to benefit or harm. Rather, it is all in Allah’s Hand,[2] but Allah grants intercession to some of His slaves.[3]


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[This translation is also available from the English Naseem al-Sham site]


[1] (tn): The sheikh’s father, Imam Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī, may Allah have mercy on him, expands on this further while discussing the law of causation in the universe in his book Kubrā al-Yaqīniyyāt al-Kawniyyah. The Imam says,

‘What is amazing is that certain people continue to attribute matters to their apparent causes. Indeed, they use expressions that would clearly indicate that the apparent cause is actually that which produced the effect, such as attributing a cure to medicine, or asking a physician for it. Then you see these same people paying very close attention to the words of others and whenever they hear the words tawassul or tabarruk [seeking blessings] of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from anyone, they declare them guilty of shirk and kufr, even though this individual did not attribute the production of the effect to him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and did not say anything more about the Messenger than what they say about physicians and medicines. Is the causation of medicine with regards to a cure  greater than the causation of our master Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with regards to blessings and mercy?! What we say is that there is no actual causation in this or that, but it is preposterous to elevate this apparent causation in medicine and medication to even one-tenth of the degree to which the apparent causation in Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is raised with regards to mercy, forgiveness and blessings.

What is also amazing, and which boggles the mind, is to see them saying, “The Companions only did tawassul of him because he was still alive…after his passing, tawassul was nullified and its ruling was abolished, and it became shirk and kufr.”!!

Can anyone say this unless they think that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, assumed, while he was alive and had physical capacity, the means of producing an effect for those who did tawassul and tabarruk of him, and then when he died the means of producing an effect disappeared and therefore tawassul of him became tawassul of something that cannot produce an effect?! This is nothing but pure kufr, and it’s worse than what these people pretend they are fleeing from.

Indeed the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, cannot produce an effect in anything whatsoever, not in his lifetime nor after his death. Whoever believes otherwise is a disbeliever in Allah and His Messenger. As for the anchor of tawassul and tabarruk of him, it is nothing but an honouring from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that is bestowed upon him, and He made him a means of mercy for His slaves. This honouring and ennoblement was not detached from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, upon him passing away. Rather, it was increased, as we know, in sublimity and nobility.’ [p.295-296]

[2] Ar. yad
[3] (tn): See Āyat al-Kursī, for example (Al-Baqarah 2:255)

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