When you read the tawassul as narrated from Uthman ibn Hunaif(R.A.) and believe that it was authentic hadith. Then, know that Our Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) taught his blind Sahabah and permitted or recommended him to use it. So did Uthman recommended to a muslim who needed help from Uthman Ibno Affan(R.A.). Will you please read this? :
Aisha( Radhiyallahu Anhaa) narrated: “(The Messenger of Allah(S.A.W.) allowed the people to do something, but some people refrain from doing it. When the Prophet(S.A.W.) learned of that, he became so angry that it appeared on his face and he said,” What is wrong with such people who refrain from doing a thing that I permitted to do? By Allah, I know Allah best, and I fear Him most.”)HAdith no. 1545, Sahih Muslim and (Bukhari 6101) So do you want our Prophet Mohammad S.A.W. will be angry with you on the day of Judgement?

If our approach in understanding a text is literal, then, we may differ from those who are non-literalist. The problem is how(the methodology) we interprete the text.. IIf you interprete literally the world ” binabiyyina annabiyyilrahmat” by our Prophet, The Prophet of Mercy, Would it be shirk if I use at the end of my dua ” Allhumma! ansurniy, birahmatika, Ya Allah! Ya Arhamar Raahimiyn.” O Allah! help me by your mercy, O !the Most merciful.” Is it bida’a or shirk? We know ” rahmah” mercy was created by Allah and was divided into 100 hundred and 1 part of that rahmah was sent down to us here in this world. Was not our Prophet Rahmatan lil ‘Alamiyn?” Why is it permitted to use ‘birahmitaka ‘ by your mercy in the dua when the rahmat is created just like our Prophet rahmatan lil ‘alamiyn? but
” binabiyyina or binabiyyika”? is bida’a and shirk?
Binabiyyina can be interpreted contextually into ” by believing and following the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W..” So is it not ‘ a good deed when you believe and obey the command of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.? Did not the Blind person believe in our Holy Prophet and obey his command or recommendation ? read this Hadith:
In Al-Mu’jam al-Kabir and Al-Mu’jam as¬-Saghir, Imam at-Tabarani related the hadith about the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) from the route of ‘Uthman Ibn Hunayf who was in a circle with the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) when a blind man came to address Prophet Muhammad, sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam:
The blind man addressed the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) by saying, “O Messenger of Allah, ask Allah for me to cure my blindness.” The Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) replied by saying, “If you wish, you would be patient with your calamity, and if you wish, I will ask Allah to cure your blindness.”
However, the blind man told the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam): “The loss of my sight is a great hardship for me, and there is no one near to guide me around.”
At this moment, the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) ordered the man to go to the place where wudu’ would be performed, perform ¬wudu’, pray two rak‘ah, end his salat by saying as-salamu ‘alaykum, and then say the following words:

which mean: “O Allah, I ask You, and I direct myself to You in supplication by our Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad, I direct myself to Allah by you, so my need [here the specific need is mentioned] would be fulfilled.” The blind man went and did as the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) ordered. Shortly thereafter, he returned to the Prophet’s session with his blindness cured.
Then, after the death of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), and during the time of the caliphate of ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan, a man came to ‘Uthman Ibn Hunayf. This man complained to ‘Uthman Ibn Hunayf about a matter which he needed to be fulfilled through the caliph, but which was not being fulfilled. ‘Uthman Ibn Hunayf ordered the man to go to the place where al-wudu’ would be performed, perform wudu’, perform two rak‘ah, and after saying salam to say the following words: “O Allah, I ask You and I direct myself to You in supplication by our Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad, I direct myself to Allah by you, so my need [specify need] would be fulfilled.”
‘Uthman Ibn Hunayf told him to return after doing this, and they would go together to the caliph. This man went and performed what ‘Uthman Ibn Hunayf ordered him to do. However, instead of returning to ‘Uthman Ibn Hunayf, he elected to go on his own to the caliph–which he did. When he reached the door of the caliph, the gateman took him by the hand to the caliph. ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan sat him on a carpet next to him and asked him, “What is your need that you wanted fulfilled? I forgot all about it until just now.” The man informed the caliph about his need, which he fulfilled. The caliph told him, “Whenever you have a need, come to me and I will satisfy it for you.”
It is because of the prayer this man performed, and the du‘a’ that he made–asking Allah for his need by the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam)–that Allah made the heart of the caliph move towards fulfilling the need of that man. This prayer and the du‘a’ afterwards in which one is asking Allah to fulfill a need is called “Salat al-Hajah”. Let the one who has a need: perform wudu’, pray two rak‘ah, and then say that du‘a’ as mentioned, and insha Allah, his need will be fulfilled.
This hadith was narrated by many scholars of hadith. Some of them related the part of the hadith which occurred during the lifetime of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), and some narrated both parts of the hadith, i.e., the part which took place during the lifetime of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and the part which took place after his death and during the caliphate of Sayyiduna ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan. Imam at-Tabarani is among those scholars who narrated the entire hadith, in both parts–the part that took place during the life of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), as well as the part that took place after the death of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). After narrating that hadith, he said, “The classification of this hadith is sahih.”
This hadith carries the proof that it is permissible in Islam for one to ask Allah for things by the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) during the lifetime of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and after the death of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Hence, there is no difference in the permissibility of asking Allah for things by the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), whether done during the lifetime of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) or after his death. The scholars of Ahlu-s-Sunnah wa-l-Jama‘ah said that it is permissible to make that tawassul during the lifetime of the Prophet (sall-Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and after his death. Knowing that, one concludes that the claim of some people that it is not permissible to ask Allah for things except by he who is alive and present, is something which is rejected.

Imam Suhaib Webb is always bigging up Brother Qadhi, but I personally have disagreed with some of things he has said in the past, but it does seem like he has an open mind, and is not your typical close minded hard line Salafi scholar. May Allah reward and guide him.

There are types of wass’il…but through the prophet is the one that I’m led to believe is bid’ah. Please expand!

Wassalaamu alaikum

Call me ignorant, bid’ah chaser, whatever pleases you…but I always tought this was wrong?!

Wassalaamu alaikum