Is it permissible to pray like this?

[prashant_kumar]

Is it permissible to pray like this?

“O Muhammad - the mercy of Allah to the worlds, the owner of the highest position and honor in the creation of Allah, the closest friend of Allah, the one for whom Allah created the universe and me, the first of those who shall be permitted to intercede to Allah - intercede for me to Allah so that I may be saved from the wrath of Allah, from the punishment of Allah.”

[Muawiyah]

As far as asking the Nabi Sallallahu `alyhi wa Sallam and other Prophets are concerned, there is no real difference of opinion. As for non-Prophets, many of the Hanafi fuqaha believed that the dead are not able to hear in their graves. Here is a general reply from a Maliki scholar:



> Is calling on other than Allah for help and benefit permissible
> (i.e. prophets, awliya)?

It is permissible to ask a dead person to supplicate for one. However,
one should be sure in one's mind and heart that it is only because *Allah*
hears and answers the supplication of some people more than others
that calling upon the dead is allowed.

However any person who calls upon a dead person (or live person for that
matter) thinking that that person can benefit him is far from the tawhid left
to us by the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace). No one
can bring you benefit besides Allah (regardless of whether they are dead
or living). The Prophet said, "If all people were to gather together to bring
you some benefit, they would not be able to benefit you except with what Allah
had already written for you [{Tirmidhi, description of the day of resurrection,
hadith #2440}]

We have discussed this subject further in footnote 2073 of the Guiding Helper
and have narrated some proofs in the Notes of Sources for line 1320 of
the Guiding Helper




When in Makkah, do much circumambulation.
Pay respect to the Sacred House and location.
Worship Allah much. Pray at the Ka`bah in group.
Then when you want to leave, give the Old House a loop.
Don't forget to drink Zamzam water while standing
Facing Ka`bah 'till your stomach starts expanding.
Then, go to visit the Prophet with etiquette:
Become pure. Repent. Enter the Masjid as fit
Pray two units and then go to face the Prophet.
Send your salam to him.
But then, do not forget
Abu Bakr on the right and `Umar at his side
Ask for pure forgiveness and the Garden to abide.
Ask Allah to make you die as a believer,

1035 Guiding Helper Line #1320
Guiding Helper Excerpt:
Ask for pure forgiveness and the Garden to abide.


2073 The pilgrim should ask the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) to ask Allah to forgive the
pilgrim's past and future acts of disobedience. This is because the prayer of certain people is more likely to be
answered. Additionally, one should ask that one is granted permission to abide in the gardens of Paradise.
In our din, we believe that the common person should supplicate for himself and for others. Additionally, one
member of the din may ask another member to supplicate for him. This is why we ask the Prophet (May Allah
bless him and give him peace) to pray for us. We believe that dead people can hear the voices of living people.
Additionally, we believe that the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) is able to supplicate to
Allah even though he is not living amongst us anymore.


Proof(s) from Secondary Text(s):
[And it is mandub to say], "O Allah we approach You with his rank and prestige with You so that You forgive our
past and future sins…
[DT: volume 1: page 433: line(s) 5-6: {explanation of verse(s) 286-290; first fourth}]

Proof(s) from Primary Text(s):

… If only when they had wronged themselves, they had come to you [O Prophet] so that they may ask forgiveness
from Allah and that the Messenger may ask forgiveness for them - they would have found Allah to be Accepting of
Repentance and Merciful.
[QU: volume 1: page 88: line(s) 11-13: {al-Qur'an, chapter 4, verse(s) 64}]
O Allah give us what you promised us [of Paradise in the next life] on [tongues of] Your messengers
and do not humiliate us on the Day Resurrection. Indeed, you do not break promises.
[QU: volume 1: page 75: line(s) 14-15: {al-Qur'an, chapter 3, verse(s) 194}]
The Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "When a servant is put in his grave and the people
turn back away [to go home] and he even hears the striking of their shoes on the ground829, two angels come to him
and make him sit up. And they ask him…, 'What did you say about this man, [Prophet] Muhammad?'. The
servant then says, 'I bear witness that he is the servant and Messenger of Allah.' And then it is said to him, 'Look at
your place in the Hellfire for we have replaced it with a place in Paradise.' As for the disbeliever and the hypocrite,
he says, 'I don't know. … And then he is hit with an iron rod between his ears that makes him scream a scream that
those around him hear.'
[{Bukhari, funeral services, punishment of the grave, hadith #1275}]
The Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Indeed your actions are shown to your previous
relatives that have already died. If the action is good, they become happy with it and if it is other than this [i.e. it is
bad], they supplicate: O Allah do not make them die until You guide them as You guided us830."
[{Ahmad, Anas ibn Malik, hadith #12222}]