“Say, ‘Call upon those whom you claim to be gods besides Him. They have no power to relieve your suffering or shift it elsewhere.’”

“Those whom they invoke themselves seek a means of drawing near to their Lord, striving to be the nearest. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, your Lord’s punishment is something to beware of.”

The Most High has also said:

“It is not for any human being whom Allah has given the Scripture, wisdom, and prophethood to then tell people, ‘Be my worshippers rather than Allah’s.’ Rather, ‘Be devoted to the Lord through your teaching of the Scripture and your study of it.’

“Nor would he command you to take the angels and prophets as lords. Would he command you to disbelieve after you have submitted to Allah?”

This has been discussed at length elsewhere.

Section

Likewise, vows made to graves or to any of their occupants—such as vows to Abraham, the intimate friend of Allah, to shaykh so-and-so, to a member of the Prophet’s household, or to anyone else—are vows involving disobedience. By agreement of the leading scholars of the religion, fulfilling them is not obligatory; indeed, fulfilling them is not even permissible. For it is established in the Sahīh collection that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him; and whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him.”

It is also reported from him in the Sunan collections that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah has cursed women who visit graves and those who establish mosques and lamps over them.”

Thus, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, cursed those who build mosques over graves and light lamps there: