Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Is It An Innovation To Commemorate The Birth And Death Anniversaries Of Awliya Allah?

The Wahhabis consider the honouring of birth and death anniversaries of awliya and divine personalities to be forbidden and an innovation. They are the staunch enemies of the awliya Allah and religious leaders and consider the gatherings on their birth and death anniversaries to be (haram) prohibited.

Muhammad Hamid al-Faqi, the leader of group ‘Ansar al-Sunnat al-Muhammadiyya’ in his footnotes to his book al-Fath al-Majid writes:

    الذكريات التي ملاءت البلاد بإسم الأولياء هى نوعٌ من العبادة لهم وتعظيمهم

“Remembering and celebrating on the days of birth and death of awliya amounts to one kind of worshipping them and respecting before them.”1

The root of all their mistakes is that because they have not determined any limit and margin for polytheism (shirk), tawhid and specially the meaning of 'ibada, they think that every kind of respect and honour is worship. As you must have noticed, he has brought the word of 'ibada and homage close to each other and imagines that both give the same meaning.

In the one of next chapters, we shall explain the meaning of 'ibada and clearly prove that every honour and respect to the virtuous servants of God with the intention that they are the ‘servants’ of Allah, does not result in their worship at all. Therefore, we shall examine this discussion from another angle (not polytheism in 'ibada).

Undoubtedly, Qur’an has repeatedly praised the Prophets and awliya with eloquent and rhetorical words.

About Zakaria, Yahya and others the Qur’an says:

    إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَيَدْعُونَنَا رَغَبًا وَرَهَبًا  وَكَانُوا لَنَا خَاشِعِينَ

“Surely they used to hasten, one with another, in deeds of goodness and to call upon Us, hoping and fearing, and they were humble before Us. (al-'Anbiya 21:90)”

Now, if in a gathering which is held under their name, someone portrays them in a similar manner which has come down in the contents of this verse and by this way honours them, has he done anything other than obeying the Holy Qur’an?

About the household of the Prophet, Allah (swt) says:

    وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ مِسْكِينًا وَيَتِيمًا وَأَسِيرًا

"And they give food out of love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive. (Dahr 76:8)”

Now if the followers of Ali come together on the birthday of Amir al-mu'minin and say that Ali is one who used to give his own food to the poor, orphan and the captive, have they by this act worshipped him!?

If on the birthday of the Holy Prophet (s) we translate the verse which praises the Prophet into a non-Arabic language or write a poem on a tablet and recite it in a gathering, have we committed a forbidden action!?

They are having enmity with the matter of honouring the Holy Prophet (s) and awilya Allah that they wish to stop this under the pretext of fight against innovation.

At this stage a question is brought up to which the loud-speakers amongst the Wahhabis lay great emphasis and it is this: ‘Since these assemblies and gatherings are held under the name of religion and are labelled as Islamic, they should be approved specifically and generally by the Islamic rules. Otherwise it would be innovation (bid’at) and forbidden (haram).

The reply to this question is quite clear because the verses of Qur’an that draw our attention to the necessity of honouring the Prophet is sufficient in this case and these kinds of gatherings are not held for any reason other than respecting the awliya Allah. That thing is considered to be ‘innovation’ which is not approved specifically or generally by Qur’an or the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet.

The purpose of these honourings which is common amongst all the nations of the world is nothing but paying respect and homage and this practise is common among all the Muslims of the world except for these handful of dry wahhabi ‘Najdis’. If it was innovation and something new and not confirming with the general Islamic principles, it was impossible that the Islamic scholars would celebrate the birthday of the Holy Prophet (s) and make splendid such gatherings by reading scholarly monographs and reciting sweet and elegant poems.

Here are some logical reasoning from Qur’an permitting such respect and honourings:

First Proof

The Holy Qur’an praises that group of people who honour the Holy Prophet (s):

    فالذين امنوا به وعزَّروه ونصروه واتبعوا النُور الذي أنزل معه أولئك هُم المُفلحون .

