“It is permissible to ask any living person for
shafâ’a, that is, help and prayers. Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam) said, ‘Oh
brother! Do not forget us in your good prayers!’ to Hadrat ’umar who was then leaving Medina for Mecca
to carry out umra. This hadîth
sharîf is written in the Musnads of Ab Dâwûd and Imâm Ahmad. Hadrat ’Umar said, ‘I had never heard in
my life a word lovelier than brother in that hadîth sharîf.’ Islam permits only to pray for the dead. Asking the dead for their
prayer is not stated in Islam. Ayats and hadîths forbid this. The 13th âyât of
Sûrat al-Fâtir declares, ‘The
idols you worship other than Allâhu ta’âlâ cannot be useful to you even as much
the membrane around the stone of a date is. Those idols do not hear when your
pray to them. They would not answer you even if they heard, because they do not
have the power to help you. And the idols will tell you on the Day of Judgement
that you made a mistake by attributing them as partners to Allâhu ta’âlâ.’ This âyat indicates that those who ask the dead for
prayer will be treated as unbelievers on the Day of Judgement. This is also
expressed in the statement, ‘Their
idols will become enemies to unbelievers on the Day of Judgement and tell them
that their worship was wrong,’ which
is the sixth âyat of Sûrat al-Ahqâf. Therefore, no dead or absent person can
hear, help or do harm. As-Sahâba and al-Khulafâ’ ar-Râshidîn, who were their
superiors, did not go to Rasûlullâh’s grave to ask for anything. Hadrat ’Umar
(radî-Allâhu ’anh) took Hadrat ’Abbâs for rain-prayer and asked him to pray for
rain, for he was alive and could
pray to Allah. If it had been permissible to ask the
dead to pray for rain, Hadrat ’Umar and as-Sahâba would have asked Rasûlullâh’s grave for it.”
That author has quoted the hadîth ash-sharîf, “Wherever
you are, your greeting will be conveyed to me,” and remarked that this hadîth sharîf was sahîh
and mashhûr on page 486, but here, he alludes that Rasûlullâh would hear nothing and could not pray and that it was polytheistic to
ask him to pray. His statements disagree with one another. The âyat al-karîm of
Sûrat al-Fâtir, which he quotes as a document for his ideas, is about the
unbelievers who do not believe in and worship Allâhu ta’âlâ, but worship idols
and statues. It is slander aganist the Qur’ân al-karîm and Muslims to
quote the âyats about kâfirs as documents to call ’disbelievers’ those Muslims
who visit the grave of the Beloved Prophet or of a walî of Allâhu
ta’âlâ to ask for intercession and prayer. The above âyat al-karîma is not
about graves or the dead, but it is about idolatrous disbelievers who do not
believe in Allâhu ta’âlâ. Nobody has any right in the least to support his idea
of showing Muslims as the subject of this âyat. In the âyat al-karîma just
before the one he quotes from Sûrat al-Ahqâf, Allâhu ta’âlâ declares, “There is no one worse and more heretical
than the one who does not believe in and worship Allâhu ta’âlâ but worships
idols that do not hear.” This âyat karîma
is about unbelievers, too. It was with the intention of following the Sunna
that Hadrat ’Umar set out for rain-prayer. Because Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) had prayed for rain, Hadrat ’Umar,
too, copying his sunna, prayed for rain. Performing rain-prayer in an ’ibâda,
and an ’ibâda must be performed in accordance with the Sunna. Moreover, as
written in Marâqi’l-falâh, an invaluable Hanafî book of fiqh, “It is better for
the Medinans to assemble in Masjid an-Nabî for rain-prayer. Because, in Masjid
an-Nabî, no request is made to Allâhu ta’âlâ with the mediation of someone
other than Rasûlulâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) since nothing is attained
otherwise. It is written by al-Bukhârî and Muslim that Rasûlullâh (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), too, had performed rain-prayer in
Masjid an-Nabî. The more honourable the place where the prayer is performed,
the more the rain of blessings will fall. First, Rasûlullâh is begged
through the mediation of his two khalîfas. Then, Allâhu ta’âlâ is begged
through the mediation of the there of them.” Another lie of that author is that
he writes that one should turn his face to the qibla, leaving the graves behind
him, when visiting the Qabr as-Sa’âda. The book Marâqî ’l-falâh says,
“The visitor turns his face to the grave and leaves
the qibla behind. It is the same with visiting other graves too.” Assembling
and praying for rain in accordance with the Sunna is an ’ibâda confirmed by the
Qur’ân al-karîm and Sunna. To ask for rain at the Qabr as-Sa’âda
without observing the associated sunna is to change this ’ibâda. It is ordered
that a Muslim should make up (qadâ’) for the salât he has omitted so that he
may be forgiven for the sin of omitting the salât. As it is not permissible to
ask forgiveness at the Qabr as-Sa’âdâ without performing the qadâ’ of an
omitted salât, so it is not permissible to ask for rain at the Qabr as-Sa’âda.
