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

It is written in Shir’at-ul-islâm: “For visiting a grave compatibly with 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.’ 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 Qâsim^[2] says: “When you read (or recite) sûras from the Qur’ân al-kerîm 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 ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ would stop and make salâm. Nâfi’ says: “Abdullah ibn ’Umar used to come to the grave of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and say: Assalâmu ’alannabiyy, assalâmu ’alâ’ Abî Bakr, assalâmu ’alâ Abî. I saw him say so more than a hundred times.” Al imâm-al-Ghazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ says in his book Ihyâ: “When visiting a grave, it is mustahab 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 its 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 ’alaih’ 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.”

_{[1] Abul Qâsim ’Abd-ul-Kerîm Qushairî, (d. 465)}