Can Muslim Women Visit Graves
by Dr. G. F. Haddad
In his recent booklet, Advice to our Brothers
the Scholars of Najd, Sayyid Yusuf al-Rifa`i
states, addressing present-day Wahhabis: "You
forbid women from visiting the noble Baqi`
with no agreed-upon, clear and explicit proof
from the Law!" The following is a
demonstration of the permissibility of visits to
al-Baqi` according to the principles of Sacred
Law and the proof-texts of the Sunna.
Those who object to the visitation of graves by
women adduce chiefly three hadiths as their
proof, two of these being the weak-chained
narrations, (a) "Allah curses the women who
visit the graves"1 (la`ana Allahu zâ'irât al-
qubûr) and (b) "Allah curses the women who
visit the graves and take them for places of
worship and candles,"2 the third one being, (c)
"Allah curses the women who frequently visit
the graves" 3 (la`ana Allahu zawwârât al-
qubûr).
As indicated by Sayyid al-Rifa`i, the above
narrations do not constitute "agreed-upon,
clear and explicit proof from the Law" for the
prohibition of women from visiting graves in
Islam. Accordingly, the majority of the Ulema
concur that women are permitted to visit the
graves if there is no danger of temptation and
sin.4 This is established by the following
proofs:
1. The Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -
said: "I forbade you to visit the graves but
[now] do visit them!"5
2. `A'isha - Allah be well-pleased with her -
said: "The Prophet - Allah bless and greet him
- forbade the visitation of graves then
permitted it, and I think he said: `For, truly,
they remind you of the hereafter.'"6
3. `A'isha visited came to Mecca after her
brother's death saying, "Where is the grave of
my brother?" Then she came to the grave and
prayed over him, a month after his death.7
Another version states that Ibn Abi Mulayka
said: "`A'isha's brother died six miles away
from Makka, so we carried him until we
reached Makka and buried him there. `A'isha
came to us after that and reproached us for
doing so. Then she said: `Where is the grave of
my brother?' We showed it to her and she
alighted in her howdah and prayed at his
grave."8< /p>
4. When `Abd Allah ibn Mulayka saw `A'isha
visiting the grave of her brother `Abd al-
Rahman he said to her: "Did not the Prophet -
Allah bless and greet him - forbid this
[visitation of graves]?" She replied: "Yes, he
had forbidden it. Then he ordered to visit
them."9 Ibn `Abd al-Barr mentions that Imam
Ahmad adduces this report as proof that
women are permitted to visit the graves.10
The wording and verb tenses used by the
Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - and the
Companions in the above narrations show that
these narrations explicitly abrogate the
narrations that express prohibition. This is
confirmed by al-Hakim who narrated the
hadith: "Allah curses the women who
frequently visit the graves" then said: "Those
narrations pertaining to prohibition from
visiting the graves are abrogated, the abrogator
being the hadith of `Alqama ibn Marthad, from
Sulayman ibn Burayda, from his father, from
the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -: `I
forbade you to visit the graves but [now] do
visit them!'"11
5. Due to her strictness, and perhaps in
confirmation of Ibn Abi Mulayka's remark,
`A'isha disliked to visit the grave of her
brother as is evident from her remark in al-
Tirmidhi's narration of her visitation to `Abd
al-Rahman: "If I had been present at the time
of your death I would have never visited you
[now]."12 Yet this is another proof that she did
not understand the Prophet's - Allah bless and
greet him - prohibition as absolute - were it
not abrogated - since she did allow herself the
visitation of her brother despite it.
6. The Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -
passed by a woman who was weeping next to
a grave and said: "Fear Allah and be
steadfast!" She replied: "Leave me alone! You
were not afflicted with my affliction" - without
recognizing him. Then she was told that this
was the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -.
