What is the ruling on the prayer of one who circumambulates shrines?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah.
Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : In Muslim lands, there are shrines that are circumambulated and worshipped alongside Allah. In some villages, there are main shrines that are circumambulated daily. In one village, there are approximately ninety-nine shrines, and people make pilgrimages to them and circumambulate them. One of our brothers mentioned that he circumambulated them from the Fajr prayer until the Zuhr prayer until he completed the circumambulation. In these villages, there are mosques where prayers are held, and yet the call to the oneness of Allah has reached them. What is the ruling on these prayers? And what is the ruling on these acts of worship?
The Shaykh : One who circumambulates the shrines, meaning the graves, calls upon the occupant of the grave, seeks aid from him, and seeks help from him, is one who associates partners with Allah in major shirk. And Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:72] And if these people pray in the mosques while they are persisting in this shirk, meaning calling upon the occupants of the shrines and seeking aid from them, then their prayer is not accepted from them and does not benefit them with Allah, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: [At-Tawbah 9:54].
But it is obligatory for the people of knowledge in those lands to intensify the call and go to these people to clarify the truth to them, and not to despair of the spirit of Allah. And if it is not possible for us to call them openly in a general manner, because some people say: If I go to these common people and call them and say to them: Your action is shirk, they might kill me, then it is possible to choose from their leaders whom he chooses, and invite him to his home or visit him in his home, and speak with him calmly, and explain to him the merits of sincerity, and explain to him that these dead do not respond to him, as Allah the Exalted said:[Fatir 35:14] And He the Exalted said: [Al-Ahqaf 46:5-6] So let them intensify the call, because these people, in reality, meaning those who frequent the shrines and call upon them, are considered in the ruling of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, so it is necessary to call them and intensify the call, and perhaps Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, will guide them through the hands of our brother reformers.
Peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : In Muslim lands, there are shrines that are circumambulated and worshipped alongside Allah. In some villages, there are main shrines that are circumambulated daily. In one village, there are approximately ninety-nine shrines, and people make pilgrimages to them and circumambulate them. One of our brothers mentioned that he circumambulated them from the Fajr prayer until the Zuhr prayer until he completed the circumambulation. In these villages, there are mosques where prayers are held, and yet the call to the oneness of Allah has reached them. What is the ruling on these prayers? And what is the ruling on these acts of worship?
The Shaykh : One who circumambulates the shrines, meaning the graves, calls upon the occupant of the grave, seeks aid from him, and seeks help from him, is one who associates partners with Allah in major shirk. And Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, he who associates others with Allah - Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.
إِنَّهُ مَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنْصَارٍAnd what prevents their expenditures from being accepted from them but that they have disbelieved in Allah and in His Messenger and that they come not to prayer except while they are lazy and that they do not spend except while they are unwilling.
وَمَا مَنَعَهُمْ أَنْ تُقْبَلَ مِنْهُمْ نَفَقَاتُهُمْ إِلَّا أَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَبِرَسُولِهِ وَلا يَأْتُونَ الصَّلاةَ إِلَّا وَهُمْ كُسَالَى وَلا يُنْفِقُونَ إِلَّا وَهُمْ كَارِهُونَBut it is obligatory for the people of knowledge in those lands to intensify the call and go to these people to clarify the truth to them, and not to despair of the spirit of Allah. And if it is not possible for us to call them openly in a general manner, because some people say: If I go to these common people and call them and say to them: Your action is shirk, they might kill me, then it is possible to choose from their leaders whom he chooses, and invite him to his home or visit him in his home, and speak with him calmly, and explain to him the merits of sincerity, and explain to him that these dead do not respond to him, as Allah the Exalted said: