Home - About Us - Article - Books Online - Resources - Events - Contact US - Videos

- What do Muslims believe? - Meaning of Ayat al-Kursi - The Rulings of Ramadan - The History of Karbala
-Principles of Dawah - Understanding The Ahle al-Sunnah - A Conversation with a Kharajite

 

 


 

Traditional Scholarship & Modern Misunderstandings
Understanding The Ahle al-Sunnah -
By Abu Ammar

Go Back to Contents

14) Ethal at-Thawaab

To put simply, isal ath-thawab is nothing other than to ask Allah for the forgiveness of our sins, and to raise the spiritual status of the deceased.This may be achieved through various practices, such as the offering of du'a's (supplications), to recite the Qur'an, to offer Qurbani [(t 'Id al-Adha), and also, to perform a compulsory Hajj (fard) on the behalf of the deceased.

As this chapter will seek to demonstrate, (by using the Qur'an, the Sunna and fatawa of the 'ulema as evidence) isal ath-thawab is not an innovative practice (bid'a), but something that has been practiced by Muslims throughout the centuries and, secondly, which is permissible.

Evidence from the Qur'an

Allah Most High has ordered the Muslims to pray for their parents as follows:

"O my Lord, have mercy on my parents even as they have brought me up through my childhood"

[Sura al-Isra', verse 24]

Allah Most High has praised those Muslims who ask for forgiveness of the deceased. They ask for forgiveness in the following manner:

"Our Lord! Forgive us and forgive our Muslim brothers who came before us [passed away]"

(Sura al-Hashr, verse 10)

The above mentioned verses demonstrate that if anyone prays on behalf of another person, the latter will receive the spiritual benefits - Allah Willing.This also demonstrates that if it was the wrong action Allah would not have ordered us to pray for other people, nor would He have stated that those who ask for forgiveness for the deceased receive praises from Allah.

Evidence from Hadith

Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim write that:

"A man came to the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said 'My mother has suddenly died and she did not leave any will, but I suspect that if she did then she would have told me to give something to charity. Now if I offer something in charity on her behalf, will she get the reward?' Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, 'Yes.'Then the man said, 'I make you, the Prophet, my witness that I offer my garden full of fruits in charity'"

[Bukhari; Muslim, chapter on 'Al-Wasiya']

This hadith, as can be clearly read, proves that to offer a charity on behalf of the deceased will result in the deceased obtainig a benefit.

Imam al-Bukhari writes:

"Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has said, 'The status of the deceased is raised [during their time in the grave], and the deceased ask Allah why this has happened. Allah replies, 'Your son has prayed for your forgiveness'"

[al-Bukhari, Al-Adab Al-Mufid, chapter on 'Excellency of Parents']

From this particular hadith it can be understood that not only charity, but the offering of prayers (making duas) and the giving of alms, will also benefit the deceased.

Opinion of the Scholars

Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya writes:

"From the authentic ahadith there is evidence pointing out that the deceased person will gain rewards from all the good deeds carried out on his/her behalf by others. Some people raise the objection that a person can only gain reward from their own actions, and refer to the Qur'an [for evidence]. This is not correct. Firstly, because a Muslim recieves the reward of those deeds that he /she has never done themselves [for example]: like Allah says in the Qur'an that the angels of the Throne of Allah, glorify Allah and ask for forgiveness on behalf of all the Muslims.It is also evident from the Qur'an [that] Allah Most High ordered Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to pray for his Umma, since his du'a' is the peace of mind for the Umma. In the same way, the du'a is offered in the funeral prayer, when visiting the grave and when praying for the deceased

"Secondly, we know that Allah Most High rewards us through the deeds of other people, which arecarried out on our behalf. An example is where the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, 'Whenever a Muslim prays for other Muslims, Allah appoints an angel to say Amin' - i.e. the angel asks Allah for the acceptance of the prayer. Sometimes Allah blesses the participants of the funeral prayer in response to the prayer from the deceased and vice-versa"

