Visiting graves

Visiting graves is lawful for reflecting on the hereafter, greeting the dead and praying for them, as the Prophet allowed ¹. A visit made in order to pray at the grave, circle it or seek help from its occupant is, in the view of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, an innovation that leads to shirk ².

The extract cites hadith on the permission to visit, among them the statement that visiting reminds one of the hereafter, and that the Prophet had once forbidden it and then allowed it ¹. It also gives the words the Prophet taught his Companions to say on going to the graves: greeting the believers of the dwelling, asking for well-being, and saying that they will join them if God wills ².

The author divides the purpose of the lawful visit into two parts: what returns to the visitor, which is reflection and admonition, and what returns to the dead, which is greeting them and praying for them ².

The author counts as innovation a visit made to pray at the grave, to circle it, kiss it, or to ask the occupant for needs. In his view none of this was done by the Prophet, the Companions or the Successors ³. He also holds that travelling to visit the graves of prophets and the righteous is an innovation that no Companion or Successor undertook ¹.

This is the author's position. The views of other juristic schools on visiting graves and their conditions are not yet included, and need their own sources.