✍ Compiled by: Abu Hamzah Salafi
This article presents a scholarly refutation with the aim to clarify:
❀ That the only true and absolute fulfiller of needs (Ḥājat-Rawā) is Allah alone;
❀ To examine the authenticity and content of certain narrations cited by some to support the belief in others being need-fulfillers;
❀ To highlight where the scholars of ḥadīth have classified these narrations as weak (ḍaʿīf), rejected (munkar), or fabricated (mawḍūʿ);
❀ And finally, while the service and advice of the righteous is acknowledged, doctrinal formulation must be based only on sound textual proofs.
Arabic Text:
«إِنَّ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ خَلْقًا خَلَقَهُمْ لِحَوَائِجِ النَّاسِ، يَفْزَعُ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهِمْ فِي حَوَائِجِهِمْ، أُولَئِكَ الْآمِنُونَ مِنْ عَذَابِ اللَّهِ.»
Translation:
“Indeed, Allah has created certain people for the service of others' needs. People turn to them in times of necessity. These are the ones who will be safe from the punishment of Allah.”
al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī, 12/358, ḥadīth no. 13334
Chain of Narration:
Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah → Aḥmad ibn Ṭāriq al-Wābishī → ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam → Zayd ibn Aslam → ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه
✦ The core flaw in the chain is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, who is severely weak according to the scholars of ḥadīth.
Statements of Scholars:
✿ Ibn Ḥibbān (al-Majrūḥīn):
“He is among those who distort narrations unknowingly. He often raises mursal to marfūʿ and mawqūf to musnad. Hence, he is to be abandoned.”
✿ al-Ṭaḥāwī (Sharḥ Mushkil al-Āthār):
“According to the scholars of ḥadīth, his narrations are extremely weak.”
✿ Abū Bakr al-Bazzār (Musnad al-Bazzār):
“He is very severely munkar al-ḥadīth.”
The collective weakening of this narrator is sufficient for the non-acceptance of the narration. Additionally, Aḥmad ibn Ṭāriq al-Wābishī is also an unknown/marginal narrator, but the central defect lies in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd.
Note on the Content (Matn):
✿ The phrase “People turn to them in their needs” merely reflects encouragement to assist others—it does not prove any doctrinal belief of a being independently capable of fulfilling needs.
✿ In matters of ʿaqīdah, only ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan li-dhātihi texts are valid. Weak or munkar reports cannot serve as evidence.
Final Ruling:
✿ Status of the ḥadīth: Ḍaʿīf (Weak) — Not suitable for proof
✿ Doctrine of Ḥājat-Rawā (Need Fulfillment): Only Allah is the true fulfiller of needs. Any assistance from creation is through means, but this narration cannot be used to affirm doctrinal beliefs.
Arabic Variants:
«اِطْلُبُوا الْحَوَائِجَ عِنْدَ حِسَانِ الْوُجُوهِ»
And in some chains: «اِطْلُبُوا الْخَيْرَ عِنْدَ حِسَانِ الْوُجُوهِ»
Translation:
“Seek your needs from those with beautiful faces.”
Or: “Seek goodness from those with beautiful faces.”
Summary of the Chains:
This narration exists in numerous chains, but all are weak or fabricated. These include unknown (majhūl), abandoned (matrūk), fabricators (waḍḍāʿ), and excessive error-prone narrators.
Statements of Scholars:
✿ Ibn ʿAdī (al-Kāmil): Counted the narration among the munkarāt, citing over 15 fabricated variants with a false matn.
✿ al-ʿIrāqī (al-Mughnī): “All its chains are weak.”
✿ Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥūt al-Shāfiʿī (Asnā al-Maṭālib): “All chains are weak.”
✿ al-Dhahabī (Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl): Called it bāṭil (false).
✿ al-Ṣaghānī (al-Mawḍūʿāt): Included it among the fabrications.
✿ Ibn al-Jawzī (Talbīs Iblīs): Asserted that this narration is not proven from the Prophet ﷺ through any sound or fair chain.
