Seeking Help from Piran-e Pir (Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani)

Question

A woman in the pains of childbirth keeps involuntarily uttering a phrase of istighatha (calling for help) to some wali — for example, “Ya Muhyi al-Din!” What is the ruling concerning this? Also, in this region istighatha is widespread among the common people — for example, “Ya Ghawth al-A‘zam!” — yet it cannot be said with certainty that those who say it actually intend istighatha to those awliya; what is the ruling in this case?

Answer

Even if this form is adopted without believing Hazrat Muhyi al-Din ﵋ to be hadir wa nazir (present and watching) and a responder to cries for help, even then it is shirk in form; therefore repentance and abstention from it are necessary. And if the belief is also present, then the shirk is manifest, as stated in “Majma‘ al-Anhur”.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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