Is It Really Allowed to Seek Blessing from Relics?
Hanafi FiqhHanbali FiqhMaliki FiqhShafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question
Great scholars such as Al-Nawawi and Ibn Hajar permit seeking blessings from relics of the righteous (Awliya).
Is this a widely held belief in the four madhahib?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate
I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah.
Yes, “tabarruk” (seeking blessings) is generally permitted across the Sunni schools of Law. The reason for this is the affirmation of “blessings” (baraka) for people, places, objects, lands, and actions in both the Quran and the Sunna.
It is important to appreciate that the core focus of our religion is the cultivation of faith (iman) and acting (amal) on sound knowledge and the Prophetic sunna.
Seeking blessings–from Allah through things dear to Him–is an expression of love and keenness for good. It cannot substitute for one’s core duties, responsibilities, or taking the called-for means.
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.
