Discussion of the rulings regarding visiting Madinah.

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The Shaykh : Here is a matter outside the scope of the rites of Hajj: Is it obligatory for a person who performs Hajj to go to Madinah, or is it not obligatory? It is not obligatory, and visiting Madinah has absolutely no connection to Hajj. This is one thing and that is another. Visiting Madinah is permissible at any time. And know that if you visit Madinah, you are only intending the Prophet’s Mosque, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

One should not undertake journeys except to three mosques: al-Masque al-Haram (in Makkah ), the Aqsa mosque, or this mosque (in Madinah).

لا تشد الرحال إلا إلى ثلاثة مساجد : المسجد الحرام، ومسجدي هذا، والمسجد الأقصى

Bulugh al-Maram 5:58

But it is known that when a person goes and prays in the Prophet’s Mosque as much as he wishes, he will visit the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), greet him, and face the noble grave with his back to? Answer, everyone, to the qiblah. He greets the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If someone asks: What is the best greeting for the Messenger? We say: The best greeting for the Messenger is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us, where we learned to say: Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. This is the best greeting. There is no need to lengthen it and recite: Peace be upon you, O you who are merciful and compassionate to the believers, Peace be upon you, O best of Allah’s creation, and the like. There is no need for that. Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), when he greeted, would say:

Peace be upon you. Messenger of Allah

السلام عليك يا رسول الله

Sunan Abi Dawud 5201Sahih (Al-Albani)

and stop. Who is Ibn ‘Umar? He is a Companion, one of the greatest of the Companions. But there is no harm in greeting with what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) taught his Ummah: Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad—if you add this, that is good—O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim, for You are Praiseworthy and Majestic. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim, for You are Praiseworthy and Majestic. Then, after that, you step to the right one step to greet whom? Whom? Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). You say: Peace be upon you, O successor of the Messenger of Allah! May Allah be pleased with you, and may He reward you for the Ummah of Muhammad with good. And you say the same regarding ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and you stop. If you wish to go out to the Mosque of Quba after purifying yourself in your house and praying two rak’ahs in it, at a time other than the prohibited times, that is good. Because whoever purifies himself in his house and goes out and prays two rak’ahs in Quba, it is like an ‘Umrah. You also greet the people of al-Baqi‘, among whom is? ‘Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), the third caliph of the Muslims. You greet them with what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to greet the people of the graves with: Peace be upon you, abode of a people of faith, and we, if Allah wills, will be joining you. May Allah have mercy on those of us who have gone before and those who have 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. How many graves have we visited now? The grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the graves of his two companions, and al-Baqi‘. Likewise, you go out to Uhud to greet the martyrs there, the most distinguished of whom is Hamzah ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. You greet them with what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to greet the people of the graves with. It is absolutely not permissible for a person to believe that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) can benefit him or harm him, or save him from hardship, ever. Because that belongs to whom? To Allah (Mighty and Majestic) alone. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said, while advising Ibn ‘Abbas:

Know that if the entire creation were to gather together to do something to benefit you- you would never get any benefit except that Allah had written for you. And if they were to gather to do something to harm you- you would never be harmed except that Allah had written for you.

اعلم أن الأمة لو اجتمعوا على أن ينفعوك بشيء لم ينفعوك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله لك، ولو اجتمعوا على أن يضروك بشيء لم يضروك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله عليك

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2516Hasan (Darussalam)

And Allah commanded His Prophet to say openly:

Say, "Indeed, I do not possess for you [the power of] harm or right direction."

قُلْ إِنِّي لا أَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ ضَرّاً وَلا رَشَداً

[Al-Jinn 72:21]

I do not possess it. I am not able to harm you, nor am I able to guide you. And He commanded him to say:

Say, "I hold not for myself [the power of] benefit or harm, except what Allah has willed. And if I knew the unseen, I could have acquired much wealth, and no harm would have touched me.

قُلْ لا أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِي نَفْعاً وَلا ضَرّاً إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ وَلَوْ كُنْتُ أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ لَاسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ وَمَا مَسَّنِيَ السُّوءُ

[Al-A'raf 7:188]

And Allah said to him:

Say, [O Muhammad], "I do not tell you that I have the depositories [containing the provision] of Allah

قُلْ لا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ عِنْدِي خَزَائِنُ اللَّهِ

[Al-An'am 6:50]

So I give you from it

I do not tell you that I have the depositories [containing the provision] of Allah or that I know the unseen, nor do I tell you that I am an angel

قُلْ لا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ عِنْدِي خَزَائِنُ اللَّهِ وَلا أَعْلَمُ الْغَيْبَ وَلا أَقُولُ لَكُمْ إِنِّي مَلَكٌ

[Al-An'am 6:50]

until even his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would be absent from him for a while and he would not know. Abu Hurayrah said:

I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) on one of the roads of Madinah, and he (may Allah be pleased with him) was in a state of major ritual impurity, so he withdrew, meaning he went away quietly, and performed the full ritual bath, then he came. He said: Where were you? The one who says: Where were you, does he know or does he not know? He does not know. Where were you? He said: I was in a state of major ritual impurity, so I disliked to sit with you while I was not in a state of ritual purity. He said: Glory be to Allah, indeed the believer does not become ritually impure.

كنت مع النبي صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم في بعض طرق المدينة، وكان رضي الله عنه على جنابة، فانخنس يعني : ذهب بخفية، واغتسل ثم جاء، فقال : أين كنت ؟ الذي يقول : أين كنت يدري ولا ما يدري ؟ ما يدري، أين كنت ؟ قال : كنت جنباً فكرهت أن أجالسك وأنا على غير طهارة، فقال: سبحان الله إن المؤمن لا ينجس

He would enter his house sometimes and not know what was in it. One day he came and entered the house and asked for food, and they brought him food or made an excuse about it—I forgot which—it was said to him:

Did I not see the pot on the fire?

ألم أر البرمة على النار؟

—and he did not know what was in it—they said: Yes, but this is meat that was given in charity to Barirah. Who is Barirah? A slave woman that ‘Aishah bought and freed, and she remained with ‘Aishah to serve her. They said: This is meat that was given in charity to Barirah. Did he know? He did not know. He saw the pot on the fire, but he did not know what was in it.

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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