Note: For serious discussion only.
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (Founder of Wahabism) said “even those who say, ‘O Rasul-Allah! Do shafa’a for me, come to my rescue,’ are unbelievers, too."
The Wahabis said it was polytheism for muazzins to recite the salawat for the Prophet’s soul.
The Wahabis say “It is halal to kill and confiscate those who make mediators of prophets or awliya’ with a view to attain shafa’a or nearness to Allahu ta’ala."
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab died in 1206 (1762). His followers are called Najdis or Wahhabis; Wahhibism is the dominant Islam in Saudi Arabia. The Wahabi creed has been gaining strength, particularly in areas of conflict like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chechniya.
The Wahabi creed say:
“All Muslims who have spread over the world for six hundred years have been polytheists, unbelievers. Since it is fard to worship Allah directly, nothing can be put as an intermediary for worship. It will be polytheism to pray or to ask for help from anybody besides Allah and it will never be forgiven. All of those who, mentioning the names of prophets or awliya’, ask for help from them and who respect shrines by performing vows, alms and other things, are polytheists. ‘We expect their shafa’a. We render them intermediaries in order to approach Allahu ta’ala’; these words do not rescue them from polytheism. Polytheists of the time of Rasulullah also used to pray and beg Allah when they were in trouble. When they became safe, they used to pray angels, awliya’ and idols. Likewise, today’s polytheists beg such and such a chief Darwish or such and such shaikh. These polytheists are worse than the ancient polytheists. Let alone the polytheists who beg a shaikh, even those who say, ‘O Rasul-Allah! Do shafa’a for me, come to my rescue,’ are unbelievers, too.”
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab explained the kalimat at-tawhid according to his own point of view and disseminated his opinion that all Muslims had been polytheists. The Ahl as-Sunnat scholars refuted him and declared that he was on a wrong path. Sulaiman ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, Muhammad’s brother, wrote a great book to refute him. The books Fasl al-khitab and Kashf al-khijab by 'Ali ibn Ahmad, a famous molla and a scholar of Basra well-known with the name al-Kabani, prove that the has deviated from the right path.
They (the Wahabis) said it was a bidat to build tombs over graves or minarets for mosques or to eat with spoons. They ruined Husain’s (radi-Allahu 'anh) tomb in Karbala and plundered the invaluable things in it. They burned and ruined the city of Ta’if and killed the Ahl as-Sunnat Muslims including the women and children and plundered their possessions. The most valuable books such as the Sahihain of al-Bukhari and Muslim and thousands of books on hadith, fiqh and other fields, even the Qur’an, were trodden underfoot. Out of fear, no one dared to pick them up. They even dug in the ground and looked for possessions. They set the city afire. They demolished the tombs in Mecca and the blessed houses where the Prophet ('alaihi 's-salam), Abu Bakr, 'Umar (radi-Allahu 'anhuma) and Fatima (radi-Allahu anha) were born. They said it was polytheism for muazzins to recite the salawat for the Prophet’s soul.
Ahl al-bidat liken the Ahl as-Sunnat to idolatrous disbelievers and say that the words “In order to approach Allahu ta’ala, we put His beloved human creatures as intermediaries,” will not rescue the Ahl as-Sunnat from polytheism.
"Great scholar Hadrat Ibn Hajar al-Makki wrote in his book Khairat al-hisan, ‘Imam Muhammad ash-Shafi’i, on the days when he was in Baghdad, would visit Imam Abu Hanifa’s grave and greet him. He would pray through the imam so that his wish would be accepted.’ And Imam Ahmad used to pray through al-Imam ash-Shafi’i. In fact, when his son, 'Abdullah, was surprised at this, he said, 'O my son! al-Imam ash-Shafi’i is like the sun among men! He is like good health for bodies! In western countries, Imam Malik would be put as an intermediary when praying, and al-Imam ash-Shafi’i heard this and did not oppose it. Imam Abu 'l-Hasan ash-Shadhili said, ‘The person who asks something from Allahu ta’ala should pray through Imam al-Ghazali.’ It is written in the book Sawa’iq by Ibn Hajar al-Makki that al-Imam ash-Shafi’i always prayed through Ahl al-Bait an-Nabawi.
"As Allahu ta’ala has made pious deeds and worship means to happiness and high status, so He has made His beloved, select men, anbiya’, awliya’ and sulaha’, whom He has commanded us to love, intermediaries for the admission of prayers. It is for this reason that as-Sahabat al-kiram and all scholars have performed tawassul when praying. None of them has denied this.
By giving wrong meaning to ayats and hadiths and denying many true reports, ahl al-bidat have been defiling Muslims’ iman. They have been striving to cause Ahl al-qibla (Muslims) to dissent from the right path. Any person, upon whose lot Allahu ta’ala has endowed auspicion and happiness, will learn the above evidences, thus escape the disaster of being deceived by them." [Yusuf an-Nabhani, Shawahid al-haqq.]
For full text, please visit: http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-43.htm