Unveiling the Deception: How Barelvis Misinterpret Seeking Assistance and Shirk
The Deception of Barelvis in the Matter of Seeking Assistance”
Barelivism is a way of seeking help from someone other than Allah, prostrating to someone other than Allah, considering someone other than Allah as a problem solver and a fulfiller of needs. Therefore, when Barelvis ask for children, wealth, and protection from calamities, they call upon the dead. They seek children, rain, wealth, rather everything from the dead, and in times of hardship, they call upon someone other than Allah. This is why all their attention is focused on graves, shrines, and the dead. However, this is the path of Shirk that leads to Hell.
When they are presented with the commandments of Allah and the sayings of the Prophet (peace be upon Him), instead of accepting the Truth, they refute the one who preaches the truth and present false arguments to support their beliefs. In this article, I will expose the reality of one of their false arguments. The issue is that when we tell Barelvis not to seek help from anyone other than Allah, they respond by saying, “Then why do you ask your mother for food, your father for money, and a tailor for clothes? Etc.” They present many such arguments. However, the response of the Barelvis is completely false. Let us understand the reality of this argument.
Seeking help, which is called ‘istianat’ in Arabic, has two types.
(1) The first type of istianat is ‘ma taht al-asbab’, which means seeking help from others in matters that are within their power and capability, such as asking a mother for food, a father for money, or a tailor for clothes. These individuals have the authority and ability to provide these things, so it is permissible to seek help from them in these matters. However, they do not have the power to grant children, hence we cannot ask them for children.
(2) The second type of istianat is ‘ma fawq al-asbab’, which means seeking help from someone other than Allah in matters that are beyond their power and capability, or seeking something from someone who does not have the authority to provide it. This is Shirk, and we should only ask Allah for such things. There are two types of seeking help, but Barelvis mix them up and deceive people by saying that it is permissible to seek help from someone other than Allah. However, we know that we can only ask creatures for things that Allah has given them the power to provide, which is related to the first type of istianat. We cannot ask creatures for things that Allah has not given them the power to provide.
For example, consider a hadith from Bukhari. The Prophet (peace be upon Him) said to his daughter Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with Her):
يَا فَاطِمَةُ بنْتَ مُحَمَّدٍ، سَلِينِي ما شِئْتِ مِن مَالِي، لا أُغْنِي عَنْكِ مِنَ اللَّهِ شيئًا.(صحيح البخاري:4771)
“O Fatimah, take whatever you want from my wealth, but in the court of Allah, I cannot benefit you at all.” The Prophet (peace be upon Him) had the authority to give wealth in this world, so he told His daughter to take whatever she needed, but in the hereafter, He could not benefit her at all. This shows that we cannot ask creatures for things that Allah has not given them the power to provide.
Now, after udnerstanding the above, if someone asks why seeking help from someone other than Allah is Shirk, the answer is that du’a (supplication) is a form of Worship, and all forms of worship are solely for Allah alone.
Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with Him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon Him) said:
الدُّعَاءُ هُوَ الْعِبَادَةُ “، ثُمَّ قَرَأَ: وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ سورة غافر آية 60 “. (سنن ترمذی:3372، صححہ البانی)
“Dua (supplication) is worship.” Then He recited the verse:
«وقال ربكم ادعوني أستجب لكم إن الذين يستكبرون عن عبادتي سيدخلون جهنم داخرين»
"And your Lord says: 'Call upon Me, I will respond to your invocation. Indeed, those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell humiliated.'" (Ghafir: 60)
This narration combines a Hadith and a Quranic verse. The hadith shows that dua is a form of worship, and we know that all forms of worship are solely for Allah’s sake. This means that calling upon anyone other than Allah is contrary to worship, which is considered Shirk.
The Quranic verse also shows that we should only call upon Allah, and He will respond to our dua. Those who do not call upon Allah will be thrown into Hell. This is why Allah has commanded us at multiple places to worship only Him, such as in the verse:
وَقَضٰی رَبُّکَ اَنْ لَّا تَعْبُدُوْا اِلَّا اِیَّاہُ(الاسراء :23)
"And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him." (Al-Isra: 23)
Someone may ask, “Then why has Allah commanded us to seek Wasila (intercession) or seek help from salah (prayer)?”
A Barelvi even said that Allah had prescribed 50 prayers obligatory, but due to Moosa’s (peace be upon him) request, they were reduced to 5. So, why do you pray only 5 times? Why don’t you pray 50 times?
