He becomes angry with him.”¹

Supplication is the greatest form of worship, for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Supplication is worship itself.”²

Just as He has commanded us to call upon Him, He has forbidden us to call upon anyone else or to associate others with Him in prayer. He says, “And the places of worship belong to Allah, so do not invoke anyone along with Allah” (al-Jinn 72:18); “Say, ‘I invoke only my Lord, and I never associate anyone with Him’” (al-Jinn 72:20); and “Whoever invokes, along with Allah, another deity for which he has no proof—his reckoning is only with his Lord; the disbelievers will never succeed” (al-Muʾminun 23:117).

Accordingly, it is impermissible to call upon anyone but Allah. Whoever does so is a polytheist—whether the one invoked is an angel, a prophet, or a righteous saint—for he has committed major shirk. Allah says, “Who is more astray than one who calls upon, instead of Allah, those who will not answer him until the Day of Resurrection, and who are heedless of their supplication?” (al-Ahqaf 46:5); and He says, “If you call upon them, they do not hear your call; and even if they were to hear, they could not respond to you. On the Day of Resurrection they will renounce your association of them with Allah” (Fatir 35:14).