PART 5: TRYING TIMES FOR SUNNIS AND SUFIS.

From Layman's Desk-15:

"....whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind...."
[Qur'an 5:32] 


PART 5: TRYING TIMES FOR SUNNIS AND SUFIS.

THE WAHHABI KILLING FIELDS:

We have already noted before that al-Saud forged a political, religious and marital alliance with ibn Wahhab.  Before that Ibn Wahhab had been preaching his wild ideas in his hometown Uyayna from where he was thrown out.  It was thereafter that he went  to preach in nearby Dir’iyyah.  However, what led al-Saud to render support to Ibn Wahhab were  the British undercover spies and the money that succeeded in cajoling an insignificant Dir’iyyah sheik, Mohammad al-Saud, to support him in 1744, and Wahhabism as a religious and political movement was born. [Confessions of a British Spy].  There he was joined by his dear friend Hempher and other undercover British spies.  This was the same Hempher who was the British Spy on behalf of the British Commonwealth of Nations and who had earlier identified Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab of Najd for his mission to divide the Muslims.  Hempher was well-versed in Arabic, Turkish and Persian as well as Islamic tenets and jurisprudence.  He  played a very significant role in couching Ibn Wahhab in his formative years.  "Muhammad of Najd was the sort I had been looking for. . . . I established a very intimate friendship with [him]. I launched a campaign of praising him everywhere." This spy had arranged his two Mut’a marriages with two women.  Both these women were also British undercover spies.  One was a Christian nicknamed “Safiya” who lived in Basra and in Isfahan, Iran.  The other woman was Jewish, nicknamed “Asiya”who was married to him in Shiraz, Iran.  Naturally, by this time Ibn Wahhab was fully under their  control.   Hempher never left him alone and they discussed theological and political subjects.   In Britain and the Rise of Wahhabism and the House of Saud , Dr. Abdullah Mohammad Sindi, a Saudi-American Professor of International Relations,  has noted: “In his memoirs Hempher described Ibn Abdul-Wahhab as ‘extremely unstable’, ‘extremely rude’, ‘morally depraved’, ‘nervous’, ‘arrogant’, and ‘ignorant’.”  Together, these two began reinterpreting the Qur'an in a way very much at odds with traditional Islam.  As Hempher reports with satisfaction, “He was following the path I had drawn for him,” and finally decided that the time had come to found a new sect, the tenets of which had been set out in London. Hempher exulted, secure in the knowledge that “I had been the composer of the heretical tenets of this sect” and that  ibn Wahhab would demolish Islam from within.  Ayyub Sabri Pasha who was a historian and the Rear Admiral in Turkish Navy, mentioned in his Mir’at al-Haramain (printed 1888 c.e.) that the Najdi Shaykh had come into contact with a British spy named Hempher who “inspired in him the tricks and lies that he had learned from the British Ministry of the Commonwealth.”  Hempher and other English spies were engaged in breaking the unity of Muslims because, according to Hempher, when the common sympathy among the Muslims “is impaired, their forces will be dissolved and thus we shall easily destroy them.”   As we know, the  proverbial unity of Muslims in the past was enough to send shivers down the spine of the enemies of Islam – and Hempher evidently also knew this.  

As stated in the translated work of Ayyub Sabri Pasha's Turkish work Mir'at al-Haramain, The Beginning and Spread of Wahhabism:  “According to what Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab learned from the British spy, he who talks to the dead while praying near a grave becomes a polytheist. He asserted that Muslims who said that someone or something beside Allah did something, for example, saying "such-and-such medicine cured" or "I obtained what I asked through our master Rasulullah" or "such-and-such wali" were polytheists. Although the documents Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab made up to support such statements were nothing but lies and slanders, the ignorant people who could not distinguish right from wrong, the unemployed, raiders, ignoramuses, opportunists and the hard-hearted soon assented to his ideas and took their part on his side and regarded the pious Muslims of the right path as disbelievers.”   In fact there is a voluminous literature pointing out to the cynical manner in which Islam was used by the British Empire to further British political goals not only in Egypt but also in orchestrating the roles  played by the House of Saud as well as the Hashemite king in the theatre that later came to be called the Saudi Arabia.  Thus Ibn Abdul Wahhab Najdi  exceeded even his inspirer’s (ibn Taimiyya)  misplaced zeal.  He became the first man in Islamic history to actively tarnish the entire Muslim Ummah of six hundred years before him as Kuffar (infidels) and Mushrikeen (those who associate a partner with Allah):   Only those who did his ‘Taqleed’ were supposed to be Muslims and those who did not, were not Muslims.  

