What is the ruling on those who make du'a' at graves, seek aid from the dead, and slaughter for them, and has the proof been established against them, and are they disbelievers?

The questioner : May Allah reward you. The questioner asks: What is the ruling on those who make du'a' in front of graves and seek aid from the dead?

The Shaykh : What do they make du'a' to?

The questioner : In front of graves, they seek aid from the dead and slaughter for them. Has the proof been established against such people, or are they disbelievers?

The Shaykh : As for those who make du'a' at graves, meaning they make du'a' to Allah at the graves, they are not making du'a' to the occupant of the grave, so these people are not mushriks (those who associate partners with Allah) because they are making du'a' to Allah, but they are innovators (mubtadi') because they thought that making du'a' at graves has a special merit, but they are not declared disbelievers. As for those who seek aid from the dead, saying "O close friend of Allah" or something similar, "help me" or "provide for me" or "give me," these people are mushriks, mushriks committing major shirk (associating partners with Allah). The statement of Allah Mighty and Majestic applies to them: And we lament to these people the loss of their intellects; we lament to them the loss of their intellects. How do they call upon a dead, decaying person who cannot save himself, and ask him for aid? Therefore, it is not permissible to seek aid from the dead in any way; rather, it is major shirk. It is also not permissible to seek aid from the living in matters they are not able to do. As for seeking aid from present living people in matters they are able to do, there is no harm in it. And Allah said about Musa (Moses): Likewise, those who slaughter for the dead, out of reverence and to draw near to them, are also mushriks committing major shirk that takes them out of the religion, due to the statement of Allah Blessed and Exalted: If your life and death belong to Allah, and no one can give you life and no one can cause your death except Allah Mighty and Majestic, then likewise your worship, your prayer and your rituals, belong to Allah Mighty and Majestic. Just as these buried people cannot give you life or cause your death, so it is not permissible to make any part of your prayer or any part of your rituals for them. That is, it is not permissible to pray for the occupant of a grave or to slaughter for him. If you do so, you are a mushrik committing major shirk that takes you out of the religion. Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying toward a grave, and he said in what was narrated by Muslim from Abu al-Marsad al-Ghanawi: Meaning, do not place them between you and the qiblah (direction of prayer). The prayer referred to here is not prayer to the graves, but prayer toward the graves. And to whom is the prayer? To Allah. But they place the grave between themselves and the qiblah. As for prayer to the graves, that is shirk. As for the questioner's question: "Are these people declared disbelievers, and has the proof been established against them, or not?" This is a relative matter. For some people, the proof has been established against them, and for others, it has not. But for those against whom the proof has been established, we rule that they are specifically mushriks and disbelievers. And for those against whom the proof has not been established, we rule that this act is shirk and disbelief, but it does not apply to every individual, because Allah the Exalted says: What? Therefore, the message must reach them in a comprehensible manner, and then the proof is established against them. And if a person commits shirk after the proof has been established against him, this is shirk, and we rule that he is specifically a mushrik and a disbeliever. For this reason, some of the common people, or some of the students of knowledge, also assume that we do not rule that a specific person is a disbeliever or a mushrik, but rather we say his act is shirk and his act is disbelief. This is a great error, a great error, because this implies that we do not rule that the mushriks whom the Messenger fought were specifically mushriks, but rather we say that whoever the description that the Lawgiver made shirk or disbelief applies to, we rule that he is specifically a disbeliever. Yes.