Imâm-i Birgivî (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) says in his book Atfâl-ul muslimîn that it is sunna to visit
Muslims’ graves. It is written in Ihyâ-ul ’ulûm,
“It is mustahab to visit graves for remembering death and for taking warning
from the dead and getting baraka from the graves of pious Muslims and Walîs.”
To take a warning you imagine how the corpse rots, how its cheeks and lips fall
down, how filthy water flows from its mouth, how its abdomen swells and bursts,
how worms and insects swarm into it. Hâtim-i Esâm says, “If a person going by a
cemetery does not think of them (the deceased) and pray for them, he has been
treacherous to himself and to them.” Men have been commanded to visit graves.
Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) accursed women who visited graves.
Some (savants) say that he gave them permission later. And some (savants) say
that it is makrûh. It has been unanimously declared (by savants) that it is not
permissible for women to carry the janâza. Fâtima (radiyallâhu ’anhâ) visited
Hadrat Hamza’s grave, and trimmed and mended it every year. A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “If
a person visits the graves of his parents or the grave of one of his parents
every Friday, his sins will be pardoned, and he will have paid their rights.”
Muhammad bin Wâsi’ visited graves every Friday. When it was suggested to him to
visit them on Mondays, he said, “The deceased recognize those who visit them on
Fridays, Thurdays and Saturdays.” Dahhâk says, “The deceased recognizes the
person who visits his grave before sunrise on Saturday. This shows the virtue
of Friday.” Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) visited the graves of his
Muslim relatives and of his Sahâba. A hadîth-i sherîf
declares, “If a person says the following prayer as
he visits the grave of a Believer, that deceased person will be relieved from
torment till the Rising Day: Allâhumma innî es’aluka bi-hurmati Muhammad
‘alaihis-salâm’ an lâ-tu’azziba hâzal-mayyit.” It is written in Shir’a, “For visiting a grave as prescribed by
the sunna, you make an ablution, perform two rak’ats of namâz and send its
thawâb to the soul of the deceased person. When you arrive at the cemetery you
say, ‘Wa ’alaikum salâm.’ While saying the prayer transliterated above you sit
against the deceased person’s face. You recite the Sûrat-al Yasîn-i sherîf or
other sûras that you know. You say tasbîhs and pray for the deceased person.”
Abul Qasim
says, “When you read (or recite) sûras
from the Qur’ân near the grave, the deceased person hears your voice and
relaxes.” A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “If a person makes salâm as he goes by the grave of someone
he knows, the mayyit (deceased person) recognizes
him and acknowledges his salâm.” For this reason, when going by a
grave, Abdullah ibn ’Umar (radiyallâhu ’anh) would stop and give salâm. Nâfi’
says, “Abdullah ibn ’Umar used to come to the grave of Rasûlullah (sallallâhu
’alaihi wasallam) and say: Assalâmu alannabiyy, assalâmu Abî Bakr, assalâmu alâ
Abî. I saw him say so more than a hundred times.” Al imâm-al-Ghazâlî
(rahmatullâhi ’aleyh) says in his book Ihyâ,
“When visiting a grave, it is mustahâb to make salâm, to leave the qibla behind
you and sit against the mayyit’s face. You do not touch the grave with your
hands or face or kiss the grave.” The best way is to stand by his feet with
your back towards the qibla (Ibni Âbidîn).
A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “If a person going by a cemetery says the sûrat-al Ikhlâs
eleven times and presents the thawâb to the deceased, he will be given as many
thawâbs as the number of the deceased.” Ahmad bin Hanbal
‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’aleyh’ says, “When you go to a cemetery say the sûra of
Fâtihâ, the two sûras beginning with Qul’a’ûdhu, and the sûra of ikhlâs! Send
the thawâb to the deceased. The thawâb will reach all of them.”