“Ignorant people, not by means of knowledge or persuasion, but by pure violence, bloodshed, and terror, spread Wahhabism in the Arabian Peninsula.”

According to David Livingstone (Terrorism and the Illuminati):  “It was not legal in Islam for a Muslim to fight another Muslim. Therefore, in order to rile the Arabs against their Turkish brethren, it was necessary to first create a new interpretation of Islam that would sanction such murder, but under the guise of Jihad. This new interpretation came to be known as Wahhabism, and was founded by British agent, Mohammed Abdul Wahhab.”

While many may think that Wahhabi terror is a recent phenomenon that has only targeted non-Muslims, it will surprise many to know that the orthodox Sunni Muslims were the first to be slaughtered in waves of Wahhabi massacres in Arabia hundreds of years ago. One only has to read the historical evolution of Saudi Arabia to know the gruesome details of the tragedy – a tragedy in which thousands of Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims perished at the hands of Wahhabis.  In 1801-02, the Wahhabi army marched to Karbala with a force of 10,000 men and 6,000 camels. Upon reaching Karbala, they mercilessly and indiscriminately attacked its inhabitants for eight hours, massacring about 5,000 people. Moreover, they severely destroyed Imam Hussein’s mosque, looted the city, and left the carnage-laden city with its treasures on 200 camels. Najaf in Iraq met with the same fate.  In 1803 and 1804 the Wahhabis captured Makkah and Madinah Munawwara and destroyed historical monuments and various holy Muslim sites and shrines, such as the shrine built over the tomb of Fatimah ®, the daughter of Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam), and even intended to destroy the grave of  Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam) himself as idolatrous.

Again in 1810 they ruthlessly killed many innocent people across the Arabian Peninsula. They raided and pillaged many pilgrimage caravans and several major cities in Hejaz including the two holiest cities of Makkah and Madinah. In Makkah they turned away pilgrims, and in Madinah they attacked and desecrated Prophet Mohammad’s Mosque, opened his grave, and sold and distributed its valuable relics and expensive jewels. In Turabah in May 1919 they waged a sneak attack in the dead of the night on the Hejazi army and viciously massacred over 6,000 of its men.   In 1924, the Wahhabis entered Hijaz for the second time and indulged in merciless massacres and plunder.   Awn bin Hashim (Shareef  of Makkah) writes: "Before me, a valley appeared to have been paved with corpses, dried blood staining everywhere all around. There was hardly a tree which didn't have one or two dead bodies near its roots.  In 1925 Madina  surrendered to the Wahhabi onslaught and ibn Sa'ud's Ikhwan immediately started to ferociously destroy tombs, mosques and other sites which Sunnis hold dear.    Tombs of Hamza and other martyrs were demolished at Uhud.  The Prophet's mosque was bombarded,   only being prevented at the last minute by the citizens of Madinah from destroying the Dome of the Holy Prophet's burial chamber.   Many Sunni scholars were killed and Sunnis books burned. Through violence and intimidation the Wahhabis managed to destroy all other Islamic schools of thought in the occupied city.   The same year, Jannat al-Mu'alla, the sacred cemetery at Makkah was destroyed along with the house where the Holy Prophet (s) was born.  Since then, this day is a day of mourning for all Muslims.

