What is the implication of the hadith, “If you were to ask for something of someone, then ask it of Allah, and if you were to call upon someone for help, then call upon Allah”?
This hadith does not suggest a prohibition to request something from the creations; nor a prohibition to ask them for help’. It actually means that, by priority, Allah is the One to ask of and the One to call upon for help. This hadith resembles the meaning of the hadith related by Ibn Hibban, “Do not befriend other than a believer, and do not feed your food to other than a pious one.” This means that one’s company is best given to a believer and one’s food is best fed to the pious. It does not mean that it is unlawful to feed or to befriend a non-believer. Rather, Allah the Almighty has praised such Muslims in the Qur’an in Suratul-Insan, Ayah 8. This Ayah means, “And they feed their food for the sake of reward from Allah, to the needy, the orphaned, and the captive.” Here, “captive” refers to the blasphemous prisoner of war. In addition, Muslim and al-Bukhariyy narrated that three Muslim individuals asked Allah to save them from their hardship by virtue of their righteous deeds. Their supplication was then fulfilled.
