Could you please comment on the following quotation.
Seeking help through the Awliya, Belief of Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l Jama’ah regarding Seeking Help through the Aulia
‘Allama Sa’eedi and ‘Allama ‘Abd al-Hakim Sharf Qadri write:
“It is better that help is sought directly from Allah, most High, and through the waseela of the Anbia or Aulia. If an individual seeks help from the Anbia or Aulia by means of achieving help from Allah, most High, the person is not committing kufr.”
[Sharh Muslim, ‘Allama Sa’idi, Nidaa-e-Ya Muhammad, page 30 by ‘Allama Sharf Qadri]
Answer
Please don’t get confused by all these quotations. The fact is you can seek help from me and I can do likewise from you because we can help each other by Allah’s grace during our lifetime. If we think there are some living beings around us when we are alone in a jungle, we can seek their help too without getting involved in the possibility of doing shirk. Likewise, on the Day of Judgment if the prophet’s, alaihissalaam, help will be sought because he will be present and alive then.
The trouble starts when you seek help from someone who is dead. How can we seek help from them without believing that they were listening to us? And how can they listen to us when they were dead without us assuming some special, supernatural powers in them? It is therefore important that we don’t seek help from anyone dead even if they were prophets. Only God can help under all circumstances and His help alone should we seek. He is All-Powerful and All-Knowing,
The prayer for the prophet, alaihissalaam, we have been taught asks God to shower His blessings on him. We haven’t been taught to address the prophet or seek his help directly.