Wasila and Shirk

In my quest for finding the true path which Allah (SWT) has propagated in The Holy Quran, this is my humble attempt to discuss and understand the concept of "Wasila" which most of us mistake it as 'shirk'. We tend to do it as we don't want to get deviated from the true path, as we love Allah and wants to follow Him and obey Him as far as possible.

When we see our lives, we see that we come to this world vide our parents. Allah says that He gives us birth, but we never see Him, instead we see the mother giving birth. Allah says that it is He who raises us but we find that our parents take pains to raise us. Now if we start ignoring our parents and dont look after them by saying that "you did not do anything, it is Allah who has given me birth and raised me". Allah (SWT) will never like this and He will surely punish us. He does not like us to be disrespectful and ignore the 'wasila' which he has chosen for the specific purpose. We see a child demanding many things from his parents. Can this be 'shirk' ? no it cannot be it is a right wasila from which Allah will grant a child whatever he needs. So 'wasila' is chosen by Allah and asking and seeking things vide a wasila is asking from Allah Himself.

Let us understand with one more example. I teach and I am a visiting faculty. Many students look up to me for fulfillment of their knowledge. I become a wasila for their 'ILM". Allah imparts them knowledge and He appoints me to deliver that. Now, if my intentions are good and I am honest with my teaching I will be an expert on the subject. People will praise me and love me. Now can this be 'shirk' no it cannot. It is Allah's will that I get reward for my good "intention" and hardwork.

Again, I cannot be the wasila for subjects other than 'advertising' on which I am not good. I cannot teach engineering nor medical science. So it means that Allah has created me as a wasila for one aspect of knowledge.

Now let us try to understand the importance of Mohammad (SAW) and wa aale Mohammad (SAW) in this light. We will first see the following aayat from Surah-e-Baqra (Aayat 124).

"Ae Rasool (S.A.W) Bani Israel ko woh waqt bhi yaad dilao jab Ibrahim (A.S) ko unke Parvardigar ne chand baton main aazmaya aur unhone pura kar diya to Khuda ne farmaya Main tumko logon ka peshwa banane wala hoon. Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S) ne arz ki aur meri aulad main se. Farmaya haan magar mere ahad per zaalimon main se koi shakhs faaez nahin ho sakta."

From the above aayat it is clear that Allah (SWT) did aazmaish of Ibrahim (A.S) and when he was successful, Allah made him Peshwa and Imam. He then prayed that his progeny should also be Imam and Peshwa and we know that Mohammed wa aale Mohammed i.e. all 12 Imams and Janaba Fatema (SA) and Huzoor (SAW) are descendants of Ibrahim (AS). So Allah granted his wish.

Again Allah says that he did the aazmaaish of Ibrahim (A.S) and that was the qurbani (sacrifice) which Allah wanted from him of Ismaeel (A.S). We all know the entire incident. It means that Allah does aazmaaish of His chosen servants and then He grants them with his limitless grace.

Now let us see the life of Mohammad (SAW) Wa Aale Mohammed (SAW) and their aazmaaish on various occasions. There are many but I will restrict to the followings:

1) When Huzoor (SAW) was a child and when he became orphan. Hazrat Abu Talib (A S) raised him, supported him and did everything to protect him from his enemies. He was always ready to sacrifice his children to save the holy prophet. During the nights he would exchange the bed on which Huzoor (SAW) would sleep with his child's so that if somebody with ill-intention wants to harm the prophet, he would harm Hazrat Abu Talib (A.S) children instead. Allah appointed Abu Talib (A.S) as guardian to the prophet.

2) During "Shab-e-Hijrat" when there was a threat on the life of Huzoor (SAW). Maula Ali came to his help and he slept on Huzoor (SAW) bed for the entire night. If somebody would have attacked on that night, Maula Ali would have got harmed and not Huzoor (SAW). He was ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of Allah.

3) We all know that Imam Husain (A.S) sacrificed his entire family for the sake of Allah. Ibrahim (A.S) was asked sacrifice his one child,which he tried by keeping his eyes closed, while Imam Husain (A.S) sacrificed his entire family in front of his open eyes. Why would not Allah (SWT) then grant them with his "Will" then?

When we look this logically we can understand why Allah said in Surah-e-Ambiya that

" Aur Ae Rasool (SAW) Hum ne tum ko tamam alamon ke liye rehmat hi karke bheja hai".

And Rasool (SAW) has said that "Main aur Ali ek hee noor se hai"

He has also said that "Husain mujh se hai aur main Husain se hoon"

From the above it is clear that in both the worlds (Duniya and Aakherat), Mohammed wa Aale Mohammed (SAW) are the wasila for Allah's Rehmat. So when we seek "rehmat" and "madad" from them we are not doing 'shirk", we are infact going to a right wasila from where things will be granted. So it also means that whoever Mohammed (SAW) wa aale Mohammed (SAW) wishes Allah will bless him. Their wish is Allah's wish.

Since Mohaamed (SAW) and wa aale Mohammed (SAW) had clear intentions and honest with their quest to follow Allah's path, Allah rewarded them with his "Will". And when we praise them, Allah is happy as we are praising Allah by praising His wasila. If I deliver a good lecture and students praise me and that cannot be shirk as Allah has rewarded me for my hardwork, similarly praising Mohammed (SAW) and his progeny cannot be a 'shirk' as Allah has rewarded them for their faithfulness and honesty.