[Pooya/Ali Commentary 17:57] Aqa Mahdi Puya says: It is futile to worship prophets, angels and heroes, inspite of the fact that they are good and holy and near to Allah, because even they seek means of access or approach (wasilah) to Allah. Some schools of thought view that obedience itself is the wasilah, but verse 35 of al Ma-idah (see its commentary) does not agree with this point of view, as the believers are asked to seek wasilah besides taqwa, therefore obedience cannot be wasilah. The Quran and the Ahl ul Bayt teach us that the Holy Prophet's blessings and his prayer for forgiveness is a means of access or approach to Allah besides man's own deeds, because the Holy Prophet is the first and the foremost in the order of submission to and worship of Allah, being the seal of the prophets, and the superior-most among them. There are traditions, accepted by those scholars who do not follow the Ahl ul Bayt, which report that the companions of the Holy Prophet used to seek his prayers as the means of approach to Allah.