Today we see many people who claim to worship Allah(swt) and follow His Messenger Muhammad(s.a.w), while they pray, ask and invoke peers, saints and walees in order to make their lives better, increase their wealth, bring to this world a healthy child or even to solve day to day problems. Whether the peers, saints and walees are alive or in their graves!
Is this what we have been commanded to do?
Or is this prohibited or even worse COMMITTING SHIRK WITH ALLAH (SWT)?
1. In order to answer this we must know where to go for our answers
“If you differ in anything among yourselves refer it to Allah and His Messenger(s.a.w), if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day” [an Nisaa 4:59]
“But no by thy Lord they can have no Faith until they make you(O Muhammad(s.a.w)) judge in all disputes between them and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions and accept them with the fullest submission.” [an Nisaa 4:65]
2. Why the Quran and the Sunnah, not my own thoughts?
“Is he who is on clear proof from His Lord, like those for whom their evil deeds that they do are beautiful for them, while they follow their own lusts?” [Muhammad 47:14]
“And those who disbelieve and deny our Ayats (proofs, evidences) are those who will be the dwellers of the Hellfire.” [al Maai’dah 5:10]
“And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after the right path has been shown to him, and follows other than the believers way, We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell- what an evil destination!” [an Nisaa 4:115]
Confusion after referring things to Allah(swt) and His Messenger(s.a.w) will only come if you deny the clear(Muhkam) ayat of Allah(swt)!
“Nay, but they have denied the truth(this Quran) when it has come to them, so they are in a confused state.” [Qaaf 50:5]
3. Who do we invoke (call upon) for help?
For a minimum of 17 times a day we say in our salah: “You alone we worship, and you alone we ask for help.”[al Faatiha 1:5]
“When you ask, ask from Allah, and when you seek help, seek help from Allah.” [Tirmidhi]
Allah(swt) gives us many examples in the Quran of nations from the past who in the time of need ask Allah(swt) alone for help, but when ALLAH (swt) answers their needs and saves them they turn back to shirk and kufr. This next ayat is of a people hit by a storm on a ship (at a time of dire need).
“And when they embark on a ship they invoke Allah, making their faith pure for Him only, but when He brings them safely to land, behold they give a share of their worship to others.” [al A’nkaboot 29:65]
4. What powers do the peers, saints and walees you call upon have?
“…And those, whom you invoke or call upon instead of Allah, own not even a Qitmir(thin membrane over date stone). If you invoke them, they hear not your call; and if they were to hear, they could not grant it(your request ) to you.” [Faatir 35:13-14]
“Call upon those whom you assert besides Allah; they possess not even an atom’s weight either in the heavens or on the earth…” [Sabaa’ 34:22]
Say “Have you taken protectors other than Him such as have no power either for benefit or for harm to themselves?”[13:16]
“Verily, those whom you call upon besides Allah are slaves like you….” [al A’raaf 7:194]
5. Some say “they only bring us closer to Allah(swt).”(intermediaries)
“…And those who take protectors(Auliya) besides Him (say) :”We worship them only that they may bring us near to Allah. “Verily, Allah will judge between them concerning that wherein they differ. Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever.” [az Zumar 39:3]
6. Can the peers, saints, walees in the Graves (the dead) answer your problems?
“Verily, you cannot make the dead to hear nor can you make the deaf to hear the call…” [an Naml 27:80]
“Nor are(alike)the living and the dead. Verily, Allah makes whom He wills hear, but you cannot make hear those who are in the graves.” [Faatir 35:22]
7. Do peers, saints, walees have knowledge of Ghaib (unseen)?
Say”None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghaib (unseen) except Allah...” [an Naml 27:65]
Say”Unseen belongs to Allah alone…” [Yoonus 10:20]
“Verily, Allah is the All-Knower of the unseen of the heavens and earth...” [Faatir 35:38]
8. What about fortunetellers?
“Verily, Allah, with Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour; He sends down the rain and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware.” [Luqmaan 31:34]
“Who so ever approaches a fortuneteller and believes what he says, he has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad(s.a.w).” [Ahmad, Abu Dawud]
9. How do peers, saints, walees claim the Ghaib (unseen)?
Aaisha(r.a )narrated that the Messenger of Allah(s.a.w) was asked about the people who claim to know the unseen. He said, “They do not know” They said, “But some times they give words that turn out to be true.” He Nabi(s.a.w) answered her, “Those words of truth are from what the jinn stole. He says them into the ears of his patron and with it one hundred lies.” [Bukhari, Muslim, Musnad Ahmad)
10. Do the messengers have knowledge of the Ghaib (unseen)?
Allah gives to the messengers what pleases Allah, like seeing Jinn/ Angels etc.
Say (O Muhammad(s.a.w))“I possess no power or benefit or harm to myself except as Allah wills. If I had the knowledge of the Ghaib(unseen), I should have secured for my self an abundance of wealth and no evil should have touched me. I am but a Warner and bringer of glad tidings unto people who believe.” [al A’raaf 7:188]
11. Dua (invoking/ asking) to other than Allah(swt), does it lead to shirk?
Shirk is to associate partners with Allah(swt) in His Lordship, in your worship to Him or in His names and attributes.