[Ibn Taymiyya, Mujmu' al-Fatawa, Saudia Arabian edition, vol.7, page 500 & vol.24, page 367]

Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim writes:-

"If a Muslim recites Qur'an, performs Hajj, offers du'a' or gives in charity on the behalf of the deceased, then the deceased gets the benefits of it. Some innovators say that the deceased do not get any such reward, which is wrong according to the authentic ahadith. The proof is in the Qur'an that Allah Most High has praised those who ask for forgiveness for their Muslim brothers. An authentic hadith proves that Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied to a question saying that to offer alms on behalf of a deceased person earns benefit. Some individuals suspect that the earlier Muslims did not do isal ath-thawab. This is because of their own ignorance or lack of knowledge. The earlier Muslims did not do these to show off. The Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) himself gave permission to offer alms, so it is right to say that isal ath-thawab is right. The aya in the Qur'an, which states that only ones own deeds are rewarded, means that if one is righteous enough to get rewarded, which means that one is righteous to receive reward, but a present from someone else is also rewarded to the deceased by Allah Most High"

[Ibn al-Qayyim, Kitab ar-Ruh, Chapter 16]

Qadi Shawkani writes:

"According to the Sunni creed, a deceased receives reward from others praying, performing Hajj, offering alms, but the Mu'tazilites [a deviant sect]refuse to accept this. If it is wrong to offer these to the deceased, then Islam would not have allowed us to say Salam [greeting of peace] to the deceased when visiting or entering the graveyards"

[Qadi Shawkani, Nayl al-Awtar, chapter on 'Janaiz']

These above references prove our argument for isal ath-thawab and that the suspicion people harbour regarding it has no basis in either the Qur'an or the Sunna.

Origins and Development

The origin of isal ath-thawab is in the Qur'an but it is carried out in different manners in different communities. Similarly, to preach Islam or invite others to the Din is proven but the methods are different for different situations. For example Islamic circles are held on Saturdays or Sundays in some communities but it is not mentioned in the Qur'an or ahadith that they should be held on these evenings. In the same way, the origin of isal ath-thawab is in the Qur'an and ahadith but it is carried out differently in different communities. Thus to call it an innovation is not right.Now we will discuss four issues, concerning isal ath-thawab, that have been labelled as innovations by certain people.

1) When a person dies, Muslims offer alms (sadaqa) on their behalf and pray in congregation. In these gatherings, Islamic teachings are preached; this serves as a way to preach or spread Islam. Through these gatherings, the deceased receive benefit because Muslims pray for their fogiveness and others get knowledge of Islam. The poor get benefit from these alms. If you look at it from any angle, it is not an innovation.

2)Some people raise the question that a day should not be fixed for this and that fixing such a day is haram in Islam. The answer to this question is that 'fixing a day' for isal ath-thawab will only be haram if it is said that outside of this day it will not be isal ath-thawab. For instance, Qurbani, Hajj and salat times are fixed, but isal ath-thawab is sometimes found on a fixed day merely for convenience of relatives and friends for du'a. The participants do not believe it is compulsory to hold the gathering for that 'fixed day'. Like any Islamic conference, the date of it is fixed in advance.

Another example is when the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) asked Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) after Fajr, 'Tell me what good deeds you do because I heard your footsteps in Janna. Bilal replied, 'The only thing I do is after I make wudu I pray as much nawafil as Allah wills me to do' [Bukhari, Chapter of Salat]. Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes in his commentary to this hadith, 'We can understand from this hadith that it is permissible for a person to fix a time for their voluntary prayers' [Fath al-Bari, Book of Salat]

A final example is the 'fixed times' for congregational prayers in the mosque - no one can be labelled an innovator because of this and, in the same way, to fix a day for du'a' for the deceased is not an innovation.

