al-Mu’minūn: 88–89],
And Allah Most High says:
“The likeness of those who take protectors besides Allah is that of a spider that builds a home. Yet the frailest of all homes is certainly the spider’s home, if only they knew.”
[Surah al-‘Ankabūt: 41]
[The third point] (1): It is established in the Sahih that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—used to say [while prostrating] (2):
“O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, in Your pardon from Your punishment, and in You from You. I cannot fully enumerate Your praise; You are as You have praised Yourself.” (3)
[It is also narrated that he used to say this in the witr prayer.] (4)
Since he—peace and blessings be upon him—sought refuge in some of Allah’s attributes and acts from others, and even sought refuge in Him from Him, what objection could there be (5) to seeking refuge in Him from some of His creatures?
The fourth point is to say: Ahl al-Sunnah do not deny that the servant’s supplication
(1) The word “point” is omitted from (N) and (M).
(2) The phrase “while prostrating” is omitted from (N) and (M).
(3) The hadith narrated by ‘Ā’ishah—may Allah be pleased with her—is found in Muslim, 1:352, Book of Prayer, chapter “What Is Said While Bowing and Prostrating.” It begins: “One night, I could not find the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in bed, so I searched for him. My hand touched the soles of his feet while he was in the mosque. His feet were upright, and he was saying: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure…’”—to the end of the hadith. It is also found in Sunan Abī Dāwūd, 1:322, Book of Prayer, chapter “Supplication While Bowing and Prostrating”; Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 5:187, Book of Supplications, chapter 78; Sunan Ibn Mājah, 1:273, Book of Establishing the Prayer, chapter “What Has Been Narrated Concerning Qunūt in Witr”; and al-Musnad, al-Halabī ed., 6:58, 201.
(4) The text between square brackets is omitted from (N) and (M).
(5) (N) reads: “So what objection is there to…”; (M) reads: “So what obstacle is there to…”