format_quote Originally Posted by
Mu'maneen
This is the view of Ahl Ul Sunna and there is various hadith were the dead can hear.
Ibn Kathir cites in his book that the battle cry during the battle of yamamah was:
Ya Muhamadah!
Oh Muhamad!
Used by Khaled ibn al waleed.
Why can't you make tawassul if the prophet's traces long after his death cured and blessed people.
REFUTATION OF THOSE WHO QUESTION TABARRUK BI AL-ATHAR ("SEEKING BLESSINGS FROM THE PROPHET'S RELICS") AS A VALID ISLAMIC PRACTICE
"Tabarruk": deriving blessing from something
once owned or touched by a holy person.
"Athar": relics.
As for those who reject the validity of tabarruk or seeking blessings through the relics of the Prophet, we warn them that Allah Himself mentioned the tabarruk of the Prophet Ya`qub with the relic of his son Yusuf as well as the tabarruk of the Banu Isra'il with the relics of the Family of Musa and the Family of Harun; and that the evidence for the tabarruk of the Companions and the Tabi`in through the Prophet and the saints is innumerable.
• Allah said: "Go with this my shirt, and cast it over the face of my father: he will come to see (clearly)... When the Caravan left (Egypt), their father said: I do indeed scent the presence of Yusuf... Then, when the bearer of glad tidings came, he laid it on his face and he became a seer once more. He said: Said I not unto you that I know from Allah that which ye know not?" (12:93-96).
• And He said: " And their Prophet said unto them: Lo! the token of his kingdom is that there shall come unto you the ark wherein is peace of reassurance from your Lord, and a remnant of that which the house of Moses and the house of Aaron left behind, the angels bearing it. Lo! herein shall be a token for you if (in truth) ye are believers." (2:247)
The Companions' Seeking of Blessings
With the Prophet's Person and His Relics
1. Tabarruk with the Prophet's hair and nails. There are countless hadiths on this.
- Bukhari narrates in his Sahih in the Book of Clothing, under the chapter entitled "What is mentioned about gray hair," that `Usman ibn `Abd Allah ibn Mawhab said: "My family sent me to Umm Salama with a cup of water. Umm Salama brought out a silver bottle which contained one of the hairs of the Prophet, and it used to be that if anyone came under the evil eye or ill health they used to send her a cup of water through which she would pass this hair (for drinking). We used to look into the silver bottle: I saw some reddish hairs."
- Anas said: "When the Prophet shaved his head (after pilgrimage), Abu Talha was the first one to take of his hair." Bukhari.
- Anas also said: "The Prophet threw stones at al-Jamra, then sacrificed, then told the barber to shave his head right side first, then began to give the hair away to the people." Muslim.
- Anas said: "Talha was the one distributing it." Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud.
- He also said: "When the Prophet shaved his head in Mina, he gave me the hair from the right side and he said: Anas! take it to Umm Sulaym [his mother]. When the Companions saw what the Prophet gave us, they began to compete to take the hair from the left side, and everyone was getting a share from that." Ahmad narrated it.
- Ibn al-Sakan narrated through Safwan ibn Hubayra from the latter's father: Thabit al-Bunani said: Anas ibn Malik said to me (on his death-bed): "This is one of the hairs of Allah's Messenger, Allah's blessings and peace upon him. I want you to place it under my tongue." Thabit continued: I placed it under his tongue, and he was buried with it under his tongue."[83]
- Abu Bakr said: "I saw Khalid [ibn Walid] asking for the Prophet's forelock and he received it. He used to put it over his eyes and then kiss it." It is known that he then placed it in his qalansuwa (head cover around which the turban is tied) and never faced battle again except he won. Narrated by Ibn Hajar in his Isaba. Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani relates that Imam Malik said: "Khalid ibn al-Walid owned a qalansiyya which contained some of the Prophet's hair, and that is the one he wore the day of the battle of Yarmuk.[84]
- Ibn Sirin (one of the Tabi`in) said: "One hair of the Prophet in my possession is more precious to me than silver and gold and everything that is on the earth and everything that is inside it." Bukhari, Bayhaqi (Sunan kubra), and Ahmad.
- In Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 72, Number 784: `Uthman bin `Abd Allah ibn Mawhab said, "My people sent me with a bowl of water to Umm Salama." Isra'il approximated three fingers indicating the small size of the container in which there was some hair of the Prophet. `Uthman added, "If any person suffered from evil eye or some other disease, he would send a vessel (containing water) to Umm Salama (and she would dip the Prophet's hair into it and it would be drunk). I looked into the container (that held the hair of the Prophet) and saw a few reddish hairs in it."
Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Fath al-bari, Volume 10, page 353, said: "They used to call the silver bottle in which the hair of the Prophet was kept jiljalan and that bottle was in the home of Umm Salama." Hafiz al-`Ayni said in `Umdat al-qari, Volume 18, page 79: "Umm Salama had some of the hairs of the Prophet in a silver bottle. When some people got ill, they would go and obtain blessings from these hairs and they would be healed by means of their blessings. If a person were struck by the evil eye or any sickness, he would send his wife to Umm Salama with a mikhdaba or water-pail, and she would pass the hair through that water and then drink the water and he would be healed, after which they would return the hair to the jiljal."
- Imam Ahmad narrates in his Musnad (4:42) from `Abd Allah ibn Zayd ibn `Abd Rabbih with a sound (sahih) chain as stated by Haythami in Majma` al-zawa'id (3:19) that the Prophet clipped his nails and distributed them among the people.
2. Tabarruk with the Prophet's sweat.
- Anas said: "The Prophet stayed with us, and as he slept my mother began to collect his sweat in a flask. The Prophet awoke and said: O Umm Sulaym, what are you doing? She said: This is your sweat which we place in our perfume and it is the best perfume." Muslim, Ahmad.
- When Anas was on his deathbed he instructed that some of this flask be used on his body before his funeral and it was done. Bukhari.
- Ibn Sirin also was given some of Umm Sulaym's flask. Ibn Sa`d.
3. Tabarruk with the Prophet's saliva and ablution water. These hadiths are extremely numerous.
- In Bukhari and Muslim: The Companions would compete for whoever would get the remnant of the Prophet's ablution water in order to put it on their faces. Nawawi in Sharh Sahih Muslim said: "In these narrations is evidence for seeking blessings with the relics of the saints" (fihi al-tabarruk bi athar al-salihin).
- The Prophet used to heal the sick with his saliva mixed with some earth with the words: "Bismillah, the soil of our earth with the saliva of one / some of us shall heal our sick with our Lord's permission." Bukhari and Muslim.
Regarding this hadith Ibn Hajar says in Fath al-bari (1989 ed. 10:255-256):
The Prophet's words "with the saliva of one or some of us" indicate that he would spit at the time of using a protective invocation (ruqya). Nawawi said (in Sharh Sahih Muslim): "The meaning of the hadith is that the Prophet put some of his saliva on his forefinger then placed it on some earth and formed some clot with it with which he wiped the place of the ailment or the wound, pronouncing the words of the hadith at the time of wiping." Qurtubi said: "The hadith shows the permissibility of using protective invocations against any and all ailments, and it shows that this was an open and widely-known matter among them." He also said: "The Prophet's placing of his finger on the earth and of the earth on his finger indicates the desirability of doing this when using a protective invocation.... This falls under none other than the heading of obtaining blessing (tabarruk) through Allah's Names and through what His Prophet left us." Ibn Hajar concludes: Protective invocations (ruqa) and those hanged upon oneself (`aza'im) have wondrous effects, the true nature of which boggles the mind.
- The Prophet had everyone in Madina bring their newborn, whom he would read upon and into whose mouth he would do nafth and tifl (breath mixed with saliva). He would instruct their mother not to suckle them that day until nightfall. He did the same later in Mecca. Bukhari, Abu Dawud, Ahmad, Bayhaqi (Dala'il), etc.
- The names of over 100 of the Ansar and Muhajirin who received this particular blessing have been transmitted with isnads, and are found in the main books of biographies.
4. Tabarruk with the Prophet's cup.
- Hajjaj ibn Hassan said: "We were at Anas's house and he brought up the Prophet's cup from a black pouch. He ordered that it be filled with water and we drank from it and poured some of it on our heads and faces and sent blessings on the Prophet. Ahmad, Ibn Kathir.
- `Asim said: "I saw that cup and I drank from it." Bukhari.
5. Tabarruk with the Prophet's minbar.
- Ibn `Umar used to touch the seat of the Prophet's minbar and then wipe his face for blessing. (al-Mughni 3:559; al-Shifa' 2:54; Ibn Sa`d, Tabaqat 1:13; Mawsu`at Fiqh `Abdullah ibn `Umar p. 52.)
