Life After Death-Visiting Graves

“Bismillahir Rahmannir Raheem”Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen was Salaatu was- Salaamu ‘Alaa Sayidinaa Muhammadin wa Aalihi wa Asabihi Ajma ‘een (tauheed- risalat- ahkirat and islam-iman-ihsan)

Life after death 7

THE ETIQUETTE OF GRAVE VISITATION-It is a Sunnah of the Beloved Habeeb of Allah (saws) to visit the graves.

dua to recite when facing the graveyard- Assalam-o-Alaykum ya ahl al quburi yaghfir ullahu lana wa la kum antum salafuna wa nahnu bil athar.

Ziyarat can be done anyday of the week, but it is liked that one goes for the ziarat on a Friday or Thursday, or Saturday or Monday. The best day to go is in the morning of the Friday.

It is also permissable to go to the ziyarat of Great Pious people, with the intention of doing ziyarat, because it is believed that such persons do benefit those who attend.

But if one sees something that the shar’iyyah disallows… then he should not stop going but rather continue going as no good action should be discontinued merely for the observance of a bad act. He should however regard that act as bad, and then do what he can to prevent that bad act from re-occuring..

The method of ziyarat should be that one should enter the shrine or approach the grave from the foot-end of the grave, and then should stand with his back towards the qiblah, and his face, facing the face of the deceased.

After he has recited the du’a quoted above, he should then recite the Surah al Fatihah. He can also recite Surah al Ikhlas, and ask Allah the Almighty for his forgiveness, (if he was a friend), and his own forgiveness.

He should then sit at a distance if he wishes, the lenghth of time he would sit with him when he was alive.

If however the grave is within a shrine, or it is a grave of an eminent personality of Islam, the He may make that personality a medium, between himself and Allah the Almighty, as intercession can be sought from the person in the grave.

The Qur’an al kareem states: ”and those who are killed in the path of Allah, do not say they are dead, yes they are alive, but you do not understand.’This verse of the Qur’an al kareem proves that whether a person has been martyred on the battlefield, died of plague, as a student of Islam, or by a fever, are all known as ‘shahid’, and they are the ones who have been killed in the way of Allah. Therefore, they are not merely dead, as they can hear what you are saying whilst you are visiting them. To the extent that we are not even allowed to refer to them as dead.

In the book ‘Radd-al-Mukhtar’, and ‘Bahar-e-Shar’iyyat’, it states that one should not arrive to the grave from the headside, as it is a means of giving difficulty and hardship, to the person who is in the grave.

Whilst in the presence of the grave, one may recite any chapters or verses of the Noble Qur’an, some of the more effective being Surah Ya Sin, Surah Mulk, Surah Idha zulzilat, and Surah alhakum ut takathuru. Other supplications and invocations can also be made.

When one goes, or sets off from home to go to the graveyard, he should not indulge himself in false talk. When he reaches the shrine or the graveyard, he should take off his shoes, and stand and attend by the method shown above. There is also great reward in attending the graves of the beloved on certain nights, for example, Shab-e-barat, and Shab-e-Qadr. It is also permissable to go to visit the graves on Eid days, and also on the Tenth of Dhil Hijjah.As far as kissing the walls, the graves, the coverings, and the floors of a shrine of a blessed person, then as long as one does not commit any form of shirk, or has the thought of shirk, then he must be very careful. In this day and age, many actions such as these, are referred to as shirk, by all those people who oppose the natural way of Islam, and Islam can be subject to attack by such people, because of these minor incidents. Then it is better for us to have the etiquette shown to us by the Most Beloved Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu ta’ala ‘alayhi wa Sallam), and to follow that accordingly, intead of having our Great Ones in disrepute because of our actions.It is Sunnah for Islamic brothers to visit the graveyard on Shab-e-Bara`at. You cannot burn candles on the graves. However, if you intend to recite the Holy Qur`an and need some light, then out of necessity, you may light the candle but it must be away from the grave. Likewise, there is no harm in burning incense sticks away from the grave with the intention of providing fragrance to the people present. It is permissible to cover the shrines of the blessed saints with decorative sheets and to light a lamp near it because in this way, people will become more attentive, focused, and the respect and reverence of the saints will develop inside their hearts and inevitably they will come to receive enlightenment. If the graves of the public and the saints are the same, lots of religious benefits will be lost.

When I want to talk to allah I say prayers and when I want that he talk to me I recite quran- Hazrath Ali(ra)

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