The Ruling on Prayer and Reciting the Qur'an at Graves

Question:
The first message in this episode is from a listener, Muhammad (A. S. D. 'A). Our brother discusses an issue he heard through the episodes of this program. He says: I request that this issue be presented to His Eminence Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz. I listened to one of the episodes of (Nur 'ala al-Dirb) regarding recitation, prayer, and supplication at graves, where His Eminence Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz issued a ruling that reciting the Qur'an at graves is not permissible. The Shaykh requested evidence from those who say that reciting the Qur'an at a grave is permissible.
I have read the book al-Ruh by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, where I found the following hadith: Al-Khallal said, and al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Warraq informed me, 'Ali ibn Musa al-Haddad narrated to me, and he was truthful, he said: I was with Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Muhammad ibn Qudamah al-Jawhari at a funeral. When the deceased was buried, a blind man sat and recited at the grave. Ahmad said to him: O this one, recitation at the grave is a religious innovation (bid'ah). When we left the cemetery, Muhammad ibn Qudamah said to Ahmad ibn Hanbal: O Abu 'Abd Allah, what do you say about Mubashir al-Halabi? He said: He is trustworthy. He said: Did you write anything from him? He said: Yes. So Mubashir informed me from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-'Ala' ibn al-Lajlaj from his father that he bequeathed that when he is buried, the opening and closing of Surat al-Baqarah be recited at his head. He said: I heard Ibn 'Umar bequeathing this. So Ahmad said to him: Go back and tell the man to recite. End of quote.
And al-Hasan al-Zafarani said: I asked al-Shafi'i about recitation at the grave? He said: There is no harm in it. End of quote.
I have quoted these two texts verbatim from the book al-Ruh by Ibn Qayyim. There are many statements in this book that permit recitation and prayer at graves. I request from His Eminence the Shaykh to clarify this issue. May you be rewarded, by the permission of Allah the Exalted, and may Allah guide you, and may Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
I have looked at what the questioner mentioned and what he quoted from the book al-Ruh. I have looked at it in the book al-Ruh, but the questioner should know that the legislative evidence is limited to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the consensus of the scholars.
As for what concerns the statements of individual Companions, they are presented to the Book and the Sunnah. Acts of worship are based on divine legislation, and nothing is permissible from them except what the Shari'ah has permitted. It is not established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), nor from his Rightly Guided Caliphs, that they used to recite at graves, nor that they used to pray at graves.
As for what Ibn 'Umar did, it was his independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) (may Allah be pleased with him), and likewise what some of the Salaf did after him, this is from the perspective of independent legal reasoning. Independent legal reasoning may err or be correct. The obligatory thing is to present what people disagree upon to the Book of Allah, to the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and to what the scholars have agreed upon.
It is known that the place of recitation is homes and mosques, not cemeteries. Cemeteries are only visited, and supplication is made for their inhabitants. Likewise, the place of prayer is not cemeteries, but rather mosques and homes. Just as one does not pray at graves, so they are not to be taken as a place for recitation, neither at the time of burial nor after burial. This is due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
This indicates that graves are not a place for prayer. He said: meaning: by leaving off prayer in them. He said: And likewise his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): All of these are authentic hadiths established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in another hadith: .
The point is that mosques and homes are the place of recitation, and they are the place of prayer. Cemeteries are not a place for prayer, nor a place for recitation. They are only visited to supplicate for their inhabitants, to remember the Hereafter, to have asceticism in this world, and to remember death. And he (peace and blessings be upon him), when he visited graves, would supplicate for their inhabitants, greet them, and make du'a for them. And he taught his Companions, when they visited graves, to say: And he did not teach them to recite the Qur'an at them.
And 'Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: .
So he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not recite at graves, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not pray at graves. All good is in following him and proceeding on his methodology (peace and blessings be upon him). For this reason, He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said in His great Book: [Al-Ahzab: 21] And his Rightly Guided Caliphs did not do that. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Ibn 'Umar had instances of independent legal reasoning in which he contradicted the Sunnah. Among them: he used to wash the inside of his eyes, and this is contrary to the Sunnah. This is from his independent legal reasoning (may Allah be pleased with him). And among them: when he performed Hajj or 'Umrah, he would take from his beard what exceeded a handful, and this is contrary to the Sunnah. For he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Al-Bukhari narrated it in his Sahih. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is agreed upon that it is authentic. And he would take water for his ears, whereas the Sunnah is that the ears are wiped with the water of the head.
So the conclusion is: he had instances of independent legal reasoning (may Allah be pleased with him) that are not agreed upon from the perspective of the Sunnah. So likewise, what is narrated from him regarding recitation at the grave, at the time of burial, this is something in which he exercised independent legal reasoning (may Allah be pleased with him), and the Sunnah is contrary to it.
And Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), when that reached him, in his independent legal reasoning (may Allah be pleased with him and have mercy on him), he saw that he should agree with Ibn 'Umar, and he affirmed the blind man's recitation after he had said to him: It is a religious innovation (bid'ah). His first statement is the correct one. Ahmad's first statement is the correct one, and it is what agrees with the many authentic evidences from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And because recitation at them, and prayer at them, is a means to worshipping them other than Allah. People may think that recitation at them has a special merit, and has increased reward, and likewise prayer at them. This leads them to taking them as mosques, and to supplicating to their inhabitants, and calling for aid from their inhabitants, and seeking nearness to Allah through their inhabitants. So shirk (associating partners with Allah) occurs, and there is no power and no strength except with Allah. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.