'TAWHEED - Tawassul'

TAWASSUL
(use of a Means)
The word Tawassul is an original Arabic word occurring in the Quraan 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 Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.

The reality of seeking a waseelah to Allah, 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 Shareeah. It is like
nearness, and the waasil is one who aspires nearness to Allah, the Most High.

RIGHTEOUS ACTIONS ALONE ARE THE WASEELAH WHICH DRAW ONE CLOSER TO ALLAAH
this is because no one knows what pleases Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, except Him alone.
Therefore in order for us to know the means to draw nearer to Allah, it is obligatory upon us to refer
back, in every matter, to that which Allah, the Most Perfect, prescribed in the Shareeah, and which
Allahs Messenger (S.A.W.) explained. The meaning of this is that we refer back to the Book of Allah
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 Allah 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 Wail, 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.
And there is no disagreement amongst the mufassireen on what those Imams said.

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 ones 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: -
1. By the Best Names of Allah.
2. By the Qualifications of Allah.
3. By your Belief in Allah.
4. By presenting the state of the slave.
5. By call of a person (alive).
6. By the pious deeds.

1. Tawassul by calling the Best Names of Allah
This is the Tawassul (Use of a Means) for Allah by His Best Names, whether by all of them as a
whole or by One of them only.

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 Dua 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 Dua. 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 Allahs qualification.
Furthemore, an example is given for the tawassul by Allahs 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

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, such 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
womens 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 Allahs Messenger
was delivering the Khutba. The man stood infront of him and said, O Allahs Messenger! Te livestock
are dying and the roads are cutoff so please pray to Allah for rain. Anas said, Allahs 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 pious deeds is mentioning to Allah while calling 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.