Seeking the help of the servants of Allah Pt 2.

Question 6

During his life, a man faces many difficulties – some big and some small. If Allah can relieve all these difficulties, then what is the need to turn towards anyone else? And if those other than Allah can relieve all difficulties, then why do we need Allah?

Answer
It is Allah who removes all difficulties – big and small. His chosen people are intermediaries for His help. For example, it is Allah who grants cures and raises His creatures but doctors and parents are intermediaries for cures and upbringing respectively. Everyone is this world turns towards means and it is through this that the world exists. The same is the case for the Prophets and Saints. They are intermediaries for the help of Allah and creation turns to them with this in mind.

We can ask the questioner in his own words: If Allah can remove all difficulties from a person’s birth till their death and if He can cure all illnesses; then why do people go to a doctor? If a doctor can relieve our illnesses, then what need have we for Allah?


Question 7

If people besides Allah can remove our difficulties, then it is possible that some of them are removed by Allah and He has given the responsibility to remove some difficulties to others. Therefore, you should have a list of difficulties that can be removed by Allah and those that can be removed by others; so that a questioner can present his needs to whoever can relieve it.

Answer
Even though this ridiculous question has been answered in Question 6, we shall repeat it with further clarity. It is Allah who removes all difficulties, so much so that it is in the hadith that when a person runs out of salt, then he should ask Allah for more and if his shoelace breaks, then he should ask Allah. All praise is to Allah that the belief of Ahlu’s Sunnah is upon the fact that the real helper is Allah and His chosen people are manifestations of His help and their help is actually the help of Allah.
However, our experience shows that Wahabis do not act upon this. They ask for salt from the shopkeeper instead of Allah and ask a cobbler for a shoelace and ask people for monetary donations. Can Allah not relieve these difficulties? If He can, then why do they go to other than Allah? Yes, if a Wahabi is drowning in the river and there is someone to help him nearby; then we can guarantee that the Wahabi will consider him to be a means of help and will associate this helper to be a partner to Allah, nay, not just that, he will consider this helper to be a greater helper than Allah and will only call upon this helper and his monotheism will be unaffected. Yes, if he cannot see any helper; then he will call upon no other than Allah.
Now, we ask you in your own words: For some things you ask other than Allah and for others you call Allah alone. Have you got a list which you refer to and seek the help of Allah for some matters and seek it from others for other matters? Yet you do not feel any shame.

Question 8

Whoever can relieve a difficulty apart from Allah, can they also impart difficulties or is their job only to relieve? If they can only remove difficulties, then who creates them?

Answer
Whether it is remove a difficulty or to impart it; to give benefit or harm; the real decider in all these matters is Allah and it is Allah who can make anyone of His creation give benefit or harm. He has made honey grant a cure, food to diminish hunger and water to quench thirst. He made the Earth a covering and the sky a roof. All these things give benefit. He made snakes and scorpions injurious, poison a killer and a heretic a killing agent; hence, all these things are harmful and their benefiting or harmful properties are by the will of Allah.

The Qur’an says:
And We sent down Iron, in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind.(57:25)

The Prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam said:

Whoever has the ability to benefit a brother, then he should benefit him.(Jami’ Saghir, vol.2, p.162)

1. In the battle of Hunayn when the Kuffar surrounded the Prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam, he stepped down from his ride and gathered a handful of dust and threw it at them with the words: Shahati’l wujuh [their faces worsened]. There remained none from the Kuffar whose two eyes were not filled. They ran off and Allah defeated them.(Mishkat, p.534)
2. When the Prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam wrote to the king of Iran, Chosroes, he tore the letter upon which the Prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam said:

May they be totally torn apart. Bukhari, vol.1, p.15)

The blessed tongue had uttered these words and soon after, Chosroes’ own son killed him and the kingdom of Iran was destroyed.