“Supplication (dua) is worship” [Tirmidhi]
So making dua is worship and our worship must be solely and purely for Allah(swt).
Allah knows of the wicked shirk you commit.
“And they worship besides Allah things that harm them not, nor profit them, and they say: “these are our intercessors with Allah.” say: “Do you inform Allah of that which he knows not in the heavens and the earth?” [Yoonus 10:18]
12. Worship is only for Allah(swt)!
“He has commanded that you worship none but him” [Yoosuf 12:40]
“Worship Allah and join none with Him” [an Nisaa 4:36]
13. Allah calls people who take His servants as protectors instead of Allah(swt), kaffirs(unbelievers)!
“Do the Unbelievers think that they can take My slaves as protectors besides Me? Verily We have prepared Hell for the Unbelievers for (their) entertainment” [al Kahf 18:102]
14. Does Allah(swt) forgive shirk?
“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him, but he forgives except that to whom he wills.” [an Nisaa 4:48]
Allah does not forgive those who commit shirk(attributing partners unto him)the eternal fire will be their abode if they die in such a state . It is reported in the saheeh hadeeth “I have forbidden paradise for the Mushriks” [Bukhari]
15. Is their any excuse for shirk?
Allah(swt) has already made us testify to His Oneness, so you have no excuse!
Allah(swt) says in he Quran:-
“And remember when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their loins, their seed and made them testify as to themselves(saying): “Am I not your Lord?” they said: “yes ! We testify,” lest you should say on the day of Resurrection; “Verily, we have been unaware of this” [al A’raaf 7:172]
This is enough proof but if you want more:-
Allah(swt) has created mankind on a fitrah that we worship none but Him , that is to say we are all born with a natural predisposition to worship ALLAH taala alone
“So set you your face towards the religion(of pure Islamic monotheism) Hanifa (worship none but Allah). Allah’s fitrah (i.e. Islamic Monotheism) with which he created mankind. No change let there be in the religion of Allah.” [ar Room 30:30]
It is shaitan who misleads the weak.
“I created my servants Hunafa (i.e. Monotheists), then the shaitan misled them from there religion.” [Muslim]
“Allah created his creation to recognize Him and know His Tawheed(Oneness).” [Ibn Kathir]
16. The people who you worship besides Allah(swt) will disown you on the Day of Resurrection!
“When those who were followed, disown those who followed them, and they see the torment then all their relations will be cut off from them. And those who followed will say: “If only we had one more chance to return, we would disown them as they have disowned us” Thus Allah will show them their deeds as regrets for them. And they will never get out of the fire.” [al Baqarah 2:166-167]
“If you invoke them, they hear not your call; and if they were to hear, they could not grant it to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them.” [Faatir 35:14]
17. But the Ulema, Mulwi Mufti have told us to do these inexcusable acts!
Allah(swt) in the Quran tells us many stories and accounts of nations of the past and the causes of their misguided behaviour so that we do not fall in the same trap.
The Prophet said, “You will follow the ways of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit so much so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you would follow them.” We said, “O Allah’s Apposlte!(Do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?” He said, “Whom else?” [Bukhari]
If we don’t want to follow the Jews and Christians we should know their down fall and not make it ours.
“They(Jews and Christians) took their monks and rabbis to be theirLords besides Allah..” [at Tawbah 9:31]
18. What happens to your good deeds?
Say”shall we tell you the greatest losers in respect of deeds? Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds. They are those who deny the Ayat of their Lord…” [al Kahf 18:103-105]
“As for those who disbelieved, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert…” [an Noor 24:39]
“…If you join in worship with Allah, surely your deeds will be in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers.” [az Zumar 39:65]
19. The Right Tawwasul (the correct way in asking someone to pray for you)
You are not allowed to practice Tawwasul with a dead person(as I have explained in question six)
“But you cannot make hear those who are in graves!” [Faatir 35:22]. However you can ask anyone alive to pray for you as was the case with the blind man when he asked the prophet (saw) to pray for him and as a result he was cured of his lack of sight
When the prophet Nabi (s.a.w) passed away no Sahaabi went to his grave and used him for tawwasul When famine came in the reign of Umar ibn al-khatab (r.h), Umar said “When the prophet was alive we used to use him for , tawwasul , we used to ask him to pray for the rain, but now nabi (s.a.w) has passed away we will ask his uncle Abbas(r.h)”. He prayed and it rained [Bukhari]
If tawwasul of the dead was allowed Umar(r.h) would have gone to the prophet’s grave for tawwasul ! The grave was in Madina! At the heart of the Khilafah, yet he still asked the Prophet’s Uncle.
20. Only Allah(swt) can remove harm and answer prayers!
And your Lord said: “Invoke me; I will answer your (prayer).” [Ghaafir 40:60]
“…I am indeed near, I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on me…” [al Baqarah 2:186]
“…for my Lord is near, ready to answer.” [Hood 11:61]
“And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is able to do all things.” [al Ana’m 6:17] |
