Question:
Asalaamu Aleykum WRWB
May Allah bless MS Nazim, MS Hisham, all their families and all those involved with this wonderful site. Alhamdulillah!! I have a simple question surrounding praying for those who have passed away. When praying for our dearly departed, do they benefit more if we pray at their graves or do they receive the same amount of blessings should we pray for them away from their graves?
May All SWT grant you all long, healthy lives, accept our prayers and worshipping and unite us all with Mahdi AS and H Isa AS – Ameen!
Jazakallah. Wasalaam
Answer:
`Alaykum as-Salam,
Since the Holy Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) said “Actions are only according to intentions” (Bukhari, Muslim, Sunan and Musnad) it is intention that is the chief criterion of benefit, and all the aspects connected with it such as sincerity (ikhlas) and truthfulness (sidq) regardless of physical nearness. However, since he also commanded, “Visit the graves, for they remind you of the hereafter” (Muslim, Sunan and Musnad) then visiting the graves constitutes an additional act of obedience and entails additional effort. Thus it also carries additional reward for oneself and for those who were the reason for those rewards, especially in light of specific encouragements and rewards such as the fair-chained mursal hadith from Ibn Abi Mulayka: “Visit your dead and give salam to them, for you have in this a lesson” (Ibn Abi ad-Dunya) and the mursal hadith Imam al-Bayhaqi narrates from Abu Hurayra in Shu’ab al-Iman through Ibn Abi ad-Dunya that the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) said: “Whoever visits the grave of his parents or the grave of one of them every Friday, he will be forgiven and his name will be written among the pious ones”(Man zara qabra abawayhi aw ahadihima fi Kulli Jumu`a, ghufira lahu wa-kutiba barran) (at-Tabarani, Ibn Abi ad-Dunya, al-Hakim at-Tirmidhi, al-Bayhaqi, Mishkat). As-Suyuti considers it a valid narration and az-Zabidi in the Ithaf said there are many others also on the merit of visiting the graves of one’s parents. Hafiz al-`Iraqi mentioned a similar narration from the Imam of the Tabi`in Muhammad b. Sirin and said: “A sahih mursal chain” (Fayd al-Qadir), and Ibn `Arraq ad-Dimashqi also found an additional corroborant from Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (Allah be well-pleased with him). And Allah Most High knows best.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
