239. Tawassul

By Asma bint Shameem

Making duaa by virtue of the status of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam or by his ‘Waseelah’ or ‘Tufail’ or ‘sadaqah’ 

By Asma bint Shameem 

 Tawassul literally means “to draw close to something”.

In the Deen, asking Allaah for something by virtue of some one or some thing is called ‘Tawassul’. 

In other words, a person may hope to draw close to Allaah with certain things and hope that He will answer his duaa and fulfill his needs. 

TYPES of Tawassul 

Tawassul is a form of ‘duaa’ and since duaa is an act of ibaadah, it is ONLY allowed to be used in the form for which we have PROOF from the Qur’aan and authentic Sunnah. 

Thus Tawassul is of two types:

1-Permissible Tawaasul 

This is the Tawassul that’s PROVEN from the Qur’aan and authentic Sunnah. 

2-Impermissible Tawassul 

This is the Tawassul that’s NOT proven from the Qur’aan and authentic Sunnah and is thus IMPERMISSIBLE. 

Some EXAMPLES of PERMISSIBLE Tawassul. 

1. Asking Allaah by His Beautiful Names and Perfect Attributes. 

Meaning you may make duaa to Allaah using His Names and Attributes and call upon Him hoping His Names and Attributes would be a means by which Allaah will answer you. 

Allaah says:

“And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allaah, so call on Him by them..” 

(Surah al-Aaraaf :180)

So for example, when someone is asking forgiveness from Allaah, they may say “Yaa Ghafoor, yaa Tawwaab, forgive me.”

Or if they’re asking for blessings in their rizq, they may call upon Allaah as “Yaa Razzaaq, Yaa Kareem, expand my provision for me” etc 

So in this form ofTawassul, you’re using Allaah’s NAMES  as a MEANS to have your duaa accepted. 

2. Tawassul by virtue of GOOD DEEDS. 

That is, a person may use his GOOD DEEDS as a means (Tawassul) to ask Allaah to fulfill his needs and take away his problems. 

Good deeds can be anything that’s pleasing to Allaah such as worshiping Allaah Alone, obeying Him sincerely, staying away from His prohibitions, being kind to parents, upholding the ties of kinship, spending in the path of Allaah, resisting temptation for Allaah’s sake, etc. in the hope that He will answer your duaa and fulfill your needs due to these good deeds. 

a) An example of using one’s good deeds as Tawassul is the story of the three men who got trapped in a cave during a storm and they couldn’t get out. 

So they each used the good deeds that they had done previously for the sake of Allaah, as a means to get out of the cave. 

Every time they mentioned some good deed they did for the sake of Allaah as Tawassul, to get out of the cave, the rock would move a little bit and the opening of the cave would widen, until eventually the cave opened wide and they escaped. 

This story is related in al-Bukhaari and Muslim. 

b) Or asking Allaah by virtue of admitting one’s sins and repenting to Him like Yunus Alaiyhis-Salaatu was-Salaam when he said:

“La ilaahaa illaa anta subhaanaka inni kuntu min adh-Dhaalimeen.”

“None has the right to be worshipped except You (O Allaah). Glorified (and exalted) are You. Truly I have been of the wrong-doers.”

(Surah al-Anbiya :87)

Here Yunus Alaiyhis-Salaatu was-Salaam used his sincere Taubah as tawassul to get out of the belly of the whale. 

3. Asking Allaah (tawassul) through the duaa of a righteous person. 

Meaning you may ask a righteous person that’s living (NOT a dead person) to make duaa for you hoping that Allaah may fulfill your need by accepting the duaa of that righteous person. 

These are the permissible means of Tawassul that are proven in the Sharee’ah. 

IMPERMISSIBLE Tawaasul

Tawassul is NOT allowed using the status and virtue of any one; not even the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam. 

That’s because there’s NO PROOF of such an act in the Sharee’ah. 

Someone asked the scholars of the Standing Committee about making duaa by the status and virtue of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam. 

They said:

“It is not permissible to make duaa to Allaah by virtue of the Messenger of Allaah or by virtue of any of the Sahaabah or anyone else, or by the life of anyone, because acts of worship are tawqeefi (i.e., we must adhere to what is prescribed in the Qur’aan and Sunnah and not worship Allaah in any way except that which has been prescribed). 

Beseeching Allaah in the manner described (in the question) has not been prescribed by Allaah, rather He has commanded His slaves to beseech Him by His names and attributes, by believing in His Oneness, by having faith in Him, and by virtue of one’s righteous deeds – not by virtue of the status of So and so or by his life. 

So we must limit ourselves to that which Allaah has prescribed. Hence it is known that beseeching Allaah by virtue of the status or life of So and so is an innovation that has been introduced into Islam.”

(Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (1/153)

So once this concept is clear, we can see that asking Allaah for something through the virtue of a righteous person, even if it’s the Most Honored, Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam, is NOT allowed. 

However, it IS allowed to use our LOVE for the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam as Tawassul. 

Why is that?

That’s because LOVING the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam is counted  as a GOOD DEED and good deeds can be used as Tawassul. 

This is  one VERY IMPORTANT point that we must understand. 

Do make sure to understand CLEARLY in your mind that there’s a DIFFERENCE between making Tawassul through our LOVE for the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam and making Tawassul through the STATUS of the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam. 

The first is ALLOWED but the second is HARAAM. 

Shaikh ibn Baaz said when explaining the permissible forms of Tawassul:

“That a person calls upon Allaah while making Tawassul by his love for Prophet Muhammad Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam, his obedience to him, and his love for the righteous. Such type of Tawassul is also permissible. 

A person thus may say: "O Allaah! I ask you by virtue of my love for your Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam, my obedience to him, and my love for His righteous slaves that you may grant me so and so." 

This is equivalent to supplicating to Allaah by virtue of a person's good deeds which is permissible as it is authentically reported that the three people were confined in the cave and made Tawassul by their good deeds.

Conversely, making Tawassul through asking dead prophets or righteous people to make Duaa' for a person is SHIRK. 

This is because a deceased person is not in a state to be asked to make Duaa' or anything else for anyone.

As for making Tawassul by honor of the prophets or righteous people or swearing oaths by them or by their merits in the sight of Allaah; all this is a sort of IMPERMISSIBLE Tawassul.

When the Sahabah radhi Allaahu anhum, faced drought after the death of the Prophet; they did not make Tawassul by virtue of the Prophet's honor. Instead, they made Tawassul by asking the Prophet's uncle i.e. Al-Abbas to make Duaa' for rain. 

The Sahabah did so, though the status of the Prophet is higher than the honor of all other people. 

Yet, no narration is available to the effect that the Sahabah - who belonged to the best generation and were the most loving to the Prophet and knowledgeable about his status - made Tawassul by the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam after his death.”

(Fataawa of the Permanent Committee-Fatwa # 1846 Part No. 1; Page No. 184)

And Allaah knows best