7.22. THE TYPES OF INVOCATION TO THE LORD
1. The first type: the invocations that the servants have been commanded to perform either as obligations or recommendations. These are like his words:
“Guide us to the straight path” (al-Fatihah (1): 6)
and the invocation at the end of the prayer which the Prophet ordered his Companions to perform: “When one of you sits down in his prayer, let him seek refuge from four things: the punishment of Hell-fire, the punishment of the grave, the calamity of life and death, and the calamity of al-Masih al-Dajjdll”
This is the invocation that the Prophet commanded his Companions (radiyAllahu ‘anhum) to perform at the end of their prayers. The Imams are in agreement that it is an Islamic act that Allah and His Messenger love and are pleased with, but they differ as to whether it is obligatory or not. Tawus deemed it obligatory while a group of scholars said that it is recommended.
The invocations performed by the Prophet are either obliga- tory or recommended, so Allah loves both and is pleased with them. Therefore, if someone performs them, Allah is pleased with him and shall make him pleased as well. How could it then be said that abstinence from that which Allah loves and is pleased with is a sign of true contentment?
The second type: the forbidden invocations like those that cross the proper limits. A man might, for example, ask for something that was given to the Prophets alone while not being a prophet himself, or he might even go as far as asking for an attribute of the Lord, Ex- alted and Most High, Himself. Others might ask for the intercession (wasilah) given only to one specific servant, or ask Allah to grant him the knowledge of everything, or to make him capable of anything, or to lift all veils that prevent him from viewing the unseen.
Other forbidden forms of invocation are those performed with the assumption that Allah is in need of His servants and that they can harm and benefit Him. Someone with this belief might invoke Allah for some of the aforementioned things and tell Him that if He does not do them the creation will hurt him. This and other similar things all stem from sheer ignorance about Allah and are a way of overstepping the limits of lawfulness, in spite of the fact that a group of Shaykhs have fallen guilty of this.
Similar to this are their words: “O Allah, forgive me if You wish!” People who say this assume that Allah does some things due to being compelled and others out of His free will, much like the kings (of this world). Thus a person says: ‘Forgive me if You wish!’ The Prophet forbade us from doing this and said: ‘Let none of you say: ‘ 0 Allah, forgive me if You wish, O Allah, have mercy on me if You wish!’ Be determined in your request instead, for nobody forces Allah.”Someone might also attempt to make their sentences rhyme in the invocation while crying out loud and speaking in a declamatory manner. All of these invocations and anything that resembles them are forbidden.
Finally, there are invocations that are merely permissible, like asking for unnecessary things that do not entail sinfulness.
By Shaykhu’l-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
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