otherwise he is to be executed; for Allah—magnified and exalted—sent the messengers and revealed the scriptures only that He alone be worshipped, without partner, and that none be invoked alongside Him. Those who appeal to other deities beside Allah—such as the Messiah, the angels, or idols—never believed that these beings create, send down rain, or cause plants to grow. Rather, they worshipped them, or worshipped their tombs, or worshipped their images, saying, “We worship them only so that they may bring us nearer to Allah” (39:3), and saying, “These are our intercessors with Allah” (10:18). Therefore Allah dispatched His messengers to forbid calling upon anyone besides Him—whether by the supplication of worship or the supplication of seeking relief.

6. Ibn al-Qayyim said: Among the kinds of polytheism is to ask the dead for one’s needs, to seek their help, or to turn toward them in devotion; this is the very root of the world’s idolatry. Once a person dies, his deeds are cut off, and he possesses no power to benefit or harm even himself—much less those who cry out to him or ask him to intercede with Allah the Exalted.