their prophets as places of worship.” He was warning against what they had done. ‘Ā’ishah said:

“Were it not for that, his grave would have been left exposed, but he disliked its being made a place of worship.”

This is a broad subject.

Although the believer knows that Allah is the Lord and Sovereign of everything, he does not deny the causes Allah has created. For example, He has made rain a cause of plant growth. Allah Most High says:

“and the rain Allah sends down from the sky, giving life thereby to the earth after its death and dispersing throughout it every kind of creature.”

Likewise, He has made the sun and the moon causes of what He creates through them, and intercession and supplication causes of what He decrees through them. An example is the funeral prayer offered by Muslims for the deceased: it is among the causes through which Allah has mercy on the deceased and for which He rewards those who pray for him.

However, three matters concerning causes must be understood.

First: A particular cause cannot produce the desired result on its own; other causes must accompany it, and even then there are impediments. If Allah does not supply all the necessary causes and remove the impediments, the intended outcome will not occur. Whatever He—glorified be He—wills comes to pass, even if people do not will it; and whatever people will does not come to pass unless Allah wills it.

Second: It is not permissible to believe that something is a cause without knowledge. Anyone who claims that something is a cause without knowledge, or in contradiction to religious law, is in error. An example is someone who thinks that making a vow is a cause of averting affliction and obtaining blessings. It is established in the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade vows and said:

“A vow brings no good; it only serves to extract something from a miser.”

Third: No religious act may be employed as a means unless it is prescribed, for acts of worship must be based on revealed authorization. Thus, a person may not associate partners with Allah by supplicating to anyone other than Him—even if he thinks this is a means of achieving some of his aims—