I am a young man, and sometimes I say “Yaa Muhammad, Yaa ‘Ali, Yaa Sidi Fulaan (O Muhammad, O ‘Ali, O my master So and so).” Someone told me that this is shirk (associating others with Allah). I said to him: I did not associate someone else with Allah, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad, ‘Ali and Sidi Fulaan are not gods alongside Allah. I have seen a hadith about a Sahaabi advising a man whose foot went numb and he said to him: Mention the dearest of people to you, so he said: O Muhammad, and the numbness left him. In one of the battles of the Muslims, their slogan was Ya Muhammadaah. If they had committed shirk thereby, then why didn’t the Sahaabah tell them not to do that? And the brothers of Yoosuf said, “O our father! Ask forgiveness (from Allah) for our sins, indeed we have been sinners” [Yoosuf 12:97]; they did not say: O Allah forgive us. If they were committing shirk, then why did he not tell them that this was wrong? Am I a mushrik now or not? If I have committed shirk, will Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, forgive the one who falls into shirk?
Praise
be to Allah
Firstly:
If a person says
“Yaa Muhammad, Yaa ‘Ali,” it may be understood in two ways.
1.
That it is
bringing to mind the one mentioned in this manner, without asking him for
anything, such as if he says “Yaa Muhammad” then falls silent, or he says
“Yaa Muhammad sall-Allahu ‘alayk (O Muhammad, may Allah send blessings upon
you).” This is not shirk, because it does not involve calling upon someone
other than Allah, may He be exalted.
Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Saying “Yaa
Muhammad, Yaa Nabiy Allah (O Muhammad, O Prophet of Allah)” and the like is
a call aimed at bringing to mind the person who is mentioned, like when the
worshipper says in the prayer “As-salaamu ‘alayka ayyuha’n-Nabiyyu wa
rahmat-Allahi wa barakaatuhu (Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of
Allah and His blessings). People do this a great deal, addressing someone in
their minds, even though that person is not present to hear what is said.
End quote from
Iqtidaa’ as-Siraat al-Mustaqeem li Mukhaalifat Ashaab al-Jaheem
(2/319).
2.
That this call
involves a clear request, such as saying “O Muhammad, do such and such for
me”, or it is an implicit request, such as a person who carries a rock or
heavy item, and says “Yaa Muhammad” – this is like asking him for help. Both
cases are shirk or associating someone with Allah, may He be exalted,
because calling upon anyone other than Allah, such as the dead or someone
who is absent, constitutes shirk, as is indicated by the religious texts and
scholarly consensus.
Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Who is more
unjust than one who invents a lie against Allah or rejects His Ayaat
(proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations)? For such their
appointed portion (good things of this worldly life and their period of stay
therein) will reach them from the Book (of Decrees) until, when Our
Messengers (the angel of death and his assistants) come to them to take
their souls, they (the angels) will say: “Where are those whom you used to
invoke and worship besides Allah,” they will reply, “They have vanished and
deserted us.” And they will bear witness against themselves, that they were
disbelievers”
[al-A‘raaf 7:37]
“And invoke not
besides Allah, any that will neither profit you, nor hurt you, but if (in
case) you did so, you shall certainly be one of the Zaalimûn (polytheists
and wrong-doers)”
[Yoonus 10:106]
“And when they
embark on a ship, they invoke Allah, making their Faith pure for Him only,
but when He brings them safely to land, behold, they give a share of their
worship to others”
[al-‘Ankaboot
29:65]
– what is meant by their giving a share of worship to others
is their calling upon others besides Allah.
“And whoever
invokes (or worships), besides Allah, any other ilaah (god), of whom he has
no proof, then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely! Al-Kaafirûn (the
disbelievers in Allah and in the Oneness of Allah, polytheists, pagans,
idolaters) will not be successful”
[al-Mu’minoon
23:117].
This is a
general ruling which applies to anyone who calls upon something or someone
other than Allah, and it makes no difference whether he calls him an ilaah
(god) or a sayyid (master) or a wali (“saint”) or a qutb (a higher rank of
“saint”), because the word ilaah (god) in Arabic refers to one who is
worshipped, so the one who worships anyone other than Allah has taken him as
a god, even if he denies that verbally. And there are many other clear
verses that speak of this.
In Saheeh al-Bukhaari
(4497) it is narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: “Whoever dies calling upon anyone besides Allah whom he regards
as equal to Him will enter Hell.”
The scholars
narrated that there was consensus that the one who says that there are
intermediaries between him and Allah, and he calls upon them and asks of
them, becomes a disbeliever, and they did not exclude from that calling upon
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) or anyone else.
Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Whoever regards the angels
or the Prophets as intermediaries, and calls upon them, puts his trust in
them, and asks them to bring benefits or word off harm, such as asking them
for forgiveness of sins or for guidance, or to relieve hardship or meet
needs, is a disbeliever according to the consensus of the Muslims.
