Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:35

(O you who have believed, fear Allah) When the Almighty mentioned the recompense of the aggressor and the gravity of his crime, and indicated, in the midst of that, His Almighty forgiveness for those who repent, He commanded the believers to fear Him—Exalted is He—in all that they undertake or abandon, by abstaining from the sins that must be feared—among which are aggression and corruption—and by performing acts of obedience, which include repentance, seeking forgiveness, and preventing corruption.

(And seek to Him) i.e., seek for yourselves, toward His reward and closeness to Him, (the Wasilah), which is of the form fa'ilah, meaning that by which one seeks to reach and draw near to Allah—Exalted is He—through the performance of good deeds and the abandonment of sins. It is derived from wasala ila kadha (he drew near to such and such). The prepositional phrase "to Him" relates to it and is placed before it for emphasis; it is a noun, not an infinitive, so that it does not prevent the preceding object from advancing. It is also said that it relates to the verb before it, or to an implied state (hal) derived from it, meaning "being towards Him." Perhaps what is meant by it is the "fear" (Taqwa) that has been commanded, as the context points toward Qatadah’s statement, for it is the anchor of the entire affair, the means to every good, and the salvation from every transgression. In this case, the sentence follows the previous one as an explanation and confirmation.

It is said: The first sentence is a command to abandon sins, and the second is a command to perform acts of obedience. Ibn al-Anbari and others narrated from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—that the Wasilah is the "need" (hajah), citing the verse of Antarah: “Indeed, men have a need (Wasilah) toward you, if they take you, then adorn yourself and apply henna.” In this case, the meaning would be: "Seek your needs while directed toward Him, for in His hand—Exalted is His Majesty—are the keys of the heavens and the earth, and do not seek them while directed toward other than Him, lest you be like a weakling taking refuge in a thorny bush."

Some have interpreted the Wasilah as a rank in Paradise. Interpreting it in this sense is not apparent, as it is exclusive to the Prophets—peace be upon them—based on what Muslim and others narrated: "It is a rank in Paradise which Allah Almighty has set aside for one of His servants, and I hope that I am he; so ask for the Wasilah for me." That the request here would be for the Prophet (ﷺ) is something that no sound mind would contemplate; hence, it is impossible for the prepositional phrase to relate to it, as is obvious.

Some people have used this verse as evidence for the legitimacy of seeking help (Istighathah) through the righteous, making them an intermediary between Allah—Exalted is He—and the servants, and swearing by Allah—Exalted is He—through them by saying: "O Allah, we swear by You through so-and-so to grant us such and such." Among them are those who say to an absent or deceased righteous servant of Allah: "O so-and-so, call upon Allah to grant me such and such," and they claim that this is a form of seeking the Wasilah. They narrate from the Prophet (ﷺ) that he said: "If you are confused by matters, then resort to the people of the graves" or "Seek help from the people of the graves." All of this is far removed from the truth by many degrees.

The verification of this matter is that seeking help from a created being and making him a Wasilah in the sense of requesting supplication from him is, without doubt, permissible if the one requested is alive. It does not depend on his being superior to the seeker; indeed, one of high status may request it from one of lower status. It is authentically established that the Prophet (ﷺ) said to Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—when he sought permission for Umrah: "Do not forget us, my brother, in your supplication," and he also commanded him to ask Uwais al-Qarni—may Allah have mercy on him—to seek forgiveness for him, and the Prophet (ﷺ) commanded his nation to seek the Wasilah for him as mentioned earlier, and to invoke blessings upon him.

As for when the one requested is dead or absent, no scholar doubts that it is impermissible and that it is an innovation that none of the predecessors did. Yes, greeting the people of the graves is prescribed, and addressing them is permissible; it is authentically established that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to teach his companions when they visited the graves to say: "Peace be upon you, O people of the dwellings of the believers, and we, if Allah wills, shall be joining you. May Allah have mercy on those of us who have gone before and those who come later; we ask Allah for health for us and you. O Allah, do not deprive us of their reward, do not test us after them, and forgive us and them." It has not been narrated from any of the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—and they were the most eager of all creation for goodness—that they asked a dead person for anything. In fact, it is authentic that Ibn Umar—may Allah be pleased with them—used to say when he entered the Prophetic chamber for visitation: "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah, peace be upon you, O Abu Bakr, peace be upon you, O Father," then he would depart and not add to that, nor would he ask the Master of the Worlds (ﷺ) or his two noble companions—may Allah be pleased with them—for anything, and they are the most honorable people the earth has ever covered and the highest in status above all whom the celestial spheres encompass.