She came to see him and did not find anyone
at the door [so entered directly] and said: "I
did not recognize you!" He replied:
"Steadfastness is only at the first shock."13
7. `A'isha asked: "What should I say, O
Messenger of Allah [at al-Baqi`]?" He replied:
"Say: `Greeting to you, O people of the abodes
among the men and women believers! May
Allah grant mercy to those of you and us who
went ahead and those who tarried back! Truly
we shall - if Allah wills - join up with you.'"14
Al-Bayhaqi, Ibn Hajar and al-Nawawi said that
the above narrations show that it is permitted
for women to visit the graves in confirmation
of `A'isha's visitation of her brother, as the
Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - only
admonished the mourning woman to be
steadfast without forbidding her from visiting
the grave, and he gave instructions to `A'isha
on what to say when visiting the graves.15
8. The Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -
said: "I had forbidden you to visit the graves
but Muhammad has been permitted to visit the
grave of his mother, so visit them, for truly,
they remind you of the hereafter."16
9. Another version states: "I had forbidden you
to visit the graves but do visit them for they
truly remind one of the hereafter."17
10. Another version states: "Whoever wants to
visit the graves [may], truly they remind of the
hereafter."18
11. Another version states: "I had forbidden
you to visit the graves but do visit them, for
they help to renounce the world and they
remind of the hereafter."19
12. Another version states: "I forbade you to
visit the graves then it appeared to me that
they soften the heart, bring tears to the eyes,
and remind one of the hereafter. Therefore,
visit them, but do not say reprehensible
things!"20
The proof for the visitation of women in the
above five narrations is that the positive
effects of remembering the hereafter, weeping,
and softening the heart are not exclusively
limited to men but extend to women as well.
Therefore women are also addressed by these
narrations which are to be taken in the most
general, inclusive sense. This is confirmed by
the practice of Fatima - Allah be well-pleased
with her! - the daughter of the Prophet - Allah
bless and greet him - as shown in the
following two narrations:
13. Imam Ja`far al-Sadiq narrated with his
chain from al-Hasan ibn `Ali that Fatima the
daughter of the Prophet - Allah bless and greet
him - - may Allah be well-pleased with all of
them! - used to visit the grave of her uncle
Hamza ibn `Abd al-Muttalib every Jumu`a21
and she used to pray and weep there.22
Another version adds that she had marked the
grave with a rock in order to recognize it.23
14. The women wept over Ruqiyya - Allah be
well-pleased with her! - when she died, so
`Umar tried to forbid them but the Messenger
of Allah - Allah bless and greet him - said,
"Wait, O `Umar!" Then he said: "[Women,]
beware of the devil's croaking! As long as it
comes from the eye and the heart, it is coming
from mercy; and as long as it comes from the
tongue and the hand,24 it is coming from
Satan." Whereupon, Fatima began to weep over
the grave of Ruqiyya and the Prophet - Allah
bless and greet him - was wiping her tears
from her face with his hand - or, the narrator
said, his sleeve.25
Even if we should consider the first two of the
three hadiths adduced by the objectors (a and
b) authentic as a handful of scholars did, they
do not form proof for prohibition, for two
reasons. First, they are abrogated according to
the more correct view as demonstrated.
Second, they elucidate one another and are
elucidated by the third hadith adduced (c), in
the sense that the curse does not concern
women who visit the graves in absolute terms,
but only those women who both (1) visit
excessively and (2) commit certain
reprehensible acts during visitation as stated
by al-Tirmidhi, al-Baghawi, al-Tahawi, al-
Qurtubi, and others.26 This qualified
prohibition is confirmed by the fact that the
soundest version of the prohibition hadith
states, "Allah curses the women who
*frequently* visit the graves," in which case
the prohibition is patently restrictive,
concerning only a specific group of women
and not all of them.
Another confirmation is that this qualified
prohibition extends to men as well, as stated in
the hadith of the Prophet - Allah bless and
greet him -: "Allah curse the Jews and
Christians! They took the graves of their
Prophets as places of worship."27 This men-
inclusive qualified prohibition is further
confirmed by the version stating: "I forbade
you from visiting the graves and now [allow
you to] visit them, but do not utter words that
make your Lord angry!"28
The gist of this documentation is not that
Muslim women today are indifferently
permitted to visit the graves, since temptation
and sin abound in our time and there is little
or no observance of the obligations of Sacred
Law shown by either Muslim men or women
who visit the graves. To say the least, as al-
Bayhaqi said: "If women keep themselves clear
from following funeral processions, going out
to cemetaries, and visiting graves, it would be
healthier for their Religion - and from Allah
comes success."29 As far as we know, this is
the Consensus of the Imams of Ahl al-Sunna.
