Some people plant a tree on a grave and visit the grave under the pretext of watering it. What is your opinion on this? Should this tree be cut down? And could the planter be a woman?

The questioner : Some people, O Shaykh, plant a tree on a grave and visit this grave under the pretext that they are watering this tree. So what is your opinion on this? I mean, should this tree be cut down? And it could be women as well.

The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : They did this thing until the olive trees, fig trees, and fruits became numerous on the graveyards.

The Shaykh : Yes, this is a method that is undoubtedly not Islamic from many aspects, the most important of which is that it is the method of the disbelievers who are disturbed by visiting graves. Therefore, whoever travels to the lands of disbelief finds the graveyards to be like lush gardens, planted with many trees, flowers, and the like, so that when a passerby goes through that area, he is not disturbed by the mention of death. The Muslims today are following the ways of those before them, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) foretold in the authentic hadith to the end of the hadith. So this phenomenon is imitating the disbelievers; it is the complete imitation that some Islamic countries have been afflicted with, and our country, unfortunately, is among them. It is moving the graveyards outside the city, and thereby they cut off the connection between the living and the dead, meaning they disable the visiting of graves. Because it is not usually possible for a Muslim whose father has died to pack his bags and go outside the city just to visit, what, his father? No, by Allah, he is not asking about his father, nor about his mother, nor about his sister. This is a goal to cut off the connection between the living and the dead by achieving the legitimate objective mentioned earlier. Therefore, if there were a truly Islamic state, this issue, although as some say it is secondary, and we do not mean to say it is from the category of superficial matters, but it is secondary, nevertheless, it would plan the city or the capital so that the graves are not in it except inside it, so that they do not cut off the connection between the Muslims and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him)

The questioner : ... the topic is being argued