Eight Primary Causes of Grave Worship Worldwide

Means to prevent this great tribulation
Today, if someone asks after seeing all the current destruction and miseries of the Muslims what the remedy could be, the answer should be found in the words of Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, in one sentence:

لا يصلح اٰخر هذه الأمة الا بما صلح به اولها

That is, the reformation of the last era of the Ummah can never be achieved unless the same method is adopted by which its early era was reformed.
And that is nothing other than turning to the Book and Sunnah and sincerely accepting every call that comes from Allah Almighty and His Messenger, peace be upon him.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ ۖ

“Translation: O Muslims! When Allah Almighty and His Messenger call you to something, respond to their call, for their call is life-giving.”

This ability and readiness can only be possible if the love of Allah Almighty and His Messenger and the respect and sanctity of their commands prevail over all the loves and honors of the world, and their love has settled so deeply in the heart that the love of relatives and kin, the respect and honor of rulers and kings, in short, everything in the world that has any belovedness, holds no value or worth compared to Allah Almighty and His Messenger. Even if there is any form of love that the human self proposes for Allah Almighty and His Messenger, but if Allah Almighty and His Messenger consider it contrary to the realm of love, then it should immediately be abandoned as a satanic whisper. After this, the sincere lover certainly attains the honor of the love of Allah, the Great and Most High.

قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ

Translation: “That is, if you love Allah Almighty, then follow me, so that you may become beloved to Allah.”

The Noble Efforts of the Pious Predecessors
It is an established fact that the early period of Islam was abundant with blessings, guidance, and prosperity, free from any mixture of innovations and customs. This is because the pious predecessors, the noble companions, the hadith scholars, and the imams of the religion, may Allah have mercy on them, made every effort to preserve the true teachings of Islam from all kinds of deviations and non-religious influences and mixtures. They understood that this was the initial stage of the social development of Islam, and its sources were flowing abundantly; if even a single straw came in their way, there was fear that these straws would accumulate and one day block the sources of great rivers. They were determined to protect Islam. They were like a passionate lover who, upon feeling even a thorn prick on the feet of his beloved, cries out as if a dagger has pierced his side. They were ready to sacrifice their most precious possessions for Islam, even a single straw or a single particle of dust that could divert the path of Islam. If at that time, the truthful leader of the Ummah and the Caliph of Islam (Sayyiduna) Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, Sayyiduna Umar Farooq the Great, and other companions, and after them the hadith scholars and imams of the religion, may Allah have mercy on them, had not been inspired by Allah with His revelation and had not undertaken a great internal jihad to prevent all these trials and innovations, then today the state of Islam in the world would have been the same as that of all distorted and corrupted religions, and its true teachings would have been swept away by a flood of various innovations and novelties, and today it would be impossible to find any trace of them.
The pious predecessors confronted the innovations, novelties, and external deviations with such strength and self-sacrifice based on the important and lofty objectives of Islam, that they did not tolerate any form of them. Events have proven that they were entirely correct and genuine. We see that these very issues eventually polluted the true teachings of Islam with various external misguidances, and sadly, Muslims could not protect themselves from these trials which had already caused misguidance in previous nations.

The Fitnah of Graves
Among the issues that have laid the foundations of discord and distortion among Muslims, leading them away from the straight path of the Book and Sunnah and the exemplary conduct of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, is the important matter of building graves and supplicating there with humility and reverence, and considering graves and shrines as the best places for drawing near to Allah and for the acceptance of prayers.

Shaykh al-Islam Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, and his student Rashid Hafiz Ibn Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him both, have shed extensive light on this subject in their numerous works with great detail and elaboration. Today, I wish to present to you some of these important and subtle discussions with some degree of brevity.

How Grave Worship Spread
In this regard, first of all, it should be considered how grave worship spread in the world? What are its causes and reasons, and how can it be countered? This trial first arose among the people of Noah (peace be upon him), as Allah Almighty mentioned in the Quran while describing the efforts of Noah (peace be upon him) to preach monotheism:
قَالَ نُوحٌ رَّبِّ إِنَّهُمْ عَصَوْنِي وَاتَّبَعُوا مَن لَّمْ يَزِدْهُ مَالُهُ وَوَلَدُهُ إِلَّا خَسَارًا ‎ ﴿٢١﴾ ‏ وَمَكَرُوا مَكْرًا كُبَّارًا ‎ ﴿٢٢﴾ ‏ وَقَالُوا لَا تَذَرُنَّ آلِهَتَكُمْ وَلَا تَذَرُنَّ وَدًّا وَلَا سُوَاعًا وَلَا يَغُوثَ وَيَعُوقَ وَنَسْرًا ‎ ﴿٢٣﴾ ‏
Translation: “Noah (peace be upon him) said: O my Lord! My people have disobeyed me and followed the one whose wealth and children did not benefit him except loss (i.e., they obeyed their wealthy leaders), and they devised a great scheme and said, ‘Never abandon your gods, nor abandon Wadd, nor Suwa’, nor Yaghuth, nor Ya’uq, nor Nasr’ (may Allah be pleased with them). These are the names of the idols of the people of Noah (peace be upon him).”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما and many other companions and followers رحمہ الله that these are the names of the righteous people of the people of Noah عليه السلام. When they passed away, people began to sit on their graves and started considering them the best places for prayer and worship. After some time, their pictures were made, then out of extreme devotion, statues and idols were made in place of the pictures, to the extent that this excessive veneration led them to worship these idols and statues.

