What is the meaning of: {And if only, when they wronged themselves, they had come to you and sought forgiveness from Allah}?

Q: Allah the Exalted said: So, by your Lord, they do not believe until they make you a judge in what has become a dispute between them, and then they find no discomfort in their souls regarding what you have judged, and they submit in full submission [Al-Nisa: 64-65]. The question is: Some Muslims take this verse to mean that there is no blame on a Muslim who travels to the grave of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to ask the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to seek forgiveness for him while he is in his grave. Is this action correct as stated by the Exalted? And does the phrase "came to you" in the language mean they came to you in your life or in your death? And does a Muslim become an apostate from Islam if he does not judge by the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? And is the dispute over worldly matters or over religion?

A: This noble verse contains an exhortation for the community to come to him when they wrong themselves with some of the sins, or fall into something greater than that, such as shirk (associating partners with Allah), so that they come to him repentant and regretful so that he (peace and blessings be upon him) may seek forgiveness for them. The intended meaning of this coming is: coming to him in his life (peace and blessings be upon him), and he was calling the hypocrites and others to come to him to declare their repentance and return to Allah, and to ask him (peace and blessings be upon him) to ask Allah to accept their repentance and rectify their conditions. Therefore, he said: [Al-Nisa: 64]. So obedience to the Messenger is only by the permission of Allah, meaning the cosmic, decreed permission. So whoever Allah permits and wills to guide, he is guided, and whoever Allah does not permit to be guided, he is not guided. So the matter is in His hand, Glorified is He. What Allah wills happens, and what He does not will does not happen: [At-Takwir: 29].
As for the legislative permission, He, Glorified is He, has permitted all the two groups (humans and jinn) to be guided, and He willed that from them legislatively and commanded them to do so, as He, the Exalted, said: [Al-Baqarah: 21]. And He, Glorified is He, said: [Al-Nisa: 26]. Then He said: [Al-Nisa: 64], meaning repentant and regretful, not merely saying: , meaning: he prayed for their forgiveness: . So it is an exhortation for them, meaning the servants, to come to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to declare their repentance before him and ask Allah for them. It is not intended after his death (peace and blessings be upon him) as some ignorant people think.
So coming to him after his death for this purpose is not prescribed. Rather, one comes to greet him for whoever is in Medina or arrives there from outside for the purpose of praying in the mosque and reading in it and the like. So if he comes to the mosque, he greets the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his two companions, but he does not travel specifically for the purpose of visiting the grave only, but for the purpose of the mosque. And the visit to his grave (peace and blessings be upon him) and the grave of Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) is subordinate to the visit to the mosque, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): It is agreed upon as authentic.
So graves are not traveled to. But when one arrives at the Prophet's Mosque, it is prescribed for him to greet him (peace and blessings be upon him) and greet his two companions (may Allah be pleased with them). But he does not travel for the purpose of visiting only, due to the aforementioned hadith.
And as for what concerns seeking forgiveness: this is done in his life, not after his death. The evidence for this is that the Companions did not do so, and they are the most knowledgeable people about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the most learned people in his religion. And because he (peace and blessings be upon him) does not possess that after his death (peace and blessings be upon him), as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
And as for what he (peace and blessings be upon him) informed about, that whoever prays upon him, his prayer is presented to him, that is a specific matter concerning the prayer upon him. And whoever prays upon him, Allah prays upon him ten times. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was said: O Messenger of Allah, how is it when we are gone, meaning when we are afflicted? He said: So this is a specific ruling concerning the prayer upon him.
And in the other hadith from him (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: So this is a specific matter for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that it reaches him. But as for coming of one who has wronged himself to repent at the grave and seek forgiveness at the grave, this has no basis. Rather, it is reprehensible and not permissible, and it is a means to shirk (associating partners with Allah), such as coming to ask him for intercession, or healing of the sick, or victory over enemies, or the like, or asking him to pray for him. This is not permissible; because this is not among his specific attributes (peace and blessings be upon him) after his death, nor among the specific attributes of anyone else.
