The established Sunnah is that a living person may be asked to supplicate, just as he may be asked for anything else within his power. As for an absent or deceased created being, nothing is to be asked of him.

This matter becomes clear when we recognize that seeking access to Allah through him and turning to Allah through him are expressions that are ambiguous and bear different meanings according to usage. In the Companions’ usage, they mean asking him to supplicate and intercede, so that they seek access to Allah and turn to Him through his supplication and intercession. His supplication and intercession—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—are among the greatest means of drawing near to Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

In the usage of many people, however, they mean asking Allah Most High and adjuring Him by the Prophet’s person. Allah Most High may not be adjured by any created thing; indeed, created things may not be sworn by under any circumstances. Thus, one must not say, “I adjure You, my Lord, by Your angels,” or “by Your Kaaba,” or “by Your righteous servants,” just as a person may not swear by these things. Rather, one may swear only by Allah Most High, by His names and attributes. Hence, the Sunnah is to ask Allah Most High by His names and attributes, saying:

“I ask You by the fact that all praise belongs to You. There is no god but You, the Bestower, the Originator of the heavens and the earth. O Possessor of Majesty and Honour, O Ever-Living, O Sustainer of all! And I ask You by the fact that You are Allah, the One, the Eternal Refuge, who neither begets nor is born, and to whom none is equal. And I ask You by every name that belongs to You with which You have named Yourself”—and so on, as related in the hadith transmitted in the Sunnah.

As for asking Allah and adjuring Him by His created things, this has no foundation in the religion of Islam. The same applies to saying:

“O Allah, I ask You by the seats of might in Your Throne, by the utmost extent of mercy in Your Book, by Your greatest name, by Your supreme majesty, and by Your perfect words.”