[Holy Qur'an 17:81] And say: "Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish."

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Grave Worship?

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Salafis accuse Sunnis and Shi'as of grave-worship for seeking fulfilment of their needs from the graves of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and the righteous. This, however, is the peak of ignorance and hypocrisy on their part, since the Companions themselves used to do this very thing.

It is related from Malik al-Dar, `Umar's treasurer, that the people suffered a drought during the successorship of `Umar, whereupon a man came to the grave of the Prophet and said: "O Messenger of Allah, ask for rain for your Community, for verily they have but perished," after which the Prophet appeared to him in a dream and told him: "Go to `Umar and give him my greeting, then tell him that they will be watered. Tell him: You must be clever, you must be clever!" The man went and told `Umar. The latter said: "O my Lord, I spare no effort except in what escapes my power!"

Ibn Kathir who records it verbatim in his al-Bidaya wa al-nihaya Vol. 7, p. 92.says: Its chain is sahih.

Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani too in his Fath al-Bari, Book of istisqa ch. 3 (Beirut: Dar al-kutub al-`ilmiyya, 1410/1989) Vol. 2, pp. 629-630 confirms the authenticity of the narration in these words:

Ibn Abu Shaybah has recorded it with a sahih chain.

He also identifies Malik al-Dar as `Umar's treasurer and says that the man who visited and saw the Prophet in his dream is identified as the Companion Bilal ibn al-Harith.

Here, we have a Companion seeking the help of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) from his grave. Obviously, this is the greatest shock a Salafi can ever possibly receive. He would not want to declare the Companion a grave-worshipper. Yet, he would not want to accept that the act was not grave-worship!

We also read how the Companions used to seek healing from the grave of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).

Dawud ibn Salih says: "[The Caliph] Marwan [ibn al-Hakam] one day saw a man placing his face on top of the grave of the Prophet. He said: "Do you know what you are doing?" When he came near him, he realized it was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The latter said: "Yes; I came to the Prophet, not to a stone."

Imam al-Haythami in his Majma al-Zawaid, Vol. 5, p. 245, Imam al-Hakim in his Mustadrak, Vol. 4, p. 515 and Imam al-Dhahabi in his Talkhis have all declared the narration sahih.

If a Salafi were to see a man today doing the same thing, he would shout "grave worship"! What will he say about these Companions?

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