Are we allowed to visit Dargah?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Please clear me
this doubt,
can we go in Darga, because when i read quran i came to know that
comparing any one with Allah is a big sin, but some people say me that we
cannot asked any thing in darga but we can just give
a normal visit to give the person a salam, so please
tell me that what are the condition which we have to follow, correctly, whether
we should go or not go...
yours truly brother
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be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does
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readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Are we allowed to visit Dargah?
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of
His Messengers.
Visiting the graves is
permissible for the men in Islam, but the Messenger of Allah (saws) invoked the
curse of Allah on the women who are frequest visitors
to the graves, but there is no harm if a woman occasionally visits the
graveyard.
Abdallah ibn Buraidah reported from his father that the Prophet (saws)
said: "I had forbidden you to visit graves, but now you may visit
them. It will remind you of the
Hereafter." (Muslim, Ahmad, and the Sunan)
(In the beginning at
the time of the Prophet (saws), he (saws) prohibited the believers from visitlng the graves because of their proximity to the jahiliyyah (Days of Ignorance). After they had fully entered the fold of
Islam, became well pleased with it, and had fully accepted its laws, the
Prophet (saws) permitted them to visit graves.)
Abu Hurairah
reported that The Prophet (saws) visited his mother' s
grave and cried, and everyone there cried with him. Then the Prophet (saws) said: 'I sought my
Lord's permission to seek forgiveness for her, but He did not permit me. I then sought permission to visit her grave
and He permitted me to do this. You should visit graves, because they will
remind you of the reality of death.'' (Muslim, Ahmad, and the Sunan)
It is reported in
an authentic narration that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “, "May Allah
curse the women who are frequent visitors of the graves."
Anas reported: "The Prophet(saws) saw a woman crying by the grave of her son,
and said to her, 'Fear Allah, and be patient.'
She replied, 'What do you care about my tragedy?' When he went away, someone told her, 'Indeed, that was the Messenger of Allah (saws).' The woman felt extremely sorry and she
immediately went to the Prophet's house, where she did not find any guards. She
called out: 'O Messenger of Allah! I did not recognize you.' The Prophet (saws) said, 'Verily patience is
needed at the time of the first affiction'.'' (Bukhari and Muslim) This supports the argument in favor of
the permissibility of women visiting graves, for the Prophet, peace be upon
him, saw her at the grave and did not show his disapproval of it.
It is not permissible for one to
specifically travel to ‘dargahs’ or any
graveyard. If one is in the area or
city, then there is no harm if one visits the graveyard. This ruling is based on the narration of
the Prophet (saws) who said: "One should not undertake journeys except to three mosques:
the Masjid al-Haram (Makkah), the Aqsa mosque (
Aishah reports that the Prophet (saws) said:
"Allah cursed the Jews and Christians [because] they took the graves of
their prophets as mosques." This is
related by al-Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, and an-Nasa' i.
'Aishah reports that Umm Salamah
mentioned the churches she saw in
The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: “Before
you there was a group who turned the graves of their prophets and their
righteous ones into mosques. Do not turn graves into mosques. I forbid you to
do that'.'' (Muslim)
Abu Hurairah
narrated that The Prophet (saws) said: 'May Allah curse Jews and Christians for
they turned the graves of their Prophets into places of worship'.'' (Muslim Bukhari and
Muslim)
Whoever pays a visit to
a grave should face the deceased, greet him, and supplicate for him. On this
subject we find the following:
Buraidah reported that The Prophet (saws)
taught us that when we visited graves we should say, 'Peace be upon you, O
believing men and women, O dwellers of this place. Certainly, Allah willing, we will join you.
You have preceded us and we are to follow you.
We supplicate to Allah to grant us and you security'.'' (Reported by
Muslim, Ahmad, and others)
Ibn 'Abbas
reported: "Once the Prophet (saws) passed by graves in Madinah. He tumed his face
toward them saying: 'Peace be upon you, O dwellers of these graves. May Allah
forgive us and you.
You have preceded us, and we are following your trail'." (Tirmidhi)
What some people do,
like wiping hands over the graves and tombs, kissing them, bowing down in sajdah to the graves, and circumambulating around them are
abominable innovations and clear and manfiest acts of
‘shirk’. All sorts of
ceremonies and celebrations which are done on the graves like chaadar, niyaaz, etc. are innovations and
should not be done by one who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last
Day.
Ibn al-Qayyim
said: "The Prophet, peace be upon him, visited
the graves to supplicate for their inhabitants, and to seek mercy and
forgiveness of Allah for them. Contrary
to this, the pagans supplicated to the dead, swearing by them, asking them for
their needs, and seeking their support and help. Such pagan practices are in
conflict with the guidance of the Prophet (saws) and his teachings about the
Oneness of Allah and about the manner of supplicating for Allah's mercy for the
dead. The people who do such things are
guilty of shirk (polytheism).”
The people who visit the graves
may be divided into three categories:
those who
supplicate for the deceased,
those who
supplicate through the deceased,
and those
who supplicate to the deceased.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 35 Surah Fatir verse 22:And the dead and
the living are not alike! Allah causes
whomever He wills to hear, but you cannot make those who are buried in the
graves to hear you.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 20-21:All the other
beings, whom the people invoke with Allah, create nothing! Nay, they are
themselves created. They are DEAD, not
living, and they do not at all know themselves when they shall again be raised
to life!
In light of the above clear aayahs and Sunnah of the
Messenger (saws), the believers, who sincerely believe in Allah and the Last
Day, are only allowed to visit the graves and supplicate Allah Subhanah for the deceased. The acts of making supplication through
the deceased and to the deceased are abominable
innovations and a clear and manifest form of ‘shirk’.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Wister