Helping a Relative
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Question: I have a maternal uncle who is my neighbor and has an injury in his legs. He is unable to work except in some light jobs. He has children and needs help, but he does not maintain the prayer. He believes in the Sufi paths and their sheikhs, and he participates in their rituals. Is it permissible for us to help him? Please inform us; may Allah reward you.
Answer: It is obligatory to advise this man who follows the Sufi paths,
and participates in establishing them, and to make it clear to him that these paths are religious innovations, and they may even be paths of shirk (associating partners with Allah), because the Sufis hold beliefs of shirk, such as believing that the sheikhs and the people of the paths can benefit or harm, or that they know something of the unseen, or the like. This is considered shirk, and it is common in the Sufi paths today: the belief in the sheikhs and the people of the paths that they cure the sick, or relieve distress, or that they know the unseen, or the like.
Therefore, it is obligatory for you to advise him and to make clear to him the misguidance in these paths, and that the prescribed path is the path of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions, and what the righteous Salaf (the earliest generations) were upon in terms of knowledge and practice. He should abandon these Sufi paths and follow the Sharia path if he wants salvation for himself and safety for his religion and creed. If he does not accept the advice, does not repent, and does not abandon these Sufi paths, then you should boycott him if boycotting him serves as a deterrent and a warning for him.
However, if he has a needy family that requires assistance, there is no harm in giving them some of the donations and voluntary charity due to their need, poverty, and excuse. But the situation of this man that you mentioned is not something to remain silent about or leave him in, because he may continue in it out of ignorance, and if it were explained to him, he would abandon it. Especially since he is a sick and bedridden man. If you remind him of this and that there is no good in these paths, perhaps Allah will guide him through you and save him through you, and there will be reward for you and for him, if Allah wills.
Answer: It is obligatory to advise this man who follows the Sufi paths,
and participates in establishing them, and to make it clear to him that these paths are religious innovations, and they may even be paths of shirk (associating partners with Allah), because the Sufis hold beliefs of shirk, such as believing that the sheikhs and the people of the paths can benefit or harm, or that they know something of the unseen, or the like. This is considered shirk, and it is common in the Sufi paths today: the belief in the sheikhs and the people of the paths that they cure the sick, or relieve distress, or that they know the unseen, or the like.
Therefore, it is obligatory for you to advise him and to make clear to him the misguidance in these paths, and that the prescribed path is the path of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions, and what the righteous Salaf (the earliest generations) were upon in terms of knowledge and practice. He should abandon these Sufi paths and follow the Sharia path if he wants salvation for himself and safety for his religion and creed. If he does not accept the advice, does not repent, and does not abandon these Sufi paths, then you should boycott him if boycotting him serves as a deterrent and a warning for him.
However, if he has a needy family that requires assistance, there is no harm in giving them some of the donations and voluntary charity due to their need, poverty, and excuse. But the situation of this man that you mentioned is not something to remain silent about or leave him in, because he may continue in it out of ignorance, and if it were explained to him, he would abandon it. Especially since he is a sick and bedridden man. If you remind him of this and that there is no good in these paths, perhaps Allah will guide him through you and save him through you, and there will be reward for you and for him, if Allah wills.