for it; for it is the place of emigration of the Muslims. And the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "No one will endure its hardships and intensity except that I will be an intercessor for him on the Day of Resurrection" (15).
Section: It is recommended to visit the grave of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), because of what al-Daraqutni narrated (16), with his chain of narration from Ibn Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Whoever performs Hajj and then visits my grave after my death, it is as if he visited me in my lifetime." In one narration: "Whoever visits my grave, my intercession becomes due for him." Recorded with the first wording by Sa'id. Hafs ibn Sulayman narrated to us, from Layth, from Mujahid, from Ibn Umar. Ahmad said (17), in the narration of Abdullah, from Yazid ibn Qusayt, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "There is no one who greets me at my grave except that Allah returns my soul to me until I return the greeting." He said (18): "And if one who has never performed Hajj performs it—meaning from other than the route of the Levant—he should not take the route of Medina, for I fear that some occurrence might befall him, so he should head towards Mecca via the most direct routes (19), and not busy himself with anything else." It is narrated from al-'Utbi (20), who said: 'I was sitting at the grave of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), when a Bedouin came and said:'
(15) Recorded by Muslim, in: Chapter: Encouragement to reside in Medina, from the Book of Hajj. Sahih Muslim 2/1003. And al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter: On the virtue of Medina, from the Chapters of Hajj. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 13/275. And Imam Ahmad, in: Al-Musnad 2/113, 119, 133, 288, 338, 343, 397, 439, 447; 3/58; 6/370. (16) In: Chapter: The Mawaqit (appointed times and places), from the Book of Hajj. Sunan al-Daraqutni 2/278. (17) In his Musnad 2/527. It was also recorded by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter: Visiting graves, from the Book of Hajj Rites. Sunan Abi Dawud 1/470. (18) Omitted from manuscript: M. (19) In the original manuscript: "the route". (20) Visiting the grave of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is recommended for the purpose of greeting him. It is stipulated that it should be without travel specifically for it; rather, it is legislated for one who is already in Medina, or who traveled to visit the Prophet's Mosque and pray therein, as it enters as a secondary act. The evidence for its legislation is the general evidence for the legislation of visiting graves. No specific hadith is established regarding the visitation of his grave (peace and blessings be upon him), and all the hadiths reported specifically concerning visiting his grave (peace and blessings be upon him) are either weak, severely weak, or fabricated, as noted by the master hadith scholars, such as al-Daraqutni, al-Bayhaqi, Ibn Hajar, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Abd al-Hadi, and others; therefore, it is not permissible to use them as evidence. The anecdote mentioned by al-'Utbi is not used as evidence by the people of knowledge, and the author (may Allah have mercy on him) presented it using a form indicating uncertainty (sighat al-tamrid), where he said: 'It is narrated,' etc.
