Is it permissible to write on a grave to distinguish the grave of a deceased person from other graves?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Do you not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade writing on graves? Tell me, do you know or do you not know?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : So what is stopping you from accepting that answer?
The student : No, for example, there are graveyards with thousands of graves.
The Shaykh : Do not repeat the question to me. Did I answer your question? It is not obligatory for me to hear the question and give the answer. If you ask someone else, it is not obligatory for me to be the one to give you the answer.
The student : To the best of our ability, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Did the hadith reach you or not?
The student : Yes, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So what is it that makes you...
The student : The question, O Shaykh, is that the graves are not known; there are thousands of graves, and a person wants to know the grave of his family... a stone is not enough.
The Shaykh : May Allah guide you. Say, "Ameen."
The student : Ameen, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Do you not know that in Islam, "the end justifies the means" is not a principle?
The student : No, it does not exist, by Allah.
The Shaykh : So you are not now rambling with this justification around holding onto this goal.
The student : That is enough. We want another solution, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: May Allah guide you.
The student : Other than writing the name.
The Shaykh : So the question would be like this.
The student: Yes, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Say, you are in a different situation; you are not justifying a violation of the text with a Jewish rule, "the end justifies the means." I tell you a second thing: Do you not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took a stone and placed it on a grave? When they asked him about it, he said:Sunan Abi Dawud 3206Hasan (Al-Albani) Do you know this?
The student : I know, yes.
The Shaykh : So the stone is a means. You will say, as others like you have said to me, that there will be many stones.
The student: Yes.
Another student: The grave, according to the Sunnah, is all dirt and stone.
The Shaykh : And I will say that this is imagination. Have you seen a grave with a stone on it?
The student : No, I have not seen one.
The Shaykh : So you have established this Sunnah, and then, for every new event, there is a new ruling.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : So what is stopping you from accepting that answer?
The student : No, for example, there are graveyards with thousands of graves.
The Shaykh : Do not repeat the question to me. Did I answer your question? It is not obligatory for me to hear the question and give the answer. If you ask someone else, it is not obligatory for me to be the one to give you the answer.
The student : To the best of our ability, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Did the hadith reach you or not?
The student : Yes, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : So what is it that makes you...
The student : The question, O Shaykh, is that the graves are not known; there are thousands of graves, and a person wants to know the grave of his family... a stone is not enough.
The Shaykh : May Allah guide you. Say, "Ameen."
The student : Ameen, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Do you not know that in Islam, "the end justifies the means" is not a principle?
The student : No, it does not exist, by Allah.
The Shaykh : So you are not now rambling with this justification around holding onto this goal.
The student : That is enough. We want another solution, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh: May Allah guide you.
The student : Other than writing the name.
The Shaykh : So the question would be like this.
The student: Yes, may Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Say, you are in a different situation; you are not justifying a violation of the text with a Jewish rule, "the end justifies the means." I tell you a second thing: Do you not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took a stone and placed it on a grave? When they asked him about it, he said:
I am marking my brother's grave with it, and I shall bury beside him those of my family who die.
أعلِّم به قبر أخي ، وأدفن إليه مَن مات مِن أهلهThe student : I know, yes.
The Shaykh : So the stone is a means. You will say, as others like you have said to me, that there will be many stones.
The student: Yes.
Another student: The grave, according to the Sunnah, is all dirt and stone.
The Shaykh : And I will say that this is imagination. Have you seen a grave with a stone on it?
The student : No, I have not seen one.
The Shaykh : So you have established this Sunnah, and then, for every new event, there is a new ruling.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.