Yet, the negative situation of contemporary
Muslim visitors to city and country cemetaries
hardly applies to the women pilgrims who visit
al-Baqi` and the Prophet - Allah bless and
greet him - in Madina, where the effusion of
emotion is somehow counter-balanced by the
natural decorum of Madina al-Munawwara.
Therefore their status there should be that of
allowance together with male Muslims rather
than prohibition as confirmed by the fatwa of
the Ulema and contrary to the claims of a
handful of Wahhabi dissenters such as the late
`Abd al-`Aziz ibn Baz, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim
ibn `Abd al-Latif, Hammad al-Ansari and his
student Bakr Abu Zayd, the late Abu Bakr al-
Jaza'iri, and others of the circle who hold sway
over the religious jurisdiction of the Two
Sanctuaries.
As for the absolute prohibition, including the
Mosque and al-Baqi` in Madina, insisted upon
by Bakr Abu Zayd in his epistle titled "Juz' fi
Ziyarat al-Nisa' li al-Qubur"30 and his odd
claim that the narrations prohibiting women
from following the funeral bier apply to prove
the prohibition of visitation, such claims stem
from an unreasonable, stubborn rejection of
the evidence and a blind following of the
familiar founts of misguided originality and
nonconformity - Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-
Qayyim. But truth is more deserving of being
followed than eminent figures. And from Allah
alone comes all success, and Allah Most High
knows best.
NOTES
1 Narrated from Abu Hurayra by Ibn Hibban in
his Sahih (7:452 #3178) with a weak chain
because of `Umar ibn Abi Salama ibn `Abd al-
Rahman al-Zuhri who is weak as stated by al-
Arna'ut and Ma`ruf in Tahrir al-Taqrib (3:74
#4910). Also narrated from Hassan ibn Thabit
from the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him -
by Ibn Abi Shayba (3:31) with a weak chain
because of `Abd al-Rahman ibn Bahman who
is of unknown rank as a narrator (majhûl). The
hadith itself is acceptable as "fair due to
witness and corroborating chains and
versions" (hasan lighayrih) as stated by al-
Arna'ut in the Musnad (5:128 n. 2).
2 Narrated from Ibn `Abbas by al-Tirmidhi
(hasan), Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i in both in al-
Sunan and al-Sunan al-Kubra (1:657 #2174),
Ahmad, Ibn Abi Shayba (2:151, 3:30), al-
Tahawi in Sharh Mushkil al-Athar (12:178-179
#4741-4742), al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunna
(2:416-417 #510), Ibn Hibban (7:452-454
#3179-3180), al-Hakim (1990 ed. 1:530) who
indicated its weakness, al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan
al-Kubra (4:78 #6992), Ibn al-Ja`d in his
Musnad (p. 224), al-Tabarani in al-Kabir
(12:148), and al-Haythami in Mawarid al-
Zam'an (p. 200), all with the same weak chain
containing Abu Salih Mawla Umm Hani' who is
weak as stated by Ibn Hajar in al-Mundhiri's
al-Targhib (1997 ed. 4:190) and al-Arna'ut in
Sahih Ibn Hibban and the Musnad (5:128
#2984). However, the hadith itself is
acceptable since al-Tirmidhi and al-Baghawi
declared it "fair"; while Ibn al-Sakan included it
among the sound (sahîh) narrations as stated
by Ibn al-Mulaqqin in Tuhfat al-Muhtaj (2:31).
3 Narrated from Abu Hurayra by al-Tirmidhi
(hasan sahîh), Ibn Majah, and Ahmad; from
Ibn `Abbas by Ibn Majah with a weak chain
because of Abu Salih; and from Hassan ibn
Thabit by Ibn Majah and Ahmad with a weak
chain because of `Abd al-Rahman ibn
Bahman. Note: Ibn Majah's versions have
zuwwârât.
4 As stated by Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari (1959
ed. 3:148), al-Shawkani in Nayl al-Awtar
(chapters on burial and the rulings pertaining
to graves), and al-Mubarakfuri in Tuhfa al-
Ahwadhi (4:139).
