Fakhru Ar-Razi Membantah Quburiyun

Many of these quotes from Fakhr Ar-Razi have been found through the book “Mawsu’ah Ahlus Sunnah” of Shaykh AbdurRahman Ad-Dimashqi written in refutation of the Ahbash. The Ahbash claimed that Mushriks believed in many Lords and their Shirk was in Lordshp (Rububiyah) and these sayings of Fakhr Ar-Razi refute these claims.



Grave worship being similar to idol worship



Allah (Ta’ala) said:



“And they worship besides Allah things that hurt them not, nor profit them, and they say: "These are our intercessors with Allah." Say: "Do you inform Allah of that which He knows not in the heavens and on the earth?" Glorified and Exalted be He above all that which they associate as partners with Him!” (Yunus : 18)

Fakhrudin Ar-Razi in the Tafsir of this verse mentioned different sayings of scholars about how the Mushriks took idols as intermediary towards Allah, and he mentioned in fourth explanation:

“They built these statues and idols upon the forms of their Prophets and leaders (Akabir), and they believed that when they would worship these idols, then these leaders (Akabir) would become intercessors for them in front of Allah. And what is similar to this in our times is the veneration (ta’zeem) of a lot of people among the creation of the graves of their leaders (Akabir), with the belief that if they venerate their graves, then they (leaders) will be intercessors for them in front of Allah.”



Comment: After quoting this explanation of scholars explaining how Mushriks worshiped these saints by seeking intercession from their idols, Fakhr Ar-Razi clearly linked this idol worship to grave worship present in his time and also in ours.



Mushriks believed that Allah is the creator of everything



Allah (Ta’ala) said:



“And if you ask them who created them, they will surely say: "Allah". How then are they turned away (from the worship of Allah, Who created them)?” (Az-Zukhruf : 87)

Fakhr Ar-Razi wrote in the Tafsir of this verse: “Know that He (Ta’ala) mentioned this speech in the beginning of this Surah and its end, and the aim is to point to the fact that when they believe that the creator of the universe and the creator of the living people is Allah, how can they favour with this creed the worship of degraded bodies and filthy idols that do not bring harm or benefit…?”


Comment: So Fakhr Ar-Razi clearly said that the Mushriks of Makkah believed in Allah, that He was the creator of all things, but despite this belief they would worship other than Allah. This is a clear refutation of Quburiyah of Ahbash and others that claim Mushriks believed in different Lords or creators or sustainers.



Mushriks worshiped idols to get close to Allah



Allah (Ta’ala) said:

“Say: "Whose is the earth and whosoever is therein? If you know!"
They will say: "It is Allâh's!" Say: "Will you not then remember?"
Say: "Who is (the) Lord of the seven heavens, and (the) Lord of the Great Throne?"
They will say: "Allâh." Say: "Will you not then fear Allâh (believe in His Oneness, obey Him, believe in the Resurrection and Recompense for each and every good or bad deed)."
Say "In Whose Hand is the sovereignty of everything (i.e. treasures of each and everything)? And He protects (all), while against Whom there is no protector, (i.e. if Allâh saves anyone none can punish or harm him, and if Allâh punishes or harms anyone none can save him), if you know."
They will say: "(All that belongs) to Allâh." Say: "How then are you deceived and turn away from the truth?"” (Muminun : 84-89)

Fakhr Ar-Razi said in Tafsir of these verses: “It is possible that the aim of these verses is to refute the deniers of resurrection or is it possible that the aim is to refute the worshipers of idols, and this because these people were believing in Allah (Ta’ala) and they said: We worship these idols to get close to Allah.”


