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Chapter 8: Seeking Help Of The Allah's Saints

Praying, supplications and asking Allah for the fulfilment of one's needs and desires is one of the factors which opens the doors of Allah's beneficences up on His servants and becomes the cause of materialisation of the needs and termination of the problems and difficulties of His servants whereas He helps and stands by them, making them benefit from His enormous generosity and kindness.

Therefore, we see that all the Prophets, execuctioners and saints always prayed and supplicated to Allah for the solution of their problems both of the worldly life and hereafter and fulfilment of their needs.

Of course, the grant of needs by Allah too has its own rules and conditions. One must observe the traditions and ways set by the Prophet (S) for the sake of abrupt and quicker grant of prayers. As such the books of hadith do specify and set forth the age, time, space and conditions which are effective in grant of the prayers.

For example, the supplications made on Friday and facing Kabbah and or at Hajar Ismail (the stone of Ismail in Kabaah) and after a good beneficent deed have more probability of being granted.

One of the factors which are much effective in the prayers being granted is that one wishes from the Prophets and executioners and those who have a worth and station before Allah that they may pray for one to Allah and ask Him to grant of one's prayers and needs. In such case the probability and chance of prayers being granted and reaching their object is much more.

The Holy Qur’an criticizes those, who do not go to the Prophet (S) for asking and requesting forgiveness so that be may appeal to Allah for their being forgiven, as under:

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا يَسْتَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ لَوَّوْا رُءُوسَهُمْ وَرَأَيْتَهُمْ يَصُدُّونَ وَهُمْ مُسْتَكْبِرُونَ

And when it is said to them: Come, the Messenger of Allah will ask forgiveness for you, they turn back their heads and you may see them turning away while they are big with pride. (63:5)

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا لِيُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ جَاءُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا اللَّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُوا اللَّهَ تَوَّابًا رَحِيمًا

And We did not send any messenger 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 Messenger had (also) asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-returning (to mercy), Merciful. (4: 64)

This is the reason that we see that the companions of Prophet used to visit the Prophet (S) and request him to pray for them in their worldly and spiritual affairs and at the hour of needs. He would accede to their request and pray for them similarly besides the Prophet (S) they would request other pious servants of Allah too to pray for them. Now we at tend to a few examples of the Sahaba's wishing for themselves prayers by the Prophet and Saints of Allah.

عن أنس قال: قالت ام سليم امي: يا رسول الله خادمك انس ادع الله له قال: اللهم أكثر ماله وولده وبارك فيما أعطيته.

Anas says my mother Umm Salim begged the Prophet: Oh Prophet of Allah (S), Anas is your servant, pray for him. The Prophet (S) said: Oh Allah increase his wealth and children and grant benediction in what you have given to him. 1

عن أنس … قال بينا النبي صلى الله عليه وآله يخطب يوم الجمعة فقام رجل: يا رسول الله ادع الله أن يسقينا فتخيمت السماء ومطرنا.

Anas says the Prophet (S) was delivering the sermons of the juma prayers then a man stood up and said: Oh Prophet or Allah, pray to Allah to give us rain. During this time clouds over cast the sky and the rain fell. 2

عن حسان بن شداد أن أمه وفدت إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وآله فقالت يا رسول الله إني وفدت إليك لتدعو لابني هذا وان تجعله كبيراً طيبا فتوضأ من فضل وضوئه ومسح وجهه وقال: اللهم بارك ما فيه واجعله كبيراً طيباً.

Husayn Ibn Shaddad says his mother visited the Prophet and said: Oh Prophet of Allah! I have come to you so that you may pray for this son of mine, and turn him to great sublime and pure. Thus, the Prophet (S) made ablution with the leftover ablution water and drew his hand upon his race and said: Oh Allah, bestow upon this woman benediction regarding her son and make him great and pure. 3