In Sahihain, it is narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyida Aisha رضي الله عنها that Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyida Umm Salama رضي الله عنها mentioned to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم about a church in the land of Sham and the pictures in it. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that whenever a righteous and pious person died among them, they would build a mosque on his grave and place his picture there, and these people are the worst creatures in the sight of Allah Almighty.

In Sahih Muslim, Sayyiduna Jundub رضي الله عنه says that I heard directly from the Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم that he said:

الامن كان قبلكم كانوا يتخذون قبور أنبيائهم وصالحيهم مساجد فلا تتخذوا القبور مساجد فانما انهاكم عن ذلك.

Look! Previous nations made the graves of the Prophets and righteous people places of worship. Do not make graves places of worship; I strictly forbid you from this.
In this hadith, the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم emphasized protecting his Ummah from this trial. Besides this, there are many other hadiths in which the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم tried in various ways to save the Ummah from this fitnah.

Gradual Lessons of Satanic Teachings
But before describing the methods that the Prophet ﷺ prescribed to remain safe from this trial, it seems appropriate to first mention how Satan or satanic groups gradually and step by step involve people in this trial. The reality is that as the Ummah became deprived of the Book and Sunnah, the power and dominance of Satan and his followers increased, and ignorant and unaware people fell into his deceit and trickery. First, the deceptive tactics of Satan or his gradual teachings will be explained. After that, all the methods that the Prophet ﷺ instructed to avoid this trial will be presented.

First Lesson
First of all, Satan teaches his follower that one should pray near the grave. Accordingly, Satan’s follower goes to the grave and prays with humility and heartfelt sorrow, and Allah Almighty accepts his prayer not because of the grave but because of his humility and abasement. For if he prayed with such anguish and pain in a shop, tavern, bathhouse, or market, Allah Almighty would accept his prayer. However, the ignorant person thinks that the grave plays a major role in the acceptance of this prayer. Whereas Allah Almighty accepts the prayer of every helpless person, even if he is a disbeliever, and it is not necessary that Allah be pleased with the one whose prayer He accepts, or keep him as a friend, or like his actions, because Allah Almighty accepts the prayers of the good and bad, the believer and the disbeliever alike.

Many people make such prayers in which they exceed the limits of Shariah or commit shirk, or ask for unlawful things in their prayers, and all or some of their wishes are fulfilled, and they begin to think that their actions are also pleasing to Allah Almighty, and their condition becomes like that of a person whom Allah has granted wealth and children, and he keeps thinking that Allah is pleased with him and grants him all kinds of goodness.

Thus Allah Almighty says:

فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ

Translation: “When these disobedient ones forgot the divine admonition, We opened for them the gates of every blessing.”

There are two types of prayer: one is worship, for which the one who prays deserves reward. The other is asking for a need, which may be fulfilled but becomes a cause of distress for the one who prays. So Allah Almighty accepts his prayer, but if he has dared to violate Allah’s rights and transgress His limits, He punishes him in return. In short, Satan gradually traps a person in his deceitful net and tells him that one should pray very well near the grave, and also that praying at this place is better than praying in the mosque or at the time of dawn (the time when the Prophet, peace be upon him, informed about the acceptance of prayers). When Satan has made this lesson memorized, then the second lesson begins.

Second Lesson
Now he tells him to ask for whatever he wants through the intercession of that venerable person in the grave, and by swearing by this close servant of Allah, your prayer will surely be accepted. This is a worse act compared to the first lesson because the status of Allah Almighty is above being sworn by any servant or having anything asked from Him through any servant.

Third Lesson
When this idea becomes firmly established in a person’s heart that swearing by this venerable person instead of Allah and asking for prayers through him or his right is a great honor and respect for him, and it is more effective in fulfilling needs, then Satan teaches him the third lesson, which is to ask from a venerable person other than Allah and to offer vows and sacrifices to him.

Fourth Lesson
Then the second stage after that is to make the grave of that elder an idol and to sit on it, to light lanterns and candles on it, to hang curtains over it, to build a mosque on it, and to worship it by prostrating, circumambulating, kissing, touching, visiting it, and slaughtering animals near it.

