Visiting graves and remembering the afterlife
Praise be to God who commanded the remembrance of death and for hearts to learn about it. And make visiting graves a reason for purification, remembrance, and return to God, and I bear witness that there is no god but God alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, sent by his Lord as a mercy to the worlds and a guidance and good tidings for the believers. May God’s prayers and peace be upon him, his family, and all his companions. As for what follows:
So God legislated for His servants to visit graves, and it was not legislated before. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: “I forbade you from visiting graves, so visit them, for they remind you of the afterlife»; (Narrated by Muslim).
After the prohibition was due to the feared effects of pre-Islamic times, the permission came after the hearts were educated in monotheism and steadfastness, so visiting graves became a great act of worship intended to consider the heart and revive the meanings of faith in the Last Day.
And when the believer stands between the graves, He looked at those events that included those who a few days ago were eating, drinking, and walking in the markets, and if he saw the silent people in the dust with the pages of their deeds folded, he knew that tomorrow he would be one of the residents of this place, and that he had no escape from this fate. The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said in the hadith: “I forbade you from visiting graves, so whoever wants to visit, let him visit, and do not say, ‘Abandon’.” (Narrated by Al-Nasa’i), so he combined the command to visit and the prohibition of extremism and innovation in it.
He was the prophet May God’s prayers and peace be upon him, he goes out to Al-Baqi’, greets the people of the graves and prays for them, and among his supplications is: “Peace be upon you, the abode of a believing people, and we, God willing, will join you. May God have mercy on those of us who come forward and those who come back. We ask God for good health for us and for you.»; (Narrated by Muslim).
It is high prophetic etiquette. The Muslim knows that by visiting him he will fulfill a right and gain a memory. He will be polite in his words and supplications, so he will be safe from exaggeration, polytheism, or useless conversation.
The secret of visiting graves is that it creates three things in the heart: a reminder of the future, a remission of this world, and a desire for the afterlife. Ibn al-Qayyim.
Ibn al-Jawzi said in Sayd al-Khatir:
If you pass by the graves, it is as if you see their people sitting for questioning, and the pages of their deeds have been folded, so consider those who are absent and provide supplies for those you leave.
Sheikh al-Islam decides:
What is meant by visiting graves is to pray for the dead and respect them, not to ask them for needs, or to seek help from them, as this is what God and His Messenger have forbidden.
If the believer meditates on this Texts: Know that cemeteries are silent schools, they teach a person what the most eloquent orator cannot teach, and they move in the soul what the most eloquent expression does not move. They summarize the world in one scene: open graves, bodies laid out, and souls in bliss or in torment.
It was stated in the hadith: “Visit graves, for they remind you of death»; (Narrated by Muslim), and it was stated in a narration: “Remember the afterlife“And this is the greatest purpose, for a person to move from heedlessness to alertness, and from long hope to sincere action.
If we look at our contemporary reality, we will see that many people turn their visits to cemeteries into wrong manifestations. Some of them take them as a place of customs and courtesies, and some of them turn them into a season of heresies and superstitions. Some of them may ask the people of the graves for needs that they only ask of God, and this is a doctrinal deviation that contradicts the purpose of the visit. The legitimate visit to graves is what is in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, a supplication for the dead, a remembrance of the fate, and provision for the afterlife.
The Sunnis have unanimously agreed that visiting is permissible for men but not women. Because of the prohibition that has been reported against them, although many scholars hold the prohibition to be frequent and frequent because of the temptation that it entails, the basic principle remains that the purpose of visiting graves is achieved by mere remembrance. So whoever mentions death in his home, or in a gathering of knowledge, the same type of purpose will be achieved, but visiting graves has a greater effect in moving and softening the heart.
Visiting graves is a bridge between this world and the afterlife. If the believer sits among the graves and contemplates the silence and alienation of the graves, he will know the value of life, and he will know that it is a single opportunity that cannot be returned, and that if he increases today, he will be comfort or loneliness tomorrow in his grave. Some of the predecessors said: Whoever wants to soften his heart, let him become addicted to mentioning death and visiting graves.
Oh God, make our visit to the graves a visit of remembrance and consideration, and do not make it a visit of hypocrisy, heresy, or temptation. Oh God, make us among those who remember the afterlife and provide for it with good deeds, and grant us a good ending and preparation for the situation of the Resurrection.
May God’s blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and all his companions.