What is the answer to the claim of the grave-worshippers that the awliya (close friends of Allah) are alive in their graves like the martyrs?
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Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The grave-worshippers say that the awliya are alive in their graves, and that they are alive like the martyrs. What is the answer to that, may Allah grant you success?
Answer:
The martyrs are alive in their graves, but as for the awliya, we do not know; we do not assert that they are alive. Even if it were established that they are alive, this is a barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection) life; it is not like their life in this world. It is a barzakh life in which nothing is required of them. Therefore, their estates are divided, their wives are married off, and they are buried under the earth. This is a specific barzakh life that has no connection to this world. Yes. And they say, may Allah preserve you, that they tell us that the awliya do not possess anything in themselves, but rather Allah the Exalted is the One who gave them complete power and ability. My brother, since you have acknowledged that it is Allah who gave them, then call upon Allah, call upon Allah, and do not call upon them, do not call upon them. This is like an example: if someone said to one of the scholars, "You believe that the awliya are alive," and Allah the Exalted said:[Ali 'Imran 3:169].
The layman, who is not a scholar, a layman, said: Did Allah say:[Ali 'Imran 3:169] or did He say "they are provided for"? He said: No, they are not provided for. He said: Then I will ask the One who provided for them to provide for me, and he defeated him, and he was a layman. Yes. For this reason, the Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab said in *Kashf al-Shubuhat* (Unveiling the Doubts) that a layman from among the people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) outweighs a thousand of the scholars of these people. Because this person has a sound fitrah (the innate natural disposition), even if he is a layman, whereas this person's fitrah is corrupted, may Allah protect us from that. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The grave-worshippers say that the awliya are alive in their graves, and that they are alive like the martyrs. What is the answer to that, may Allah grant you success?
Answer:
The martyrs are alive in their graves, but as for the awliya, we do not know; we do not assert that they are alive. Even if it were established that they are alive, this is a barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection) life; it is not like their life in this world. It is a barzakh life in which nothing is required of them. Therefore, their estates are divided, their wives are married off, and they are buried under the earth. This is a specific barzakh life that has no connection to this world. Yes. And they say, may Allah preserve you, that they tell us that the awliya do not possess anything in themselves, but rather Allah the Exalted is the One who gave them complete power and ability. My brother, since you have acknowledged that it is Allah who gave them, then call upon Allah, call upon Allah, and do not call upon them, do not call upon them. This is like an example: if someone said to one of the scholars, "You believe that the awliya are alive," and Allah the Exalted said:
And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision,
وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَThe layman, who is not a scholar, a layman, said: Did Allah say:
they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision,
أَحْيَاءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما الجواب على قول القبوريين بأن الأولياء أحياء في قبورهم كالشهداء؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.