Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
What is the ruling on intentionally visiting the grave of a walī (saint)?
If a person goes with the intention of attaining blessings (barakah) from the grave of a walī, or to supplicate through him as a means (wasīlah), then this is impermissible and prohibited (ḥarām). Neither the grave itself nor the occupant of the grave can provide blessings. There is no proof of such a practice in the Qur’an, Sunnah, or in the lives of the salaf al-ṣāliḥīn.
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī رحمه الله (d. 744 AH) writes in the commentary of a ḥadīth:
This proves that sacrificing an animal in places where the polytheists hold fairs is impermissible, just as sacrificing near an idol in its honor is impermissible. All this is to block the pathways leading to shirk and to safeguard tawḥīd.
When the Prophet ﷺ forbade slaughtering animals at places where fairs were held around graves, then it is even more strongly established that he forbade turning graves into places of festivity, for the harms of making graves into festive grounds are far greater.
These aḥādīth indicate that singling out graves for acts that increase frequent visits to them, prostrating at them, making them places of festivity, lighting lamps upon them, or sacrificing animals near them—all are prohibited.
The collective purpose of these aḥādīth is clear to anyone who has even inhaled the fragrance of pure tawḥīd. This also refutes the false interpretation of those who say that the statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “Do not make my grave an ʿĪd (festival)” means, “Do not make it like a festival by visiting it rarely, but instead make it a constant habit and visit it often from near and far.”
Such an interpretation contradicts the Prophet’s ﷺ explicit commands regarding his own grave and other graves, and it encourages precisely what he forbade out of concern for his Ummah. Furthermore, this interpretation only creates confusion rather than clarification, since well-established aḥādīth are in direct opposition to it.
Moreover, in the same ḥadīth, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Wherever you are, send blessings (ṣalāh) upon me.” If his intent had been to encourage people to frequently travel to his grave, he would have expressed this explicitly in clear terms—just as he explicitly encouraged frequent attendance at the mosques.
(Al-Ṣārim al-Munkī fī al-Radd ʿalā al-Subkī: 310)
Conclusion:
Intentionally going to the grave of a walī with the aim of seeking blessings or using him as a means of duʿā is forbidden. This practice has no foundation in Qur’an, Sunnah, or the practice of the early generations, and it opens the doors to shirk.
✦ Question:
What is the ruling on intentionally visiting the grave of a walī (saint)?
✦ Answer:
If a person goes with the intention of attaining blessings (barakah) from the grave of a walī, or to supplicate through him as a means (wasīlah), then this is impermissible and prohibited (ḥarām). Neither the grave itself nor the occupant of the grave can provide blessings. There is no proof of such a practice in the Qur’an, Sunnah, or in the lives of the salaf al-ṣāliḥīn.
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī رحمه الله (d. 744 AH) writes in the commentary of a ḥadīth:
This proves that sacrificing an animal in places where the polytheists hold fairs is impermissible, just as sacrificing near an idol in its honor is impermissible. All this is to block the pathways leading to shirk and to safeguard tawḥīd.
When the Prophet ﷺ forbade slaughtering animals at places where fairs were held around graves, then it is even more strongly established that he forbade turning graves into places of festivity, for the harms of making graves into festive grounds are far greater.
These aḥādīth indicate that singling out graves for acts that increase frequent visits to them, prostrating at them, making them places of festivity, lighting lamps upon them, or sacrificing animals near them—all are prohibited.
The collective purpose of these aḥādīth is clear to anyone who has even inhaled the fragrance of pure tawḥīd. This also refutes the false interpretation of those who say that the statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “Do not make my grave an ʿĪd (festival)” means, “Do not make it like a festival by visiting it rarely, but instead make it a constant habit and visit it often from near and far.”
Such an interpretation contradicts the Prophet’s ﷺ explicit commands regarding his own grave and other graves, and it encourages precisely what he forbade out of concern for his Ummah. Furthermore, this interpretation only creates confusion rather than clarification, since well-established aḥādīth are in direct opposition to it.
Moreover, in the same ḥadīth, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Wherever you are, send blessings (ṣalāh) upon me.” If his intent had been to encourage people to frequently travel to his grave, he would have expressed this explicitly in clear terms—just as he explicitly encouraged frequent attendance at the mosques.
(Al-Ṣārim al-Munkī fī al-Radd ʿalā al-Subkī: 310)
Conclusion:Intentionally going to the grave of a walī with the aim of seeking blessings or using him as a means of duʿā is forbidden. This practice has no foundation in Qur’an, Sunnah, or the practice of the early generations, and it opens the doors to shirk.
