Seeking Aid of The Dead

Istighatha – الاستغاثة

Imam Al-Allusi, the Hanafi mufti of Baghdad wrote in his Tafsir – 200 years ago:

إن الناس قد أكثروا من دعاء غير الله تعالى من الأولياء الأحياء منهم والأموات وغيرهم مثل سيدي فلان أغثني وليس ذلك من التوسل المباح في شيء واللائق بحال المؤمن عدم التفوه بذلك وأن لا يحوم حول حماه وقد عده أناس من العلماء شركا وإن لا يكنه فهو قريب منه ولا أرى أحدا ممن يقول ذلك إلا وهو يعتقد أن المدعو الحي الغائب أو الميت المغيب يعلم الغيب أو يسمع النداء ويقدر بالذات أو بالغير على جلب الخير ودفع الأذى وإلا لما دعاه ولا فتح فاه وفي ذلكم بلاء من ربكم عظيم فالحزم التجنب عن ذلك وعدم الطلب إلا من الله تعالى القوي الغني الفعال لما يريد
“Indeed the people have increased in calling on other than Allah, from the saints, the living of them and the dead, and other than them, like:
“O my master so-and-so! Help me!”
That is not from the permissible form of Tawassul at all, and it befits the condition of a believer to avoid saying this and avoid roaming around its boundary.
Men from the ‘ulama’ have considered it shirk, and if it is not so, then it is close to it.
I have not seen any of those who say this except he believes that the one called, whether an absent living person or a dead person, knows the unseen or hears the call and is able, intrinsically or extrinsically, to bring benefit and repel harm; otherwise he would not call him or open his mouth. In this is a great trial from your Lord!
It is obligatory to stay away from that and not seek help except from Allah, the Strong, the Independent, the Doer of what He wills.”

[“Ruh al-Ma‘aani”, 6:128-9].

——————-

Istighatha with the dead is NOT allowed.
This is not from the permissible types of Tawassul.
This is asking them directly for help and assistance.
There is no evidence for this practise, from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
There is no evidence that they can hear us from far.
There is also no any evidence that our calls will be conveyed to them.
And there is also no evidence that they can fulfil our needs.
There is also no evidence that they understand all our languages.
If someone considers them divine deities OR attributes godly attributes to them (خصائص الربوبية) to them, such as all-hearing, all-knowing, all-powerful, – then this becomes SHIRK and APOSTASY from Islam.
The Prophets came to connect us directly with God.
They did not come to make God redundant.

Allahu A’lam