Ruling on Abandoning Prayer, Exorbitant Mahr, and Supplicating to the Inhabitants of Graves

This is a letter from the questioner Ahmad Ali Hasan al-Zahrani, in which he has several questions. Most of them are repeated, concerning the one who abandons prayer and whether he should be buried in Muslim cemeteries, and a question about the high cost of mahr and the resulting delay of many young men and women from getting married due to the high cost of mahr, requesting a solution to this problem, and another question about supplicating to shayatin and building on graves. This is a summary of the questions that came in his letter?
Answer: As for the first question, which is whether the one who abandons prayer should be buried in Muslim cemeteries? The scholars have differed on his ruling if he abandons it out of negligence, while he does not deny its obligation, but rather he believes that prayer is an obligation, but he abandons it out of negligence and laziness. Some said that he does not commit major disbelief by this, but rather minor disbelief, and that he is buried with the Muslims, washed, and prayed over, and this is a well-known opinion among a large group of scholars.
The second opinion is that he commits major disbelief, and this is the most correct and strongest opinion.
Accordingly, he is not buried with the Muslims, but is buried in a place far from people that is not known, and the earth is leveled over him like the other disbelievers; due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the authentic hadith: and he did not exclude anyone, and he did not say: if he is one who denies its obligation. This is an authentic hadith narrated by Ahmad and the people of the Sunan with an authentic chain, and Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: and disbelief is known and shirk is known, referring to major disbelief and major shirk. This is the most correct and strongest opinion due to many other proofs indicating that the one who is negligent in abandoning prayer has nothing of Islam with him, but rather he has left Islam. We ask Allah for safety and well-being.
As for mahr and what is related to its high cost, many fatwas have preceded on this, and we have published many bulletins on this, and the Council of Senior Scholars has written writings on this, urging not to exaggerate and to be economical in mahr and wedding feasts, and this is a right. So it is obligatory for Muslims to cooperate in this and to be economical in mahr and wedding feasts so that they can enable the person of moderate income and the one who is unable to afford much of the mahr and the cost of wedding feasts to enable them to marry and facilitate their marriage.
So the point is that this is something that Muslims must cooperate in, and the rulers must cooperate with the people in this so that they leave this exaggeration in mahr and wedding feasts, and this is a right upon everyone, and it is obligatory upon everyone to cooperate in it and to advise each other about it, perhaps Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) will bestow the blessing of people leaving this thing so that they do good to their poor and their brothers who are unable to afford these things.
As for what is related to supplicating to shayatin and seeking aid from jinn and from the inhabitants of graves, this is shirk with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) . So supplicating to the dead, seeking aid from the dead, making vows for them, and asking them for help is major disbelief. This is a reality among many people in many countries and states. One comes to the famous dead person whom they call a wali (close friend of Allah), and says: O my master! Cure my sick one, return my lost one, help, help. This is major disbelief by the consensus of the people of the Sunnah and the community, and there is no consideration for those who opposed this among the later scholars who were ignorant of this matter and did not know it, and they thought that shirk is tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and that tawhid is shirk, so there is no consideration for these people.
So the proofs from the Book and the Sunnah all indicate that supplicating to the dead, seeking aid from the dead, and asking them for help is of the same kind as supplicating to idols, of the same kind as supplicating to stars, of the same kind as supplicating to trees and stones, all of it is shirk with Allah, all of it is from the work of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, of the same kind as the work of Abu Jahl and his like from the disbelievers of Quraysh when they supplicated to al-Uzza, which was a tree, and when the people of the tribe of al-Lat in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated to it, which was a stone over which a righteous man used to spread flour, so they exalted it and began to worship it besides Allah. This is all one door, so supplicating to the dead, seeking aid from trees, from stones, from idols, from stars, and from jinn is all one door, and all of it is shirk with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) .
So it is obligatory for the people of Islam to beware of these matters and to warn people of them, and it is obligatory for scholars to exert their utmost in this matter and to strive to clarify this matter to people through the media, the visual, the read, and the heard, so that people are on clear guidance, for many people have fallen into this in many countries and multiple states, circling the grave and supplicating to its owner, seeking aid from him, making vows for him, slaughtering for him, and asking him for help and rescue, and turning away from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and this is from the great affliction.
So it is obligatory to direct these acts of worship to Allah alone, as He said: [Surat al-Isra: 23] [Surat al-Fatihah: 5] And He said: [Surat Ghafir: 60] And He said: [Surat al-Jinn: 18] And He said (peace and blessings be upon him) : [Surat Yunus: 106] And He said (peace and blessings be upon him) : [Surat al-Mu'minun: 117] So He called them disbelievers with this supplication, and there is no power and no strength except by Allah.
