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Shirines or graves: practices contrary to Islamic teachings - -

By Adil Salahi

Shrines or Graves: Practices Contrary to Islamic Teachings
Adil Salahi, Arab News
 

Q. What does Islam say about visiting the graves of religious people who are claimed to have a saintly status? Some people believe that they are in direct contact with God, and they appeal to them so that they can put their appeals to God. In fact some claim that such people are still alive. Please comment.

Asim Iqbal

A. Such a practice is totally unacceptable. Indeed it is misguided. It is contrary to every Islamic principle. Take for example the principle of finite life in this world. This life ends in death, which occurs to all people, including prophets and the most devoted and sincere of God’s servants. God states three times in the Qur’an that: “Every soul shall experience death.” (3:185; 21: 35 & 29: 57) Indeed, all prophets died and none remained alive, including the last of all messengers, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Are these people better than prophets so that they are kept alive? Besides, what sort of life is that which confines the living person to the grave? If it is the body that remains alive, then I can assure you that if you dig up the grave of any such person you will find that the body has decayed and become ashes. If it is a life of the spirit, then we can say that no one knows anything about the spirit except what God has chosen to tell us, which is very little. Therefore, this claim is totally wrong.

Take also the principle of direct relation between man and God, without intermediaries, which is basic to Islamic beliefs. Indeed, God stresses this concept in different ways in the Qur’an. He also tells us: “Your Lord says, ‘Pray to Me and I will respond to you.’” (40: 60) So, why do we need an intermediary? The fact is that no one needs any intermediary when it comes to appealing to God. We are better off doing it directly, because we can express ourselves better and God knows our good intentions. Why do we need any go between who will not be able to put our case as we can?

Besides, how do we know what status these people have in God’s measure? We may think that they were devoted to God’s service, but can we be sure of that? Only God knows people’s intentions and positions. On the other hand, a person may appear to us very religious and devoted, but we cannot be sure of his position with God. His intentions may not be as pure as we think. If we choose him as an intermediary we will be in the same position as one who appoints an ignorant person as his lawyer in a highly sensitive case.

The most important aspect of the Islamic faith is its uncompromising emphasis on God’s oneness. This is declared in a variety of ways, from declaring that God is one, to emphasizing that He has no partners, to instilling in the conscience of every Muslim the knowledge that all prayer, worship, appeals and supplications must be addressed to God directly. Think for a moment of the phrases pilgrims repeat throughout the period they are in consecration and how often they say aloud: “Labbayk Allahumma...” This formula contains the words, “You have no partners”, twice, and every pilgrim repeats this formula hundreds of times.

Consider now how these dead people in their graves are treated. When a person addresses any of them, or even makes the visit to their graves thinking that God will answer his supplication quicker at the site, he is actually making of the dead man a partner with God. This is totally unacceptable. It can easily put the supplicant out of the pale of Islam altogether. No one should ever do this.

The dead cannot benefit the living, while the living can benefit the dead by praying to God to have mercy on them and to forgive them. They can do nothing for us because the Prophet says: “When a human being dies, his actions come to an end except in one of three ways: A continuing act of charity, a useful contribution to knowledge, and a dutiful child who prays for him.” Those people in their graves might have been the model of piety, but they can do no more for themselves, let alone do anything for other people. Every thing comes from God, and to God alone we should appeal for help in any way we need.



    
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