Seeking for Blessing

Blessing

Author: Abdullah (Student of Ma’had Ali Al-Imam Asy-Syafii Jember)

In the name of Allah. Peace and prayer of Allah be upon His messenger, his family, and whoever being loyal to him.

Seeking for blessing is a classical phenomenon that has been existed since long time ago. In the past, people thought that stones, trees, graves, etc could bring blessing upon them. Likewise, today, some people still believed that certain graves, things, times, and places contain blessing. In the past, some people hung up their weapons on worshipped trees, in the hope that its blessing will move to those weapons; now, in this sophisticated era, there are still people who imitate them by swabbing or sticking their possessions to something worshipped, believing that its blessing will stick and move to it.

In the past, there were people who visited the grave of Laata (a pious man who lived before the time of Allah’s messenger – peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-) and performed rituals around the grave wishing to obtain its blessing; nowadays, we still find many people who do the same. Allah the Almighty eternalized names of pious people who were worshipper after their death in His book, which can be translated as, “Have you ever thought about al-Lat and al-‘Uzza, and about the third deity, al-Manat? ” (chapter An Najm/The Star:19-20). Ibn Katsir – may Allah have mercy on him- in his tafseer mentioned the sayings of Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Rabi’ Ibn Anas – may Allah have mercy on him- in interpreting this verse: “In the past, he (Laata) was a man at the time of the Ignorants who always provided sawiq (a kind of food resulted from certain baking process) for the pilgrims. When he died, people retreated around his grave (wishing for his blessing), then (finally) they worshipped him.”

Is the existence of this phenomenon, then and now, necessarily become affirmation and legalization of it? What is Islam’s view in this matter? Here is the explanation.

Definition of Blessing

Blessing comes from Arabic language, “barokah”. Etymologically, it means plenty, eternal goodness. Whereas according to shari’a, it is defined as follows: The divine goodness that stay onto something. It is based on Allah’s verse:

“Had the people of those towns believed and been God-fearing, We would certainly have opened up to them blessings from the heavens and the earth; but they gave the lie (to their Prophets) and so We seized them for their deeds.” (Chapter Al A’raf/The Height:96)

Seeking and wishing for blessing or “ngalap berkah” (Javanese), in Arabic language is known as “Tabarruk.” Someone who believes that certain thing contains blessing, and seeking and wishing it from it, means that he had done “tabarruk” to it.

The Kinds of Tabarruk

The scholars divided tabarruk into two kinds, namely:

  • The Allowed Tabarruk

It means that seeking and wishing for blessing, goodness, rewards and everything a slave needs, in his religious and worldly matter, using something blessed by Allah the Exalted as medium, whether it is a thing, a place, time, etc. Confirming that something contains blessing and the method to obtain that blessing must be based on valid indication, that is the Qur’an and hadith of the Prophet peace and prayer of Allah be upon him.

Seeking for blessing is permitted in Islam, if it has fulfilled the requirements below:

  1. Person who seek and wish for the blessing is a muslim who follows the guidance of Allah the Exalted and His messenger – peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-.
  2. He believes that The Blesser is Allah alone. It is based on a hadith of Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud – may Allah be pleased with him-, in which he said, “We ever went out with the Prophet – peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- in a journey. At that time, the water left was diminutive, then the Messenger of Allah – peace and prayer of Allah be upon. him- asked for that water and they (the companions) brought it in a container. The Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah – put his hand inside the water and said, “Come to the blessed water, and blessing only comes from Allah the Exalted.” Ibn Mas’ud said, “Verily, I saw water burst out from the finger of Allah’s messenger -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-.” (Narrated by Bukhari)
  3. There is indication from the Qur’an or hadith that explain that the thing is blessed, then it is not allowed to believe that it is alone that creates and causes blessing, rather, it is just served as a medium.
  4. Taking or obtaining the blessing according to the method explained in the Qur’an and hadith of the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-.
  5. Believes that no one – even a wali or righteous man – that could be the object of blessing-seeking from his body parts, whether it is something that comes from him or from things he had used, except the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him-. It is as the companions – may Allah be pleased with them- sought blessing from the residue of water he used for ablution and the clip of his nails. This is due to several reasons:

– It is inappropriate for anyone beside the Messenger of Allah peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- to be compared or leveled with him in the matter of nobility and blessing.