3) Some people object to the provision of food and drink at the gatherings of isal ath-thawab. However, this is merely a showing of hospitality. At some of these gatherings many people get together to read Qur'an for the deceased. For the people who get together and read Qur'an, we could be hospitible by providing for them by giving food and drink. This is all done with the intention of thawab (reward). Similarly, when Islamic circles are held there are usually refreshments held after and this is carried out with the intention of blessings and reward. This is one way of doing isal ath-thawab. There are many other ways of doing isal ath-thawab..

4) One of the methods of isal ath-thawab is the gathering of Urs, which is done annually for a saint by his disciples (murids). They hold this Urs in the mosque near the grave of the saint. They recite the Qur'an and various scholars give lectures on different topics of Islam. The audience are allowed to question the scholars on anything they wish. At the end of the gathering, a du'a' is said and then hospitality is shown to the people. The hospitality is solely done for Allah's good pleasure and the blessings.

Some people consider this an innovation (bid'a) and regard it to be forbidden (haram). They object to this and ask questions such as "Why once a year?" The other objection they have towards it is that the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) curses those who build mosques on the grave. Therefore, the objection they hold is that if a mosque is not allowed to be built on a grave, how can you hold a gathering, such as Urs, there?

Regarding the objection of holding Urs only once a year, Imam Tabari, Hafiz Ibn Kathir and al-Qurtubi write:

"The Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to go to the graves of the martyrs of Uhud once a year and recite a verse from the Holy Qur'an regarding the excellence of patience. The Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to pray for them. When the beloved Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) passed away himself, the khulafa, Abu Bakr, 'Umar, Usman and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) used to do the same thing"

[Tafsir Tabari, Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Tafsir Qurtubi, commentary of Sura ar-Ra'd, verse 20]

From this we can conclude or understand that going to the grave of a saint once a year is permissible and is not an innovation (bid'a). Also to lecture in a gathering is just another way of doing da'wa (propagating Islam).

As for the alleged impermissiblilty of building a mosque over a grave, the meaning of the hadith is that it is impermissible to prostrate to the grave. There is proof in the Qur'an of building a mosque for saints near the grave:

"They said, build over their cave any building. Their Lord knows well about them. Those who prevailed in their affair said, 'We swear that we shall erect over them amosque"

[Sura al-Kahf, verse 21]

Commenting on this verse, Imam at-Tabari, Hafiz Ibn Kathir and Imam al-Qurtabi write:

"When the people of the cave went into the cave, some people close to the entrance of the cave said, 'Build a mosque so we can worship Allah.' The people who said this were Muslims"

[Tafsir Tabari, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Sura al-Kahf, verse 21]

Therefore, from this we can prove that building a mosque near the grave of a pious person is permissible.

Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes:

"If a person built a mosque near the graves of pious people, and that person's intention is solely for the blessings of Allah, and at the time of prayer the people do not not prostrate or face the grave, it is permissable to build a mosque near the grave of a saint and is not forbidden"

[Fath al-Bari, Chapter of Masjid]

From the above, we can understand the true meaning of the hadith which points out not to prostrate to the graves. It does not mean not to build a mosque near the graves. It basically means not to face the graves whilst praying.

Imam at-Tabari and Hafiz Ibn Kathir write, in 88 AH, that the room of 'A'isha (may Allah be pleased with her) - where there are graves of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) - was joined to the mosque of the Prophet

[Tareeh Tabari and Tar'ikh Hafiz Ibn Kathir, Chapter of Government of Walid ibn 'abd al-Malik]

At the time of this, some Companions and their students (Tabi'un) were alive and since then no-one has objected to this, which means it is allowed to have a mosque near the grave.

Some people assert that it is not allowed to visit the grave with the intention to see the grave. We, the Ahl as-Sunna say that it is permissible and, moreover, praiseworthy to go and visit the grave with the intention that you are going to see the grave. We have already mentioned the evidences for this in the previous chapter.

