A commonly repeated shubhah by Rawafid and other Quburis based on the misuse of a hadith that states that the Prophet (ﷺ) can hear our salam that we send upon him. In their shallow understanding of these matters, they argue that:

Prophet (ﷺ) hearing salam = A Quburi’s favourite saint being capable of hearing every help and distress (madad) call and being capable to respond and come to his aid.

Firstly, there is nothing in the Qur’an or in the sahih Sunnah to indicate that the Prophet (ﷺ) – let alone anybody else – can hear every du’a or call from human beings. Rather it is proven that the only thing that reaches him (ﷺ) is the blessings and salams of those who send blessings and salams upon him.

This was narrated by Abu Dawood, 2041, with an authentic isnad from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

فعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : (مَا مِن أَحَدٍ يُسَلِّمُ عَلَيَّ إِلا رَدَّ اللهُ عَلَيَّ رُوحِي حَتَّى أَرُدَّ عَلَيهِ السَّلَامَ) رواه أبو داود (2041) ، صححه النووي في “الأذكار” (ص/154) ، وابن حجر في “فتح الباري” (6/563) ، والشيخ الألباني في “صحيح أبي داود” .

‘There is no one who sends salams upon me but Allah will restore to me my soul so that I may return his salams.’ [Abu Dawood, sahih according to al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajr, and al-Albani]

Other reports provide us with more information where it is clarified that the Prophet (ﷺ) himself can’t hear billions of salam (let alone requests and distress calls), it is rather an angel that delivers it to him:

وعن أبي بكر الصديق أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال : (أكثروا الصلاة علي ، فإن الله وكل بي ملكا عند قبري ، فإذا صل علي رجل من أمتي قال لي ذلك الملك : يا محمد إن فلان بن فلان صلى عليك الساعة) رواه الديلمي في الفردوس وصححه الألباني في صحيح الجامع1207 .

‘Increase your sending of blessings upon me, indeed, Allah appointed an angel to me next to my grave so whenever an individual from my ummah blessings salam upon me the angel says to me: O Muhammad! Verily, so-and-so sends blessings upon you.’ [al-Daylami in his al-Firdaws, authenticated by al-Albani in Sahih al-Jami’ 1207]

and:

وعن ابن مسعود أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: إن لله تعالى ملائكة سياحين في الأرض يبلغوني من أمتي السلام

رواه النسائي1282

Allah has angels who go around on earth, conveying to me the salam of my ummah.” [Sunan Nasa’i, sahih according to al-Albani]

The Prophet (ﷺ) being capable to hear and respond to salam is an exception from the general rule, as in the case of the dead hearing the footsteps of those who carry his bier, and as in the case of the slain kuffar in the well at Badr who heard the call of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when he said to them: ‘Have you found your Lord’s promise to be true? For we have found our Lord’s promise to be true.’

The above alone would suffice to dismantle the misuse of the hadith by the Rafidah and other than them. However, here I’d like to comment on some more poorly made arguments that are riddled with strawman arguments and other logical fallacies.

A Rafidi turban head (cleric) wrote:

How they [Imams] hear the words? We don’t know. This is something of the metaphysical realm which we cannot comprehend. So nawasib arguments are weak in this regard because we could make the same argument and say how is the prophet able to receive billions of salams every second and reply to them? Even if we assume they are taken by the angels, such a concept cannot be understood with a worldly perception; it is again something within the metaphysical realm.

Also again it is proven from Shia sources that the prophet and imams (as) reply to the salams. If I would use a dunya understanding I could think like a nasibi and say ‘how can they reply to billions of salams?! You are making them like God!’.

Of course, this lame shubhah is put forth by all heretical Quburis. They argue that:

Their arguments are based as usual on false analogies. For starters, nobody denies a relationship within the metaphysical realm from the Dunya, all Muslims affirm such a belief. It’s the belief in the Ghayb (the unseen).

The Du’a (call) of worship (which is different from theDu’a of ‘adda i.e. when one asks someone for everyday tasks, even via phone) beyond the veil of ghyab is an act of worship as one cannot contact the dead (martyrs are alive in a special sense with Allah, not floating around awaiting our distress calls) except by invoking them in a ritualised i.e. worship type of du’a (du’a of ‘Ibadah).

