Tawassul with Iman and good deeds

Q 2: Is it permissible for a person to make Dhikr (Remembrance of Allah) by saying: "O Allah! You are All, from You comes all, to You refers all, by Your Grace lives all, and You are raised above all. I ask You by Your Mercy O Most Merciful"?

A: This formula of Tawassul (supplicating to Allah in the name of/by the virtue of...) is baseless in Shari‘ah (Islamic law); the Tawassul that is Islamically permissible is that a servant beseeches Allah in the name of one’s Iman (belief) in Him or righteous good deeds. Allah (Exalted be He) says: And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allâh, so call on Him by them It is related in the Sunan (Hadith compilations classified by jurisprudential themes) on the authority of `Abdullah ibn Buraydah, from his father that The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) heard a man saying, "O Allah! I beg You in the name of my bearing witness that You are Allah, there in no god but You, the One God, the Self-Sufficient Sustainer of all, Who begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none coequal or comparable to Him.” He (peace be upon him) said, “You have begged Allah by His Name which, when begged by it, He gives, and when supplicated by it, He answers.” Also, it is related in the Two Sahih (authentic) Books of Hadith (i.e. Al-Bukhari and Muslim) on the authority of `Abdullah ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he heard the (Part No. 1; Page No. 178) Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saying, Three persons while walking were overtaken by rain, so they sought refuge in a cave in a mount; but a rock fell down the mountain and closed the mouth of their cave. Some of them said to the others, “Think of righteous deeds which you did for the Sake of Allah, and supplicate to Allah (Exalted be He) in their name, perhaps He may remove it for you.” One of them said, “O Allah! I had my two old parents, my wife and little children to look after. Whenever I brought back my herd from the pasture, I would draw the milk and serve it first to my parents before my children. One day the quest for pasture took me far, so I only returned in the evening to find them both asleep. So, I drew the milk as I used to, then took it and stood close at their heads, hating to wake them from their sleep and hating to hand it first to my children to drink, who were crying of hunger at my feet. I and them remained thus until the break of dawn. (O Allah)! If You know that I have done that only seeking Your Face (Pleasure), open up a way in it for us through which we can see the sky.” So, a way was opened in it for them through which they saw the sky. Another said, “O Allah! I had a cousin whom I loved the strongest kind of love a man can feel for a woman, and I asked her herself but she refused until I would bring her a hundred Dinars. So, I struggled until I collected a hundred Dinars and went to her with them. But when I sat between her legs, she said, ‘Slave of Allah! Fear Allah, and do not break the seal (i.e. Take her virginity), except by its right (i.e. Marriage).’ So, I got off her. O Allah! If You know that I have done that only seeking Your Face, open up a way in it for us.” So, a way was further opened in it for them. (Part No. 1; Page No. 179) The third said, “O Allah! I hired a worker for a Faraq of rice and when he finished his job, he said, ‘Give me my right.’ So, I offered to him his Faraq, but he refused to take it.’ So, I kept sowing it (the rice) until I gathered from it (the yield) cows and their herdsman. He then came to me and said, ‘Fear Allah and do not deprive me of my right.’ I said, ‘Go to these cows and their herdsman and take them.’ He said, ‘Fear Allah and do not mock me!’ I said, ‘I am not mocking you, take these cows and their herdsman.’ So, he took them and went away. If you know that I have done that only seeking Your Face, open up the rest of it for us.” So, Allah opened the rest. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.