The Ruling on Supplicating to the Inhabitants of Graves and Making Vows for Them

Our brother is also asking about this topic and says: What is the ruling on making vows at graves and supplicating to the owners of the graves? For example, calling to the owner of the grave: "O Shaykh So-and-so, O Shaykh So-and-so." What is the ruling on these people who supplicate to the owners of graves?
Answer: This matter requires detailed explanation. As for making vows for the dead, calling upon them for aid, and supplicating to them, this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah) and worship of other than Allah. If a person says, “I owe Allah such and such an amount of money for Shaykh al-Badawi, or for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or for al-Siddiq, or for Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir, or I owe a sacrificial animal or two sacrificial animals for Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir, or for Sayyid al-Husayn, or for al-Badawi, or for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him),” this is major shirk because a vow is an act of worship, and one does not make a vow except for Allah alone, Glorified and Exalted is He. Or if he says, “O Messenger of Allah! Help me,” or “Cure my sick person,” or “O my master al-Husayn,” or “O 'Ali,” or “O Fatimah,” or “O my master al-Badawi,” or “O so-and-so,” or “O so-and-so,” all of this is major shirk because it is supplication to other than Allah. And Allah says, Glorified is He, in His great Book:[The Jinn:18] “(anyone)” — the indefinite noun in the context of prohibition is comprehensive; it includes the prophets, it includes the righteous, it includes the angels, and it includes the idols in general. And He says, Glorified is He:[Yunus:106] meaning: the polytheists, and all created beings do not benefit or harm except by Allah; He is the One who benefits and harms, and He said: He called the one who calls upon other than Allah a disbeliever, which indicates that this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), and he said: The qatmīr: the husk covering the pit of the date He called it shirk (associating partners with Allah), naming their invocation of them as shirk, and denied that they hear; for they are either dead and unable to hear, or an angel occupied with what he is doing, or a jinn occupied, or one who knows nothing of it and is unaware of any of it, or a dead person, or an idol, or a tree, none of which responds to the one who calls upon it. All of these do not respond to their caller; they do not hear and do not answer. And even if it were possible that they heard, like an angel or others, they would not be able to respond, for their affairs are in the hand of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).He is their Master and the Master of others (Glorified and Exalted is He).And if they are dead, they will not be able to [do so], and if they are inanimate, they will not be able to [do so], and if they are angels or jinn, it is not prescribed for us to call upon them other than Allah, and they do not act, if they are angels, except by Allah’s permission, and Allah does not permit them to be worshipped other than Allah, nor to be pleased with that. Likewise, the believing jinn do not accept that, and the disbelievers are not to be worshipped, so neither these nor those are to be worshipped. Thus, the believers among the jinn and humans do not accept that, and if they did accept it, they would commit disbelief by doing so. The jinn do not accept that if they are believers. As for the disbelievers among humans and the disbelievers among the jinn, they are not worthy of being worshipped other than Allah, and if they were worshipped other than Allah, their worshipper would be a disbeliever, all the more so. For this reason, He, the Exalted, said:[Fatiha:14] These and those, all the ones being worshipped, will disavow the shirk of their worshippers, whether from the jinn, humans, or angels; all of them will disavow the worship of their worshippers. Thus, it is known that worshipping other than Allah, whether from the jinn, humans, angels, idols, trees, or anything else, is all disbelief in Allah, and all of it is shirk with Allah, the Exalted., and for this reason He, the Exalted, says:[Saba:40-41] He, the Exalted, said: We ask Allah for well-being.
So the summary is: it is not permissible to call upon other than Allah, nor to make vows for other than Allah, nor to seek aid from other than Allah, nor to ask them for the healing of the sick, or the return of the lost, or provision, or other than this from what people need, whether they are prophets or angels or trees or idols or jinn or other than that. Worship must be for Allah alone .
As for supplicating for the dead, seeking forgiveness for them, there is no harm if the dead person is a Muslim. If he says: "O Allah, forgive So-and-so," "O Allah, forgive al-Husayn," "O Allah, be pleased with al-Husayn," "O Allah, forgive Abu Bakr," "O Allah, be pleased with Abu Bakr," or he supplicates for others among the righteous Muslims, this is rewarded. The supplication of a Muslim for his brother contains great reward and much good. Allah the Exalted said about the righteous that they said: [al-Hashr:10] So supplicating for the dead Muslim and seeking forgiveness for him is good. The blameworthy thing is to supplicate to them other than Allah, to seek their aid, to make vows for them, to ask them for intercession, to ask them for the healing of the sick. This is the blameworthy thing, this is shirk. But if he supplicates for him, saying: "O Allah, forgive him," "O Allah, have mercy on him," "O Allah, raise his rank in Paradise," "O Allah, forgive his sins," this is not a problem, this is good and commanded. Yes.
The presenter: Our brother is asking Your Eminence, the Shaykh, about the ruling on those who supplicate to the owners of graves?
The Shaykh: As mentioned earlier, their ruling is that they are polytheists. That is, if they supplicate to the owners of graves, or to idols, or trees, or stones, or angels, or jinn, their path is all one; it is all disbelief in Allah, (Mighty and Majestic). One thing is excluded from this, which is that there is no harm in a believer seeking the help of his present brother, or of a non-believer, just as if he buys a commodity from a disbeliever, or says to him: "O my son, build this shop, or repair the car," and he hears his words and is able to do so. This is excluded and is not shirk. Just as Allah, (Glorified and Exalted is He), said in the story of Musa: [al-Qasas:15] So if a person says to his present brother, or to a non-brother who is a disbeliever: "Make this for me," or "Do this for me," or "Build this house for me," or "Repair this car for me," or "Guard this land for me for such and such," and they agree on something, there is no harm. These are ordinary matters that a living, present created being is capable of. The blameworthy thing is to supplicate to an absent person, or a dead person, or a living person in whom he believes there is a secret, regarding matters that he is not capable of by his nature, believing that he has a secret and that if he is called upon with Allah, if he is asked to forgive sins, or asked to enter Paradise, that he is able to do these things because of a secret in him. This is the blameworthy thing, even if he is alive, like those who worship some of the Sufi shaykhs and their elders, and seek their aid and ask them for the healing of the sick. This is major shirk, even if he is alive; because he asked for something that is not within his capacity and not within his power. Unlike if he says: "Lend me such and such," "Borrow me such and such," "Build this house for me for such and such," "Repair this land for me," "Repair this car," "Hand me this item in the car..." These are ordinary matters among people and there is no harm in them. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you.