the answering of the distressed worshipper’s prayer at his grave; for invocations are accepted at blessed sites, just as supplication in the pre-dawn hours is hoped for, after the obligatory prayers, and within the mosques. Indeed, the plea of one in dire need is granted wherever it may be raised. O Allah, I am in desperate need of Your pardon, so pardon me.
Abū Jaʿfar ibn al-Munādī and Thaʿlab state that Maʿrūf died in the year 200 AH.
Al-Khaṭīb remarks, “This is the sound date.” (1)
Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib, however, says that he passed away in 204 AH—may Allah have mercy on him.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī al-Sulamī narrated to us; al-Bahāʾ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Maqdisī narrated to us; Tajannī, the freedwoman of Ibn Wahbān, narrated to us; al-Ḥusayn ibn Aḥmad al-Niʿālī narrated to us
= On the authority of Abi Dhiʾb, from Saʿid al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayra who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “Do not turn your houses into graves, and do not make my grave an ‘īd (regular festival). Send blessings upon me, for your blessings reach me wherever you may be.” The chain of transmission is sound.
Ibn Abi Shayba records in al-Musannaf 2/376, through Abu Muʿawiya from al-Aʿmash, from al-Maʿrur b. Suwayd: “We set out with ʿUmar during a pilgrimage he performed. At the dawn prayer he recited Sūrat al-Fīl (Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the People of the Elephant) and Sūrat Li-īlāfi Quraysh. After finishing the pilgrimage and on the return journey, the people hurried toward a certain place. ʿUmar asked, ‘What is this?’ They replied, ‘A mosque where the Messenger of Allah prayed.’ He said, ‘That is how the People of the Book perished: they turned the relics of their prophets into churches. Whoever happens to reach it at prayer time may pray there; whoever does not, should not deliberately pray there.’” The chain is authentic according to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Al-Nawawi cites in his Manāsik al-Ḥajj, 69/2 (manuscript at the Ẓāhiriyya Library): “Malik disliked that the residents of Madina, every time they entered or left, should stand at the grave. He said this practice is only for visitors from outside. He added: there is no objection for someone arriving from or departing for a journey to stand by the grave of the Prophet ﷺ, send blessings upon him, and supplicate for him as well as for Abu Bakr and ʿUmar.”
Al-Baji comments: “Malik distinguished between the inhabitants of Madina and outsiders, because the outsiders travel with that specific aim, whereas the residents live there permanently.”
The Prophet ﷺ said: “O Allah, do not make my grave an idol to be worshipped.” Note Malik’s wording: “he sends blessings upon him and supplicates for him and for Abu Bakr and ʿUmar.” This reflects the legally prescribed visit to graves: we greet their occupants and pray for them, as taught by the Messenger ﷺ in the hadith recorded by Muslim (no. 974, from ʿAʾisha; no. 975, from Burayda).
(1) Tarikh Baghdad, 13/308.