What is the ruling on seeking aid from graves out of ignorance, and is one excused for that ignorance?
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The questioner : The questioner asks about the ruling on one who seeks aid from graves and circumambulates them out of ignorance: is he excused or not?
The Shaykh : Yes, the one who seeks aid from graves, meaning that when he is struck by hardship he seeks aid from the occupant of the grave, is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) committing major shirk (associating partners with Allah), may Allah protect us from that. However, we may not rule that this specific person is a mushrik, because ruling that a specific person is a mushrik requires conditions, one of which is that the proof must have reached him. It is possible that this one who seeks aid from graves is ignorant and knows nothing at all. He sees people doing it and does the same as they do. Or there may be misguided scholars with him who mislead him from the path of Allah and say, "Seek aid from such-and-such a grave, from such-and-such a grave, so that your request will be answered." In this case, we do not rule that he is a disbeliever, because he is an ignorant person excused by his ignorance. But if it has been conveyed to him that this is shirk (associating partners with Allah), yet he persists in what he is doing and says, "This is what our fathers did, this is what our scholars did," then he is not excused for that, because the truth has been made clear to him. And his saying this in the face of the truth is no different from the saying of those who said:[Az-Zukhruf 43:22]. It is obligatory for the Muslim to be knowledgeable about the affairs of Allah so that he worships Allah with insight. As for the one who circumambulates graves but does not believe that the occupant of the grave can benefit or harm, this does not amount to shirk (associating partners with Allah), but it is a reprehensible bid'ah (religious innovation) from which one is forbidden, and it is to be denounced, and the one who does it is to be rebuked. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes, the one who seeks aid from graves, meaning that when he is struck by hardship he seeks aid from the occupant of the grave, is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) committing major shirk (associating partners with Allah), may Allah protect us from that. However, we may not rule that this specific person is a mushrik, because ruling that a specific person is a mushrik requires conditions, one of which is that the proof must have reached him. It is possible that this one who seeks aid from graves is ignorant and knows nothing at all. He sees people doing it and does the same as they do. Or there may be misguided scholars with him who mislead him from the path of Allah and say, "Seek aid from such-and-such a grave, from such-and-such a grave, so that your request will be answered." In this case, we do not rule that he is a disbeliever, because he is an ignorant person excused by his ignorance. But if it has been conveyed to him that this is shirk (associating partners with Allah), yet he persists in what he is doing and says, "This is what our fathers did, this is what our scholars did," then he is not excused for that, because the truth has been made clear to him. And his saying this in the face of the truth is no different from the saying of those who said: