Explanation of Polytheistic and Innovated Recitations

Question:
From the brother: A. M. H. from Yemen, he says in it:
There are people in our land who cling to recitations for which Allah has not sent down any authority, some of which are religious innovations and some of which are acts of associating partners with Allah. They attribute these to the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) and others, and they recite these recitations in gatherings of remembrance, or in the mosques after the Maghrib prayer, claiming that they are a means of drawing near to Allah. For example, they say: "By the right of Allah, the men of Allah, help us with the help of Allah, and be our support by Allah."
And they say: "O Poles, O Pillars, O Masters, answer us, O you who possess abundant aid. Intercede with Allah for this, your servant, who is standing and lingering at your door, and who fears the consequences of his negligence. Help us, O Messenger of Allah. We have no recourse but to you, and from you the request is fulfilled. You are the best of the people of Allah. By Hamzah, the master of the martyrs, and whoever among you gives us aid, help us, O Messenger of Allah."
And they say: "O Allah, send blessings upon the one You made the cause for the splitting of Your majestic secrets and the bursting forth of Your merciful lights, so that he became a deputy for the Divine Presence and a successor to Your essential secrets."
We ask for clarification of what is religious innovation and what is associating partners with Allah, and whether the prayer is valid behind an imam who makes this supplication?

Answer:
Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows:
Know, may Allah guide you, that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) created the creation and sent the messengers, peace and blessings be upon them, to be worshipped alone, with no partner, and not to worship anything else, as He the Exalted said: [Al-Dhariyat: 56]. Worship is obeying Him, Glorified is He, and obeying His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by doing what Allah and His Messenger commanded and leaving what Allah and His Messenger forbade, out of faith in Allah and His Messenger and sincerity to Allah in action, as He the Exalted said: [Al-Isra: 23], meaning He commanded and advised that He alone be worshipped. And He the Exalted said: The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy Master of the Day of Judgment You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help [Al-Fatihah: 2-5].
Allah, Glorified is He, made clear in these verses that He is the one who deserves to be worshipped alone and sought for help alone. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Know that to Allah alone belongs the pure religion [Az-Zumar: 2-3]. And He, Glorified is He, said: [Ghafir: 14]. And He the Exalted said: [Al-Jinn: 18].
There are many verses in this meaning, and all of them indicate the obligation of singling out Allah for worship. It is known that supplication, in all its forms, is a type of worship, so it is not permissible for anyone among the people to supplicate to anyone other than their Lord, nor to seek help or call for aid from anyone other than Him, in accordance with these noble verses and what has come in their meaning. This applies except for ordinary matters and physical causes that a living, present creature is capable of handling, for those are not worship. Rather, it is permissible by explicit text and scholarly consensus for a person to seek help from a living, capable person in ordinary matters that they are capable of, such as seeking their help or calling for their aid in repelling the harm of their child, or their servant, or their dog, or the like. And it is permissible for a person to seek help from a living, present, capable person, or an absent person through physical means, such as writing letters or the like, in building their house, or repairing their car, or the like. From this category is the saying of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the story of Moses, peace and blessings be upon him: [Al-Qasas: 15]. And from this is a person calling for aid from their companions in jihad and war and the like.
As for calling for aid from the dead, the jinn, the angels, trees, or stones, that is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), and it is of the same kind as the actions of the first polytheists with their gods, such as al-'Uzza, al-Lat, and others. Likewise, calling for aid and seeking help from those believed to be close friends of Allah among the living in matters that only Allah is capable of, such as healing the sick, guiding hearts, entering Paradise, and being saved from the Fire, and the like.
The aforementioned verses and what has come in their meaning from verses and hadiths all indicate the obligation of directing the hearts to Allah in all matters and making worship sincere to Allah alone; for the servants were created for that and commanded to do it, as mentioned in the verses, and as in His saying, Glorified is He: [An-Nisa: 36], and His saying, Glorified is He: the verse [Al-Bayyinah: 5], and the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him): It is agreed upon as authentic. And his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): Narrated by al-Bukhari. And in the two authentic collections from the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he sent Mu'adh to Yemen, said to him: And in another wording: . And in a narration by al-Bukhari: . And in Sahih Muslim from Tariq ibn Ashim al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And there are many hadiths in this meaning.
