75- Ruling on Offering Salah nearby Graves
Q: My question relates to a Bid'ah (heresy in religion) which is widespread in my country, Iraq. Some people come from faraway destinations to visit the graves of the Awliya (pious people) nearby us. Upon entering the graves visitors take off their shoes as they would do when entering mosques. In addition, over these graves there are places for offering Salah, similar to mosques. Is this permissible? It is also noticed that visitors often offer two Rak'ahs (units of Prayer) upon entering these places. They call such Salah (Prayer) "The visit Salah" and claim that its performance is Sunnah (supererogatory act of worship following the example of the Prophet). Is this allowable?
A: This is a highly important question because the glorification of graves, to promote their status in Bid`y (heretical) manner, the building of Masjids over graves, and taking graves as places for offering Salah are serious matters to explain. Generally, visiting graves is an acknowledged Sunnah (a commendable act) made by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) who said: Visit the graves, for they remind you of the Hereafter. However, acts like invoking the dead, seeking refuge with them, asking for their help, and wiping oneself on graves are not permissible. Rather, visiting graves is only permitted for remembering the Hereafter and death as well as supplicating Allah (Exalted be He) to forgive the dead and have mercy on them. This is the purpose of visiting the graves. Hence, the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: Visit the graves, for they remind you of the Hereafter. According to another wording of this Hadith, he said:... remind you of death. Therefore, it is an act of the Sunnah (a commendable act) that whoever visits Muslim graves should greet their those buried therein and ask Allah (Exalted be He) to forgive and show mercy to them. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) instructed his Sahabah (Companions) to say upon visiting the graves: Peace be upon you, 0 believing men and women dwelling here. We shall. Insha` Allah (if Allah wills), soon join you. We ask Allah to grant us and you safety.) According to another wording of this Hadith he said:... May Allah be merciful with those who have preceded us and those who are to follow. Besides, the Prophet (ﷺ) used to say upon visiting al-Baqi " (the graveyard at Madinah, near the Prophet's Mosque): O Allah! Forgive people of Baqi " Al-Gharqad. Thus, it is a Sunnah that upon visiting graves, a person should greet their dwellers and call upon Allah (Exalted be He) to forgive and have mercy upon. Conversely, visiting graves to invoke the dead besides Allah, ask for their help, seek refuge with them, making vows in their names and so on, are acts of major Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) and revival of practices of the Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic time of ignorance). May Allah protect us all from this evil deeds. Such acts are similar to the practices that Abu Jahl and other early Kafirs (disbelievers) used to indulge in. It is also not permissible to offer Salah by the graves, for the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: Verily, people who came before you used to build places of worship over the graves of their prophets and pious people. So, do not build Masjids over graves. I forbid you to do so. To the same effect, Allah (Exalted be He) cursed the Jews and the Christians because they built places of worship over the graves of their Prophets. Therefore, it is not permissible - as mentioned above - to offer Salah by graves, to devotedly reside there, to ask for help of those buried therein, to seek refuge with them, or to make vows in their names. One more proof for this is that Um Habibah and Um Salamah saw a church in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) that contained images of humans. So, they told the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) who said: Those people adopt the practice of building places of worship over the graves of righteous people and making such images of them. Verily, such people are the worst of all mankind in the sight of Allah. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that the people referred to above are the worst of all mankind on account that they superstitiously extol graves by building places of worship over them and so on. Accordingly, building Masjids or domes ornamented by gold and silver over graves as some people do is Munkar (that which is unacceptable or disapproved of by Islamic law and Muslims of sound intellect). In addition, it is authentically reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade plastering graves, sitting on them, or building over them. It is not permissible for Muslims to construct Mas ids, domes, or any other buildings over graves. Rather, graves have to remain clear and distinct, and visitors should greet the dead while standing, then they are to leave the place. Offering Salah by or between graves, sitting by them to recite the Holy Qur`an or to make Dua`a' (supplication) for oneself, or wiping oneself on their soil are all different...
