The Difference Between Seeking Help and Calling for Aid, and Their Rulings

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this questioner is Egyptian, a thousand times over. He says: Honorable Shaykh, what is the ruling on seeking help and calling for aid from other than Allah? And what is the difference between them? For example, if this person calls for aid from the dead who are absent? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. As for calling for aid (istighathah), it is more specific than seeking help (ist'anah), in that calling for aid only occurs in matters of distress, whereas seeking help occurs in matters of distress and in other matters. Seeking help and calling for aid from a living person who is capable of what is asked of him is permissible. You may seek help from your brother. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said in the hadith that and in His saying, the Exalted: So seeking help from a created being who is capable of helping is permissible, one who is capable and present with you and able to do so; this is permissible, and it is part of the cooperation required by the Shari'ah. Likewise, calling for aid from a living person who is present and capable of providing aid, as a man calls for aid from his brothers in war and in other matters. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, mentioned regarding Musa (peace be upon him) that he . As for the dead, one does not call for aid from them, nor ask them for anything, nor seek their help, because they are dead and absent in another world, and because they are not capable of helping those who seek their help, or aiding those who call for their aid, because they are dead and incapable, in need. They are in need of supplication for them, charity on their behalf, and kindness to them. Their deeds have ended; their deeds were cut off by their death. So it is not permissible to seek help from them or call for their aid. Whoever does this has committed major shirk (associating partners with Allah), which takes one out of the religion, because seeking help and calling for aid from a created being in what he is not capable of is shirk. So this is a matter in which one must be well-versed. Whoever calls for aid from the dead, or seeks their help, or asks them for support, has associated partners with Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in major shirk that takes one out of the religion, because he has directed a type, or two types, of the types of worship to other than Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. Yes.