- From Abu Hurayra, Jabir, Abu Imama, and Malik: The Prophet made it a sunna to swear to the truth on top of his minbar. Nisa'i, Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and others. Bukhari confirms it. Ibn Hajar says: and in Mecca, one swears between the Yemeni corner and Maqam Ibrahim. (Fath al-bari)
6. Tabarruk with money the Prophet gave away.
- Jabir sold a camel to the Prophet and the latter gave instructions to Bilal to add a qirat (1/12 dirham) to the agreed sale price. Jabir said: "The Prophet's addition shall never leave me," and he kept it with him after that. Bukhari.
7. Tabarruk with the Prophet' s staffs.
- When `Abdullah ibn Anis came back from one of the battles having killed Khalid ibn Sufyan ibn Nabih, the Prophet gifted him his staff and said to him: "It will be a sign between you and me on the Day of Resurrection." Thereafter he never parted with it and it was buried with him when he died. Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad (3:496).
- Qadi `Iyad relates in his book al-Shifa', in the chapter entitled "Esteem for the things and places connected with the Prophet," that after Jihjah al-Ghifari took the Prophet's staff from the hands of `Uthman and tried to break it accross his knee, infection seized his knee which led to its amputation, and he died before the end of the year.
8. Tabarruk with the Prophet's shirt.
- Jabir says: "The Prophet came after `Abdullah ibn Ubay had been placed in his grave. He ordered that he be brought out. He placed his hands on `Abdullah's knees, breathed (nafth) upon him mixing it with saliva, and dressed him with his shirt. Bukhari and Muslim.
9. Tabarruk with the Prophet's musallas or places of prayer.
- Many chains of transmission: `Utban ibn Malik was one of the Companions of the battle of Badr. After he became blind he said to the Prophet: "I would like you to pray in my house so that I can pray where you prayed." The Prophet went to his house and asked where exactly he would like him to pray. He indicated a spot to him and the Prophet prayed there. Bukhari and Muslim. The version in Muslim has: I (`Utban) sent for the Prophet the message: "Come and lay for me a place for worship (khutt li masjidan)." Imam Nawawi in Sharh Sahih Muslim said: "It means: "Mark for me a spot that I can take as a place for worship by obtaining blessing from your having been there (mutabarrikan bi atharika)... In this hadith is evidence for obtaining blessings through the relics of saints (al-tabarruk bi athar al-salihin)."
- `Umar feared that the taking of the tree of the bay`a to the Prophet as a place of prayer might lead to a return to idol-worship and he had it cut. Bukhari, Ibn Sa`d (1:73). It is known, however, that Ibn `Umar derived blessings even from walking in the same spots where the Prophet had walked and praying exactly where he had prayed both at the Ka`ba and on his travels, and that he watered a certain tree under which Prophet had prayed so that it would not die. Bukhari, Bayhaqi (Sunan 5:245).
10. Tabarruk with the Prophet's grave.
- Dawud ibn Salih says: "[The Caliph] Marwan [ibn al-Hakam] one day saw a man placing his face on top of the grave of the Prophet. He said: "Do you know what you are doing?" When he came near him, he realized it was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The latter said: "Yes; I came to the Prophet, not to a stone." Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, Ahmad (5:422), Tabarani in his Mu`jam al-kabir (4:189) and his Awsat according to Haythami in al-Zawa'id (5:245), al-Hakim in his Mustadrak (4:515); both the latter and al-Dhahabi said it was sahih. It is also cited by al-Subki in Shifa' al-siqam (p. 126), Ibn Taymiyya in al-Muntaqa (2:261f.), and Haythami in al-Zawa'id (4:2).
- Mu`adh ibn Jabal and Bilal also came to the grave of the Prophet and sat weeping, and the latter rubbed his face against it. Ibn Majah 2:1320, Ahmad, Tabarani, Subki, and Ibn `Asakir.
- Hafiz al-Dhahabi writes in the compendium of his shaykhs entitled Mu`jam al-shuyukh (1:73) in the entry devoted to his shaykh Ahmad ibn `Abd al-Mun`im al-Qazwini (#58): "Ahmad ibn al-Mun`im related to us... [with his chain of transmission] from Ibn `Umar that the latter disliked to touch the Prophet's grave. I say: He disliked it because he considered it disrespect. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked about touching the Prophet's grave and kissing it and he saw nothing wrong with it. His son `Abd Allah related this from him.
