The Ruling on Approaching the Grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Some people say that our scholars exaggerate in preventing people from approaching the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Why do they prevent people when the Prophet said, "I fear that your grave will be made a place of prostration for you to worship"? This is a supplication, and the supplication of the Prophet is answered. So what is your position on this?
The Shaykh:
It is a response to himself; the questioner answered himself. He asks why the scholars prevent people from approaching, while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Do not make my grave a festival." They prevented them because of this hadith, so that the grave is not made a place of gathering, frequenting, and habitual visitation. What is prescribed is to greet the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). For one who has come from a journey, if he prays in the Prophet’s Mosque, if it is the time for an obligatory prayer, he prays the obligatory prayer, and if it is not the time for an obligatory prayer, he prays two rak'ahs in the Prophet’s Mosque. Then he goes and greets the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his two companions to the extent of saying, "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings." And if he describes him with the attributes by which Allah described him, such as fulfilling the trust, advising the Ummah, and striving in the cause of Allah, there is no harm. These are among his attributes (peace and blessings be upon him).
Then he moves back and greets Abu Bakr. He moves back toward the east, and greets Abu Bakr at a distance of an arm's length. He moves back an arm's length, then greets 'Umar, and then he leaves. As for sitting, or rubbing against the chamber, or standing, or making supplication at the chamber, or anything similar to that, this is forbidden; because this is making his grave (peace and blessings be upon him) a festival. Okay.
The presenter:
How can he be a teacher of ignorance?
The Shaykh:
Yes, because they say that the head or face of Abu Bakr is opposite the shoulder of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning each one is slightly behind the other. And that the head or face of 'Umar is opposite the shoulder of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).
Some people say that our scholars exaggerate in preventing people from approaching the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Why do they prevent people when the Prophet said, "I fear that your grave will be made a place of prostration for you to worship"? This is a supplication, and the supplication of the Prophet is answered. So what is your position on this?
The Shaykh:
It is a response to himself; the questioner answered himself. He asks why the scholars prevent people from approaching, while the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Do not make my grave a festival." They prevented them because of this hadith, so that the grave is not made a place of gathering, frequenting, and habitual visitation. What is prescribed is to greet the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). For one who has come from a journey, if he prays in the Prophet’s Mosque, if it is the time for an obligatory prayer, he prays the obligatory prayer, and if it is not the time for an obligatory prayer, he prays two rak'ahs in the Prophet’s Mosque. Then he goes and greets the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his two companions to the extent of saying, "Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings." And if he describes him with the attributes by which Allah described him, such as fulfilling the trust, advising the Ummah, and striving in the cause of Allah, there is no harm. These are among his attributes (peace and blessings be upon him).
Then he moves back and greets Abu Bakr. He moves back toward the east, and greets Abu Bakr at a distance of an arm's length. He moves back an arm's length, then greets 'Umar, and then he leaves. As for sitting, or rubbing against the chamber, or standing, or making supplication at the chamber, or anything similar to that, this is forbidden; because this is making his grave (peace and blessings be upon him) a festival. Okay.
The presenter:
How can he be a teacher of ignorance?
The Shaykh:
Yes, because they say that the head or face of Abu Bakr is opposite the shoulder of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), meaning each one is slightly behind the other. And that the head or face of 'Umar is opposite the shoulder of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).
Source
الفوزان -أشرطة- أسئلة وأجوبة من دروس التوحيد - الفوزان - أسئلة وأجوبة - ٠٥ — archive.org (1:26:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.