Fifth Lesson
Then only one step remains, and that is to invite people to worship it, to hold fairs there, and to perform Hajj rituals at that place for the one in the grave (indeed, the fairs held there are considered better than the Hajj of the House of Allah; thus many ignorant people say that holding a fair at Khwaja Ajmeer Sharif grants the reward of seven Hajj, etc., may Allah protect us). And they are made to believe that all these matters are very beneficial for them in this world and the Hereafter.
Sheikh Ibn Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, in “Ighathah” quotes Sheikh al-Islam Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him.
There are many levels of innovations (bid’ah) done near graves. The farthest from Shariah is that a person asks the dead for his needs and seeks help from him, as many people do, and such people are of the same kind as idolaters. Therefore, sometimes Satan appears before them in the form of that dead person, just as he appears before idolaters in the form of their deity. So when an idolater calls upon his deity whom he venerates, Satan assumes his form and is present before him, and he speaks to them about some unseen matters because Satan tries his utmost to mislead the children of Adam. Similarly, those who worship the sun, moon, and stars and call upon them, Satan also comes before them in human form and speaks to them, revealing some things, and those people interpret it as the spirituality of the stars. In reality, it is Satan, and even if he helps a person in some matters, he causes much greater harm to him.
In this way, many states appear to grave worshippers near graves, and they think these are miracles, but in reality, they are the deception of Satan. For example, the dead person whose miracle people believe in, when a person with epilepsy is brought and placed near his grave, the jinn (Satan) leaves him so that people may be misled.

Means and resources to counter the fitnah of grave worship
The means and resources that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned to save his Ummah from this great fitnah are now being presented, with the purpose that if there is any way to save the Muslim Ummah today from this storm, it is exactly what the Prophet ﷺ has instructed:

First means
Regarding the Prophet ﷺ forbidding the turning of graves into mosques, it is narrated in Sahih Muslim from Sayyiduna Jundub bin Abdullah al-Juhali رضي الله عنه, who said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ five days before his death saying: Beware, those who came before you used to make mosques over the graves of their prophets عليه السلام. Beware! Do not make graves into mosques; I forbid you from this.

In Sahihain (Bukhari and Muslim), it is narrated from Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said regarding the disease from which you have been absolved: “May Allah curse the Jews and the Ansar, for they have made the graves of their prophets into mosques.” Through this, he would warn his Ummah against such actions. Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) states that if there was no fear of this, your grave would have been made in an open place, but there was a fear that it too might be turned into a mosque. This fear is the reason why the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) grave was not made in an open field, because after his passing, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) differed regarding the burial site. They heard the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) command that the noble prophets (peace be upon them) are buried where they pass away, and since this is a special characteristic of the prophets (peace be upon them), he was buried in the chamber of Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), and as was customary, not buried in the desert, so that prayers would not be offered at his grave and people would not turn it into a mosque. Because the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade making graves into mosques towards the end of his life, and then cursed those among the People of the Book who did so, so that his Ummah would refrain from such actions.

Following this authentic and clear Sunnah, the common people have been explicitly and clearly forbidden from building mosques over graves. Imam Ahmad, Imam Malik, and Imam Shafi’i (may Allah have mercy on them) and their companions have explicitly stated the prohibition of this, and some scholars have called it absolutely disliked (makruh). However, the proper assumption regarding these scholars is that their dislike should be understood as a prohibition (karahat tahrimi).

Because we cannot suspect them of permitting an act which the Prophet (peace be upon him) has forbidden with a command whose authenticity has reached the level of certainty (hadd tawatur), and whose doers have been cursed.

Second Source
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ forbade lighting lamps on graves. Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, and the people of the Sunnah narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that:
The Prophet ﷺ cursed women who visit graves, those who build mosques on them, and those who light lamps on them. Whenever the Prophet ﷺ cursed an act, it was a major sin, and the jurists have explicitly declared such an act forbidden.
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, may Allah have mercy on him, said that if lighting lamps on graves were permissible, then the doer would not have been cursed, yet he was cursed. Therefore, firstly, it causes waste of wealth without benefit, and secondly, it is an excess in venerating graves, which resembles idol worship. For this reason, scholars have said that offering lamps or oil as a vow on graves is not permissible because this vow is sinful, and it is unanimously agreed that fulfilling such a vow is not allowed. It is also said that dedicating anything as a waqf (endowment) for this purpose on graves is not permissible because such a waqf is invalid and enforcing it is not lawful.

Third source
The Prophet ﷺ forbade making graves solid and building structures over them. It is narrated in Sahih Muslim from Sayyiduna Jabir رضي الله عنه that:
The Prophet ﷺ forbade making graves solid and building structures over them. Scholars have said that this prohibition likely includes two things. One is making them with stones or similar materials. The second is erecting tents or the like over them. The Prophet ﷺ forbade both these practices because they have no benefit, the wealth spent on them is wasted, and also because these are acts of the people of ignorance (Jahiliyyah).

Fourth source
The Prophet ﷺ forbade writing on graves.
In Sunan Abi Dawood, it is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade making graves solid and writing on them.

Fifth Source
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade placing excess soil on graves after their excavation.
In Sunan Abi Dawood, it is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade making graves permanent, writing on them, and placing excess soil on them.

Sixth Source
The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) prohibition of praying near graves.
In Sahih Muslim, it is narrated from Sayyidna Mursad al-Ghanawi (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Do not sit on graves nor pray facing them. And from Sayyidna Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) it is narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: The whole earth is a mosque except for graves and bathrooms. This hadith has been narrated by Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) and the people of the Sunan collections.
There are numerous narrations that prohibit and strictly forbid this. The reason is that dedicating graves for prayer resembles the idolaters who prostrate before idols to honor them and seek nearness to them. As mentioned above, the origin of idolatry began with this trial of graves. For this reason, the Prophet (peace be upon him) cursed the People of the Book because they made the graves of their prophets into mosques.
Sheikh Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him), in his book Ighathat al-Lahfan, quoting his teacher Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), states: The reason the Lawgiver (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade building mosques over graves is this very cause which led many nations either to major shirk (polytheism) or lesser degrees of shirk. The reason is that associating partners with a person’s grave, especially when one thinks well of that person’s piety and goodness, inclines a person more towards shirk than associating partners with a tree or stone. Therefore, you will see many people showing humility, submissiveness, and weeping near graves, performing acts of worship from the heart that they do not perform in the mosque or at night. Some of them even prostrate before graves, and many hope for blessings in praying near graves that they do not expect from prayers performed in the mosque. Because of this corruption, the Prophet (peace be upon him) uprooted this belief entirely and forbade praying in the cemetery altogether, even if the one praying does not intend to pray near the grave. Also, he forbade praying at sunrise, sunset, and when the sun is at its zenith, because these are times when the polytheists worship the sun. Thus, he completely forbade his nation from praying at these times, even if their intention was not to imitate the polytheists.
If a person prays near a grave with the intention that praying there brings blessings, this is outright enmity against Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) and opposition to their religion, and it is inventing a religion that Allah has not commanded. Because acts of worship must be in accordance with the Sunnah and following the Messenger, not based on personal desires and whims. Without doubt, all Muslims have consensus on this matter, and they have recognized from their own religion that praying near graves is forbidden, let alone considering it a cause of blessing and benefit.

Seventh Source
The command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to level graves.
This is narrated in Muslim from Abu al-Hayyaj al-Asadi, may Allah have mercy on him, that:
Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said to me: Shall I not send you on the task on which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me? It was to erase any image one sees and to level any elevated grave one sees.

Eighth Source
The prohibition by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ against making graves places of Eid (festivals).
In Sunan Abi Dawood, with authentic chains, it is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺ said: Do not make your houses graves (i.e., do not perform voluntary prayers in them) and do not make my grave a place of Eid (festival), and keep sending blessings upon me, for your blessings will reach me wherever you are.

And in Musnad Abi Ya’li al-Mawsili, it is narrated from Ali ibn Husayn (Zain al-Abidin) that he saw a person who used to come near a window by the Prophet’s ﷺ grave, enter it, and pray. So he forbade him and said, “Shall I tell you a hadith that I heard from my father (Sayyiduna Husayn, may Allah be pleased with him), who heard it from my grandfather Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), who heard it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” He said, “Do not make my grave a place of festivity, nor your homes graves. Your greetings reach me wherever you are.”

And Saeed bin Mansoor reported to us from our master Abdul Aziz bin Muhammad, who said that Suhail bin Abi Suhail reported that Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with them) was seen near the noble grave. He called me from the house of Lady Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) while they were having dinner and said, “Come, eat.” I said, “I do not desire.” Then he said, “Why did I see you near the grave?” I said, “I greeted the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم.” He said, “Is that why you entered the mosque?” Then he said, “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said: Do not make my house a place of Eid (festival) and your houses graves, and send blessings upon me; your blessings reach me wherever you are.” So you and the people of Andalus have an equal closeness to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in this regard.

Therefore, since the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم‘s grave is the Master of Graves and is superior to all graves on the face of the earth, and he forbade making it a place of Eid (festival), it is even less appropriate for any other grave, whether of a saint, a martyr, or any other prophet.

Then, along with this, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave another prohibition and said, “Do not make your houses graves,” which is his command to regularly perform voluntary prayers in your homes so that they do not become like graves. He also forbade praying near graves and commanded to send blessings upon him because your blessings reach me wherever you are. By giving this command, he indicated that your blessings and salutations reach me from near and far. Therefore, there is no need for you to make the grave a place of Eid (festival).