– The companions -may Allah be pleased with them- never sought blessing from anyone other than the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- during his lifetime, or after his death whereas. they were righteous men.Some of them even been delighted with glad tidings that they will be dweller of Paradise when they still alive, but they didn’t seek and wish blessing from their kind.

– There is no guarantee from Allah and His messenger over a person’s righteousness. Because righteousness encompasses deeds of the heart of which no one has any knowledge of but Allah the Almighty alone.

– Seeking for blessing from a person highly likely will create the feeling of self-amazed (ujub), arrogance, riya’, and vanity within him.

We are allowed to seek blessing from something that is acknowledged in the Qur’an and hadith of the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- as something blessed, in the form of place, country, time, saying, food/drink, or condition.

Among the Blessed places, for example the Masjid al Haram (including Ka’ba), the Prophet’s mosque, and Masjid Al Aqsha. To invoke blessing from these places is by performing prayer and reciting remembrances in it, not by stroking it.

Whereas the blessed countries for example Mecca, Medina, and Sham; the blessing comes in the form of secure feeling and plenty of sustenances in it. The method to invoke blessing in it is by staying there, not by taking its soil or stone.

The blessed times, for example, the month of Ramadan, night of Al Qadr (lailatul qadr), the last one-third of night, the eid al qurban, friday, monday, and thursday. To invoke it is by performing worshipping activities that are suggested according to each of those times.

Among sayings in which a person could seek blessing by it is advices, enjoin, istighfar, du’a, and remembrances.

Among the blessed conditions is eating in congregation (together), whereas blessed food or drink are honey, water of zamzam, olive oil, and the black seed.

The Qur’an also contains blessing, but to obtain it, a person should recite, contemplate, and bring its content into life, and practice it. Not by hanging or displaying it.

  • The Disallowed Tabarruk

That is by seeking and wishing for blessing from anything that isn’t mentioned in the Qur’an and hadith of the Prophet – peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- as something blessed. It is also encompasses places, times, and righteous men (their body  parts or residue of something they had used), and other things which aren’t supported by indications from the Qur’an and hadith hadith of the Prophet – peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- as something that is blessed. Such as seeking for blessing at the graveyard, even though the buried one is a prophet or a wali; this is forbidden because it can lead a person into committing shirk, as what happened to Laata. Likewise, it is forbidden to seek for blessing at the cave of Hira and cave of Tsur.

As for stroking or kissing Hajar Aswad (The black stone), this act is not caused by the existence of blessing in that stone, as assumed by common people; rather, it is just a form of following the example set by the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- during his circumambulation. It is based on a hadith from Umar – may Allah be pleased with him-, in which he said in front of the black stone, “By Allah, I truly know that you are just a stone that cannot harm nor bring benefit. Hadn’t I saw the Prophet – peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- kissed you, I certainly wont kiss you.” (Narrated by Bukhari).

Ruling of Seeking for a Blessing (Tabarruk)

If the person believes that the Blesser is other than Allah the Exalted, although he seeks it from something legitimate in shari’a, it is considered as major shirk.

If the person believes that it is Allah Who blesses but he also believes that a blessing could come from an illegitimate cause in shari’a (that is not confirmed by indications from the Qur’an and hadith of Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- as something blessed), his deed is considered as minor shirk that could drag him into committing the major shirk.

A hadith that points out a kind of blessing-seeking that is considered as major shirk, is a hadith from the authority of Abu Waqid Al-Laitsi Al-Harits bin Malik – may Allah be pleased with him-. He narrated, “Once we went out with the Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- (to fight) to Hunayn, whereas we were just embracing Islam. The polytheists (their enemy) had a huge lote tree. They used to sit around it and hang their weapons onto it (to get its blessing). It was known as Dzatu Anwath (place for hanging up). Then we passed by a large tree and said, “O Messenger of Allah, pleased make for us Dzatu Anwath, as their Dzatu Nawath.” The Prophet -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- then said, “Allahu Akbar. This is the hereditary habit (of ancient people). By Allah, Who has my soul in His hand, you’ve said as children of Israel have said to Moses -peace be upon him-.” He (Moses) said, “Indeed, you are fool people.” Truly, you’ll follow the (bad) habit of people before you.” (Narrated by Tirmidhi).

Finally, we ask Allah the Glorified and Exalted to bestow upon us His blessing wherever we are and save us from the brinks of shirk and kufr till the end of our life. And Allah is The Guider.

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