who are esteemed by You; by the rank of the one in whose presence we now stand and under whose aid¹ we abide—lift our burdens and the burdens of all who are distressed.” Or: “O Allah, our hands are extended to You in humble need, seeking nearness to You through the one endowed with the means and the right of intercession; grant victory to Islam and the Muslims…” and so on.

They call this practice tawassul, claiming that it is permissible and sanctioned, that certain Qur’anic verses and hadiths endorse and legislate it—indeed, that they command and encourage it. Some have gone to such extremes in permitting it that they allow tawassul to Allah through created things whose rank does not warrant any exalted status: the graves of saints, the iron railings built over their tombs, the surrounding soil, stones, and trees. They contend that whatever is near something great becomes great, and that Allah’s honoring of the one in the grave extends even to the grave itself, making it a legitimate means to Allah. Some later figures have gone so far as to permit calling for aid from beings other than Allah!

What, then, is tawassul? What are its categories? How should the verses and hadiths that mention it be understood? And what, in truth, is its ruling in Islam?