Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Nadhr (Vow) To The People In Grave

People in difficulties and pain customarily make a nadhr (vow) that if their difficulty is solved and if their so and so work is made easy, they will donate a certain sum of money for one of the shrines over the grave and / or will sacrifice a goat for preparing food for the pilgrims. They say:

    لله علىَّ كذا إن كان كذا

This matter is prevalent among all the Muslims of the world especially at those centres where the graves of awliya Allah and virtuous personalities are present.

The Wahhabis are sensitive to these types of vows and the most abusive writer amongst them, Abdullah al-Qasimi writes as such:

The Shi'a, because of their belief in the divinity (Godliness) of Ali and his sons, worship them in their graves and it is for this reason that they have built their graves and populated near them. From every nook and corner of the world, they go for their ziyara and present their vows and sacrifices to them and shed tears and blood over their graves.1

This shameless and foul-mouthed writer whose basic culture and manners is apparent from the title of his book2 has reckoned this matter to be related to the Shi'a whereas, the founder of Wahhabism Ibn Taymiyya has discussed the matter in a wider scope and has believed it to be related to the common Muslims. As he says:

    من نذر شيئاً للنبيّ أو غيره من النبييّن والأولياء من أهل القبول أو ذبح ذبيحة كان كالمشركين الذين يذبحون

    لأوثانهم و ينذرون لها فهو عابد لغير الله فيكون بذلك كافراً

“Anyone who has a nadhr (vow) to make and sacrifice for the Holy Prophet (s), other Prophets and other awliya is similar to the polytheists who were doing vows and sacrifices for their idols. Such a person is same as the one worshipping someone other than God and he will be called an infidel (kafir)."3

The master and student have both been deceived by apparent (appearances). By the decree of this apparent similarity, they have attacked both with one stick, whereas in the case of common actions, the criterion and basis of judgement is not to be looked in its apparent form but what is important is the intention by heart.

If apparent similarities suffice in a judgement then we have to say that many of the obligatory Hajj actions are similar to the actions of the idol-worshippers who used to circumambulate around the stones and mud and worship their wooden and metallic idols. The same actions are performed by us. We circumambulate around the Ka’ba which is made of stone and mud; we kiss the hajar (stone) and shed blood in Mina.

The basis of judgements and arbitrations in apparently similar affairs are the motives and the intentions and one can never pass a similar judgement only because the two actions are apparently the same.

Regarding this matter, the author of Sulh al-'ikhwan has given a statement which can clarify this matter. He says:

    إن المسألة تدور مدار نيات الناذرين وإنما الأعمال بالنيات فإن كان قصد الناذر الميت نففسه والتقرب إليه بذلك لم

    يجُز قولاً واحداً وإن كان قصد وجه الله تعالى وانتفاع الأحياء بوجه من الوجوه وثوابه لذلك المنذور له الميت فيجب

    الوفاء بالنذر

This Sunni scholar who is himself a critic of the beliefs of Wahhabis has, in this short statement discussed the matter from the viewpoint of the intentions and motives. He says:

“If the intention of nadhr (vow) is to gain proximity to the dead, then undoubtedly such an act is not permissible (for nadhr should be for Allah and His proximity). If it is for the sake of Allah and His proximity and consequently a section of people benefit from it and its reward is presented to the dead, then there is no objection to it and one should in such a case, fulfil his nadhr (vow).”4

The truth is what this scholar has said in these sentences and the motive of nadhr among the Muslims is exactly the same as what has come in the second phase of his statement. It is here that the difference (in essence) between the action of the Muslims and the action of the idol-worshippers becomes obvious. Their intention in presenting gifts and sacrificing animals was to seek proximity to their idols. They even slaughtered animals in their names and their aim was only the idols and seeking their proximity and nothing else. On the other hand, the aim of the Muslims is to seek the satisfaction of Allah and present its reward to the dead. Therefore they bring the word of Allah in their vows and say:

    لله عليًّ إن قضيت حاجتي ان افعل كذا

“The purpose of nadhr in reality is seeking proximity to Allah and presenting its reward to the one in grave and the beneficiaries of these nadhr are the poor and the indigent.”