5Narrated as part of a longer hadith: from
Burayda by Muslim, al-Tirmidhi (hasan sahîh),
Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i, `Abd al-Razzaq
(3:569), and others; from Abu Sa`id al-Khudri
by Ahmad with a chain of sound narrators as
stated by al-Haythami (3:58), Malik, al-Hakim
(1990 ed. 1:530) who declared it sound by
Muslim's criterion, al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-
Kubra (4:77 #6984), and al-Bazzar with a
chain of sound narrators as stated by al-
Haythami (3:58); from Ibn Mas`ud by Ibn
Majah, al-Daraqutni in his Sunan (4:259), `Abd
al-Razzaq (3:572-573), Ibn Hibban (3:261),
al-Hakim (1990 ed. 1:531), and al-Bayhaqi in
al-Sunan al-Kubra (4:77 #6983) all with weak
chains according to al-Arna'ut; from Anas by
Ahmad and al-Bazzar with chains containing
al-Harith ibn Nabhan who is weak according to
al-Haythami (4:27), al-Hakim (1990 ed.
1:531-532), and al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-
Kubra (4:77 #6984).
6 Narrated by al-Bazzar with a chain of
trustworthy narrators as stated by al-Haythami
(3:58).
7 Narrated from Ibn Abi Mulayka by al-
Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra 4:49).
8 Narrated by `Abd al-Razzaq (3:518) and Ibn
`Abd al-Barr in al-Tamhid (6:261).
9 Narrated by Abu Ya`la (8:284) with a sound
chain, al-Hakim (1990 ed. 1:532), al-Bayhaqi
in al-Sunan al-Kubra (4:78 #6993), and Ibn
`Abd al-Barr in al-Tamhid (3:233).
10 Ibn `Abd al-Barr, al-Tamhid (3:234).
11 Al-Hakim (1990 ed. 1:530).
12 Narrated from `Abd Allah ibn Mulayka by
al-Tirmidhi.
13 Narrated from Anas in all the Six Books.
14 Narrated as part of a longer hadith by
Muslim and al-Nasa'i.
15 Al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra (4:78), Ibn
Hajar, Fath al-Bari (1959 ed. 3:184); al-
Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim (7:41-42).
16 Narated from Burayda by al-Tirmidhi
(hasan sahîh).
17 Part of a longer hadith narrated from
Burayda by Ahmad.
18 Part of a longer hadith narrated from
Burayda by al-Nasa'i.
19 Narrated from Ibn Mas`ud by Ibn Majah.
20 Part of a longer hadith narrated from Anas
by Ahmad.
21 Narrated to here from Ja`far ibn
Muhammad, from his father, without mention
of al-Hasan by `Abd al-Razzaq (3:572) with
an interrupted (munqati`) chain.
22 Narrated by al-Hakim (1990 ed. 1:533,
3:30) who declared its chain sound, al-
Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra (4:78), and Ibn
`Abd al-Barr in al-Tamhid (3:234) although al-
Dhahabi condemns it strenuously while al-
Bayhaqi alludes to its weakness.
23 Al-Athram and Ibn `Abd al-Barr narrated it
as mentioned by al-Qurtubi in his Tafsir
(10:381); also `Abd al-Razzaq (3:574) with a
very weak chain because of al-Asbagh ibn
Nubata, who is discarded (matrûk) as a
narrator.
24 A reference to imprecations and the
slapping of the cheeks still exhibited today by
mourning Arab Christian women.
25 Narrated from Ibn `Abbas by al-Bayhaqi in
al-Sunan al-Kubra (4:70 #6946) with a chain
containing `Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jud`an al-Taymi
who is weak, but al-Bayhaqi considers it sound
as it is confirmed by established narrations.
26 Cf. al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan after narrating
the hadith of zawwârât from Abu Hurayra; al-
Tahawi in Sharh Mushkil al-Athar
(12:179-186); al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunna
(2:417, 5:464); and al-Qurtubi in his Tafsir
(20:170), as cited by al-Shawkani in Nayl al-
Awtar (chapters on burial and the rulings
pertaining to graves).
27 Narrated from `A'isha by al-Bukhari and
Muslim.
28 Narrated from Abu Sa`id by al-Bazzar with
a chain of sound narrators as stated by al-
Haythami (3:58); from Ibn `Abbas by al-Rabi`
in his Musnad (p. 194); and from Anas by
Ahmad, Abu Ya`la (6:372), and Ibn Abi Shayba
(3:29).
29 Al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra (4:78).
30 In his misnamed al-Ajza' al-Hadithiyya (p.
107-141).
Allah bless and greet the Prophet, his Family,
and all his Companions. Wal-hamdu lillahi