Comment: So Ar-Razi affirmed that Mushriks did believe in Allah and in fact worshiped idols to get close to Allah, they were only means to seek Allah’s proximity and they were not equating Allah and the idols or sayings the idols are our Lords



Mushriks established partners to Allah in worship and not lordship



Allah (Ta’ala) said:



“And most of them believe not in Allâh except that they attribute partners unto Him” (Yusuf : 106)



Fakhr Ar-Razi wrote in Tafsir: “And most of them believe not in Allâh except that they attribute partners unto Him” by establishing a partner for Him in worship (Ma’budiyah), the Arabs would say in their Talbiyah “Labayka, You do not have a partner except a partner that belongs to You and he does not possess” and the people of Makkah would say: “Allah alone is our Lord, He has no partner and the angels are His daughters, so they did not do Tawhid rather were polytheists, and the idolaters would say: “Allah alone is our Lord and the idols are His partners IN DESERVING WORSHIP, and the Jews would say: “Allah alone is our Lord and Uzayr is the son of Allah” and the Christians would say: “Allah alone is our Lord and Al-Masih is His son”



Comment: So this shows that the Shirk of these people was not in Tawhid ur Rububiyah (Tawhid of Lordship) but in Tawhid ul Uluhiyah (Tawhid or worship). These people believed in Allah as their Lord, creator and sustainer, yet they would associate to him in worship (Ma’budiyah) by worshiping idols, invoking them, sacrificing for them and others. They did not say that these idols are our Lords, they created us and sustain us.



No Mushriks believe that their divinities are equal to Allah



Allah (Ta’ala) said:



“And (remember) when Ibrâhim (Abraham) said to his father Azar: "Do you take idols as âlihâ (gods)? Verily, I see you and your people in manifest error” (6 : 74)



Fakhr Ar-Razi said in Tafsir of this verse: “Know that there is none in the universe who established a partner to Allah being equal in existence, power, knowledge, wisdom, and this has not been found until now, there is only the case of the dualists who establish two divinities, one being wise and doing good and the second being idiot and doing evil. As for worship of other than Allah, then a lot of people did this”

Comment: So for Ar-Razi, people did not establish partners to Allah in Lordship claiming their divinities have same attributes as Allah, rather they would worship other than Allah without equating these divinities to Allah.



Mushriks worshiped idols to seek intercession from the saints these idols represented


Allah (Ta’ala) said:



It is Allâh Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed. Verily, in this are signs for a people who think deeply.
Have they taken others as intercessors besides Allâh? Say: "Even if they have power over nothing whatever and have no intelligence?" Say: "To Allâh belongs all intercession. His is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, then to Him you shall be brought back." (Zumar 42-44)

Fakhr Ar-Razi said in Tafsir: “Know that the disbelievers raised a question and said: “We do not worship these idols because of the belief that they are divinities that can bring harm or benefit, we only worship them because they represent the forms of individuals that were close to Allah, so we worship them so that these leaders (Akabir) become intercessors for us in front of Allah” and Allah (Ta’ala) replied to them saying: “Have they taken others as intercessors besides Allâh? Say: "Even if they have power over nothing whatever and have no intelligence?”

The detailed answer to this is that these disbelievers either desired the intercession from these idols or from these scholars and saints upon whose forms these idols have been made.

The first case is falsehood because these non-living idols do not possess anything nor have any intelligence, so how can one think about seeking intercession from them?

As for the second, it is falsehood because on the day of resurrection none will possess the intercession and none will have the power of it except by Allah’s permission, so the intercessor in reality is Allah who allowed this intercession, so worshiping Him is better than worshiping someone else.”

Comment: Ar-Razi showed the weakness of the thinking and belief of these Mushriks, that as Allah only allows the intercession, so He only should be worshiped, and these saints cannot intercede but with Allah's permission, so they should not be worshiped. Also worshiping non-living idols is useless as they have no intelligence.

Ar-Razi showed that the belief of Mushriks was not that there is another creator brining them harm and benefit besides Allah, they only worshiped idols seeking intercession from them or from saints these idols represented, and seeking intercession of non-living objects is pure falsehood and worshiping saints that will intercede is also falsehood, as Allah, the one who allows this intercession, should only be worshiped.


