Ruling on seeking barakah (blessing) from the relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

Praise be to Allaah.  

Seeking barakah from the relics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was done at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), from things like the water he used forwudoo’, his garment, his food and drink, his hair and everything from him. The ‘Abbaasi (Abassid) khaleefahs and the ‘Uthmaanis (Ottomans) after them preserved the cloak of the Prophet, seeking barakah from it, especially at times of war.  

Seeking blessing from things that touched his body, (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), such as his wudoo’, sweat, hair and so on, was something which was known to and was permissible according to the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them), and those who followed them in truth, because of the goodness and barakah that are to be found in that. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of this.  

But touching the doors, walls, windows, etc, of al-Masjid al-Haraam or al-Masjid al-Nabawi is bid’ah (reprehensible innovation) for which there is no basis. This must not be done, because acts of worship aretawqeefi (not subject to personal opinion) and it is not permissible to do any acts of worship except those which are approved by sharee’ah. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever innovates something is this matter of ours [Islam] which is not part of it, will have it rejected” (saheeh, agreed upon). According to a report narrated by Muslim, which al-Bukhaari also narrated mu’allaq majzoom, “Whoever does an action that is not in accordance with this matter of ours [Islam], will have it rejected.” 

In Saheeh Muslim it is narrated that Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say in his khutbah on Fridays: ‘The best of speech is the Book of Allaah and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Most evil of matters are those which are newly-invented, and every innovation is a going-astray.’” And there are many similar ahaadeeth. So the Muslim is obliged to follow that which Allaah has prescribed, such as acknowledging the Black Stone and kissing it, and acknowledging al-Rukn al-Yamaani.  

Hence there is a saheeh report which says that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) said, when he kissed the Black Stone, “I know that you are a stone and you cannot bring benefit or cause harm. If I had not seen the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) kissing you, I would not have kissed you.”  

From this we know that acknowledging the other corners of the Ka’bah, and the walls or pillars, is not prescribed, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do that, and he did not teach others to do it, because that is one of the means of shirk. The same applies even more so to the walls, pillars and windows of the Prophet’s grave, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not prescribe that or teach people to do it, and his companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) did not do it either.