In such a case, how can one consider this action as shirk and place it on par with the action of the polytheists!?

In short, these kinds of nadhr are one type of charity given on behalf of the Prophets and virtuous people the reward of which goes to them and none of the Islamic scholars have objected to such a charity given on behalf of the dead.

For acquainting the respected readers with the fallacious thinking of the Wahhabis, we shall discuss this matter in greater length.

In Arabic language, the matter of charity is presented withلام but sometimes, this letter is taken in the sense of aim, goal and motive, like;لله عليَّ and sometimes it is meant to describe its usage likeإنما الصدقات للفقراء and while carrying out the paradigm of nadhr (vow) they use both kinds ofلام and say:

    نذرت لله إن قُضيت حاجتي أن أذبح للنبيَّ

The firstلام is the sameلام of goal and motive and it implies that the aim of this nadhr is seeking the satisfaction of Allah and gaining His proximity whereas the secondلام indicates the very object which derives benefit from this nadhr and the reward is presented to him.

لام inصليت لله and orنذرت لله is for expressing goal and motive i.e. I recited salat and I did nadhr because of obeying the commands of Allah and seeking His satisfaction and proximity.

On the other handلام inاذبح للنبيّ اولوالدىّ او لوالدتي is for clarifying the beneficiary and showing that this action takes place on his behalf and it is he who reaps the benefits of its reward.

Such nadhr not only is not an 'ibada (worship) of that person but rather, it is 'ibada of Allah for the sake of benefit of the creatures of Allah.

In Islamic traditions, there are many instances regarding this matter where we shall hereunder mention a few of them.

(1) One of the companions of the Holy Prophet (s) by the name of Sa’d told the Prophet: “My mother has died and if she was alive today, she would be giving charity. Supposing that I give charity on her behalf, will she derive any benefit from it?” The Holy Prophet (s) replied: “Yes”. Thereafter, he asked the Prophet (s) that amongst all the charities which charity was the most useful and the Prophet (s) replied: “Water”. Sa’d dug a well and said:

    هذه لإم سعد

As you must have noticed, theلام of this sentence is different from theلام that is present in the sentenceنذرت لله the firstلام is for expression of motive and the secondلام shows the object deriving the gain.5

(2) During the time of the Holy Prophet (s), a person made a nadhr to sacrifice a camel at Bavana. For this reason, he approached the Holy Prophet (s) and informed him of his intentions, the Prophet (s) asked: “During the era of paganism, was there any idol at that place for the people to worship?” He replied “No.” The Prophet (s) asked: “Was any congregation held in any of the ignorant festivals in that place?” He replied “No.” At that moment, the Prophet (s) said:

    اوفِ بنذرك فإنه لا وفاء لنذرٍ في معصية الله ولا فيما لا يملك ابن أدم

“Fulfill your vow (nadhr) as nadhr is not correct in two instances:

(a) In case of sins and disobedience of Allah and,

(b) In things which he is not the owner.”6

(3) A woman told the Holy Prophet (s) as such: I have made a nadhr to slaughter an animal at one particular place. The Holy Prophet (s) asked: “Have you made a nadhr for an idol? She replied “No.”: The Holy Prophet (s) said: Fulfil your nadhr.7

(4) The father of Maymuna said: I have done nadhr to slaughter 50 sheep at Bavana. The Holy Prophet (s) said:

“Is there any idol in that place?” He replied “No.” The Prophet (s) said: “You may fulfil your nadhr.”

The successive questionings by the Prophet (s) about the existence of idols in the past and present and or about the presence of any congregations in the form of festivals at those places was due to the fact that under such situations, the sacrifice took place for those idols and for gaining their proximity whereas sacrifices should be only for Allah and not for the idols. In fact, one of the forbidden acts from the viewpoint of Qur’an is to slaughter in the name of an idol. As the Holy Qur’an says:

    وما ذُبِح على النُصب

“And what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols). (Maida 5:3)”

The reason that the questioners were fixing the place of slaughter was because of the presence of poor and needy people and or the easiness in performing the deed in those places.

Those who are having connection with the pilgrims to the holy graves are fully aware that nadhr is made for the sake of Allah and His satisfaction and sacrifice is done in His name. However, as far as the benefits are concerned its rewards go to the awliya Allah and its material gains to the poor and / or to the holy shrine itself.

Notes

1. Al-Sira, vol. l page 54.

2. He has named this book, so to speak, as a rebuff to Kashf al-'irtiyab written by Allama Sayyid Muhsin Amin and given the title of “battle between Islam and idol-worshipping" and in this way has called the Shi'a, who form one-fourth of Muslim population in the world, as idol-worshippers.

3. Furqan al-Qur’an, page 132 written by al-'Azami narrated from Ibn Taymiyya.

4. Sulh al-'ikhwan, page 102 and …

5. Furqan al-Qur’an, page 133 narrated from al-Ghadir, vol. 5 page 181.

6. Sunan Abi Dawud, vol. 2 page 80.

7. Sunan Abi Dawud, vol. 2 page 81

‘Calling’ The Divine Personalities

One of the matters of disputes between the Wahhabis and other Islamic sects is the matter of pleading and calling the pious personalities and awliya Allah in times of hardship and difficulties.

Pleading and asking help from the Prophets and awliya Allah near their graves or otherwise is completely in vogue among the Islamic sects and they consider it neither to be shirk (polytheism) nor contradicting the Islamic foundations. On the other hand, the Wahhabis have strongly rejected such pleadings and for intimidating their opponents, they set forth some verses of Qur’an which are not having the least connection to what they claim and always raise the following verse as their slogan.

    وأن المساجد لله فلا تدعوا مع الله احداً

“The mosques belong to Allah; do not call anyone with Allah. (Jinn 72:18)”

For acquainting the respected readers with all such verses which are the greatest excuse in the hands of the Wahhabis, we shall present them here and then explain their contents. The Wahhabis prove their point by producing the afore-mentioned and the following verses.

    له دعوة الحق والذين يدعون من دونه لا يستجيبون لهم بشئ

“To Him is due the true prayer; and those whom they pray to beside Allah give them no answer. (Raad 13:14)”

    وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَكُمْ وَلَا أَنْفُسَهُمْ يَنْصُرُونَ

“And those whom you call upon besides Him are not able to help you, nor can they help themselves. (A’raf 7:197)”

    وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِنْ قِطْمِيرٍ

“And those whom you call upon besides Him do not control a straw. (Fatir 35:13)”

     إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ عِبَادٌ أَمْثَالُكُمْ

“Surely those whom you call on besides Allah are in a state of subjugation like yourselves. (A’raf 7:194)”

    قل ادعوا الذين زعمتم من دونه فلا يملكون كشف الضُر عنكم ولا تحويلاً

“Say: Call on those whom you assert besides Him, so they shall not control the removal of distress from you nor (its) transference. (Bani-Israel 17:56)”

    أولئك الذين يدعون يبتغون إلى ربهم الوسيلة

“Those whom they call upon, themselves seek the means of access to their Lord. (Bani-Israel 17:57)”

    ولا تدع من دون الله ما لا ينفعك ولا يضُرك

“And do not call besides Allah on that which can neither benefit you nor harm you. (Yunus 11:106)”

    إن تدعوهم لا يسمعوا دعاءكم

“If you call on them they shall not hear your call. (Fatir 35:14)”

    ومن أضل ممن يدعوا من دون الله من لا يستجيب له إلى يوم القيمة

“And who is in greater error than he who calls besides Allah upon those that will not answer him till the day of resurrection. (Ahqaaf 46:5)”

The Wahhabis conclude from these verses that calling the awliya and virtuous people after their death is 'ibada and worship of them, and that anyone who says, “O Muhammad” either near his grave or from far off; this calling itself is 'ibada.

