Fatwa no. 625 I noticed among the tribes of Yorba and Eibo that they perform a Salah (Prayer) called the prayer of the eve of burial. They hire a person who leads them in this Salah. They also pray the prayer of Al-Fatih (the conqueror) once a month, in addition to a Salah which is performed according to their needs called Salat Al-Naqilah. After many questions and investigations on my part, I discovered that a man from the Shi`ah (Shi'ites) was the one who propagated these prayers. I hope you will give us your Fatwa concerning these prayers.

A: The basic ruling according to the Islamic Shari`ah (Islamic Law) is that Allah alone is worthy of worship in the way He prescribed for His Servants in His Book or in the authentic Sunnah narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him), because All acts of worship are Tawqifiy (bound by a religious text and not amenable to personal opinion), considering any act of worship as lawful `Ibadah (worship) is conditional on a related proof from the Qur'an or authentic Sunnah. Regarding the prayers you mentioned in your question, there is no proof in the Qur'an or Sunnah that makes them permissible, and as such, they are Bid`ah (Part No. 8; Page No. 172) innovated by people. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, He who introduces things extraneous to our affair i.e. religion, will have them rejected. He also says, He who does any act for which there is no sanction from our behalf, that is to be rejected. Al-`Irbad ibn Sariyah narrated: One day the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) led us in prayer, then faced us and gave us a lengthy exhortation at which the eyes shed tears and the hearts were afraid. A man said: Messenger of Allah! It seems as if it were a farewell exhortation, so what injunction do you give us? He then said: I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to hear and obey even if it be an Abyssinian slave, for those of you who live after me will see great disagreement. You must then follow my Sunnah and that of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs. Hold to it and stick fast to it. Avoid novelties, for every novelty is an innovation, and every innovation is an error. Related by Abu Dawud and other compilers of Hadith. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.