When we pass by graves, we greet their inhabitants and recite al-Fatihah. Is this practice correct? Please inform us, and may you be rewarded.
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The questioner : When we pass by graves, we greet their inhabitants and recite al-Fatihah. Is this practice correct? Please inform us, and may you be rewarded.
The Shaykh : When a person visits the cemetery, he visits it to supplicate for them and to take a lesson from their condition. He visits the cemetery to supplicate for the people of the graves, to take a lesson from their condition, and to remember the Hereafter. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the visiting of graves after having forbidden it, and he said (peace and blessings be upon him):Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq 7:658. And it is prescribed for his Ummah, when they visit the graves, to supplicate for the people of the graves by saying: .
As for reciting al-Fatihah when visiting graves, there is no basis for it. It is not a sunnah (recommended practice), and it is not befitting for a person to recite al-Fatihah in this situation. Rather, one should do what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to and taught his Ummah, which is the greeting accompanied by supplication, which we recited a moment ago.
The Shaykh : When a person visits the cemetery, he visits it to supplicate for them and to take a lesson from their condition. He visits the cemetery to supplicate for the people of the graves, to take a lesson from their condition, and to remember the Hereafter. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the visiting of graves after having forbidden it, and he said (peace and blessings be upon him):
I used to forbid you from visiting the graves, but now visit them, for they remind you of the Hereafter.
كنت نهيتكم عن زيارة القبور فزوروها، فإنها تذكر الآخرةPeace be upon you, abode of a people of faith, and we, if Allah wills, are your successors. May Allah have mercy on those of us who have gone before and those who come after. We ask Allah for well-being for us and for you. O Allah, do not deprive us of their reward, and do not test us after them, and forgive us and them.
السلام عليكم دار قوم مؤمنين، وإنا إن شاء الله بكم لاحقون، يرحم الله المستقدمين منا ومنكم والمستأخرين، نسأل الله لنا ولكم العافية، اللهم لا تحرمنا أجرهم، ولا تفتنا بعدهم، واغفر لنا ولهمAs for reciting al-Fatihah when visiting graves, there is no basis for it. It is not a sunnah (recommended practice), and it is not befitting for a person to recite al-Fatihah in this situation. Rather, one should do what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) guided to and taught his Ummah, which is the greeting accompanied by supplication, which we recited a moment ago.