This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Irshad Ullah Maan's book In Search of Truth.
Question: Can we seek help from living and present people?
Answer: We can seek assistance from living people in matters where Allah Almighty has given them power. Allah Almighty says: [وَ تَعَاوَنُوۡا عَلَی الۡبِرِّ وَ التَّقۡوٰی] Help one another in righteousness and piety.
Reference: (Al-Ma'idah:2)
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Allah continues to help His servant as long as the servant helps his brother.
Reference: Muslim, Book of Remembrance and Supplication, Chapter on the Virtue of Gathering for Recitation of the Qur'an and Remembrance:2699
This conditional help through means is by no means proof that deceased prophets and saints should be called upon. Calling upon them for help beyond the means is, according to many verses of the Holy Qur'an, shirk (associating partners with Allah).
Question: Can blessings be obtained from a grave?
Answer: Going to the graves of the righteous and seeking blessings from the grave's stone or tree is shirk (associating partners with Allah). Waqid al-Laythi narrates: We were going with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ during the Battle of Hunayn. Our period of disbelief had just recently passed when on the way we came across a berry tree called Dhatu Anwat. The polytheists considered sitting near this tree to be a source of blessing and used to hang their weapons on this tree for blessings. When we passed by this tree, we said to the Prophet ﷺ: Just as this tree is Dhatu Anwat for these polytheists, appoint a Dhatu Anwat for us as well. The Prophet ﷺ said Allahu Akbar and said: By the One in Whose hand is my soul! You have said the same thing that the Children of Israel said to Musa (peace be upon him): O Musa (peace be upon him)! Make for us a god like they have gods. Musa (peace be upon him) said: You are a people who are very ignorant. Then the Prophet ﷺ said: You will also follow the ways of the previous nations.
Reference: Tirmidhi, Book of Tribulations, Chapter on the Prohibition of Following the Practices of Those Before You: 2180
It has been understood that it is not permissible to designate places for obtaining blessings.
Question: Can a monotheist slaughter an animal for Allah alone at a grave where other people slaughter animals for other than Allah?
Answer: The place where animals are slaughtered for anyone other than Allah, it is not permissible to slaughter animals there purely for Allah as well. It is narrated from Saabit bin Dhahak رضي الله عنه that a person vowed to slaughter some camels at a place called Buwana. The person who made this vow asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: Is it correct to do so? The Prophet ﷺ inquired: Was there any idol there that the polytheists used to worship? The companions replied: No. The Prophet ﷺ then asked: Did the polytheists hold a fair there? The companions replied: No. The Prophet ﷺ permitted that companion to fulfill his vow and said: It is not correct to fulfill a vow in disobedience to Allah, nor is it correct to fulfill a vow for something that is not in a person's possession.
Reference: Abu Dawood, Book of Oaths and Vows, Chapter on what one is commanded regarding fulfilling vows: 3313
Question: Is it a good practice to write amulets using Quranic verses or Sunnah supplications and hang them?
Answer: The correct use of prayers mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah is only that which Allah's Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught. Writing verses and hadiths and shaping them like snails or shells, then tying them with black or white threads or hanging them on knotted threads is absolutely not proven from the Sunnah; rather, this practice resembles talismans. Talismans refer to snails, shells, etc., which the polytheists used to hang to protect themselves from calamities, and the Prophet ﷺ called all of these acts shirk (polytheism). Moreover, amulets have become quite a business, and hardly anyone who writes amulets tells people what is written in them. Some amulets even contain names like Jibra'il or Israfil (ندا لغیراللہ).
