If a man circumambulates a grave, but his circumambulation is for the sake of Allah, is this considered a religious innovation (bid'ah) or associating partners with Allah (shirk)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, if a man circumambulates a grave, but his circumambulation is for the sake of Allah, is this considered a religious innovation (bid'ah) or associating partners with Allah (shirk)?
Answer:
If he intends to draw near to Allah and does not intend to draw near to the grave, then it is a religious innovation (bid'ah), because Allah is not worshipped by circumambulating graves, and this was not prescribed, so it is a religious innovation (bid'ah). But if he intends to draw near to the deceased, then it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), because circumambulation is an act of worship. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, if a man circumambulates a grave, but his circumambulation is for the sake of Allah, is this considered a religious innovation (bid'ah) or associating partners with Allah (shirk)?
Answer:
If he intends to draw near to Allah and does not intend to draw near to the grave, then it is a religious innovation (bid'ah), because Allah is not worshipped by circumambulating graves, and this was not prescribed, so it is a religious innovation (bid'ah). But if he intends to draw near to the deceased, then it is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), because circumambulation is an act of worship. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [355 /1350] لو طاف رجل عند القبر لكن طوافه لله فهل يعد هذا من البدعة أو من الشرك؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
