بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of God the Merciful


From the book of
(An Hour with Ghosts)
By
Mohammed-Ali Hassan al-Hilly
A Conversation between Me and Someone


I said to him: "It is not allowed to kiss the walls and doors of the shrines of saints; for it is a kind of associatoin."

He said: "We kiss the walls and doors as a glorification of those buried in these graves; as it is mentioned in the Arab poetry when the poet said that "he kissed the walls of the houses because he loved those who dwelt in those houses, and not for the love of the houses themselves."

I said: "I know that you love the saints more than the love of God, and for this reason you kiss the walls and doors and adore the threshold of the door, and seek to be blessed with the stone and earth."

He said: "We do that as a glorification and sanctification of the saints, and it is not for the stone and earth; and we don't love them more than our love of God."

I said: "But [actually] you sanctify the sepulchers and you love the saints more than the love of God."

He said: "How can you prove that?"

I said: "Did you ever go to one of the mosques to pray therein?"

He said: "I frequently go to mosques and pray to God therein, especially during the month of Ramadan."

I said: "Did you ever, even though on one occasion, kiss the wall or door of any mosque?"

He said: "No."

I said: "Did you ever, even though once, present to any mosque, a piece of furniture, lamps or chandeliers, or silver or gold?"

He said: "No, I didn't present anything of that."

I said: "Mosques are the houses of God, while graves and shrines are the houses of the dead; therefore, you are glorifying the houses of men and you are not glorifying the houses of God. You kiss the walls of the shrines, but you do not kiss the walls of the mosques which are God's houses of worship. You present your gifts of furniture, chandeliers, silver and gold to the shrines of men, but you do not present such things to the houses of God.

Then this is certainly a certain proof that you love the saints more than you love God.

Second: You have attributed rivals to God by your sanctifying and glorifying the shrines of the saints.

God – be glorified – said in the Quran 2: 22
فَلاَ تَجْعَلُواْ لِلّهِ أَندَاداً وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
The explanation:
(Therefore, do not set up peers for God, the while you know.)

Moreover, God – be glorified – said in the Quran 2: 165
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَتَّخِذُ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ أَندَاداً يُحِبُّونَهُمْ كَحُبِّ اللّهِ
The explanation:
(But those who believe love God more ardently.)

In addition, God – be glorified – said in the Quran 41: 9
قُلْ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَكْفُرُونَ بِالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَرْضَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ وَتَجْعَلُونَ لَهُ أَندَادًا ذَلِكَ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ
The explanation:
([O Mohammed] say [to the idolaters]: "Do you, then, unbelieve in [God] Who created the earth in two days, and do you ascribe to Him opponents? –– That is the Lord of [all] the worlds!")

And you know what punishment God has prepared in the afterlife for those who attribute rivals to God. So if you like to be saved in the afterlife: then abandon the enthusiasm about the saints, like the enthusiasm of Christians about the Christ, so leave the enthusiasm and the association and make your work exclusively devoted to God alone; and let your love of God more than any other being; as God – be glorified – said in the Quran 2: 165
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلّهِ
The explanation:
(But those who believe love God more ardently.)

Thirdly – You may acquire some of the infectious diseases because of your kissing the sepulchers, shrines and walls."

He said: "How is that?"

I said: 'some of the visitors to such shrines bring some fragrances and aromatic oils, with which they rub the shrines, walls and doors; and people come and kiss such places. It might be that some of them have pulmonary tuberculosis or some other infectious diseases, so that the microbes will be transmitted from the mouth of the patient to the mouth of the healthy person by the way of kissing and contact of hands with those sepulchers and shrines; and because of the kissing you may acquire an infectious disease while you are unaware of its source."

He said: "This is right, and your words are reasonable, so I shall abandon kissing the shrines and the walls; I shall also abandon the associating of other beings with God, and become one of the "monotheists" [who are devoted to God alone] and this is possible only by God's will."
This book be found in this link:


http://quran-ayat.com/hour/an_hour_with_ghosts.htm