al-Mafhum al-Sahih lil-Tawassul
- Author died
- 1418 AH
- Editions
- al-Jāmi‘ah al-Islāmīyah bi-al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah
al-Mafhum al-Sahih lil-Tawassul (The Proper Concept of Intercession in Light of the Sunnah) is a theological and hadith treatise by the Medina-based scholar Hammad al-Ansari (d. 1418 AH / 1997 CE), written in refutation of contemporary arguments advocating supplication through the persons of the righteous .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was composed to refute a booklet by the Moroccan scholar Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Siddiq al-Ghumari titled Ithaf al-Adhkiya' fi al-Tawassul bi-al-Anbiya' wa-Ghayrihim min al-Salihin wa-al-Awliya' (The Gift to the Intelligent on Intercession Through the Prophets and Other Righteous and Saintly Figures) . In that work, al-Ghumari argued for the validity of tawassul (seeking intercession or a means of approach to God) through the physical persons or essences (dhawat) of the prophets and the righteous, citing five prophetic hadiths and five reports from the Companions and Successors (athar) and grading all of them as authentic .
Al-Ansari authored his treatise to defend Salafi creed and demonstrate the defectiveness of al-Ghumari's evidentiary basis, titling the text within his opening remarks Tuhfat al-Qari fi al-Radd 'ala al-Ghumari (The Reader's Gift in Refuting al-Ghumari) . He situated his work within an established lineage of refutations on the subject, citing earlier treatises such as Ibn Taymiyyah's Qa'idat al-Tawassul wa-al-Wasilah (Principle of Intercession and Means), Muhammad Bashir al-Sahsawani's Siyanat al-Insan (Protecting Man), Mahmud Shukri al-Alusi's Ghayat al-Amani (The Pinnacle of Hopes), and Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan's Minhaj al-Ta'sis (The Method of Foundation) .
Content and Method
Al-Ansari structures his critical evaluation by dividing al-Ghumari's textual evidence into two primary categories:
- Narrations that directly address al-Ghumari's intended claim regarding tawassul through persons, which al-Ansari demonstrates are severely weak (da'if jiddan) or fabricated (mawdu'), containing untrustworthy, abandoned (matruk), or unknown narrators in their transmission chains .
- Narrations that are authentic in their origin—such as the hadith of Umar ibn al-Khattab in the Sahih collections and the hadith of the blind man in the Sunan collections—which al-Ansari argues are completely outside the scope of al-Ghumari's argument, because they establish seeking intercession through the supplication (du'a') of living individuals rather than through their deceased persons or status .
In the course of his critique, al-Ansari clarifies the boundaries of legislated and unlegislated tawassul . Legislated tawassul comprises seeking nearness to God through His divine names and exalted attributes, or through righteous deeds such as obedience, supplication, and following the Prophet . Conversely, unlegislated tawassul includes polytheistic forms—such as directing supplication to other than God—as well as innovated forms, such as entreating God by the status (jah), sanctity (hurmah), or virtue of a created being .
Publication History
The work was first published as an academic article in the journal of the Islamic University of Medina in the issues of Muharram and Safar 1396 AH (1976 CE), spanning 49 pages under the title al-Mafhum al-Sahih lil-Tawassul 'ala Daw' al-Sunnah . It was subsequently published as a monograph in Kuwait by Maktabat al-Mu'alla in 1406 AH (1986 CE) under the title Tuhfat al-Qari fi al-Radd 'ala al-Ghumari, appearing as part of a collection in al-Silsilah al-Ansariyyah .
Answer updated