Question:
AssalamuAlaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakaatuh,
Please forgive me for my ignorance. I have been meaning to ask this question for a while, but lacked the courage to do so as I am afraid to offend anyone and it is hard to formulate it with the right words.
When we make duas, is it better adab to ask Allah directly or to go through Sultanul Awliyah Mawlana Sheikh Nazim, since he is our guide and gate (may Allah give him long life and good health)? I have heard people, and have myself asked Mawlana for openings on certain topics, and I have also seen the same people ask God directly. Which way is best?
Again I am so sorry to be asking this question, but it really has been bothering me for a long while. May Allah reward you for your guidance, and keep you among the ones He loves.
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam,
No question, asked sincerely, is ignorant, for the only way to learn is to ask.
The short answer is, yes, it is best to use the means of our master Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim al-Haqqani in every supplication.
The long answer is:
Shaykh Hisham, in his Encyclopedia of Islamic Doctrine, relates the fatwa of Shaykh Salih al-Na`man, the Secretary of the Section of Ifta’ and Religious Education at the Ministry of Religious Endowments (wizarat al-awqaf) of the Syrian Arab Republic in the city of Hama, Syria on March 22, 1980, where he said:
…Allah the Exalted said: “Seek ye the means to Him” (Surat al-Ma’idah, 5:35) and “Had they but come to thee when they had wronged themselves, and asked Allah forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-Returning, Merciful,” (An-Nisa, 4:64) and because the Companions — may Allah be well pleased with them — used to seek a means through Allah’s Messenger, as narrated concerning the blind man who used Allah’s Messenger as a means (to obtain his request) and his eyes were opened.
Additionally, Shaykh Hisham writes:
Imam Ahmad made tawassul through the Prophet a part of every du`a according to the following report: `Ala’ al-Din al-Mardawi said in his book al-Insaf fi ma`rifat al-rajih min al-khilaf `ala madhhab al-Imam al-mubajjal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (3:456):
The correct position of the [Hanbali] madhhab is that it is permissible in one’s supplication (du`a) to use as means a pious person, and it is said that it is desirable (mustahabb). Imam Ahmad said to Abu Bakr al-Marwazi: yatawassalu bi al-nabi fi du`a’ih — “Let him use the Prophet as a means in his supplication to Allah.”
Based on this shari` argument alone, it is recommended. Based on the teachings of our mashaykh, from the viewpoint of our Sufi Path, it is essential. This is based on the following teaching:
“Ubaydullah Ahrar (d. 895/1490), a contemporary of Jami, outlined three possibilities [for the seeker to rise in station]:
- doing good deeds and spiritual exercises;
- realizing one’s weaknesses and surrendering to God; and
- depending on the influence of a master’s power (himmat).
The third method is the fastest and most sure, for a seeker realizing his weakness can use the means (wasila) of his pir’s spiritual power to arrive near God.
[Arthur Buehler’s Sufi Heirs to the Prophet: The Indian Naqshbandiyya and the Rise of the Mediating Shaykh ]
W ‘Allahu `alam,
Taher Siddiqui