Vows

Some people make the false accusation that the Ahl as-Sunna wa'l-Jama'a make vows to pious people (anbiya and awliya) but the Ahl as-Sunna make vows only for Allah and no one else. To make a vow is worship. We believe that if someone worships something other than Allah he is a mushrik, and a kafir.

Then the following question is raised: What is the meaning when the Ahl as-Sunna go to the graves of the pious and make vows to them?

When the people of Ahl as-Sunna make vows like this to Allah, they do so in the following manner: 'O Allah, if You make our sick people better, we will feed ten poor people, and the sawab (reward) from it we will donate to this pious person named so and so.' Sometimes the person makes a vow to Allah and then slaughters a sheep and gives the meat to the poor and then makes du'a that the sawab from this goes to pious people who have passed away.

Some People say that This Type of Vow is Kufr and Shirk.

Muhammad ibn 'abd al-Wahhab wrote:

"Vows is kufr for the pious" [Ibn 'abd al-Wahhab, Kashf al-Shubhat, Chapter on Vows]

The problem with Ibn 'abd al-Wahhab's statement is that he did not differentiate between the vow of worship and the vow of gift. The vows of the pious mean the gift of sawab (reward) and not vows of worship that can only be for Allah.

Imam Ahmad Raza Khan writes:

"When we slaughter an animal for 'aqiqa, the slaughtering of the animal is for Allah and the meat is for the people. Or when we have visitors we slaughter the lamb, cow, chicken, etc. We do it not for worship but for the hospitality of the visitors. So in the same way, when a person goes to the graves of the pious and slaughters an animal, the intention is for the meat to be given to the poor and the sawab to go to the pious. We cannot think that any Muslim can make vows as worship for any pious person or slaughter animals in respect and worship of the pious. But if somebody does it with the intention of worship there is no doubt that he is a non-Muslim"

[Khan, Ahmad, Raza., Fatawa Razawiyya; Fatawa Shami, Fatawa Alamghir, Chapter of Vows]

To perform du'a' over food

Some people have raised the question that is it bid'a to read the Qur'an and say du'a on the food during an isal ath-thawab gathering.

There are certain aspects to the above question. Firstly, we believe that the food is not part of the isal ath-thawab gathering. Imam Ahmad Raza Khan writes:

"If someone puts food before an isal ath-thawab meeting and he has the intention of reading Qur'an and du'a' on it, then this is allowed. If someone states that the deceased cannot get sawab because there is no food in the isal ath-thawab then they are wrong"

[Fatawa Razawiyya, Chapter on Janaza]

Secondly, we cannot say that having food before the isal ath-thawab gathering is bid'a, as the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) put food, milk and water in front of him, and then he did du'a' and read something on the food. Hafiz Ibn-Kathir writes:

"One day the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was invited to someone's house. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) accepted the invitation and he bought a lot of Companions with him to the house. There was a very short amount of food for the people. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said to bring the food out. Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) read whatever Allah wanted on the food and du'a' was also done on the food and the food was given to the people. After the people had eaten the food, there was still the same amount of food left as it was before the people started to eat"

[Ibn Kathir, Ta'rikh Ibn Kathir & Sirat an-Nabi, Chapter of Mu'jizat]

From this narration we can see the proof for the permissibility to do du'a on food - it is not an innovation but a Sunna and is only done for the purpose of baraka (blessing) and so the food does not come short.

The purpose of isal ath-thawab gatherings is to spread and teach Islam, and to offer food to the people who join the gathering is not bid'a [Tafsir Ibn Kathir, under Sura ash-Shu'ara', verse 214]

Hafiz Ibn Kathir writes:

"When Allah Most High revealed this verse of the Qur'an which states: 'O Beloved, warn your nearest kinsmen' the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said to 'Ali, 'O Ali, sacrifice a goat and cook that meat and bring milk and fruit with the cooked to my house for a party.' At the party, Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, 'I am a Prophet of Allah. I have been sent to guide you to the right path, so become Muslim.' When the family heard this, they started to laugh and they left the house. This happened for three days continuously"

[Tafsir Ibn Kathir, under Sura ash-Shu'ara', verse 214]

From the above references it is clear that to prepare food for blessings is allowed and to hold the gatherings for the spread and teaching of Islam and to invite people to eat the blessed food is not bid'a.

