TAWASSUL
(use of a Means)The word Tawassul is an original Arabic word occurring in the Qur’aan and Sunnah and in ancient Arabic poetry and prose, and its meaning is: To draw near to what one seeks after and to approach that which one desires, Ibnul-Atheer said in an-Nihaayah: “Al-Waasil is one who desires or longs for something, and al-Waseelah is nearness and a means, and that by which one is able to approach and draw near to something. Its plural is Wasaail.”
“Waseelah is to desire and to seek after. One says Waslas for one who wishes and aspires for something, and the Waasil is the one who wishes to draw nearer to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.
The reality of seeking a waseelah to Allaah, the Most High, is: To take care to follow His way with (good) actions and worship, by adhering to the noble qualities required in the Sharee’ah. It is like nearness, and the waasil is one who aspires nearness to Allaah, the Most High.”
RIGHTEOUS ACTIONS ALONE ARE THE WASEELAH WHICH DRAW ONE CLOSER TO ALLAAH this is because no one knows what pleases Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, except Him alone. Therefore in order for us to know the means to draw nearer to Allaah, it is obligatory upon us to refer back, in every matter, to that which Allaah, the Most Perfect, prescribed in the Sharee’ah, and which Allaah’s Messenger (S.A.W.) explained. The meaning of this is that we refer back to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (S.A.W.). Indeed this is what our Messenger Muhammad (S.A.W) commanded us to do in his saying: /have left amongst you two things; you will not go astray as long as you cling to them: The Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger)
Al-Khalil bin Ahmad (100-170 H.) said in “al Ayn”:
“Wassaltu to my Lord Wasilatan, means: I did a deed that by which I drew near to Him. And I did tawassul to someone by a book or a relative, means that I sought means of approach to him by it.
“Al wasilah” by this meaning is found in the Quran:
O you who believe! Fear Allah and seek al wasilah to Him. (5:35)
Its tafsir (interpretation) :
- Tafsir Imam At-Tabari (d. 310 H.) He says: and seek nearness to Him by performing the acts that please Him.
- Tafsir “Bahr al Uloom” by Abul Layth As-Simirqandi (d. 375 H.) It means: seek nearness and virtue by the good deeds.
- Tafsir Ibn Kathir (d. 774 H.) : Ibn `Abbas said that Wasilah means `the means of approach’. Mujahid, Abu Wa’il, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, `Abdullah bin Kathir, As-Suddi, Ibn Zayd and others gave the same meaning for Wasilah.
- Qatadah said that the ayah means, “Seek the means of approach to Him by obeying Him and performing the acts that please Him.”
Thus the general meaning of Tawassul is to seek nearness to Allah through performing good deeds.
As for the specific meaning of Tawassul, it is to hope for and seek the answering of one’s duaa (supplication).
Types of Permissible Tawassul
a) All kinds of worshipping to Allah.
b) A way to have the call responded. This is divided in into 6 ways: -
- By the Best Names of Allah.
- By the Qualifications of Allah.
- By your Belief in Allah.
- By presenting the state of the slave.
- By call of a person (alive).
- By the pious deeds.
- Tawassul by calling the Best Names of Allah
An example for the first which is calling for help using all His Best Names is that was reported in the sound Hadith in the Du’a’ of worry and grief which says, “Allaahumma 'innee 'abduka, ibnu 'abdika, ibnu 'amatika, naasiyatee biyadika, maadhin fiyya hukmuka, 'adlun fiyya qadhaa'uka, 'as'aluka bikulli ismin huwa laka, sammayta bihi nafsaka, 'aw 'anzaltahu fee kitaabika, 'aw 'allamtahu 'ahadan min khalqika, 'awista'tharta bihi fee 'ilmil-ghaybi 'indaka, 'an taj'alal-Qur'aana rabee'a qalbee, wa noora sadree, wa jalaa'a huznee, wa thahaaba hammee .
O Allah, I am Your slave and the son of Your male slave and the son of your female slave . My forehead is in Your Hand (i.e. you have control over me) . Your Judgment upon me is assured and Your Decree concerning me is just . I ask You by every Name that You have named Yourself with , revealed in Your Book , taught any one of Your creation or kept unto Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen that is with You , to make the Qur'an the spring of my heart, and the light of my chest, the banisher of my sadness and the reliever of my distress.
And the evidence is in his saying, “by every Name of Yours…” And we say , ‘O Allah we call you by Your Best Names’. Allah says “The most beautiful Names belong to Allah: so call on Him by them
Another way of Tawassul for Allah by One of His Names, such as your saying, “O forgiver, forgive me, O Merciful, be Merciful with me, O Allah, You indeed Love pardon, so Pardon me”. So this is a call using a means which is One of His Best Names.
2. Tawassul by the Qualifications of Allah.
This is the Tawassul by all of His Qualifications as a whole or using One of them, including His Deeds for they are considered Qualifications as well. Such as saying, “O Allah, I call You by Your Best Names and Your Superior Qualifications”, and this is a sound Du’a’. In fact, this Tawassul may also be general including all Qualifications such as the preceeding example, or it may be specific using One of them such as, ‘I seek protection of Allah from what I feel or fear of”. So this is a tawassul using one of Allah’s qualification.
