Post Taymiyan Hanafi scholars who declared Kufr and Shirk for fasting to get close to the dead, vows and sacrifice to get close to the dead and attributing Divine powers to the creation and invoking creation for things only Allah can do

Ibn Nujaym Al-Hanafi on saints being omnipresent

“They (Ahnaf) also say in “Al-Bazzaziyah” and other books of religious verdict : “Whoever claims that the souls of Shaykhs are present, and they know what happens, he becomes Kafir” [“Al-Bahr Ar-Raiq” (5/134) ]

As quoted by Shaykh Albani quotes in his book “Tawassul” fromShaykh ‘Atheemabadee from his “Ta’liq ‘ala Mughni”

Ibn Abidin Shami and ibn Nujaym on vows to graves

In “Dur ul-Mukhtar”, it is written:

“It should be known that the vow (Nadhr) done by majority of people to the dead, putting sheets and oil on graves, the sacrifices done to get close to Saints, all of this is without any doubt Batil (falsehood) and Haram.”

Ibn ‘Abidin explained the reasons in “Rad ul Muhtar” vol 2 p 439:

“The reasons of it being Batil and Haram are many, one of them is that it is vow (Nadhr) to the creation, and vow to creation is Haram, because vow (Nadhr) is worship and worship is not for creation, and also the person from whom it is done is dead, and the dead doesn’t decide of anything (doesn’t possess anything), and the person who does that believes that the dead has a control in creation without Allah, and this belief is Kufr”

Ibn Nujaym said the same, talking about the different forms of Nadhr and invocations. [“Bahr ur Raiq” v 2 p 298]

Ahmad Sirhindi on women fasting to get close to saints and sacrifices in the names of saints

Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi writes on fasting for saints:

“Similar to this is the fasting of women with the intention of the Mashaykh and without explanation they invent most of their names by themselves and they fast intending them. They specify particular formalities for every day’s iftar. They also specify days for fasting, and they attach their aims and objectives to that fast, and they seek their needs from them (ie the Mashaykh) through the medium of this fast, and they believe their needs are fulfilled by them. Such a practice is associating another in the worship of Allah almighty (ishrak lo al-Ghayr fi ‘ibadat Allah Ta’ala) and seeking the fulfilment of needs from other (than Allah) through the medium of worshipping him”

(Maktubat Imam Rabbani vol 3 p 119)

Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi writes on slaughtering in names of saints:

“Those animals that are offered in the names of buzurgs and they are slaughtered at the grave of the buzrug, according to the Fiqhi ruling (juristic) such acts are included as being among shirk (polytheism).”

(Maktubat Imam Rabbani, part 3, letter n 41)

Qadhi Thanaullah Panipati on invoking saints, believing in Divine powers in them, and sacrificing to get close to them

Qadhi Thanaullah Panipati writes on Dua:

“The Statements of the ignorant ones: “ya Shaykh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani Shay’an lillah and ya Khawajah Shams Ad-Din Al-Panipati shay’an lillah” (O Shaykh Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani give something for the sake of Allah) are not permissible. In fact these (invocations) are Shirk and Kufr”

(Irshad At-Talibin, Urdu Translation p 22-24, Maktaba Asrar Karimi)

Qadhi Thanaullah Panipati further writes on attributing Divine powers to creation:

“If any person says that Allah the Exalted and His Messenger are witness in a certain act, then that person becomes a Kafir because such a person has regarded the Messenger of Allah (saw) as the knower of the Unseen (‘Alim ul Ghayb). The Awliya of Allah do not have the ability or power to bring a non-existent thing into existence nor to make an existing thing non-existence. Hence, to relate to them the power of bringing into existence and taking out of existence, increasing sustenance, granting of children, removing and averting illness and calamities, ect is an act of Kufr”

(Irshad At-Talibin, Urdu Translation p 47-48)

Qadhi Thanaullah Panipati on vows:

“The term “Iyyak” (you Alone) denotes restriction, thus it is not permissible to make vows to the saints, because vows are also acts of worship”

Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi, son of Shah Waliyullah Dehlawi on sacrifice and invoking dead

Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi writes on sacrifice to gain nearness to saints:

“Scholars say that if a Muslim makes a sacrifice for the sake of gaining nearness to other than Allah, he will become an apostate (murtad) and his sacrifice will be the sacrifice of an apostate”

(Fatawa Azizi, Persian, p 21)

Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi also writes:

“If an animal is slaughtered in the name of someone other than Allah, even if it be in the name of a prophet, a saint or a martyr, then such a slaughter is Haram and if one does this in order to gain their pleasure, then the sacrifice will be Haram and a carrion, and whoever does so will become an apostate”

Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi on invoking the dead for things only Allah can do:

“…like granting a child, bringing down rain, preventing (all) illnesses, lengthening life, and similar affairs, while not having the intention of it being a du’a or a plea that will be approved by Allah the Exalted, creation is asked for help in them. This category is absolutely Haram and in fact Kufr. If any Muslim asks this type of help from any of the Awliya of religion, whether alive or dead, he will come out of the parameters of being a Muslim”

(Fatawa Azizi, Persian, Sa’idiyah Kutib Khanna Peshawar)

Conclusion

The quotes of Ahmad Sirhindi, Qadhi Thanaullah Panipati and Shaykh Abdul Aziz Dehlawi are taken from the book “Barelwism vs Hanafi Fiqh” of Deobandi scholar Sajid Khan Naqshabandi, published on Amazon. This shows that such verdicts are not exclusive to Salafi/Ahl e Hadith but also many Hanafi Maturidi scholars.

One can see in these Fatawa that there is no conditions of calling saints as God or independence (istiqlal) of saints from Allah or any other such considerations.