Tawassul

Conclusion

Therefore, in conclusion we can state with authority the following points, sincetawassul is an accepted principle in the life of a sincere and God-fearing Muslim, and whatever disputes that have been fanned are due to bigotry and lack of proper understanding of Islam:

1.Controversy over the issue oftawassul is not a matter of discord between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims, but it is a difference of opinion between the Salafiyyah sect and the rest of Muslims.

2.Most of the differences of the Salafiyyah Wahhabis are with the extremist Sufis who believe in reincarnation, and with the Sunni masses who often make emotionaltawassul at graves and seek their needs from the departed such as Abu Hanifah (and 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani) in Baghdad, Shafi'i, Rifa'i, Dasuqi and others in Egypt, Idris in Morocco and Abu Ayyub Ansari in Turkey - as well as Khawajah Mu'in al-Din Chishti and numerous others in India, and Data Ganj Bakhsh and Sufi saints in Pakistan.

3.In fact, the Salafiyyah and the Wahhabis have the least differences with Shi’a Muslims since Shi’a recite the supplications of the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) which contain the purest form of monotheism. However, because of their non-familiarity with the Shi’a they accuse them of polytheism and in their ignorance brand them infidels.

4.In all the supplications of the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) the addressee is Almighty ALLAH (SWT) alone, even in the famous Du'a'Tawassul , which the Sunnis say with unanimity was taught by Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.A.) to a blind person who subsequently regained his eyesight.

5.Du'a'tawassul , where devotion is expressed to the Prophet (S.A.W.A.) and his Infallible Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.), is not exclusively meant for the Shi’a but was widely popular among the Sunnis until Ibn Taymiyyah and later Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab came on the scene with their weird interpretation. For instance, the poetical composition oftawassul to the 14 Infallibles found in the works of prominent poets of the Ahl al-Sunnah such as the Persian poet Shaikh Sa'di and the Sufi Khalid Naqhsbandi -- as well as the famous Spanish Muslim Gnostic and philosopher Shaikh Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-'Arabi.

6.As part of their misinformation campaign againsttawassul , the Salafiyyah attempt to exploit certainAyah s of the Holy Qur'an which refer to the polytheists who worship idols instead of the One and Only God and who seek their wants from these lifeless man-made objects. However, it is clear that equating those who seektawassul to the Prophet (S.A.W.A.) with the polytheists and infidels is an erroneous idea, sincetawassul -seekers, unlike the idolators, address the Almighty Creator and seek their needs from Him by making the Prophet (S.A.W.A.) awasilah for acceptance of prayer. On the other hand, the idols have no connection with God and are nothing more than inanimate objects made by man, while Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.A.) is the manifest sign of ALLAH (SWT), the Messenger of ALLAH (SWT) and Mercy to the creation. ALLAH (SWT) has also given him power, both in this world and in the next, to supplicate and intercede for his true followers. The Wahhabi contention of the period of Barzakh of the

Prophet (S.A.W.A.) lacks any rational explanation and is against the view of the 'ulama' of all other sects of the Ahl al-Sunnah.

7.Those who wish to make the Prophet (S.A.W.A.) the intercessor without being obedient to the Holy Qur'an and the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.), have been likened by Shi’a 'ulama' such as 'Allamah Tabataba`i, to a wishful person who wants to become the sage of the age without learning or studying anything.