“So (as for) those who believe in him and honour him and help him, and follow the light which has been sent down with him, these it is that are the successful. (A'raf 7:157)”

The words which have appeared in this verse comprises of:

    أمنوا به

    غزروه

    نصروه

    واتبعوا النُور

Is it possible for one to think that the wordsأمنوا به , نصروه andواتبعوا النور are confined to the period of the Holy Prophet? Certainly not! If such a probability cannot be given about these three words, the word ofعزَّروه which gives the meaning of honour and respect2 cannot be assigned to the period of the Holy Prophet (s) and thus this sublime leader should be respected and honoured at all times.

Is it not that arranging memorial gathering on the day of bi'that and birth of the Holy Prophet (s) and delivering speeches and poems on such occasions clear evidence toعزَّروه ?

Surprisingly, the Wahhabis pay homage and respect their own tribal leaders and rulers and honour even one ordinary person such that observing one hundredth of that with regard to the Holy Prophet (s), his pulpit and alter is considered to be innovation and anti-Islamic by them. As a result they introduce Islam to the world as one dry religion lacking any sentiments and affections and think that the shari'a which is in fact simple and easy, matching with the human nature and feeling and generous enough to attract the people is a dry "shari'a" which does not consider the respect of divine leaders to be of any significance and does not possess the ability to attract the people of the world.

Second Proof

What do the Wahhabis who oppose any kind of mourning ceremonies for the martyrs in the way of Allah have to say about the story of Ya'qub ('a)? If today, this great Prophet was living amongst these Najdis and the followers of Muhammad bin ’Abd al-Wahhab how would have they judged him?

Day and night he was weeping for his separation from Yusuf and all the time he was asking the people about the whereabouts of his beloved son. He was so much sorrowful by the separation of his son that he lost his eye-sight.3

Sickness and loss of eye-sight did not deter Ya’kub (‘a) from forgetting his son Yusuf (‘a). Instead, as the promise of re-union was drawing closer the flames of love towards his son increased manifold and he could smell Yusuf miles away.4

And instead of the star (Yusuf) pursuing the sun (Ya'qub ('a)) it was vice -versa.

Why expression of such affection during the life of the loved one (i.e. Yusuf) is correct and confirms to Tawhid but after his death when the heart becomes more prone to pain and suffering it amounts to polytheism and becomes forbidden?

Now if the Ya'qubs of our time gather together every year on the death anniversary of their Yusufs and speak about the value of his moral qualities due to which they start crying, will such an act amount to worshipping of their sons!?5

Third Proof

Undoubtedly,مودت ذوى القربى (love towards kinship) is one of the Islamic obligations which Qur’an explicitly commends us towards it. Now, after fourteen centuries if someone wishes to act upon the religious obligations then what should we do? Is it not that he should rejoice on their joyous days and become sorrowful on the days of their grief and sorrow?

Now, for expressing one's own pleasure, if someone holds a gathering wherein he reveals their historical life and sacrifices and describes their innocence and their deprivation from their rightful claims then, has he done anything other than expressing his affection and manifesting mawadda dhawi'l qurba? (مودت ذوى القربى )

If, for showing more affection, such a person visits their progeny and comes near their graves and holds such gatherings near their graves then, has he in the eyes of the wise and intelligent people, done anything other than manifesting his love and affection!?

Except that the Wahhabis may say: Such love and affection should be kept secret and confined to the heart and no one has the right to manifest and express them (openly).

During the time of the Holy Prophet (s) and the period after him which was the period of change of thoughts and beliefs, different tribes and nations with different cultures and customs were turning towards Islam and by reciting the shahadatayn (creed) their Islam was accepted. The position of Prophet and the leaders was never to investigate, censor (by establishing the ‘section for scrutinizing of beliefs’) than dissolve the entire rites and customs of the nations and tribes and bring them out in another form different from the previous ones.

Respect of leaders, establishing memorial ceremonies, attending the graves and expressing love for their signs and traces was and is the custom of all nations and tribes. At present too, the people of East and West stand for hours in queue waiting to pay visit to the mummified bodies and graves of ancient leaders in order to express their love and shed tears in their grief. They consider this to be one way for expressing respect and honour.

