The Ruling on Visiting Prophetic Historical Sites and Traveling to Them
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The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah reward you. We see in your opinion regarding those who visit historical sites where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, or where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was absent, or where those places were the site of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) absence. And they say that we are calling for the answer of the dwelling. Before the act of worship.
The Shaykh:
This is the same act of worship; remembering is an act of worship. Therefore, it is not permissible to associate with these historical sites and rely on visiting them and calling for people to go to them, because this promotes this religious innovation (bid'ah) and opens the door to evil. So these sites are not to be visited. However, if one passes by them without intending to, if he passes by them on his way, if he passes by them on his way and wants to look at them for the sake of taking a lesson, that is a different matter. But to intend them and travel to them, that is not permissible. Remembering is worship; if he goes intending to remember, that is worship.
When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by their way to Tabuk, by their way to Tabuk or to Qayda, they passed by the dwellings of Thamud. He said: Do not enter the houses of these wrongdoersSahih al-Bukhari 3380 He was struck and he covered his head (peace and blessings be upon him) and passed by quickly. It is not permissible, for example, to visit these historical sites because attaching oneself to them, exalting them in the eyes of people, traveling to them, and making an advertisement for them turns them into idols in the future. Even if this generation is on the right path, no. But first, they are not reasonable; they may fall into associating partners with Allah (shirk). Second, a generation of ignorant people will come after them who will believe that these historical sites are not cared for except because there is benefit and harm in them, such and such. They will believe in them, so do not open the door to evil.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah reward you. We see in your opinion regarding those who visit historical sites where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, or where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was absent, or where those places were the site of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) absence. And they say that we are calling for the answer of the dwelling. Before the act of worship.
The Shaykh:
This is the same act of worship; remembering is an act of worship. Therefore, it is not permissible to associate with these historical sites and rely on visiting them and calling for people to go to them, because this promotes this religious innovation (bid'ah) and opens the door to evil. So these sites are not to be visited. However, if one passes by them without intending to, if he passes by them on his way, if he passes by them on his way and wants to look at them for the sake of taking a lesson, that is a different matter. But to intend them and travel to them, that is not permissible. Remembering is worship; if he goes intending to remember, that is worship.
When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by their way to Tabuk, by their way to Tabuk or to Qayda, they passed by the dwellings of Thamud. He said: Do not enter the houses of these wrongdoers
unless (you enter) weeping, lest you should suffer the same
إلا أن تكونوا باكين أن يصيبكم ما
Source
شرح العقيدة الواسطية [ صالح الفوزان ] [ الشرح القديم ]، من علامات أهل السنة الاتباع وليس الابتداع — islamhouse.com (1:09:13)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.