Do's & Dont's About Graves

In The Name Of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu


Level The Grave
Sahih Muslim HadithHadith 2114 Narrated byFadalah ibn Ubayd
Thumamah ibn Shafayy reported: When we were with Fadalah ibn Ubayd in the country of the Romans at a place (known as) Rudis, a friend of ours died. Fadalah ibn Ubayd ordered to prepare a grave for him and then it was levelled; and then he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) commanding (us) to level the grave.

Sahih Muslim HadithHadith 2115 Narrated byAli ibn AbuTalib
AbulHayyaj al-Asadi told that Ali ibn AbuTalib said to him: Should I not send you on the same mission as Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) sent me? Do not leave an image without obliterating it, or a high grave without levelling it. This hadith has been reported by Habib with the same chain of transmitters and he said: (do not leave) a picture without obliterating it.

Do Not Plaster The Grave
Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 1709 Narrated byJabir ibn Abdullah
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade that graves should be plastered with gypsum, have any writing on them, or be trodden on.
Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Small Pebbels On Grave
Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 1708
Narrated byMuhammad al-Baqar Al-Baqar told in mursal form on his father's authority that the Prophet cast three handfuls of earth on the dead with both hands, that he sprinkled water on the grave of his son Ibrahim, and that he put small pebbles on it.
It is transmitted in Sharh as-Sunnah, and Shafi'i transmitted from "he sprinkled."

Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 1719 Narrated byAbuRafi'
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) lowered Sa'd and sprinkled water over his grave.
Ibn Majah transmitted it.
*Note:Sprinkle water.


On Land Were Graves Of Pagans, The Land Was Unleveled ,And Some Date Palm Trees Were There
Prayers (Salat) Bukhari :: Book 1 :: Volume 8 :: Hadith 420 Narrated Anas:
When the Prophet arrived Medina he dismounted at 'Awali-i-Medina amongst a tribe called Banu 'Amr bin 'Auf. He stayed there For fourteen nights. Then he sent for Bani An-Najjar and they came armed with their swords. As if I am looking (just now) as the Prophet was sitting over his Rahila (Mount) with Abu Bakr riding behind him and all Banu An-Najjar around him till he dismounted at the courtyard of Abu Aiyub's house. The Prophet loved to pray wherever the time for the prayer was due even at sheep-folds. Later on he ordered that a mosque should be built and sent for some people of Banu-An-Najjar and said, "O Banu An-Najjar! Suggest to me the price of this (walled) piece of land of yours." They replied, "No! By Allah! We do not demand its price except from Allah." Anas added: There were graves of pagans in it and some of it was unleveled and there were some date-palm trees in it. The Prophet ordered that the graves of the pagans be dug out and the unleveled land be level led and the date-palm trees be cut down . (So all that was done). They aligned these cut date-palm trees towards the Qibla of the mosque (as a wall) and they also built two stone side-walls (of the mosque). His companions brought the stones while reciting some poetic verses. The Prophet was with them and he kept on saying, "There is no goodness except that of the Hereafter, O Allah! So please forgive the Ansars and the emigrants. "


Virtues of Madinah Bukhari :: Book 3 :: Volume 30 :: Hadith 92 Narrated Anas:
The Prophet came to Medina and ordered a mosque to be built and said, "O Bani Najjar! Suggest to me the price (of your land)." They said, "We do not want its price except from Allah" (i.e. they wished for a reward from Allah for giving up their land freely). So, the Prophet ordered the graves of the pagans to be dug out and the land to be levelled, and the date-palm trees to be cut down. The cut date-palms were fixed in the direction of the Qibla of the mosque.

Leaning On Grave Is Forbidden
Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 1721 Narrated byAmr ibn Hazm
Amr told how, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw him leaning on a grave, he said, "Do not molest the occupant of this grave"; or, "Do not molest it."Ahmad transmitted it.

Setting Up Tent Over The Grave Is Forbidden
Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 2154 Narrated byAbdullah ibn Abbas
One of the Prophet's companions set up his tent over a grave without realising that it was a grave, and it contained a man who was reciting the surah, "Blessed is He in whose hand is the kingdom," up to the end. He went and told the Prophet (peace be upon him), who said, "It is the defender; it is the protector which is protecting him from Allah's punishment."
Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.

Send peace On Grave Occupants And Go To Graveyards
The Book of Prayers (Kitab Al-Salat) Muslim :: Book 4 : Hadith 2128
Sulaiman b. Buraida narrated on the authority of his father that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to teach them when they went out to the graveyard. One of the narrators used to say this in the narration transmitted on the authority of Abu Bakr:" Peace be upon the inhabitants of the city (i. e. graveyard)." In the hadith transmitted by Zuhair (the words are):" Peace be upon you, the inhabitants of the city, among the believers, and Muslims, and God willing we shall join you. I beg of Allah peace for us and for you."


Do Not Pray In Graveyards
Prayer (Kitab Al-Salat) Dawud :: Book 2 : Hadith 492 Narrated Sa'id:
and the narrator Musa said: As far as Amr thinks, the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: The whole earth is a place of prayer except public baths and graveyards.

Shortening the Prayer Malik :: Book 9 : Hadith 9.24.88
Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "O Allah! Do not make my grave an idol that is worshipped. The anger on those who took the graves of their Prophets as places of prostration was terrible."

Keep The Graves Clean
Kharija ibn Zayd said: "I can see myself when we were young men in the time of `Uthman [ibn `Affan] (ra). The strongest one of us in high jump was he who could jump over the grave of `Uthman ibn Maz`un and clear it."

*Note:-In high jump ppl jump OVER a certain AREA,the grave was'nt vertical but horizontal.Otherwise if the hadith is taken as it was high and elevated then we all know sitting is itself not allowed on graves ,leave alone jumping on it, the sahabas were not playing but clearing the grave..

The purpose to go to grave is to ask forgiveness for the dead.

Placing a Distinguishing Mark on a Grave
It is permissible to place a mark, such as a stone or a piece of wood, over a grave so that it can be recognized. This is based on a hadith reported by Ibn Majah from Anas that the Prophet, peace be upon him, "placed a rock over 'Uthman ibn Maz'eun's grave so that it could be recognized." In az-Zawa'id it is stated that its chain of narrators is sound. Abu Daw'ud reported it in the hadith of al-Muttalib ibn Abi Wada'ah which has the following words: "He carried a rock and placed it by the headside of the grave and said, 'I want to mark my brother's grave and then bury beside it whoever else of my family dies."' This hadith indicates that it is preferable for relatives of the deceased to be buried in adjacent spots because it makes it easier for those who visit their graves to pray for them.


Prohibition of Whitewashing or Writing on a Grave
Jabir reported: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, forbade the whitewashing of a grave, sitting on it, or erecting any structure on it." (Reported by Ahmad, Muslim, Nasa'i, Abu Daw'ud, and Tirmidhi who said that it is a sound hadith) Tirmidhi reported this hadith with this wording: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, forbade the whitewashing of graves, writing on them, building on them, or stepping on them." Nasa'i, reported it in these words: "The Prophet, peace be upon, forbade building over a grave, adding anything to it, white washing it, or writing on it."

The majority of scholars interpret this prohibition as an expression of disapproval, while Ibn Hazm takes it to mean that the act is unlawful. The wisdom behind it is that a grave is not made to last forever, but is sure to disintegrate with the passage of time. whitewashing graves is decorating them with the beauty of this world for which the dead have no need. Others think that its wisdom lies in the fact that whitewashing is done by burning gypsum (brimstone): This view is supported by a narration of Zaid bin Arqam who said to a person who wanted to build something over his son ' s grave and whitewash it: "You are wrong and have done a useless thing. Nothing touched by fire should be brought near the grave." There is nothing wrong, however, in daubing it with clay. Tirmidhi said: "Some scholars, including Al-Hasan alBasri, hold it permissible to coat the graves with clay." Ash-Shafi'i is also of the same view and sees no harm in giving the graves a coating of clay.

Ja'far bin Muhammad reported from his father: "The grave of the Prophet, peace be upon him, was raised one hand from the ground and was coated with red clay and some gravel." This was narrated by Abu Bakr An-Najjad, but AlHafiz did not comment on this in his ai-Talkhis.
The scholars also disapprove of building graves with bricks or wood or burying the dead with a coffin unless the burial ground was wet or soft. If it is wet or soft, then it is permissible to use bricks and the like and to place the body in a coffin. It is reported from Mughirah that Ibrahim said: "The scholars preferred bricks of clay and straw, but disliked clay bricks; they preferred bamboo and disliked wood."
Concerning the hadith prohibiting writing on graves, it apparently includes writing the name of the deceased or any other thing on the grave. AlHakim commented on this hadith and said: "Though its chain of narrators is sound, in practice, however, it was not followed." Many Muslims from the East and the West do write on the graves. This is a practice that was passed on from one generation to the next. Adh-Dhahabi said: "This hadith is an innovated one, and no prohibition is genuinely reported."

The Hanbali school holds that inscription on graves is prohibited, whether it is a portion of the Qur'an or the name of the deceased." The Shafi'i school agrees with this ruling, but they also hold: "If the grave is of a scholar or a righteous man, it is preferable to write his name on it to make it known."
The Maliki school holds that writing any portion of the Qur'an is not permissible, but writing the name and date of death of the deceased is disliked (makruh) .
The Hanafi school disapproves of writing anything on the grave and considers it unlawful, except when it is feared that any trace of the grave might disappear. Ibn Hazm said: "It is not disapproved if the name of the deceased was engraved on a rock."

It is forbidden in a hadith "to add more soil than what was taken out when digging the grave." Al-Baihaqi has dealt with this under a separate chapter entitled, "No adding of soil to the grave in excess of what is taken therefrom."
Ash-Shawkani said that: "Adding apparently here means adding more soil than what was taken out while digging the grave." Some interpreted the addition to a grave as making a grave over another one. Ash-Shafi'i preferred, however, the first interpretation, saying that it was preferable not to add more soil than what was taken out while digging the grave which is preferred lest the grave be raised high. So long as the additional soil does not raise the grave higher than the ground, there is nothing wrong with it.

Allah Knows Best



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