3. During the battle of Yamama, the companions sought help from the Prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam with the words یا محمداه . If it was only یا محمد , even then the meaning was achieved but the alif is for Istighatha. In this Khayr al- Qurun, these monotheists [companions] made the Prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam their helper against the enemies of Islam.
4. The Prophet sallAllahu 'alaihi wasallam said about the Abdal of Syria: By their blessings, rain will fall and through their intermediation, victory will be gained against the enemies and due to their blessed beings, the people of Syria will be saved from punishment.(Mishkat, p.583)
5. During the caliphate of Sayyidina ‘Umar radiyAllahu ‘anhu, Hadrat Sariya radiyAllahu ‘anhu took an army to Nahawand which is approximately 2,500 km from Madina. They were engaged in battle against the Kuffar and one battalion of the enemy army planned to attack the Muslim army from behind the mountain. At the same time, Sayyidina ‘Umar radiyAllahu ‘anhu was on the pulpit delivering the Friday sermon in Madina. The battle plan was in his sights and before the enemy could fulfil their strategy, Sayyidina ‘Umar radiyAllahu ‘anhu informed Hadrat Sariya radiyAllahu ‘anhu of the danger and loudly exclaimed the words Ya
Sariyat al-Jabal thrice. On hearing these words, Hadrat Sariya too altered his plan and saved the Muslim army from defeat.(Mishkat, Chapter of Karamat; Tarikh al-Khulafa)
Hence, we learn that the chosen people of Allah are not only relievers of difficulty; they can even inflict difficulty, destruction and humiliation upon enemies, by the will of Allah.

Question 9

In the end, the result is that Allah inflicts difficulties and those other than Allah remove them. Suppose one being is chosen to inflict difficulties and another is chosen to remove them; which of the two beings will take back their decision?

Answer
This question is a mere deception of the questioner who, according to his ignorance, is trying to prove that power is shared between Allah and His chosen people and that some things are governed by Allah and others by His people. Since He has power over one thing, then it is possible that a conflict occurs and if one being is more powerful, then the other will have to revoke their decision.
This is said even though no Muslim in the world believes that power is shared by Allah and His people or that there can be a conflict. The essence of all power is Allah who is without a partner and the power of His chosen people is granted by Him. They do not use

their power against the will of Allah, rather the use their power is in accordance with the decision of Allah. This is a belief that will not be denied by anyone but an infidel.
Let us firstly see what the Qur’an says regarding the power given to the people of Allah and secondly, how they comply with the orders of Allah in using these powers:

1. Allah granted Sayyidina Sulaiman ‘alaihis salam power over the winds and it blew according to his order. Hence, the Qur’an says:
And (We made) the wind (subservient) to Sulaiman, which made a month's journey in the morning and a month's journey in the evening.(34:12)
In another place, Allah says:

Then We made the wind subservient to him; it made his command to run gently wherever he desired.(38:36)

In another place, the perfection of his control of the winds is described thusly:
And (We made subservient) to Sulaiman the wind blowing violent, pursuing its course by his command to the land which We had blessed.(21:81)

2. Allah made metal turn soft for Sayyidina Dawud ‘alaihis salam. He says:
And We made the iron soft for him.(34:10)

3. Allah granted Sayyidina ‘Isa ‘alaihis salam the power to heal the blind and lepers and to raise the dead and Sayyidina ‘Isa ‘alaihis salam announced this power with these words of the Qur’an:
And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I raise the dead, by Allah's leave.(3:49)

4. A companion of Sulaiman ‘alaihis salam was given the power to bring the weighty throne of Bilqis before the blink of an eye, whereas it was a distance that would normally take two months’ travel. Allah mentions the words of His accomplished servant thusly:
I will bring it to you in the twinkling of an eye.(27:40)

5. When Sayyidina ‘Isa ‘alaihis salam talked about the power given to him by Allah, he did so with the words Bi idhnillah. On the day of judgement, Allah will recount the favours of His upon Sayyidina ‘Isa ‘alaihis salam and He will especially use the word Idhn. He says in the Qur’an:
And you healed the blind and the leprous by My permission; and when you brought forth the dead by My permission.(5:110)

6. It is mentioned in the Qur’an about the companion of Sayyidina Musa ‘alaihis salam, Hadrat Khidr ‘alaihis salam, who talked of his perfection in some creational [takweeni] matters:
I did it not of my own accord.(18:82)




These six verses prove that Allah grants His chosen people authority in creational matters. They do not use these powers against the will of Allah in order for a conflict to occur, rather, they use these powers according to the order of Allah.  

Question 10

When offering the funeral prayer of a person, should we call upon Allah to seek
forgiveness for them or to others who remove difficulties?

Answer
This question, too, is based on ignorance and lack of knowledge because:
Is there any Muslim in the world who seeks forgiveness from anyone other than Allah?
Do we not recite Allahummagh fir li hayyina wa mayyitina wa shahidina wa gha’ibina in the funeral prayer of every adult Muslim?

It is only Allah that forgives sins:

And who can forgive sins except Allah.(3:135)

Yes, due to the blessings of supplications made by His pious servants, sometimes Allah grants forgiveness and this is why the funeral prayer is ordained so that these pious servants can seek forgiveness for the deceased and due to this, He grants it.