The Rulings and Etiquettes of Visiting Madeenah - IV‎‎‎‎

25/10/2011| IslamWeb

Furthermore, visiting the grave of the Prophet is not obligatory and is not a condition for the validity of Hajj as some people think, but it is recommended for the one who visits the mosque of the Messenger of Allah or is near it. The person who lives far from Madeenah should not travel to visit the grave of the Prophet but it is an act of Sunnah to travel to visit the mosque of the Prophet . When one reaches the mosque, he should visit the grave of the Prophet and his two Companions after visiting the mosque as the Prophet said: "‎You should not undertake a special journey to visit any place other than the three Mosques: ‎ ‎Al-Masjid Al-Haraam, this Masjid of mine and Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa (in Jerusalem).” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] If travelling to visit the grave of the Prophet ‎ or any other grave had been permissible, the Prophet would have told the Ummah (nation) about its virtue, as he is the most pious and fearing of Allah The Almighty. He delivered the message clearly and guided his Ummah to goodness and warned them against evil. He warned us against undertaking a special journey to visit any place other than the three mosques and said: ‎"Do not make my grave a place of festivity and do not turn your houses into graves, but send your greetings upon me from wherever you happen to be, for your greetings are conveyed to me."

Saying that undertaking a special journey to visit the grave of the Prophet is permissible leads to making it a place for festivity, which was something the Prophet forbade us from doing. Some people think that it is permissible to undertake a special journey to visit the grave of the Prophet ‎ and this led them to exaggerating in praising the Prophet .

As for the Ahadeeth that are cited to prove the permissibility of undertaking a special journey to visit the grave of the Prophet they are Ahadeeth that have weak chains of narrators and are classified as Mawdhoo’ (fabricated). Scholars of Hadeeth, such as Ad-Daaraqutni, Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar and others, said that all such Ahadeeth are weak. Thus, it is impermissible to cite them as proofs that contradict Saheeh Ahadeeth which clearly prohibit undertaking a special journey to any mosque other than the three specified in the Hadeeth.

Here are some of the Mawdhoo’ Ahadeeth that are cited in this regard, so that one can be wary of them:

The first one: "Whoever performs Hajj without visiting me will be showing disaffection towards me."

The second one: "Whoever visits me after my death, will be as if he visited me during my lifetime."

The third one: "Whoever visits me and my father Ibraaheem in the same year, will be granted Paradise."

The fourth one: "Whoever visits my grave, will have my intercession."

These Ahadeeth and others that are similar to them were not said by the Prophet . Al-Haafith Ibn Hajar said in At-Talkhees, after mentioning these narrations, "The chains of narrators of these Ahadeeth are weak." Al-Haafith Al-‘Uqayli said, "No Saheeh Ahadeeth were narrated in this regard." Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah confirmed that all these Ahadeeth are Mawdhoo’. Thus, it should suffice to know them. If any one of these weak Ahadeeth was confirmed, the Companions would have been the first to perform what is stated in them, and they would have called the Ummah to do so as well, as they are the best of the Ummah after the Prophets and the most knowledgeable of the limits set by Allah The Almighty and His Legislation. As long as nothing was reported in this regard, this indicates that it is impermissible to undertake a special journey to visit the grave. Even if there was any Saheeh Hadeeth, it would have been interpreted to mean the Sharee‘ah-approved visit, without undertaking a special journey for the sake of visiting the grave in order to combine the different Ahadeeth.