Part 4

Another manifestation of this evil is the culture of grave-worship that is predominant in certain Muslim countries. The erecting of beautiful structures over the graves of ‘holy’ people, and travelling distances to visit these graves, is forbidden in Islam for the very reason that such glorification leads to shirk. It is even prohibited to pray (perfrom salah) in front of a grave, even though the salah is to Allah, so what is the case of the one who actually makes a du‘ a to the dead?

Similarly, others use these dead ‘saints’ as intercessors between them and Allah, thinking that, by using these people as intermediaries, their du’ as will have a stronger chance of being accepted by Allah. This act of theirs is based on their own ignorance, for the Arabs at the time of the Prophet (#%) would worship their idols with the exact same excuse — that they were only trying to come closer to Allah — and yet, despite this excuse, Allah considered them to be committing shirk. The reason for this being that the pure con- * cept of tawhid in Islam does not allow for any intermediaries between man and Allah when it comes to the worship of Allah. Worship is a right that is due only to Allah, and it is shirk to divert any act of worship to other than Allah.

To conclude, dua is one of the greatest acts of worship, and therefore to make a du'@ to other than Allah is the essence of shirk. And

3! ‘These are all names of Safi ‘saints.’ Although it is possible that some of these personalities might have been pious servants of Allah, there is no doubt that what their followers are doing is major shirk.

there is no difference in making du’ a to a prophet, or an angel, or a pious person, or to a grave, a star, a rock, or a stone; all of these are created objects, and cannot compare in any way to Allah. Likewise, there is no difference ifa person makes dua to them or uses them as intermediaries between him and Allah; both of these acts are manifestations of shirk.”

>? For further details of shirk, its dangers, types and categories, see the author’s Explanation of Shaykh Muhammad ibn ' Abdul Wahhab’s Four Principles of Shirk, forthcoming.

Tue Types of Du As

Du‘ a can be categorised in a variety of ways, depending on the perspective that one is using. Some of the more useful categorisations are as follows:

1. With Respect to the Actuality of dua

When one examines the texts of the Qur’4n and sunnah, one finds that there are two types of du‘ as that are mentioned.

The first type, which is the one that most people are familiar with, is known as du’ a al-mas’alah, or the ‘du‘a of asking’. This is when a person asks to be given something that is of benefit to him, or asks that some harm be removed from him. So the worshipper asks Allah to fulfil a need; for example, he says, “O Allah! Grant me good in this world, and good in the Hereafter!” So this is an example of dua@ al-mas ‘alah.

The second type of du‘ a is known as du‘ a al-' ibadah, or the ‘dua of worship’. This is a very broad concept, for every single act of worship includes in it this type of du‘ a, Every praise that a person pronounces, every prayer that he performs, is done with an intrinsic plea and cry that emanates from the heart of every believer: “O Allah! I am doing this act of worship because you are All-Mighty and Powerful! You are the only one that deserves all types of praise! O Allah! Accept this act from me!” Therefore, when a person says, ‘Alhamdulillah’ or ‘Subhan Allah’, this can be taken to be examples of du‘ a al-' ibadah. When a person prays the salah, or gives zakah, or fasts, all of these are examples of du‘ al-' ibadah.

These two types of du' as are inherently related to one another. Every du‘ a al-mas’alah intrinsically contains a du‘ a al-' ibadah, and every du'@al-' ibadah necessitates a du’ a al-mas’alah. To clarify this expression, two examples are given.

When the Muslim prays, “O Allah! Bless me with pious offspring”, then this is a clear example of a du‘ al-mas’alah, as he is asking for some benefit. However, this simple dua implies, without him saying anything , that Allah is the One Who hears his prayer, and responds to it, and He is the One that gives sustenance, and blesses people with offspring. It implies that Allah is the Ever-Living, the Giver of life, the Ever-Merciful who responds to His serv-

- ants. This simple du‘ a necessitates that the person who makes it attributes to Allah many beautiful and perfect attributes. Thus, this dua al-mas'alah intrinsically contains du’ a al-'ibadah at the same time.

As a second example, a person says, ‘ La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah’ or, “There is no change or power except with the (help and will) of Allah.’ At face value, this expression, is adu' a al-' ibadah, as nothing is actually being asked from Allah. However, this expression necessitates that a person make du’ @ al-mas’alah to Allah. When a person affirms that there is no power, nor is it possible to change anything, except with the Will and Permission of Allah, then this automatically necessitates that he ask Allah, and only Allah, whenever he wishes to achieve something. So, this du’ a alibadah necessitates dua al-mas’alah.

