VISITING GRAVES and READING (or reciting) THE QUR’ÂN AL-KERÎM (I)

Imâm-i Birgivî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ 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 Sâlih 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. Khâtim-i Esâm^[1] 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 ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ 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 ‘radiy-Allâhu ’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-i Balkhî, (d. 1002,) says: “The deceased recognizes the person who visits his grave before sunrise on Saturday. This shows the virtue of Friday.” Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ 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.” 

_{[1] Abû ’Abd-ur-Rahmân bin Alwân Khâtim-i-Esâm ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, (d. 237 [852 A.D.].)}