Scholarly Consensus: Do not Ask Help From The Dead

1. Scholarly Consensus: Do Not Ask the Dead for Help

Whenever we clarify that asking help from the dead is haram and shirk by the consensus of the scholars, some respond by quoting fiqhi issues:

🔹 Statements about tawassul like: “O Allah, I ask You through so-and-so.”

🔹 Intercession near graves: “O so-and-so, ask Allah for me.”

🔹 Poetry where scholars appear to “ask” the Prophet ﷺ for help.

But these are entirely different matters from invoking the dead with phrases like:

➡️ “Yā Ghawth al-Aʿẓam madad”

➡️ “Yā ʿAlī madad”

➡️ “Yā Ḥusayn madad”

📚 For example, Imam al-Saffārīnī (d. 1188H) said in al-Buḥūr az-Zākhirah (p. 340):

أما من كان قصده بالزيارة أن يطلب حوائجه من الميت فهذا لا يشك عاقل في قبحه وتحريمه؛ إذ الحوائج منوطة لخالقها، فليس إلا الله يقضي حاجة، ومن شك في هذا طغى وتمرد

“As for those who visit graves to ask the dead for their needs, no rational person doubts its ugliness and prohibition. Needs are tied to the Creator only Allah fulfills needs. Whoever doubts this is rebellious.”

He even quoted scholars proving such actions are acts of shirk.

Yet, in the same book (p. 662), he includes a poetic line:

يا سيدي يا رسول الله خذ بيدي * إني أتيت بلا علمٍ ولا عملِ(

“O my master, O Messenger of Allah, take my hand. I come with no knowledge or deeds.”

⚠️ This is not proof of shirk or innovation, it’s poetic language expressing fear and hope for the Prophet’s intercession on the Day of Judgment. The ode appears in a chapter on the horrors of the Resurrection, not in any theological endorsement of calling upon the dead.

Similarly, Qāḍī Abū Yaʿlā was asked

– ما تقول في قول الإنسان إذا عثر: (محمد أو علي) ؟ فقال: إن قصد الاستعانة فهو مخطىء لأن الغوث من الله تعالى فقال وهما ميتان فلا يصح الغوث منهما ولأنه يجب تقديم الله على غيره

What do you say about a man who says Muhammad or Ali in his need.

He replied, if he is seeking help than he is wrong because help is from Allah and both of them are dead. That is why it is not allowed to ask help from them.

Badai al Fawaid 4/40 Foot notes states ورد السوال نفسه على ابن الصلاح

Some argue he didn’t explicitly call it shirk but his close student, Ibn ʿAqīl (d. 513H), made it clear:

وهم كفار عندي بهذه الأوضاع مثل تعظيم القبوروإكرامها بما نهى الشرع عنه من إيقاد النيران وتقبيلها وتخليفها وخطاب الموتى بالألواح وكتب الرقاع فيها يا مولاي افعل بي كذا وكذا وأخذ التراب تبركا وإفاضة الطيب على القبور وشد الرحال إليها وإلقاء الخرقعلى الشجر اقتداء بمن عبد اللات والعزى

“They are disbelievers in my view due to their practices glorifying graves, burning candles, kissing graves, leaving requests, saying: ‘O my master, do such and such for me,’ and imitating the idolaters of al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā.”

(Talbīs Iblīs, Chapter: The Devil’s Deception of the Masses)

⚖️ They also quote Ibn Ḥajar’s poetry seeking intercession but again, that was poetic, not theological.

📖 In fact, Ibn Ḥajar criticized excessive grave practices in al-Jawāhir wa-d-Durar (2/949):

“Her [Sayyida Nafīsa’s] grave remained a destination for blessings. Some called supplication near it a ‘tried cure’ but many of the commoners have gone to extremes, and some have fallen into disbelief without even realizing it. Allah is the One Who helps.”

Same way, Wali ad din al Iraqi (d 826 h) was asked

مسألة: سئلت عمن يزور الصالحين من الموتى فيقول عند قبر الواحد منهم: (يا سيدي فلان أنا مستجير بك ، أو متوسل بك أن يحصل لي كذا وكذا، أو أطلب منك أن يحصل لي كذا وكذا) ، أو يقول: (يا رب أسألك بمنزلة هذا الرجل أو بسره أو بعمله أن يفعل لي كذا وكذا)، هل هذه العبارات حسنة أو غير حسنة، أو بعضها حسن وبعضها قبيح؟ وما كانت السلف تقول عند زيارة قبور الصالحين؟

“Regarding one who visits the graves of righteous deceased people and says at their grave:

‘O my master [sayyidi] so-and-so, I seek refuge in you,’ or

‘I seek your intercession [tawassul] to attain such-and-such,’ or

‘I ask you to grant me such-and-such,’

Or who says:

‘O Allah, I ask You by the status [manzilah] of this man, or by his spiritual secret [sirr], or by his deeds, that You grant me such-and-such’

Are these phrases:

All acceptable?

All unacceptable?

Or some acceptable and some reprehensible?

And what did the early Muslims (al-Salaf) say when visiting the graves of the righteous?”

