Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Islamic Concept of Intermediation (Tawassul)

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

• Preface
• About the Book
• CHAPTER ONE: Reality of Intermediation 
• Section One: Basic conceptions of intermediation (Tawassul)
• Different views about intermediation (Tawassul)
• True sense of the concept of intermediation (Tawassul)
• Important terminology about Tawassul
• Section Two :Literal meaning of Tawassul
• Technical meaning of Tawassul
• Kinds of Tawassul
• Difference between the two
• 3. at-Tawassul bid-du‘ā’
• 4. at-Tawassul bin-nidā’
• Mutual relation between intermediation, intercession and seeking aid
• References
• CHAPTER TWO: The Doctrine of Tawassul (In the Light of Qur’ān)
• Argument No. 1: Injunction for seeking means of approach
• Argument No. 2: Search for means of approach is a valid act
• Argument No. 3: Intermediation through the holy Prophet (SAW)
• Argument No. 4: Relief from distress through the holy Prophet (SAW) on the Day of Judgement
• Argument No. 5: Steadfastness in guidance through the holy Prophet (SAW)
• Argument No. 6: Stalling of punishment through the mediation of the Prophet (SAW)
• Argument No. 7: Zakariyyā’s use of Maryam’s place of worship as means
• Rectification of an error
• Immediate acceptance of prayer through mediation
• Argument No. 8: Return of Ya‘qūb’s eyesight through the mediation of Yūsuf’s shirt
• Real meaning of supernatural causes
• Argument No. 9: Self-humiliation and helplessness as a form of means
• Argument No. 10: Prayer for the entire Ummah as a source of intermediation 
• Argument No. 11: Addition of the word Rabb to the names of the righteous as a form of means
• Argument No. 12: Intermediation through remembering the Lord
• Argument No. 13: Intermediation through remembering the prophets and the saints
• Argument No. 14: Intermediation through Allah’s blessings
• Argument No. 15: Intermediation through the Lord’s promise
• References
• CHAPTER THREE: Rejection of Objections against Tawassul
• Section One :Rectification of doubts and errors
• First objection: Tawassul is not valid through another person
• Correct Stand on Tawassul through another person
• Second objection: Good deeds of one’s children are not deeds of others
• Correct view
• Need for a correct understanding of Qur’anic verses
• Third objection: To attain nearness to Allah, Tawassul is invalid as worship of anyone except Allah is invalid 
• Reply: Worship of non-Allah cannot be proved by the argument for intermediation 
• First similitude
• Second similitude
• Fourth objection: Prophets and saints were themselves in search of mediation 
• Proof for the justification of Tawassul in the holy verse
• Section Two : Tawassul through the prophets and the righteous (In fact Tawassul through virtuous deeds)
• Objection
• Answer
• 1. Love of Allah’s favourites as a form of mediation
• 2. Reciprocal nearness of lover and beloved on the Day of Judgement
• 3. Love for Allah’s lovers is the cause of divine love
• 4. Love for the sake of Allah results in higher grades
• 5. Love of Allah’s friends is the cause of Allah’s love
• References
• CHAPTER FOUR: The Doctrine of Tawassul (In the Light of Sacred Traditions)
• Purging disbelief in Muhammad's followers
• Section One : Intermediation through good deeds
• 1. Deliverance from trouble through mediation
• 2. Prayer as mediation
• 3. Nearness of Allah through voluntary prayer
• 4. Deliverance from the hellfire through better upbringing of daughters
• 5. Deliverance from punishment through the mediation of the penitent
• Section Two: Mediation in supplication
• 1. Intermediation through Allah’s names and attributes
• 2. Prayer through the mediation of Allah’s Personal names
• 3. Prayer through the mediation of divine acts and attributes
• 4. Intermediation through the Prophet’s high station
• 5. Sending blessings on the Prophet (SAW) as mediation for the acceptance of prayer
• 6. The Prophet’s supplication through the mediation of his own person and other prophets
• 7. Intermediation through the supplicant
• 8. Intermediation through the weak
• 9. Intermediation through the supplication of the prophets
• References
• CHAPTER FIVE: Intermediation through the Prophet (SAW)
• The doctrine of intermediation through the holy Prophet (SAW)
• Four forms of intermediation through the holy Prophet (SAW)
• Section One: Intermediation through the holy Prophet (Peac Be Up Him and His Household) before his birth 
• 1. Adam’s intermediation through the holy Prophet (SAW)