Regarding the Wahhabi invasion of Taif, the Mufti of Makkah, Shaykh Ahmed bin Zayni Dahlan (d.1304 AH/1886-87) while writing the story of the people of at-Taif and what they encountered from the Wahhabis, mentions on page 297 of his book, Umara al-Baladil-Haram (printed by ad-Dar al-Mutahidah):   When they [al-Wahhabiyyah] came into al-Taif, they killed people indiscriminately including the elderly, the children, the subjects and the princes, the high ranked and the poor. They [al-Wahhabiyyah] slaughtered infants at their mothers’ chests.  They climbed into houses and kicked out those who were hiding killing them all. They found a group of people studying the Quran, so they killed every single one of them and anyone who was in a house. After that they attacked the shops and mosques killing anyone that was in, even the men who were in ‘sujud’ praying, till they wiped out all creatures there. So, on page 298 he said: they confiscated the money and captured the women; they robbed the houses and its furniture swarming it like insects.  The acquisitions piled up like mountains at their camp; except books. They threw them  all over towns, in the markets and in the alleys exposed to winds. There were thousands and thousands of copies of Quran, religious doctrines among those books, also copies of Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim and many others about al-Hadith, Fiqh, language and a huge amount of other various types of Islamic sciences.  Surely [al-Wahhabiyyah] will face the severe punishment of the One Who subjugated the heavens and earths.  This is the dark history of al-Wahhabiyyah, and if we want to follow the trail of their crimes through the years we would need so much time to do so, and we would speak volumes about it. It would also be more clear to us how the wahhabis have neither mercy for the young nor respect for the elderly. They have neither shame from Allah nor from the creations. They devastate, destroy and commit all these repulsive actions in the name of Islam, while Islam is far in the clear from such people and such actions. 

Regarding how the Wahhabis dealt with the bodies of the dead, it may be shortly stated that in Taif, bodies of the Sunni Muslims were left  for the beasts  and birds of prey  and to rot under the hot sun, vitiating the atmosphere with the foul smell .   Only after 16 days the leftovers of the bodies were allowed by the Wahhabies to be buried in two hollows.  And the Wahhabis  claim themselves to be Muslims!!!  The Wahhabi bandits completely ruined the shrines of as-Sahabat al-kiram, awliya' and 'ulama' after putting the Muslims of Ta'if to the sword and dividing up the loot and the money. When they attempted to dig a grave with a view to take out and burn the corpse of Hadrat 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, who was one of our Prophet's most beloved companions, they were frightened by the pleasant scent that came out when the first pickaxe hit the ground. They said, "There is a great Satan in this grave. We should blow it up with dynamite instead of losing time by digging." Although they put much powder and tried hard, the powder misfired and they went away in astonishment. The grave was left level with the ground for a few years. Later, Sayyid Yasin Effendi put a very nice sarcophagus on it and protected that blessed grave from being forgotten.
 As far as the holy books were concerned, it  is mentioned in the aforesaid translated work of Ayyub Sabri Pasha as follows:    “The Wahhabis tore up the copies of the Qur'an al-karim and books of tafsir, hadith and other Islamic books they took from libraries, masjids and houses, and threw them down on the ground. They made sandals from the gold-gilded leather covers of the Qur'an copies and other books and wore them on their filthy feet. There were ayats and other sacred writings on those leather covers. The leaves of those valuable books thrown around were so numerous that there was no space to step in the streets of Ta'if.  Although Ibn Shakban had ordered the looters not to tear up the copies of the Qur'an al-karim, the Wahhabite bandits, who were gathered from the deserts for looting and who did not know the Qur'an al-karim, tore up all the copies they found and stamped on them. Only three copies of the Qur'an al-karim and one copy of the Sahih of al-Bukhari were saved from plunder in the big town of Ta'if.” Then the following Mujiza (miracle) is mentioned:  “The weather was calm during the plunder of Ta'if. There was no wind. a storm broke out after the bandits went away, and the wind lifted up all the leaves of the Qur'an al-karim and Islamic books and swept them away. soon there was no piece of paper left on the ground. Nobody knew where they were taken.”

The fanatical Saudi-Wahhabi army then laid a yearlong crippling siege on the seaport city of Jeddah causing starvation. As a result, drinking water was practically impossible to find and Jeddah’s poor spent their days searching the streets for food in the garbage. Many of them even picked and ate the undigested corn found in the camels’ dung.  

Scholars inform us that in the History Book of the SAUDI FAMILY pages (98-101), their private family historian declares that the SAUDI DYNASTY considers all the people of NAJD (who where Sunni Muslims before) blasphemous; so their blood must be shed, their properties confiscated, and their females be taken as concubines; no Muslim is authentic in his /her belief unless he/she belongs (affiliates) to the sect of  MOHAMMAD BIN ABDUL WAHAB, his doctrines give authority to the SAUDI FAMILY to destroy the villages with all their Muslim inhabitants -males including children, and to sexually assault(Rape) their women; stab the bellies of the pregnant, and cut off the hands of their children, then burn them! They are further authorized by such a BRUTAL DOCTRINE to plunder all the properties of whom they call renegades (not following their Wahabi Sect).