The falsehood of Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi Al-Maliki



Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi Al-Maliki wrote in “Notions that must be corrected” Engl. Transl. p 60 about the verse “We do not worship them except that they might bring us near to Allah” (Az-Zumar : 3)



“This statement is rejected, and the attempt to use this verse as evidence here is misplaced. This is because this noble verse is explicit in its censure of the pagans for their worship of idols and taking them as gods besides Allah, the Exalted, and their association of them with Him in His godhood, claiming that their worship of these idols is nothing more than a means of drawing nearer to Allah. The disbelief and paganism of their action stems from both their worship of these idols, and their belief that they are lords besides Allah. Something of great importance which must be explained here is that this verse confirms that the pagans were not sincere in their justification for their worship of idols by claiming that they used them to draw closer to Allah. For had they been truthful in this, Allah would have been greater to them than their idols, and they would not have worshipped other than Him”



Comment: So Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi Al-Maliki claims that Mushriks also did shirk in Rububiyah and claimed that their idols were Lords with Allah. Then Al-Maliki says that Mushriks were not sincere in their claim of worshiping idols to draw closer to Allah. Shaykh Salih Al Shaykh in his “Hazihi Mafahimuna” refuted this pure falsehood of Al-Maliki and said that this an invention of Al-Maliki and none of the scholars before him said that Mushriks were not serious and sincere in their claim of worshiping idols to get close to Allah, so Al-Maliki couldn’t quote from any famous book of Tafsir. Why did all scholars like At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi, Al-Baghawi, Ibn Katheer, Ibn ‘Atiyah, Abu Hayan Al-Andalusi, Ibn Jawzi, An-Nasafi, Al-Alusi, Abu Layth As-Samarqandi, Ar-Razi and all others, not agree with Al-Maliki in the explanation of this verse?



Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi Al-Maliki further wrote p 61:



“Similar can be said with regards to Allah's words: (And if you were to ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they would surely say "Allah!") (al-'Ankabut: 61)



If the pagans truly believed that Allah, the Exalted, is the only Creator, and that their idols had not created anything, they would have worshipped Allah instead of their idols, or at the very least their reverence towards Allah would have been greater than their reverence towards their stones and statues”



Comment: So for Al-Maliki, Mushriks believed that their idols were creators beside Allah and Mushriks were not sincere in their claim that Allah is the creator of the heavens and the earth. Of course, he could not bring any quote from famous book of Tafsir to support his invention. Now the Ash’aris and Sufis can wonder why their great scholar Fakhruddin Ar-Razi says the contrary of Al-Maliki?



Fakhr Ar-Razi wrote in Tafsir of verse 87 of Surah Az-Zukhruf:



“The aim is to point to the fact that when they believe that the creator of the universe and the creator of the living people is Allah, how can they favour with this creed the worship of degraded bodies and filthy idols that do not bring harm or benefit”



So for Ar-Razi Mushriks believed that their creator and the creator of the universe is Allah, and Al-Maliki says that Mushriks were not sincere in this claim. What a mockery of the religion!!! Why wouldn’t any scholar says such as Al-Maliki? What new falsehood Quburiyah will invent to deny the clear speech of Allah?



Now the Quburiyah translate this pure falsehood of Al-Maliki in English and propagate distortion in the meaning of the Quran without any shame….they clearly want to extinguish the light of Allah and replace it with their Shirk!!! Allah ul Musta’an



When is invoking other than Allah shirk and the falsehood of Al-Maliki?



Muhammad ibn ‘Alawi Al-Maliki wrote in his “Notions” p 170 (Engl. Trans.):



“In summary, the one who seeks aid is not imputed with disbelief unless he believes that (things) besides Allah possess the independent ability to create and bring into existence. The distinction drawn between the living and the dead has no real meaning, because if someone believes that something other than Allah possess the ability to independently create, then they have disbelieved…”



Answer: The Mushriks of Makkah did not believe that their idols created them, rather they believed Allah created them and in times of difficulties only invoked Allah.



Allah (Ta’ala) said: “And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon besides Him vanish from you except Him (Allah Alone). But when He brings you safely to land, you turn away. And man is ever ungrateful” (17 : 67)



Al-Qurtubi wrote in the Tafsir of this verse: “The meaning of this verse is that the Kufar were only believing in the idols that they were intercessors and that they have nobility. And everyone knows by Fitrah, with a knowledge none can remove, that the idols have no actions in great hardships”



Allah (Ta’ala) said: “And if you ask them who created them, they will surely say: "Allah". How then are they turned away (from the worship of Allah, Who created them)?” (43 : 87)



Al-Qurtubi wrote in Tafsir: “And if you ask them who created them, they will surely say: "Allah"” meaning they will certainly affirm that verily Allah created them after they were nothing. “How then are they turned away?” meaning how do they turn away from His worship until they ascribe partners to Him hoping their intercession to Him?”



