A short debate about Tawassul

A short debate between Professor Dr. Hosseini Qazvini and the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Al-Sheikh about Tawassul.

Progessor Hosseini Qazvini      V.S        Abdullah Aal Sheikh

I said to him (Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia - Aal-Sheikh): You raised the issue of Tawassul last week and said: "Any kind of Tawassul is Shirkk (polytheism); Can you give a scientific reason for that?"

He began stating the same verses that Ibn Taymiyyah and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, etc., had mentioned, that God says in the Qur'an:

فَلَا تَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آَخَرَ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُعَذَّبِینَ

So do not invoke with Allah another deity and [thus] be among the punished.

26:213

And etc.. that: "There is no difference between someone who calls upon the Holy Prophet, Amir al-Mo'minin (Imam Ali a.s) , or Imam Hussein (a.s), and the one who worships an idol and asks him for help, and mediates between him and God. They make the idols their intercessors, and you do the same about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Amir al-Mo'minin (PBUH)." Stated Aal-Sheikh

I asked him: "Do you doubt that during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), the Holy lawmaker (Quran) approved the Tawassul to the Holy Prophet (PBUH)? In the Qur'an, Surah An-Nisa ', verse 64, Allah says:

وَ مَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا لِیُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَ لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ جَاءُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا اللَّهَ وَ اسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُوا اللَّهَ تَوَّابًا رَحِیمًا

And We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed by permission of Allah . And if, when they wronged themselves, they had come to you, [O Muhammad], and asked forgiveness of Allah and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Accepting of repentance and Merciful.

4:64

This is a clear verse of the Qur'an. And the verse 97 of Surah Yusuf, the brothers of Yusuf (PBUH) say:
He said, "Do not ask forgiveness for those who have sinned, for they are sinners."

قَالُوا یَا أَبَانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا خَاطِئِینَ

They said, "O our father, ask for us forgiveness of our sins; indeed, we have been sinners."

12:97

What is the difference between the brothers of Yusuf (pbuh) who say that, and the one who says:

یا رسول الله إشفع لنا عندالله یا یا علی إشفع لنا عندالله؟

"O Messenger of Allah, ask forgiveness for us before Allah" or "O Ali (a.s) ask forgiveness for us before Allah"

If it is really Shirk to call other than Allah, and to make a mediate, then Prophet Ya'qub (as) should have told them:

یا أبنائی إنكم أشركتم بالله توبوا و إلا أقتلكم و ...

"O my children, you have associated other than Allah! Repent, or I will kill you" and so on..While he said:

قَالَ سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّي إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

He said, "I will ask forgiveness for you from my Lord. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

12:98

When I recited those two verses, he said: "That works about the lifetime of the Holy Prophet, but after his death, his connection with this world is cut off, and he neither hears our voice nor has the power to fulfil our needs, and He is unable this way. "

Although he said until two or three minutes ago that "Tawassul" is absolutely polytheism, both in the time of life and in the time of the death of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

I said: What is your reason that after the death of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), appealing to him is polytheism?

He said: The Holy Prophet (PBUH) is incapable of responding the needs, just as the idols were incapable.

I said: "If the criterion of polytheism is the inability of the one who is under Tawassul, then it must include both the lifetime and after the of death. Therefore That is falsehood, and there is a difference between that and polytheism. How is it, that Tawassul to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was a Quran-compatible matter during the lifetime of the Prophet, but the same Quran-compatible matter became Shirk and Polytheism with the death of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)?"

He thought for a while and said: "If it was really permissible to make Tawassul to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) after his death, well.. the companions certainly knew more than us about the Shari'ah and the shrine of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), and if those people had made Tawassul, history would record for us that for example the companions X and Y made Tawassul to the Prophet after his death"

I said: "We have several narrations in the sources of Ahl al-Sunnah, For example, 'Musnad Abi Shiba', who is a master of Bukhari, and 'Dala'il al-Nabwa Bayhaqi', which Ibn Taymiyyah says is one of the most Sahih historical and narrative books, state:

During the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab, when there was a famine, Bilal ibn Harith went to the grave of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and made Tawassul to him and said:

یا رسول الله قد هلك الناس، فاستسقی لمتك

O Messenger of Allah! Indeed the people are dying for the lack of water, so give them water

Then he saw the Holy Prophet in a dream who told him to go to Omar and greet him on my behalf and tell him to pay more attention to people and solve their problems and be just with them, and Insha'Allah God's mercy will rain in the near future. He went to Omar and Omar cried that I do not deserve the greeting of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the Holy Prophet was exaggerating about him"

All your scholars have mentioned this narration about the Virtues of Mr. Omar.


He replied: :The narration is weak !!"

Of course, it has recently become the basis of Wahhabism that if we read a narration from to their books, even if weread a verse of the Qur'an, while they're not aware of the fact that it is a verse of the Qur'an, they say that it is weak

I said: "Mr. Ibn Hajar Asqalani, who is one of the pillars of your Rijal knowledge, says in 'Kitab al-Fath al-Bari' which is the sharh on Sahih Bukhari, vol. 2, p. 412, that the narration is Sahih.
 Ibn Kathir Salafi Damashqi, a scholar whom you call him as Imam, also says in his book 'Al-Badahiyya wa Al-Nahya' , vol. 7, p. 105, that the narration is Sahih."

He began explaining about what is polytheism and what is monotheism and said that the criterion of polytheism is this, and it is the criterion of monotheism is that, and he went out of the topic for 5.6 minutes. One of his deputies turned to him and said, "The answer you give has nothing to do with his question." He claims that Ibn Hajar and Ibn Kathir say that the narration is Sahih, and if you are telling the truth, argue about the authenticity of the narration. He said, "Bring these books to see if he is telling the truth." They brought the books and read it. He said: "Yes! The address is Sahih."
The I saw a strange dissagreement between them.

Full text source from Vali Asr website

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