On Thursday 12th January 2017, whilst a discussion/debate was taking place between the Ahle Haq – The Ahlus Sunna Wa Jamaat and the Najdi Salafis, the Salafis were quick off the mark and presented a narration by which they tried to show that Tawassul is shirk. Here is the narration with the Arabic and english translation as provided by the Salafis.
The Famous Taabi’ee Abu al-Aaliyah (rahimahullah) said:
لما فتحنا تستر، وجدنا في بيت مال الهرمزان سريراً عليه رجل ميت، عند رأسه مصحف له، فأخذنا المصحف فحملناه إلى عمر بن الخطاب، فدعا له كعباً، فنسخه بالعربية، فأنا أول رجل من العرب قرأه، قرأته مثلما أقرأ القرآن هذا، فقلت لأبي العالية: ما كان فيه؟ فقال: سيرتكم وأموركم، ودينكم، ولحون كلامكم، وما هو كائن بعد، قلت: فما صنعتم بالرجل؟ قال:
حفرنا بالنهار ثلاثة عشر قبراً متفرقة، فلما كان الليل دفناه، وسوينا القبور كلها، لنعميه على الناس، لا ينبشونه، قلت: وما يرجون منه؟ قال: كانت السماء إذا حبست عليهم، برزوا بسريره فيمطرون، قلت: من كنتم تظنون الرجل؟ قال: رجل يقال له دانيال، فقلت: منذ كم وجدتموه مات؟ قال: منذ ثلاثمائة سنة ، قلت: ما كان تغير بشيء؟ قال: لا، إلا شعيرات من قفاه، إن لحوم الأنبياء لا تبليها الأرض، ولا تأكلها السباع.
“When we conquered the city of Tustar. We saw a bed in the Bayt ul-Maal of Al-Hurmuzaan upon which a deceased man was laying. Near his head was a Mushaf; we took the Mushaf and brought it to Umar ibn al-Khattaab (radiallah anhu).
Umar (radiallah anhu) called Ka’b al-Ahbaar (rahimahullah) who then translated it into Arabic. I was the first person among the Arabs who read that mushaf. I recited it like I would recite this Al-Qur’aan.
I (the narrator) asked Abu al-Aaliyah: ‘What was in it?’
He replied: ‘It contained your (i.e. the Muslim Ummah’s) seerat, your matters, your deen, the style of your talk, and some things about the future.’
I asked: ‘So what did you do with the man?’
He replied: We dug up thirteen different graves during the day. And when the night approached, we buried him and leveled all the graves so that the people do not find out and so they don’t dig him back up.
I asked: What did the people used to ask from him?
He replied: When the sky would be restrained on them (meaning, when it would not rain), they would take his bed out in hope of getting rain.
I said: Who do you think was that person?
He said: It was a man (Prophet) named Daaniyaal (peace be upon him).
I asked: How long do you think had he been dead?
He replied: About 300 years (It seems 3000 has been changed to 300).
I asked: Had his body changed at all?
He replied: No, except for a few hair that fell from his head, indeed the bodies of the Prophets are neither worn out by the earth nor are they eaten by the wild animals.”
[Seerat Ibn Ishaaq (P. 66-67), Dalaa’il un-Nabuwwah of Bayhaqi (1/382), Chain Hasan]
In another narration, Anas bin Maalik (radiallah anhu) said:
أنهم لما فتحوا تستر قال: فوجد رجلا أنفه ذراع في التابوت , كانوا يستظهرون ويستمطرون به , فكتب أبو موسى إلى عمر بن الخطاب بذلك , فكتب عمر: «إن هذا نبي من الأنبياء والنار لا تأكل الأنبياء , والأرض لا تأكل الأنبياء , فكتب أن انظر أنت وأصحابك يعني أصحاب أبي موسى فادفنوه في مكان لا يعلمه أحد غيركما» قال: فذهبت أنا وأبو موسى فدفناه
“When the Sahaabah conquered Tustar. They found the body of a man in a coffin whose nose was (as big as) an arm. The natives used to seek dominance and rain from him (by exposing his body to the sky as explained in the narration above). So Abu Moosa wrote a letter to Umar ibn al-Khattaab explaining him the situation. So Umar wrote back saying: Indeed this is a Prophet from the Prophets. The fire does not eat the Prophets, nor does the earth. Umar told him and his companions to search and bury him in a place about which no one would have the knowledge of other than them. He said: So me and Abu Moosa went and buried him.”
[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah (33819), Chain Saheeh]
Now firstly we would like to point out that whilst most of the English translation is correct, the most pertinent section of the narration have actually been incorrectly translated – probably as deceit. So we will include the translation below again but this time with the correct translation. For anyone who doesn’t know Arabic can compare it with the Urdu scans provided at the bottom of this article. We are also checking the original books referenced by the Najdis to ensure the Arabic is correct and does not contain fabrications.
[Correct English Translation Start]
(Hazrat Younus bin Bukai heard from) the famous Taabi’ee Abu al-Aaliyah (rahimahullah) who said
“When we conquered the city of Tustar. We saw a bed in the Bayt ul-Maal of Al-Hurmuzaan upon which a deceased man was laying. Near his head was a Mushaf; we took the Mushaf and brought it to Umar ibn al-Khattaab (radiallah anhu).
Umar (radiallah anhu) called Ka’b al-Ahbaar (rahimahullah) who then translated it into Arabic. I was the first person among the Arabs who read that mushaf. I recited it like I would recite this Al-Qur’aan.
I (the narrator) asked Abu al-Aaliyah: ‘What was in it?’
He replied: ‘It contained your (i.e. the Muslim Ummah’s) seerat, your matters, your deen, the style of your talk, and some things about the future.’ (Note, the fact this age old book contains information about the Ummah of Propet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is an important point to remember.)
I asked: ‘So what did you do with the man?’
He replied: We dug up thirteen different graves during the day. And when the night approached, we buried him and leveled all the graves so that the people do not find out and so they don’t dig him back up.
I asked: What did the people hope from him?
He replied: When the sky would be restrained on them (meaning, when it would not rain), they would take his bed out and it would start to rain.
I said: Who do you think was that person?
He said: It was a man (Prophet) named Daaniyaal (peace be upon him).
I asked: How long do you think had he been dead?
He replied: About 300 years (It seems 3000 has been changed to 300).
I asked: Had his body changed at all?
He replied: No, except for a few hair that fell from his head, indeed the bodies of the Prophets are neither worn out by the earth nor are they eaten by the wild animals.”
[Seerat Ibn Ishaaq (P. 66-67), Dalaa’il un-Nabuwwah of Bayhaqi (1/382), Chain Hasan]
First reply to the Najdiya – This narration supports Tawassul. The people of Tustar used to present the Waseela of Prophet Daniyaal (peace be upon him) and Allah Almighty accepted their supplication and because He is pleased with his noble Prophets, He would make the rain to start.
Now at this point the Najdi Object, but if their supplication and their waseela or Prophet Daniyaal (peace be upon him), why wasn’t it allowed to continue but instead the Sahaba buried Prophet Daniyaal (Alayhissalam).
Answer
For this we turn to the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings be upon him) who said “Prophet Daniyaal made a dua to Allah Almighty and requested that it should be someone from the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (peace & blessings be upon him) that should bury him. When Abu Musa Ashari conquered the fort Tustar, they found Prophet Daniyaal in a box (tomb) and even though they had left this world, the blood was still circulating in the veins round the entire body.” [Al Bidaya Wan Nihayah of Hafiz Ibn Kathir]
Many Muhadithin have narrated this event with slight change of words…
Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah
Dalaa’il un-Nabuwwah of Imam Bahayqi
Tarik Tabari of Imam Tabari
Futuh ul Baldan of Ahmad bin Yah Yah al-Balazri
Kitab-ul-Anwar of Abi Ubaid Qasim
al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazam
Fawaid Tamam ar-Razi of Imam Razi
So the fact the Companions buried Prophet Daniyaal (peace be upon him) was to fulfill the Prophecy of Sayiduna Rasul’Ullah (sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam). And the reason the grave was unmarked/hidden is so that the locals don’t dig up the body again which is against Islamic principles. Being at the grave of a pious is not a condition of presenting Tawassul or Waseela in the court of Allah Almighty – if only the Najdiya would understand this point.
