VISITING THE GRAVES

It is permitted to visit the graves with the intention of supplicating and asking forgiveness for the deceased and to remind oneself of death and the Hereafter. Preoccupation with life's day to day activities makes a person forget that the stay in the grave is a reality and that one day, he will have to leave everything behind and come here. Visiting graves serves as an admonition and a person starts to seriously rethink his life and focus on reforming himself and his way of life. 

The Prophet (SAW) once visited a cemetery, sat beside a grave and cried a lot. Then he addressed the Companions and said:   {{ "Brothers, prepare for this day." (Sunan Ibn Majah)}}

On another occasion, he (SAW)said:

{{"Visiting the graves, softens the hearts, brings tears to the eyes and reminds you of the Hereafter."(Mustadarak Al -Hakim)}}

Women visiting graves:

In order to reduce the inclination towards worldly desires and to reflect on the Hereafter women can visit the graves sometimes, provided they exercise patience and self-control and avoid getting emotional and flamenting. 

Hazrat Anas (RAA) related that the Prophet(SAW) saw a woman crying at the grave and said:  " Fear Allah and be patient." (Sahih Bukhari)

Evidence of women being permitted to visit graves is found in the narration of Hazrat Abdullah Bin Abi Malkia (RAA): " Once Hazrat A'isha returned after visiting the graveyard.

I asked "0 Mother of Believers, 'Where have you been?' She said: 'I went to visit the grave of my brother Abd Ar-Rahman.' I asked her: ' Didn't the Messenger of Allah (SAW) prohibit visiting graves?' She said: 'Yes, he did forbid visiting graves during the early days but later on he ordered us to visit them.' " (Sunan Ibn Majah).

{{In another narration, Hazrat A'isha is reported to have said: " The Prophet (SAW) had given permission to visit graves.' (Sunan Bayhaqi)}}

Source of Admonition:

In the early days of Islam, the practices of the Days of Ignorance were still strongly prevalent and when visiting graveyards, women would wail, lament, tear at their hair and clothing, beat their chests, and indulge in all kinds of prohibited practices associated with innovation in religion. It is for this reason that in the beginning, there was a total prohibition on their visiting graves. Later on, when people had disciplined themselves according to the Islamic injunctions, this ban was lifted to some extent, so that visiting graves would serve as an admonition. Although supplications for the deceased and asking for his forgiveness can be done anywhere, remembrance of the Hereafter is easier when visiting a cemetery In a hadith, the Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said:

" I forbade you to visit graves, but you may now visit them for they produce abstinence in this world and act as a reminder of the next." (Sunan Ibn Majah) ncA-Mu-sl-im

Prohibitions:

The practice of visiting graves too frequently and considering it as a leisure activity and to waste time, or to make it a venue for innovations, such as the activities performed by disciples for their 'spiritual guides' has been declared as prohibited in Islam.

Allah's Prophet (SAW) said:

"May Allah curse the women who are frequent visitors to the graves"(Sunan Tirmizi).

(According to another tradition, Allah has cursed women who visit graves.)

To Travel with the intention of visiting graves:

It is not permitted to travel long distances to visit cemeteries, because the Prophet (SAW) has said:

"Do not prepare yourself for a journey except to three mosques i.e Al-Masjid -Al-Haram, the Mosque of Aqsa (Jerusalem) and my Mosque." (Sahih Bukhari)

If other than for these three mosques, permission has not been granted to travel to visit any other mosques, then to come from far and wide to attend the fairs at various shrines is a total violation of this command. It is sad to see that it has become a regular pastime and these annual fairs and celebrations have not only become a custom, but a national holiday may even be declared for such occasions. Beating of drums, songs and music, making offerings at graves, and other un-Islamic practices which should make us feel ashamed to call ourselves Muslims, are part of this 'celebration', while shop keepers do a brisk trade throughout the event.

Religion or Tradition:

Without studying religion, it is an act of sheer ignorance to insist on considering these customs as part of it. Yet, a further sin is to label the person who tries to explain this fact as a 'denier' of religion (one who refuses to accept Truth ) and declare him as a 'sinner' or 'un-Islamic.

The term widely used for such people who denounce innovation in religion is ' Wahabi'.

The beloved Prophet of Allah the Lord of Honour, on whom Allah Himself sends blessings and asks us to do the same holds an infinitely higher position than all these pious and spiritual personalities; yet despite this, he (SAW) told us about his grave:

"Do not turn your houses into graves and do not make my grave a place to gather as for visitation, but invoke blessings on me, for your blessings will reach me wherever you are." (Nisai)

(To 'not turn houses into graves' is an instruction to worship and recite the Quran in the houses and not to make them like graves where it is forbidden to perform worship.)

