the claim that a skylight existed over the grave in ʿĀʾishah’s lifetime is a blatant fabrication. Even supposing it were authentic, it would only prove that those people never swore by any created being, never sought in their supplications the intercession of a dead person, and never asked Allah through him. They opened the roof above the grave solely so that divine mercy might descend upon him; there was no prayer in which they swore by him. How far apart the two matters are!
A creature can benefit another creature only through his supplication or his deeds. Allah loves that we draw near to Him by means of faith, righteous action, sending blessings and peace upon His Prophet ﷺ, loving him, obeying him, and showing loyalty to him—these are the means by which Allah wishes us to approach Him. To seek nearness to Him merely through the beloved essence of someone, when no faith or righteous deed that Allah has approved is present, is invalid both rationally and legally.
Rationally, the fact that a particular person is beloved to Allah does not of itself require that my need be met by invoking his mere essence, when neither I nor he has provided any cause for the fulfilment of that need. If he were to pray for me, or if I showed faith in him and obedience to him, there is no doubt that such things constitute a legitimate means. But what benefit can I obtain from his beloved essence alone when I have not produced the cause that I have been commanded to realise?
Legally, we say that every act of worship rests on following, not on innovation. No one has the right to introduce into the religion anything for which Allah has given no permission. Hence no one may face a grave in prayer, claiming that it is more deserving of that than the Kaʿbah. It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not sit on graves and do not pray toward them.” Yet some extremists among the devotees pray toward the graves of their shaykhs: they even turn their backs to the qiblah, face the shaykh’s grave, and say, “This is the qiblah of the elite, whereas the Kaʿbah is the qiblah of the masses!” Another group regard praying in the vicinity of their shaykhs’ graves