Explanation

by Shaikh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan "Proof of the saliheen" means proof that there are those who worship the righteous from mankind is the Saying of Allah, "Those whom they call upon, desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord (Allah), as to which of them should be the nearest and they hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment." [surah al-Isra (17): 57] It is said that this verse was revealed concerning those who worshiped Eesa, his mother and Uzair. So, Allah informed them that Eesa, his mother Maryam and Uzair are all slaves of Allah, they seek nearness to Allah and hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment. So, they are slaves, who are in need of Allah, poor before Allah, they supplicate to Allah, seek waseelah (nearness) to Allah through His obedience. - 47 - meaning, nearness to him through His obedience and His worship. This proves that they are not deserving of worship because they are human who are in need of Allah, who call upon Allah, desire His Mercy, and fear His Torment, and whosoever is such does not deserve to be worshiped with Allah. It is also said that these verses were revealed concerning some of the mushrikeen, who worshiped a group of Jinn.

The Jinn accepted Islam and those who worshiped them were unaware of their submission to Islam. So, the Jinn began to seek nearness to Allah through obedience and desire His Mercy and fear His Torment. So they are slaves who are in need of Allah, who do not deserve to be worshiped. Whichever of the two incidents is intended in the verse, it proves that it is not permissible to worship the righteous, whether they be from the Prophets, Siddiqeen, Awliya or Saliheen. It is not permissible to worship them because they are all slaves of Allah and in need of Him - so how can they be worshiped with Allah?

The (correct) meaning of Waseelah is obedience and (seeking) nearness (to Allah). Linguistically, it means, 'the thing that leads you to the goal.' So, that which leads you to the Pleasure of Allah and His Paradise is a Waseelah to Allah, and this is the prescribed waseelah in the verse, 'seek the means of approach to Him.' [surah al-Maidah (5): 35] Those who misinterpret (the Qur'anic verses) say, 'Waseelah is to make an intermediary between you and Allah from the righteous, pious and the engraved in order to take you closer to Allah, - 48 - "We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah." [surah az-Zumar (39): 3] So the meaning of waseelah according to these deviants is that you make an intermediary between you and Allah in order to introduce you to Allah, convey your needs to Him, and inform Him about you, as if Allah does not know or He is stingy, who does not give unless intermediaries request from Him - Glorified be Allah from what they say. They therefore, shed doubts in the hearts of the people and (misinterpret verses of the Quran) and say that Allah says, "those whom they call upon desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord." [surah al-Israa (17): 57] They allege that this verse proves that it is legislated to take intermediaries from the creation to Allah because in this verse Allah has praised those who do so. And in another verse, Allah says, "O you who believe, Do your duty to Allah and fear Him. Seek the means of approach to Him, and strive hard in His Cause as much as you can…" [surah al-Maida (5): 35] They argue, 'Allah has commanded us to take a Waseelah to Him and the meaning of Waseelah here is intermediaries." So, this is how they misrepresent the words.

(Our reply is that) the Waseelah prescribed in the Quran and the Sunnah is obedience that takes one closer to Allah, and seeking nearness to Him through His Names and Attributes. This is the prescribed Tawassul. As for Tawassul (or Waseelah) through the creation, it is the prohibited form of Waseelah and it constitutes Shirk that was used - 49 - Allah things that hurt them not, nor profit them, and they say, "These are our intercessors with Allah." [surah Yunus (10): 18] "those who take Awliya (protectors and helpers) besides Him (say), "We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah." [surah az-Zumar (39): 3] This (act of seeking Waseelah through the creation is thus) the exact same Shirk of those who came before, even if the later ones call it Waseelah. It is still the exact same shirk and it is not the prescribed Waseelah because Allah has never ever made shirk a means of approach (Waseelah) to Him, rather shirk causes separation from Allah. "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 dhalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers) there are no helpers." [surah al-Maida (5): 72] So, how can Shirk be made a Waseelah to Allah. Glorified be Allah from what they say. The verse (17): 57 is a proof that there are mushrikeen who worship the righteous, because Allah has explained that and He explained that those whom they worship they are themselves poor slaves of Allah, "they seek means of waseelah to Allah." Meaning they seek nearness through obedience, "(as for) which of them should be the nearest." meaning they compete with each other in worshiping Allah due to their poverty before Allah and need for Allah. "they hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment." So, whosoever is such, then he is not deserving of being made a deity who is invoked and worshiped with Allah. - 50 - Shaikh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab writes, The proof of stones and trees is the Saying of Allah, "Have you considered al-Laat and al-Uzza. And Manaat, and the other third?" [surah anNajm (53): 19-20]