In our times, especially in the western countries, Muslims have become very lazy and they do not attend the Mosque to perform salat. Therefore, it is good to organise a gathering and to prepare food for the gathering and to invite Muslims and offer them food and to teach about Islam and their duties. The people who carry out this job are praiseworthy because they are spending their money and time in Allah's way. Their intention is to please Allah Most High and it is very surprising that people say that this is bid'a and you will get bad deeds if you do this and this is a waste of money.

We pray for all the Muslims who have passed away for their forgiveness and we also pray for those people who organise different kinds of gatherings to guide and remind Muslims of their duties.

back to contents

15) Tabarruk

Tabarruk means blessed. In special terms, it means to obtain blessing from the pious. This is permissible, but there are some people who say to obtain blessing from the pious or their posessions is impermissible and the one who says it is permissible is leading the people into the way of shirk. We, the Ahl as-Sunna, say that tabarruk is proved from the Qur'an and Sunna and thus is permissible; to call it kufr and shirk is not acceptable.

Proof from the Qur'an

Allah Most High says in the Qur'an:

"And their Prophet said to them: 'The sign of his kingship is that there would come to you an ark in which there is tranquility of hearts from your Lord, and there is something left of the relics of the respectable Musa and the respectable Harun, the angels raising it would bring. No doubt, in it there is a great sign for you if you believe"

[Sura al-Baqara, verse 248]

Hafiz Ibn Kathir and Qadi Shawkani write:

"In the box there was Musa's and Harun's clothes, Musa's stick, and pieces of the Old Testament and some things of the previous Prophets, which had touched their bodies. When Banu Isra'il went to war they took that box with them and they used to win"

[Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir; Qadi Shawkani, Tafsir Fath al-Qadir]

From the above, it has been proved that it is permissible to keep the possessions of the pious for blessings.

Proof From the Ahadith

Imam Muslim writes:

"The Companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to get blessings from him. At one time our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) performed wudu with some water.When he left, Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) came and saw the left over water, took the water from the house and brought it outside. The Companions took the water and began to wipe it all over their bodies. The other people who were behind were not able to get any water began to wipe the water from the Companions hands and wiped it on themselves. In this way everyone got the blessings from the water that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did wudu with"

[Muslim, Chapter of Salat]

Imam Muslim writes:

" The people of Madina used to take tubs of water to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The Prophet used to dip his hand in the water and the people used to take the tubs back [to get blessings from the water]

[Muslim,chapter on 'Fada'il']

Hafiz ibn Kathir writes:

"Once a barber cut the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) hair. The Prophet's Companions were there as well. When the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) hair used to drop, the Companions used to catch the hair to prevent it from dropping onto the ground and later kept the hair fpr tabarruk"

[Muslim, chapter on 'Fada'il'; Ta'rikh Ibn Kathir, chapter on 'Hajj of the Prophet']

Imam Muslim writes:

"Once the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) went to Umm Salma's house. While in her house he went to sleep. While he was sleeping he began to sweat. Umm Salma got a small bottle and began to catch and collect the sweat of the Prophet may Allah bless him and grant him peace). When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) awoke he asked her what she was doing. She replied, 'I am collecting your sweat and hope that my children will get blessings from this', whereupon the Prophet said: 'Whatever you have hoped is right'"

[Muslim, chapter on 'Fada'il']

Imam Muslim writes:

