Q17 :1. Is it true that to pray Allah to forgive
our sins taking into consideration the love and affection Allah bears
to the Prophet is a form of polytheism? I am at a loss to understand
how it could be so. How then can we ask the Prophet on the day of
judgement to plead for us, when Allah Himself is ever closer of access
to us on that day?
2. It is our belief that the Prophet will make on the day of judgement
renetmendations to Allah for the forgiveness of his followers. Keeping
this in mind, it is appropriate to supplicate and request the Prophet
to renetmend us for forgiveness? Could you also please explain whether
there are differences of opinion among leading scholars in this
respect, i.e., addressing Allah through an intermediary.
A17 : The first point which I would like to make
regarding this question, which netes up time after time, is: Who needs
an intermediary? Allah Himself tells us in the Qur’an that He is near
to us and that He always answers prayers by His servants. He instructs
the Prophet in the following term: “If My servants ask you about Me, I
am near, I answer the prayer of anyone who prays to Me. Let them,
then, respond to Me and belive in Me so that they may be rightly
guided.”(2:186). We also read in the Qur’an “Your Lord says: Pray to Me
and I will respond to you.”(40:60) There are several verses in the
Qur’an which emphasize the fact that Allah answers prayers when we pray
to Him. Furthermore, the instructions to address Him directly are very
clear in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Therefore, who needs an
intermediary? Muslim scholars and those non-Muslims who study Islam
agree that one of the sources of strength of the faith of Islam is the
direct relationship it establishes between every individual and Allah.
You are undoubtedly aware that Islam does not establish or recognize
any clerical order. Individual responsibility is a fundamental
principle of Islam and its correlation is the direct access which Islam
establishes between the individual and his Lord. Furthermore, Islam
tells us that our salvation in the hereafter depends on our actions.
The Prophet tells his own daughter: “Fatima, work (for your salvation),
because I will be of no benefit to you in front of Allah.” Ask
yourself: when do you need an intermediary to achieve a certain end?
The answer will be that an intermediary may be needed when you do not
have a direct access to the person to whom you want to put your case,
or when your position in relation to him is very weak. In the latter
case, you seek the help of someone who has some influence on the person
concerned. Does either type apply to Allah? The answer is definitely
not. It is an aspect of Allah’s grace that He has given every single
one of us direct access to Him. We address Him with our prayers,
whether these prayers relate to matters of this world or of the
hereafter. He listens to us and answers all our prayers. Moreover, in
relation to Allah, we have an equal standing. It is our actions that
draw us closer to Him. When any person addresses Allah, with sincerity
and humility, he is certain to have his prayers answered. Indeed, Allah
answers the prayers of people who may have been a short while earlier
non-believers. The point is when they address Him, they recognize his
Lordship over them and over the whole universe. When they seek His help
they also recognize that the God-head belongs to Him. At that very
moment of praying to Him, they, either directly or indirectly, believe
in Him and in His power. He gives us in the Qur’an the example of the
people who find themselves in a boat in the sea, and fierce wind blows
and they are about to drown. At that moment, they pray to Him with
total sincerity and devotion: Save us and we will ever be thankful to
You. He saves them, but they nevertheless turn away from Him.(11:22)
He also describes himself as the One “Who responds to a person in dire
need when he prays to Him” (26:62) It is to be noted that this last
description netes within the context of enumerating some of the most
prominent of Allah’s attributes. He does not describe Himself as
answering the prayers of believers, but of those who are in dire need.
The only requirement is that they recognize His Lordship over them, and
the fact that they address their prayers to Him is such recognition.
When we realize that by addressing a prayer to Allah we are
demonstrating our recognition of His Lordship over the universe, it
stands to reason that addressing our prayers through an intermediary is
a form of associating an intermediary to Allah as a partner. Allah
accepts no partners. He says in a qudsi hadith: “I am in no need of
any partner. I abandon anyone who associates a partner with Me. He can
take what he wants from that partner.”
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )