Thursday, July 31, 2008

3 people make tawassul by their deeds and get out of the cave!

There are other ahadith that stand as a proof to the validity and the correctness of the statements of Ahl asSunnah. Among of which is the hadith narrated by Imam al-Bukhariyy and others about three people from a previous nation who went inside a cave seeking protection from a heavy rain they encountered in their travels. A big rock rolled down from the top of the mountain shutting off the mouth of the cave and blocking their exit. One of the three men suggested they all make du^a' to Allah by virtue of their good deeds. The first one stood up and made a du^a' to Allah asking Him by one of the good deeds that he had done.

He said, 'O Allah, if that good deed I did previously was done in sincerity to You, then I ask You to relieve us of this calamity we are facing.' Once he finished his du^a', the rock moved slightly; however, it did not move enough for them to come out of the cave. The second man stood up and asked Allah to relieve them of their calamity by virtue of a good deed which he had done in the past.

Again the rock moved a little bit more; however, it was still not enough for them to be able to leave the cave. The third man did the same as the first two, and the rock was moved completely out of the way, and the men were able to leave the cave. This hadith is very famous. It is confirmed and is classified as sahih. It was narrated by Imam al-Bukhariyy and others and confirms those three people asked Allah for something, i.e., to relieve them of their calamity, by their good deeds.
If asking Allah for things by the good deeds of a person, is something permissible in the Religion, then asking Allah for things by the Prophet takes precedence--since the good deed is a creation of Allah, and the best of all the creations is the Prophet.

Moreover, one should note that the good deeds of those people are not categorized as 'alive' or 'present,' as Ibn Taymiyah made a condition. From where did Ibn Taymiyah bring this condition? It is only a delusion on his part. He deduced that from his own delusions, and it is not founded on sound religious proofs.

The Prophet, his Companions, the followers of those Companions, and the followers of those followers of the Companions are all in unanimous agreement that it is permissible to ask Allah for things by the Prophet and by the good and pious Muslims, whether during their life or after their death.

All the scholars from among the four reputable schools, i.e., the school of Imam ash-Shafi^iyy, the school of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, the school of Imam AbuHanifah, and the school of Imam Malik, concur on this issue.

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