"Once Suhail (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) some water in a goblet. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) drank some water from the goblet. When the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had finished drinking, Suhail kept the goblet for tabarruk. When the Khalif 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-Aziz (may Allah be pleased with him) asked him to give the goblet to him, Suhail gave it. 'Umar ibn 'abd al-Aziz then kept it [for tabarruk]"

[Muslim, Kitab al-Ashriba]

Imam Muslim writes:

"Asma' (may Allah be pleased with her) had a gown of the Prophet(may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Sick people used to come to Asma' and she used to dip the gown in the water. She would then take the gown out and give some of the water for the sick to drink for tabarruk"

[Muslim, Kitab al-Labas]

Imam al-Bukhari writes:

"The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had a large piece of cloth. A person came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and asked hf he could have the cloth. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave him the cloth. People asked the individual, 'Why did you take the cloth, when the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) liked wearing it?' The individual replied: 'I am not going to wear the cloth but when I die I want to be buried in this cloth as it is blessed.' When the person died he was buried in the cloth"

[Bukhari, Kitab al-Labas and Kitab al-Janais]

Imam al-Bukhari writes:

"Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked 'A'isha (may Allah be pleased with her) if he could be buried next to where Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) were buried. She allowed him to be buried there. Umar said: 'This is more valuable to me than anything on earth' "

[Bukhari, Kitab al-Janaiz]

This narration proves that to get tabarruk from the grave of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is permitted.

Hafiz Ibn Kathir writes:

"Khalid ibn Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) had a hat. In the hat he put two of the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) hairs. Once he was in the battle of Yarmuk. The battle got very tense. Khalid's hat dropped onto the ground. He got off his horse and picked up the hat. After the war a person said to Khalid ibn Walid:'You had a cheap hat and to pick it up during a war is not a wise thing to do.'Khalid replied:'In that hat I had the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) hair; the blessing from that hair gives me victory in every battle"

[Ta'rikh Ibn Kathir, chapter on 'Death of Khalid ibn Walid']

Hafiz ibn Kathir writes:

"Mu'awiya had the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) nails and hair. He said: 'When I die can you bury the nails and hair with me in my grave'"

[Ta'rikh Ibn Kathir, chapter on 'Death ofMu'awiya']

Ibn Sa'd writes:

"'Umar ibn 'abd al-Aziz had the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) hair. He said: 'When I die bury me with the hair in my grave'

[Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd, chapter on 'Death of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-Aziz']

Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya states:

"Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal was asked,'Is it permitted to do masa [wipe one's hands] over the mimbar of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) or to touch the mimbar for blessing?' He replied, 'Yes it is permitted.''Abdullah ibn 'Umar, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyid, Yahya ibn Sa'id, and other great scholars of Madinah used to do masa of the mimbar"

[Iqtida as-Sirat al-Mustaqim, page 203]

Hafiz al-'Asqalani writes:

"From the grave of Imam al-Bukhari comes a beautiful smell of fragrance, there are pillars built around the grave and when people go there they take a small amount of clay from it [for tabarruk]

[al-'Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 'Biography of Imam al-Bukhari']

Hafiz Ibn Kathir writes:

"When Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya passed away some people came and gathered around him and sat close to his body to obtain blessing from him. Also a group of women came and they drank from the water that was left over after bathing him to get blessing from it as tabarruk.The left over leaves of a tree which were also used in bathing him were distributed among themselves for the purpose of tabarruk.Whatever touched his body, such as his handkerchief or scarf which he wore round his neck, was sold for a large amount of money, to someone to keep as tabarruk. People used to come day and night to his grave, and some people use to even spend the night there'"

[Ta'rikh Ibn Kathir, chapter on 'Death of Ibn Taymiya']

If you may obtain blessing from the clothes or from the water which is left over from touching the body of Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya, then how can it be wrong to get blessing from the other pious people of Allah.Or how can that be called bid'a or an act of shirk?

One Clarification

Some people assert that there is no benefit (blessings) in items possessed by our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) i.e. clothes, hair, and nails. Those who doubt narrate ahadith in which our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave a shirt to 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy as tabarurk, which had no effect for his forgiveness.

