his death or in his absence; rather, what these reports permit is tawassul through him only during his lifetime and while he was physically present.

As is recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—may Allah be pleased with him—once sought rain through al-ʿAbbās and said, “O Allah, whenever drought befell us we used to seek tawassul to You through our Prophet and You would send us rain; now we seek tawassul to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so send us rain.” They were then granted rain.

ʿUmar thus clarified that they had sought tawassul through the Prophet during his lifetime and were granted rain as a result. That tawassul consisted of their asking him to supplicate Allah on their behalf: he would pray for them, they would pray alongside him, and they would appeal to Allah by means of his intercession and supplication.

This is confirmed by the authentic narration reported from Anas ibn Mālik—may Allah be pleased with him—that a man once entered the mosque on a Friday through a gate opposite Dar al-Qaḍāʾ while the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was standing and delivering the sermon. The man faced the Messenger while standing and said: