Question: Some people specify Fridays and the two Eids for visiting graveyards. What is the ruling on this?
Answer: Visiting graveyards without specifying any particular day is permissible, and this ruling has come in authentic hadiths.
At the beginning of Islam, the Prophet ﷺ had forbidden people from going to graveyards, lest they exaggerate or wail and lament by describing the deceased’s qualities. But when the Prophet ﷺ was satisfied that people had come to know the rulings, he gave them permission to visit graveyards.
The Prophet ﷺ explained the benefits of visiting graveyards as follows:
◈ It serves as a reminder of the Hereafter.
◈ It produces detachment from the world.
◈ There is abundant reward in praying to Allah on behalf of the deceased and asking Him for mercy for them.
The Prophet ﷺ forbade obscene speech and foul language during the visit to a graveyard.
The hadiths regarding the permission to visit graveyards can be seen in Jami al-Usul
, narrated through Hazrat Buraydah, Abu Hurairah and Umm Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with them). Likewise, the author of Jami al-Usul has mentioned the same hadiths in
, which are narrated from Hazrat Abu Sa’id and Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him).
And Imam Ibn Majah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated
from Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
كنت نهيتكم عن زيارة القبور فزوروها فإنها تزهد فى الدنيا وتذكر الآخرة
“I had forbidden you from visiting graveyards; so now visit them, for this produces detachment from the world and renews the remembrance of the Hereafter.” Its chain is hasan.
Similarly, Imam al-Haythami in Majma’ al-Zawa’id
has mentioned several hadiths on the permission to visit graveyards from Hazrat Abu Sa’id, Umm Salamah, Aisha, Zayd bin al-Khattab, Ali, Zayd bin Thabit and other Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
(After these general hadiths of permission, some hadiths are mentioned that refer to visiting graveyards on specific days, and all of them are severely weak, rather fabricated; therefore there is no proof for visiting graveyards on specific days. Hence caution should be exercised. Addition by the translator.)
Now let us look at the unestablished hadiths:
Then, from Hazrat Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), a hadith is narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever visits the grave of his parents, or one of them, every Friday, his sins are forgiven and he is recorded among the obedient.”
Tabarani narrated this hadith in al-Awsat and al-Saghir, and in its chain is Abd al-Karim Abu Umayyah, a weak narrator.
In reality, the hadith is mawdu’.
Also, it is reported from Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that: “Going to visit graveyards on the occasion of the two Eids is a sunnah.”
Tabarani narrated it in al-Awsat, and in its chain is al-Harith al-A’war, a weak narrator (rather, severely weak).
And Ibn Rajab, in his book “Ahwal al-Qubur”, mentioned some statements of certain Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) that whoever visits a graveyard on Friday or Saturday, the dead recognise him. There is disagreement about the authenticity of these statements. Generally such matters are stated on the basis of dreams, imagination and personal opinion. And Allah knows best.
