the seller asks for the price, and the buyer asks for the item sold. This category includes the words of Allah Most High:
“And fear Allah, in whose name you appeal to one another, and honour the ties of kinship.”
Some requests are not commanded, although the person being asked is commanded to respond. Allah Most High says:
“And do not rebuke the one who asks.”
And He says:
“And those in whose wealth there is a known share for the beggar and the deprived.”
And He says:
“So eat from them and feed the needy and those who come seeking help.”
This also includes the hadith:
“One of you asks me for something, then leaves carrying it under his arm as fire.”
And his words:
“Put an end to this man’s importuning me.”
A request may be prohibited or discouraged, even though the person being asked is commanded to grant it. Giving to those who asked was part of the perfection of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. For him, this was a virtue and a praiseworthy quality, and was obligatory or recommended, even when the requester’s act of asking was itself forbidden. For this reason, it has never been known that Abū Bakr al-Siddīq or other leading Companions asked him for anything of this kind, or asked him to supplicate for them personally. They did, however, ask him to supplicate for the Muslims, as in the following report:
“During one of his military expeditions, when they sought his permission to slaughter some of their riding animals, ‘Umar advised him, saying: ‘O Messenger of Allah, what will become of us if we meet the enemy tomorrow on foot and hungry? But if you see fit, summon the people with what remains of their provisions, gather them together, and then ask Allah to bless them. Allah will bless us through your supplication.’
In another version: ‘Allah will bring us relief through your supplication.’”
It was only some of the Muslims who asked him for such supplications: the blind man asked him to supplicate to Allah to restore his sight; Umm Sulaym asked him to supplicate to Allah for his servant Anas; and Abū Hurayrah asked him to supplicate to Allah to make him and his mother beloved to His believing servants. There were other such examples.
As for Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, Allah said of him and those like him:
“But the most righteous will be spared it,
who gives his wealth