Part 4

There are many verses in the Qur'aan proving that one must direct his request to Allah (G) and worship Him sincerely without associating any partners with Him. Intermediation is of two kinds:

1. Intermediation informing on behalf of Allah (G):

This is the duty of the Prophets because no one has knowledge of what has come from Allah (G) except through the Prophets who were sent by Allah (G). Allah (G) says:

"Allah chooses Messengers from angels and from men. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer".4

2. Intermediation requesting help, intercession, dependence and relief:

This type consists of five sections:

• Obligatory (wajib): Seeking help from Allah (G) at times of hardship and trusting Him in every aspect of your life. Allah (G) says in the Qur'aan: 2 Soorah Saba' 34:22-23 3 Soorah Yunus 10:106-107 4 Soorah Al-Hajj 22:75

"And put your trust in Allah if you are believers indeed".5

Narrated Abdullah Bin Abbas (S):

"One day I was riding behind the Prophet (N) when he said: 'Lad, be mindful of Allah (G) and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah (G) and you will find Him before you. When you ask [for anything] ask it from Allah (G), and if you seek help, seek help from Allah (G)'".6

Narrated Umar Bin Al-Khattab (S):

"I heard Allah's Messenger (N) say: 'If you all relied on Allah (G) with due reliance, He would certainly give you provision as He gives it to birds who issue forth hungry in the morning and return with full belly at dusk'".7

• Mustahabb (order without obligation, preferred): Invoking Allah (G) more frequently as this increases one's sincerity to Him.

• Halal (permissible, legal, and lawful): Seeking help from the creation or requesting their intermediation to Allah (G). This is permissible with two conditions: The presence of the one being asked, and his ability to do what he has been asked to do (i.e. not asking them to send down the rain or resurrect the dead, etc.).

• Makrooh (disliked, but not forbidden): Asking people for favours more often. Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (W) said:

"Asking favours from the creation is originally forbidden, but it was made legal for necessity and avoiding requesting favours from others while depending on Allah (G) is better. Allah (G) says:

'So when you have finished [your occupation], devote yourself for Allah's worship. And to your Rubb [Lord Alone] turn [all your] intentions and hopes'.8

That is to say, turn to Allah (G) and to no others".9

5 Soorah Al-Ma'idah' 5:23 6 Reported by At-Tirmidhi 7 Reported by At-Tirmidhi 8 Soorah Ash-Sharh 94:7-8 9 Fatawa Volume 1, Page 181

• Muharram (forbidden): Ascribing mediators between Allah (G) and oneself by supplicating to them or seeking their help in things only Allah (G) can do. This type is from what the author (W) is warning Muslims against. Allah (G) says in the Qur'aan:

"And who is more astray than one who calls on [invokes] besides Allah, such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection and who are [even] unaware of their calls [invocations] to them. And when mankind is gathered [on the Day of Resurrection], they [false deities] will become their enemies and will deny their worshipping".10

There are two types of intercession in the Hereafter:

1. Special intercession for the Prophet (N) only:

There are three special intercessions for the Prophet (N) only:

• Great Intercession: On the Day of Resurrection, people will be awaiting judgment for their deeds, so they will go to some of the Prophets seeking their intercession until they reach Prophet Muhammad (N) who will be the one to handle the Great Intercession. Anas Ibn Malik (S) narrated:

"The Messenger of Allah (N) said: 'Allah (G) will gather people on the Day of Resurrection and they will be concerned about it.'"

And Ibn Ubaid (one of the narrators of the hadeeth) said:

"They will get a divine inspiration about it and will say, 'If we could seek intercession with our Lord, we may be relieved from this predicament of ours'".

He [the Prophet (N)] said:

'They will come to Adam (O) and say, "Thou art Adam, the Father of Mankind. Allah (G) created thee with His own Hand and breathed unto thee of His Spirit and commanded the angels and they prostrated before thee. So intercede for us with thy Lord, that He may relieve us from this position of ours."

He will say, "I am not in a position to do this" and will recall his error and will fight shyness of his Lord on account of that. He (O) will say, "Better for you to go to Noah (O) the first messenger [after me] sent by Allah (G)."

He [the Prophet (N)] said:

'So they will come to Noah (O). He will say. "I am not in a position to do that for you" and recall his fault which he had committed and will fight shyness of his Lord on account of that [and will say], "Better for you to go to Abraham (O) whom Allah (G) took for a friend." They will go to Abraham (O) and he will say, "I am not in a position to do that for you" and will recall his fault that he had committed and will therefore fight shyness of his Lord on that account [and will say], "Better for you to go to Moses (O) with whom Allah (G) conversed and conferred the Tawrat upon.

He [the Prophet (N)] said:

'So they will come to Moses (O). He will say, "I am not in a position to do that for you" and will recall his fault that he committed and will fight shyness of his Lord on account of that [and will say], "Better for you to go to Jesus (O), the Spirit of Allah (G)." And he will say, "I am not in a position to do that for you; better for you to go to Muhammad (N), a servant whose former and later sins have been forgiven."

