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Q & A --> Innovation (bid‘a) --> The Ruling on Visiting the Graves of the Righteous

Question : A question was asked regarding [the validity of] journeying to visit the graves of the righteous.

Fatwa in Brief: Visiting graves is a reprehensible act (munkar); and it is [therefore] not permitted.

Shaykh Ibn Baz, al-Buhuth Magazine, no. 39, pp. 143-5

Response:

There is no harm in traveling to visit the righteous, whether they are alive or dead.

Commentary:

Bukhari and Muslim include a report in which the Prophet (upon him be peace) states that “a Muslim should only exert effort in traveling to three mosques: my mosque, the Haram mosque and the Aqsa mosque”. Yet, while Muslims do not need to travel to pray in mosques other than these three, there is nothing to prevent someone from traveling to perform any other legally beneficial act, such as jihad, or the search for knowledge, or so as to gain a better living from God, to visit one’s brothers, or to improve bonds within the family. The merit of each of these acts is supported by verses in the Qur’an.

The meaning of this hadith is merely that these three mosques are better than all other mosques as far as prayer is concerned. Indeed [it is said that], praying in them doubles the reward a believer receives [for this act of worship]. In their collections, Ahmad and Ibn Majah include a hadith with a sound (sahih) chain of transmission to the effect that a single prayer in al-Haram mosque is equal to a thousand prayers in any other mosque. Al-Bukhari and Muslim report that praying in the mosque of Madina is equal to one thousand prayers in any other mosque, except for the Haram mosque. Al-Tabrani and Ibn Khuzaima, in his Sahih, and al-Bazar include another hadith, with a strong (hasan) chain of transmission, to the effect that praying in the Aqsa mosque is worth five hundred prayers in a normal mosque. And in another report, with a strong (hasan) chain of tradition, in the [collections of] Ahmad and Ibn Abu Shaiba, it is said that the main purpose of travel is simply to pray in these mosques, because of the benefits that this brings. It is also reported by Abu Sa‘id al-Khudari that the Prophet (upon him be peace) said that Muslims should not travel to a mosque to pray except to the Haram mosque, my mosque, and the Aqsa mosque.

On the basis of this evidence, it is recommended (Sunna), or at least it is not prohibited, to travel to pray in these mosques [al-Aqsa, al-Haram, and the Prophet’s mosque]. In order to do so, and to gain the benefits of praying there, s/he must endure the physical and financial hardships of the journey. However, regarding other mosques, there is no need to travel, or to endure hardship, so as merely to pray in them. Indeed, some scholars prohibit this form of journey.[1] Yet, despite this, travelling to visit righteous people, be they alive or dead, is not prohibited by Islam.[2]

Dr. Yassir ‘Abd al-‘Azim


[1]  Al-Samhudi, Khulasat al-Wafa, p. 70.

[2] ‘Atiya Saqr, Fatawa Dar al-Ifta’ al-Misriyya, no. 55. May 1997.