The hadeeth about the blind man and his seeking for his need to be met by virtue of the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)

The
scholars differed concerning the soundness of this hadeeth. Some of them
said that it is da‘eef and others said that it is hasan, but it is to be
interpreted in a manner other than what may first come to the reader’s mind.
The meaning of this hadeeth is that the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) instructed this blind man to do wudoo’ and pray two rak
‘ahs so that he would be sincere in seeking the intercession of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for him, and so that his wudoo’
and prayer would be indicative of his desire to draw closer to Allah by
virtue of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and to turn
to Allah (to meet his need), may He be glorified and exalted, by virtue of
him. Hence if his intention was sincere and sound, and his resolve was
strong, then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would
intercede for him with Allah, may He be glorified and exalted; in other
words, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) would offer
supplication for him, because du‘aa’ (supplication) is a kind of
intercession. This is proven in the saheeh hadeeth in which the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no Muslim man who
dies, and forty men who do not associate anything with Allah offer the
funeral prayer for him but Allah will accept their intercession for him.” 

So
what this hadeeth means is that this blind man asked the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) to pray to Allah for him, because this
du‘aa’ would be a kind of intercession. But now, after the death of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), such a thing is not
possible; it is not possible for the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) to pray for anyone after his death. The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When a person dies, all his good deeds
come to an end except three: ongoing charity (sadaqah jaariyah),
beneficial knowledge or a righteous son who will pray for him.” Du‘aa’
(supplication) is undoubtedly one of the deeds that come to an end when a
person dies. Indeed, du‘aa’ is an act of worship, as Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And
your Lord said: “Invoke Me, (i.e. believe in My Oneness (Islamic
Monotheism)) (and ask Me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation).”

[Ghaafir 40:60].

Hence
at times of hardship and need, the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them)
did not resort to asking the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) to pray to Allah for them; rather, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said, when
there was a drought and no rain fell: O Allah, we used to seek to have our
needs met by You, by virtue of our Prophet, and You would grant us rain; now
we seek to to have our needs met by You, by virtue of the paternal uncle of
our Prophet, so grant us rain. And they were granted rain. And he asked
al-‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) to call upon Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, to grant them rain; he did so and they were granted
rain. This indicates that it is not possible to ask the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), after his death, to pray for
anyone, as that is not possible because his deeds came to an end with his
death. Because it is not possible for anyone to ask the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) to pray for him after the death of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), it is more apt to say
that it is not possible for anyone to call upon the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) himself to ask him to meet his needs. This comes
under the heading of major shirk which Allah does not forgive, and He has
forbidden Paradise to anyone who does such a thing. Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And
invoke not besides Allah, any that will neither profit you, nor hurt you,
but if (in case) you did so, you shall certainly be one of the Zalimoon
(polytheists and wrong-doers)”

[Yoonus 10:106]

“So
invoke not with Allah another ilah (god) lest you be among those who receive
punishment”

[ash-Shu‘ara’ 26:213]

“And
whoever invokes (or worships), besides Allah, any other ilah (god), of whom
he has no proof, then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely! Al-Kafiroon
(the disbelievers in Allah and in the Oneness of Allah, polytheists, pagans,
idolaters, etc.) will not be successful”

[al-Mu’minoon 23:117]

“Surely,
they have disbelieved who say: “Allah is the Messiah (Iesa (Jesus)), son of
Maryam (Mary).” But the Messiah (Iesa (Jesus)) said: “O Children of Israel!
Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” Verily, whosoever sets up partners in
worship with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire
will be his abode. And for the Zalimoon (polytheists and wrongdoers) there
are no helpers”

[al-Maa’idah 5:72]. 

The
point is that whoever calls upon the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) after his death, or anyone else among the dead, asking
him to ward off harm or bring some benefit is a mushrik in the sense of
major shirk (associating someone else with Allah) that puts one beyond the
pale of Islam; he must repent to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and
direct his du‘aa’ only to the Most High, the Almighty, Who responds to the
distressed one, when he calls Him, and Who removes the evil. (cf. an-Naml
27:62). 

I am
astounded by people who go to the grave of so and so and call upon him to
relieve their distress and bring them good things, when they know that when
this man was alive he could not do that, so how can he do it after his
death, and after he has become a corpse and maybe even dust, having being
consumed by the earth. They go and call upon him and they fail to call upon
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, Who is the only One who wards off
harm and brings benefits and good, even though Allah, may He be exalted, has
commanded them and urged them to do that, as He says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“And
your Lord said: “Invoke Me, (i.e. believe in My Oneness (Islamic
Monotheism)) (and ask Me for anything) I will respond to your (invocation).”

[Ghaafir 40:60]

“And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning Me, then (answer
them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the
invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me (without any mediator or
intercessor). So let them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led
aright”

[al-Baqarah 2:186].

And
Allah, may He be exalted, says, denouncing those who call upon anyone other
than Him (interpretation of the meaning):

“Is
not He (better than your gods) Who responds to the distressed one, when he
calls Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth,
generations after generations. Is there any ilah (god) with Allah?”

[an-Naml 27:62]. 

I ask
Allah, may He be exalted, to guide us all to His straight path. 

End
quote from Majmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasdaa’il ash-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen,
2/274 

The
hadeeth does not indicate that it is permissible to seek to have one’s needs
met by virtue of the status of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), as some people suggest; rather the hadeeth indicates that this
man sought to have his needs met by virtue of the supplication of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) when he said: “O Allah, I
ask of You and I turn to you by virtue of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him),” that is, by virtue of the supplication of
our Prophet Muhammad, and when he said “O Muhammad, I have turned by virtue
of you to my Lord”, i.e., by virtue of your supplication. 

This
is indicated by the following: 

-1-

this
man came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and asked
him to offer supplication for him; if what he wanted was to have his need
met by virtue of the status of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), he would have stayed at home and said: O Allah, I ask to have my
need met and I ask of You by virtue of the status of Muhammad. 

-2-

Among
the supplication that the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) taught him was to say: “O Allah, accept his intercession for me and
accept my intercession for him,” i.e., accept the intercession of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for me, and intercession
is a kind of supplication. Thus it implies that the Messenger (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) offered supplication for him. 

The
words “And accept my intercession for him” mean: accept my supplication
asking You to accept his supplication. 

Al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Kitaab at-Tawassul
(73, 74): 

One of
the things that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
taught the blind man was: to say “and accept my intercession for him” i.e.,
accept my supplication asking You to accept his (the Prophet’s)
intercession, i.e., his   supplication to restore my sight. Nothing other
than this can be understood from this sentence. 

Hence
you see those who ignore this part of the hadeeth ignoring it and not paying
any attention to it whatsoever, because it would pull the rug out from under
their feet and destroy all their arguments. If they hear it, you will see
them looking at you like one who is extreme distress. That is because the
intercession of the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for
the blind man is something understandable, but as for the intercession of
the blind man for the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), how can that be? They have no answer for that at all. Another
thing which highlights their feeling that this sentence invalidates their
misinterpretations is that you never see one of them using it and saying in
his supplication: O Allah, accept the intercession of Your Prophet for me
and accept my intercession for him.

End
quote. 

For a
detailed discussion on this hadeeth, please see at-Tawassul, p.
68-92 

And
Allah knows best.