He [the narrator] said, The Messenger of Allah (N) said:

'So they will come to me and I will ask the permission of my Lord and it will be granted to me, and when I will see Him, I will fall down in prostration, and He [Allah (G)] will leave me thus as long as He wishes, and then it will be said, "O Muhammad, raise your head, say and you will be heard, ask and it will be granted, intercede and intercession will be accepted." Then I will raise my head and extol my Lord with the praises that my Lord will teach me. I shall then intercede, but a limit will be set for me. I will bring them out from the Fire and make them enter Paradise [according to the limit]. I shall return, falling down in prostration and Allah (G) will leave me [in that position] as long as He wishes to leave me. It will be said, "Rise, O Muhammad, say and you will be heard, ask and it will be conferred, intercede and intercession will be granted." I will raise my head and extol my Lord with praises that He will teach me. I will then intercede and a limit will be set for me. I will bring them out of the Fire [of Hell] and make them enter Paradise'.

"I do not remember whether he [the Holy Prophet (N)] said at the third time or at the fourth time, 'O my Lord, none has been left in the Fire but these restrained by the Holy Qur'aan [i.e. those who were eternally doomed]'".

Ibn Ubaid said in a narration:

"Qatada observed, whose everlasting stay was imperative".11

• Intercession for the people of Paradise to enter Paradise: Anas Bin Malik (S) narrated:

"The Messenger of Allah (N) said: "I will come to the gate of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection and will seek its opening and the keeper will say, 'Who art thou?' I will say, 'Muhammad'. He will then say, 'It is for thee that I have been ordered and not to open it for anyone before thee'".12

• The Intercession of the Messenger (N) for his uncle, Abu Talib: It is reported on the authority of 'Abbas Bin Abd al-Muttalib that he said, "Messenger of Allah (N), have you benefited Abu Talib in any way, for he defended you and was fervent in your defense?" The Messenger of Allah (N) said:

"Yes. He will be in the most shallow part of the Fire and but for me he would have been in the lowest part of Hell".13

2. General Intercession for the believers:

This type of intercession is for all of the believers, including the Messenger. There are conditions to this type of intercession: One is permission from Allah (G) as stated in the Qur'aan:

"Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His permission".14

Another is Allah's satisfaction with the one for whom the intercession is made, as stated in the Qur'aan:

"And they cannot intercede except for him with whom He is pleased".15

11 Saheeh Muslim, Volume 1, Book 1, Hadeeth Number 0373 12 Saheeh Muslim, Volume 1, Book 1, Hadeeth Number 0384 13 Saheeh Muslim, Volume 1, Book 1, Hadeeth Number 0408 14 Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:255 15 Soorah Al-Anbiya' 21:28

And as reported by Imam Muslim (W) that the Messenger (N) said that the one making intercession is not among those who are cursers (those people who always curse others):

"The invoker of a curse will neither be witness nor intercessor on the Day of Resurrection".16

There are three types of this intercession:

• Intercession for the believers who are to be admitted to Paradise, upgrading their level in Paradise.

• Intercession for those who were to be admitted to Hell-Fire, saving them from it.

• Intercession for those who were admitted to Hell-Fire, removing them from it.

16 Saheeh Muslim, Book 32, Hadeeth Number 6281, 6282 and 6283, reported by Abu Darda'(S)

Whoever does not declare the Kufr (disbelief) of the pagans; or has doubts about their Kufr (disbelief); or considers their madh-hab (way of life/religion) as correct or valid. Such a one has fallen into disbelief by Consensus.1

Explanation: This nullifier consists of three parts: Firstly, whosoever does not agree that the pagans, atheists, etc are disbelievers, when Allah (G) announces in the Qur'aan in many verses that they are indeed kuffar (infidels). Allah (G) says in the Qur'aan,

"Verily, those who disbelieve [in the religion of Islam, the Qur'aan and Prophet Muhammad (N)]from among the people of the Scripture [Jews and Christians] and Al-Mushrikeen, will abide in the Fire of Hell".2

1 This is because Allah, the Majestic and Most High, has declared them to be disbelievers in so many verses of His Book.

Allah, the Most High, says:

"Surely, they have disbelieved who say: 'Allah is the Messiah, son of Maryam…" [Soorah AlMaa'idah' 5:72]

He, the Most High, says:

"Surely, they have disbelieved who say: 'Allah is the third of the three (i.e. trinity)…" [Soorah AlMaa'idah' 5:73] 2 Soorah Al-Baiyyinah 98:6

Secondly, whosoever hesitates in the status of the kuffar (infidels) (i.e. he is not sure they are disbelievers or not). Thirdly, whosoever praises the path of the kuffar (infidels) and believes that their religion is correct and that they are on the right path; this type is even worse than the first two. There are two points that must be mentioned here:

• When we say the kuffar (infidels) here, we mean those for whom there is no doubt they are disbelievers (i.e. Jews, Christians, Hindus, etc.) and those who claim to be Muslims, but who are believed by the majority of the Muslim scholars to be disbelievers (i.e. Qadianies, An-Nosairiah, Al-Baha'aih, Ad-Drowze, Al-Batiniah, etc.) Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (W) said:

"Whosoever hesitates in the disbelief of those groups after having knowledge of what they say and having knowledge of the religion of Islam, then he is a kaafir (infidel); just as having doubt in the disbelief of the Jews, Christians, and the atheists".3