Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The hadith of the blind man is a well-known narration, and a number of scholars have graded it authentic or sound. According to the interpretation considered strongest here, the tawassul mentioned in it refers to seeking a means to Allah through the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication and intercession for the man during his lifetime, not to asking the Prophet ﷺ himself to independently fulfill the man’s need.
A blind man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him to supplicate to Allah to restore his sight. The Prophet ﷺ said to him:
“If you wish, I will supplicate for you, and if you wish, you may delay it, and that is better.”
The man chose the supplication.
The Prophet ﷺ then instructed him to perform ablution properly, pray two rak‘ahs, and supplicate to Allah with the prayer he taught him, including:
“O Allah, I ask You and turn to You through Your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy…”
The context therefore begins with an explicit request from the man that the Prophet ﷺ supplicate to Allah for him, and this is important when understanding the tawassul mentioned in the hadith.
The context of the hadith indicates that the man sought a means to Allah through the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication for him and his intercession on his behalf.
The man did not remain at home and say, “O Allah, I ask You by the status of Muhammad.” Rather, he went to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him to supplicate for him.
This meaning is further supported by the words in the supplication:
“O Allah, accept his intercession for me, and accept my intercession concerning him.”
The intercession here is connected to supplication; that is: accept the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication for me, and accept my supplication that You respond to his prayer.
Therefore, the man’s words:
“O Allah, I ask You and turn to You through Your Prophet Muhammad”
are understood, in the context of the story, as seeking a means to Allah through the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication and intercession.
Seeking the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication was possible during his lifetime because the Companions could come to him and ask him to supplicate to Allah for them.
After his death ﷺ, however, the Companions did not go to his grave during times of hardship and ask him to supplicate for them.
One of the clearest examples occurred during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), when the people suffered drought. Umar said:
“O Allah, we used to seek a means to You through our Prophet, and You would give us rain. Now we seek a means to You through the uncle of our Prophet, so grant us rain.”
[Reported by al-Bukhari]
They then asked al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) to supplicate to Allah for them.
If asking the Prophet ﷺ to supplicate after his death had been prescribed in the same way as asking him during his lifetime, the Companions would have been the foremost people to do so, especially in their severe need for rain.
It is important to distinguish between two matters.
The first is that a Companion asks the Prophet ﷺ during his lifetime to supplicate to Allah for him. This is permissible and well established.
The second is that a person supplicates directly to the Prophet ﷺ himself, asking him for something that only Allah can provide, such as forgiveness of sins, removal of distress, or fulfillment of unseen needs. This is not permissible, because supplication is an act of worship that must be directed to Allah alone.
Allah says:
“And your Lord said: Call upon Me; I will respond to you.”
[Ghafir: 60]
And He says:
“And when My servants ask you concerning Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.”
[Al-Baqarah: 186]
And Allah says:
“Who is it that responds to the distressed one when he calls upon Him and removes the evil?”
[An-Naml: 62]
Therefore, the Muslim asks Allah directly and knows that removing harm and fulfilling needs that no one but Allah can fulfill belong exclusively to Him.
Some scholars have used the hadith as evidence for other forms of tawassul. However, the interpretation preferred here is that the hadith concerns the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication and intercession for the man, because this is what the context of the story indicates.
The man came asking for supplication, the Prophet ﷺ supplicated for him, and then instructed the man himself to pray, supplicate, and turn to Allah.
Thus, several prescribed means came together in this incident: the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication for the man, the man’s supplication for himself, his prayer, and his humble turning to Allah.
The hadith of the blind man is considered authentic by a number of hadith scholars. According to the stronger interpretation presented here, it does not indicate that the man was asking the Prophet ﷺ himself to fulfill his need. Rather, he asked the Prophet ﷺ to supplicate to Allah for him and sought a means to Allah through the Prophet’s ﷺ supplication and intercession during his lifetime.
Therefore, the hadith cannot properly be used as evidence for asking the Prophet ﷺ to supplicate after his death. What is established from the Companions is that after his death they supplicated to Allah and asked living righteous people to supplicate for them, as Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did with al-Abbas.
As for supplication and asking for matters that only Allah can provide, these must be directed to Allah alone.
And Allah knows best.