Yes, supplication in that noble presence and the sanctified Garden (Rawdah) is a prescribed matter; the Companions used to supplicate to Allah—Exalted is He—there while facing the Qiblah. It has not been narrated from them that they faced the noble grave while supplicating, even though it is better than the Throne. The Imams differed regarding facing it when giving the greeting; Abu Hanifah—may Allah be pleased with him—held that one should not face it, but rather turn and face the Qiblah. Some said: One faces it during the greeting, faces the Qiblah and turns one's back to it during supplication. The correct position, which is relied upon, is that one faces it during the greeting, and when supplicating, one faces the Qiblah and places the noble grave to the right or left. If this is what is prescribed in the visitation of the Master of all creation and the true cause of existence (ﷺ), then what can the visitation of others reach in comparison to his visitation—peace be upon him—such that one would increase in it what is increased, or request from the visited what is not among the duties of servants?

As for swearing by Allah through one of His creation, such as saying: "O Allah, I swear by You or I ask You through so-and-so to fulfill my need," Ibn Abd al-Salam held the permissibility of this regarding the Prophet (ﷺ) because he is the Master of the children of Adam, and it is not permissible to swear by Allah through others among the Prophets, Angels, and Saints because they are not at his level. Al-Manawi transmitted this from him in his Sharh al-Kabir of al-Jami' al-Saghir. His evidence for that is what was narrated by al-Tirmidhi, who said it is a Hasan Sahih hadith, from Uthman bin Hunaif—may Allah be pleased with him—that a blind man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: "Supplicate to Allah—Exalted is He—to heal me." He said: "If you wish, I will supplicate, and if you wish, you may be patient, and that is better for you." He said: "Supplicate." So he commanded him to perform ablution, perfect his ablution, and supplicate with this prayer: "O Allah, I ask You and turn to You through Your Prophet (ﷺ), the Prophet of Mercy. O Messenger of Allah, I have turned through you to my Lord in this need of mine so that it may be fulfilled for me. O Allah, grant his intercession for me." A similar view was narrated from Ahmad.

Some people have forbidden seeking the Wasilah through essence (Dhat) and swearing by Allah through any of His creation absolutely. This is what the words of Majd Ibn Taymiyyah incline toward, and he narrated it from Imam Abu Hanifah—may Allah be pleased with him—Abu Yusuf, and other prominent scholars. He answered the hadith by saying that it contains an ellipsis of a genitive (Idafa), i.e., "through the supplication or intercession of Your Prophet (ﷺ)." In this, the supplication is made the Wasilah, which is permissible, or even recommended. The evidence for this estimation is his statement at the end of the hadith: "O Allah, grant his intercession for me," and indeed at the beginning of it as well, which points to that. Al-Taj al-Subki, as is his custom, denounced the Majd and said: "Seeking Wasilah and help through the Prophet (ﷺ) to His Lord is good, and no one from the predecessors or successors denied it until Ibn Taymiyyah came, denied it, deviated from the Straight Path, innovated what no scholar had said, and became an object of mockery among the people." End quote.

You know that the prescribed supplications from the Pure Household and other Imams do not contain Wasilah through the noble essence (ﷺ). Even if we assume the existence of what appears to be so, it is interpreted with the estimation of an omitted genitive as you heard, or something similar, as you will hear, if Allah—Exalted is He—wills. Whoever claims a text (Nass) must provide the proof. What Abu Dawud narrated in his Sunan and others—that a man said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "We seek your intercession (shafa'ah) to Allah—Exalted is He—and we seek the intercession of Allah—Exalted is He—with you"—caused the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to glorify Allah until it was seen on the faces of his companions. He said: "Woe to you! Do you know what Allah—Exalted is He—is? Allah—Exalted is He—is not used for intercession (yushfa' bihi) to anyone of His creation; the status of Allah—Exalted is He—is greater than that." This does not serve as evidence for what we are discussing, as he denied the statement: "We seek the intercession of Allah—Exalted is He—with you," but he—peace and blessings be upon him—did not deny his statement: "We seek your intercession to Allah—Exalted is He," because the meaning of seeking his intercession (ﷺ) is requesting supplication from him, not swearing by him to Allah. If swearing were the meaning of "seeking intercession," why would the Prophet (ﷺ) deny the content of the second sentence and not the first? Based on this, neither the report nor what preceded it serves as evidence for those who claim the permissibility of swearing by his essence (ﷺ), whether alive or dead, nor by the essence of others among the holy spirits absolutely, by analogizing them to him—peace be upon him—based on the shared attribute of honor, even if they differ in strength and weakness.

This is because what is in the second report is an act of seeking intercession, not swearing, and what is in the first report is not a text regarding the point of contention. Even if we were to grant it, it contains nothing but swearing by the living and seeking Wasilah through him. The equality of his state in life and death (ﷺ) in this regard requires a text, and perhaps the text is to the contrary. In Sahih al-Bukhari from Anas: When they suffered a drought, Umar bin al-Khattab—may Allah be pleased with him—would seek rain through al-Abbas—may Allah be pleased with him—and say: "O Allah, we used to seek Wasilah to You through our Prophet (ﷺ) and You would send us rain, and now we seek Wasilah to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so send us rain," and they would be given rain. If Wasilah through him—peace be upon him—were possible after his departure from this abode, they would not have turned to another; rather, they would have said: "O Allah, we seek Wasilah to You through our Prophet, so send us rain." Far be it from them to turn away from seeking Wasilah through the Master of people to seeking Wasilah through his uncle al-Abbas while they could find the slightest justification for it. Their turning away, even though they are the foremost predecessors, the most knowledgeable among us of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), and of the rights of Allah and His Messenger—peace be upon him—and of what acts of supplication are prescribed and what are not—and they were in a time of necessity and famine, seeking the relief of distress and the easing of difficulties—is clear evidence that the prescribed path is what they followed, not any other.

What was mentioned regarding analogizing other holy spirits to him (ﷺ), despite the disparity in honor—which no hypocrite denies—is something that is hardly acceptable. Moreover, you know that swearing by him—peace be upon him—to His Lord—Exalted is His Majesty—while alive or dead is something for which no text exists. It cannot be said that the report of al-Bukhari contains evidence for the correctness of swearing by him (ﷺ) while alive, and likewise by others as well. Regarding the first, it is because of Umar's statement: "We used to seek Wasilah through Your Prophet (ﷺ)," and regarding the second, it is because of his statement: "We seek Wasilah through the uncle of Your Prophet." This is because this Wasilah is not of the category of swearing, but rather of the nature of seeking intercession; it is that one requests supplication and intercession from a person, and requests from Allah—Exalted is He—to accept his supplication and intercession. This is supported by the fact that al-Abbas would supplicate and they would say "Amen" to his supplication until they were given rain.

The Majd (Ibn Taymiyyah) mentioned that the term "seeking Wasilah through a person" and "turning to him" has ambiguity and multiplicity based on terminology. In the language of the Companions, it means requesting supplication and intercession from him; thus, the Wasilah and turning is in reality through his supplication and intercession, which contains no prohibition. As for the language of many people, it means to ask Allah—Exalted is He—thereby and to swear by Him to Him, and this is the point of contention. You already know the discussion regarding it.

Included in the category of swearing that is not permissible is the statement: "O Allah, I ask You through the status (Jah) of so-and-so," for it was not narrated from any of the predecessors that they supplicated in this manner. They said: "He is only sworn by through Him—Exalted is He—and His Names and Attributes." So one says: "I ask You because to You belongs the praise, there is no god but You, O Allah, the Bestower, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, O Possessor of Majesty and Honor, O Ever-Living, O Self-Sustaining, and I ask You because You are Allah, the One, the Eternal Refuge, who neither begets nor is born, and to Whom there is no equal, and I ask You by every name that is Yours by which You have named Yourself..." and similar prescribed supplications.