Sample Chains and Their Flaws:
❀ Route of ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها (Faḍā’il al-Ṣaḥābah by Ibn Ḥanbal):
Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh → Jabrah/Khayrah bint Muḥammad (majhūlah) → her father (majhūl al-ḥāl)
Flaw: Unknown narrators = Weak chain.
❀ Route of Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه (al-Muntaḫab by ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd):
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Mujbir → Nāfiʿ
Flaw: Classified as matrūk by al-Nasā’ī and al-Dāraqutnī.
❀ Route of Jābir رضي الله عنه (al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ):
Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Ghallābī (fabricator), Sulaymān ibn Kurāz (weak), ʿUmar ibn Ṣuhbān (abandoned)
Flaw: Contains a known fabricator—thus mawḍūʿ.
And other routes contain similar issues (unknown, weak or fabricating narrators).
Note on the Content (Matn):
✿ The phrase “Seek goodness from those with beautiful faces” has been misused in various false Sufi interpretations.
✿ Since all chains are weak or fabricated, the matn has no evidentiary value.
Final Ruling:
✿ Status of the ḥadīth: Fabricated/Severely Weak — Not authentic by any chain
✿ Doctrinal/Legal Usage: Cannot be used for establishing any belief or legal ruling.
Arabic Text:
«إِذَا أَضَلَّ أَحَدُكُمْ شَيْئًا، أَوْ أَرَادَ عَوْنًا، وَهُوَ بِأَرْضٍ لَيْسَ بِهَا أَنِيسٌ، فَلْيَقُلْ: يَا عِبَادَ اللهِ أَغِيثُونِي، يَا عِبَادَ اللهِ أَغِيثُونِي، فَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ عِبَادًا لَا نَرَاهُمْ»
Translation:
“If any of you loses something or seeks help while in a land where there is no companion, let him say: O servants of Allah, help me! O servants of Allah, help me! For indeed, Allah has servants whom we do not see.”
al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī, 17/117, ḥadīth no. 17103
Chain Summary:
al-Ḥusayn ibn Isḥāq al-Tustarī → Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūfī → ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sahl → his father → ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿĪsā → Zayd ibn ʿAlī → ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān → Prophet ﷺ
✦ The real narrator is not “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sahl” but actually ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sharīk al-Nakhaʿī, due to copyist error.
Why “ibn Sahl” is really “ibn Sharīk”:
◈ After the word “my father”, the next narrator is “ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿĪsā”, who is frequently narrated from by Sharīk ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Qāḍī, confirming the correct identity.
✿ There is no known “Sahl” who narrates from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿĪsā, hence accepting “ibn Sahl” would render the chain broken or unknown.
◈ The confusion is likely due to old manuscripts lacking diacritics; common scribal confusions occurred between similar letter shapes.
Criticism on ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sharīk:
✿ Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī: “Extremely weak in ḥadīth.”
✿ Ibn Ḥibbān: “Made many errors, close to being abandoned.”
✿ Ibn Ḥajar (Taqrīb): “His narration is not ḥujjah (proof).”
✿ Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ (Musnad Aḥmad): “Explicitly declared him weak.”
Further Flaws in the Chain:
① Sharīk ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Qāḍī: Frequently erred, and had memory confusion after becoming a judge.
② Disconnected chain: Zayd ibn ʿAlī (b. 76 AH) and ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān (d. 17 AH) are separated by 59 years, making hearing impossible.
Statements of Scholars:
✿ al-Haythamī (Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, ḥadīth 17103):
“The narrators are declared trustworthy, but some are weak, and Zayd ibn ʿAlī did not meet ʿUtbah.”
Note on the Content (Matn):
✿ Though the narration mentions calling out to unseen servants of Allah, the chain is both weak and disconnected, thus cannot be used for ʿaqīdah or legal justification.
✿ Even if authentic, the phrase “...Allah has servants we do not see” could refer to angels or jinn, but without clear proof, applying it to belief in creatures being permanent need-fulfillers is invalid.
