Placing the deceased in the grave and writing on it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Also, this questioner asks: How is the deceased placed in the grave? And what is the ruling on writing on the grave, with the intention of identifying the deceased's grave for visiting it?
The Shaykh:
The deceased is placed in the grave on his right side, facing the qiblah. This is how the deceased is placed in the grave, on his right side, facing the qiblah, based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the Ka'bah: "It is your qiblah in life and in death." And the rest of the question...
The questioner:
...asks about writing on the grave.
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible to write on the grave. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited writing on the grave, plastering the grave, and raising it higher than others beyond what is established in the Sunnah, because this leads to exaggeration regarding that grave. Perhaps the ignorant or the superstitious will believe in it, believing that it is the grave of a wali (close friend of Allah) among the awliya (close friends of Allah), and they will associate partners with Allah the Mighty and Majestic on account of this deceased. Therefore, nothing that draws attention should be placed on it. No grave among the graves should have anything on it that draws attention. Rather, the graves of Muslims are equal. However, if one needs a marker to identify it for the purpose of visiting it in the prescribed manner, he places a stone on it, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did on the grave of Uthman ibn al-Maz'un. He places a stone that no one else recognizes, or he sticks a stick or a piece of wood in it, or a marker that only he knows. Yes.
The questioner:
What about writing numbers, Honorable Shaykh? What is your opinion on that?
The Shaykh:
Writing is not permissible. Writing is absolutely not permissible, neither numbers nor letters. Yes.
Also, this questioner asks: How is the deceased placed in the grave? And what is the ruling on writing on the grave, with the intention of identifying the deceased's grave for visiting it?
The Shaykh:
The deceased is placed in the grave on his right side, facing the qiblah. This is how the deceased is placed in the grave, on his right side, facing the qiblah, based on the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the Ka'bah: "It is your qiblah in life and in death." And the rest of the question...
The questioner:
...asks about writing on the grave.
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible to write on the grave. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited writing on the grave, plastering the grave, and raising it higher than others beyond what is established in the Sunnah, because this leads to exaggeration regarding that grave. Perhaps the ignorant or the superstitious will believe in it, believing that it is the grave of a wali (close friend of Allah) among the awliya (close friends of Allah), and they will associate partners with Allah the Mighty and Majestic on account of this deceased. Therefore, nothing that draws attention should be placed on it. No grave among the graves should have anything on it that draws attention. Rather, the graves of Muslims are equal. However, if one needs a marker to identify it for the purpose of visiting it in the prescribed manner, he places a stone on it, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did on the grave of Uthman ibn al-Maz'un. He places a stone that no one else recognizes, or he sticks a stick or a piece of wood in it, or a marker that only he knows. Yes.
The questioner:
What about writing numbers, Honorable Shaykh? What is your opinion on that?
The Shaykh:
Writing is not permissible. Writing is absolutely not permissible, neither numbers nor letters. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/001 — archive.org (9:15)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.