Calling “Ya Ghawth al-A‘zam, al-Madad”

Question

Is it permissible to call upon the noble awliya when rising and sitting — “Ya Ghawth al-A‘zam, al-madad!” (“O Greatest Ghawth, help!”) or “Bara Pir!” (“Great Pir!”) — or is it open shirk? Or to go to their shrines to have supplications made [through them], [believing] that they can supplicate, that God hears them in particular, that it is from here that supplications are accepted and wishes are granted, the childless receive children and the unemployed receive employment?

Answer

With such beliefs and deeds, iman does not remain intact. The jurists have recorded this belief as kufr: [ar]وَيَكْفُرُ بِقَوْلِهِ: أَرْوَاحُ الْمَشَايِخِ حَاضِرَةٌ تَعْلَمُ[/ar] “And he becomes a kafir by his saying: ‘The souls of the shaykhs are present and know’” (“Majma‘ al-Anhur”, vol. 1, p. 699).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.