Final Ruling:
✿ Chain Status: Disconnected + Very Weak (due to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sharīk)
✿ Use for Evidence: Not acceptable — cannot be used for ʿaqīdah or prescribed supplications
✿ Meaning: Even if authentic, it refers to unseen creations assisting through Allah’s will, not affirming any creature as an independent fulfiller of needs.
① A complete authenticity and content review was conducted of narrations cited by the Barelvi school in support of calling others besides Allah for needs.
② All narrators were assessed using statements of renowned scholars of ḥadīth.
☛ Many chains contain unknown narrators.
☛ Some contain fabricators or abandoned narrators.
☛ Some suffer from tadlīs (obfuscation), post-confusion narrations, or severe disconnections.
☛ Some texts were declared bāṭil or munkar by authorities.
③ Three notable narrations:
❶ “إِنَّ لِلَّهِ خَلْقًا خَلَقَهُمْ لِحَوَائِجِ النَّاسِ” — Weak (due to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam)
❷ “اطلبوا الحوائج عند حسان الوجوه” — All chains weak/fabricated
❸ “يَا عِبَادَ اللهِ أَغِيثُونِي” — Very weak + disconnected
④ Scholars like Muḥammad ibn Darwīsh al-Shāfiʿī, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn al-Jawzī considered all such reports about “Abdāl” and similar esoteric roles to be weak or fabricated.
⑤ From the statements of Salaf al-Ṣāliḥīn, it is evident that the term “Abdāl” referred to righteous scholars and hadith specialists, not to the mythical Sufi constructs of “Ghawth” and “Quṭb”.
❀ The concept of fulfilling needs (Ḥājat-Rawā’ī) is exclusively for Allah alone. Creation may serve as a means, but to attribute independent power to them is false and leads to shirk.
❀ The narrations cited by the Barelvi school are all unauthentic both in chain and content — they cannot be used to establish belief or practice.
❀ Any beliefs built on them lack sound scholarly basis, fail Islamic legal standards, and may lead the Ummah into misguidance.
This article presents a scholarly refutation with the aim to clarify:
❀ That the only true and absolute fulfiller of needs (Ḥājat-Rawā) is Allah alone;
❀ To examine the authenticity and content of certain narrations cited by some to support the belief in others being need-fulfillers;
❀ To highlight where the scholars of ḥadīth have classified these narrations as weak (ḍaʿīf), rejected (munkar), or fabricated (mawḍūʿ);
❀ And finally, while the service and advice of the righteous is acknowledged, doctrinal formulation must be based only on sound textual proofs.
① First Narration — Report of Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه: “Allah has created certain people for the needs of others”
Arabic Text:
«إِنَّ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ خَلْقًا خَلَقَهُمْ لِحَوَائِجِ النَّاسِ، يَفْزَعُ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهِمْ فِي حَوَائِجِهِمْ، أُولَئِكَ الْآمِنُونَ مِنْ عَذَابِ اللَّهِ.»
Translation:
“Indeed, Allah has created certain people for the service of others' needs. People turn to them in times of necessity. These are the ones who will be safe from the punishment of Allah.”
al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī, 12/358, ḥadīth no. 13334Chain of Narration:
Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah → Aḥmad ibn Ṭāriq al-Wābishī → ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam → Zayd ibn Aslam → ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه
✦ The core flaw in the chain is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, who is severely weak according to the scholars of ḥadīth.
Statements of Scholars:
✿ Ibn Ḥibbān (al-Majrūḥīn):
“He is among those who distort narrations unknowingly. He often raises mursal to marfūʿ and mawqūf to musnad. Hence, he is to be abandoned.”
✿ al-Ṭaḥāwī (Sharḥ Mushkil al-Āthār):
“According to the scholars of ḥadīth, his narrations are extremely weak.”
✿ Abū Bakr al-Bazzār (Musnad al-Bazzār):
“He is very severely munkar al-ḥadīth.”
The collective weakening of this narrator is sufficient for the non-acceptance of the narration. Additionally, Aḥmad ibn Ṭāriq al-Wābishī is also an unknown/marginal narrator, but the central defect lies in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd.Note on the Content (Matn):
✿ The phrase “People turn to them in their needs” merely reflects encouragement to assist others—it does not prove any doctrinal belief of a being independently capable of fulfilling needs.
