Question:
As slm alkm,
Is it not shirk addressing/requesting the Prophet as in the Saturday Section of the Dalailil Khayrat?
Wa alkm slm
Answer:
Why is it shirk? Don’t you address the Prophet (s) 5 times a day in at-Tahiyaat?
See: ‘How can we seek help from Prophet Muhammad if we are only allowed to seek help from God?‘ at Dar al-Fatawa al-Misriyya (Egypt’s Religious Affairs Ministry).
Excerpts from the Fatwa:
Allah the Almighty says, “Do not make [your] calling of the Messenger among yourselves as the call of one of you to another” [Qur`an 24: 63]. A request may constitute worshipping the person to whom the request is directed such as in the verse, “And ask Allah of his bounty” [Qur`an 4: 32], or it may not be so as in the verse “For the petitioner and the deprived” [Qur`an 70: 25]. Furthermore, seeking help may constitute directing worship to the object or person from whom help is sought as in the verse “It is You we worship and You we ask for help” [Qur`an 1: 5] or it may not be so as in, “And seek help through patience and prayer” [Qur`an 2: 45]. Love may constitute worship of the beloved or it may not be as the Prophet says in the hadith,
“Love Allah for the blessings He has poured on you, and love me through your love for Allah and love the members of my household through your love for me.
Shirk then means glorifying other than Allah in the manner due to Him. The Almighty says,
So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him]. [Qur`an 2: 22].
Allah also says:
And [yet], among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah. [Qur`an 2: 165).
Based on this, the difference between wasila and shirk becomes clear. Wasila includes venerating what Allah has venerated and doing so is in fact venerating Allah as per His words, Exalted be Him,
That [is so]. And whoever honors the symbols of Allah – indeed, it is from the piety of hearts. [Al-Hajj: 32].
Contrary to this, shirk would mean venerating an entity either alongside or other than Allah. Therefore, the angels’ prostration before Prophet Adam (peace be upon him) was out of faith and monotheism, while the polytheists’ prostration before the idols was disbelief and shirk, even though the prostration in both cases was to other than Allah. However, since the angels’ prostration to Prophet Adam was a form of glorifying what Allah has venerated and performed in the manner prescribed by Allah, it was permissible and rewardable, while the polytheists’ prostration to idols was a veneration emulating that which is due to Allah and therefore prohibited and punishable.
Taher Siddiqui
