Al-Razi, the Ash'ari scholar of the 6th and early 7th centuries, affirmed: a) That shafaa'ah (intercession) belongs to none but Allaah alone, and intercession can never take place except with Allah's permission - (see this article), b) That du'a (supplication) is the loftiest of the stations of al-ubudiyyah (servitude, worship), is the most excellent of the types of worship, and the reality of du'a is such that incorporates other forms of worship such as humility (dhull), servitude (uboodiyyah), incapacity (inkisaar), poverty, need (maskanah) - (see this article), c) That none of the pagans ever intended to worship the statues or idols, rather the acts of worship they performed were directed to those in the graves, and their reason was that they were intending to solicit their intercession - (see this article and this article), d) That many were found in the time of al-Razi who flocked to the graves and venerated them with the desire of soliciting the intercession of the righteous dead - (see here), e) That no nation in history ever believed in Ruboobiyyah for other than Allaah (with an exception for the Dualists) and that none of those who worship other than Allaah believe that what they worship has any independent power or control. And that what actually led people to worship things were certain philosophical and other reasons and from them were the soliciting of the intercession of the pious, righteous dead. And further, that whatever they took as focal points of worship (pictures, idols, statues, graves, tombs) were never intended for worship at all, rather they were simply focal points to allow the direction of worship to the righteous dead - (see here), f) finally, that seeking intercession from other than Allaah is something which deprives a person from receiving intercession at all (see here).