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“Do you know with what he supplicated?”
They replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” (1)
He said, “By Him in Whose hand is my soul! He invoked Allah with His Great Name (2)—in another narration, ‘the Greatest Name’—the Name which, when He is called upon by it, He answers, and when He is asked by it, He gives.”
(1) Notice: Many people, when asked about something of which they have no knowledge—whether it is ordinarily knowable to human beings or not—reply, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” This reveals ignorance of the Law, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not know the unseen even during his lifetime, as Allah relates in the Qur’an: “Had I possessed knowledge of the unseen, I would have secured much good and no harm would have touched me” (7:188). How, then, could he know it after he has joined the Highest Companion? The correct formula today is simply: “Allah knows best.”
The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to answer him, peace be upon him, with the words, “Allah and His Messenger know best,” because they knew that he asked them only about matters of which he already had knowledge, or so that he might inform them of it. Take heed of this and do not be among the heedless!
(2) This hadith affirms the legitimacy of *tawassul* (seeking access) to Allah through His Most Beautiful Names (*al-asma al-husna*) and Attributes, as He commands: “To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them” (7:180), especially through the Supreme Name (*al-ism al-azam*). The scholars unanimously agree on this, based on this report and others like it.
Sadly, nowadays—and this includes many learned people—you will hardly hear anyone invoking Allah by His Names. On the contrary, they resort to forms of *tawassul* that have no basis in the Qur’an or the Sunnah and were unknown to the early imams, such as saying, “I ask You by the right of so-and-so,” or “by the rank of so-and-so,” or “by the sanctity of so-and-so.”
Some of them attempt to justify this practice with certain hadiths, one of which is sound—the hadith of the blind man,
" تدرون بما دعا؟ ".
قالوا: الله ورسوله أعلم (١) . قال:
" والذي نفسي بيده!] لقد دعا الله باسمه العظيم (٢) (وفي رواية:
الأعظم) ، الذي إذا دعي به؛ أجاب، وإذا سئل به؛ أعطى ".
(١) (تنبيه) : جرت عادة كثير من الناس أنهم إذا سئل أحدهم عما لا علم له به،
سواء كان باستطاعة البشر عادة معرفته أم لا؛ أجاب بقوله: الله ورسوله أعلم.
وهذا جهل بالشرع؛ فإنه ﷺ ما كان يعلم الغيب وهو في قيد الحياة - كما حكى
الله تعالى ذلك عنه في القرآن: ﴿وَلَوْ كُنتُ أَعْلَمُ الغَيْبَ لَاسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ
السُّوءُ﴾ -؛ فكيف يعلم ﷺ ذلك بعد أن انتقل إلى الرفيق الأعلى؟! فالصواب اليوم أن
يقتصر في الجواب على قوله: الله أعلم.
وإنما كان الصحابة ﵃ يجيبونه ﷺ بقولهم: الله ورسوله أعلم. لعلمهم
بأنه ﷺ ما سألهم إلا وعنده علم ذلك، وإلا؛ ليُنَبَّئَهُم به.
فتنبه لهذا، ولا تكن من الغافلين!
(٢) فيه مشروعية التوسل إلى الله تعالى بأسماء الله تعالى ﴿الحسنى وصفاته، وهو
ما أمر الله تعالى به في قوله: ﴿وَلِلَّهِ الأَسْمَاءُ الحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا﴾ [الأعراف: ١٨] ﴾ ؛
ولا سيما الاسم الأعظم. وقد اتفق العلماء على ذلك؛ لهذا الحديث وما في معناه.
وإن مما يؤسف له أن ترى الناس اليوم - وفيهم كثير من الخاصة - لا تكاد تسمع أحداً
منهم يتوسل بأسماء الله تعالى؛ بل إنهم على العكس من ذلك يتوسلون بما لم يأت به
كتاب ولا سنة، ولم يعرف عن السالفين من الأئمة؛ كقولهم: أسألك بحق فلان، أو
جاه فلان، أو حرمة فلان!
وقد يحتج أولئك على عملهم هذا بأحاديث بعضها صحيح - كحديث الأعمى،