Allah by invoking them, nor may one seek to draw near to Him through their persons themselves. Rather, one seeks to draw near to Him through faith in them, love for them, obedience to them, allegiance to them, supporting and honoring them, opposing those who oppose them, obeying their commands, believing what they report, and regarding as lawful what they have declared lawful and as forbidden what they have forbidden.

Using these as a means takes two forms:

First: using them to obtain an answer to one’s supplication and the granting of one’s request, as in the hadith of the three men who took refuge in the cave. They invoked their righteous deeds so that Allah would answer their supplication and relieve their distress. This has already been explained.

Second: using them to attain Allah’s reward, His Paradise, and His good pleasure. The righteous deeds commanded by the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are the complete means to happiness in this world and the Hereafter. An example is the believers’ prayer:

“Our Lord, indeed we have heard a caller calling to faith, ‘Believe in your Lord,’ and we have believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our misdeeds and cause us to die with the righteous.”

They mentioned their faith before making their supplication. Another example is what Allah, glorified is He, relates about the believers in His words:

“Indeed, there was a group of My servants who said, ‘Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us and have mercy upon us, and You are the best of the merciful.’”

There are many such examples.

Likewise, seeking access to Allah through the supplication and intercession of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, takes two forms:

First: asking him to supplicate and intercede, whereupon he supplicates and intercedes, as people used to ask him during his lifetime and as they will ask him on the Day of Resurrection, when they come to Adam and Noah, then to Abraham, Allah’s intimate friend, then to