QUESTION
What is the view of Hazrat Shah Abdul Aziz and Hazrat Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi on Isteghasa?
ANSWER
Imam Rashid Ahmad Gangohi wrote that Istigatha was unlawful, Fataawa Rashidiyya p72. However, he also wrote if a person were to do it with the belief that the person called upon has knowledge of the Unseen (Ilm al-Gahyb which only befits Allah taala) then it is Kufr. If, on the other hand, a person does not have this belief it will not be Kufr but close to Kufr as the act tells of this belief.
As for Shaikh Abd al-Aziz Dhelvi (the eldest son of Imam Shah Waliullah) in his Fataawa, he has also forbidden calling on or seeking the help of dead pious people, see Fataawa Azizi p180. The Shaikh has another treatise called Fayd-e-Aam, and in which he also states it is not permitted to directly call on a dead pious person to fulfill one’s need.
Wallahu Aalam bis-sawab
Mufti Mohammed Sajjad
Source: http://www.as-suffa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=416
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