4.1. PRAYERS TO THE DEAD
Those who practice grave worship direct prayers to the dead in two ways:
1. Some use the dead as intercessors. They pray to them in the way that Catholics use their priests in the confession of their sins. Catholics confess their sins to their priests and the priests ask God’s forgiveness for them. Thus, the priests act as middle-men between the people and God.
The pre-Islamic Arabs viewed their idols in a similar way. Allah quoted the pagan Arabs as saying,
“We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah.”61
Some grave worshippers among Muslims pray to the dead asking them to convey their requests to Allah for the fulfillment of their needs. This practice is based on their belief that righteous dead people are not only closer to Allah than they are, but also that they are capable of hearing any man’s request and fulfilling it, even after their death ! Thus, the dead become idol intermediaries capable of doing favors for the living.
2. Others pray directly to the dead, begging them forgiveness for their sins. In so doing, they give dead humans Allaah’s attribute of being at-Tawwaab, the one to whom repentance is due, as well as that of being al-Ghafoor, the only one capable of forgiving sins. There is a strong similarity between their practice and that of the Catholics among Christians who call on special saints for the fulfillment of their daily needs. For example, if something is lost, Saint Anthony of Thebes is prayed to in order to help find it.St. Jude Thaddaeus is the patron saint of the impossible and is prayed to for intercession in incurable illnesses, unlikely marriages, and the like. If someone is setting out on a journey, Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, used to be prayed to for protection up until 1969 when he was officially struck off the list of saints by papal decree, after it was confirmed that he was fictitious. Included in this category are Christians in general with regard to Prophet Jesus whom they consider to be God incarnate. Most Christians pray to Jesus instead of God. There are also many ignorant Muslims throughout the world who direct their prayers to the Prophet Muhammad in this fashion.
Both methods of grave worship are totally rejected by the teachings of Islaam, which hold that one who dies enters the dimension called the Barzakh, where his deeds come to an end. He is unable to do anything for the living, though the results of his deeds may affect the living and continue to earn reward or punishment for himself. Abu Hurayrah reported Allaah’s Messenger as saying, “When a man dies, his (good) deeds come to an end, except in three ways: charity of continuing benefit, knowledge beneficial to people, and a righteous child who prays for him.”The Prophet also took great pains to explain that he could not benefit anyone in this life, regardless of their closeness to him. Allaah commanded him in the Quran to say to his followers:
“I have no power to bring good or avert harm, even regarding myself, except as Allah wills. If I had knowledge of the unseen, I would surely have accumulated only good and no evil would have befallen me. But I am only a warner and a bringer of glad tidings for those who believe.”66
One of his companions, Abu Hurayrah, reported that when the verse
“Warn your nearest kin”67
was revealed to the Prophet, he said, “O people of Quraysh, secure deliverance from Allah (by doing good deeds). I cannot avail you at all against Allah, O sons of ‘Abdul-Muttalib, I cannot avail you at all against Allah, O (my uncle)‘Abbaas ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib, O (my aunt) Safeeyah, I cannot avail you at all against Allaah, O Faatimah, daughter of Muhammad, ask me whatever you like, but I have nothing which can avail you against Allaah!”
On another occasion, one of the Prophet’s companions concluded his statement to the Prophet with the phrase, “It is what Allaah wills, and what you will.” The Prophet immediately corrected him, saying, “Are you making me an equal to Allah? Say: ‘It is what Allah alone wills.’”
In spite of this clear indication that the Prophet has no power to change what Allah has destined, many Muslims not only pray to him for help, but also pray to a hierarchy of saints. This heretical practice is based on the claim of mystics (Sufis) that the cosmic order is preserved by a fixed number of saints called Rijaal al-Ghayb (the men of the unseen world). When a holy man among them dies, his place is immediately filled by a substitute. At the peak of the hierarchy is the Qutb (people or mystic axis of the world), or the Ghawth (succour). ‘Abdul-Qaadir al-Jeelaanee (d. 1166 C.E.) is popularly referred to as al-Ghawth al-A‘dham (Ghaus-e-Azam) “the greatest source of help,” and in times of calamity many turn to him for help, crying out, Yaa ‘Abdal-Qaadir, aghithnee! (O ‘Abdul Qaadir, save me!) Such unmistakable pronouncements of shirk are common even though practicing Muslims repeat in each of their daily prayers the phrase, Eeyaaka na ‘budu wa eeyaaka nasta ‘een (You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help).
Both using the dead as intercessors and praying to them directly contain the grave sin of shirk, which Islaam vigilantly opposes, yet both methods have managed to creep into the religious practices of the masses of Muslims today in one form or another. In so doing they inadvertently confirm the veracity of Allaah’s ominous statement in the Qur’aan,
“Most of them (claim) belief in Allah, while committing shirk.”70
They also confirm the Prophet’s warning, reported by Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree: “You will follow the practices of your predecessors, inch by inch and yard by yard; so much so that if they were to enter a lizard’s hole, you would also follow them.” When he was asked if he meant the Jews the Christians, he replied “If not them, who else?”
This prophecy not only refers to the present varieties of grave worship among Muslims, but also forebodes the imitation of christian idolatry, as in the catholic veneration of icons. Thawbaan reported that the Prophet said, “The Last Hour will not come until some groups of my nation worship idols,” and Abu Hurayrah reported that he said, “The Last Hour will not come until women from the Daws tribe wiggle their buttocks (as they circumambulate) around the temple of the idol73 al-Khalasah.”
In light of the above warnings it is essential that Muslims have a clear understanding of religion, its origin and its historical development once this is achieved practices such as those we have discussed may be comprehended in their proper context, and the Islamic ruling on them will become obvious. In the following pages then, we shall analyze the development of religion with a view to understanding the origins of grave and idol-worship.
By Bilal Philips
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