It is pertinent to point out that even in terms of warfare with enemies of Muslims, the Holy Qur’an  forbids  aggression  and permits war only in self-defence.   The moment the enemy sues for peace, the Qur’an insists that Muslims must lay down their arms and accept whatever terms are offered, even if they are disadvantageous.  Later, Muslim law forbade Muslims to attack a country where Muslims were permitted to practice their faith freely; the killing of civilians was prohibited, as were the destruction of property and the use of fire in warfare. 

Abu Bakr As-Siddique (R) is reported to have commanded Usama ibn Zaid ®:  “I command you to do ten things: you must not kill a woman or a child, or an elderly person; do not cut down trees, or vandalize homes, or wound a sheep or camel except if you must eat it; do not drown a palm tree, or burn it, do not be treacherous; do not be cowardly; and you will pass by people who have devoted themselves to monastery life: leave them alone with their devotions.” [Tarikh At-Tabari, V.3, p.210] 

It is also interesting to read the Covenant of ‘Umar ® addressed to the people of Jerusalem which he conquered in 636 c.e.( 15 A.H.), and as recorded by al-Tabari which has been graciously brought to our notice by Shaykh Haddad from the excerpts from Myth of Militant Islam by David Dakake:  "The document states: This is the assurance of safety (aman) which the servant of God `Umar, the Commander of the Faithful, has granted to the people of Jerusalem. He has given them an assurance of safety for themselves, for their property, their churches, their crosses, the sick and the healthy of the city, and for all the rituals that belong to their religion. Their churches will not be inhabited [by Muslims] and will not be destroyed. Neither they, nor the land on which they stand, nor their crosses, nor their property will be damaged. They will not be forcibly converted ….”

Again, Balâdhurî reports that after the surrender of Damascus, Khalid ibn al-Walîd wrote for the inhabitants of the city a document stating: In the Name of Allah, the compassionate, the merciful. This is what Khâlid would grant to the inhabitants of Damascus, if he enters therein: he promises to give them security for their lives, property and churches. Their city shall not be demolished; neither shall any Muslim be quartered in their houses. Thereunto we give to them the pact of Allah and the protection of his Prophet  (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam) the caliphs ®  and the "Believers". So long as they pay the poll-tax, nothing but good shall befall them.” [Non-muslim were supposed to pay the poll-tax for enjoyment of freedom, freedom of trade, military protection, etc.,  while the Muslims compulsorily paid the Zakat]

There are many such examples quoted but for our purpose just the above three  should suffice to show us  the way of the Sahaba al-kiraam and the Traditional Islam.  And what did the Wahhabis do? - Slaughtered Muslim men, women, children, elderly and the young, those in "Sujud" and vandalized the properties of the  Muslims and dishonoured the Muslims  - all in the name of Islam! Will Allah have mercy on the murderers of the innocent Muslims?  A hadith in Bukhari and Muslim states: "Those who have no mercy on other human beings, will not receive the mercy of Allah." It is important to note that in this second hadith the word used is ‘nas’, that is people, not just believers.  

According to Said Aburish’s The Rise, Corruption and Coming Fall of the House of Saud: During the 30 years of creating Saudi Arabia (1902-32), the fanatical Saudis-Wahhabis brutally killed and wounded over 400,000 Arabs throughout the Arabian Peninsula; and carried out over 40,000 public executions and 350,000 public amputations, respectively 1% and 7% of the then estimated population of 4 million.  In addition, the Saudi-Wahhabi terror forced more than one million inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula to flee for their lives to other parts of the Arab world, never to return.

“It can be ascertained that the troublemakers (al-mushaghibun) in our time who claim that they belong to the school of the Salaf, outwardly making a show of such affiliation, do not in any way whatsoever belong to it: neither in knowledge nor in practice. They are propagators of falsehood, deception, and misguidance devoid of all guidance.”  (Munir 'Abduh Agha)

Imam Ibn ‘Abidin, the supreme authority of the late Hanafi school, wrote (Hashiya 4:262):

“The name of Khawarij is applied to those who part ways with Muslims and declare them disbelievers, as took place in our time with the followers of Ibn Abdul-Wahhab who came out of Najd and attacked the Two Sacred Sanctuaries (haramayn).”

May Allah protect us from the deception and trickery used by the Wahhabis, Salafis, and other forms of heresy created by the British (and other forms of the devil) used in attempting to destroy the Ahl as-Sunnah wal Jamaa'at from within. Aameen!

To continue, Insha Allah...
NASIR. 

Part 5: VISITING THE GRAVES IS THE SUNNAH OF PROPHET [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] AND NOT GRAVE WORSHIP!

From the Layman’s Desk-14 - Continued.

Part 5:

Merits of visiting Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam]:

Hafidh Ibn Kathir writes: Ka’ab (Ta’bee) said to Aisha ® that 70,000 angels visit the grave of our Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) in the morning and the same in the evening who recite Durood (Blessing) on our Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam).

Hafidh Ibn Qayyim writes:   ‘Whenever you are present at our Prophet’s (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) grave, cry as much as you can when you are making your Du’as.  Because on the Day of Judgement your tears will be weighed in the scales, to visit our Prophet’s [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] grave is the best thing you can do to receive a very high reward than any other.   [Qaseedah-Nu-numia page 180 by Hafidh Ibn Qayyim]   

Allamah Ibn Jawzi writes that: Our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] said:  To come and see me while I am alive, is called Hijrat, and it is the same as to come to see me after I have passed away.  [Talbis-Iblis  page 200]  Muslims have been travelling to visit our Prophet’s (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) grave from the beginning and will do so till the end.    When Muslims reach our Prophet’s (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) grave they read their salaams and make Du'a through (Waseela) our Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam)  - and they also make Du'a that help us on the Day of Judgement, and this is all permissible.

As Imam Ghazali, who was a great scholar (d.505 Hijri/1111 c.e) said regarding the visit of the Prophet’s (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) tomb or Mausoleum that the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) said that if anyone having sound finance, sound position and sound health, fails to visit my tomb or Mausoleum then he is disloyal to me (he has done injustice to me, he has grieved me). Imam Ghazali has stated this in his book ‘Hayatul Uloom’ along with many other Traditions of the Holy Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam).

Ibne Hajar Haitami Makki Shafii, has cited many logical arguments that the Holy places must be visited and there is no prohibition.

Narrated Abdullah Ibn Umar:  Allah's Messenger (Peace and Blessings be upon him) said: Whoever visits my grave after my death it is same as he has visited me in my life. [Tibrani Volume 012: Hadith Number 406, Bayhaqi Shab ul Iman Volume 003: Hadith Number 489. It has also been mentioned by Imam Ghazali in Ihya. (p.348, Book of the secrets of Hajj, Chapter ‘the visiting of Madinah and its etiquettes, Ihya Ulum al-Din.]

Qadi ‘Iyad  mentions the same Hadith in his book Al-Shifa, from Imam Baihaqi with the words ‘Whoever visits me after my death, it as if he  visited me while I was alive.’ (p.265, Muhammad- Messenger of Allah. Ash-Shifa of Qadi Iyad. Translated by Aisha Bewley.  Madinah Press Granada.1991.)

Narrated by al-Daraqutni, al-Dulabi, al-Bayhaqi, Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-`Uqayli, Ibn `Adiy, Tabarani, and Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih, all through various chains going back to Musa ibn Hilal al-`Abdiyy from Ubayd Allah Ibn Umar, both from Nafi`, from Ibn `Umar:  "Whoever visits my grave, it becomes incumbent upon me to intercede for him."

Therefore, visiting the grave of Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) is part of the Sunnah and is both excellent and desirable and visiting him now is tantamount to visiting him during his lifetime on earth.

One of the many hadith scholars who considered it authentic is  Ibn Hajar’s student,  the hadith master al-Sakhawi,  in Qawl al-Badih who said (p.160):  "The emphasis and encouragement on visiting his noble grave is mentioned in numerous ahadith, and it would suffice to show this if there were the only  hadith whereby the truthful and God-confirmed Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] promises that his intercession among other things becomes obligatory for whoever visits him, and the Imams are in complete agreement from the time directly after his passing until our own time that this is among the best acts of drawing near to Allah."

