saallaam
We cannot say how will Allah deal with anybody on the day of Judgement. He will
administer His absolute justice to all. He knows the special circumstances, the intentions, the
motives and objectives of everyone. He values every action by every individual in the fairest of
manners. What we can do, however, is to judge people’s actions as they appear to us in the
light of divine guidance provided by Allah in the Qur’an and in the light of the Sunnah of the
Prophet. They should give us a very good idea whether a certain kind of action is acceptable or
not. The first thing to say about such people is that they do not attend regularly to their most
essential Islamic duties, such as prayers. The Prophet describes prayer as the mainstay of the
Islamic faith. He explains that by adding: “He who attends to it (i.e. prayer) provides his faith
with strong support, while he who neglects it, allows his faith to collapse.” Moreover, a person
who neglects his prayer is more likely to neglect his other Islamic duties. It is a fact of life that a
person who does not attend to his prayer is also likely to indulge in different types of forbidden
practices. Such a person is not likely to have much reward from Allah. There will be little to his
credit on the day of Judgement. Yet these people try to satisfy their natural desire to be
religious by resorting to practices that give them such an appearance. They visit the graves and
tombs of those whom they consider saints. Because they give those dead people such a status,
they imagine that they [the dead saints] have special privileges and powers. It may be true that
the dead people whose graves they visit were of high religious standing and it may be true that
they have been given certain privileges by Allah, but those are not of the type which enables
them to respond to the requests of those who visit their graves. No dead person can be of any
benefit to the living. Indeed, a dead person can be of no benefit even to himself. The Prophet
tells us that “when a human being dies, his actions come to an absolute end, except in one of
three ways: A continuing act of charity, a useful contribution to knowledge or a dutiful child who
prays for him.” In other words, the living can be of benefit to the dead by praying Allah on their
behalf, but the dead cannot be of benefit to the living. When those people whom you have
described go to such graves in order to request the dead to help them, they are engaged in a
futile action. Moreover, they are indeed guilty of the worst type of sin, namely, associating
partners with Allah. Their practices can only be described as the worshipping of graves. The
“fatihah” is a certain type of ritual in which people gather to engage in reading certain verses of
the Qur’an and certain phrases of glorification of Allah thousands of times. This is coupled with
other rituals such as the preparation of food, which is placed at a particular point before starting
and then eaten after the whole ritual is over. All this has no basis whatsoever. It cannot be
supported by any Hadith or Qur’anic verse. As such, it is an innovation which is totally
unacceptable. The Prophet says: “Beware of newly invented matters. For every invention is an
innovation and every innovation is going astray and every going astray is in hell fire.” (Related
by Abu Dawood and At-Tirmithi). The Prophet also says: “He who innovates something in this
matter of ours, that is not of it, will have it rejected.” When people engage in such practices,
neglecting their duties, they actually try to give their lives a religious aspect. However, they err
because they do not see the Prophet’s guidance. Indeed, when it is pointed out to them that
their practices are wrong, they are not prepared to listen to sound advice. They feel that their
actions are good because they have seen some people whom they consider guides to them.
They err in not seeking the guidance provided by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),
who was sent by Allah to convey His knowledge. Their actions are of no value, because they do
not give them any religious conscience. Their effect is only to give them a feeling that they have
discharged what religion expects of them. Our religion is not a set of rituals. It has a very clear
code of practice. Unless it is approached in the manner taught to us by the Prophet, it does not
yield its fruit. If we want to be true Muslims, we have to follow the Prophet’s guidance. That
means discharging our duties and not adding to the faith of Islam anything that is not part of it.
Unfortunately, such practices are widespread in large areas of the Muslim world. They are
responsible for the backwardness of Muslims everywhere. Muslims will not regain their strength
and proper status until they disown such practices and regain their Islamic sense. That sense
will guide them along the path set out for us by Prophet Muhammad, Allah’s last messenger
(peace be upon him).
Jaawan
Till next timeK_I_S_S