❀ Prohibition of Decorating Graves and Lighting Lamps Upon Them ❀
Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Introduction
Decorating graves and lighting lamps over them is forbidden in Islam. Such actions not only oppose the simplicity taught by the Prophet ﷺ but also pave the way to exaggeration, innovation, and eventually shirk (associating partners with Allah).
✿ Prohibition of Decorating Graves
Decorating graves leads to:
➤ Temptation for the general public
➤ Glorification and excessive reverence of the deceased
➤ Opening doors to innovation and shirk
✔ Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله clearly states:
“Decorating graves is an innovation (بدعة).”
Reference: Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz, p. 329
Also cited in: Sharḥ al-Ṭarīqah al-Muḥammadiyyah: 1/114
✔ The interpretation of Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān in Rawḍat al-Nadiyyah—that the discussion is about mosque decoration—is incorrect, as clarified by Shaykh al-Albānī, based on the context and word “تسريحها” (adorning).
Reference: Al-Taʿlīqāt al-Raḍiyyah ʿalā al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 1/476
✿ Prohibition of Lighting Lamps on Graves
Lighting lamps on graves is haram for multiple reasons:
➊ It is a bidʿah (innovation) completely unknown to the righteous predecessors (salaf). Every bidʿah is misguidance.
➋ It is a waste of wealth, which is clearly forbidden in Islamic teachings.
➌ It resembles fire-worshippers (Magians), thus imitating non-Muslim practices.
Reference: Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz, p. 294
✔ Imām Ibn Ḥajar al-Haythamī رحمه الله classified this act as a kabīrah (major sin) and explicitly haram.
Reference: Al-Zawājir: 1/134
✿ Clarification Regarding the Commonly Cited Hadith
The hadith:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed women who visit graves, and those who build mosques upon them and light lamps upon them.”
(لعن رسول الله زائرات القبور والمتخذين عليها المساجد والسرج)
⛔ This narration is weak, as affirmed by various scholars:
References:
- Ḍaʿīf Abū Dāwūd: 706
- Ḍaʿīf al-Tirmidhī: 51
- Ḍaʿīf al-Nasāʾī: 118
- Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz, p. 294
- Abū Dāwūd: 3236
- Musnad Aḥmad: 2030
- Nasāʾī: 2043
- Tirmidhī: 320
Nonetheless, the prohibition is independently established through other sound principles and scholarly consensus.
❖ Conclusion
✅ Decorating graves and lighting lamps upon them is forbidden in Islam.
✅ It is an innovation that was never practiced by the Prophet ﷺ or the righteous Salaf.
✅ These actions lead to glorification of the dead and resemble non-Islamic rituals.
✅ Multiple scholars including Ibn Ḥajar al-Haythamī and Shaykh al-Albānī declared it ḥarām and a major sin.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