This tawhid (the oneness of Allah) is the foundation of the religion of Islam, the basis of the faith, the head of the matter, and the most important of the obligations. It is the wisdom in the creation of the two groups (humans and jinn), and the wisdom in the sending of all the messengers, peace and blessings be upon them, as the verses indicating this have preceded, including His saying, Glorified is He: [Al-Dhariyat: 56].
And among the evidence for this is also his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: [An-Nahl: 36], and His saying, Glorified is He: [Al-Anbiya: 25]. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding Noah, Hud, Salih, and Shu'ayb, peace and blessings be upon them, that they said to their people: [Al-A'raf: 85]. And this is the call of all the messengers, as the two previous verses indicate.
The enemies of the messengers admitted that the messengers commanded them to single out Allah for worship and to remove the gods worshipped besides Him, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the story of 'Ad that they said to Hud, peace and blessings be upon him: [Al-A'raf: 70]. And he (Glorified and Exalted is He) said regarding Quraysh when our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) called them to single out Allah for worship and leave what they worshipped besides Him, such as the angels, the close friends of Allah, the idols, the trees, and others: [Sad: 5]. And He, Glorified is He, said about them in Surah As-Saffat: And they say, "Are we really to leave our gods for a mad poet?" [As-Saffat: 35-36]. And there are many verses indicating this meaning.
From what we have mentioned of verses and hadiths, it becomes clear to you, may Allah guide me and you to understanding in the religion and insight into the right of the Lord of the Worlds.
Indeed, these supplications and the types of calling for aid that I have explained in your question are all types of major shirk (associating partners with Allah); for they are worship of other than Allah, and seeking matters that no one but He is capable of from the dead and the absent. And that is uglier than the shirk of the first ones; for the first ones only associated partners with Allah in times of ease, but in times of hardship they made their worship sincere to Allah; for they knew that He, Glorified is He, is the One capable of delivering them from the hardship, and no one else, as He the Exalted said in His clear Book about those polytheists: [Al-'Ankabut: 65]. And he (Glorified and Exalted is He) addressed them in another verse in Surah Subhan: [Al-Isra: 67].
If one of these later polytheists were to say: We do not intend that those people benefit by themselves, or heal our sick, or help us by themselves, or harm an enemy by themselves, but we intend their intercession with Allah in that.
The answer is to say to them: This is the intention and purpose of the first disbelievers, and their intention was not that their gods create, provide, benefit, or harm by themselves, for that is refuted by what Allah mentioned about them in the Qur'an. Rather, they intended their intercession, their status, and their bringing them near to Allah, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said in Surah Yunus, peace and blessings be upon him: [Yunus: 18]. And Allah refuted them by His saying, Glorified is He: [Yunus: 18].
So He, Glorified is He, made clear that He does not know any intercessor in the heavens or on earth in the way the polytheists intend, and what Allah does not know to exist does not exist; for He, Glorified is He, nothing is hidden from Him.
And He the Exalted said in Surah Az-Zumar: Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book in truth, so worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion Know that to Allah alone belongs the pure religion [Az-Zumar: 1-3]. So He, Glorified is He, made clear that worship is for Him alone, and that it is obligatory for the servants to make it sincere to Him (Exalted and Majestic is He); for His command to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to make worship sincere to Him is a command for everyone. And the meaning of "religion" here is worship, and worship is obeying Him and obeying His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) as mentioned before. And included in it are supplication, calling for aid, fear, hope, slaughter, and vows, just as included in it are prayer, fasting, and other things that Allah and His Messenger commanded.
Then He said, ﷺ after that: [Az-Zumar:3], meaning they say, “We do not worship them except to bring us closer to Allah in nearness.” So Allah refuted them by saying, Exalted is He: [Az-Zumar:3]. Thus, He made it clear in this noble verse that the disbelievers did not worship the awliya (close friends of Allah) other than Him except to bring them closer to Allah in nearness. This is the objective of the disbelievers, both ancient and modern. And Allah has invalidated this by saying: .
Thus, He made clear their lie in their claim that their gods bring them closer to Allah in nearness, and their disbelief in what they diverted to them of worship. By this, it becomes known to anyone with the slightest discernment that the disbelief of the first disbelievers was only in their taking the prophets, the awliya (close friends of Allah), trees, stones, and other created things as intercessors between them and Allah. They believed that these beings fulfill their needs without the permission of Allah, Exalted is He, or His satisfaction, just as ministers intercede with kings. So they compared Him, ﷺ, to kings and leaders, and they said: “Just as the one who has a need with a king or a leader intercedes to him through his intimates and ministers, so we seek nearness to Allah by worshipping His prophets and His awliya (close friends of Allah).”
This is among the most invalid of falsehoods; for He, Exalted is He, has no likeness and is not compared to His creation. No one intercedes with Him except by His permission, and He does not permit intercession except for the people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). He, ﷺ, is All-Powerful over all things and All-Knowing of all things, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful. He does not fear anyone, nor does anyone fear Him; for He, Exalted is He, is the Subduer above His servants and He disposes of them as He wills. This is unlike kings and leaders, for they are not able to do everything and do not know everything. Therefore, they need those who assist them with what they may be unable to do, from their ministers, intimates, and soldiers. They also need those to convey to them the needs of those whose needs they do not know. And because kings and leaders may oppress and become angry without right, they need those who soften them and please them from among their ministers and intimates.
As for the Lord, ﷺ, He, Exalted is He, is free of need of all His creation, and He is more merciful to them than their mothers. He is the Just Ruler who places things in their proper places according to His wisdom, knowledge, and power. So it is not permissible to compare Him to His creation in any way. For this reason, He made it clear in His Book that the polytheists have admitted that He is the Creator, the Provider, and the Manager, and that He is the One who answers the distressed, removes evil, and gives life and death, among other of His actions, Exalted is He. The dispute between the polytheists and the messengers is only in the sincerity of worship to Allah alone. As He, ﷺ, said: [Az-Zukhruf:87], and He, the Exalted, said: [Yunus:31]. And the verses in this meaning are many.
It has been previously mentioned that the verses indicating that the dispute between the messengers and the nations is only in the sincerity of worship to Allah alone, such as His saying, Exalted is He: the verse [An-Nahl:36], and the verses that came with its meaning.
And He, Exalted is He, explained the matter of intercession in many places in His noble Book. He said in Surat al-Baqarah: [Al-Baqarah:255]. He said in Surat An-Najm: [An-Najm:26]. And He said in Surat Al-Anbiya, describing the angels: [Al-Anbiya:28]. And He, ﷺ, informed that He is not pleased with the disbelief of His servants, but rather He is pleased with their gratitude. And gratitude is his tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and acting in obedience to Him. So He, the Exalted, said in Surat Az-Zumar: the verse [Az-Zumar:7].
Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from Abu Hurayrah, (may Allah be pleased with him), that he said: “O Messenger of Allah, who is the most happy of people with your intercession?” He said: , or he said: . And in the Sahih from Anas, (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), that he said: . And the hadiths in this meaning are many.
And all that we have mentioned in the verses and hadiths indicates that worship is the right of Allah alone, and that it is not permissible to divert any of it to other than Allah, neither to the prophets nor to anyone else. And intercession is the property of Allah, ﷺ, as He, Exalted is He, said: the verse [Az-Zumar:44].
And no one deserves it except after His permission for the intercessor and His satisfaction with the one for whom intercession is sought. He, Exalted is He, is not pleased except with tawhid (the oneness of Allah), as mentioned previously. As for the polytheists, they have no share in intercession, as He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Muddaththir:48]. And He, the Exalted, said: the verse [Ghafir:18]. And injustice, when used in its general sense, is shirk (associating partners with Allah), as He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Baqarah:254]. And He, the Exalted, said: [Luqman:13].