So whenever the word ‘du’ @’ occurs in the Qur’an and Sunnah, it has one of three possibilities: it either refers to both types of du‘ a, or it refers to du’ a al-mas'alah, or it refers to du‘ a alibadah.

An example in which the word ‘du’ a’ refers to both types of du’ a is:

SKA tact TBA QPS ee, SG Ss ESS

Say (O Muhammad); My Lord only pays attention to you because of your du’ a to Him. But now you have indeed rejected (Him), so the (torment) will be yours permanently.

This verse includes du’ a al-mas’alah and dua al-' ibadah; in other words, the reason that Allah pays attention to us is because of our worship (du' a al-ibadah) and asking (du' a al-mas’alah) that we do of Him.

An example in which the word ‘du‘a’ primarily refers to dua al-

mas’alah is: ee 2 AA

Or who is there that responds to the call (dua@) of the one in distress (besides Allah) ?**

An oe in which it primarily refers to du‘ al-'ibadah is: Yt Pee “Ge

(A estinicale ak onc

O Mankind! An example has been set forth, so listen to it. Those

that you call (i.e. worship) besides Allah will never be able to

create a fly, even if they all united to do it”. *

However, even though the direct references in the last two verses are only to one type of du‘ a, indirectly both types are included, as they are inherently related to one another.

2. With Respect to the One Being Asked

Du a is, by its very nature, a call or request to another being. Therefore, it is possible to categorise dua with respect to the one being asked, for it is possible that the one that is being asked is Allah, and it is possible that it is a false deity. It is also possible that

33 seerah al-Furgan, 77. 4 Surah al-Naml, 62. > Surah al-Hajj, 73.

the person making du‘a@ combines du‘a al-mas‘alah and du‘a al- “ibadah to the same deity at all times, or he differentiates between them.

So this leads to four categories of people, as follows:

The first category are those people who worship other than Allah, and call out to these others at all times. These people do not acknowledge Allah as the Lord or One that deserves worship. Examples of this category are the Hindus, Buddhists, and the followers of other religions who do not believe in Allah in the first place. So these people direct their dua al-'ibadah and du‘ a al-mas’alah to _ other than Allah.

The second category are those who believe in Allah, and worship Him, yet never ask anything of Him. Instead, basing their idea on perverted logic, they use intermediaries in order to approach Allah, and ask these intermediaries to bless them with what they need. The extreme Sifi groups are notorious for this type of act, for they usually ask dead ‘saints’ and prophets to bless them with what they need. Therefore, their dua al-' ibadah (in the broad sense) is to Allah, but their du‘ a al-mas’alah is to other than Allah.

The third category are those people who believe in Allah, and worship Him, but only turn to Him at times of severity. When they are in extremely desperate situations, they combine their dua al- ‘ibadah and du‘ a al-mas’alah to Allah, but at times of ease, they call out to other than Allah. And this was the religion of the Jahiliyyah Arabs at the time of the Prophet (#8) 36

The last category are the true Muslims, those that always combine du‘ a al-‘ibadah and dua al-mas’alah, and direct it to Allah, and only to Allah. So they direct their worship, prayer, and charity, to Allah, and they turn to Him only for all of their needs.

36 Fora more detailed discussion of these categories, see Explanation of Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abdul Wahhab’s Four Principles of Shirk, by the author (forthcoming, insha-Allah).

3. With Respect to the One Making Du‘

When one looks at the different categories of people that make du’ a, it is possible to classify theni into four categories.” This is because du‘ a, as has been mentioned, is of two types, du‘ a al-‘ibadah and du‘a al-mas‘alah. Therefore, it is possible to have four logical combinations of these categories with regards to the one making du ‘a, for he can either combine both types of du’ @, or practice only one type, or leave both types. (Note that this categorisation contains some overlap with the preceding one, but at the same time is unique, as it deals with the one asking, and not the one that is asked).

The first category of people are those who combine both types of du’ a, and this is the way of the true Muslim. So he worships Allah, realising that this worship is the purpose of his creation and being, and he seeks Allah’s help in this worship, realising that without this help he will not be able to achieve this goal. Therefore, he has combined du’ a al-'ibadah with dua al-mas’alah.