It was never seen that the Holy Prophet (s) would accept the Islam of people only after investigating their beliefs and examining their practises and customs in practical life. Instead, expressing the ‘Shahadatain’ was enough for him. If these practices and customs were forbidden and or amounted to worshiping the ancestors, then it was necessary to accept the Islam of nations and tribes (only) after taking allegiance and promise from them about their exoneration (of such practices) while such was never the case.

Fourth Proof

We see Isa (‘a) asks for table (with food) from the Almighty Allah and introduces the day of its dissension as the day of celebration and says:

    رَبَّنَا أَنْزِلْ عَلَيْنَا مَائِدَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ تَكُونُ لَنَا عِيدًا لِأَوَّلِنَا وَآخِرِنَا وَآيَةً مِنْكَ  وَارْزُقْنَا وَأَنْتَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ

“O Allah, our lord! send down to us food from heaven which should be to us an ever-recurring happiness, to the first of us and the last of us, and a sign from Thee, and grant us means of subsistence, and Thou art the best of the Providers. (Maida 5:114)”

Is the value of the Holy Prophet's existence lesser than one heavenly table which Isa (‘a) declares the day of its dissension to be the day of ‘Eid’. If such a day is declared to be the day of ‘Eid’ because of the table being a divine sign, then is not the Holy Prophet (s) the greatest divine sign!?

Woe to those who are ready to celebrate the day of dissension of one heavenly table that feeds the stomachs but ignore and label as innovation, the celebration of the day of dissension of Qur’an and the day of appointment (bi’that) of Prophet who blessed the minds of human beings with perfection of thought over the period of history !

Fifth Proof

The Qur’an says:

    ورفعنا لَك ذِكرَك

“And exalted for you your esteem? (Inshiraah 94:4)”

Is it that arranging gatherings for celebrating the days of birth of the Holy Prophet (s) having any purpose other than elevating his name and fame! Why in this case we should not follow the Qur’an? Is not Qur’an an example and the best model for us?

Notes

1. al-Fath al-Majid, page 154. At this time when these pages and papers are being composed, and in the entire Islamic countries celebrations are being held on the occasion of the birth of the Holy Prophet, the Mufti of the House of Sa’ud, Bin Baz has declared as forbidden and innovation any kind of respect for the birthday of the Holy Prophet (s). But the same person addressed King Faisal al-Sa’ud during his reign as ‘Amir al-mu'minin’ and this action was biting and shocking to the extent that the king too understood and excused for accepting this title.

2. Refer to al-Raghib, Mufradat al-Raghib, under " ' dh r".

3.وابيضت عيناه من الحزن Sura Yusuf: 84.

4.إني لاجد ريح يوسف لولا أن تفندون Sura Yusuf verse: 94.

5. Moreover, reliable traditions have come down from the Infallibles about holding of mourning ceremonies and in this connection, Allama al-'Amini has collected in one chapter of his book titled:سيرتنا وسنتنا all the traditions from Sunni books

Seeking Benediction And Cure From The Signs And Traces Of Awliya

The Wahhabis reckon tabarruk (seeking benediction) towards the traces of awliya to be polytheism and label the one who kisses the altar and pulpit of the Holy Prophet (s) as polytheist even though in doing that he doesn’t believe in any kind of godliness in it. Rather, love and affection to the Holy Prophet (s) becomes the cause of kissing the signs and traces related to him. Here we ask, what have they to say about the shirt of Yusuf (a')?

    اذْهَبُوا بِقَمِيصِي هَٰذَا فَأَلْقُوهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِ أَبِي يَأْتِ بَصِيرًا

Yusuf ('a) says: ‘Take my shirt and cast it over my father's face so that he regains his eye-sight. (Yusuf 12:93)”

Ya'qub ('a) too kept the shirt of Yusuf over his eyes and at that same moment realized that he could see. As he says:

    فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَاءَ الْبَشِيرُ أَلْقَاهُ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِ فَارْتَدَّ بَصِيرًا

“So when the bearer of good news came he cast it on his face, so forthwith he regained his sight.” (Yusuf 12:96)”

If Ya'qub ('a) would have done such a thing in front of the Najdis and followers of Muhammad bin 'Abd al-Wahhab, how would have they behaved with him? Now would they explain the action of an immaculate Prophet who is free from sins and mistakes!?

Now if the Muslims keep the soil of the grave of the last of the Prophets or his shrine over their eyes and kiss out of respect, the grave and shrine of the divine leaders or seek tabarruk and say that God has exerted some effect in this soil and wishes to follow the Ya'qub ('a) of today in so and so affair then why should they be subjected to curse and be accused of heresy.1

Those who are aware of the life history of the Holy Prophet (s) know that the companions of the Holy Prophet (s) were always taking precedence to each other in doing tabarruk to the water of his wudhu (ablution). It is sufficient in this case, to briefly refer to Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim which are thought to be the most authentic among the six Sihah. Here, we mention some of them:

(1) About the event of ‘Peace of Hudaybiyya’ Bukhari writes:

“Whenever the Holy Prophet (s) was taking ablution, his companions use to take precedence to each other in collecting the drops of water of his ablution.”2

(2) In the chapter of ‘Last of the Prophets’, Bukhari narrates from Sa'ib bin Yazid that: “My aunt took me to the Holy Prophet (s) and informed him about my illness. The Holy Prophet (s) made ablution and asked Allah for blessings for me and I drank from the water of his ablution.”3

(3) In the chapter of ‘The characteristics of the Prophet’, Bukhari narrates from Wahab bin 'Abdullah that: “People were rubbing the hands of the Holy Prophet (s) over their faces and I too took the hands of the Prophet and rubbed them over my face and his hands were more fragrant than musk.”4

(4) In the chapter of ‘The characteristics of the Prophet', Bukhari narrates:

The Holy Prophet (s) was in ‘Abtah’ standing beside the tents. Bilal came out from a tent and called the people for prayers. Again he went inside and brought out the remaining drops of water of ablution of the Holy Prophet (s). The people rushed towards it and sought tabarruk from it.5

(5) Muslim narrates in his Sahih from Anas that: “When the Holy Prophet (s) was shaving his head his companions were besides him and each one of them held one string of his hair in their hands.6

These were some examples of affection of the companions and their tabarruk to the signs and traces of the Holy Prophet (s) and collecting these incidents necessitates the writing of one separate book.

By referring to the last chapter of Sahih Bukhari about jihad and also the chapter related to the armour, stick, sword, vessels, seal, ring, hair and shroud of the Holy Prophet (s) one can become aware of the evident examples of tabarruk.

These traditions expose and explain the baseless nature of the culture of the Wahhabism that prevents the people from seeking tabarruk to the holy shrine of Prophet (s) and have employed special groups of persons to beat physically and use foul language with those who seek tabarruk to the holy shrine of the Holy Prophet (s). They thus stop the Muslims from expressing such love and affection which had been in practice during the period of the Holy Prophet (s) in his very presence.

The matter of prevention of tabarruk to the traces of the Holy Prophet (s) and kissing of his shrine and pulpit is one of the greatest ideological expressions of the Wahhabism. The Wahhabi Government of Saudi Arabia under the garb of ‘amr bi al-ma'ruf (enjoining the good) and nahi 'an al-munkar (forbidding the evil) have stationed their agents around the holy shrine in order to prevent the pilgrims from performing such action and they too behave harshly and mercilessly with the pilgrims. Many times at such occasions innocent blood is shed and many persons’ honour and prestige got damaged. The root cause of their belief is that kissing and honouring the shrine amounts to worshipping the one in grave, as if ‘every respect is worship.’

Since these helpless people who are far from the reality of Islamic teachings are unable to interpret 'ibada (worship) in the logical sense, they have become puzzled and confused and take every type of respect to the dead to be an 'ibada. In the next chapter, we shall draw a precise limit and boundary for 'ibada, but what is important now is to know what was the practice of the Muslims in this matter:

(1) After the Holy prophet's burial, his daughter Fatima (‘a) stood near his grave and then taking some soil from the grave she put it over her face. She later cried and recited these two poems:

    ماذا على من شَّم تُربة احمدا أن لا يشُم مدى الزمان غواليا

    صُبَّت علىَّ مصائب لو أنها صُبت على الأيام صرن لياليا

“What happens to the one who smells the soil of grave of Ahmad, who till he is alive, shall smell no more the expensive musks.”

