What is the ruling on supplicating to the dead, seeking aid from them, and slaughtering animals for them?
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, as you know, many Muslims supplicate to the dead, seek aid from them, slaughter for them, and make vows for them. When we tell them that this is shirk (associating partners with Allah) and that its perpetrator, if he does not repent, will remain in the Fire forever, their answer is: "We testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." How do you describe them as mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah)? I ask you, Honorable Shaykh, to clarify this.
Answer:
This is the topic of our lecture this evening: that the messengers were sent by Allah to remove such things, because the mushrikin used to draw near to the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous, saying, "We do not worship them except to bring us closer to Allah in nearness"[Yunus 10:18].
They say, "We have taken them as intermediaries," whereas we know that Allah is the One who benefits, the One who harms, the One who gives, and the One who withholds. In reality, we have only sought nearness to Allah through these people and used them as intermediaries to Allah. He called this shirk (associating partners with Allah) and called it kufr (disbelief) in His clear Book, which you recite and read. This is the shirk of the former people; there is no difference between the one who worships the dead, seeks nearness through them, offers them vows and sacrifices, and circumambulates their graves, and the one who worshipped al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat. Even if he says "There is no god but Allah," as the questioner says, the phrase "There is no god but Allah" only benefits a person if he acts upon it.
So what is it if it is merely a phrase a person says with his tongue while contradicting it with his actions? If he says "There is no god but Allah," it means that he does not worship anyone but Allah, that he abandons the worship of graves, shrines, awliya (close friends of Allah), and the righteous, and that he purifies his worship for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This is the meaning of "There is no god but Allah." "There is no god but Allah" is not merely a phrase said with the tongue, but a commitment for a person to adhere to its meaning. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told the mushrikin, "Say: There is no god but Allah," they said,[Sad 38:5] And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said, [As-Saffat 37:35-36] They understood that if they said "There is no god but Allah," they were required to abandon the worship of these people and abandon what they had been worshipping alongside Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). As for these people, they say, [As-Saffat 37:35] and they do not abandon the worship of anyone other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
Honorable Shaykh, as you know, many Muslims supplicate to the dead, seek aid from them, slaughter for them, and make vows for them. When we tell them that this is shirk (associating partners with Allah) and that its perpetrator, if he does not repent, will remain in the Fire forever, their answer is: "We testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." How do you describe them as mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah)? I ask you, Honorable Shaykh, to clarify this.
Answer:
This is the topic of our lecture this evening: that the messengers were sent by Allah to remove such things, because the mushrikin used to draw near to the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous, saying, "We do not worship them except to bring us closer to Allah in nearness"
And they worship other than Allah that which neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say, "These are our intercessors
وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنفَعُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ هَٰؤُلَاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَاThey say, "We have taken them as intermediaries," whereas we know that Allah is the One who benefits, the One who harms, the One who gives, and the One who withholds. In reality, we have only sought nearness to Allah through these people and used them as intermediaries to Allah. He called this shirk (associating partners with Allah) and called it kufr (disbelief) in His clear Book, which you recite and read. This is the shirk of the former people; there is no difference between the one who worships the dead, seeks nearness through them, offers them vows and sacrifices, and circumambulates their graves, and the one who worshipped al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manat. Even if he says "There is no god but Allah," as the questioner says, the phrase "There is no god but Allah" only benefits a person if he acts upon it.
So what is it if it is merely a phrase a person says with his tongue while contradicting it with his actions? If he says "There is no god but Allah," it means that he does not worship anyone but Allah, that he abandons the worship of graves, shrines, awliya (close friends of Allah), and the righteous, and that he purifies his worship for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This is the meaning of "There is no god but Allah." "There is no god but Allah" is not merely a phrase said with the tongue, but a commitment for a person to adhere to its meaning. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told the mushrikin, "Say: There is no god but Allah," they said,
Has he made the gods [only] one God? Indeed, this is a curious thing."
أَجَعَلَ الْآلِهَةَ إِلَٰهًا وَاحِدًا إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَشَيْءٌ عُجَابٌ(35) Indeed they, when it was said to them, "There is no deity but Allah," were arrogant (36) And were saying, "Are we to leave our gods for a mad poet?"
إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ وَيَقُولُونَ أَئِنَّا لَتَارِكُو آلِهَتِنَا لِشَاعِرٍ مَّجْنُونٍThere is no deity but Allah
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم دعاء الأموات والاستغاثة بهم والذبح لهم؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.