Is it permissible to travel to the grave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A questioner asks: Is it permissible to travel to the grave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The Shaykh : Why do you travel to the grave of the Messenger? You ask: To greet him. We say: Allah has sufficed you; any person who greets the Messenger in any place, his greeting reaches him. So why travel? You burden the camel and burden yourself, and you do not pay the cost of a ticket and the like? It is not permissible for a person to travel to visit the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), because the least of what is involved in it is the waste of money, and the waste of money is forbidden. But if one travels to the Prophet’s Mosque, is that permissible or not? It is permissible, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: And when you arrive at the mosque, stand and visit the grave of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Visit the grave of the Messenger and his two companions, Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), and visit the Commander of the Faithful, 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), in al-Baqi', and visit all the people of al-Baqi', because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) used to visit al-Baqi'. But why do you visit al-Baqi'? What is the wisdom in that, my brother? No, we did not make it up.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : You have spoken well. May Allah bless you. Visiting graves is not for the sake of calling upon Allah at them, nor for seeking aid from them, meaning the people of the graves. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the legislator for the Ummah and the explainer of the rulings of the Shari'ah, said: And in another wording: This is the purpose. These people are now in the belly of the earth; they do not possess the ability to increase a good deed or decrease an evil deed from their deeds. And you are now on the surface of the earth, able to increase a good deed in your good deeds or to seek forgiveness for an evil deed. So remember, remember death, remember the Hereafter, which is the abode of recompense. This is the purpose. And do you have a covenant from Allah that you will remain for a period after this visit? Answer? No. So, my brother, you do not know; perhaps you visit these dead people in the morning and your relatives visit you in these graves in the evening. So prepare for death. Repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for what you have neglected in the right of Allah and what you have neglected in the right of the servants of Allah. This is the purpose of visiting graves.
As for supplication at the graves, no. If you want to call upon Allah, call upon Allah in His houses, which are the mosques. As for going out there to supplicate, that is a mistake.
And uglier than that is going out to call upon the people of the graves, saying: O friend of Allah, O my master, O so-and-so, do this and that for me, provide me with this. What do we consider this? We consider it major shirk, not minor. Major shirk, and its doer deserves what Allah mentioned in His saying: We ask Allah the Exalted to conclude for us and for you with tawhid, sincerity, and the Sunnah. Indeed, He is capable of all things. And the last question.