What is the ruling on performing the funeral prayer in the cemetery?

The questioner : In *Sahih al-Jami'* is mentioned a hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying over a funeral in the cemetery. There is another hadith that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and learned that the woman who used to sweep the mosque had passed away, he went and prayed in the cemetery. How do we reconcile these two hadiths?

The Shaykh : There is no contradiction between the two hadiths, and praise be to Allah. The first hadith, which forbids praying in the cemetery, is like his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in *Sahih Muslim*: So the prohibition of praying in the cemetery means praying toward the graves, because prayer must be pure for the face of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), with nothing mixed into it or accompanying it of exalting anyone other than Allah, for that is one of the types of shirk (associating partners with Allah). If a Muslim stands to pray to Allah while facing the grave, there is an apparent suspicion that this person intends, at least as many ignorant people do in this time, to seek blessing from this deceased person through his prayer and through his drawing near to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) through his prayer. He may have fallen into something of shirk, and he may exaggerate in it until his affair reaches a point that takes him out of the circle of Islam, may Allah protect us from that. This is the meaning that should be noted in the prohibition of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding praying in the cemetery or praying toward the grave. As for praying over the deceased while he is in his grave, that is something else; it has no relation to praying to Allah alone, who has no partner, and toward the grave of the deceased. It is not intended for this deceased person; it is not intended for this deceased person; it is not intended by this prayer that Allah forgive him or have mercy on him, as is the meaning included in the supplication over the deceased. So, praying over the deceased while he is in his grave is one thing, and praying to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) while facing the grave is another. This is the forbidden one, and that is the permissible one. So there is no problem between this and that. Yes.