Monday, 7 April 2014

Clarification to three points (Asking help/Prophets Authority/Knowledge of Unseen) Upon Specific Request


  – May Allah bless us correct understanding of Deen, the points raised are

-       Asking help anyone other than Allah is Shirk
-       Prophet has got no Authority to help anyone (May Allah Forbid)
-       Prophet does not possess Knowledge of unseen

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Clarification With Evidence:


Section 1: Difference between worship & asking Help

Thee do we worship, “AND” Thine aid we seek.[Al-Fatiha:5]

There are three very important points derived from this verse of Glorious Qur'an

a.     Allah differentiated between "worship" and "asking for help" by putting  “AND (و)” in-between the two, so had worship and asking for help been the same things then Allah would not have differentiated between them, rather it would have been only said: "Iyyaka Na’budu Iyyaka Nasta’in" (Thee do we worship, thine aid we seek), therefore different ruling shall apply on Istighatha depending on the nature of it whereas worship of any kind directed towards anyone other than Allah is an absolute Shirk/Kufr.

b.    This verse proves that real help is from none but Allah azza Wajjal, whosoever believes that someone/something other than Allah provides “Haqeeqi (real)” and “independent” help then such a person is Mushrik, so it should always be embedded in hearts and minds that the cause and effect is only created by Allah in all cases.

c.     This verse is general and does not differentiate between seeking help from an alive or dead. Hence same ruling shall apply in both cases, those who say that you can ask alive people for help but not pious people who have passed away, they have no proof whatsoever, rather they misuse this verse by giving false interpretation.  Remember false interpretation to Qur'an can lead to hell fire. If their logic was true then according to this verse even asking for help from alive should be shirk.

In Qur'an itself the Prophets have asked help from other than Allah at many occasions and the Awliya even did marvelous acts of Karamah, for example:

a.     Prophet Sulamain asked help to his courtiers [Surah an-Naml (27:38-40)]

b.     Qur'an states: Verily, your Walee (Protector or Helper) is Allah, His Messenger, and the believers, - those who perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and give Zakat, and they bow down (submit themselves with obedience to Allah in prayer). [Quran 5:55]

c.     Qur'an states at another place: If ye two turn in repentance to Him, your hearts are indeed so inclined; But if ye back up each other against him, truly God is his Protector, “AND GIBRIEL, AND (EVERY) RIGHTEOUS ONE” among those who believe,- and furthermore, the angels - will back (him) up.(Quran 66:4)

d.     The believers, men and women, are Awliya (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another,they enjoin(on the people) [At-Taubah9:71]

e.     Qur'an states: But when Jesus became conscious of their disbelief, he cried: Who will be “MY HELPERS” in the cause of Allah? The disciples said: We will be Allah's helpers. We believe in Allah, and bear thou witness that we have surrendered (unto Him).(Quran , 3:52)

A similar Hadith stating Allah and his messenger are Helpers:

Narrated AbuHuraira: "The tribe of Quraish, the Ansar, the (people of the tribe of) Julhaina, Muzaina,   Aslam, Ashja', and Ghifar are my disciples and have no Maula (protectors, helpers) except Allah and His Apostle.[Sahih Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 56, Number 707and 715, SahihMuslim, Book 031, Hadith 6120]

There are so many similar references where help from companions and prophets has been sought. Here we beg a question is not Allah sufficient to fulfill the needs, is he now not closer to one self (jugular vein)?, why do we need helpers at all, is not these all who have been mentioned in above ayah are “other than Allah”.

The truth is different from the deriving personal opinions on one ayah or one narration in isolation. If we read the chain of ayah and understand the topic where these verses are relayed it is obvious that, All those verses which say "there is no Helper beside Allah" speak about the Kuffar (Disbelievers) & Mushriks those who set & associate gods besides Allah and on the other hand the verses indicating prophets/pious as helpers were revealed in relation to the Believers whos belief is not same as kuffar. For example Quran states,

"The Kuffar say: "He (Muhammad peace be upon him) has fabricated Quran?" [SuraSajda 32:3] and in the next verse Allah says that "You have no helpers besides Allah"

Thus Allah says to the Kuffar who have disbelieved in Quran And Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that "You have no Helper besides Allah" meaning "you think you will be saved by your idols and false gods even if you disbelieve my Prophets, and even if you reject my Deen?"..No! "You have no helpers besides Allah" [Sura Sajda 32:4]

And the verses which say that there are many helpers speak about the Momineen, for example the verse Sura Tahrim 66:4 referred in section3.2 speaks about The Prophets Wives (Ummahatul Momineen).

