Some people among us visit some of the noble graves we have, which contain the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and some noble shaykhs, and there are errors [committed in this].
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The questioner : Some people among us visit some of the noble graves we have, which contain the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and some noble shaykhs. There are errors they commit, among which is that they ask them for help and supplication to the Lord of the Worlds, and to stand by them to get them out of their calamities. What is the ruling on these people, O honorable Shaykh? Advise them. May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Before answering this question, I would like to say that what is claimed to be the grave of so-and-so or so-and-so from the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) or the Imams after them may not be correct. Not everything that is claimed is accepted and correct; rather, it may be from the fabrication of fabricators.
Then, even if there is in this place the grave of a Companion or the grave of an Imam from the Imams, what is prescribed for a person when he visits the cemetery is to do what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded, which is to greet them by saying: So the visitor to the cemetery is a valid visitor who supplicates for the dead, not one who supplicates to them. As for those who visit it for the sake of seeking blessing from its soil, or worse than that, who call upon the dead to remove harm and bring benefit, and the like of this, then supplicating to other than Allah is major shirk (associating partners with Allah) that takes one out of the religion. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Mu'minun 23:117] So Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) made it clear that this one who calls upon other than Allah, or calls upon another god along with Allah, is a disbeliever and is not successful, meaning he will not attain what he seeks and will not be saved from what he fears. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said in another verse: [Al-Ahqaf 46:5-6] So the polytheist who calls upon other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not successful, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter, and he is also a fool; no one is more misguided than he.
So my advice to these people who visit these graves is that their visitation be in the prescribed manner, by taking a lesson from this visitation and remembering the Hereafter, and that they are now on the surface of the earth, alive, eating and drinking and wearing clothes and enjoying themselves, and soon they will be in the depths of the earth, bound by their deeds, just as these buried ones were like them yesterday, and this is their state today. Then they supplicate for their brothers with what has been prescribed for them, as we mentioned earlier. As for seeking blessing from the soil or calling upon these dead, this is misguidance with no basis.
The questioner : This is a message that reached us from a listener who used the code name "Your brother in Islam, J.M.A." He says in his message:
The Shaykh : Before answering this question, I would like to say that what is claimed to be the grave of so-and-so or so-and-so from the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) or the Imams after them may not be correct. Not everything that is claimed is accepted and correct; rather, it may be from the fabrication of fabricators.
Then, even if there is in this place the grave of a Companion or the grave of an Imam from the Imams, what is prescribed for a person when he visits the cemetery is to do what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded, which is to greet them by saying:
Peace be upon you, people of the abode, from the believers and the Muslims, and we, if Allah wills, will be joining you. May Allah have mercy on those of us who have gone before and those who come after. We ask Allah for well-being for us and for you.
السلام عليكم أهل الديار من المؤمنين والمسلمين، وإنا إن شاء الله بكم لاحقون، يرحم الله المستقدمين منا ومنكم والمستأخرين، نسأل الله لنا ولكم العافيةAnd whoever invokes besides Allah another deity for which he has no proof - then his account is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed.
وَمَنْ يَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا ءاخَرَ لا بُرْهَانَ لَهُ بِهِ فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِ إِنَّهُ لا يُفْلِحُ الْكَافِرُونَ(5) And who is more astray than he who invokes besides Allah those who will not respond to him until the Day of Resurrection, and they, of their invocation, are unaware. (6) And when the people are gathered [that Day], they [who were invoked] will be enemies to them, and they will be deniers of their worship.
وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنْ يَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَنْ لا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَهُمْ عَنْ دُعَائِهِمْ غَافِلُونَ * وَإِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُوا لَهُمْ أَعْدَاءً وَكَانُوا بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَافِرِينَSo my advice to these people who visit these graves is that their visitation be in the prescribed manner, by taking a lesson from this visitation and remembering the Hereafter, and that they are now on the surface of the earth, alive, eating and drinking and wearing clothes and enjoying themselves, and soon they will be in the depths of the earth, bound by their deeds, just as these buried ones were like them yesterday, and this is their state today. Then they supplicate for their brothers with what has been prescribed for them, as we mentioned earlier. As for seeking blessing from the soil or calling upon these dead, this is misguidance with no basis.
The questioner : This is a message that reached us from a listener who used the code name "Your brother in Islam, J.M.A." He says in his message: