Mufti Taqi Usmani in the Deoband.org article: Third: tawassul in the sense of seeking du’a from the mutwassal bihi, because it is more hopeful that his du’a will be accepted by Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) due to his righteousness and virtue. Tawassul in this sense is permissible by ijma’. This kind of tawassul has not been established except through the living, so its permissibility is restricted to the living. Ml. Ashraf Ali Thanvi states: And second is to request him [the person being called upon to make du'a to Allah], and this is permissible through those from whom it is possible to seek for du’a, but such possibility is not proven through any evidence for those who have passed away. So we shall restrict this type of tawassul to those who are alive. taken from: http://www.deoband.org/2010/09/aqida...er-than-allah/