Types of Tawassul

Tawassul is of three types:

1) Permissible Tawassul; seeking nearness to Allah through means that have basis in the Shari’ah. Such as, for one to directly address Allah saying: O Allah, I ask You by Your Names and Attributes; my good deeds; or the supplication of such and such righteous person.

2) Bida’i Tawassul; seeking nearness to Allah through means that have no basis in the Shari’ah. Such as, for one to directly address Allah saying: O Allah, I ask you by the right of your Prophet, or an angel, or a saint etc. This type of tawassul is a point of contention amongst the scholars, and the difference is a legitimate one, which does not require censure.

3) Shirki Tawassul: seeking nearness to Allah through means that have no basis in the Shari’a, while addressing other than Allah. Such as saying: O Prophet, forgive me. O ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jaylani help me, etc.

To call upon the Prophet, asking him to make du’a for us is Shirk. For example: O Prophet! Ask Allah to grant us rain!

Some of the contemporary scholars (I think Salah al-Sawi and may be Ibn Uthaymin) opined that if one were to ask the Prophet to make dua to Allah at his grave, it would not be Shirk, but Bid’ah being on the brink of Shirk. The reason for this, as they say, is that if one believes in two premises;

i) The dead can hear (understanding of some evidences)
ii) the dead can supplicate (unsubstantiated assumption)

To call upon other than Allah, asking them to intercede for us with Allah is also Shirk. For example: O Prophet! Intercede for us with Allah!

The following verdict from Allah about intercession should suffice:

“They worship besides Allah that which neither harms them nor benefits them, saying: These are our intercessors with Allah. Say: Do you inform Allah of something He does not know in the heavens or on the earth? Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him!” (Yunus 18)

To call upon other than Allah for a need, such as rain, etc, while believing that only Allah will answer the call is Shirk, by agreement. For example: O Prophet! Send us rain!

Firstly, The Prophet – SallAllahu ‘alaihi wa-sallam – made takfeer of the pagans for merely calling upon other than Allah, even though they explicitly declared that Allah is the only Lord, the Creator, the Provider.

This is reflected in the following verse:

‘Say: Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth? Or who controls hearing and sight and who brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living and who arranges [every] matter? They will say: Allah. So say: Then will you not fear Him?’

To call upon other than Allah for a need, such as rain, etc, while believing that the one being addressed will answer the call is Shirk by agreement. For example: O Prophet! Send us rain!

This is the most important of all issues that the Muslims must be very clear about, for this is the very foundation of our religion.

The danger of this issue must also be made clear, that if one is ignorant in this issue, and calls upon other than Allah, then he has absolutely nothing to do with Islam.