Allah has commanded the believer to seek means to achieve nearness to Him in the Qur’an. This is called wasilah and using the means is called tawassul. There are many types of wasilah one can use to achieve nearness to Allah (SWT) and they are all accepted by the Muslims at large with the exception of one type – the wasilah of Person.

The adherents of the Wahabi school of thought zealously object to this type of tawassul and those who practice it tend to be labeled kafir, even mushriks. This trend is now creeping into our communities and the youth is getting pulled into this whirlpool. Keeping the youth in mind, who will carry this message to the next generation, this short work discusses:

a) The main pillars of the Shia Ithna Ashariyyah school of thought, the Madhhab of Ahlul Bayt ar-Rasul (S).

b) The definition of Wasilah and Tawassul

c) Types of Wasilah - The common Wasilah accepted by all the Muslims

d) Wasilah of Person - Invoking Allah by the name and status of certain personalities, an issue that is quite thorny but still accepted by and large. This is the main objective of this study.

e) Istighatha – Calling for aid of another human being or asking for help from a person and not Allah, for example saying:

یَاعَلِيْ مَدَدْ

“O Ali help (me)” or

یَا ابَاعَبْدِاللهِ اَدْرِکْنِي

“O Aba Abdillah [Husayn (‘a)] help me”

This is the most contentious of all the issues on Tawassul. This is confusing even to the elders when confronted with youth armed with the verse of Suratul Fatihah:

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

“And You only we worship and to You only we ask for assistance”. (1:5)

f) The special type of Tawassul- the “Automatic Tawassul”, the state of such spiritual heights that one’s prayers and wishes get accepted without actively invoking Allah.

g) Tawassul of the “Dead”.

h) Have the Ahlul Bayt (‘a) used Tawassul of person?

The tools used for the study are Qur’an, commonly accepted Ahadith of the Holy Prophet (S) and common logic.