Is seeking help from the dead considered major polytheism (shirk akbar) by consensus, or is the issue one of scholarly disagreement? And is it true that no one before Ibn Taymiyyah transmitted such a consensus? And is this consensus definitive (qat'i) or probabilistic (dhanni)?

Seeking help from the dead, in the sense of asking them for aid, is major shirk that expels one from the fold of Islam, whether the one from whom aid is sought is a prophet or someone other than a prophet. None of the Muslim scholars before Ibn Taymiyyah transmitted a consensus on this issue. However, Ibn Taymiyyah stated explicitly that none of the Muslim scholars affirmed the permissibility of seeking help from created beings in matters for which help is sought from Allah. More than one scholar who came after Ibn Taymiyyah transmitted a consensus on this meaning.