RULING ON MUSLIMS VISITING THE GRAVES OF KAFIRSRULING ON MUSLIMS VISITING THE GRAVES OF KAFIRS

~In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful~

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

IZZAH ZAHIN ALIMAN 091157 NOOR KHAIRUN NISA NOOR HARUN 092906

It is right to say Assalamualaikum ya Ahlul Qubor at the entrance of the graveyard and it does not count as Shirk.

Visiting graves is mustahabb for men, because according to the hadith of Buraydah ibn al-Husayb, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“I used to forbid you to visit graves, but now visit them.” 1

According to another report, “… for they will remind you of the Hereafter.” 2

It was narrated that ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):

“O Messenger of Allah, what should I say to them (i.e., to the occupants of the graves)?” He said, “Say: As-salaamu ‘ala ahl il-diyaar min al-mu’mineen wa’l-Muslimeen, wa yarham Allah al-mustaqdimeena minna wa’l-musta’khireen, wa innaa insya Allah bikum la laahiqoon (Peace be upon the inhabitants of the graves, believers and Muslims. May Allah have mercy upon those who have gone ahead of us and those who come later on, and verily we will, insya Allah, join you).”3

It was narrated from Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to teach them, when they went out to the graveyard, to say:

“Assalaamualaikum ahl al-diyaar min al-mu’mineen wa’l-Muslimeen, wa insya Allah lalaahiqoon. As’al Allah lana wa lakum al-‘aafiyah (Peace be upon you, O inhabitants of the graves, believers and Muslims. Verily we will, insya Allah, join you. I ask Allah for well-being for us and for you).”

However, the question turns upon whether Muslims are allowed to visit the graves of kafirs.

A report of Abu Hurayrah, who said:

“The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) visited the grave of his mother, and he wept and those who were with him wept. Then he said, ‘I asked my Lord for permission to pray for forgiveness for her, and He did not grant me permission to do that,

RULING ON MUSLIMS VISITING THE GRAVES OF KAFIRSRULING ON MUSLIMS VISITING THE GRAVES OF KAFIRS

and I asked Him for permission to visit her grave, and He gave me permission. So visit the graves, for they are a reminder of death.’’4

Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:

“We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on a journey (according to one report, on the campaign of the conquest [of Makkah]), and he camped with us, and we were nearly 1000 on mounts. He prayed 2 rakaats then he turned to us weeping. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) got up and went to him, and said, ‘May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah, what is the matter?’ He said, ‘I asked my Lord to let me pray for forgiveness for my mother, and He did not give me permission, and my eyes filled with tears out of compassion for her in the Fire. I asked my Lord for permission to visit her grave, and He granted me permission. I used to forbid you to visit the graves, but (now) visit them, for visiting them will increase you in good.’’5

Another evidence for that is the hadeeth of Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqaas who said:

“A Bedouin came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, ‘My father used to uphold the ties of kinship, and so on and so forth - where is he now?’ He said, ‘In Hell.’ The Bedouin got upset and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, where is your father?’ He said, ‘Whenever you pass by the grave of a kafir, give him the tidings of Hell.’ The Bedouin later became a Muslim, and he said, ‘The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave me a difficult commission. Whenever I pass by the grave of a kafir, I give him the tidings of Hell.’’6

And Abu Hurayrah narrated in a marfu’ hadeeth [i.e., it is attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)]:

“When you pass by the graves of the people of the jahilyyah, of our people and your people, give them the news that they are among the people of Hell.”7

Indeed, visiting the graves of non-Muslims is permitted for reflection. It is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Allah if he could seek His forgiveness for his mother. He was not allowed to do so, but he was permitted to visit her grave.

Muslims should respect the graves of non-Muslims just as they do of their own brothers and sisters. The Islamic point of view does not differentiate between the grave of a Muslim or a non-Muslim. Graves should be treated in the light of the Quranic verse:

"Surely we have honored the children of Adam…" 8

The application of this verse is so general to include Muslims and non-Muslims.

In this context, we recall the incident that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed

RULING ON MUSLIMS VISITING THE GRAVES OF KAFIRSRULING ON MUSLIMS VISITING THE GRAVES OF KAFIRS

behind, after the Battle of Badr, to supervise the burial of all the unbelievers who had been killed in battle.

If a Muslim visits the grave of a kaafir, he does not greet him with salaams or make du’aa’ for him; rather he should give him the tidings of Hell>>’’ubashirulnar’’

In a nutshell, it is permissible to visit the graves of those who did not die in Islam in order only to learn a lesson from that. 

1. Narrated by Muslim, 977

2. Narrated by Ahmad, 1240; Ibn Maajah, 1569; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh ibn Maajah

3. Narrated by Muslim, 974

4. Narrated by Muslim, 3/65; Abu Dawood, 2/72; al-Nasaa’i, 1/286; also by Ibn Maajah, al-Haakim, al-Bayhaqi and Ahmad

5. Narrated by Ahmad, 5/355-359; Ibn Abi Shaybah, 4/139; also narrated by Ibn Hibbaan and al-Haakim. The other addition was narrated by al-Haakim who said, it is saheeh according to the conditions of the two Shaykhs [al-Bukhaari and Muslim], and al-Dhahabi agreed with him, and it is as they said. A briefer version was narrated by al-Tirmidhi, who classed it as saheeh

6. Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu’jam al-Kabeer, 1/191; Ibn al-Sunni in ‘Aml al-Yawm wa’l-Laylah, 588; al-Diyaa’ al-Maqdisi in al-Ahaadeeth al-Mukhtaarah, with a saheeh isnaad. Al-Haythami (1/117-118) said: it was narrated by al-Bazzaar and by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, and the men of its isnaad are sound

7. Narrtaed by Ibn AlSunni in al-Yawm wa’l-Laylah with an isnaad which includes Yahyaa ibn Yamaan, who had a bad memory, from Muhammad ibn ‘Umar. I do not know it from Abu Salamah from him, but apparently he is Ibn ‘Amr, who is hasan in narrating hadeeth. And Allaah knows best.” 

8. (Al-'Israa': 70)