Visiting Graves: Between What Is Prescribed and What Is Forbidden

Question:
The first letter in this episode is from a listener in Hadramawt: (M. H. A. Q.). We presented his question in a previous episode, and in this episode he has another question remaining, similar to the first in length and subject matter.
He says: A visit is held to the grave of one of the awliya (close friends of Allah), as the common people claim—Allah knows best—whose name is Ali ibn Muhammad al-Habashi. This visit is called the "Hawl" visit, and they stay at his grave, which is located under a dome, for eleven nights. They pray in the cemetery, where the imam is inside the cemetery surrounding the dome, and the congregation extends, especially for Maghrib and Isha, to an area outside the cemetery. The imam orders those praying in the cemetery to spread out their cloaks. On the eighth day, men and women gather, with free mixing and violation of privacy, carrying a cloth on a bier from the home of the wali's family to the wali's coffin under the dome, accompanied by drums and songs. Then they dress that coffin, knowing that the coffin is raised about a meter high. They rub themselves with the cloth, the coffin, and the dome, asking the wali, saying: "O Ali, O Ali," asking him for what is asked of Allah.
On the tenth day, there is a standing that imitates Hajj. They stand in that place, and words are delivered about that wali and his karamah (a miracle granted to a righteous person). If we advise them not to do this and that it is bid'ah (religious innovation) and shirk (associating partners with Allah), they say: "You are the people of innovation who have strayed from following the Salaf (the earliest generations), and you hate the awliya." What is the ruling of the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) in this? And what do you advise these people? May Allah reward you with good, and may He bless you with your presence.

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, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
It should be known that traveling to graves is among the abominations that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade. Therefore, one does not travel except to three mosques: al-Masjid al-Haram, al-Masjid al-Nabawi, and Bayt al-Maqdis. These are the three mosques to which one travels, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
Then, going to those they call awliya to sit at their graves, and seeking aid from them, or healing, or victory over enemies, all of this is shirk akbar (major shirk); because it is not permissible to ask a created being, whether he is called a wali or not, it is not permissible to ask him, nor to seek healing for the sick from him, nor to seek aid; because this belongs to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), not to the awliya, nor to the messengers.
Nor is such a request made of them, nor does one rub against their graves or seek tabarruk (seeking blessing from a thing or person) from them, even if they are called awliya, even if they are righteous, even if they are prophets. This is not permissible at graves. This is the practice of the first polytheists and the practice of the people of the jahiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance) with graves.
So it is obligatory (wajib) for the people of Islam to beware of these matters and not to do them, and to disapprove of them in those who do them from the common people, and not to be deceived by what the ancestors and fathers have practiced of shirk akbar. Building on graves and making domes over them is an abomination that is not permissible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to order that the grave be leveled when it is raised; he ordered it to be leveled. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) : The meaning of "I leveled it" is: I dismantled it and demolished it until it is level with the ground, leaving only a marker of the grave the size of a hand-span or similar.
Thus Allah has legislated that graves be raised the height of a hand-span from the ground so that they are known to be graves, not to be trampled or disrespected, and nothing is built on them, neither a dome nor a mosque nor anything else.
Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade plastering graves, sitting on them, and building on them." There is no difference between the grave of a wali, a prophet, or anyone else.
And it is not permissible for anyone to seek tabarruk from graves, or to make them festivals, or to ask them for healing for the sick, or for aid and help, or for victory over enemies, or for blessing in children or food or the like. All of this is not permissible.
And this staying at the grave of this person is an abomination and a bid'ah, and one of the causes of shirk, whether it is eleven days or less or more. What is prescribed (mashru') for the Muslim is to visit graves, greet them, make du'a' (supplication) for them, and leave. If they are Muslims, he visits them to greet them and make du'a' for them. It is not seeking du'a' from them... their du'a' other than to Allah, no. It is du'a' for them for forgiveness and mercy. They are in need of du'a'. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to teach his companions when they visited graves to say: And when he (peace and blessings be upon him) visited graves, he would say: , and it is narrated from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he visited the graves of Madinah, turned his face toward them, and said: .
This is the prescribed visit: greeting the deceased and making du'a' for them for forgiveness, mercy, and well-being. As for making du'a' with Allah, saying: "Intercede for us," "Help us," "Aid, aid," this is an abomination, this is not permissible. This is the shirk that Quraysh did; Quraysh and others did it.
So it is obligatory (wajib) for the Muslim to be alert, awake, and cautious of the acts of shirk.
Then, women do not visit graves. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade women from visiting graves, and he cursed the women who visit graves. The visit is for men to graves specifically; they visit them and make du'a' for their people for forgiveness and mercy. As for women, they do not visit graves. The wisdom of this, Allah knows best, is that they may be tempted or they may tempt, and also due to their lack of patience.
So from the mercy of Allah is that He forbade them from visiting graves. It is sufficient for them to make du'a' for their deceased in their homes. They make du'a' for the deceased... they seek mercy for them while in their homes. There is no need to visit graves. The visit is for men. For this reason, in the authentic hadith: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the women who visit graves." So it is not permissible for women to go to graves, and it is not permissible for men to go to graves with the intention of seeking tabarruk from the deceased, or making du'a' to them, or calling for aid from them, or seeking aid from them, or praying at their graves. No, this is an abomination. Rather, it is among the shirk prohibitions. Praying at graves is a bid'ah. And if he prays for the deceased and asks him other than Allah, it becomes shirk akbar. We ask Allah for well-being.
So it is obligatory (wajib) for the people of Islam to beware of these shirk matters, and of these bid'ahs that the ignorant people have innovated, who did not understand the Shari'ah nor have fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) in it. And we ask Allah for guidance for everyone.