Censure of making graves into places of Worship:

The Prophet (SAW) said:

"Let there be curse of Allah upon the Jews and Christians for they have taken the graves of their apostles as places of worship." (Sahih Muslim)

The occasion that this statement was made ( on his death-bed) shows the delicacy and importance of the matter. Seeing the Jews and the Christians indulging in these deviant practices, he realised the danger of his own people falling into this trap. It is for this reason that despite being in severe agony, his thoughts would keep returning to this same subject.

According to another hadith, there is a supplication of the Prophet (SAW):

"0 Allah, do not make my grave an idol that is worshipped. The anger on those who took the graves of their prophets as places of prostration was terrible. (Muwatta)

In another hadith it is clarified further:

"The whole earth is a place of prayer except public bathrooms."(Abu Dawood)

Prayer & Recitation of Quran in cemeteries:

From the aforementioned ahadith, if one understands the instruction to not accord cemeteries and shrines the status of places of worship, then one can also understand how much praying and reciting Quran in them is detested in our religion.s For further elaboration, some more ahadith are being presented:                        

To Travel with the intention of visiting graves:

It is not permitted to travel long distances to visit cemeteries, because the Prophet (SAW) has said:

"Do not prepare yourself for a journey except to three mosques i.e Al-Masjid -Al-Haram, the Mosque of Aqsa (Jerusalem) and my Mosque." (Sahih Bukhari 

If other than for these three mosques, permission has not been granted to travel to visit any other mosques, then to come from far and wide to attend the fairs at various shrines is a total violation of this command. It is sad to see that it has become a regular pastime and these annual fairs and celebrations have not only become a custom, but a national holiday may even be declared for such occasions. Beating of drums, songs and music, making offerings at graves, and other un-Islamic practices which should make us feel ashamed to call ourselves Muslims, are part of this 'celebration', while shop keepers do a brisk trade throughout the event.

Religion or Tradition:

Without studying religion, it is an act of sheer ignorance to insist on considering these customs as part of it. Yet, a further sin is to label the person who tries to explain this fact as a 'denier' of religion (one who refuses to accept Truth ) and declare him as a 'sinner' or 'un-Islamic'.

The term widely used for such people who denounce innovation in religion is ' Wahabi'. The beloved Prophet of Allah the Lord of Honour, on whom Allah Himself sends blessings and asks us to do the same holds an infinitely higher position than all these pious and spiritual personalities; yet despite this, he (SAW) told us about his grave:

"Do not turn your houses into graves and do not make my grave a place to gather as for visitation, but invoke blessings on me, for your blessings will reach me wherever you are." (Nisai)

(To 'not turn houses into graves' is an instruction to worship and recite the Quran in the houses and not to make them like graves where it is forbidden to perform worship.)

Censure of making graves into places of Worship:

The Prophet (SAW) said:

"Let there be curse of Allah upon the Jews and Christians for they have taken the graves of their apostles as places of worship." (Sahih Muslim)

The occasion that this statement was made ( on his death-bed) shows the delicacy and importance of the matter. Seeing the Jews and the Christians indulging in these deviant practices, he realised the danger of his own people falling into this trap. It is for this reason that despite being in severe agony, his thoughts would keep returning to this same subject.

According to another hadith, there is a supplication of the Prophet (SAW):

"0 Allah, do not make my grave an idol that is worshipped. The anger on those who took the graves of their prophets as places of prostration was terrible. (Muwatta)

In another hadith it is clarified further:

"The whole earth is a place of prayer except public bathrooms."(Abu Dawood)

Prayer & Recitation of Quran in cemeteries:

From the aforementioned ahadith, if one understands the instruction to not accord cemeteries and shrines the status of places of worship, then one can also understand how much praying and reciting Quran in them is detested in our religion.s For further elaboration, some more ahadith are being presented:

Hazrat Abdullah Bin Umar (RAA) relates that the Prophet (SAW) said regarding voluntary prayers:

"Say part of your prayers at home, so your house do not become like graves. "(Sahih Bukhari) (As there is no prayer in graveyards, do not make houses too devoid of prayer i.e perform the voluntary prayer (which is as sunnah for us) at home.)

[[The Prophet (SAW) said:

"The people before you took graves as mosques. I prohibit this to you." ( Masnad Ahmad)]]  or [[" Do not pray facing a grave and do not sit on one." (Sahih Muslim)]]

It is related by Hazrat Abu Musa(RAA) that the Prophet (SAW) said:

[["He who remembers his Lord and he who does not are like the living and the dead. (Sahih Muslim)]]

There is no evidence in the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) which supports going to cemeteries and reciting the Quran, nor did he instruct his Companions (RAA) and the members of his household to do it. He (SAW) said:

"Do not make your houses as graveyards. Satan runs away from the house in which Surah Al-Baqarah is recited." (Sahih Muslim)

Observing the limits in revering graves:

It is necessary to amend our conduct in the light of the above ahadith and ensure that the respect shown during our visit to the graves does not reach the level of shirk and that we stay within the permissible limits set for us by our religion.