End quote from
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa (1/124).
This consensus
was narrated and affirmed by more than one of the scholars. See al-Furoo‘
by Ibn Muflih (6/165); al-Insaaf (10/327); Kashshaaf al-Qinaa‘
(6/169); Mataalib Ooli an-Nuha (6/279).
It says in
Kashshaaf al-Qinaa‘, after mentioning this consensus, in a chapter on
the ruling on the apostate: That is because it is like what the
idol-worshippers do, and they say: We worship them only that they may bring
us near to Allah. End quote.
Thirdly:
There is nothing
in the Qur’an or Sunnah that could clearly mean that this type of shirk is
permissible, let alone promoting it or encouraging it. How can something
that Allah has described as shirk and disbelief in a clear text of the
Qur’an then be described as permissible in some other text?
The report that
you mention about numbness in the foot does not have a sound chain of
narration. Even if it were sound, there is no proof for that argument,
because it comes under the heading of bringing to mind the person mentioned,
as we have explained above, and it does not imply seeking help from someone
other than Allah.
This report has
been discussed in detail previously, in the answer to question no.
162967.
Thirdly:
The slogan “Yaa
Muhammadaah” or “Waa Muhammadaah” is not mentioned in any sound report as
being a slogan used by the Sahaabah in battle, as we shall see below. Even
if we assume that it is sound, it does not come under the heading of seeking
his help or asking him for something, because there is no suggestion of
asking, as is clear from the apparent meaning. Rather it comes under the
heading of lamentation, or the call of one who is expressing grief. It is as
if the Muslims, by saying that, were encouraging one another to fight by
expressing their grief for the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) and their grief for what was happening to his religion,
as when they said “Waa Islamaah (Alas for Islam).”
Lamentation may
be expressed with the particle waa or yaa [which is identical to the
vocative particle yaa, usually translated as ‘O’ when it is addressing
someone], when there is no room for ambiguity or confusion, as was pointed
out by Ibn Maalik in his poem al-Alfiyyah.
Al-Ashmooni
said: Waa is used for one for whom one is expressing grief. It may also be
used to express what is hurting one, such as saying Waa waladaah (O my
child, or Alas my child) [expressing grief for one’s child], or saying Wa
ra’saah (O my head) [expressing pain]. Or one may say Yaa waladaah or Yaa
ra’saah, using yaa instead of waa. But if saying Yaa will cause confusion,
it should be avoided. In other words, Yaa should not be used in lamentation
except when there is no risk of confusion.
If there is a
risk of confusion, then Waa should be used.
End quote from
Sharh al-Ashmooni ‘ala Alfiyyat Ibn Maalik (1/233).
This category
includes the words of Faatimah when the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) died, and she said: O my father (yaa abataah) who
answered the call of his Lord. According to another report, she said: waa
abataah.
Al-Bukhaari
(4462) narrated that Anas said:
When the
sickness of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) grew
severe, waves of pain overwhelmed him, whereupon Faatimah (peace be upon
her) said: O how distressed my father is!
He said: Your
father will have no more distress after today.
When he died,
she said: O my father [Yaa abataah], who answered the call of his Lord. O my
father, whose abode is Jannat al-Firdaws! O my father, to Jibreel we
announce the news of his death!
When he was
buried, Faatimah (peace be upon her) said: O Anas, how could you bear to
throw dust over the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him)?
According to a
report narrated by Ibn Maajah (1630), [she said]: O my father [Waa abataah],
to Jibreel we announce his death; O my father, how much closer he is now to
his Lord; O my father, the Paradise of al-Firdaws is his abode; O my father,
he has answered the call of his Lord.
This comes under
the heading of lamentation, not asking for help.
Al-Haafiz Ibn
Hajar said: When she said ‘Yaa abataah (O my father)’ it is as if she said
‘Ya abi (O my father).’ The extra alif is for lamentation and represents the
elongation of the sound, and the haa’ signals the end of the word.
End quote from
Fath al-Baari (8/149).
But the slogan
is not proven, as we mentioned above.
Shaykh Saalih
Aal ash-Shaykh (may Allah preserve him) said, responding to one who said
that al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer mentioned that the slogan of the Muslims at the
battle of al-Yamaamah was “Muhammadaah”:
I say: Ibn
Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) quoted that in a lengthy report about
the campaign, and some of the wording of the storytellers was incorporated
in the report. As for this slogan, it was narrated by Ibn Jareer in
Tareekh al-Umam wa’l-Mulook (3/293). He said: as-Sirri wrote to me
(narrating) from Shu‘ayb, from Sayf, from ad-Dahhaak ibn Yarboo‘, from his
father, from a man of Banu Suhaym… and he mentioned a story that included
this slogan.
