Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—was also asked:

“Is it permissible to seek a means of drawing near to Allah through the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?”

He replied:

“Praise be to Allah. Seeking a means through faith in him, love for him, obedience to him, invoking blessings and peace upon him, his supplication and intercession, and similar deeds of his and acts prescribed for servants with regard to him is lawful by agreement of the Muslims. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, sought a means through him during his lifetime. After his death, they sought a means through his uncle al-‘Abbās, just as they had sought a means through him.

As for someone saying, ‘O Allah, I seek a means of drawing near to You through him,’ scholars hold two views concerning this, just as they hold two views concerning swearing by him. The majority of the leading scholars, including Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī, and Abū Hanīfah, hold that it is not permissible to swear by anyone other than Allah, including prophets and angels. Scholars agree that such an oath is not legally binding. This is one of the two views reported from Ahmad. According to the other, an oath sworn by him alone, to the exclusion of others, is legally binding.

For this reason, Ahmad stated in the manual of pilgrimage rites he wrote for his companion al-Marwadhī that one may seek a means through the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in supplication. Other scholars, however, said that this amounts to adjuring Allah by him, and that Allah must not be adjured by any created being. In one of the two views reported from Ahmad, he permitted swearing by him, and therefore permitted seeking a means through him.

The other view reported from him, however, accords with the position of the majority of scholars: that one must not swear by him;