A Shaykh in Sudan Has Died and a Dome Has Been Built Over His Grave, Which Is Visited by Large Crowds of People
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The questioner : We have in Sudan a Shaykh who has died, and there is a dome over his grave that is visited by a large number of people. The strange thing is that people bring the insane and the sick to this dome and stay there for many days, believing that this Shaykh heals these sick people and these insane people. What is the ruling on this action? May Allah guide you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The answer to this question is that this action is forbidden without a doubt, and in addition to being forbidden by the Shari'ah, it is foolishness by reason. This is because those who come to this dome built over this grave, those who are afflicted with insanity or illness, in order to seek healing by their presence at this place, are foolish in their minds. This is because this dead person is a dead, inanimate object. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has rebuked the polytheists who call upon the idols by saying:[An-Nahl 16:20-21] So the dead person does not benefit himself, nor does he benefit anyone else, to the extent that his deeds have been cut off, as established in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), where he said: Sahih Muslim 1631.
If this dead person does not benefit himself with his deeds, how can he benefit anyone else?
Then we say: If these groups of people who bring their insane and sick to this place believe that this dead person heals them by himself, then this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah). This is because no one heals from illness except Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as Allah the Exalted said about Ibrahim, the leader of the Hanifs and the intimate friend of the Most Merciful:[Ash-Shu'ara 26:80]. The medicines by which healing occurs are nothing but causes that Allah the Exalted has made causes. So healing through them is from the healing of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. If these people who come to this grave believe that the owner of the grave heals them by himself, then it is major shirk that takes one out of the religion, because they believe that with Allah the Exalted there is a Creator and a Healer. This is shirk in the lordship of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He. Allah the Exalted has clarified in more than one verse of the Book of Allah that those who are called besides Allah do not benefit them. He said: [Al-Ahqaf 46:5] He said: [Saba 34:22-23] He said: [Yunus 10:107]. My advice to these people is that they turn to their Lord, Glorified and Exalted is He, for He is the One in whose hand is the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and He is the One capable of healing them. There is no harm in their doing the causes that Allah has permitted, whether they are lawful supplications, permissible medicines, or anything else that Allah the Exalted has made a cause for healing from this illness. Finally, I say: This dome that was built over the grave mentioned by the questioner must be demolished, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade building over graves, and every building over a grave, it is obligatory for the Muslims to demolish it, because it is one of the means to shirk. It is obligatory for the Muslims in general to eliminate the means to shirk by proof, which is evidence from the Book and the Sunnah, or by authority, which is changing it by hand, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Muslim 49a.
And I advise my Muslim brothers in the east and west of the earth; I advise them against such actions by which many people have been afflicted, where they cling to those other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, placing their hope in them, calling upon them to remove hardship and bring benefit, while the whole matter belongs to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And their calling upon these created beings is shirk with Allah. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:[Ghafir 40:60] And Allah the Exalted made supplication an act of worship, and diverting some of the worship to other than Allah is disbelief and shirk, and there is no success with it. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Mu'minun 23:117] I ask Allah for guidance for us and for them.
The questioner : May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The answer to this question is that this action is forbidden without a doubt, and in addition to being forbidden by the Shari'ah, it is foolishness by reason. This is because those who come to this dome built over this grave, those who are afflicted with insanity or illness, in order to seek healing by their presence at this place, are foolish in their minds. This is because this dead person is a dead, inanimate object. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has rebuked the polytheists who call upon the idols by saying:
(20) And those they invoke other than Allah create nothing, and they [themselves] are created. (21) They are, [in fact], dead, not alive, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected.
وَالَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لا يَخْلُقُونَ شَيْئًا وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ * أَمْوَاتٌ غَيْرُ أَحْيَاءٍ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ أَيَّانَ يُبْعَثُونَWhen a man dies, his acts come to an end, but three, recurring charity, or knowledge (by which people) benefit, or a pious child, who prays for him (for the deceased).
إذا مات الإنسان انقطع عمله إلا من ثلاثة: إلا من صدقة جارية، أو علم ينتفع به، أو ولد صالح يدعو لهIf this dead person does not benefit himself with his deeds, how can he benefit anyone else?
Then we say: If these groups of people who bring their insane and sick to this place believe that this dead person heals them by himself, then this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah). This is because no one heals from illness except Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as Allah the Exalted said about Ibrahim, the leader of the Hanifs and the intimate friend of the Most Merciful:
And when I am ill, it is He who cures me
وَإِذَا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينِAnd who is more astray than he who invokes besides Allah those who will not respond to him until the Day of Resurrection, and they, of their invocation, are unaware.
وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنْ يَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَنْ لا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَهُمْ عَنْ دُعَائِهِمْ غَافِلُونَ(22) Say, [O Muhammad], "Invoke those you claim [as deities] besides Allah." They do not possess an atom's weight [of ability] in the heavens or on the earth, and they do not have therein any partnership [with Him], nor is there for Him from among them any assistant. (23) And intercession does not benefit with Him except for one whom He permits.
قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لا يَمْلِكُونَ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَلا فِي الأَرْضِ وَمَا لَهُمْ فِيهِمَا مِنْ شِرْكٍ وَمَا لَهُ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ ظَهِيرٍ * وَلا تَنفَعُ الشَّفَاعَةُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا لِمَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُAnd if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful
وَإِنْ يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا هُوَ وَإِنْ يُرِدْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَلا رَادَّ لِفَضْلِهِ يُصِيبُ بِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَهُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُHe who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart, and that is the least of faith.
من رأى منكم منكراً فليغيره بيده، فإن لم يستطع فبلسانه، فإن لم يستطع فبقلبه، وذلك أضعف الإيمانAnd I advise my Muslim brothers in the east and west of the earth; I advise them against such actions by which many people have been afflicted, where they cling to those other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic, placing their hope in them, calling upon them to remove hardship and bring benefit, while the whole matter belongs to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And their calling upon these created beings is shirk with Allah. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:
And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible.
وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَAnd 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.
وَمَنْ يَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ لا بُرْهَانَ لَهُ بِهِ فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِ إِنَّهُ لا يُفْلِحُ الْكَافِرُونَThe questioner : May Allah reward you.