The Ruling on Circumambulating Graves and Shrines
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner says: What is the ruling on what many Muslims do in some countries abroad, namely circumambulating graves and shrines and seeking nearness to them, while claiming that they do not worship them but rather seek nearness to Allah through them? Is this a refutation of these people?
Answer:
This is a contradiction. They circumambulate them, slaughter for them, make vows for them, and call upon the dead for aid, while saying, "We do not worship anyone but Allah." This is a lie, because whoever directs any type of worship to other than Allah is one who associates partners with Allah, and he does not worship Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with true worship; rather, his worship is accompanied by major shirk (associating partners with Allah), may Allah protect us from it. Therefore, it is not permissible to circumambulate graves. One does not circumambulate anything except the Noble Ka'bah, which is the ancient House of Allah. One circumambulates it to seek nearness to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in obedience to Allah. One does not circumambulate in any place or any structure on earth, neither graves nor anything else, because this is an innovation in the religion of Allah and shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If one intends to seek nearness to the dead by circumambulating, he becomes one who associates partners with Allah, because circumambulation is an act of worship. So if one intends to seek nearness to the dead by circumambulating around him, it becomes major shirk (associating partners with Allah), may Allah protect us from it. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
This questioner says: What is the ruling on what many Muslims do in some countries abroad, namely circumambulating graves and shrines and seeking nearness to them, while claiming that they do not worship them but rather seek nearness to Allah through them? Is this a refutation of these people?
Answer:
This is a contradiction. They circumambulate them, slaughter for them, make vows for them, and call upon the dead for aid, while saying, "We do not worship anyone but Allah." This is a lie, because whoever directs any type of worship to other than Allah is one who associates partners with Allah, and he does not worship Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with true worship; rather, his worship is accompanied by major shirk (associating partners with Allah), may Allah protect us from it. Therefore, it is not permissible to circumambulate graves. One does not circumambulate anything except the Noble Ka'bah, which is the ancient House of Allah. One circumambulates it to seek nearness to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in obedience to Allah. One does not circumambulate in any place or any structure on earth, neither graves nor anything else, because this is an innovation in the religion of Allah and shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). If one intends to seek nearness to the dead by circumambulating, he becomes one who associates partners with Allah, because circumambulation is an act of worship. So if one intends to seek nearness to the dead by circumambulating around him, it becomes major shirk (associating partners with Allah), may Allah protect us from it. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/216 — archive.org (8:16)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.