Both intermediation (tawassul) and appeal for help (istighathah) have a
common focus of meaning. What differentiates them from each other is the nature
of the defining act. When the act relates to the help-seeker, the act is known
as appeal for help, and the virtual helper whose help is being sought will act
only as an agent or a means because the real helper is Allah Himself. Thus
Ya‘qub’s act serves as an appeal for help and the shirt serves as a means to
invoke help. On the other hand, when Allah’s help is beseeched through direct
prayer, He in this case acts as the real helper because there is no greater
source than the source of divine assistance. Therefore, while intermediation is
loaded with indirect implications, appeal for direct help from Allah has a
palpitating immediacy about it and elicits a more prompt response. In short, the
Qur’anic verse clearly establishes the fact that appeal for help by deed is
proved by the practice of the prophets. (A detailed discussion on the concept of
intermediation is available in our book Islamic Concept of Intermediation.)
Difference between appeal for help and supplication
To seek help in a state of trouble, grief and pain is called appeal for help. When someone
cries for help unconditionally, it is called supplication as it precludes the
condition of trouble, grief and pain. The relation between supplication (du‘a’)
and appeal for help (istighathah), in fact, boils down to the relation
between general and particular. While supplication is unconditional, appeal is
conditional; it is spurred by some trouble or pain. Therefore, each appeal is a
form of prayer while each prayer is not a form of appeal for help. And this is
the basic distinction between appeal and prayer.