    صُبَّت علىَّ مصائب لو أنها صُبت على الأيام صرن لياليا

“I was faced with such calamities that if it had befallen on the bright day it would have changed to night.”7

(2) The great companion Bilal who left Medina for some reason and settled by order of the frontier guards, in the districts of Syria saw in his dream that the Holy Prophet (s) was saying:

“What kind of injustice is this, O Bilal? Has not the time come that you visit us!? He woke up from his sleep in sadness and sat on his horse and left for Medina. When he reached the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) he started to cry and rubbed his face over it. Later he saw al-Hasan and al-Husayn and kissed both of them.8

(3) Amir al-mu'minin 'Ali ('a) says: “Three days had lapsed from the burial of the Holy Prophet (s) when a Bedouin Arab came and threw himself over the grave of the Holy Prophet (s). He sprinkled the soil of his grave over his head and started to converse with the Holy Prophet (s). He said: ‘O Prophet of Allah, you spoke and we listened. You received the truth from Allah and we too received it from you. From the things which Allah revealed to you is this:

    ولو أنهم إذ ظلموا أنفسهم

I have done injustice upon myself. So seek forgiveness for me from Allah. Suddenly he heard a voice saying: Your sins have been forgiven.”

This incident has been narrated by most of the historians mainly al-Samhudi in Wafa' al-wafa', vol. 2 page 612 and Shaykh Dawud al-Khalidi (died in 1299 AH) in Sulh al-'Ikhwan and others.

(4) al-Hakim narrates in al-Mustadrak that: Marwan bin al-Hakam entered the mosque and saw a man putting his face over a grave. Marwan caught hold of his neck and said: “Are you aware of what you are doing?” The man lifted his head and it became apparent that he was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. He said: ‘I have not come to visit a stone, but have come to visit the Holy Prophet (s). O Marwan, I have heard the Holy Prophet (s) saying: When the pious people bear the leadership do not cry for that. Do cry when unworthy men become the leaders (i.e. you and your Umayyad household).’9

This period of history reveals the root of ‘creation of obstacle’ to prevent seeking tabarruk from the grave of the Holy Prophet (s) and shows that the companions of the Holy Prophet (s) were constantly seeking tabarruk from the holy grave of the Holy Prophet. It was people like Marwan bin al-Hakam who used to prevent people from this well-known deed.

The historical incidents in this case are so numerous that narrating all of them will lengthen our discussion. Interested readers can refer to the book Tabarruk al-sahaba and the valuable book al-Ghadir vol. 5 page 146-156.

In the end, we are bound to mention that all these historical narratives can never be false and baseless. Now, even if we assume that all of them are false and baseless yet they will serve our purpose. Because, if such an action was heresy, polytheism, unlawful or forbidden, then the fabricators would have never attributed them to religious personalities since the liars fabricate instances which are worthy of approval by the society so that the people believe and accept their made up stories. They never attribute anything which is heresy, polytheism, forbidden or unlawful to the pious people because in such a case they will be confronted with the resistance and non-acceptance of the people and their arrows will hit the stone and miss the target.

Notes

1. All the Muslims, right from the time of the Holy Prophet (s) till now, have been seeking tabarruk to the traces of the Holy Prophet (s) and Shaykh Muhammad Thahari Makki has proved this matter with decisive historical evidences in his treatise which was printed in 1385. This treatise is calledتبرك الصحابة بأثار رسول الله and has been translated into Persian.

2. Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.3 page 255.

3. Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.4 page 227; and Sahih Muslim, Chapter of ‘Last of the Prophets’.

4. Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.4 page 226

5. Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.4 page 231.

6. Sahih Muslim, vol. 4., Book of ‘Virtues of Companions’

7. Many of the research writers have narrated this incident such as al-Shabrawi in al-Tuhaf page 9 and al-Samhudi in Wafa' al-wafa', vol. 2 page 444 and al-Khalidi in Sulh al-'Ikhwan, page 57 and others.

8. This incident has been narrated by a group like al-Subki in Shifa al-Saqam narrating from Ibn 'Asakir, and Ibn al-'Athir in Usd al-ghaba, vol. 1 page 28.

9. Mustadrak al-Hakim, vol. 4 page 515