Allah (swt) says in Quran about Wasilah:
[Yusufali 5:35] O ye who believe! Do your duty to Allah, seek the means of approach unto Him, and strive with might and main in his cause: that ye may prosper.
Muslims make Prophet Muhammad (saw) and his intercession as Wasilah to approch unto Allah. But according to Salafies it is shirk to make Prophet Mumhammad (saw) your Wasilah unto Allah.
Salafi Definition of Wasilah: According to Salafies, Wasilah (i.e. means of approaching Allah) is only and only our “Good Actions”. For example offering prayers or reading Quran or fasting etc.
Please see Tafseer of above verse in any Quran that is published by Saudi Government
But as far as seeking the intercession of Prophet Muhammad (saw) as Wasilah is concerned, then it is not Wasilah but a shirk for Salafies. Shia and Ahle Sunnah definition of Wasilah: For us, it is clear and beyond from Quranic verses and Ahadith that Salafies have been misguided on this issue. Surely there are other things too than actions like prayers and fasting which are means approaching Allah (swt).
There is another Verse of Quran, which is talking about seeking the prophets as Wasilah in order to approach Allah (swt):
[Shakir 17:57] Those whom they call upon (Jesus and angels…etc.) , themselves seek the means of access to their Lord – whoever of them is nearest ( أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ ) – and they hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement; surely the chastisement of your Lord is a thing to be cautious of.
Hadhrat Aisha and Isma bint Abi Bakr making shirt of Rasool Allah (saw) a Wasilah to get cure from Diseases
Now see the following hadith, which is more than enough to refute the Salafi Doctrine that Wasilah is only actions like praying and fasting.
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.”
Only this hadith is more than enough to refute Salafies and to show the right path that there are other things too (except Good Deeds), which can become our Wasilah to approach Allah (saw). Here one more hadith. Umm Salama used to seek help / benefit from Hairs of Rasool Allah [saww] against Diseases and against the Evil Eye.
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
There are more than hundred such Ahadith and Quranic verses, which show that Prophets and Sahaba Karam made these Tabarukkat as their Wasilah to approach Allah (swt). We have already cited many of such Ahadith and Quranic Verses in previous chapters. So, it’s turn of Salafies to tell us why they still deem Good Deeds to be Wasilah?
Respecting Hajar-e-Aswad and kissing it, it is also a Wasilah to approach Allah (swt), and whoever thinks that only Good Deeds are Wasilah, he is in misguidance. Please see chapter 6, which is on this Islamic concept of respecting شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ.
Sahih Bukhari [Chapter of Istisqa']:
Annas narrated: Whenever drought threatened them, `Umar ibn al-Khattab used to ask Allah for rain through the mediation of al-`Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib. He [`Umar] used to say: “O Allah! We used to ask you through the means of our Prophet and You would bless us with rain, and now we ask You through the means of our Prophet’s uncle, so bless us with rain.” And it would rain.
Kawthari in his Maqalat (p. 411) cites Ibn `Abd al-Barr’s commentary in al-Isti`ab that:
Umar used al-`Abbas in response to Ka`b’s words: “O Commander of the believers, the Bani Isra`il in such circumstances used to pray for rain by means of the relatives of Prophets.”
Source:
Encyclopaedia of Islamic Doctrine
Do our Salafi friends still want to claim that Wasilah is only our Good Deeds? And it is shirk to Rasool Allah (saw) as our Wasilah?
We have quoted above the verse of Wasilah from Sura Bani Isra’il:
The correct translation of this verse is:
[ Shakir 17:57 ] Those whom they call upon (Jesus and angels…etc.) , themselves seek the means of access to their Lord– whoever of them is nearest ( أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ ) – and they hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement; surely the chastisement of your Lord is a thing to be cautious of.
This verse proves that prophets and angels of lower ranks are seeking the Wasilah of those prophets, who are higher in ranks than them. Since this verse is directly against the Salafi doctrine, so they have changed the translation of this verse, in order to decieve the people. They translate it as under:
[ Pickthal 17:57 ] Those unto whom they cry seek the way of approach to their Lord, which of them shall be the nearest ( أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ ) ; they hope for His mercy and they fear His doom. Lo! the doom of thy Lord is to be shunned.
This is the standard translation of this verse, which Salafies use in their articles or in other translations in different languages (like Urdu and German) But ( “….which of them shall be the nearest…”), this is absolutely wrong translation by Pickthal.
By this translation, Salafies want to prove that Prophets and Angels (to whom Kuffar worship), they are competing with each other by making more Salah and fasting, in order to get closer to Allah. Now let us show the grammer of this verse, so that people can understand which translation is correct.
Shakir: “…whoever of them is nearest…” The use of Present Simple
Pickthal: “…which of them shall be the nearest…” The use of Future Tense
First, there is no verb involved in the statement ayyahum aqrab. Therefore, there is no question of present or future tense (in Arabic). Now, as you may know, in Arabic there are two types of setnences: al-jumlat al-fi’liyah [verbal sentences] and al-jumlat al-ismiyyah [noun sentences]. There is absolutely no correspondence in the English language. Verbal sentences are those which start with a verb, noun sentences are those which start with a noun. Now, it is perfectly acceptable, and in many cases preferrable, to drop the verb “is” in propositional sentences. For example, it would be correct to say “Al-Kitab kabir”, which means “The book is big” but literally translates as “The book big,” i.e., without any verb.
You could say “Yakun al-kitab kabiran,” using the verb yakun which means “is,” but actually this is bad Arabic. It is better to just drop the “yakun” and say “Al-kitab kabir.” Now, the use of the phrase ayyahum aqrab is of this type of sentence: it does not have a verb in it. As such, the verb “is” is implied.
Now, the point here is that the word “is” is implied. When you “Al-Kitab kabir” (the book big, meaning the book is big”) the word “is” is implied. The word “shall” or “will” is not. No one would ever translate the phrase “Al-Kitab kabir” as “The book will be big.” As such, the Pickthal translation (which is favourite one of Salafies) of “shall” is incorrect.
However, this is not due to any use of tense inside the sentence, as there is no verb. If there was a verb, there could be a problem, as the present tense can also be used to mean the future tense. But in this case there is no verb, which means there is absolutely no doubt that “those who are closest” is being ment in the present tense. The word “are” is implied here, but the word “shall” is most certainly not.
So: the word “ay” means which or sometimes who. “hum” means them. “aqrab” means closest. Therefore, the correct translation is “which of them are closest”.
It`s a CHALLANGE to all Salafies to prove that Shakir’s translation is wrong, and of Pickthal’s is correct one. This same translation is given by Muhammad Sarwar (which is not a literal translation):
[Muhammad Sarwar 17:57]Those whom they worship seek to find intercessors for themselves with God. (They try to find out which of the intercessors) are closer to God. They have hope for His mercy and fear of His punishment; the punishment of your Lord is awesome. (17:57)
And this same translation has been given by Deobandi School of thought in Urdu like by Ashraf Ali Thanwi and Shabbir Ahmad Uthmani. Although Deobandies are also against in Tawassul like Salafies, but still they gave the correct translation.
Let us see the Interesting comments by Shabbir Ahmad Uthmani (Deobandi) on this verse.
“Bukhari has narrated that some people used to worship Jinns in the times of jahiliyyah. But then these Jinns became Muslim, while their worshippers remained ignorant of that and this verse is revealed about them.
Some say other people are also included in it who also worshipped Angels and Prophets like Jesus and Aziz etc…
(It’s meaning is this that) those whom they worship as gods, they themselves are trying to get more closer to Allah and think to make Intercession of those, who are more closer to Allah than them, their Wasilahh in order to get closer to Allah… (Note: There is a difference between “Tawassul” and “T’abud” (worship).
Online Urdu Quran Translation by Shabbir Ahmad Uthmani
In Majma’ al-Bayan, Tabrisi,Vol. 6, p. 650:
“His statement “aqrab” means that they [the people who are prayed to] are themselves look to see who is closest to Allah, and then using him as an intermediary.”
Now, let us show some more of the wrong translations, which Salafies try to use. Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali, Ph.D. and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan: “Those whom they call upon, desire means of access to their Lord, as to which of them should be the nearest.
Comment: They are using the wrong Grammar. Challange to Salafies to show us where Allah (swt) used “Should be” in أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ
Yousuf Ali:
“Those, whom they call on, themselves, seek nearness to their Lord – even those of them who are nearest
Comment: Again wrong translation. Challange to Salafies to show where Allah has used word “Even” and “Those of Them” (which he used instead of “Which of Them”)
First Nasibi excuse is this that quran has mentioned prayers of several prophets in Quran. But none of them supplicated Allah in the way that verse 17:57 is implementing. Thus the distorted translation of Pickthal is correct. So Salafies want to get the right to distort (Tehrif) the translation of Quran on the bases of their conjecture. This one verse of Quran stands alone and it doesn’t need to have support of other verses in order to believe in it.
Allah (swt) has clearly said that lower rank angels and prophets (who are already dead) are seeking the Wasilah of heigher rank angels and prophets (who are also already dead), and it is enough for us to believe in it.
Look, Salafies have Aqeedah that one can present his Good Deeds as Wasilah to Allah. And this Aqeedah is supported only upon ONE hadith of Bukhari, where 3 men went in cave and door was locked by a big stone. When first one prayed by mentioning his good deeds, the stone went a little behind and a little bit of door was opened. Then 2nd person supplicated through good deed and door was more opened. And lastly 3rd person supplicated through good deeds and stone went back and door was completed opened.
This Aqeedah of Salafies is based upon Only this one hadith, and there is no such supplication of Prophets in Quran (or perhaps even in other Ahadith). Still Salafies believe in it. But when it comes to verse 17:57 (about Wasilahh of Dead Prophets and Angels), then they deny it and change it’s translation according to their wishes.
Another strange excuse by Salafies is to quote previous verse (i.e. verse 56 of Surah Bani Israel) and claim that it shows that only Mushrikeen seek the Wasilah. It is a strange logic, which we are unable to understand. Let us quote from verse 55 to verse 57 once again.
[SHAKIR17:55] And your Lord best knows those who are in the heavens and the earth; and certainly We have made some of the prophets to excel others, and to Dawood We gave a scripture.
[SHAKIR 17:56] Say: Call on those whom you assert besides Him, so they shall not control the removal of distress from you nor (its) transference.
[SHAKIR 17:57] Those whom they call upon, themselves seek the means of access (Wasilahh) to their Lord– whoever of them is nearest– and they hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement; surely the chastisement of your Lord is a thing to be cautious of.
Salafi strange claim is this that since in verse 17:56, Allah is talking about Mushrikeen, therefore in verse 57 too they are mentioned as those who seek Wasilah. Since we don`t see any such thing and find it only insane logic, so we need not to say anything about it.
Also see Bukhari’s hadith of Tafsir of this Verse (as mentioned by Shabir Ahmad Uthmani above), which is clearly refuting this Salafi argument. Please also see verse 55, where Allah has clearly mentioned that some Prophets have preference over the others, and this same fact Allah repeated in verse 57 when he told that lower status prophets are seeking Wasilahh of heigher status prophets.
Allahuma Sallay Allah Muhammad wa Aale Muhammad.