Du`a' (Supplication) FAQs & Fatwas

What is the Ruling on Seeking Divine Aid from Other than Allah, even if it were a Prophet?

Answered by Sh. Muhammad al-Hasan Walid al-Didō al-Shanqītī | Translated by Suhaib Webb

The Question:

What is the ruling on seeking divine aid from other than Allah, even if it were a Prophet? (peace be upon them)

The Answer:

Allah says in the Qur’an, “That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs sovereignty. And those whom you invoke other than Him do not possess [as much as] the membrane of a date seed. If you invoke them, they do not hear your supplication; and if they heard, they would not respond to you. And on the Day of Resurrection they will deny your association. And none can inform you like [One] Acquainted [with all matters].” (35: 13-14)

It is inconceivable that one could possess more knowledge than Allah, and inform you of something contrary to the definitive ruling above which covers every possibility.1 Al-Istighātha means to seek aid; and it would never be complete or acceptable save with Allah, the Most High. For He is al-Mughīth, the provider of aid exclusively, and anyone other than Him has no power over himself or others to bring benefit, prevent harm, cause death, bring life or to resurrect.

Allah says, “Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah will never create [as much as] a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose. And if the fly should steal away from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him. Weak are the pursuer and pursued.” (Qur’an, 22:73)


  1. For one to seek help from other than Him. Meaning no possibility was left open for one to entertain such an idea.

About the author

Translators

46 Comments

  • Suhaib,

    What about your dear friends at Sunnipath? They have tried to legitimize the concept of istighatha and made it seem like the hallmark of Ahl al-Sunnah.

    See for yourself:

    Question:

    I see on some internet forums, people writing such things as “Ya Ali I invoke thee” – I wanted to know is it allowed to say such things? Does this not smack of shirk?

    Answer:

    In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful & Compassionate

    There are a few issues:

    a) It is a fundamental belief of Muslims that only Allah benefits or harms; that only Allah gives and takes;

    b) It is also a fundamental belief of Muslims that Allah has created means for humans to take;

    c) However, the relationship between these created means and their effects is only normative: it is Allah who creates the means, and Allah who creates the results.

    This is why Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri (Allah have mercy on him), the great spiritual guide and master of the sciences of faith (aqida) from Damascus, explained,

    �Taking means is necessary, and denying that they are effective is necessary. Whoever negates means is denying the Wisdom of Allah, and whoever relies upon means is associating others with Allah.�

    This is the understanding upon which Muslims �call upon other than Allah.� It is no different from taking medicine when sick, or going to a mechanic when your car is giving trouble: if you think that the medicine itself creates the healing, or that the mechanic is the one himself creates the fixing, then you have serious innovation in belief. The sound understanding is that Allah creates the healing when you use the medicine, and He creates the fixing when the mechanic does their job: we affirm these means, but also affirm that it is Allah who created both the means and the resultant effect.

    This is pure affirmation of Divine Oneness. How can it �smack of shirk.�

    See answer(s) mentioned below.

    Wassalam,

    Faraz Rabbani

    http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=3752&CATE=24

    • Asalamu alaykum,

      After I was shown a number of answers at Sunnipath, I left them. I would not encourage anyone to take fatwa or knowledge from them as they are not qualifed. Nor would I encourage anyone to go to Jordan and live with the Keller cult. The reports we are getting from there and the damaged murids we are seeing in Cairo, we need to avoid these people at all cost. A simple remedy. When you go to study some place ask yourself, where is the memorization of the Qur’an, its study and the Sunna? Where is the fiqh and the Usol? I’ve been told that the buy Nuh Keller’s sweaty clothes, nasty old miswaks and so on. This is not Islam, this is Hislam. This is not an issues of sufi salafi, this is an issue of a Jim Jones type cult.

