The Ruling of Swearing by other than Allah and seeking means of access to Allah (Tawassul) through a human

The Ruling of Swearing by other than Allah and seeking means of access to Allah (Tawassul) through a human

a. Swearing by other than Allah

An oath: a solemn appeal to Allah to witness one's determination, or to emphasize a judgment by mentioning a glorified one in particular. Glorification and exaltation are due to Allah Alone, therefore, it is not permissible to swear by other than Allah. Scholars are agreed that an oath must be sworn by Allah, His names or attributes only, and that swearing by other than Allah constitutes Shirk. Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Allah's Messenger said:

"He who swears by other than Allah, commits Kufr or Shirk." [Ahmed and others]

It is minor Shirk, unless the one who is sworn by is aggrandized by the one who swears, to the point of worship, then it constitutes major Shirk. Such as the case of grave worshippers of today; they fear dead people whom they aggrandize more than they fear Allah, to the point that if one of them is asked to swear by the wall' whom he aggrandizes, he would not dare to do so, unless he swears on a truth, but if he is asked to swear by Allah, he would do so even if he is telling lies.

An oath signifies exalting the one by whom it is sworn, while exaltation is due to Allah Alone, and an oath which is sworn by Allah must be revered, and should not be taken quite often.

Allah, the Exalted, says: "And do not obey any mean swearer." (68:10)

And He also said: "And observe your oaths." (5:89)

That is swear only when you have to, and only when you are telling the truth, because frequent swearing and lying signifies taking lightly swearing by Allah and the lack of exalting Him. This contradicts the perfect belief in the Oneness of Allah.

The Allah's Messenger said: �Three people Allah will not talk to them, nor will He purify them, and they shall receive a painful torment.�

In this Hadith the Prophet, enumerated among those three people.

�A man who made Allah as his commodity. That is, buying nothing except by swearing by Allah, and selling nothing but by swearing by Allah.� [At Tabarani]

Stressing on threats against frequent swearing indicates its prohibition out of reverence to the name of Allah, the Exalted, and out of His exaltation, Glory be to Him. Prohibited too is swearing by Allah falsely, such is called the plunger. Allah has described the hypocrites as taking oaths, falsely and knowingly.

[NOTE: The plunger, a false oath which one purposely swears knowing the case to be the contrary thereof. in order to cut off the rights of others. It plunges its swearer into sin, and then into Hell Fire]

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In brief

1. It is prohibited to swear by other than Allah, the Exalted, such as swearing by; the trust, the Ka'bah, or the Prophet, all of which constitute Shirk.

2. It is prohibited to swear by Allah falsely and willfully. This oath is called, the plunger.

3. Prohibited too is frequent swearing by Allah, even truthfully, when the need does not call for it, because this signifies taking Allah, Glory be to Him, lightly.

4. The permissibility of swearing by Allah truthfully at times of need.

b. Tawassul, seeking means of access to Allah through a human.

Tawassul, a means of becoming near to Allah. Allah says: "And seek waseelah to Him (Allah)." (5:35)

That is to seek means of gaining the pleasure of Allah, the Exalted, by obeying His commands.

Tawassul is of two categories:

The first category of Tawassul: Legitimate which consists of six kinds:

1. Tawassul by seeking nearness to Allah by appealing to Him by His names and attributes as He commands.

�And to Allah alone belong all perfect names. So call on Him by them. And leave those who deviate from the right way with respect to His attributes. They shall be requited for what they do.� (7:180)

2. Tawassul by seeking nearness to Allah through Iman and good deeds which the seeker accomplished, as Allah describes the faithful saying:

�Our Rubb, we have heard a caller inviting us to faith, saying: 'Believe in your Rubb,' and we have believed. Our Rubb, forgive therefore, our errors and remove from us our evils, and in death make us with the righteous.� (3:193)

And according to the Hadith describing the three men who were trapped in a cave by a rock which blocked its entrance. They could not exit until they beseeched Allah through their good deeds and Allah relieved them when the rock moved away, and they exited the cave.

3. Tawassul by seeking nearness to Allah through declaring the Oneness of Allah, as Prophet Yunus, may Allah render him safe from evil, said: �And he cried out in depths of darkness, saying, 'There is no true god except You, far removed are You from every imperfection.� (21:87)

4. Tawassul by seeking nearness to Allah through expressing feebleness and dire need to Allah, as done by Ayub, may Allah render him safe from evil, did: He called out his Rubb, saying: �Affliction has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of all who show mercy.� (21:83)

5. Tawassul by seeking nearness to Allah through the supplication by a living pious slave of Allah. Just as the Companions used to do when they suffered drought, they requested the Prophet to supplicate Allah for them for rain. When he died, they turned to his uncle, AI Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, to supplicate for them. [Bukhari]

6. Tawassul by seeking nearness to Allah by admitting one's own sins. Allah says: �He said, My Rubh: 'I have wronged myself!' so forgive me.� (28:16)

The second Category

The illegitimate Tawassul, which is seeking nearness to Allah by requesting the dead to supplicate and to intercede on behalf of the seeker. Of this too is the Tawassul by the rank of the Prophet that is to say, (O Allah 1 ask you by the honor of our Prophet) or by the persons of creatures or their rights as detailed below.

