Waleed Basyouni – Understanding Intercession In Islam – ShafaAh On The Day Of Judgment
AI: Summary ©
The concept of he's the only one who can be trusted to do so is discussed, as it is the same concept used in Islam. The importance of praying for something between God and the church is emphasized, as it interacts with the spiritual world. The speakers also discuss various misunderstandings with various speakers, including one person who believes they should not go to anyone to ask for prayer, another who talks about praying for their brother in their absence, and a du backwards meaning that anyone who wants to be in a certain situation is more likely to receive a certain amount of money.
AI: Summary ©
We have a question on intercession and the
questioner is asking about who are the intercessors
for us on the Day of Judgment and
are there any of us or any intercessors
for us while we are alive aside from
the Day of Judgment?
Intercession or shafa'ah, the word shafa'ah
means when you ask on behalf of someone
else.
And when we look at the concept of
shafa'ah in the Qur'an or the
intercession in the Qur'an, sometimes Allah denies
there is any intercession on the Day of
Judgment for example.
And Allah mentions certain type of intercession and
he criticizes it.
And others, no, it was confirmed.
In the Qur'an itself?
In the Qur'an itself and in the
hadith of the Prophet ﷺ.
For instance, Allah said, وَاتَّقُ يَوْمًا لَا تَجْزِي
نَفْسٌ عَن نَفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَاعَةٌ
وَلَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ There is no shafa
'ah will benefit that person on the Day
of Judgment.
Also Allah said, مِنْ قَبْلِ يَأْتِ يَوْمٌ لَا
بَيْعٌ فِيهِ وَلَا خُلَّةٌ وَلَا شَفَعَةٌ There is
no friendship or kinship will benefit you nor
shafa'ah will benefit you.
فَمَا لَنَا مِنْ شَافِعِين There is no intercessor
for us.
And this related to the mushrikeen, to the
kuffar, that they will not receive any type
of shafa'ah in the Day of Judgment.
Also there is another type of shafa'ah
that's criticized in the Quran.
وَيَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا
يَنْفَعُهُمْ وَيَقُلُونَ هَؤُولَئِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ They worship
those who will not bring harm or benefit
to them, and they say they are our
intercessor with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
وَاتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ آلِهَةً لِيَكُونُ لَهُمْ عِزَّةً
They worship others of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, thinking that they will bring victory, that
they can help and aid them in the
Day of Judgment.
And many things like this.
وَمَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيَقُلُونَ هَؤُولَئِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ
They are our intercessor with Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And Allah criticized this, that they worship these
idols.
They said, we are not worshiping the idols
because the idols themselves can benefit us, can
harm us.
No, no.
We worship them because they can intercede on
our behalf in front of Allah.
Thinking that they have a status with Allah.
So, just for clarification, and this is important
to be understood.
In the old days, these idols, هُبَلْ وَمَنَاتْ
و...
All these idols that you hear about, that
the kuffar of Quraysh used to worship.
It's originally, as Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu said,
represent righteous people who died.
Then either where they used to sit, like
where there's a lot used to sit around
the Kaaba to give bread to people.
So, what they did, they said, where's the
rock he used to sit?
That became an idol.
Then, or they make an image of the
person and they put it thinking that the
soul of this person who passed away will
be around this stone, this area, this idol.
So, when they pray to them, these souls
will hear their supplication, then they will take
it to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But not only limited to that, as Ibn
Al-Qayyim radiallahu anhu said to me before,
Ibn Al-Qayyim said, that's also the same
thing people did with the stars.
They said the soul of so-and-so
merged to the stars, and that az-Zuhra
and whatever, these are actually soul of righteous
people or whatever, or these are creatures very
special to Allah.
So, they prayed to them, so they can
pray to God.
So, this is their way to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
It came in many different forms, you know.
Many people.
Unfortunately, you can see that even in some
movies that kids watch when they say, our
ancestors are watching over us.
So, they intercede for them.
All this is haram, all this is shirk.
Also, Qur'an rejected another concept, which is
that you can ever intercede and you feel
that you have rights over Allah, or you
have a position to enforce your intercession over
Allah.
You can be second to Allah.
Yeah.
No.
قُل لِلَّهِ الشَّفَاعَةُ جَمِيعًۭا What that means?
الشَّفَاعَةُ all belong to Allah.
What that means?
It means that he is the one who
allowed it, he is the one who accepted,
he is the one who interceded for himself.
Because even before you speak, Allah knows what
you want to speak about.
So, he doesn't need you to speak.
Your talk does not really add to the
equation other than Allah honoring you to intercede.
