Seeking Intercession and Supplication from the Dead
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. Many students understand shirk (associating partners with Allah) to be asking the dead to fulfill a need. They say that if one asks for intercession, he is asking for supplication; that the dead person is asked to make supplication for him, meaning to pray for him. They say this is not major shirk, but rather a bid'ah (religious innovation)?
The Shaykh:
Yes, there is no doubt it is major.
The questioner:
You are busy.
The Shaykh:
They cannot; he cannot make supplication for you, nor can he intercede for you. They are all bound by their deeds.
Another questioner:
May Allah reward you, Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Intercession and supplication are for the living. This is why, when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab asked the Companions to pray for rain, they did not ask the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to intercede for them. They asked for rain through al-'Abbas, through the black slaves, and through supplication. If this had been a beneficial religious practice, they would have asked for rain through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said, "O Messenger of Allah, make supplication for me, and [make supplication] at my grave."
May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. Many students understand shirk (associating partners with Allah) to be asking the dead to fulfill a need. They say that if one asks for intercession, he is asking for supplication; that the dead person is asked to make supplication for him, meaning to pray for him. They say this is not major shirk, but rather a bid'ah (religious innovation)?
The Shaykh:
Yes, there is no doubt it is major.
The questioner:
You are busy.
The Shaykh:
They cannot; he cannot make supplication for you, nor can he intercede for you. They are all bound by their deeds.
Another questioner:
May Allah reward you, Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
Intercession and supplication are for the living. This is why, when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab asked the Companions to pray for rain, they did not ask the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to intercede for them. They asked for rain through al-'Abbas, through the black slaves, and through supplication. If this had been a beneficial religious practice, they would have asked for rain through the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said, "O Messenger of Allah, make supplication for me, and [make supplication] at my grave."
Source
شرح كشف الشبهات [ ابن باز ]، بداية من الفصل الأول : بيان أن مهمة الرسل الأولى : تحقيق توحيد العبادة — islamhouse.com (1:31:16)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.