Dhahabi continues: If it is said: "Why did the Companions not do this?" It is replied: "Because they saw him with their very eyes when he was alive, enjoyed his presence directly, kissed his very hand, nearly fought each other over the remnants of his ablution water, shared his purified hair on the day of the greater Pilgrimage, and even if he spat it would virtually not fall except in someone's hand so that he could pass it over his face. Since we have not had the tremendous fortune of sharing in this, we throw ourselves on his grave as a mark of commitment, reverence, and acceptance, even to kiss it. Don't you see what Thabit al-Bunani did when he kissed the hand of Anas ibn Malik and placed it on his face saying: "This is the hand that touched the hand of Allah's Messenger"? Muslims are not moved to these matters except by their excessive love for the Prophet, as they are ordered to love Allah and the Prophet more than they love their own lives, their children, all human beings, their property, and Paradise and its maidens. There are even some believers that love Abu Bakr and `Umar more than themselves...
Don't you see that the Companions, in the excess of their love for the Prophet, asked him: "Should we not prostrate to you?" and he replied no, and if he had allowed them, they would have prostrated to him as a mark of utter veneration and respect, not as a mark of worship, just as the Prophet Yusuf's brothers prostrated to Yusuf. Similarly the prostration of the Muslim to the grave of the Prophet is for the intention of magnification and reverence. One is not imputed disbelief because of it whatsoever (la yukaffaru aslan), but he is being disobedient [to the Prophet's injunction to the Companions]. Let him therefore be informed that this is forbidden. Similarly in the case of one who prays towards the grave."
- Imam Ahmad's son `Abd Allah said: I asked my father about the man who touches and kisses the pommel of the Prophet's minbar to obtain blessing, or touches the grave of the Prophet. He responded by saying: "There is nothing wrong with it." `Abd Allah also asked Imam Ahmad about the man who touches the Prophet's minbar and kisses it for blessing, and who does the same with the grave, or something to that effect, intending thereby to draw closer to Allah. He replied: "There is nothing wrong with it." This was narrated by `Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his book entitled al-`Ilal fi ma`rifat al-rijal (2:492).
- We already mentioned the authentic account whereby in the time of `Umar there was a drought during which Bilal ibn Harith came to the grave and said: "O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah for rain on behalf of your Community."
- We already mentioned `A'isha's account whereby she instructed that the roof be opened over the Prophet's grave in times of drought, and it would rain.
- `Umar sent a message to `A'isha saying: "Will you allow me to be buried with my two companions (the Prophet and Abu Bakr)?" She said, "Yes, by Allah," though it was her habit that if a man from among the Companions asked her that she would always refuse. Bukhari.
11. Tabarruk with the Prophet's jubba (robe or cloak).
- Imam Muslim relates that `Abd Allah, the freed slave of Asma' the daughter of Abu Bakr, the maternal uncle of the son of `Ata', said: "Asma' sent me to Abdullah ibn `Umar saying: "The news has reached me that you prohibit the use of three things: the striped robe, saddle cloth made of red silk, and fasting the whole month of Rajab." Abdullah said to me: "So far as what you say about fasting in the month of Rajab, how about one who observes continuous fasting? And so far as what you say about the striped garment, I heard `Umar ibn al-Khattab say that he had heard from Allah's Messenger: "He who wears a silk garment, has no share for him (in the Hereafter)." And I am afraid that stripes were part of it. And so far as the red saddle cloth is concerned, here is `Abd Allah's saddle cloth [= his] and it is red." I went back to Asma' and informed her, so she said: "Here is the cloak (jubba) of Allah's Messenger," and she brought out to me that cloak made of Persian cloth with a hem of (silk) brocade, and its sleeves bordered with (silk) brocade, and said: "This was Allah's Messenger's cloak with `A'isha until she died, then I got possession of it. The Apostle of Allah used to wear it, and we washed it for the sick so that they could seek cure thereby." Muslim relates this in the first chapter of the book of clothing. Nawawi comments in Sharh sahih Muslim (Book 37 Chapter 2 #10): "In this hadith is a proof that it is recommended to seek blessings through the relics of the righteous and their clothes (wa fi hadha al-hadith dalil `ala istihbab al-tabarruk bi aathaar al-salihin wa thiyabihim)."
12. Tabarruk with spots and people the Prophet had touched.
- Suwayd ibn Ghafalah reported: I saw `Umar kissing the Stone and clinging to it, saying: "I saw Allah's Messenger bearing great love for you." This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Sufyan with the same chain of transmitters (and the words are): "He (`Umar) said: "I know that you are a stone, nor would I consider you of any worth, except that I saw Abu al-Qasim bearing great love for you." And he did not mention about clinging to it. [Muslim: 7: 2916]
- Qadi `Iyad relates in his Shifa', in the chapter entitled "Esteem for the things and places connected with the Prophet," that Imam Malik would not ride an animal in Madina and he used to say: "I am too shy before Allah to trample with an animal's hoof on the earth where Allah's Messenger is buried." Imam Malik gave a fatwa that whoever said: "The soil of Madina is bad" be given thirty lashes and jailed. Qadi `Iyad mentions the verses of an anonymous visitor to Madina:
The veil is lifted from us and a moon shines out
to those who look on, banishing all illusions.