Yes.
SubhanAllah.
Right.
Right.
مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عَنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ يَا
سَلَامُ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عَنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ
Who can intercede before him without, except by
his permission.
So, if this has been clear, also, إِلَّا
لِمَنْ اِرْتَضَ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,
وَلَا يَشْفَعُونَ إِلَّا لِمَنْ اِرْتَضَ They will not
intercede for anyone except those who Allah is
pleased with.
So, Allah pleased with the intercessor and pleased
with the one that you are going to
be interceding for him, that Allah pleased to
allow him to go to Jannah, pleased to
allow him to be forgiven, pleased to allow
him to be whatever.
And that's why in Nabi salallahu alayhi wa
sallam, in the Day of Judgment, he said,
when the people go to the Prophets, can
you ask Allah to start the Day of
Judgment?
Then they reached the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa
sallam, and said, يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ Would you
be able to intercede for us?
تَشْفَعَ لَنَا عِنْدَ رَبٍّ قَالَ فَيُؤْذَنُوا لِي In
the hadith, the hadith said, then I will
be giving the permission to approach Allah.
He's not going to say, okay, I will
do it, and he goes and approaches Allah.
No, no.
When Allah gives him the permission, I will
go, and I will go down before Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala's throne, and I will
make the, I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,
Go down means prostrate.
Prostrate.
And it will be said to me, اِرْفَعْ
رَأْسَكْ وَشْفَعْ تُشَفَّعْ Raise your head and ask,
and you will be answered.
So Allah give him the permission now to
ask.
He only went and he made sujood and
praise Allah.
Didn't ask for anything yet, until Allah give
him the permission to ask.
So that's very different than the way they
think that you go to the wali, to
the righteous person, to the peer, to the
mullah, to the who died.
And you think that just by asking him,
he have the power to go on to
speak to Allah.
No.
That's not how the case is.
That's how the mushrikeen used to think of
the shafa'ah.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala correct it.
That's how idol worship actually started.
Yes.
So, if this been said, we have also
to differentiate between الشفاعة والاستغاثة الشفاعة, intercessor, to
ask for intercession.
You go to somebody and you tell him
intercede for me or I ask you to
do this for me.
You go to the dead or to the
prophet or a messenger, shrine or whatever.
And you go and you said I want
him to intercede for me.
Okay.
For such and such.
That's exactly how the people in the old
days used to go to their gods and
to idols and said I want you to
intercede for me.
مَا عَبَدْنَاهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَةً To
bring me closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
To be my way to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not need
anyone in the middle.
Allah does not need anyone between you and
him.
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمْ إِدْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ Allah says pray
to me.
I will answer your question.
فَإِنِّي قَرِيم I don't need anyone in between.
So what's important to understand الدعاء عبادة الدعاء
is what?
It's to supplicate or to worship.
To supplicate to someone.
To ask someone.
وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُ فَاسْأَلِ اللَّهِ When you ask, you
ask Allah.
When it comes to the issue that's in
the hand of Allah.
Forgiveness, entering Jannah, things that's in the hand
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, guidance, whatever
of these things.
So when you go to the grave or
you go to a peer or you go
to Wali and you say who is not
in front of you, who is not alive,
or you ask for something that only Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala capable of and you
ask them for it, you're basically praying to
them.
تَسْتَغِيثْ بِهِمْ Ya Muhammad, calling the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam in this case, it's a
form of دعاء.
And الدعاء is the most important form of
عبادة.
And the عبادة should be only to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
As simple as that.
So you should only direct it to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But what is allowed is to go to
someone who's alive.
And when we say alive, it means really
alive.
Not somebody dead but he's alive with Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Somebody told me, all the Awliya and the
Imams and the Prophets are alive.
I said, they're alive.
A special type of life.
The Prophets are alive.
The Awliya, we never know.
The Imams and the Martyrs, عند ربه مرزقون
I said, yeah, this is a special type
of life.
But also, you agree with me, they are
dead.
He said, I don't know if they're dead.
I said, when they die, did they divide
their inheritance?
Did their wives have to do it?
Did they put their bodies in the ground?
If they are alive, that means they cannot
have iddah, they cannot have the inheritance to
be divided, to be given.
They are dead.
And from one aspect, they are alive.
And it's an honor, a special type of
life.
So that's why you cannot pray to them.
You cannot pray to anyone.
Unless you go to someone who's alive.
I said, Shaykh Ibrahim, can you make dua
for me?
That's a form of intercession that is allowed.
Yes, that's allowed.
So you go to something, and it is
allowed, and some ulama said it's makrooh.
وَإِذَا سَأَلْتَ فَسَأَلِ اللَّهِ Yeah, so they said
you should not go to anyone to ask
them to pray for you.
But some ulama said it's allowed, because the
Prophet ﷺ, you know, he said, when you
pray for your brother in their absence, an
angel said, see him to you.
But some people said, no, this is if
you initiate that, not somebody asking.
But there is a hadith that the Prophet
ﷺ told Umar, when you go to Mecca,
make sure that you pray for us.
لا تنسنا من دعائك But also this hadith
of Abu Dawood, it's not authentic.
Questionable.
Yeah, so.
But the man who came to the Prophet
ﷺ and said, اشفع لي Yeah, this hadith
also is weak.
But in any case, I just want you
to, even this format, there is some scholars
said it's makrooh.
Dislike.
Unless your intention, when you ask him to
pray for you, is to benefit him as
well.
Like the Prophet ﷺ when he said, after
salah, after adhan, say Allahumma salli ala Muhammad
wa alihi wa sallim.
He asked us to pray for him.
Yes.
But to benefit us.
But to benefit us more than him.
Because when we make one salah Rasulullah, we
receive ten from Allah.
Yeah, subhanAllah.
That's subhanAllah from his love ﷺ to this
ummah.
So, in any case, I just want you
to know, even this format is not something
kitha, open.
That's why Jabir when somebody said, pray for
me.
He said, what do you see me, a
prophet?
Go pray for yourself.
In another word, when it comes to the
du'a, you must learn how to, as
much as you can, make it between you
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Don't bring anyone in the middle.
Get to the habit of that.
When my kids tell me, Baba, I have
an exam, pray for me.
I said, pray for yourself.
I'll pray for you.
But sometimes they rely on me praying for
them and they don't connect their hearts with
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
I just want to add something here.
Part of the du'a that is accepted
comes from a humble heart.
If you ask someone to, you're the one
who has the need, which makes you humble
before Allah.
So your du'a is more likely to
be answered than the du'a of the
person that you ask him, for him to
make du'a for you.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
Who is the one who deserves my shafa
'ah the most?
He said, The one who fulfilled the Tawheed.
Exactly, subhanallah.
So those who pray to other than Allah,
they did not fulfill the Tawheed.
They don't deserve the shafa'ah of the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
The intercessor in the Yawm al-Qiyamah, Al
-Anbiya, every Prophet intercedes, the Prophet intercedes for
his Ummah.
By Allah's permission.
Yeah.
The intercessor in the Day of Judgment, family
members, Hafidh al-Qur'an, Umm Rajd al
-Qur'an.
The intercessor on the Day of Judgment, good
deeds, Al-Qur'an yashfa'ah, Wa Qayam
al-Layl yashfa'ah.
Your good deeds intercede for you.
Al-Baqara wa al-Imran.
Al-Baqara wa al-Imran.
Tabarak, intercede for you.
Also, friends.
That's why a Salaf used to say, istakthiru
min ashab al-khayr, innuhum shufa'a.
They, you know, wa ma nana min shafi
'i, wa la sadiqin hameen.
Wa nana min shafi'i, wa la sadiqin
hameen.
We don't have good friends.
A beautiful understanding of the ayat.
Al-Shafi'i rahimallah said, and Hasan al
-Basri before him said, have a lot of
good friends, because good friends when they go
to Jannah, they will remember their friends and
ask for their, to be, to intercede for
them.
An intercession can be done for the person
not to enter Hellfire, or enter Hellfire, they
intercede for them to be getting out.
Yeah.
So, safe completely from entering it, or after
entering to be safe from it, or in
Jannah to be elevated, to come to their
level.
You know.
So, there is many different form of this,
from shifa'ah.
May Allah SWT make us among those who
receive the shifa'ah of Muhammad SAW, and
be able to intercede for our friends, and
the top of all of them, a'adham
shafi'ah, who Allah SWT.
Then Allah SWT said, what's left is the
shifa'ah of the most merciful.
Then Allah take out of Hellfire, anyone who
have, a mustard seed of iman, the smallest
amount of iman, will be taken out from
the Hellfire after that.
May Allah SWT protect us from the Hellfire.
JazakAllah khair.
SubhanAllah, I just want to ask something, because
of that, what you just said, is on
the Day of Judgment, Allah SWT will be
so merciful, to the believers, that even Iblis,
may have hope, that he will be under
Allah's mercy.
Allah Akbar.
SubhanAllah.
JazakAllah khair.
Fatiha.