So everyone who dies is not called upon, and intercession is not sought from him, neither the Prophet nor anyone else. Rather, intercession is sought from him in his life, and it is said: O Messenger of Allah, intercede for me that Allah may forgive me, intercede for me that Allah may heal my sick, and that He may return my missing one, and that He may give me such and such. And so on the Day of Resurrection after the resurrection and rising, the believers will come to Adam to intercede for them to Allah until He judges between them. He will excuse himself and refer them to Noah. They will come to him, and he will excuse himself, then Noah will refer them to Abraham. He will excuse himself, then Abraham will refer them to Moses. He will excuse himself, then Moses will refer them to Jesus. They will excuse themselves, upon them all be prayers and peace. Then Jesus will refer them to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). They will come to him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) will say: So he will go forward and prostrate under the Throne and praise his Lord with great praises that Allah will open for him. Then it will be said to him: So he (peace and blessings be upon him) will intercede for the people of the standing place until judgment is passed between them. And so he will intercede for the people of Paradise until they enter Paradise; because he (peace and blessings be upon him) is present.
But in the barzakh (the interval between death and resurrection) after his death (peace and blessings be upon him), intercession is not sought, nor healing of the sick, nor returning the missing, nor any other of these matters. And so the rest of the dead are not asked for any of these matters. Rather, they are prayed for and forgiveness is sought for them if they are Muslims. And these matters are only sought from Allah, Glorified is He, such as the Muslim saying: O Allah, intercede for Your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), O Allah, heal my sick, O Allah, help me against my enemy, and the like; because He, Glorified is He, says: [Ghafir: 6]. And He, Mighty and Majestic, says: The verse [Al-Baqarah: 186].
As for His saying, the Exalted: The verse [Al-Nisa: 65], it is general in its apparent meaning. So it is not permissible for Muslims to go out against the Shari'ah of Allah. Rather, it is obligatory for them to judge by the Shari'ah of Allah in everything, in what concerns acts of worship, and in what concerns transactions, and in all religious and worldly affairs, because it encompasses everyone. And because Allah, Glorified is He, says: [Al-Ma'idah: 50]. And He says: [Al-Ma'idah: 44] [Al-Ma'idah: 45] [Al-Ma'idah: 47].
So these verses are general for all affairs in which people dispute and differ. Therefore, He, Glorified is He, said: meaning the people, Muslims and others, meaning Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And that is by making him (peace and blessings be upon him) the judge in his life, and making his Sunnah the judge after his death. So making his Sunnah the judge is making the judge of what was revealed from the Qur'an and the Sunnah meaning in what they disputed. This is what is obligatory for them: to judge by the Noble Qur'an and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in his life and after his death by following his Sunnah, which is an explanation of the Noble Qur'an and an interpretation of it and an indication of its meanings.
As for His saying, Glorified is He: , its meaning is that it is obligatory for their breasts to be open to his judgment (peace and blessings be upon him), and that no discomfort remains in their breasts from what he judged by his ruling (peace and blessings be upon him); because his ruling is the truth in which there is no doubt, and it is the ruling of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So the obligatory is submission to it and opening of the breast to it and no discomfort. Rather, they must submit to it with complete submission, satisfaction with the ruling of Allah and tranquility in it. This is what is obligatory for all Muslims in what has become a dispute between them of claims and lawsuits, whether they are related to acts of worship, or to wealth, or to marriages, or to divorce, or to other of their affairs.
And this negated faith is the foundation of faith in Allah and His Messenger regarding the making of the Shari'ah the judge, and satisfaction with it, and faith that it is the judgment between people. So this is necessary. So whoever claims that it is permissible to judge by other than it, or says that it is permissible for people to judge by the fathers, or by the grandfathers, or by the man-made laws that men have established, whether they are Eastern or Western, whoever claims that this is permissible, then faith is negated from him, and he thereby becomes a disbeliever with major disbelief. So whoever sees that the Shari'ah of Allah is not obligatory to be made the judge, but if it were judged by it, it would be better, or sees that the law is better, or sees that the law is equal to the ruling of Allah, he is an apostate from Islam. And they are three types:

The first type: That he says: The Shari'ah is better, but there is no harm in making other than the Shari'ah the judge.

The second type: That he says: The Shari'ah and the law are the same, and there is no difference.

The third type: To say: "The law is better and more appropriate than the Shari'ah." This is the ugliest of the three, and all of them are disbelief and apostasy from Islam.
As for the one who believes that it is obligatory to judge by the Shari'ah of Allah, and that it is not permissible to judge by laws or anything else that contradicts the Shari'ah of Allah, but he may judge by other than what Allah has revealed due to a desire in his heart against the one being judged, or for a bribe, or for political matters, or similar causes, while he knows that he is unjust, mistaken, and contrary to the Shari'ah, then this person has deficient faith, and the perfection of the obligatory faith has been negated in his case. By this, he becomes a disbeliever with minor disbelief, an oppressor with minor oppression, and an open sinner with minor open sinfulness, as the meaning of this is authentically reported from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), Mujahid, and a group of the Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them). This is the statement of the people of the Sunnah and the community, contrary to the Khawarij, the Mu'tazilah, and those who follow their path.
And Allah is the One to be sought for help.