The great achievements of a fallible man – no matter how great, even if he is a Shaykh al-Islam – do not blind the Muslim or lead him to fanaticism. In the words of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) who one day pointed towards the grave of the Final Messenger of Allah (ﷺ):

كُلُّ كَلَامٍ فِيْهِ مَقْبُوْلٌ وَ مَرْدُوْدٌ إِلّا كَلَامُ صَاحِبِ هَذا القَبْرِ

“Everyone’s statement can be taken or rejected except for the companion of this grave” (Siyar A’lam al-Nubala by Imam Dhahabi)

So no matter how great a mujahid or a scholar (or even a sahabi); their greatness doesn’t validate every single of their action. Now let us compare the undoubtedly wrong action – which is unsurprisingly hailed by the Quburi Batini Sufis – of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi al-Kurdi (may Allah have mercy on him)  with the action of the actual Salaf, the Sahabah, who through their profound acumen (fiqahah) and wisdom blocked every means to grave veneration that we see today in the Rafidi and Sufi world.

The concept of Sadd al-Dara’i ( سد الذرائع ) 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 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.

The pious Caliph hides the grave of Prophet Daniel

عَنْ أَنَسٍ أَنَّهُمْ لَمَّا فَتَحُوا تُسْتَرَ فَوَجَدَ رَجُلًا أَنْفُهُ ذِرَاعٌ فِي التَّابُوتِ كَانُوا يَسْتَظْهِرُونَ وَيَسْتَمْطِرُونَ بِهِ فَكَتَبَ أَبُو مُوسَى إِلَى عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رضي الله عنه بِذَلِكَ فَكَتَبَ عُمَرُ إِنَّ هَذَا نَبِيٌّ مِنَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالنَّارُ لَا تَأْكُلُ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ وَالْأَرْضُ لَا تَأْكُلُ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ فَكَتَبَ أَنِ انْظُرْ أَنْتَ وَأَصْحَابُكَ فَادْفِنُوهُ فِي مَكَانٍ لَا يَعْلَمُهُ أَحَدٌ غَيْرُكُمَا قَالَ فَذَهَبْتُ أَنَا وَأَبُو مُوسَى فَدَفَنَّاهُ

مصنف ابن أبي شيبة

Anas reported: When they (i.e. the Sahabah) liberated Tustar (in modern-day Iran), they found a man whose nose was one cubit long in a coffin. The people were seeking victory and seeking rain through him. Abu Musa wrote to Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, about that. Umar wrote back, saying, “Indeed, this man is one of the Prophets. Fire and earth do not consume the bodies of the prophets.” Umar wrote further, “Look for him, you and your companion, and bury him in a place no one knows but the two of you.” Anas said, “Then I went with Abu Musa (al-Ash’ari) and we reburied him.” (Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah)

In the same source we read:

Mutarrif ibn Malik said: “I was present at the conquest of Tustar with Abu Musa (al-Ash‘ari). We came across (the body of) Daniyal in Susa (Shush). When the people of Susa were faced with drought, they would bring him out and pray for rain by virtue of him. We found with him sixty sealed jars.” (Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah)

A longer version:

حدثنا أبو العالية، قال: لما فتحنا تُسْتَر وجدنا في بيتِ مال الهُرْمُزان سريرًا عليه رجل ميت، عند رأسه مصحف له، فأخذنا المصحف، فحملناه إلى عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه، فدعا له كَعبًا، فنسخه بالعربية، فأنا أولُ رجل من العرب قرأه، قرأته مثل ما أقرأ القرآن، فقلت لأبي العالية: ما كان فيه؟ قال: سيرتُكم وأموركم ولحُون كلامكم، وما هو كائن بعدُ، قلت: فما صنعتم بالرجل؟ قال: حفرنا بالنهار ثلاثة عشر قبرًا متفرقة، فلما كان الليلُ دفنّاه وسوينا القبور كلها، لنُعَمِّيَه على الناس لا يَنْبشونه، فقلت: وما يرجون منه؟ قال: كانت السماء إذا حُبست عنهم أبرزوا السرير فيُمْطَرون، فقلت: من كنتم تظنون الرجل؟ قال: رجل يقال له: دانيال، فقلت: مُنذْ كَمْ وجدتموه مات؟ قال: منذ ثلاث مئة سنة، قلت: ما كان تغير منه شيء؟ قال: لا؛ إلا شُعيرات من قَفاه، إن لحوم الأنبياء لا تُبليها الأرض، ولا تأكلها السباع

دلائل النبوة ومعرفة أحوال صاحب الشريعة – المؤلف: البيهقي.