[Dhahabi declared this chain hasan (fair) as narrated, in "Mizan al- i`tidal," vol. 4, p. 226: "Huwa salih al-hadith" which means:"He -- Musa ibn Hilal -- is good in his narrations." Al-Sakhawi confirmed him in the "Maqasid al-hasana", while al-Subki declared it sahih according to Samhudi in Sa`adat al-dârayn 1:77. Ibn `Adiyy said: "He [Musa ibn Hilal] is most likely acceptable; other people have called him 'unknown' and this is not true... He is one of the shuyukhs of Imam Ahmad and most of them are trustworthy." al-Kamil fi al-Du`afa (6:2350). Albani declared him "thabit al-riwaya" (of established reliability) in his Irwa' 4:338. About `Ubayd Allah ibn `Umar al-`Umari: - Dhahabi calls him "saduq hasan al-hadith" [truthful, of fair narrations] al-Mughni 1:348; - Sakhawi says of him "salih al-hadith" [of sound narrations] al-tuhfat al-latifat 3:366; - Ibn Mu`in said to Darimi about him: "salih thiqat" [sound and reliable] al-kamil 4:1459.]

[Some scholars considered this hadith as 'Hasan' (Approved), and these include Abu Ghudda as also al-Lucknawi who stated in his Zafar al-Amani that hadith is ‘Hasan’, as Taqi al-Din al-Subki has expounded in his book Shifa’ al-Siqam fi Ziyara Khayr al-Anam.]

According to the Sunni scholars, there is no contest among the jurists of the Four Schools regarding the probative force of the narration of Ibn Umar ®,  since it has been adduced time and again by the jurists to support the strong desirability of visiting the Prophet  [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] and greeting  him – in Madina Munawwara. It is significant to note that this is one of the texts that has been adduced by the ulama of Islam to derive the obligation or recommendation of visiting the Prophet's grave and seeking him as "wasilat" (intermediary/means). [See the chapter on visiting the Prophet's grave in Imam Nawawi's "al-Adhkar" and in Qadi `Iyad's  "al-Shifa."] 

Also, Sunni scholars have adduced the hadîth "Whoever visits my grave, my intercession will be guaranteed for him" as proof against Ibn Taymiyya's hollow claim that "all the hadîths that concern the merit of visitation are weak or rather forged" and denounced Ibn Taymiyya's unprecedented fatwâ as a flagrant innovation. 

Mulla Ali al-Qari in his book Sharhu sh-Shafa, vol. 2, stated: "Ibn Taymiyyah the Hanbalite was extreme when he prohibited setting out to visit the tomb of the Prophet (s). Others were even more extreme when they said that visiting is definitely a pious act in religion, and denying this is condemned as infidelity. Perhaps the second point was nearer to being correct, because (of the rule that says) prohibiting that which, according to the consensus of the ulama, is considered as recommended (mustahhab) is considered as unbelief, for here prohibition supercedes something that was permissible by unanimous agreement in this case."

Ibn al-Jawzi writes in Muthir Al-Gharam Al-Sakin Ila Ashraf Al-Amakin in the Chapter on Visiting the Grave of The Prophet:   He who visits the grave of Allah's Messenger should stand while visiting him with in most respectful manner possible, as if he were with him in his lifetime. Ibn `Umar narrates that Allah's Messenger said: "He who performs pilgrimage then visits my grave after my death, is like those who visited me during my lifetime." Ibn `Umar narrates: Allah's Messenger said, "He who visits my grave becomes eligible for my intercession." Anas narrates: Allah's Messenger said: "He who visits me in Madina counting on his visit to me (muhtasiban), I will be his witness and intercessor on the day of Judgment."

