What is the law on traveling to visit the prophet's grave or the prophet's mosque? Is it an innovation?

Answer

• Virtue of traveling to visit the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
Traveling to visit the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is among the best deeds and the greatest acts of worship that draws one nearer to the way of Allah Almighty.

• Scholarly consensus upon the permissibility of traveling to visit the grave of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him):
Al-Qadi 'Iyyad, imam ibn Taymiyah, the great scholar of hadith ibn Hajar al-'Assqalani and others have consensus on its permissibility.

Ibn Taymiyah was quoted as saying: "All the subsequent generations of Muslims unanimously agreed on traveling to visit the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

• Books authored on this issue:
A group of scholars authored some books on the permissibility of traveling to visit the grave of the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him):

- Al-Taqui al-Subki: Shifa' al-Siqam fi Ziyarat Kheir al-Anam 'Alayhi al-Salat wa al-Salam.
- Ibn Hajar al-Haythami: al-Jawhar al-Munazam fi Ziyarat al-Qabr al-Mukaram.
- His student al-Fakihi: Husn al-Istishara fi Adab al-Ziyarah.

• Evidence from legal texts of the Shari'ah:
- Qur'an:
Allah Almighty says:
And if, when they wronged themselves, they had come to you, [O Muhammad], and asked forgiveness of Allah and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Accepting of repentance and Merciful [4:64).

This verse generally encompasses the permissibility of asking the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) for forgiveness-either alive or dead or traveling to visit [his grave).

- Hadith:
There are many hadiths narrated on the permissibility of traveling and singling out the grave of the Prophet (Peace and blessing sbe upon him) for visit:

• Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

"Whoever visits my grave, my intercession will be guaranteed for him" [Ibn Khuzaymah, al-Bazzar and al-dar Quttni.(

In a report: "whoever visits me and has no other motive has a right over me that I intercede on his behalf on the Day of Judgment" [Tabarani and al-Darquttni).

In a third report: "whoever visits my grave, is as if he visited me during my life" [Al-Tabarani).
The above hadiths have multiple narrations and all of them strengthen each other. Moreover, many great scholars of hadith—such as ibn Khuzaymah, ibn al-Sakan, al-Qadi 'Iyyad, al-Taqi al-Subki, al-'Iraqi and others declared these hadiths to be authentic.

• Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“No journey should be made to visit mosques except for three: the Sacred Mosque [in Makkah], this mosque of mine [in Madeenah], and al-Aqsa Mosque [in al-Quds/Jerusalem]" [Bukhari and Muslim).

This hadith means that no journey should be made to visit any mosque except for theses three mosques in order to magnify them through performing prayer. Ibn Hajar al-Haythami said: "Everyone should realize this. It is declared by the consensus that traveling to perform Hajj, Jihad [En. Fighting in the cause of Allah], emigrating from lands of disbelief-on its condition are obligatory. It is also recommended or obligatory to travel for seeking knowledge. The consensus of scholars also declared that it is permissible to travel for trade and fulfill worldly needs. Hence, fulfilling the needs of the Hereafter—especially visiting the noble grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon) is worthier".

In another report, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No one should travel to visit a mosque to perform prayer except for the Sacred Mosque [in Makkah], al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and this mosque of mine [in Madina]" [Ahmed with a good chain of transmission).

• The mother of the believers, 'Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I am the seal of the Prophets and my mosque is the seal of the Prophets' mosques. The mosques that worth traveling for visit are: the sacred Mosque and that of mine. Prayer in my mosque is better than a thousand prayers anywhere else, apart from the sacred Mosque" [Bazzar).

Ruling:
Based on this, traveling for visiting the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is permitted through the Qur'an, Sunnah and the consensus of the community. Whoever claims that it is impermissible, his saying is invalid and ignored.