81 — Excessive Veneration of the Graves of the Righteous Turns Them into Idols That Are Worshipped

Among the greatest causes of falling into associating partners with Allah in supplication is the temptation concerning the graves of prophets, saints, and righteous people that Iblīs—the enemy of Allah and of His believing servants—instilled in his followers and allies. Matters eventually reached the point where those buried in the graves were worshipped besides Allah; their graves themselves were worshipped and made into idols; edifices were built over them; and images were made of those buried there. Those images were then fashioned into three-dimensional bodies that cast shadows, after which they were made into idols and worshipped alongside Allah Most High.

This affliction first arose among the people of Noah, as Allah—Glorified is He—relates of them in His Book:

“Noah said, ‘My Lord, they have disobeyed me and followed those whose wealth and children only increase them in loss. They devised a tremendous plot and said: Do not abandon your gods. Do not abandon Wadd, Suwā, Yaghūth, Ya‘ūq, or Nasr. They have indeed led many astray.’” 1

In his Sahīh, al-Bukhārī narrated from Ibn Abbās—may Allah be pleased with them both—that he said: “These were the names of righteous men from Noah’s people. When they died, Satan inspired their people to erect monuments at the gathering places where they used to sit and to name them after those men. They did so, but the monuments were not worshipped. Then, when those people died and knowledge was lost, they were worshipped.” 2

Ibn Jarīr said in his tafsīr: “Among the reports about these men that have reached us is what Ibn Humayd narrated to us. He said: Mihrān narrated to us, from Sufyān, from Mūsā, from Muhammad ibn Qays, that Yaghūth, Ya‘ūq, and Nasr were righteous men from among the descendants of