Ibn Abī Shaybah records in his Musnad—on the authority of Abū Hurayrah—that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Whoever invokes blessings upon me at my grave, I hear him; and whoever invokes blessings upon me from afar, they are conveyed to me.” Al-Dāraqutnī transmitted the same report in substance.
Al-Nasāʾī and others likewise relate that he, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Allah has appointed angels at my grave who convey to me the salutations of my community,”
along with a number of other ḥadīths on this subject.
The most eminent of the Successors from his household—ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, may Allah be pleased with him—forbade that man from deliberately seeking out supplication at the Prophet’s grave, citing this very ḥadīth. He himself was the narrator of it, having heard it from his father al-Ḥusayn, from his grandfather ʿAlī, and he understood its purport better than anyone else. He thus made clear that intentionally going there for supplication and the like amounts to treating it as a recurrent festival.
Likewise, his cousin Ḥasan ibn Ḥasan, the elder of his household, disliked that a person should make a point of heading for the grave to offer greetings upon entering the mosque, and he regarded that as part of turning it into
(1) From here up to the words “ila ahadith ukhar” (“to other hadith reports,” roughly three lines) is missing from manuscript A.
(2) In the printed edition the word ‘alay’ (“upon me”) is present, while the phrase ‘inda qabri’ (“at my grave”) is omitted.
(3) Manuscript T reads ‘baghlatuhu,’ which is a scribal corruption.
(4) Sunan al-Nasai, Book of Forgetfulness, chapter “Greeting the Prophet” (3/43), with the wording: “Inna Lillahi malaikatan sayyahin fi l-ard yuballighuni ʿan ummati al-salam” (“Allah has angels who roam the earth and convey to me my community’s greetings of peace”). The same report is narrated by al-Darimi in his Sunan, Book of Heart-Softeners, chapter on the virtue of sending blessings upon the Prophet (1/317), and by Ahmad in his Musnad (1/387, 441, 452), all on the authority of the Companion ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud. Al-Suyuti classed the hadith as sahih in al-Jamiʿ al-saghir (1/359).
(5) Manuscript A reads ‘akhza’ (“disgraced”).
(6) Manuscript T reads ‘naha ʿan dhalik’ (“he prohibited that”).
(7) The printed edition reads: ‘wahum aʿlam bi-maʿnahu min ghayrihim’ (“and they understand its meaning better than anyone else”).
(8) The printed edition reads: ‘fatabayyana anna qasd qabrihi’ (“thus it becomes clear that intending his grave…”).
(9) The word ‘dhalika’ (“that”) is absent from manuscript T.