Imam Malik (712-795 c.e.) was from the generation of Taba-Tabiin.  He was asked the following question by the Caliph Abu Ja`far al-Mansur  (reign 754-775 c.e.): When he had made Hajj, then visited the grave of the Prophet(sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) he asked Imam Malik saying: "Oh Abu Abdullah, should I face the Qiblah and supplicate, or face the grave of the prophet? Maalik said: "How could you turn your face away from him? While he is your intercessor and the intercessor of your father Adam(as) on the Day of Judgment to Allah. Nay! Face him! Ask for his intercession, and Allah(swt) will make him your intercessor. Allah(swt) has said: If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come unto thee and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (4:64)"  [Narrated by Qadi Iyad in  ash-Shifā (2:596), Subkī in Shifā’-us-siqām fī ziyārat khayr-il-anām, Samhūdī in Khulāsat-ul-wafā, Qastallānī in al-Mawāhib-ul-laduniyyah, Ibn Jamā‘ah in Hidāyat-us-sālik and Ibn Hajar Haythamī in al-Jawhar-ul-munazzam and Tuhfat al-Zawwar, and others.]

Thus we also learn that the Quranic verse (4:64) indicates that Rasulullah will intercede and his shafa' a (intercession) will be accepted. Also, it commands us to visit the Prophet's shrine and ask for shafa'a.  But as we know, the hypocrites are not interested to ask the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) to ask Allah to forgive them!  The words "he is the means (wasilat) of you and your father Adam's forgiveness to Allah" are confirmed by the verses whereby the Prophet is witness over all communities and people including their Prophets (Quranic verses: 2:143, 3:81, 4:41, 33:7) as well as the sound hadith of his intercession over all prophets on behalf of all believers in Sahih al-Bukhari (Kitab al-tawhid). Furthermore, it is also established from the verse "And Adam received words from his Lord and He relented towards him" (2:37) that Adam has been forgiven. Ayyub Sabri Pasha (d.1302/1890) comments in his book, Mir’at al-Madina regarding the advice given to the Caliph al-Mansur.  He says that this shows that those who pray in front of the Hujrat as-Saada should be very vigilant, that it is not appropriate to say long in Madinah for those who cannot show the modesty and respect due to that place. 

Ibn Abi Fudayk said, "I heard some people who lived during the same era, we heard that anyone who stands at the Prophet's grave and recite this verse, Inna Allaha wa mala'ikatahu yusalluna `ala al-Nabi (Al-Ahzab 56) and then say: Salla Allahu `alaika ya Muhammad and seventy times, an angel will call out to him: "May Allah send blessings on you, O So-and-so! No need of yours will go from hence unfulfilled."

Thus it is as clear as crystal that those who visit Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] are in his security, promise of safety and protection!

Ibn Umar ® relates that the Messenger of Allah [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] said:  “Whoever makes pilgrimage and does not visit me, has oppressed me.” (Narrated by al-Dāraqutnī in his Sunan)  Abū Ghudda said: “It is not forged as Ibn al-Jawzī and Ibn Taymiyya said, rather, a number of scholars considered its chain fair, and a number considered it weak.”  Al-‘Uqaylī in al-Du‘afā’ (4:170) declared the chains of Ibn ‘Umar’s narration “soft” (layyina) as did al-Dhahabī, the latter adding as did al-Bayhaqī and al-Fattanī in  Tadhkirat al-Mawduat – that they strengthened each other as none contains any liar nor forger,as stated by al-Suyūti in al-Durar al-Muntathira, al-Munāwī, and al-‘Ajlūnī in Kashf al-Khafā (2:328-329).

Of course, there are many other hadiths on the visitation to the blessed grave of the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] and, generally, they thus strengthen one another.  Imam Qastallani (reh.) states in his Muwaahib al-Laduniyya that the one who does not perform the Ziyaarat despite wealth, has acted unjustly indeed.  There is also in the hadith: "Between my grave and my pulpit lies a grove from the groves of Paradise" (Bukhari and Muslim) and: "Madina is a great good for them, if they but knew!" (al-Bazzar with a sound chain, Tabarani with a fair chain, and Ahmad in the Musnad) and: "Whoever is able to die in Madina let him die there, for verily I intercede for him who dies there".

In view of the Qur’anic injunction: Whoever has obeyed the Apostle, has obeyed God” (4:82) and the  prophetic tradition which states that no one shall meet Allah who has not first met the Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam], it is prudent, wise and advisable not to neglect the very important aspect of visiting the sacred shrine of Holy Prophet (sallal laahu ‘alaihi wssallam) In order to earn rich spiritual and worldly rewards as well as the intercession of the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam]. 