Mentioning that the Disbelievers (Kuffar) have no helpers besides Allah such (Quran 10:10, 32:4 etc) and at the same time stating that there are many helpers for the believers makes it clear that those who assume that the absolute power rests with creation and start claiming divinity for their false gods, will find no helper unless they come back to their only God, Allah. If anyone beliefs that their false Gods, Satan or even the Pious have their own independent power besides Allah, then they are rejecters of Tawheed and the act is shirk. While those who believe that Ambiya and Awliya are 'Means' and the real help comes from Allah himself, claim no divinity for the pious, and do not assume that the absolute power rests with the creation are on the right path.

The stress is not on asking help as misinterpreted but on wrong beliefs and alhamdullilah no Muslim considers anyone to have their independent powers whether alive or dead, even if our living parents help us in day to day life is due to the will and real help is from Allah alone.

Note: No verse of Quran or Ahadith can be taken out of context & understood in isolation or independent of other narrations, there is a possibility of misunderstanding or misinterpreting the Quran and sharia due to lack of expertise in all fields of knowledge, as the Quran states “By it (Quran) He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient, [Surah Bakhra 2:26]

Narrated by Jundub: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If anyone interprets the Book of Allah in the light of his opinion even if he is right, he has erred. [Abu dawood, Book 25, Kitab Al-Ilm, Hadith 3644]

For more visit: http://islamicbeliefsandteachings.blogspot.ae/

Section 2: Authority of Prophet: “I am Al-Qasim (distributor), and I distribute among you Allah's blessings." [Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 216]

The correct belief and the belief of Ahle Sunnah Wal Jama'at is that Sayyiduna Rasoolullah (peace be upon him) has been blessed by Allah Ta'ala with the powers to give benefit or loss to anybody if he wishes. And with this belief considering the power given to prophet is bestowed one and not independent there should not be any objection. However few people misinterpret few Ahadith or verses revealed relating to kuffar saying “I am like you” or “I neither can benefit nor can harm you on my own” etc to prove that the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) is powerless, and he does not possess the power to give benefit or cause loss to anybody is sheer ignorance. 

The following verses of the Holy Quran & Ahadith prove this. Allah Ta'ala states in the Holy Quran: 

a.     "And what they felt bad, only this that Allah and His Messenger has enriched them out of His grace;" (Surah Touba 9:74) 

b.     Allah says in the Quran“And they were not resentful except [for the fact] that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them of His bounty” [Quran 9:74] 

c.     "... come to the Messenger and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had (also) asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful.(Al-Qur'an, Surah an-Nisa, 4:64)

Ibn Kathir RadiAllahu anhu on Tawassul on above Aaya:

Many have stated this tradition. One of them is Abu Mansur Sabbagh who writes in his book Al-Hikayat-ul-mashhurah that, according to Utbi, once he was sitting beside the Prophets grave when a bedouin came and he said, Peace be on you, O Allahs Messenger. I have heard that Allah says: (O beloved!) And if they had come to you, when they had wronged their souls, and asked forgiveness of Allah, and the Messenger also had asked forgiveness for them, they (on the basis of this means and intercession) would have surely found Allah the Granter of repentance, extremely Merciful. I have come to you, asking forgiveness for my sins and I make you as my intermediary before my Lord and I have come to you for this purpose. Then he recited these verses: O, the most exalted among the buried people who improved the worth of the plains and the hillocks! May I sacrifice my life for this grave which is made radiant by you, (the Prophet,) the one who is (an embodiment) of mercy and forgiveness.Then the bedouin went away and I fell asleep. In my dream I saw the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). He said to me: O ˜Utbi, the bedouin is right, go and give him the good news that Allah has forgiven his sins.  [Ibn Kathir, Tafsir-ul-Qur'an al-azim Volume 004, Page No. 140, Under the Verse 4:64] 

d.     "And O Beloved! Remember when you did say to him whom Allah bestowed a favour and you have bestowed a favour." (Surah Ahzab 33:37) 

e.     Allah Ta'ala says in the Holy Quran: "And O Beloved, I have sent you not as mercy unto the worlds." (Surah Ambia 21:107)

Commentating on this verse of the Holy Quran, Allama Aaloosi (radi Allahu anhu) has stated, "And the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) being mercy unto the worlds is in this context that throughout the entire universe, his control is present through the Blessing of Allah Ta'ala. This is why the Noor of the Prophet (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam) was the first thing to be created and it is in the Ahadith, ' O Jaabir! Almighty Allah had first created the Noor of your Nabi (sallal laahu alaihi wasallam)' and in the next Hadith it is said that, 'Almighty Allah is the Giver and I am the distributor. The explanation of the Soofia is more than that of mine in this matter." (Tafseer Roohul Muaani]

f.      Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari: Allah's Apostle said, "Name yourselves after me (by my name) but do not call (yourselves) by my Kuniya, for I am Al-Qasim (distributor), and I distribute among you Allah's blessings." This narration has also come on the authority of Anas that the ! Prophet said so." [Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 216]

g.     Prophet cured eyes of Hazrath Ali (RA).Hazrath ‘Ali (RA) was suffering from eye-trouble. So, he ordered them to bring ‘Ali (RA) in front of him. Then the Prophet spat in his eyes and his eyes were cured immediately as if he had never any eye-trouble. [Bukhari Volume 4, Book 52, Number 192]

h.     Prophet helped Abu Huraira (RA) to improve his memory and mental performance: Abu Huraira (RA) narrates "I said to Allah's Apostle “I hear many narrations (Hadiths) from you but I forget them. "Allah's Apostle said, "Spread your Rida' (garment)." I did accordingly and then he moved his hands as if filling them with something (and emptied them in my Rida') and then said, "Take and wrap this sheet over your body." I did it and after that I never forgot anything" [Bukhari Volume 1, Book 3,Number 119]

i.      Nasr ibn Asim narrates from one Sahabi that he came in court of Prophet (pbuh) and accepted Islam on a condition“that he will only offer 2 daily prayers, the Prophet (pbun) accepted this condition” [Musnad Ahmad, Volume 005, Page No. 363, Hadith Number 20302]

Prophet of Allah was not only able to cure others but he also has the ability to give treasures of world and hereafter, which is evident form Quran and Ahadith, few of which are quoted below.

j.      The earth belongs to Allah(SWT) and Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him): A Hadith in Sahih Bukhari states “You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle." [Sahih Bukhari, Vol 4, Book53, Hadith392 & Vol 9, Book 85, Hadith 77]

k.     The treasures of earth belong to Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him): Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said “While I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand." [Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 52, Number 220]

l.      By Allah! I see my Fount (Kauthar) just now and I have been given the keys of all the treasures of the earth (or the keys of the earth) [Sahih Bukhari Volume 2, Book 23, Number 428]

m.    The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said to Sayyidna Ka'b (RA): Ask for something (O Ka'b). Ka'b (ra) said: I ask for your companionship in Jannah. The Prophet said: Do you want something else? He replied: Just this, the Prophet then said: help me by doing more prostrations – Taken from (Sahih) Muslim [Mishqat ul Misabih, Volume No. 1 Page No. 156, Published by Maktaba al Mishkaat] 

The above ayah and hadith it is evident that what Allah has bestowed to prophet and what authority Prophet has. In deed prophet is distributor of Allahs blessings to us be it worldly need  or need in hearafter. The hadith sahabi proves that the Sahabi even asked for paradise from Prophet and the Prophet in return told him to ask for more!! The Prophet(Peace be upon him)  did not say that you asked for Jannah from Ghair Ullah, hence you have become Mushrik!

Without any doubt. It should be known that Istighatha is nothing but Waseela in real sense and belief of Muslims is always that real grant is from Allah alone. Similarly, there are many narrations where Prophet had removed the sufferings of his companions with just a touch of a hand. And Quran mentions similar (but less than unmatchable last prophet)  authorities bestowed to prophet Yosuf, Isa, Sulamain, Musa (peace be upon them) and even to pious servents Asif bin Barkhiya (ra) and Khizr (peace be upon him). So, considering that the Prophets could not help themselves and had no control over anything is a gross disrespect towards Prophet, May Allah forbid.

Indeed our Prophet (Peace be upon him) was given highest degree of Ikhtiyaar than any other Prophet or Angel, he even gave Life to dead ones (of course with the grant of Allah), he made fountains flow from his fingers, he parted the moon, he made the trees cry, he made the animals and tress prostrate to him as a matter of fact his miracles, authority and controls bestowed by Allah are uncountable. 

“La Yum Kinus Sana o Kama Kana Haqquhu, Baad Az Khuda Buzurg Tu-ee, Kissa Mukhtasr"
(Mumkin Nahi Ki Teri Sana Ka Ho Haq Ada Baad azz Khuda Bazurg tu hee Qisa Mukhtasar)

For more visit : http://islamicbeliefsandteachings.blogspot.ae/

Section 3: Knowledge of unseen

3.1 Question and answer concerning to knowledge of 5 things mentioned in Quran and relevant quranic verses/Ahadees prooving ilm-ghaib of prophet:

Q) How can you say that Muhammad (May Allah bless him and grant him peace) has been given the knowledge of the Ghayb when Allah Almighty says in the Qur’an that there are five things of which no one has any knowledge about?