So Al-Qurtubi clearly said that Mushriks believed that Allah created them and they only believed that idols were intercessors.



And all scholars of Tafsir acknowledged that Mushriks believed that Allah created them. Even Sufis like Ismail Haqqi acknowledged that Mushriks worshiped Idols to get close to Allah.



So according to Al-Maliki’s understanding of Shirk, the Mushiks of Makkah would have been Muslims doing Tawassul with idols as they did not believe than other than Allah can create. This is the problem of these people, they do not know what Tawhid and Shirk is, they ignore the reality of the Shirk of the Mushriks of Makkah despite all the scholars of Tafsir clearly writing about it.





Did Ash-Shafi'i do Tabarrk with grave of Abu Hanifah



Quotes below are taken from the book “Mawsu’ah Ahlus Sunnah” of Shaykh AbdurRahman Ad-Dimashqi written in refutation of the Ahbash.



The Ahbash have claimed that Tabarruk with the graves is correct and they justified this by what Khateeb Al-Baghdadi narrated that Ash-Shafi’i said: “I do Tabarruk with Abu Hanifah and I go to his grave every day -meaning for visit- and when I have a need I pray two Rak’ah and I go to his grave and ask my need to Allah (Ta’ala) and I do not leave it until it is fulfilled” (Tarikh Baghdad v 1 p 123)



This Sanad to Ash-Shafi’i contains Majhul (unknown) narrators as said by ‘Allamah Al-Mu’allimi. Shaykh Albani said in his “Silsilah Ad-Da’ifah” (1/31): “This narration is weak, rather Batil (pure falsehood), because ‘Umar ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim is not known and there is no mention of him in books of narrators. And it is possible that he is ‘Amr ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Humayd ibn us-Sakan Abu Muhammad At-Tunsi, and Al-Khateeb mentioned him (12/226) and mentioned that he was from Bukhara and he went for Hajj in 341H and he did not mention any Jarh nor Ta’dil (criticism or praise) so he is Mahlul ul Hal, and it is unlikely that he (the narrator Umar ibn Ishaq) is him (‘Amr ibn Ishaq) because the death of his Shaykh Ali Maymun is in latest case in 247H, so there is between their death approximately 100 years, so it is unlikely that he reached him (meaning ‘Amr ibn Ishaq did Hajj in 341 and it is difficult for him to narrate from Ali Maymun who died in 247, so the narrator of this narration is unlikely to be ‘Amr ibn Ishaq)”



Ash-Shafi’i said in his “Al-Umm” v 1 p 278: “I consider it Makruh that creation should be venerated (Ta’zim) until his grave is transformed into a place of worship (mosque) fearing the Fitnah for him and for those after him”



An-Nawawi in his Sharh Muslim quoted the words of Ash-Shafi’i v 7 p 24, Janaiz Bab 32 and “Majmu’” v 5 p 298: “I have seen among the rulers some who destroyed what was built upon graves and I have not seen the Fuqaha blaming this”



Al-Baydhawi said in his “Hashiyah Sunnan An-Nasai” v 2 p 42 that the Jews and the Christians used to come to the graves of their saints for prayer and invocation”



Comment: When Ash-Shafi’i mentioned he saw rulers destroying constructions over graves, so if the people of this time and he himself were doing Tabarruk on graves, why did he failed to mention this?



And if Ash-Shafi’i was doing such actions, why didn’t he do this on graves of Sahabah?



Why would he fail to mention in his books such actions if they were to be beneficial?



Can anyone having little reason believe that Ash-Shafi’i do such actions and believe them to be beneficial then fail to mention this in his books and recommend to do such actions on graves of Sahabah?





Compiled by Ali Hassan Khan



May Allah send Salah and Salam on the Prophet (saw), his family, companions and those who follow them

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