and some measure of benefit in what they enjoin. Yet they are disbelievers because of the truth they have abandoned and the falsehood they have embraced.

The second reason:

Lying is exceedingly common in this matter. Lying is associated with polytheism, as the Quran indicates in several places, while truthfulness is associated with sincere devotion to Allah. Believers are people of truthfulness and sincere devotion, whereas disbelievers are people of lying and polytheism. Since these shrines contain the polytheism that they do, lying accompanies them in various forms.

One is the claim that a particular place is the grave of some venerated person or the burial place of his head. There is much falsehood in such claims.

Second, reports about him in which falsehood abounds.

Third, reports of needs fulfilled at his grave. How often those who venerate a grave resort to tricks, misleading people into believing that an extraordinary event has occurred or a need has been fulfilled through it! How many people report things that have no basis in reality! We have witnessed a great many such things.

Fourth, reports about the lineage of those connected to him. Many people claim a connection to the deceased in that grave, whether through descent or otherwise. I have even seen someone who claims