Those Who Oppose Tabarruk are Khawarij

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad adz-Dzahabi (r.a.) was a student of Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah (r.a.).  However, he differed with his teacher on the issue of tabarruk, taking blessings from the relics of the pious.  He stated explicitly that those who opposed it were like the Khwarij.  He cited, as evidence, that Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (r.a.) himself, used to engage in tabarruk, from the relics of the Prophet (s.a.w.). 

He wrote, in his Siyar A’alam an-Nubala’, “‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad said, ‘I saw my father take a hair that belonged to the Prophet (s.a.w.), put it on his mouth, and kiss it.  I believe I saw him put it on his eyes.  He also dipped it in water and drank the water to obtain cure.  I saw him take the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) bowl, wash it in water, and drink from it.  I saw him drink Zamzam water in order to seek cure with it, and he wiped his hands and face with it.’ 

I say: Where is the quibbling critic of Imam Ahmad now?  It is also authentically established that ‘Abdullah asked is father about those who touch the pommel of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) pulpit, and touch the wall of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) room, and he said, ‘I do not see any harm in it.’  May Allah (s.w.t.) protect us and you from the opinion of the Khwarij, and from innovations!” 

Imam adz-Dzahabi (r.a.) also wrote, in Mu’jam ash-Shuyukh, “Ahmad ibn Hanbal was asked about touching the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) grave, and kissing it, and he saw nothing wrong with it.  His son, ‘Abdullah, related this from him.  ‘If it is asked, ‘Why did the companions not do this?’  We reply, ‘Because they saw him with their very eyes when he was alive, enjoyed his presence directly, kissed his very hand, nearly fought each other over the remnants of his ablution water, shared his purified hair on the day of the greater pilgrimage, and even if he spat it would virtually not fall except in someone’s hand so that he could pass it over his face.  Since we have not had the tremendous fortune of sharing in this, we throw ourselves on his grave as a mark of commitment, reverence, and acceptance, even to kiss it.  Do you not see what Tsabit al-Bunani did, when he kissed the hand of Anas ibn Malik, and placed it on his face saying, ‘This is the hand that touched the hand of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.)’?’  Muslims are not moved to these matters except by their excessive love for the Prophet (s.a.w.), as they are ordered to love Allah (s.w.t.), and the Prophet (s.a.w.) more than their own lives, their children, all human beings, their property, and Paradise and its maidens.  There are even some believers that love Abu Bakr and ‘Umar more than themselves.” 

Today, Wahhabi scholars pretend these passages in Imam adz-Dzahabi’s (r.a.) books do not exist, or that they are misunderstood.