The Ruling on Visiting the Grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
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Honorable Shaykh! Is it recommended to visit the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? What is the Sunnah in this regard? And was Abdullah ibn Umar’s action an exercise of his independent legal reasoning (ijtihad), or was it based on the Sunnah?
The Shaykh of Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) holds that it is not prescribed for a person to come to the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he arrives from a journey, or to bid him farewell when he departs, or to come to him after every prayer.And he says: Ibn Umar’s doing this was an exercise of his independent legal reasoning, and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not do it.
But we say: We take a middle path,We say: As for visiting it frequently while you are in Madinah, that is an error, and there is no doubt that it is closer to religious innovation than to safety.
But if you arrive and go to his grave to visit it, it falls under the generality of his saying: (Visit the graves);But the one who disagrees says: He did not visit the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); because the grave of the Prophet is screened off by three walls, so even if he went and stood before it, he was not a visitor to it, and this action would be mere futility.
I only see, and what I do is: That we go and greet him and pray for him upon arrival and upon returning from a journey.
As for going and greeting him every time we pray, this is closer to religious innovation than to safety—it is not in accordance with the Sunnah—closer to safety, meaning it is feared that this man is an innovator; because it was not from the time of the righteous predecessors.
The Shaykh of Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) holds that it is not prescribed for a person to come to the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he arrives from a journey, or to bid him farewell when he departs, or to come to him after every prayer.And he says: Ibn Umar’s doing this was an exercise of his independent legal reasoning, and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not do it.
But we say: We take a middle path,We say: As for visiting it frequently while you are in Madinah, that is an error, and there is no doubt that it is closer to religious innovation than to safety.
But if you arrive and go to his grave to visit it, it falls under the generality of his saying: (Visit the graves);But the one who disagrees says: He did not visit the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); because the grave of the Prophet is screened off by three walls, so even if he went and stood before it, he was not a visitor to it, and this action would be mere futility.
I only see, and what I do is: That we go and greet him and pray for him upon arrival and upon returning from a journey.
As for going and greeting him every time we pray, this is closer to religious innovation than to safety—it is not in accordance with the Sunnah—closer to safety, meaning it is feared that this man is an innovator; because it was not from the time of the righteous predecessors.