In Islam (unlike in Imamism) Images of animals and people are prohibited inside a mosque because of the concern that such images might lead to idol worship (this principle is Sadd al-Dara’i, blocking the means).
The concept of Sadd al-Dara’i is founded on the idea of prevention of evil before it materialises. There are examples of Sadd al-Dara’i in the Quran (for instance, 6:108; 2:104). The means must conform to the ends (objectives of Shariah) and ends must prevail over the means. If the means violate the purpose of Shariah, these must be blocked.
Saint and grave veneration (which is different from honouring the Awliyah) has been historically a means to polytheism and whatever is a means to something unlawful (especially if it’s polytheism) is unlawful itself according to principles of the religion.
Islam is inherently iconoclastic
Islam came to eliminate saint and grave veneration from its very roots, especially in the forms of erected graves, statues, and pictures of religious figures. One of the greatest iconoclasts in Muslim history was none other than the Commander of the Believers, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib:
عن أبي الهياج الأسدي قال: قال لي علي -رضي الله عنه-: «ألا أَبْعَثُك على ما بَعَثَني عليه رسول الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم-؟ أن لا تَدْعَ صُورَةً إلا طَمَسْتَها، ولا قَبْرًا مُشْرِفًا إلا سَوَّيْتَه [رواه مسلم]».
Abu al-Hayyaj al-Asadi said: “‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: ‘Shall I not send you with the same instructions as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent me? Do not leave any image without blotting it out, nor any raised or built-up grave without leveling it.'” (Muslim)
Islam is keen to cut off whatever may lead to polytheism, whether hidden or apparent. In this Hadith, ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) explains that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent him on a mission and commanded him to erase and blot out every image that he would encounter because they represent contention with Allah, the Almighty, in terms of creation. Also, the people may glorify such images and end up as idolaters.
The Prophet (ﷺ) also commanded him to level all built-up graves and any grave raised above the height approved by the Shariah. Raising graves may tempt people into glorifying the dead buried inside them and regarding them as associates with Allah, the Almighty. This keenness aims to guard the pure creed of Muslims, because making images and building over graves leads to overestimation, glorification, and sanctification of such things, as well as granting them rights that are exclusively limited to Allah, the Almighty.
Now imagine the Prophet, his Ahlul-Bayt, and his Sahabah were alive today and would see the Quburis (grave worshippers) imitating the Jews and Christians in their heresies such as grave veneration and Christian iconography (depiction of saints).
Unnecessary depiction of ordinary human beings (and anything that has a soul) is either prohibited or detested by the scholars of Islam, as for the depiction of Prophets, etc., especially in places of worship, then there is no disagreement on the prohibition of this evil act.
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (ﷺ) saw images in the Ka’bah and he did not enter until he had ordered that they be erased. (Bukhari)
In another narration we read:
It was narrated that Aslam the freed slave of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When Umar went to Syria, one of the leaders of the Christians made food for him and called him. Umar said: We will not enter your churches because of the images that are in them – meaning the statues. (Narrated by ‘Abd al-Razzaq in al-Musannaf, 1/411 and 10/398)
Muslim and non-Muslim historians point to a long, culturally determined, and unchanging tradition of fierce iconoclastic stances and even acts within Islamic-Sunni society (unlike in Shia societies).
Top: An Egyptian Coptic man kissing a Jesus (peace be upon him) idol. Bottom: An Iraqi Shia man holding onto a Shia idol.
Imam Bukhari included an entire chapter in his Sahih which he entitled: Chapter on praying in a chapel
‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We will not enter your churches because of the images in them. Ibn ‘Abbas would pray in a ‘chapel’ except a ‘chapel’ in which there were statues.
Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The chapter on praying in “chapels”; a “chapel” is a place of worship for Christians.
Another report states:
“Ibn Aidh narrated in Futuh al-Sham that when Umar came to Syria, the Christians made food for him and called him, and he said: Where is it? They said: In the church, and he refused to go. He said to Ali: Take the people to eat lunch. So Ali took the people and entered the church, and he and the people ate lunch, and Ali looked at the images and said: What would be wrong if the Amir al-Mu’minin entered this place?” (Mughni 8/113)
However, nothing but the following hadith with its severe condemnation of other polytheists is a stronger hujjah (divine proof) against those amongst the Ummah who have fallen into the innovation of the invocation of the Awliya (saints) and the veneration of their graves:
The Mother of the Believers Aishah and Abdallah ibn ‘Abbas narrate how on his death-bed, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), put a sheet over his face and when he felt hot, he would remove it from his face. When in that state (of putting and removing the sheet) he said, “May Allah’s Curse be on the Jews and the Christians for they build places of worship at the graves of their prophets.” (Bukhari)
By that he intended to warn the Muslims from what they (i.e. Jews and Christians) had fallen into of forms of polytheism and excessive veneration of their saints and religious leaders.
Saint and grave worship: the mother of all polytheism
The scholars explain that the reason why the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said warned so harshly against grave worship was that his time to depart from this world was near and one of his biggest concerns was indeed grave worship. He wanted to make clear that nothing is above Tawhid and that his Ummah should not fall into the heresies of the Jews and Christian by making his grave also into a place of worship as sooner or later people could start worshipping the grave itself and this indeed occurred with graves other than his.
Therefore such stern words were used so that people refrain from coming close to Shirk. In another Hadith it comes:
“Umm Habibah and Umm Salamah mentioned a church they had seen in Abyssinia in which there were pictures. They told the Prophet (ﷺ) about it, on which he said: If any religious man dies amongst those people they would build a place of worship at his grave and make these pictures in it. They will be the worst creature in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection.”(Bukhari)
Ponder over that, one of the final words of the Prophet (ﷺ) was about the importance of Tawhid by sternly warning against Shirk. Have no doubt, if he (ﷺ) and his family and companions were alive today, the Quburis would accuse them of being ‘Shirk’ obsessed ‘Wahhabis’.
The truth is, his entire Da’wah was a war against Shirk and everything that might lead to it, yet those who have fallen into excessive veneration of the saints/Imams (whom they invoke more than the Prophet) have literally revived all forms of heresy and paganism that the Prophet (ﷺ) came to uproot such as:
The paganism of invoking/praying to saints (‘ya ‘Ali madad instead of ‘Ya Jesus’ and ‘Ya Hubal madad’).
The Church-Esque heresy of saint depiction and veneration.
The paganism of excessive wailing and lamenting rituals that not just resemble those of the Jahiliyyah but would actually disturb the ancient pagan Arabs if they were to witness it.
And for every bid’ah they will fish in murky waters, quoting some late scholars (Khalaf), left, right, and centre, as if the religion is based upon fallible men and not the Prophet (ﷺ), his Ahlul-Bayt, and his Sahabah, who never practiced any of the heresies the Quburis from amongst the Rafidah and extremist Sufis are known for.
They say pictures speak a thousand words, the following pictures speak of the mother of all heresies and polytheism i.e. the exaggeration about the buried saints who have been turned into demigods by their superstitious followers. Sceneries that you will see in many, if not most Muslim countries, except in the Arabian Peninsula, which (with all its flaws) is free of these heresies.
Modest Muslim graves (non-plastered and levelled to the ground)
“The Torah definitively discourages Jews from attempting to contact the next world. It forbids ‘seeking out the dead,’ prohibiting sorcery and other ‘abominable’ attempts to access other-worldly spirits (Deuteronomy 18:11).
…
Tellingly, the Torah records that the burial place of Moses remains unknown, a verse unfortunately ignored by some unscrupulous tour guides (Deut. 34:6). Many midrashim asserted that God did not want his burial spot to become, for Jews and non-Jews, a place of worship.” (Midrash Lekah Tov)
The Rabbi explains that later interpretation (Bid’ah) supported the idea of intercessory prayer in which the deceased or angels are requested to beseech God (the Rafidah and Sufis are upon that very same creed). Some promoted cemeteries as places with greater spiritual presence. The Rabbi even warns his own people of grave worship:
“Despite the widespread allowance for cemetery visits (BachYD 170), many were worried by its excesses. In one extreme 16th-century case, Rabbi David ibn Zimra chastised worshipers who opened graves (!) so that they could communicate directly with the dead (Radbaz Ta’anit 4:4). In the 19th century, Rabbi Abraham Danzig warned people against praying to the dead and leaving God out entirely.” (Hochmat Adam 89:7)
Given the excesses of cemetery supplications and the theological concerns raised by intercessory prayers, I strongly recommend shunning prayers directed toward the deceased. Instead, use the occasion to think about the mortality of life, the heritage of the deceased, and to pray to God that He helps us create our own righteous legacy.
Yet, many Jews seem not to take heed, including most of their ‘scholars’…
Jewish women pray on the roof of the grave of Yonatan ben Uziel at Amukah in the Galilee in Israel, January 28, 2010. Over the centuries the tradition developed that those seeking for their soul-mates would be married within one year if they prayed at Rabbi Ben-Uziels tomb. Photo by Michal Fattal/backyard/laif
Followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of both the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and “Kach” an Israeli political party, pray at his grave at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem on November 15, 2011, marking the 21st anniversary of his death after he was assassinated by an Arab gunman in a Manhattan hotel in November 1990. Ultra-Orthodox Jews pray at the ancient grave of an important Rabbi in the old Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives…epa01725924 Ultra-Orthodox Jews gather for prayers at the ancient grave of an important Rabbi buried in the old Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives, under the Old City walls of Jerusalem, on 10 May 2009.
Jewish settlers pray in Joseph’s (Jewish version of Prophet Yusuf tomb!) Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus on early Tuesday, December 28, 2010. In coordination with the Palestinian forces that control Nablus, the Israeli army escorted hundreds of Jewish settlers and pilgrims to the ancient shrine on Tuesday morning. Believed to be the final resting place of the biblical patriarch, Joseph’s Tomb saw fierce Israeli-Palestinian fighting a decade ago.
An ultra-Orthodox Jew kisses the grave of extremist Baruch Goldstein in the West Bank settlement of Kiriyat Arba, outside Hebron, on 29 December 1999 after the Israeli army demolished the shrine around the tomb. Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinian worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarch in Hebron in 1994 before being killed by the crowd. The shrine had become a pilgrimage site for right-wing extremists and settlers.JERUSALEM, -: An Israeli settler kisses the grave of 50-year-old slain Israeli settler Shlomo Miller, at the Mount of Olives Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem, 13 August 2004. Miller was killed when a Palestinian militant opened fire on his car close to the settlement of Itamar in the northern West Bank before being shot dead by settlement guards. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack, naming the militant as Yussef Ahmed Hanani, 25, a lieutenant in the Palestinian preventive security police.
TOPSHOT – People touch and kiss the grave of top spiritual authority for ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the world, Rabbi Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman, during his funeral in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak on December 12, 2017. Shteinman, who also wielded heavy influence on Israeli ultra-Orthodox political parties, had been hospitalised at the Mayanei Hayeshua medical centre three weeks ago over-breathing problems. He died aged 104, the hospital said.
Jewish tombs in Iran
Iranian Jews venerating the shrine of Khomeini in Tehran.
Many of Iran’s cities have Jewish tombs that are related to Judaism in some way. The most famous of these places are located in cities like Qazvin, Hamadan, Tuyserkan, and Isfahan. These include the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, the tomb of Daniel in Susa, the tomb of Habakkuk in Tuyserkan, and the mausoleum of Peighambariyeh in Qazvin.
Indeed, Iran is a tomb pilgrimage destination for Jews around the world who believe that a number of ‘their’ Prophets and saints were buried over there. The Prophet (ﷺ) made a chilling prophecy regarding the Shia heartland of modern-day Iran (which happens to be the heartland of the largest Jewish community in the Middle East):
The Dajjal would be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan wearing Persian shawls. (Sahih Muslim)
The shrine of Habakkuk in Toyserkan
Habakkuk is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He is the author of the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets. The name Habakkuk, or Habacuc, appears in the Hebrew Bible only in Habakkuk, and in the Masoretic Text, it is written in Hebrew.
Iranian Shi’ite women visiting the Jewish shrine of Habakkuk in Toyserkan, Iran.
The Tomb of Mordechai and Esther in Iran
Drawing of the tomb of Mordechai and Esther in Hamadan (Shia city), Iran. The inscription “Tomb of Mordechai the Righteous and Queen Esther (May Their Merit Protect Us)” is written in the shape of an arch across the top of the picture. Beneath the depiction of the tomb the inscription, “This is the top of the grave that the modest Mr. Avushalam, son of Ohad the doctor z”l, ordered to be built in the year 5618,” is printed and then written more clearly below. The illustration of the tomb depicts a brick structure with a dome on top, and a man dressed in traditional Persian clothing is standing in front of the doorway. (The National Library of Israel)
History and tradition of the tomb
The tomb of Esther and Mordechai is located in Hamadan, Iran. Considered by some to house the remains of Queen Esther Biblical and her cousin Mordechai, it is the most important place of pilgrimage for the Jews of the country.
According to Israel’s National Library, the tomb was first mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela in the 1100s.
The city of Hamadan is often associated with Shushan where the Purim story took place in the fourth century BCE,” the Library notes on its website, though it says “another tradition of the Jewish community of Iran explains that Hamadan is, rather, the place where Esther and Mordechai fled after the death of Ahasuerus, fearing that Haman’s followers would assassinate them, and received protection from the city’s Jewish community.
Jewish Iranian woman praying at the tomb of Esther
The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, Iran, is thought to have been built in the 1600s. “Between the two tombs is a deep pit covered by a large stone, which, according to one of the traditional stories, leads all the way to Jerusalem,” the Library says. “Adjacent to the tombs is a room that serves as a place for prayer, used also for the reading of the Megillah and family celebrations.
There are many more holy Jewish sites in Shia Iran, and many of them are often frequented by Jews and Shi’ites alike:
Tomb of Daniel (Daniyal) In Iran
Two Iranian Jews standing in front of the tomb of Prophet Daniel.The tomb of Daniel is located in Susa, Iran (inhabited by Ahwazi Arabs and Persians). Susa was conquered under the command of Abu Musa al-Ash’ari, during Umar ibn al-Khattab’s caliphate.
The tomb of the biblical prophet, Daniel, in southwestern Iran (Khuzestan) is daily revered by great numbers of Shi’ites and Jews.Iranian Jews venerating the tombstone of Prophet Daniel in Sus, Iran. The kissing of tombstones is a common Jewish and Shi’ite ritual that is shunned by Islam.Iranian Jews and Shi’ites by the Tomb of Prophet Daniel in Susa, Iran. The ancient city of Sus (Shush) is located 100 km from Ahwaz, the capital of Khuzestan province.Iranian Jews in the Tomb of Prophet Daniel in Susa, Iran.Shi’ite and Jewish Iranian women venerating the tombstone of Prophet Daniel.Iranian Jew praying at the shrine of Prophet Daniel.Grave veneration at the shrine of Prophet Daniel in Sus, Iran. Left: Iranian Shia man. Right: Iranian Jewish man.Iranian Jewish and Shi’ite women praying at the shrine of Prophet Daniel.Iranian Jews praying inside the Prophet Daniel tomb in Sus, Iran.Top: Rabbi with local Arab Shia man venerating and praying next to the shrine of Prophet Daniel. Susa, Iran. Centre: Jewish and Shi’ite women venerating the shrine of Prophet Daniel. A Rabbi standing next to the shrine of Prophet Daniel.Jews and Shi’ites praying next to the shrine of Prophet Daniel.
Today, six (!) cities claim the tomb of Daniel: Babylon, Kirkuk, and Muqdadiyah in Iraq, Susa (Shush) and Malamir in Iran, and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The most famous is in the majority Arab-Persian city of Susa (Shush, southern Iran), on a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. According to Jewish tradition, the rich and poor of the city quarreled over the possession of the body, and the beer was therefore suspended from a chain above the center of the river.
A house of prayer open to all who believed in God was built nearby, and fishing was prohibited by some distance along the river; the fishes that swam in this part of the river had heads that shone like gold, and the impious ones who entered the sacred enclosure drowned miraculously in the river.
Like all shrines, especially in Iran, the idolatrous shrine is nothing but a money machine where the gullible waste their hard-earned money.
Iranian Jews Shi’ite and Jews praying at the shrine of Prophet Daniel in Sus, Iran.
Peighambarieh – The Tomb of the Four Prophets
Located in the (Shia) city of Qazvin and adjacent to a Shia place of worship and school belonging to the Safavid era, there is a tomb that is considered the tomb of four Jewish prophets: Sahuli, Salam, Alqia, and Saloum called Chahar Anbia (lit. four prophets). They are said to be the prophets that emigrated to the Iranian plateau with the goal to promote the Shariah of Moses.
In addition to the Jewish prophets, a Shia saint is also thought to be in this place.
The Jewish-Shia Peyghambariyeh Shrine in Qazvin.One of the entrances of the Jewish-Shia Peyghambariyeh Shrine in QazvinKhamenei praying next to the shrine of a Shia saint inside the Jewish-Shia Peyghambariyeh Shrine in Qazvin.
And the list of Jewish tombs and shrines that are revered by the Jews and Rawafid in Iran goes on and on, not to mention those in Shia regions of Iraq.
The grave Rafidah and Sufis
And here are more pictures proving that Shi’ism has embraced the very heresy that the Prophet (ﷺ) warned against:
In Islam (unlike in Imamism) Images of animals and people are prohibited inside a mosque because of the concern that such images might lead to idol worship (this principle is Sadd al-Dara’i, blocking the means). 
One of the many idolatrous Khomeini statues in Iran:
A typical Shia place of worship and self-flagellation (‘Hussainiah), covered with effeminate and Persianised (whitewashed) depictions of the Ahlul-Bayt.
However, nothing but the following hadith with its severe condemnation of other polytheists is a stronger hujjah (divine proof) against those amongst the Ummah who have fallen into the innovation of the invocation of the Awliya (saints) and the veneration of their graves:
Indeed, Iran is a tomb pilgrimage destination for Jews around the world who believe that a number of ‘their’ Prophets and saints were buried over there. The Prophet (ﷺ) made a chilling prophecy regarding the Shia heartland of modern-day Iran (which happens to be the heartland of the largest Jewish community in the Middle East):
Today, six (!) cities claim the tomb of Daniel: Babylon, Kirkuk, and Muqdadiyah in Iraq, Susa (Shush) and Malamir in Iran, and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The most famous is in the majority Arab-Persian city of Susa (Shush, southern Iran), on a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. According to Jewish tradition, the rich and poor of the city quarreled over the possession of the body, and the beer was therefore suspended from a chain above the center of the river.
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