As for what you mentioned in the question regarding the saying of some Sufis in the mosques and elsewhere: “O Allah, send blessings upon the one You made a cause for the splitting of Your majestic secrets and the bursting forth of Your merciful lights, so that he became a deputy for the Divine Presence and a successor to Your essential secrets...” etc.
The answer is: It should be said that this speech and its like are among the artificiality and affectation that our Prophet, Muhammad, (peace and blessings be upon him), warned against, as Muslim narrated in the Sahih from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him), said: He said it three times.
The Imam Al-Khatibbi, (may Allah have mercy on him), said: “The one who is affected (mutanatti') is the one who delves deeply into a matter, artificially seeking to investigate it according to the schools of the people of kalam (theology), entering into what does not concern them, and delving into what their minds cannot reach.”
And Abu al-Sa'adat Ibn al-Athir said: “They are the ones who delve deeply and exaggerate in speech, speaking to the utmost of their throats; it is derived from 'nat' which is the upper part of the mouth, and then it was used for every deepening in speech and action.”
And by what these two Imams and other Imams of language have mentioned, it becomes clear to you and to anyone with the slightest insight that this manner of sending blessings and peace upon our Prophet and our master, the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him), is among the artificiality and affectation that is forbidden. And what is prescribed (mashru') for the Muslim in this matter is to seek the manner established from the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him), in the description of sending blessings and peace upon him, and in that is sufficiency over others. Among this is what Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in the two Sahihs, and the wording is Al-Bukhari's, from Ka'b ibn Ujrah, (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Companions, (may Allah be pleased with them), said: “O Messenger of Allah, Allah has commanded us to send blessings upon you, so how do we send blessings upon you?” He said: .
And in the two Sahihs from Abu Humayd al-Sa'idi, (may Allah be pleased with him), that they said: “O Messenger of Allah, how do we send blessings upon you?” He said: . And in the Sahih of Muslim from Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari, (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: Bashir ibn Sa'd said: “O Messenger of Allah, Allah has commanded us to send blessings upon you, so how do we send blessings upon you?” So he was silent, then he said: .
So these words and their like, and others established from the Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), are those that the Muslim should learn and use in his sending of blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him); for the Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him), is the most knowledgeable of people about what is fitting to be used in his right, just as he is the most knowledgeable of people about what should be used in the right of his Lord from words.
As for the artificial and newly invented words, and the words that suggest an incorrect meaning, like the words mentioned in the question, it is not recommended to use them because of the artificiality in them and because they may be interpreted with false meanings, while they are contrary to the words that the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him), chose and guided his ummah (the Muslim community) to, and he is the most knowledgeable of creation and the most sincere and the furthest from artificiality. Upon him is the best of prayers and peace from his Lord.
And I hope that what we have mentioned of evidence in explaining the reality of *tawhid* (the oneness of Allah) and the reality of *shirk* (associating partners with Allah), and the difference between what the first polytheists and the later polytheists were upon in this matter, and in explaining the prescribed manner of sending prayers upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), is sufficient and convincing for the seeker of the truth.
As for the one who has no desire to know the truth, then he is a follower of his desire. And Allah, ﷺ, said: [Al-Qasas:50].
Thus, He, Exalted is He, made clear in this noble verse that people, with regard to what Allah sent His Prophet Muhammad, (peace and blessings be upon him), with of guidance and the religion of truth, are of two types: one is the one who responds to Allah and His Messenger, and the second is the one who follows his desire. And He, Exalted is He, informed that there is no one more misguided than the one who follows his desire without guidance from Allah. So we ask Allah, ﷺ, for safety from following desire, as we ask Him, Exalted is He, to make us and you and all our brothers among those who respond to Allah and His Messenger, (peace and blessings be upon him), and those who honor His Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) and warn against everything that contradicts His Shari'ah from bid'ah (religious innovation) and desires. Indeed, He is Generous and Noble. And may Allah send blessings and peace upon His servant and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad, and his family and his Companions and his followers with excellence.