Section 11: Swearing by Other Than Allah, Seeking Closeness, Assistance and Help from Others Besides Allah

[A] Swearing by other than Allah: This is the making of oath. It is to emphasize a thing by mentioning one that is revered, but reverence is the right of Allah (Alone). Thus it is not permissible to swear an oath by other than Him. Scholars have agreed that making oaths should not be except with Allah or His Names and Attributes, and they also agreed upon the prohibition of making oaths by other than Allah.44 ‘Whoever swears by other than Allah has disbelieved or associated This is minor polytheism, except when the one being sworn with is revered to the extent of being worshipped, as is the case presently with grave worshippers. They dread those whom they revere amongst the inhabitants of the graves, more than they fear and revere Allah, such that if one of them is asked to swear by a saint whom he reveres, he does not swear except he is truthful, but if he is requested to swear by Allah, he does so even if he is lying. To swear is to venerate the one with whom the oath is taken and it befits none but Allah. It is obligatory to respect oaths and thus not frequently make them. Allah - the Most High - said: partners with Allah,’45 44 Marginal notes of Ibn Qayyim on Kitab at-Tawhid pg. 303 45 Reported by Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim “And obey not everyone who swears much, - and is considered Also, Allah - the Most High - said: “...And protect your oath (i.e. do not swear much)...” (Qur’an 5: 89) Meaning, do not swear except when it is absolutely necessary, and only in the instance you are being truthful and for a good course, because swearing much, or falsehood therein, indicates that one is contemptuous of Allah and lacks reverence for Him. This negates the perfection of Faith. In the hadith, the Messenger of Allah said: Swearing oaths by other than Allah is Shirk (polytheism) due to what Ibn 'Umar reported, that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘There are three persons with whom Allah will not speak (on the Day of Resurrection), nor purify (of their sins) and for them is a painful torment.’ Amongst them he mentioned: ‘A man who has made Allah his commodity, he does not sell except with his oath nor does he buy except with his oath,’46 He made the threat against frequently swearing severe; this indicates its prohibition in order to honor the Name of Allah and to reverence Him, glorified is He. Also it is prohibited to make false oaths by Allah, this is a sinking oath.47 Allah has described the hypocrites as a people who swear upon falsehood whilst they know.48 The summary of this is as follows: 46 Reported by at-TabaranT with an authentic chain 47 It is one, which sinks the person into sin and eventually in the Fire; it is that one swears about a past matter lying knowingly. (i) The prohibition of swearing oaths by other than Allah, such as swearing by Amanah (trust) or the Ka 'abah, or the Prophet and that this is Shirk. (ii) The prohibition of deliberately swearing a false oath by Allah, this sinks one in (iii) The prohibition of swearing by Allah much, even if one is being truthful, when there is no necessity for it as this is contemptuousness towards Allah, the glorified. (iv) The permissibility of swearing oaths by Allah if one is truthful and when there is a need for it. [B] At-Tawassul to Allah with creatures: Tawassul is the seeking of closeness to something, seeking to arrive at it. WasTlah means a means of closeness. Allah - the Most High - said: “Seek the means of approach to Him. ” (Qur’an 5: 35) That is, closeness to Him (Allah) Glorified is He, by obeying Him and following that which pleases Him. At-Tawassul is of two categories:

1. Permissible Tawassul: It is of several types: (i) Seeking Tawassul to Allah - the Most High - with His Names and Attributes as Allah - the Most High - has commanded in His statement: “And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them, and leave the company of those who belie or deny (or utter impious speech against) His Names. They will be requited for what they used to do. ” (Qur’an 7:180) (ii) Seeking Tawassul to Allah - the Most High - with Faith and good deeds, which the one seeking closeness has performed as Allah the Most High has mentioned about the people of Iman (Faith): “Our Lord! Verily, we have heard the call of the one [Muhammad Mj calling to Faith: 'Believe in your Lord, ’ and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and remit from us our evil deeds, and make us die in the state of righteousness along with Al-Abrar (those who are obedient to Allah and follow strictly His Orders). ” Similar to this is the hadith of the three men upon whom a rock closed and sealed the entrance to a cave; they were unable to exit the cave, so they made Tawassul to Allah with their good deeds and Allah made a rescue for them and they exited it.49 (iii) “...B u t he cried through the darkness (saying): La ilaha ilia anta [none has the right to be worshipped but You (O Allah)], Glorified (and Exalted) be You [above all that (evil) they associate with You] (iv) Seeking Tawassul to Allah - the Most High - by voicing out ones weakness, need and dependence upon Allah as Ayub >&0 said: “Verily, distress has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful of all those who show mercy. ” (Qur’an 21: 83) (v) Seeking Tawassul to Allah - the Most High - with the supplication of pious ones who are alive as was the practice of companions. They would request the Prophet to beseech Allah for them, but when he passed away, they began requesting his uncle al-'Abbas and he would supplicate for them.50 (vi) Seeking Tawassul to Allah - the Most High - by admitting one’s sin: “He said: ‘My Lord! Verily, I have wronged myself, so forgive me. ’ Then He forgave him. ” (Qur’an 28:16)