Al-San'ani narrating from Kashf al-'irtiyab, pages 273-274, mentions in his book Tanzih al-i'tiqad as such:

    وقد سمَّى الله الدعاء عبادة بقوله: ادعوني استجب لكم إن الذين يستكبرون عن عبادتي ، ومن هتف باسم نبي أو صالح بشئ أو قال اشفع لي إلى الله في حاجتي أو استشفع بك إلى الله في حاجتي أو نحو ذلك أو قال إقض دينى أو إشف مريضى أو نحو ذلك فقد دعا النبي والصالح والدعاء عبادة بل مُخّها فيكون قد بد غير الله وصار مشركاً إذ لا يُتمّ التوحيد إلا بتوحيده تعالى في الإلهية بإعتقاد أن لا خالق ولا رازق غيره العبادة بعدم عبادة غيره ولو ببعض العبادات وعُباد الأصنام إنما اشركوا لعدم توحيد الله في العبادة .

“The Holy Qur’an has unconditionally declared pleadings and callings towards someone other than Allah as 'ibada; the reason being that in the beginning of verse, it saysأدعوني أستجب لكم and following that it says:

    يستكبرون عن عبادتي

Therefore, anyone who calls the Prophet (s) and or a pious person or asks to intercede for fulfilling his or her needs, or says “You help in repaying my debt”, or says “You cure my sickness”, then in these cases this person has, with such sayings, worshipped them because the reality of worship is nothing but calling someone. As a result of such calling, he has worshipped (someone) other than Allah and has become a polytheist since monotheism of divinity1 (i.e there is no Creator and Sustainer except Allah) should be accompanied with monotheism of worship which means not worshipping anyone except Him.”

Reply

There is no doubt about this fact that the word ofدُعا in Arabic means ‘to call’ and the termعبادات means ‘to worship’ and one can never reckon these two words to be synonymous to each other; and say that both give the same meaning. In other words, one cannot say that every call and plead is 'ibada (worship) because: Firstly, in the Holy Qur’an, the word ofدعوت (calling) has been used in instances where it does not give the meaning of ‘worship’ at all.

Like:

    قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُ قَوْمِي لَيْلًا وَنَهَارًا

“He said: ‘O Lord! I called my nation (towards Thee) day and night. (Nuh 71:5)’”

Can we say that the intention of Nuh was to say “I worshipped my nation day and night!”?

The Qur'an quotes Satan as saying:

    كَانَ لِيَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ إِلَّا أَنْ دَعَوْتُكُمْ فَاسْتَجَبْتُمْ لِي

“I did not have any authority upon you except that I called you (towards evil deeds) and you obliged. (Ibrahim 14:22)”

Is it possible for anyone to interpret Satan's calling to mean that he has worshipped his followers!? If it was an act of worship it was from the side of the followers of Satan and not from Satan himself.

In this verse and tens of other un-mentioned verses, the word ofدعوت (calling) has not been used in the meaning ofعبادات (worship). Therefore, one cannot say thatدعوت andعبادات are synonymous to each other and based on this, conclude that if anyone seeks help and calls the Prophets or the virtuous people, he has worshipped them.2

Secondly, byدُعا in these verses is not meant as absolute calling but refers to some special calling which can be synonymous to the word ofعبادات because, all these verses have come down with regard to the idol-worshippers who believed their idols to be small gods who were entrusted with some of the divine ranks and who possessed some kind of independence in their affairs.

Let it not be unsaid that humbleness and humility or any kind of utterance or behaviour in front of a creature either as a big God or small god if it is with this intention that he is God, Lord, and the Owner of affairs like shafa'a and forgiveness, then it will be 'ibada or worship. There is no doubt that the humility of the idol-worshippers and their pleading and calling were before those idols which they depicted as the owners of the right of intercession etc., and considered them as the independent authority in the affairs of this world and the Hereafter.

It is apparent that under these circumstances, any kind of pleading and calling towards these creatures is 'ibada or worship. The most obvious witness to the fact that their pleadings and callings were accompanied with the belief in their divinity is this verse:

    فَمَا أَغْنَتْ عَنْهُمْ آلِهَتُهُمُ الَّتِي يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ

“So their gods whom they called upon besides Allah did not avail them ought. (Hud 11:101)”

Therefore, the verses under discussion have no relation to the main point of our discussion.

