Visiting al-Baqi` Cemetery according to Islamic rules
Al-Baqi` is the cemetery of the people of Madinah from the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to the present day.[1]
Al Baqi: Its Importance and Value
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to visit the Baqi` al-Gharqad cemetery and ask forgiveness for the deceased buried there.
`A’icha, may Allah be pleased with her, explains that whenever it was her turn for the Prophet (peace be upon him) to spend the night with her, he would go out towards the last moments of the night to the Baqi` and say: « Peace to you believing people of this house, what has been promised to you has come to you, but it is postponed and when Allah wills we will join you. O Allah, forgive the dead of Baqi` al-Gharqad. »[2]
She also reports in a long hadith that the angel Jibril u said to the Prophet (peace be upon him), « Your Lord commands you to go and visit the dead of Baqi` and ask forgiveness for them. »[3
On the other hand, the hadiths saying that seventy thousand dead of al-Baqi` will be resurrected to enter paradise without undergoing judgment or that the dead of al-Baqi` will be resurrected and gathered with the Prophet (peace be upon him) or that they will be spared from the torments of the grave, none of them is authentic.
The legal permission to visit al-Baqi` and what the visitor says there
Visiting the graves is permissible in all places by virtue of the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him), « Visit the graves, for it reminds one of death. »[4].
Men in Madinah are legally permitted to visit the Baqi` al-Gharqad cemetery. Now, it is attested that the Prophet (peace be upon him) visited the deceased of al-Baqi`, as seen above. As for the women, the most correct opinion among the scholars is that this is not permitted for them because of the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him), « Allah curses [or may Allah curse] those who visit the graves often. »[5]
It is clear when we consider the hadiths that deal with visiting that the Muslim derives three benefits in visiting the cemeteries:
– The first benefit: Visiting reminds the Muslim of death when he sees the graves and it makes him ready for the day when he will be one of the inhabitants of that place and prepare himself by performing good deeds. This is evident from the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him), « Visit them, for they (the graves) remind you of the Hereafter.
– The second is that it is an imitation of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Indeed, visiting them is a sunna practiced by the Prophet (peace be upon him). Thus, the Muslim gets the reward that is deserved from imitating the Prophet (peace be upon him) and from obeying his command to « visit the graves.
– The third benefit is that it is a benefit to one’s Muslim brothers (deceased) because one makes prayers (invocations) for them. Indeed, the words that are said on the occasion of the visit, as reported by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a well established way and as he taught his Companions, include prayers for the Muslim dead. This is beneficial to them and they benefit from it by the will of Allah. Likewise, the visitor also gets a reward for praying for his brothers and bringing them a benefit.
When the Muslim visits al-Baqi`, he should limit himself strictly to what is permitted in this regard, and that is by praying for the dead, i.e. by uttering the traditional invocation which is: « As-salâmu `alaykum dâra qawmin mu’minîn, wa innâ in châ’allâhu bikum lâħiqûn, yarħamu-l-lâhu-l-mustaqdimîna minkum wa-l-musta’khirîn, nas’alu-lâha lanâ wa lakumu-l-`âfiya » (Peace upon you, O believing inhabitants of this house, we will by the will of Allah join you, may Allah have mercy on the first of you and the next and we pray to Allah that you may be spared from all evil. ), or any other such wording that contains a prayer for the dead like what has been quoted in the previous hadith of `A’icha and other hadiths.
Location of some of the deceased in Baqi` al-Gharqad
There is no doubt that al-Baqi` is the place where the people of Madinah are buried. It is therefore where the Companions, the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the successors of the Companions and the Imams (the great Muslim scholars and leaders of the community) who died in Madinah were buried. It is said that ten thousand Companions were buried there[7].
It is well known that Islamic law does not encourage distinguishing graves so that one keeps perpetual knowledge of who is buried there. However, the lawgiver did allow a marker to be placed on the grave to distinguish it, such as a stone, but he forbade building the grave or writing on it. Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah forbid sitting on the grave, plastering it, building it or writing on it. This means that the marker in question must be able to be erased after a certain period of time, as there is no religious prescription requiring the knowledge of the occupant of the grave. This is why the marks of the graves of al-Baqi` have faded and why the deceased occupying them are not known for sure.
Al-Fayrûz Âbâdî wrote: « … There is no doubt that this cemetery is full of a multitude of important figures of the community from among the Meccan Emigrants (Muhâjirûn) and the early Muslims of Medina (Anşâr) except that the pious predecessors were so concerned with not giving importance to the graves and not plastering them that this resulted in the marks of most of them fading. That is why their exact locations are not known except for a few, very few… »[9]
As for the precise designation of certain tombs by some historians, these are assertions based on presumptions (not on certainties). Indeed, al-Baqi` is a public cemetery for all Muslims in Madinah and does not contain a specific place dedicated to anyone. Therefore, preserving the place as it is by distinguishing to whom each grave belongs is an impossible task given the numerous burials that took place there over long periods of time. In addition, the rivers and rains have reshaped the surface of the ground, especially in an earthy area such as the one where al-Baqi` is located, which is also in the bed of the Mahzûr River, which made the inhabitants of Medina fear drowning[10]. Add to this the fact that the pious predecessors among the Companions (Şaħâba), the Successors (Tâbi`ûn) and the third generation (those who came after the Tâbi`ûn), were very much in line with the prescriptions enacted by the religious texts such as the prohibition of building on top of the graves and writing on them. However, Islamic law does not mention any particular link with the graves except that the Muslim prays for the deceased when he visits the cemeteries. There is also the fact that knowing the identity of the occupants of the graves does not imply any interest recognized by the divine law.
Therefore, when the Muslim visits al-Baqi`, he will pray in a general way for the dead buried there, without focusing on a particular place in the cemetery because it is the grave of this or that person, because determining this with certainty is impossible, unless it is the grave of someone in his family or a friend who has been buried for a short time. Whoever has actually visited al-Baqi` understands that it is not possible to say with certainty that a certain grave belongs to a certain person.
Offenses committed there
The visitor should try to comply with the Sunnah of the Prophet (r) during his visit and be careful not to fall into anything that contradicts it and will cause him to sin or diminish his reward. In the following, we mention some of the offences that some visitors are guilty of, so that the person who visits does not commit them in turn:
- Tawassul by means of the dead [i.e. praying to Allah by evoking the dead in one’s prayer in order to support one’s request by virtue of a presupposed sanctity of the deceased], to implore them for help and to ask them to intercede for him with Allah.
- Giving excessive importance to the graves by standing motionless before them in an attitude of reverence and religious silence, thinking that this is part of the good manners that the Divine Law commands, when in reality it is rather an exaggerated attitude towards the dead in these graves, an attitude that leads directly or indirectly to shirk (idolatry) of worshipping the inhabitants of the graves (worship of the dead).
- Prostrating or bowing to the dead. Prostrating and bowing in reverence are acts of worship that are not allowed to be dedicated to anyone other than Allah.
- Throwing grain for the pigeons, whether inside or outside the walls of the cemetery, and thinking that feeding the pigeons of al-Baqi` in particular has a special reward or believing that this act brings a baraka (a blessing). However, this act was not practiced by the Prophet (peace be upon him), nor by the Companions, nor by those who succeeded the Companions (Tâbi`ûn) while following their example. So this is one of the things that have been innovated in the religion. In addition, this practice implies a lack of respect for the food, as well as disturbing the passers-by. It makes the places (around the cemetery) dirty, which can reach the Holy Mosque of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
- Raising one’s voice in mourning and hitting one’s face. There is no doubt that this is forbidden and is one of the great sins (kabâ’ir)[11].
- Heading towards al-Baqî` while performing the prayer and calling this prayer « the şalât of the visit ». Indeed, praying in the direction of the graves is unanimously considered by the scholars as forbidden.
- Mixing and mingling of men and women, which is prohibited.
- Making dzikr (evocations of Allah with words of praise) or invocations in groups. This was not done by the Prophet (peace be upon him), his Companions or their successors.
- Taking earth from graves to rub on the body or mixing it with other substances for the purpose of baraka (blessing) and as a means of healing.
- Throwing written messages to the occupants of the graves to make requests and ask them to remove their misfortunes and problems.
- Tying wires, rags or padlocks to doors and fences to attract baraka
- Rubbing the walls and gates of the cemetery or the things in them, always out of a desire for baraka.
- Putting money on certain graves. This act is considered a vow (nadzr) made for other than Allah (therefore forbidden).
- Reading three times the suras al-Fâtiħa (no. 1), al-Ikhlâş (no. 112) and the Two Protectors [al-Mu`awwidzatayn] (no. 113: al-Falaq and no. 114: an-Nâs), as well as sura Yâ-Sîn (no. 36) and the last verses of al-Baqara as alms for the souls of the deceased.
- Burying nails, hair or teeth in al-Baqi` in the hope of obtaining baraka.
- Sprinkling perfumes on the graves to make oneself agreeable to the people buried there. But this is part of the acts done to gain satisfaction (or favor) from others than Allah [i.e. as a sign of worship], which is forbidden and prohibited.
Source: Islamhouse.com
[1] See Wafâ’u-l-wafâ (2/1154), al-Ma`âlim al-athariyya (page 52) and Âthâr al-Madîna (page 171).
[2] Reported by Muslim in 974.
[3] Reported by Muslim in number 974.
[4] Reported by Muslim in number 2256.
[5] Reported by at-Tirmidzî (3/372).
[6] Reported by at-Tirmidzî at number 1056 and by Ibn Mâjah at number 1576. At-Tirmidzî said that the hadith is ħasan-şaħîħ (good and/or very sure).
[7] See Taħqîq an-nuşra bi-talkhîş ma`âlim dâr al-hijra, p. 125.
[8] Reported by Abû Dâwûd (3226), by at-Tirmidzî (1052), by an-Nasâ’î (2027) and by al-Ħâkim who declared it authentic (1/525).
[9] Al-Maghânim al-muţâba, 2/508.
[10] Târîkh al-madîna, 1/168.
[11] See: az-Zawâjir `an iqtirâfi-l-kabâ’ir by al-Haytamî al-Makkî, 1/306.
