Surah Al-Israa (17) — Ayah 57

(Ayah 57){اُولٰٓىِٕكَ الَّذِيْنَ يَدْعُوْنَ … : ’’ الْوَسِيْلَةَ ‘‘ ’’ قُرْبٌ ‘‘} (Drawing near) For details about wasilah, see Surah Al-Ma'idah (35). That is, all those whom these polytheists call upon, such as angels, prophets, and the righteous, they themselves seek nearness to their Lord, meaning among them, those who are closer to Allah (they desire even more nearness to Him), and they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. So when all those whom the polytheists call upon for help are themselves seekers of Allah’s nearness, hopeful of His mercy, and fearful of His punishment, then what is the benefit of calling upon them and seeking help from them? The One whose nearness they seek, whose mercy they hope for, and whose punishment they fear, you too should strive to attain nearness to Him, hope for His mercy, and fear His punishment. It is unfortunate that today’s Muslims also hold the same belief about the saints and righteous of the Ummah, pirs, elders, and martyrs, and call upon them for help in the same way that the polytheists called upon them, considering them as fulfillers of needs and removers of difficulties, or thinking that they can have Allah solve their problems. See Surah Yunus (18) and Surah Az-Zumar (3). And they call this wasilah, whereas these actions have no relation to the true wasilah; these actions are clear shirk. The wasilah mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah means to seek nearness to Allah through obedience and worship of Him.

57. 1. In the mentioned verse, مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰہِ refers to the images and idols of angels and elders that were worshipped, or to Hazrat Uzair and Masih عليهما السلام whom the Jews and Christians call the son of Allah and consider them to possess divine attributes, or to those jinn who had become Muslim and the polytheists worshipped them. Because in this verse it is being explained that these themselves are in search of nearness to their Lord, hoping for His mercy and fearing His punishment, and this attribute cannot be found in inanimate objects (stones). From this verse, it becomes clear that مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰہ (those besides Allah who were worshipped) were not only stone idols, but also those servants of Allah among whom were some angels, some righteous people, some prophets, and some jinn. Allah Almighty has said about all of them that they can do nothing, neither can they remove anyone's distress nor can they change anyone's condition. The meaning of 'they seek nearness to their Lord' is that they seek closeness to Allah through righteous deeds. This is the الوسیلۃ that the Quran has mentioned; it is not what the grave-worshippers describe, that you make vows and offerings in the names of deceased persons, cover their graves with cloths, hold fairs and gatherings, and seek help and aid from them, because this is not الوسیلۃ, rather this is their worship, which is shirk. May Allah Almighty protect every Muslim from this.

57. Those whom they call upon themselves seek a means [70] of nearness to their Lord—who among them will be closest. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Surely, the punishment of your Lord is something to be feared [71].

[70] In this verse, specifically those deities are mentioned who are living beings. Stone idols are excluded from the meaning of this verse. That is, angels, jinn, or deceased prophets and righteous people can be meant here. And it is being explained that you make these personalities a means for fulfilling your needs or removing your difficulties, while they themselves spent their entire lives striving to become the most obedient servants of Allah and to attain His nearness, and they remained fearful of Allah’s punishment. Therefore, you too should adopt this very way, and by becoming more and more obedient to Allah and performing righteous deeds, seek nearness to Allah through these deeds or as a means. It is clear from this verse that a person can make his own good deeds a means and supplicate for himself. As is also evident from the following hadith:

Making Good Deeds a Means and Supplicating:

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar ؓ narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: Three men from among those before you were traveling when rain overtook them. They took shelter in a cave. A rock fell from above and closed the mouth of the cave. They said to one another: By Allah! Now only truthfulness can save you from this calamity, so let each one of you mention a deed he has done sincerely for Allah and supplicate to Him. One of them said: O Allah! You know well that I hired a laborer for a measure (three sa’ of rice). He (became angry and) left, abandoning his wages. I used that rice to cultivate the land. Then it yielded so much profit that I bought cows and oxen. (After a long time) the laborer came to claim his wages. I said to him, “Go and take all those oxen.” He said, “I only had a measure of rice with you.” I said, “With that rice (through cultivation) I bought these cows and oxen.” So he took them away. O Allah! You know well, if I did this deed out of fear of You, then remove our calamity. So the rock shifted. The second said: O Allah! You know that my parents were old, and every night I would bring them milk from the goats. One night I was delayed, and both of them fell asleep. My wife and children were crying from hunger. My habit was to give milk to my parents first, then to my wife and children. I did not think it appropriate to wake them, nor did I want to leave them and go, while they waited for the milk. So I waited for them until dawn. O Allah! You know well, if I did this deed out of fear of You, then remove our calamity. At that moment, the rock shifted further, until they could see the sky. The third said: O Allah! You know well that I had a cousin whom I loved most. Once I wanted to have relations with her, but she refused, except if I gave her one hundred dinars. I managed to collect one hundred dinars and gave them to her. She surrendered herself to me, and when I sat between her legs (for intercourse), she said, “Fear Allah, and do not break the seal unlawfully.” I stood up and left the one hundred dinars with her. O Allah! If I did this deed out of fear of You, then remove our difficulty. So Allah removed their calamity, and they came out. [بخاری، کتاب الانبیاء۔ باب حدیث الغار]
[71]
The Demand of Faith: Both Hope and Fear from Allah:

That is, even after performing righteous deeds and hoping for their reward, one should continue to fear Allah, lest there be some shortcoming in those deeds. And sometimes a person is seized in this world for sins he did not commit, such as someone fabricating a false case against him or accusing him of something. And this too is a kind of Allah’s punishment and occurs only by His will. Therefore, one should always remain fearful of Allah’s punishment.