Assalamo Alaikum

I have a question to ask. We all know that when we pass by a qabristan we say "Assalam -o- Alikum ya ahl al- quboor " so my question is when addressing then some one can go to a particular qabr and say  "ammi / abba / baji etc salamu laikum" because if in general we can salute the dead then why not specifically some one. And can the dead listen to the salutation?

Secondly and more importantly, If to the dead ones in qabristan we can address by " ya " even though they are dead then why the objection on saying "ya" when it comes to the Prophet ? If the dead can hear our salutation from say from 2-3 miles from the road, (we say this even when passing in front of the road of a qabristan e.g. Main Tariq Road while the qabristan is spread over acres of land)  why can't the Prophet hear it ?

Thirdly, you must be aware of a very good Nasheed singer by the name of Sami Yousuf. He has also sung a nasheed by the name of Al- Muallem in which he has used YA Mohammad numerous times and he has performed all over across the Arab world ( spare SA) and even at the ISNA convention. So why no objection to his using "YA Mohammad"? Is there a logic behind this or is it just a Zid against the people who say YA  Mohammad. The other day I heard Dr. Israr saying that saying Maulana to any person is haram as Maulana originates from Maula and  Maula is specific to Almighty Allah ? Can you please explain?

Nasir

 

Dear Nasir Assalamo Alaikum!

It is good that you have an urge to know the truth rather than blindly follow a path. May Allah increase your knowledge and help you follow the right path, Amen!

Now I come to your questions, as you have raised many points in your writing. I will try to answer each separately.

According to my knowledge there is no ‘ya’ in the prayer as given in Muslim or Bukhari.

However, if you are at a grave or graves you may address them by using ya as well as long as you are praying to Allah for them. Remember salam or salutation is a dua’. You may offer dua and salam to any one in absentia. The question of distance does not arise. It is up to Allah to grant it or not. Regarding salam and darood to Prophet (s) from any place, it can and should be done. According to a hadith, there are angles who are roaming on earth to pick peoples salam and darood and communicate them to the Prophet (s). If you send one salam to him, according to another hadith, Allah will reward you ten times.

Regarding hearing of dead, yes there are many ahadith which tell us that dead do listen. However, let us also see what Allah says in the Qur’an at four different places: 1.Truly you can not cause the dead to listen (An-Naml 27:80); 2. So verily you can not make the dead to hear (Ar-Rum 30:52); 3. If you invoke them(make Dua to them), they will not listen to your call( Dua), and if they were to listen they can not answer to your (Dua or prayer) (Fatir 35:14); 4. Nor are like those that are living and those that are dead. Allah can make any that he wills to hear; but you (Prophet (s)) can not make those to hear who are in graves (Fatir 35:22).

Apparently, it seems that the ahadith and the Qur’anic verses contradict each other. No! It is not like that. In fact we should try to understand what Qur’anic verses are saying: First we can not make or cause dead to listen or hear our talk (See again Nos. 1, 2, and last part of 4 above). Second, if we make dua to dead people to help us they can not listen to our dua; even if they listen to our dua, they can not answer to our dua i.e. they can not help us (See again No. 3 above). Third, Allah of course can make any dead that he wills to hear. (See again the last two sentences of No. 4 above). It is what the ahadith concur with.

Now in the light of above let me analyze your points. We ourselves directly can not make any dead listen to our plea or request or talk. Even if we pray to Allah to let a particular dead hear to our talk, it is doubtful if he would allow this request. Let us understand this point. Every dead after death has a life of barzakh. There either he is being treated well because of his good deeds on this earth, or is under severe interrogation and difficulties because of his evil deeds on this earth. If he is being treated well and kept happy, Allah certainly would not cause them to hear something unpleasant which would make them sad or pain. Similarly, why will Allah let evil souls, which are under severe interrogation and are suffering his wrath, listen to something that will make them happy?

Now, about calling ‘Ya’ to seek help from dead: In fact Allah, in ayat No. 3 above is telling us not to invoke others for help except him. He can help us but not any one else who is dead. In fact, if we study the full ayah and ayat before it, we see that Allah is forbidding us from committing shirk by seeking help of dead who can not even respond to our call, and on the Day of Judgment they would absolve themselves from our deeds. Remember for all practical purposes of this world all dead (including prophets and martyrs) lose their power and authority. They do not posses anything. They do not own anything. For the world, they do not exist any more! They can not punish nor reward any one. Do they have power or authority over supernatural forces? Allah does not share his power or authority over any thing in any form with any one. Period. So why call some dead to seek help directly by saying Ya?

You have drawn my attention to a singer calling ya in his nasheed and it was sung on a platform of a Muslim organization. First of all I do not know the singer. Secondly, I have not heard the nasheed to know in what sense the word ya was used. Thirdly, in future you should quote a religious authority on interpretation or practice of a certain point of Qur’an and Sunnah, and not a singer or an organization, or a politician, or a speaker, or a writer, or a magazine, or website, or newspapers, etc. It is a tragedy of Muslim Ummah, that all such peoples or sources, Muslims or non-Muslims alike, are busy in writing or doing whatever they want to satisfy their own desires without having in depth knowledge of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

The Arabic word Maula has many meanings. It is used for slave or adopted son as well. It is used for friend or teacher as well. In a hadith, the Prophet (s) has said that Ali R is a maula of those whose maula is Prophet (s) himself. Does it mean Master or Owner here? Certainly not! Only Allah is our Master. Maula in the sense of Master should only be used for Allah only.