PROOF-TEXTS OF THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET IN HIS GRAVE

                                          PROOF-TEXTS
                                                       OF
                    THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET  IN HIS GRAVE

                                       by Sh. G. F. Haddad

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1st Hadith

inn-Allaha qad Harrama `ala al-arDi an ta'kula ajsâd al-anbiyâ'.

"Allah has defended the earth from consuming the bodies of Prophets".

A sound (sahih) tradition related on the authority of Aws ibn Aws al-Thaqafi by:

Ahmad in his Musnad, Ibn Abi Shaybah in the Musannaf, Abu Dawud in the Sunan, Nisa'i in his Sunan, Ibn Majah in his Sunan, Darimi in his Musnad, Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih, ibn Hibban in his Sahih, Hakim in the Mustadrak, Tabarani in his Kabir, Bayhaqi in Hayat al-anbiya', Suyuti in Anba' al-adkhiya, Dhahabi who confirmed Hâkim's grading, and Nawawi in the Adhkar.

Another version in Ibn Maja has this addition:

"And the Prophet of Allah is alive and provided for."

fa nabiyyallahi Hayyun yurzaq

Bayhaqi mentions it also in the Sunan al-kubra.
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2nd Hadith

al-anbiyâ'u aHyâ'un fi qubûrihim yuSallûn

"The Prophets are alive in their graves, praying to their Lord".

A sound (sahih) tradition related on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (r) by:
al-Bazzar in his Musnad, Abu Ya`la in his Musnad, Ibn `Adi in al-Kamil fi al-du`afa', Tammam al-Razi in al-Fawa'id, al-Bayhaqi in Hayat al-anbiya' fi quburihim, Abu Nu`aym in Akhbar Asbahan, Ibn `Asakir in Târeekh Dimashq, al-Haythami in Majma` al-zawa'id (8:211), al-Suyuti in Anbâ' al-adhkiya' bi-hayat al-anbiya' (#5), and al-Albani, in Silsilat al-ahadith al-sahihah (#621).

Suyuti adds:

"The life of the Prophet,   may Allah bless him and give him peace, in his grave, and [also] that of the rest of the prophets is known to us as definitive knowledge (`ilman qat`iyyan)."

I have used the above information from a post on MSA-Net on that particular hadith by Brother Akram Y. Safadi, for which I thank him.

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3rd Hadith

(laylata usra bi) marartu `ala Mûsa wa huwa qâ'imun yuSalli fi qabrihi

"(The night I was enraptured to my Lord) I saw Mûsa standing in prayer in his grave".

A sound (sahih) tradition related on the authority of Anas and others by Muslim, Nasa'i, and Bayhaqi in the dala'il al-nubuwwa and the Hayât. Some mention the beginning (in parentheses), while others omit it.

Nawawi said in his explanation of this hadith:

"The work of the next world is all dhikr and du`a" (sharH SaHeeH Muslim 1/73/267).

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4th Hadith

ma min aHadin yusallimu `alayya illa radda ilayy-Allahu rûHi Hatta arudda `alayhi al-salâm

"No-one greets me except Allah has returned my soul to me so that I can return his salâm".

From Abu Hurayra, in Abu Dawud with a sound (SaHeeH) chain. This hadith has been adduced by the scholars as the legal proof for the validity and modality of visiting and greeting the Prophet , although the hadith does not mention the necessity of physically visiting the Prophet  in Madina.

A note about the translation of "has returned":

Suyuti said that "radda" means `ala al-dawâm," i.e. permanently, and not temporarily: in other words, Allah does not return the rûH and take it back, then return it again and then take it back again, but He returned it to the Prophet  permanently, and the Prophet  is alive permanently.

Sakhawi, Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalâni's student, said: "As for us (Muslims) we believe and we confirm that he  is alive and provided for IN HIS GRAVE" (al-qawl al-badee` p. 161). Ibn al-Qayyim said in al-RûH p. 58: "It is obligatory knowledge to know that his body  is in the earth tender and humid (i.e. as in life), and when the Companions asked him:

'How is our greeting presented to you after you have turned to dust'

he replied:

'Allah has defended the earth from consuming the flesh of Prophets,'
and if his body was not in his grave he would not have given this
answer."

Ibn Hajar al-Haythami wrote in al-jawhar al-munaZZam (?):

"tawâtarat al-adillatu wa al-nuqûlu bi anna al-MuSTafa Hayyun Tariyyu... wa Sawmun thumma Hajjun kulla `âmin yaTTahhiru li al-Salâti bi mâ'i ghaythi" which means:

"The proofs and the transmitted texts have been established as authentic in the highest degree that the Prophet  is alive and tender... that he fasts and performs pilgrimage every year, and that he purifies himself with water which rains on him."

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5th Hadith

Hayâti khayrun lakum tuHaddithuna wa yuHaddathu lakum fa idha muttu kânat wafâti khayran lakum tu`raDu `alayya a`mâlukum fa in ra'aytu khayran hamidtu allaha wa in ra'aytu ghayra dhâlik istaghfartu Allaha lakum

"My life is a great good for you, you will relate about me and it will be related to you, and my death is a great good for you, your actions will be presented to me (in my grave) and if I see goodness I will praise Allah, and if see other than that I will ask forgiveness of him (for you)."