There are three groups of worships. Worships in the first group of
worships involve property only. Such are zakât and alms. The second of worships
group involve both property and body. Such are hajj and jihâd. Worships in the
third group involve body alone. In this group are reading Qur’ân al-kerîm,
performing namâz, saying tesbîh, tehlîl and tahmîd, and saying prayers. It has
been declared unanimously by the savants of Ahl-as sunna that it is permissible
to present the thawâb for the first group to the deceased and that the thawâb
will reach them and will be useful for them. So is the case with praying, which
is in the third group. That the case is so with the second group has been
argued by most savants. There has been disagreement among the four Madhhabs
about those of the third group with the exception of saying prayers. In the Madhhabs
of Hanafî and Hanbalî the third group are like the first group. Hasan
(radiyallâhu ’anh) says, “If you say the prayer, ‘Allâhumma
Rabb-al-ajsâd-ilbâ liyeh wel’izâmin-nahirat-illatî harajat min-ad-dunyâ wa hiya
bika mu’minatun. Ad-hil-aleyhâ rawhan min ’indika wa salâman minnî,’ when
you enter a cemetery, you will be given as many
thawâbs as the number of the deceased
there.” Here we end our translation from the booklet Atfâl-ul muslimîn. Imâm-i Shâfi’î and Malikî (rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’alaihimâ) said that the thawâb for the worships done with the body is
not given to the deceased ones. But later Shafi’î savants said that if it is
made by the deceased person’s grave and gifted, or if you make it (read Qur’ân
al-kerîm, say a prayer, etc.) at a distance and then “O my Rab, please make
equal amount of thawâb reach (the deceased),” it will reach the deceased.
A hadîth-i sherîf, which is written in
the explanation of Shir’at-ul islâm,
states, “The most valuable worship to be done by my
Umma is to read Qur’ân al-kerîm by looking at the Book.” And it is
written in Kitâb-ut tibyân, “The best
recitation of the Qur’ân al-kerîm is the one done in salât.” [A hadîth, which
exists in the ninety-third letter of the third volume of Maktûbât by Hadrat Muhammad Ma’thûm (rahmatullâhi
’aleyh), declares, “Recitation of the Qur’ân done
in salât is more useful than that which is done outside of salât.”
This hadîth-i sherîf is written in -i together with its documentaries]. Hadrat Alî
(radiyallâhu ’anh) stated, “A hundred thawâbs are given for each letter of the
recitation of the Qur’ân done when standing in the salât. When it is recited
(or read) with an ablution outside the salât twenty-five thawâbs are given for
each letter. When it is recited without an ablution ten thawâbs are given. And
fewer thawâbs are given if it is recited when walking or doing some work.”
Reading one âyat and thinking of its meaning produces much more thawâb than
reading the whole Qur’ân and thinking about something else. It is a very ugly
bid’at to read the Qur’ân melodiously, which has become customary among the
hâfizes recently; it is very sinful. You must read the Qur’ân with a
mellifluous and sorrowful voice and with fear of Allah. It is written in the Fatwâ of Bezzâziyya, “A person who reads the
Qur’ân al-kerîm melodiously like singing will not be given any thawâb.” It is
wâjib to say the A’ûdhu when beginning to read (or recite) a sûra or an âyat.
And when beginning to read the Fâtiha it is wâjib also to say the Basmala. It
is sunna to say the Basmala when beginning other âyats. A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “When
you read the Qur’ân al-kerîm observing the rules of tajwîd, you will be given
twenty thawâbs for each letter. You will be given ten thâwabs if you do not
follow the rules of tajwîd.” It is one of the gravest sins to forget
an âyat after having memorized it. A hadîth declares, “Nûrs (haloes) rise
up to the Arsh from a house where Qur’ân al-
kerîm is read.” Abû Hureyra (radiyallâhu ’anh) said,
“Baraka and goodness come to a house where Qur’ân al-kerîm is read; angels come
together there; devils flee from there.” It produces plenty of thawâb to listen
to Qur’ân al-kerîm read. A hadîth-i sherîf
declares, “An âyat one listens to will be a nûr
(light) for one on the Day of Rising.” Reading
the Qur’ân must not be made a means of living. A hadîth-i
sherîf declares, “When reading the Qur’ân,
wish for Allah’s love and for Paradise! Do not wish for what is worldly! Such a
time will come when hâfizes will make the Qur’ân a means for approaching
people.”
