Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Beseeching for Help (Istighathah)

Author: Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
Publisher: Minhaj-ul-Quran Publications
Category:

• Foreward
• Chapter 1: Preliminaries
• Lexical research into the word istighathah
• Kinds of istighathah
• 1. Appeal by word
• 2. Appeal by deed
• Use of the word du‘a’ in the holy Qur’an
• 1. an-Nida’ (calling)
• 2. at-Tasmiyyah (naming)
• 3. al-Istighathah (beseeching for help)
• 4. al-Hath ‘ala al-qasd (persuasion)
• 5. at-Talab (desiring)
• 6. ad-Du‘a’ (supplication)
• 7. al-‘Ibadah (worship)
• 8. al-Khitab (address)
• Self-fabricated division of du‘a’
• 1. Du‘a’ as worship
• 2. Du‘a’ as begging
• Distinction as the purpose of division is absent
• Du‘a’ is not merely an act of worship
• Surah al-Fatihah and the concepts of isti‘anat and istighathah
• References
• Chapter 2: The Meaning of Appeal to the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him and His Household) for Help 
• Istighāthah - In the light of traditions and the practice of the Companions
• Abū Hurayrah’s appeal for help
• Qatādah bin an-Nu‘mān’s appeal for help
• Abscess–stricken Companion’s appeal for help
• A blind Companion’s appeal for help
• Companions’ appeal for rain
• Amīr Hamzah - the remover of troubles
• Yā Muhammadāh - Battle-cry of the Companions
• First objection
• Reply
• Second objection
• Reply
• Third objection
• Reply
• Fourth objection
• Reply
• Ibn Taymiyyah’s endorsement
• Proof of ritualistic assignment
• Mutual relation between appeal for help, intermediation and intercession
• Seek his help today
• References
• Chapter 3: Justification of Istighathah After Death 
• Proof of purgatorial life
• The life and capacity of the soul
• The dead as a source of benefit for the living
• Love of the friends of Allāh is an integral part of faith
• References
• Chapter 4: Smoothing out the Wrinkles
• First objection: Appeal for help is in itself an act of worship
• Each appeal for help is not an act of worship
• Second objection: Appeal for help is a form of disbelief in supernatural matters
• Intellectual settlement of the objection
• Division between real and derivative is inevitable
• Justification of help from derivative source in supernatural matters
• Allegation of disbelief against Jibrīl (Peace Be Upon Him)?
• Allegation of disbelief against ‘Īsā (Peace Be Upon Him)?
• Allegation of disbelief against Allāh?
• Third objection: Beseeching someone other than God for help smacks of his invisible power
• Rebuttal of the self-concocted belief
• Can creatures have remote knowledge?
• ‘Umar Fārūq’s inspiration
• Difference between spiritual inspiration and knowledge of the unseen
• The Prophet’s question is an argument for the power of the questioned
• Fourth objection: There is no helper except Allāh
• Fallacious reasoning
• Fifth objection: Begging and beseeching help from Allāh alone is valid
• Begging for help is Allāh’s command
• Ask for some more
• Beseeching help from others is Islamic command
• Sixth objection: Negation of beseeching the holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him and His Household) for help 
• Correct meaning of the tradition
• References
• Chapter 5: Religious Leaders and Istighathah 
• 1. Imām Zayn-ul-‘Ābidīn
• 2. Imām Mālik
• 3. Imām Qurtubī
• 4. Qādī ‘Iyād
• 5. Imām Subkī
• 6. Imām Ibn Kathīr
• 7. Hāfiz ‘Asqalānī
• 8. Imām Qastallānī
• 9. Imām Ibn Hajar Haythamī
• 10. Imām Nabhānī
• 11. Imām Ālūsī
• 12. Shāh ‘Abd-ul-Haqq Muhaddith Dihlawī
• 13. Shāh Walī Allāh Muhaddith Dihlawī
• 14. Mawlānā Ashraf ‘Alī Thānwī
• 15. Imām Ahmad bin Zaynī Dahlān
• 16. Imām Muhammad bin ‘Alawī al-Mālikī
• 17. Shaykh Muhammad Hishām Kabbānī
• A brief summary
• References
• Chapter 6: Purging Disblelief in Muhammad 
• Figurative relation between belief and disbelief
• The last word
• References
• Glossary
• Bibliography