Sufis quote the following statement of Qaadi al Baydawi:
وقال البيضاوي : لما كانت اليهود والنصارى يسجدون لقبور الأنبياء تعظيما لشأنهم ويجعلونها قبلة يتوجهون في الصلاة نحوها واتخذوها أوثانا لعنهم ومنع المسلمين عن مثل ذلك ، فأما من اتخذ مسجدا في جوار صالح وقصد التبرك بالقرب منه لا التعظيم له ولا التوجه نحوه فلا يدخل في ذلك الوعيد
al Baydawi said: ‘As the Jews and Christians used to prostrate themselves before the graves of the prophets venerating them and perform prayers in the direction of these graves, they have made these graves as idols, so they were cursed. Muslims were forbidden to do the same.’ As for, ‘When one builds a mosque near the grave of a righteous man and intends to take blessing near him WITHOUT revering him or paying attention or the like, then this prohibition is not included in it. [Fath al Bari 1/525]
Response:
There is no shirk in above quote rather he is just saying praying in mosque near the grave of a righteous is allowed WITHOUT PAYING ATTENTION and VENERATING HIM. He is not saying it is allowed to ask help from the grave or the righteous person. As for his saying that "It is allowed to build a mosque near the grave of righteous without venerating him"? This is questionable.
a) Even Sufis like Allama al-Manawi (952 h 1031 h) refuted al Baydawi on this, He said:
لكن في خبر الشيخين كراهة بناء المسجد على القبور مطلقا والمراد قبور المسلمين خشية أن يعبد فيها المقبور لقرينة خبر اللهم لا تجعل قبري وثنا يعبد وظاهره أنها كراهة تحريم لكن المشهور عند الشافعية أنها كراهة تنزيه
But the hadith of Shaykhayn (Bukhari and Muslim) has general karaha of making masajid over graves, MEANING THE GRAVES OF MUSLIMS, due to the fear of worshiping the graves. As it is mentioned in the hadith ""O Allah! Do not make my grave an idol that is worshiped."". [Faydh al Qadeer 4/612]
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