The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good. Your Eminence, from what has been presented to Your Eminence from the letters that reach this program, it has become clearly apparent that our Islamic world is full of things and things that contradict the religion. Among them is this Sufism, and this seeking tabarruk from graves, and from those they call awliya, and the like. It seems that the matter needs Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab again.

The Shaykh: There is no doubt that this matter needs reformers. It needs callers to guidance who take on these matters by calling to Allah, enlightening people and guiding them, and to imams and leaders who restrain them from falsehood by force, and take hold of the hands of the foolish, and compel them to the truth, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did in his migration (peace and blessings be upon him) and in Makkah (peace and blessings be upon him). And thus did his righteous successors, and thus did the callers to reform in every time, among them Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) in his time, and Ibn al-Qayyim in his time, and their like from the callers to guidance.
Then came the turn of Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) in the twelfth century, and he performed this duty and called to Allah, and guided people to the tawhid (the oneness of Allah) of Allah, and he disapproved of the shirk that existed in Najd and then in the Hijaz. He disapproved of it and called to the truth. And thus his supporters from the scholars and the good people and the callers to guidance in Najd and the Hijaz and in Yemen performed this duty and supported the truth, and called to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and guided people to the tawhid of Allah, and warned them from worshipping graves, trees, stones, and jinn. And thus every reformer must do this work by calling to Allah and guiding, and by the Shari'ah jihad (struggle in the path of Allah) and the force that deters the criminal if he is not deterred by words and calling. He needs deterrence by force, by discipline, by imprisonment, by killing the apostate, and the like of what our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did, and what his righteous successors and the imams after them, the rightly guided, did. And Allah is the Helper. Yes.

The presenter: Allah is the One to be sought for help. May Allah reward you with good. Shaykh Abdul Aziz, many thinkers praise conferences and say that they shape public opinion within the Muslim community. What is your opinion if conferences were held whose aim is tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and calling people to the oneness of Allah?

The Shaykh: This is one of the most important matters. Calling people to the oneness of Allah is the most important of all matters, for tawhid (the oneness of Allah) is the foundation of the religion and the basis of the faith. If conferences were held from time to time in the lands of the Muslims, bringing together scholars of truth to clarify these matters and explain them to the people, this would be among the most important matters and among the best of acts of drawing near to Allah. The primary purpose of holding such a conference should be to explain the reality of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), to explain the meaning of "There is no god but Allah," and to explain what Allah sent the messengers (peace be upon them) with, which is establishing the oneness of Allah and denying shirk (associating partners with Allah), so that people understand it and so that those who have been ignorant of it in the lands of the Muslims and elsewhere comprehend it.
This is something in which one should strive and in which efforts should be expended, because it contains great benefits. And what benefit is greater than the benefit of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), which is the foundation of the religion and the basis of the faith? We ask Allah to help us in that, and we ask Allah to grant us that. Perhaps we will be able to do something in this matter, if Allah wills. Yes.

The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good. I almost said: Why does not Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Baz adopt this idea?

The Shaykh: This is among the important matters. We ask Allah to help us in that. Yes.

The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good, and may He accept from you.