Question:
as salamu alikum
Can you explain to me the invocation (du’a) of the awliyah in light of the Qur’an and Sunna and its purpose. I know any tawwasul is a need but how and why do we invoke the awliyah and saints I dont quite understand.
jazakumallahu khayrin, wasalam
Answer:
`Alaykum as-Salam,
The way is to say: “O Allah, we ask you by So-and-so” as in the hadith of our liegelord `Umar in Sahih al-Bukhari: “O Allah! We would use our Prophet as a means to You and You then sent us rain; now we use our Prophet’s uncle as a means to You, therefore send us rain!”
Allah Most High ordered us in the Qur’an to seek the means to him. Just as in the hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari of the three men blocked in a cave who supplicated Allah Most High by mentioning their good deeds as a wasila to Him, then they were miraculously unblocked, similarly we may also supplicate Him by the honor He has granted the righteous, at their forefront the Holy Prophet who is the imam of the righteous. He himself taught us to do this is several narrations such as the du`a of the blind man, the du`a he made while burying Fatima bint Asad (the wife of Abu Talib ibn `Abd al-Mutallib), and the du`a of walking to the mosque. He also said “Your du`a is suspended between heaven and earth until you invoke blessings on your Prophet.”
For further reading see http://mac.abc.se/~onesr/d/itp.html#twss
Hajj Gibril Haddad