I say: This
isnaad is problematic, and I do not think that issues of ‘aqeedah and
tawheed and other rulings of sharee‘ah should be taken from books of
history. Rather the stories of history are narrated for the purpose of
learning lessons from them, and are to be believed in general terms, but not
in details. Hence Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: There are three for which there is
no definitive proof, and he mentioned al-maghaazi (reports about military
campaigns)…
The problem with
this isnaad is on three counts:
1.
Sayf is the son
of ‘Umar, the author of al-Futooh and ar-Riddah. He narrated
from many unknown narrators.
Adh-Dhahabi said
in Mizaan al-I‘tidaal (2/255): Mutayyin narrated from Yahya: He (Sayf)
is not worth a penny. Abu Dawood said: He is worthless.
Abu Haatim said:
He is to be rejected.
Ibn Hibbaan
said: He was accused of heresy.
Ibn ‘Adiyy said:
Most of his hadiths are odd. End quote.
2.
Ad-Dahhaak ibn
Yarboo‘: al-Azdi said: His hadith is not sound. I say: He is one of the
unknown narrators from whom only Sayf narrated.
3.
The unknown
status of Yarboo‘ and the Suhaymi man.
Each of these
problems on its own would render the hadith da‘eef (weak), so how about when
it is narrated by Sayf ibn ‘Umar, when you know what is wrong with him? We
ask Allah to keep us safe and sound.
There is nothing
strange about Ibn Jareer narrating such weak stories, and many historians
after him narrated it. Ibn Jareer (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his
introduction to his book Tareekh al-Umam wa’l-Mulook (1/8): Whatever
reports we mentioned in this book of mine of stories about the past that the
reader may find odd or reprehensible, because he cannot find any way to
verify their soundness and they do not make any sense to him, he should
realise that this is not because of us; rather it is because of some of
those who transmitted it to us. Here we are only transmitting it as we
received it.
End quote from
Hadhihi Mafaaheemuna by Shaykh Saalih Aal ash-Shaykh, p. 52
Fourthly:
Allah, may He be
exalted, tells us about the brothers of Yoosuf (interpretation of the
meaning):
“They
said: ‘O our father! Ask forgiveness (from Allah) for our sins, indeed we
have been sinners.’
He said: ‘I will ask my Lord
for forgiveness for you, verily He! Only He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most
Merciful’”
[Yoosuf
12:97-98].
This comes under
the heading of asking for supplication (du‘aa’) of one who is alive and able
to offer supplication, and there is nothing wrong with that according to
scholarly consensus.
Their words “Ask
forgiveness”
mean: ask for forgiveness for us. They did not say “Forgive us,” as you
thought.
Several texts
indicate that it is permissible to ask someone else to offer supplication,
such as the lengthy hadith of Uways al-Qarni, according to which the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to ‘Umar: “If you can ask
him to pray for forgiveness for you, then do so.” So he went to Uways and
said: Pray for forgiveness for me. Narrated by Muslim (2542).
An-Nawawi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said: Chapter on it being recommended to ask people
of virtue to offer supplication for one, even if the one who is asking is
better than the one of whom he asks this, and supplication in special
places:
It should be
understood that the hadiths that speak of this are too many to be counted,
and it is a matter on which there is scholarly consensus.
End quote from
al-Adhkaar (p. 643)
To sum up the
above, the basic principle concerning the matter of a person saying “Yaa
Muhammad (O Muhammad – blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)” is that it
is permissible, so long as it does not involve any asking of him, whether
explicitly or implicitly, because that constitutes shirk.
Nevertheless,
our advice to you is to avoid this call and avoid saying it a great deal,
for two reasons:
1.
It may cause
people to think ill of you, and to think that you are asking of someone
other than Allah.
2.
You may get used
to saying this phrase and the find yourself saying it when you are in need
of help. Hence you should get accustomed to saying Yaa Allah (O Allah), Yaa
Hayyu (O Ever-Living), Yaa Qayyoom (O Self-Sustaining), Yaa Dha’l-Jalaali
wa’l-Ikraam (O Possesser of Majesty and Munificence). There is nothing
better for a slave than to ask of his Master and humble himself before Him,
calling upon Him in all circumstances.
Fifthly:
If a person
falls into shirk and repents, Allah will accept his repentance. Allah, may
He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And those who
invoke not any other ilaah (god) along with Allah, nor kill such person as
Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual
intercourse __ and whoever does this shall receive the punishment.
69. The torment
will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein
in disgrace;
70. Except those
who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds; for
those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is
Oft‑Forgiving, Most Merciful
71. And
whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds; then verily, he repents
towards Allah with true repentance”
[al-Furqaan
25:68-70]
And Allah knows
best.