      SDW

      • Sheikh Suhaib Webb,

        As Muslims we should always seek to see proof before taking anything as fact. I would like examples of other answers on Sunnipath which you refer to. You said you heard people buy Nuh Keller’s sweaty clothes, have you tried to validate what you heard. If so, please share with us.

        This is important for me to know because I am currently taking a course in SunniPath and would like more info before I decide on taking more classes there or not.

        Jazakallah

      • As Salaamu alaykum
        Alhamdulillaah, what a relief to hear this…I feared this for our brother suhaib; inshaa’Allaah ta’ala we can come to agreements on our understanding of bid’ah fid-deen.

      • I find this comment immensely strange. I was in Jordan for about 3 months, the zawiya had classes on the biography of the prophet, peace upon him- one in arabic taught by a brother and one in english taught by a sister. Umm Sahl taught a class on tafsir and one on tassawuf, Umm Khayr taught a class on raising Muslim children. Sheikh Nuh translated the Umdat Ul Salik, a shariah manuscript -anyone who believes he doing something against the law could use his on manual to refute him! On marriage I’ve heard Umm Khayr say if your marriage isn’t helping you be a better Muslim you should leave it. Sheikh Nuh has said a woman is allowed to leave her husband if he’s “making her his business… driving her crazy”. Sheikh Nuh encourages his students to learn islamic law -both hanafi and shafi was taught in the zawiya and to learn arabic. Where people memorizing quran? Well this isn’t a quran school nor are we obligated to memorize quran but rather to implement it’s meaning.
        Yes, by a comment Umm Sahl made it was obvious to me that she wasn’t strongly against women being “knocked around” by there husbands but this is her personal view she is not the sheikh. The sheikh- murid relationship is voluntary, anyone who wants out can simply stop following the sheikh’s advice and stop doing the wird of the tariqa. I’ve listened to numerous lectures by sheik Nuh at the Zawiya and online, from my own experience I wish there were more people on the path like sheikh Nuh and his mureeds.
        I would encourage anyone to go to Jordan to visit Shekh Nuh, listen to his lectures online and make there own opinion.

    • Assalamualikum,

      I agree with Saykh Webb and wanna say to the brother Mustofa brother it is not the fact that this saykh said this or that. It`s the fact of Islam, what Allah said what his messenger said. Allah said “Say, ‘Produce your evidence if what you say is true!“ (Quran 2;111) These people use analogy without valid prof from Quran and Sunnah like we need mechanics, medicine stuffs like that in the same way Christians use analogy to explain original sin, crucifixion and redemption etc.Brother remember obey Allah and his messenger blindly not someone from Sunnipath. On the day of judgment you will have to be accountable for yourself not the guy from sunnipah. If you are wrong then on the day of judgement they will deny you.

      May Allah guide you…Ameen

  • Have the Deobandis over-run Mauritania? Just kidding – but really, if this was a South Asian scholar saying this, you would hear the word “Wahhabi” even before you could spell B-A-R-E-L-V-I.

  • Interesting but lets face it, there is a difference of opinion on the side issue of istigatha. I think all scholers accept that all help is ultimately from Allah the most high however the difference is some scholers believe that Prophets can aid us in times of distress with the intention that the aid ultimately comes from allah the most high and Prophets are the means for us receiving that aid.

    Its a shame that in the current world this issue divides muslims to the extent that muslims throw fellow muslims out of the folds of Islam for believing in istigatha and its also a tragedy that there are some ignorant people who misunderstand istigatha esp in the villages of some muslim countries. Education and understaning differences is the key to solving this issue.

    • Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wabaarakatuh

      Those scholars aren’t scholars. Istigatha to anyone other than Allah is shirk. Dua is ibadah. Therefore dua to anyone even the Prophet salalahualayhiwasalam is shirk. It’s a despicable practice that caused the Christians to stray. It’s called shirk.

