Grave worship

It has become a tranquiliser for the Muslim nation, having the same effect on it as opium. The enemies of Islam have realised how important this is for them in enabling them to control and dominate the Muslims; it is because of this that it has played a vital role in their strategies in the past, such as, for example, during the Spanish occupation of Morocco.

During this, the Spanish were faced with a huge uprising due to them building a military post beside the grave of a person whom the masses glorified; therefore, they abandoned the post and subsequently made sure not to provoke people in this regard again.

This caused the people belonging to the sect that venerated the grave to become silent; afterwards, they did not object to anything that the Spaniards did, as long as their tombs were not affected.

Grave worship represents, to those who practice it, a consulting reference on whether or not to fight their enemies. Dr. ‘UmarFarrookh said: “The west realised this fact and knew how to utilise it during their colonisation. Mustafa Kaamil, who was a famous Egyptian nationalist, wrote in one of his books: `One of the most famous stories about the French colonisation of Qayrawaan in Tunisia was of a French man claiming to embrace Islam. Later, this man sought knowledge and achieved the status of being appointed as the Imam of the grand mosque in Qyrawaan. When the French army approached Qayrawaan, people came to this 'Imaam' and requested that he ask the deceased in a grave that they glorified whether or not to fight, so he did so, and told them that the Shaykh in the grave advised them not to fight because the colonisation would take place regardless. Therefore, the people did not defend their land and so the French were able to colonise it without exerting any effort. It took place on September 26<sup>th</sup> 1881 CE.`”

Graves represent an alternative national guard for some, who believe that they defend them against the attacks of their human enemies, and even protect them against plague. They believe that every city is protected by a Wali who protects it from evil eyes, attacks, and even natural disasters, as per the saying, for example, Al-Kawthari, who claimed that the area of Shaam (i.e., ancient Syria) was protected by four of these Walis. Likewise, some people believe that the grave of Seedee Hasan Abu Rayatayn protects the village in which he was buried.

Graves are also the last line of defence for these people: The tomb of ‘AliAr-Roobi in Egypt is what rescued a city, as they claim, from destruction during the Second World War, when he diverted the bombs that were dropped on it towards the Red Sea.

Graves are also considered by these people as their supporter and supplier of weapons. During the Arab revolution, followers of this sect spread the rumour that Ahmad ‘Uraabi was gifted three canons by their three most glorified Walis, namely, Ad-Dusooqi, Al-Badawi and ‘Abdul-‘Aal, to use in their fight against the British. Also, when the Russians attacked the city of Bukhaaraa its dwellers rushed to the grave of the so-called protector of the city, namely ShaahNaqshaband and begged him to protect them, but naturally he could not.

Another of them, by the name of Sayd ‘Uways, wrote a book called: “Letters to Imaam Ash-Shaafi’ee.” In one such message, which was dated October 1955 CE, he wrote a request to Imaam Ash-Shaafi’ee to conduct a meeting and to have present in it Al-Hasan, Al-Husayn, Zaynab, and other members of the household of the Prophet may Allah be pleased with them; he requested that they ask Allah, in this meeting, to expel Israel from the sacred land of Jerusalem within a week, and that the deadline for the expulsion be the following Tuesday.

Graves, for these people, are their source of victory, and they are therefore places of celebration for them: When the French were defeated in Egypt in 1216 AH, Husayn Baashaa Al-Qubtaan, who was the leader of the Ottoman army at the time, rushed to the grave of Al-Husyan, may Allah be pleased with him, and slaughtered five bulls and seven sheep there, which were then distributed among the keepers of the grave.

After this, one asks: Is there anything more tranquilising and harmful to the Muslim nation than such a

belief?

Shirk is what caused the decline and backwardness of the Muslim communities:

Superstition reached its peak when these people categorised graves, grading them according to specific qualities that they assigned to each one. Just as the Greeks and Romans had gods for everything, such as, for example: the god of love, the god of fear, the god of intoxicants, and so on, one finds that these people have given specific qualities to their different tombs; it is due to this that people seek to fulfil particular requests from designated tombs.

A good example to illustrate this fact are the tombs that exist for women, like that of Shaykah Maryam, whose birthday is celebrated twice annually; she is famous amongst people to be the one to ask for being cured of infertility. ShaykhahSabaah on the other hand, is the one from whom some Egyptian women seek cures from certain sicknesses.

In Syria the tomb of Abu Al-‘Alaa’ Al-Ma’arri is visited for the sake of being cured from fever; while in Tanta Egypt people ask for their children to be cured at the tomb of ‘Izur-Rijaal, who is a student of Al-Badawi. Also, in the same location, Muhammad Al-Hadri is one from whom people seek the cure from rheumatism.

This was an attempt to clarify some of the evil practices of one of the sects of the Soofees, as well as highlight the wickedness of their beliefs and the dangerous impact that they can have on the Muslim nation.

Soofism in the scale – I