The topic of our discussion is pleading of one slave to another slave who neither considers him as God nor Lord nor as the Owner and independent authority in the worldly and heavenly affairs. Rather, he reckons him to be a beloved servant of Allah who has appointed him to the position of Prophethood and Imamate and promised to accept his prayers with regards to His slaves. As verse says:

    وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ جَاءُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا اللَّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُوا اللَّهَ تَوَّابًا رَحِيمًا

“And had they, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked forgiveness of Allah and the Apostle had (also) asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Oft-returning (to mercy), Merciful. (Nisa 4:64)”

Thirdly, in the aforementioned verses itself, there is a clear evidence that byدعوت is not meant absolute asking for ones affairs and needs but refers to asking and calling in the sense of Ibadat and worship. For this reason, in one of the verses, the word of 'ibada immediately follows the word ofدعوت giving the same meaning. Like:

    وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ  إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ

“And your Lord says: Call upon Me, I will answer you, surely those who are too proud for My service shall soon enter hell abased. (Ghafir 40:60)”

Just as you must have noticed, in the beginning of the verse the word ofادعوني and following the same verse the word ofعبادتي has come and this clearly shows that by thisدعوت is meant some special pleading and beseeching before a creature whom they recognized by the divine qualities.

The master of the prostrators, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin (‘a) says in his supplication as such:

    فسميت دعاءك عبادة وتركه استكباراً وتوعَّدت على تركه دخول جهَّنهم داخرين

“Thou have named Thy calling as worship and its abandonment as pride and Thou have promised a miserable entry into the fire for those who abandon it.”3

And sometimes in two verses where the contents are similar, we see in one place the word ofعبادات and in another place the word ofدعوت Like:

    قُلْ أَتَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ ضَرًّا وَلَا نَفْعًا

“Say: Do you serve besides Allah that which does not control for you any harm, or any profit? (Maida: 76)”

In another verse it says:

    قُلْ أَنَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَنْفَعُنَا وَلَا يَضُرُّنَا

“Say: Shall we call on that besides Allah, which does not benefit us nor harm us. (An’am: 71)”

In Sura Fatir, verse 13 it says:

    وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِنْ قِطْمِيرٍ

“And those whom you call upon besides Him do not control a straw.”

In this verse, the word ofتدعون is used whereas in another verse which contains the same contents the word ofتعبدون is used.

    إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لَكُمْ رِزْقًا

“Surely they whom you serve besides Allah do not control for you any sustenance. (Ankabut: 17)”

Sometimes, in one verse, both the words have appeared and has been used in the same meaning:

    قُلْ إِنِّي نُهِيتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ

“Say: I am forbidden to serve those whom you call upon besides Allah. (An’am: 56)”

“Say, I am forbidden from worshipping those which you call them (i.e. worship them)”4

Respected readers are requested to refer to al-Mu'jam al-mufahras under the wordsعبد andدُعا so that they will witness as to how in on verse the word ofعبادات has come and in another verse the word ofدعوت has come giving the same meaning. This itself shows that the meaning ofدعوت in this verse, is 'ibada and worship and not absolute calling.

If you carefully pay attention to the whole set of verses wherein the word ofدعوت has been used in the sense ofعبادات you will realize that these verses either refer to the Great God of the Universe whom all the monotheist believe in His Divinity, Lordship and Mastership or refers to the idols where its worshippers considered them as small gods and masters of intercession. Under these circumstances, reasoning out with these verses for discussing aboutدعوت (calling) one of the awliya and beseeching one of them who doesn’t have any of these qualities is really astonishing.

Notes

1. Contrary to the terminology of the Wahhabis, al-San'ani has used the word of "الوهى "where as he should have, from their viewpoint, used the word of "ربوني "

2. From the viewpoint of relationship, calling and worship (general and special) is in one direction. In case of asking help from someone other than Allah but as a doer depending on God, it shows calling and not worship. But in practical glorifications like ruku’ and sajda which is accompanied with the belief in the divinity of the opposite person it denotes ‘worship’ and notدُعا In some instances, such as salat, bothدُعا andعبادات are applicable.

3. Sahifat al-Sajjadiyya, supplication No.45 and what is meant is Sura Ghafir verse 60.

4. The same is the content of Sura Ghafir, verse 66.