The ruling on the practice of delivering sermons at graves during burial
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Your Eminence! What is the ruling on delivering a sermon at the grave?We have heard someone say: It is not reported from the Messenger,And we have heard someone say: It is a Sunnah!
The claim that it is (not reported) in an absolute sense is incorrect, and the claim that it is a (Sunnah) is incorrect. The reason for this is that it is not reported that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand at the grave or in the cemetery when a funeral was present, then preach to the people and remind them. This is what we have heard, and it is a religious innovation. It may lead in the future to something greater; it may lead to the speaker talking about the deceased man present, such as if this man were an open sinner, for example,Then he says: Look at this man! Yesterday he was playing, yesterday he was mocking, yesterday he was such and such, and now he is in his grave, held accountable, or he talks about a merchant, for example,So he says: Look so-and-so, yesterday he was in palaces, cars, servants, and attendants, and now look at his state.
Therefore, we see that this should not be done; because this is not from the Sunnah. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not stand when he finished burying the dead or when he was waiting for the burial of the dead, and stand up and preach to the people, absolutely not. We have not known this in our previous scholars either, and they are closer to the Sunnah than we are. We have not known this in the Companions before them either. The people in the era of Abu Bakr, nor 'Umar, nor 'Uthman, nor 'Ali—so far as we know—did not do this. And the best of guidance is the guidance of those who came before, if it agrees with the truth.
As for the sermon that is considered the talk of a gathering, there is nothing wrong with it. It is established in the Sunan that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) came to al-Baqi' al-Gharqad, and there were people burying a dead man of theirs; but the dead man had not yet been placed in the grave,Meaning: meaning that they were digging the grave. So he sat down, and his Companions sat around him, and he began to tell them about the state of a person at his death, and the state of a person after his burial, in a calm manner, not in the form of a sermon.
It is also established from him in the two Sahihs and others that he sat on the edge of his daughter's grave while she was being buried, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (There is no one among you except that his place in Paradise and his place in the Fire has been written for him! They said: O Messenger of Allah! Then what is the use of working?He said: Work, for everyone is facilitated for that for which he was created) .
In conclusion: The sermon at the grave where a person stands to preach is undoubtedly not from the Sunnah, and it is not befitting, because of what you have known of what will happen in the future. As for the sermon where a person is sitting and calls his Companions around him, then speaks about what is appropriate, that is good, following the example of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The claim that it is (not reported) in an absolute sense is incorrect, and the claim that it is a (Sunnah) is incorrect. The reason for this is that it is not reported that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand at the grave or in the cemetery when a funeral was present, then preach to the people and remind them. This is what we have heard, and it is a religious innovation. It may lead in the future to something greater; it may lead to the speaker talking about the deceased man present, such as if this man were an open sinner, for example,Then he says: Look at this man! Yesterday he was playing, yesterday he was mocking, yesterday he was such and such, and now he is in his grave, held accountable, or he talks about a merchant, for example,So he says: Look so-and-so, yesterday he was in palaces, cars, servants, and attendants, and now look at his state.
Therefore, we see that this should not be done; because this is not from the Sunnah. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not stand when he finished burying the dead or when he was waiting for the burial of the dead, and stand up and preach to the people, absolutely not. We have not known this in our previous scholars either, and they are closer to the Sunnah than we are. We have not known this in the Companions before them either. The people in the era of Abu Bakr, nor 'Umar, nor 'Uthman, nor 'Ali—so far as we know—did not do this. And the best of guidance is the guidance of those who came before, if it agrees with the truth.
As for the sermon that is considered the talk of a gathering, there is nothing wrong with it. It is established in the Sunan that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) came to al-Baqi' al-Gharqad, and there were people burying a dead man of theirs; but the dead man had not yet been placed in the grave,Meaning: meaning that they were digging the grave. So he sat down, and his Companions sat around him, and he began to tell them about the state of a person at his death, and the state of a person after his burial, in a calm manner, not in the form of a sermon.
It is also established from him in the two Sahihs and others that he sat on the edge of his daughter's grave while she was being buried, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (There is no one among you except that his place in Paradise and his place in the Fire has been written for him! They said: O Messenger of Allah! Then what is the use of working?He said: Work, for everyone is facilitated for that for which he was created) .
In conclusion: The sermon at the grave where a person stands to preach is undoubtedly not from the Sunnah, and it is not befitting, because of what you have known of what will happen in the future. As for the sermon where a person is sitting and calls his Companions around him, then speaks about what is appropriate, that is good, following the example of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).