BENEFIT: Do Not Write

يا الله يا محمد ‘O Allah, O Muhammad’ on walls Question: May Allah be good to you. A questioner says: In some masjids, it is common to see written on their prayer niches: يا الله! يا محمد! “O Allah, O Muhammad.” Is it permissible to pray in such masjids? Sheikh Rabee' rahimahullah: Unfortunately, we have seen this practice in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We have even seen it, by Allah, on the vehicles of people who call themselves mujahideen. They do not accept advice and insist on these acts of shirk. You see in their shops and masjids writings such as: “O Allah, O Ali, O Ghawth, O Husayn, O Abdulqadir,” and so on — all of these forms of shirk. Calling upon other than Allah for help (istighathah) is shirk. When someone says, يا محمد “O Muhammad,” this is shirk with Allah. Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah, the servant of Allah and His Messenger. If a person says, يا الله يا محمد “O Allah, O Muhammad,” it means he has made Muhammad a partner alongside Allah — may Allah be exalted. The Prophet ﷺ came only to destroy this kind of idolatry and to establish the upright religion, whose foundation is worshipping Allah alone. He came to purify the world, hearts, minds, and intellects from shirk and its impurities. He taught us pure tawhid through the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and his practical example. The Prophet ﷺ commanded the removal of idols and the destruction of places of worship built upon false beliefs. He said: “Do not travel specifically to visit any place of worship except three masjids: Al-Masjid Al-Haram, this Masjid of mine, and Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa.” Meaning: not graves or other places. These masjids were built by the prophets for the purpose of worshipping Allah alone and making religion sincerely for Him. This practice began appearing in Madinah. Since we know these matters, we recognised the tricks of the people of religious innovations. They started writing: “Allah, Muhammad.” Someone named Siraj ar-Rahman, who studied with me at university and was a student of Abu Al-Hasan an-Nadwi, told me — I do not remember whether I saw him in Kenya or told him the story of how this began appearing in Madinah — that Abu al-Hasan An-Nadwi introduced: the words الله محمد “Allah, Muhammad”. This is disbelief because they imply that Muhammad is equal to Allah. There is no diety worthy of worship except Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah! We testify that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger. We testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger! This is the highest rank of this noble Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in praising Esa son of Mariam. I am only a servant, so say: Allah’s servant and His Messenger.” I saw this practice and opposed it. Whenever I saw it in a masjid, I advised the imam. In the Masjid Al-Qiblatayn, I spoke to the imam, but he did nothing. I spoke to the owner of the masjid, and he immediately removed those writings — may Allah reward him. In the masjid next to me in Madinah, they wrote “Allah, Muhammad.” I advised the imam, and he said: “We will change it, we will change it,” but he delayed and did not remove it. There was a good young man who said: “I will take care of it for you.” He went and covered it, and it ended, praise be to Allah. The point is: One day, while I was coming from Bathan and entering Madinah, I saw a pickup truck in front of me with red writing saying: “O Allah, O Muhammad.” I drove behind it, so the driver sped up. He realised that I had noticed it, so he increased his speed, and I followed him until we reached near Qurban. He stopped the vehicle, got out, and said: “Should I erase it?” I had not even spoken to him yet. He already knew because he felt what he had done. I said: “Yes, erase it.” This shows that it is an organised spread of the ideas of those who attach themselves to graves and superstitions in the lands of tawhid.