It is written in the book Shir’a,
“It is mustahab to do a khatm of the Qur’ân al-kerîm, that is, to read the
whole of it, in forty days. It is not permissible to do a khatm in less than
three days. The prayer done at the end of a khatm is acceptable. You must try
to attend (places where) prayers of khatm are done. When the khatm is over, you
must read the Fâtiha with the intention to begin a khatm again. A hadîth-i sherîf declares, “The best of mankind is one who begins a new khatm when one khatm
is over.” The book Kadîhan,
in its chapter dealing with qirâ’at while performing salât, says that there are
some savants who said that it would be makrûh to do the prayers of khatm in
jamâ’at. But the later scholars said that it would be better. They should not
be prevented.”
A hadîth-i sherîf, which exists in the
book Tenbîh-ul ghâfilîn, declares, “Even if the (dead) parents
of the person reading Qur’ân al-kerîm are disbelievers, their torment is
lessened.” A tradition
(conveyed by savants) declares, “The number of the grades in Paradise is the
same as the number of the âyats (verses) in Qur’ân al-kerîm. A person who does
a khatm of Qur’ân al-kerîm will attain to all those grades.” A hadîth-i sherîf, which exists in Kunûz-ud deqâiq and which is transmitted by
Tabarânî and Ibn Hibbân, declares, “The prayer of a
person who does a khatm of Qur’ân al-kerîm is acceptable.” It is
written in Kitâb-ut tibyân, “Rahma
(Allah’s mercy and compassion) rains on a place where the khatm of Qur’ân
al-kerîm is performed. It is mustahab to say prayers after a khatm. It is
mustahab to assemble when doing khatm of Qur’ân al-kerîm. Hadrat Abdullah ibn
Abbâs would have one of his men keep company with the person doing a khatm. And
he himself would join them when the khatm was finished. Hadrat Enes bin Mâlik
would gather his household together and pray whenever he did a khatm. It is
mustahab to begin another khatm when one khatm is over. A hadîth-i sherîf
declares, “The
best of worships is to begin a new khatm when one khatm is over.”
Hadîths, which exist in Hazînat-ul esrâr,
declare, “Sixty thousand angels pray for a person
who does a khatm of Qur’ân al-kerîm,” and, “A person who attends a place where they are doing the
prayer of khatm is like a person who is present while the ghanîma is being
divided and distributed. A person who is present at the place where they begin
a khatm is like one who makes jihâd. A person who attends both attains the
thawâbs for both and thus thwarts the Shaytân.” Sa’d ibn Ebî Waqqâs
said, “If a person reads (a passage from Qur’ân al-kerîm) for a khatm during
the day, angels pray for him till evening. If he does so at night, they pray
for him till morning.”
A hadîth-i sherîf, which exists in Kunûz-ud deqâiq and which is transmitted by
Daylamî, declares, “A person who reads Qur’ân
al-kerîm following the rules of tajwîd is given the thawâb of a martyr.”
As it is seen, there is an additional thawâb for reading each of its
âyats. The thawâb given to a person who does a khatm of the entire Qur’ân is
much greater. Since such worships as performing namâz, fasting, reading Qur’ân
al-kerîm and doing dhikr are done only with the body, everyone has to do them
himself. It is not permissible to appoint a deputy and have him do them (on
your behalf). For this reason, it is written in Behjet-ul
fatâwâ, “If a person begins with the Fâtiha and reads Qur’ân
al-kerîm up to the Sûrat-al Fil or the Sûrat-al Ikhlâs and then advises someone
to read the remaining few sûras on his behalf, and if the latter reads them,
the former person, who has read Qur’ân al-kerîm from the beginning, has not
done a Khatm. People who have listened
to either one of them have not listened to a khatm. And none of them attains
the thawâb of a khatm.” If those who have read (the parts allotted to them)
present the thawâb separately to the souls of the deceased, or if one of them
presents the thawâbs for all of them, that is, if he does the prayer of khatm
and if those who have read say Âmîn, the
thawâbs of all the âyats read will be given to the deceased, too. But they will
not attain the thawâb promised for a khatm. One khatm must be read by one
person only, and the thawâb must be presented by him. It will be permissible
and very useful if various people do a khatm of Qur’ân al-kerîm for a deceased
person each of them reading one section (juz) silently and sending the thawâb
for the section he has read to the deceased person’s soul or one of them
presenting the thawâb for all of them to the deceased person, that is, (one of
them) doing
the prayer of khatm and the others who
have read their sections saying, “Âmîn.”
