The Stone, Speaking to It, and Supplicating to It Is Shirk
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The ninth question from Fatwa number ( 3377 ):
Q9: What is the expiation that a Muslim must offer if, when he was a child and did not yet know right from wrong, he took a stone and spoke to it? Does the stone hear him? And what must he do now that he has grown up and realized the magnitude of the error? He seeks Allah’s pardon and forgiveness instead of going to fortune-tellers or readers of the future, or cooking a meal for a stone that has no mouth to eat it.
A9: Speaking to a stone, supplicating to it, and intimate conversation with it is shirk (associating partners with Allah). Slaughtering for it and offering food to it is shirk. Going to fortune-tellers and soothsayers and believing what they report about the unseen is major shirk. Whoever falls into any of this must abandon it, repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and purify his tawhid (the oneness of Allah) for Him, so that he does not supplicate or call for aid except to Allah, does not hope except in Allah, and believes that there is no refuge or shelter except in Him. He must feel remorse for all the sins he has committed. By doing so, Allah will forgive his sins, both great and small, even disbelief, and He will replace his bad deeds with good ones if he follows his repentance with faith and righteous deeds. This is based on the saying of Allah the Exalted in the end of Surat al-Furqan, describing the attributes of the servants of the Most Merciful:[Al-Furqan 25:68-70]
And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q9: What is the expiation that a Muslim must offer if, when he was a child and did not yet know right from wrong, he took a stone and spoke to it? Does the stone hear him? And what must he do now that he has grown up and realized the magnitude of the error? He seeks Allah’s pardon and forgiveness instead of going to fortune-tellers or readers of the future, or cooking a meal for a stone that has no mouth to eat it.
A9: Speaking to a stone, supplicating to it, and intimate conversation with it is shirk (associating partners with Allah). Slaughtering for it and offering food to it is shirk. Going to fortune-tellers and soothsayers and believing what they report about the unseen is major shirk. Whoever falls into any of this must abandon it, repent to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and purify his tawhid (the oneness of Allah) for Him, so that he does not supplicate or call for aid except to Allah, does not hope except in Allah, and believes that there is no refuge or shelter except in Him. He must feel remorse for all the sins he has committed. By doing so, Allah will forgive his sins, both great and small, even disbelief, and He will replace his bad deeds with good ones if he follows his repentance with faith and righteous deeds. This is based on the saying of Allah the Exalted in the end of Surat al-Furqan, describing the attributes of the servants of the Most Merciful:
(68) And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty. (69) Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated - (70) Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.
وَالَّذِينَ لاَ يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلاَ يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلا بِالْحَقِّ وَلاَ يَزْنُونَ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (68) يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا (69) إِلا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلا صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًاAnd success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.