As for what some commoners mention of his saying (ﷺ): "If you have a need to Allah—Exalted is He—then ask Allah—Exalted is He—through my status (Jah), for my status with Allah—Exalted is He—is great," no scholar has narrated it, nor is it anything found in the books of hadith. What al-Qushayri narrated from Ma'ruf al-Karkhi—may his secret be sanctified—that he said to his students: "If you have a need to Allah—Exalted is He—then swear by Him through me, for I am the intermediary between you and Him—Glorified is His Majesty," has no chain of narration that is relied upon by the scholars of hadith.

As for what Ibn Majah narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri from the Prophet (ﷺ) in the supplication for going out to prayer: "O Allah, I ask You by the right of those who ask You, and by the right of my walking to You, for I have not gone out as one insolent, nor arrogant, nor showing off, nor for fame, but I have gone out seeking to avoid Your anger and seeking Your pleasure, that You save me from the Fire and admit me into Paradise," its chain contains al-Awfi, and he is weak. Assuming it is from the words of the Prophet (ﷺ), it is said about it: "The right of the seekers upon Him—Exalted is He—is that He answers them, and the right of those who walk in His obedience is that He rewards them." And "right" here means the established promise that is certain to occur, as a bounty, not as a necessity, as in His statement: "...and incumbent upon Us was the aid of the believers," and in the Sahih from the hadith of Mu'adh: "The right of Allah—Exalted is He—upon His servants is that they worship Him and do not associate anything with Him, and their right upon Him, if they do that, is that He does not punish them." The request then is by reward and response, which are among the active attributes of Allah—Exalted is He—and asking by them is something there is no dispute about. This supplication is then like seeking refuge in His words (ﷺ): "I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger, and in Your pardon from Your punishment, and I seek refuge in You from You." So, whenever seeking refuge in His pardon is correct, it is correct to ask by His reward and response.

Along these lines, the supplication of the three people to Allah—Exalted is He—by their deeds is interpreted, provided that seeking Wasilah through deeds means using them as a cause for attaining the intended goal. There is no doubt that righteous deeds are a cause for Allah’s reward for us, and this is not the case for the essences of people themselves. People have been excessive today in swearing by Allah; they have sworn by Him—Exalted is His Majesty—through those who have no standing in the caravan nor the party, and who do not possess even a speck of status. More grave than that is that they request from the occupants of the graves things like healing the sick, enriching the poor, returning the lost, and easing every difficulty. Their devils suggest to them the report: "If you are confused by matters..." which is a fabricated hadith—may it be far from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)—by the consensus of those who know his hadiths. No scholar has narrated it, and it is not found in any of the approved books of hadith. The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade taking graves as mosques and cursed those who do so; how then could he—peace be upon him—ever command seeking help from their occupants? Glory be to You, this is a great slander.

From Abu Yazid al-Bistami—may his secret be sanctified—it is narrated that he said: "The seeking of help by a created being from a created being is like the prisoner seeking help from a prisoner." Among the words of al-Sajjad—may Allah be pleased with him—is that the request of the needy from the needy is foolishness in his opinion and error in his intellect. From the supplication of Moses—peace be upon him—is: "In You is the One sought for help." The Prophet (ﷺ) said to Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them: "If you seek help, seek help from Allah—Exalted is He." Allah—Exalted is He—said: You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.

After all of this, I see no harm in seeking Wasilah to Allah—Exalted is He—through the status (Jah) of the Prophet (ﷺ) with Allah—Exalted is He—whether he is alive or dead. What is meant by "status" is a meaning that returns to an attribute of His attributes—Exalted is He—such as intending by it the complete love that necessitates Him not rejecting him and accepting his intercession. Thus, the meaning of the speaker’s saying: "O my God, I seek Wasilah through the status of Your Prophet (ﷺ) to fulfill my need," is: "O my God, make Your love for him a Wasilah in the fulfillment of my need." There is no difference between this and your saying: "O my God, I seek Wasilah through Your mercy to do such and such," since it also means: "O my God, make Your mercy a Wasilah in doing such and such." I even see no harm in swearing by Allah—Exalted is He—through his status (ﷺ) in this sense. The discussion on "sanctity" (Hurmah) is the same as the discussion on "status" (Jah). This does not apply to seeking Wasilah or swearing by pure essence. Yes, seeking Wasilah through status and sanctity was not known from any of the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them.

