“I make you an intercessor at the threshold of God, and through you, I seek closeness to Him. I place you in all my states, actions, needs, and decisions as an intercessor.”
(Excerpt from the Ziyarat al-Jaami’ah [1], narrated from Imam Hadi (peace be upon him))
I don’t know what to do. The problems are overwhelming me. Who can solve them? Who can I turn to for help and confide in?
All of us have found ourselves in such situations and have asked these questions. Sometimes we search for someone or something through which we can achieve our desires and resolve our issues.
Without a doubt, no matter how big our problems and needs seem to us, fulfilling them is easy for God. He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing, Present, and Capable, closer to us than our jugular vein [2]. He is the most powerful and the best one to rely on in times of difficulty.
However, God has shown us the way to approach Him; He has instructed in the Qur’an that we seek a means of closeness to Him and recognize the intermediaries that lead us towards Him: “O you who have believed, fear Allah and seek the means of approach to Him” [3]
In this noble verse, avoiding disobedience to God means not acting contrary to His will or the divine law and not transgressing the system of creation.
If we observe the universe carefully, we realize that the system of creation is based on intercession. For example, God can grow a seed into a large tree without any intermediaries, but He does so through the sun’s rays and the rain. This is the law of creation. Similarly, when we are thirsty, we use water as the means to quench our thirst, and without it, we cannot relieve our need. According to divine law, to draw closer to God, we must also seek a means.
Certainly, the best one to introduce us to the means of reaching God is God Himself. But has He introduced such a means to us?
In a narration, Salman al-Farsi reports from the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) who said:
“Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says: ‘O My servants! Is it not the case that when someone with a great and heavy need comes to you, you do not fulfill their need unless they bring someone who is honorable in your sight to intercede on their behalf? You would fulfill their need out of respect for the intercessor. Know that the most honorable and esteemed of My creations before Me are Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his brother Ali (peace be upon him), and the pure Imams from his progeny. I declare that anyone who has a significant need, seeks benefits, desires something, or is afflicted with a calamity and wishes to remove it, should call upon Me through the intercession of My Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his pure family (peace be upon them). I will fulfill their need in the same way that you fulfill a need for someone out of respect for an honorable intercessor.'” [4]
Let us review once again this passage from the Ziyarat al-Jaami’ah: “I make you [the Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them)] an intercessor at the threshold of God, and through you, I seek closeness to Him. I place you in all my states, actions, needs, and decisions as an intercessor.”
Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) in these luminous words has clarified the path to closeness to God for us and beautifully expressed the concept of Tawassul (intercession), which is a central belief for the followers and lovers of the Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them).[5]
Our guiding leader, through teaching this Ziyarat to his followers, has conveyed the truths of the religion and promoted the school of Shia and the Wilayat (leadership) of the Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them) in a manner free from exaggeration. It is thus fitting for us to turn to the honored ones in God’s presence for seeking religious knowledge and asking for their assistance.
(Excerpt from the book: “Habl al-Mateen (Explanation of Ziyarat al-Jaami’ah)”, authored by Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Zia Abadi (with modifications and additions))
Footnotes:
[1] (Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih, vol. 2, p. 613)
[2] (Qur’an, Surah Qaf, verse 16)
[3] (Qur’an, Surah Maidah, verse 35)
[4] (Wasail al-Shia, vol. 7, p. 101)
[5] (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, vol. 5, p. 229; Sunan Ibn Majah, vol. 1, p. 441; Musnad Ahmad, vol. 4, p. 138, etc.)