Visiting the graves of the righteous in a state of illness and calling upon them for aid
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The second and fifth questions of Fatwa No. ( 9027 ):
Q2: People say during calamities and hardships: “O Messenger of Allah,” and other awliya (close friends of Allah), and they go to the graves of the righteous in a state of illness and call upon them for aid, saying: “Allah averts the affliction through them. We seek help from them, but our intention is directed to Allah, because it is Allah who has the effect. Is this shirk (associating partners with Allah) or not? And should they be called mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah)? The fact is that they pray, recite the Qur'an, and do other righteous deeds.”
A2: What these people do is the shirk (associating partners with Allah) that the people of the first jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance) used to practice, for they used to call upon al-Lat, al-Uzza, Manat, and others,
and call upon them for aid, out of reverence for them and hoping that they would bring them closer to Allah. They said:[Az-Zumar 39:3] They also said: [Yunus 10:18] The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made it clear that du'a' (supplication) is worship, and that it is not to be directed to anyone but Allah. Allah the Exalted forbade calling upon anyone other than Him, saying: [Yunus 10:106-107] Muslims are to say: [Al-Fatihah 1:5] in every rak'ah (unit of prayer) of their prayers, to guide them to the fact that worship is not to be directed to anyone but Him, and that seeking help is not to be sought from anyone but Him, not from the dead among the prophets or the other righteous people. Do not be deceived by the abundance of their prayers, fasting, and recitation, for they are among those whose efforts were lost in this worldly life while they thought they were doing well; that is because their deeds were not built upon the foundation of pure tawhid (the oneness of Allah), so they became scattered dust. The evidence from the Book and the Sunnah regarding their shirk (associating partners with Allah) and the nullification of their deeds is abundant, so refer to the verses of the Qur'an, the authentic Sunnah, and the books of the people of the Sunnah and the community. We ask Allah for guidance for us and for you.
Q2: People say during calamities and hardships: “O Messenger of Allah,” and other awliya (close friends of Allah), and they go to the graves of the righteous in a state of illness and call upon them for aid, saying: “Allah averts the affliction through them. We seek help from them, but our intention is directed to Allah, because it is Allah who has the effect. Is this shirk (associating partners with Allah) or not? And should they be called mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah)? The fact is that they pray, recite the Qur'an, and do other righteous deeds.”
A2: What these people do is the shirk (associating partners with Allah) that the people of the first jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance) used to practice, for they used to call upon al-Lat, al-Uzza, Manat, and others,
and call upon them for aid, out of reverence for them and hoping that they would bring them closer to Allah. They said:
We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah in position
مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَىThese are our intercessors with Allah
هَؤُلاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ(106) And 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.'" (107) And 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
وَلاَ تَدْعُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ يَنْفَعُكَ وَلاَ يَضُرُّكَ فَإِنْ فَعَلْتَ فَإِنَّكَ إِذًا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ (106) وَإِنْ يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلا هُوَ وَإِنْ يُرِدْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَلا رَادَّ لِفَضْلِهِ يُصِيبُ بِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَهُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُIt is You we worship and You we ask for help.
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.