Discussion on the ruling regarding visiting the graves of the righteous, and the completion of refuting the claim of those who say: The criterion is what is in the heart

The Shaykh : Many people, for example, we see them coming to some graves attributed to prophets or righteous people, and they make du'a' there, and they may even pray toward them, even though the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade that with the strongest prohibition. He said: May Allah not make my grave an idol to be worshipped. The anger of Allah intensified against a people who took the graves of their prophets as mosques. And he said: because of the disrespect involved in it. This is an honor from the Messenger to the deceased while he is in his grave, but on the other hand, he also said: because praying toward them is an exaltation of them beyond what is permissible by the Shari'ah. We find some people doing these things that contradict the Shari'ah. We find, on the other hand, people who disapprove of them, but unfortunately, we do not lack those who say, "Leave him, my brother, his intention is good." If his intention is good, then the one who says this, it is as if he has not read or heard these hadiths, or he read and heard them and then passed over them, as they say: "The noble ones pass by." Otherwise, how can he rely on this phrase, "Leave him, his intention is good," while he sees him contradicting the Shari'ah? And we mentioned earlier that that Companion who said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "What Allah wills and what you will," did not intend to make him a partner, yet he corrected his wording. So, contradicting the Shari'ah is to leave people to contradict the Shari'ah under the claim that their hearts are righteous, knowing that we cannot reveal what is in the hearts: are they truly righteous, or are they truly righteous or wicked? That knowledge is with my Lord. So, if we link earlier his saying (peace be upon him): then we can make the Muslim's action indicative of what is in his heart, because the apparent is connected to the hidden. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) affirmed this reality when he ordered his Companions, when they stood up to worship Allah alone, having no partner, he would say to them: So, practical negligence in straightening the rows leads to negligence in rectifying the hearts. Therefore, I like a phrase by some scholars in response to some of those who claim affiliation with Sufism, whether rightly or wrongly. These scholars say in response to them: "The apparent is the title of the hidden." The apparent is the title of the hidden. For this reason, it is obligatory for Muslims—I say in conclusion of this speech—it is obligatory for Muslims that before they speak, they weigh their words. We began this speech with his saying (peace be upon him): You do not have to speak words and then regret them and be forced to what? To interpret them? No, think then speak. Therefore, it came in some athar: "The believer's intellect is before his speech, and his speech is behind his intellect, and the hypocrite's intellect is after his speech." He speaks then thinks. The Muslim is not like that; he thinks then speaks. All this is to understand that the speaker's saying, may Allah keep you, is apparent, because only Allah the Exalted endures. This is a belief known to all Muslims, but it can be interpreted. "May Allah keep you" means a life that our Lord established for humans, as the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Yes, "May Allah keep you" means this duration. It does not mean "May Allah keep you forever," because that is what? A distinctive attribute that our Lord the Exalted possesses alone, apart from His creation. He is the First, the Last, the Apparent, and the Hidden, (Glorified and Exalted is He). This is what we wanted to clarify regarding this phrase.

The questioner: May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of you, if Allah wills, in the name of Allah.