✿ In matters of ʿaqīdah, only ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan li-dhātihi texts are valid. Weak or munkar reports cannot serve as evidence.
Final Ruling:
✿ Status of the ḥadīth: Ḍaʿīf (Weak) — Not suitable for proof
✿ Doctrine of Ḥājat-Rawā (Need Fulfillment): Only Allah is the true fulfiller of needs. Any assistance from creation is through means, but this narration cannot be used to affirm doctrinal beliefs.
② Second Narration — “Seek your needs from those with beautiful faces”
Arabic Variants:
«اِطْلُبُوا الْحَوَائِجَ عِنْدَ حِسَانِ الْوُجُوهِ»
And in some chains: «اِطْلُبُوا الْخَيْرَ عِنْدَ حِسَانِ الْوُجُوهِ»
Translation:
“Seek your needs from those with beautiful faces.”
Or: “Seek goodness from those with beautiful faces.”
Summary of the Chains:
This narration exists in numerous chains, but all are weak or fabricated. These include unknown (majhūl), abandoned (matrūk), fabricators (waḍḍāʿ), and excessive error-prone narrators.
Statements of Scholars:
✿ Ibn ʿAdī (al-Kāmil): Counted the narration among the munkarāt, citing over 15 fabricated variants with a false matn.
✿ al-ʿIrāqī (al-Mughnī): “All its chains are weak.”
✿ Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥūt al-Shāfiʿī (Asnā al-Maṭālib): “All chains are weak.”
✿ al-Dhahabī (Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl): Called it bāṭil (false).
✿ al-Ṣaghānī (al-Mawḍūʿāt): Included it among the fabrications.
✿ Ibn al-Jawzī (Talbīs Iblīs): Asserted that this narration is not proven from the Prophet ﷺ through any sound or fair chain.
Sample Chains and Their Flaws:
❀ Route of ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها (Faḍā’il al-Ṣaḥābah by Ibn Ḥanbal):
Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh → Jabrah/Khayrah bint Muḥammad (majhūlah) → her father (majhūl al-ḥāl)
Flaw: Unknown narrators = Weak chain.
❀ Route of Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنه (al-Muntaḫab by ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd):
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Mujbir → Nāfiʿ
Flaw: Classified as matrūk by al-Nasā’ī and al-Dāraqutnī.
❀ Route of Jābir رضي الله عنه (al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ):
Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Ghallābī (fabricator), Sulaymān ibn Kurāz (weak), ʿUmar ibn Ṣuhbān (abandoned)
Flaw: Contains a known fabricator—thus mawḍūʿ.
And other routes contain similar issues (unknown, weak or fabricating narrators).
Note on the Content (Matn):
✿ The phrase “Seek goodness from those with beautiful faces” has been misused in various false Sufi interpretations.
✿ Since all chains are weak or fabricated, the matn has no evidentiary value.
Final Ruling:
✿ Status of the ḥadīth: Fabricated/Severely Weak — Not authentic by any chain
✿ Doctrinal/Legal Usage: Cannot be used for establishing any belief or legal ruling.
③ Third Narration — Saying: “Yā ʿIbādallāh, Aghīthūnī”
Arabic Text:
«إِذَا أَضَلَّ أَحَدُكُمْ شَيْئًا، أَوْ أَرَادَ عَوْنًا، وَهُوَ بِأَرْضٍ لَيْسَ بِهَا أَنِيسٌ، فَلْيَقُلْ: يَا عِبَادَ اللهِ أَغِيثُونِي، يَا عِبَادَ اللهِ أَغِيثُونِي، فَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ عِبَادًا لَا نَرَاهُمْ»
Translation:
“If any of you loses something or seeks help while in a land where there is no companion, let him say: O servants of Allah, help me! O servants of Allah, help me! For indeed, Allah has servants whom we do not see.”
al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr by al-Ṭabarānī, 17/117, ḥadīth no. 17103Chain Summary:
al-Ḥusayn ibn Isḥāq al-Tustarī → Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā al-Ṣūfī → ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sahl → his father → ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿĪsā → Zayd ibn ʿAlī → ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān → Prophet ﷺ
✦ The real narrator is not “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sahl” but actually ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sharīk al-Nakhaʿī, due to copyist error.
