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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Shiite Apologetics Question Fourteen Does calling on others (Du`a') necessarily mean worshipping them (`Ibadah) and is it therefore a kind of polytheism? Answer: This question has been raised because some verses of the Holy Quran, such as the following ones, outwardly prohibit requesting anyone but God: And that the Mosques are Allahs, therefore call not upon anyone besides Allah.

72:18 And do not call besides Allah on that which can neither benefit you nor harm you. 10:106 Some people, sticking to such verses as a pretext, take calling on Gods saints-after their deaths as polytheism. Let us first explain the meaning of Du`a and `Ibadah in order to clarify the answer to the question. There is no doubt that the word Du`a in Arabic means invocation and the word `Ibadah means worshipping.

So we can never consider these two words as synonyms; neither can we say that any kind of calling upon someone equals worshipping him for the following reasons: a) The word Du`a has been used in the Holy Quran in some contexts such as Chapter 71; we can never claim that it denotes worshipping: He said: my Lord! I have called unto my people night and day. 71:5 Can one claim that Noah meant he had been worshipping his people night and day?

Thus, we cannot say that Du`a (calling) and `Ibadah (worshipping) are synonymous and that if one calls a prophet or a saint, he has necessarily worshipped them just because these words (may) entail worship. b) The word Du`a calling as used in the above verses conveys the concept of worshipping because these verses actually refer to the idolaters who took their idols as gods.

The humbleness the idolaters showed, the prayer they performed and the humble entreaty they made were doubtlessly all directed to the idols that they considered as the ones with the right to intercede and to forgive and with the power to act freely in the affairs which are related to this world and the next. It is self-evident that any calling upon these beings equals worshipping them.

The clearest example to this assertion comes from the verse of the Quran which reads: And their gods on whom they called besides Allah availed them naught.