But this will not produce the thawâb for khatm. One person must read the khatm
or one person must send the thawâb for the khatm he has done before. So is the
case with reading an âyat of sajda. It is written in Durr-ul muhktâr, “If each of several people reads one word of
an âyat of sajda, it will not be necessary for those who hear them to perform
the sajda of tilâwat. For, when one person reads an âyat of sajda it becomes
wâjib for those who hear him to perform the sajda of tilâwat.” Words read by
various people cannot be brought together as if one person had read the whole
âyat. For, no one can deputize someone else to read Qur’ân al-kerîm.
It is written in Khulâsat-ul fatâwâ,
“The Iraqi savants found it unsuitable to read the sûrat-ul Ikhlâs thrice at
the end of the khatm of Qur’ân al-kerîm.”
Ibn Âbidîn says, “The deceased recognize those who visit their graves
on Fridays. Rasûlullah (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) used to visit the martyrs
on the mount of Uhud and say the prayer, ‘Es-salâmu
’alaikum bi-mâ sabartum fa-ni’ma ’uqba-d-dâr.’ The hadjis (Muslim
pilgrims) should visit that place early Thursday morning and then perform the
early afternoon prayer in Masjîd-i Nabî.
Hence, it is inferred that it is mandûb to visit graves in far-away places. It
is for this reason that the Awliyâ, such as Khalîl-ur rahmân, Sayyid Ahmad
Badawî, are being visited. Imâm-i Ghâzâlî quotes a hadîth-i-sherîf
that states, ‘Except for three masjids, you do not
go to masjids to visit them.’ For, in virtue other masjids are
similar to one another. But in closeness to Allâhu ta’âlâ the Awliyâ are unlike
one another. Those who visit them get different benefits from each of them. It
is written in the fatwâs of Ibn Hajer that you should not cease from doing the qurbats even if there are sinners (at such
meetings) and that if you see people committing bid’a you should stop them. So
is the case with attending funerals.” Hâfiz Ahmad ibn Teymiyya says that only
things permitted by the Sharî’a, such as salawât and the prayer of adhân, can
be said for the soul of our Prophet (sallallâhu
’alaihi wasallam), and that Qur’ân al-kerîm cannot be read; but it is written
in the book Fatâwâ-i fiqhiyya that
permission is not necessary for presenting thawâb. In fact, after the death of
our Prophet (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam)
Abdullah ibn ’Umar ‘radîy-Allâhu anhumâ’ performed ’umra for him, though he had
not requested it in his last will. Likewise, Ibnul-Muwaffiq performed hajj
seventy times for Junayd-i Baghdâdî.
Ibni Serrâj performed a khatm more than
ten thousand times and performed Qurbân for our Prophet
(sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam). It is written in Fatâwâ-i
hadîsiyya that presents sent by his Umma (Muslims) will cause Rasûlullah
(sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam) to become upgraded. In fact, he (the Prophet) used to pray, “O my Allah, increase my
knowledge!”
When
visiting a grave, it is makrûh to sit or sleep on graves. If you guess that the
path going through a cemetery has been made on graves afterwards, you do not
walk on that path. When you are going to read the Qur’ân to a grave, it is not
makrûh to tread or sit on the old graves around it. But you should still not
sit on new graves.
Also,
it is makrûh to pluck the green weeds or to break the green twigs in a
cemetery. It is permissible to pluck the dry grass. It is useful to the
deceased and very good to plant flowers and trees on graves. But a better deed
to be performed with this money is to give it as alms to a poor person who
performs namâz.