And He said (peace and blessings be upon him) : [Surat Fatir: 13-14] So He called their supplication to other than Allah shirk, and this encompasses supplicating to the dead from the righteous and the prophets, and encompasses supplicating to jinn and supplicating to idols and others, all of it is shirk with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and all of it is invalid.
And He, Glorified and Exalted is He, made it clear that those who are called do not hear the supplication of the one who calls, nor do they respond even if they did hear. So he is a loser in this world and the Hereafter; he is a loser in this world and the Hereafter. However, the devils may fulfill some of his needs, so he thinks that the dead person fulfilled his need. This is ignorance of Allah and ignorance of His religion. The dead person is incapable of that; he is bound by his deeds and has no power to fulfill your need, nor any power to hear your supplication or to respond to you. [Fatiha:14] This is the speech of the Lord, the most truthful of speakers (peace and blessings be upon him), this is the speech of our Lord (Mighty and Majestic), and He is the most truthful of speakers. [Fatiha:14] This makes it clear to us that their supplication is invalid and that it is major shirk, and that its practitioner is a loser whose supplication is not answered and whose call is not heard. But the jinn, who are the devils who call people to the Fire, these may respond and may bring to the supplicant something of his worldly needs. They may make it seem to him that supplicating to the dead is good and that it is answered, so they fulfill some of his needs. Or he may be afflicted with an illness affecting some of his relatives, and when he calls upon them and seeks their aid, they stop it and leave what they had done to him. The devils have many means and many tricks in causing people to fall into major shirk. We seek refuge in Allah, as He said (Mighty and Majestic): [Fatiha:6] We seek refuge in Allah! As for building on graves, making mosques on them, and building domes, this is religious innovation and this is a means to shirk. This occurred for a long time, from the second century and after, among the extremists from some of the Shi'ah and non-Shi'ah. Some of them exaggerated regarding the graves of the People of the House, and some exaggerated regarding the graves of others. So this calamity occurred among many categories of the Shi'ah and non-Shi'ah, among the ignorant extremists. When mosques were built on the graves and domes were built on them, and the ignorant people magnified them with carpets and perfumes, the common people and the ignorant thought that they benefit and harm, and that they respond to the caller and fulfill his needs, and that they provide a cure for his sick person. So major shirk occurred thereby. Thus, these buildings on the graves, the domes, and the mosques became a means to shirk with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith as well: Muslim narrated it in his Sahih, and the first one was narrated by the two Shaykhs in their Sahihs from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). It is obligatory for the people of Islam to beware of these evils, and it is obligatory for the scholars to warn the people, and it is obligatory for the rulers, the people of authority and decision, that they take hold of the hands of the foolish and the ignorant and prevent them from this shirk, and that they demolish the mosques and domes along with the graves so that the graves are open to the people and exposed, as they were in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in al-Baqi' and elsewhere. So it is obligatory that they be exposed in the desert, uncovered, with no buildings on them, so that people know them as graves and visit them to greet them and supplicate for them. This is what Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) has prescribed. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So the Muslim visits them and greets them, saying: "Peace be upon you, people of the abode of the believers and the Muslims, and we, if Allah wills, will be joining you. We ask Allah for well-being for us and for you. May Allah have mercy on those of us who have gone before and those who come after," and he supplicates for them with forgiveness.
So the legislated visitation is for remembrance, for supplicating for the dead, and for seeking mercy for them. But these polytheists reversed the matter; they came to call upon them besides Allah, to seek their aid, to make vows to them, and to ask them for help. This is the most invalid of invalid things. What is prescribed for us is to visit them to supplicate for them... to seek forgiveness for them... to seek mercy for them, not to call upon them besides Allah, no, but to supplicate for them with forgiveness... to supplicate for them with mercy... to seek forgiveness from Allah for them... to remember the Hereafter... to remember death. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught his Companions when they visited the graves to say: And in another wording he said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to visit the graves and say: This is how he used to do it, and his Companions used to visit the graves, supplicating for the dead, seeking mercy for them, the Muslims seeking forgiveness for them. And by this they remember the Hereafter, they remember death, so that they prepare for it.
Unlike what the .... polytheists did, who were ignorant of the matter and ignorant of the truth, so they changed and altered it. We ask Allah for safety and well-being, we ask Allah to guide the Muslims and to make them see their religion, and to enable their scholars and rulers to warn them, teach them, guide them, and prevent them from falsehood and shirk. He is the best of those asked, Glorified and Exalted is He.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.