al-Khatmī al-Madīnī, who said:

I heard ‘Umārah ibn Khuzaymah ibn Thābit relate from ‘Uthmān ibn Hanīf that a blind man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: ‘O Prophet of Allah, supplicate to Allah to restore my health.’ He replied: ‘If you wish, I will defer that, which is better for you in the Hereafter; and if you wish, I will supplicate for you.’ The man said: ‘No, rather supplicate to Allah for me.’ He instructed him to perform ablution, pray two units of prayer, and offer this supplication: ‘O Allah, I ask You and turn to You through Your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy. O Muhammad, I turn through you to my Lord concerning this need of mine, that it may be fulfilled. O Allah, accept my intercession for him and his intercession for me.’ He said: The man did so and was healed.”

This hadith thus contains seeking nearness to Allah through him in supplication.

Some people say that this entails the permissibility of seeking nearness through him without qualification, whether he is alive or dead. Those who seek nearness through his person after his death or in his absence cite this as evidence. They suppose that the blind man and the Companions sought nearness through him during his lifetime by adjuring Allah by him, or by asking Allah through his person to fulfil their needs. They suppose that seeking nearness through him requires neither that he supplicate for them nor that they obey him. To them, it makes no difference whether the Messenger supplicated for them or not: they regard everyone as having sought nearness through him. Nor does it make any difference whether they obeyed him or not.

They suppose that Allah Most High fulfils the need of someone who, as they claim, sought nearness through him, although the Messenger did not supplicate for him, just as He fulfils the need of someone who sought nearness through his supplication and for whom the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did supplicate. In their view, both have sought nearness through him. They suppose that everyone who asks Allah Most High through the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has sought nearness through him just as that blind man did, and that what the blind man was instructed to do is prescribed for them.

Their position is false both in terms of divine law and divine decree: they neither conform to Allah’s law, nor does what they say correspond to Allah’s creation.