But what do these verses have to do with asking for the help...

But what do these verses have to do with asking for the help and blessings of a person when the caller does not attribute Godly position, prudence or devotion to the addressee but is just imploring a worthy and beloved servant of God? Some may think that we can only call upon saints while they are still alive and if we do so when they are not, it is polytheism.

In answer to this problem it suffices to say that firstly we call upon the pure spirits of the righteous servants of God like our Prophet and the Imams who, according to the Holy Quran are alive in the Barzakh the intermediate state between death and Resurrection in a horizon above the martyrs. We are not calling upon the bodies buried in the earth. If we call upon them at their shrines, it is because this makes us more conscious of and connected with the Saintly spirits.

Furthermore, according to certain traditions, prayers are answered in these precincts. Secondly, the question of life or death of the saints can hardly be a criterion for the issue of monotheism or polytheism. Back Index Next Previous…