عن طلحة بن عبيد الله قال: انطلق رجل ذات يوم فنزع ثيابه وتمرغ في الرمضاء ويقول لنفسه: ذوقي نار جهنم أجيفة بالليل وبطالة بالنهار؟ قال: فبينما هو كذلك اذا بصر النبي صلى الله عليه وآله في ظل شجرة فأتاه فقال له النبي: أما لقد فتحت لك أبواب السماء ولقد باهى بك الملائكة ثم قال لأصحابه: تزودوا من أخيكم. فجعل الرجل يقول: يا فلان ادع لي…

Talha Ibn Abdullah says once a man came, to reapart his dress and started rubbing his body to the dust in the heat of sun addressing himself, Do taste the fire of hell, Is it that you are like dead men in the night and at day time commit vanity. He continued: He was doing it until the Prophet (S) who was resting under the shade of a tree came to him and that man said: my ego has overcome myself.

The Prophet (S) said to him: Be aware, that the doors of the sky have been opened to you and the angels are taking pride in you. Then he said to his companions: take provision of journey from your (this) brother. So they came one after the other and said Oh brother pray for us. 4

عن عمر أنه قال لأويس: استغفر لي قال: كيف أستغفر لك وأنت صاحب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله قال: سمعت رسول الله يقول: إن خير التابعين رجل يقال له أويس.

It is narrated from ‘Umar that he said to Owais: please do pray to Allah for my forgiveness. He said: How could I do it while you are the companion of Prophet (S). He said: I have beard, the Prophet say: 'The best person out of disciples. (Tabiyin) is the man named Owais'.

Referring to the above-mentioned hadith, is clear to us that asking for the help and assistance of the Saints of Allah, which is the same asking them for prayers (about us) is a legal, legitimate and desired and commended practise which is supported by the Holy Qur'an, hadith and the practise of sahaba (companions) of the Prophet (S).

When we seek the help of the Saints of Allah regarding our needs, be these worldly (materialistic) or spiritual and call upon them requesting them to extend their help, we definitely don't mean that they must directly and independently fulfil and materialise our needs and requirements.

Instead, we mean that they may pray for us and ask Allah to fulfil our needs. We are aware that, for the worth and station which they have got with Allah, their prayers are closer to getting granted. Thus, when their prayer regarding our needs and requirements gets granted that would be a kind of greatness, loftiness, and esteem that Allah has provisioned for His Saint.

Just as the help and assistance of the Prophets and Saints in their life time and asking them to pray for us, similarly, such an act is correct and legal even after their deaths, because it is one of the subsistent and proven facts of Islam that the spirits of the Prophets Saints and martyrs have got a kind of life in the world of Barzakh (the life in between death and doomsday) and can understand and witness their practises in world and listen to their speeches and receive their messages very well, even better and more than their worldly lives.

The Holy Qur'an says about those martyred on the way of Allah so.

وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا ۚ بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ

And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord (3:169)

فَرِحِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَيَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِالَّذِينَ لَمْ يَلْحَقُوا بِهِمْ مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ أَلَّا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

Rejoicing in what All(3: 169ah has given them out of His grace and they rejoice for the sake of those who, (being left) behind them, have not yet joined them, that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve (3:170)

We have ample evidence from the hadith that those dead particularly the Prophets and Saints of Allah possess wits and senses of intellect after their death and that too in a stronger form than that one they had in the world and their relation, linkage, and bonds with the living ones have not broken.

We will see that in various hadiths besides establishment and proof of the wits and awareness of the dead ones the topic regarding their having a kind of linkage with their bodies buried in graves, have also been hinted at and pointed out.

Now we concentrate upon a number of hadiths in this respect.

Abi Saeed Al Khudri narrates from the Prophet (S) that he said: When the funeral is ready and men carry it upon their necks if he (the dead man) be a pious person he says: Carry me, carry me and if he be a non-pious (wicked) man be says: Woe to this funeral where are you carrying it?'' All the beings bear his voice except man and if man would bear his voice he would faint. 5

عن أبي سعيد الخدري قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: إذا وضعت الجنازة واحتملها الرجال على أعناقهم فإن كانت صالحة قالت: قدموني وإن كانت غير صالحة قالت ياويلها أين يذهبون بها. يسمع صوتها كل شيء إلا الإنسان ولو سمعها الإنسان لصعق.

