Did Sayyidi Ala Hazrat condone grave worship?

The deviant sects, who the notable Ala Hazrat Imam Ahmad Rida al-Qadiri al-Bareilwi refuted and silenced, raise baseless and futile objections upon him. Among these unsubstantiated objections is that he permitted and condoned the worshipping of graves, and thus his followers are engrossed in this forbidden act. Allah forbid!

This is a grave accusation that has no basis or foundation. It is merely the bickering of the broken hearts of the heretics, who resort to such desperate attempts at degrading the Imam after being unable to answer his refutations. They raise such futile objections so that they can hide the filth written by their elders. It is a well-known fact — and there is no-one who does not know this — that the great Imam revived the Sunnah, eradicated wrong practices and rebuked those heretical sects that came about before and in his time. Why then would he order Muslims to prostrate to someone other than Allah?

We ask the apostates: in which compilation or treatise of the noble Imam does he command prostration to graves? They may read through and scrutinise each word of every one of more than 1000 books penned by the Imam, however, they will never find a single place where he condones, orders or permits the practice of prostrating to graves, in fact, they will not find even a slight hint.

This forbidden practice of grave-worshipping is wrongly attributed to the Bareilwis and claimed to be the methodology of the great Imam. Let us look into the works of the Imam and see the reality of his teachings.

The commendable Imam wrote an entire treatise that extensively covers the issue of prostrating to someone other than Allah, entitled, al-Zubdah al-Zakiyyah Li-Tahreem Sujood al-Tahiyyah. (This particular treatise can be found in volume 22, page 425 onwards of al-Fatawa al-Ridawiyyah. The page references given here are from there.)

He writes in this treatise:

“Muslims, O Muslims! O follower of the Shari’at of the chosen one, know and know with certainty that prostration is only for the Almighty Lord and none other. Prostrating to someone other than Allah with the intention of worship is undeniably and consensually shirk and infidelity. And prostration of respect to someone other than Allah is Haram, indisputably a major sin.” [Page 429]

From page 451 to 458 of this comprehensive treatise, the honourable Imam explains the impermissibility of prostrating to graves. He entitles a section: ‘The Prohibition of Prostrating to Graves’, citing 16 Ahadith proving its prohibition.

In this same section of the treatise, after quoting Ahadith of the Prophet and statements of the jurists regarding the prohibition of prostrating to graves, he writes:

“Thus, prostrating to graves and prostrating towards graves are both Haram.” [Page 457]

Regarding this treatise, one of the members of the opposition, Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Nadwi wrote:

“It is a comprehensive treatise that demonstrates the vastness of his (Ala Hazrat) knowledge and the depth of his understanding.” [Nuzhah al-Khawatir, volume 8, page 40]

Ala Hazrat writes in Irfan e Shari’at:

“To pray Salah towards a grave is Haram.” [Page 2]

These are the true teachings of the great Imam, not those which are wrongly attributed to him by the deviants without any evidence whatsoever. However, there may be some so-called ‘Bareilwis’ who worship or prostrate to graves. They are not Bareilvis. If they were true Bareilwis, they would surely follow the precise teachings of that individual they attribute themselves to.

Do not let the deviant sects fool you by feeding you such calumny, for our Imam and saviour, the reviver of the 14th century, Imam Ahmad Rida al-Bareilwi is innocent from these false accusations.

“And Allah guides whom He wills to the straight path.” [Qur’an 2:213]

By Muhammad Kalim (Preston, UK)