What is the ruling on belonging to a Qadiri Sufi order that believes its shaykh is the "Ghawth of the Age," in contact with Allah and His Messenger, and seeks his aid?

No Sufi order today is free from doctrinal deviation and opposition to guidance. Polytheistic practices are abundant among them, such as supplicating to other than Allah and seeking aid from the dead. All these matters are major shirk (definition) (polytheism) which expels its believer from the fold of Islam, as Allah the Almighty says: "Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin." (Quran 4:48). Moreover, taking sheikhs as intermediaries and supplicating to them is no different from the shirk of the early polytheists who said: "We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah in position." (Quran 39:3). Sufis may even be more polytheistic than the early polytheists, who would supplicate to Allah alone during hardship, while Sufis supplicate to other than Allah in all circumstances, in addition to their innovations and newly invented matters they introduced into the religion. Therefore, it is advised not to join any Sufi order, to shun them, to offer them sincere advice, and to seek authentic religious knowledge from trustworthy scholars. Naming a sheikh "Ghawth al-Zaman" (Succor of the Age) is a reprehensible title that bestows divine attributes upon other than Allah. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, after his death, became disconnected from this world, and connection with him is through adherence to his guidance, not through claimed dreams and visions.