1. Requesting the supplication from the dead is not permissible: Because the dead cannot supplicate as he used to when he was alive. Neither requesting the dead to intercede is permissible, because Umar bin al Khattab and Mu'awiah bin Sufyan and the rest of the Companions, and Tab'ieeii when they suffered drought, they requested a Companion who was alive to supplicate Allah for rain. They never requested the Prophet after his death to supplicate for them, nor did they supplicate Allah by his grave, nor by a grave of anyone else. Rather, they went to a substitute i.e., AI Abbas, and Yazid b. al Aswad. Umar supplicated once, supplicated once, saying: "O Allah! We used to seek nearness to You through our Prophet, and You used to give us rain, and now we seek nearness to You by the supplication of the uncle of our Prophet. So give us rain. They set Al-Abbas as a substitute for the Prophet . When it became difficult for them to seek nearness to Allah through a legitimate manner as they used to do before (i.e. during the lifetime of the Prophet, it was possible for them to go to the grave of the Prophet seeking nearness to Allah by him; that is, if it were legitimate to do so. Refraining from doing so is in itself a proof that it is not permissible to seek Tawassul by dead people, nor their supplication, nor their intercession. Were it to be legitimate to seek nearness to Allah by the Prophet during his life and after his death they would not have turned to a substitute, or someone else below him after his death.

2. Tawassul by the honor of the Prophet or someone else's is not permissible:

As far as the narration: (When you ask Allah, seek access to Him through my honor because my honor is great with Allah.) - This is a forged Hadilh which does not exist in reliable Muslim works, nor is quoted by any Hadith scholars. [Majmou al Fatawa 1/318-319]

Since there is no sound proof available for this kind of Tawassul, then it not permissible, because acts of worship are established only by clear sound proofs.

3. Tawassul by the persons of people is not permissible, because the article 'by' is used for an oath (ex. by so & so) as to adjure Allah by one of His creatures. So if adjuring a person by another person is not permissible, then by right, adjuring Allah by a creature is more so. But if the article �by' is used to denote cause, Allah does not make adjuring by creatures as a cause for His response, nor does He legalize it.

4. Tawassul by creatures is not permissible for two reasons:

First: No right of anyone can be made incumbent upon Allah, rather, it is He Who gratuitously bestows His bounty on His slave, as He says:

�And it was certainly due from Us to help the believers.� (30:47)

Since the obedient deserves the reward, he deserves it only out of graciousness and favor from Allah. It is not a right due to the slave to be demanded from Allah, as a creature demands his rights from another.

Second: Such right which Allah has gracefully granted His slave is to be given only to that particular slave, no one else. So if someone else made Tawassul by that right he would be adjuring Allah by a thing to which he is not entitled, and it would not avail him.

As for the Hadith which include the following Tawassul - (I adjure you by the rights of supplicant)

It is not confirmed as a Hadith, because its chain of narrators includes Atiya al-Aufi, whose authority is weak. Besides, the Hadith scholars are agreed upon this. A Hadith such as this cannot be used as a proof or argument on vital issues of creed. Moreover, this Hadith does not include Tawassul by one particular person, rather, it includes Tawassul by supplicants in general, and the right of the supplicant is His response as Allah promised them, a right which Allah made upon Himself by Himself not by someone else. Hence, it is Tawassul which is made to Him through His true promise, not by a creature's right.

c. The Ruling of Isti'anah and Istighathah through a Creature.

Isti'anah, seeking the help and support in certain things.

Istighathah, seeking relief, or the removal of difficulties.

Isti'anah and Istighathah from creatures are of two kinds:

The first: The Isti'anah and the Istighathah from a creature in things which he can do or offer is permissible.

Allah, the Exalted says: �And help one another in righteousness and piety.� (5:2)

And Allah, the Exalted, says: �And he who was of his sect sought his help against him who was of his enemies.� (28:15)

The second: Isti'anah and Istighathah from a creature in things that only Allah can do, such as seeking help from a dead, or seeking relief from a living creature, for things that only Allah can do, such as healing the sick, relieving the distressed and warding off evil. Such are not permissible and constitute major Shirk.

There was a hypocrite during the time of the Prophet who used to offend the believers. They said to each other, 'Let's go to the Messenger of Allah and seek relief from this hypocrite.' The Prophet said: �No relief should be sought from me; rather from Allah only.� (At-Tabarani)

The Prophet disliked the term �seeking relief� to be applied to him. Although he was capable of responding to them, but he wanted to safeguard the creed of Tawhid, thus to allow no excuse, in saying or doing things that are conducive to Shirk. And out of his politeness being courteous and humble to Allah. In the meantime, he warned his Ummah against all means of Shirk, in terms of utterances and actions.

If the Prophet did not respond to his Companions in a matter which he was capable of during his lifetime; how then can one seek relief from him after his death, and request him to fulfill things that only Allah can do`? Since it is not permissible to seek relief from him then by right it is more so seeking it from others. [Fath al Majid 196-197]