The Ruling on Exaggeration in Revering Graves
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
This questioner, Abd al-Rahman from Harimna, says: Some people, or some Muslims, may Allah guide them, have exaggerated in revering some graves and persons. Honorable Shaykh, perhaps you could open this episode by speaking about this topic, may Allah reward you?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. It is not permissible to exaggerate in revering graves, especially the graves of the righteous. It is not permissible to exaggerate in them, because this is one of the means of shirk (associating partners with Allah). So one does not exaggerate in them by building over them or raising them higher than the ground, or putting a saddle on them, or writing the name of the deceased on them, or anything similar to these types of reverence. Rather, the graves should be made level, not rising more than the height of a hand-span, a level height of a hand-span, as the scholars say, just as the graves of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were, just as the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was. It is not permissible to raise the graves, neither by building nor by adding earth. Rather, the graves should be made level. And one does not exaggerate in them by seeking blessing from them or by calling for aid from them. This is more severe; this is shirk. Calling for aid from the dead, seeking help from them, seeking their assistance in one's needs, this is major shirk. Yes.
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
This questioner, Abd al-Rahman from Harimna, says: Some people, or some Muslims, may Allah guide them, have exaggerated in revering some graves and persons. Honorable Shaykh, perhaps you could open this episode by speaking about this topic, may Allah reward you?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. It is not permissible to exaggerate in revering graves, especially the graves of the righteous. It is not permissible to exaggerate in them, because this is one of the means of shirk (associating partners with Allah). So one does not exaggerate in them by building over them or raising them higher than the ground, or putting a saddle on them, or writing the name of the deceased on them, or anything similar to these types of reverence. Rather, the graves should be made level, not rising more than the height of a hand-span, a level height of a hand-span, as the scholars say, just as the graves of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were, just as the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was. It is not permissible to raise the graves, neither by building nor by adding earth. Rather, the graves should be made level. And one does not exaggerate in them by seeking blessing from them or by calling for aid from them. This is more severe; this is shirk. Calling for aid from the dead, seeking help from them, seeking their assistance in one's needs, this is major shirk. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/299 — archive.org (0:53)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.