Warning Against Worshipping Graves and That They Possess No Power to Benefit or Harm Themselves

The Shaykh : If the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , does any excuse remain for anyone to ask so-and-so or so-and-so? No, by Allah, never. Even those you ask are themselves unable to bring you any benefit or ward off any harm from you, even while they are alive. How much less so when they are dead?
Then why do we see this massive army of Muslim sons in some Islamic lands frequenting graves and the people of the graves, calling upon them besides Allah, knowing that the owner of this grave, if he were alive, would not have been able to benefit you, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If the whole of the Ummah were to gather, the whole Ummah, how could one dead person, how could one who is carried on shoulders and buried under the earth, be able to benefit you, my brother? It is not possible. Fear Allah in yourself. You have One between whom and you there is no barrier, and He is Allah (Mighty and Majestic). You have One who descends in the last part of the night and says: How do you go to so-and-so and so-and-so? Indeed, this is the clear error, and there is no error greater than it. And listen to the saying of Allah the Exalted: If you called him on the Day of Resurrection, he would not respond to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, look at the loss! Is there any expected benefit? (Glorified and Exalted is He) None can inform you like the Expert, and He is Allah. These are the ones with whom people associate partners with Allah; this is their state and this is their end. Who is this Expert who informed us? It is Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Now, if someone asks us, does this ruling apply to the owner of this grave, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? What is the answer? What is the answer?
Yes, it applies to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He does not benefit anything besides Allah, neither in his life nor after his death. And a person is not benefited except by his faith in this Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). That is what benefits him. As for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Allah the Exalted commanded him to convey the message to the people. He commanded him to convey the message in His saying: . All ties are cut. I do not say to you that I possess the treasures of Allah so that I can give you from these treasures. Nor do I know the unseen so that I can prevent from you the evils that are to come. Nor do I say that I am an angel. But he (peace and blessings be upon him) is a human being, and what befalls humanity befalls him: hunger, thirst, and pain. Indeed, he (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) would fall ill as two of us would fall ill, meaning the fever would strike him as it strikes two of us. Why? So that he would attain the highest rank in patience (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him), so that he would be patient in a way that no one else is patient. Because if a person is tested with what others are tested with and he is patient, he becomes equal to others and similar to them. But if he falls ill as two of us fall ill and he is patient, he becomes the greatest of people in patience (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him). And patience is a high and noble degree that a person does not attain except through its trial, except through a matter upon which he is patient and endures. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says in another verse: . Say: I have been commanded to convey to the people. And the entire Qur'an was said to him: "Say, O Messenger, convey." But I am drawing your attention to an important benefit: if the word "Say" comes in the Qur'an, it means that this is a specific text regarding the specific conveyance of this particular issue. Otherwise, the entire Qur'an was said to him: "Say." . But if it is said "Say such and such," it means that this is a specific advice and a specific command to convey this matter because of its great status with Allah. . Meaning, even he himself (peace and blessings be upon him), no one can protect him from Allah if Allah the Exalted intends harm for him. . Even if I am struck by something, I will not find anyone who can ward off this thing from me or remove it from me except Allah, and I will not find a refuge besides Him. So, my brother, O Muslim brother, return to yourself. Return to the saying of Allah. Return to the saying of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gathered his closest relatives and called them by their names and announced to them that he possesses no power to benefit or harm them. Until he said to Fatimah, his daughter: . Meaning, ask me for whatever you wish from my wealth that I possess. . He said to whom? To Fatimah, his daughter, about whom he said: . The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And if he does not benefit his daughter, who is a part of him, and who is distressed by what distresses him, how can he benefit those who are farther away? Reason dictates that he does not benefit anyone at all. Therefore, I advise you from this place, and I say a word that will be an argument for me with Allah and an argument against you: that asking the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) does not benefit you at all. If you want to benefit from what is connected to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him), his sacrifice is my father, my soul, and my mother. If you want to benefit from him in any way, you must have faith in him. You must establish faith in him, establishing his following (peace and blessings be upon him). Do not innovate in his religion what is not from it, and do not burden yourselves with anything that will be a loss for you on the Day of Resurrection. Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ever say in any time: "Invoke me, and I will respond to you"? Never, by Allah, he did not say it. Rather, he fights those who invoke other than Allah. He fights them, he makes their blood and wealth lawful, and he takes their women and offspring captive. Any person who invokes anyone besides Allah.