What is the ruling on designating the day of the festival for visiting the cemetery and reciting Surat al-Ikhlas for the deceased?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you. This person says: We have a custom in our country where we pray the festival prayer and then go to the cemetery to visit some relatives and recite Surat al-Ikhlas. What is the ruling on this, knowing that we do not do the known wrongs associated with visiting graves, such as supplication, seeking nearness to Allah through a means, or calling for aid, but only for greeting and supplication?
The Shaykh : This is from religious innovations (bid'ah) for a person to designate the day of the festival for visiting the cemetery. I say it is from religious innovations because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not designate the day of the festival for visiting the cemetery; rather, he would visit the cemetery whenever it was convenient for him, until he would sometimes visit it at night, as in the famous long hadith of Aisha. And if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not designate the day of the festival for visiting the cemetery, then designating it is from religious innovations. For this reason, we warn our brothers from this custom, meaning visiting the cemeteries on the days of festivals, whether they do what is condemned there or not.
Then, reciting Surat al-Ikhlas is also a reprehensible matter, meaning a religious innovation, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when he went out to visit the cemetery did not recite Surat al-Ikhlas or Surat al-Fatihah over it, but rather he would greet them and then supplicate for them, saying:.
The Shaykh : This is from religious innovations (bid'ah) for a person to designate the day of the festival for visiting the cemetery. I say it is from religious innovations because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not designate the day of the festival for visiting the cemetery; rather, he would visit the cemetery whenever it was convenient for him, until he would sometimes visit it at night, as in the famous long hadith of Aisha. And if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not designate the day of the festival for visiting the cemetery, then designating it is from religious innovations. For this reason, we warn our brothers from this custom, meaning visiting the cemeteries on the days of festivals, whether they do what is condemned there or not.
Then, reciting Surat al-Ikhlas is also a reprehensible matter, meaning a religious innovation, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) when he went out to visit the cemetery did not recite Surat al-Ikhlas or Surat al-Fatihah over it, but rather he would greet them and then supplicate for them, saying: