Part 30

If it is a good action then it is permissible for the person to seek help upon it, and prescribed for a person to help in that, as Allaah, the Most High, says, "And assist one another upon righteous actions and avoidance of sins." [surah alMaa'idah (5):2] If it is a sinful thing, then it is forbidden for the person doing it and for the one who assists, as Allaah, the Most High, says, "And do not assist one another in abandoning what Allaah has commanded and upon transgressing the limits laid down in the Religion." [surah al-Maa'idah (5):2] If it is something permissible, then it is allowed for the person to seek help and to be assisted, and the one who is helping may be rewarded for kind treatment and thus it becomes something prescribed for him as Allaah, the Most High says, "And do good, indeed Allaah loves those who do good." [surah al-Baqarah (2): 195] (iii) Seeking the help of a person from the creation who is alive and present, except that it is something which he is incapable of, then this is futile and useless. For example that he seeks the help of a weak person in order to carry something very heavy. (iv) Seeking the aid of any deceased person, or the aid of the living in a matter of the hidden and unseen, which they cannot reach. Then this is shirk since it will only be done by a person who believes that those whose help he seeks have some hidden control over the creation. (v) Seeking help by performing deeds that are beloved to Allaah, the Most High. This is something that is prescribed due to the Saying of Allaah, the Most High, "And seek assistance through patience and Prayer." [surah al-Baqarah (2):45] The author, rahimahullaah, uses as evidence for the first type the Saying of Allaah, the Most High, "O Allaah You alone we worship, and to You alone we appeal for aid." [surah al-Faatihah (1):5] And the saying of the Prophet saying: "If you seek help then seek the help of Allaah" The evidence for seeking refuge (al-isti'aadhah) is the Saying of Allaah, the Most High: "Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the dawn" [surah al-Falaq (113):1] and: "Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind" [80] [surah an-Naas (114):1]. ________________________________________________________ Al-Isti’aadhah is to seek refuge, which is to seek protection against that which one hates and involves seeking refuge and shelter and protection from someone, and is of various types: (i) Seeking the refuge of Allaah, the Most High, and this involves ones complete need of Him, attachment to Him, and ones certain faith in His being sufficient and His perfect protection from everything, whether in the present or the future, small or large, human or not, and the proof is the Sayings of Allaah, the Most High, "Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the dawn, from the evil of that which He created..." [Soorahal-Falaq (113): l-2] "Say: 1 seek refuge with the Lord of mankind; the king of mankind; the one who is worshipped rightfully by mankind; from the evil of Satan who whispers into the hearts of mankind and then withdraws when they remember Allaah..." [surah an-Naas (114): 1-4] (ii) Seeking refuge in one of Allaah's attributes, such as His Speech, His Greatness, His Might, and so on. The evidence for this are his sayings: The Prophet said, "I seek refuge in the perfect Words of Allaah from the evil of that which He created" [Reported by Muslim (Eng. transl. 4/ 142l/no.654l)]. He said, "I seek refuge in Your Might that I should not be assailed from below" [Reported by Aboo Daawood (Eng. transl. 3/1408/no. 5056) and declared sahih by Shaykh al-Albaanee in sahih Sunan Abee Dawood (no. 4239)]. Also his saying in the supplication recited when suffering from pain, "I seek refuge in the Might and Power of Allaah from the evil of what I feel and am wary of." [Reported by Muslim (Eng. transl. 3/1198/no. 5462) and Ibn Maajah (no. 3522)]. The Prophet said, “I seek refuge in Your Pleasure from Your Wrath" [Reported by Muslim (Eng. transl. l/255/no.986)]. His saying, when Allaah, the Most High, sent down His Saying: "Say He is the One fully able to send punishment upon you from above." [surah al-An'aam (6):65] He said: “I seek refuge in Your Face." [Collected by al-Bukhaaree (Eng. transl. 9/370/503)]. (iii) Seeking refuge either with the dead, or with living people who are not present and able to grant refuge, then this is shirk. In this regard Allaah, the Most High, says, "And there were men from mankind who used to seek refuge with men of the jinn, and so that only increased them in transgression." [surah al-Jinn (72):6] Seeking shelter with some person or in some place, or the like, as long as it is something which can serve the purpose of providing shelter. Then this is permissible and the evidence is his saying, speaking about tribulations, "Whoever exposes himself to them will be destroyed by them, and whoever finds a place of shelter or refuge from them, then let him take shelter in it" [Reported by alBukhaaree (Eng. transl. vol. 9/p. 158/no.203) and Muslim (Eng. transl. 4/1495/no.6893)].