| Author: Ali Razi | Date: 2015-11-01 |
Does presence of Allamah Khorasani in the shrine of Imam Zadeh Yahya bin Zayd bin Ali bin al-Hussein peace be upon him mean that pilgrimaging to the shrine of children of Imams, unlike the opinion of Wahhabis, is permissible in his opinion?
| Answer to question: 1 | Date: 2015-11-03 |
Visiting the graves of believers, especially the Prophets and the righteous in order to remember them and salute them and pray for them and pay attention to the afterlife, is Sunnah[1], but pilgrimaging to the graves of the disbelievers and hypocrites and oppressors is not permissible; as God has said: ﴿وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ مَاتَ أَبَدًا وَلَا تَقُمْ عَلَى قَبْرِهِ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ﴾[2]; “Do not ever pray over any of them who dies, nor stand over his grave; for they disbelieved in God and His Messenger and died in iniquity”! Also, there is no problem to travel in order to visit the graves of believers, especially the Prophets and the righteous, as well as to build a mosque near their graves to worship God; as God has said in the story of the People of the Cave: ﴿إِذْ يَتَنَازَعُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَمْرَهُمْ ۖ فَقَالُوا ابْنُوا عَلَيْهِمْ بُنْيَانًا ۖ رَبُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ ۚ قَالَ الَّذِينَ غَلَبُوا عَلَى أَمْرِهِمْ لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيْهِمْ مَسْجِدًا﴾[3]; “As they were arguing among themselves, some said to build a monument over them (to remember them), their Lord knows the best about them, those who prevailed, said: we shall build a mosque over them”, but it is not appropriate to pray around their graves where their graves can be seen and also to turn around their graves; as Hassan bin Qasim Tehrani informed us and said:
«سَأَلْتُ الْمَنْصُورَ عَنْ زِیارَةِ قَبْرِ الْحُسَیْنِ فَقالَ: زُرْهُ وَ سَلِّمْ عَلَیْهِ وَ سَلِ اللّهَ حاجَتَکَ! قُلْتُ: کَیْفَ أُسَلِّمَ عَلَیْهِ عِنْدَ قَبْرِهِ؟ قالَ: قُلْ: السَّلامُ عَلَیْکَ یا أَبا عَبْدِ اللّهِ، السَّلامُ عَلَیْکَ یَابْنَ رَسُولِ اللّهِ، أَشْهَدُ أَنَّکَ أَقَمْتَ الصَّلاةَ وَ آتَیْتَ الزَّکاةَ وَ أَمَرْتَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَ نَهَیْتَ عَنِ الْمُنْکَرِ وَ جاهَدْتَ فِي اللّهِ حَقَّ جِهادِهِ حَتَّى أَتاکَ الْیَقینُ، فَلَعَنَ اللّهُ مَنْ قَتَلَکَ وَ لَعَنَ اللّهُ مَنْ أَمَرَ بِهِ وَ لَعَنَ اللّهُ مَنْ بَلَغَهُ ذَلِكَ فَرَضِيَ بِهِ، أَنا إِلَی اللّهِ مِنْهُمْ بَرِيء! قُلْتُ: فَأَطُوفُ بِقَبْرِهِ؟ قالَ: لا وَ لا تُصَلِّ بَیْنَ یَدَیْهِ وَ لَكِنْ تَنَحَّ ناحِیَةً وَ صَلِّ فِي بَعْضِ الرُّواقات!»[4]; “I asked Mansoor about pilgrimage to Hussein’s grave, so he said: visit it and greet his Excellency and ask your need from God! I said: how can I greet his Excellency at his grave? He said: say 'greetings to you oh Abba Abdullah! Greetings to you, son of God’s Messenger! I bear witness that you performed the prayer and paid Zakat and ordered the good and forbade the evil and appropriately did jihad in the way of God until death came to you, so may God curse the one who killed you and may God curse the one who ordered it and may God curse the one who became aware of it and was satisfied with it, I hate them towards God!' I said: shall I turn around his grave (doing Tawaf)? He said: No! And do not pray in front of it, but go aside and pray in some porches”.
Just as crowding to touch their graves is not appropriate; as one of our companions informed us and said:
«رَأَیْتُ عِنْدَ قَبْرِ عَلِيِّ بْنِ مُوسَى شابّاً هاشِمیّاً وَجْهُهُ کَدائِرَةِ الْقَمَرِ وَ هُوَ یَقُولُ لِلْمُزْدَحِمینَ: ما بِهَذَا أُمِرْتُمْ!»; “I saw a young Hashemi man near the grave of Ali ibn Musa whose face was as beautiful as the moon, and he was saying to the crowd (around the grave who were doing Tawaf and touching): you are not commanded to this (work)”!
Just as constructing building on the graves and adorning them with gold and silver is the innovation of the kings; as one of our companions informed us and said:
«نَهَی الْعالِمُ عَنْ تَرْفیعِ الْقَبْرِ وَ الْبَناءِ عَلَیْهِ وَ قالَ: هَذَا ما أَخَذَ النّاسُ مِنْ مُلُوکِهِمْ وَ إِنَّ مُلُوکَهُمْ کانُوا مُسْرِفِینَ»; “The scholar forbade building high graves and constructing building on top of them and said: this is what people learnt from their kings, whereas their kings were prodigal”!
| Appendix Number: 1 | Appendix Author: Reza Khanjani | Appendix Date: 2015-11-04 |
I have a few questions regarding above answer, I would appreciate it if you respond:
First, is it correct to cite the work of the people regarding the graves of the People of the Cave who built a mosque near them, whereas it is unclear who these people were and whether their work was the proof or not?
Second, is allowing to build a mosque near the graves of Ahl al-Bayt not contrary to not allowing to perform prayer around them as Allamah said?
With thanks.
| Answer to appendix: 1 | Date: 2015-11-04 |
Dear Brother!
Please pay attention to the following points:
Firstly, the Book of God is not a neutral narrator which merely reports the works of the people without evaluating them, but it is a guiding Book that reports the works of the people for the purpose of educating its followers, leaving no one without rejection or approval. Therefore, what God has reported from the people at the time of the People of the Cave, had no problem in His opinion; for if there was a problem in it, He would not have just narrated it at all, but would have definitely rejected it. Whereas not only He has not rejected it, but by describing the people who did that as ﴿غَلَبُوا عَلَى أَمْرِهِمْ﴾ He has implicitly endorsed it. It is hereby understood that in that answer, it has not been cited to “the work of the people”, but it has been cited to the narration and approval of God.
Secondly, the meaning of building a mosque near the graves of the righteous, is not building a mosque on their graves in such a way that their graves are located in the mosque; because it has been explicitly stated that praying around their graves where their graves can be seen and making buildings on their graves is not appropriate. Therefore, it has no problem to build a mosque near their graves in such a way that their graves are located outside the mosque and are not visible to worshipers; especially given that the principle is to allow to build a mosque anywhere, unless there is a religious reason for not allowing it, and it is only building a mosque on the graves; just as it is not appropriate to make a building on the graves, and his Excellency Allamah Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani has regraded it “the innovation of the kings” who used to make buildings on their graves.