Furthemore, an example is given for the tawassul by Allah’s deeds is Durood – Ibraheem- O Allah! Send your mercy on MUhammed S.A.W and on the Family of S.A.W as you sent your mercy on Ibraheem and on the family of Ibraheem”, so here we are asking Allah, Who bestowed upon Ibraheem praising him and his family to His Angels, to praise the Prophet S.A.W and his family.
3. By Your Belief in Allah:
This is the tawassul to Allah by our belief in Him, so that we can ask Allah to respond our call because we believed in him and his messenger S.A.W. and say “O Allah!, because of my belief in You and Your messenger, I asked such and such ……..”. This is correct as Allah said
رَّبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلْإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا ۚ رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَبْرَارِ
Our Lord, indeed we have heard a caller calling to faith, [saying], 'Believe in your Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our misdeeds and cause us to die with the righteous. This means that they asked their Lord to forgive them because they believed, so they made the faith a means of the call of forgiveness.
Therefore, tawassul by the belief in Allah and his messenger, and Tawassul by loving Allah and his messenger S.A.W. is permissible because faith in Allah is a means by which one can reach forgiveness and so is loving Allah and his Messenger S.A.W.
4. By Presenting the State of the Slave:
Tawassul to Allah by Presenting the State of the Slave s that he would submit himself to his Lord without mentioning anything about his needs, suc as saying, “O Allah! I am needy poor to You, I am the prisoner in Your hands“. This is clearly shown by what Musa said when he watered the two women’s flocks before he went to the shadow and said
“ O my Lord! truly am I in (desperate) need of any good that You have send me!"
and did not mention anything about his needs. Obviously, what is important here is the miserable state that in directly necessitates Mercy & Kindness especially when it is concerned with the most merciful.
5. By call of a Pious Person
Tawassul by the call of a pious person. This is shown in the tradition reported by Muslim that on a Friday a person entered the main mosque through the gate facing the pulpit while Allah’s Messenger was delivering the Khutba. The man stood infront of him and said, O Allah’s Messenger! Te livestock are dying and the roads are cutoff so please pray to Allah for rain”. “Anas said, “Allah’s messenger raised both his hands and said O Allah, send down rain upon us; O Allah, send down rain upon us; O Allah, send down rain upon us."
Anas said: By Allah, we did not see any cloud or any patch of it, and there was neither any house or building standing between us and the (hillock) Sal'a. There appeared a cloud in the shape of a shield from behind it, and as it (came high) in the sky it spread and then there was a downpour of rain. By Allah, we did not see the sun throughout the week.
6. By the pious deeds
Tawassul to Allah by the pous deeds is mentioning to Allah while callinh him for help a good deed one has previously done, which he thinks he did purely for the sake of Allah and is useful as a means to have his need responded. It is clearly illustrated by the story of the three men which the prophet S.A.W. told us about.
He said "Once three persons (from the previous nations) were traveling, and suddenly it started raining and they took shelter in a cave. The entrance of the cave got closed while they were inside. They said to each other, 'O you! Nothing can save you except the truth, so each of you should ask Allah's Help by referring to such a deed as he thinks he did sincerely (i.e. just for gaining Allah's Pleasure).' So one of them said, 'O Allah! You know that I had a laborer who worked for me for one Faraq (i.e. three Sas) of rice, but he departed, leaving it (i.e. his wages). I sowed that Faraq of rice and with its yield I bought cows (for him). Later on when he came to me asking for his wages, I said (to him), 'Go to those cows and drive them away.' He said to me, 'But you have to pay me only a Faraq of rice,' I said to him, 'Go to those cows and take them, for they are the product of that Faraq (of rice).' So he drove them. O Allah! If you consider that I did that for fear of You, then please remove the rock.' The rock shifted a bit from the mouth of the cave. The second one said, 'O Allah, You know that I had old parents whom I used to provide with the milk of my sheep every night. One night I was delayed and when I came, they had slept, while my wife and children were crying with hunger. I used not to let them (i.e. my family) drink unless my parents had drunk first. So I disliked to wake them up and also disliked that they should sleep without drinking it, I kept on waiting (for them to wake) till it dawned. O Allah! If You consider that I did that for fear of you, then please remove the rock.' So the rock shifted and they could see the sky through it. The (third) one said, 'O Allah! You know that I had a cousin (i.e. my paternal uncle's daughter) who was most beloved to me and I sought to seduce her, but she refused, unless I paid her one-hundred Dinars (i.e. gold pieces). So I collected the amount and brought it to her, and she allowed me to sleep with her. But when I sat between her legs, she said, 'Be afraid of Allah, and do not deflower me but legally. 'I got up and left the hundred Dinars (for her). O Allah! If You consider that I did that for fear of you than please remove the rock. So Allah saved them and they came out (of the cave)."
This Hadith indicates that one can only ask Allah for help directly or through his performed good deeds. But to ask dead or absent prophets, saints, spirits, holy men, angels etc. is absolutely forbidden in Islam and it is a kind of disbelief and asking through them leads to Shrik so is again forbidden.
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