He replied:

It is allowed to visit graves and the graves of the righteous, and it is also allowed to make du‘ā’ to Allah near the graves, as Allah accepted the du‘ā’s near the grave of the righteous Ma‘rūf al-Karkhī. Then he spoke regarding asking help from the dead righteous:

وأما قوله: (أنا أطلب منك أن يحصل لي كذا وكذا) فأمر منکر ، فالطلب إنما هو من الله تعالى، والتوسل إليه بالأعمال الصالحة أو بأصحابها أحياء وأمواتا لا ينكر

As for the statement: “I ask you to get me such and such,” this is a Munkar (rejected/condemned) matter, because requests (ṭalab) are to be directed to Allah alone. However, tawassul to Allah through righteous deeds or through righteous people whether living or dead (by saying, O Allah I ASK YOU THROUGH RIGHTEOUS) is not rejected.

Fatāwā Walī al-Dīn al-‘Irāqī (p. 166), Dār al-Fath edition.

Again, here they say, he said Munkar, not shirk but his own student Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi (745–865 AH) said regarding the tomb of Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq and Abu Turab al-Nakhshabī:

وبالله ان الفتنة بهذا المكان الآخر من حارة برجوان الذي يعرف بجعفر الصادق لعظيمة فإنهما صارا كالأنصاب التي كانت تتخذها مشركوا العرب يلجأ إليهما سفهاء العامّة والنساء في أوقات الشدائد ويُنزلون بهذين الموضين كَرْبَهم وشدائدهم التي لا ينزلها البد إلا بالله ربه ويسألون في هذين الموضعين ما لا يقدر عليه إلا الله تعالى وحده من وفاء الدين من غير جهة معينة وطلب الولد ونحو ذلك ويحملون النذور من الزيت وغيره إليهما ظنًا أن ذلك ينجيهم من المكاره ويجلب إليهم المنافع ولعمري إنْ هي إلاّ كرّة خاسرة ولله الحمد على السلامة‏

“By Allah, the fitnah (tribulation) in this place, and the other site in Ḥārat Burjwān known as the place of Ja‘far al-Ṣādiq, is indeed great. For these two sites have become like the idols that the Arab polytheists used to erect.

The ignorant among the commoners and women turn to these places during times of hardship, pouring out their worries and afflictions matters that should only be directed to Allah, their Lord.

They request in these places things that none but Allah alone has the power to grant like the settling of debts from unknown sources, or requesting children, and similar matters.

They bring vows, oil, and other offerings to these sites, believing that doing so will protect them from harm and bring them benefit.

By my life, it is nothing but a losing venture. And all praise is due to Allah for keeping us safe.”

Reference: al-Mawāʿiẓ wa al-Iʿtibār bi Dhikr al-Khiṭaṭ wa al-Āthār (3/94)

Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami, who authored Al-Jawhar Al-Munazzam and agreed with Al-Subki in Shifa’ Al-Siqam, also agreed with consensus of the scholars, that it is a disbelief:

“Whoever sets intermediaries between himself and Allah.”

Al-Haytami said:

وحاصل عبارة الفروع أن مما يكون كفرًا جحد صفة له تعالى اتفق على إثباتها… ومن ذلك أن يجعل بينه وبين الله تعالى وسائط يتوكّل عليهم ويدعوهم ويسألهم. قالوا: إجماعا

“The summary of Al-Furu’ is that among what constitutes disbelief is denying an attribute of Allah unanimously affirmed… and setting intermediaries between oneself and Allah, relying on them, supplicating to them, and asking them. They said: ‘By consensus.’” Al-Iʿlām bi-Qawāṭiʿ al-Islām (p. 213).”

He also quoted Al-Adhra’i Al-Shafi’i:

“وأما النذر للمشاهد الذي بُنيت على قبر ولي أو نحوه، فإن قصد به الإيقاد على القبر ولو مع قصد التنوير فلا.

وإن قصد به – وهو الغالب من العامة – تعظيم البقعة أو القبر أو التقرب إلى من دُفن فيها أو نُسبت إليه فهذا نذر باطل غير منعقد؛ فإنهم يعتقدون أن لهذه الأماكن خصوصيات لا تفهم، ويرون أنّ النذر لها مما يدفع البلاء. قال: وحكم الوقف كالنذر فيما ذكرناه

“As for vows at shrines built over saints’ graves, if the intention is to light candles, it is not allowed. If the intention as is common among the masses is to venerate the site, the grave, or seek nearness to the buried, the vow is invalid. They believe these places have incomprehensible special merits and that vows ward off calamities. The ruling for endowments is the same.”

Al-Haytami agreed, saying:

لأن القُرَب إنما هي لله تعالى

“Because acts of worship are only for Allah.”

Al-Fatāwā al-Fiqhiyyah (4/280)

Reflect on Al-Haytami’s agreement with consensus and Al-Adhra’i and his explanation that the masses’ actions are acts of worship for Allah alone, refuting grave-worshippers’ claim.

The point is that the statements of later scholars who erred regarding seeking assistance are not the same as the extreme grave-worshippers’ beliefs. This is a common misconception among the poeple, who equate Al-Subki, Al-Haytami and others who permitted seeking assistance or included it in their poems with grave-worshippers. This is incorrect.

Protection from shirk starts with understanding the boundaries set by the scholars. Let us hold firmly to Tawḥīd and ask only Allah for help.