A Sunni Qadiri Tawassul Formula Attributed to Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani

Khulasat al-Mafakhir p.217 preserves a later Qadiri formula attributed to Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. Its wording makes the direction of the request clear: the Shaykh is used as a means to Allah, while fulfillment is attributed to Allah’s permission. The Qur’anic principle of wasilah appears in:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسِيلَةَ وَجَاهِدُوا فِي سَبِيلِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
The verse establishes seeking a means of approach to Allah; later Sunni jurists discussed its detailed forms.

A specific Prophetic precedent is the hadith of the blind man narrated by Uthman ibn Hunayf. Al-Tirmidhi graded it hasan sahih gharib. The Prophet ﷺ taught him:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ وَأَتَوَجَّهُ إِلَيْكَ بِنَبِيِّكَ مُحَمَّدٍ نَبِيِّ الرَّحْمَةِ، إِنِّي تَوَجَّهْتُ بِكَ إِلَى رَبِّي فِي حَاجَتِي هَذِهِ لِتُقْضَى لِي، اللَّهُمَّ فَشَفِّعْهُ فِيَّ
English meaning: “O Allah, I ask You and turn to You through Your Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy. I have turned through him to my Lord concerning this need of mine so that it may be fulfilled for me. O Allah, accept his intercession for me.”

The Qadiri source preserves the fuller attributed formula:
مَنْ اسْتَغَاثَ بِي فِي كُرْبَةٍ كُشِفَتْ عَنْهُ، وَمَنْ نَادَانِي بِاسْمِي فِي شِدَّةٍ فُرِّجَتْ عَنْهُ، وَمَنْ تَوَسَّلَ بِي إِلَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي حَاجَةٍ قُضِيَتْ لَهُ، وَمَنْ صَلَّى رَكْعَتَيْنِ يَقْرَأُ فِي كُلِّ رَكْعَةٍ بَعْدَ الْفَاتِحَةِ سُورَةَ الْإِخْلَاصِ إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ مَرَّةً، وَيُصَلِّي عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَعْدَ السَّلَامِ وَيَذْكُرُهُ، ثُمَّ يَخْطُو إِلَى الْعِرَاقِ إِحْدَى عَشْرَةَ خُطْوَةً، وَيَذْكُرُ اسْمِي وَيَذْكُرُ حَاجَتَهُ، فَإِنَّهَا تُقْضَى بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى.
English meaning: “Whoever seeks my aid in distress, his distress is relieved; whoever calls me by my name in hardship, relief is granted to him; whoever uses me as a means to Allah Almighty for a need, it is fulfilled. Whoever prays two rak‘ahs, reciting Surah al-Ikhlas eleven times after al-Fatihah in each rak‘ah, sends blessings upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the prayer, then takes eleven steps toward Iraq, mentions my name and states his need, it is fulfilled by the permission of Allah Most High.”

The same book places a karamah report immediately before this formula. One of the Shaykh’s companions related that on a dangerous road toward Nishapur or Khwarazm he lost four camel-loads of sugar and became separated from the caravan while searching. At dawn he remembered the saying attributed to Shaykh Abd al-Qadir that a person in distress should call upon him, so he called, “O Shaykh Abd al-Qadir, my camels!” He then saw a man on a hill beckoning to him. When he reached the hill no one was there, but below it he found all four lost loads and rejoined the caravan.

This is a later Qadiri hagiographic karamah report, not an early hadith-chain event. Its devotional framing is that the need is from Allah, the righteous servant is a wasilah, and fulfillment is by Allah’s permission. Classical Sunni jurists such as al-Nawawi, al-Mardawi and al-Subki record recognized forms of tawassul, while the precise historical attribution of this Qadiri formula remains a separate source-critical question.