    • Brother,
      it is so simple, yest we don’t want to see it! when we have a diffrence of opinion we go back to Quran and Sunnah….
      ok, Rasool Allah has never ever called uopn any creature nor he commanded us to do so.
      His sahaba never did that; at the time of Omar ibn al-khattab Khilapha there was no rain at one year.. and there was some kind of a stravation.. what did he do ? did he do “istigatha” upon rasool Allah peace be upon him? NO he didn’t although he knew the rasool Allah had a “barzakhi” life in his grave. what did Omar al Farooq did ?
      well, he called Al-AABBAS and he said:
      “we used to ask for rain from Allah and get it by our prohet and now we ask for that by our prophet’s uncle, and Al-Abbas raised his hands and made dua'”!!!!!!! does this mean anything to you ?!

      it is very obvious that “istigatha” is not the prophet’s way nor his companions’!! that should make us leave it behind.

      and even if the intention is only for Allah, it causes fitnah for a lot other people (majeroty) who’s hearts get attached to creatures, because hearts was made to be attacjed to the unknown, weather by love and desire or by fear. and step by step those people get into shirk!

  • Shaykh Suhaib,

    I see your previous comment concerning Shaykh Nuh (and Sunnipath) has been deleted (I am no longer able to view it on the site, though it was downloaded via RSS). The response was rather uncharacteristic of you (more like a certain group not to be mentioned) and seems to sow the seeds of the fitna of divisiveness you have spoken about before. Maybe you should have been silent or made a general comment without the hint of personal feelings that seemed to come through your response. As you yourself know, there is always a risk to scholars that they can inadvertently develop a cult like following from admirers who will go to different lengths to show there allegiance or affiliation. Even such is developing around your noble self as we speak, may Allah guide us all. There has to be a better (more constructive) way to handle these differences with castigation.

    Wallahu 'aalam

  • Asalamu alaykum,

    Abideen I appreciate this advice. I must admit my anger with the things I've seen first hand coming from Jordan. However, as you have stated, there must be a better way. I'm truly appreciative of this nasiha and pray Allah will bless me to follow the best of it. When it comes to cults, families being hurt, which I've seen and other things, we have to stand up and protect our communities from cults. I admonish all who want to follow me, circle around me or turn me into some guru that I'm nothing. I'm not a scholar, sheikh, imam and I have no group or tariqa. I'm just a student of knowledge.

    SDW

  • Jazaka Allahu khayran for the post.

    I think in this topic and its history there needs to be a few things said to keep it in touch with reality. This is myself speaking from the perspective of an average person who gets dragged into this debate by Muslims simple enough to take Islam from youtube. I hope this will help everyone who is in the middle of this age-old debate, see things as they are and not distort them to be of apocalyptic importance.

    1) Hypothetical scenarios should be avoided at all costs. Its not reality. Period. I don't see any benefit in giving people the idea to even consider “even if it were a Prophet.” They will then talk endlessly. Much of the reality of the problems I have heard is in regards to what may happen in villages where understanding of Islam is minimal and yet preaching is very easy. We're not living in villages where people shout “Ali is God!”

    2) Perspective and intention is what this seems to come down to. I've discussed with my family whether me speaking to my dead cousin while visiting his grave, if this is “calling upon him”? Or is people leaving comments on his still active Facebook, considered calling upon the dead? The key thing here is intention, since I am not praying to, but rather am speaking to him. This is OK and even the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam spoke to the dead in their graves this way. But me speaking in a similar way to Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam…is all of a sudden problematic? We are to love him more than our own parents and our own selves…yet we are censored from being too forward for fear of shirk?

    Now, my question is this (not directed at any one scholar): Who is a scholar to anasthetize a believers heart? To somehow think a legal ruling will censor away certain emotions which they interpret to be shirk-y? That's not reality. Allah is the Turner of Hearts- not the scholars. I would have to love such a scholar more than I love the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in order to hold back my love for my Nabi salallahu alayhi waslam. If Y interprets X saying, “Ya Rasulullah” to be worship when X's intention is love, Y is as much fault for trying to infer X's intention as a man who claims to have knowledge of the ghayb through jinns. Allah rules over the hearts, not subjective interpretations and one's judgment.

