As for someone saying, “Their needs are sometimes fulfilled; does that justify their seeking out these graves?” the answer is that this does not justify seeking them out, for several reasons.
First, many needs of the polytheists and the People of the Book are fulfilled through supplication at idols, statues of saints, and places they venerate. Such veneration is forbidden in the era of Islam. Would any Muslim say that this justifies their engaging in conduct forbidden by the consensus of the Muslims?
Whatever factors lead the followers of whims and religious innovations to introduce their innovations, factors of the same kind—and worse—are found among the polytheists and the People of the Book, leading them into their disbelief. Whoever reflects on this will find it true of most matters, for religious innovations are derived from disbelief. Complete faith consists in doing what Allah and His Messenger have commanded and refraining from what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. If a person neglects some of what is commanded and replaces it with something forbidden, his faith is diminished accordingly.
An innovation cannot be pure truth, for if it were, it would be religiously sanctioned. Nor can its benefit outweigh its harm, for if it did, it would be religiously sanctioned. Nor is it pure falsehood containing no truth, for if it were, no one would mistake it for truth. Rather, it contains some truth and some falsehood.
The same applies to the religion of the polytheists and the People of the Book: not everything they report is false, nor is everything they enjoin corrupt. Rather, there must be some truth in what they report