Among the custodians of these shrines are those who mislead the uninformed. They say, “I will convey your need to the occupant of the tomb; he will convey it to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and the Prophet will convey it to Allah.”

Others hang drapes and cloths upon the grave—whether the grave itself is authentic or fabricated—and place before it gold and silver ornaments. All Muslims agree that such practices are utterly foreign to the religion of Islam. Meanwhile the main mosque stands deserted, ruined both in form and in substance.

Many of these people even imagine that praying beside this grave, falsely ascribed to some venerated figure, is greater than praying in the mosques, the houses of Allah. They crowd to perform their prayers at these innovated sites of shirk, though the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—forbade turning them into places of worship, even when they rise over the graves of prophets. At the same time they abandon the prayer in the houses Allah has permitted to be raised and wherein His Name is remembered—those of which He said:

“Only those shall tend the mosques of Allah who believe in Allah and the Last Day, establish prayer, give the zakāh, and fear none but Allah; it is they who are expected to be among the rightly guided.” (al-Tawbah 9:18)