Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
It is proven from more than one of the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) that they asked the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to intercede for them:
Imam Ahmad (16976) narrated from a servant of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, a man or a woman, that he or she said: Among the things that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to say to his servant was: “Do you need anything?” Until one day he said: O Messenger of Allah, I do need something. He said: “What do you need?” He said: I need you to intercede for me on the Day of Resurrection. He said: “And who told you about that?” He said: My Lord. He said: “If that is what you want, then help me by prostrating a great deal.”
Al-Haythami said in Majma‘ az-Zawaa’id (2/249): It was narrated by Ahmad, and its men are the men of as-Saheeh.
Al-Albaani said in as-Saheehah (2102): Its isnaad is saheeh according to the conditions of Muslim.
It was also classed as saheeh by the commentators on al-Musnad.
It was also narrated by Ahmad (24002), Ibn Hibbaan (211) and at-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer (134) that ‘Awf ibn Maalik al-Ashja‘i said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) halted with us one night, and each man rested his head on the foreleg of his mount. I came to some of the camels, and I saw the she-camel of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in front of the others. I set out, looking for the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and I saw Mu‘aadh ibn Jabal and ‘Abdullah ibn Qays standing there. I said: Where is the Messenger of Allah? They said: We do not know, but we heard a sound at the top of the valley, like the creaking of a saddle. He said: Stay here for a little while. Then the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came to us and said: “Someone came to me from my Lord last night, and gave me the choice between having half of my ummah being admitted to Paradise and being granted intercession, and I chose intercession.” We said: We adjure you by Allah, and by virtue of being your companions, to include us among those for whom you will intercede. He said: “Indeed you are among those for whom I will intercede.” Then we went rushing to the people, and found them in a state of alarm, because they did not know where their Prophet was. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Someone came to me from my Lord last night, and gave me the choice between having half of my ummah being admitted to Paradise and being granted intercession, and I chose intercession.” They said: O Messenger of Allah, we adjure you by Allah, and by virtue of being your companions, to include us among those for whom you will intercede. Then when they crowded around him, he said: “And I adjure you to bear witness that my intercession will be for everyone of my ummah who does not associate anything with Allah.”
Classed as saheeh by the commentators on al-Musnad; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Targheeb (3637).
Secondly:
What is meant by asking the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for intercession in these two hadiths and others is asking him to pray to Allah for them, asking that they might be granted his intercession and that he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) might be given permission to intercede for them. In one version of the hadith of ‘Awf ibn Maalik quoted above, that was narrated by at-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer (136), where it says: We said, O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to make us among those for whom intercession is made, so he said: “O Allah, make them among its people.” Then we came to the people and told them, and they said: O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to make us among those for whom you will intercede, so he said: “O Allah, make them among its people.”
Ahmad (19724) narrated a similar hadith from Abu Moosa, in which it says: So they started coming to him and saying: O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah, may He be exalted, asking Him to make us among those for whom you will intercede, and he prayed for them.
That is because all intercession belongs to Allah, as He – may He be glorified and exalted – says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say, ‘To Allah belongs [the right to allow] intercession entirely’” [az-Zumar 39:44].
So no one can intercede except one to whom Allah grants permission. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?” [al-Baqarah 2:255].
In the hadith of intercession, it says: “Then it will be said: ‘O Muhammad, raise your head. Speak, you will be heard; ask, you will be given; intercede, your intercession will be accepted.’ So I will raise my head and will praise my Lord with words of praise that my Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, will teach me. Then I will ask to intercede, and a limit will be set for me. I will bring them out of Hell and admit them to Paradise.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (4476) and Muslim (193).
With regard to the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in this hadith, “Indeed you are among those for whom I will intercede”, this is based on revelation from the Lord of Glory, as in the case of his glad tidings of Paradise to those to whom he gave glad tidings, and other matters of the unseen.
And Allah knows best.
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