Excuse by Ignorance in Matters of Creed
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
From the Republic of Egypt, Sinai. This message was sent by a brother of ours from there. The sender (J. M. A.) asks and says: A dispute arose between two people regarding declaring as disbelievers those who circumambulate graves and call upon the deceased for aid. One of them says: This act is an act of shirk (associating partners with Allah) without dispute, but the person who does it is excused due to his ignorance of the matters of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). The other says: That person who calls upon other than Allah is a disbeliever, and he is not excused due to ignorance of the matters of tawhid, but he is excused in branches and jurisprudential matters.
The question is: Which of the two opinions is correct? And which is wrong? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The correct view is that of those who say: This person is not excused; because these are great matters, and they are from the foundations of the religion, and they are the first thing to which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called before prayer, fasting, zakah, and other things. So, the foundations of the religion are not excused by ignorance for one who is among the Muslims, hears the Qur'an, and hears the hadiths. Calling for aid from the people of the graves, making vows to them, supplicating to them, and seeking healing and support from them, all of this is among the greatest shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah.And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) says in His great Book:[Surah al-Mu'minun: 117]; so He called them disbelievers because of that, and He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:: [Fatir 35:13] If you call them, they will not hear your call, and even if they did hear, they would not respond to you, and on the Day of Resurrection they will disavow your shirk (associating partners with Allah), and none can inform you like one who is well-informed.[Surah Fatir: 13-14] (Glorified and Exalted is He), so He called their supplication to them shirk (associating partners with Allah).
And Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says:[Surah al-Jinn: 18] And He (Glorified and Exalted is He) says:[Surah Yunus: 106], so the wrongdoers are the mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah); if the word "wrongdoing" is used in a general sense, it refers to shirk (associating partners with Allah), as He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:: [Surah Luqman: 13].
And likewise, circumambulating graves, if one circumambulates them to draw near to the person in the grave, it is like if he called upon him and sought his aid; it becomes major shirk (associating partners with Allah).
As for if one circumambulates them thinking that circumambulating graves is a means of drawing near to Allah, intending to draw near to Allah as people circumambulate the Ka'bah to draw near to Allah by it, and not intending the deceased, this is from bid'ah (religious innovation), and from the forbidden and dangerous means of shirk (associating partners with Allah). But the common practice of those who circumambulate graves is that they draw near to their inhabitants by the circumambulation, and they seek reward from them and intercession from them. And this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), we ask Allah for safety, like supplication.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
From the Republic of Egypt, Sinai. This message was sent by a brother of ours from there. The sender (J. M. A.) asks and says: A dispute arose between two people regarding declaring as disbelievers those who circumambulate graves and call upon the deceased for aid. One of them says: This act is an act of shirk (associating partners with Allah) without dispute, but the person who does it is excused due to his ignorance of the matters of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). The other says: That person who calls upon other than Allah is a disbeliever, and he is not excused due to ignorance of the matters of tawhid, but he is excused in branches and jurisprudential matters.
The question is: Which of the two opinions is correct? And which is wrong? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
The correct view is that of those who say: This person is not excused; because these are great matters, and they are from the foundations of the religion, and they are the first thing to which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called before prayer, fasting, zakah, and other things. So, the foundations of the religion are not excused by ignorance for one who is among the Muslims, hears the Qur'an, and hears the hadiths. Calling for aid from the people of the graves, making vows to them, supplicating to them, and seeking healing and support from them, all of this is among the greatest shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah.And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) says in His great Book:
And whoever invokes besides Allah another deity for which he has no proof - then his account is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed.
وَمَنْ يَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ لا بُرْهَانَ لَهُ بِهِ فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِ إِنَّهُ لا يُفْلِحُ الْكَافِرُونَThat is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs sovereignty. And those whom you invoke other than Him do not possess [as much as] the membrane of a date seed.
ذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِنْ قِطْمِيرٍ And Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says:
so do not invoke with Allah anyone.
فَلا تَدْعُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ أَحَدًاAnd do not invoke besides Allah that which neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers.'"
وَلا تَدْعُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لا يَنْفَعُكَ وَلا يَضُرُّكَ فَإِنْ فَعَلْتَ فَإِنَّكَ إِذًا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَIndeed, association [with him] is great injustice."
إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌAnd likewise, circumambulating graves, if one circumambulates them to draw near to the person in the grave, it is like if he called upon him and sought his aid; it becomes major shirk (associating partners with Allah).
As for if one circumambulates them thinking that circumambulating graves is a means of drawing near to Allah, intending to draw near to Allah as people circumambulate the Ka'bah to draw near to Allah by it, and not intending the deceased, this is from bid'ah (religious innovation), and from the forbidden and dangerous means of shirk (associating partners with Allah). But the common practice of those who circumambulate graves is that they draw near to their inhabitants by the circumambulation, and they seek reward from them and intercession from them. And this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), we ask Allah for safety, like supplication.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.