    Personally, I find this obsessive fear of people worshiping the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam innately perverse and irrelevant. Learn the Sunnah and read the Seerah. That itself will cure it- not random case scenarios. If a God-fearing Muslim, has a true and genuine fear of shirk, didn't Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam give us a dua in his Sunnah for “fear of shirk”? We are human, and if we even DO commit shirk (somehow riyaa gets ignored) as a mistake, Allah knows our hearts best and will judge us accordingly. I think its more beneficial to learn this dua than to be involved in directionless debates: http://www.makedua.com/display_dua.php?sectioni

    I can't help but feel this topic is more about psychology of death, psychology of prayer (Who has the right to censor prayers except Allah Who can simply reject the dua) and social psychology (subjective interpretation of others words and actions) than it is theology.

    That's just my thoughts on the matter. I understand this post is simply a question-answer. I can't help however to feel this topic has become next to superfluous and lacking benefits. Apologies if I said too much, I am trying to be honest and share a perspective based on relevance and wouldn't have said it if I didn't think this blog were a place for it to be understood clearly.

    Salam aleikum

    P.S. This is unrelated I think it would be a good idea for to discuss this book on the blog: http://nisa78.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-is-spir

  • Shaikh Suhaib (or others),

    This is probably one of the more “interesting” topics in our Islamic world. I for one am not educated enough to say definitely enough this or that. Based on what I do know, I prefer to err with caution because the repercussions of asking dead scholars for intercession is far more serious than any blessings that may occur. I don't think anyone has a problem with saying salaam to the Prophet (SAW), the martyrs of Uhud, etc. do to textual proof in hadiths. However, the intercession is the area (I think) of debate.

    What I would find of great value is to know the proofs for istigatha with deceased scholars. Unlike Judaism and Christianity, we are a religion that is based on proofs (Quran, Sunna, Ijma, etc.).

    I meant no offense, so may Allah please forgive me if I misspoke.

  • Reading the comments, I think something needs to be made clear:

    Tawassul is making d'ua to ALLAH through an intercessor. It is not making d'ua to the deceased person. Look at the article again:

    “Al-Istighātha means to seek aid; and it would never be complete/acceptable save with Allah [The Most High].”

    The Sheikh is not talking about tawassul here. If one were to make d'ua to a deceased person he would surely be committing shirk, but making d'ua to Allah through a deceased person is a different matter and topic.

    See: http://www.marifah.net/articles/istighatha-kawt

    And Allah knows best.

  • Asalamu alaykum,

    Abideen I appreciate this advice. I must admit my anger got the best of me. However, as you have stated, there must be a better way. I'm truly appreciative of this nasiha and pray Allah will bless me to follow the best of it.

    That being said, I would like to make it clear that I have found instances of families being broken by this group and witnessed an intolerance from some of their followers that borders on bigotry. I have a dear friend who left the group and has since left Islam. I would prefer not to go into details, but he was ex communicated from the group by their leader. I do not agree with Nuh Keller, his followers nor with what Sunnipath pushes as being mainstream. Islam is not about any personality save the Prophet {sa).

    Unfortunately I find many similarities between such groups and the very churches I attended before my Islam. I would not encourage anyone to go to Jordan to live with them, nor take fatwa our courses from Sunnipath. Unity has its price and we cannot use it to justify destroyed families and the strange opinions found at Sunnipath. American Muslim leadership has a responsibility to stand up in front of any group that threatens the social fabric of our communities and pushes strange opinions off as though they are the norm. Let folks know now that I'm not going respond to the barrage of comments I'm about to receive regarding this. I have no time for this and hope and pray that we can move beyond desires and look at the realities articulated by the Qur'an, Sunna and the Usol. The internet is a hot bed for emotional feelings, angers and loves, all steeped in souls that love things based on desires and not dalil. Thus, there is not time to argue. Let's study, memorize the book of Allah, memorize Bulugh al-Maram, memorize the Alfiya, study and develop programs for the communities we live in.