• 2. The Prophet (SAW) as a source of intermediation for Jews
• Justification for intermediation through the Prophet (SAW) after his death 
• References
• Section Two: Intermediation through the holy Prophet (Peac Be Up Him and His Household) during his physical existence
• First argument: Waiving of punishment against the Ummah through the holy Prophet’s mediation 
• Second argument: Forgiveness of the Companions through the Prophet’s mediation 
• Third argument: Medina as the source of charity of intercession
• Fourth argument: Return of eyesight through the Prophet’s mediation
• Fifth argument: Descending of rain through the Prophet’s mediation
• Summary of the discussion
• References
• Section Three: Intermediation through the holy Prophet (Peac Be Up Him and His Household) after his death 
• 1. God’s bounty through the Prophet’s mediation
• 2. Forgiveness through the means of the holy Prophet (SAW)
• 3. Intermediation through the Prophet’s request for forgiveness after his death 
• 4. Descension of rain through the Prophet’s means
• 5. Intermediation through the Prophet’s grave during ‘Umar’s tenure
• 6. Fulfilment of needs through the Prophet’s mediation
• 7. Intermediation through the Prophet (SAW) on the Day of Judgement
• References
• Section Four: Intermediation through the Prophet’s relics
• 1. Desire to be buried in the Prophet’s vicinity
• 2. The small water bag of leather as a source of blessing
• 3. Cure through the mediation of the Prophet’s gown
• 4. The Prophet’s ring
• 5. Blessing through the Prophet’s blanket
• 6. Blessing through the Prophet’s sandals
• 7. Blessing through the holy goblet
• 8. Blessing through the holy hair
• 9. Victory in war through the mediation of the Prophet’s hair
• 10. Making a coffin out of the clothes worn by the Prophet (SAW)
• 11. Blessings through the Prophet’s spittle
• 12. Blessing through the Holy Prophet’s perspiration
• 13. Blessing through the Holy Prophet’s handwash
• 14. Blessing through the Holy Prophet’s nail
• 15. Blessing through the Holy Prophet’s staff
• 16. Blessing through the Prophet’s pulpit
• 17. Blessing through the gold given by the Prophet (SAW)
• 18. Blessings through the Prophet’s hands and feet
• Summary
• References
• CHAPTER SIX: Intermediation through Persons other than Prophets
• Proof of purgatorial life
• The life and capacity of the soul
• The dead as a source of benefit for the living
• Section One : Intermediation through the pious
• 1. Mediation of pious parents
• 2. ‘Abbās as a means of help
• 3. Command for supplication through the mediation of Uways Qaranī
• 4. Victory through the Companions and the Successors
• 5. Stalling of punishment through the mediation of the Substitutes
• 6. Fulfilment of people’s needs through the mediation of the righteous
• 7. Intermediation through Allah’s favourites in the jungle
• 8. Subsistence through the blessing of the weak and the decrepit
• Summary
• Section Two : Intermediation through the relics of the pious
• 1. Intermediation through Ibrāhīm’s site
• 2. Relics of the saints as a means of life
• 3. Consensus of exegetes on acquisition of blessing and on intermediation through the relics of the saints
• 4. Evidence from tradition about receiving blessing from the relics of the saints and the prophets
• 5. Construction of mosques beside the tombs of the saints
• References
• CHAPTER SEVEN: Religious Leaders who believe in Intermediation: their Experiences and Observations
• Ideas and beliefs of religious leaders
• 1. Imam Zayn-ul-‘Ābidīn
• 2. Imam Mālik
• 3. Imam Qurtubī
• 4. Imam Hākim
• 5. Imam Bayhaqī
• 6. Qādī ‘Iyād
• 7. Imam Nawawī
• 8. Imam Ibn Taymiyyah
• 9. Subkī
• 10. Imam Ibn Kathīr
• 11. Ibn Hajar ‘Asqalānī
• 12. ‘Abd-ur-Rahmān Jāmī
• 13. Suyūtī
• 14. Qastallānī
• 15. Ibn Hajar Haythamī
• 16. Nūr-ud-Dīn Qārī
• 17. Ahmad Shihāb-ud-Dīn Khafājī
• 18. Muhammad bin ‘Abd-ul-Bāqī Zurqānī
• 19. Muhammad bin ‘Alī Shawkānī
• 20. Ibn ‘Ābidīn Shāmī
• 21. Mahmūd Ālūsī
• 22. Shāh ‘Abd-ul-Haqq Muhaddith Dihlawī
• 23. Muhammad Zāhid Kawtharī
• 24. Mawlānā Ashraf ‘Alī Thānwī
• 25. Ahmad bin Zaynī Dahlān
• 26. Muhammad bin ‘Alawī al-Mālikī
• 27. Muhammad Hishām Kabbānī
• 28. Mahmūd Sa‘īd Mamdūh
• Experiences and observations of the great saints
• 1. The tomb of Umm Harām bint Milhān
• 2. The tomb of Abū Ayyūb al-Ansārī
• 3. Ibn Abū Hātim Rāzī
• 4. Imam Shāfi‘ī
• 5. Ibn-ul-Jawzī
• 6. ‘Abd-ul-Ghanī Maqdisī Hambalī
• 7. Abū al-Qāsim Qushayrī
• 8. Mujaddid Alf Thānī
• 9. Shāh Walī Allah Muhaddith Dihlawī
• A brief summary
• The Last Word
• Refererences
• Glossary
• Bibliography