The Salafi Self Invented Logic is this that Allah can Only be Asked Directly. And it is Shirk to believe that Allah has put some Mediums between Him and His creatures. They say:
And they quote a lot of verses from Qur’an in their defense. For example:
[Yusufali 50:16] …… (Allah says) for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.
[Yusufali 2:186] �.. When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me:
So Salafi logic is, if Allah is so near to us, and when He can hear us, and when He has all the powers, … then why to look at others to approach to Him. For them, Allah has not put any barriers between Him and His creature, and can be approached directly.
Our Response:
Salafi are only selective in quoting the Qur’an. They are not taking the whole Qur’an and Sunnah into consideration and they are only following their logic, while we follow the Logic of Qur’an. Let us see the whole message of Qur’an and then let us decide what is the truth.
Allah says in Qur’an:
[Yusuf Ali 4:64] …… If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah’s forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful.
All the Mufassireen of Qur’an (including the Salafi Mufassireen) are unanimous that this verse was revealed when some of the Sahaba made a severe mistake. Afterwards, they realized their mistake and wanted to do Tawba (asking forgiveness from Allah for their sin).
And they asked Allah DIRECTLY for the forgiveness. But look carefully, how Allah responded:
Allah told those Sahaba, that if they act upon these steps (i.e. to include Rasool Allah (saww) in their request for forgiveness), only after that they will find Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful.
Now the following questions arise in the mind:
NOTE: This is not the only place where Allah asked His beloved Rasool (saww) to ask forgiveness on the behalf of others, but Allah has been constantly asking His beloved Rasool (saww), in the Qur’an, to do Astaghfar for his Ummah.
[Pickthal 3:159] ………… So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them.
[Pickthal 4:106-107] And seek forgiveness of Allah (for others). Lo! Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful. And plead not on behalf of (people) who deceive themselves.
[Pickthal 8:33] But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them, nor will He punish them while they seek forgiveness.
[Pickthal 9:80-84] Ask forgiveness for them (O Muhammad), or ask not forgiveness for them; though thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times Allah will not forgive them. And never (O Muhammad) pray for one of them who dieth, nor stand by his grave.
[Pickthal 9:103] Take alms of their wealth, wherewith thou mayst purify them and mayst make them grow, and pray for them. Lo! thy prayer is an assuagement for them.
[Pickthal 9:113] It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire.
[Pickthal 24:62] So, if they ask thy leave for some affair of theirs, give leave to whom thou wilt of them, and ask for them forgiveness of Allah.
[Pickthal 47:19] ..So know (O Muhammad) that there is no Allah save Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy sin and for believing men and believing women.
[Pickthal 60:12] �then accept their allegiance and ask Allah to forgive them.
[Pickthal 63:5-6] And when it is said unto them: Come! The messenger of Allah will ask forgiveness for you! They [the hypocrites] avert their faces and thou seest them turning away, disdainful. Whether thou ask forgiveness for them or ask not forgiveness for them is all one for them; Allah will not forgive them.
Let me quote some of the Ahadith from our previous Chapter 3.
Sahih Muslim, 1st Chapter of book of Clothing:
`Abd Allah, the freed slave of Asma’ the daughter of Abu Bakr, the maternal uncle of the son of `Ata’, said:
���. She (Asma bint Abu Bakr) said: “Here is the cloak (jubba) of Allah’s Messenger,” and she brought out to me that cloak made of Persian cloth with a hem of (silk) brocade, and its sleeves bordered with (silk) brocade, and said:
“This was Allah’s Messenger’s cloak with `A’isha until she died, then I got possession of it. The Apostle of Allah used to wear it, and we washed it for the sick so that they could seek cure thereby.“
Need we to comment any more?
Here one more Hadith from Umm-ul-Momineen Umm Salama. Bukhari narrates in his Sahih in the Book of Clothing, under the chapter entitled “What is mentioned about gray hair:
`Uthman bin `Abd Allah ibn Mawhab said, “My people sent me with a bowl of water to Umm Salama.” Isra’il approximated three fingers indicating the small size of the container in which there was some hair of the Prophet. `Uthman added, “If any person suffered from evil eye or some other disease, he would send a vessel (containing water) to Umm Salama (and she would dip the Prophet’s hair into it and it would be drunk). I looked into the container (that held the hair of the Prophet) and saw a few reddish hairs in it.”
Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 784.
No comments from our side anymore. Please see all the Ahadith in our previous chapter, which show that Sahaba Karam asked Allah (swt) through the Wasila of Rasool Allah (saww).
Due to the presence of above verses, it was a common practice among Sahaba Karam, that they visited Rasool Allah (saww) and asked him to do Dua to Allah on their behalf.
We challenge that Rasool Allah (saww) was not a Salafi, otherwise he would have told the Sahaba things like this:
Contrary to all this, Rasool Allah (saww) encouraged this practice and always did Dua for them.
Allah says in Qur’an:
[Yusuf Ali 7:160] �We directed Moses by inspiration, when his (thirsty) people asked him for water: “Strike the rock with thy staff”: out of it there gushed forth twelve springs:�� We gave them the shade of clouds, and sent down to them manna and quails,
Did Prophet Moses (as) told his Ummah that:
Allah says in Qur’an:
[Pickthal 12:97-98] They said: O our father! Ask forgiveness of our sins for us, for lo! we were sinful. He said: I shall ask forgiveness for you of my Lord. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.
If Prophet Jacob (as) had been a Salafi, he (as) would have told his sons why they had come to him. They must go and ask Allah DIRECTLY for forgiveness of their sins.
And Allah is also not a Salafi. Had He been a Salafi, He would have become double angry with Jacob (as) and his sons, instead of forgiving them.
We believe that Allah swt is closer to us than jugular vein, and He has all the power to hear us directly and to fulfill our demands. And there is no harm in asking Allah directly.
But we also believe if the intercession of Rasool Allah (saww) also includes in our petitions to Allah, then it is a better way to approach Allah. And this is a proved fact by Qur’an and Sunnah.
It is same as Allah also hears us when we pray in our houses. But if the Dua is made in Holy Kaba, then barakah of Masjid-ul-Haram also includes in it and chances of acceptance of our prayers increase.
If Salafi want to demolish this practice of Islam in name of Shirk (while it goes against their self made Aqaed), then we are not ready for this innovation.
Allah has promised Rasool Allah (saww) that He has raised high his (saww) Dhikr along with His Dhikr. Allah says in Qur’an:
[Yusufali 94: 4] And (didn’t We) raised high the esteem (Dhikr) (in which) thou (Muhammad) (art held)?
In comparison to Salafi’s usage of Logic and behavior of neglecting that part of Qur’an and Sunnah, which goes against their Aqaed, we don’t use our own Logic, and take guidance from whole Qur’an and Sunnah.
We don’t make anything Haram on us in name of Shirk and Bidah, which has been made Halal for us from Allah. Qur’an says:
[Yusufali 7:32] Say: Who hath forbidden the beautiful (gifts) of Allah, which He hath produced for His servants, and the things, clean and pure, (which He hath provided) for sustenance? Say: They are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on the Day of Judgment. Thus do We explain the signs in detail for those who understand.
May Allah give us the Taufeeq to act upon the whole of His guidance. Amin.