Usually, a Verse of Sura-e-Alhamd is frequently quoted: ‘ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ’ and emphasise ‘You (alone) we worship; You (alone) we ask for help’ , while conveniently ignoring all those Verses of the Holy Quran which allow for the help of intercessors (e.g., 5:35, 21:28, 2:255, 20:109), we present those verses here. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسِيلَةَ وَجَاهِدُوا فِي سَبِيلِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ {355:} O you who believe!
Fear Allah and seek ‘ الْوَسِيلَةَ ’ the intermediary to Him and strive hard in His Way, perhaps you would be successful [5:35] In the above Holy Verse, Allah -azwj Says to Approach Him through a ‘ Wasila ’, Muslims may have different interpretations for the above Verse as per their beliefs and inclinations.
A Hadith from Salman Al-Farsi -ra is presented below: محمد بن الحسن الصفار: عن أبي الفضل العلوي، قال: حدثني سعيد بن عيسى الكريزي البصري، عن إبراهيم بن الحكم بن ظهير، عن أبيه، عن شريك بن عبد الله، عن عبد الأعلى الثعلبي، عن أبي تمام، عن سلمان الفارسي (رحمه الله)، عن أمير المؤمنين (عليه السلام)، في قول الله تبارك و تعالى: قُلْ كَفى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيداً بَيْنِي وَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَ مَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتابِ قال: «أنا هو الذي عنده علم الكتاب».
و قد صدقه الله، و قد أعطاه الوسيلة في الوصية و لا تخلى امة من وسيلة إليه و إلى الله تعالى، فقال: يا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَ ابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسِيلَةَ.
Muhammad Bin Al Saffar, from Abu Al Fazal Al Alawy, from Saeed Bin Isa Al Kareyzy Al Basry, from Ibrahim Bin Al Hakam Bin Zaheer, from his father, from Shareek Bin Abdullah, from Abdul A’ala Al Sa’alby, from Ibu Tameem, from Salman Al-Farsi -ra (narrates) from Amir-Al-Momineen -asws (Ali -asws Ibn Abi Talib -asws ) regarding the Words of Allah -azwj Blessed and Exalted Say: ‘Suffice with Allah as a Witness between me and you and the one with whom is the Knowledge of the Book [13:43] : ‘I (Ali -asws ) am the one with whom is the Knowledge of the Book.
And Allah -azwj Ratified it, and He -azwj has Given it the intermediary (الوسيلة) in the Commandment. And the community will never be devoid of an intermediary (الوسيلة) to it and to Allah -azwj , so He -azwj Said: O you who believe! Fear Allah and seek the intermediary to Him [5:35] ’.