To ask from Allah and not the occupant of the grave:

The hands should be raised, but towards the direction of Qaba and not towards the grave, because we are supplicating to Allah and not the occupant of the grave. The occupants of the grave are themselves helpless and dependant on the supplications of the living and hopeful of the mercy of Allah; it is not in their control to fulfill needs or intercede with Allah. Allah, the Exalted says:

______________Arabic ___________(Surah Fatir, Verse 14)

Translation: "If you invoke ( or call upon) them, they hear not your call; and if (in case) they were to hear, they could not grant it (your request) to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them. And none can inform you (0 Muhammad) like Him Who is the All-Knower (of everything)."

____________Arabic_________Surah Saba, Verse 22

Translation: "Say: (0 Muhammad to polytheists, pagans) 'Call upon those who you assert (to be associate gods) besides Allah. They possess not an atom's (or a small ant's) weight either in the heavens or on the earth, nor have they any share in either, nor there is for Him any supporter from among them." In several places in the Quran we find verses like this, which prove that calling the occupants of the grave for anything is shirk (associating partners with Allah). In this regard, we find from the narration of Hazrat Abdullah Bin Masood (RAA) that: "Once a man came to the Prophet (SAW) and said: 'With the Will of Allah and (also) with your will.' He (SAW) said: 'Have you made me an associate with Allah? Rather it is 'what Allah alone wills.'"(An-Nisai)

Swearing by pious people:

When making supplications at the grave of a prophet or pious person, one should not swear by them or the place where they are buried. Hazrat Umar Bin Khattab said:

"Do not swear by anything beside Allah, for I have heard the Prophet (SAW) say: 'He who swears by anything beside Allah, is guilty of an act of disbelief, (or of associating something with Allah) ( SunanTirmizi)

Sacrifices at graves:

It is not correct to sacrifice animals at graves and then distribute the meat there. Hazrat Anas (RAA) says that the Prophet (SAW) said:

(["There is no slaughtering of animals on graves in Islam." (Abu Dawood)]]

The Height of Reverence:

One should not walk with shoes between the graves of Muslims. It is related by Hazrat Bashir Bin Al-Husasia that he was with the Prophet (SAW) when he was passing by the graves of Muslims. He (SAW) suddenly saw a man walking in shoes between the graves. He said: '0 man, wearing shoes! Woe to thee! Take off thy shoes.' So the man looked

(round)and when he recognised the Apostle of Allah (SAW), he took them off and threw them away. (Abu Dawood) {{ Hazrat Aqba Bin Amir relates that the Prophet (SAW) said:

" I prefer to walk on coals or a sword or get my shoes stitched to my foot (i.e very painful as it is difficult to stitch the shoe to the foot) rather than walk on a Muslim's grave and for me to answer the call of nature in between graves is like doing it in a market." (Sunan Ibn Majah)}}

No sitting on graves:

Hazrat Abu Hurairah (RAA) related that the Prophet (SAW) said: "It is better for a person to sit on burning coal by which his clothes may catch fire and the heat thereof may touch his skin , rather than that he sits on a grave." (Sahih Muslim)

Not a place for Eating:

It is against the etiquette of visiting graves to eat and drink while there.

Be sober:

It is also against the etiquette of visiting graves to be insensitive and to laugh, joke and talk about worldly matters. At such times, one should respectfully offer greetings and supplicate for the forgiveness of the deceased.

Greetings and Supplications:

_________Arabic___________ (Sahih Muslim)

Translation: "Peace be upon you, the inhabitants of the city, among the Believers and the Muslims and God willing we shall join you. You have gone before us and we are coming after. We beg of Allah peace for us and for you. 0 Allah forgive them . 0 Allah have mercy on them."

Forbidden to ask for their forgiveness:

Muslims are not permitted to attend the funeral of kafirs (disbelievers), mushriks (those who associate partners with Allah), munqfiqs (hypocrites) and fasiq (disobedient and rebellious) and to offer greetings or supplications for forgiveness at their graves.