Why “ibn Sahl” is really “ibn Sharīk”:
◈ After the word “my father”, the next narrator is “ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿĪsā”, who is frequently narrated from by Sharīk ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Qāḍī, confirming the correct identity.
✿ There is no known “Sahl” who narrates from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿĪsā, hence accepting “ibn Sahl” would render the chain broken or unknown.
◈ The confusion is likely due to old manuscripts lacking diacritics; common scribal confusions occurred between similar letter shapes.
Criticism on ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sharīk:
✿ Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī: “Extremely weak in ḥadīth.”
✿ Ibn Ḥibbān: “Made many errors, close to being abandoned.”
✿ Ibn Ḥajar (Taqrīb): “His narration is not ḥujjah (proof).”
✿ Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾūṭ (Musnad Aḥmad): “Explicitly declared him weak.”
Further Flaws in the Chain:
① Sharīk ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Qāḍī: Frequently erred, and had memory confusion after becoming a judge.
② Disconnected chain: Zayd ibn ʿAlī (b. 76 AH) and ʿUtbah ibn Ghazwān (d. 17 AH) are separated by 59 years, making hearing impossible.
Statements of Scholars:
✿ al-Haythamī (Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, ḥadīth 17103):
“The narrators are declared trustworthy, but some are weak, and Zayd ibn ʿAlī did not meet ʿUtbah.”
Note on the Content (Matn):
✿ Though the narration mentions calling out to unseen servants of Allah, the chain is both weak and disconnected, thus cannot be used for ʿaqīdah or legal justification.
✿ Even if authentic, the phrase “...Allah has servants we do not see” could refer to angels or jinn, but without clear proof, applying it to belief in creatures being permanent need-fulfillers is invalid.
Final Ruling:
✿ Chain Status: Disconnected + Very Weak (due to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sharīk)
✿ Use for Evidence: Not acceptable — cannot be used for ʿaqīdah or prescribed supplications
✿ Meaning: Even if authentic, it refers to unseen creations assisting through Allah’s will, not affirming any creature as an independent fulfiller of needs.
Summary of Findings
① A complete authenticity and content review was conducted of narrations cited by the Barelvi school in support of calling others besides Allah for needs.
② All narrators were assessed using statements of renowned scholars of ḥadīth.
☛ Many chains contain unknown narrators.
☛ Some contain fabricators or abandoned narrators.
☛ Some suffer from tadlīs (obfuscation), post-confusion narrations, or severe disconnections.
☛ Some texts were declared bāṭil or munkar by authorities.
③ Three notable narrations:
❶ “إِنَّ لِلَّهِ خَلْقًا خَلَقَهُمْ لِحَوَائِجِ النَّاسِ” — Weak (due to ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam)
❷ “اطلبوا الحوائج عند حسان الوجوه” — All chains weak/fabricated
❸ “يَا عِبَادَ اللهِ أَغِيثُونِي” — Very weak + disconnected
④ Scholars like Muḥammad ibn Darwīsh al-Shāfiʿī, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn al-Jawzī considered all such reports about “Abdāl” and similar esoteric roles to be weak or fabricated.
⑤ From the statements of Salaf al-Ṣāliḥīn, it is evident that the term “Abdāl” referred to righteous scholars and hadith specialists, not to the mythical Sufi constructs of “Ghawth” and “Quṭb”.
Final Verdict
❀ The concept of fulfilling needs (Ḥājat-Rawā’ī) is exclusively for Allah alone. Creation may serve as a means, but to attribute independent power to them is false and leads to shirk.
❀ The narrations cited by the Barelvi school are all unauthentic both in chain and content — they cannot be used to establish belief or practice.
❀ Any beliefs built on them lack sound scholarly basis, fail Islamic legal standards, and may lead the Ummah into misguidance.