The relevant verse of the Qur’an is as follows:- “Undoubtedly, Allah has the knowledge of the Hour, and He sends rain and knows what is in the wombs of the mothers and no soul knows in what land it will die. Undoubtedly, Allah is the Knower, All Aware”. (Surah Luqman Verse 34)

The answers to this is:

The word used in this verse in Arabic is Adri, which refers to that knowledge which someone can attain by guessing. Of course the knowledge of the Unseen of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace) was not by guessing. Allah informed this to him.

Hafidh Ibn Kathir (who met and briefly studied with Ibn Taymiyya) has written in his famous commentary to the Qur’an, ‘Tafsir Ibn Kathir’, the meaning of this ayaat, namely, that no-one can find the knowledge of these things on their own endeavor. Only Allah can give this knowledge, for example Allah gives knowledge to the angels whose duties are to control rain, and therefore on the command of Allah it rains.

Also Allah commands an angel who goes into the mother’s womb and hangs a record around the child’s neck what he/she will do in their lifetime. This knowledge is not attained by the angel but rather it is given by Allah Himself.

If the literal and direct meaning is taken from the above quoted ayaat, then it will mean that only Allah knows what is in the mothers womb but today, we can discover quite easily if the child is a male or female by modern scanning techniques.

If the angels have some knowledge on the five Unseen things - given to them by Allah, why is it strange if the Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace) also has some of this knowledge - again bestowed by Allah.

3.2 Relevant Quranic verses proving knowledge of unseen:

a.     “These are the tidings of Unseen that We reveal to you in secret”.[Surah-Ale-Imran, verse 44].

b.     “Nor will He disclose to you the secrets of the Unseen. But He chooses of His Apostles (For the purpose)” [Surah-Ale-Imran, verse 179].

c.     “The Knower of Unseen reveals not His secret to anyone. Except to His chosen Messengers”. [Surah-Al-Jinn, verse 26.]

d.     “…Allah has sent down to you the Book and Wisdom and has taught to you what you did not know, and great is the grace of Allah upon you.” [Surah Al-Nisa, Verse 113]

e.     And this Prophet is not miserly upon the hidden. (Allah gave the knowledge of the hidden to the Holy Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him.) [Takweer 81:24]

f.      Sayyiduna Esa (Peace be upon him) when he addressed his Ummah, saying "And I declare to you whatever you eat and whatever you store in your houses."[Surah Ale Imran: 3:49]

It meant that whatever they had eaten in the houses - within four walls - and whatever they had preserved there in was well known to the Prophet of Allah.

3.3 Few Ahadees proving knowledge of unseen:

a.     Narrated Anas bin Malik RA : The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Straighten your rows for I see you from behind my back." Anas RA added, "Everyone of us used to put his shoulder with the shoulder of his companion and his foot with the foot of his companion." (Sahih Bukhari:Call to Prayer:692)

b.     The Prophet (May Allah bless him and grant him peace) stated, “I have seen my Lord, He put His hands upon my chest, after which everything appeared before me and I recognized everything. [Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, vol 5, page 243]

c.     The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Without doubt Allah SWT had placed the whole earth in front of Me and I saw its ends.” (Sahih Muslim Vol 2, Pg No: 390)

d.     “The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), “I have seen all the things of this universe from where I stood, to the extent that I have seen Heaven and hell also.” (Sahih Bukhari Vol 1, Pg No: 126, Pg No: 18)

3.4 Few people quote that it was revelation by jibrael every time, thereby we quote here bestowed knowledge of unseen to sahabi-e-nabi or pious

a.     Hazrath Qizr (as) and and the knowledge of hidden things: 

The incident of Hazrath Moosa’s (peace be upon him) meeting with Hazrath Qizr (peace be upon him) is narrated in Sura Al Kahf. The verses 18:54 to 18:82 narrates the incident of Hazrath Qizr (peace be upon him) that when Hazrath Moosa (peace be upon him) was with him,

-      Both of them travelled in a Ferry (boat), and later Hazrath Qizr (peace be upon him)damaged the boat.
-      They saw a boy and Hazrath Qizr (peace be upon him) killed him.
-      Later they went in an evil locality but Hazrath Qizr (peace be upon him) built a damaged wall their without taking wages.


