What is the ruling on going to mosques that contain shrines and graves?

The questioner : Regarding visiting graves, or rather, visiting mosques that contain a grave, a shrine, domes, and the like, even if there are no domes, but this mosque has a grave in it, and this person wants to go to that city and then go to that mosque to visit that grave, as if it were a man’s invitation...

Another questioner: Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh: And upon you peace.

The questioner : Please, my brother.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : Perhaps the intention of the brother Abu Mu'adh...

The Shaykh : He is answering a question.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : What does he mean by going to those mosques?!

The questioner : The matter happened as follows: I was sitting with one of the relatives, and he mentioned that he had gone to Iraq and visited the mosque, meaning he was in Iraq and visited the mosque that contains the shrine of 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. He said: "I saw what they do and so on," according to his account, then he recited al-Fatihah for him and left.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : So the discussion turned to this issue: is it permissible to go to visit that grave, or is it not permissible? Then the issue developed to whether this is considered traveling to those mosques, or to those graves, or whether it is not considered so. Then the matter also branched out to the Prophet’s Mosque (peace and blessings be upon him): if the purpose of visiting the city is to visit the grave of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), is this permissible in this form, or is it not permissible?

The Shaykh: Is that it?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : If he wants to visit the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him), he must distinguish between the legitimacy of the visit, which is permissible, and the illegitimacy of traveling specifically for the visit, which is not permissible. Any man who travels from here to the city must intend to gain the virtue of praying in al-Masjid al-Nabawi. Naturally, when he arrives there, he will visit the Messenger (peace be upon him), because visiting the grave of the Messenger is no less than visiting the grave of any Muslim. But the point is that he should not fall into a clear violation of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) This is regarding the grave of the Messenger.

The questioner : (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : It is the best of graves on the face of the earth, but I am not speaking so that you delay your food and I also do not eat.

The questioner: Go ahead.

The Shaykh : Share the food and the knowledge with me... how are you.

The questioner : You got ahead of us, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Once this is known, the topic moves to the grave of Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. Praise be to Allah, the virtue of Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir is mentioned, with the vast difference between the two graves: what is said about the Prophet’s grave is not said about the other. That is, it is not permissible to travel from here to Iraq for the sake of the grave, because this is not prescribed by the text of the previous hadith. So he goes to Iraq for any other prescribed purpose. When he arrives there and wants to visit, the visit is permissible for him. Of course, we must note another thing: the visit itself must also be prescribed, whether it is from a resident of the city at the Prophet’s grave or from an Iraqi at al-Jilani’s grave. Not every visit, even if traveling for it is not the intention, is permissible, because visiting a grave is divided into two types: a prescribed visit, as Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says, a legitimate visit and an innovative visit. The legitimate visit is the permissible one, and the innovative visit is the forbidden one. Of course, the issue of traveling, which is a euphemism for journeying, is finished. Now we are discussing the local visit, let us call it that. This visit, as we said, is either a recommended practice (sunnah) or an innovation (bid'ah). The legitimate visit is the one that achieves the purpose for which visiting was prescribed after it was forbidden, and that is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) except that you do not say what is forbidden.

The questioner : ... except that you do not say what is forbidden.

The Shaykh : "What is forbidden" means speech that is prohibited and a concern in the Shari'ah. So what is the visit that was permitted in this hadith?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : As Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says, it is the one that returns benefit to the visitor and the visited. As for the visitor, it is remembering death, taking a lesson, and being admonished. As for the visited, it is making du'a' for him, as came in the Sunnah: O Allah, forgive them, O Allah, have mercy on them. As for sitting there, seeking nearness to Allah through the dead, and making du'a' to Allah through him, let alone calling for aid through him other than to Allah, these are acts of shirk and polytheism for which visiting was forbidden in the first Islam. When tawhid (the oneness of Allah) became established in the minds of the Muslims and they knew what belongs to Allah and what belongs to the servant of Allah, he said: And with this, in my opinion, the answer to the question ends.

The questioner : O our Shaykh, if the Muslim adds du'a' at the graves and this becomes every time he makes du'a' for them: "O Allah, honor their dwelling, O Allah, comfort their loneliness, and have mercy on them," and he continues with that.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : But if he says... there is no harm.

The Shaykh: Yes.