Shirk and its different forms, Dought & clear, - * The hadeeth about the blind man and his seeking for his need to be met by virtue of the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)

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There is a hadeeth which says that a blind man came to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to give me sight. He said: “Go and do wudoo’, then pray two rak‘ahs, then say: ‘O Allah, I ask of You and I turn to you by virtue of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), the Prophet of mercy. O Muhammad, I have turned by virtue of you to my Lord so that He might fulfil my need.’” How sound is this hadeeth, and what does it mean?
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Praise be to Allah
The scholars differed concerning the soundness of this hadeeth. Some of them said that it is da‘eef and others said that it is hasan, but it is to be interpreted in a manner other than what may first come to the reader’s mind. The meaning of this hadeeth is that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed this blind man to do wudoo’ and pray two rak ‘ahs so that he would be sincere in seeking the intercession of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for him, and so that his wudoo’ and prayer would be indicative of his desire to draw closer to Allah by virtue of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and to turn to Allah (to meet his need), may He be glorified and exalted, by virtue of him. Hence if his intention was sincere and sound, and his resolve was strong, then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would intercede for him with Allah, may He be glorified and exalted; in other words, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would offer supplication for him, because du‘aa’ (supplication) is a kind of intercession. This is proven in the saheeh hadeeth in which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no Muslim man who dies, and forty men who do not associate anything with Allah offer the funeral prayer for him but Allah will accept their intercession for him.”
So what this hadeeth means is that this blind man asked the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to pray to Allah for him, because this du‘aa’ would be a kind of intercession. But now, after the death of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), such a thing is not possible; it is not possible for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to pray for anyone after his death. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When a person dies, all his good deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity (sadaqah jaariyah), beneficial knowledge or a righteous son who will pray for him.” Du‘aa’ (supplication) is undoubtedly one of the deeds that come to an end when a person dies. Indeed, du‘aa’ is an act of worship, as Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And your Lord said: "Invoke Me, (i.e. believe in My Oneness (Islamic Monotheism)) (and ask Me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation).”
[Ghaafir 40:60].
Hence at times of hardship and need, the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) did not resort to asking the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to pray to Allah for them; rather, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said, when there was a drought and no rain fell: O Allah, we used to seek to have our needs met by You, by virtue of our Prophet, and You would grant us rain; now we seek to to have our needs met by You, by virtue of the paternal uncle of our Prophet, so grant us rain. And they were granted rain. And he asked al-‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) to call upon Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, to grant them rain; he did so and they were granted rain. This indicates that it is not possible to ask the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), after his death, to pray for anyone, as that is not possible because his deeds came to an end with his death. Because it is not possible for anyone to ask the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to pray for him after the death of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), it is more apt to say that it is not possible for anyone to call upon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) himself to ask him to meet his needs. This comes under the heading of major shirk which Allah does not forgive, and He has forbidden Paradise to anyone who does such a thing. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And invoke not besides Allah, any that will neither profit you, nor hurt you, but if (in case) you did so, you shall certainly be one of the Zalimoon (polytheists and wrong-doers)”
[Yoonus 10:106]
“So invoke not with Allah another ilah (god) lest you be among those who receive punishment”
[ash-Shu‘ara’ 26:213]
“And whoever invokes (or worships), besides Allah, any other ilah (god), of whom he has no proof, then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely! Al-Kafiroon (the disbelievers in Allah and in the Oneness of Allah, polytheists, pagans, idolaters, etc.) will not be successful”
[al-Mu’minoon 23:117]
“Surely, they have disbelieved who say: "Allah is the Messiah (Iesa (Jesus)), son of Maryam (Mary)." But the Messiah (Iesa (Jesus)) said: "O Children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will be his abode. And for the Zalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers) there are no helpers”
[al-Maa’idah 5:72].
The point is that whoever calls upon the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) after his death, or anyone else among the dead, asking him to ward off harm or bring some benefit is a mushrik in the sense of major shirk (associating someone else with Allah) that puts one beyond the pale of Islam; he must repent to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and direct his du‘aa’ only to the Most High, the Almighty, Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls Him, and Who removes the evil. (cf. an-Naml 27:62).
I am astounded by people who go to the grave of so and so and call upon him to relieve their distress and bring them good things, when they know that when this man was alive he could not do that, so how can he do it after his death, and after he has become a corpse and maybe even dust, having being consumed by the earth. They go and call upon him and they fail to call upon Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, Who is the only One who wards off harm and brings benefits and good, even though Allah, may He be exalted, has commanded them and urged them to do that, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And your Lord said: "Invoke Me, (i.e. believe in My Oneness (Islamic Monotheism)) (and ask Me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation).”
[Ghaafir 40:60]
“And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright”
[al-Baqarah 2:186].
And Allah, may He be exalted, says, denouncing those who call upon anyone other than Him (interpretation of the meaning):
“Is not He (better than your gods) Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations. Is there any ilah (god) with Allah?”
[an-Naml 27:62].
I ask Allah, may He be exalted, to guide us all to His straight path.
End quote fromMajmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasdaa’il ash-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 2/274
The hadeeth does not indicate that it is permissible to seek to have one’s needs met by virtue of the status of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), as some people suggest; rather the hadeeth indicates that this man sought to have his needs met by virtue of the supplication of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) when he said: “O Allah, I ask of You and I turn to you by virtue of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him),” that is, by virtue of the supplication of our Prophet Muhammad, and when he said “O Muhammad, I have turned by virtue of you to my Lord”, i.e., by virtue of your supplication.
This is indicated by the following:
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this man came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and asked him to offer supplication for him; if what he wanted was to have his need met by virtue of the status of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), he would have stayed at home and said: O Allah, I ask to have my need met and I ask of You by virtue of the status of Muhammad.
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Among the supplication that the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) taught him was to say: “O Allah, accept his intercession for me and accept my intercession for him,” i.e., accept the intercession of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for me, and intercession is a kind of supplication. Thus it implies that the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) offered supplication for him.
The words “And accept my intercession for him” mean: accept my supplication asking You to accept his supplication.
Al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) said inKitaab at-Tawassul(73, 74):
One of the things that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) taught the blind man was: to say “and accept my intercession for him” i.e., accept my supplication asking You to accept his (the Prophet’s) intercession, i.e., his supplication to restore my sight. Nothing other than this can be understood from this sentence.
Hence you see those who ignore this part of the hadeeth ignoring it and not paying any attention to it whatsoever, because it would pull the rug out from under their feet and destroy all their arguments. If they hear it, you will see them looking at you like one who is extreme distress. That is because the intercession of the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for the blind man is something understandable, but as for the intercession of the blind man for the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), how can that be? They have no answer for that at all. Another thing which highlights their feeling that this sentence invalidates their misinterpretations is that you never see one of them using it and saying in his supplication: O Allah, accept the intercession of Your Prophet for me and accept my intercession for him.
End quote.
For a detailed discussion on this hadeeth, please seeat-Tawassul, p. 68-92
And Allah knows best.








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Engagment, - Dought & clear, - * She used to sit with him and his wife, and he decided to marry her and divorce his wife!

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My problem is that I am about to marry the husband of my sister’s friend. I used to go to her house and sit with her and her husband, and we would always talk with one another. When my sister tried to advise her that this is haraam, i.e., mixing, she made fun of my sister and told her “you are backward” until her husband came and proposed to me, and he says that he liked me from the first moment he saw me, and he wants to have children because she cannot have any. When she heard about this, she said that I had betrayed her. Should I agree to be his wife or not? He wants to divorce her because they have arguments. Please note that he works in the bank and wants to change his job because he knows that it is haraam; he always prays in the mosque.
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Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Mixing between men and women is haraam. See the answer to question no. 1200.
What you must do is repent to Allaah from what has happened of that, and resolve not to do it again in the future.
Secondly:
It is haraam for a woman to strive for her Muslim sister to be divorced, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “no woman should ask for her sister to be divorced so as to deprive her of what is rightfully hers and take it for herself.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2140) and Muslim (1413). So it is not permissible to encourage or tempt the husband to divorce his wife.
Thirdly:
If the wish to marry came from the husband, and you did not try to separate him from his wife, it is permissible for you to accept, but we do not advise you to do that for several reasons:
(i) There is no guarantee that this man will not like someone else and choose her over you as he did with his first wife.
(ii) Your agreeing to marry him will stir up resentment, hatred and enmity in the heart of his wife, and you will not be safe from her ill-will and harm.
(iii) What you have mentioned about him working in the bank; he may leave it as he said he would, or he may not.
This is what we think. If, after thinking long and hard about the matter, you decide to agree to marry him, then pray istikhaarah and ask Allaah for guidance, and wait until he finds another job that is permissible.
We ask Allaah to help you to do that in which there is goodness, success and guidance.
And Allaah knows best.








