What is the ruling on using the following Quranic verses as evidence: "And they worship, other than Allah, that which neither harms them nor benefits them, and they say, 'These are our intercessors with Allah.' Say, 'Are you informing Allah of something He does not know in the heavens or on the earth?' Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him" (Yunus/18), and "Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah are servants like yourselves. So invoke them and let them respond to you, if you are truthful" (Al-A'raf/194), and "Say, 'Is it other than Allah that you order me to worship, O you ignorant ones?' (64) And already it has been revealed to you and to those before you that if you should associate [anything] with Allah, your work would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers. (65) Rather, worship Allah and be among the grateful" (Az-Zumar), to refute those who seek aid from the dead in graves and circumambulate around them, knowing that they claim these verses were revealed concerning disbelievers and thus declare those who use them as evidence to be disbelievers, labeling them as Wahhabis, Khawarij, and takfiris? And does one fall into disbelief by using these verses as evidence?
Seeking help from the dead is major polytheism (shirk akbar). Many verses from the Holy Quran and prophetic traditions (hadiths) attest to this, such as His (Allah's) saying: "And whoever invokes with Allah another deity for whom he has no proof - then his account is only with his Lord. Indeed, the disbelievers will not succeed." (Quran 23:117), and the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Whoever dies while invoking a rival besides Allah shall enter the Hellfire." Scholars have deduced the ruling on people's actions based on the generality of the legal texts, for the lesson lies in the generality of the wording, not the specificity of the cause. Scholars have warned against invoking the dead and affirmed that it is polytheism, basing their arguments on what has been revealed concerning the polytheists. The difference between applying the generality of some verses to rulings and the actions of the Khawarij is that the Khawarij declare people disbelievers due to sins and apply verses of disbelief to those who have not committed it, whereas scholars observe the criteria for declaring someone a disbeliever and apply general rulings to those from whom the act of disbelief has emanated.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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