Advice for those who seek aid from the dead and make vows to them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The questioner says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, after the peace of Allah and His mercy and blessings be upon you, we are in a country where seeking aid from the dead and asking them for help is common, and people make vows to them, slaughter animals for them, and believe that they know the unseen matters. They say that these are our intercessors with Allah. What is your advice to them, considering that some of them are with us in the mosque right now?
Answer:
This is major shirk (associating partners with Allah); this is the religion of the polytheists: calling upon the dead, seeking aid from the dead, making vows to them, and slaughtering for them. This is the religion of Abu Jahl and his like. This is major shirk, we seek refuge in Allah. They say, "We do not worship them except to bring us closer to Allah in rank," and Allah says about them, "And they worship[Yunus 10:18]." This is the speech of the polytheists, just as people do with al-Badawi or al-Husayn in terms of supplication and seeking aid; all of it is major shirk. It happens at the shrine of al-Nafisa, at the shrine of Zaynab, at the shrine of Shaykh Abu Ghazi in Iraq, and at places like them. This is major shirk: calling upon the people of the graves, seeking aid from them, making vows to them, and slaughtering for them. This is major shirk; this is the religion of Abu Jahl and his like. Therefore, it is obligatory to repent, feel remorse, abandon it, and be cautious, and to make worship for Allah alone. The one who is called upon says, "My Lord, forgive me; have mercy on me; O Allah, help me; O Allah, support me; O Allah, admit me to Paradise; O Allah, protect me from the Fire; O Allah, support my descendants; O Allah, provide for me from Your bounty." He asks his Lord; he does not ask the awliya (close friends of Allah), nor the angels, nor anyone else. Allah says, "Call upon Me, I will respond to you." He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy (Glorified and Exalted is He). He says, [Ghafir 40:60], [Al-Baqarah 2:186], and He says (Glorified and Exalted is He), [Ash-Shu'ara 26:213] no one. Do not call upon anyone with Allah. And He says to His Prophet, the Creator of His Prophet, [Yunus 10:106] meaning from among the polytheists. And He says (Glorified and Exalted is He), "And if [Fatir 35:13-14] he disbelieves in his shirk, it is called shirk." He said (Glorified and Exalted is He), [Al-Mu'minun 23:117] He called it major disbelief. The disbeliever does not succeed. He called those who call upon other than Allah, whether they are callers to the jinn or callers to the awliya, disbelievers. Therefore, it is obligatory to be cautious and to clarify tawhid (the oneness of Allah) to these people, and to clarify the evidence to them, and to warn them of this shirk. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
The questioner says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, after the peace of Allah and His mercy and blessings be upon you, we are in a country where seeking aid from the dead and asking them for help is common, and people make vows to them, slaughter animals for them, and believe that they know the unseen matters. They say that these are our intercessors with Allah. What is your advice to them, considering that some of them are with us in the mosque right now?
Answer:
This is major shirk (associating partners with Allah); this is the religion of the polytheists: calling upon the dead, seeking aid from the dead, making vows to them, and slaughtering for them. This is the religion of Abu Jahl and his like. This is major shirk, we seek refuge in Allah. They say, "We do not worship them except to bring us closer to Allah in rank," and Allah says about them, "And they worship
that which neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say, "These are our intercessors with Allah
مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ هَٰؤُلَاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِندَ اللَّهِCall upon Me; I will respond to you.
ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْAnd when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِSo do not invoke with Allah
فَلَا تَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِAnd do not invoke besides Allah that which neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers.'"
وَلَا تَدْعُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنفَعُكَ وَلَا يَضُرُّكَ فَإِن فَعَلْتَ فَإِنَّكَ إِذًا مِّنَ الظَّالِمِينَthose whom you invoke other than Him do not possess [as much as] the membrane of a date seed. (14) If you invoke them, they do not hear your supplication; and if they heard, they would not respond to you. And on the Day of Resurrection
تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِن قِطْمِيرٍ إِن تَدْعُوهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُوا دُعَاءَكُمْ وَلَوْ سَمِعُوا مَا اسْتَجَابُوا لَكُمْ وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِAnd whoever invokes besides Allah another deity for which he has no proof - then his account is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed.
وَمَن يَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَٰهًا آخَرَ لَا بُرْهَانَ لَهُ بِهِ فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُ عِندَ رَبِّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الْكَافِرُونَThe presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
فتاوى المسجد الحرام (شعبان ١٤١٧ هـ) - ٢ — archive.org (51:49)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.