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By qarrar
#9563
By: Aadila Moloo

People often argue that intercession and wasila are forms of shirk and very similar to the Christian Trinitarian model where they people think that they are impure and therefore must approach God through Jesus.

They argue that this concept of approaching Imams is very foreign in the Quran:

"Call unto me and I will answer your Call" - God tells mankind in the Quran.

"When my servants ask about me tell them I am close to them. I answer the call of the caller when he calls unto me" - God telling the prophet to tell the people that he is :

"Also closer to you than your jugular vein".

Yes, it is true that God is closer to us than our jugular vein but when referring to the Quran to prove certain matters we must look at all the ayahs in the Quran regarding that issue. It would be injustice if we neglected a portion of it just to prove ourselves right.

We have several ayahs in the Quran regarding intercession:

"and who can intercede on my behalf EXCEPT with my permission" (2:255)

If Allah (swt) did not want us to intercede he would simply have said "and NONE" can intercede on my behalf" but he said "EXCEPT with my permission", which implies that there is someone who can be given permission. Who else could be more entitled to this divine grace and unique privilege than the Apostle of God and his Ahlul-bayt?

Allah (swt) also says:

"O you who believe! Be careful of your duty to Allah (swt) and seek means of nearness to him" (5:35)

In another ayah we have:

"And we did not send any apostle but that he should be obeyed by Allah's permission; and had they, when they were unjust to themselves come to you and asked forgiveness of Allah and the Apostle had also asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-returning, Merciful"

This ayah clearly says that when we go through the Prophet, then we would find Allah Merciful.



The misleading question which the critics raise, is that why should we not seek the help we need directly from God? This question itself has an answer that when such devotees of God (The critics) get ill, why do they go to the doctor? Why not depend on God for the cure and avoid means of the doctor, when the doctor is not the actual curer. No, they do it because they have to seek a means or a medium and they do it because they cannot avoid it.

But at the end of the day it is ONLY Allah (swt) who provides for our needs and it would be shirk to think that what we have is from the Prophets or Aimmah, they just act as a means for us to get to the Almighty.

May Allah (swt) give us all hidayat and always be able to distinguish truth from false. Ameen.
By Fatimah Zahra Karim
#10930
Good article. A more in-depth analysis of intercession and its permissibility can be found in the book 'The Divine Link' by Dr, Kazim Dhalla. The book has been published by Tabligh in DSM. It has been written in a simple, straight-forward manner that is interesting. Great book.
By SyedBaqir
#12092
True. Intercession can easily be proved from the Quran and Ahadith..

But even in our daily lives we have examples of such concepts.

One everyday life example we see is the beggars on the road.
When they ask/beg from us, they definitely do not consider us their sustainer/god.
They however believe that if the Almighty wants, he may choose us to be the one who brings their rizk to them.

In the same way, when we ask form our Imams (a.s), we do not ask from them rather we ask through them.

It would be funny to know how people who oppose intercession view their parents. Especially when asking for pocket money. :lol:
By Fatimah Zahra Karim
#12094
I think verse 110 of sura maida shows that you can ask from the Imams, not just through them.
And God will say: 'O Jesus! Recount My favor to you and to your mother... And behold, you made out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird and you breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission. And you healed those born blind by My permission and the lepers by My permission. And behold! You raised forth the dead by My permission.
The verse clearly mentions that Prophet Isa (as) did the things mentioned, with permission from Allah (swt). Similarly, the Imams can do things with the permission of Allah (swt). Shirk is only when you believe they what they do, they do independently and without God's permission.

God mentions in Hadith Qudsi
O son of Adam, I am everliving, I shall never die. Do what I have ordered and keep away from what I have prohibited. I will give you eternal life and make you immortal.
O son of Adam, I am the king whose kingdom shall never perish. I say to a thing 'Be' and it is.Obey my command and stay away from those things that I have prohibited so that when you say to a thing 'Be', it is.
The Masumeen followed the commands of Allah (swt) to the dot. Therefore, it is in their power to order things into existence. Note that the prerequisite for this power is total obedience to Allah (swt).
By SyedBaqir
#12095
Thank you for the insight and clarification.

I still am under the impression that the wasila concept means that generally, I am asking through them.

But then again, you are right when you say that when we are asking from them, we do so with the intention that them granting our duas is by the permission of Allah (swt). The precondition to asking "from them" as opposed to "through them" is that the understanding should be there that it is from them only because Allah (swt) has willed so, and not otherwise.
And God will say: 'O Jesus! Recount My favor to you and to your mother... And behold, you made out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird and you breathed into it and it became a bird by My permission. And you healed those born blind by My permission and the lepers by My permission. And behold! You raised forth the dead by My permission.
Because for example, when I am from ask Hz.Abbas (a.s) for a dua; I definitely know that I am asking from him only to intercede on my behalf to Allah (swt). The day I ask from him believing he can grant my prayer independently without the will of Allah (swt), I will definitely be doing shirk.

Next time I shall try to be more clear in my posts :oops:

https://youtu.be/-3CI0FBr5ss?si=UNYS9HXtS24Gbr-P

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