Kitaab At-Tawheed, Chapter: 20
What Has Been Said Concerning the Prophet's Protectiveness of Tawheed and His Blocking of Every Path Leading to Shirk
Allah , says:
" Verily, there has come to you a Messenger from amongst your-selves: It grieves him that you should perish: He is ardently anxious over you. To the Believers He is Most Kind and Merciful" (Qur'an 9:128)
In this verse, Allah has bestowed a great blessing upon mankind, in particular, the Arabs, because He sent to them a Messenger from amongst themselves who spoke their language, whose lineage, nobility and trustworthiness were well-known to them; and Allah has described him as possessing certain Divinely-given qualities which make it incumbent upon all of us to follow him and believe in him, for he is troubled and grieved by whatever troubles and grieves his Ummah, and he ardently seeks that which is beneficial to them and earnestly desires that they be guided aright and he is full of compassion for them.
Benefits Derived From This Verse
1. Evidence of the great blessing which Allah has bestowed upon mankind, in particular, the Arabs by His sending a Prophet to them from their own community, through whom Allah saved them from the abyss of shirk and humiliation.
2. Evidence of the Prophet's ardent care for his Ummah.
Relevance of This Verse to the Subject of the Chapter and to the Subject of Tawheed
That the verse proves the care taken by the Prophet over his Ummah, especially his protection of their tawheed and his great efforts to prevent them from falling into whatever might lead to shirk, including his prohibition of glorifying graves, by building structures over them, in particular, his own grave - may Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him.
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It is reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah (ra) that he said: "Allah's Messenger said:
(Narrated by Abu Dawood with a good sanad, and all of its narrators are trustworthy)
"Do not make your homes into graves, nor make my grave into a place of celebration. Send your prayers and blessings upon me, for they will be conveyed to me wherever you may be."
Abu Hurairah (ra) tells us in this Hadith, that the Prophet forbade us from abandoning our homes and making them into graves where acts of worship are not performed and Allah's Name is not mentioned. And he forbade us from taking his grave as a place of celebration where people come to visit on a specific date, for a specific occasion. Then the Messenger of Allah ordered us to send prayers and blessings upon him and informed us that the prayers and blessings of any Muslim, whoever he may be and wherever he may be, will be conveyed to him.
Benefits Derived From This Hadith
1. The forbiddance of abandoning worship in the home.
2. The prohibition of praying towards graves.
3. The prohibition of visiting the grave of the Prophet on a special occasion or for that matter, of visiting any grave in this manner.
4. The obligation to send prayers and blessings upon the Prophet .
5. That prayers and blessings upon the Prophet reach him wherever the supplicator may be.
Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of the Chapter and to the Subject of Tawheed
That the Hadith proves that it is prohibited in Islam to take graves as places of celebration, and that this demonstrates the Prophet's protectiveness towards his Ummah from the danger of every path that might lead to shirk.
Important Note
Some people have claimed that the Prophet's forbiddance of making his grave into a place of celebration necessitates that we should zealously cling to and visit his grave: As if he had said: "Don't make my grave an annual place of celebration, but visit it all the time." However, this explanation is totally false and without substance, for the following reasons: (i) That this explanation is unclear and is therefore in contradiction with the established Sharee'ah,1 which is always clear. (ii) Had the Prophet intended what they claim, his family and Companions would have implemented it and ordered others to do likewise. (iii) It has not been reported that the Companions ordered anyone to do this or that they did so themselves - and they were the most knowledgeable about the meaning of the Prophet's sayings.
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It is reported on the authority of `Ali Ibn Al-Husain that he saw a man approaching a small niche before the grave of the Prophet and he went into the niche and began to supplicate. So he (`Ali) prevented the man from doing so, saying: "Shall I not tell you a Hadith (of the Prophet which I heard from my father, who in turn, heard it from my grandfather [i.e. `Ali Ibn Abi Talib (ra)], who reported from Allah's Messenger that he said:
"Do not take my grave as a place of celebration, nor your homes as graves; send prayers and blessings upon me, for your salutations will reach me, wherever you may be."
(Narrated by Al-Maqdasi, in Al-Mukhtarah)
`Ali Ibn Al-Husain informs us in this narration, that he saw a man supplicating Allah at the grave of the Prophet and that he prevented him from doing so, using as evidence, a Hadith which contains a forbiddance of taking his grave as a place of celebratory visits and of abandoing worship of Allah in the home and then he ordered us to send prayers and blessings upon him, saying that they would be conveyed to him wherever the Muslim who sent them may be.
Benefits Derived From This Hadith
1. The obligation to reject wickedness.
2. The prohibition of intentionally making supplication at the Prophet's grave or any other grave.
3. The prohibition of abandoning worship and remembrance of Allah in the home.
4. The forbiddance of praying at the graves.
5. Evidence that the prayers and salutations which a Muslim sends upon the Prophet will be conveyed to him whether the Muslim is near or far from his grave.
6. That the dead Believer can benefit from the supplications of the living Believer.
Relevance of This Hadith to the Subject of the Chapter and to the Subject of Tawheed
That it proves that it is forbidden to take the grave of the Prophet as a place of celebration in order to worship there and this shows the Prophet's protection of the purity of tawheed and his desire to close off every avenue that might lead to shirk.
Important Note
Setting out on a journey with the express intent of visiting the grave of the Prophet is prohibited, because of his words:
"Do not saddle up your riding beasts, except to three mosques: "The Sacred Mosque (in Makkah), this my mosque and Al-Aqsa Mosque (in Jerusalem)."
2 In light of this, it is clear that whoever undertook a journey in order to pray in the Prophet's Mosque, is not guilty of any sin, while whoever did so in order to worship at the grave has disobeyed the Prophet."
Footnotes