Nevertheless, it is stated in the well-known hadîth ash-sharîf that
it is thousands of times more benefical to perform such ’ibâdâ near the Qabr
as-Sa’âdâ than at any other place.
Of course, salât is not to be performed for a walî.
One should not face a walî’s grave while performing salât. This is a grave sin
or even polytheism. However, it is very meritorious to perform salât near the
graves of awliyâ’, but only for Allah and facing the qibla. Because, blessings
flow to the graves of awliyâ’. If it had not been permissible to perform salât
near graves or tombs, as-Sahâbat al-kirâm would not have placed the Qabr
as-Sa’âdâ in a mosque. All the Sahâbîs and billions of Muslims for over
fourteen centuries of Islam have performed salât near the Qabr as-Sa’âda. The
high virtue of performing salât at that place was revealed in a Hadîth ash-sharîf. Those who perform salât in the rear line in Masjid
as-Sa’âda face the Qabr as-Sa’âda. No scholar of Islam has ever objected to
this in fourteen hundred years. Can there be any other document greater than
this to prove that it is permissible to perform salât near the graves of
awliyâ’? It is prohibited by a Hadîth
ash-sharîf to perform salât towards a
grave with the intention of performing salât towards a grave. But it is certain
by consensus (ijmâ’ al-Umma) that it does not harm one’s salât which is
intended to be performed towards the qibla if a grave happens to be between him
and the Ka’ba.
Ibn Hajar al-Hîtamî al-Makkî (rahimah-Allâhlu ta’âlâ),
on the 91st page of his book Zawâjir quotes the hadith qudsî written in
the Sahîh of al-Bukhâri: “Allahu ta’âlâ declared, ‘He who hostiles to one of My awliyâ’
should know that he is at war with Me. The approach of My servant to Me by
means of the things which I have decreed as fard on him is lovelier to Me than
his approach by any other means. I love My servant when he comes to Me by
performing the nafila, and I grant him whatever he wishes.’ ” He
writes on page 95, “A hadîth sharîf declares, ‘It is
made known to me when someone says salawât for me. And I pray for him.’ Another hadîth sharîf declares, ‘My soul comes to my body when a Muslim greets
me. I reply to his greeting. Prophets are
alive in their graves.’ It is
declared in a hadîth sharîf related by Abu ’d-Dardâ, ‘The earth does not rot prophets’ bodies. On Fridays, recite salawât onto me repeatedly!
The salawât recited by my umma will be communicated to me every Friday.’ He was asked: ‘Oh Rasûl-Allâh! How are the salawât
made known to you after your body rots in the grave?’ ‘Allâhu ta’âlâ has made it harâm for earth
to rot prophets,’
he answered. Such hadîths show that prophets (’alaihimu
’s-salawâtu wa’t-taslîmât) are alive in their graves and do not rot. And
awliyâ’ are their inheritors.” The hadîths related by Ibn Abî Shaiba and Abu
Nu’aim, as quoted in the book Kunûz ad-daqâ’iq, declare,
“Allâhu ta’âlâ is
remembered when His awliyâ’ are seen,”
and “Allâhu ta’âlâ has
awliyâ’. Allâhu ta’âlâ occurs to the mind when they are seen.” The hadîth
ash-sharîf transmitted by ad-Dailamî and
quoted in Kunûz ad-daqâ’iq declares, “If those in graves did not exist, the people in the town would
have burnt.” These hadîths show that
Allâhu ta’âlâ bestows goodness upon living people through the cause and gace of
the dead. The hadîth ash-sharîf narrated by al-’Askarî and quoted in the book Kunûz by ’Abd ar-Ra’uf al-Munawî ash-Shâfi’î (rahmat-Allâh ’alaih), who
passed away in Cairo in