Nullifier 2 Setting Up Intermediaries in Worship: Nawāqiḍ al-Islām

The Arabic Text of the Nullifier

الثَّانِي: مَنْ جَعَلَ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ اللهِ وَسَائِطَ يَدْعُوهُمْ وَيَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَيَسْأَلُهُمُ الشَّفَاعَةَ فَقَدْ كَفَرَ إِجْمَاعًا "The second: whoever places between himself and Allah intermediaries calling upon them, relying on them, and asking them for intercession has committed kufr by scholarly consensus (ijmāʿ)."

Why "By Scholarly Consensus"?

Al-Fawzān highlights that Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb explicitly added ijmāʿan (by consensus) to close any door of doubt. People argued that the veneration of intercessors was a contested matter. Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb responds: there is no legitimate scholarly disagreement directing worship through intermediaries to reach Allah is kufr by unanimous consent of the scholars.

The Three Condemned Acts Within This Nullifier

Calling upon intermediaries (duʿāʾ): Directing supplications to saints, prophets, or the deceased asking them to fulfil needs or remove harms
Relying upon them (tawakkul): Placing trust and dependence in a created being rather than in Allah alone
Asking them for intercession (shafāʿah): Requesting that a created being intercede with Allah an act that belongs to Allah's permission alone, not to the worshipper's request directed at the intermediary

The Core Error Al-Fawzān's Analysis

The mushrikūn of Mecca articulated exactly this logic:

﴿مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللهِ زُلْفَى﴾ Al-Zumar 39:3 "We only worship them so that they may bring us nearer to Allah." yet Allah condemned this and called them mushrikūn.

﴿هَؤُلَاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللهِ﴾ Yūnus 10:18 "These are our intercessors with Allah." a claim Allah explicitly rejects.

Al-Fawzān explains: this is precisely the logic of those who set up intermediaries today "we are not worshipping them for their own sake, we are using them to get to Allah." The Qurʾān rejected this argument completely and without qualification.

Contemporary Examples Al-Fawzān Gives

Visiting the grave of a walī and saying: "O Shaykh so-and-so, I am sick / my marriage is in trouble / I need work" calling upon the dead
The common practice in certain Muslim lands of addressing duʿāʾ to Ḥusayn, ʿAlī, or specific awliyāʾ in times of need
Placing talismans believed to grant protection through deceased saints

What This Nullifier Does NOT Mean Permitted Tawassul

What is permitted (al-tawassul al-mashrūʿ):

Asking Allah through your own righteous deeds: "O Allah, by my fasting, forgive me" the famous ḥadīth of the three men in the cave [Bukhārī and Muslim]
Asking Allah through His names and attributes: "O Allah, by Your mercy, have mercy on me" al-Aʿrāf 7:180
Asking a living righteous Muslim to make duʿāʾ for you the Companions asked the Prophet ﷺ while he was alive; this is normal and continues. The condition is: the person is living.

What is prohibited: Directing the worship itself the duʿāʾ, the tawakkul, the request for shafāʿah to the created being, whether living or dead.

Quranic Proofs

﴿إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِين﴾ Al-Fātiḥah 1:5 "You alone we worship and You alone we seek help from." the definitive Quranic statement that both worship and help-seeking are directed to Allah alone.

﴿مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ﴾ Al-Baqarah 2:255 "Who can intercede with Him except by His permission?" intercession belongs to Allah's permission, not to the worshipper's request directed at a being.

Ijmāʿ (consensus): This is kufr by unanimous scholarly agreement no legitimate scholarly disagreement exists
"Proximity" logic was tried and rejected al-Zumar 39:3 addresses and dismisses it
Asking the living for duʿāʾ is fine the line is directing worship to a being, not merely asking a living person to pray for you
Intercession belongs to Allah it is granted by His permission, not obtained by calling on a saint