The answer to this is that an unbeliever or a munafiq(hypocrite) will gain no benefit from our Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) tabarruk.'Abdullah ibn Ubayy was the leader of the munafiqin so how can he gain blessings from the shirt.Yes, a believer - such as the Companions -did benefit, as mentioned previously. They kept items such as shirts, hair, nails and clothes. Some even asked to be buried with these items.

The second answer to this question is provided by Hafiz Ibn Kathir:

"There is a narration from the Salaf that the shirt which our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) gave was not for tabarruk. This was because the munafiq gave a shirt to our Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) uncle, Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) and so it was in return only that our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) repaid him"

[Tafsir Ibn Kathir, under Sura at-Tawba, verse 82]

A further doubt by those who disbelieve in tabarruk is with regards to the tree where the Companions pledged their allegiance (bay'a) to our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saw that the people would go to the tree to gain tabarruk so he had the tree cut. From this they claim that tabarruk is not permissible.

Whenever we mention our views on Islamic issues (such as those described in this book) we are confronted by people who say: 'Show us the evidence in Bukhari or Muslim.' We ask the same people to look in either of these books and show us where the above mentioned narration is mentioned regardingUmar's (may Allah be pleased with him) ordering the tree to be cut down.

Consider the following:

1) In Imam al-Bukhari's version he says that Sa'id ibn Musayib said:'My father told me when he went to look for the tree of bay'a, he could not recognize the place where it was and had forgotten the exact place where it was' [i.e. it had disappeared]

[Bukhari, chapter on 'Al-Hudaybiya']

2) Tariq ibn 'Abdullah says:'I saw one tribe there, who were performing their prayers.'

3) In the last moments of Jabir ibn 'Abdullah, when he had lost his sight, he used to say: 'If I could see today I would show you the tree where the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) received the bay'a of the Companions"

[Bukhari, chapter on 'al-Magazi']

The above mentioned narrations prove:

1) The tree was not cut, but vanished.

2) Companions, such as Jabir ibn 'Abdullah, knew where the tree was.

3) Tabi'un would go there to perform salat.

4) From the narration in Bukhari we can say no one was stopped to go there.Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani says in the commentary: "Some people forgot where this place was, like Sa'id ibn al-Musayib's father, and some knew where it was, like Jabir ibn 'Abdullah."[Fath al-Bari, chapter on 'Bay'aRidwan']

Sayyid Maududi writes that Imam at-Tabari said:

"During the period of 'Umar's (may Allah be pleased with him) Khilafa, he went for pilgrimage. When he passed Al-Hudaybiya he asked: 'Where is the tree under which the bay'a took place?' A person replied:'This one.' Someone else said: '[No, it is] this one.' 'Umar said: 'Forget the inconvenience'"

[Maududi, S., Tafsir Tafhim al-Qur'an,under Sura al-Fath,verse 18]

Furthermore the narrator of the hadith of the tree is Muhammad ibn Wadda and Imam al-Bukhari has said that he is not reliable [al-'Asqalani, Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of Ibn Wadda]

This must be the reason why Hafiz Ibn Kathir has not mentioned the narration about the cutting of the tree in his Tafsir, Ta'rikh, and not even in Sirat an-Nabi.

The evidence above proves that it is permitted to get tabarruk from the pious people and their things in their life and after death. The Ahl as-Sunna's belief is based upon the above evidence. However, there are many more similar events proving the permissibility of tabarruk.

The people who say that it is shirk/ kufr to believe in taburruk should have proof from either the Qur'an or Sunna. There is no hadith that proves that to get tabarruk from the pious is forbidden.

back to contents

 

Go Back to Contents

 

 

Home | About Us | Article | Books Online | Resources | Events |Contact US | Videos

Copyright © 2002 - Islamic Information Centre
Registered Charity Number: 107 58 75