Anas narrates from the Prophet (S) that he said: ''When a servant (of Allah) is placed in the grave and his friend's take distance from him and go away. He even listens to the sounds or their foot-steps. 6

عن أنس عن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله قال: العبد إذا وضع في قبره وتولّى وذهب أصحابه حتى إنه ليسمع قرع نعالهم.

Amro Ibn Hazm says: The Prophet of Allah saw me leaning upon a grave so he said: Do not annoy (vex) the owner of this grave. 7

عن عمرو بن حزم قال رآني رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله متكئا على قبر فقال لا تؤذ صاحب هذا القبر.

Urwah narrates that a man talked ill of Ali (‘a) before ‘Umar. So ‘Umar said: Do you recognise the owner of this grave. He is Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Muttalib and this is the son of Abu Talib Ibn Abdul Muttalib. Do not mention Ali except with goodness and virtue for, if you annoy him you have annoyed this one (Prophet) to his grave''. 8

عن عروة أن رجلا وقع في علي بمحضر من عمر فقال عمر: تعرف صاحب هذا القبر محمد بن عبد الله بن عبد المطلب، وعلي بن أبي طالب بن عبد المطلب. لا تذكرعليا إلا بخير فإنك إن آذيته آذيت هذا في قبره.

Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar narrates that the Prophet talked about the uneasiness and trouble of grave. Thus, ‘Umar said: Oh Prophet of Allah would our minds and wits turn back to us ( we will regain our wits)? The Prophet said: Yes like the condition that you have got, today. 9

عن عبد الله بن عمر أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله ذكر فتاني القبر فقال عمر: أترد لنا عقولنا يا رسول الله فقال رسول الله: نعم كهيئتكم اليوم.

Abu Huraira narrates from the Prophet (S) that: there is no servant who passes by the grave of a man whom he knew in the world and salutes him but that the owner of the grave recognises him and Anaswers to his salute. 10

عن أبي هريرة… قال قال النبي صلى الله عليه وآله: ما من عبد بقبر رجل يعرفه في الدنيا فيسلم عليه إلا عرفه ورد.عليه السلام.

Ayesha says: l would enter my house and dress off and would say to myself that he is my father (Abu Baker) and be is my husband (the Prophet). When ‘Umar was buried there with them; I did never enter the house except when dressed. 11

عن عائشة قالت: كنت أدخل بيتي الذي فيه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وأبي فأضع ثوبي وأقول إنما هو زوجي وابي فلما دفن عمر معهم فوالله ما دخلته إلا وأنا مشدودة علي ثيابي.

Ibn Masood says the Prophet (S) said: My life is a blessing for you since we talk to each other and my death too is a blessing for you because that your practises are presented before me and if I see a good deed, I praise Allah and if I see a bad deed, I ask your forgiveness from Allah'. 12

عن عبيد الله بن مسعود قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: حياتي خير لكم تحدثون و تحدثون ويحدث لكم ووفاتي خير لكم تعرض علي أعمالكم فما رأيت من خير حمدت الله عليه وما رأيت من شر استغفرت الله لكم.

By considering these hadiths it becomes clear that a ma n not only does not lose his wits and senses after bis death but also, he gets access to a sense and wit more sublime and loftier than that he had and visualises and senses such things which he could not appreciate and visualise during his life.

According to these traditions a dead man underneath the grave hears the sounds of the footsteps of people and gets vexed and annoyed with someone who sits upon his grave or when gets insulted. It is quite obvious that the living man cannot, under such conditions, hear the sounds or see some body.

But those verses of the Holy Qur'an which negate the bearing (sense) of the dead ones such as:

إِنَّكَ لَا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتَىٰ وَلَا تُسْمِعُ الصُّمَّ الدُّعَاءَ إِذَا وَلَّوْا مُدْبِرِينَ

Surely you do not make the dead to hear, and you do not make the deaf to hear the call when they go back retreating. (27:80)

وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْأَحْيَاءُ وَلَا الْأَمْوَاتُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَنْ فِي الْقُبُور

Neither are the living and the dead alike. Surely Allah makes whom He pleases hear, and you cannot make those hear who are m the graves. (35:22)

These kinds of verses are about the resemblance of the infidels with the dead ones and it does not mean that they do not hear rather it means you cannot get a response from them just like the infidels who listened to the words of the Prophet (S) and did not respond to it. The hadiths that we have narrated explicitly prove this fact that the souls of the dead do listen and see and comprehend the states and circumstances of the living men.

