followed them in this matter. Indeed, works of Quranic commentary, hadith, transmitted reports, asceticism, and accounts of the Salaf are replete with reports from the Companions and Successors affirming what the Quran indicates. None among them distorted the verses as these people have done, rejected what the hadiths contain as these people have done, or claimed—as these people have—that this undermines confidence in the prophets, causes people to turn away from them, or anything of that nature. Rather, the assertions of those who went to excess out of ignorance are among the doctrines newly introduced into Islam.

In their ignorance, they sought to exalt the prophets, just as the Christians ignorantly sought to exalt the Messiah, their religious scholars, and their monks. Thus, they associated them as partners with Allah and took them as lords besides Allah, while turning away from following them in what they commanded and prohibited.

[The Rāfidah’s Extremism Led Them into Forms of Polytheistic Worship Forbidden by Allah]

Likewise, those who go to excess regarding infallibility turn away from what they were commanded to do—obey their commands and follow their example (1)—and instead engage in what they were forbidden: going to excess regarding them and associating them as partners with Allah. They therefore take them as lords besides Allah, crying to them for aid in their absence, after their death, and at their graves. In this way, they engage in the polytheistic acts of worship that Allah Most High and His Messenger forbade, thereby imitating the Christians.

It is established in the Sahih that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said as he lay dying:

“May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians! They took the graves of their prophets as places of worship,”