Ibn Taymiyya’s View on Tawassul

Question

We, the Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama‘a, when making du‘a, supplicate for the sake and by the grace of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — is this permissible or not? Imam Ibn Taymiyya, in his book “al-Wasila”, declared impermissible any wasila other than the attributive names of God, and as evidence he cites the hadith of Hazrat ‘Umar ﵁, who after the passing of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made the prayer for rain (istisqa’) through the medium of the Prophet’s ﷺ uncle Hazrat ‘Abbas ﵁.

Answer

To supplicate in this manner — “O Allah, through the wasila of the Noble Prophet ﷺ accomplish such-and-such a task of ours, save us from sins, grant us the ability (tawfiq) to do righteous deeds” — is, according to the Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama‘a, correct under the Sacred Law.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.