Abu al-Aliyah said: “When we conquered Tustar, we found in the treasury of Hormozan (a Persian aristocrat who served as the governor of Khuzestan) a bier on which was the body of a dead man, and by his head was a scripture of his. We seized the scripture and took it to Umar ibn al-Khataab (may Allah be pleased with him), and he summoned Ka‘b, who translated it into Arabic. I was the first man among the Arabs to read it, and I read it as I read this Qur’an. I said to Abu al-Aliyah : What was in it? He said: It was about you, your affairs, your religion, your talk, and what will happen after that. I said: What did you do with the man? He said: We dug thirteen different graves during the day, then at night we buried him and we leveled all the graves, so as to conceal its location from the people so that they would not exhume him. I said: Why would people do that? He said: If rain was withheld from them, they would take his bier out and they would receive rain. I said: Who do you think the man was? He said: A man called Daniyal. I said: How long ago do you think he died? He said: Three hundred years ago. I said: Had anything of him changed? He said: No, except a few hairs at the back of his head, for the earth does not consume (the bodies of) the Prophets, and wild animals cannot devour them.” (Dala’il al-Nubuwwah by Bayhaqi)

Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“This is a sahih isnad going back to Abu al-Aliyah, but if the date of this man’s death was recorded as having been three hundred years earlier, then he cannot have been a Prophet; rather he was a righteous man. That is because there was no Prophet between Eesa ibn Maryam and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), according to the text of the hadith narrated by Imam Bukhari, and the period between them was four hundred years, or six hundred, or six hundred and twenty years. Or the date of his death may have been eight hundred years earlier, which is close to the time of Daniyal, if this was the Daniyal who once lived. Or he may have been some other man, either one of the Prophets or one of the righteous. But it is most likely that he was Daniyal, because Daniyal was taken captive by the king of Persia, and remained with him as a prisoner, as we have seen above.” (al-Bidayah wa’n-Nihayah by Ibn Kathir)

There is no doubt about the authenticity of those events. Yes, certain versions have been weakened, but the story of the grave (and razing it to the ground, etc), etc.) was authenticated by the likes of Ibn Hazm, Ibn Kathir, al-Albani, and others.

Mind you, the Quburis will claim that the aforementioned narrations have nothing to do with grave veneration/having structures over the graves. They claim that the Sahabah were merely concerned with the desecration of the grave of Daniyal by the Jews (who used to constantly dig him out and move him around). These grave worshippers mix the truth with falsehood, for of course desecration was a concern, but this doesn't exclude the crux of the matter i.e. that the Jews venerated (and still do, along with the Rafidah!) the buried saint and sought blessings from him, exactly what the Quburis of today do with respect to their favourite buried saints).

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“When the grave of Daniyal was discovered in Tustar, Abu Musa wrote to Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) about it, and ‘Umar wrote back to him, saying: During the day, dig thirteen graves, and bury him by night in one of them, and conceal the location of his grave, lest his grave becomes a cause of fitnah and confusion for people.” (Majmu al-Fatawa by Ibn Taymiyyah)

Ibn al-Qayyam (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:

ففي هذه القصة ما فعله المهاجرون والأنصار من تعمية قبره؛ لئلا يفتتن به الناس، ولم يُبْرزوه للدعاء عنده والتبرك به، ولو ظفر به المتأخرون لجالدوا عليه بالسيوف، ولعبدوه من دون الله، فهم قد اتخذوا من القبور أوثانًا مَنْ لا يُداني هذا ولا يقاربه، وأقاموا لها سَدنَة، وجعلوها معابد أعظم من المساجد. فلو كان الدعاء عند القبور، والصلاة عندها، والتبرك بها فضيلةً أو سنة أو مباحًا، لنصب المهاجرون والأنصار هذا القبر عَلَمًا لذلك، ودعوا عنده،

إغاثة اللهفان في مصايد الشيطان – المؤلف: ابن قيم الجوزية

“In this story, the Muhajirun and Ansar, may Allah be pleased with them, hid his (Daniyal’s) lest it becomes a cause of fitnah for the people; to prevent them from supplicating near it or seeking tabarruk (blessings). But if the body of that man was found by those who came after them (early pious Salaf), they would have fought one another over it and they would have even worshipped him besides Allah. This is because they (i.e. grave worshippers) have taken the places of worship as idols… and they have taken them (i.e. tombs/graves) as temples which are greater than mosques.  So if supplicating and praying beside the graves and asking for blessings from them were virtuous, permissible, or Sunnah, then surely the Muhajirun and Ansar would have practiced that at that grave (of Daniyal) and turned it a place of such activities.” (Ighathah al-Lahhufan fi Masayid al-Shaytan by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah)

Abdul-Hadi al-Shami al-Hanbali (AH 744) in refutation of the Sufi al-Subki, wrote:

ومعلوم أنه لو اتخذ قبره عيدا ومسجدا ووثنا، وصار الناس يدعونه ويتضرعون إليه ويسألونه ويتوكلون عليه ويستغيثون به، ويستجيرون به، وربما سجدوا له وطافوا به وصاروا يحجون إليه، وهذه كلها من حقوق الله وحده لا يشركه فيها مخلوق. فكان من حكمة الله دفنه في حجرته ومنع الناس من مشاهدة قبره، والعكوف عليه، والزيارة له، ونحو ذلك لتحقيق توحيد الله وعبادته وحده لا شريك له لإخلاص الدين لله. وأما قبور أهل البقيع ونحوهم من المؤمنين فلا يجعل ذلك عندها وإذا قدر أن ذلك فعل عندها منع من يفعل ذلك وهدم ما يتخذ عليها من المساجد، وإن لم تزل الفتنة إلا بتعفية قبره وتعميته فعل ذلك كما فعله الصحابة بأمر عمر بن الخطاب في قبر دانيال

الصَّارِمُ المُنْكِي في الرَّدِّ عَلَى السُّبْكِي المؤلف: شمس الدين محمد بن أحمد بن عبد الهادي الحنبلي

“From this, we know that if his grave (i.e. that of the Prophet) were used as a place of assembly, prostration, and idolatry, people would invoke, supplicate, and plead with him; they put their trust and reliance ( التوكل ) on him and ask him for help ( الإستغاثة ). Perhaps they would even prostrate themselves in front of his grave and perform Tawaf around his grave and make pilgrimages to him. All mentioned are the rights of Allah which belong to Him alone and not any of the creation.

And of the wisdom of Allah is that he (i.e. the Prophet) was buried in his house which cannot be sought and seen by anyone nor can anyone stay at his grave to perform acts of worship, seeking blessings, etc., ( الْعُكُوْفُ ) and perform pilgrimage and its likes. All of this is to ensure that Tawhid Allah (i.e. that God alone is worshipped) is fulfilled.

And regarding the graves of the people of al-Baqi’ (cemetery in Madinah) and their likes among the believers: [the aforementioned] must not be practiced there either.  And whoever is attempting that (i.e. tomb worship) must be stopped and any tomb that is taken as a place of worship must be demolished. And if a fitnah could not be removed except by exhumation (moving the dead body to another grave) and hiding his (ﷺ) grave, it must be done, just as the Sahabah did with the grave of Daniel under the decree of Umar ibn al-Khattab.” (al-Sarim al-Munki fi al-Radd ala al-Subki by Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Hadi al-Hanbali)

Lo and behold!

The arch-enemies of Umar al-Faruq have revived the veneration of the tomb of Daniyal. Tomb tourism is flourishing in their (and in the lands of the Sufis). Ibn Saba al-Yahoodi and the Shlomos in occupied Palestine are certainly pleased…

Tomb of Daniel (Daniyal) In Iran

Daniel is the hero of the book of Daniel. A noble young Israelite from Jerusalem, he is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and serves the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the Persian conqueror Cyrus, while remaining true to the God of Israel.

They said that he foretold the coming of our Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“Daniyal (peace be upon him) mentioned Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) by name, and said: “Arrows will be departing from bows and arrows will be stained with blood at your command, O Muhammad.” (al-Jawab as-Sahih by Ibn Taymiyyah)

Then Shaykh al-Islam mentioned two cases in which Daniyal foretold the coming of the Messiah and of our Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), then he said:

“This is a prophecy in which Daniyal foretold the coming of the Messiah and the coming of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), in which there is a detailed description of Muhammad and his ummah, which would take too long to quote here. The Muslims read it when they conquered Iraq, as was mentioned by the scholars, including Abu al-Aliyah.” (al-Jawab as-Sahih by Ibn Taymiyyah)

Today, numerous cities claim the tomb of Daniel: Babylon, Kirkuk, and Muqdadiyah in Iraq, Susa (Shush) and Malamir in Iran, Tarsus in Turkey, and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. Even a town in Morocco at the shrine of Sidi Denaine, or Daniel, which is located at Jorf El-Yhoudi in Morocco. The site is popular with Jews and Sufis. Each year after Mawlid, a huge feast is held at the site. And then there is Egypt with its khurafi Sufi charlatans, like the following dajjal (who legitimises intercession through lady Mary!):

The most famous is in the 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.

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):

وعن أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ -رضي الله عنه- أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ -صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ- قَالَ: يَتْبَعُ الدَّجَّالَ مِنْ يَهُودِ أَصْبَهَانَ سَبْعُونَ أَلْفًا عَلَيْهِمْ الطَّيَالِسَةُ [نوع من الأردية الخضراء]

 

The curse of Allah is upon the grave worshippers, the worst of all creation:

The Worst of All Creation – The Grave Worshippers ( عباد القبور )