Let it be clear that we do not pray five times because of Musa (peace be upon him), but because Allah has commanded us to do so. Allah has prescribed five daily prayers obligatory, and we follow this command.
Secondly, there are three types of wasila (intercession) that are permissible for us to use when calling upon Allah:
1. First wasila: Using Allah’s beautiful names (Asma-ul-Husna) as wasila, we can call upon Allah through His names.
2. Second wasila: Our good deeds, we can call upon Allah by our good deeds, just like the three people who were trapped in the cave used their good deeds as wasila.
3. Third wasila: Living righteous monotheist people, we can ask a living pious and righteous person to pray for us, just like the noble companions asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) to pray for them during his lifetime, and like Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), the uncle of the Prophet (peace be upon him), to pray for them, and like we say to living people, “include me in your prayers” or “Pray for me”, this wasila is permissible.
Any other type of wasila, such as using the wasila of a creature or a dead person, is not permissible. Those who use such wasila, like saying “accept my prayers through prophet’s wasila,” or “accept my prayers through saint’s blessings”, are doing something that is not permissible.
The verse in Surah Ma’idah that commands us to use wasila means that we should use our good deeds as wasila to Allah, and similarly, seeking help from prayer is also a form of using good deeds as wasila, which is a permissible type of wasila.
In conclusion, a believer should only call upon Allah for help, as Allah and His Messenger have commanded us. Let’s see below some of the evidences and reform our beliefs and actions according.
We recite the verse
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
“You alone do we worship, and You alone do we ask for help” in every rak’ah of our prayer, which means we promise Allah that we will not seek help from anyone else, but only from Him. This verse prohibits us from seeking help from anyone other than Allah.
And Allah has clearly forbidden us from calling upon anyone other than Him, saying:
وَلَا تَدْعُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّـهِ مَا لَا يَنْفَعُكَ وَلَا يَضُرُّكَ فَإِنْ فَعَلْتَ فَإِنَّكَ إِذًا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ(یونس:106)
‘And do not call upon anyone besides Allah who cannot benefit or harm you, for if you do so, you will be among the wrongdoers.’
Allah has made it clear that the dead you call upon for help cannot even answer your call until the Day of Resurrection, Allah says:
وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنْ يَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّـهِ مَنْ لَا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَهُمْ عَنْ دُعَائِهِمْ غَافِلُونَ * وَإِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُوا لَهُمْ أَعْدَاءً وَكَانُوا بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَافِرِينَ(الاحقاف:5-6)
“And who is more astray than those who call upon others besides Allah, who will not answer their prayers until the Day of Resurrection, and who are even unaware of their calls, and when all will be gathered, they will become their enemies and reject their worship. Similarly’ . the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught us that when you ask, ask Allah, and when you seek help, seek it from Allah. As the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
إِذَا سَأَلْتَ فَاسْأَلِ اللَّهَ وَإِذَا اسْتَعَنْتَ فَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ(ترمذی:2516، صححہ البانی)
‘When you ask, ask only from Allah, and when you seek help, seek only from Allah.’ He also said:
وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْأُمَّةَ لَوِ اجْتَمَعَتْ عَلَى أَنْ يَنْفَعُوكَ بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَنْفَعُوكَ إِلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ لَكَ، وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى أَنْ يَضُرُّوكَ بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَضُرُّوكَ إِلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ۔
‘Know that if the entire ummah gathers to benefit you, they cannot benefit you more than what Allah has decreed for you, and if they gather to harm you, they cannot harm you more than what Allah has decreed for you.’
A Muslim should believe that no one besides Allah has the power to benefit or harm them.
Therefore, in all matters, we should only call upon Allah. And when we help each other in worldly affairs, it is a separate matter, and Allah and His Messenger have commanded us to cooperate in good deeds. Allah says:
وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ(المائدۃ:2)
‘Cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.’
And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
ما أَرَى بَأْسًا مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ مِنكُم أَنْ يَنْفَعَ أَخَاهُ فَلْيَنْفَعْهُ.(صحيح مسلم:2199)
‘Whoever among you can benefit their brother, let them do so, without hesitation.’
🤲 Finally, I pray to Allah to keep us steadfast on the path of Tawhid, to protect us from Shirk and innovation, and to guide those Muslims who have gone astray
✍️ Written by: 🎓 Shaykh Maqbool Ahmed Salafi, Jeddah Dawah Center, As Salamah – Saudi Arabia