Part 31

Similarly, if a person makes tawassul to Allah, but by means of something that has not been sanctioned in religion, this will be an innovation. The most common type of tawassu that is done in our times, and yet is not sanctioned by the Qur’an and Sunnah, is tawassul through the status of the Prophet (#8).

Without a doubt, the Prophet (#) is the one single person that all Muslims love the most. He is the best of creation, and the most noble of mankind. He is our leader in this world and on the Day of Judgement, and he is the most righteous of all Adam’s children. All of this, however, should not cause us to raise him above the level that Allah Himself chose for His Prophet, and that the Prophet (#8) himself was content with. One only needs to look at the Christians and the consequences that have occurred when they raised Isa ibn Maryam above the status that he deserved, to see the dangers of this line of thinking.

This comes under tawassul by asking a pious person to make du‘ a, and without a doubt the Prophet (3%) is the most noble and pious of Adam’s children. However, after the Prophet’s (#%) death, it is not possible to use this type of tawassul any more, as the Prophet (#8) cannot hear a person’s du‘ @ while he is in his grave. (This is in contrast to a person sending salam upon the Prophet (3%) for Allah has assigned angels to convey these sa/@ms to him as has been narrated in authentic traditions. As for anything other than sa/ams then there is no narration that such information is conveyed to him.) The third type of zawassul with regards to the Prophet (2%) is awassul through his status. So, a person would say: ‘O Allah, I ask you by the status of the Prophet (#%), with You, that you grant me suchand-such’.

373 For further details on this topic, and refutation of the more common evidences that are used in order to justify this type of tawassul (in particular, the ‘hadith of the blind man’), see the book on the subject by Shaykh alAlbani, previously mentioned.

Du' 4 AND Irs RELATIONSHIP WITH DESTINY

The topic of du‘ a and its relationship to destiny (qadr) is a very important one, and one around which much confusion exists. Many people ask: “If everything has already been destined to occur, then - of what use is du’ @, as, if Allah has written what I want, I will get it without making du'a, and if it is not written for me, then I will never get it no matter how much dua@ I make?”

The response to this question lies in understanding that the outcome of anything is dependent on the performance of the efforts that are necessary to procure it. In other words, it has already been decreed, for example, that a seed will give fruit if planted, but this will not occur unless the farmer takes the appropriate efforts in irrigating the crop, maintaining it, protecting the seedling as it grows, and ensuring as much as he can that the factors are amenable for the plant to give fruit.

So even though a person believes in the Divine Decree, he must at the same time strive all he can to ensure that the desired goal occurs. So dua is the means that one uses to achieve the desired goal that one has, and this means in no way contradicts the destiny that has been written for that person.

This stance is clarified by the Prophet’s (#%) hadith reported by Thawban, that he (2%) said: “Nothing increases one’s life-span except good deeds, and nothing repels Divine Decree except dua. And verily, a person may be deprived of sustenance due to a sin that he does!”**

374 Narrated by Ibn Majah # 90, and Shaykh al-Albani said in Sahih Ibn Majah (73): “It is authentic without the addition, ‘And verily...’; see al-Sahihah,

In other words, the performance of good deeds is a cause of increasing one’s life span, so if a person puts in the necessary effort, the results will be achieved, and this is also destined. So both the means to achieve a goal, and the fulfilment of the goal itself, are already decreed.

If someone were to ask: “How can du’ a repel Divine Decree?” we would respond, “The fact that you may be ill has already been decreed by Allah for you, as has the fact that you will ask Allah to cure you of this illness (i.e. both the illness and your asking to cure the illness has been decreed). In a similar manner, a person may be deprived of his sustenance that was decreed for him, since Allah’s eternal knowledge encompassed the fact that this person would perform a sinful deed that would cause the deprivation of his sustenance. All of this, then, is from the decree of Allah, all Glory and Praise be to Him”.

There are a number of ahadith that clarify this point. For example, Mu‘adh ibn Jabal reported that the Prophet (#8) said:

“Caution will be of no benefit against Divine Decree, but dua benefits all things, whether they come down or not. I therefore

advise you to make du’ a, O servants of Allah!”

So no matter how cautious a person is, he cannot escape what is written for him, simply because Allah controls everything, and nothing escapes His Knowledge or Power. However, by turning to Allah through du ‘4, it is possible to avert something that might have been _ decreed. Salman al-Farsi narrated that the Prophet (#8) said:

“Nothing repels Divine Decree except du'a, and nothing in-

creases one’s life-span except good deeds”.

This hadith informs us in no uncertain terms that the only way that we can repel some Divine Decree is through the means of du’ a. So it is possible that some unpleasant matter has been preordained

3>-This hadith is weak. It was narrated by Ahmad, Abu Yala, and al-Tabarani in al-Kabir, as has been mentioned in Da if al-Jami’ # 4785.

376 authentic, reported by al-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim from Salman, and is in Sahih al-Jami’ # 7687.

for us, but only if we do not make du‘ to avert it from us. So if dua is made, then this matter will not occur or be fulfilled, whereas if du @ is left, the misfortune will occur.

Another narration in al-Tirmidhi also supports this. The Prophet (38) said:

“There is no Muslim on the face of the earth that asks Allah for anything except that Allah gives it to him, or averts from him a similar evil, as long as he does not ask for something evil

or for breaking the ties of kinship”*”

From this narration, the benefits of dua are made clear, and its value is understood. For not only is a person rewarded for making a du’ G, but it is also a cause of repelling an evil that was destined for him, and in obtaining the good that he was expecting.

Ibn Hajr, commenting on the benefits of du‘ a, said: “And the benefit of performing du‘a is the attainment of reward by obeying the command (of Allah to make du‘), and also by the attainment of what is asked for, for there is a possibility that the request is dependent on the du’ 4, since Allah is the Creator of both the effort and result of the effort!”*”

Therefore, the proper response to the question posed at the beginning of the chapter is, in the words of Ibn al-Qayyim, as follows:

“The logical consequences of such a reasoning leads to a rejection of all efforts. It can, therefore, be said to a person who holds this view, ‘If the satisfaction of your hunger and thirst has already been destined for you, then it will be fulfilled, whether you eat or not. On the other hand, if it has not been destined for you, it will never occur, whether you eat or not. And, ifa son has been destined for you, then you will be granted one, whether you have intercourse with your wife or not. On the other hand, if a son has not been destined for you, then you will never be granted one. In this case, there is no point in you getting married...’

377 Authentic, narrated by al-Tirmidhi from 'Ubadah ibn Samit, as is mentioned in Sahih al-Jami #5637.

378 Fath al-Bart, 11/95.

“Now, will any sane person agree with all of these conclu-

To summarise, then, Divine Decree (gadr) cannot be used as an excuse not to make du’ d. For, just as one strives to ensure that one attains worldly needs, of food, drink and family, so too must one strive in one’s religious deeds to attain the desired goal. dua is intrinsically related to gadr; in fact, it is a part of one’s gadr. Allah has already decreed that a certain matter will be granted to a servant, or an evil averted from him, if he makes du'a, so if he were to leave du’ a, then the desired goal would not be reached.

Hence why it was the Sunnah of the Prophet (%) to make the following dua during the witr prayer: “.,.Bless me in what You have given me. And avert and turn