The Ruling on Worshipping Other Than Allah and Calling Upon the People of the Graves

The Shaykh : What is your opinion of one who performs worship for other than Allah, meaning he does not make a partner with Allah, but rather worships other than Allah exclusively? Is his work accepted?
The student: No.

The Shaykh : Is there any activity in the answer? A man prays to another, standing before him, placing his hands on his chest, bowing to him, prostrating to him, without praying to Allah. He prays to this person, or to the owner of this grave, or something similar. Is his work accepted or not? It is not accepted, because if a person works for Allah and for other than Allah, it is not accepted, then one who works for other than Allah only is even further from acceptance. This is a mushrik, one who associates partners with Allah in major shirk. If he dies, among the supporters. Good, another man worships Allah, prays in the mosque, prays to Allah, but when hardship strikes him, he goes to the owner of the grave and calls him: "O close friend of Allah, save me from this hardship." And when good fortune eludes him, he goes to the owner of the grave and calls him: "O close friend, bring me good. O close friend of Allah, my wife is not carrying, make her carry. O close friend of Allah, I am in financial distress, provide for me." What do you say about this? It is major shirk. Even the acts of worship he performs, such as prayer and others, are not accepted from him, even if he performed Hajj, even if he fasted, it is not accepted from him. Why? Why, O brothers? Because he is a mushrik, and Allah does not accept worship from a mushrik, even if he were to come to prayer before the iqamah, before the adhan, and pray a prayer that is the best of prayers, and give much charity, and fast much, and perform Hajj much, but when distress strikes him, he goes to the people of the graves and calls upon them. Is his work accepted or not? It is not accepted, because this one who calls upon the people of the graves relies upon other than Allah in repelling harms, repelling misfortunes, and bringing benefits. The one who calls upon the people of the graves relies upon other than Allah, and reliance (tawakkul) is the companion of worship. We all read in al-Fatihah: What? We all comply with the saying of Allah the Exalted: And what? Him alone. He is the one who brings good, and He is the one who prevents harm. As for the owners of these graves, they do not possess for themselves any benefit or harm. Even the one who is punished in his grave cannot repel the punishment from himself. The people of the graves need to be called upon for them, if they are deserving of being called upon for them. And if they are not deserving, they are not called upon for them. So how are these called upon? How does it befit a person of sound mind, let alone a believer, when hardship strikes him, to go to the grave and say: "O close friend of Allah, O my master, O my lord, give me such and such, repel such and such from me." Allah is the Greatest. Allah the Exalted said: Look at the verse: "You call upon them" or "They call upon"? Yes, with the yaa or with the taa?
The student:

The Shaykh : What is qatamir? Do you know qatamir, O brother? Yes, I do. What is qatamir?
The student: Qatamir...

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you. It is the shell that surrounds the date pit. This is qatamir, and it is used as a metaphor for insignificance. Three things: if you call upon them, what? They will not hear your call. Even if they did hear, hypothetically, they would not respond to you. And yet, these callers are not safe from being denounced by those they call upon. Therefore, He said: What? From the Expert? Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Meaning, no one informs you like the Expert, who is Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Listen, Allah the Exalted said: What did Isa say? .