The Wasīlah is the seeking closeness to Allah Almighty through all that is pleasing to Him, be it obligatory or recommended.
We believe that Allah Almighty commanded His servants to supplicate to Him and He promised that He will respond to them. He, Glorified be He, says: {Your Lord says: "Call upon Me; I will respond to you. Those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell, utterly debased."} [Surat Ghāfir: 60] He Almighty also says: {When My slaves ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near. I respond to the call of the supplicant when he calls upon Me; so they should respond to Me and believe in Me, so that they may be guided.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 186]
We know that imploring Allah Almighty should be done by invoking His excellent names and sublime attributes. Our Lord says: {Allah has the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them, and leave those who profane His Names. They will be recompensed for what they used to do.} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 180] Allah Almighty also says: {Say: "Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Compassionate – whichever name you call, to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names." Do not be too loud in your prayer, nor too quiet, but seek a way in between.} [Surat al-Isrā’: 110]
Hence, the prophets and messengers would often supplicate and implore Allah by invoking His excellent names. Allah Almighty informs that Adam and his wife said: {Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves; if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 23] In another verse, He Almighty informs that Prophet Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) said: {My Lord, make me steadfast in prayer and those of my offspring. Our Lord, accept my supplication.} [Surat Ibrāhīm: 40] And He Almighty states that Prophet Mūsa (peace be upon him) said: {My Lord, forgive me and my brother, and admit us into Your mercy, for You are the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 151]
As we may implore Allah Almighty by our belief in Him. Our Lord says: {Our Lord, we believe in what You have sent down and we follow the messenger; so count us among those who bear witness [to the truth].} [Surat Āl ‘Imrān: 53]
We may also implore Allah Almighty by our righteous deeds, like the three persons who were trapped inside the cave. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Three men from among those who were before you set out together till they reached a cave at night and entered it. A big rock rolled down the mountain and closed the mouth of the cave. They said: 'Nothing could save you from this rock but to invoke Allah by giving reference to the righteous deeds which you have done.' So, one of them said: 'O Allah, I had old parents and I never provided my family with milk before them. One day, by chance I was delayed, and I came late as they had already slept. I milked the sheep for them and took the milk to them, but I found them sleeping. I disliked to provide my family with the milk before them. I waited for them and the bowl of milk was in my hand and I kept on waiting for them to get up till the day dawned. Then, they got up and drank the milk. O Allah, if I did that for Your sake only, relieve us from our critical situation caused by this rock.' So, the rock moved a little, but they could not get out." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) added: "The second man said: 'O Allah, I had a cousin who was the dearest of all people to me and I wanted to have sexual relations with her, but she refused. Later, she had a hard time in a famine year and she came to me and I gave her one-hundred-and-twenty Dinars on the condition that she would not resist my desire, and she agreed. When I was about to fulfill my desire, she said: 'It is illegal for you to outrage my chastity except by legitimate marriage.' So, I felt too ashamed to have sexual intercourse with her and left her though she was the dearest of all people to me, and also I left the gold I had given her. O Allah, if I did that for Your sake only, relieve us from the present calamity.' So, the rock moved a little more, but still they could not get out from there." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) added: "Then, the third man said: 'O Allah, I employed few laborers and I paid them their wages with the exception of one man who did not take his wage and went away. I invested his wage and I got much property thereby. Then, he came and said to me: 'O servant of Allah, pay me my wage.' I said to him: 'All the camels, cows, sheep, and slaves you see are yours.' He said: 'O servant of Allah, do not mock me.' I said: 'I am not mocking you.' He took all the herd and drove them away and left nothing. O Allah, if I did that for Your sake only, relieve us from the present suffering.' So, the rock moved completely and they got out walking." [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri (2272) and Muslim (2743)]
We may also implore Allah Almighty by different forms of worship, notably supplication. About His prophets (peace be upon them), Allah, Exalted be He, says: {They used to hasten in doing good deeds and used to call upon Us with hope and fear, and they were humble before Us.} [Surat al-Anbiyā’: 90] The good times for supplication include the time after the performance of prayers, the time of breaking the fast, during Tawāf, upon Mount Safa and Mount Marwa, at ‘Arafat and Muzdalifah, and after throwing the pebbles.
We may also implore Allah Almighty by mentioning our condition and demonstrating our need for Him and His help and mercy. Allah, the Exalted, informs that Mūsa (peace be upon him) said: {My Lord, I am desperately in need of whatever good You may send down to me.} [Surat al-Qasas: 24] He Almighty also informs that Prophet Ayūb (Job) (peace be upon him) supplicated, saying: {I have been struck by adversity, and You are the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.} [Surat al-Anbiyā’: 83]
A Muslim may also implore Allah Almighty by asking a righteous man who is living and present to supplicate for him, as the brothers of Yūsuf asked their father to seek Allah's forgiveness for them. About this, Allah, Glorified be He, says: {They said: "O our father, pray to Allah to forgive us our sins; we were certainly mistaken."} [Surat Yūsuf: 97] Allah Almighty also says: {If only they had come to you [O Prophet] – after wronging themselves – and had asked Allah for forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked for forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Accepting of Repentance, Most Merciful.} [Surat an-Nisā’: 64] Anas ibn Mālik related that Umm Harām bint Milhān, his maternal aunt, reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) slept near me one day, and then he woke up smiling. I said: "O Messenger of Allah, what has made you smile?" He said: "People of my Ummah who were shown to me riding across this green sea like kings on thrones." She said: "Supplicate Allah to make me one of them." So, he supplicated for me. Then, he slept again, and did likewise, and She said the same as she said before, and he replied in the same manner. She said: "Supplicate Allah to make me one of them." He said: "You will be one of the first ones." [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri (2799), Muslim (1912), Abu Dāwūd (2490), An-Nasā’i (3172), and Ibn Mājah (2776)]
When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) described the seventy thousand persons who would enter Paradise without reckoning, ‘Ukkāshah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Supplicate Allah to make me one of them." [Narrated by Muslim (218)]
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that when they experienced a drought, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb would pray for rain by virtue of Al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib, and say: "O Allah, we used to supplicate You by virtue of our Prophet and You would give us water; we are now supplicating You by virtue of our Prophet’s uncle; so give us water.” He said: "They would then be given water." [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri (1010)] So, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) ceased to seek rain and implore Allah Almighty by the Prophet's supplication, because he passed away, and began to ask Al-‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) to supplicate for rain, given their knowledge that this is a legitimate means of imploring Allah. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) intended to implore Allah by Al-‘Abbās's supplication, not Al-‘Abbās himself, because if the intent was to implore Allah by Al-‘Abbās himself, it would be more appropriate to do it through the Prophet himself (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).
It is not permissible to implore Allah Almighty by anything other than what He legislated. The people of jāhiliyyah (pre-Islamic era) used to seek closeness to Allah by imploring Him through their idols and false gods. About their heinous act, Allah, Exalted be He, says: {As for those who take others as guardians besides Him, [saying]: "We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah."} [Surat az-Zumar: 3]