Qadi `Iyad cites it in "al-Shifa" (1:56 of the Amman edition) and
Suyuti said in his "Manahil al-safa fi takhrij ahadith al-shifa" (Beirut 1988/1408) p. 31 (#8):
"Ibn Abi Usama cites it in his Musnad from the hadith of Bakr ibn `Abd Allah al-Mazni, and al-Bazzar from the hadith of Ibn Mas`ud with a sound (sahih) chain."

It is cited in Subki's Shifa' al-siqâm fi ziyarat khayr al-anâm
[The Healing of the Sick Concerning the Visit of the Best of Creation],
where he mentions that Bakr ibn Abd Allah al-Mazini reported it, and Ibn al-Jawzi mentions it through Bakr and then again through Anas ibn Malik in the penultimate chapter of the penultimate section of al-Wafa, both huffaz without giving the isnad.

However, Ibn al-Jawzi specifies in the introduction of al-Wafa that he only included sound traditions in his bûk. He also mentions the version through Aws ibn Aws:

"The actions of human beings are shown to me every Thursday on the night of (i.e. preceding) Friday."

See also FatH al-Bâri 10:415, al-Mundhiri's Targheeb wa al-Tarheeb 3:343, and Ahmad 4:484.

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6th Hadith

Man Salla `alayya `inda qabri sami`tuhu, wa man Salla `alayya nâ'iyan bullightuhu

"Whoever invokes blessings on me at my grave, I hear him, and whoever invokes blessings on me from afar, I am informed about it."

Ibn Hajar says in FatH al-Bâri 6:379:

"Abu al-Shaykh cites it with a good chain (sanad jayyid),"
and Bayhaqi mentions it in Hayât al-anbiyâ with "ublightuhu" in the end.

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7th Hadith

Man zara qabri wajabat lahu shafa`ati.

"Whoever visits my grave, it becomes incumbent upon me to intercede for him."

Narrated by al-Daraqutni, al-Dulabi, al-Bayhaqi, Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-`Uqayli, Ibn `Adiy, Tabarani, and Ibn Khuzaymah in his Sahih, all through various chains going back to Musa ibn Hilal al-`Abdiyy from Ubayd Allah Ibn Umar, both from Nafi`, from Ibn `Umar.

Dhahabi declared this chain hasan (fair) as narrated, in "Mizan al- i`tidal," vol. 4, p. 226: "Huwa salih al-hadith" which means:"He -- Musa ibn Hilal -- is good in his narrations."

Al-Sakhawi confirmed him in the "Maqasid al-hasana", while al-Subki declared it sahih according to Samhudi in Sa`adat al-dârayn 1:77.

Ibn `Adiyy said: "He [Musa ibn Hilal] is most likely acceptable; other people have called him 'unknown' and this is not true... He is one of the shuyukhs of Imam Ahmad and most of them are trustworthy."
al-Kamil fi al-Du`afa (6:2350).

Albani declared him "thabit al-riwaya" (of established reliability) in his Irwa' 4:338. About `Ubayd Allah ibn `Umar al-`Umari: - Dhahabi calls him "saduq hasan al-hadith" [truthful, of fair narrations] al-Mughni 1:348; - Sakhawi says of him "salih al-hadith" [of sound narrations] al-tuhfat al-latifat 3:366; - Ibn Mu`in said to Darimi about him: "salih thiqat" [sound and reliable] al-kamil 4:1459.

This is one of the prûf-texts adduced by the ulama of Islam to derive the obligation or recommendation of visiting the Prophet's grave and seeking him as "wasilat" (intermediary/means).

See the chapter on visiting the Prophet's grave in Nawawi's bûk "al-Adhkar" and in Qadi `Iyad's bûk "al-Shifa."

Sakhawi said in "al-qawl al-badee`" p. 160:

"The emphasis and encouragement on visiting his noble grave is mentioned in numerous ahadith, and it would suffice to show this if there was only the hadith whereby the truthful and God-confirmed Prophet  promises that his intercession among other things becomes obligatory for whoever visits him, and the Imams are in complete agreement from the time directly after his passing until our own time that this is among the best acts of drawing near to Allah."

Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions.

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Visiting Graves:

Dawud ibn Salih says:

"[The Umayyad Caliph] Marwan [ibn al-Hakam] one day saw a man placing his face on top of the grave of the Prophet . He said: "Do you know what you are doing?" When he came near him, he realized it was Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. The latter said: "Yes; I came to the Prophet , not to a stone. I heard the Prophet  say:

Do not weep on religion if its people assume its leadership (walyahu), but weep on it if other than its people assume it."

Ahmad 5:422, Hakim (Mustadrak 4:515); both the latter and al-Dhahabi said it was sahih. It is thus cited by as-Subki (Shifa' as-siqam p. 126), Ibn Taymiyya (al-Muntaqa 2:261f.), and al-Haythami (al-Zawa'id 4:2).

Brother Audah is right if his point is to show that kissing the grave, rubbing or hugging it is neither haram nor an innovation, although it is disliked that people should be permitted to do it.

Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions. 

GF Haddad ©
[ Feb. 1996]