The grave worshipping Soofis promote matters of Shirk and innovation by
way of the media, and from those matters is Isteegatha (seeking closeness to
Allaah) from the dead of the Prophets, and the righteous people. This is a
refutation against their falsehood and their trickery of the worshippers by
mentioning what is ambiguous from the texts of Islaam, and using weak
hadeeth and narrations, and their own understanding of the authentic
hadeeth other than the understanding of the Salaf as-Salih. This refutation
also contains the position of the Salaf as-Salih regarding this issue, according
to the ‘Aqeedah of the Salaf as-Salih, and all capability is from Allaah.

Isteegatha linguistically means requesting aid and victory.

The Sharia’ definition: There is no difference with the linguistic meaning,
since it means requesting help and relief from distress.

And Isteegatha is a type of Dua’(supplication), and Dua’ is worship, as has
been mentioned in the hadeeth of an-Numaan bin Basheer who said that the
Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said : ‘Dua’ is worship.’ Narrated by
Ahmad and Tirmidhee and he said the hadeeth was hasan saheeh.

From the principles of the Sharia’ is that all worship, whether apparent or
internal, is prohibited until there is an evidence from the Sharia’ that makes
the action permissible.

Once this is understood, then know – may Allaah have mercy upon you,
and may He direct you to His obedience - that making Isteegatha from the
people is divided into two sections according to the Salaf:

The first : The Isteegatha which is permissible : and that is seeking assistance
in the time of need from a living person, with that which he has the ability
to help with, without having to lower oneself to that person, or with
humiliation in any form, or having submission in the same way that you ask
from Allaah Ta’ala.

From amongst the evidences that show the permissibility of this type of
Isteegatha is:

a) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala regarding the story of Musa – alayhi as-sallam - :
<<The man from his (own) party asked him for help against his foe>>
b) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<Help one another in goodness and piety,
and do not help one another in sin and transgression.>>

The Second: The Isteegatha which is prohibited, is of two types:

a) Seeking assistance from living people with that which only Allaah Ta’ala
has the ability to help with, and there is agreement amongst the scholars,
that this is prohibited.
And from amongst the evidences for this issue, is the saying of Allaah
Ta’ala: <<And invoke not besides Allaah, any that will neither profit you,
nor hurt you…..>>
b) Making Isteegatha with the dead, from the Prophets or the righteous
people.