Nobody casually ‘asks’ his favourite saint for madad (help), this is why you can observe polytheists such as Rawafidh literally raising their hands (like how Muslims invoke Allah in du’a) and praying to their saints (imams) like Catholics pray to their saints:

The Sunni (‘Nawasib’) argument is solid and not ‘weak’, for we would reply to the fallacious Rafidi argument:

how is the prophet able to receive billions of salams every second and reply to them? Even if we assume they are taken by the angels, such a concept cannot be understood with a worldly perception; it is again something within the metaphysical realm

As mentioned, we do not deny the metaphysical realm, our du’as can even reach our deceased loved ones. However, that is not evidence for conversing with them and asking them for need and aid at times of need. As for the Prophet (ﷺ): First of all, we do not ‘assume’ that our salutations/salam are delivered by an angel to the Prophet (ﷺ), this is what is literally mentioned in Sunni and Rafidi sources! Secondly, it is a specific miracle with specific and clear evidence. Where is the evidence that the Prophet (or imams) can hear billions of requests beyond that? A ‘with the permission of Allah’ clause won’t cut it, we can’t attribute to the Prophets (let alone imams) what they did not attribute to themselves, this is the very definition of Ghuluw!

From the principles (usool) of Islam is that acts of worship are tawqeefi i.e. it is not permissible to worship Allah, may He be exalted, through any act of worship (or belief) unless this act of worship (or belief) is proven in the shar’i texts (Qur’an and Sunnah) to be an act of worship that was prescribed by Allah.

No act of worship or belief can be sanctioned except on the basis of shar’i evidence to that effect. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) informed us that salam and salawat of the believers (who pray to Allah alone) will reach him (let alone others), he did not mention that the distress calls will reach him and that he can come to our aid (whether during his lifetime or after his demise), so we stop (apply tawqif) where he (ﷺ) stopped. In the religion of Islam absence of evidence (in matters pertaining to worship and creed) is evidence of absence, otherwise, everything could be justified with the ‘with the permission of Allah’ clause!

And no, the Prophet (ﷺ) being capable of hearing billions of salutations and responding to them doesn’t make him a demigod i.e. it is in no way a deification of him. It is, as mentioned, a miracle, nothing but salutations are sent to him and even those are sent by an angel. Conflating that with the mainstream Rafidi belief and practice of invoking imams for one’s need, every need, in every language, believing that the imam will literally come to one’s aid is a false analogy.

So, no, ‘nawasib’ logic doesn’t dictate that it is impossible for the Prophet (ﷺ) – or anybody for that matter – to hear billions of calls. ‘Nawasib’ have evidence for that. However, where is the evidence for the following Ghuluw (sanctified by top Twelver Imamite authorities and not just some ‘preachers’ who mention ‘weak reports and dreams on the pulpits’:

Thus, the Ghulat are the Maraji’, the top ones to be precise! They are the ones with flimsy Tawassul ‘proofs’ (spoofs). They are the one’s who put forth false analogies and strawman their opponent’s arguments, just like the ignoramus turban head ‘Sayed’ Ali Shobayri when he argued that ‘Nawasib’ must believe by necessity in the deification (‘You are making them like God!’) of the Prophet (ﷺ) as their own reports state that he can hear salutations that are sent to him. A failed Dalil al-Ilzam (binding evidence).

But what can one expect from the Rafidah who are the Ghulat? Yes, Ghulat, no matter if they masquerade as anti-Ghuluw (the bar of Ghuluw is set very low anyway) due to the crumbling of their societies and even religious communities who are slowly realising how pathetic the tawassul ‘proofs’ (spoofs) of their charlatanistic turban heads are. Pathetic proofs such as the following verbal diarrhea:

These are the Hujjaj (divine proofs) of the batini (esoteric) Rafidah for their Ghuluw of invoking the saints/imams for all (!) our needs, directly, just like how Catholics pray to their saints and ask them for their needs, aid, etc. Flawed arguments based on the comparison of Prophets and other Awliya who performed certain miracles at certain times for which there is clear-cut evidence from the Qur’an! Allah can make us capable to teleport entire cities in the blink of an eye, this doesn’t prove that we (or the Ahlul-Bayt) have been designated to hear all our distress calls (madad) and rush to our help. The Ahlul-Bayt called upon Allah alone, advised us to do so, this is their path. Not these bogus arguments.

The crux of the matter is that Allah has never given anybody the authority, task, and powers to hear and respond to the distress and help calls (madad) of the needy whenever they call upon their saints. There is not a shred of evidence for that and the Rafidah now that.

Allah wants us to invoke him alone in our du’a (yes, legitimate tawassul through the beloved of Allah as in calling upon Allah alone and mentioning their names and one’s love for them is permissible but the Quburis conflate that with their pagan Catholic-Esque tawassul):

And your Lord says, “Call upon Me; I will respond to you.” Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible. – Verse (40:60)