idolatry, as related in the two Sahihs: Umm Salamah and Umm Habībah told the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—about a church they had seen in the land of Abyssinia. They described its beauty and the images it contained. He said:

“When a righteous man among those people died, they built a place of worship over his grave and fashioned those images in it. Such people will be the worst of creation in Allah’s sight on the Day of Resurrection.” (1)

In His Book (2), Allah commanded that mosques be maintained, but He did not mention shrines. The Rāfidah therefore altered Allah’s religion: they maintained the shrines but left the mosques deserted, emulating the polytheists and opposing the believers.

Allah Most High says:

“Say: My Lord has commanded justice, and direct your faces toward Him at every mosque.”

[Surah al-Aʿrāf: 29]

He did not say, “at every shrine.”

He also says:

“It is not for the polytheists to maintain Allah’s mosques while bearing witness against themselves to disbelief. Their deeds have come to nothing, and they will abide in the Fire. The mosques of Allah are maintained only by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, establish prayer, give zakāh, and fear none but Allah. Such people may well be among the rightly guided.”

[Surah al-Tawbah: 17–18]

He did not say, “Only those who maintain (3) Allah’s shrines.” Rather, those who maintain shrines fear others besides Allah through them and place their hope in others besides Allah (4).