Muslims, the Hajj is coming to an end, the last Hajjay, those who have stayed in Mina for three days, have stoned the Jamaraat for the last time and are preparing to pack their bags and head for Madina al-Munawara in the next few days, the city of the Prophet, to visit the Messenger of Allah. Although this stage of the journey, this visit to the tomb of the Messenger of Allah, is not, strictly speaking, one of the rites of the Hajj, it is a part of the journey that no Muslim should miss and is considered by the ijma' of the 'ulama as highly recommended. Qadi 'Iyad says in his book As-Shifa:
"Visiting the Prophet's grave is a sunnah of the Muslims on which there is agreement among the Ulama. It is a virtue (birr) that is encouraged. And Imam an-Nawawi said:
"Know that everyone who performs Hajj should go and visit the Messenger of Allah, regardless of whether he is on his way or not, because visiting him is one of the most important means of drawing close to Allah, one of the most profitable endeavours that can be undertaken and is one of the best things that can be asked for."
There are those who downplay the importance of this visit to the Messenger of Allah and only consider it permissible if your main intention is to pray in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, not to visit his tomb. However, all sincere Muslims, since the time of the Companions, have gone to Medina for no other reason than to visit their beloved Prophet. When the Prophet died, Bilal felt compelled to leave the city of the Prophet because everything there reminded him of the absence of his beloved and he lived for many years in Syria, participating in many battles and during that time he never returned to Madina. Then, one night, he saw the Prophet in a dream and said to him, "Why this estrangement, Bilal, has not the time come for you to come and visit me?" As soon as he awoke, Bilal gathered his things and set out for Medina, heading straight for the tomb of the Messenger of Allah.
And what sincere believer and lover could refuse to make such a visit when the Prophet said:
"If anyone visits me after my death, it will be as if he had visited me during my lifetime". And he also said in a hadith narrated by Ibn Umar:
"If you do Hajj and visit me after my death, it will be as if you visited me in my lifetime and were in my company. Therefore, any visit to the Prophet, especially those made in the course of Hajj, is like visiting him during his lifetime and being in his presence, and what sincere Muslim would pass up such an opportunity? For many Muslims, such an opportunity only presents itself once or twice in a lifetime, so how can anyone say that it is not permissible to travel for the express purpose of visiting the grave of the Messenger of Allah? There is no argument since we are even encouraged to visit the graves of Muslims in general, because the Prophet said:
"I used to forbid you to visit the graves, but now you must visit them because they remind you of the afterlife'. And he himself regularly visited the graves of his Companions in the Baqi', so how could it not be so with the tomb of the best of creation?
Among the benefits of visiting the Prophet is that when you greet him, he greets you back. The Prophet said:
"There is no one to greet me at my grave except that Allah returns my ruh to me so that I may return his greeting". The reward for visiting the Prophet is equivalent to completing a second Hajj. The Prophet said:
"Whoever goes for Hajj to Makkah and then comes to visit me in my mosque will have two accepted Hajj's written for him".
The Prophet promised to intercede and bear witness on behalf of all those who visit him in his grave. The Prophet said:
"My intercession is obligatory for all who visit my tomb". On the other hand, not visiting him is tantamount to a gross lack of courtesy. The Prophet said:
"Whoever performs Hajj and does not visit me, has avoided me / has turned away from me".
We ask Allah to bless the Hajjay and to allow us to go to His House and to grant us the opportunity to visit the Prophet's grave.
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Allah says in His Noble Book: "O ye who believe! Have taqwa of Allah and seek the wasila / the means of approaching Him".
Everyone who visits the Messenger of Allah should know that there are a number of adabs that should be followed, as all the great men of Allah have conveyed to us. Firstly, you should start saying salawat about the Prophet as soon as you start heading in the direction of Madinah until you enter the city, when you should greet the Messenger of Allah and make dua to get the full benefit of the visit. A particular dua recommended by Imam an-Nawawi is to say:
"O Allah, open to me the gates of Your mercy and give me for the visit to the grave of Your Prophet what You gave to Your awliya and the people of obedience. Forgive me and have mercy on me, O You who are the best to be asked". Then you go straight to the Prophet's mosque or as soon as you can, because he is your host and the first thing a guest should do is to greet his host. Ibn Habib said, as recorded by Qadi 'Iyad:
"When you enter the Prophet's mosque, say:
"In the name of Allah and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. Peace be upon us from our Lord. Allah and His angels bless Muhammad, O Allah, forgive us our wrong deeds and open for us the gates of Your mercy and Your Garden and deliver us from shaytan the accursed!"
Then you should go to the Rawda, which is that part of the mosque between the tomb and the mimbar and make two rak'ats. The Prophet said:
"The area between my grave and the mimbar is one of the meadows (rawdas) of the Garden. My mimbar is in one of the elevated gardens of paradise". You should then stand in front of the grave with humility and respect, address the Salam and ask for blessings on it. Then salute Abu Bakr and 'Umar and make duas. You should perform many prayers in the Prophet's mosque, day and night. Do not forget to go to the mosque of Quba' and the graves of the shuhadahs. End quote from Ibn Habib.
When you stand before the grave of the Messenger of Allah you should not raise your voice. In his Shifa, Qadi 'Iyad narrates that Abu Ja'far, the amir al-muminin, was arguing with Imam Malik in the Prophet's mosque, until Malik said:
"Amir al-Mu'minin, do not raise your voice in this mosque. Allah taught the people how to behave by saying: 'Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet. And He praised other people with the words: 'Those who lower their voices in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, those are the ones to whom Allah has opened their hearts to His fear'. And he censured other people saying: 'As for those who call you from outside your private room, most of them do not use their intellect. The respect due to him when he is dead is the same as when he was alive'.
At this Abu Ja'far was silent and then asked Malik whether he should face the qibla when making duas or face the Messenger of Allah. Malik replied:
"Why would you turn your face away from him when he is your wasila (means of approach to Allah) and the wasila of your forefather Adam before Allah on the Day of Rising? Look towards him and ask for his intercession and Allah will grant him intercession. Allah says: "If after they had wronged themselves they had come to you and asked forgiveness from Allah and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Favourable towards them, Compassionate".
We ask Allah to make our love for the Messenger of Allah grow. We ask Allaah to make our Salam reach the Messenger of Allaah and to gather us to him in the Garden. And we ask Him to grant us his shafa'a on the last day.