2. Forbidden Tawassul: This is Tawassul other than the permissible Tawassul mentioned above, such as Tawassul by requesting supplication and intercession 50 Reported by al-Bukhari from the dead, Tawassul with the honor of the Prophet Tawassul with the personality of creatures or with their rights. The details of this is as follows: (a) Seeking supplication from the dead is not permissible This is because the dead do not have the capability to make supplication as they did when they were alive. Also, seeking intercession from the dead is not permissible. This is because, when 'Umar bin al-Khattab and Mu'awiyah bin AbT Sufyan and those present with them amongst the companions and the Tabi 'in (the successors of the companions) were afflicted with draught, they sought for rain (by supplicating to Allah), made Tawassul and sought intercession with those who were alive, like Al-'Abbas and Yazid bin al-Aswad. They did not make Tawassul, nor seek intercession or request rain with the Prophet. Neither at his grave nor that of any other person; rather, they turned to substitutes such as Al-'Abbas and Yazid. 'Umar said: 'O Allah we used to make Tawassul to You with Your Prophet and You would grant us rain, now we make Tawassul to You with his uncle, so grant us rain.' So, they made his uncle a substitute for the Prophet, since it had become impossible to make Tawassul with him in the legislated (permitted) manner. It was possible for them to approach his grave and make Tawassul with him,51 i.e. had it been permissible. So, their abandonment of this is evidence that it is not permissible to make Tawassul with the dead, or to request supplication and intercession from them. Had requesting supplication from and intercession with him, whether alive or dead been the same, they would not have resorted to someone else who would be lower than him in rank and honor. (b) Making Tatvassul with the Honor of the Prophet or the Honor of Any Other Person is Not Permissible. The hadith about it, which says: ‘When you request from Allah, request with my honor, for my honor before Allah is tremendous. ’ 51 Majmu' al-Fatawa v. 1, pg. 318 - 319 This is a fabricated hadith, it is not found in any reliable book of the Muslims, nor have any of the scholars of hadith mentioned it.52 As long as there is no authentic evidence for it, then it is not permissible, because acts of worship are not established, except with explicit evidence (from the Qur’an and Sunnah). (c) Making Tawassul with creatures is not permissible If the syntax is in the form of an oath53, then it is not permissible to make oaths with creatures upon Allah. If it is not permissible to make oaths with a creature upon another creature, and it is Shirk (polytheism), how then can it be permissible to make oaths with creatures upon Allah -fe? If the syntax (of request) is in the form of using the creature as a factor (for which the request will be granted)54, then Allah has not made creatures factors for response to supplications, nor has He legislated such for His slaves. Making Tawassul with the rights of creatures is not permissible for two (i) No one has rights which are obligatory upon Allah, rather, it is He that bestows such upon creatures as Allah the Most High has said:..And (as for) the believers, it was incumbent upon Us to help (them), ” So, the obedient merits reward. This means meriting favor and blessing. It is not a mutual right such as that which creatures have upon each other. (ii) Also, this right, which Allah has bestowed upon His slave is restricted to him, it is not associated with other than him (the slave). So, when one who does not merit 52 Majmu' al-Fatawa v. 10, pg. 319 53 Such as the saying of Christians while praying: 7 command such-and-such in the name of Jesus.’ (TN) 54 Such as saying: 7 beseech you with so-and-so.’ it (the right) makes Tawassul with it, he is making Tawassul with a foreign thing, with which he has no association. This will not benefit him aught. As for the hadith: 7 ask You by the right of those who ask, ’ It is an unauthentic hadith because in its chain of narration is a person known as ‘Atiyyah Al-‘Awfi. Scholars are agreed upon his being weak (undependable) as some scholars of hadith have mentioned. Whatever is of such kind cannot be used as a proof in such an important issue of doctrine. Also, there is no Tawassul in it with the right of a particular person; it only contains the general right of those who request, and the right of those who ask is response (to their supplication) as Allah has promised. This is a right, which He has made obligatory upon Himself for them, no one has made it obligatory upon Him, and it is Tawassul to Him by His True Promise, not by the right of creatures. ‘anah and Al-Istighathah with creatures Al-Isti'anah: This is to request assistances and support upon an issue. Al- Istighathah: This is to request aid, which is the removal of difficulty. Seeking assistance and aid from creatures is of two types: (i) Seeking assistance and aid from creatures in respect of what they have capabilities over. This is permissible. Allah - the Most High - said:..Helpyou one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and Also, Allah said in the story of Miisd:.. The man of his (own) party asked him for help against his Just as a man seeks the aid of his affiliates in war and such other things they have (ii) Seeking assistance and aid from creatures in such things as none has capability over but Allah, such as seeking assistance and aid from the dead, and seeking aid from the living, and seeking assistance from them in things which none has capability over but Allah. Examples of these include healing the sick, rescuing one from calamity and preventing harm. This type is not permissible and it is major Shirk. During the time of the Prophet there were hypocrites who used to harm the believers, so some of them said: ‘Stand and let us make Istighathah with the Messenger of Allah from these hypocrites.’ So, the Prophet 31 said:.aIILj olw.i— J 1-Llj S ‘Aid cannot be sought with me; aid can only be sought with Allah.’55 He disliked that this sort of statement be used in reference to himself though it was something he had the ability over during his life. He did this in other to protect Tawhid, to foreclose the path to Shirk, as mannerism and humility towards his Lord and to caution his followers against the means that lead to Shirk in utterances and deeds. If this was in that which the Prophet had ability upon during his life, how then can Istighathah be made with him after his death, and he be requested for such things as none has capability over except Allah?56 If this is not permissible with regards to him, then others besides him are more deserving of prohibition. 55 Reported by at-Tabaranl 56 Fath[J alMajid pg. 196- 197 Regarding the Messenger, His Household and His This will contain the following sections: Section 1: The obligation of loving the Messenger and revering him, the prohibition of excessiveness at praising him, and an explanation of Section 2: The obligation of obeying him and following his footsteps. Section 3: The validity of seeking blessings and peace upon Him. Section 4: The nobility of members of his household and that which is obligatory towards them, devoid of both antipathy and extremism. Section 5: The nobility of the companions and what must be believed about them and the position of Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jama ‘ah regarding what occurred between them. Section 6: The prohibition of abusing the companions and the leaders of