The ruling on praying behind one who believes in the benefit and harm of the awliya (close friends of Allah)

Question:
He says: Is it permissible for us to pray behind one who believes in the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous, believes in their benefit, turns to them, and calls upon them? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
The one who believes in the prophets and the righteous, turns to them, and asks them to fulfill needs and relieve distress; this is one who commits shirk (associating partners with Allah), major shirk. This is the shirk of the jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance), the shirk of Abu Jahl and his like. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Imran: 80]. He called it kufr (disbelief), and He said regarding the mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah): [At-Tawbah: 31], meaning the Jews and the Christians worshipped them alongside Allah, called upon them, sought aid from them, and built mosques over their graves, so they became disbelievers because of that.
And so it happened with the people of Noah when he died, along with Wadd, Suwa', Yaghuth, Ya'uq, and Nasr. They were righteous men among the people of Noah. When they died in a close period of time, their people grieved for them, and Shaytan whispered to them to make images of them and erect them in their gathering places, as Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said. So they did; they made images of them and erected the images in their gathering places. When time passed for the people, they worshipped them instead of Allah, sought aid from them, made vows to them, and slaughtered for them, so they fell into shirk (associating partners with Allah). So Allah sent Noah (peace be upon him) to them, and he called them to Allah for a thousand years except fifty years, calling them to Allah, to the tawhid (the oneness of Allah) of Allah, and to sincerity to Him. When they persisted in their defiance, Allah destroyed them all by drowning, and none were saved except those who were with Noah in the ship, as the Exalted said: [Al-Ankabut: 15].
So the one who calls upon the awliya (close friends of Allah), or calls upon the prophets, or the angels, or the jinn, seeks aid from them, makes vows to them, asks them for shafa'ah (intercession), asks them for the healing of the sick, and for victory over the enemies; all of this is kufr (disbelief) in Allah, riddah (apostasy) from Islam. So it is not permissible to call upon the dead, seek aid from them, call upon the angels, call upon the jinn, make vows to them, or slaughter for them, drawing near to them hoping for their benefit and warding off harm from them. All of this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), and all of this is the work of the jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance). And if one believes that they benefit and harm without Allah, it becomes shirk (associating partners with Allah) in rububiyyah (lordship), greater and more immense, more immense than the shirk of the first jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance). If one believes in them that they benefit without Allah and harm, and that Allah gave them this [power] to act in the universe, this becomes major shirk (associating partners with Allah) in rububiyyah (lordship), greater than the shirk of Abu Jahl and the worshippers of idols from Quraysh and others. And so if one believes in a tree or an idol, seeks aid from it, makes a vow to it, or believes that it benefits and harms, all of this is major kufr (disbelief). We ask Allah for safety.
So it is obligatory (wajib) for every Muslim to beware of that, and to repent to Allah from what may have occurred from him. This is the obligation upon all who testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Rather, it is upon all the people of the earth, all of them, that they must worship Allah alone, and testify that there is no god but Allah and that there is no worshipped one with truth other than Him, and testify that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, and worship Allah alone without anything other than Him, and establish the prayer, and give the zakah (the obligatory alms), and fast Ramadan, and perform Hajj (the major pilgrimage) to the House, and they must obey all the commands of Allah and refrain from His prohibitions .
This is obligatory (wajib) upon all the people of the earth, from jinn and humans, from Jews or Christians, or communists or polytheists or others. It is obligatory upon all of them to worship Allah, and to testify to His oneness, Glorified is He, and to His Prophet Muhammad regarding his messengership, and to believe Allah and His Messenger in everything, and to believe the past messengers, and that they came with the truth, and to believe in what Allah and His Messenger informed about Paradise and the Fire and the Hereafter, and about what will happen in the end of times, and so on. It is obligatory upon every person to worship Allah and enter into Islam. And if he is a Muslim, it is upon him to be upright in his Islam, and to preserve his Islam, and to protect it from the causes of riddah (apostasy), and to strive to leave what Allah has forbidden and to do what Allah has commanded, hoping for His reward and fearing His punishment. May Allah guide them all.

The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.