All the actions could not be understood by Hazrath Moosa (peace be upon him) and when he asked why Hazrath Qizr (peace be upon him) has done so,he says:
-      “As for the boat, it belonged to poor person working at the sea. So I intended to cause defect in it as there was after them a king who seized every [good] ship by force. [Al Quran 18:79]
 -      And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. [Al Quran 18:80]
 -      And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience." [Al Quran 18.82]

Here we can notice that Hazrath Qizr (peace be upon him) knew
·         The problem the boat owner was going to face in future and helped him out of trouble.
·         He knew the future of the boy that the boy would become a disbeliever when he would grow up, would pose a threat to his parents’ faith.Taking an extreme step of killing a small boy, could not have been done if it was merely based on an assumption that the boy would become kafir and nobody can say whether a boy will be a Muslim or a kafir when he grows up. It shows that the pious have the knowledge of hidden difficulties of people and that too with certainty, and they have been given the power to remove difficulties.
·         Similarly he knew that there was a treasure hidden under the wall, he knew to whom the wall belonged, who was the father of the orphans, how righteous life he lead.

Further it is mentioned in Bukhari that “Al-Qizr touched the wall with his hand and it became straight”.  [Sahih Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Number 250]. Through all this it is very much evident that the pious not only know your hidden problems, but also have miraculous powers to remove those problems.

b.     Hazrath Umar (RA) and the knowledge of hidden things:  Hazrath Abdullah bin Umar (RA) narrates  "I never heard Umar (RA) saying about something that he thought it would be so-and-so, but he was quite right" (Whenever Hazrath Umar (RA) said about something that it could be like this ,the reality would never be different from what he had said) [Sahih Bukhari ,Volume 5,Book 58, Number206, Hakim in Mustadrak 3:4503] 

c.     Hazrath Abu Bakr (RA) and the knowledge of hidden things: A’ishah (RA)narrated:"When he (Abu Bakr) was on his deathbed, my father (Abu Bakr)said to me:"Verily, you have two brothers and two sisters." So, I became startled at this, as I only had two brothers and one sister. He referred to his then-pregnant wife, Bint Kharijah, saying: "I see that she is pregnant with a girl, “and that turned out to be exactly the case."[Muwatta imamMalik Vol2,Hadith no 1438,Sunan al Kubra by Baihaqi 6:11728 Imam Nawawi inThazeeb ul asma 2:1030 and Ibn Taymiyya mentioned it in 'Majmu’a' al-Fatawa' (11/318)]

d.     Narrated by Umme Salma (ra), “I used to take care of Hazrath Fatima (ra) during her severe illness near to her demise. As far I remember, during the entire span of her illness one morning her health seemed better a bit. Hazrath Ali (ra) was away for some reason. Hadrath-e-Fatima (ra) said “Mother, arrange water for my Ghusl (bath)”, I have arranged water for bath and as far as I think she had a exceptionally good bath, then she said to me: “Mother, give me new dress, I did so. Then she laid-down directing towards Qibla with hand her hand placed under her face and said: “Mother, I am going to die now. I took bath & got clean, so let nobody open me (for bath or shroud)” and in the same place she passed away. Umme Salma continues, “ When Hazrath Ali (ra) returned I have relayed to the him the whole discussion”. [Gist of Hadith] [Ahmad Bin Hanbal Al-Musnad, 06/461, No- 27656, 27657, 01/113, Zayla'i Nasab-ur-Rayah, 02/250, 01/103, Haythami Majma‘-uz-Zawa'id, 09/210, Ibn Athir Asad-ul-Ghabah, 07/221]

e.     Even Satan knows the intentions:

It’s a well-known fact that Satan invokes towards bad whenever someone intends to do good.Satan is not only aware of intentions but also has the power to insert evil thoughts into one’s mind as mentioned in a Hadith. "Satan circulates in the human being as blood circulates in the body, I was afraid Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds.""  [Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 33, Number 251]

Ibn Taymiyya writes: “Satan even knows what is in the heart of the son of Adam,and they see and hear what he says to himself. Moreover, the devil has full control over man‘s heart,then when man remembers Allah he withdraws, and when he neglects to remember Him, he whispers to himHe knows whether he is remembering Allah or is neglecting to remember Him, and he knows the whims and desires of his heart and makes them appear attractive to him. The closeness of the angels and the Satan to the heart of the son of Adam is something that is confirmed in many reports, whether the person is a believer or a disbeliever. [Majmu’al-Fatawa, 5/508]

The above discussion has made it clear that to call it shirk when Muslims say “Prophet has knowledge of hidden things” is purely out of ignorance. The view of defining the divinity on basis of bestowed knowledge of unseen goes against Quran & Ahadith.

The subject is vast however to limit the size of article and to retain public interest we kept it point, further information and detailed articles on related subject are available at the link below.




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