The ruling on placing palm fronds and planting trees on graves
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Question:
This is an Egyptian resident in Riyadh who says: Shaykh, is it permissible to place a palm frond on a grave? And is it permissible to plant a tree on a grave so that it remains evergreen? This is in light of the hadith that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)Sahih al-Bukhari 218. Please guide us in light of that, and may you be rewarded.
Answer:
[Al-Fatihah 1:1-2] May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. It is not permissible to plant green palm fronds on graves, nor is it permissible to plant trees or cause trees to grow on graves, because this is among the newly introduced religious innovations (bid'ah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Muslim 1718a As for the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) split a palm frond and planted a piece of it on each grave, this is one of his specific characteristics (peace and blessings be upon him), because Allah revealed to him that the two occupants of these graves were being tormented. He then said: This is one of his specific characteristics (peace and blessings be upon him), as evidenced by the fact that the Companions did not do this at all; they did not perform these actions, nor did those who came after them. Rather, this is among the matters that are innovated. What is prescribed for the Muslim is to make supplication for the deceased after his death, to seek forgiveness for him, to give charity on his behalf, and to perform Hajj and 'Umrah on his behalf. These are the matters that benefit the deceased after his death. As for anything else for which there is no evidence, it is an innovation. This includes planting trees or splitting palm fronds on graves, which has no basis. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you and bless you.
This is an Egyptian resident in Riyadh who says: Shaykh, is it permissible to place a palm frond on a grave? And is it permissible to plant a tree on a grave so that it remains evergreen? This is in light of the hadith that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
The Prophet (ﷺ) then took a green leaf of a date-palm tree, split it into (pieces) and fixed one on each grave. They said, "O Allah's Apostle! Why have you done so?" He replied, "I hope that their punishment might be lessened till these (the pieces of the leaf) become dry."
أخذ جريدة رطبة فشقها نصفين فغرس في كل قبر واحدة، قالوا يا رسول الله لم فعلت هذا؟ قال لعله يخفف عنهما ما لم ييبساAnswer:
(1) In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. (2) [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds -
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ'A'isha reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: He who innovates things in our affairs for which there is no valid (reason) (commits sin) and these are to be rejected.
من أحدث في أمرنا هذا ما ليس منه فهو ردPerhaps it will be lightened for them, that the torment will be lightened for them as long as they do not dry out,
لعله يخفف عنهما، يخفف عنهم العذاب ما لم ييبسا،The presenter:
May Allah reward you and bless you.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/177 — archive.org (0:55)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.