It is stated in the book Fatâwâ-i Hindiyya,
in the eleventh chapter of the part explaining Kerâhiyyat that “if the tree in
a cemetery had been grown before the cemetery was built, it will remain the
landowner’s property, and he can give the tree and its fruit to anyone he
chooses. If a previous private landowner doesn’t exist, and this land was
allocated as a public cemetery, the trees, fruits, and land are used according
to the established customs. If the trees grew up after the cemetery was built,
they become the property of the one who sowed them, and he gives the tree and
the fruits to the poor as alms. If the trees grew up by themselves (i.e. the
one who sowed them is not known) they are distributed by a judge’s decision.
The judge can order them to be sold and the money received can be spent for the
needs of the cemetery, if he decides so. Be it in a city or in a village, it is
permissible to pick up and eat fruits that are unlikely to spoil (such as
walnuts) and which have dropped from the trees onto the street only if it is
known that the owner has given (a general) permission. If the fruits are likely
to spoil, and if the owner’s prohibition is not known, it is permissible to
pick them up and eat them. However, it is not permissible to pick them up and
take them home. It is permissible to pick up the fruits or pieces of wood that
have been carried by the river. Walnuts picked up from various parts of the
street will be halâl even if they reach a marketable amount. If one finds all
the walnuts at a certain place, they are considered luqâta
(unowned property). Trees and fruits
on the grounds of a pious foundation’s
cemetery should be used in accordance with the provisions prescribed by the
foundation’s deed. If the provisions are not known, the distribution is made
according to a judge’s decision. There is more information in the books Hindiyya and Qadîhân,
at the final parts of the chapters dealing with luqâta
and wakf.
It is
mustahab to bury the deceased person during the day, and it is permissible as
well to bury him at night.
It is harâm to break his bones, to leave them in the open or to burn
them. It hurts a dead as it would hurt him if he were alive. It is not
permissible to break or burn the bones of zimmîs, of non Muslim countrymen.
Since it is harâm to hurt them when they are alive, it is not permissible to
hurt them when they are dead. It is permissible to open the graves of the ahl-i
harb. Yet it is still not permissible to burn their corpses. Disbelievers
called Hindus in India hurl the corpses of their dead into the river named
Ganges. The corpses are broken into pieces and eaten by crocodiles. Since this
practice causes noxious scents, which in turn spread pestilences such as
cholera, (they have developed a new method:) they are cremating the corpses in
their temples[1] and
throwing the ashes into the river. Abdul Aziz Dehlewî (rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’aleyh) says in the interpretation of the Sûra Abasa that Allâhu ta’âlâ
commanded us to bury corpses in soil. Indian disbelievers burn their dead. If
the corpse is burned, the body disappears. The link between the body and the
soul ceases to exist. If the corpse is buried, the soul remains connected with
the body and the grave into which the body is put. The souls of the people who
visit a grave get acquainted with the soul of the deceased person, and they
benefit from each other. The thawâbs for the âyats and prayers that are recited
and the alms that are given reach the soul easily. In this way it will be easy
for the people who are alive to benefit from the souls of Awliyâ and sâlih
(pious) Muslims.” This topic is expatiated on in the next chapter.
It is
permissible to weep for the deceased person. However, crying loudly will
torment the deceased person.
There are savants who say that it is permissible to inscribe religious statements, principles of îmân, prayers, sûras or to put a piece of paper or something else with such inscriptions on it on the deceased person’s head or shroud; but it is not permissible on
---------------------------------
[1] In special buildings called crematoriums, or crematories.
account of the possibility that they may
be smeared with the deceased person’s blood or pus. There is no report stating
that such inscriptions were written during the time of our Prophet (sallallâhu ’alaihi wasallam). As it is not
permissible to inscribe the Qur’ân or the names of Allâhu ta’âlâ on bills or
coins, on the mihrâb or walls of a mosque, or on carpets on the floor, so it is
certainly not permissible to put them in a grave. For, it would be worse
sacrilege to put them there. Instead of writing with a pen, it is permissible
to imitate the act of writing the Kalima-i tawhîd and the Basmala with your
finger on the deceased person’s forehead and chest after the washing.