Mention of the loftiest station in Paradise—al-Wasīlah, the rank reserved for the Messenger ﷺ

It is affirmed in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, through the chain of ʿAlī ibn ʿAyyāsh, Shuʿayb ibn Abī Ḥamzah, Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir, and Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Whoever, when he hears the call to prayer, says: ‘O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the prayer that is about to be established, grant Muḥammad al-Wasīlah and al-Faḍīlah, and raise him to the Praiseworthy Station which You have promised him,’ my intercession will be guaranteed for him on the Day of Resurrection.” (1)

In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, through the chain of Muḥammad ibn Salamah, Ibn Wahb, Ḥaywah, Saʿīd ibn Abī Ayyūb, Kaʿb ibn ʿAlqamah, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jubayr, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, it is related that he heard the Prophet ﷺ say:

“When you hear the muʿadhdhin, repeat what he says; then invoke blessings upon me, for whoever blesses me once, Allah will bless him ten times. After that ask Allah to grant me al-Wasīlah, for it is a rank in Paradise befitting none but a single servant of Allah, and I hope to be that servant. Whoever asks al-Wasīlah for me, my intercession will be due to him.” (2)

Imām Aḥmad narrated: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; Sufyān reported from Layth, from Kaʿb, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“When you invoke blessings upon me, ask Allah to grant me al-Wasīlah.” They asked, “Messenger of Allah, what is al-Wasīlah?” He replied, “The highest degree in Paradise; no one attains it except one man, and I hope that I am that man.” (3)

Aḥmad also narrated: Mūsā ibn Dāwūd related to us; Ibn Luhayʿah reported, from Mūsā ibn Wardān, who said: I heard Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī say that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Al-Wasīlah is a degree with Allah, above which there is no higher degree. Therefore ask Allah to grant me al-Wasīlah.” (4)

Al-Ṭabarānī said: Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Abbār narrated to us; al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Ḥarrānī narrated to us; Mūsā ibn Aʿyan narrated to us, from Ibn Abī Dhīb, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Ask Allah to grant me al-Wasīlah, for no servant asks it for me in this world except that I shall be an intercessor—or a witness—for him on the Day of Resurrection.” Al-Ṭabarānī remarked: it is only Mūsā ibn Aʿyan who narrated it from Ibn Abī Dhīb. (5)