And from the proofs of this prohibition is the following:
1) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<And if My slaves ask you about Me, then I
am close, and I answer the Dua’ of the caller if he supplicates to Me. So let
them obey Me and believe in Me, so that they may be led aright. >>
So ponder - may Allaah look after you – about when the Messenger of
Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- was faced with questions, and the answer would
come from Allaah Ta’ala, and Allaah Ta’ala would make the Messenger of
Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- an intermediary to convey the answer, so Allaah
would say to him : <<Say….>> meaning O Muhammad tell them. The
following are examples of that:
1) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<They ask you about the new moons. Say:
these are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the
pilgrimage. >> 2:186
2) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala : <<They ask you concerning fighting in the
Sacred Months (i.e. 1st, 7th, 11th and 12th months of the Islaamic calendar).
Say, "Fighting therein is a great (transgression) but a greater (transgression)
with Allaah is to prevent mankind from following the Way of Allaah, to
disbelieve in Him,>> 2:217
3) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<They ask you (O Muhammad )
concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: ‘In them is a great sin, and
(some) benefit for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit.’ >>
2:219
4) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<They ask you what they should spend.
Say : whatever you spend of good>> 2 : 215
5) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<They ask you for a legal verdict. Say:
‘Allaah directs (thus) about AlKalâlah (those who leave neither descendants
nor ascendants as heirs) >>
6) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<They ask you what is lawful for them as
food. Say : lawful unto you are all kinds of halaal food. >> 5:4
7) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<They ask you about the Hour (Day of
Resurrection): ‘When will be its appointed time?’ Say: ‘The knowledge
thereof is with my Lord (Alone). >>
8) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<They ask you about the spoils of war.
Say: the spoils of war are for Allaah and the Messenger>> 8: 1
So, the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- was an intermediary to
convey the message directed to him from Allaah Ta’ala by His saying :
<<Say…>>, except in the issue of Dua’. Indeed Allaah Ta’ala did not make
the Messenger -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- an intermediary for Dua’, but Allaah Ta’ala
Himself undertakes the answering of the Dua’ directly without saying:
<<Say…>>
When the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- was asked: ‘O Messenger
of Allaah, is our Lord close so we can have intimate discourse with Him, or
is He far, so that we have to call in a loud voice?’ Then Allaah revealed:
<<And if My slaves ask you about Me, then I am close, and I answer the
Dua’ of the caller if he supplicates to Me.>>
Narrated by Abdullaah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal in his book ‘Kitab as-
Sunnah’1/ 277 and Ibn Hibban in his book ‘ath-Thiqaat’8/436, and at4
Tabari mentioned it as a reason for the revelation of the Ayaah in his Tafseer
book 2/158, and Ibn Katheer in his Tafseer book 1/219, and Qurtubi in his
Tafseer book 2/308, and he mentioned it as a reason for it being revealed, on
the authority of Hasan al-Basari – may Allaah have mercy upon him.
And this is a divine indication that Allaah does not love that, nor is a slave in
need of intermediaries or intercessors when he supplicates to his Lord Azza
wa Jaal, rather he supplicates to Allaah directly and the saying of Allaah
Ta’ala <<So let them obey Me >> means : that they supplicate to Me.
2) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<Say O Muhammad: I do not possess
anything for myself that will benefit me nor harm me.>>
so indeed this Ayaah clearly explains that he (the Messenger of Allaah) does
not control for himself that which will benefit him nor that which will harm
him, so how can he possess that for anyone else.
And what confirms this point is the saying of the Messenger of Allaah -
sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- : ‘O Fatima daughter of Muhammad, O Safiya, daughter of
AbdulMuttalib, O tribe of AbdulMuttalib, I do not possess anything for you
from Allaah, but ask me whatever you want from my wealth.’ Narrated by
Muslim.
3) The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<Say (O Muhammad): ‘Call unto those
besides Him whom you pretend [to be gods like angels, Iesa (Jesus), ‘Uzair
(Ezra), etc.]. They have neither the power to remove adversity from you nor
even to shift it from you to another person.’ >>
Some of the Salaf said that this Ayaah was revealed about groups of people
who used to supplicate to al-Azeez, the Messiah and the angels.
So if a person says that those people used to worship them (angels, prophets
etc.) and not worship Allaah, but as for us then we don’t worship them,
rather, we take them as intermediaries and intercessors with Allaah !!
Then the answer to them is: This statement of yours, is like the statement of
the Mushrikeen at the time of the Messenger -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam.
The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<We do not worship them except that they
bring us closer to Allaah>> and in spite of what they said, their claim was
not accepted, nor did it benefit them, and the Messenger of Allaah fought
against them.
4) A fundamental principle is that the dead are not like the living, Allaah
Ta’ala says: <<The living and the dead are not the same>> fundamentally
the dead do not hear the living.
Allaah Ta’ala said: <<And you do not make those in the graves to hear.>>
except where the evidence shows exceptions to this principle, and here are
some examples:
a) When the Messenger -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- spoke to the dead of the