Particularly, the facts about the Allah 's Saint, like the Prophet (S) who is witnessing the deeds of his Ummah, or the martyrs who send the messages of good news to their left behinds, are quite clear.

Given such sublime and supreme wits that the souls of Prophets, and saints possess, requesting them for prayers is just as asking them to pray for us during their lifetimes. Therefore, we observe that the Sahabah and Tabiyin (disciples) did use to seek the help and prayers or the Prophet (S) even after his death.

During the caliphate of Uthman Ibn Afwan, Uthman Ibn Hunaif said to a needy person: make ablution and go to the mosque and offer two rakats of prayer and then say:

اللهم اني اسالك واتوجه اليك بنبينا محمد نبي الرحمة يا محمد اني اتوجه بك الى ربي فتقضى لي حاجتي.

Oh Allah! I ask you and attend to you through the media of our Prophet (S) who is the Prophet of mercy. Oh Muhammad! I attend to Allah through you so that my need is fulfilled. 13

جاء بلال بن حرث الى قبر النبي صلى الله عليه وآله فقال: يا رسول الله استسق لأمتك فإنهم هلكوا.

Bilal Ibn Hars came to the ·grave of the Prophet and said: Oh Prophet of Allah! ask Allah to pour rain upon your Ummah for, they are about to perish. 14

Likewise, in certain traditions and hadiths the needy and problem stricken persons have been ordered to call upon and seek the help of the saints of Allah when they face a need or exigency.

عن عبد الله بن مسعود قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: إذا انفلتت دابة أحدكم بأرض فلاة فليناد يا عباد الله احبسوا، يا عباد الله احبسوا، يا عباد الله احبسوا، فإن لله عبادا سيحبسه عليكم.

Abdullah Ibn Masood said that the Prophet (S) said: When your horse runs away (leaving you) in the desert call three times 'Oh servants or Allah harness it'. Doubtlessly there are servants of Allah who will harness it for you. 15

عن عتبة بن غزوان… قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: اذا أضل أحدكم شيئاً أو اراد عوناً وهو بأرض ليس فيها أنيس فليقل: يا عباد الله أعينوني او اغيثو في فان لله عبادا لا نراهم.

Atba Ibn Ghazwan narrates that the Prophet said: While some one of you loses a thing or needs help and he is present at a place where he does not have any friend, so he may say: 'Oh the servants of Allah help me out '. Doubtlessly there are servants of Allah whom we do not see 16

With reference to the hadiths which we described in this chapter we conclude that seeking the help and prayers of the Prophets and Saints whether they are living or dead, is a legal and recommended act, to which one cannot have any doubt, what so ever.

  • 1. Sahih Bukhari vol. 8, p. 135.
  • 2. Sahih Bukhari vol. 8. p. 134.
  • 3. Kanz al-’Ummal vol. 13, p. 349.
  • 4. Hayat us sahaba vol. 3, p. 336.
  • 5. Sahih Bukhari vol. 2, p. 207.
  • 6. Sahih Bukhari vol. 2, p. 190.
  • 7. Nan ul-Autar vol. 4, p·87.
  • 8. Kanz al-’Ummal vol. 13, p. 123.
  • 9. Atarghteeb wa Tarheeb vol. 4, p. 132.
  • 10. Kanz al-’Ummal vol. 15, p. 646.
  • 11. Majma ul-Zawaid, vol. 9, p. 37.
  • 12. Majma ul-Zawaid, vol. 9, p. 24.
  • 13. Al-Majam Al Kabeer (Tahraoi) vol. 9, p. 18.
  • 14. Wafa al wafa vol. 4, P. ·1374.
  • 15. Alma Jum al-Kabeer (Tabrani) vol. 10, p. 267.
  • 16. Majma Az zawaid vol. 10, p. 132.