    SDW

  • SubhanAllah, May Allah bless Shanqiti for this response – short and sweet. May Allah bless Suhaib W. – and Muslims worldwide. La illaha IlAllah – Muhammad Rasul Allah <3

  • Why can't Muslims just make du'a to Allah? Isn't that enough?

    And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near. I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright. (Al-Baqarah 2:186)

    Oversimplified? Not really. Ask Allah has he has told you. Who decided to go ask the dead? Now we can understand the hadith which states: “Whomsoever brings an action which is not from this affair of ours then it is rejected”. So,when we find some people doing thikr dances people justify it with a hadith stating; “Make thikr of Allah until people say you are majnoon”. From this one statement you find people spinning around in circles dancing and singing calling it thikr. Back to the basics Muslims.

    Anyway, why can't we make things easy for ourselves and strive to get closer to Allah the way the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his companions, may Allah be please with them, did it.

  • as-salamu `alaykum,

    I know you said you will not be responding to emails about this, but I am not sure if you meant all emails, or just complaint emails. I hope my question is sincere.

    I have been studying with sunnipath classes for some time now and was following one of their degree programs (not for the degree, but for its guided curriculum). I have always loved the clases and I guess thought that they were legitimate. Would you still advise us to stay away if we are wary of things that seem “off” (you know, things that just don’t seem right…like seeing aid from other than Allah)?

    I would really appreciate if you did have time to answer this, as I have committed much time to this program and was going to do so as well further in the future. If you can give just any information to me as to why it would be harmful to study with sunnipath, I would appreciate it, even if in a private email.

    And if you have another minute (which I doubt but I thought I would ask), I was wondering if you had any other ideas of where/how I can get such comprehensive (seeming?) Islamic education online, as I cannot study abroad again.

    Jazakum Allahu khayran,

    Lena

  • A Re-sedimentation of Unchanged Discrepancies

    Without any doubt the true hallmarks of Ahl al-Sunnat wa al-Jama’ah are the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His most beloved Prophet, our master Muhammad, SallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallama. No Muslim from the entire ummah denies this fact; our ‘aqidah, our shari’ah, and our ihsan comes directly from these two sources. Indeed, they are the fountain of guidance from which every Muslim quenches their thirst; to make it through the sojourn from our temporal abode, into our eternal situation of Hereafter. And, may Allah make us all inhabitants of Jannah. Amin.

    I as well wouldn’t direct any individual to Jordon or to Sh. Nuh Keller. I would advise them to walk on the best path that they see fit, towards Allah, His din, the Sunnah of His Prophet, SallAllah alayhi wa sallama.

    Be all that as it may, your recent shift to the “Athari” approach seemed at first welcome: well intended and sincere. Unfortunately, you are falling deep into the same pit that you promised to be trying to guide the ummah out of. Rather than focusing on any area of agreement, you are firing off on the non-issue topics; like istighatha. How much good could you possibly do to fix any problem that you might see amongst the ummah (or the various groups within it), whilst you sit in some little markaz in Cairo and gun down other scholars?

    I see many similarities between Sh. Nuh’s hopes and visions and yours. For example, the need and urgency to provide good, solid traditional educational structures to the ummah at large. How you choose to express yourself is up to you. I just hope and pray that one day we as a nation holding the final revelation for the Creator to His Creation can see past ad hominem argumentation; and proceed together towards fixing the problems that we all know face our ummah.

    Jazaka Allah for you fikar and concern; may Allah give us the strength to all be better,

    M. Yaqub

  • Assalaamu’alaikum Suhaib Webb,

    First of all, I want the same answer to what Lena has mentioned in the previous post,

    October 25, 2009 at 5:23 pm | Permalink

    as-salamu `alaykum,

    I know you said you will not be responding to emails about this, but I am not sure if you meant all emails, or just complaint emails. I hope my question is sincere.

    I have been studying with sunnipath classes for some time now and was following one of their degree programs (not for the degree, but for its guided curriculum). I have always loved the clases and I guess thought that they were legitimate. Would you still advise us to stay away if we are wary of things that seem “off” (you know, things that just don’t seem right…like seeing aid from other than Allah)?

    I would really appreciate if you did have time to answer this, as I have committed much time to this program and was going to do so as well further in the future. If you can give just any information to me as to why it would be harmful to study with sunnipath, I would appreciate it, even if in a private email.

    And if you have another minute (which I doubt but I thought I would ask), I was wondering if you had any other ideas of where/how I can get such comprehensive (seeming?) Islamic education online, as I cannot study abroad again.

    Jazakum Allahu khayran,

    Lena

    Please, at the very least email me a private response, because my question is roughly the same as her’s.

    And secondly,
    Sometimes the fault lies with the followers, not so much of the leader(in this case Nuh K.). This happens in any taught curriculum, where, a teacher teaches one thing, and perhaps some fanatic students, try to take the subject way out of bounds, and in turn if it gets out of hand, may interpret the subject way out of line, different from what was actually taught. It happens in all subjects of interests, be it secular or religious education, which is why such radical passion in the students brought about innovation, something new, “some new improvement”, that they think, and felt it good.

    Please do give exact examples or even better, links to sunnipath, of which the answers to questions are deemed inappropriate or wrong, because if one were to judge someone based on what one sees, or mere hearsay, one could be easily deceived. Because the reality and appearance are different from each other, what may appear so, may not be the reality that is being reflected. One classic example would be fitnah.

    Hope to hear from you soon.

    Khairul Amin

  • Asalamu alaykum,

    Br. khairul:

    I agree with you and the others that those who practice these things are not mushrik, kufar or out of Islam! Please read the answer above and note the underlined passage. While I personally don’t do tawassul with the dead, I would never censure someone who followed that line of thinking. We can differ, get heated and even bang a little, but in the end this is an issue that has been debated for a long time by minds of the highest caliber. Some misunderstood a statement of mine regarding a group and its leader as reminding me of the church. It was not due to their practice of istighatha, but their cultist attitudes and blind following of their leaders that caused me to write that.

    SDW

  • Jazakum Allah ya Shaykh Suhaib Webb,

    This is the first time I have seen anyone stand up in public and say their true opinion of Shaykh Nuh Keller in Jordan. Most people are too afraid to stand up and speak the truth. I was there and felt in my heart what was happening was not of the Quran and Sunnah. While some fiqh classes were going on, NO Quran memorization was going on. I found many things to be strange and Alhamdulilah Allah protected me and kept me from living there permanently. I am not against any particular persons, however, I am against falsehood. I pray that he, Shaykh Nuh Keller and the people with him are guided to the right path.

    Muhammad

    • Br. Muhammad. Were you at the Qibla summer study program? What did you see exactly? I would like to know since I am thinking about visiting there for a month in the summer.

      Jazakallah

      Jubair

  • Salam All,
    I had to quickly state a few facts. If you’ve been to jordan and have not found quran memorisation going on among mureeds then you must’ve stayed at a hotel and used binoculars to stare at them.
    There are like a few quran schools within 10 min walk of each other for men, women, kids, not to mention an islamic school for kids etc. And they teach hifz etc.

    I’m sorry but the criticism against the Shaykh is so pathetic, i am not good at metaphors but it is like someone who known not much about islam and while looking at muslims making ruku thinks they are making ‘dodgy movements’.

    May Allah forgive us all for even thinking of the awliya in this way. Secularism is really getting the best of us.

  • Assalamu alaikum Sh. Suhaib,

    When you said “While I personally don’t do tawassul with the dead, I would never censure someone who followed that line of thinking. We can differ, get heated and even bang a little, but in the end this is an issue that has been debated for a long time by minds of the highest caliber.”

    Can you please clarify something? Tawassul with the dead, as I understand it, is the act of asking Allah through the station of so-and-so, that He grant us our du’as. As far as I knew there were a minority of scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah who did allow this through the station of Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). Is this what you referred to? Or was it the practice of addressing the dead directly, as in “Oh so-and-so, pray to Allah for me”? If it is the latter please clarify the debate you say has been going on between the greatest calibre of ‘ulama because I have yet to come across anyone from Ahl al-Sunnah who allowed that.

    JazakAllahu khairan

  • If we believe the prophets (peace be upon them all) to be alive in their graves, then wouldn’t asking them to make dua for you be akin to asking your friends and relatives to pray for you ( it is also mentioned in the hadith the virtues of a person making dua for others) ? If someone asks a prophet to make dua for you, wouldn’t the sunnipath answer be a valid answer ? I’m not at all knowledgeable about Islam, but just finding my way and deciding which one to take.

    • “If we believe the prophets (peace be upon them all) to be alive in their graves”

      versus

      “Muhammed is but a Prophet before whom many prophets have come and gone. SHOULD HE DIE or be killed, will you give up your faith? . . .”
      – 3:144

      Plus

      “. . . Allah will not combine two deaths on you. You have died the death which was written for you.” . . . “Whoever amongst you worshipped Muhammed, then Muhammed is dead, but whoever worshipped Allaah, Allaah is alive and will never die. . .”
      – Abu Bakr Radiya’L-Laahu `anh via al-Bukhari 2.333

      Plus

      Abu Hurayrah Radiya’L-Laahu `anh narrated: The Messenger of Allaah SallaaAllaahu `alayhi wa Sallam said: “. . . Send blessings upon me for your greeting will reach me no matter where you are.”
      – Abu Dawood, 2042

      Plus

      ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood Radiya’L-Laahu `anh narrated: The Messenger of Allaah SallaaAllaahu `alayhi wa Sallam said: “Allaah has angels who go around on earth, conveying to me the salaam of my ummah.”
      – al-Nasaa’i, 1282

      Plus

      “Ibn `Abd Al-Barr said: It was verified that the Prophet SallaaAllaahu `alayhi wa Sallam said: Whenever a Muslim passes by the grave of someone whom he knows in life and salutes him (says a’S-Selaamu `alaykum) Allaah will return the soul of the dead person to respond to the salutation.”
      Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah – Kitab Ar-Rooh Part 1, p5.

      Conclusion:
      The Prophet SallaaAllaahu `alayhi wa Sallam is dead. Two angels that Allaah `Azza wa Jall has appointed bring the Selaams of the people that salute him.
      It is assumed, unless there is either corroborating evidence, or evidence to the contrary, that his soul is returned to his body long enough to respond to the Selaams given to him.
      People get this mixed up with, “Oh, his soul is returned to him whilst he is in the grave, so he is alive, so we can supplicate to him.”
      Uh uh!

      InshaaAllaah this information somewhat cleared it for you.

      • coming of prophet saws soul is permanent acc to imam suyuti (ra)…. and also logically, millions of ppl say salam on prophet saws at every time, so there cannot be any time ,weher his soul is out of his body

  • Salam alaikum sh. Suhaib

    Do you know anything about Bilal Phillips’ “Islamic Online University”, and would you recommend his courses? And what about “Arees Institute”?

  • Assalamu alaikum.
    In our salah,everytime we recite,”thee only we worship,and thee only we ask for help”.
    If after saying this in our salah,we seek aid from holy men,both dead and alive or seek help from any other source,
    we are of the hypocrites and dhalimeen.
    We do need to know “rocket science” to understand that it
    is SHIRK. May Allah keep us steadfast on TAWHEED, PARTICULARLY ULUHIYAH

  • As a mureed of Shaykh Nuh, I have never heard the Sheikh or his wife, deputies etc blaming the woman for domestic violence. If that was true, then there will be recordings of it. Please provide your proof. Load of garbage. Usually people have issues before the tariq and they blame the Shaykh later for not fixing it up for them ( like it is his job) Umm Khayr and umm Sahl told a friend of mine to call the police instantly if her husband was to lay a hand on them. So please miss EX – Mureed dont blame the Sheikh for your problems. If anyone knew you, they would know you have a bad character and have upset many muslimahs and you were told numerous times to work on your character by the Sheikh and his representatives because you simply do not have manners in dealing with people.

    • Interesting. The sister relayed her experience in the tariqa. Yet you, sister, responded with defensiveness, character assassination, since you seem to know who the sister is, slander and as an afterthought, “that being said,…too bad you were bashed for years..”

      Seem fair to you?

      Also, it should have been the shaykh’s, indeed, any practicing muslim’s job to interfere, if violence was revealed. It did not happen, by the sounds of it.

      I’d like to know, Sr Unfazed, if that was you, putting aside your adoration of your shaykh, would you have been justified in questioning as this sister did? Being angry? Especially when she sought clarification “in case it was my misunderstanding”, and was rebuffed?

      Where’s the humanity in this group, if this was your response?

      At the time of the prophet, sas and the khulafa, women used to publicly stand up and complain, or give naseeha, and they were man enough to listen. Why is any shaykh in this day and age exempt from that self reflection?

      As to proof, maybe if Sr Unfazed provides her details, she may find that Sr Ex-Mureeda can provide it to her and to any other sincere mureeds.

      May Allah watch over us all, especially those most vulnerable, whose rights are nonetheless violated by others, however well meaning.

    • To Unfazed:

      Your statements are a proof of the claims against your ‘group’. They are also shockingly cruel and evil.

      Your impetus is a threat to non-Muslims and Muslims alike.

      See you then.

  • That been said. Your husband had no right to lay a hand on you and that is very sad. Inshallah Allah Most High, heal your broken heart and bring a good man into your life that will help you heal.

    • Your devotion seems to be to Nuh and not the truth. That is precisely how all previous nations went astray. They put their devotion into the creation and that caused them to stray from the Creator.

  • As-Salaamu Alaikum Shaykh Suhaib,

    After I converted to Islam, I took classes on Sunnipath because I never was able to find any other Muslim friends or a nice mosque. I learned my Islam from them, and then I joined the tariqa. I ended up having a horrible experience with the Shaykh and his mureeds, and I have never been able to get over it. It has been a few years, but because I was a new Muslim, I have never been able to understand even what happened, or what I did that made it permissible for them to break my soul. Is there anywhere that I can go or anyone that I can talk to about this? As a result of this experience, I have a severe phobia of Muslims, and I just want to get over it so that I can get them out of my mind and move on with my life. Thanks.

    • Walaikumassalaam.

      If you can tell us what city you are from, maybe I can guide to a knowledgeable person who holds the correct view and practice of Islam.

        • Al-salaamu Alaikum!

          I lived in Raleigh for sometime and I found the imams of the Islamic Association of Raleigh (raleighmasjid.org) to be quite moderate, knowledgeable, and approachable. Please contact them directly for a meeting, particularly Imam Sameh, as he is recently much more involved with the community than our second imam (who is also wonderful)–if you’ve already tried this, or would prefer to speak to laymen as opposed to religious leaders, please let me know; Alhamdulillah I have lots of friends in Raleigh. May Allah guide us always to truth, Amin!

    • salam, could you tell us what happened?
      Im interesting in taking bahay with the shaykh but all of these posts are freaking me out!

      • Sister Fatimah. Did you take bayat with Sheikh Nuh in the end? I am an ex murid and can tell you after 10 years in that cult , STAY AWAY!

Leave a Reply to Suhaib Webb X