_____________Arabic___________(Surah .Tauba , Verse 84)

"And never ( 0 Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave. Certainly they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger and died while they were Fasiqun (rebellious, - disobedient to Allah and his Messenger)'

{{ According to a narration in Sunan Al-Nisai, Hazrat Ali (RAA) relates that " I heard a man supplicate for forgiveness for his mushrikin parents and I said: 'You are asking for forgiveness for your polytheist parents.' He replied: 'Did not Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) supplicate for his polytheist parents?' When I mentioned this to the Prophet (SAW), this verse was revealed:}}

_________________Arabic_________(Surah At-Taubah ,'^erse 113&114)

"It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah's forgiveness for the mushrikun (polytheists, idolaters , pagans and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the Fire (because they died in a state of disbelief.) And Ibrahim's invoking (of Allah) for his father's forgiveness was only because of a promise he (Ibrahim) made to him (his father). But when it became clear to him (Ibrahim) that he (his father) is an enemy of Allah, he disassociated himself from him. Verily Ibrahim was awwah (one who invokes Allah with humility, glorifies Him and remembers Him much) and was forbearing."

Demise before Islam:

What is the Islamic position on visiting the graves of those who died before the advent of Islam?

In this connection, Hazrat Abu Hurairah (RAA) reported that the Prophet (SAW) visited his mother's grave and wept and caused those around him to weep. He then said: "I asked my Lord's permission to pray for forgiveness for her, but I was not allowed; I then asked his permission to visit her grave and I was allowed; so visit graves, for they make one mindful of death." (Sahih Muslim)

Places of Admonition:

When passing by graves of tyrants and places on which Allah's punishment descended, a fast pace is prescribed. Along with this, one should try to derive a lesson from the destruction of those disobedient to Allah and feel grieved at their fate.

Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Umar reported that when the Holy Prophet (SAW) reached the hoary remains in Hijr the land of Samud, he admonished his companions: "Do not enter these ill- fated places of the condemned people , without tears (by way of expressing grief and fear) and if you cannot do so, do not pass through them, otherwise you may meet the same fate. (Muttafiq 'Alaih)

There is another version which says: "When the Prophet (SAW) passed through Hijr , he cautioned his companions: 'Do not enter the houses of the people who had wronged themselves except with tear? in your eyes, lest you meet the same fate.' Therefore the Holy rophet (SAW) wrapped his head (with a cloth) and accelerated the pace of his mount and passed hastily from the cursed valley."

Visiting the grave of the Prophet (SAW)

# It is permissible to travel with the intention of praying in the Prophet's mosque , thus increasing one's rewards and blessings, but to travel only with the intention of visiting his grave is not permitted.'(Reference ofBukahri, Muslim, Ahmed)

Allah's Apostle (SAW) said: "Prayer in this mosque of mine is better than a thousand prayers (observed in other mosques) besides it, except that ofMas/id al-Haram.'" (Sahih Muslim)

# After offering 2 rakahs of prayers as Tahyyatui Masjid in any place in the mosque, the Prophet's grave must be visited. It is better that the prayer be performed in Rauza but if there is no space due to being crowded, it can be offered in any part of the Mosque. (Reference Muslim)  

(The area between the Prophet (SAW) pulpit and house is called 'Rauza min Reyazul  Jannah' and the area where the Prophet's grave is located is called "Hujra Shewf.

# After visiting the Masjid- Nabawi, it is preferable to visit the grave of the Prophet (SAW), but it is not at the level ofwajib (obligatory) or Sunnah (tradition) 

# For sending greetings (salaam) one should quietly and respectfully walk to the grave and standing before it say in a low voice: _____Arabic____ (Reference Bayhaqi)

Translation; "Peace be upon you 0 Prophet ofAllah(SAW).

# After sending salutations of peace on the Prophet (SAW) one should send salaams to his companions. Hazrat Nafi' (RAA) relates that whenever Hazrat Abdullah Bin Umar (RAA) returned from his travels, he would come to the Mosque, and after performing Tahyyatui Masjid, he would go to the Prophet's grave and after sending his salaams , he would greet Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RAA) and Hazrat Umar (RAA) in the same way. (Reference Bayhaqi)

After sending salutations of peace to the Prophet (SAW) at his grave it is also a preferred action to send blessings (Darood) on him. Ka'b Bin Ujrah (RAA) narrated that "We asked Allah's Apostle(SAW) saying: '0 Allah's Apostle ! How should one (ask Allah to) send blessings on you, the members of the family, for Allah has taught us how to salute you (in the prayer)?' He said:

__________________Arabic_________ (Sahih Bukhari)

'Say: 0 Allah! Send your mercy on Muhammad and on the family of Muhammad, as You sent Your mercy on Ibrahim and on the family of Tbrahim, for You are the Most Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious. 0 Allah! Send Your Blessings on Muhammad and, the family of Muhammad, as You sent your Blessings on Ibrah)|m and on the family oflbrahjim, for You are the Most Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious.' "

INBOX:

"I shall be pre-eminent amongst the descendants of Adam on the Day of Resurrection and I will be the first intercessor and the first whose intercession will be accepted (by Allah)"  (Sahih Muslim)