When and How Did Grave-Worship Begin? A Comprehensive Research-Based Review
Sourced from: Fatāwā Muḥammadiyyah, Volume 1, Page 156
❀ Question
Assalāmu ʿAlaikum wa Raḥmatullāh wa Barakātuh!
My question is: after idol-worship, when and how did grave-worship begin in the world? Please provide a detailed and well-evidenced answer.
❀ Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
◈ The Beginning: From the People of Nūḥ (AS)
Grave-worship (idol-worship) first began among the people of Nūḥ (AS). Allah, the Exalted, mentions in the Qur’an the call of Nūḥ (AS) to Tawḥīd, the disobedience of his people, and their worship of their elders:
﴿قالَ نوحٌ رَبِّ إِنَّهُم عَصَونى وَاتَّبَعوا مَن لَم يَزِدهُ مالُهُ وَوَلَدُهُ إِلّا خَسارًا ﴿٢١﴾ وَمَكَروا مَكرًا كُبّارًا ﴿٢٢﴾ وَقالوا لا تَذَرُنَّ ءالِهَتَكُم وَلا تَذَرُنَّ وَدًّا وَلا سُواعًا وَلا يَغوثَ وَيَعوقَ وَنَسرًا ﴿٢٣﴾…
(Sūrah Nūḥ)
Meaning:
Nūḥ (AS) said: “My Lord, they have disobeyed me and followed those whose wealth and children only increased them in loss. And they devised a mighty plot, and said: ‘Do not abandon your gods; do not abandon Wadd, nor Suwāʿ, nor Yaghūth, Yaʿūq, and Nasr.’”
◈ Reality of These Figures
According to Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, and Fatḥ al-Qadīr, as narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās (RA) and other Companions and Tābiʿīn:
✔ These five names (Wadd, Suwāʿ, Yaghūth, Yaʿūq, Nasr) were righteous elders of the people of Nūḥ (AS).
✔ Their fame spread so widely that even Arab tribes later adopted their worship.
Details according to tribes:
- Wadd: deity of the Kalb tribe in Dūmat al-Jandal.
- Suwāʿ: deity of the Hudhayl tribe by the seashore.
- Yaghūth: deity of Banū Murād and Banū Ghaṭīf near the city of Saba.
- Yaʿūq: deity of the Hamdān tribe.
- Nasr: deity of Dhū al-Kalāʿ from the Ḥimyar tribe.
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Tafsīr Sūrah Nūḥ, Vol. 2, p. 732)
◈ Role of Iblīs in the Beginning of Idol-Worship
After these pious elders passed away, Iblīs deceived their followers by suggesting:
✔ Make statues and portraits of these saints to preserve their memory.
✔ By remembering them, you too will become righteous like them.
When that generation died, Iblīs misled the later ones, saying:
“Your forefathers used to worship them, so you must also worship them.”
Thus, idol-worship began.
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Tafsīr, Tafsīr Sūrah Nūḥ, Vol. 2, p. 732)
◈ Prophet ﷺ’s Warning Against Grave-Worship
ʿĀ’ishah (RA) narrated:
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in his final illness, some of his wives (particularly Umm Salamah and Umm Ḥabībah RA) mentioned a church in Abyssinia called Māriyah, renowned for its beauty and pictures.
The Prophet ﷺ lifted his blessed head and said:
“It was their practice that whenever a righteous man among them died, they would build a place of worship over his grave and decorate it with images. They are indeed the worst of creatures before Allah on the Day of Resurrection.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Bāb Binā’ al-Masjid, Vol. 1, p. 179; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Vol. 1, p. 201)
◈ Clear Prohibition: Making Graves into Places of Worship
Jundub (RA) narrated:
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
“Beware! Those before you used to make the graves of their prophets and righteous ones into places of worship. You must not make graves into mosques; I strictly forbid you from doing so.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Bāb al-Nahy ʿan Binā’ al-Masājid ʿala al-Qubūr, Vol. 1, p. 201)
❀ Conclusion
From the above Qur’ānic verses, authentic Aḥādīth, and tafsīrs, it is clear that:
➊ Grave-worship was established gradually after the righteous elders of Nūḥ (AS).
➋ Shayṭān first suggested making their images and memorials.
➌ Later generations were deceived into worshipping them.
➍ The same fitnah exists today in the form of shrine-culture, which in some places has become a hub of immorality, exploitation, and deviation.
“And Allah is the One Whose help is sought.”
Supplication
O Lord! Grant us both insight and vision,
For Muslims are looted in the darkness of shrine-worship.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