Mushrikeen after the battle of Badr, while they were in the well before they
were buried.
And about this Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdasee – may Allaah have mercy upon
him – said: ‘and this was a miracle of the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- and a
matter that was specific to him, so you cannot use for anyone other than
him.’ Taken from ‘Kitaab al-Mughnee’10/63.
b) The dead hear the footsteps of his companions.
c) The soul of the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- is returned to him
so that the angels can convey to him the Sallam of anyone who sends Sallam
upon him.
d) When the dead person hears the Sallam of the one who sends Sallam to
him at his grave. This is according to those who authenticate this hadeeth.
There is no evidence to show that the dead person hears the living person
who asks of him and makes a request from him, and if there is no evidence
for this then the principle is that the issue remains as it is, that the dead
cannot hear the living.
And the fundamental principle is that the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa
sallam- is human, and the origin regarding the issue of death, is that he is like
the rest of mankind. Allaah Ta’ala says: <<Indeed you will die, and indeed
they will die>> except for what the evidence exempts, that the earth does
not eat up his body and that his soul is returned to him in the grave to
receive the Sallam of the one who sends Sallam to him, and that the actions
of his Ummah are presented to him, and this is according to those who
authenticate the hadeeth.
Since the dead not being able to hear the living has been established about
the leader of the sons of Adam – alayhi as-Sallam – then this more readily applies
to other than the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam. If this is established that the
Prophets do not hear the question of the one asking the question, then
ponder over the saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<And who is more astray than
one who calls (invokes) besides Allaah, such as will not answer him till the
Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls (invocations)
to them?>>
5 - The saying of Allaah Ta’ala: <<So when you have finished, then stand
up for Allaah’s worship. And to your Lord turn all your invocations>> and
He did not say ‘Turn your invocations to the Prophets and the righteous
people.’
Imaam at-Tabaree, may Allaah have mercy upon him, said, ‘The saying of
Allaah Ta’ala: <<And to your Lord turn all your invocations>> Allaah
mentions is : O Muhammad direct your fervent desires to your Lord, and
not to any one from the creation since the Mushrikeen from your people have
made their fervent desires to gods and their associates. The people of
Tafseer have also said similar to what we have just mentioned.
Taken from the book Tafseer at-Tabaree 30 / 237.
6 - Indeed what the Companions - radi Allaahu anhum - knew and understood is
that the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- was not made as someone
from who aid was sought after his death nor was he taken as an
intermediary, and this is confirmed by what has been narrated by al-Bukhari
1 / 342 and others have also narrated this.
On the authority of Anas - radi Allaahu anhu - and then on the authority of Umar
bin al-Khattab - radi Allaahu anhu - if there was a drought, he would request rain
by asking al-Abbas bin AbdulMuttalib, and he would say : ‘O Allaah indeed
we used to come closer to You (make Tawassul) with Your Prophet -sallAllaahu
alayhi wa sallam- and You would give us rain, and indeed we come closer to You
with his uncle, so give us rain,’ then the rain would come down.
So, if you dear brother, dear reader, being unbiased, ponder that Umar and
the senior Companions did not regard the permissibility of (Tawassul)
coming closer to Allaah nor seeking assistance with the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi
wa sallam- after his death, compared to when he was alive, in fact in their request
for rain they used to make Tawassul with the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, but
after he passed away they did not make Tawassul with him. Indeed Umar - radi
Allaahu anhu - said in his authentic, well-known and established supplication,
agreed upon by the people of knowledge, which was said in the presence of
the Muhajiroon and the Ansaar in the famous year of the Great Drought.
When the drought became severe and the people requested rain, he said : ‘O
Allaah we used to, if we suffered from a drought, we used to make Tawassul
with Your Prophet, and You used to give us rain, and now we make
Tawassul to You with his uncle, so give us rain , and they were given rain.’
This well known supplication was accepted by all the Companions, not one
of them denied it. This is one of the clearest examples of (Ijma’Sakootee)
silent agreement.

Therefore, if Tawassul with the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- after his death was
like the Tawassul during his lifetime, they would have said, why are we
making Tawassul with al-Abbas while we don’t make it with the Prophet -
sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, who is the best and greatest of creation with Allaah? Since
not one of them said this, then this shows us that they knew Tawassul was
only during the lifetime of the Prophet , and after his passing away, Tawassul
is with the Dua’ of the righteous living people.

The Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- did not order any one of his
Companions. if they had a need or were afflicted with a problem, that they
turn to him and they seek assistance from him after his death. In fact the
Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said to Ibn Abbas - radi Allaahu anhu - : ‘If
you ask of anyone, then ask Allaah, and if you seek help, then seek help
from Allaah.’

Narrated by at-Tirmidhee and he said the hadeeth is hasan saheeh.
And there is other evidence which shows that Isteegatha with the dead from
the Prophets and the righteous people is not allowed according to Islaam.