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Engagment, - Dought & clear, - * She learned of some faults in her fiancé and prayed istikhaarah about annulling the engagement, but it was not easy for her to do so

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I got engaged recently, but after the engagement I found out about some faults in my fiancé that I cannot put up with, and I felt that he is not suitable for me, in addition to the fact that he does not help me to obey Allaah. Despite all that, every time I think of annulling the engagement and pray istikhaarah, asking Allaah for guidance, something happens to make it difficult to annul it. What should I do? If I annul the engagement will I be disobeying Allaah because my decision is something other than what He has chosen for me? Should I close my mind so that I will be obeying Allaah?.
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Praise be to Allaah.
If it has become clear to you that your fiancé has some faults that you cannot put up with, there is nothing wrong with annulling the engagement. This is better than getting married with the possibility of differences and conflicts, then divorce.
If you have thought about that, then pray istikhaarah and ask Allaah for guidance, then tell your wali so that he can apologize to your fiancé. Thus your engagement will be annulled.
Istikhaarah does not mean that you should close your mind, and it is not only focused on material matters that surround man, rather it is complementary to that. A person may be hesitant about some matter, because it involves both good and bad, pros and cons, or because he is uncertain of the consequences, so he asks Allaah to make easy for him the good that He knows.
It may seem to you that a suitor is free of faults, but Allaah knows that he is not suitable for you and that there are faults in him of which you are unaware, or that you are not suitable for him. Or it may seem to you that there are faults in a suitor, but Allaah knows that he is suitable for you and that his faults will disappear, or that they are not actually faults, or that he is suitable for this woman, and other unseen matters that no one knows except Allaah, may He be glorified.
It is well known that no one can succeed except with the help and guidance of Allaah, and that if he were to be left to his own devices he would be an utter loser. So if you have prayed istikhaarah, asking Allaah for guidance, about something, then go ahead with it. If it is good, Allaah will make it easy and facilitate it, and if it is bad, Allaah will divert you from it or divert it from you.
To apply this to your question: because of the faults that you see in your fiancé, you should pray istikhaarah and ask Allaah for guidance about annulling the engagement, and go ahead with it, by speaking to your wali or to someone who will convey news of the annulment of the engagement. If the matter comes to an end and is made easy, that is better for you, in sha Allaah. If it becomes difficult to annul the engagement, then there is nothing good for you in that now; it may be that Allaah knows that your getting married to him is better for you, or that continuing the engagement for a while longer is better for you. There is no reason why you should not repeat istikhaarah several times.
We should point out a number of things:
1. Istikhaarah is not to be used concerning things that are obligatory or forbidden or makrooh, except when the hesitation is about setting a time to do an obligatory action. Based on that, if it has become apparent that your fiancé does not pray or that he commits immoral actions, for example, then you must refuse him, and it is not prescribed to pray istikhaarah in that case.
2. The issue of things being made easy or difficult may involve some doubt and waswasah (whispers from the shaytaan). Perhaps the wali will try to contact the fiancé to tell him of the annulment and will not be able to get in touch with him, so it is said that the matter has become difficult. But that is not the case. Rather he should try again to get in touch with him, or send someone to tell him the news, and so on.
3. If a person goes against what is indicated by istikhaarah, he is not disobeying Allaah or sinning, but he will miss out on much goodness and will regret it if he does not do it, or harm may befall him if he goes ahead with something that Allaah has not made easy for him. Perfect faith and trust in Allaah means delegating one’s affairs to Allaah and accepting His decision, and going ahead with the matter after praying istikhaarah and deciding upon a course of action, and not paying attention to waswasah.
We ask Allaah to make good easy for you wherever it may be.
And Allaah knows best.






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