Perhaps that was a precaution on their part against what they feared might settle in the minds of the people at that time, as they were close in time to the practice of seeking Wasilah through idols. Then, those who were created after them among the pure Imams followed their lead. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) refrained from tearing down the Ka'bah and rebuilding it on the foundations of Abraham because the people were newly removed from disbelief, as is established in the Sahih. What I have mentioned is only to repel hardship from the people and to flee from the claim of branding them as misguided—as some claim regarding seeking Wasilah through the wide status of the Prophet (ﷺ)—not out of an inclination that supplication in this manner is better than using the prescribed supplications brought by the Book and sung by the tongues of the Sunnah. A fair-minded person does not doubt that what Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) taught, what the noble Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—followed, and what those after them received with acceptance, is better, more comprehensive, more beneficial, and safer. It has been said what has been said, whether true or false.

(Two matters remain here): First, seeking Wasilah through the status of someone other than the Prophet (ﷺ) is also not harmful if the one whose status is used for Wasilah is known to have status with Allah—Exalted is He—such as one whose righteousness and sainthood are certain. As for one in whose case there is no certainty, one should not seek Wasilah through his status, because it involves an implicit judgment upon Allah—Exalted is He—of something that is not known to be true from Him—Exalted is His Majesty—and in that is great audacity toward Allah. Second, people have increased in calling upon others than Allah among the saints, the beloved, both the living and the dead, and others, such as "O my master so-and-so, help me." That is not among the permissible Wasilah in anything. It is befitting for the state of a believer not to utter such things and not to hover around its territory. Some scholars have counted it as Shirk (polytheism), and if it is not, it is close to it. I see no one who says that except that he believes the one called upon—the living absent or the deceased hidden—knows the unseen, hears the call, and is able—by essence or by others—to bring benefit or repel harm, otherwise he would not have called upon him or opened his mouth. In that is a great trial from your Lord. Caution and avoiding that, and not requesting except from Allah—the Strong, the Rich, the Doer of what He wills—is the path. Whoever stops to consider the secret of what al-Tabarani narrated in his Mujma'—that in the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) there was a hypocrite who harmed the believers, and the Truthful (Abu Bakr)—may Allah be pleased with him—said: "Let us go and seek help (Istighathah) from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) against this hypocrite," and they came to him, and he said: "Help is not sought from me; help is only sought from Allah—Exalted is He"—would not doubt that seeking help from the occupants of the graves—who are either a happy person preoccupied by his bliss and his movements in the Gardens from turning to what is in this world, or a miserable person preoccupied by his torment and his imprisonment in the Fires from answering his caller or listening to those who call out to him—is a matter that must be avoided and is not befitting for men of intellect to commit. Do not let yourself be deceived if the one who seeks help from a created being has his need fulfilled and his request granted, for that is a trial and temptation from Him—Exalted is His Majesty. Sometimes the devil appears to the seeker in the form of the one he sought help from, so he thinks it is a miracle for the one he sought help from. Far from it! It is only a devil who has led him astray and tempted him and decorated his desires for him, just as the devil speaks in idols to lead the ignorant worshipers astray. Some ignorant people say: "This is from the transmigration of the soul of the one sought for help, or from the appearance of an angel in his form as a miracle for him." Evil is what they judge, because transmigration and appearance, even if possible, are not in such a form or when committing this crime. We ask Allah—Exalted is He—by His names to protect us from that, and we seek Wasilah through His kindness that He may guide us and you to the best of paths.

(And strive in His cause) with your enemies as much as you are able, (that you might succeed) [35] in attaining eternal bliss and escaping every hardship.