According to the righteous Islamic scholars, they  are positive that no one in the world will ever be able to bring forth a Sahih report from the Salaf or Khalaf prohibiting visiting the grave of the Prophet Mohammad (sal Allahu alayhi wassallam) for tabarruk  and tawassul by him after his death.

Raising of voice is prohibited in the presence of Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam]:

It is proven from the Qur’an that one ought not to raise even   one’s voice in the presence of the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam]: O' you who believe! Raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet (sallal laahu’alaihi wassallam), nor speak aloud to him in talk, as you may speak aloud to one another, lest your deeds become vain and you perceive not. Those that lower their voices in the presence of Allah's Messenger[sal Allahu alayhi wasallam],  their hearts has Allah  tested for piety: for them is Forgiveness and a great Reward.  (Al-Hujraat 2-3).   The accounts in the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir and Durre Mansoor tell us of the effect it had on Abu Bakr ®, Umar ® and especially on Thabit bin Qais ®, which we need not dwell upon here.   The Sahaba used to sit so cautiously as if birds were sitting on their heads and if they moved the birds would fly away.  This posture is evident from prophetic traditions (Abu Dawud, 4753; An-Nasa’i, 2058; and others).  Allah said in another verse, 'Make not the calling of the Messenger (Muhammad) among you as your calling of one another' [Soorah an-Nur (24): 63].

We noted before that we believe and confirm that the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] is alive and provided for in his grave and cited the relevant authorities.  For our purpose it is pointed out that after the Holy Prophet (sallal laahu ‘alaihi) assumed the veil of departure from this material world, the practice of speaking in low tones in the vicinity of the holy grave and in Masjidun Nabawi was continued, since the Sahaba ® were conscious of the fact that the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] is alive in body and soul. 

In Bukhari Shareef it is mentioned once during his Caliphate,  Hadhrat Umar ® heard two young men raising their voice in the Prophet’s Masjid.  So he asked them, “Do you realize where you are?” But before they could answer the asked them, “Where are you both from?”  They replied they were from Taif.  He then told them, “Had you been from Madinah Munawwara I would have given you both severe lashings for raising you voices in the Masjid of Allah’s Messenger (sallal laahu ‘alahi wassallam). 

Al-Kandhalwi writes in Fazail-e-Haj that, whenever Aisha ® heard any noise near the sacred grave, she used to send some one or the other to those making the noise with a request that they should maintain silence as the noise disturbs the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam].  Also, that once Hadhrat Ali ® needed a new door for his house.  He instructed the carpenter to do the job of making a door at Baqi so that the noise may not reach the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam].

At the time of burial of Hasan ibn 'Ali (‘a), when a section of the people had made an uproar, Husayn ibn 'Ali (‘a), immediately recited the following verse in order to silence them.   “O you who believe! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak loud to him”. (Hujraat: 2)

Slightest disrespect to the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] means blasphemy while honouring him (s) is part of faith.   Allah cautioned  the believers not to raise their voices over that of the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] or to even speak out loudly to one another in his presence.  Thus we are told to show respect (taazeem) and honour (tauqeer) in the court of Rasool Allah [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam].   According to Imam Sawi (Hashiyat al-Sawi ‘ala Tasir al-Jalalayn, 3:149), it is not permissible to call the Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] in any manner that does not imply veneration and this applies both during his life and after his departure from this world.  Qadi ‘Iyad too has mentioned many instances of such respect the details of which could be gleaned from his Ash-Shifa, Volume 2, page 27. 

In Sharh Shifa it is mentioned that Muhammad bin Maslama ® said:  “No one is allowed to raise his voice in the Masjid while speaking.”  Imam Qastalani (d.923 A.H.) writes in Mawahib al-Laduniya that the same respect, as was shown to the Holy Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] during his lifetime,  should be observed because he is indeed alive in his grave.  As mentioned in Tafsir ul Qurtubi (16:278-279) Qadi Abu Bakr ibn Arabi said:  The respect for Prophet [sal Allahu alayhi wasallam] is the same whether during his life and after his passing away.  Otherwise the consequences will be as the Holy Qur’an says:  Those who vex the messenger of Allah, for them there is a painful doom] (9:61).   

To continue Insha Allah…

NASIR