Prayer is direct communion between God and a human being. It occurs directly between them. Every person will get only that which he has asked from God Himself. You will get nothing if you ask someone else to pray for you, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. It is absurd, baseless and un-Islamic to believe that you will get something if an elderly person prays for you. Every person must directly ask from God. You need to yourself establish contact with God. In this way, your prayers may be answered. No person or shrine can mediate between you and God. I once met a person who had come from Pakistan. I had met him in train. He had gone to Ajmer. He said that he had requested for prayer at the shrine.

At Ajmer he met the custodians of the shrine and gave them some money so that they could request the person buried their to pray for him. He wanted his prayer to be heard by the person buried in the shrine. I remember his words: I have requested for prayer on my behalf. He had some daughters whom he had to get married. Since their marriage was getting delayed, he went to the shrine so that the person buried there could pray for him. He gave money to the custodians of the shrine for this purpose. He told me that he had requested for prayer on his behalf. This is totally absurd. It is like living in falsehood.