…and He therefore decreed that they will abide eternally in the Fire. Their offence was not shirk in rububiyya (affirming other creators or providers besides God) but shirk in uluhiyya (directing acts of worship to others). They never claimed that their gods create, sustain, benefit, harm, or govern alongside Allah; they merely adopted them as intercessors. As He—Most High—says: “They worship, instead of Allah, that which neither harms nor benefits them, and they say: These are our intercessors with Allah” (Yunus 10:18). They acknowledge that those beings “neither harm nor benefit,” yet they take them as mediators who will obtain their needs before God. For that purpose they slaughter animals and make vows to them—not because they believe the beings create or provide, but because they believe they can plead with Allah on their behalf. Such was the creed of the idolaters. If you debate a present-day grave-worshipper, he will voice the same argument: “I know that this saint or righteous man can neither harm nor benefit, but he is pious and I seek his intercession with Allah.” Intercession (shafa‘a) can be legitimate or illegitimate. The valid, sound form requires two conditions: 1. It must take place only with Allah’s permission. 2. The person on whose behalf it is sought must belong to the people of tawhid, i.e. be a sinful yet monotheistic believer. If either condition is absent, the intercession is void. Allah says: “Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?” (al-Baqarah 2:255), and: “They will not intercede except…