When our mounts reach Muhammad, it is forbidden
for us to be found in our saddles.
We are drawing near to the best man ever
to walk on the earth,
So we hold this ground in respect and honor.
`Iyad adds: "One must respect the places... whose soil contains the body of the Master of Mankind and from which the din of Allah and the Sunna of the Messenger spread out... and the first earth that the skin of the Prophet touched after death. Its fragrance should be inhaled and its residences and walls should be kissed." Then he recites:
O Abode of the best of the Messengers...
For you (Madina) I have intense love, passionate love,
and yearning which kindles the embers of my heart.
I have a vow: If I fill my eyes with those walls
and the places where you (O Prophet) walked,
There my turbaned gray hair will be covered with dust
from so much kissing.
Had it not been from obstacles and foes,
I would always visit them,
even if I had to be dragged by my feet. [85]
- al-Tabarani in al-Awsat and al-Kabir (4:16), and Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (5:67-68) with a sound chain as stated by al-Haythami in al-Zawa'id (4:211) narrated through Handhalah Ibn Hudhaym that the latter went with his grandfather, Hudhaym, to the Prophet. Hudhaym said to the Messenger of Allah: "I have sons and grandsons, some of whom are pubescent and others still children." Motioning to the young child next to him, he said: "This is the youngest." The Prophet brought this young child whose name was Handhalah next to him, wiped on his head, and told him, "barakallahu fik," which means: "May Allah bless you." After that, people started to bring Handhalah a person with a swollen face or a sheep with a swollen udder. Handhalah would place his hand on that part of his head the Prophet wiped, then touch the swollen part and say Bismillah, and the swelling would be cured.
- Ibn Abi Shayba narrated in his Musannaf (4:121), in the chapter entitled: "Touching the grave of the Prophet" with a sahih chain as judged by Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani, and Qadi `Iyad in his book al-Shifa', in the chapter entitled: "Concerning the visit to the Prophet's grave, the excellence of those who visit it and how he should be greeted": Yazid ibn `Abd al-Malik ibn Qusayt and al-`Utbi narrated that it was the practice of the Companions in the masjid of the Prophet to place their hands on the pommel of the hand rail (rummana) of the pulpit (minbar) where the Prophet used to place his hand. There they would face the Qibla and supplicate (make du`a) to Allah hoping He would answer their supplication because they were placing their hands where the Prophet placed his while making their supplication. Abu Mawduda said: "And I saw Yazid ibn `Abd al-Malik do the same." This practice of the Companions clarifies two matters. The first is the permissibility of asking Allah for things by the Prophet (tawassul) after his death since by their act the Companions were truly making tawassul. Likewise it is permissible to ask Allah for things by other pious Muslims. The second is the permissibility of seeking blessings (baraka) from the objects the Prophet touched.
- The Tabi`i Thabit al-Bunani said he used to go to Anas Ibn Malik, kiss his hands, and say: "These are hands that touched the Prophet." He would kiss his eyes and say: "These are eyes that saw the Prophet." Abu Ya`la narrated it in his Musnad (6:211) and Ibn Hajar mentions it in his al-Matalib al-`aliya (4:111). al-Haythami declared it sound in Majma` al-zawa'id (9:325)
- According to Bukhari in his Adab al-mufrad, `Abd al-Rahman ibn Razin related that one of the Companions, Salama ibn al-Aku`, raised his hands before a group of people and said: "With these very hands I pledged allegiance (bay`a) to the Messenger of Allah," upon hearing which, all who were present got up and went to kiss his hand. Another version of this hadith was also related by Ahmad.
- Abu Malik al-Ashja`i said that he once asked another Companion of the Tree, Ibn Abi Awfa, "Give me the hand that swore bay`at to the Messenger of Allah, Peace be upon him, that I may kiss it." Ibn al-Muqri related it.
- Bukhari in al-Adab al-mufrad also relates that Suhayb saw Sayyidina `Ali kiss both the hand and feet of the Prophet's uncle al-`Abbas, and that Thabit kissed the hand of Anas because it had touched the Prophet's hand.