What is the ruling on entering graveyards wearing sandals, and what is the wisdom behind this?

The questioner : The questioner wrote: —he says it this way: as he wrote, and the correct question is clear, if Allah wills—!

The Shaykh : If Allah wills.

The questioner : Is entering graveyards wearing sandals obligatory or recommended? He wrote it this way!!

The Shaykh : Yes, entering graveyards wearing sandals is prohibited by the Shari'ah, so it is not permissible for a Muslim to enter a graveyard in his sandals; rather, when he is about to enter, he should take off his sandals and leave them to the side. This is if he is compelled to walk between the graves, because many graveyards are not organized in a way that assures the walker that he will not step on a grave with his foot; he may walk with a grave beneath him. Here, the problem may be singular or double. If he is walking barefoot on the graves, this walking is an insult to the graves, and this is not permissible due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . In this hadith, there is a balanced jurisprudence: on one hand, it commands the Muslim to respect the dead of the Muslims and not to insult them, even by stepping on them with his feet, so he says: . On the other hand, it commands us not to exaggerate in honoring them, and among that is praying toward them, which is an exaggeration in honoring the deceased, so the Messenger (peace be upon him) prohibited that, just as he prohibited sitting on a grave. There is no doubt that both of the prohibited things: , are of the type that some later jurists say is "understandable in meaning." The prohibition of sitting on a grave and the prohibition of praying toward it are commands whose meaning is understandable. That is, if a questioner asks: Why did the wise Lawgiver prohibit sitting on a grave? The answer is: out of respect for it and appreciation of it. He also prohibited something more important than that in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . This is an exaltation of the status of the dead believer, to the extent that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . So, this ruling is understandable in meaning, meaning: as an honor to this Muslim and to keep the living Muslim away from insulting the dead, because the dead still have sanctity. Conversely: is also a ruling whose meaning is understandable. Why? Because it involves exalting a form of worship that a Muslim is not permitted to direct to anyone but Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), so it is not permissible to direct this worship to a grave. So here, there is a prohibition of sitting out of respect for this deceased. Likewise, walking between the graves: if you are not walking on ground where there is no grave under your feet, if you are walking on ground you do not know about, except if there is a pressing need, such as reaching a grave where he wants to bury his companion or relative, then it is even more necessary and more obligatory that it is not permissible for a Muslim to walk between the graves in his sandals. There is an explicit hadith on this: it was reported in "Musnad al-Imam Ahmad," some of the Sunan, and the authentic collections like "Sahih Ibn Hibban," that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw one day a man from his Companions—his name was Bashir ibn al-Khasasiyyah—he saw him walking between the graves in his sandals, so he called out to him and said to him: Therefore, the previous question seemed to be reversed for the questioner, where he asked: Is it obligatory or recommended? I think his pen or his mind got ahead of him; he wanted to say: Is it forbidden or disliked, so he said the opposite: Is it obligatory or is it recommended?