Al-Nasim Cemetery in Riyadh: Numbers have been written on the graves to distinguish some from others
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Fatwa No. ( 16297 )
Praise be to Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the question submitted to His Eminence the Grand Mufti, the text of which is as follows: In Al-Nasim Cemetery in Riyadh , numbers have been written on the graves to distinguish some from others, and those numbers have also been written on the walls. Is this action permissible? A letter was sent to His Excellency the General Director of Da'wah within the Kingdom, No. (1094 / 2), dated 29 / 4 / 1413 AH, to send two da'is to ascertain the facts. A reply was received in his letter No. (814 / 9 D), dated 8 / 6 / 1413 AH, attached with the report prepared by the two da'wah members, His Excellency Shaykh Muhammad ibn Nafjan al-Tuwijri , and His Excellency Shaykh: Muhammad ibn Hamd al-Mishwah , the text of which is as follows: In implementation of the directives of His Eminence the General President regarding what was mentioned to him about
Al-Nasim Cemetery and after inspecting the aforementioned cemetery, we inform you of the following: 1- There are ribbons of various colors tied to the grave markers. 2- Pipes, buckets, and stakes have been placed with the grave markers. 3- The grave markers have been painted in different colors. 4- Lines have been drawn on the graves in green paint, and the ground of some graves has been sprinkled with green paint. 5- There are some numbers on some graves, which are scattered; we found number (5), number (15), and number (55), and we found a name written on a grave belonging to (Mus'ad ibn Dali'm), only one. As for the wall (the enclosure), it contains organized, sequential numbers on plates fixed with nails between every two columns, placed by the municipality. There is also scribbling by some youths consisting of various names and dates.
After the Committee studied the issue and examined the conditions of the markers people have expanded upon and innovated on graves, it decided the following: First: What was reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the instruction to mark the grave of Uthman ibn Maz'un with a stone, narrated by Abu Dawud as a mursal in his (Sunan) from the hadith of al-Mut'ib ibn Abdullah the Tabi'i, from whoever informed him about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and al-Bayhaqi through his route, and it was narrated by Ibn Sa'd and Ibn Abi Shaybah and al-Hakim , and in its chain is al-Waqidi who is abandoned, but it was narrated by Ibn
Majah in his (Sunan) from the hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), and al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar graded it hasan in (al-Talkhis al-Habir) and al-Busayri in (al-Zawa'id). Second: Marking by writing, whether it is writing the name, writing a number, placing the name of a tribe, or the like, is not permissible; due to the generality of what was narrated by Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade plastering the grave, sitting on it, building on it, or writing on it, narrated by Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah and al-Hakim , and its origin is in Sahih Muslim. Third: Marking by writing along with drawing a picture of the deceased is not permissible; as for the writing, it is due to the aforementioned prohibition, and as for the picture, it is due to the strong hadiths forbidding image-making, and the prohibition increases in this matter because it is on a grave, so it is a direct means to shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry. Fourth: Marking by smoothing, such as plaster and clay or the like, is not permissible; due to the established prohibition of plastering the grave in the hadith of Jabir mentioned, and clay and the like are in its meaning. Fifth: Marking with green paint is in the meaning of plaster, whether it is green or any other color, so marking with it is not permissible.
Sixth: Marking with marble made for this purpose is one of the manifestations of ghuluw (exaggeration), and it was not the practice of the righteous predecessors of this Ummah who passed away, so it is prohibited to adopt it for this. Seventh: Marking by tying a cloth to the two ends of the grave, and it has become widespread to tie cloths to graves for tabarruk (seeking blessing), and all of this is an innovation that is not permissible. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Praise be to Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the question submitted to His Eminence the Grand Mufti, the text of which is as follows: In Al-Nasim Cemetery in Riyadh , numbers have been written on the graves to distinguish some from others, and those numbers have also been written on the walls. Is this action permissible? A letter was sent to His Excellency the General Director of Da'wah within the Kingdom, No. (1094 / 2), dated 29 / 4 / 1413 AH, to send two da'is to ascertain the facts. A reply was received in his letter No. (814 / 9 D), dated 8 / 6 / 1413 AH, attached with the report prepared by the two da'wah members, His Excellency Shaykh Muhammad ibn Nafjan al-Tuwijri , and His Excellency Shaykh: Muhammad ibn Hamd al-Mishwah , the text of which is as follows: In implementation of the directives of His Eminence the General President regarding what was mentioned to him about
Al-Nasim Cemetery and after inspecting the aforementioned cemetery, we inform you of the following: 1- There are ribbons of various colors tied to the grave markers. 2- Pipes, buckets, and stakes have been placed with the grave markers. 3- The grave markers have been painted in different colors. 4- Lines have been drawn on the graves in green paint, and the ground of some graves has been sprinkled with green paint. 5- There are some numbers on some graves, which are scattered; we found number (5), number (15), and number (55), and we found a name written on a grave belonging to (Mus'ad ibn Dali'm), only one. As for the wall (the enclosure), it contains organized, sequential numbers on plates fixed with nails between every two columns, placed by the municipality. There is also scribbling by some youths consisting of various names and dates.
After the Committee studied the issue and examined the conditions of the markers people have expanded upon and innovated on graves, it decided the following: First: What was reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the instruction to mark the grave of Uthman ibn Maz'un with a stone, narrated by Abu Dawud as a mursal in his (Sunan) from the hadith of al-Mut'ib ibn Abdullah the Tabi'i, from whoever informed him about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and al-Bayhaqi through his route, and it was narrated by Ibn Sa'd and Ibn Abi Shaybah and al-Hakim , and in its chain is al-Waqidi who is abandoned, but it was narrated by Ibn
Majah in his (Sunan) from the hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), and al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar graded it hasan in (al-Talkhis al-Habir) and al-Busayri in (al-Zawa'id). Second: Marking by writing, whether it is writing the name, writing a number, placing the name of a tribe, or the like, is not permissible; due to the generality of what was narrated by Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade plastering the grave, sitting on it, building on it, or writing on it, narrated by Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah and al-Hakim , and its origin is in Sahih Muslim. Third: Marking by writing along with drawing a picture of the deceased is not permissible; as for the writing, it is due to the aforementioned prohibition, and as for the picture, it is due to the strong hadiths forbidding image-making, and the prohibition increases in this matter because it is on a grave, so it is a direct means to shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry. Fourth: Marking by smoothing, such as plaster and clay or the like, is not permissible; due to the established prohibition of plastering the grave in the hadith of Jabir mentioned, and clay and the like are in its meaning. Fifth: Marking with green paint is in the meaning of plaster, whether it is green or any other color, so marking with it is not permissible.
Sixth: Marking with marble made for this purpose is one of the manifestations of ghuluw (exaggeration), and it was not the practice of the righteous predecessors of this Ummah who passed away, so it is prohibited to adopt it for this. Seventh: Marking by tying a cloth to the two ends of the grave, and it has become widespread to tie cloths to graves for tabarruk (seeking blessing), and all of this is an innovation that is not permissible. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.