ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Shiite Apologetics Question Twenty Why do the Shiites kiss the doors and the walls of the shrines and seek blessings thereof? Answer Seeking blessing from what reminds one of the saints is not something that has just appeared among Muslims; rather, it is a practice with deep roots in the history of the Prophets life and of his companions. Not only our honorable Prophet and his companions, but also the earlier Prophets used to seek blessings.

Below are examples taken from the Quran and from the Prophets Sunnah regarding the legitimacy of seeking blessings from what the saints had touched. The Quran says that when the truthful Joseph introduced himself to his brothers and forgave then, he said: Go with this shirt of mine and lay it on my fathers face, he will again be able to see.(12:93).

Also, When the bearer of good news came he cast it on his face, so forthwith he regained his sight.(12:96) This clear expression of the Quran is a manifest proof showing that Jacob, the Messenger of God, sought blessings from the shirt of another Messenger of God, Joseph; it also says that the shirt restored Prophet Jacob's eyesight to him. Can anyone claim that what these two honorable prophets did was something beyond the scope of monotheism and of worshipping the one God?

There is no doubt that the holy Prophet (a.s) rubbed his hand over the al-Hajar al-Aswad (asking Gods favor) when circumambulating the house of God, Ka`bah.

In his Sahih, Bukhari says; Someone asked `Abdullah ibn `Umar about (the permissibility of) touching the al-Hajar al-Aswad, and he answered: I saw the Prophet lovingly touching and kissing the al-Hajar al-Aswad.[1] If the touching and kissing of a stone ever had had the implication of associating someone or something to God, the Prophet, the harbinger of monotheism, would never have attempted at it.

The Sunnis sihah and Masanid, history and Sunnah books contain a large number of narrations on the Prophets companions seeking blessings from the things the Prophet had touched: his dress, the water he had used to make ritual ablution with, the jug he had drunk water out of, etc. These examples leave no doubt at all that it is legitimate and lawfully favorable to seek blessings. Although the narrations that have been handed down are too many to mention here, a few examples will be quoted below.